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3295 | Bonn | | image_flag = Flagge der kreisfreien Stadt Bonn.svg
| image_plan = North rhine w BN.svg
| plantext = Bonn within North Rhine-Westphalia
| coordinates
| image_coa=DEU Bonn COA.svg
| state = Nordrhein-Westfalen
| region = Cologne
| district = Urban district
| elevation = 60
| area = 141.06
| Gemeindeschlüssel = 05314000
| postal_code = 53111–53229
| area_code = 0228
| licence = BN
| mayor Katja Dörner
| leader_term = 2020–25
|Bürgermeistertitel = Lord Mayor
| party = Greens
| ruling_party1 = Greens
| ruling_party2 = SPD
| ruling_party3 = Left
| ruling_party4 = Volt
| year = 1st century BC
| website =
}}
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This metropolitan area, Germany's largest, is also the second largest in the European Union by GDP, with over 11 million residents.
Bonn served as the capital of West Germany from 1949 until 1990 and was the seat of government for reunified Germany until 1999, when the government relocated to Berlin. The city holds historical significance as the birthplace of Germany's current constitution, the Basic Law.
Founded in the 1st century BC as a settlement of the Ubii and later part of the Roman province Germania Inferior, Bonn is among Germany's oldest cities. It was the capital city of the Electorate of Cologne from 1597 to 1794 and served as the residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne. The period during which Bonn was the capital of West Germany is often referred to by historians as the Bonn Republic.
Following the German reunification, a political compromise known as the Berlin-Bonn Act ensured that the German federal government retained a significant presence in Bonn. As of 2019, approximately one-third of all ministerial jobs remain in the city. Bonn is considered an unofficial secondary capital of Germany and is the location of the secondary seats of the president, the chancellor, and the Bundesrat. Bonn is also the location of the primary seats of six federal ministries and twenty federal authorities. The city's title as Federal City () underscores its political importance.
The global headquarters of Deutsche Post DHL and Deutsche Telekom, both DAX-listed corporations, are in Bonn. The city is home to the University of Bonn and a total of 20 United Nations institutions, the highest number in all of Germany. These institutions include the headquarters for Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Volunteers programme. Birthplace of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, a center of Rhenish carnival, and its geography by the Middle Rhine make it an important tourist destination.
Geography
Topography
Situated in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany's largest metropolitan area with over 11 million inhabitants, Bonn lies within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the border with Rhineland-Palatinate. Spanning an area of more on both sides of the river Rhine, almost three-quarters of the city lies on the river's left bank.
To the south and to the west, Bonn borders the Eifel region which encompasses the Rhineland Nature Park. To the north, Bonn borders the Cologne Lowland. Natural borders are constituted by the river Sieg to the north-east and by the Siebengebirge (also known as the Seven Hills) to the east. The largest extension of the city in north–south dimensions is and in west–east dimensions. The city borders have a total length of . The geographical centre of Bonn is the Bundeskanzlerplatz (Chancellor Square) in Bonn-Gronau.
Administration
The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is divided into five governmental districts (), and Bonn is part of the governmental district of Cologne (). Within this governmental district, the city of Bonn is an urban district in its own right. The urban district of Bonn is then again divided into four administrative municipal districts (). These are Bonn, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Bonn-Beuel and Bonn-Hardtberg. In 1969, the independent towns of Bad Godesberg and Beuel as well as several villages were incorporated into Bonn, resulting in a city more than twice as large as before.
{| class="wikitable zebra"
|+Administrative divisions of the Federal City of Bonn<!--Please do not add any sub-districts, as this is the official count.-->
!Municipal district ()
!Coat of arms
!Population <small>()</small>
!Sub-district ()
|-
|Bad Godesberg
| align="center" |
| align="right" |73,172
|Alt-Godesberg, Friesdorf, Godesberg-Nord, Godesberg-Villenviertel, Heiderhof, Hochkreuz, Lannesdorf, Mehlem, Muffendorf, Pennenfeld, Plittersdorf, Rüngsdorf, Schweinheim
|-
|Beuel
| align="center" |
| align="right" |66,695
|Beuel-Mitte, Beuel-Ost, Geislar, Hoholz, Holtorf, Holzlar, Küdinghoven, Limperich, Oberkassel, Pützchen/Bechlinghoven, Ramersdorf, Schwarzrheindorf/Vilich-Rheindorf, Vilich, Vilich-Müldorf
|-
|Bonn
| align="center" |
| align="right" |149,733
|Auerberg, Bonn-Castell (known until 2003 as Bonn-Nord), Bonn-Zentrum, Buschdorf, Dottendorf, Dransdorf, Endenich, Graurheindorf, Gronau, Ippendorf, Kessenich, Lessenich/Meßdorf, Nordstadt, Poppelsdorf, Röttgen, Südstadt, Tannenbusch, Ückesdorf, Venusberg, Weststadt
|-
|Hardtberg
| align="center" |
| align="right" |33,360
|Brüser Berg, Duisdorf, Hardthöhe, Lengsdorf
|}
Climate
Bonn has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk).}} History Founding and Roman period
The history of the city dates back to Roman times. In about 12 BC, the Roman army appears to have stationed a small unit in what is presently the historical centre of the city. Even earlier, the army had resettled members of a Germanic tribal group allied with Rome, the Ubii, in Bonn. The Latin name for that settlement, "Bonna", may stem from the original population of this and many other settlements in the area, the Eburoni. Bona is Celtic for tribe. The Eburoni were members of a large tribal coalition effectively wiped out during the final phase of Caesar's War in Gaul. After several decades, the army gave up the small camp linked to the Ubii-settlement. During the 1st century AD, the army then chose a site to the north of the emerging town in what is now the section of Bonn-Castell to build a large military installation dubbed Castra Bonnensis, i.e., literally, "Fort Bonn". Initially built from wood, the fort was eventually rebuilt in stone. With additions, changes and new construction, the fort remained in use by the army into the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, possibly the mid-5th century. The structures themselves remained standing well into the Middle Ages, when they were called the Bonnburg. They were used by Frankish kings until they fell into disuse. Eventually, much of the building materials seem to have been re-used in the construction of Bonn's 13th-century city wall. The (star gate) in the city center is a reconstruction using the last remnants of the medieval city wall.
To date, Bonn's Roman fort remains the largest fort of its type known from the ancient world, i.e. a fort built to accommodate a full-strength Imperial Legion and its auxiliaries. The fort covered an area of approximately . Between its walls it contained a dense grid of streets and a multitude of buildings, ranging from spacious headquarters and large officers' quarters to barracks, stables and a military jail. Among the legions stationed in Bonn, the "1st", i.e. the Prima Legio Minervia, seems to have served here the longest. Units of the Bonn legion were deployed to theatres of war ranging from modern-day Algeria to what is now the Russian republic of Chechnya.
style.]]
The chief Roman road linking the provincial capitals of Cologne and Mainz cut right through the fort where it joined the fort's main road (now, Römerstraße). Once past the South Gate, the Cologne–Mainz road continued along what are now streets named Belderberg, Adenauerallee et al. On both sides of the road, the local settlement, Bonna, grew into a sizeable Roman town. Bonn is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map.
In late antiquity, much of the town seems to have been destroyed by marauding invaders. The remaining civilian population then took refuge inside the fort along with the remnants of the troops stationed here. During the final decades of Imperial rule, the troops were supplied by Franci chieftains employed by the Roman administration. When the end came, these troops simply shifted their allegiances to the new barbarian rulers, the Kingdom of the Franks. From the fort, the Bonnburg, as well as from a new medieval settlement to the South centered around what later became the minster, grew the medieval city of Bonn. Local legends arose from this period that the name of the village came from Saint Boniface via Vulgar Latin *Bonnifatia, but this proved to be a myth.
Middle ages and early modern period
counts Nietzsche, Marx, and Adenauer among its alumni.]]
Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the Romanesque style Bonn Minster was built, and in 1597 Bonn became the seat of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The city gained more influence and grew considerably. The city was subject to a major bombardment during the Siege of Bonn in 1689. Bonn was then returned to Cologne where it remained the capital at the Peace of Ryswick. The elector Clemens August (ruled 1723–1761) ordered the construction of a series of Baroque buildings which still give the city its character. Another memorable ruler was Max Franz (ruled 1784–1794), who founded the university and the spa quarter of Bad Godesberg. In addition he was a patron of the young Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770; the elector financed the composer's first journey to Vienna.
In 1794, the city was seized by French troops, becoming a part of the First French Empire. In 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars, Bonn became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Administered within the Prussian Rhine Province, the city became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany. Bonn was of little relevance in these years.
20th century and the "Bonn Republic"
During the Second World War, Bonn acquired military significance because of its strategic location on the Rhine, which formed a natural barrier to easy penetration into the German heartland from the west. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Bonn on 7 March 1945, and the US 1st Infantry Division captured the city during the battle of 8–9 March 1945.
on a state visit to Bonn in 1962]]
After the Second World War, Bonn was in the British zone of occupation. Following the advocacy of West Germany's first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, a former Cologne Mayor and a native of that area, Bonn became the de facto capital and seat of government, officially designated the "temporary seat of the Federal institutions" of the newly formed Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. However, the Bundestag, seated in Bonn's Bundeshaus, affirmed Berlin's status as the German capital. Bonn was chosen as the provisional capital and seat of government despite the fact that Frankfurt already had most of the required facilities and using Bonn was estimated to be 95 million DM more expensive than using Frankfurt. Bonn was chosen because Adenauer and other prominent West German politicians intended to make Berlin the capital of a reunified Germany, and they felt that locating the provisional capital in a major city like Frankfurt or Hamburg would imply a <i>permanent</i> capital and plausibly weaken support in West Germany for a future reunification.
In 1949, the Parliamentary Council in Bonn drafted and adopted the current German constitution, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. As the political centre of West Germany, Bonn saw six Chancellors and six Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany. Bonn's time as the capital of West Germany is commonly referred to as the Bonn Republic, in contrast to the Berlin Republic which followed reunification in 1990.After national reunification
was the primary official residence of the President of Germany. Today it serves as the President's secondary residence.]]
German reunification in 1990 made Berlin the nominal capital of Germany again. This decision, however, did not mandate that the republic's political institutions would also move. While some argued for the seat of government to move to Berlin, others advocated leaving it in Bonn – a situation roughly analogous to that of the Netherlands, where Amsterdam is the capital but The Hague is the seat of government. Berlin's previous history as united Germany's capital was strongly connected with the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and more ominously with both Nazi Germany and Prussia. It was felt that a new peacefully united Germany should not be governed from a city connected to such overtones of war. Additionally, Bonn was closer to Brussels, headquarters of the European Economic Community. Former West German chancellor and mayor of West Berlin Willy Brandt caused considerable offence to the Western Allies during the debate by stating that France would not have kept the seat of government at Vichy after Liberation.
The heated debate that resulted was settled by the Bundestag (Germany's parliament) only on 20 June 1991. By a vote of 338–320, the Bundestag voted to move the seat of government to Berlin. The vote broke largely along regional lines, with legislators from the south and west favouring Bonn and legislators from the north and east voting for Berlin. It also broke along generational lines as well; older legislators with memories of Berlin's past glory favoured Berlin, while younger legislators favoured Bonn. Ultimately, the votes of the eastern German legislators tipped the balance in favour of Berlin.
From 1990 to 1999, Bonn served as the seat of government of reunited Germany. In recognition of its former status as German capital, it holds the name of Federal City (). Bonn currently shares the status of Germany's seat of government with Berlin, with the President, the Chancellor and many government ministries (such as Food & Agriculture and Defence) maintaining large presences in Bonn. Over 8,000 of the 18,000 federal officials remain in Bonn. A total of 19 United Nations (UN) institutions operate from Bonn today.Politics and government(CDU) was the mayor of Bonn from 2015 until 2020.]] Mayor
The current mayor of Bonn is Katja Dörner of Alliance 90/The Greens since 2020. She defeated incumbent mayor Ashok-Alexander Sridharan in the most recent mayoral election, which was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September. The results were as follows:
! rowspan2 colspan2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
|-
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Ashok-Alexander Sridharan
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union
| 48,454
| 34.5
| 52,762
| 43.7
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Katja Dörner
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
| 38,793
| 27.6
| 67,880
| 56.3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Lissi von Bülow
| align=left| Social Democratic Party
| 28,389
| 20.2
|-
|
| align=left| Christoph Artur Manka
| align=left| Citizens' League Bonn
| 8,694
| 6.2
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Michael Faber
| align=left| The Left
| 7,032
| 5.0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Werner Hümmrich
| align=left| Free Democratic Party
| 4,853
| 3.5
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Frank Rudolf Christian Findeiß
| align=left| Die PARTEI
| 2,873
| 2.0
|-
|
| align=left| Kaisa Ilunga
| align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice
| 1,507
| 1.1
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 140,595
! 99.1
! 120,642
! 99.5
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 1,219
! 0.9
! 627
! 0.5
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 141,814
! 100.0
! 121,269
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 249,091
! 56.9
! 249,098
! 48.7
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/aktuell/b314000kw2000.shtml State Returning Officer]
|}
City council
The Bonn city council governs the city alongside the mayor. It used to be based in the Rococo-style (old city hall), built in 1737, located adjacent to Bonn's central market square. However, due to the enlargement of Bonn in 1969 through the incorporation of Beuel and Bad Godesberg, it moved into the larger Stadthaus facilities further north. This was necessary for the city council to accommodate an increased number of representatives. The mayor of Bonn still sits in the , which is also used for representative and official purposes.
The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
| 39,311
| 27.9
| 9.2
| 19
| 3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
| 36,315
| 25.7
| 4.7
| 17
| 10
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
| 21,956
| 15.6
| 7.9
| 11
| 9
|-
|
| align=left| Citizens' League Bonn (BBB)
| 9,948
| 7.1
| 2.0
| 5
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
| 8,745
| 6.2
| 0.0
| 4
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
| 7,268
| 5.2
| 3.0
| 3
| 4
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Volt Germany (Volt)
| 7,148
| 5.1
| New
| 3
| New
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
| 4,569
| 3.2
| 0.4
| 2
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
| 3,095
| 2.2
| New
| 1
| New
|-
|
| align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
| 1,775
| 1.3
| 0.2
| 1
| ±0
|-
| colspan7 bgcolorlightgrey|
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)
| 869
| 0.6
| 1.6
| 0
| 2
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Independents
| 101
| 0.1
| –
| 0
| –
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 141,100
! 99.3
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid votes
! 1,052
! 0.7
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Total
! 142,152
! 100.0
!
! 66
! 20
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 249,091
! 57.1
! 0.3
!
!
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/aktuell/a314000kw2000.shtml State Returning Officer]
|}
State government
Four delegates represent the Federal city of Bonn in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The last election took place in May 2022. The current delegates are Guido Déus (CDU), Christos Katzidis (CDU), Joachim Stamp (FDP), Tim Achtermeyer (Greens) and Dr. Julia Höller (Greens)
Federal government
Bonn's constituency is called (096). In the German federal election 2017, Ulrich Kelber (SPD) was elected a member of German Federal parliament, the Bundestag by direct mandate. It is his fifth term. Katja Dörner representing Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff for FDP were elected as well. Kelber resigned in 2019 because he was appointed Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. As Dörner was elected Lord Mayor of Bonn in September 2020, she resigned as a member of parliament after her entry into office.
Culture
Beethoven's birthplace is located in Bonngasse near the market place. Next to the market place is the Old City Hall, built in 1737 in Rococo style, under the rule of Clemens August of Bavaria. It is used for receptions of guests of the city, and as an office for the mayor. Nearby is the Kurfürstliches Schloss, built as a residence for the prince-elector and now the main building of the University of Bonn.
Minster of Bonn is one of Germany's oldest churches.]]
The Poppelsdorfer Allee is an avenue flanked by chestnut trees which had the first horsecar of the city. It connects the Kurfürstliches Schloss with the Poppelsdorfer Schloss, a palace that was built as a resort for the prince-electors in the first half of the 18th century, and whose grounds are now a botanical garden (the Botanischer Garten Bonn). This axis is interrupted by a railway line and Bonn Hauptbahnhof, a building erected in 1883/84.
The Beethoven Monument stands on the Münsterplatz, which is flanked by the Bonn Minster, one of Germany's oldest churches.
The three highest structures in the city are the WDR radio mast in Bonn-Venusberg (), the headquarters of the Deutsche Post called Post Tower () and the former building for the German members of parliament Langer Eugen () now the location of the UN Campus.Churches* Bonn Minster
* Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf built in 1151
* Old Cemetery Bonn (Alter Friedhof), one of the best known cemeteries in Germany
* , built in 1627 with Johann Balthasar Neumann's Heilige Stiege, it is a stairway for Christian pilgrims
* St. Remigius, where Beethoven was baptized
Castles and residences
* Godesburg fortress ruins
* The Röttgen suburb was once home to Schloss Herzogsfreude, now lost, but once a hunting lodge of elector Clemens August.
Modern buildings
]]
* Beethovenhalle
* Bundesviertel (federal quarter) with many government structures including
** Post Tower, the tallest building in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, housing the headquarters of Deutsche Post/DHL
** Maritim Bonn, five-star hotel and convention centre
** Schürmann-Bau, headquarters of Deutsche Welle
** Langer Eugen, since 2006 the centre of the United Nations Campus, formerly housing the offices of the members of the German parliament
* Deutsche Telekom headquarters
* Telekom Deutschland headquarters
* Kameha Grand, five-star hotel
Museums
focuses on the cultural heritage outside of Germany or Europe, at the crossroads of culture, the arts, and science.]]
Just as Bonn's other four major museums, the Haus der Geschichte or Museum of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, is located on the so-called Museumsmeile ("Museum Mile"). The Haus der Geschichte is one of the foremost German museums of contemporary German history, with branches in Berlin and Leipzig. In its permanent exhibition, the Haus der Geschichte presents German history from 1945 until the present, also shedding light on Bonn's own role as former capital of West Germany. Numerous temporary exhibitions emphasize different features, such as Nazism or important personalities in German history.
The Kunstmuseum Bonn or Bonn Museum of Modern Art is an art museum founded in 1947. The Kunstmuseum exhibits both temporary exhibitions and its permanent collection. The latter is focused on Rhenish Expressionism and post-war German art. German artists on display include Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, Anselm Kiefer, Blinky Palermo and Wolf Vostell. The museum owns one of the largest collections of artwork by Expressionist painter August Macke. His work is also on display in the August-Macke-Haus, located in Macke's former home where he lived from 1911 to 1914.
is Bonn's natural history museum.]]
The Bundeskunsthalle (full name: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland or Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany), focuses on the crossroads of culture, arts, and science. To date, it attracted more than 17 million visitors. One of its main objectives is to show the cultural heritage outside of Germany or Europe. Next to its changing exhibitions, the Bundeskunsthalle regularly hosts concerts, discussion panels, congresses, and lectures.
The Museum Koenig is Bonn's natural history museum. Affiliated with the University of Bonn, it is also a zoological research institution housing the Leibniz-Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere. Politically interesting, it is on the premises of the Museum Koenig where the Parlamentarischer Rat first met.
The Deutsches Museum Bonn, affiliated with one of the world's foremost science museums, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, is an interactive science museum focusing on post-war German scientists, engineers, and inventions.
Other museums include the Beethoven House, birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven, the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn (Rhinish Regional Museum Bonn), the Bonn Women's Museum, the Rheinisches Malermuseum and the Arithmeum.Nature
in the Siebengebirge south of Bonn]]
There are several parks, leisure and protected areas in and around Bonn. The is Bonn's most important leisure park, with its role being comparable to what Central Park is for New York City. It lies on the banks of the Rhine and is the city's biggest park intra muros. The Rhine promenade and the Alter Zoll (Old Toll Station) are in direct neighbourhood of the city centre and are popular amongst both residents and visitors. The Arboretum Park Härle is an arboretum with specimens dating to back to 1870. The Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden) is affiliated with the university. The natural reserve of Kottenforst is a large area of protected woods on the hills west of the city centre. It is about in area and part of the Rhineland Nature Park ().
In the very south of the city, on the border with Wachtberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, there is an extinct volcano, the Rodderberg, featuring a popular area for hikes. Also south of the city, there is the Siebengebirge which is part of the lower half of the Middle Rhine region. The nearby upper half of the Middle Rhine from Bingen to Koblenz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages and important German vineyards.
Transportation
Air traffic
(IATA: CGN) is Germany's seventh-largest.]]
Named after Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war Chancellor of West Germany, Cologne Bonn Airport is situated north-east from the city centre of Bonn. With around 10.3 million passengers passing through it in 2015, it is the seventh-largest passenger airport in Germany and the third-largest in terms of cargo operations. By traffic units, which combines cargo and passengers, the airport is in fifth position in Germany. As of March 2015, Cologne Bonn Airport had services to 115 passenger destinations in 35 countries. The airport is one of Germany's few 24-hour airports, and is a hub for Eurowings and cargo operators FedEx Express and UPS Airlines.
The federal motorway (Autobahn) A59 connects the airport with the city. Long distance and regional trains to and from the airport stop at Cologne/Bonn Airport station. Another major airport within a one-hour drive by car is Düsseldorf International Airport.
Rail and bus system
station at Bonn Hauptbahnhof, Bonn's busiest railway station]]
Bonn's central railway station, Bonn Hauptbahnhof is the city's main public transportation hub. It lies just outside the old town and near the central university buildings. It is served by regional (S-Bahn and Regionalbahn) and long-distance (IC and ICE) trains. Daily, more than 67,000 people travel via Bonn Hauptbahnhof. In late 2016, around 80 long distance and more than 165 regional trains departed to or from Bonn every day. Another long-distance station, (Siegburg/Bonn), is located in the nearby town of Siegburg and serves as Bonn's station on the high-speed rail line between Cologne and Frankfurt, offering faster connections to Southern Germany. It can be reached by Stadtbahn line 66 (approx. 25 minutes from central Bonn).
Bonn has a Stadtbahn light rail and a tram system. The Bonn Stadtbahn has 4 regular lines that connect the main north–south axis (centre to Bad Godesberg) and quarters east of the Rhine (Beuel and Oberkassel), as well as many nearby towns like Brühl, Wesseling, Sankt Augustin, Siegburg, Königswinter, and Bad Honnef. All lines serve the Central Station and two lines continue to Cologne, where they connect to the Cologne Stadtbahn. The Bonn tram system consists of two lines that connect closer quarters in the south, north and east of Bonn to the Central Station. While the Stadtbahn mostly has its own right-of-way, the tram often operates on general road lanes. A few sections of track are used by both systems. These urban rail lines are supplemented by a bus system of roughly 30 regular lines, especially since some parts of the city like Hardtberg and most of Bad Godesberg completely lack a Stadtbahn/Tram connection. Several lines offer night services, especially during the weekends. Bonn is part of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (Rhine-Sieg Transport Association) which is the public transport association covering the area of the Cologne/Bonn Region.
Road network
Four Autobahns run through or are adjacent to Bonn: the A59 (right bank of the Rhine, connecting Bonn with Düsseldorf and Duisburg), the A555 (left bank of the Rhine, connecting Bonn with Cologne), the A562 (connecting the right with the left bank of the Rhine south of Bonn), and the A565 (connecting the A59 and the A555 with the A61 to the southwest). Three Bundesstraßen, which have a general speed limit in contrast to the Autobahn, connect Bonn to its immediate surroundings (Bundesstraßen B9, B42 and B56).
With Bonn being divided into two parts by the Rhine, three bridges are crucial for inner-city road traffic: the Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke (A562) in the South, the Friedrich-Ebert-Brücke (A565) in the North, and the Kennedybrücke (B56) in the centre. In addition, regular ferries operate between Bonn-Mehlem and Königswinter, Bonn-Bad Godesberg and Königswinter-Niederdollendorf, and Bonn-Graurheindorf and Niederkassel-Mondorf.
Port
Located in the northern sub-district of Graurheindorf, the inland harbour of Bonn is used for container traffic as well as oversea transport. The annual turnover amounts to around . Regular passenger transport occurs to Cologne and Düsseldorf.
Economy
have their headquarters in Bonn.]]
The head offices of Deutsche Telekom, its subsidiary Telekom Deutschland, Deutsche Post, German Academic Exchange Service, and SolarWorld are in Bonn.
The third largest employer in the city of Bonn is the University of Bonn (including the university clinics) and Stadtwerke Bonn also follows as a major employer.
On the other hand, there are several traditional, nationally known private companies in Bonn such as luxury food producers Verpoorten and Kessko, the Klais organ manufacture and the Bonn flag factory.
The largest confectionery manufacturer in Europe, Haribo, has its founding headquarters (founded in 1920) and a production site in Bonn. Since April 2018, the head office of the company is located in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Grafschaft.
Other companies of supraregional importance are Weck Glaswerke (production site), Fairtrade, Eaton Industries (formerly Klöckner & Moeller), IVG Immobilien, Kautex Textron, SolarWorld, Vapiano and the SER Group.
Education
, an important research funding organisation]]
Electoral Palace]]
The Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn (University of Bonn) is one of the largest universities in Germany. It is also the location of the German research institute Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) offices and of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD).
Private schools
* Aloisiuskolleg, a Jesuit private school in Bad Godesberg with boarding facilities
* Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium, a Protestant private school in Bad Godesberg
* Bonn International School (BIS), a private English-speaking school set in the former American Compound in the Rheinaue, which offers places from kindergarten to 12th grade. It follows the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate.
* Libysch Schule, private Arabic high school
* Independent Bonn International School, (IBIS) private primary school (serving from kindergarten, reception, and years 1 to 6)
* École de Gaulle - Adenauer, private French-speaking school serving grades pre-school ("maternelle") to grade 4 (CM1)
* Kardinal-Frings-Gymnasium (KFG), private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Beuel
* Liebfrauenschule (LFS), private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne
* , private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Beuel
* , private Catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Bad Godesberg
* , private boarding and day school in Oberkassel
* ("PÄDA"), private day school in Bad Godesberg
* ("CoJoBo"), private catholic day school
* Akademie für Internationale Bildung, private higher educational facility offering programs for international students
; Former schools
* King Fahd Academy, private Islamic school in Bad Godesberg
Demographics
, Bonn had a population of 327,913. About 70% of the population was entirely of German origin, while about 100,000 people, equating to roughly 30%, were at least partly of non-German origin. The city is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Germany and the 18th most populous city in the country. Bonn's population is predicted to surpass the populations of Wuppertal and Bochum before the year 2030.
The following list shows the largest groups of origin of minorities with "migration background" in Bonn .
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background:#efefef;" |Rank
! style="background:#efefef;" |Migration background
! style="background:#efefef;" |Population (31 December 2022)
|-
|1|||| 9,428
|-
|2|||| 8,254
|-
|3|||| 6,879
|-
|4|||| 5,921
|-
|5|||| 3,976
|-
|6|||| 3,933
|-
|7|||| 3,341
|-
|8|||| 3,282
|-
|9|||| 2,744
|-
|10|||| 2,429
|-
|11|||| 2,216
|-
|12|||| 2,198
|-
|13|||| 2,043
|-
|14|||| 1,918
|-
|15||||1,823
|-
|16||||1,781
|-
|17||||1,764
|-
|18||||1,736
|-
|19||||1,657
|-
|20||||1,635
|-
|21||||1,579
|-
|22||||1,343
|-
|23||||1,260
|-
|24||||1,220
|-
|}
head office]]
Sports
Bonn is home of the Telekom Baskets Bonn, the only basketball club in Germany that owns its arena, the Telekom Dome. The club is the reigning champion of the 2022–23 Basketball Champions League.
The city also has a semi-professional football team Bonner SC which was formed in 1965 through the merger of Bonner FV and Tura Bonn.
The Bonn Gamecocks American football team play at the 12,000-capacity Stadion Pennenfeld.
The successful German Baseball team Bonn Capitals are also found in the city of Bonn.
The headquarters of the International Paralympic Committee has been located in Bonn since 1999.
International relations
Since 1983, the City of Bonn has established friendship relations with the City of Tel Aviv, Israel, and since 1988 Bonn, in former times the residence of the Princes Electors of Cologne, and Potsdam, Germany, the formerly most important residential city of the Prussian rulers, have established a city-to-city partnership.
Central Bonn is surrounded by a number of traditional towns and villages which were independent up to several decades ago. As many of those communities had already established their own contacts and partnerships before the regional and local reorganisation in 1969, the Federal City of Bonn now has a dense network of city district partnerships with European partner towns.
The city district of Bonn is a partner of the English university city of Oxford, England, UK (since 1947), of Budafok, District XXII of Budapest, Hungary (since 1991) and of Opole, Poland (officially since 1997; contacts were established 1954).
The district of Bad Godesberg has established partnerships with Saint-Cloud in France, Frascati in Italy, Windsor and Maidenhead in England, UK and Kortrijk in Belgium; a friendship agreement has been signed with the town of Yalova, Turkey.
The district of Beuel on the right bank of the Rhine and the city district of Hardtberg foster partnerships with towns in France: Mirecourt and Villemomble.
Moreover, the city of Bonn has developed a concept of international co-operation and maintains sustainability oriented project partnerships in addition to traditional city twinning, among others with Minsk in Belarus, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Chengdu in China and La Paz in Bolivia.
Twin towns – sister cities
Bonn is twinned with:
* Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1999)
* Cape Coast, Ghana (2012)
* Chengdu, China (2009)
* Kherson, Ukraine (2023)
* Minsk, Belarus (1993)
* La Paz, Bolivia (1996)
* Potsdam, Germany (1988)
<!--Ramallah - not twinning-->
* Tel Aviv, Israel (1983)
* Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (1993)
Bonn city district is twinned with:
* Oxford, United Kingdom (1947)
* Budafok-Tétény (Budapest), Hungary (1991)
<!--Opole - twinning ended-->
For twin towns of other city districts, see Bad Godesberg, Beuel and Hardtberg.
Notable people
Pre–20th century
]]
]]
* Johann Peter Salomon (1745–1815), musician
* Franz Anton Ries (1755–1846), violinist and violin teacher
* Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer
* Salomon Oppenheim, Jr. (1772–1828), banker
* Peter Joseph Lenné (1789–1866), gardener and landscape architect
* Friedrich von Gerolt (1797–1879), diplomat
* Karl Joseph Simrock (1802–1876), writer and specialist in German
* Wilhelm Neuland (1806–1889), composer and conductor
* Johanna Kinkel (1810–1858), composer and writer
* Moses Hess (1812–1875), philosopher and writer
* Johann Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), theologian, writer, and politician
* Alexander Kaufmann (1817–1893), author and archivist
* Leopold Kaufmann (1821–1898), mayor
* Julius von Haast (1822–1887), New Zealand explorer and professor of geology
* Dietrich Brandis (1824–1907), botanist
* Balduin Möllhausen (1825–1905), traveler and writer
* Maurus Wolter (1825–1890), Benedictine, founder and first abbot of the Abbey of Beuron and Beuronese Congregation
* August Reifferscheid (1835–1887), philologist
* Antonius Maria Bodewig (1839–1915), Jesuit missionary and founder
* Nathan Zuntz (1847–1920), physician
* Alexander Koenig (1858–1940), zoologist, founder of Museum Koenig in Bonn
* Alfred Philippson (1864–1953), geographer
* Johanna Elberskirchen (1864–1943), writer and activist
* Max Alsberg (1877–1933), lawyer
* Kurt Wolff (1887–1963), publisher
* Hans Riegel Sr. (1893–1945), entrepreneur, founder of Haribo
* Eduard Krebsbach (1894–1947), SS doctor in Nazi Mauthausen concentration camp, executed for war crimes
* Paul Kemp (1896–1953), actor
1900–1949
]]
* Hermann Josef Abs (1901–1994), board member of the Deutsche Bank
* Paul Ludwig Landsberg (1901–1944), in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, philosopher
* Heinrich Lützeler (1902–1988), philosopher, art historian, and literary scholar
* Frederick Stephani (1903–1962), film director and screenwriter
* Helmut Horten (1909–1987), entrepreneur
* Theodor Schieffer (1910–1992), historian and medievalist
* Irene Sänger-Bredt (1911–1983), mathematician and physicist
* E. F. Schumacher (1911–1977), economist
* Karl-Theodor Molinari (1915–1993), General and founding chairman of the German Armed Forces Association
* Karlrobert Kreiten (1916–1943), pianist
* Hans Walter Zech-Nenntwich (born 1916), Second Polish Republic, SS Cavalry member and war criminal
* Walther Killy (1917–1985), German literary scholar, Der Killy
* Hannjo Hasse (1921–1983), actor
* Walter Gotell (1924–1997), actor
* Walter Eschweiler (born 1935), football referee
* Alexandra Cordes (1935–1986), writer
* Joachim Bißmeier (born 1936), actor
* Roswitha Esser (born 1941), canoeist, gold medal winner at the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968, Sportswoman of the Year 1964
* Heide Simonis (1943–2023), politician (SPD), former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, since 2005 honorary chairman of UNICEF Germany
* Paul Alger (born 1943), football player
* Johannes Mötsch (born 1949), archivist and historian
* Klaus Ludwig (born 1949), race car driver
* Albert Kunetz (born 1951), classical pianist
1950–1999
* Günter Ollenschläger (born 1951), medical and science journalist
* Hans "Hannes" Bongartz (born 1951), football player and coach
* Christa Goetsch (born 1952), politician (Alliance '90 / The Greens)
* Michael Meert (born 1953), film author and director
* Thomas de Maizière (born 1954), politician (CDU), former Minister of Defense and of the Interior
* Gerd Faltings (born 1954), mathematician, Fields Medal winner
* Olaf Manthey (born 1955), former touring car racing driver
* Michael Kühnen (1955–1991), Neo-Nazi
* Roger Willemsen (1955–2016), publicist, author, essayist, and presenter
* Norman Rentrop (born 1957), publisher, author, and investor
* Markus Maria Profitlich (born 1960), comedian and actor
* Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016), politician (FDP), Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011
* Mathias Dopfner (born 1963), chief executive officer of Axel Springer AG
* Nikolaus Blome (born 1963), journalist
* Maxim Kontsevich (born 1964), mathematician, Fields Medal winner
* Johannes B. Kerner (born 1964), TV presenter, Abitur at the Aloisiuskolleg, and studied in Bonn
* Anthony Baffoe (born 1965), football player, sports presenter, and actor
* Sonja Zietlow (born 1968), TV presenter
* Burkhard Garweg (born 1968), member of the Red Army Faction
* Sabriye Tenberken (born 1970), Tibetologist, founder of Braille Without Borders
* Thorsten Libotte (born 1972), writer
* Tamara Gräfin von Nayhauß (born 1972), television presenter
* Silke Bodenbender (born 1974), actress
* Juli Zeh (born 1974), writer
* Oliver Mintzlaff (born 1975), track and field athlete and sports manager, CEO of RB Leipzig
* Markus Dieckmann (born 1976), beach volleyball player
* Bernadette Heerwagen (born 1977), actress
* Melanie Amann (born 1978), journalist
* Bushido (born 1978), musician and rapper
* Sonja Fuss (born 1978), football player
* DJ Manian (born 1978), DJ of Cascada and owner of Zooland Records
* Andreas Tölzer (born 1980), judoka
* Jens Hartwig (born 1980), actor
* Natalie Horler (born 1981), front woman of the Dance Project Cascada
* Marcel Ndjeng (born 1982), football player
* Marc Zwiebler (born 1984), badminton player
* Benjamin Barg (born 1984), football player
* Alexandros Margaritis (born 1984), race car driver
* Ken Miyao (born 1986), pop singer
* Felix Reda (born 1986), politician
* Peter Scholze (born 1987), mathematician, Fields Medal winner
* Célia Šašić (born 1988), football player
* Luke Mockridge (born 1989), comedian and author
* Pius Heinz (born 1989), poker player, 2011 WSOP Main Event champion
* Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (born 1990), basketball player
* Levina (born 1991), singer
* Bienvenue Basala-Mazana (born 1992), football player
* Kim Petras (born 1992), pop singer and songwriter
* Annika Beck (born 1994), tennis player
* James Hyndman (born 1962), stage actor
* Konstanze Klosterhalfen (born 1997), track and field athlete
21st century
* Anny Ogrezeanu (born 2001), singer and The Voice of Germany winner 2022
Note
References
Bibliography
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170606072608/http://www.bonn.de/index.html?lang=en Official website] (archived)
* [https://www.bonn-region.de/en/ Tourist information]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170708153952/http://www.bonn.de/tourismus_kultur_sport_freizeit/bonn_ist_kultur/museen/museumsmeile/index.html?lang=en "The Museum Mile"] (archived)
* [http://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/en/home.html Germany's Museum of Art in Bonn]
<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->
Category:Former national capitals
Category:Populated places on the Rhine
Category:Roman towns and cities in Germany
Category:10s BC establishments in the Roman Empire
Category:Roman legionary fortresses in Germany
Category:Roman fortifications in Germania Inferior
Category:Urban districts of North Rhine-Westphalia
Category:Cologne (region)
Category:Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonn | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.166321 |
3332 | Ballroom dance | Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television.
Ballroom dance may refer, at its widest definition, to almost any recreational dance with a partner. However, with the emergence of dance competition (now known as Dancesport), two principal schools have emerged and the term is used more narrowly to refer to the dances recognized by those schools.
The International School, originally developed in England and now regulated by the World Dance Council (WDC) and the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), is most prevalent in Europe. It encompasses two categories, Standard and Latin, each of which consist of five dances—International Waltz, International Tango, International Viennese Waltz, International Slow Foxtrot, and International Quickstep in the Standard category and International Samba, International Cha Cha, International Rumba, International Paso Doble, and International Jive in the Latin category. A "Standard" or "Latin" competition encompasses all five dances in the respective category, and a "Ten Dance" competition encompasses all ten dances. The two styles, while differing in technique, rhythm, and costumes, exemplify core elements of ballroom dancing such as control and cohesiveness.
The American School, also called North American School, is most prevalent in the United States and Canada, where it is regulated by USA Dance and Canada Dancesport (CDS) -- the respective national member bodies of the WDSF. It also consists of two categories analogous to the Standard and Latin categories of the International School, respectively called Smooth and Rhythm. The Smooth category consists of only four dances—American Waltz, American Tango, American Foxtrot, and American Viennese Waltz, omitting American Peabody (the American School equivalent to Quickstep) -- while the dances selected for competition in the Rhythm category are American Cha Cha, American Rumba, American East Coast Swing (the American School equivalent to International Jive), American Bolero, and American Mambo. A "Smooth" or "Rhythm" competition encompasses the dances in the respective category, and a "Nine Dance" competition encompassing all nine of these dances is analogous to the "Ten Dance" competition of the International School. USA Dance additionally recognizes American Peabody, American Merengue, American Paso Doble, American Samba, American West Coast Swing, American Polka, and American Hustle as ballroom dances in which sanctioned competition may take place.
Note that dances of the two schools that bear the same name may differ considerably in permitted patterns (figures), technique, and styling.
Exhibitions and social situations that feature ballroom dancing also may include additional partner dances such as Lindy Hop, Night Club Two Step, Night Club Swing, Bachata, Country Two Step, and regional (local or national) favorites that normally are not regarded as part of the ballroom family, and a number of historical dances also may be danced in ballrooms or salons. Additionally, some sources regard Sequence Dancing, in pairs or other formations, to be a style of ballroom dance.
Definitions and history
, Italy, 15th century]]
The term 'ballroom dancing' is derived from the word ball which in turn originates from the Latin word ballare which means 'to dance' (a ball-room being a large room specially designed for such dances). In times past, ballroom dancing was social dancing for the privileged, leaving folk dancing for the lower classes. These boundaries have since become blurred. The definition of ballroom dance also depends on the era: balls have featured popular dances of the day such as the Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Polka, Mazurka, and others, which are now considered to be historical dances.
Early modern period
The first authoritative knowledge of the earliest ballroom dances was recorded toward the end of the 16th century, when Jehan Tabourot, under the pen name "Thoinot-Arbeau", published in 1588 his Orchésographie, a study of late 16th-century French renaissance social dance. Among the dances described were the solemn basse danse, the livelier branle, pavane, and the galliarde which Shakespeare called the "cinq pace" as it was made of five steps. In the 1840s several new dances made their appearance in the ballroom, including the polka, mazurka, and the Schottische. In the meantime a strong tendency emerged to drop all 'decorative' steps such as entrechats and ronds de jambes that had found a place in the Quadrilles and other dances.
Early 20th century
, early ballroom dance pioneers, –18]]
Modern ballroom dance has its roots early in the 20th century, when several different things happened more or less at the same time. The first was a movement away from the sequence dances towards dances where the couples moved independently. This had been pre-figured by the waltz, which had already made this transition. The second was a wave of popular music, such as jazz. Since dance is to a large extent tied to music, this led to a burst of newly invented dances. There were many dance crazes in the period 1910–1930.
The third event was a concerted effort to transform some of the dance crazes into dances which could be taught to a wider dance public in the U.S. and Europe. Here Vernon and Irene Castle were important, and so was a generation of English dancers in the 1920s, including Josephine Bradley and Victor Silvester. These professionals analysed, codified, published, and taught a number of standard dances. It was essential, if popular dance was to flourish, for dancers to have some basic movements they could confidently perform with any partner they might meet. Here the huge Arthur Murray organisation in America, and the dance societies in England, such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, were highly influential. Finally, much of this happened during and after a period of World War, and the effect of such a conflict in dissolving older social customs was considerable.
Later, in the 1930s, the on-screen dance pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers influenced all forms of dance in the U.S. and elsewhere. Although both actors had separate careers, their filmed dance sequences together, which included portrayals of the Castles, have reached iconic status. Much of Astaire and Rogers' work portrayed social dancing, although the performances were highly choreographed (often by Astaire or Hermes Pan) and meticulously staged and rehearsed.
Competitive dancing
dance at competitions in Austria.]]
Competitions, sometimes referred to as dancesport, range from world championships, regulated by the World Dance Council (WDC), to less advanced dancers at various proficiency levels. Most competitions are divided into professional and amateur, though in the USA pro-am competitions typically accompany professional competitions. The International Olympic Committee now recognizes competitive ballroom dance. It has recognized another body, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), as the sole representative body for dancesport in the Olympic Games.
Ballroom dance competitions are regulated by each country in its own way. There are about 30 countries which compete regularly in international competitions. There are another 20 or so countries which have membership of the WDC and/or the WDSF, but whose dancers rarely appear in international competitions. In Britain there is the British Dance Council, which grants national and regional championship titles, such as the British Ballroom Championships, the British Sequence Championships and the United Kingdom Championships. In the United States, the member branches of the WDC (National Dance Council of America) and the WDSF (USA Dance) both grant national and regional championship titles.
Ballroom dancing competitions in the former USSR also included the Soviet Ballroom dances, or Soviet Programme. Australian New Vogue is danced both competitively and socially. In competition, there are 15 recognized New Vogue dances, which are performed by the competitors in sequence. These dance forms are not recognized internationally, neither are the US variations such as American Smooth, and Rhythm. Such variations in dance and competition methods are attempts to meets perceived needs in the local market-place.
Internationally, the Blackpool Dance Festival, hosted annually at Blackpool, England is considered the most prestigious event a dancesport competitor can attend.
Formation dance is another style of competitive dance recognized by the WDSF. In this style, multiple dancers (usually in couples and typically up to 16 dancers at one time) compete on the same team, moving in and out of various formations while dancing. The Blackpool Dance Festival also holds an annual event for competitive formation dancing.
Elements of competition
ballroom dance competition. A judge stands in the foreground.]]
In competitive ballroom, dancers are judged by diverse criteria such as poise, the hold or frame, posture, musicality and expression, timing, body alignment and shape, floor craft, foot and leg action, and presentation. Judging in a performance-oriented sport is inevitably subjective in nature, and controversy and complaints by competitors over judging placements are not uncommon. The scorekeepers—called scrutineers—will tally the total number recalls accumulated by each couple through each round until the finals when the Skating system is used to place each couple by ordinals, typically 1–6, though the number of couples in the final may vary. Sometimes, up to 8 couples may be present on the floor during the finals.
Competitors dance at different levels based on their ability and experience. The levels are split into two categories, syllabus and open. The syllabus levels are newcomer/pre-bronze, bronze, silver, and gold—with gold the highest syllabus level and newcomer the lowest. In these levels, moves are restricted to those written in a syllabus, and illegal moves can lead to disqualification. Each level, bronze, silver, and gold, has different moves on their syllabus, increasing in difficulty. There are three levels in the open category; novice, pre-champ, and champ in increasing order of skill. At those levels, dancers no longer have restrictions on their moves, so complex routines are more common.
Medal evaluations
Medal evaluations for amateurs enable dancers' individual abilities to be recognized according to conventional standards. In medal evaluations, which are run by bodies such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the United Kingdom Alliance (UKA), each dancer performs two or more dances in a certain genre in front of a judge. Genres such as Modern Ballroom or Latin are the most popular. Societies such as the ISTD and UKA also offer medal tests on other dance styles (such as Country & Western, Rock 'n Roll or Tap). In some North American examinations, levels include Newcomer, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Novice, Pre-championship, and Championship; each level may be further subdivided into either two or four separate sections.
Collegiate ballroom
There is a part of the ballroom world dedicated to college students. These chapters are typically clubs or teams that have an interest in ballroom dancing. Teams hold fundraisers, social events, and ballroom dance lessons. Ballroom dance teams' goals are to have fun and learn to dance well. There is a strong focus on finding a compatible dance partner and bonding with teammates. There is also a competitive side to collegiate ballroom - collegiate teams often hold competitions and invite other teams to participate. These competitions are often run with many of the same rules are regular amateur competitions as outlined above, but are usually organized entirely by collegiate teams. Examples include the MIT Open Ballroom Dance Competition, Big Apple Dancesport Challenge, Purdue Ballroom Classic, Cardinal Classic, Berkeley Classic, and Harvard Invitational. Dances "Ballroom dance" refers most often to the ten dances of Standard and Latin, though the term is also often used interchangeably with the five International Ballroom dances. Sequence dancing, which is danced predominantly in the United Kingdom, and its development New Vogue in Australia and New Zealand, are also sometimes included as a type of Ballroom dancing.
In the United States and Canada, the American Style (American Smooth and American Rhythm) also exists. The dance technique used for both International and American styles is similar, but International Ballroom allows only closed dance positions, whereas American Smooth allows closed, open and separated dance movements. In addition, different sets of dance figures are usually taught for the two styles. International Latin and American Rhythm have different styling, and have different dance figures in their respective syllabi.
Other dances sometimes placed under the umbrella "ballroom dance" include nightclub dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast swing, nightclub two step, hustle, salsa, and merengue. The categorization of dances as "ballroom dances" has always been fluid, with new dances or folk dances being added to or removed from the ballroom repertoire from time to time, so no list of subcategories or dances is any more than a description of current practices. There are other dances historically accepted as ballroom dances, and are revived via the vintage dance movement.
In Europe, Latin Swing dances include Argentine tango, mambo, Lindy Hop, swing boogie (sometimes also known as nostalgic boogie), and discofox. One example of this is the subcategory of cajun dances that originated in Acadiana, with branches reaching both coasts of the United States.
Standard/Smooth dances are normally danced to Western music (often from the mid-twentieth century), and couples dance counter-clockwise around a rectangular floor following the line of dance. In competitions, competitors are costumed as would be appropriate for a white tie affair, with full gowns for the ladies and bow tie and tail coats for the men; though in American Smooth it is now conventional for the men to abandon the tailsuit in favor of shorter tuxedos, vests, and other creative outfits.
Latin/Rhythm dances are commonly danced to contemporary Latin American music and (in case of jive) Western music. With the exception of a few traveling dances like samba and pasodoble, couples do not follow the line of dance but perform their routines more or less in one spot. In competitions, the women are often dressed in short-skirted Latin outfits while the men are outfitted in tight-fitting shirts and pants, the goal being to emphasize the dancers' leg action and body movements.
Competitive dances
in 2006. The couple, dancing for the US, came third in the Professional World Championship 2009.]]
Standard/Smooth
Waltz
Waltz began as a country folk dance in Austria and Bavaria in the 17th century. In the early 19th century it was introduced in England. It was the first dance where a man held a woman close to his body. When performing the dance, the upper body is kept to the left throughout all figures, the follower's body leans to the right side of the leader while the head is extended left to follow the elbow. Figures with rotation have little rise. The start of the rise begins slowly from the first count, peaks on the 2nd count and lowers slowly on the 3rd. Sway is also used on the second step to make the step longer and also to slow down the momentum by bringing the feet together. Waltz is performed for both International Standard and American Smooth.
Viennese Waltz
Viennese waltz originated in Provence area in France in 1559 and is recognized as the oldest of all ballroom dances. It was introduced in England as German waltz in 1812 and became popular throughout the 19th century by the music of Josef and Johann Strauss. It is often referred to as the classic “old-school” ballroom. Viennese Waltz music is quite fast. Slight shaping of the body moves towards the inside of the turn and shaping forward and up to lengthen the opposite side from direction. Reverse turn is used to travel down long side and is overturned. While natural turn is used to travel short side and is underturned to go around the corners. Viennese waltz is performed for both International Standard and American Smooth. Tango
Tango originated in Buenos Aires in the late 19th century. Modern Argentine tango is danced in both open and closed embraces which focuses on the lead and follow moving in harmony of the tango's passionate charging music. The tango's technique is like walking to the music while keeping feet grounded and allowing ankles and knees to brush against one another during each step taken. Tango is a flat-footed dance and unlike the other dances, has no rise and fall. Body weight is kept over the toes and the connection is held between the dancers in the hips.
Ballroom tango, however, is a dance with a far more open frame, often utilising strong and staccato movements. Ballroom tango, rather than Argentine tango, is performed in international competition.
Foxtrot
The foxtrot is an American dance, believed to be of African-American origin. It was named by a vaudeville performer Harry Fox in 1914. Fox was rapidly trotting step to ragtime music. The dance therefore was originally named as the “Fox’s trot”. The foxtrot can be danced at slow, medium, or fast tempos depending on the speed of the jazz or big band music. The partners are facing one another and frame rotates from one side to another, changing direction after a measure. The dance is generally danced flat, with not much rise and fall. The walking steps are taken as slow for the two beats per steps and quick for one beat per step. Foxtrot is performed for both International Standard and American Smooth.
Quickstep
The quickstep is an English dance and was invented in the 1920s as a combination of faster tempo of foxtrot and the Charleston. It is a fast moving dance, so men are allowed to close their feet and the couples move in short syncopated steps. Quickstep includes the walks, runs, chasses, and turns of the original foxtrot dance, with some other fast figures such as locks, hops, run, quick step, jump and skips. Quick step is performed as an International Standard dance.
Latin/Rhythm
Pasodoble
The pasodoble originated from Spain and its dramatic bullfights. The dance is mostly performed only in competitions and rarely socially because of its many choreographic rules. The lead plays the role of the matador while the follow takes the role of the matador's cape, the bull, or even the matador. The chasse cape refers to the lead using the follow to turn them as if they are the cape, and the appel is when the lead stomps their foot to get the bull's attention. Pasodoble is performed as an International Latin dance.
Spanish bolero
The Spanish bolero was developed in the late 18th century out of the seguidilla, and its popularization is attributed to court dancers such as Sebastián Cerezo. It became one of the most popular ballroom dances of the 19th century and saw many classical adaptations. However, by the 20th century it had become old-fashioned. A Cuban music genre of the same name, bolero, which became popular in the early 20th century, is unrelated to the Spanish dance.
Cuban bolero
Although Cuban bolero was born as a form of trova, traditional singer/songwriter tradition from eastern Cuba, with no associated dance, it soon became a ballroom favorite in Cuba and all of Latin America. The dance most commonly represents the couple falling in love. Modern bolero is seen as a combination of many dances: like a slow salsa with contra-body movement of tango, patterns of rhumba, and rise and fall technique and personality of waltz and foxtrot. Bolero can be danced in a closed hold or singly and then coming back together. It is performed as an American Rhythm dance.
Samba
Samba is the national dance of Brazil. The rhythm of samba and its name originated from the language and culture of West African slaves. In 1905, samba became known to other countries during an exhibition in Paris. In the 1940s, samba was introduced in America through Carmen Miranda. The international version of Ballroom Samba has been based on an early version of Brazilian Samba called Maxixe, but has since developed away and differs strongly from Brazilian Ballroom Samba, which is called Samba de Gafieira. International Ballroom Samba is danced with a slight bounce which is created through the bending and straightening the knee. It is performed as an International Latin dance, although most of its modern development has occurred outside Latin America.
Rumba
Rumba came to the United States from Cuba in the 1920s and became a popular cabaret dance during prohibition. Rumba is a ballroom adaptation of son cubano and bolero (the Cuban genre) and, despite its name, it rarely included elements of Cuban rumba. It includes Cuban motions through knee-strengthening, figure-eight hip rotation, and swiveling foot action. An important characteristic of rumba is the powerful and direct lead achieved through the ball of the foot. Rumba is performed for both International Latin and American Rhythm. Mambo
Mambo was developed as an offshoot of danzón, the national dance of Cuba, in the late 1930s by Orestes López and his brother Cachao, of Arcaño y sus Maravillas. They conceived a new form of danzón influenced by son cubano, with a faster, improvised final section, which allowed dancers to more freely express themselves, given that danzón had traditionally a very rigid structure. In the 1940s, Dámaso Pérez Prado transformed the mambo from the charanga into the big band format, and took it to Mexico and the United States, where it became a "dance craze".
Cha Cha
Cha Cha (sometimes wrongly called Cha Cha Cha based on a "street version" of the dance with shifted timing) was developed by Enrique Jorrín in the early 1950s, as a slower alternative to Mambo—and, in fact, was originally called Triple Mambo. The Cha Cha is a flirtatious dance with many hip rotations and partners synchronising their movements. The dance includes bending and straightening of the knee giving it a touch of Cuban motion. Cha-cha is performed for both International Latin and American Rhythm.
East Coast Swing
Swing in 1927 was originally named the Lindy Hop named by Shorty George Snowden. There have been 40 different versions documented over the years; most common is the East Coast swing which is performed in the American Smooth (or American Rhythm) only in the U.S. or Canada. The East Coast swing was established by Arthur Murray and others only shortly after World War II. Swing music is very lively and upbeat and can be danced to jazz or big band music. The swing dancing style has much bounce and energy. Swing also includes many spins and underarm turns. East Coast swing is performed as an American Rhythm dance.
Jive
The jive is part of the swing dance group and is a very lively variation of the jitterbug. Jive originated from African American clubs in the early 1940s. During World War II, American soldiers introduced the jive in England where it was adapted to today's competitive jive. In jive, the man leads the dance while the woman encourages the man to ask her to dance. It is danced to big band music, and some technique is taken from salsa, swing and tango. Jive is performed as an International Latin dance.
Dance style classification
International Style competition dances
According to World Dance Council.
Standard
Waltz:
28 bars per minute, time, also known as Slow Waltz or English Waltz depending on locality
Tango:
31 bars per minute, time
Viennese Waltz:
58 bars per minute, time.
On the European continent, the Viennese waltz is known simply as waltz, while the waltz is recognized as English waltz or Slow Waltz.
Foxtrot:
28 bars per minute, time
Quickstep:
50 bars per minute, time
Latin
Cha-cha-cha:
29 bars per minute, time
Samba:
49 bars per minute, time
Rumba:
24 bars per minute, time
Paso Doble:
60 bars per minute, time
Jive:
41 bars per minute, time
American Style competition dances
Smooth
Waltz:
29–30 bars per minute.
30–32 bars per minute for Bronze
Tango:
60 bars per minute
30–32 bars per minute for Bronze
Foxtrot:
30 bars per minute
32–34 bars per minute for Bronze
Viennese Waltz:
53–54 bars per minute
54 bars per minute for Bronze
Rhythm
Cha Cha:
30 bars per minute
Rumba:
30–32 bars per minute
32–36 bars per minute for Bronze
East Coast Swing:
36 bars per minute
34–36 bars per minute for Bronze
Bolero:
24 bars per minute
24–26 bars per minute for Bronze
Mambo:
47 bars per minute
48–51 bars per minute for Bronze
Others
Historical/Vintage Ballroom dance:
:Waltz – Polka – Schottische – Tango – One-Step – Foxtrot – Peabody
Other dances occasionally categorized as ballroom:
: Nightclub
:Nightclub Two-step – Hustle – Modern Jive / LeRoc / Ceroc – and the whole swing variety: West Coast Swing / East Coast Swing/ Lindy Hop (always included in the "Rhythm-Swing" category) / Carolina Shag / Collegiate Shag / Balboa / Blues – Fusion
: Latin nightclub
:Salsa – Cumbia – Mambo – Merengue – Porro – Cha cha – Bachata
: African nightclub
:Kizomba – Semba – Coladeira - Funana - Zouk
: Brazilian Dances
:Forró – Pagode – Samba de Gafieira – Lambada - Zouk-Lambada
: Country/Western
:C/W Polka – C/W Cha-cha – C/W Two-step – C/W Waltz
: Cajun dances
:Cajun One Step or Cajun Jig – Cajun Two Step – Zydeco – Cajun Waltz – Cajun Jitterbug
: Musette dances
:Java – musette-waltz – musette-tango – musette-paso-doble
: Other
:Argentine tango – New Vogue
See also
* Dance in Canada
* Dance sport in Austria
* Australian Dance
* Dancesport at the Asian Games
References
Further reading
*
* Arthur Murray,(1938) How To Become A Good Dancer ,
* Abra, Allison. "Review of James Nott, Going to the palais: a social and cultural history of dancing and dance halls in Britain, 1918–1960." Contemporary British History (Sep 2016) 30#3 pp 432–433.
*
* It's a Fabulous world,(2020) Documentary about ballroom dance industry
External links
*Digitized material from the [https://www.loc.gov/collections/dance-instruction-manuals-from-1490-to-1920/about-this-collection/ American Ballroom Companion Collection: Dance Instruction Manuals] (ca. 1490–1920) in the [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/ Rare Book and Special Collections Division] of the Library of Congress | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballroom_dance | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.183697 |
3333 | The Birth of a Nation | | screenplay =
| based_on =
| starring =
| music = Joseph Carl Breil
| cinematography = Billy Bitzer
| editing = D. W. Griffith
| studio = David W. Griffith Corp.
| distributor = Epoch Producing Co.
| released =
| runtime 12 reels <br /> 133–193 minutes
| country = United States
| language =
| budget $100,000+ lauded for its technical virtuosity. It was the first non-serial American 12-reel film ever made. Its plot, part fiction and part history, chronicles the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and the relationship of two families in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras over the course of several years—the pro-Union (Northern) Stonemans and the pro-Confederacy (Southern) Camerons. It was originally shown in two parts separated by an intermission, and it was the first American-made film to have a musical score for an orchestra. It helped to pioneer closeups and fadeouts, and it includes a carefully staged battle sequence with hundreds of extras made to look like thousands. It was the first motion picture to be screened inside the White House, viewed there by President Woodrow Wilson, his family, and members of his cabinet.
The film was controversial even before its release and it has remained so ever since; it has been called "the most controversial film ever made in the United States", The film has been denounced for its racist depiction of African Americans.
Popular among white audiences nationwide upon its release, the film's success was both a consequence of and a contributor to racial segregation throughout the U.S. In response to the film's depictions of black people and Civil War history, African Americans across the U.S. organized and protested. In Boston and other localities, black leaders and the NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to have it banned on the basis that it inflamed racial tensions and could incite violence. It was also denied release in the state of Ohio and the cities of Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year.
In spite of its divisiveness, The Birth of a Nation was a massive commercial success across the nation—grossing far more than any previous motion picture—and it profoundly influenced both the film industry and American culture. Adjusted for inflation, the film remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. It has been acknowledged as an inspiration for the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan, which took place only a few months after its release. In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Plot
Part 1: Civil War of United States
, led by Ben Cameron]]
Phil, the elder son of the Stonemans (a Northern family), falls in love with Margaret Cameron (the daughter of a Southern family), during a visit to the Cameron estate in South Carolina. There, Margaret's brother Ben idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman, Phil's sister. When the Civil War arrives, the young men of both families enlist in their respective armies. The younger Stoneman and two of the Cameron brothers die in combat. Meanwhile, a black militia attacks the Cameron home and is routed by Confederate soldiers who save the Cameron women. Leading the final charge at the Siege of Petersburg, Ben Cameron earns the nickname of "the Little Colonel", but is also wounded and captured. He is then taken to a Union military hospital in Washington, D.C.
During his stay at the hospital, he learns that he will be hanged. Working there as a nurse is Elsie Stoneman, whose picture he has been carrying. Elsie takes Cameron's mother who traveled there to tend her son and to see Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Cameron persuades him to pardon Ben. After Lincoln's assassination, his conciliatory postwar policy expires with him. Elsie's father and other Radical Republicans are determined to punish the South.Part 2: Reconstruction
Stoneman and his protégé Silas Lynch, a psychopathic mulatto, head to South Carolina to observe the implementation of Reconstruction policies. During the election, in which Lynch is elected lieutenant governor, black people stuff the ballot boxes while many white people are denied the vote. The newly elected members of the South Carolina legislature are mostly black.
by white actor Walter Long]]
Inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare black children, Ben fights back by forming the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, Elsie breaks up with him. While going off alone into the woods to fetch water, Flora Cameron is followed by Gus, a freedman and soldier who is now a captain. Gus says that he desires to marry Flora. Uninterested, she rejects him, but Gus keeps insisting. Frightened, she flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora threatens to jump if he comes any closer. When he does, she leaps to her death. While looking for Flora, Ben sees her jump and holds her as she dies. He then carries her body to the Cameron home. In response, the Klan hunts down Gus, tries him, finds him guilty, lynches him and delivers his corpse to the home of Silas Lynch.
After discovering Gus's murder, Lynch orders a crackdown on the Klan. He also secures the passing of legislation allowing mixed-race marriages. Dr. Cameron is arrested for possessing Ben's Klan regalia, now considered a capital crime. He is rescued by Phil Stoneman and some of his black servants. Together with Margaret Cameron, they flee. When their wagon breaks down, they make their way through the woods to a small hut that is home to two former Union soldiers who agree to hide them.
Congressman Stoneman, Elsie's father, leaves to avoid being connected with Lynch's crackdown. Elsie, learning of Dr. Cameron's arrest, visits Lynch to plead for his release. Lynch, who lusts after Elsie, tries to force her to marry him, which causes her to faint. Stoneman returns, causing Elsie to be placed in another room. At first Stoneman is happy when Lynch says that he wants to marry a white woman, but he is then angered when Lynch says that he wishes to marry Elsie. She breaks a window and cries out for help, getting the attention of undercover Klansman spies. The Klan gathered together, with Ben leading them, ride in to gain control of the town. When news about Elsie reaches Ben, he and others go to her rescue. Lynch is captured while his militia attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding. However, the Klansmen, with Ben at their head, save them. The next election day, black men find a line of mounted and armed Klansmen outside their homes and are intimidated into not voting. Margaret Cameron marries Phil Stoneman and Elsie Stoneman marries Ben Cameron.
Cast
<!--- per credits order --->
;Credited
* Lillian Gish as Elsie Stoneman
* Mae Marsh as Flora Cameron, the pet (baby) sister
* Henry B. Walthall as Colonel Benjamin Cameron ("The Little Colonel")
* Miriam Cooper as Margaret Cameron, elder sister
* Mary Alden as Lydia Brown, Stoneman's housekeeper
* Ralph Lewis as Austin Stoneman, Leader of the House
* George Siegmann as Silas Lynch
* Walter Long as Gus, the renegade
* Wallace Reid as Jeff, the blacksmith
* Joseph Henabery as Abraham Lincoln
* Elmer Clifton as Phil Stoneman, elder son
* Robert Harron as Tod Stoneman
* Josephine Crowell as Mrs. Cameron
* Spottiswoode Aitken as Dr. Cameron
* George Beranger as Wade Cameron, second son
* Maxfield Stanley as Duke Cameron, youngest son
* Jennie Lee as Mammy, the faithful servant
* Donald Crisp as General Ulysses S. Grant
* Howard Gaye as General Robert E. Lee
;Uncredited
as John Wilkes Booth]]
* Harry Braham as Cameron's faithful servant
* Edmund Burns as Klansman
* David Butler as Union soldier / Confederate soldier
* William Freeman as Jake, a mooning sentry at Federal hospital
* Sam De Grasse as Senator Charles Sumner
* Olga Grey as Laura Keene
* Russell Hicks
* Elmo Lincoln as ginmill owner / slave auctioneer
* Eugene Pallette as Union soldier
* Harry Braham as Jake / Nelse
* Charles Stevens as volunteer
* Madame Sul-Te-Wan as woman with gypsy shawl
* Raoul Walsh as John Wilkes Booth
* Lenore Cooper as Elsie's maid
* Violet Wilkey as young Flora
* Tom Wilson as Stoneman's servant
* Donna Montran as belles of 1861
* Alberta Lee as Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln
* Allan Sears as Klansmen
* Dark Cloud as General at Appomattox Surrender
* Vester Pegg
* Alma Rubens
* Mary Wynn
* Jules White
* Monte Blue
* Gibson Gowland
* Fred Burns
* Charles King
Production
1911 version
In 1911, the Kinemacolor Company of America produced a lost film in Kinemacolor titled The Clansman. It was filmed in the southern United States and directed by William F. Haddock. According to different sources, the ten-reel film was either completed by January 1912 or left uncompleted with a little more than a reel of footage. There are several speculated reasons why the film production failed including unresolved legal issues regarding the rights to the story, financial issues, problems with the Kinemacolor process, and poor direction. Frank E. Woods, the film's scriptwriter, showed his work to Griffith, who was inspired to create his own film adaptation of the novel, titled The Birth of a Nation. Inspiration Many of the fictional characters in the film are based on real historical figures. Abolitionist U.S. Representative Austin Stoneman is based on the Reconstruction-era Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania. Ben Cameron is modeled after Leroy McAfee. Silas Lynch was modeled after Alonzo J. Ransier and Richard Howell Gleaves.DevelopmentAfter the failure of the Kinemacolor project, in which Dixon was willing to invest his own money, Griffith first announced his intent to adapt Dixon's play to Gish and Walthall after filming Home, Sweet Home in 1914.
Birth of a Nation "follows The Clansman [the play] nearly scene by scene." According to Karen Crowe, "[t]here is not a single event, word, character, or circumstance taken from The Leopard's Spots.... Any likenesses between the film and The Leopard's Spots occur because some similar scenes, circumstances, and characters appear in both books."
Griffith agreed to pay Thomas Dixon $10,000 (equivalent to $}} in ) for the rights to his play The Clansman''. Since he ran out of money and could afford only $2,500 of the original option, Griffith offered Dixon 25 percent interest in the picture. Dixon reluctantly agreed, and the unprecedented success of the film made him rich. Dixon's proceeds were the largest sum any author had received [up to 2007] for a motion picture story and amounted to several million dollars. and was finished by October 1914. The film's war scenes were influenced by Robert Underwood Johnson's book Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, ''Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, The Soldier in Our Civil War'', and Mathew Brady's photography. (equivalent to $}} in ) but rose to over $100,000 (equivalent to $}} in ).
By the time he finished filming, Griffith had shot approximately 150,000 feet of footage (approximately 36 hours of film), which he edited down to 13,000 feet (just over 3 hours). Though film was still silent at the time, it was common practice to distribute musical cue sheets, or less commonly, full scores (usually for organ or piano accompaniment) along with each print of a film.
For The Birth of a Nation, composer Joseph Carl Breil created a three-hour-long musical score that combined all three types of music in use at the time: adaptations of existing works by classical composers, new arrangements of well-known melodies, and original composed music. "Old Folks at Home," "The Star-Spangled Banner," "America the Beautiful," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Auld Lang Syne," and "Where Did You Get That Hat?" DJ Spooky has called Breil's score, with its mix of Dixieland songs, classical music and "vernacular heartland music...an early, pivotal accomplishment in remix culture." He has also cited Breil's use of music by Wagner as influential on subsequent Hollywood films, including Star Wars (1977) and Apocalypse Now (1979).
In his original compositions for the film, Breil wrote numerous leitmotifs to accompany the appearance of specific characters. The principal love theme that was created for the romance between Elsie Stoneman and Ben Cameron was published as "The Perfect Song" and is regarded as the first marketed "theme song" from a film; it was later used as the theme song for the popular radio and television sitcom ''Amos 'n' Andy.
Release
Theatrical run
The first public showing of the film, then called The Clansman'', was on January 1 and 2, 1915, at the Loring Opera House in Riverside, California. It was shown on February 8, 1915, to an audience of 3,000 people at Clune's Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles and ran there for seven months.
At the New York premiere, Dixon spoke on stage when the interlude started halfway through the film, reminding the audience that the dramatic version of The Clansman appeared in that venue nine years previously. "Mr. Dixon also observed that he would have allowed none but the son of a Confederate soldier to direct the film version of The Clansman." An estimated 3 million people watched the film across 6,266 showings in New York City by January 1916.
The film's backers understood that the film needed a massive publicity campaign if they were to cover the immense cost of producing it. A major part of this campaign was the release of the film in a roadshow theatrical release. This allowed Griffith to charge premium prices for tickets, sell souvenirs, and build excitement around the film before giving it a wide release. For several months, Griffith's team traveled to various cities to show the film for one or two nights before moving on. This strategy was immensely successful. The title was changed before the March 2 New York opening. However, the title was used in the press as early as January 2, 1915, while it was still referred to as The Clansman in October.Special screeningsWhite House showingThe Birth of a Nation was the first movie shown in the White House, in the East Room, on February 18, 1915. An earlier movie, the Italian Cabiria (1914), was shown on the lawn. It was attended by President Woodrow Wilson, members of his family, and members of his Cabinet. Both Dixon and Griffith were present. As put by Dixon, not an impartial source, "it repeated the triumph of the first showing."
There is dispute about Wilson's attitude toward the movie. A newspaper reported that he "received many letters protesting against his alleged action in Indorsing the pictures ", including a letter from Massachusetts Congressman Thomas Chandler Thacher. Dixon has been accused of misquoting Wilson. Wilson over the years had several times used the metaphor of illuminating history as if by lightning and he may well have said it at the time. The accuracy of his saying it was "terribly true" is disputed by historians; there is no contemporary documentation of the remark. Vachel Lindsay, a popular poet of the time, is known to have referred to the film as "art by lightning flash."Showing in the Raleigh Hotel ballroomThe next day, February 19, 1915, Griffith and Dixon held a showing of the film in the Raleigh Hotel ballroom, which they had hired for the occasion. Early that morning, Dixon called on a North Carolina friend, Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy. Daniels set up a meeting that morning for Dixon with Edward Douglass White, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Initially Justice White was not interested in seeing the film, but when Dixon told him it was the "true story" of Reconstruction and the Klan's role in "saving the South", White, recalling his youth in Louisiana, jumped to attention and said: "I was a member of the Klan, sir". With White agreeing to see the film, the rest of the Supreme Court followed. In addition to the entire Supreme Court, in the audience were "many members of Congress and members of the diplomatic corps", the Secretary of the Navy, 38 members of the Senate, and about 50 members of the House of Representatives. The audience of 600 "cheered and applauded throughout."ConsequencesIn Griffith's words, the showings to the president and the entire Supreme Court conferred an "honor" upon Birth of a Nation.
A warrant to close the theater in which the movie was to open was dismissed after a long-distance call to the White House confirmed that the film had been shown there. clearly was rattled and upset by criticism by African Americans that the movie encouraged hatred against them, and he wanted the endorsement of as many powerful men as possible to offset such criticism.
New opening titles on re-release
One famous part of the film was added by Griffith only on the second run of the film and is missing from most online versions of the film (presumably taken from first run prints).
These are the second and third of three opening title cards that defend the film. The added titles read:
<blockquote>
A PLEA FOR THE ART OF THE MOTION PICTURE:
We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue—the same liberty that is conceded to the art of the written word—that art to which we owe the Bible and the works of Shakespeare and If in this work we have conveyed to the mind the ravages of war to the end that war may be held in abhorrence, this effort will not have been in vain.</blockquote>
Various film historians have expressed a range of views about these titles. To Nicholas Andrew Miller, this shows that "Griffith's greatest achievement in The Birth of a Nation was that he brought the cinema's capacity for spectacle... under the rein of an outdated, but comfortably literary form of historical narrative. Griffith's models... are not the pioneers of film spectacle... but the giants of literary narrative". On the other hand, S. Kittrell Rushing complains about Griffith's "didactic" title-cards, while Stanley Corkin complains that Griffith "masks his idea of fact in the rhetoric of high art and free expression" and creates a film that "erodes the very ideal" of liberty that he asserts.
Social impact
KKK support
Studies have linked the film to greater support for the KKK. Glorifying the Klan to approving white audiences, the film became a national cultural phenomenon: merchandisers made Ku Klux hats and kitchen aprons, and ushers dressed in white Klan robes for openings. In New York there were Klan-themed balls and, in Chicago that Halloween, thousands of college students dressed in robes for a massive Klan-themed party.
Anti-black violence
When the film was released, riots broke out in Philadelphia and other major cities in the United States. The film's inflammatory nature was a catalyst for gangs of white people to attack black people. On April 24, 1916, the Chicago American reported that a white man murdered a black teenager in Lafayette, Indiana, after seeing the film, although there has been some controversy as to whether the murderer had actually seen The Birth of a Nation. The mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was the first of twelve mayors to ban the film in 1915 out of concern that it would promote racial prejudice, after meeting with a delegation of black citizens. The NAACP set up a precedent-setting national boycott of the film, likely seen as the most successful effort. Additionally, they organized a mass demonstration when the film was screened in Boston, and it was banned in three states and several cities.
In 2021, a Harvard University research paper found that the film was shown in 606 counties in the United States and that "[o]n average, lynchings in a county rose fivefold in the month after [the film] arrived." Variety praised Griffith's direction, claiming he "set such a pace it will take a long time before one will come along that can top it in point of production, acting, photography and direction. Every bit of the film was laid, played and made in America. One may find some flaws in the general running of the picture, but they are so small and insignificant that the bigness and greatness of the entire film production itself completely crowds out any little defects that might be singled out."
Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News noted "an element of excitement that swept a sophisticated audience like a prairie fire in a high wind", while the New York Tribune said it was a "spectacular drama" with "thrills piled upon thrills". The New Republic, however, called it "aggressively vicious and defamatory" and a "spiritual assassination. It degrades the censors that passed it and the white race that endures it".
Box office
]]
The box office gross of The Birth of a Nation is not known and has been the subject of exaggeration. When the film opened, the tickets were sold at premium prices. The film played at the Liberty Theater at Times Square in New York City for 44 weeks with tickets priced at $2.20 (). By the end of 1917, Epoch reported to its shareholders cumulative receipts of $4.8 million, although the distributor's share of the revenue at this time was much lower than the exhibition gross. In the biggest cities, Epoch negotiated with individual theater owners for a percentage of the box office; elsewhere, the producer sold all rights in a particular state to a single distributor (an arrangement known as "state's rights" distribution). The film historian Richard Schickel says that under the state's rights contracts, Epoch typically received about 10% of the box office gross—which theater owners often underreported—and concludes that "Birth certainly generated more than $60 million in box-office business in its first run".
The film was the highest-grossing film until it was overtaken by Gone with the Wind (1939), another film about the Civil War and Reconstruction era. By 1940 Time magazine estimated the film's cumulative gross rental (the distributor's earnings) at approximately $15 million. For years Variety had the gross rental listed as $50 million, but in 1977 repudiated the claim and revised its estimate down to $5 million. In a 2015 Time article, Richard Corliss estimated the film had earned the equivalent of $1.8 billion adjusted for inflation, a milestone that at the time had only been surpassed by Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) in nominal earnings. The NAACP also conducted a public education campaign, publishing articles protesting the film's fabrications and inaccuracies, organizing petitions against it, and conducting education on the facts of the war and Reconstruction. Because of the lack of success in NAACP's actions to ban the film, on April 17, 1915, NAACP secretary Mary Childs Nerney wrote to NAACP Executive Committee member George Packard: "I am utterly disgusted with the situation in regard to The Birth of a Nation ... kindly remember that we have put six weeks of constant effort of this thing and have gotten nowhere." W. E. B. Du Bois's biographer David Levering Lewis opined that "... The Birth of a Nation and the NAACP helped make each other", in that the NAACP campaign in one sense served as advertising for the film, but that it also "... mobilized thousands of black and white men and women in large cities across the country... who had been unaware of the existence of the [NAACP] or indifferent to it."
led a demonstration against the film, which resulted in a riot.]]
Jane Addams, an American social worker and social reformer, and the founder of Hull House, voiced her reaction to the film in an interview published by the New York Post on March 13, 1915, just ten days after the film was released. She stated that "One of the most unfortunate things about this film is that it appeals to race prejudice upon the basis of conditions of half a century ago, which have nothing to do with the facts we have to consider to-day. Even then it does not tell the whole truth. It is claimed that the play is historical: but history is easy to misuse." The following day a huge demonstration was staged at Faneuil Hall. In Washington D.C, the Reverend Francis James Grimké published a pamphlet entitled "Fighting a Vicious Film" that challenged the historical accuracy of The Birth of a Nation on a scene-by-scene basis. In a letter to The New York Globe, Griffith wrote that his film was "an influence against the intermarriage of blacks and whites".
When Sherwin Lewis of The New York Globe wrote a piece that expressed criticism of the film's distorted portrayal of history and said that it was not worthy of constitutional protection because its purpose was to make a few "dirty dollars", Griffith responded that "the public should not be afraid to accept the truth, even though it might not like it". He also added that the man who wrote the editorial was "damaging my reputation as a producer" and "a liar and a coward".
Audience reaction
The Birth of a Nation was very popular, despite the film's controversy; it was unlike anything that American audiences had ever seen before. The Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest picture ever made and the greatest drama ever filmed". Mary Pickford said: "Birth of a Nation was the first picture that really made people take the motion picture industry seriously". The producers had 15 "detectives" at the Liberty Theater in New York City "to prevent disorder on the part of those who resent the 'reconstruction period' episodes depicted."
The Reverend Charles Henry Parkhurst argued that the film was not racist, saying that it "was exactly true to history" by depicting freedmen as they were and, therefore, it was a "compliment to the black man" by showing how far black people had "advanced" since Reconstruction. Critic Dolly Dalrymple wrote that, "when I saw it, it was far from silent... incessant murmurs of approval, roars of laughter, gasps of anxiety, and outbursts of applause greeted every new picture on the screen". One man viewing the film was so moved by the scene where Flora Cameron flees Gus to avoid being raped that he took out his handgun and began firing at the screen in an effort to help her. A sequel called The Fall of a Nation was released in 1916, depicting the invasion of the United States by a German-led confederation of European monarchies and criticizing pacifism in the context of the First World War. It was the first feature-length sequel in film history. The film was directed by Thomas Dixon Jr., who adapted it from his novel of the same name. Despite its success in the foreign market, the film was not a success among American audiences, and is now a lost film. The film was an ambitious project by producer Emmett Jay Scott to challenge Griffith's film and tell another side of the story, but was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1920, African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux released Within Our Gates, a response to The Birth of a Nation. Within Our Gates depicts the hardships faced by African Americans during the era of Jim Crow laws. Griffith's film was remixed in 2004 as Rebirth of a Nation by DJ Spooky. Quentin Tarantino has said that he made his film Django Unchained (2012) to counter the falsehoods of The Birth of a Nation. The historian John Hope Franklin observed that, had it not been for The Birth of a Nation, the Klan might not have been reborn. The content of the work, however, has received widespread criticism for its blatant racism. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote:
<blockquote>Certainly The Birth of a Nation (1915) presents a challenge for modern audiences. Unaccustomed to silent films and uninterested in film history, they find it quaint and not to their taste. Those evolved enough to understand what they are looking at find the early and wartime scenes brilliant, but cringe during the postwar and Reconstruction scenes, which are racist in the ham-handed way of an old minstrel show or a vile comic pamphlet. </blockquote>
Despite its controversial story, the film has been praised by film critics, with Ebert mentioning its use as a historical tool: "The Birth of a Nation'' is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, it is a great film that argues for evil. To understand how it does so is to learn a great deal about film, and even something about evil." History.com states that "There is no doubt that Birth of a Nation played no small part in winning wide public acceptance" for the KKK, and that throughout the film "African Americans are portrayed as brutish, lazy, morally degenerate, and dangerous." David Duke used the film to recruit Klansmen in the 1970s.
In 2013, the American critic Richard Brody wrote The Birth of a Nation was:
<blockquote>... a seminal commercial spectacle but also a decisively original work of art—in effect, the founding work of cinematic realism, albeit a work that was developed to pass lies off as reality. It's tempting to think of the film's influence as evidence of the inherent corruption of realism as a cinematic mode—but it's even more revealing to acknowledge the disjunction between its beauty, on the one hand, and, on the other, its injustice and falsehood. The movie's fabricated events shouldn't lead any viewer to deny the historical facts of slavery and Reconstruction. But they also shouldn't lead to a denial of the peculiar, disturbingly exalted beauty of Birth of a Nation, even in its depiction of immoral actions and its realization of blatant propaganda. The worst thing about The Birth of a Nation is how good it is. The merits of its grand and enduring aesthetic make it impossible to ignore and, despite its disgusting content, also make it hard not to love. And it's that very conflict that renders the film all the more despicable, the experience of the film more of a torment—together with the acknowledgment that Griffith, whose short films for Biograph were already among the treasures of world cinema, yoked his mighty talent to the cause of hatred (which, still worse, he sincerely depicted as virtuous). Richard Corliss of Time wrote that Griffith "established in the hundreds of one- and two-reelers he directed a cinematic textbook, a fully formed visual language, for the generations that followed. More than anyone else—more than all others combined—he invented the film art. He brought it to fruition in The Birth of a Nation." Corliss praised the film's "brilliant storytelling technique" and noted that "The Birth of a Nation is nearly as antiwar as it is antiblack. The Civil War scenes, which consume only 30 minutes of the extravaganza, emphasize not the national glory but the human cost of combat. ... Griffith may have been a racist politically, but his refusal to find uplift in the South's war against the Union—and, implicitly, in any war at all—reveals him as a cinematic humanist."AccoladesIn 1992, the U.S. Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The American Film Institute ranked it #44 within the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list in 1998.
Historical portrayal
The film remains controversial due to its interpretation of American history. University of Houston historian Steven Mintz summarizes its message as follows: "Reconstruction was an unmitigated disaster, African-Americans could never be integrated into white society as equals, and the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan were justified to reestablish honest government". The South is portrayed as a victim. The first overt mentioning of the war is the scene in which Abraham Lincoln signs the call for the first 75,000 volunteers. However, the first aggression in the Civil War, made when the Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in 1861, is not mentioned in the film. The film suggested that the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the postwar South, which was depicted as endangered by abolitionists, freedmen, and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North. This is similar to the Dunning School of historiography which was current in academe at the time. The film is slightly less extreme than the books upon which it is based, in which Dixon misrepresented Reconstruction as a nightmarish time when black men ran amok, storming into weddings to rape white women with impunity.
The film portrayed President Abraham Lincoln as a friend of the South and refers to him as "the Great Heart". The two romances depicted in the film, Phil Stoneman with Margaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman, reflect Griffith's retelling of history. The couples are used as a metaphor, representing the film's broader message of the need for the reconciliation of the North and South to defend white supremacy. Among both couples, there is an attraction that forms before the war, stemming from the friendship between their families. With the war, however, both families are split apart, and their losses culminate in the end of the war with the defense of white supremacy. One of the intertitles clearly sums up the message of unity: "The former enemies of North and South are united again in defense of their Aryan birthright."
The film further reinforced the popular belief held by whites, especially in the South, of Reconstruction as a disaster. In his 1929 book The Tragic Era: The Revolution After Lincoln, Claude Bowers treated The Birth of a Nation as a factually accurate account of Reconstruction.</blockquote>
Despite some similarities between the Congressman Stoneman character and Rep. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, Rep. Stevens did not have the family members described and did not move to South Carolina during Reconstruction. He died in Washington, D.C. in 1868. However, Stevens's biracial housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, was considered his common-law wife, and was generously provided for in his will.
In the film, Abraham Lincoln is portrayed in a positive light due to his belief in conciliatory postwar policies toward Southern whites. The president's views are opposite those of Austin Stoneman, a character presented in a negative light, who acts as an antagonist. The assassination of Lincoln marks the transition from war to Reconstruction, each of which periods has one of the two "acts" of the film. In including the assassination, the film also establishes to the audience that the plot of the movie has historical basis. Franklin wrote the film's depiction of Reconstruction as a hellish time when black freedmen ran amok, raping and killing whites with impunity until the Klan stepped in is not supported by the facts. Instead, most freed slaves continued to work for their former masters in Reconstruction for the want of a better alternative and, though relations between freedmen and their former masters were not friendly, very few freedmen sought revenge against the people who had enslaved them.
The depictions of mass Klan paramilitary actions did not have historical equivalents. However, there were incidents in 1871 where Klan groups traveled from other areas in fairly large numbers to aid localities in disarming local companies of the all-black portion of the state militia, and the organized Klan continued activities as small groups of "night riders".
The civil rights movement of the 1960s inspired a new generation of historians, such as scholar Eric Foner, who led a reassessment of Reconstruction. Building on W. E. B. DuBois' work, but also adding new sources, they focused on achievements of the African American and white Republican coalitions, such as establishment of universal public education and charitable institutions in the South and extension of voting rights to black men. In response, the Southern-dominated Democratic Party and its affiliated white militias used extensive terrorism, intimidation and even assassinations to suppress African-American leaders and voters in the 1870s and thereby to regain power in the South.
Legacy
Film innovations
In his review of The Birth of a Nation in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Jonathan Kline writes that "with countless artistic innovations, Griffith essentially created contemporary film language... virtually every film is beholden to [The Birth of a Nation] in one way, shape or form. Griffith introduced the use of dramatic close-ups, tracking shots, and other expressive camera movements; parallel action sequences, crosscutting, and other editing techniques". He added that "the fact that The Birth of a Nation remains respected and studied to this day—despite its subject matter—reveals its lasting importance."
Griffith helped to pioneer such camera techniques as close-ups, fade-outs, and a carefully staged battle sequence with hundreds of extras made to look like thousands. The Birth of a Nation also contained many new artistic techniques, such as color tinting for dramatic purposes, and featuring its own musical score written for an orchestra.
One of the earliest high-quality home versions was film preservationist David Shepard's 1992 transfer of a 16mm print for VHS and LaserDisc release via Image Entertainment. A short documentary, The Making of The Birth of a Nation, newly produced and narrated by Shepard, was also included. Both were released on DVD by Image in 1998 and the United Kingdom's Eureka Entertainment in 2000.
* Ryan O'Neal's character Leo Harrigan in Peter Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon (1976) attends the premiere of The Birth of a Nation and realizes that it will change the course of American cinema.
* Clips from Griffith's film are shown in
**Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump (1994), where the footage is meant to portray the titular character's ancestor and namesake Nathan Bedford Forrest
** The closing montage of Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2000), along with other footage from demeaning portrayals of African Americans in early 20th century film
* Director Kevin Willmott's mockumentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004) portrays an imagined history where the Confederacy won the Civil War. It shows part of an imagined Griffith film, The Capture of Dishonest Abe, which resembles The Birth of a Nation and was supposedly adapted from Thomas Dixon's The Yankee.
* In Justin Simien's Dear White People (2014), Sam (Tessa Thompson) screens a short film called The Rebirth of a Nation which portrays white people wearing whiteface while criticizing Barack Obama.</blockquote>
* Dinesh D'Souza's 2016 political documentary ''Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party depicts President Wilson and his cabinet viewing The Birth of a Nation'' in the White House before a Klansman comes out of the screen and into the real world. The film is meant to accuse the Democratic Party and the American political left in covering up its past support of white supremacy and continuing it through welfare policies and machine politics. The title of D'Souza's 2018 film The Death of a Nation is a reference to Griffith's film, and like his previous film is meant to accuse the Democratic Party, and historical American left-wing of racism.
* In 2019, Bowling Green State University renamed its Gish Film Theater, which was named for actress Lillian Gish, after protests alleging that using her name is inappropriate because of her role in The Birth of a Nation.
See also
* List of American films of 1915
* List of films and television shows about the American Civil War
* List of films featuring slavery
* List of highest-grossing films
* List of racism-related films
* Lost Cause of the Confederacy
* Racism against African Americans
* Racism in the United States
* Tom Rice (film historian)
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Addams, Jane, in Crisis: A Record of Darker Races, X (May 1915), 19, 41, and (June 1915), 88.
* Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films (1973).
* Brodie, Fawn M. Thaddeus Stevens, Scourge of the South (New York, 1959), pp. 86–93. Corrects the historical record as to Dixon's false representation of Stevens in this film with regard to his racial views and relations with his housekeeper.
*
* Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan (New York: 1965), p. 30
* Franklin, John Hope. "Silent Cinema as Historical Mythmaker". In Myth America: A Historical Anthology, Volume II. 1997. Gerster, Patrick, and Cords, Nicholas. (editors.) Brandywine Press, St. James, NY.
* Franklin, John Hope, "Propaganda as History" pp. 10–23 in Race and History: Selected Essays 1938–1988 (Louisiana State University Press, 1989); first published in The Massachusetts Review, 1979. Describes the history of the novel The Clan and this film.
* Franklin, John Hope, Reconstruction After the Civil War (Chicago, 1961), pp. 5–7.
*Gallagher, Gary W. (2008) Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood & Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.
*
* Hodapp, Christopher L., and Alice Von Kannon, Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies (Hoboken: Wiley, 2008) pp. 235–236.
* Korngold, Ralph, Thaddeus Stevens. A Being Darkly Wise and Rudely Great (New York: 1955) pp. 72–76. corrects Dixon's false characterization of Stevens' racial views and of his dealings with his housekeeper.
* Leab, Daniel J., From Sambo to Superspade (Boston, 1975), pp. 23–39.
* New York Times, roundup of reviews of this film, March 7, 1915.
* The New Republica, II (March 20, 1915), 185
* Poole, W. Scott, Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting (Waco, Texas: Baylor, 2011), 30.
* Simkins, Francis B., "New Viewpoints of Southern Reconstruction", Journal of Southern History, V (February 1939), pp. 49–61.
* The latest study of the film's making and subsequent career.
* Williamson, Joel, After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina During Reconstruction (Chapel Hill, 1965). This book corrects Dixon's false reporting of Reconstruction, as shown in his novel, his play and this film.
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*The Birth of a Nation essay by David Kehr at National Film Registry [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/birth_nation.pdf]
*
*[https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/the-birth-of-a-nation-controversial-classic-gets-a-definitive-new-restoration The Birth of a Nation: Controversial Classic Gets a Definitive New Restoration] essay by Patrick Stanbury
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRl--OQou9s The Birth of a Nation on YouTube]
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Category:English-language war drama films | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.255175 |
3335 | Baltic Sea | (slightly east of the north tip of Gotland Island)
| type = Sea
| inflow = Daugava, Kemijoki, Neman (Nemunas), Neva, Oder, Vistula, Lule, Narva, Torne
| outflow = Danish straits
| catchment
| basin_countries Coastal: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden<br/>Non-coastal: Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Ukraine
| length
| width
| area
| depth
| max-depth
| volume
| residence_time = 25 years
| salinity | shore
| temperature_high | temperature_low
| frozen | islands Abruka, Aegna, Archipelago Sea Islands (Åland), Bornholm, Dänholm, Ertholmene, Falster, Fårö, Fehmarn, Gotland, Hailuoto, Hiddensee, Hiiumaa, Holmöarna, Kassari, Kesselaid, Kihnu, Kimitoön, Kõinastu, Kotlin, Laajasalo, Lauttasaari, Lidingö, Ljusterö, Lolland, Manilaid, Mohni, Møn, Muhu, Poel, Prangli, Osmussaar, Öland, Replot, Ruhnu, Rügen, Saaremaa, Stora Karlsö, Suomenlinna, Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri, Ummanz, Usedom/Uznam, Väddö, Värmdö, Vilsandi, Vormsi, Wolin
| islands_category = Baltic islands
| trenches | benches
| cities = Copenhagen, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Greifswald, Haapsalu, Helsinki, Jūrmala, Kaliningrad, Kiel, Klaipėda, Kołobrzeg, Kuressaare, Kärdla, Lübeck, Luleå, Mariehamn, Oulu, Palanga, Paldiski, Pärnu, Riga, Rostock, Saint Petersburg, Liepāja, Stockholm, Tallinn, Turku, Ventspils
| reference
<!--
| map2 = File:Belte inter.png
| caption = Danish straits and southwestern Baltic Sea -->}}
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North and Central European Plain regions.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. It is a shelf sea and marginal sea of the Atlantic with limited water exchange between the two, making it an inland sea. The Baltic Sea drains through the Danish straits into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, Great Belt and Little Belt. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia (divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea), the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of Gdańsk.
The "Baltic Proper" is bordered on its northern edge, at latitude 60°N, by Åland and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula.
The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea–Baltic Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal.
Definitions
]]
between Baltic Proper and the Gulf of Bothnia]]
Administration
The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area includes the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat, without calling Kattegat a part of the Baltic Sea, "For the purposes of this Convention the 'Baltic Sea Area' shall be the Baltic Sea and the Entrance to the Baltic Sea, bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57°44.43'N."
Traffic history
Historically, the Kingdom of Denmark collected Sound Dues from ships at the border between the ocean and the land-locked Baltic Sea, in tandem: in the Øresund at Kronborg castle near Helsingør; in the Great Belt at Nyborg; and in the Little Belt at its narrowest part then Fredericia, after that stronghold was built. The narrowest part of Little Belt is the "Middelfart Sund" near Middelfart.OceanographyGeographers widely agree that the preferred physical border between the Baltic and North Seas is the Langelandsbælt (the southern part of the Great Belt strait near Langeland) and the Drogden-Sill strait. The Drogden Sill is situated north of Køge Bugt and connects Dragør in the south of Copenhagen to Malmö; it is used by the Øresund Bridge, including the Drogden Tunnel. By this definition, the Danish straits is part of the entrance, but the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Bay of Kiel are parts of the Baltic Sea.
Another usual border is the line between Falsterbo, Sweden, and Stevns Klint, Denmark, as this is the southern border of Øresund. It is also the border between the shallow southern Øresund (with a typical depth of 5–10 meters only) and notably deeper water.
Hydrography and biology
Drogden Sill (depth of ) sets a limit to Øresund and Darss Sill (depth of ), and a limit to the Belt Sea. The shallow sills are obstacles to the flow of heavy salt water from the Kattegat into the basins around Bornholm and Gotland.
The Kattegat and the southwestern Baltic Sea are well oxygenated and have a rich biology. The remainder of the Sea is brackish, poor in oxygen, and in species. Thus, statistically, the more of the entrance that is included in its definition, the healthier the Baltic appears; conversely, the more narrowly it is defined, the more endangered its biology appears.
Etymology and nomenclature
Tacitus called it the Suebic Sea, Latin: after the Germanic people of the Suebi, and Ptolemy Sarmatian Ocean after the Sarmatians, but the first to name it the Baltic Sea () was the eleventh-century German chronicler Adam of Bremen. The origin of the latter name is speculative and it was adopted into Slavic and Finnic languages spoken around the sea, very likely due to the role of Medieval Latin in cartography. It might be connected to the Germanic word belt, a name used for two of the Danish straits, the Belts, while others claim it to be directly derived from the source of the Germanic word, Latin "belt". Adam of Bremen himself compared the sea with a belt, stating that it is so named because it stretches through the land as a belt (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam).
He might also have been influenced by the name of a legendary island mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder. Pliny mentions an island named Baltia (or Balcia) with reference to accounts of Pytheas and Xenophon. It is possible that Pliny refers to an island named Basilia ("the royal") in On the Ocean by Pytheas. Baltia also might be derived from "belt", and therein mean "near belt of sea, strait".
Others have suggested that the name of the island originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel meaning "white, fair", which may echo the naming of seas after colours relating to the cardinal points (as per Black Sea and Red Sea). This '*bʰel' root and basic meaning were retained in Lithuanian (as ), Latvian (as ) and Slavic (as ). On this basis, a related hypothesis holds that the name originated from this Indo-European root via a Baltic language such as Lithuanian. Another explanation is that, while derived from the aforementioned root, the name of the sea is related to names for various forms of water and related substances in several European languages, that might have been originally associated with colors found in swamps (compare Proto-Slavic *bolto "swamp"). Yet another explanation is that the name originally meant "enclosed sea, bay" as opposed to open sea.
In the Middle Ages the sea was known by a variety of names. The name Baltic Sea became dominant after 1600. Usage of Baltic and similar terms to denote the region east of the sea started only in the 19th century.Name in other languages
The Baltic Sea was known in ancient Latin language sources as or even . Older native names in languages that used to be spoken on the shores of the sea or near it usually indicate the geographical location of the sea (in Germanic languages), or its size in relation to smaller gulfs (in Old Latvian), or tribes associated with it (in Old Russian the sea was known as the Varanghian Sea). In modern languages, it is known by the equivalents of "East Sea", "West Sea", or "Baltic Sea" in different languages:
* "Baltic Sea" is used in Modern English; in the Baltic languages Latvian (; in Old Latvian it was referred to as "the Big Sea", while the present day Gulf of Riga was referred to as "the Little Sea") and Lithuanian (); in Latin () and the Romance languages French (), Italian (), Portuguese (), Romanian () and Spanish (); in Greek ( ); in Albanian (); in Welsh (); in the Slavic languages Polish ( or ), Czech ( or ), Slovenian (), Bulgarian ( ), Kashubian (), Macedonian ( ), Ukrainian ( ), Belarusian ( ), Russian ( ) and Serbo-Croatian ( / ); in Hungarian ().
* In Germanic languages, except English, "East Sea" is used, as in Afrikaans (), Danish ( ), Dutch (), German (), Low German (), Icelandic and Faroese (), Norwegian (Bokmål: ; Nynorsk: ), and Swedish (). In Old English it was known as , which does not however mean 'east sea' and may be related to a people known in the same work as the Osti. Also in Hungarian the former name was ("East-sea", due to German influence). In addition, Finnish, a Finnic language, uses the term "East Sea", possibly a calque from a Germanic language. As the Baltic is not particularly eastward in relation to Finland, the use of this term may be a leftover from the period of Swedish rule.
* In another Finnic language, Estonian, it is called the "West Sea" (), with the correct geography (the sea is west of Estonia). In South Estonian, it has the meaning of both "West Sea" and "Evening Sea" (Õdagumeri). In the endangered Livonian language of Latvia, the sea (and sometimes the Irbe Strait as well) is called the "Large Sea" ( or ).
History
Classical world
At the time of the Roman Empire, the Baltic Sea was known as the or Mare Sarmaticum. Tacitus in his AD 98 Agricola and Germania described the Mare Suebicum, named for the Suebi tribe, during the spring months, as a brackish sea where the ice broke apart and chunks floated about. The Suebi eventually migrated southwest to temporarily reside in the Rhineland area of modern Germany, where their name survives in the historic region known as Swabia. Jordanes called it the Germanic Sea in his work, the Getica.Middle Ages
on the island of Rügen in Germany, was a sacred site of the Rani tribe before Christianization.]]
In the early Middle Ages, Norse (Scandinavian) merchants built a trade empire all around the Baltic. Later, the Norse fought for control of the Baltic against Wendish tribes dwelling on the southern shore. The Norse also used the rivers of Russia for trade routes, finding their way eventually to the Black Sea and southern Russia. This Norse-dominated period is referred to as the Viking Age.
Since the Viking Age, the Scandinavians have referred to the Baltic Sea as Austmarr ("Eastern Sea"). "Eastern Sea", appears in the Heimskringla and Eystra salt appears in Sörla þáttr. Saxo Grammaticus recorded in Gesta Danorum an older name, Gandvik, -vik being Old Norse for "bay", which implies that the Vikings correctly regarded it as an inlet of the sea. Another form of the name, "Grandvik", attested in at least one English translation of Gesta Danorum, is likely to be a misspelling.
In addition to fish the sea also provides amber, especially from its southern shores within today's borders of Poland, Russia and Lithuania. First mentions of amber deposits on the South Coast of the Baltic Sea date back to the 12th century. The bordering countries have also traditionally exported lumber, wood tar, flax, hemp and furs by ship across the Baltic. Sweden had from early medieval times exported iron and silver mined there, while Poland had and still has extensive salt mines. Thus, the Baltic Sea has long been crossed by much merchant shipping.
The lands on the Baltic's eastern shore were among the last in Europe to be converted to Christianity. This finally happened during the Northern Crusades: Finland in the twelfth century by Swedes, and what are now Estonia and Latvia in the early thirteenth century by Danes and Germans (Livonian Brothers of the Sword). The Teutonic Order gained control over parts of the southern and eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they set up their monastic state. Lithuania was the last European state to convert to Christianity.An arena of conflict
(Hanse).]]
In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic from the coasts of Pomerania and Prussia, and the Victual Brothers held Gotland.
Starting in the 11th century, the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic were settled by migrants mainly from Germany, a movement called the Ostsiedlung ("east settling"). Other settlers were from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Scotland. The Polabian Slavs were gradually assimilated by the Germans. Denmark gradually gained control over most of the Baltic coast, until she lost much of her possessions after being defeated in the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved.
took place on 8 November 1658 during the Dano-Swedish War.]]
shortly after the attacks, 3 May 1945. Only 350 survived of the 4,500 prisoners who had been aboard]]
In the 13th to 16th centuries, the strongest economic force in Northern Europe was the Hanseatic League, a federation of merchant cities around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden fought wars for Dominium maris baltici ("Lordship over the Baltic Sea"). Eventually, it was Sweden that virtually encompassed the Baltic Sea. In Sweden, the sea was then referred to as Mare Nostrum Balticum ("Our Baltic Sea"). The goal of Swedish warfare during the 17th century was to make the Baltic Sea an all-Swedish sea (Ett Svenskt innanhav''), something that was accomplished except the part between Riga in Latvia and Stettin in Pomerania. However, the Dutch dominated the Baltic trade in the seventeenth century.
In the eighteenth century, Russia and Prussia became the leading powers over the sea. Sweden's defeat in the Great Northern War brought Russia to the eastern coast. Russia became and remained a dominating power in the Baltic. Russia's Peter the Great saw the strategic importance of the Baltic and decided to found his new capital, Saint Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva river at the east end of the Gulf of Finland. There was much trading not just within the Baltic region but also with the North Sea region, especially eastern England and the Netherlands: their fleets needed the Baltic timber, tar, flax, and hemp.
During the Crimean War, a joint British and French fleet attacked the Russian fortresses in the Baltic; the case is also known as the Åland War. They bombarded Sveaborg, which guards Helsinki; and Kronstadt, which guards Saint Petersburg; and they destroyed Bomarsund in Åland. After the unification of Germany in 1871, the whole southern coast became German. World War I was partly fought in the Baltic Sea. After 1920 Poland was granted access to the Baltic Sea at the expense of Germany by the Polish Corridor and enlarged the port of Gdynia in rivalry with the port of the Free City of Danzig.
After the Nazis' rise to power, Germany reclaimed the Memelland and after the outbreak of the Eastern Front (World War II) occupied the Baltic states. In 1945, the Baltic Sea became a mass grave for retreating soldiers and refugees on torpedoed troop transports. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff remains the worst maritime disaster in history, killing (very roughly) 9,000 people. In 2005, a Russian group of scientists found over five thousand airplane wrecks, sunken warships, and other material, mainly from World War II, on the bottom of the sea.Since World War IISince the end of World War II, various nations, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have disposed of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, raising concerns of environmental contamination. Today, fishermen occasionally find some of these materials: the most recent available report from the Helsinki Commission notes that four small scale catches of chemical munitions representing approximately of material were reported in 2005. This is a reduction from the 25 incidents representing of material in 2003. Until now, the U.S. Government refuses to disclose the exact coordinates of the wreck sites. Deteriorating bottles leak mustard gas and other substances, thus slowly poisoning a substantial part of the Baltic Sea.
After 1945, the German population was expelled from all areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, making room for new Polish and Russian settlement. Poland gained most of the southern shore. The Soviet Union gained another access to the Baltic with the Kaliningrad Oblast, that had been part of German-settled East Prussia. The Baltic states on the eastern shore were annexed by the Soviet Union. The Baltic then separated opposing military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Neutral Sweden developed incident weapons to defend its territorial waters after the Swedish submarine incidents. This border status restricted trade and travel. It ended only after the collapse of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.
Finland and Sweden joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively, making the Baltic Sea almost entirely surrounded by the alliance's members, leading some commentators to label the sea a ″NATO lake″. Such an arrangement has also existed for the European Union (EU) since May 2004 following the accession of the Baltic states and Poland. The remaining non-NATO and non-EU shore areas are Russian: the Saint Petersburg area and the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave.Storms and storm floods
Winter storms begin arriving in the region during October. These have caused numerous shipwrecks, and contributed to the extreme difficulties of rescuing passengers of the ferry MS Estonia en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, in September 1994, which claimed the lives of 852 people. Older, wood-based shipwrecks such as the Vasa tend to remain well-preserved, as the Baltic's cold and brackish water does not suit the shipworm.
Storm surge floods are generally taken to occur when the water level is more than one metre above normal. In Warnemünde about 110 floods occurred from 1950 to 2000, an average of just over two per year.
Historic flood events were the All Saints' Flood of 1304 and other floods in the years 1320, 1449, 1625, 1694, 1784 and 1825. Little is known of their extent. From 1872, there exist regular and reliable records of water levels in the Baltic Sea. The highest was the flood of 1872 when the water was an average of above sea level at Warnemünde and a maximum of above sea level in Warnemünde. In the last very heavy floods the average water levels reached above sea level in 1904, in 1913, in January 1954, on 2–4 November 1995 and on 21 February 2002.
Geography
Geophysical data
, Spit and Klaipėda]]
An arm of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea is enclosed by Sweden and Denmark to the west, Finland to the northeast, and the Baltic countries to the southeast.
It is about long, an average of wide, and an average of deep. The maximum depth is which is on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area is about and the volume is about . The periphery amounts to about of coastline.
The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish inland seas by area, and occupies a basin (a Zungenbecken) formed by glacial erosion during the last few ice ages.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Physical characteristics of the Baltic Sea, its main sub-regions, and the transition zone to the Skagerrak/North Sea area
! style"background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center" rowspan2| Sub-area
! style"background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center" colspan2| Area
! style"background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center" colspan2| Volume
! style"background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center" colspan2| Maximum depth
! style"background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center" colspan2| Average depth
|-
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| km<sup>2</sup>
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| sq mi
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| km<sup>3</sup>
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| cu mi
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| m
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| ft
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| m
! style="background: DarkCyan; color: white; text-align: center"| ft
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| style="text-align: left"|Baltic proper
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| style="text-align: left"|Gulf of Bothnia
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| style="text-align: left"|Gulf of Finland
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| style="text-align: left"|Gulf of Riga
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| style="text-align: left"| Belt Sea/Kattegat
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! style="text-align: left"| Total Baltic Sea
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Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Baltic Sea as follows:
:Bordered by the coasts of Germany, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, it extends north-eastward of the following limits:
:*In the Little Belt. A line joining Falshöft () and Vejsnæs Nakke (Ærø: ).
:*In the Great Belt. A line joining Gulstav (South extreme of Langeland Island) and Kappel Kirke () on Island of Lolland.
:*In the Guldborg Sound. A line joining Flinthorne-Rev and Skjelby ().
:*In the Sound. A line joining Stevns Lighthouse () and Falsterbo Point ().
Subdivisions
<br />2 Bothnian Sea<br />1 + 2 Gulf of Bothnia, partly also 3 & 4<br />3 Archipelago Sea<br />4 Åland Sea<br />5 Gulf of Finland<br />6 Northern Baltic Proper<br />7 Western Gotland Basin<br />8 Eastern Gotland Basin<br />9 Gulf of Riga<br />10 Bay of Gdańsk/Gdansk Basin<br />11 Bornholm Basin and Hanö Bight<br />12 Arkona Basin<br />6–12 Baltic Proper<br />13 Kattegat, not an integral part of the Baltic Sea<br />14 Belt Sea (Little Belt and Great Belt)<br />15 Öresund (The Sound)<br />14 + 15 = Danish straits, not an integral part of the Baltic Sea]]
The northern part of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Bothnia, of which the northernmost part is the Bay of Bothnia <!-- redirects to: --> or Bothnian Bay. The more rounded southern basin of the gulf is called Bothnian Sea and immediately to the south of it lies the Sea of Åland. The Gulf of Finland connects the Baltic Sea with Saint Petersburg. The Gulf of Riga lies between the Latvian capital city of Riga and the Estonian island of Saaremaa.
The Northern Baltic Sea lies between the Stockholm area, southwestern Finland, and Estonia. The Western and Eastern Gotland basins form the major parts of the Central Baltic Sea or Baltic proper. The Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm, and the shallower Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand.
In the south, the Bay of Gdańsk lies east of the Hel Peninsula on the Polish coast and west of the Sambia Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast. The Bay of Pomerania lies north of the islands of Usedom/Uznam and Wolin, east of Rügen. Between Falster and the German coast lie the Bay of Mecklenburg and Bay of Lübeck. The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is the Bay of Kiel. The three Danish straits, the Great Belt, the Little Belt and The Sound (Öresund/Øresund), connect the Baltic Sea with the Kattegat and Skagerrak strait in the North Sea.
Temperature and ice
The water temperature of the Baltic Sea varies significantly depending on exact location, season and depth. At the Bornholm Basin, which is located directly east of the island of the same name, the surface temperature typically falls to during the peak of the winter and rises to during the peak of the summer, with an annual average of around . A similar pattern can be seen in the Gotland Basin, which is located between the island of Gotland and Latvia. In the deep of these basins the temperature variations are smaller. At the bottom of the Bornholm Basin, deeper than , the temperature typically is , and at the bottom of the Gotland Basin, at depths greater than , the temperature typically is .
The ice extent depends on whether the winter is mild, moderate, or severe. In severe winters ice can form around southern Sweden and even in the Danish straits. According to the 18th-century natural historian William Derham, during the severe winters of 1703 and 1708, the ice cover reached as far as the Danish straits. Frequently, parts of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland are frozen, in addition to coastal fringes in more southerly locations such as the Gulf of Riga. This description meant that the whole of the Baltic Sea was covered with ice.
Since 1720, the Baltic Sea has frozen over entirely 20 times, most recently in early 1987, which was the most severe winter in Scandinavia since 1720. The ice then covered . During the winter of 2010–11, which was quite severe compared to those of the last decades, the maximum ice cover was , which was reached on 25 February 2011. The ice then extended from the north down to the northern tip of Gotland, with small ice-free areas on either side, and the east coast of the Baltic Sea was covered by an ice sheet about wide all the way to Gdańsk. This was brought about by a stagnant high-pressure area that lingered over central and northern Scandinavia from around 10 to 24 February. After this, strong southern winds pushed the ice further into the north, and much of the waters north of Gotland were again free of ice, which had then packed against the shores of southern Finland. The effects of the aforementioned high-pressure area did not reach the southern parts of the Baltic Sea, and thus the entire sea did not freeze over. However, floating ice was additionally observed near Świnoujście harbor in January 2010.
In recent years before 2011, the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea were frozen with solid ice near the Baltic coast and dense floating ice far from it. In 2008, almost no ice formed except for a short period in March.
, Estonia, in late April]]
During winter, fast ice, which is attached to the shoreline, develops first, rendering ports unusable without the services of icebreakers. Level ice, ice sludge, pancake ice, and rafter ice form in the more open regions. The gleaming expanse of ice is similar to the Arctic, with wind-driven pack ice and ridges up to . Offshore of the landfast ice, the ice remains very dynamic all year, and it is relatively easily moved around by winds and therefore forms pack ice, made up of large piles and ridges pushed against the landfast ice and shores.
In spring, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia normally thaw in late April, with some ice ridges persisting until May in the eastern extremities of the Gulf of Finland. In the northernmost reaches of the Bothnian Bay, ice usually stays until late May; by early June it is practically always gone. However, in the famine year of 1867 remnants of ice were observed as late as 17 July near Uddskär. Even as far south as Øresund, remnants of ice have been observed in May on several occasions; near Taarbaek on 15 May 1942 and near Copenhagen on 11 May 1771. Drift ice was also observed on 11 May 1799.
The ice cover is the main habitat for two large mammals, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and the Baltic ringed seal (Pusa hispida botnica), both of which feed underneath the ice and breed on its surface. Of these two seals, only the Baltic ringed seal suffers when there is not adequate ice in the Baltic Sea, as it feeds its young only while on ice. The grey seal is adapted to reproducing also with no ice in the sea. The sea ice also harbors several species of algae that live in the bottom and inside unfrozen brine pockets in the ice.
Due to the often fluctuating winter temperatures between above and below freezing, the saltwater ice of the Baltic Sea can be treacherous and hazardous to walk on, in particular in comparison to the more stable fresh water-ice sheets in the interior lakes.
Hydrography
The Baltic Sea flows out through the Danish straits; however, the flow is complex. A surface layer of brackish water discharges per year into the North Sea. Due to the difference in salinity, by salinity permeation principle, a sub-surface layer of more saline water moving in the opposite direction brings in per year. It mixes very slowly with the upper waters, resulting in a salinity gradient from top to bottom, with most of the saltwater remaining below deep. The general circulation is anti-clockwise: northwards along its eastern boundary, and south along with the western one .
The difference between the outflow and the inflow comes entirely from fresh water. More than 250 streams drain a basin of about , contributing a volume of per year to the Baltic. They include the major rivers of north Europe, such as the Oder, the Vistula, the Neman, the Daugava and the Neva. Additional fresh water comes from the difference of precipitation less evaporation, which is positive.
An important source of salty water is infrequent inflows (also known as major Baltic inflows or MBIs) of North Sea water into the Baltic. Such inflows, important to the Baltic ecosystem because of the oxygen they transport into the Baltic deeps, happen on average once per year, but large pulses that can replace the anoxic deep water in the Gotland Deep occur about once in ten years. Previously, it was believed that the frequency of MBIs had declined since 1980, but recent studies have challenged this view and no longer display a clear change in the frequency or intensity of saline inflows. Instead, a decadal variability in the intensities of MBIs is observed with a main period of approximately 30 years.
The water level is generally far more dependent on the regional wind situation than on tidal effects. However, tidal currents occur in narrow passages in the western parts of the Baltic Sea. Tides can reach in the Gulf of Finland.
The significant wave height is generally much lower than that of the North Sea. Quite violent, sudden storms sweep the surface ten or more times a year, due to large transient temperature differences and a long reach of the wind. Seasonal winds also cause small changes in sea level, of the order of .Salinity
(Karklė).]]
The Baltic Sea is the world's largest brackish sea. Only two other brackish waters are larger according to some measurements: The Black Sea is larger in both surface area and water volume, but most of it is located outside the continental shelf (only a small fraction is inland). The Caspian Sea is larger in water volume, but—despite its name—it is a lake rather than a sea. Drinking the surface water of the Baltic as a means of survival would actually hydrate the body instead of dehydrating, as is the case with ocean water.
As saltwater is denser than freshwater, the bottom of the Baltic Sea is saltier than the surface. This creates a vertical stratification of the water column, a halocline, that represents a barrier to the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, and fosters completely separate maritime environments. The difference between the bottom and surface salinities varies depending on location. Overall it follows the same southwest to east and north pattern as the surface. At the bottom of the Arkona Basin (equaling depths greater than ) and Bornholm Basin (depths greater than ) it is typically 1.4–1.8%. Further east and north the salinity at the bottom is consistently lower, being the lowest in Bothnian Bay (depths greater than ) where it is slightly below 0.4%, or only marginally higher than the surface in the same region. Significant flows in the opposite direction, salt water from the Kattegat through the Danish straits to the Baltic Sea, are less regular and are known as major Baltic inflows (MBIs).
Major tributaries
The rating of mean discharges differs from the ranking of hydrological lengths (from the most distant source to the sea) and the rating of the nominal lengths. Göta älv, a tributary of the Kattegat, is not listed, as due to the northward upper low-salinity-flow in the sea, its water hardly reaches the Baltic proper:
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"padding:6px; spacing:6px;"
!rowspan=2| Name
!colspan=2| Mean discharge
!colspan=2| Length
!colspan=2| Basin area
!rowspan=2| States sharing the basin
!rowspan=2| Longest watercourse
|-
!
!
!km
!mi
!
!
|-
|Neva (nominal) || || || ||rowspan2|Russia, Finland (Ladoga-affluent Vuoksi) ||rowspan2| Suna () → Lake Onega () →<br />Svir () → Lake Ladoga () → Neva
|-
|Neva (hydrological) || || ||
|-
| Vistula || || || || Poland, tributaries: Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia || Bug () → Narew () → Vistula () total 1
|-
| Daugava || || || || Russia (source), Belarus, Latvia ||
|-
| Neman || || || || Belarus (source), Lithuania, Russia ||
|-
| Kemijoki (main river) || || || ||rowspan2| Finland, Norway (source of Ounasjoki) ||rowspan2| longer tributary Kitinen
|-
| Kemijoki (river system) || || ||
|-
| Oder || || || || Czech Republic (source), Poland, Germany ||Warta () → Oder () total:
|-
| Lule älv || || || || Sweden ||
|-
| Narva (nominal) || || || ||rowspan2| Russia (source of Velikaya), Estonia ||rowspan2| Velikaya () → Lake Peipus () → Narva
|-
| Narva (hydrological) || || ||
|-
| Torne älv (nominal) || || || ||rowspan2| Norway (source), Sweden, Finland ||rowspan2| Válfojohka → Kamajåkka → Abiskojaure → Abiskojokk<br />(total ) → Torneträsk () → Torne älv
|-
| Torne älv (hydrological) || || ||
|}
Islands and archipelagoes
form an integral and typical part of many of the archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, such as these in the archipelago of Åland, Finland.]]
]]
, Denmark]]
, Sweden]]
* Åland (Finland, autonomous)
* Archipelago Sea (Finland)
** Pargas
** Nagu
** Korpo
** Houtskär
** Kustavi
** Kimito
* Blekinge archipelago (Sweden)
* Bornholm, including Christiansø (Denmark)
* Falster (Denmark)
* Gotland (Sweden)
* Hailuoto (Finland)
* Kotlin (Russia)
* Lolland (Denmark)
* Kvarken archipelago, including Valsörarna (Finland)
* Møn (Denmark)
* Öland (Sweden)
* Rügen (Germany)
* Stockholm archipelago (Sweden)
** Värmdön (Sweden)
* Usedom or Uznam (split between Germany and Poland)
* West Estonian archipelago (Estonia):
** Hiiumaa
** Muhu
** Saaremaa
** Vormsi
* Wolin (Poland)
* Zealand (Denmark)
Coastal countries
Countries that border the sea: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden.
Countries lands in the outer drainage basin: Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Ukraine.
The Baltic Sea drainage basin is roughly four times the surface area of the sea itself. About 48% of the region is forested, with Sweden and Finland containing the majority of the forest, especially around the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
About 20% of the land is used for agriculture and pasture, mainly in Poland and around the edge of the Baltic Proper, in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. About 17% of the basin is unused open land with another 8% of wetlands. Most of the latter are in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
The rest of the land is heavily populated. About 85 million people live in the Baltic drainage basin, 15 million within of the coast and 29 million within of the coast. Around 22 million live in population centers of over 250,000. 90% of these are concentrated in the band around the coast. Of the nations containing all or part of the basin, Poland includes 45% of the 85 million, Russia 12%, Sweden 10% and the others less than 6% each.
Cities
in Saint Petersburg, Russia]]
in Sweden]]
in Latvia]]
in Finland]]
in Poland]]
in Estonia]]
The biggest coastal cities (by population):
* Saint Petersburg (Russia) 5,392,992 (metropolitan area 6,000,000)
* Stockholm (Sweden) 962,154 (metropolitan area 2,315,612)
* Helsinki (Finland) 665,558 (metropolitan area 1,559,558)
* Riga (Latvia) 614,618 (metropolitan area 1,070,00)
* Gdańsk (Poland) 462,700 (metropolitan area 1,041,000)
* Tallinn (Estonia) 458,398 (metropolitan area 542,983)
* Kaliningrad (Russia) 431,500
* Szczecin (Poland) 413,600 (metropolitan area 778,000)
* Espoo (Finland) 306,792 (part of Helsinki metropolitan area)
* Gdynia (Poland) 255,600 (metropolitan area 1,041,000)
* Kiel (Germany) 247,000
* Lübeck (Germany) 216,100
* Rostock (Germany) 212,700
* Klaipėda (Lithuania) 194,400
* Oulu (Finland) 191,050
* Turku (Finland) 180,350
Other important ports:
* Estonia:
** Pärnu 44,568
** Maardu 16,570
** Sillamäe 16,567
* Finland:
** Pori 83,272
** Kotka 54,887
** Kokkola 46,809
** Port of Naantali 18,789
** Mariehamn 11,372
** Hanko 9,270
* Germany:
** Flensburg 94,000
** Stralsund 58,000
** Greifswald 55,000
** Wismar 44,000
** Eckernförde 22,000
** Neustadt in Holstein 16,000
** Wolgast 12,000
** Sassnitz 10,000
* Latvia:
** Liepāja 85,000
** Ventspils 44,000
* Lithuania:
** Palanga 17,000
* Poland:
** Kołobrzeg 44,800
** Świnoujście 41,500
** Police 34,284
** Władysławowo 15,000
** Darłowo 14,000
* Russia:
** Vyborg 79,962
** Baltiysk 34,000
* Sweden:
** Norrköping 144,932
** Gävle 103,619
** Trelleborg 30,818
** Karlshamn 19,000
** Oxelösund 11,000
Geology
The Baltic Sea somewhat resembles a riverbed, with two tributaries, the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Geological surveys show that before the Pleistocene, instead of the Baltic Sea, there was a wide plain around a great river that paleontologists call the Eridanos. Several Pleistocene glacial episodes scooped out the river bed into the sea basin. By the time of the last, or Eemian Stage (MIS 5e), the Eemian Sea was in place. Instead of a true sea, the Baltic can even today also be understood as the common estuary of all rivers flowing into it.
From that time the waters underwent a geologic history summarized under the names listed below. Many of the stages are named after marine animals (e.g. the Littorina mollusk) that are clear markers of changing water temperatures and salinity.
The factors that determined the sea's characteristics were the submergence or emergence of the region due to the weight of ice and subsequent isostatic readjustment, and the connecting channels it found to the North Sea-Atlantic, either through the straits of Denmark or at what are now the large lakes of Sweden, and the White Sea-Arctic Sea. There are a number of named and dated stages in the evolution of the Baltic Sea:
* Eemian Sea, about 130,000–115,000 years BP
* Baltic Ice Lake, 16,000–11,700 years BP
* Yoldia Sea, 11,700–10,700 years cal. BP
* Ancylus Lake, 10,700–9,800 years cal. BP
* Mastogloia Sea, 9,800–8,500 years cal. BP
* Littorina Sea, 8,500–4,000 years cal. BP
* Post-Littorina Sea, 4,000–present
The land is still emerging isostatically from its depressed state, which was caused by the weight of ice during the last glaciation. The phenomenon is known as post-glacial rebound. Consequently, the surface area and the depth of the sea are diminishing. The uplift is about eight millimeters per year on the Finnish coast of the northernmost Gulf of Bothnia. In the area, the former seabed is only gently sloping, leading to large areas of land being reclaimed in what are, geologically speaking, relatively short periods (decades and centuries).
The "Baltic Sea anomaly"
The "Baltic Sea anomaly" is a feature on an indistinct sonar image taken by Swedish salvage divers on the floor of the northern Baltic Sea in June 2011. The treasure hunters suggested the image showed an object with unusual features of seemingly extraordinary origin. Speculation published in tabloid newspapers claimed that the object was a sunken UFO. A consensus of experts and scientists say that the image most likely shows a natural geological formation.
Biology
Fauna and flora
The fauna of the Baltic Sea is a mixture of marine and freshwater species. Among marine fishes are Atlantic cod, Atlantic herring, European hake, European plaice, European flounder, shorthorn sculpin and turbot, and examples of freshwater species include European perch, northern pike, whitefish and common roach. Freshwater species may occur at outflows of rivers or streams in all coastal sections of the Baltic Sea. Otherwise, marine species dominate in most sections of the Baltic, at least as far north as Gävle, where less than one-tenth are freshwater species. Further north the pattern is inverted. In the Bothnian Bay, roughly two-thirds of the species are freshwater. In the far north of this bay, saltwater species are almost entirely absent. The common blue mussel is the dominating animal species, and makes up more than 90% of the total animal biomass in the sea.
There is a decrease in species richness from the Danish belts to the Gulf of Bothnia. The decreasing salinity along this path causes restrictions in both physiology and habitats. At more than 600 species of invertebrates, fish, aquatic mammals, aquatic birds and macrophytes, the Arkona Basin (roughly between southeast Zealand and Bornholm) is far richer than other more eastern and northern basins in the Baltic Sea, which all have less than 400 species from these groups, with the exception of the Gulf of Finland with more than 750 species. However, even the most diverse sections of the Baltic Sea have far fewer species than the almost-full saltwater Kattegat, which is home to more than 1600 species from these groups. The tiny Copenhagen cockle (Parvicardium hauniense), a rare mussel, is sometimes considered endemic, but has now been recorded in the Mediterranean. However, some consider non-Baltic records to be misidentifications of juvenile lagoon cockles (Cerastoderma glaucum). Several widespread marine species have distinctive subpopulations in the Baltic Sea adapted to the low salinity, such as the Baltic Sea forms of the Atlantic herring and lumpsucker, which are smaller than the widespread forms in the North Atlantic. bottlenose dolphins, beluga whales, orcas, and beaked whales visit the waters. In recent years, very small, but with increasing rates, fin whales and humpback whales migrate into Baltic sea including mother and calf pair. Now extinct Atlantic grey whales (remains found from Gräsö along Bothnian Sea/southern Bothnian Gulf and Ystad) and eastern population of North Atlantic right whales that is facing functional extinction once migrated into Baltic Sea.
Other notable megafauna include the basking sharks.
Environmental status
, Sweden, with algae bloom (phytoplankton) swirling in the water]]
Satellite images taken in July 2010 revealed a massive algal bloom covering in the Baltic Sea. The area of the bloom extended from Germany and Poland to Finland. Researchers of the phenomenon have indicated that algal blooms have occurred every summer for decades. Fertilizer runoff from surrounding agricultural land has exacerbated the problem and led to increased eutrophication.
Approximately of the Baltic's seafloor (a quarter of its total area) is a variable dead zone. The more saline (and therefore denser) water remains on the bottom, isolating it from surface waters and the atmosphere. This leads to decreased oxygen concentrations within the zone. It is mainly bacteria that grow in it, digesting organic material and releasing hydrogen sulfide. Because of this large anaerobic zone, the seafloor ecology differs from that of the neighboring Atlantic.
Plans to artificially oxygenate areas of the Baltic that have experienced eutrophication have been proposed by the University of Gothenburg and Inocean AB. The proposal intends to use wind-driven pumps to pump oxygen-rich surface water to a depth of around 130 m.
After World War II, Germany had to be disarmed and large quantities of ammunition stockpiles were disposed directly into the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Environmental experts and marine biologists warn that these ammunition dumps pose an environmental threat with potentially life-threatening consequences to the health and safety of humans on the coastlines of these seas. Future change Climate change, and pollution from agriculture and forestry, impose such strong effects on the ecosystems of the Baltic sea, that there is a concern the sea will turn from a carbon sink to a source of CO2 and methane. Modelling climate change and the impact of well characterised factors such as post-glacial rebound before the year 2050, is complicated by the unique properties of the Baltic Sea area compared to say the adjacent North Sea and controversy as to the relative contributions of socio-economic factors such as land use to any warming component. These include its current brackish water, the southern subbasin tendency to have a vertical stratification of the halocline, and the northern subbasin seasonal sea ice cover. Economy
, Germany]]
Construction of the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark (completed 1997) and the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel (completed 1999), linking Denmark with Sweden, provided a highway and railroad connection between Sweden and the Danish mainland (the Jutland Peninsula, precisely the Zealand). The undersea tunnel of the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel provides for navigation of large ships into and out of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is the main trade route for the export of Russian petroleum. Countries neighboring the Baltic Sea have expressed concerns about this since a major oil leak in a seagoing tanker would be especially disastrous for the Baltic given the slow exchange of water in the ecosystem. The tourism industry surrounding the Baltic Sea is naturally concerned about oil pollution.
Much shipbuilding is carried out in the shipyards around the Baltic Sea. The largest shipyards are at Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, Poland; Kiel, Germany; Karlskrona and Malmö, Sweden; Rauma, Turku, and Helsinki, Finland; Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja, Latvia; Klaipėda, Lithuania; and Saint Petersburg, Russia.
There are several cargo and passenger ferries that operate on the Baltic Sea, such as
* Birka Gotland (cruises from Stockholm to Gotland and Åland Islands)
* Destination Gotland (Gotland-mainland Sweden)
* Eckerö Line (Estonia-Finland)
* Eckerö Linjen (Sweden-Åland Islands)
* Finnlines (Finland-Germany, Finland-Sweden, Germany-Sweden, Poland-Sweden)
* Polferries (Poland-Sweden, Poland-Denmark)
* Scandlines (Denmark-Germany)
* Stena Line (Denmark-Sweden, Germany-Sweden, Latvia-Sweden, Poland-Sweden)
* Tallink and Tallink Silja (Estonia-Finland, Estonia-Sweden, Finland-Sweden)
* TT-Line (Germany-Lithuania, Germany-Sweden, Lithuania-Sweden, Poland-Sweden)
* Viking Line (Estonia-Finland, Finland-Sweden)
* Wasaline (Finland-Sweden)
Construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Denmark and Germany is due to finish in 2029. It will be a three-bore tunnel carrying four motorway lanes and two rail tracks.
Through the development of offshore wind power the Baltic Sea is expected to become a major source of energy for countries in the region. According to the Marienborg Declaration, signed in 2022, all EU Baltic Sea states have announced their intentions to have 19.6 gigawatts of offshore wind in operation by 2030.
Tourism
resort town in Klaipėda county, Lithuania]]
resort town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia]]
beach in Poland]]
Piers
* Ahlbeck (Usedom), Germany
* Bansin, Germany
* Binz, Germany
* Heiligendamm, Germany
* Kühlungsborn, Germany
* Sellin, Germany
* Liepāja, Latvia
* Šventoji, Lithuania
* Klaipėda, Lithuania
* Gdańsk, Poland
* Gdynia, Poland
* Kołobrzeg, Poland
* Międzyzdroje, Poland
* Sopot, Poland
Resort towns
* Haapsalu, Estonia
* Kuressaare, Estonia
* Narva-Jõesuu, Estonia
* Pärnu, Estonia
* Hanko, Finland
* Mariehamn, Finland
* Binz, Germany
* Heiligendamm, Germany
* Heringsdorf, Germany
* Travemünde, Germany
* Sellin, Germany
* Ueckermünde, Germany
* Jūrmala, Latvia
* Nida, Lithuania
* Palanga, Lithuania
* Šventoji, Lithuania
* Juodkrantė, Lithuania
* Pervalka, Lithuania
* Karklė, Lithuania
* Kamień Pomorski, Poland
* Kołobrzeg, Poland
* Sopot, Poland
* Świnoujście, Poland
* Ustka, Poland
* Svetlogorsk, Russia
The Helsinki Convention
1974 Convention
For the first time ever, all the sources of pollution around an entire sea were made subject to a single convention, signed in 1974 by the then seven Baltic coastal states. The 1974 Convention entered into force on 3 May 1980.
1992 Convention
In the light of political changes and developments in international environmental and maritime law, a new convention was signed in 1992 by all the states bordering on the Baltic Sea, and the European Community. After ratification, the Convention entered into force on 17 January 2000. The Convention covers the whole of the Baltic Sea area, including inland waters and the water of the sea itself, as well as the seabed. Measures are also taken in the whole catchment area of the Baltic Sea to reduce land-based pollution. The convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992, entered into force on 17 January 2000.
The governing body of the convention is the Helsinki Commission, also known as HELCOM, or Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission. The present contracting parties are Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
The ratification instruments were deposited by the European Community, Germany, Latvia and Sweden in 1994, by Estonia and Finland in 1995, by Denmark in 1996, by Lithuania in 1997, and by Poland and Russia in November 1999.
See also
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order and add a short description WP:SEEALSO -->
* Baltic (disambiguation)
* Baltic region
* Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG)
* Council of the Baltic Sea States
* List of cities and towns around the Baltic Sea
* List of rivers of the Baltic Sea<!--
* MS Estonia
* MS Jan Heweliusz
* MV Goya
* MV Wilhelm Gustloff-->
* Nord Stream 1
* Nord Stream 2
* Northern Europe
* Ports of the Baltic Sea
* Scandinavia<!--
* SS Cap Arcona
* SS Thielbek
please keep entries in alphabetical order and add a short description -->
Notes
ReferencesBibliography*
*
Further reading
* [http://balticworlds.com/spatial-politics-fuzzy-regionalism/ Norbert Götz. "Spatial Politics and Fuzzy Regionalism: The Case of the Baltic Sea Area." Baltic Worlds 9 (2016) 3: 54–67.]
* Aarno Voipio (ed., 1981): "The Baltic Sea." Elsevier Oceanography Series, vol. 30, Elsevier Scientific Publishing, 418 p,
*
*
* <!--Open Access-->
Historical
* Bogucka, Maria. "The Role of Baltic Trade in European Development from the XVIth to the XVIIIth Centuries". Journal of European Economic History 9 (1980): 5–20.
* Davey, James. The Transformation of British Naval Strategy: Seapower and Supply in Northern Europe, 1808–1812 (Boydell, 2012).
*
* Fedorowicz, Jan K. ''England's Baltic Trade in the Early Seventeenth Century: A Study in Anglo-Polish Commercial Diplomacy (Cambridge UP, 2008).
* Frost, Robert I. The Northern Wars: War, State, and Society in Northeastern Europe, 1558–1721 (Longman, 2000).
* Grainger, John D. The British Navy in the Baltic (Boydell, 2014).
* Kent, Heinz S. K. War and Trade in Northern Seas: Anglo-Scandinavian Economic Relations in the Mid Eighteenth Century (Cambridge UP, 1973).
* Koningsbrugge, Hans van. "In War and Peace: The Dutch and the Baltic in Early Modern Times". Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek 16 (1995): 189–200.
* Lindblad, Jan Thomas. "Structural Change in the Dutch Trade in the Baltic in the Eighteenth Century". Scandinavian Economic History Review 33 (1985): 193–207.
* Lisk, Jill. The Struggle for Supremacy in the Baltic, 1600–1725'' (U of London Press, 1967).
*
* Roberts, Michael. The Early Vasas: A History of Sweden, 1523–1611 (Cambridge UP, 1968).
* Rystad, Göran, Klaus-R. Böhme, and Wilhelm M. Carlgren, eds. In Quest of Trade and Security: The Baltic in Power Politics, 1500–1990. Vol. 1, 1500–1890. Stockholm: Probus, 1994.
* Salmon, Patrick, and Tony Barrow, eds. Britain and the Baltic: Studies in Commercial, Political and Cultural Relations (Sunderland University Press, 2003).
* Stiles, Andrina. Sweden and the Baltic 1523–1721 (1992).
* Thomson, Erik. "Beyond the Military State: Sweden's Great Power Period in Recent Historiography". History Compass 9 (2011): 269–283.
* Tielhof, Milja van. The "Mother of All Trades": The Baltic Grain Trade in Amsterdam from the Late 16th to Early 19th Century. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002.
* Warner, Richard. "British Merchants and Russian Men-of-War: The Rise of the Russian Baltic Fleet". In Peter the Great and the West: New Perspectives. Edited by Lindsey Hughes, 105–117. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225024/http://www.smhi.se/sgn0102/n0205/havsomr/havsomr_plansch.pdf The Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak – sea areas and draining basins, poster with integral information by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071023052150/http://www.baltic.vtt.fi/demo/baltmap.htm Baltic Sea clickable map and details.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070911174644/http://www.balticsea.lt/en Protect the Baltic Sea while it's still not too late.]
* [https://archive.today/20120728165223/http://www.balticseaportal.fi/ The Baltic Sea Portal] – a site maintained by the (FIMR) (in English, Finnish, Swedish and Estonian)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110625011603/http://www.balticnest.org/ www.balticnest.org]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050317135023/http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/encyclopedia.html Encyclopedia of Baltic History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120912164106/http://www.abc.se/~pa/uwa/wrecks.htm Old shipwrecks] in the Baltic
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071212134140/http://www.pgi.gov.pl/pgi_en/index.php?optionnews&taskviewarticle&sid4&Itemid2 How the Baltic Sea was changing] – Prehistory of the Baltic from the [http://www.pgi.gov.pl/ Polish Geological Institute]
* [http://www.helsinki.fi/maantiede/geofi/fennia/demo/pages/oksanen.htm Late Weichselian and Holocene shore displacement history of the Baltic Sea in Finland] – more prehistory of the Baltic from the [http://www.helsinki.fi/geography/ Department of Geography] of the University of Helsinki
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040603121723/http://maps.grida.no/baltic/ Baltic Environmental Atlas: Interactive map of the Baltic Sea region]
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,524139,00.html Can a New Cleanup Plan Save the Sea? – spiegel.de]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060903112114/http://www.ferrylines.com/en/routes/ferries-in-the-baltic-sea/ List of all ferry lines in the Baltic Sea]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170731171716/http://www.helcom.fi/ The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM)] HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area"
* [http://www.baltice.org/ Baltice.org] – information related to winter navigation in the Baltic Sea.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205101019/http://www.balticseawind.org/ Baltic Sea Wind] – Marine weather forecasts
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090831081653/http://andreaskiel.blip.tv/file/2323160 Ostseeflug] – A short film (55'), showing the coastline and the major German cities at the Baltic sea.
Category:Baltic region
Category:Seas of the Atlantic Ocean
Category:European seas
Category:Geography of Europe
Category:Geography of Scandinavia
Category:Seas of Germany
Category:Federal waterways in Germany
Category:Seas of Russia
Category:Seas of Denmark
Category:Bodies of water of Estonia
Category:Bodies of water of Finland
Category:Bodies of water of Lithuania
Category:Bodies of water of Poland
Category:Bodies of water of Sweden
Category:Bodies of water of Kaliningrad Oblast
Category:Bodies of water of Leningrad Oblast
Category:Bodies of water of Saint Petersburg
Category:Ecoregions of Denmark
Category:Ecoregions of Estonia
Category:Ecoregions of Finland
Category:Ecoregions of Germany
Category:Ecoregions of Latvia
Category:Ecoregions of Lithuania
Category:Ecoregions of Poland
Category:Ecoregions of Russia
Category:Ecoregions of Sweden
Category:Landforms of the Øresund Region
Category:Articles containing video clips | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Sea | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.349539 |
3336 | Brackish water | Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it can be damaging to the environment (see article on shrimp farms).
Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of salt per litre—more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (‰), which is a specific gravity of between 1.0004 and 1.0226. Thus, brackish covers a range of salinity regimes and is not considered a precisely defined condition. It is characteristic of many brackish surface waters that their salinity can vary considerably over space or time. Water with a salt concentration greater than 30‰ is considered saline.
Brackish water habitats
Estuaries
thumb|A brackish water fish: Monodactylus argenteus
Brackish water condition commonly occurs when fresh water meets seawater. In fact, the most extensive brackish water habitats worldwide are estuaries, where a river meets the sea.
The River Thames flowing through London is a classic river estuary. The town of Teddington a few miles west of London marks the boundary between the tidal and non-tidal parts of the Thames, although it is still considered a freshwater river about as far east as Battersea insofar as the average salinity is very low and the fish fauna consists predominantly of freshwater species such as roach, dace, carp, perch, and pike. The Thames Estuary becomes brackish between Battersea and Gravesend, and the diversity of freshwater fish species present is smaller, primarily roach and dace; euryhaline marine species such as flounder, European seabass, mullet, and smelt become much more common. Further east, the salinity increases and the freshwater fish species are completely replaced by euryhaline marine ones, until the river reaches Gravesend, at which point conditions become fully marine and the fish fauna resembles that of the adjacent North Sea and includes both euryhaline and stenohaline marine species. A similar pattern of replacement can be observed with the aquatic plants and invertebrates living in the river.
This type of ecological succession from freshwater to marine ecosystem is typical of river estuaries. River estuaries form important staging points during the migration of anadromous and catadromous fish species, such as salmon, shad and eels, giving them time to form social groups and to adjust to the changes in salinity. Salmon are anadromous, meaning they live in the sea but ascend rivers to spawn; eels are catadromous, living in rivers and streams, but returning to the sea to breed. Besides the species that migrate through estuaries, there are many other fish that use them as "nursery grounds" for spawning or as places young fish can feed and grow before moving elsewhere. Herring and plaice are two commercially important species that use the Thames Estuary for this purpose.
Estuaries are also commonly used as fishing grounds and as places for fish farming or ranching. For example, Atlantic salmon farms are often located in estuaries, although this has caused controversy, because in doing so, fish farmers expose migrating wild fish to large numbers of external parasites such as sea lice that escape from the pens the farmed fish are kept in.
Mangroves
Another important brackish water habitat is the mangrove swamp or mangal. Many, though not all, mangrove swamps fringe estuaries and lagoons where the salinity changes with each tide. Among the most specialised residents of mangrove forests are mudskippers, fish that forage for food on land, and archerfish, perch-like fish that "spit" at insects and other small animals living in the trees, knocking them into the water where they can be eaten. Like estuaries, mangrove swamps are extremely important breeding grounds for many fish, with species such as snappers, halfbeaks, and tarpon spawning or maturing among them. Besides fish, numerous other animals use mangroves, including such species as the saltwater crocodile, American crocodile, proboscis monkey, diamondback terrapin, and the crab-eating frog, Fejervarya cancrivora (formerly Rana cancrivora). Mangroves represent important nesting sites for numerous birds groups such as herons, storks, spoonbills, ibises, kingfishers, shorebirds and seabirds.
Although often plagued with mosquitoes and other insects that make them unpleasant for humans, mangrove swamps are very important buffer zones between land and sea, and are a natural defense against hurricane and tsunami damage in particular.
The Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika Mangroves are two of the large mangrove forests in the world, both on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
Brackish seas and lakes
Some seas and lakes are brackish. The Baltic Sea is a brackish sea adjoining the North Sea. Originally the Eridanos river system prior to the Pleistocene, since then it has been flooded by the North Sea but still receives so much freshwater from the adjacent lands that the water is brackish. As seawater is denser, the water in the Baltic is stratified, with seawater at the bottom and freshwater at the top. Limited mixing occurs because of the lack of tides and storms, with the result that the fish fauna at the surface is freshwater in composition while that lower down is more marine. Cod are an example of a species only found in deep water in the Baltic, while pike are confined to the less saline surface waters.
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake and contains brackish water with a salinity about one-third that of normal seawater. The Caspian is famous for its peculiar animal fauna, including one of the few non-marine seals (the Caspian seal) and the great sturgeons, a major source of caviar.
Hudson Bay is a brackish marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, it remains brackish due its limited connections to the open ocean, very high levels freshwater surface runoff input from the large Hudson Bay drainage basin, and low rate of evaporation due to being completely covered in ice for over half the year.
In the Black Sea the surface water is brackish with an average salinity of about 17–18 parts per thousand compared to 30 to 40 for the oceans. The deep, anoxic water of the Black Sea originates from warm, salty water of the Mediterranean.
Lake Texoma, a reservoir on the border between the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma, is a rare example of a brackish lake that is neither part of an endorheic basin nor a direct arm of the ocean, though its salinity is considerably lower than that of the other bodies of water mentioned here. The reservoir was created by the damming of the Red River of the South, which (along with several of its tributaries) receives large amounts of salt from natural seepage from buried deposits in the upstream region. The salinity is high enough that striped bass, a fish normally found only in salt water, has self-sustaining populations in the lake.
Brackish marsh
Other brackish bodies of water
Human uses
Brackish water is being used by humans in many different sectors. It is commonly used as cooling water for power generation and in a variety of ways in the mining, oil, and gas industries. Once desalinated it can also be used for agriculture, livestock, and municipal uses. Brackish water can be treated using reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and other filtration processes.
See also
List of brackish bodies of water
References
Further reading
Moustakas, A. & I. Karakassis. How diverse is aquatic biodiversity research?, Aquatic Ecology, 39, 367-375
Category:Liquid water
Category:Aquatic ecology
Category:Coastal geography
* | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brackish_water | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.358570 |
3338 | The Bronx | )
| nickname = BX, The Boogie Down
<!-- images and maps ----------->
| image_skyline =
| imagesize = 300px
| image_flag = Flag of Bronx County, New York.svg
| flag_size = 125px
| image_seal = Seal of the Bronx.svg
| seal_size = 90px
| image_map
| map_caption = Interactive map outlining the Bronx
| pushpin_map = New York City#New York#USA#Earth
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_label | pushpin_map_caption Location within New York City##Location in the State of New York##Location in the United States##Location on Earth
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name =
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 =
| subdivision_type2 = County
| subdivision_name2 = Bronx (coterminous)
| subdivision_type3 = City
| subdivision_name3 = New York
<!-- Smaller parts (e.g. boroughs of a city) and seat of government -->
| parts_style <!--list (for list), coll (for collapsed list), para (for paragraph format)
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| parts = <!-- parts text, or header for parts list -->
| p2 = <!-- etc. up to p50: for separate parts to be listed-->
<!-- Politics ----------------->
| government_type = Borough of New York City
| leader_title = Borough President
| leader_name = Vanessa Gibson (D)<br />– (Borough of the Bronx)
| leader_title1 = District Attorney <!-- for places with, say, both a mayor and a city manager -->
| leader_name1 = Darcel Clark (D)<br />– (Bronx County)
| established_title = Settled
| established_date =
| named_for = Jonas Bronck
<!-- Area --------------------->
| unit_pref = imperial
| area_total_sq_mi = 57
| area_land_sq_mi = 42.2
| area_water_sq_mi = 15
| area_water_percent = 27
<!-- Elevation -------------------------->
| elevation_footnotes http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid7110 "Bronx High Point" at Peakbagger.com
| elevation_max_ft = 280
| elevation_min_ft =
<!-- Population ----------------------->
| population_as_of = 2020
| population_total 1,472,654
| population_density_sq_mi = 34918
| population_blank1_title = Demonym
| population_blank1 = Bronxite
<!-- GDP ----------->
| demographics_type2 = GDP
| demographics2_footnotes
| demographics2_title1 = Total
| demographics2_info1 = US$43.675 billion (2022)
<!-- General information --------------->
| timezone = Eastern
| utc_offset = −05:00
| timezone_DST = EDT
| utc_offset_DST = −04:00
| coordinates
| postal_code_type = ZIP Code prefix
| postal_code = 104
| area_codes = 718/347/929, 917
| website =
}}
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City borough of Manhattan is across the Harlem River; and to its south and east is the borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx, the only New York City borough not primarily located on an island, has a land area of and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 census.
The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the west, and a flatter eastern section. East and west street names are divided by Jerome Avenue. The West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, These open spaces are primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north and east from Manhattan. The Bronx is also home to Yankee Stadium of Major League Baseball.
The word "Bronx" originated with Swedish-born (or Faroese-born) Jonas Bronck, who established the first European settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639. European settlers displaced the native Lenape after 1643. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bronx received many immigrant and migrant groups as it was transformed into an urban community, first from European countries particularly Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe, and later from the Caribbean region (particularly Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, and the Dominican Republic), and immigrants from West Africa (particularly from Ghana and Nigeria), African American migrants from the Southern United States, Panamanians, Hondurans, and South Asians.
The Bronx contains the poorest congressional district in the United States, New York's 15th. The borough also features upper- and middle-income neighborhoods, such as Riverdale, Fieldston, Spuyten Duyvil, Schuylerville, Pelham Bay, Pelham Gardens, Morris Park, and Country Club. Parts of the Bronx saw a steep decline in population, livable housing, and quality of life starting from the mid-to-late 1960s, continuing throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, ultimately culminating in a wave of arson in the late 1970s, a period when hip hop music evolved. The South Bronx, in particular, experienced severe urban decay. The borough began experiencing new population growth starting in the late 1990s and continuing to the present day.
Etymology and naming
Early names
, became the Bronx.]]
The Bronx was called by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape (also known historically as the Delawares), while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River (now known in English as the Bronx River).
The Bronx was named after Jonas Bronck (), a European settler whose precise origins are disputed. Documents indicate he was a Swedish-born immigrant from Komstad, Norra Ljunga parish in Småland, Sweden, who arrived in New Netherland during the spring of 1639. Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the present-day Bronx and built a farm named "Emmaus" close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue and 132nd Street in Mott Haven. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement of New Haarlem (on Manhattan Island), and bought additional tracts from the local tribes. He eventually accumulated between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which became known as ''Bronck's River or the Bronx [River]. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Bronck's Land''. Much work on the Swedish claim has been undertaken by Brian G. Andersson, former Commissioner of New York City's Department of Records, who helped organize a 375th Anniversary celebration in Bronck's hometown in 2014.Use of definite articleThe Bronx is referred to with the definite article as "the Bronx" or "The Bronx", both legally and colloquially. The "County of the Bronx" also takes "the" immediately before "Bronx" in formal references, like the coextensive "Borough of the Bronx". The United States Postal Service uses "Bronx, NY" for mailing addresses. The region was apparently named after the Bronx River and first appeared in the "Annexed District of The Bronx", created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County. It was continued in the "Borough of The Bronx", created in 1898, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1895. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. A time-worn story purportedly explaining the use of the definite article in the borough's name says it stems from the phrase "visiting the Broncks", referring to the settler's family.
The capitalization of the borough's name is sometimes disputed. Generally, the definite article is lowercase in place names ("the Bronx") except in some official references. The definite article is capitalized ("The Bronx") at the beginning of a sentence or in any other situation when a normally lowercase word would be capitalized. However, some people and groups refer to the borough with a capital letter at all times, such as Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan, The Bronx County Historical Society, and the Bronx-based organization Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx, arguing the definite article is part of the proper name. In particular, the Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx is leading efforts to make the city refer to the borough with an uppercase definite article in all uses, comparing the lowercase article in the Bronx's name to "not capitalizing the 's' in 'Staten Island. After the American Revolutionary War, the King's Bridge toll was abolished.
The territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of Westchester County, one of the 12 original counties of the English Province of New York. The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns in Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town was created by division of Westchester, called West Farms. The town of Morrisania was created, in turn, from West Farms in 1855. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge was established within the former borders of the town of Yonkers, roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, and Woodlawn Heights, and included Woodlawn Cemetery.
Among the famous people who settled in the Bronx during the 19th and early 20th centuries were author Willa Cather, tobacco merchant Pierre Lorillard, and inventor Jordan L. Mott, who established Mott Haven to house the workers at his iron works.
The consolidation of the Bronx into New York City proceeded in two stages. In 1873, the state legislature annexed Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania to New York, effective in 1874; the three towns were soon abolished in the process.
The whole territory east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. This included the Town of Westchester (which had voted against consolidation in 1894) and parts of Eastchester and Pelham. The maritime community of City Island voted to join the city in 1896.
Following these two annexations, the Bronx's territory had moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already included Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City.
On January 1, 1898, the consolidated City of New York was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct boroughs. However, it remained part of New York County until Bronx County was created in 1914.
On April 19, 1912, those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in previous decades were newly constituted as Bronx County, the 62nd and last county to be created by the state, effective in 1914. Bronx County's courts opened for business on January 2, 1914 (the same day that John P. Mitchel started work as Mayor of New York City).After 1914The history of the Bronx during the 20th century may be divided into four periods: a boom period during 1900–1929, with a population growth by a factor of six from 200,000 in 1900 to 1.3 million in 1930. The Great Depression and post World War II years saw a slowing of growth leading into an eventual decline. The mid to late century were hard times, as the Bronx changed during 1950–1985 from a predominantly moderate-income to a predominantly lower-income area with high rates of violent crime and poverty in some areas. The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in the late 1980s that continues into today.
The South Bronx was a manufacturing center for many years and was noted as a center of piano manufacturing in the early part of the 20th century. In 1919, the Bronx was the site of 63 piano factories employing more than 5,000 workers.
At the end of World War I, the Bronx hosted the rather small 1918 World's Fair at 177th Street and DeVoe Avenue.
The Bronx underwent rapid urban growth after World War I. Extensions of the New York City Subway contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants came to the Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction. Among these groups, many Irish Americans, Italian Americans, and especially Jewish Americans settled here. In addition, French, German, Polish, and other immigrants moved into the borough. As evidence of the change in population, by 1937, 592,185 Jews lived in the Bronx (43.9% of the borough's population), while only 54,000 Jews lived in the borough in 2011. Many synagogues still stand in the Bronx, but most have been converted to other uses.
Change
Bootleggers and gangs were active in the Bronx during Prohibition (1920–1933). Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish gangs smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey, and the oldest sections of the borough became poverty-stricken. Police Commissioner Richard Enright said that speakeasies provided a place for "the vicious elements, bootleggers, gamblers and their friends in all walks of life" to cooperate and to "evade the law, escape punishment for their crimes, [and] to deter the police from doing their duty".
Between 1930 and 1960, moderate and upper income Bronxites (predominantly non-Hispanic Whites) began to relocate from the borough's southwestern neighborhoods. This migration has left a mostly poor African American and Hispanic (largely Puerto Rican) population in the West Bronx. One significant factor that shifted the racial and economic demographics was the construction of Co-op City, built to house middle-class residents in family-sized apartments. The high-rise complex played a significant role in draining middle-class residents from older tenement buildings in the borough's southern and western fringes. Most predominantly non-Hispanic White communities today are in the eastern and northwestern sections of the borough.
From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, the quality of life changed for some Bronx residents. Historians and social scientists have suggested many factors, including the theory that Robert Moses' Cross Bronx Expressway destroyed existing residential neighborhoods and created instant slums, as put forward in Robert Caro's biography The Power Broker. Another factor in the Bronx's decline may have been the development of high-rise housing projects, particularly in the South Bronx. Yet another factor may have been a reduction in the real estate listings and property-related financial services offered in some areas of the Bronx, such as mortgage loans or insurance policies—a process known as redlining. Others have suggested a "planned shrinkage" of municipal services, such as fire-fighting. There was also much debate as to whether rent control laws had made it less profitable (or more costly) for landlords to maintain existing buildings with their existing tenants than to abandon or destroy those buildings.<!-- User-generated sources such as (in this case) forum posts are generally not acceptable as sources; see WP:RS. Cite a reputable secondary source instead. -->
In the 1970s, parts of the Bronx were plagued by a wave of arson. The burning of buildings was predominantly in the poorest communities, such as the South Bronx. One explanation of this event was that landlords decided to burn their low property-value buildings and take the insurance money, as it was easier for them to get insurance money than to try to refurbish a dilapidated building or sell a building in a severely distressed area. The Bronx became identified with a high rate of poverty and unemployment, which was mainly a persistent problem in the South Bronx. There were cases where tenants set fire to the building they lived in so they could qualify for emergency relocations by city social service agencies to better residences, sometimes being relocated to other parts of the city.
Out of 289 census tracts in the Bronx borough, 7 tracts lost more than 97% of their buildings to arson and abandonment between 1970 and 1980; another 44 tracts had more than 50% of their buildings meet the same fate. By the early 1980s, the Bronx was considered the most blighted urban area in the country, particularly the South Bronx which experienced a loss of 60% of the population and 40% of housing units. However, starting in the 1990s, many of the burned-out and run-down tenements were replaced by new housing units. and the matter was definitively settled later that year when the New York Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation declaring the neighborhood part of both New York County and the Borough of Manhattan and made this clarification retroactive to 1938, as reflected on the official maps of the city.
Revitalization
on a location where there was once burnt rubble. The Bronx has since seen revitalization.|alt=four-story houses along a city street]]
Since the late 1980s, significant development has occurred in the Bronx, first stimulated by the city's "Ten-Year Housing Plan" and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating affordable housing. Groups affiliated with churches in the South Bronx erected the Nehemiah Homes with about 1,000 units. The grass roots organization Nos Quedamos' endeavor known as Melrose Commons began to rebuild areas in the South Bronx. The IRT White Plains Road Line () began to show an increase in riders. Chains such as Marshalls, Staples, and Target opened stores in the Bronx. More bank branches opened in the Bronx as a whole (rising from 106 in 1997 to 149 in 2007), although not primarily in poor or minority neighborhoods, while the Bronx still has fewer branches per person than other boroughs.
In 1997, the Bronx was designated an All America City by the National Civic League, acknowledging its comeback from the decline of the mid-century. In 2006, The New York Times reported that "construction cranes have become the borough's new visual metaphor, replacing the window decals of the 1980s in which pictures of potted plants and drawn curtains were placed in the windows of abandoned buildings." The borough has experienced substantial new building construction since 2002. Between 2002 and June 2007, 33,687 new units of housing were built or were under way and $4.8 billion has been invested in new housing. In the first six months of 2007 alone total investment in new residential development was $965 million and 5,187 residential units were scheduled to be completed. Much of the new development is springing up in formerly vacant lots across the South Bronx.
In addition there came a revitalization of the existing housing market in areas such as Hunts Point, the Lower Concourse, and the neighborhoods surrounding the Third Avenue Bridge as people buy apartments and renovate them. Several boutique and chain hotels opened in the 2010s in the South Bronx.
New developments are underway. The Bronx General Post Office on the corner of the Grand Concourse and East 149th Street is being converted into a market place, boutiques, restaurants and office space with a USPS concession. The Kingsbridge Armory, often cited as the largest armory in the world, is currently slated for redevelopment.
Under consideration for future development is the construction of a platform over the New York City Subway's Concourse Yard adjacent to Lehman College. The construction permitted approximately of development and cost .
Despite significant investment compared to the post war period, many exacerbated social problems remain including high rates of violent crime, substance abuse, overcrowding, and substandard housing conditions. The Bronx has the highest rate of poverty in New York City, and the greater South Bronx is the poorest area.
Geography
Location and physical features
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bronx County has a total area of , of which is land and (27%) is water.
The Bronx is New York City's northernmost borough, New York State's southernmost mainland county and the only part of New York City that is almost entirely on the North American mainland, unlike the other four boroughs that are either islands or located on islands. The bedrock of the West Bronx is primarily Fordham gneiss, a high-grade heavily banded metamorphic rock containing significant amounts of pink feldspar. Marble Hill – politically part of Manhattan but now physically attached to the Bronx – is so-called because of the formation of Inwood marble there as well as in Inwood, Manhattan, and parts of the Bronx and Westchester County.
The Hudson River separates the Bronx on the west from Alpine, Tenafly and Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, New Jersey; the Harlem River separates it from the island of Manhattan to the southwest; the East River separates it from Queens to the southeast; and to the east, Long Island Sound separates it from Nassau County in western Long Island. Directly north of the Bronx are (from west to east) the adjoining Westchester County communities of Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor and New Rochelle. There is also a short southern land boundary with Marble Hill in the Borough of Manhattan, over the filled-in former course of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek; Marble Hill's postal ZIP code, telephonic area codes and fire service, however, are shared with the Bronx and not Manhattan. It separates the West Bronx from the schist of the East Bronx. A smaller river, the Hutchinson River (named after the religious leader Anne Hutchinson, killed along its banks in 1641), passes through the East Bronx and empties into Eastchester Bay.
The Bronx also includes several small islands in the East River and Long Island Sound, such as City Island and Hart Island. Rikers Island in the East River, home to the large jail complex for the entire city, is also part of the Bronx.
The Bronx's highest elevation at is in the northwest corner, west of Van Cortlandt Park and in the Chapel Farm area near the Riverdale Country School. The opposite (southeastern) side of the Bronx has four large low peninsulas or "necks" of low-lying land that jut into the waters of the East River and were once salt marsh: Hunt's Point, Clason's Point, Screvin's Neck and Throggs Neck. Further up the coastline, Rodman's Neck lies between Pelham Bay Park in the northeast and City Island. The Bronx's irregular shoreline extends for .
Parks and open space
'' map of parks and transit in the newly annexed Bronx. Marble Hill is in pink, cut off by water from the rest of Manhattan in orange. Van Cortlandt, Pelham Bay and Crotona Parks are light green, as is Bronx Park (now home to the New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo), Woodlawn Cemetery medium green, sports facilities dark green, the not-yet-built Jerome Park Reservoir light blue, St. John's College (now Fordham University) violet, and the city limits of the newly expanded New York red.]]
{|class"wikitable" style"float:right; clear:right; margin-left:1em; text-align:right; font-size:88%; width:auto; background:honeydew"
|-
! colspan"6" style"background:#88ff88"| Sample of open spaces and parks in the Bronx
|-
! Acquired
! Name
! acres
! sq. mi.
! hectares
|-
| 1863||Woodlawn Cemetery||400||0.6||162
|-
| rowspan="5"|1888||Pelham Bay Park||2,772||4.3||1,122
|-
| Van Cortlandt Park||1,146||1.8||464
|-
| Bronx Park||718||1.1||291
|-
| Crotona Park||128||0.2||52
|-
| St. Mary's Park||35||0.05||14
|-
| 1890||Jerome Park Reservoir||94||0.15||38
|-
| 1897||St. James Park||11||0.02||4.6
|-
| 1899||Macombs Dam Park †||28||0.04||12
|-
| 1909||Henry Hudson Park||9||0.01||4
|-
| rowspan="2"|1937||Ferry Point Park||414||0.65||168
|-
| Soundview Park||196||0.31||79
|-
| 1962||Wave Hill||21||0.03||8.5
|- style="background:#e8f8a5;"
| style"text-align:left;" colspan"2"|Land area of the Bronx in 2000||26,897||42.0||10,885
|- style="background:#d5f5f5;"
| style"text-align:left;" colspan"2"|Water area||9,855||15.4||3,988
|- style="background:#ccee88;"
| style"text-align:left;" colspan"2"|Total area
|-
| colspan"6" style"background:#88ff88;"|Main source: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
|}
Although Bronx County was the third most densely populated county in the United States in 2022 (after Manhattan and Brooklyn), of the Bronx—about one fifth of the Bronx's area, and one quarter of its land area—is given over to parkland. The vision of a system of major Bronx parks connected by park-like thoroughfares is usually attributed to John Mullaly.
Woodlawn Cemetery, located on and one of the largest cemeteries in New York City, sits on the western bank of the Bronx River near Yonkers. It opened in 1863, in what was then the town of Yonkers, at the time a rural area. Since the first burial in 1865, more than 300,000 people have been interred there.
The borough's northern side includes the largest park in New York City—Pelham Bay Park, which includes Orchard Beach—and the third-largest, Van Cortlandt Park, which is west of Woodlawn Cemetery and borders Yonkers. Also in the northern Bronx, Wave Hill, the former estate of George W. Perkins—known for a historic house, gardens, changing site-specific art installations and concerts—overlooks the New Jersey Palisades from a promontory on the Hudson in Riverdale. Nearer the borough's center, and along the Bronx River, is Bronx Park; its northern end houses the New York Botanical Gardens, which preserve the last patch of the original hemlock forest that once covered the county, and its southern end the Bronx Zoo, the largest urban zoological gardens in the United States.
Just south of Van Cortlandt Park is the Jerome Park Reservoir, surrounded by of stone walls and bordering several small parks in the Bedford Park neighborhood; the reservoir was built in the 1890s on the site of the former Jerome Park Racetrack. Further south is Crotona Park, home to a lake, 28 species of trees, and a large swimming pool. The land for these parks, and many others, was bought by New York City in 1888, while land was still open and inexpensive, in anticipation of future needs and future pressures for development.
Some of the acquired land was set aside for the Grand Concourse and Pelham Parkway, the first of a series of boulevards and parkways (thoroughfares lined with trees, vegetation and greenery). Later projects included the Bronx River Parkway, which developed a road while restoring the riverbank and reducing pollution, Mosholu Parkway and the Henry Hudson Parkway.
In 2006, a five-year, $220-million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 Bronx parks was begun (financed by water and sewer revenues) as part of an agreement that allowed a water filtration plant under Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park. One major focus is on opening more of the Bronx River's banks and restoring them to a natural state.
Adjacent counties
The Bronx adjoins:
* Westchester County – north
* Nassau County – southeast (across the East River)
* Queens County (Queens) – south (across the East River)
* New York County (Manhattan) – southwest
* Bergen County, New Jersey – west (across the Hudson River)
Divisions of the Bronx
Regional divisions
, Harlem, Hudson River and George Washington Bridge]]
There are two primary systems for dividing the Bronx into regions, which do not necessarily agree with one another. One system is based on the Bronx River, while the other strictly separates South Bronx from the rest of the borough.
The Bronx River divides the borough nearly in half, putting the earlier-settled, more urban, and hillier sections in the western lobe and the newer, more suburban coastal sections in the eastern lobe. It is an accurate reflection on the Bronx's history considering that the towns that existed in the area prior to annexation to the City of New York generally did not straddle the Bronx River. In addition, what is today the Bronx was annexed to New York City in two stages: areas west of the Bronx River were annexed in 1874 while areas to the east of the river were annexed in 1895.
* West Bronx: all parts of the Bronx west of the Bronx River (as opposed to Jerome Avenue – this street is simply the "east-west" divider for designating numbered streets as "east" or "west". As the Bronx's numbered streets continue from Manhattan to south, on which the street numbering system is based, Jerome Avenue actually represents a longitudinal halfway point for Manhattan, not the Bronx.)
* East Bronx: all parts of the Bronx east of the Bronx River (as opposed to Jerome Avenue)
Under this system, the Bronx can be further divided into the following regions:
* Northwest Bronx: the northern half of the West Bronx; the area north of Fordham Road and west of the Bronx River
* Southwest Bronx: the southern half of the West Bronx; the area south of Fordham Road and west of the Bronx River
* Northeast Bronx: the northern half of the East Bronx; the area north of Pelham Parkway and east of the Bronx River
* Southeast Bronx: the southern half of the East Bronx; the area south of Pelham Parkway and east of the Bronx River
A second system divides the borough first and foremost into the following sections:
* North Bronx: all areas not in the South Bronx (Southwest Bronx) – i.e. the Northwest Bronx, Northeast Bronx, and Southeast Bronx
* South Bronx: the Southwest Bronx – south of Fordham Road and west of the Bronx River. This includes the areas traditionally considered part of the South Bronx.
Neighborhoods
The number, locations, and boundaries of the Bronx's neighborhoods (many of them sitting on the sites of 19th-century villages) have become unclear with time and successive waves of newcomers. Even city officials do not necessarily agree. In a 2006 article for The New York Times, Manny Fernandez described the disagreement:
<blockquote>According to a Department of City Planning map of the city's neighborhoods, the Bronx has 49. The map publisher Hagstrom identifies 69. The borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr., says 61. The Mayor's Community Assistance Unit, in a listing of the borough's community boards, names 68.</blockquote>
Major neighborhoods of the Bronx include the following.
East Bronx
(Bronx Community Districts 9 [south central], 10 [east], 11 [east central] and 12 [north central])
is the largest cooperative housing development in the world.]]
East of the Bronx River, the borough is relatively flat and includes four large low peninsulas, or 'necks,' of low-lying land which jut into the waters of the East River and were once saltmarsh: Hunts Point, Clason's Point, Screvin's Neck (Castle Hill Point) and Throgs Neck. The East Bronx has older tenement buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multifamily homes, as well as single family homes. It includes New York City's largest park: Pelham Bay Park along the Westchester-Bronx border.
Neighborhoods include: Clason's Point, Harding Park, Soundview, Castle Hill, Parkchester (Community District 9); Throggs Neck, Country Club, City Island, Pelham Bay, Edgewater Park, Co-op City (Community District 10); Westchester Square, Van Nest, Pelham Parkway, Morris Park (Community District 11); Williamsbridge, Eastchester, Baychester, Edenwald and Wakefield (Community District 12).
City Island and Hart Island
]]
(Bronx Community District 10)
City Island is east of Pelham Bay Park in Long Island Sound and is known for its seafood restaurants and private waterfront homes. City Island's single shopping street, City Island Avenue, is reminiscent of a small New England town. It is connected to Rodman's Neck on the mainland by the City Island Bridge.
East of City Island is Hart Island, which is uninhabited and not open to the public. It once served as a prison and now houses New York City's potter's field for unclaimed bodies. West Bronx
at East 165th Street in 2008]]
(Bronx Community Districts 1 to 8, progressing roughly from south to northwest)
The western parts of the Bronx are hillier and are dominated by a series of parallel ridges, running south to north. The West Bronx has older apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, multifamily homes in its lower income areas as well as larger single family homes in more affluent areas such as Riverdale and Fieldston. It includes New York City's third-largest park: Van Cortlandt Park along the Westchester-Bronx border. The Grand Concourse, a wide boulevard, runs through it, north to south.
Northwestern Bronx
(Bronx Community Districts 7 [between the Bronx and Harlem Rivers] and 8 [facing the Hudson River] – plus part of Board 12)
Neighborhoods include: Fordham-Bedford, Bedford Park, Norwood, Kingsbridge Heights (Community District 7), Kingsbridge, Riverdale (Community District 8), and Woodlawn Heights (Community District 12).
(Marble Hill, Manhattan is now connected by land to the Bronx rather than Manhattan and is served by Bronx Community District 8.)
South Bronx
, a Bronx neighborhood of over 45,000]](Bronx Community Districts 1 to 6 plus part of CD 7—progressing northwards, CDs 2, 3 and 6 border the Bronx River from its mouth to Bronx Park, while 1, 4, 5 and 7 face Manhattan across the Harlem River)
Like other neighborhoods in New York City, the South Bronx has no official boundaries. The name has been used to represent poverty in the Bronx and is applied to progressively more northern places so that by the 2000s, Fordham Road was often used as a northern limit. The Bronx River more consistently forms an eastern boundary. The South Bronx has many high-density apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multi-unit homes. The South Bronx is home to the Bronx County Courthouse, Borough Hall, and other government buildings, as well as Yankee Stadium. The Cross Bronx Expressway bisects it, east to west. The South Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as very high crime areas.
Neighborhoods include: The Hub (a retail district at Third Avenue and East 149th Street), Port Morris, Mott Haven (Community District 1), Melrose (Community District 1 & Community District 3), Morrisania, East Morrisania [also known as Crotona Park East] (Community District 3), Hunts Point, Longwood (Community District 2), Highbridge, Concourse (Community District 4), West Farms, Belmont, East Tremont (Community District 6), Tremont, Morris Heights (Community District 5), University Heights. (Community District 5 & Community District 7).
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, language, and immigration
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Race
!2021
!2020
!2010
!1970
|N/A
|-
|Asian
|4.7%
|4.7%
|3.6%
|3%
|0.5%
|0.1%
|-
|Two or more races
|3.8%
|13.0%
|5.3%
|N/A
|N/A
|N/A
|}
2018 estimates
The borough's most populous racial group, White, declined from 99.3% in 1920 to 14.9% in 2018. A Garifuna-speaking community from Honduras and Guatemala also makes the Bronx its home.2009 community survey
The Bronx is the only New York City borough with a Hispanic majority, many of whom are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, Black Americans were the second largest racial/ethnic group in the Bronx. Black people of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented over one-third (35.4%) of the Bronx's population. Black people of non-Hispanic origin made up 30.8% of the population. Over 495,200 Black people resided in the borough, of whom 87% were non-Hispanic. Over 61,000 people identified themselves as Sub-Saharan African in the survey, making up 4.4% of the population.
Multiracial Americans are also a sizable minority in the Bronx. People of multiracial heritage number over 41,800 individuals and represent 3.0% of the population. People of mixed African American and European American heritage number over 6,850 members and form 0.5% of the population. People of mixed Native American and European heritage number over 2,450 members and form 0.2% of the population. People of mixed Asian and European heritage number over 880 members and form 0.1% of the population. People of mixed African American and Native American heritage number over 1,220 members and form 0.1% of the population. As of 2009, White Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented one-fifth (22.9%) of the Bronx's population, but counting non-Hispanic White people the proportion was under one-eighth (12.1%). The majority of the non-Hispanic European American population is of Italian and Irish descent. People of Italian descent numbered over 55,000 individuals and made up 3.9% of the population. People of Irish descent numbered over 43,500 individuals and made up 3.1% of the population. German Americans and Polish Americans made up 1.4% and 0.8% of the population respectively. The Bronx has the largest Albanian community in the United States. As of 2018, non-Hispanic White people account for about one in seven residents (14.9% in 2018).
<div align="center">
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:right; width:90%; fontsize:90%"
|-
! colspan="6" | Foreign or overseas birthplaces of Bronx residents, 1930 and 2000
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan"3" style"background:#ffff88;" |1930 United States Census
|- style="background:#ffc;"
| style="width:40%; text-align:center;" |Total population of the Bronx
| style="width:5%;" |1,265,258
| style="width:5%;" |
| style="text-align:center; width:30%; background:#cff;" |Total population of the Bronx
| style="width:5%; background:#cff;" |1,332,650
| style="width:5%; background:#cff;" |
|-
| || || || style"text-align:center; background:#eff;" |All born abroad or overseas<sup>‡</sup>|| style"background:#eff;" |524,410|| style="background:#eff;" |39.4%
|-
| || || || style="text-align:left;" |Puerto Rico||126,649||9.5%
|- style="background:#ffe;"
| style"text-align:center;" |Foreign-born Whites||477,342||37.7%|| style"text-align:center; background:#eff;" | All foreign-born || style"background:#eff;" |385,827|| style"background:#eff;" |29.0%
|-
| style"text-align:left;" |White persons born in Russia||135,210||10.7%|| align"left" |Dominican Republic||124,032||9.3%
|-
| style"text-align:left;" |White persons born in Italy||67,732||5.4%|| align"left" |Jamaica||51,120||3.8%
|-
| style"text-align:left;" |White persons born in Poland||55,969||4.4%|| align"left" |Mexico||20,962||1.6%
|-
| style"text-align:left;" |White persons born in Germany||43,349||3.4%|| align"left" |Guyana||14,868||1.1%
|-
| style"text-align:left;" |White persons born in the Irish Free State <sup>†</sup>||34,538||2.7%|| align"left" |Ecuador||14,800||1.1%
|-
| Other foreign birthplaces of Whites||140,544||11.1%||Other foreign birthplaces||160,045
||12.0%
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan"3" style"background:#ffe;" |<small>† now the Republic of Ireland</small>|| colspan"3" style"text-align:center; background:#eff;" |<small> ‡ beyond the 50 states and Washington, D.C.</small>
|}
</div>
Population and housing
As of the 2010 census, there were 1,385,108 people living in the Bronx, a 3.9% increase since 2000.
As of the 2000 United States census, there were 1,332,650 people, 463,212 households, and 314,984 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 490,659 housing units at an average density of .
There were 463,212 households, out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.4% were married couples living together, 30.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.37.
From 2015 census data, the median income for a household was (in 2015 dollars) $34,299. Per capita income in past 12 months (in 2015 dollars): $18,456 with persons in poverty at 30.3%. Per the 2016 Census data, the median income for a household was $35,302. Per capita income was cited at $18,896.
Culture and institutions
Sports
The Bronx is the home of the New York Yankees—nicknamed "the Bronx Bombers"—of Major League Baseball. The Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, more than any other team, and their roster has featured players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.
When the team's original Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, it was the largest baseball park. The field also hosted college football games, and was the home of two National Football League teams, the New York Yankees (1926–1929) and the New York Giants (1956–1973). In 2008, the park was replaced with the current Yankee Stadium.
The Bronx additionally hosts the only Major League Soccer team in the five boroughs, the New York City FC, which also plays in Yankee Stadium. Part of the New York City Marathon travels through the Bronx, including the notoriously difficult Mile 20. From 1889 to 1904, the borough used to have a horse racing facility, the Morris Park Racecourse. In its later years, the course was used for motor racing: a new land speed record was reached on the track. College teams in the Bronx include the Fordham Rams and the Lehman Lightning.
Music
in 1999]]
The Bronx has had a long association with music. In the early 20th century, it was a center for the evolution of Latin jazz. The Bronx Opera was established in 1967.
In the 1970s, The Bronx was strongly associated with the development of hip hop music. One of the genre's pioneers, DJ Kool Herc, held parties in the community room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where he experimented with turntablist techniques such as mixing and scratching of funk records, as well as rapping during extended instrumentals. Other significant Bronx DJs from this period include Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. In addition, The Bronx was important for drill culture by raising rappers such as Kay Flock, Sha EK and many others.
Off-Off-Broadway
The Bronx is home to several Off-Off-Broadway theaters, many staging new works by immigrant playwrights from Latin America and Africa. The Pregones Theater, which produces Latin American work, opened a new 130-seat theater in 2005 on Walton Avenue in the South Bronx. Some artists from elsewhere in New York City have begun to converge on the area, and housing prices have nearly quadrupled in the area since 2002. However, rising prices directly correlate to a housing shortage across the city and the entire metro area.
Arts
The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, founded in 1998 by Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez, provides dance, theatre and art workshops, festivals and performances focusing on contemporary and modern art in relation to race, gender and sexuality. It is home to the Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre, a contemporary dance company, and the Bronx Dance Coalition. The academy was formerly in the American Bank Note Company Building before relocating to a venue on the grounds of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
The Bronx Museum of the Arts, founded in 1971, exhibits 20th century and contemporary art through its central museum space and of galleries. Many of its exhibitions are on themes of special interest to the Bronx. Its permanent collection features more than 800 works of art, primarily by artists from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, and mixed media. The museum was temporarily closed in 2006 while it underwent an expansion designed by the architectural firm Arquitectonica that would double the museum's size to .
The Bronx has also become home to a peculiar poetic tribute in the form of the "Heinrich Heine Memorial", better known as the Lorelei Fountain. After Heine's German birthplace of Düsseldorf had rejected, allegedly for antisemitic motives, a centennial monument to the radical German-Jewish poet (1797–1856), his incensed German-American admirers, including Carl Schurz, started a movement to place one instead in Midtown Manhattan, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. However, this intention was thwarted by a combination of ethnic antagonism, aesthetic controversy and political struggles over the institutional control of public art. In 1899, the memorial by Ernst Gustav Herter was placed in Joyce Kilmer Park, near the Yankee Stadium. In 1999, it was moved to 161st Street and the Concourse.Maritime heritage
is the largest zoo in New York City, and among the largest in the country.]]
The peninsular borough's maritime heritage is acknowledged in several ways. The City Island Historical Society and Nautical Museum occupies a former public school designed by the New York City school system's turn-of-the-last-century master architect C. B. J. Snyder. The state's Maritime College in Fort Schuyler (on the southeastern shore) houses the Maritime Industry Museum. In addition, the Harlem River is reemerging as "Scullers' Row" due in large part to the efforts of the Bronx River Restoration Project, a joint public-private endeavor of the city's parks department. Canoeing and kayaking on the borough's namesake river have been promoted by the Bronx River Alliance. The river is also straddled by the New York Botanical Gardens, its neighbor, the Bronx Zoo, and a little further south, on the west shore, Bronx River Art Center.Community celebrations"Bronx Week", traditionally held in May, began as a one-day celebration. Begun by Bronx historian Lloyd Ultan and supported by then borough president Robert Abrams, the original one-day program was based on the "Bronx Borough Day" festival which took place in the 1920s. The following year, at the height of the decade's civil unrest, the festival was extended to a one-week event. In the 1980s the key event, the "Bronx Ball", was launched. The week includes the Bronx Week Parade as well as inductions into the "Bronx Walk of Fame".
Various Bronx neighborhoods conduct their own community celebrations. The Arthur Avenue "Little Italy" neighborhood conducts an annual Autumn Ferragosto Festival that celebrates Italian culture. Hunts Point hosts an annual "Fish Parade and Summer Festival" at the start of summer. Edgewater Park hosts an annual "Ragamuffin" children's walk in November. There are several events to honor the borough's veterans. Albanian Independence Day is also observed.
There are also parades to celebrate Dominican, Italian, and Irish heritage.
Press and broadcasting
The Bronx is home to several local newspapers and radio and television studios.
Newspapers
The Bronx has several local newspapers, including The Bronx Daily, The Bronx News, Parkchester News, City News, The Norwood News, The Riverdale Press, Riverdale Review, The Bronx Times Reporter, and Co-op City Times. Four non-profit news outlets, Norwood News, Mount Hope Monitor, Mott Haven Herald and The Hunts Point Express serve the borough's poorer communities. The editor and co-publisher of The Riverdale Press, Bernard Stein, won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for his editorials about Bronx and New York City issues in 1998. (Stein graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1959.)
The Bronx once had its own daily newspaper, The Bronx Home News, which started publishing on January 20, 1907, and merged into the New York Post in 1948. It became a special section of the Post, sold only in the Bronx, and eventually disappeared from view.
Radio and television
One of New York City's major non-commercial radio broadcasters is WFUV, a National Public Radio-affiliated 50,000-watt station broadcasting from Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The radio station's antenna was relocated to the top of an apartment building owned by Montefiore Medical Center, which expanded the reach of the station's signal.
The City of New York has an official television station run by NYC Media and broadcasting from Bronx Community College, and Cablevision operates News 12 The Bronx, both of which feature programming based in the Bronx. Co-op City was the first area in the Bronx, and the first in New York beyond Manhattan, to have its own cable television provider. The local public-access television station BronxNet originates from Herbert H. Lehman College, the borough's only four year CUNY school, and provides government-access television (GATV) public affairs programming in addition to programming produced by Bronx residents.
Economy
Shopping malls and markets in the Bronx include:
* Bay Plaza Shopping Center
* Bronx Terminal Market
* Hunts Point Cooperative Market
Shopping districts
on Third Avenue]]
]]
Prominent shopping areas in the Bronx include Fordham Road, Bay Plaza in Co-op City, The Hub, the Riverdale/Kingsbridge shopping center, and Bruckner Boulevard. Shops are also concentrated on streets aligned underneath elevated railroad lines, including Westchester Avenue, White Plains Road, Jerome Avenue, Southern Boulevard, and Broadway. The Bronx Terminal Market contains several big-box stores, which opened in 2009 south of Yankee Stadium.
The Bronx has three primary shopping centers: The Hub, Gateway Center and Southern Boulevard. The Hub–Third Avenue Business Improvement District (B.I.D.), in The Hub, is the retail heart of the South Bronx, where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx", being likened to the real Broadway in Manhattan and the northwestern Bronx. It is the site of both maximum traffic and architectural density. In configuration, it resembles a miniature Times Square, a spatial "bow-tie" created by the geometry of the street. The Hub is part of Bronx Community Board 1.
The Bronx Terminal Market, in the West Bronx, formerly known as Gateway Center, is a shopping center that encompasses less than one million square feet of retail space, built on a site that formerly held a wholesale fruit and vegetable market also named Bronx Terminal Market as well as the former Bronx House of Detention, south of Yankee Stadium. The $500 million shopping center, which was completed in 2009, saw the construction of new buildings and two smaller buildings, one new and the other a renovation of an existing building that was part of the original market. The two main buildings are linked by a six-level garage for 2,600 cars. The center's design has earned it a LEED "Silver" designation.
Government and politics
Local government
Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong" mayor–council system has governed the Bronx. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in the Bronx.
{| class"wikitable" style"float:right; margin-left:1em;"
|-
! colspan"3" style"background:violet; " | Borough Presidents of the Bronx
|-
! Name !! Party !! Term †
|- style="background:#def;"
| Louis F. Haffen ||Democratic||1898 – Aug. 1909
|- style="background:#def;"
| John F. Murray ||Democratic||Aug. 1909–1910
|- style="background:#def;"
| Cyrus C. Miller ||Democratic||1910–1914
|- style="background:#ffe2e2;"
| |Douglas Mathewson||Republican-<br />Fusion||1914–1918
|- style="background:#def;"
| Henry Bruckner ||Democratic||1918–1934
|- style="background:#def;"
| James J. Lyons ||Democratic||1934–1962
|- style="background:#ffe2e2;"
| Joseph F. Periconi ||Republican-<br />Liberal||1962–1966
|- style="background:#def;"
| Herman Badillo||Democratic|| 1966–1970
|- style="background:#def;"
| Robert Abrams||Democratic|| 1970–1979
|- style="background:#def;"
| Stanley Simon||Democratic||1979 – April 1987
|- style="background:#def;"
| Fernando Ferrer||Democratic||April 1987 – 2002
|- style="background:#def;"
| Adolfo Carrión, Jr.||Democratic||2002 – March 2009
|- style="background:#def;"
| Rubén Díaz, Jr.||Democratic||May 2009 – 2021
|- style="background:#def;"
| Vanessa Gibson||Democratic||2022 –
|-
| colspan"3" style"text-align:center;" |† Terms begin and end in January<br />where the month is not specified.
|}
The office of Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.
Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations.
Until March 1, 2009, the Borough President of the Bronx was Adolfo Carrión Jr., elected as a Democrat in 2001 and 2005 before retiring early to direct the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy. His successor, Democratic New York State Assembly member Rubén Díaz, Jr. — after winning a special election on April 21, 2009, by a vote of 86.3% (29,420) on the "Bronx Unity" line to 13.3% (4,646) for the Republican district leader Anthony Ribustello on the "People First" line, — became Borough President on May 1, 2009. In 2021, Rubén Díaz's Democratic successor, Vanessa Gibson was elected (to begin serving in 2022) with 79.9% of the vote against 13.4% for Janell King (Republican) and 6.5% for Sammy Ravelo (Conservative).
All of the Bronx's currently elected public officials have first won the nomination of the Democratic Party (in addition to any other endorsements). Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and annexation of parkland for new Yankee Stadium.
Since its separation from New York County on January 1, 1914, the Bronx, has had, like each of the other 61 counties of New York State, its own criminal court system
The Bronx also has twelve Community Boards, appointed bodies that advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions.
Politics
<!-- PresRow should be -->
|}
After becoming a separate county in 1914, the Bronx has supported only two Republican presidential candidates. It voted heavily for the winning Republican Warren G. Harding in 1920, but much more narrowly on a split vote for his victorious Republican successor Calvin Coolidge in 1924 (Coolidge 79,562; John W. Davis, Dem., 72,834; Robert La Follette, 62,202 equally divided between the Progressive and Socialist lines).
Since then, the Bronx has always supported the Democratic Party's nominee for president, starting with a vote of 2–1 for the unsuccessful Al Smith in 1928, followed by four 2–1 votes for the successful Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Both had been Governors of New York, but Republican former Gov. Thomas E. Dewey won only 28% of the Bronx's vote in 1948 against 55% for Pres. Harry Truman, the winning Democrat, and 17% for Henry A. Wallace of the Progressives. It was only 32 years earlier, by contrast, that another Republican former Governor who narrowly lost the Presidency, Charles Evans Hughes, had won 42.6% of the Bronx's 1916 vote against Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's 49.8% and Socialist candidate Allan Benson's 7.3%.) Donald Trump improved on the Republican Party's performance from a historic low of 8% in 2012 to 27% in 2024 over the course of his three runs for president, the highest for Republicans since 1984.
Federal Representatives
As of 2025, four Democrats represented the Bronx in the United States House of Representatives:
* Adriano Espaillat (first elected in 2016) represents New York's 13th congressional district, which includes the Bronx neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Jerome Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, and parts of Fordham, Kingsbridge, Morris Heights, and University Heights, as well as a portion of Manhattan.
* Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (first elected in 2018) represents New York's 14th congressional district, which includes the neighborhoods of City Island, Country Club, Van Nest, Morris Park, Parkchester, Pelham Bay, Schuylerville, and Throggs Neck, as well as a portion of Queens.
* Ritchie Torres (first elected in 2020) represents New York's 15th congressional district, which includes West Bronx and South Bronx.
* George Latimer (first elected in 2024) represents New York's 16th congressional district, which includes the neighborhood of Wakefield, as well as the southern half of Westchester County.
Elections for Mayor of New York
The Bronx has often shown striking differences from other boroughs in elections for Mayor. The only Republican to carry the Bronx since 1914 was Fiorello La Guardia in 1933, 1937, and 1941 (and in the latter two elections, only because his 30% to 32% vote on the American Labor Party line was added to 22% to 23% as a Republican). The Bronx was thus the only borough not carried by the successful Republican re-election campaigns of Mayors Rudy Giuliani in 1997 and Michael Bloomberg in 2005. The anti-war Socialist campaign of Morris Hillquit in the 1917 mayoral election won over 31% of the Bronx's vote, putting him second and well ahead of the 20% won by the incumbent pro-war Fusion Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, who came in second (ahead of Hillquit) everywhere else and outpolled Hillquit citywide by 23.2% to 21.7%.
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan"8" style"background:#d5d5d5;" |
|- style="text-align:center;"
|- style="background:#ff7;"
! style="text-align:center; background:#ffd588;" |Year
! style="text-align:center; background:#e5e5e5;" |Candidate carrying<br />the Bronx
! style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;" |Elected Mayor
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2021|| style"background:#def;" |Eric Adams,<br />D|| style="background:#edffff;" |Eric Adams,<br />D
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2017|| style"background:#def;" |Bill de Blasio,<br />D-Working Families || style="background:#edffff;" |Bill de Blasio,<br />D-Working Families
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2013|| style"background:#def;" |Bill de Blasio,<br />D-Working Families || style="background:#edffff;" |Bill de Blasio,<br />D-Working Families
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2009|| style"background:#def;" |Bill Thompson,<br />D-Working Families|| style="background:#fff3f3;" |Michael Bloomberg,<br />R–Indep'ce/Jobs & Educ'n
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2005|| style"background:#def;" |Fernando Ferrer, D || style="background:#fff3f3;" |Michael Bloomberg, R/Lib-Indep'ce
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" |2001|| style"background:#def;" |Mark Green,<br />D-Working Families|| style="background:#fff3f3;" |Michael Bloomberg,<br />R-Independence
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1997|| style"background:#def;" |Ruth Messinger, D|| style="background:#fff3f3;" |Rudy Giuliani, R-Liberal
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1993|| style"background:#def;" |David Dinkins, D || style="background:#fff3f3;" |Rudy Giuliani, R-Liberal
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1989|| style"background:#def;" |David Dinkins, D || style="background:#edffff;" |David Dinkins, D
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1985|| style"background:#def;" |Ed Koch, D-Indep.|| style="background:#edffff;" |Ed Koch, D-Independent
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1981|| style"background:#def;" |Ed Koch, D-R || style="background:#edffff;" |Ed Koch, D-R
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1977|| style"background:#def;" |Ed Koch, D|| style="background:#edffff;" |Ed Koch, D
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1973|| style"background:#def;" |Abraham Beame, D || style="background:#edffff;" |Abraham Beame, D
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1969|| style"background:#def;" |Mario Procaccino,<br />D-Nonpartisan-Civil Svce Ind. || style="background:#fefeea;" |John Lindsay, Liberal
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1965|| style"background:#def;" |Abraham Beame,<br />D-Civil Service Fusion || style="background:#fff3f3;" |John Lindsay,<br />R-Liberal-Independent Citizens
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1961|| style"background:#def;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr.,<br />D-Liberal-Brotherhood || style="background:#edffff;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr.,<br />D-Liberal-Brotherhood
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1957|| style"background:#def;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr.,<br />D-Liberal-Fusion|| style="background:#edffff;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr.,<br />D-Liberal-Fusion
|-
| style"background:#ffd588;" | 1953|| style"background:#def;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr., D || style="background:#edffff;" |Robert F. Wagner Jr., D
|}
* For details of votes and parties in a particular election, click the year or see New York City mayoral elections.
Education
Education in the Bronx is provided by a large number of public and private institutions, many of which draw students who live beyond the Bronx. The New York City Department of Education manages the borough's public noncharter schools. In 2000, public schools enrolled nearly 280,000 of the Bronx's residents over three years old (out of 333,100 enrolled in all pre-college schools). There are also several public charter schools. Private schools range from elite independent schools to religiously affiliated schools run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Jewish organizations.
A small portion of land between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park, with 35 houses, is a part of the Bronx, but is cut off from the rest of the borough due to the county boundaries; the New York City government pays for the residents' children to go to Pelham Union Free School District schools, including Pelham Memorial High School, since that is more cost effective than sending school buses to take the students to New York City schools. This arrangement has been in place since 1948.
Educational attainment
In 2000, according to the United States census, out of the nearly 800,000 people in the Bronx who were then at least 25 years old, 62.3% had graduated from high school and 14.6% held a bachelor's or higher college degree. These percentages were lower than those for New York's other boroughs, which ranged from 68.8% (Brooklyn) to 82.6% (Staten Island) for high school graduates over 24, and from 21.8% (Brooklyn) to 49.4% (Manhattan) for college graduates. (The respective state and national percentages were [NY] 79.1% & 27.4% and [US] 80.4% & 24.4%.)High schools
]]
In the 2000 Census, 79,240 of the nearly 95,000 Bronx residents enrolled in high school attended public schools.
Three campuses of the City University of New York are in the Bronx: Hostos Community College, Bronx Community College (occupying the former University Heights Campus of New York University) and Herbert H. Lehman College (formerly the uptown campus of Hunter College), which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
The College of Mount Saint Vincent is a Catholic liberal arts college in Riverdale under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of New York. Founded in 1847 as a school for girls, the academy became a degree-granting college in 1911 and began admitting men in 1974. The school serves 1,600 students. Its campus is also home to the Academy for Jewish Religion, a transdenominational rabbinical and cantorial school.
Manhattan University is a Catholic college in Riverdale which offers undergraduate programs in the arts, business, education, engineering, and science. It also offers graduate programs in education and engineering.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of the Montefiore Medical Center, is in Morris Park.
The coeducational and non-sectarian Mercy University—with its main campus in Dobbs Ferry—has a Bronx campus near Westchester Square.
The State University of New York Maritime College in Fort Schuyler (Throggs Neck)—at the far southeastern tip of the Bronx—is the national leader in maritime education and houses the Maritime Industry Museum. (Directly across Long Island Sound is Kings Point, Long Island, home of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and the American Merchant Marine Museum.) As of 2017, graduates from the university earned an average annual salary of $144,000, the highest of any university graduates in the United States.
In addition, the private, proprietary Monroe College, focused on preparation for business and the professions, started in the Bronx in 1933 and now has a campus in New Rochelle (Westchester County) as well the Bronx's Fordham neighborhood.
Transportation
Roads and streets
]]
Surface streets
The Bronx street grid is irregular. Like the northernmost part of upper Manhattan, the West Bronx's hilly terrain leaves a relatively free-style street grid. Much of the West Bronx's street numbering carries over from upper Manhattan, but does not match it exactly; East 132nd Street is the lowest numbered street in the Bronx. This dates from the mid-19th century when the southwestern area of Westchester County west of the Bronx River, was incorporated into New York City and known as the Northside.
The East Bronx is considerably flatter, and the street layout tends to be more regular. Only the Wakefield neighborhood picks up the street numbering, albeit at a misalignment due to Tremont Avenue's layout. At the same diagonal latitude, West 262nd Street in Riverdale matches East 237th Street in Wakefield.
Three major north–south thoroughfares run between Manhattan and the Bronx: Third Avenue, Park Avenue, and Broadway. Other major north–south roads include the Grand Concourse, Jerome Avenue, Sedgwick Avenue, Webster Avenue, and White Plains Road. Major east-west thoroughfares include Mosholu Parkway, Gun Hill Road, Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway, and Tremont Avenue.
Most east–west streets are prefixed with either East or West, to indicate on which side of Jerome Avenue they lie (continuing the similar system in Manhattan, which uses Fifth Avenue as the dividing line).
The historic Boston Post Road, part of the long pre-revolutionary road connecting Boston with other northeastern cities, runs east–west in some places, and sometimes northeast–southwest.
Mosholu and Pelham Parkways, with Bronx Park between them, Van Cortlandt Park to the west and Pelham Bay Park to the east, are also linked by bridle paths.
As of the 2000 Census, approximately 61.6% of all Bronx households do not have access to a car. Citywide, the percentage of autoless households is 55%.
Highways
Several major limited access highways traverse the Bronx. These include:
* the Bronx River Parkway
* the Bruckner Expressway (I-278/I-95)
* the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95/I-295)
* the New England Thruway (I-95)
* the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY-9A)
* the Hutchinson River Parkway
* the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87)
Bridges and tunnels
]]
Thirteen bridges and three tunnels connect the Bronx to Manhattan, and three bridges connect the Bronx to Queens. These are, from west to east:
To Manhattan: the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Broadway Bridge, the University Heights Bridge, the Washington Bridge, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, the High Bridge, the Concourse Tunnel, the Macombs Dam Bridge, the 145th Street Bridge, the 149th Street Tunnel, the Madison Avenue Bridge, the Park Avenue Bridge, the Lexington Avenue Tunnel, the Third Avenue Bridge (southbound traffic only), and the Willis Avenue Bridge (northbound traffic only).
To both Manhattan and Queens: the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge.
To Queens: the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge.
Mass transit
subway station on the ]]The Bronx is served by seven New York City Subway services along six physical lines, with 70 stations in the Bronx:
* IND Concourse Line ()
* IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ()
* IRT Dyre Avenue Line ()
* IRT Jerome Avenue Line ()
* IRT Pelham Line ()
* IRT White Plains Road Line ()
There are also many MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes in the Bronx. This includes local and express routes as well as Bee-Line Bus System routes.
Two Metro-North Railroad commuter rail lines (the Harlem Line and the Hudson Line) serve 11 stations in the Bronx. (Marble Hill, between the Spuyten Duyvil and University Heights stations, is actually in the only part of Manhattan connected to the mainland.) In addition, some trains serving the New Haven Line stop at Fordham Plaza. As part of Penn Station Access, the 2018 MTA budget funded construction of four new stops along the New Haven Line to serve Hunts Point, Parkchester, Morris Park, and Co-op City.
In 2018, NYC Ferry's Soundview line opened, connecting the Soundview landing in Clason Point Park to three East River locations in Manhattan. On December 28, 2021; the Throgs Neck Ferry landing at Ferry Point Park in Throgs Neck was opened providing an additional stop on the Soundview line. The ferry is operated by Hornblower Cruises.
Climate
In popular culture
Film and television
Mid-20th century
Mid-20th century movies set in the Bronx portrayed densely settled, working-class, urban culture. From This Day Forward (1946), set in Highbridge, occasionally delved into Bronx life. The most notable examinations of working class Bronx life were Paddy Chayefsky's Academy Award-winning Marty and his 1956 film The Catered Affair. Other films that portrayed life in the Bronx are: the 1993 Robert De Niro/Chazz Palminteri film, A Bronx Tale, Spike Lee's 1999 movie Summer of Sam, which focused on an Italian-American Bronx community in the 1970s, 1994's I Like It Like That which takes place in the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood of the South Bronx, and Doughboys, the story of two Italian-American brothers in danger of losing their bakery thanks to one brother's gambling debts.
The Bronx's gritty urban life had worked its way into the movies even earlier, with depictions of the "Bronx cheer", a loud flatulent-like sound of disapproval, allegedly first made by New York Yankees fans. The sound can be heard, for example, on the Spike Jones and His City Slickers recording of "Der Fuehrer's Face" (from the 1942 Disney animated film of the same name), repeatedly lambasting Adolf Hitler with: "We'll Heil! (Bronx cheer) Heil! (Bronx cheer) Right in Der Fuehrer's Face!"
Symbolism
Starting in the 1970s, the Bronx often symbolized violence, decay, and urban ruin. The wave of arson in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s inspired the observation that "The Bronx is burning": in 1974 it was the title of both an editorial in The New York Times and a BBC documentary film. The line entered the pop-consciousness with Game Two of the 1977 World Series, when a fire broke out near Yankee Stadium as the team was playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. As the fire was captured on live television, announcer Howard Cosell is wrongly remembered to have said something like, "There it is, ladies and gentlemen: the Bronx is burning". Historians of New York City often point to Cosell's remark as an acknowledgement of both the city and the borough's decline. A feature-length documentary film by Edwin Pagán called Bronx Burning chronicled what led up to the many arson-for-insurance fraud fires of the 1970s in the borough.
Bronx gang life was depicted in the 1974 novel The Wanderers by Bronx native Richard Price and the 1979 movie of the same name. They are set in the heart of the Bronx, showing apartment life and the then-landmark Krums ice cream parlor. In the 1979 film The Warriors, the eponymous gang go to a meeting in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and have to fight their way out of the borough and get back to Coney Island in Brooklyn. A Bronx Tale (1993) depicts gang activities in the Belmont "Little Italy" section of the Bronx. The 2005 video game adaptation features levels called Pelham, Tremont, and "Gunhill" (a play off the name Gun Hill Road). This theme lends itself to the title of The Bronx Is Burning, an eight-part ESPN TV mini-series (2007) about the New York Yankees' drive to winning baseball's 1977 World Series. The TV series emphasizes the team's boisterous nature, led by manager Billy Martin, catcher Thurman Munson and outfielder Reggie Jackson, as well as the malaise of the Bronx and New York City in general during that time, such as the blackout, the city's serious financial woes and near bankruptcy, the arson for insurance payments, and the election of Ed Koch as mayor.
The 1981 film Fort Apache, The Bronx is another film that used the Bronx's gritty image for its storyline. The movie's title is from the nickname for the 41st Police Precinct in the South Bronx which was nicknamed "Fort Apache". Also from 1981 is the horror film Wolfen making use of the rubble of the Bronx as a home for werewolf type creatures. Knights of the South Bronx, a true story of a teacher who worked with disadvantaged children, is another film also set in the Bronx released in 2005. The Bronx was the setting for the 1983 film Fuga dal Bronx, also known as Bronx Warriors 2 and Escape 2000, an Italian B-movie best known for its appearance on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. The plot revolves around a sinister construction corporation's plans to depopulate, destroy and redevelop the Bronx, and a band of rebels who are out to expose the corporation's murderous ways and save their homes. The film is memorable for its almost incessant use of the phrase, "Leave the Bronx!" Many of the movie's scenes were filmed in Queens, substituting as the Bronx. Rumble in the Bronx, filmed in Vancouver, was a 1995 Jackie Chan kung-fu film, another which popularized the Bronx to international audiences. Last Bronx, a 1996 Sega game played on the bad reputation of the Bronx to lend its name to an alternate version of post-Japanese bubble Tokyo, where crime and gang warfare is rampant. The 2016 Netflix series The Get Down is based on the development of hip hop in 1977 in the South Bronx.
Literature
Books
The Bronx has been featured significantly in fiction literature. All of the characters in Herman Wouk's City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder (1948) live in the Bronx, and about half of the action is set there. Kate Simon's Bronx Primitive: Portraits of a Childhood (1982) is directly autobiographical, a warm account of a Polish-Jewish girl in an immigrant family growing up before World War II, and living near Arthur Avenue and Tremont Avenue. In Jacob M. Appel's short story, "The Grand Concourse" (2007), a woman who grew up in the iconic Lewis Morris Building returns to the Morrisania neighborhood with her adult daughter. Similarly, in Avery Corman's book The Old Neighborhood (1980), an upper-middle class white protagonist returns to his birth neighborhood (Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse), and learns that even though the folks are poor, Hispanic and African-American, they are good people.
By contrast, Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) portrays a wealthy, white protagonist, Sherman McCoy, getting lost off the Bruckner Expressway in the South Bronx and having an altercation with locals. A substantial piece of the last part of the book is set in the resulting riotous trial at the Bronx County Courthouse. However, times change, and in 2007, The New York Times reported that "the Bronx neighborhoods near the site of Sherman's accident are now dotted with townhouses and apartments." In the same article, the Reverend Al Sharpton (whose fictional analogue in the novel is "Reverend Bacon") asserts that "twenty years later, the cynicism of The Bonfire of the Vanities is as out of style as Tom Wolfe's wardrobe."
Don DeLillo's Underworld (1997) is also set in the Bronx and offers a perspective on the area from the 1950s onward.
Poetry
In poetry, the Bronx has been immortalized by one of the world's shortest couplets:
<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">The Bronx?
No Thonx
: Ogden Nash, The New Yorker, 1931</poem>
Nash repented 33 years after his calumny, penning the following poem to the dean of faculty at Bronx Community College in 1964:
<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">
I wrote those lines, "The Bronx? No thonx";
I shudder to confess them.
Now I'm an older, wiser man
I cry, "The Bronx? God bless them!"
Nash's couplet "The Bronx? No Thonx" and his subsequent blessing are mentioned in Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough, edited by Lloyd Ultan and Barbara Unger and published in 2000. The book, which includes the work of Yiddish poets, offers a selection from Allen Ginsberg's Kaddish, as his Aunt Elanor and his mother, Naomi, lived near Woodlawn Cemetery. Also featured is Ruth Lisa Schecther's poem, "Bronx", which is described as a celebration of the borough's landmarks. There is a selection of works from poets such as Sandra María Esteves, Milton Kessler, Joan Murray, W. R. Rodriguez, Myra Shapiro, Gayl Teller, and Terence Wynch.
"Bronx Migrations" by Michelle M. Tokarczyk is a collection that spans five decades of Tokarczyk's life in the Bronx, from her exodus in 1962 to her return in search of her childhood tenement.Bronx Memoir ProjectBronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 is a published anthology by the Bronx Council on the Arts and brought forth through a series of workshops meant to empower Bronx residents and shed the stigma on the Bronx's burning past. The Bronx Memoir Project was created as an ongoing collaboration between the Bronx Council on the Arts and other cultural institutions, including the Bronx Documentary Center, the Bronx Library Center, the (Edgar Allan) Poe Park Visitor Center, Mindbuilders, and other institutions and funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The goal was to develop and refine memoir fragments written by people of all walks of life that share a common bond residing within the Bronx. from the album This is me...Then is about the South Bronx, where Lopez grew up.
* In Marc Ferris's 5-page, 15-column list of "Songs and Compositions Inspired by New York City" in The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995), only a handful refer to the Bronx; most refer to New York City proper, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn. Ferris's extensive but selective 1995 list mentions only four songs referring specifically to the Bronx: "On the Banks of the Bronx" (1919), by William LeBaron & Victor Jacobi; "Bronx Express" (1922), by Henry Creamer, Ossip Dymow & Turner Layton; "The Tremont Avenue<!--intentional disambiguation--> Cruisewear Fashion Show" (1973), by Jerry Livingston & Mark David; and "I Love the New York Yankees" (1987), by Paula Lindstrom.
Theater
Clifford Odets's play Awake and Sing! is set in 1933 in the Bronx. The play, first produced at the Belasco Theater in 1935, concerns a poor family living in small quarters, the struggles of the controlling parents and the aspirations of their children.
René Marqués' The Oxcart (1959) concerns a rural Puerto Rican family who immigrate to the Bronx for a better life.
A Bronx Tale is an autobiographical one-man show written and performed by Chazz Palminteri. It is a coming-of-age story set in the Bronx. It premiered in Los Angeles in the 1980s and then played on Off-Broadway. After a film version involving Palminteri and Robert De Niro, Palminteri performed his one-man show on Broadway and on tour in 2007.See also
* Bronx Borough Hall
* Bronx court system delays
* List of counties in New York
* List of people from the Bronx
* National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx
* Wildlife in the Bronx
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
General
*
* Briggs, Xavier de Souza, Anita Miller and John Shapiro. "CCRP in the South Bronx". ''Planners' Casebook'', Winter 1996.
* Corman, Avery. "My Old Neighborhood Remembered, A Memoir". Barricade Books (2014)
* Chronopoulos, Themis. "Paddy Chayefsky's 'Marty' and Its Significance to the Social History of Arthur Avenue, The Bronx, in the 1950s". The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLIV (Spring/Fall 2007): 50–59.
* Chronopoulos, Themis. "Urban Decline and the Withdrawal of New York University from University Heights, The Bronx". The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLVI (Spring/Fall 2009): 4–24.
* de Kadt, Maarten. The Bronx River: An Environmental and Social History. The History Press (2011)
* DiBrino, Nicholas. The History of the Morris Park Racecourse and the Morris Family (1977)
* Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City, (Yale University Press and the New-York Historical Society, (1995) ), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works.
* McNamara, John. History In Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names (1993)
* McNamara, John ''McNamara's Old Bronx (1989)
* Twomey, Bill and Casey, Thomas. Images of America Series: Northwest Bronx (2011)
* Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Throggs Neck Memories (1993)
* Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Images of America Series: Throggs Neck-Pelham Bay (1998)
* Twomey, Bill and Moussot, Peter. Throggs Neck (1983), pictorial
* Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series: East Bronx (1999)
* Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series: South Bronx (2002)
* Twomey, Bill. The Bronx in Bits and Pieces (2007)
Bronx history
* Barrows, Edward, and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898'' (1999)
*
* Federal Writers' Project. New York City Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond (1939) [https://www.questia.com/read/99253940?titleNew%20York%20City%20Guide%3a%20A%20Comprehensive%20Guide%20to%20the%20Five%20Boroughs%20of%20the%20Metropolis%3a%20Manhattan%2c%20Brooklyn%2c%20the%20Bronx%2c%20Queens%2c%20and%20Richmond online edition]
* Fitzpatrick Benedict. The Bronx and Its People; A History 1609–1927 (The Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1927. 3 volumes), Narrative history plus many biographies of prominent citizens
* Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. (Columbia University Press, 2004. 263 ), scholarly history focused on the slums of the South Bronx [https://www.questia.com/read/114330210?titleThe%20Bronx online edition]
* Goodman, Sam. "The Golden Ghetto: The Grand Concourse in the Twentieth Century", Bronx County Historical Society Journal 2004 41(1): 4–18 and 2005 42(2): 80–99
* Greene, Anthony C., "The Black Bronx: A Look at the Foundation of the Bronx's Black Communities until 1900", Bronx County Historical Society Journal, 44 (Spring–Fall 2007), 1–18.
* Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City, (Yale University Press and the New-York Historical Society, (1995) ), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works.
* Jonnes, Jull. South Bronx Rising: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City (2002) [https://www.questia.com/read/111733280?titleSouth%20Bronx%20Rising%3a%20%20The%20Rise%2c%20Fall%2c%20and%20Resurrection%20of%20an%20American%20City online edition]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/nyregion/20bronx.html Melancholy in the Bronx, but Not Because of the Stadium] by David Gonzales, The New York Times, <small>published and retrieved on September 19, 2008</small>
*
*
*
*
* Rodríguez, Clara E. Puerto Ricans: Born in the U.S.A (1991) [https://web.archive.org/web/20110605102857/http://www.questia.com/read/43049095?title=Puerto%20Ricans%3A%20Born%20in%20the%20U.S.A online edition]
* Samtur, Stephen M. and Martin A. Jackson. The Bronx: Lost, Found, and Remembered, 1935–1975 (1999) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=2982 online review], nostalgia
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough: A History Of The Bronx (2009), popular general history
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the frontier era: from the beginning to 1696 (1994)
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Beautiful Bronx (1920–1950) (1979), heavily illustrated
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Birth of the Bronx, 1609–1900 (2000), popular
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the innocent years, 1890–1925 (1985), popular
* Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday, "The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday 1935–1965 (1992), heavily illustrated popular history
External links
* [http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov/ Bronx Borough President's Office]
Newspapers
* [http://www.bxtimes.com/ The Bronx Times Reporter]
* [https://bronx.com/ The Bronx Daily]
* [http://www.innercitypress.org/bxreport.html Weekly Bronx Report from Inner City Press]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151025032510/http://brie.hunter.cuny.edu/hpe/ The Hunts Point Express]
* [http://www.motthavenherald.com/ The Mott Haven Herald]
* [http://www.norwoodnews.org/The Norwood News]
* [http://www.riverdalepress.com/ The Riverdale Press]
Associations
* [http://bronxriver.org/ The Bronx River Alliance]
* [http://www.bceq.org/ Bronx Council for Environmental Quality]
* [http://www.throggsneckmerchants.com/ Throggs Neck Merchant Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120708113524/http://www.thebronxmarket.com/ The Bronx Market]
* [http://www.sobro.org/ The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111105050545/http://nybronx.org/ Bronx County, NY Website ]
History
* [http://www.cityislandmuseum.org/ City Island Nautical Museum]
* [http://www.bronxnyc.com/ East Bronx History Forum]
* [http://www.kingsbridgehistoricalsociety.org/KHS/Home.html Kingsbridge Historical Society]
* [http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/ Museum of Bronx History]
* [http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/ The Bronx County Historical Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040825075222/http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/762.asp The Bronx: A Swedish Connection]
* [https://books.google.com/books?idruhKAAAAMAAJ&pgPA700 Report of the Bronx Parkway Commission, December 31, 1918], retrieved on July 24, 2008
* [http://www.bronxsynagogues.org/ Remembrance of Synagogues Past: The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx] by Seymour Perlin, retrieved on August 10, 2008
* [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/ Forgotten New York: Relics of a Rich History in the Everyday Life of New York City]
}}
Category:New York City
Category:Boroughs of New York City
Category:County seats in New York (state)
Category:Populated coastal places in New York (state)
Category:Populated places established in 1898
Category:1898 establishments in New York City
Category:Majority-minority counties in New York
Category:Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York (state) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bronx | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.554790 |
3340 | BearShare | BearShare was a peer-to-peer-file-sharing-application originally created by Free Peers, Inc. for Microsoft Windows and also a rebranded version of iMesh by MusicLab, LLC, tightly integrated with their music subscription service.
History
The principal operators of Free Peers, Inc. were Vincent Falco and Louis Tatta. Bearshare was launched on December 4, 2000, as a Gnutella-based peer-to-peer file sharing application with innovative features that eventually grew to include IRC, a free library of software and media called BearShare Featured Artists, online help pages and a support forum integrated as dedicated web browser windows in the application; as well as a media player and a library window to organize the user's media collection.
Following the June 27, 2005 United States Supreme Court decision on the MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. case the BearShare Community support forums were abruptly closed during negotiations to settle an impending lawsuit with the RIAA. The webmaster and forum administrator immediately created a new site called Technutopia and the same support staff continue to support the gnutella versions from there. A few months later the unused Community window was removed from BearShare 5.1.
On May 4, 2006, Free Peers agreed to transfer all their BearShare-related assets to MusicLab, LLC (an iMesh subsidiary) and use the $30 million raised from that sale to settle with the RIAA.
On August 17, 2006, MusicLab released a reskinned and updated version of iMesh named BearSharev6 which connected to its proprietary iMesh network instead of gnutella. BearShareV6 and its successors offer paid music downloads in the PlaysForSure DRM controlled WMA format as well as free content in various formats, chiefly MP3. Like BearShare they also include a media player and embedded online and social networking features but with a Web 2.0 style, somewhat similar to MySpace or Facebook. Free content provided by users is automatically verified using acoustic fingerprinting as non-infringing before it can be shared. Video files more than 50 Mb in size and 15 minutes in length cannot be shared, ensuring television shows and feature-length movies cannot be distributed over the network. Only a limited set of music and video file types can be shared, thus excluding everything else like executable files, documents and compressed archives.
In August 2006, MusicLab released a variant of the original BearShare gnutella servant, called BearFlix, which was altered to limit sharing, searches and downloads to images and videos. Shared videos were limited in length and duration, similar to limits in BearShareV6. The first release was version 1.2.1. Its version numbers appear to start from 1.1.2.1 in the user interface but it presents itself on the gnutella network as versions 6.1.2.1 to 6.2.2.530. This version has since been discontinued by MusicLab and no longer available on their websites; however, it remains in wide usage.
On October 27, 2008, responding to uncertainty around the future of PlaysForSure, MusicLab added iPod support in BearShareV7.
As of June 12, 2016, BearShare is no longer available to download. The official page with a message announcing its discontinuation remained active until March 2017.Popular versionsThree variants of the original BearShare gnutella servant were distributed by Free Peers: Free, Lite, and Pro. The Free-version had higher performance limits than the Lite version but contained some adware. The Pro version had higher limits than both the Free and Lite versions but cost US$24. Version numbers in this series ranged from 1.0 to 5.2.5.9. Though lacking MusicLab's support a wide spread of BearShare versions from 4.7 to 5.2.5.6 remain the second most popular servant on gnutella, alongside LimeWire.
Old-School fans of the gnutella versions tend to favour the last of the beta versions, 5.1.0 beta25, because it has no adware, is hard-coded for performance levels roughly between Pro and regular (ad-supported) versions and has the unique ability to switch between leaf and ultrapeer mode on demand, a feature deemed necessary for effective testing. No other gnutella servant has enjoyed this capability.
The most recent MusicLab version, V10, was available by free download from their support website and "Pro" features could be unlocked with a six or twelve-month subscription. Access to premium content required a $9.95 monthly subscription. Customers in Canada and the U.S.A. could opt for a $14.95 monthly "BearShare ToGo" subscription which allowed downloads of premium music to portable music players.ReferencesExternal links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20001206210900/http://www.bearshare.com/ BearShare Official Website]
* [http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/bearshare.com/ McAfee's Bearshare website Analysis]
* [http://www.gnutellaforums.com/bearshare-windows/ BearShare forums (at GnutellaForums.com)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101231115545/http://www.technutopia.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=217 BearShare original (V5 or before) support staff and community]
Category:Windows-only proprietary software
Category:2000 software
Category:File sharing software
Category:Online music stores of the United States
Category:Software companies disestablished in 2016 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BearShare | 2025-04-05T18:26:19.561768 |
3343 | Belgium | SS Belgia}}
||}}
| common_name = Belgium
| image_flag = Flag of Belgium.svg <!--Please do not replace the official 2:3 size flag by the more commonly used civil flag. Thank you.-->
| image_coat = Great_coat_of_arms_of_Belgium.svg
| symbol_type = Coat of arms
| national_motto = <br /><br />
| englishmotto = ()
| national_anthem = <br />La Brabançonne<br />("The Brabantian")<br />
| image_map
| map_caption =
| official_languages =
| demonym
| religion =
* 49% Christianity
** 44% Catholicism
** 5% other Christian
* 40% no religion
* 7% Islam
* 3% other
}}
| religion_year 2021
| capital = City of Brussels
| coordinates =
| largest_city = Brussels-Capital Region
| government_type Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
| leader_title1 = Monarch
| leader_name1 = Philippe
| leader_title2 = Prime Minister
| leader_name2 = Bart De Wever
| legislature = Federal Parliament
| upper_house = Senate
| lower_house = Chamber of Representatives
| area_km2 30,689
| area_sq_mi = 11,849
| area_rank = 136th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area -->
| percent_water 0.64 (2022)
| population_census 11,812,354<!-- Belgium does not work with censuses and estimates but has an always up-to-date population register, with official data for 1 January of each year. Monthly updated statistics are available via https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fileadmin/user_upload/fr/pop/statistiques/population-bevolking-20250101.pdf -->
| population_census_year = 2025
| population_estimate_rank = 82nd
| population_density_km2 = 384<!-- based on the 2025-01-01 population number, else it does not make sense in the light of everything above -->
| population_density_rank = 22nd
| population_density_sq_mi | ethnic_groups
| ethnic_groups_ref
| ethnic_groups_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP $889.833 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 37th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $75,187
| HDI_year = 2022 <!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI = 0.942 <!--number only-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 12th
| sovereignty_type = Establishment
| established_event1 = Brabant Revolution
| established_date1 = 1789–1790
| established_event2 = United Belgian States
| established_date2 = 1790
| established_event3 = Provisional Government of Belgium
| established_date3 = 1814–1815
| established_event4 = United Kingdom of the Netherlands
| established_date4 = 1815–1839
| established_event5 = Belgian Revolution
| established_date5 = 25 August 1830
| established_event6 = Declared
| established_date6 = 4 October 1830
| established_event7 = Recognized
| established_date7 = 19 April 1839
| established_event8 = Federal state
| established_date8 = 1970
| currency = Euro (€)
| currency_code = EUR
| time_zone = CET
| utc_offset = +1
| time_zone_DST = CEST
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| drives_on Right
| calling_code = +32
| cctld = .be
| footnote_a = The flag's official proportions of 13:15 are rarely seen; proportions of 2:3 or similar are more common.
| footnote_b The Brussels region is the de facto capital, but the City of Brussels municipality is the de jure capital.
}}
Belgium, ; ; }} officially the Kingdom of Belgium, ; ; }} is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of }} other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Belgium is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The country is divided into three highly autonomous regions: the Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle. Belgium is also home to two main linguistic communities: the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, which constitutes about 60 percent of the population, and the French-speaking French Community, which constitutes about 40 percent of the population; a small German-speaking Community, comprising around one percent of the population, exists in the East Cantons. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Belgium is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy. It is one of the six founding members of the European Union, with its capital of Brussels serving as the de facto capital of the EU, hosting the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, and one of two seats of the European Parliament (the other being Strasbourg). Brussels also hosts the headquarters of many major international organizations, such as NATO.
In antiquity, present-day Belgium was dominated by the Belgae before being annexed into the Roman Empire in the mid first century BC. During the Middle Ages, Belgium's central location kept it relatively prosperous and connected both commercially and politically to its larger neighbours; it was part of the Carolingian Empire, the succeeding Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently the Burgundian Netherlands. Following rule by Habsburg Spain (1556–1714), the Austrian Habsburgs (1714–1794), and Revolutionary France (1794–1815), most of modern-day Belgium was incorporated into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Centuries of being contested and controlled by various European powers earned Belgium the moniker "the Battlefield of Europe", a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both world wars.
Belgium as it exists today was established following the 1830 Belgian Revolution. In the 19th century, it was one of the earliest participants of the Industrial Revolution, and the first country in continental Europe to become industrialised. By the early 20th century, it possessed several colonies, notably the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, which gained independence between 1960 and 1962. The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speakers and French-speakers,<!--a quarter of the Francophones are living in Brussels and are not necessarily Walloons but are nevertheless in conflict with the Flemings, so please don't change Francophone into Walloons. --> fueled by differences in political culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This has resulted in several far-reaching state reforms, including the transition from a unitary to federal structure between 1970 and 1993. Tensions persist amid ongoing reforms; the country faces a strong separatist sentiment among the Flemish, controversial language laws, and a fragmented political landscape that resulted in a record 589 days without a government formation following the 2010 federal election.History
Antiquity
'' at the time of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 54 BCE]]
According to Julius Caesar, the Belgae were the inhabitants of the northernmost part of Gaul. They lived in a region stretching from Paris to the Rhine, which is much bigger than modern Belgium. However, he also specifically used the Latin word "Belgium" to refer to a politically dominant part of that region, which is now in northernmost France. In contrast, modern Belgium, together with neighbouring parts of the Netherlands and Germany, corresponds to the lands of the most northerly Belgae – the Morini, Menapii, Nervii, Germani Cisrhenani, and Aduatuci. Caesar found these peoples particularly warlike and economically undeveloped, and described them as kinsmen of the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. Apart from them, the area around Arlon in southern Belgium was a part of the country of the powerful Treveri, whose lands stretched into present-day Luxembourg and nearby parts of France and Germany.
After Caesar's conquests, Gallia Belgica first became the Latin name of a large Roman province covering most of Northern Gaul, including the Belgae and Treveri. However, areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium, subsequently became part of the frontier province of Germania Inferior, which continued to interact with their neighbours outside the empire. At the time when central government collapsed in the Western Roman Empire, the Roman provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of Romanized populations and Germanic-speaking Franks who came to dominate the military and political class.
Middle Ages
During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish Merovingian kings, who initially established a kingdom ruling over the Romanized population in what is now northern France, and then conquered the other Frankish kingdoms. During the 8th century, the empire of the Franks came to be ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, whose centre of power included the area which is now eastern Belgium. Over the centuries, it was divided up in many ways, but the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the Middle Kingdom, later known as Lotharingia, but the coastal county of Flanders, west of the Scheldt, became the northernmost part of West Francia, the predecessor of France. In 870 in the Treaty of Meerssen, modern Belgium lands all became part of the western kingdom for a period, but in 880 in the Treaty of Ribemont, Lotharingia came under the lasting control of the eastern kingdom, which became the Holy Roman Empire. The lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. For example, the county of Flanders expanded over the Scheldt into the empire, and during several periods was ruled by the same lords as the county of Hainaut.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the cloth industry and commerce boomed especially in the County of Flanders and it became one of the richest areas in Europe. This prosperity played a role in conflicts between Flanders and the king of France. Famously, Flemish militias scored a surprise victory at the Battle of the Golden Spurs against a strong force of mounted knights in 1302, but France soon regained control of the rebellious province.
Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands
of Charles the Bold in the 15th century]]
In the 15th century, the Duke of Burgundy in France took control of Flanders, and from there proceeded to unite much of what is now the Benelux, the so-called Burgundian Netherlands. "Burgundy" and "Flanders" were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands which was the predecessor of the Austrian Netherlands, the predecessor of modern Belgium. The union, technically stretching between two kingdoms, gave the area economic and political stability which led to an even greater prosperity and artistic creation.
Born in Belgium, the Habsburg Emperor Charles V was heir of the Burgundians, but also of the royal families of Austria, Castile and Aragon. With the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 he gave the Seventeen Provinces more legitimacy as a stable entity, rather than just a temporary personal union. He also increased the influence of these Netherlands over the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave.Spanish and Austrian NetherlandsThe Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) was triggered by the Spanish government's policy towards Protestantism, which was becoming popular in the Low Countries. The rebellious northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated Netherlands") eventually separated from the Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal Netherlands"). The southern part continued to be ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian House of Habsburgs (Austrian Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of several more protracted conflicts during much of the 17th and 18th centuries involving France, including the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748).French Revolution and United Kingdom of the NetherlandsFollowing the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countriesincluding territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liègewere annexed by the French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. After the dissolution of the First French Empire and the abdication of Napoleon following his defeat on the battlefield of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 created the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This buffer state, located between the major European powers, united the former territories of the Dutch Republic, the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, under King William I of Orange.Independent BelgiumIn 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the re-separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent Belgium under a provisional government and a national congress. Since the installation of Leopold I as king on 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's National Day, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a laicist constitution based on the Napoleonic code. Although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 (with plural voting until 1919) and for women in 1949.
The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party and the Liberal Party, with the Belgian Labour Party emerging towards the end of the 19th century. French was originally the official language used by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, especially after the rejection of the Dutch monarchy. French progressively lost its dominance as Dutch began to recover its status. This recognition became official in 1898, and in 1967, the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the Constitution.
The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production. Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber. In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879. The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis; Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. Belgium joined NATO as a founding member and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community, established in 1957. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the European Parliament.
In the early 1990s, Belgium saw several large corruption scandals notably surrounding Marc Dutroux, Andre Cools, the Dioxin Affair, Agusta Scandal and the murder of Karel van Noppen. Geography
Belgium shares borders with France (), Germany (), Luxembourg (), and the Netherlands (). Its total surface, including water area, is . Its land area alone is 30,494 square kilometers.
Belgium has three main geographical regions; the coastal plain in the northwest and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin, and the Ardennes uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian orogenic belt. The Paris Basin reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine.
The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the Campine (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges. Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the Eifel in Germany by the High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange forms the country's highest point at .
The climate is maritime temperate with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), like most of northwest Europe. The average temperature is lowest in January at and highest in July at . The average precipitation per month varies between for February and April, to for July. Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of and maximums of and monthly rainfall of ; these are about 1 °C and nearly 10 millimeters above last century's normal values, respectively.
Climate change in Belgium has caused temperatures rises and more frequent and intense heatwaves, increases in winter rainfall and decreases in snowfall. By 2100, sea levels along the Belgian coast are projected to rise by 60 to 90 cm with a maximum potential increase of up to 200 cm in the worst-case scenario. The costs of climate change are estimated to amount to €9.5 billion a year in 2050 (2% of Belgian GDP), mainly due to extreme heat, drought and flooding, while economics gains due to milder winters amount to approximately €3 billion a year (0.65% of GDP). The country has committed to net zero by 2050.
Phytogeographically, Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Belgium belongs to the terrestrial ecoregions of Atlantic mixed forests and Western European broadleaf forests. Belgium had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.36/10, ranking it 163rd globally out of 172 countries. In Belgium forest cover is around 23% of the total land area, equivalent to 689,300 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 677,400 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 251,200 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 438,200 hectares (ha). For the year 2015, 47% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 53% private ownership and 0% with ownership listed as other or unknown.
Provinces
The territory of Belgium is divided into three Regions, two of which, the Flemish Region and Walloon Region, are in turn subdivided into provinces; the third Region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is neither a province nor a part of a province.
{|class"wikitable sortable" style"vertical-align:top;"
|-
! Province !! Dutch name !! French name !! German name !! Capital
! Area
|-
! colspan"11" style"background:#ccf;"|Flemish Region
|-
|||||||
|Antwerp
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,926,522
|
|VAN
|-
|||||||
|Ghent
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,572,002
|
|VOV
|-
|||||||
|Leuven
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,196,773
|
|VBR
|-
|||||||
|Hasselt
|
|style="text-align:right;"|900,098
|
|VLI
|-
|||||||
|Bruges
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,226,375
|
|VWV
|-
! colspan"11" style"background:#ccf;"|Walloon Region
|-
|||||||
|Mons
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,360,074
|
|WHT
|-
|||||||
|Liège
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,119,038
|
|WLG
|-
|||||||
|Arlon
|
|style="text-align:right;"|295,146
|
|WLX
|-
||||||| ()
|Namur
|
|style="text-align:right;"|503,895
|
|WNA
|-
|||||||
|Wavre
|
|style="text-align:right;"|414,130
|
|WBR
|-
! colspan"11" style"background:#ccf;"|Brussels-Capital Region
|-
|||||||
|Brussels City
|
|style="text-align:right;"|1,249,597
|
|BBR
|- class="sortbottom"
! style="text-align:right;"|Total
!
!
!
! Brussels City
! style"text-align:right;"|
! style="text-align:right;"|11,763,650
! style"text-align:right;"|
!
|}
Politics and government
| caption2 = Bart De Wever<br />Prime Minister of Belgium<br>
}}
Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 50 senators appointed by the parliaments of the communities and regions and 10 co-opted senators. Prior to 2014, most of the Senate's members were directly elected. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.
The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members.
The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort, with the courts of appeal one level below.
Political culture
Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power rests on representation of the main cultural communities.
Since about 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities.
The major parties in each community, though close to the political center, belong to three main groups: Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats.
Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly to represent linguistic, nationalist, or environmental interests, and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature. A "rainbow coalition" emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens. Later, a "purple coalition" of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the 2003 election.
The government led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007 achieved a balanced budget, some tax reforms, a labor-market reform, scheduled nuclear phase-out and instigated legislation allowing more stringent war crime and more lenient soft drug usage prosecution. Restrictions on euthanasia were reduced. In 2003, Belgium became one of the first countries in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa and opposed the invasion of Iraq. It is the only country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia.
Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the June 2007 elections. For more than a year, the country experienced a political crisis. This crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible partition of Belgium. From 2007 until 2008 the temporary Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This was a coalition of the Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats, the Flemish and Francophone Liberals together with the Francophone Social Democrats.
On that day, a new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of , was sworn in by the king. On 2008 Leterme offered the resignation of the cabinet to the king, as no progress in constitutional reforms had been made. At this juncture, his resignation was accepted and Christian Democratic and Flemish Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister on 2008.
After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. On 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the king after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.
The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia. Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011, this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn Iraq. Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in.
The 2014 federal election (coinciding with the regional elections) resulted in a further electoral gain for the Flemish nationalist N-VA. However, the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintains a solid majority in Parliament and all electoral constituencies. On 22 July 2014, King Philippe nominated Charles Michel (MR) and Kris Peeters (CD&V) to lead the formation of a new federal cabinet composed of the Flemish parties N-VA, CD&V, Open Vld and the French-speaking MR, which resulted in the Michel Government. It was the first time N-VA was part of the federal cabinet, while the French-speaking side was represented only by the MR, which achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia.
In May 2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders, the far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia, the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party, the N-VA, remained the largest party in parliament.
In July 2019, Prime Minister Charles Michel was selected to hold the post of President of the European Council. His successor Sophie Wilmès was Belgium's first female prime minister. She led the caretaker government since October 2019. The Flemish Liberal party politician Alexander De Croo became new prime minister in October 2020. The parties had agreed on the federal government 16 months after the elections.
Communities and regions
/ Dutch language area}}
]]
/ Dutch language area}}]]
Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and Habsburg courts, in the 19th century it was necessary to speak French to belong to the governing upper class, and those who could only speak Dutch were effectively second-class citizens. Late that century, and continuing into the 20th century, Flemish movements evolved to counter this situation.
While the people in Southern Belgium spoke French or dialects of French, and most Brusselers adopted French as their first language, the Flemings refused to do so and succeeded progressively in making Dutch an equal language in the education system. Intercommunal tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimize the potential for conflict.
# The federal government, based in Brussels.
# The three language communities:
#* the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking);
#* the French Community (French-speaking);), which is controversial because its name in the Belgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement.}}
#* the German-speaking Community.
# The three regions:
#* the Flemish Region, subdivided into five provinces;
#* the Walloon Region, subdivided into five provinces;
#* the Brussels-Capital Region.
The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters. Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both. Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.
The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Conflicts about jurisdiction between the bodies are resolved by the Constitutional Court of Belgium. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully. The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income. The federal government employs around 12% of the civil servants.
Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, and so on.).
Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies.
In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters.Foreign relations
in Brussels, seat of the European Commission]]
Because of its location at the crossroads of Western Europe, Belgium has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger neighbors. With virtually defenseless borders, Belgium has traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations which surround it through a policy of mediation. The Belgians have been strong advocates of European integration. The headquarters of NATO and of several of the institutions of the European Union are located in Belgium.
Armed forces
of the Belgian Air Component]]
The Belgian Armed Forces had 23,200 active personnel in 2023, including 8,500 in the Land Component, 1,400 in the Naval Component, 4,900 in the Air Component, 1,450 in the Medical Component, and 6,950 in joint service, in addition to 5,900 reserve personnel. In 2019, Belgium's defense budget totaled €4.303 billion ($4.921 billion) representing .93% of its GDP. The operational commands of the four components are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry of Defense, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training, and to the Chief of Defense. The Belgian military consists of volunteers (conscription was abolished in 1995), and citizens of other EU states, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, or Lichtenstein are also able to join. Belgium has troops deployed in several African countries as part of UN or EU missions, in Iraq for the war against the Islamic State, and in eastern Europe for the NATO presence there.
The effects of the Second World War made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels and then joined NATO in 1948. However, the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the Korean War. The Belgians, along with the Luxembourg government, sent a detachment of battalion strength to fight in Korea known as the Belgian United Nations Command. This mission was the first in a long line of UN missions which the Belgians supported. Currently, the Belgian Marine Component is working closely together with the Dutch Navy under the command of the Admiral Benelux.
According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, Belgium is the 16th most peaceful country in the world.
Economy
Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transport infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita. Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.
The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.
at Ougrée, near Liège]]
Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century. Areas in Liège Province and around Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and Meuse valley and made Belgium one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850.
After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced a serious decline. In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic center of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area.
By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. , the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP. In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By , this had grown to 8.5% compared to an average rate of 9.6% for the European Union as a whole (EU 27). From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the Belgian franc. Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999. The standard Belgian euro coins designated for circulation show the portrait of the monarch (first King Albert II, since 2013 King Philippe).
Despite an 18% decrease observed from 1970 to 1999, Belgium still had in 1999 the highest rail network density within the European Union with 113.8 km/1 000 km<sup>2</sup>. On the other hand, the same period, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the motorway network. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000 km<sup>2</sup> and 1000 inhabitants amounted to 55.1 and 16.5 respectively and were significantly superior to the EU's means of 13.7 and 15.9.
]]
From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's biocapacity adds up to only 0.8 global hectares in 2016, just about half of the 1.6 global hectares of biocapacity available per person worldwide. In contrast, in 2016, Belgians used on average 6.3 global hectares of biocapacity - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they required about eight times as much biocapacity as Belgium contains. As a result, Belgium was running a biocapacity deficit of 5.5 global hectares per person in 2016. Like in most small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is handled by a single airport, the Brussels Airport. The ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge (Bruges) share more than 80% of Belgian maritime traffic, Antwerp being the second European harbor with a gross weight of goods handled of 115 988 000 t in 2000 after a growth of 10.9% over the preceding five years. In 2016, the port of Antwerp handled 214 million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.
There is a large economic gap between Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its heavy industries, but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II led to the region's rapid decline, whereas Flanders rose swiftly. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide. Pro-independence movements have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, for instance, is the largest party in Belgium. Science and technology
]]
Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included cartographer Gerardus Mercator, anatomist Andreas Vesalius, herbalist Rembert Dodoens and mathematician Simon Stevin among the most influential scientists.
Chemist Ernest Solvay and engineer Zenobe Gramme (École industrielle de Liège) gave their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo, respectively, in the 1860s. Bakelite was developed in 1907–1909 by Leo Baekeland. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the Solvay Institute of Sociology, the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the Université libre de Bruxelles. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the Solvay Conferences on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry. A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian, Monsignor Georges Lemaître (Catholic University of Louvain), who is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.
Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, Corneille Heymans (University of Ghent) in 1938 and Albert Claude (Université libre de Bruxelles) together with Christian de Duve (Université catholique de Louvain) in 1974. François Englert (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Ilya Prigogine (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the Fields Medal: Pierre Deligne in 1978 and Jean Bourgain in 1994. Belgium was ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. Demographics
]]
As of 1 January 2024, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,763,650. Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years. Migration , nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship, and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970), Moroccan (80,579), Portuguese (43,509), Spanish (42,765), Turkish (39,419) and German (37,621). In 2007, there were 1.38 million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. Of these, 685,000 (6.4%) were born outside the EU, and 695,000 (6.5%) were born in another EU Member State.
At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians. Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000 are from non-Western countries (most of them from Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984, more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are Italian Belgians and Moroccan Belgians. 89.2% of inhabitants of Turkish origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people.
Region
|city_1 = Antwerp
|div_1 = Flanders
|pop_1 = 536,079
|img_1 = Stadsgezicht van Antwerpen vanaf het MAS 30-05-2012 15-29-35.jpg
|city_2 = Ghent
|div_2 = Flanders
|pop_2 = 267,709
|img_2 = Gent vanuit Meestentoren1.JPG
|city_3 = Charleroi
|div_3 = Wallonia
|pop_3 = 203,245
|img_3 = Charleroi - place Charles II.jpg
|city_4 = Liège
|div_4 = Wallonia
|pop_4 = 194,877
|img_4 = Liege View 03.jpg
|city_5 = City of Brussels
|div_5 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_5 = 192,950
|city_6 = Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek
|div_6 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_6 = 130,422
|city_7 = Anderlecht
|div_7 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_7 = 124,353
|city_8 = Bruges
|div_8 = Flanders
|pop_8 = 119,445
|city_9 = Namur
|div_9 = Wallonia
|pop_9 = 113,174
|city_10 = Leuven
|div_10 = Flanders
|pop_10 = 102,851
|city_11 = Molenbeek-Saint-JeanMolenbeek-Saint-Jean/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
|div_11 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_11 = 97,610
|city_12 = Mons, BelgiumMons
|div_12 = Wallonia
|pop_12 = 96,055
|city_13 = Aalst, BelgiumAalst
|div_13 = Flanders
|pop_13 = 89,915
|city_14 = Mechelen
|div_14 = Flanders
|pop_14 = 88,463
|city_15 = Ixelles/Elsene
|div_15 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_15 = 88,081
|city_16 = Uccle/Ukkel
|div_16 = Brussels-Capital RegionBrussels
|pop_16 = 85,706
|city_17 = La Louvière
|div_17 = Wallonia
|pop_17 = 81,293
|city_18 = Sint-Niklaas
|div_18 = Flanders
|pop_18 = 81,066
|city_19 = Hasselt
|div_19 = Flanders
|pop_19 = 80,299
|city_20 = Kortrijk
|div_20 = Flanders
|pop_20 = 78,841
}}
Languages
}}
signs in Brussels]]
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well. As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their dialects. However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. An estimated 60% of the Belgian population are native speakers of Dutch (often referred to as Flemish), and 40% of the population speaks French natively. French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons.
The total number of native Dutch speakers is estimated to be about 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while native French speakers number 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the Walloon Region; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.
Both Belgian Dutch and Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance language, is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of Picard, are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French.Religion
in Koekelberg, Brussels]]
The Constitution of Belgium provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice. Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism. During the reigns of Albert I and Baudouin, the Belgian royal family had a reputation of deeply rooted Catholicism. and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998). Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture. 37% of Belgian citizens believe in God, 31% in some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% do not believe in any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to Christianity, with Catholicism being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non-religious people comprised 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions. The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium, accounting for 65% of Belgians.
]]
In the early 2000s, there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium. The Jewish Community of Antwerp (numbering some 18,000) is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where Yiddish is the primary language of a large Jewish community (mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel). In addition, most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education. There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country.
A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered to be a more religious region than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious and that 36% believed that God created the universe. On the other hand, Wallonia has become one of Europe's most secular/least religious regions. Most of the French-speaking region's population does not consider religion an important part of their lives, and as much as 45% of the population identifies as irreligious. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border.
, former seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium]]
A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population (628,751 people) is Muslim. Muslims constitute 23.6% of the population of Brussels, 4.9% of Wallonia and 5.1% of Flanders. The majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering 220,000.
Health
The Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years.
Healthcare in Belgium is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals. Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories (of patients and services) so-called 3rd party payment systems exist.
Excluding assisted suicide, Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world (exceeded only by Lithuania, South Korea, and Latvia).
Education
University]]
Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians. Among OECD countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%. Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average. Education is organized separately by each community. The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.
Mirroring the structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the Liberal and the Catholic parties, the educational system is segregated into secular and religious schools. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, which are also subsidized and supervised by the communities.
Culture
Despite its political and linguistic divisions, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Nowadays, to a certain extent, cultural life is concentrated within each language Community, and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. Since the 1970s, there are no bilingual universities or colleges in the country except the Royal Military Academy and the Antwerp Maritime Academy.Fine arts
: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'' (interior view), painted 1432 by van Eyck]]
Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish, the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture are milestones in the history of art. While the 15th century's art in the Low Countries is dominated by the religious paintings of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, the 16th century is characterized by a broader panel of styles such as Peter Breughel's landscape paintings and Lambert Lombard's representation of the antique. Though the Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th century in the Southern Netherlands, it gradually declined thereafter.
During the 19th and 20th centuries many original romantic, expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including James Ensor and other artists belonging to the Les XX group, Constant Permeke, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art. Multidisciplinary artists Jan Fabre, Wim Delvoye and the painter Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene.
Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style.
]]
The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an emergence of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux, while Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. The composer César Franck was born in Liège in 1822. Contemporary popular music in Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musicians Django Reinhardt and Toots Thielemans and singer Jacques Brel have achieved global fame. Nowadays, singer Stromae has been a musical revelation in Europe and beyond, having great success. In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Zap Mama, Soulwax and dEUS are well known. In the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel, Channel Zero and Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.
<!-- Please note: How can you list Amelie Nothomb and not Jacqueline Harpman!? Jacqueline Harpman more than deserves to be in this list. -->
Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poets Emile Verhaeren, Guido Gezelle, Robert Goffin and novelists Hendrik Conscience, Stijn Streuvels, Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus and Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major authors, including Peyo (The Smurfs), André Franquin (Gaston Lagaffe), Dupa (Cubitus), Morris (Lucky Luke), Greg (Achille Talon), Lambil (Les Tuniques Bleues), Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame. Additionally, famous crime author Agatha Christie created the character Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, who has served as a protagonist in a number of her acclaimed mystery novels.
Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen. 2007.}} Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include Bullhead, Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair.
Belgium is also home to a number of successful fashion designers :Category:Belgian fashion designers.
Folklore
of Binche, in costume, wearing wax masks]]
Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life; the country has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, parades, ommegangs, ducasses, kermesses, and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious or mythological background. The three-day Carnival of Binche, near Mons, with its famous Gilles (men dressed in high, plumed hats and bright costumes) is held just before Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). Together with the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde, Mechelen and Mons, it is recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Other examples are the three-day Carnival of Aalst in February or March; the still very religious processions of the Holy Blood taking place in Bruges in May, the Virga Jesse procession held every seven years in Hasselt, the annual procession of Hanswijk in Mechelen, the 15 August festivities in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten (a music and theatre festival organized in Ghent around Belgian National Day, on 21 July) have become a modern tradition. Several of these festivals include sporting competitions, such as cycling, and many fall under the category of kermesses.
A major non-official holiday (which is however not an official public holiday) is Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas, French: la Saint-Nicolas), a festivity for children, and in Liège, for students. It takes place each year on 6 December and is a sort of early Christmas. On the evening of 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes by the hearth with water or wine and a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse or donkey. According to tradition, Saint Nicholas comes at night and travels down the chimney. He then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course. He also knows whether children have been good or bad. This holiday is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch immigrants imported the tradition into the United States, where Saint Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus.Cuisine
or mosselen met friet'' is a representative dish of Belgium.]]
Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries. The national dishes are steak and fries, and mussels with fries. Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide. One of the many beers with the high prestige is that of the Trappist monks. Technically, it is an ale and traditionally each abbey's beer is served in its own glass (the forms, heights and widths are different). There are only eleven breweries (six of them are Belgian) that are allowed to brew Trappist beer.
Although Belgian gastronomy is connected to French cuisine, some recipes were reputedly invented there, such as French fries (despite the name, although their exact place of origin is uncertain), Flemish Carbonade (a beef stew with beer, mustard and bay laurel), speculaas (or speculoos in French, a sort of cinnamon and ginger-flavoured shortcrust biscuit), Brussels waffles (and their variant, Liège waffles), waterzooi (a broth made with chicken or fish, cream and vegetables), endive with bechamel sauce, Brussels sprouts, Belgian pralines (Belgium has some of the most renowned chocolate houses), charcuterie (deli meats) and ''Paling in 't groen'' (river eels in a sauce of green herbs).
Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or, Neuhaus, Leonidas and Godiva are famous, as well as independent producers such as Burie and Del Rey in Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels. Belgium produces over 1100 varieties of beer. The Trappist beer of the Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best beer.
The biggest brewer in the world by volume is Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in Leuven.
Sports
, regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time]]
Since the 1970s, sports clubs and federations are organized separately within each language community. The (ADEPS) is responsible for recognising the various French-speaking sports federations and also runs three sports centres in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its Dutch-speaking counterpart is (formerly called BLOSO).
Association football is the most popular sport in both parts of Belgium; also very popular are cycling, tennis, swimming, judo and basketball. The Belgium national football team has been among the best on the FIFA World Rankings ever since November 2015, when it reached the top spot for the first time. Since the 1990s, the team has been the world's number one for the most years in history, only behind the records of Brazil and Spain. The team's golden generations with the world class players in the squad, namely Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Jan Ceulemans achieved the bronze medals at World Cup 2018, and silver medals at Euro 1980. Belgium hosted the Euro 1972, and co-hosted the Euro 2000 with the Netherlands.
Belgians hold the most Tour de France victories of any country except France. They also have the most victories on the UCI Road World Championships. With five victories in the Tour de France and numerous other cycling records, Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Philippe Gilbert and Remco Evenepoel were the 2012 and 2022 world champions, respectively. Other well-known Belgian cyclists are Tom Boonen and Wout van Aert.
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both were Player of the Year in the Women's Tennis Association as they were ranked the number one female tennis player.
The Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver, Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished twice as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Belgium also has a strong reputation in, motocross with the riders Joël Robert, Roger De Coster, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, among others.
Sporting events annually held in Belgium include the Memorial Van Damme athletics competition, the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One, and a number of classic cycle races such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp. The 1977 European Basketball Championship was held in Liège and Ostend.
See also
* Index of Belgium-related articles
* Outline of Belgium
Footnotes
References
Online sources
*
* (mentioning other original sources)
*
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/ Belgium] . The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* —Reflections on nations and nation-state developments regarding Belgium
Bibliography
*
*
* <br /><!--
-->[Also editions [1913], London, ; (1921) D. Unwin and Co., New York also published (1921) as Belgium from the Roman invasion to the present day, The Story of the nations, 67, T. Fisher Unwin, London, ]
* Facsimile reprint of a 1902 edition by the author, London<br /><!--
--> Facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition by the author, London
*
*
(Several editions in English, incl. (1997) 7th ed.)
External links
Government
* [https://www.monarchie.be/ Official site of the Belgian monarchy]
* [https://www.belgium.be/ Official site of the Belgian federal government]
General
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/ Belgium]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080607084449/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/belgium.htm Belgium] at UCB Libraries GovPubs
* [https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eur/ci/be/ Belgium] information from the United States Department of State
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/belgium/be.html Portals to the World] from the United States Library of Congress
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17205436 Belgium profile] from the BBC News
* [http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?langen&iso3BEL&subj1&paia FAO Country Profiles: Belgium]
* [http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_22_1.asp Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives]
*
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BE Key Development Forecasts for Belgium] from International Futures
* [http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope]
}}
*
Category:Countries and territories where Dutch is an official language
Category:Countries and territories where German is an official language
Category:Countries in Europe
Category:Federal monarchies
Category:French-speaking countries and territories
Category:Kingdoms
*
Category:Member states of NATO
Category:Member states of the Council of Europe
Category:Member states of the Dutch Language Union
Category:Member states of the European Union
Category:Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Category:Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:OECD members
Category:States and territories established in 1830
Category:Geographical articles missing image alternative text | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.029139 |
3347 | BLM | BLM may refer to:
Political movements
Black Lives Matter, an anti-racism movement
Blue Lives Matter, an American pro-police countermovement
Organizations
BLM (law firm), U.K. and Ireland (1997–2022)
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit (formed 2013)
Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency (formed 1946)
Places
Territory
Saint Barthélemy, Caribbean (ISO 3166-1 country code:BLM)
Buildings
BLM Geothermal Plant, California, U.S.
BLM Group Arena, Trento, Italy
Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, a museum in Brunswick, Germany
Science and technology
Biotic Ligand Model, a toxicology tool
Black lipid membranes, in cell biology
Bleomycin, a cancer medication
Bloom syndrome protein, in genetics
BLM protein, a helicase enzyme
Basic Language Machine, a 1960s computer made by John Iliffe
Transportation
Belmont railway station (Sutton), London, England (by station code)
, a rail line in Switzerland
Blue Sky Airlines, a defunct Armenian airline (by ICAO code)
Monmouth Executive Airport, New Jersey, US (by IATA code) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLM | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.123101 |
3352 | Blues | | fusiongenres =
| regional_scenes =
| other_topics = *List of genres
* list of musicians
* lists of musicians by genre
* list of standards
* origins
* African-American music
}}
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated amongst African-Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s.
Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the African-American community, the spirituals. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery, with the development of juke joints occurring later. It is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock developed, which blended blues styles with rock music.
Etymology
The term 'Blues' may have originated from "blue devils", meaning melancholy and sadness. An early use of the term in this sense is in George Colman's one-act farce Blue Devils (1798). The phrase 'blue devils' may also have been derived from a British usage of the 1600s referring to the "intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal". As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils and came to mean a state of agitation or depression. By the 1800s in the United States, the term "blues" was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase 'blue law', which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday.
In Henry David Thoreau's book Walden, he mentions "the blues" in the chapter reflecting on his time in solitude. He wrote his account of his personal quest in 1845, although it was not published until 1854.
The phrase "the blues" was written by Charlotte Forten, then aged 25, in her diary on December 14, 1862. She was a free-born black woman from Pennsylvania who was working as a schoolteacher in South Carolina, instructing both slaves and freedmen, and wrote that she "came home with the blues" because she felt lonesome and pitied herself. She overcame her depression and later noted a number of songs, such as "Poor Rosy", that were popular among the slaves. Although she admitted being unable to describe the manner of singing she heard, Forten wrote that the songs "can't be sung without a full heart and a troubled spirit", conditions that have inspired countless blues songs.
Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, when Hart Wand's "Dallas Blues" became the first copyrighted blues composition. In lyrics, the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood.
Lyrics
(1886–1939), the "Mother of the Blues"]]
Early traditional blues verses often consisted of a single line repeated four times. However, the most common structure of blues lyrics today was established in the first few decades of the 20th century, known as the "AAB" pattern. This structure consists of a line sung over the first four bars, its repetition over the next four, and a longer concluding line over the last bars. This pattern can be heard in some of the first published blues songs, such as "Dallas Blues" (1912) and "Saint Louis Blues" (1914). According to W.C. Handy, the "AAB" pattern was adopted to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times. The lyrics are often sung in a rhythmic talk style rather than a melody, resembling a form of talking blues.
Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative. African-American singers voiced their "personal woes in a world of harsh reality: a lost love, the cruelty of police officers, oppression at the hands of white folk, [and] hard times". This melancholy has led to the suggestion of an Igbo origin for blues, because of the reputation the Igbo had throughout plantations in the Americas for their melancholic music and outlook on life when they were enslaved. Other historians have argued that there is little evidence of Sub-Sahelian influence in the blues as "elaborate polyrhythm, percussion on African drums (as opposed to European drums), [and] collective participation" which are characteristic of West-Central African music below the savannah, are conspicuously absent. According to the historian Paul Oliver, "the roots of the blues were not to be found in the coastal and forest regions of Africa. Rather... the blues was rooted in ... the savanna hinterland, from Senegambia through Mali, Burkina Faso, Northern Ghana, Niger, and northern Nigeria". Additionally, ethnomusicologist John Storm Roberts has argued that "The parallels between African savanna-belt string-playing and the techniques of many blues guitarists are remarkable. The big kora of Senegal and Guinea are played in a rhythmic-melodic style that uses constantly changing rhythms, often providing a ground bass overlaid with complex treble patterns, while vocal supplies a third rhythmic layer. Similar techniques can be found in hundreds of blues records".
The lyrics often relate troubles experienced within African American society. For instance Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Rising High Water Blues" (1927) tells of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927:
Although the blues gained an association with misery and oppression, the lyrics could also be humorous and raunchy:
Hokum blues celebrated both comedic lyrical content and a boisterous, farcical performance style. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom's "It's Tight Like That" (1928) is a sly wordplay with the double meaning of being "tight" with someone, coupled with a more salacious physical familiarity. Blues songs with sexually explicit lyrics were known as dirty blues. The lyrical content became slightly simpler in postwar blues, which tended to focus on relationship woes or sexual worries. Lyrical themes that frequently appeared in prewar blues, such as economic depression, farming, devils, gambling, magic, floods and drought, were less common in postwar blues.
The writer Ed Morales claimed that Yoruba mythology played a part in early blues, citing Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" as a "thinly veiled reference to Eleggua, the orisha in charge of the crossroads". However, the Christian influence was far more obvious. Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Willie Johnson are examples of artists often categorized as blues musicians for their music, although their lyrics clearly belong to spirituals.
Form
The blues form is a cyclic musical form in which a repeating progression of chords mirrors the call and response scheme commonly found in African and African-American music. During the first decades of the 20th century blues music was not clearly defined in terms of a particular chord progression. With the popularity of early performers, such as Bessie Smith, use of the twelve-bar blues spread across the music industry during the 1920s and 1930s. Other chord progressions, such as 8-bar forms, are still considered blues; examples include "How Long Blues", "Trouble in Mind", and Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway". There are also 16-bar blues, such as Ray Charles's instrumental "Sweet 16 Bars" and Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man". Idiosyncratic numbers of bars are occasionally used, such as the 9-bar progression in "Sitting on Top of the World", by Walter Vinson.
{|class="wikitable floatright"
|style="width:200px; text-align:center;"|Chords played over a 12-bar scheme:
|style="width:200px; text-align:center;"|Chords for a blues in C:
|-
|align=center|
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|I
|style="width:50px;"|I or IV
|style="width:50px;"|I
|style="width:50px;"|I7
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|IV
|style="width:50px;"|IV
|style="width:50px;"|I
|style="width:50px;"|I7
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|V
|style="width:50px;"|V or IV
|style="width:50px;"|I
|style="width:50px;"|I or V
|}
|align=center|
{|class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|C
|style="width:50px;"|C
|style="width:50px;"|C
|style="width:50px;"|C7
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|F
|style="width:50px;"|F
|style="width:50px;"|C
|style="width:50px;"|C7
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="width:50px;"|G
|style="width:50px;"|G
|style="width:50px;"|C
|style="width:50px;"|C
|}
|}
The basic 12-bar lyric framework of many blues compositions is reflected by a standard harmonic progression of 12 bars in a 4/4 time signature. The blues chords associated to a twelve-bar blues are typically a set of three different chords played over a 12-bar scheme. They are labeled by Roman numbers referring to the degrees of the progression. For instance, for a blues in the key of C, C is the tonic chord (I) and F is the subdominant (IV).
The last chord is the dominant (V) turnaround, marking the transition to the beginning of the next progression. The lyrics generally end on the last beat of the tenth bar or the first beat of the 11th bar, and the final two bars are given to the instrumentalist as a break; the harmony of this two-bar break, the turnaround, can be extremely complex, sometimes consisting of single notes that defy analysis in terms of chords.
Much of the time, some or all of these chords are played in the harmonic seventh (7th) form. The use of the harmonic seventh interval is characteristic of blues and is popularly called the "blues seven". Blues seven chords add to the harmonic chord a note with a frequency in a 7:4 ratio to the fundamental note. At a 7:4 ratio, it is not close to any interval on the conventional Western diatonic scale. For convenience or by necessity it is often approximated by a minor seventh interval or a dominant seventh chord.
; ]]
In melody, blues is distinguished by the use of the flattened third, fifth and seventh of the associated major scale.
Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and call-and-response, and they form a repetitive effect called a groove. Characteristic of the blues since its Afro-American origins, the shuffles played a central role in swing music. The simplest shuffles, which were the clearest signature of the R&B wave that started in the mid-1940s, were a three-note riff on the bass strings of the guitar. When this riff was played over the bass and the drums, the groove "feel" was created. Shuffle rhythm is often vocalized as "dow, da dow, da dow, da" or "dump, da dump, da dump, da": it consists of uneven, or "swung", eighth notes. On a guitar this may be played as a simple steady bass or it may add to that stepwise quarter note motion from the fifth to the sixth of the chord and back.
History
Origin
Hart Wand's "Dallas Blues" was published in 1912; W.C. Handy's "The Memphis Blues" followed in the same year. The first recording by an African American singer was Mamie Smith's 1920 rendition of Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues". But the origins of the blues were some decades earlier, probably around 1890. This music is poorly documented, partly because of racial discrimination in U.S. society, including academic circles, and partly because of the low rate of literacy among rural African Americans at the time.
Reports of blues music in southern Texas and the Deep South were written at the dawn of the 20th century. Charles Peabody mentioned the appearance of blues music at Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Gate Thomas reported similar songs in southern Texas around 1901–1902. These observations coincide more or less with the recollections of Jelly Roll Morton, who said he first heard blues music in New Orleans in 1902; Ma Rainey, who remembered first hearing the blues in the same year in Missouri; and W.C. Handy, who first heard the blues in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903. The first extensive research in the field was performed by Howard W. Odum, who published an anthology of folk songs from Lafayette County, Mississippi, and Newton County, Georgia, between 1905 and 1908. The first non-commercial recordings of blues music, termed proto-blues by Paul Oliver, were made by Odum for research purposes at the beginning of the 20th century. They are now lost.
(left) shaking hands with musician "Uncle" Rich Brown in Sumterville, Alabama ]]
Other recordings that are still available were made in 1924 by Lawrence Gellert. Later, several recordings were made by Robert W. Gordon, who became head of the Archive of American Folk Songs of the Library of Congress. Gordon's successor at the library was John Lomax. In the 1930s, Lomax and his son Alan made a large number of non-commercial blues recordings that testify to the huge variety of proto-blues styles, such as field hollers and ring shouts. A record of blues music as it existed before 1920 can also be found in the recordings of artists such as Lead Belly and Henry Thomas. All these sources show the existence of many different structures distinct from twelve-, eight-, or sixteen-bar.
The social and economic reasons for the appearance of the blues are not fully known. The first appearance of the blues is usually dated after the Emancipation Act of 1863, This period corresponds to the transition from slavery to sharecropping, small-scale agricultural production, and the expansion of railroads in the southern United States. Several scholars characterize the development of blues music in the early 1900s as a move from group performance to individualized performance. They argue that the development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the enslaved people.
According to Lawrence Levine, "there was a direct relationship between the national ideological emphasis upon the individual, the popularity of Booker T. Washington's teachings, and the rise of the blues." Levine stated that "psychologically, socially, and economically, African-Americans were being acculturated in a way that would have been impossible during slavery, and it is hardly surprising that their secular music reflected this as much as their religious music did." However, there are some characteristics that were present long before the creation of the modern blues. Call-and-response shouts were an early form of blues-like music; they were a "functional expression ... style without accompaniment or harmony and unbounded by the formality of any particular musical structure". A form of this pre-blues was heard in slave ring shouts and field hollers, expanded into "simple solo songs laden with emotional content".
Blues has evolved from the unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves imported from West Africa and Black Americans in rural areas into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, with regional variations across the United States. Although blues (as it is now known) can be seen as a musical style based on both European harmonic structure and the African call-and-response tradition that transformed into an interplay of voice and guitar, the blues form itself bears no resemblance to the melodic styles of the West African griots. Additionally, there are theories that the four-beats-per-measure structure of the blues might have its origins in the Native American tradition of pow wow drumming. Some scholars identify strong influences on the blues from the melodic structures of certain West African musical styles of the savanna and sahel. Lucy Durran finds similarities with the melodies of the Bambara people, and to a lesser degree, the Soninke people and Wolof people, but not as much of the Mandinka people. Gerard Kubik finds similarities to the melodic styles of both the west African savanna and central Africa, both of which were sources of enslaved people.
No specific African musical form can be identified as the single direct ancestor of the blues. However the call-and-response format can be traced back to the music of Africa. That blue notes predate their use in blues and have an African origin is attested to by "A Negro Love Song", by the English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, from his African Suite for Piano, written in 1898, which contains blue third and seventh notes.
The Diddley bow (a homemade one-stringed instrument found in parts of the American South sometimes referred to as a jitterbug or a one-string in the early twentieth century) and the banjo are African-derived instruments that may have helped in the transfer of African performance techniques into the early blues instrumental vocabulary. The banjo seems to be directly imported from West African music. It is similar to the musical instrument that griots and other Africans such as the Igbo played (called halam or akonting by African peoples such as the Wolof, Fula and Mandinka). However, in the 1920s, when country blues began to be recorded, the use of the banjo in blues music was quite marginal and limited to individuals such as Papa Charlie Jackson and later Gus Cannon.
Blues music also adopted elements from the "Ethiopian airs", minstrel shows and Negro spirituals, including instrumental and harmonic accompaniment. The style also was closely related to ragtime, which developed at about the same time, though the blues better preserved "the original melodic patterns of African music".
The musical forms and styles that are now considered the blues as well as modern country music arose in the same regions of the southern United States during the 19th century. Recorded blues and country music can be found as far back as the 1920s, when the record industry created the marketing categories "race music" and "hillbilly music" to sell music by blacks for blacks and by whites for whites, respectively. At the time, there was no clear musical division between "blues" and "country", except for the ethnicity of the performer, and even that was sometimes documented incorrectly by record companies.
Though musicologists can now attempt to define the blues narrowly in terms of certain chord structures and lyric forms thought to have originated in West Africa, audiences originally heard the music in a far more general way: it was simply the music of the rural south, notably the Mississippi Delta. Black and white musicians shared the same repertoire and thought of themselves as "songsters" rather than blues musicians. The notion of blues as a separate genre arose during the black migration from the countryside to urban areas in the 1920s and the simultaneous development of the recording industry. Blues became a code word for a record designed to sell to black listeners.
The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of Afro-American community, the spirituals. The origins of spirituals go back much further than the blues, usually dating back to the middle of the 18th century, when the slaves were Christianized and began to sing and play Christian hymns, in particular those of Isaac Watts, which were very popular. Before the blues gained its formal definition in terms of chord progressions, it was defined as the secular counterpart of spirituals. It was the low-down music played by rural blacks.
Depending on the religious community a musician belonged to, it was more or less considered a sin to play this low-down music: blues was the devil's music. Musicians were therefore segregated into two categories: gospel singers and blues singers, guitar preachers and songsters. However, when rural black music began to be recorded in the 1920s, both categories of musicians used similar techniques: call-and-response patterns, blue notes, and slide guitars. Gospel music was nevertheless using musical forms that were compatible with Christian hymns and therefore less marked by the blues form than its secular counterpart.
" (1914)]]
Handy was a formally trained musician, composer and arranger who helped to popularize the blues by transcribing and orchestrating blues in an almost symphonic style, with bands and singers. He became a popular and prolific composer, and billed himself as the "Father of the Blues"; however, his compositions can be described as a fusion of blues with ragtime and jazz, a merger facilitated using the Cuban habanera rhythm that had long been a part of ragtime; Handy's signature work was the "Saint Louis Blues".
In the 1920s, the blues became a major element of African American and American popular music, also reaching white audiences via Handy's arrangements and the classic female blues performers. These female performers became perhaps the first African American "superstars", and their recording sales demonstrated "a huge appetite for records made by and for black people." The blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters. Blues performances were organized by the Theater Owners Booking Association in nightclubs such as the Cotton Club and juke joints such as the bars along Beale Street in Memphis. Several record companies, such as the American Record Corporation, Okeh Records, and Paramount Records, began to record African-American music.
As the recording industry grew, country blues performers like Bo Carter, Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red and Blind Blake became more popular in the African American community. Kentucky-born Sylvester Weaver was in 1923 the first to record the slide guitar style, in which a guitar is fretted with a knife blade or the sawed-off neck of a bottle. The slide guitar became an important part of the Delta blues. The first blues recordings from the 1920s are categorized as a traditional, rural country blues and a more polished city or urban blues.
Country blues performers often improvised, either without accompaniment or with only a banjo or guitar. Regional styles of country blues varied widely in the early 20th century. The (Mississippi) Delta blues was a rootsy sparse style with passionate vocals accompanied by slide guitar. The little-recorded Robert Johnson combined elements of urban and rural blues. In addition to Robert Johnson, influential performers of this style included his predecessors Charley Patton and Son House. Singers such as Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller performed in the southeastern "delicate and lyrical" Piedmont blues tradition, which used an elaborate ragtime-based fingerpicking guitar technique. Georgia also had an early slide tradition, with Curley Weaver, Tampa Red, "Barbecue Bob" Hicks and James "Kokomo" Arnold as representatives of this style.
The lively Memphis blues style, which developed in the 1920s and 1930s near Memphis, Tennessee, was influenced by jug bands such as the Memphis Jug Band or the Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers. Performers such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Wilkins, Kansas Joe McCoy, Casey Bill Weldon and Memphis Minnie used a variety of unusual instruments such as washboard, fiddle, kazoo or mandolin. Memphis Minnie was famous for her virtuoso guitar style. Pianist Memphis Slim began his career in Memphis, but his distinct style was smoother and had some swing elements. Many blues musicians based in Memphis moved to Chicago in the late 1930s or early 1940s and became part of the urban blues movement.
, an early blues singer, known for her powerful voice]]
Urban blues
City or urban blues styles were more codified and elaborate, as a performer was no longer within their local, immediate community, and had to adapt to a larger, more varied audience's aesthetic. Classic female urban and vaudeville blues singers were popular in the 1920s, among them "the big three"—Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Lucille Bogan. Mamie Smith, more a vaudeville performer than a blues artist, was the first African American to record a blues song, in 1920; her second record, "Crazy Blues", sold 75,000 copies in its first month. Ma Rainey, the "Mother of Blues", and Bessie Smith each "[sang] around center tones, perhaps in order to project her voice more easily to the back of a room". Smith would "sing a song in an unusual key, and her artistry in bending and stretching notes with her beautiful, powerful contralto to accommodate her own interpretation was unsurpassed".
In 1920, the vaudeville singer Lucille Hegamin became the second black woman to record blues when she recorded "The Jazz Me Blues", and Victoria Spivey, sometimes called Queen Victoria or Za Zu Girl, had a recording career that began in 1926 and spanned forty years. These recordings were typically labeled "race records" to distinguish them from records sold to white audiences. Nonetheless, the recordings of some of the classic female blues singers were purchased by white buyers as well. These blueswomen's contributions to the genre included "increased improvisation on melodic lines, unusual phrasing which altered the emphasis and impact of the lyrics, and vocal dramatics using shouts, groans, moans, and wails. The blues women thus effected changes in other types of popular singing that had spin-offs in jazz, Broadway musicals, torch songs of the 1930s and 1940s, gospel, rhythm and blues, and eventually rock and roll."
Urban male performers included popular black musicians of the era, such as Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy and Leroy Carr. An important label of this era was the Chicago-based Bluebird Records. Before World War II, Tampa Red was sometimes referred to as "the Guitar Wizard". Carr accompanied himself on the piano with Scrapper Blackwell on guitar, a format that continued well into the 1950s with artists such as Charles Brown and even Nat "King" Cole. Chicago boogie-woogie performers included Clarence "Pine Top" Smith and Earl Hines, who "linked the propulsive left-hand rhythms of the ragtime pianists with melodic figures similar to those of Armstrong's trumpet in the right hand". Dallas-born T-Bone Walker, who is often associated with the California blues style, performed a successful transition from the early urban blues à la Lonnie Johnson and Leroy Carr to the jump blues style and dominated the blues-jazz scene at Los Angeles during the 1940s.
1950s
The transition from country blues to urban blues that began in the 1920s was driven by the successive waves of economic crisis and booms that led many rural blacks to move to urban areas, in a movement known as the Great Migration. The long boom following World War II induced another massive migration of the African-American population, the Second Great Migration, which was accompanied by a significant increase of the real income of the urban blacks. The new migrants constituted a new market for the music industry. The term race record, initially used by the music industry for African-American music, was replaced by the term rhythm and blues. This rapidly evolving market was mirrored by Billboard magazine's Rhythm & Blues chart. This marketing strategy reinforced trends in urban blues music such as the use of electric instruments and amplification and the generalization of the blues beat, the blues shuffle, which became ubiquitous in rhythm and blues (R&B). This commercial stream had important consequences for blues music, which, together with jazz and gospel music, became a component of R&B.
]]
After World War II, new styles of electric blues became popular in cities such as Chicago, Memphis, Detroit and St. Louis. Electric blues used electric guitars, double bass (gradually replaced by bass guitar), drums, and harmonica (or "blues harp") played through a microphone and a PA system or an overdriven guitar amplifier. Chicago became a center for electric blues from 1948 on, when Muddy Waters recorded his first success, "I Can't Be Satisfied". Chicago blues is influenced to a large extent by Delta blues, because many performers had migrated from the Mississippi region.
Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. Their style is characterized by the use of electric guitar, sometimes slide guitar, harmonica, and a rhythm section of bass and drums. The saxophonist J. T. Brown played in bands led by Elmore James and by J. B. Lenoir, but the saxophone was used as a backing instrument for rhythmic support more than as a lead instrument.
Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Sonny Terry are well known harmonica (called "harp" by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene. Other harp players such as Big Walter Horton were also influential. Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of slide electric guitar. Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters were known for their deep, "gravelly" voices.
The bassist and prolific songwriter and composer Willie Dixon played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many standard blues songs of the period, such as "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (both penned for Muddy Waters) and, "Wang Dang Doodle" and "Back Door Man" for Howlin' Wolf. Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based Chess Records and Checker Records labels. Smaller blues labels of this era included Vee-Jay Records and J.O.B. Records. During the early 1950s, the dominating Chicago labels were challenged by Sam Phillips' Sun Records company in Memphis, which recorded B. B. King and Howlin' Wolf before he moved to Chicago in 1960. After Phillips discovered Elvis Presley in 1954, the Sun label turned to the rapidly expanding white audience and started recording mostly rock 'n' roll.
In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music. While popular musicians like Bo Diddley both recording for Chess, were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues. Chicago blues also influenced Louisiana's zydeco music, with Clifton Chenier using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and cajun arrangements of blues standards.
guitarist for The Rolling Stones, Richards was instrumental in bringing blues to the forefront of rock music. Inspired by American bluesmen like Muddy Waters]]
In England, electric blues took root there during a much acclaimed Muddy Waters tour in 1958. Waters, unsuspecting of his audience's tendency towards skiffle, an acoustic, softer brand of blues, turned up his amp and started to play his Chicago brand of electric blues. Although the audience was largely jolted by the performance, the performance influenced local musicians such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies to emulate this louder style, inspiring the British Invasion of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.
In the late 1950s, a new blues style emerged on Chicago's West Side pioneered by Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush on Cobra Records. The "West Side sound" had strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums and as perfected by Guy, Freddie King, Magic Slim and Luther Allison was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar. Expressive guitar solos were a key feature of this music.
Other blues artists, such as John Lee Hooker, had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. John Lee Hooker's blues is more "personal", based on Hooker's deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie-woogie, his "groovy" style is sometimes called "guitar boogie". His first hit, "Boogie Chillen", reached number 1 on the R&B charts in 1949.
By the late 1950s, the swamp blues genre developed near Baton Rouge, with performers such as Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo, Sam Myers and Jerry McCain around the producer J. D. "Jay" Miller and the Excello label. Strongly influenced by Jimmy Reed, swamp blues has a slower pace and a simpler use of the harmonica than the Chicago blues style performers such as Little Walter or Muddy Waters. Songs from this genre include "Scratch my Back", "She's Tough" and "I'm a King Bee". Alan Lomax's recordings of Mississippi Fred McDowell would eventually bring him wider attention on both the blues and folk circuit, with McDowell's droning style influencing North Mississippi hill country blues musicians.1960s and 1970s
with his guitar, "Lucille"]]
By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by African American music such as rock and roll and soul were part of mainstream popular music. White performers such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles had brought African-American music to new audiences, within the U.S. and abroad. However, the blues wave that brought artists such as Muddy Waters to the foreground had stopped. Bluesmen such as Big Bill Broonzy and Willie Dixon started looking for new markets in Europe. Dick Waterman and the blues festivals he organized in Europe played a major role in propagating blues music abroad. In the UK, bands emulated U.S. blues legends, and UK blues rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s.
Blues performers such as John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters continued to perform to enthusiastic audiences, inspiring new artists steeped in traditional blues, such as New York–born Taj Mahal. John Lee Hooker blended his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, creating a musical style that can be heard on the 1971 album Endless Boogie. B. B. King's singing and virtuoso guitar technique earned him the eponymous title "king of the blues". King introduced a sophisticated style of guitar soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists. In contrast to the Chicago style, King's band used strong brass support from a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, instead of using slide guitar or harp. Tennessee-born Bobby "Blue" Bland, like B. B. King, also straddled the blues and R&B genres. During this period, Freddie King and Albert King often played with rock and soul musicians (Eric Clapton and Booker T & the MGs) and had a major influence on those styles of music.
, known as the "Queen of the Blues," was renowned for her powerful, soulful voice and commanding presence.]]
The music of the civil rights movement and Free Speech Movement in the U.S. prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African American music. As well festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Reverend Gary Davis. commented on political issues such as racism or Vietnam War issues, which was unusual for this period. His album Alabama Blues contained a song with the following lyric:
, 1983]]
White audiences' interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield and singer/songwriter Nick Gravenites, and the British blues movement. The style of British blues developed in the UK, when musicians such as Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Rolling Stones, Animals, the Yardbirds, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Chicken Shack, early Jethro Tull, Cream and the Irish musician Rory Gallagher performed classic blues songs from the Delta or Chicago blues traditions.
In 1963, Amiri Baraka, then known as LeRoi Jones, was the first to write a book on the social history of the blues in Blues People: The Negro Music in White America. The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American blues rock performers, including Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, the J. Geils Band, Ry Cooder, and the Allman Brothers Band. One blues rock performer, Jimi Hendrix, was a rarity in his field at the time: a Black man who played psychedelic rock. Hendrix was a skilled guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of distortion and audio feedback in his music. Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock music. Later in the 1960s, British singer Jo Ann Kelly started her recording career. In the US, from the 1970s, female singers Bonnie Raitt and Phoebe Snow performed blues.
In the early 1970s, the Texas rock-blues style emerged, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds (led by harmonica player and singer-songwriter Kim Wilson), and ZZ Top. These artists all began their musical careers in the 1970s but they did not achieve international success until the next decade.
1980s to the present
is credited as the "Father of Italian Blues", and is among the few European blues artists who still enjoy international success.]]
Since the 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in the blues among a certain part of the African-American population, particularly around Jackson, Mississippi and other deep South regions. Often termed "soul blues" or "Southern soul", the music at the heart of this movement was given new life by the unexpected success of two particular recordings on the Jackson-based Malaco label: Z. Z. Hill's Down Home Blues (1982) and Little Milton's The Blues is Alright (1984). Contemporary African-American performers who work in this style of the blues include Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, Sir Charles Jones, Bettye LaVette, Marvin Sease, Peggy Scott-Adams, Clarence Carter, Charles Bradley, Trudy Lynn, Roy C, Barbara Carr, Willie Clayton and Shirley Brown, among others.
performing at Hyde Park, London, in June 2008]]
During the 1980s, blues also continued in both traditional and new forms. In 1986, the album Strong Persuader announced Robert Cray as a major blues artist. The first Stevie Ray Vaughan recording Texas Flood was released in 1983, and the Texas-based guitarist exploded onto the international stage. John Lee Hooker's popularity was revived with the album The Healer in 1989. Eric Clapton, known for his performances with the Blues Breakers and Cream, made a comeback in the 1990s with his album Unplugged, in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar.
However, beginning in the 1990s, digital multi-track recording and other technological advances and new marketing strategies including video clip production increased costs, challenging the spontaneity and improvisation that are an important component of blues music. In the 1980s and 1990s, blues publications such as Living Blues and Blues Revue were launched, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became more common, and Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov't Mule released blues rock albums. Female blues singers such as Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Sue Foley, and Shannon Curfman also recorded albums.
career spanned multiple decades, and she continued to impact the blues world into the 1990s with her powerful voice and ability to blend blues with soul, gospel, and R&B.]]
In the 1990s, the largely ignored hill country blues gained minor recognition in both blues and alternative rock music circles with northern Mississippi artists R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. or of the Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary and Traditional Blues Album. The Billboard Blues Album chart provides an overview of current blues hits. Contemporary blues music is nurtured by several blues labels such as Alligator Records, Ruf Records, Severn Records, Chess Records (MCA), Delmark Records, NorthernBlues Music, Fat Possum Records, and Vanguard Records (Artemis Records). Some labels are famous for rediscovering and remastering blues rarities, including Arhoolie Records, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (heir of Folkways Records), and Yazoo Records (Shanachie Records).Musical impact
is a virtuoso blues guitarist who blends traditional blues with rock, bringing the genre to new audiences.]]
Blues musical styles, forms (12-bar blues), melodies, and the blues scale have influenced many other genres of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, and popular music. Prominent jazz, folk or rock performers, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Bob Dylan have performed significant blues recordings. The blues scale is often used in popular songs like Harold Arlen's "Blues in the Night", blues ballads like "Since I Fell for You" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love", and even in orchestral works such as George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Concerto in F". Gershwin's second "Prelude" for solo piano is an interesting example of a classical blues, maintaining the form with academic strictness. The blues scale is ubiquitous in modern popular music and informs many modal frames, especially the ladder of thirds used in rock music (for example, in "A Hard Day's Night"). Blues forms are used in the theme to the televised Batman, teen idol Fabian Forte's hit, "Turn Me Loose", country music star Jimmie Rodgers' music, and guitarist/vocalist Tracy Chapman's hit "Give Me One Reason".
Early country bluesmen such as Skip James, Charley Patton, Georgia Tom Dorsey played country and urban blues and had influences from spiritual singing. Dorsey helped to popularize Gospel music. Gospel music developed in the 1930s, with the Golden Gate Quartet. In the 1950s, soul music by Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown used gospel and blues music elements. In the 1960s and 1970s, gospel and blues were merged in soul blues music. Funk music of the 1970s was influenced by soul; funk can be seen as an antecedent of hip-hop and contemporary R&B.
R&B music can be traced back to spirituals and blues. Musically, spirituals were a descendant of New England choral traditions, and in particular of Isaac Watts's hymns, mixed with African rhythms and call-and-response forms. Spirituals or religious chants in the African-American community are much better documented than the "low-down" blues. Spiritual singing developed because African-American communities could gather for mass or worship gatherings, which were called camp meetings.
Edward P. Comentale has noted how the blues was often used as a medium for art or self-expression, stating: "As heard from Delta shacks to Chicago tenements to Harlem cabarets, the blues proved—despite its pained origins—a remarkably flexible medium and a new arena for the shaping of identity and community."
straddled the big band and bebop genres. Ellington extensively used the blues form.]]
Before World War II, the boundaries between blues and jazz were less clear. Usually, jazz had harmonic structures stemming from brass bands, whereas blues had blues forms such as the 12-bar blues. However, the jump blues of the 1940s mixed both styles. After WWII, blues had a substantial influence on jazz. Bebop classics, such as Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time", used the blues form with the pentatonic scale and blue notes.
Bebop marked a major shift in the role of jazz, from a popular style of music for dancing to a "high-art", less-accessible, cerebral "musician's music". The audience for both blues and jazz split, and the border between blues and jazz became more defined.
The blues' 12-bar structure and the blues scale was a major influence on rock and roll music. Rock and roll has been called "blues with a backbeat"; Carl Perkins called rockabilly "blues with a country beat". Rockabillies were also said to be 12-bar blues played with a bluegrass beat. "Hound Dog", with its unmodified 12-bar structure (in both harmony and lyrics) and a melody centered on flatted third of the tonic (and flatted seventh of the subdominant), is a blues song transformed into a rock and roll song. Jerry Lee Lewis's style of rock and roll was heavily influenced by the blues and its derivative boogie-woogie. His style of music was not exactly rockabilly but it has been often called real rock and roll (this is a label he shares with several African American rock and roll performers).
influenced by blues and boogie-woogie, was a key bridge between rock and roll and its blues origins]]
Many early rock and roll songs are based on blues: "That's All Right Mama", "Johnny B. Goode", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll", and "Long Tall Sally". The early African American rock musicians retained the sexual themes and innuendos of blues music: "Got a gal named Sue, knows just what to do" ("Tutti Frutti", Little Richard) or "See the girl with the red dress on, She can do the Birdland all night long" ("What'd I Say", Ray Charles). The 12-bar blues structure can be found even in novelty pop songs, such as Bob Dylan's "Obviously Five Believers" and Esther and Abi Ofarim's "Cinderella Rockefella".
Early country music was infused with the blues. Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe and Hank Williams have all described themselves as blues singers and their music has a blues feel that is different, at first glance at least, from the later country-pop of artists like Eddy Arnold. Yet, if one looks back further, Arnold also started out singing bluesy songs like 'I'll Hold You in My Heart'. A lot of the 1970s-era "outlaw" country music by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings also borrowed from the blues. When Jerry Lee Lewis returned to country music after the decline of 1950s style rock and roll, he sang with a blues feel and often included blues standards on his albums.In popular culture
for the 1972 movie Sounder marked a revival of interest in acoustic blues.]]
Like many other genres, blues has been called the "devil's music" or "music of the devil", even of inciting violence and other poor behavior. In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s.
During the blues revival of the 1960s and 1970s, acoustic blues artist Taj Mahal and Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins wrote and performed music that figured prominently in the critically acclaimed film Sounder (1972). The film earned Mahal a Grammy nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture and a BAFTA nomination. Almost 30 years later, Mahal wrote blues for, and performed a banjo composition, claw-hammer style, in the 2001 movie release Songcatcher, which focused on the story of the preservation of the roots music of Appalachia.
helped popularize blues music through his role in The Blues Brothers film, which brought together iconic blues artists and introduced the genre to a wider audience.]]
Perhaps the most visible example of the blues style of music in the late 20th century came in 1980, when Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi released the film The Blues Brothers. The film drew many of the biggest living influencers of the rhythm and blues genre together, such as Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and John Lee Hooker. The band formed also began a successful tour under the Blues Brothers marquee. 1998 brought a sequel, Blues Brothers 2000 that, while not holding as great a critical and financial success, featured a much larger number of blues artists, such as B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Musselwhite, Blues Traveler, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff Baxter.
In 2003, Martin Scorsese made significant efforts to promote the blues to a larger audience. He asked several famous directors such as Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders to participate in a series of documentary films for PBS called The Blues. He also participated in the rendition of compilations of major blues artists in a series of high-quality CDs. Blues guitarist and vocalist Keb' Mo' performed his blues rendition of "America, the Beautiful" in 2006 to close out the final season of the television series The West Wing.
The blues was highlighted in season 2012, episode 1 of In Performance at the White House, entitled "Red, White and Blues". Hosted by Barack and Michelle Obama, the show featured performances by B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks, Keb Mo, and others.See also
* List of blues festivals
* List of blues musicians
* List of blues standards
References
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Bibliography
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* Bransford, Steve (2004). [http://southernspaces.org/2004/blues-lower-chattahoochee-valley "Blues in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley"] Southern Spaces.
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Further reading
* Abbott, Lynn; Doug Seroff. [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Original_Blues.html?id=_lHJjwEACAAJ The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African-American Vaudeville, 1889–1926]. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2019. .
* Brown, Luther. [http://southernspaces.org/2006/inside-poor-monkeys "Inside Poor Monkey's"], Southern Spaces, June 22, 2006.
* Dixon, Robert M.W.; Godrich, John (1970). Recording the Blues. London: Studio Vista. 85 pp. SBN 289–79829–9.
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* Welding, Peter; Brown, Toby, eds. (1991). Bluesland: Portraits of Twelve Major American Blues Masters. New York: Penguin Group. 253 + [2] pp. .
External links
* [https://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/studying-the-blues-at-the-university-of-mississippi/ Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the University of Mississippi], the foremost institution for blues scholarship in the U.S.
* [https://www.loc.gov/folklife/onlinecollections.html The American Folklife Center's Online Collections and Presentations]
* [http://www.BlueShoeProject.org/ The Blue Shoe Project – Nationwide (U.S.) Blues Education Programming]
* [https://www.pbs.org/theblues/ "The Blues"], documentary series by Martin Scorsese, aired on PBS
* [http://www.blues.org/ The Blues Foundation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19980612235347/http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/ The Delta Blues Museum] (archived 12 June 1998)
* [http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/music_in_poetry/index.html The Music in Poetry] – Smithsonian Institution lesson plan on the blues, for teachers
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/american.htm American Music]: Archive of artist and record label discographies
Category:African-American music
Category:Radio formats
Category:Jazz terminology
Category:African-American cultural history
Category:American styles of music
Category:19th-century music genres
Category:20th-century music genres
Category:Musical improvisation
Category:Popular music | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.256499 |
3353 | Bluegrass | Bluegrass or Blue Grass may refer to:
Plants
Bluegrass (grass), several species of grasses of the genus Poa
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), one well-known species of the genus
Arts and media
Bluegrass music, a form of American roots music
Bluegrass Films, an independent film studio based in Los Angeles
Places
Blue Grass, Iowa, a city in the United States
Blue Grass, Minnesota, an unincorporated settlement in the United States
Blue Grass, Virginia, an unincorporated settlement in the United States
Bluegrass region, a geographic region in the US state of Kentucky
Blue Grass Airport, an airport in Fayette county, Kentucky
Other uses
Blue Grass, a 1915 film with Thomas A. Wise
Blue Grass Army Depot, a munitions storage depot in Richmond, Kentucky
Blue Grass, a brand name used by Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company
Bluegrass, a passenger train of the Monon Railroad
See also | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluegrass | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.282864 |
3354 | Berlin | | image_shield = DEU Berlin COA.svg
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| population_as_of = 2022 census
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| population_density_km2 = 4,109
| population_density_urban_km2 = 1,250
| elevation_m = 34
| population_demonyms = Berliner(s) (English)<br />Berliner (m), Berlinerin (f) (German)
| population_rank = 5th in Europe<br />1st in Germany
| demographics_type1 = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes
| demographics1_title1 = City/State
| demographics1_info1 = €193.219 billion (2023)
| demographics1_title2 = Metro
| demographics1_info2 = €290.696 billion (2023)
| blank2_name_sec2 = HDI (2021)
| blank2_info_sec2 0.959<br /> · 2nd of 16
| timezone1 = CET
| utc_offset1 = +01:00
| timezone1_DST = CEST
| utc_offset1_DST = +02:00
| blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
| blank_info_sec2 = .berlin
| website =
| governing_body = Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
| leader_title = Governing Mayor
| leader_party = CDU
| leader_title2 = Bundesrat votes
| leader_name2 = 4 (of 69)
| leader_title3 = Bundestag seats
| leader_name3 = 29 (of 736)
| leader_name = Kai Wegner
| geocode = NUTS Region: DE3
| area_code = 030
| registration_plate = B
| iso_code = DE-BE
| image_map1 = Locator map Berlin in Germany.svg
| map_caption1 = Berlin highlighted in Germany
| pushpin_map = Germany#Europe
| pushpin_relief = yes
}}
Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region,
Berlin was built along the banks of the Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau. The city includes lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee. About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens, rivers, canals, and lakes.
First documented in the 13th century Berlin was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as a scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and the German revolutions of 1848–1849. During the Gründerzeit, an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered a rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin, divided by the Berlin Wall. East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe".
Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media and science. Its economy is based on high tech and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, startup companies, research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network. Tourism in Berlin makes the city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, the automotive industry, and electronics.
Berlin is home to several universities, such as the Humboldt University of Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, the Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin. The Berlin Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex, and there are many films set in Berlin. Berlin is home to three World Heritage Sites: Museum Island, the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin, and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates. Other landmarks include the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, Potsdamer Platz, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Berlin has numerous museums, galleries, and libraries.
History
1701–1867<br />
North German Confederation 1867–1871<br />
1871–1918<br />
1918–1933<br />
1933–1945<br />
1945–1949<br />
1949–1990<br />
1949–1990<br />
1990–present
| align = right
| width = 26em
| fontsize = 90%
| bgcolor = #B0C4DE
}}
Etymology
Berlin lies in northeastern Germany, in an area formerly settled by Slavs which thus exhibits many (Germanised) Slavic-derived placenames until today (see below). The word Berlin also has its roots in the language of the West Slavs, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem ("swamp").
Of Berlin's twelve boroughs, five bear a Slavic-derived name—Pankow, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Spandau; furthermore, across the city's 96 neighbourhoods, there are 22 which bear a Slavic-rooted name—Altglienicke, Alt-Treptow, Britz, Buch, Buckow, Gatow, Karow, Kladow, Köpenick, Lankwitz, Lübars, Malchow, Marzahn, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Rudow, Schmöckwitz, Spandau, Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow, Steglitz, Tegel and Zehlendorf.
Prehistory of Berlin
The earliest human settlements in the area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture. In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture. Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD, the Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane, reached the region.
12th century to 16th century
(left) and Berlin Palace (right), 1900]]
In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte. The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes, one was known as Via Imperii, and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod.
In 1326 the territory of Berlin was raided by pagan Lithuanians during the Raid on Brandenburg.
Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of the town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" (). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.
17th to 19th centuries
The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population. Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots.
By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of the Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.
in 1871 and expanded rapidly in the following years.|219x219px]]
Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia. In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia, as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia. Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg. This was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment, but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.
The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding, Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. In 1881, it became a city district separate from Brandenburg. 20th to 21st centuries
In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased the area of Berlin from . The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties. The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts, the humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna, and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had a monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture. Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania; these were never implemented.
NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in the country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź, and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz.
Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium was built.
During World War II, Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities.
During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin.
All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British and French airlines.
The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn. In 1961, East Germany began to build the Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining the US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development and still impacts urban planning decisions.
Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move the seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder.
Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12.
In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin.
Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006.
In a 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL, a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured.
In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at the end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport, beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020, the Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5.
A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace, was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. Berlin-Brandenburg fusion attempt
The legal basis for a combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments.
In 1996, there was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by a small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin, Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital.
Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau.
The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at elevation is the highest natural point and the lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at elevation.
Climate
Berlin has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfb). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest.
Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates. Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of and lows of . Winters are cold with average high temperatures of and lows of . Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement. Temperatures can be higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of and the coldest was January 1709, with a mean temperature of . The wettest month on record was July 1907, with of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with of rainfall.
, 1961–1990 normals, extremes 1908–present
|Jan record high C = 15.2
|Feb record high C = 18.6
|Mar record high C = 25.1
|Apr record high C = 30.9
|May record high C = 33.3
|Jun record high C = 36.1
|Jul record high C = 37.9
|Aug record high C = 37.7
|Sep record high C = 34.2
|Oct record high C = 27.5
|Nov record high C = 19.5
|Dec record high C = 15.7
| Jan mean C =-0.4
| Feb mean C =0.6
| Mar mean C =4.0
| Apr mean C =8.4
| May mean C =13.5
| Jun mean C =16.7
| Jul mean C =17.9
| Aug mean C =17.2
| Sep mean C =13.5
| Oct mean C =9.3
| Nov mean C =4.6
| Dec mean C =1.2
| Jan high C =1.8
| Feb high C =3.5
| Mar high C =7.9
| Apr high C =13.1
| May high C =18.6
| Jun high C =21.8
| Jul high C =23.1
| Aug high C =22.8
| Sep high C =18.7
| Oct high C =13.3
| Nov high C =7.0
| Dec high C =3.2
| Jan low C =-2.9
| Feb low C =-2.2
| Mar low C =0.5
| Apr low C =3.9
| May low C =8.2
| Jun low C =11.4
| Jul low C =12.9
| Aug low C =12.4
| Sep low C =9.4
| Oct low C =5.9
| Nov low C =2.1
| Dec low C =-1.1
|Jan record low C = -21.0
|Feb record low C = -26.0
|Mar record low C = -16.5
|Apr record low C = -6.7
|May record low C = -2.9
|Jun record low C = 0.8
|Jul record low C = 5.4
|Aug record low C = 4.7
|Sep record low C = -0.5
|Oct record low C = -9.6
|Nov record low C = -16.1
|Dec record low C = -20.2
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm =43.0
| Feb precipitation mm =37.0
| Mar precipitation mm =38.0
| Apr precipitation mm =42.0
| May precipitation mm =55.0
| Jun precipitation mm =71.0
| Jul precipitation mm =53.0
| Aug precipitation mm =65.0
| Sep precipitation mm =46.0
| Oct precipitation mm =36.0
| Nov precipitation mm =50.0
| Dec precipitation mm =55.0
| Jan sun =45.4
| Feb sun =72.3
| Mar sun =122.0
| Apr sun =157.7
| May sun =221.6
| Jun sun =220.9
| Jul sun =217.9
| Aug sun =210.2
| Sep sun =156.3
| Oct sun =110.9
| Nov sun =52.4
| Dec sun =37.4
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days =10.0
| Feb precipitation days =9.0
| Mar precipitation days =8.0
| Apr precipitation days =9.0
| May precipitation days =10.0
| Jun precipitation days =10.0
| Jul precipitation days =9.0
| Aug precipitation days =9.0
| Sep precipitation days =9.0
| Oct precipitation days =8.0
| Nov precipitation days =10.0
| Dec precipitation days =11.0
| source 1 = NOAA
|source 2 Berliner Extremwerte
}}
Cityscape and architecture
Cityscape
, Potsdamer Platz, Unter den Linden and Alexanderplatz]]
from above]]
by Micha Ullman set into the Bebelplatz]]
Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during the 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture.
Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed, including the Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera, Charlottenburg Palace, Gendarmenmarkt, Alte Kommandantur, as well as the City Palace.
The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz, City West, and Alexanderplatz.
Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, Also on the island and next to the Lustgarten and palace is Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II's ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
with Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is the center of City West.]]
Unter den Linden is a tree-lined east–west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berlin Palace, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street, and part of Humboldt University is there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Golden Twenties. It combines 20th-century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after the Wall came down. To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is to the north.
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. The nearby New Synagogue is the center of Jewish culture.
The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as the central east–west axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately halfway from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated in 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.
The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.
West of the center, Bellevue Palace is the residence of the German President. Charlottenburg Palace, which was burnt out in the Second World War, is the largest historical palace in Berlin.
The Funkturm Berlin is a lattice radio tower in the fairground area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators and has a restaurant and an observation deck above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
The Oberbaumbrücke over the Spree river is Berlin's most iconic bridge, connecting the now-combined boroughs of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg. It carries vehicles, pedestrians, and the U1 Berlin U-Bahn line. The bridge was completed in a brick gothic style in 1896, replacing the former wooden bridge with an upper deck for the U-Bahn. The center portion was demolished in 1945 to stop the Red Army from crossing. After the war, the repaired bridge served as a checkpoint and border crossing between the Soviet and American sectors, and later between East and West Berlin. In the mid-1950s, it was closed to vehicles, and after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, pedestrian traffic was heavily restricted. Following German reunification, the center portion was reconstructed with a steel frame, and U-Bahn service resumed in 1995.
Demographics
At the end of 2023 the city-state of Berlin had 3.66 million registered inhabitants, The entire Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has a population of more than 6 million in an area of .
Nationalities
in Berlin on 31 December 2020 by district]]
{|class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Residents by citizenship <small>(31 December 2023)</small>
|-
! Country|| Population
|-
| || 2,931,731
|-
| || 107,022
|-
| || 62,495
|-
| || 54,099
|-
| || 48,301
|-
| || 37,815
|-
| ||33,732
|-
| || 33,257
|-
| || 33,256
|-
| || 28,843
|-
| || 25,851
|-
| || 22,172
|-
| || 21,743
|-
| || 21,305
|-
| || 19,484
|-
|}
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin and increased the population from 1.9 million to 4 million.
Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Berlin is home to at least 180,000 Turkish and Turkish German residents, In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community. The last decade experienced an influx from various Western countries and some African regions. A portion of the African immigrants have settled in the Afrikanisches Viertel. Young Germans, EU-Europeans and Israelis have also settled in the city.
In December 2019 there were 777,345 registered residents of foreign nationality and another 542,975 German citizens with a "migration background" (Migrationshintergrund, MH), 48 percent of the residents under the age of 15 have a migration background in 2017. Berlin in 2009 was estimated to have 100,000 to 250,000 unregistered inhabitants. Boroughs of Berlin with a significant number of migrants or foreign born population are Mitte, Neukölln and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The number of Arabic speakers in Berlin could be higher than 150,000. There are at least 40,000 Berliners with Syrian citizenship, third only behind Turkish and Polish citizens. The 2015 refugee crisis made Berlin Europe's capital of Arab culture. Berlin is among the cities in Germany that have received the biggest amount of refugees after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of November 2022, an estimated 85,000 Ukrainian refugees were registered in Berlin, making Berlin the most popular destination of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.
Berlin has a vibrant expatriate community involving, among others, precarious immigrants, seasonal workers, and refugees. Therefore, Berlin sustains a broad variety of English-based speakers. Speaking a particular type of English does attract prestige and cultural capital in Berlin.
Languages
German is the official and predominant spoken language in Berlin. It is a West Germanic language that derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. German is one of 24 languages of the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission.
Berlinerisch or Berlinisch is not a dialect linguistically. It is spoken in Berlin and the surrounding metropolitan area. It originates from a Brandenburgish variant. The dialect is now seen more like a sociolect, largely through increased immigration and trends among the educated population to speak standard German in everyday life.
The most commonly spoken foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, Polish, English, Persian, Arabic, Italian, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, Kurdish, Serbo-Croatian, French, Spanish and Vietnamese. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and Serbo-Croatian are heard more often in the western part due to the large Middle Eastern and former-Yugoslavian communities. Polish, English, Russian, and Vietnamese have more native speakers in East Berlin.
Religion
On the report of the 2011 census, approximately 37 percent of the population reported being members of a legally-recognized church or religious organization. The rest either did not belong to such an organization, or there was no information available about them.
The largest religious denomination recorded in 2010 was the Protestant regional church body—the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO)—a united church. EKBO is a member of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) and of the Union of Protestant Churches in the EKD (UEK). According to the EKBO, their membership accounted for 18.7 percent of the local population, while the Roman Catholic Church had 9.1 percent of residents registered as its members. About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations (mostly Eastern Orthodox, but also various Protestants). According to the Berlin residents register, in 2018 14.9 percent were members of the Evangelical Church, and 8.5 percent were members of the Catholic Church. while in 2016, the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel estimated that about 350,000 Muslims observed Ramadan in Berlin. Between 1992 and 2011 the Muslim population almost doubled.
About 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions. Of the estimated population of 30,000–45,000 Jewish residents, approximately 12,000 are registered members of religious organizations. There are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, four Churches of Christ, Scientist (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 11th), six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church, and an Anglican church in Berlin. Berlin has more than 80 mosques, ten synagogues, and two Buddhist as well as four Hindu temples. Government and politics German federal city state
(Red City Hall), seat of the Senate and Mayor of Berlin]]
Since the German reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city-states of Germany among the present 16 federal states of Germany. The Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin (House of Representatives) functions as the city and state parliament, which has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin (Regierender Bürgermeister), and up to ten senators holding ministerial positions, two of them holding the title of "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor.
]]
]]
The total annual budget of Berlin in 2015 exceeded €24.5 ($30.0) billion including a budget surplus of €205 ($240) million. The German Federal city state of Berlin owns extensive assets, including administrative and government buildings, real estate companies, as well as stakes in the Olympic Stadium, swimming pools, housing companies, and numerous public enterprises and subsidiary companies. The federal state of Berlin runs a real estate portal to advertise commercial spaces or land suitable for redevelopment.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election. From the 2016 state election until the 2023 state election, there was a coalition between the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Left Party. Since April 2023, the government has been formed by a coalition between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the City of Berlin (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Minister President of the State of Berlin (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of the Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2023, this office has been held by Kai Wegner of the Christian Democrats.
Boroughs
]]
Berlin is subdivided into 12 boroughs or districts (Bezirke). Each borough has several subdistricts or neighborhoods (Ortsteile), which have roots in much older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920. These subdistricts became urbanized and incorporated into the city later on. Many residents strongly identify with their neighborhoods, colloquially called Kiez. At present, Berlin consists of 96 subdistricts, which are commonly made up of several smaller residential areas or quarters.
Each borough is governed by a borough council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five councilors (Bezirksstadträte) including the borough's mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). However, the individual boroughs are not independent municipalities, but subordinate to the Senate of Berlin.<!-- (urban district, Stadtkreis) --> The borough's mayors make up the council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), which is led by the city's Governing Mayor and advises the Senate. The neighborhoods have no local government bodies. City partnerships
Berlin to this day maintains official partnerships with 17 cities. Town twinning between West Berlin and other cities began with its sister city Los Angeles, California, in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification.
Capital city
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has their official residence in Bellevue Palace. Berlin is the seat of the German Chancellor (Prime Minister), housed in the Chancellery building, the Bundeskanzleramt. Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government's relocation to Berlin in 1998. The Bundesrat ("federal council", performing the function of an upper house) is the representation of the 16 constituent states (Länder) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords. The total annual federal budget managed by the German government exceeded €310 ($375) billion in 2013.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:07.08.21.Bundeskanzleramt.jpg|The Federal Chancellery building, seat of the Chancellor of Germany
File:Berlin reichstag west panorama.jpg|The Reichstag, seat of the Bundestag
File:Bellevue Palace Berlin 02-14.jpg|Schloss Bellevue, seat of the President of Germany
File:Bundesrat Gebäude, Berlin, Leipziger Strasse.jpg|Prussian House of Lords, seat of the Bundesrat of Germany
File:Zentrale des Bundesnachrichtendienst, Berlin.jpg|Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service
</gallery>
The relocation of the federal government and Bundestag to Berlin was mostly completed in 1999. However, some ministries, as well as some minor departments, stayed in the federal city Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions about moving the remaining ministries and departments to Berlin continue.
The Federal Foreign Office and the ministries and departments of Defense, Justice and Consumer Protection, Finance, Interior, Economic Affairs and Energy, Labor and Social Affairs, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Food and Agriculture, Economic Cooperation and Development, Health, Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Education and Research are based in the capital.
Embassies
Berlin hosts in total 158 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many think tanks, trade unions, nonprofit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations. Frequent official visits and diplomatic consultations among governmental representatives and national leaders are common in contemporary Berlin. Economy
and startup ecosystem.]]
In 2018, the GDP of Berlin totaled €147 billion, an increase of 3.1% over the previous year. From 2012 to 2015 Berlin, as a German state, had the highest annual employment growth rate. Around 130,000 jobs were added in this period.
Important economic sectors in Berlin include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.
Research and development have economic significance for the city. Several major corporations like Volkswagen, Pfizer, and SAP operate innovation laboratories in the city.
The Science and Business Park in Adlershof is the largest technology park in Germany measured by revenue. Within the eurozone, Berlin has become a center for business relocation and international investments.
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!2010
!2011
!2012
!2013
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
!2019
!2020
!2021
!2022
|-
|Unemployment rate in %
|13.6
|13.3
|12.3
|11.7
|11.1
|10.7
|9.8
|9.0
|8.1
|7.8
|6.4
|8.6
|9.1
|}
Companies
Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For several years Berlin has been recognized as a major center of business founders. In 2015, Berlin generated the most venture capital for young startup companies in Europe.
Among the 10 largest employers in Berlin are the City-State of Berlin, , largest railway company in the world,
Siemens, a Global 500 and DAX-listed company is partly headquartered in Berlin. Other DAX-listed companies headquartered in Berlin are the property company Deutsche Wohnen and the online food delivery service Delivery Hero. The national railway operator , Europe's largest digital publisher Axel Springer as well as the MDAX-listed firms Zalando and HelloFresh and also have their main headquarters in the city. Among the largest international corporations who have their German or European headquarters in Berlin are Bombardier Transportation, Securing Energy for Europe, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Sony and TotalEnergies.
As of 2023, Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, a network of public banks that together form the largest financial services group in Germany and in all of Europe, is headquartered in Berlin. The Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken has its headquarters in Berlin, managing around 1.200 trillion euros. The three largest banks in the capital are Deutsche Kreditbank, Landesbank Berlin and Berlin Hyp.
Mercedes-Benz Group manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. In 2022, American electric car manufacturer Tesla opened its first European Gigafactory outside the city borders in Grünheide (Mark), Brandenburg. The Pharmaceuticals division of Bayer and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies in the city. Tourism and conventions
Berlin had 788 hotels with 134,399 beds in 2014. The city recorded 28.7 million overnight hotel stays and 11.9 million hotel guests in 2014. Some of these congress events take place on venues such as CityCube Berlin or the Berlin Congress Center (bcc).
The Messe Berlin (also known as Berlin ExpoCenter City) is the main convention organizing company in the city. Its main exhibition area covers more than . Several large-scale trade fairs like the consumer electronics trade fair IFA, where the first practical audio tape recorder and the first completely electronic television system were first introduced to the public, the ILA Berlin Air Show, the Berlin Fashion Week (including the Premium Berlin and the Panorama Berlin), the Green Week, the Fruit Logistica, the transport fair InnoTrans, the tourism fair ITB and the adult entertainment and erotic fair Venus are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries
(logo pictured) was founded in Berlin.]]
in Berlin-Mitte, where Ottomar Anschütz held the first showing of life sized pictures in motion on 25 November 1894]]
The creative arts and entertainment business is an important part of Berlin's economy. The sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games.
In 2014, around 30,500 creative companies operated in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, predominantly SMEs. Generating a revenue of 15.6 billion Euro and 6% of all private economic sales, the culture industry grew from 2009 to 2014 at an average rate of 5.5% per year.
Berlin is an important European and German film industry hub. It is home to more than 1,000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year. The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe and Welt. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city, including ZDF and RTL.
Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Berliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical and La Gazette de Berlin a French-language newspaper.
Berlin is also the headquarter of major German-language publishing houses like Walter de Gruyter, Springer, the Ullstein Verlagsgruppe (publishing group), Suhrkamp, and Cornelsen are all based in Berlin. Each of which publishes books, periodicals, and multimedia products. Quality of life According to Mercer, Berlin ranked number 19 in the Quality of Living City Ranking in 2024.
Also in 2024, according to Monocle, Berlin occupied the position of the 17th-most-livable city in the world. Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Berlin number 21 of all global cities for livability. In 2019 Berlin was also number 8 on the Global Power City Index. In the same year Berlin was honored for having the best future prospects of all cities in Germany. Transport Roads Berlin's transport infrastructure provides a diverse range of urban mobility.
A total of 979 bridges cross 197 km (122 miles) the inner-city waterways. Berlin roads total 5,422 km (3,369 miles) of which 77 km (48 miles) are motorways (known as Autobahn). With 377 cars per 1000 residents in 2013 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a Western global city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita. Cycling
Berlin is well known for its highly developed bicycle lane system. It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1,000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13 percent of total traffic in 2010.
Cyclists in Berlin have access to 620 km of bicycle paths including approximately 150 km of mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km of off-road bicycle routes, 60 km of bicycle lanes on roads, 70 km of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km of marked bicycle lanes on roadside pavements or sidewalks. Riders are allowed to carry their bicycles on Regionalbahn (RE), S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, on trams, and on night buses if a bike ticket is purchased. Taxicabs Taxicabs in Berlin are yellow or beige. In 2024, around 8,000 taxicabs were in service. Like in most of Europe, app-based sharing cab services are available but limited. Rail
Station Potsdamer Platz]]
(Berlin Central Station)]]
Long-distance rail lines directly connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany. the regional rail lines of the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg provide access to Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Central Station) is the largest grade-separated railway station in Europe. The Deutsche Bahn runs the high speed Intercity-Express (ICE) to domestic destinations, including Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt am Main.
Water transport
The Spree and the Havel rivers cross Berlin. There are no frequent passenger connections to and from Berlin by water. Berlin's largest harbour, the Westhafen, is located in the district of Moabit. It is a transhipment and storage site for inland shipping with a growing importance. Intercity buses There is an increasing quantity of intercity bus services. Berlin city has more than 10 stations that run buses to destinations throughout Berlin. Destinations in Germany and Europe are connected via the intercity bus exchange Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof Berlin.
Urban public transport
]]
The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and the German State-owned Deutsche Bahn (DB) manage several extensive urban public transport systems.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;" | System
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;" | Stations / Lines / Net length
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;" | Annual ridership
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;" | Operator / Notes
|-
! scope"row" |
| 166 / 16 /
| 431,000,000 <small>(2016)</small>
| DB / Mainly overground rapid transit rail system with suburban stops
|-
! scope"row" |
| 173 / 9 /
| 563,000,000 <small>(2017)</small>
| BVG / Mainly underground rail system / 24h-service on weekends
|-
! scope="row" | Tram
| 404 / 22 /
| 197,000,000 <small>(2017)</small>
| BVG / Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs
|-
! scope="row" | Bus
| 3227 / 198 /
| 440,000,000 <small>(2017)</small>
| BVG / Extensive services in all boroughs / 62 Night Lines
|-
! scope="row" | Ferry
| 6 lines
|
| BVG / Transportation as well as recreational ferries
|}
Public transport in Berlin has a long and complicated history because of the 20th-century division of the city, where movement between the two halves was not served. Since 1989, the transport network has been developed extensively. However, it still contains early 20th century traits, such as the U1.
Airports
(BER) at night]]
Berlin is served by one commercial international airport: Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), located just outside Berlin's south-eastern border, in the state of Brandenburg. It began construction in 2006, with the intention of replacing Airport (TXL) and Airport (SXF) as the single commercial airport of Berlin. Previously set to open in 2012, after extensive delays and cost overruns, it opened for commercial operations in October 2020. The planned initial capacity of around 27 million passengers per year is to be further developed to bring the terminal capacity to approximately 55 million per year by 2040.
Before the opening of the BER in Brandenburg, Berlin was served by Tegel Airport and Schönefeld Airport. Tegel Airport was within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport was located at the same site as BER. Both airports together handled 29.5 million passengers in 2015. In 2014, 67 airlines served 163 destinations in 50 countries from Berlin. Airport was a focus city for Lufthansa and Eurowings while Schönefeld served as an important destination for airlines like , easyJet and Ryanair. Until 2008, Berlin was also served by the smaller Tempelhof Airport, which functioned as a city airport, with a convenient location near the city center, allowing for quick transit times between the central business district and the airport. The airport grounds have since been turned into a city park.
Rohrpost
From 1865 to 1976, Berlin operated an expansive pneumatic postal network, reaching a maximum length of 400 kilometers (roughly 250 miles) by 1940. The system was divided into two distinct networks after 1949. The West Berlin system remained in public use until 1963, and continued to be utilized for government correspondence until 1972. Conversely, the East Berlin system, which incorporated the —the central hub of the operation—remained functional until 1976. Energy Berlin's two largest energy provider for private households are the Swedish firm Vattenfall and the Berlin-based company GASAG. Both offer electric power and natural gas supply. Some of the city's electric energy is imported from nearby power plants in southern Brandenburg.
the five largest power plants measured by capacity are the Heizkraftwerk Reuter West, the Heizkraftwerk Lichterfelde, the Heizkraftwerk Mitte, the Heizkraftwerk Wilmersdorf, and the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg. All of these power stations generate electricity and useful heat at the same time to facilitate buffering during load peaks.
In 1993 the power grid connections in the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region were renewed. In most of the inner districts of Berlin power lines are underground cables; only a 380 kV and a 110 kV line, which run from Reuter substation to the urban Autobahn, use overhead lines. The Berlin 380-kV electric line is the backbone of the city's energy grid.
Health
]]
Berlin has a long history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology. The modern history of medicine has been significantly influenced by scientists from Berlin. Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, while Robert Koch developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis. For his life's work Koch is seen as one of the founders of modern medicine.
The Charité complex (Universitätsklinik Charité) is the largest university hospital in Europe, tracing back its origins to the year 1710. More than half of all German Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine, including Emil von Behring, Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich, have worked at the Charité. The Charité is spread over four campuses and comprises around 3,000 beds, 15,500 staff, 8,000 students, and more than 60 operating theaters, and it has a turnover of two billion euros annually. Telecommunication
devices]]
Since 2017, the digital television standard in Berlin and Germany is DVB-T2. This system transmits compressed digital audio, digital video and other data in an MPEG transport stream.
Berlin has installed several hundred free public Wireless LAN sites across the capital since 2016. The wireless networks are concentrated mostly in central districts; 650 hotspots (325 indoor and 325 outdoor access points) are installed.
The UMTS (3G) and LTE (4G) networks of the three major cellular operators Vodafone, Telekom Deutschland and O2 enable the use of mobile broadband applications citywide.
Education and research
, the world's first modern university, is affiliated with 57 Nobel Prize winners.]]
, Berlin had 878 schools, teaching 340,658 students in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere.
The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, which was founded in 1689 to teach the children of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction. The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of diplomats and the English-speaking expatriate community. 82 teach Latin and 8 teach Classical Greek.
Higher education
]]
The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in Germany and Europe. Historically, 67 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with the Berlin-based universities.
The city has four public research universities and more than 30 private, professional, and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines. A record number of 175,651 students were enrolled in the winter term of 2015/16. Among them around 18% have an international background.
The three largest universities combined have approximately 103,000 enrolled students. There are the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin, FU Berlin) with about 33,000 students, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) with 35,000 students, and Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) with 35,000 students. The Charité Medical School has around 8,000 students. The Universität der Künste (UdK) has about 4,000 students and ESMT Berlin is only one of four business schools in Germany with triple accreditation. The Hertie School, a private public policy school located in Mitte, has more than 900 students and doctoral students. The Berlin School of Economics and Law has an enrollment of about 11,000 students, the Berlin University of Applied Sciences and Technology of about 12,000 students, and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics) of about 14,000 students.
Research
in Adlershof]]
The city has a high density of internationally renowned research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, the DLR Institute for Planetary Research, the Leibniz Association, the Helmholtz Association, and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. In 2012, around 65,000 professional scientists were working in research and development in the city. The KIC is based at the Center for Entrepreneurship at TU Berlin and has a focus in the development of IT industries. It partners with major multinational companies such as Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, and SAP.
One of Europe's successful research, business and technology clusters is based at WISTA in Berlin-Adlershof, with more than 1,000 affiliated firms, university departments and scientific institutions.
In addition to the university-affiliated libraries, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are on Potsdamer Straße and on Unter den Linden. There are also 86 public libraries in the city. The diversity and vivacity of the metropolis led to a trendsetting atmosphere. An innovative music, dance and art scene has developed in the 21st century.
Young people, international artists and entrepreneurs continued to settle in the city and made Berlin a popular entertainment center in the world.
The expanding cultural performance of the city was underscored by the relocation of the Universal Music Group who decided to move their headquarters to the banks of the River Spree. In 2005, Berlin was named "City of Design" by UNESCO and has been part of the Creative Cities Network ever since. The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben. Alte Nationalgalerie, Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there.
Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th-century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. The expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum reopened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history spanning more than a millennium. The Bauhaus Archive is a museum of 20th-century design from the famous Bauhaus school. Museum Berggruen houses the collection of noted 20th century collector Heinz Berggruen, and features an extensive assortment of works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, and Giacometti, among others. The Kupferstichkabinett Berlin (Museum of Prints and Drawings) is part of the Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums) and the Kulturforum at Potsdamer Platz in the Tiergarten district of Berlin's Mitte district. It is the largest museum of the graphic arts in Germany and at the same time one of the four most important collections of its kind in the world. The collection includes Friedrich Gilly's design for the monument to Frederick II of Prussia.
of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum]]
presents two millennia of German–Jewish history.]]
The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin's natural history museum) exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a Giraffatitan skeleton). A well-preserved specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex and the early bird Archaeopteryx are at display as well.
In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum. The Brücke Museum features one of the largest collection of works by artist of the early 20th-century expressionist movement. In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security, is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved. A private museum venture exhibits a comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East.
The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum claimed to be the largest erotic museum in the world until it closed in 2014.
The cityscape of Berlin displays large quantities of urban street art. It has become a significant part of the city's cultural heritage and has its roots in the graffiti scene of Kreuzberg of the 1980s. The Berlin Wall itself has become one of the largest open-air canvasses in the world. The leftover stretch along the Spree river in Friedrichshain remains as the East Side Gallery. Berlin today is consistently rated as an important world city for street art culture.
Berlin has galleries which are quite rich in contemporary art. Located in Mitte, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, KOW, Sprüth Magers; Kreuzberg there are a few galleries as well such as Blain Southern, Esther Schipper, Future Gallery, König Gallerie.
Nightlife and festivals
is the world's largest international spectator film festival.]]
Berlin's nightlife has been celebrated as one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind. In the 1970s and 80s, the SO36 in Kreuzberg was a center for punk music and culture. The SOUND and the Dschungel gained notoriety. Throughout the 1990s, people in their 20s from all over the world, particularly those in Western and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene a premier nightlife venue. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground and counterculture gatherings. The central boroughs are home to many nightclubs, including the Tresor and the Berghain. The KitKatClub and several other locations are known for their sexually uninhibited parties.
Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time during the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning or even all weekend, including near Alexanderplatz. Several venues have become a popular stage for the Neo-Burlesque scene.
during the annual Festival of Lights ]]
festival at the Brandenburg Gate]]
Berlin has a long history of gay culture, and is an important birthplace of the LGBT rights movement. Same-sex bars and dance halls operated freely as early as the 1880s, and the first gay magazine, Der Eigene, started in 1896. By the 1920s, gays and lesbians had an unprecedented visibility. Today, in addition to a positive atmosphere in the wider club scene, the city again has a huge number of queer clubs and festivals. The most famous and largest are Berlin Pride, the Christopher Street Day, the Lesbian and Gay City Festival in Berlin-Schöneberg, the Kreuzberg Pride.
The annual Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) with around 500,000 admissions is considered to be the largest publicly attended film festival in the world. The Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures), a multi-ethnic street parade, is celebrated every Pentecost weekend. Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival Berliner Festspiele, which includes the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin, and Young Euro Classic, the largest international festival of youth orchestras in the world. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress. The annual Berlin Festival focuses on indie rock, electronic music and synthpop and is part of the International Berlin Music Week. Every year Berlin hosts one of the largest New Year's Eve celebrations in the world, attended by well over a million people. The focal point is the Brandenburg Gate, where midnight fireworks are centered, but various private fireworks displays take place throughout the entire city. Partygoers in Germany often toast the New Year with a glass of sparkling wine. Performing arts
conducting the renowned Berlin Philharmonic]]
Berlin is home to 44 theaters and stages. it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan. Simon Rattle was its principal conductor from 1999 to 2018, a position now held by Kirill Petrenko. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin. Christoph Eschenbach is its principal conductor. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences. The Kookaburra and the Quatsch Comedy Club are known for satire and comedy shows. In 2018, the New York Times described Berlin as "arguably the world capital of underground electronic music".
Cuisine
The cuisine and culinary offerings of Berlin vary greatly. 23 restaurants in Berlin have been awarded one or more Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide of 2021, which ranks the city at the top for the number of restaurants having this distinction in Germany. Berlin is well known for its offerings of vegetarian and vegan cuisine and is home to an innovative entrepreneurial food scene promoting cosmopolitan flavors, local and sustainable ingredients, pop-up street food markets, supper clubs, as well as food festivals, such as Berlin Food Week.
Many local foods originated from north German culinary traditions and include rustic and hearty dishes with pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers, or potatoes. Typical Berliner fare include popular street food like the Currywurst (which gained popularity with postwar construction workers rebuilding the city), Buletten and the Berliner donut, known in Berlin as (). German bakeries offering a variety of breads and pastries are widespread. One of Europe's largest delicatessen markets is found at the KaDeWe, and among the world's largest chocolate stores is Rausch.
Berlin is also home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Turkish and Arab immigrants brought their culinary traditions to the city, such as the lahmajoun and falafel, which have become common fast food staples. The modern fast-food version of the doner kebab sandwich which evolved in Berlin in the 1970s, has since become a favorite dish in Germany and elsewhere in the world. Asian cuisine like Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Korean, and Japanese restaurants, as well as Spanish tapas bars, Italian, and Greek cuisine, can be found in many parts of the city. Recreation
]]
Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844. It is the most visited zoo in Europe and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut. The city's other zoo, Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, was founded in 1955.
Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of and around 22,000 different plant species, it is one of the largest and most diverse collections of botanical life in the world. Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, and the Gärten der Welt (Gardens of the World) in Marzahn.
in Tiergarten]]
The Tiergarten park in Mitte, with landscape design by Peter Joseph Lenné, is one of Berlin's largest and most popular parks. In Kreuzberg, the Viktoriapark provides a viewing point over the southern part of inner-city Berlin. Treptower Park, beside the Spree in Treptow, features a large Soviet War Memorial. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city, with monuments, a summer outdoor cinema and several sports areas. Tempelhofer Feld, the site of the former city airport, is the world's largest inner-city open space.
Potsdam is on the southwestern periphery of Berlin. The city was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, until 1918. The area around Potsdam in particular Sanssouci is known for a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks. The Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin are the largest World Heritage Site in Germany.
Sports
hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup final.]]
is the current second world record course (world record course is Chicago Marathon).]]
(formerly Mercedes-Benz Arena)]]
Berlin has established a high-profile as a host city of major international sporting events. The city hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup final. The World Athletics Championships was held at Olympiastadion in 2009 and 2025. The city hosted the Euroleague Final Four basketball competition in 2009 and 2016, and was one of the hosts of FIBA EuroBasket 2015. In 2015 Berlin was the venue for the UEFA Champions League Final. The city bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics but lost to Sydney.
Berlin hosted the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games. This is the first time Germany has ever hosted the Special Olympics World Games.
The annual Berlin Marathona course that holds the most top-10 world record runsand the ISTAF are well-established athletic events in the city. The Mellowpark in Köpenick is one of the biggest skate and BMX parks in Europe. A fan fest at Brandenburg Gate, which attracts several hundreds of thousands of spectators, has become popular during international football competitions, such as the UEFA European Championship.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who is often hailed as the "father of modern gymnastics", invented the horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings, and the vault around 1811 in Berlin. Jahn's Turners movement, first realized at Volkspark Hasenheide, was the origin of modern sports clubs. In 2013, around 600,000 Berliners were registered in one of the more than 2,300 sport and fitness clubs. The city of Berlin operates more than 60 public indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Berlin is the largest Olympic training center in Germany, with around 500 top athletes (15% of all German top athletes) being based there. Forty-seven elite athletes participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Berliners would achieve seven gold, twelve silver, and three bronze medals.
Several professional clubs representing the most important spectator team sports in Germany are based in Berlin. The oldest and most popular first-division team based in Berlin is the football club Hertha BSC. The team represented Berlin as a founding member of the Bundesliga in 1963. Other professional team sport clubs include:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;"| Club(s)
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;"| Sport(s)
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;"| Founded
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;"| League(s)
! scope"col" style"background:gold; color:navy;"| Venue(s)
|-
|1. FC Union Berlin
|Football
|1966
|Bundesliga
|Stadion An der Alten Försterei
|-
|Hertha BSC
|Basketball
|1991
|BBL
|Uber Arena
|-
|Berlin Thunder
|American football
|2021
|ELF
|Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
|-
|Eisbären Berlin
|Ice hockey
|1954
|DEL
|Uber Arena
|-
|Füchse Berlin
|Handball
|1891
|HBL
|Max-Schmeling-Halle
|-
|Berlin Recycling Volleys
|Volleyball
|1991
|Bundesliga
|Max-Schmeling-Halle
|-
|Berliner Hockey Club
|Lacrosse
|2005
|Bundesliga
|Ernst-Reuter-Feld
|}
See also
* List of fiction set in Berlin
* List of honorary citizens of Berlin
* List of people from Berlin
* List of songs about Berlin
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
* Daum, Andreas. Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* [https://www.berlin.de/en/ berlin.de] – official website
*
}}
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Category:German state capitals
Category:Capitals in Europe
Category:City-states
Category:Members of the Hanseatic League
Category:Populated places established in the 13th century
Category:Turkish communities outside Turkey
Category:1230s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Category:1237 establishments in Europe
Category:States of Germany
Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of Germany
Category:NUTS 3 statistical regions of the European Union
Category:Holocaust locations in Germany | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.453981 |
3355 | Benjamin Lee Whorf | | birth_place = Winthrop, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place = Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
| field = linguistics, anthropology, fire prevention
| work_institutions = Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Yale University
| alma_mater = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| doctoral_advisor | doctoral_students
| known_for = Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (Linguistic relativity), Nahuatl linguistics, allophone, cryptotype, Maya script
| author_abbrev_bot | author_abbrev_zoo
| prizes | spouse
| children = 3
| relatives = John, Richard, Mike Whorf
| footnotes | signature
}}
Benjamin Atwood Lee Whorf (; April 24, 1897 – July 26, 1941) was an American linguist and fire prevention engineer best known for proposing the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. He believed that the structures of different languages shape how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world. Whorf saw this idea, named after him and his mentor Edward Sapir, as having implications similar to those of Einstein's principle of physical relativity. However, the concept originated from 19th-century philosophy and thinkers like Wilhelm von Humboldt and Wilhelm Wundt.
Whorf initially pursued chemical engineering but developed an interest in linguistics, particularly Biblical Hebrew and indigenous Mesoamerican languages. His groundbreaking work on the Nahuatl language earned him recognition, and he received a grant to study it further in Mexico. He presented influential papers on Nahuatl upon his return. Whorf later studied linguistics with Edward Sapir at Yale University while working as a fire prevention engineer.
During his time at Yale, Whorf worked on describing the Hopi language and made notable claims about its perception of time. He also conducted research on the Uto-Aztecan languages, publishing influential papers. In 1938, he substituted for Sapir, teaching a seminar on American Indian linguistics. Whorf's contributions extended beyond linguistic relativity; he wrote a grammar sketch of Hopi, studied Nahuatl dialects, proposed a deciphering of Maya hieroglyphic writing, and contributed to Uto-Aztecan reconstruction.
After Whorf's premature death from cancer in 1941, his colleagues curated his manuscripts and promoted his ideas regarding language, culture, and cognition. However, in the 1960s, his views fell out of favor due to criticisms claiming his ideas were untestable and poorly formulated. In recent decades, interest in Whorf's work has resurged, with scholars reevaluating his ideas and engaging in a more in-depth understanding of his theories. The field of linguistic relativity remains an active area of research in psycholinguistics and linguistic anthropology, generating ongoing debates between relativism and universalism, as well as in the study of raciolinguistics. Whorf's contributions to linguistics, such as the allophone and the cryptotype, have been widely accepted.
Biography
Early life
The son of Harry Church Whorf and Sarah Edna Lee Whorf, Benjamin Atwood Lee Whorf was born on April 24, 1897, in Winthrop, Massachusetts. His father was an artist, intellectual, and designer – first working as a commercial artist and later as a dramatist. Whorf had two younger brothers, John and Richard, who both went on to become notable artists. John became an internationally renowned painter and illustrator; Richard was an actor in films such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and later an Emmy-nominated television director of such shows as The Beverly Hillbillies. Whorf was the intellectual of the three and started conducting chemical experiments with his father's photographic equipment at a young age. He was also an avid reader, interested in botany, astrology, and Middle American prehistory. He read William H. Prescott's Conquest of Mexico several times. At the age of 17, he began keeping a copious diary in which he recorded his thoughts and dreams. Career in fire prevention In 1918, Whorf graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his academic performance was of average quality, with a degree in chemical engineering. In 1920, he married Celia Inez Peckham; they had three children, Raymond Ben, Robert Peckham and Celia Lee.
Whorf helped to attract new customers to the Fire Insurance Company; they favored his thorough inspections and recommendations. Another famous anecdote from his job was used by Whorf to argue that language use affects habitual behavior. Whorf described a workplace in which full gasoline drums were stored in one room and empty ones in another; he said that because of flammable vapor the "empty" drums were more dangerous than those that were full, although workers handled them less carefully to the point that they smoked in the room with "empty" drums, but not in the room with full ones. Whorf argued that by habitually speaking of the vapor-filled drums as empty and by extension as inert, the workers were oblivious to the risk posed by smoking near the "empty drums". However, throughout his life Whorf's main religious interest was theosophy, a nonsectarian organization based on Buddhist and Hindu teachings that promotes the view of the world as an interconnected whole and the unity and brotherhood of humankind "without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color". Some scholars have argued that the conflict between spiritual and scientific inclinations has been a driving force in Whorf's intellectual development, particularly in the attraction by ideas of linguistic relativity. Whorf said that "of all groups of people with whom I have come in contact, Theosophical people seem the most capable of becoming excited about ideas—new ideas."
Around 1924, Whorf first became interested in linguistics. Originally, he analyzed Biblical texts, seeking to uncover hidden layers of meaning. Inspired by the esoteric work La langue hebraïque restituée by Antoine Fabre d'Olivet, he began a semantic and grammatical analysis of Biblical Hebrew. Whorf's early manuscripts on Hebrew and Maya have been described as exhibiting a considerable degree of mysticism, as he sought to uncover esoteric meanings of glyphs and letters. Early studies in Mesoamerican linguistics Whorf studied Biblical linguistics mainly at the Watkinson Library (now Hartford Public Library). This library had an extensive collection of materials about Native American linguistics and folklore, originally collected by James Hammond Trumbull. It was at the Watkinson library that Whorf became friends with a young boy, John B. Carroll, who later went on to study psychology under B. F. Skinner, and who in 1956 edited and published a selection of Whorf's essays as Language, Thought and Reality . The collection rekindled Whorf's interest in Mesoamerican antiquity. He began studying the Nahuatl language in 1925, and later, beginning in 1928, he studied the collections of Maya hieroglyphic texts. Quickly becoming conversant with the materials, he began a scholarly dialog with Mesoamericanists such as Alfred Tozzer, the Maya archaeologist at Harvard University, and Herbert Spinden of the Brooklyn Museum. At Yale
, Whorf's mentor in linguistics at Yale]]
Although Whorf had been entirely an autodidact in linguistic theory and field methodology up to this point, he had already made a name for himself in Mesoamerican linguistics. Whorf had met Sapir, the leading US linguist of the day, at professional conferences, and in 1931 Sapir came to Yale from the University of Chicago to take a position as Professor of Anthropology. Alfred Tozzer sent Sapir a copy of Whorf's paper on "Nahuatl tones and saltillo". Sapir replied stating that it "should by all means be published"; however, it was not until 1993 that it was prepared for publication by Lyle Campbell and Frances Karttunen.
Whorf took Sapir's first course at Yale on "American Indian Linguistics". He enrolled in a program of graduate studies, nominally working towards a PhD in linguistics, but he never actually attempted to obtain a degree, satisfying himself with participating in the intellectual community around Sapir. At Yale, Whorf joined the circle of Sapir's students that included such luminaries as Morris Swadesh, Mary Haas, Harry Hoijer, G. L. Trager and Charles F. Voegelin. Whorf took on a central role among Sapir's students and was well respected.
Sapir had a profound influence on Whorf's thinking. Sapir's earliest writings had espoused views of the relation between thought and language stemming from the Humboldtian tradition he acquired through Franz Boas, which regarded language as the historical embodiment of volksgeist, or ethnic world view. But Sapir had since become influenced by a current of logical positivism, such as that of Bertrand Russell and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein, particularly through Ogden and Richards' The Meaning of Meaning, from which he adopted the view that natural language potentially obscures, rather than facilitates, the mind to perceive and describe the world as it really is. In this view, proper perception could only be accomplished through formal logics. During his stay at Yale, Whorf acquired this current of thought partly from Sapir and partly through his own readings of Russell and of Ogden and Richards. Ironically, Chase would later write the foreword for Carroll's collection of Whorf's writings.
Work on Hopi and descriptive linguistics
Sapir also encouraged Whorf to continue his work on the historical and descriptive linguistics of Uto-Aztecan. Whorf published several articles on that topic in this period, some of them with G. L. Trager, who had become his close friend. Whorf took a special interest in the Hopi language and started working with Ernest Naquayouma, a speaker of Hopi from Toreva village living in Manhattan, New York. Whorf credited Naquayouma as the source of most of his information on the Hopi language, although in 1938 he took a short field trip to the village of Mishongnovi, on the Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation in Arizona.
In 1936, Whorf was appointed honorary research fellow in anthropology at Yale, and he was invited by Franz Boas to serve on the committee of the Society of American Linguistics (later Linguistic Society of America). In 1937, Yale awarded him the Sterling Fellowship. He was a lecturer in anthropology from 1937 through 1938, replacing Sapir, who was gravely ill. Whorf gave graduate level lectures on "Problems of American Indian Linguistics". In 1938 with Trager's assistance he elaborated a report on the progress of linguistic research at the department of anthropology at Yale. The report includes some of Whorf's influential contributions to linguistic theory, such as the concept of the allophone and of covert grammatical categories. has argued, that in this report Whorf's linguistic theories exist in a condensed form, and that it was mainly through this report that Whorf exerted influence on the discipline of descriptive linguistics. Final years In late 1938, Whorf's own health declined. After an operation for cancer, he fell into an unproductive period. He was also deeply affected by Sapir's death in early 1939. It was in the writings of his last two years that he laid out the research program of linguistic relativity. His 1939 memorial article for Sapir, "The Relation of Habitual Thought And Behavior to Language", in particular has been taken to be Whorf's definitive statement of the issue, and is his most frequently quoted piece.
In his last year Whorf also published three articles in the MIT Technology Review titled "Science and Linguistics", "Linguistics as an Exact Science" and "Language and Logic". He was also invited to contribute an article to a theosophical journal, Theosophist, published in Madras, India, for which he wrote "Language, Mind and Reality". In these final pieces, he offered a critique of Western science in which he suggested that non-European languages often referred to physical phenomena in ways that more directly reflected aspects of reality than many European languages, and that science ought to pay attention to the effects of linguistic categorization in its efforts to describe the physical world. He particularly criticized the Indo-European languages for promoting a mistaken essentialist world view, which had been disproved by advances in the science, in contrast suggesting that other languages dedicated more attention to processes and dynamics rather than stable essences. Trager then published an article titled "The systematization of the Whorf hypothesis", which contributed to the idea that Whorf had proposed a hypothesis that should be the basis for a program of empirical research. Hoijer also published studies of Indigenous languages and cultures of the American South West in which Whorf found correspondences between cultural patterns and linguistic ones. The term, even though technically a misnomer, went on to become the most widely known label for Whorf's ideas. According to John A. Lucy, "Whorf's work in linguistics was and still is recognized as being of superb professional quality by linguists". Universalism and anti-Whorfianism Whorf's work began to fall out of favor less than a decade after his death, and he was subjected to severe criticism from scholars of language, culture and psychology. In 1953 and 1954, psychologists Roger Brown and Eric Lenneberg criticized Whorf for his reliance on anecdotal evidence, formulating a hypothesis to scientifically test his ideas, which they limited to an examination of a causal relation between grammatical or lexical structure and cognition or perception. Whorf himself did not advocate a straight causality between language and thought; instead he wrote that "Language and culture had grown up together"; that both were mutually shaped by the other. In doing so they began a line of empirical studies that investigated the principle of linguistic relativity.
Empirical testing of the Whorfian hypothesis declined in the 1960s to 1980s as Noam Chomsky began to redefine linguistics and much of psychology in formal universalist terms. Several studies from that period refuted Whorf's hypothesis, demonstrating that linguistic diversity is a surface veneer that masks underlying universal cognitive principles. Throughout the 1980s, most mentions of Whorf or of the Sapir–Whorf hypotheses continued to be disparaging, and led to a widespread view that Whorf's ideas had been proven wrong. Because Whorf was treated so severely in the scholarship during those decades, he has been described as "one of the prime whipping boys of introductory texts to linguistics". With the advent of cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics in the late 1980s, some linguists sought to rehabilitate Whorf's reputation, as scholarship began to question whether earlier critiques of Whorf were justified.
By the 1960s, analytical philosophers also became aware of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, and philosophers such as Max Black and Donald Davidson published scathing critiques of Whorf's strong relativist viewpoints. Black characterized Whorf's ideas about metaphysics as demonstrating "amateurish crudity". According to Black and Davidson, Whorf's viewpoint and the concept of linguistic relativity meant that translation between languages with different conceptual schemes would be impossible. Recent assessments such as those by Leavitt and Lee, however, consider Black and Davidson's interpretation to be based on an inaccurate characterization of Whorf's viewpoint, and even rather absurd given the time he spent trying to translate between different conceptual schemes. In their view, the critiques are based on a lack of familiarity with Whorf's writings; according to these recent Whorf scholars a more accurate description of his viewpoint is that he thought translation to be possible, but only through careful attention to the subtle differences between conceptual schemes.
Eric Lenneberg, Noam Chomsky, and Steven Pinker have also criticized Whorf for failing to be sufficiently clear in his formulation of how language influences thought, and for failing to provide real evidence to support his assumptions. Generally Whorf's arguments took the form of examples that were anecdotal or speculative, and functioned as attempts to show how "exotic" grammatical traits were connected to what were considered equally exotic worlds of thought. Even Whorf's defenders admitted that his writing style was often convoluted and couched in neologisms – attributed to his awareness of language use, and his reluctance to use terminology that might have pre-existing connotations. argues that Whorf was mesmerized by the foreignness of indigenous languages, and exaggerated and idealized them. According to Lakoff, Whorf's tendency to exoticize data must be judged in the historical context: Whorf and the other Boasians wrote at a time in which racism and jingoism were predominant, and when it was unthinkable to many that "savages" had redeeming qualities, or that their languages were comparable in complexity to those of Europe. For this alone Lakoff argues, Whorf can be considered to be "[n]ot just a pioneer in linguistics, but a pioneer as a human being".
Today, many followers of universalist schools of thought continue to oppose the idea of linguistic relativity, seeing it as unsound or even ridiculous. For example, Steven Pinker argues in his book The Language Instinct that thought exists prior to language and independently of it, a view also espoused by philosophers of language such as Jerry Fodor, John Locke and Plato. In this interpretation, language is inconsequential to human thought because humans do not think in "natural" language, i.e. any language used for communication. Rather, we think in a meta-language that precedes natural language, which Pinker following Fodor calls "mentalese." Pinker attacks what he calls "Whorf's radical position", declaring, "the more you examine Whorf's arguments, the less sense they make." Scholars of a more "relativist" bent such as John A. Lucy and Stephen C. Levinson have criticized Pinker for misrepresenting Whorf's views and arguing against strawmen.
Corroboration of Whorf's claims
The idea that Whorf defended a kind of "linguistic relativity" stems from his article "Language, Mind and Reality" published during the Second World War, where Whorf criticized American scientists, especially some physicists who were searching for a substance where there are only substantive words such as energy and searching for an expenditure of energy where there are only transitive verbs such as transform, thus trying to disprove Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which helps us predict how much mass must be consumed to produce how much energy. Whorf claimed in this article that this "Aryan Western Logic" coming from "Western Languages" was stopping scientists to accept the theory and spend efforts on its applications, such as the creation of the atomic bomb, which could be decisive for the United States to win or lose the war against the Germans. This is a period when some national socialists in Germany were trying to develop an Aryan Physics, free from counterintuitive findings by Jewish physicists such as Albert Einstein.
Studies on the construction of experience through meaning have been increasing since the 1990s, and a series of experimental results have corroborated Whorf's claims, when understood as he presented them, especially in cultural psychology and linguistic anthropology. One of the earliest linguistic descriptions directing positive attention towards Whorf's claims that grammatical categories construed meaning was George Lakoff's "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things", in which he argued that Whorf had been on the right track when he claimed that a contrast in grammatical categories is a resource for a contrast in experiencial meaning, thus that the way we usually represent our experience (including through grammatical categories) impacts the way our senses are organised as experience. In 1992 psychologist John A. Lucy published two books on the topic: the first one analyzed the intellectual genealogy of the hypothesis, arguing that previous studies had failed to appreciate the subtleties of Whorf's thinking; they had been unable to formulate a research agenda that would actually test Whorf's claims. Lucy proposed a new research design so that the hypothesis of linguistic relativity could be tested empirically, and to avoid the pitfalls of earlier studies which Lucy claimed had tended to presuppose the universality of the categories they were studying. His second book was an empirical study of the relation between grammatical categories and cognition in the Yucatec Maya language of Mexico.
In 1996 Penny Lee's reappraisal of Whorf's writings was published, reinstating Whorf as a serious and capable thinker. Lee argued that previous explorations of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis had largely ignored Whorf's actual writings, and consequently asked questions very unlike those Whorf had asked. Also in that year a volume, "Rethinking Linguistic Relativity" edited by John J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinson gathered a range of researchers working in psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology to bring renewed attention to the issue of how Whorf's theories could be updated, and a subsequent review of the new direction of the linguistic relativity paradigm cemented the development. Since then considerable empirical research into linguistic relativity has been carried out, especially at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics with scholarship motivating two edited volumes of linguistic relativity studies, and in American Institutions by scholars such as Lera Boroditsky and Dedre Gentner.
In turn universalist scholars frequently dismiss Whorf's claims as "dull" or "boring", Despite the fact that scientists were trying to find substances and loss of energy in the transformation of mass into energy and that Whorf was correct in his critique against such lines of research, these researchers do not mention the context in which Whorf wrote his critique of scientists and claim that Whorf's supposed "linguistic relativity" had promised more spectacular findings than it was able to provide.
Whorf's views have been compared to those of philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and the late Ludwig Wittgenstein, both of whom considered language to have important bearing on thought and reasoning. His hypotheses have also been compared to the views of psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky, whose social constructivism considers the cognitive development of children to be mediated by the social use of language. Vygotsky shared Whorf's interest in gestalt psychology, and he also read Sapir's works. Others have seen similarities between Whorf's work and the ideas of literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, who read Whorf and whose approach to textual meaning was similarly holistic and relativistic. Whorf's ideas have also been interpreted as a radical critique of positivist science. Work Linguistic relativity
Whorf is best known as the main proponent of what he called the principle of linguistic relativity, but which is often known as "the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis", named for him and Edward Sapir. Whorf never stated the principle in the form of a hypothesis, and the idea that linguistic categories influence perception and cognition was shared by many other scholars before him. But because Whorf, in his articles, gave specific examples of how he saw the grammatical categories of specific languages related to conceptual and behavioral patterns, he pointed towards an empirical research program that has been taken up by subsequent scholars, and which is often called "Sapir–Whorf studies".
Sources of influence on Whorf's thinking
Whorf and Sapir both drew explicitly on Albert Einstein's principle of general relativity; hence linguistic relativity refers to the concept of grammatical and semantic categories of a specific language providing a frame of reference as a medium through which observations are made. Following an original observation by Boas, Sapir demonstrated that speakers of a given language perceive sounds that are acoustically different as the same, if the sound comes from the underlying phoneme and does not contribute to changes in semantic meaning. Furthermore, speakers of languages are attentive to sounds, particularly if the same two sounds come from different phonemes. Such differentiation is an example of how various observational frames of reference leads to different patterns of attention and perception.
Whorf was also influenced by gestalt psychology, believing that languages require their speakers to describe the same events as different gestalt constructions, which he called "isolates from experience". An example is how the action of cleaning a gun is different in English and Shawnee: English focuses on the instrumental relation between two objects and the purpose of the action (removing dirt); whereas the Shawnee language focuses on the movement—using an arm to create a dry space in a hole. The event described is the same, but the attention in terms of figure and ground are different.
Degree of influence of language on thought
If read superficially, some of Whorf's statements lend themselves to the interpretation that he supported linguistic determinism. For example, in an often-quoted passage Whorf writes:
to in the position before *. This sound law is known as "Whorf's law", considered valid although a more detailed understanding of the precise conditions under which it took place has since been developed.<!-- needs cite here -->
Also in 1937, Whorf and his friend G. L. Trager published a paper in which they elaborated on the Azteco-Tanoan language family, proposed originally by Sapir as a family comprising the Uto-Aztecan and the Kiowa-Tanoan languages—(the Tewa and Kiowa languages).
Maya epigraphy
In a series of published and unpublished studies in the 1930s, Whorf argued that Mayan writing was to some extent phonetic. While his work on deciphering the Maya script gained some support from Alfred Tozzer at Harvard, the main authority on Ancient Maya culture at the time, J. E. S. Thompson, strongly rejected Whorf's ideas, saying that Mayan writing lacked a phonetic component and is therefore impossible to decipher based on a linguistic analysis. Whorf argued that it was exactly the reluctance to apply linguistic analysis of Maya languages that had held the decipherment back. Whorf sought for cues to phonetic values within the elements of the specific signs, never realizing that the system was logo-syllabic. Although Whorf's approach to understanding the Maya script is now known to have been misguided, his central claim that the script was phonetic and should be deciphered as such was vindicated by Yuri Knorozov's syllabic decipherment of Mayan writing in the 1950s.
Notes
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References
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* Benjamin Lee Whorf Papers (MS 822). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
* [http://www.nickyee.com/ponder/whorf.html What Whorf Really Said – Evaluation of Pinker's (1994) critique of Whorf, by Nick Yee]
Category:1897 births
Category:1941 deaths
Category:People from Winthrop, Massachusetts
Category:American Mesoamericanists
Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni
Category:Linguists of Mesoamerican languages
Category:Mesoamerican epigraphers
Category:Mayanists
Category:American translation scholars
Category:20th-century Mesoamericanists
Category:Yale University alumni
Category:Linguists of Aztec–Tanoan languages
Category:Linguists of Uto-Aztecan languages
Category:Linguists of Tanoan languages
Category:Historical linguists
Category:20th-century American linguists
Category:Linguists of indigenous languages of North America
Category:American chemical engineers
Category:20th-century American anthropologists
Category:20th-century American chemists
Category:American Theosophists | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lee_Whorf | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.517487 |
3356 | Bill Clinton | | term_start2 = January 11, 1983
| term_end2 = December 12, 1992
| predecessor2 = Frank D. White
| successor2 = Jim Guy Tucker
| lieutenant3 = Joe Purcell
| term_start3 = January 9, 1979
| term_end3 = January 19, 1981
| predecessor3 = David Pryor<br>Joe Purcell (acting)
| successor3 = Frank D. White
| office6 = 50th Attorney General of Arkansas
| governor6 =
| term_start6 = January 3, 1977
| term_end6 = January 9, 1979
| predecessor6 = Jim Guy Tucker
| successor6 = Steve Clark
| birth_name = William Jefferson Blythe III
| birth_date
| birth_place = Hope, Arkansas, U.S.
| party = Democratic
| spouse =
| children = Chelsea Clinton
| parents =
| education =
| relatives = Clinton family
| signature = Signature of Bill Clinton.svg
| signature_alt = William J Clinton signature.svg
| occupation =
| awards = Full list
| website =
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William Jefferson <!--NOTE: Do not add "Bill" here per WP:HYPOCORISM.--> Clinton (né Blythe; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer <!--NOTE: The lead sentence should stick to what he is primarily known for. The infobox is there to include additional occupations.--> who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979 and as the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat.
Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham. After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association. Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush, and the independent businessman Ross Perot. He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation and the youngest to serve two full terms.
Clinton presided over the second longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act but failed to pass his plan for national health care reform. Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program and financial deregulation measures. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars, eventually signing the Dayton Peace agreement. He also called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe and many former Warsaw Pact members joined NATO during his presidency. Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the Iraq Liberation Act which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein. He also participated in the Oslo I Accord and Camp David Summit to advance the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and assisted the Northern Ireland peace process.
Clinton won re-election in the 1996 election, defeating Republican nominee Bob Dole and returning Reform Party nominee Ross Perot. In his second term, Clinton made use of permanent normal trade. Many of his second term accomplishments were overshadowed by the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, when it was revealed in early 1998 that he had been engaging in an eighteen month-long sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson. The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around perjury and Clinton using the powers of the presidency to commit obstruction of justice. In January 1999, Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate, where he was acquitted two months later on both charges. During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus—the first and only such surplus since 1969.
Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president. His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in historical rankings of U.S. presidents. His personal conduct and misconduct allegations have made him the subject of substantial scrutiny. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the Clinton Foundation to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was named the United Nations special envoy to Haiti. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Clinton founded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund with George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns. Following Jimmy Carter's death in December 2024, he is the earliest-serving living former U.S. president and the only living president to have served in the 20th century.
Early life and career
home in Hope, Arkansas|left]]
Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas. He is the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr., a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy (later Virginia Kelley). Blythe had initially survived the crash, but drowned in a drainage ditch. His parents married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved bigamous, as Blythe was still married to his fourth wife. Virginia traveled to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr., who co-owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950. Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it was not until Clinton turned 15 that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him. Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near the latter's death.
In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the segregated Hot Springs High School, where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician.
In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the Order of DeMolay, a youth group affiliated with Freemasonry, but he never became a Freemason. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life:1 to 310 would be drafted before him, making it unlikely he would be called up. (In fact, the highest number drafted was 195.)
Colonel Eugene Holmes, the Army officer who had been involved with Clinton's ROTC application, suspected that Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid the draft and avoid serving in uniform. He issued a notarized statement during the 1992 presidential campaign:
During the 1992 campaign, it was revealed that Clinton's uncle had attempted to secure him a position in the Navy Reserve, which would have prevented him from being deployed to Vietnam. This effort was unsuccessful and Clinton said in 1992 that he had been unaware of it until then. Although legal, Clinton's actions with respect to the draft and deciding whether to serve in the military were criticized during his first presidential campaign by conservatives and some Vietnam veterans, some of whom charged that he had used Fulbright's influence to avoid military service. Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, James Carville, successfully argued that Clinton's letter in which he declined to join the ROTC should be made public, insisting that voters, many of whom had also opposed the Vietnam War, would understand and appreciate his position.
Law school
After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1973. They began dating and were soon inseparable. After only about a month, Clinton postponed his summer plans to be a coordinator for the George McGovern campaign for the 1972 United States presidential election to move in with her in California. The couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school.
Clinton eventually moved to Texas with Rodham in 1972 to take a job leading McGovern's effort there. He spent considerable time in Dallas, at the campaign's local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue, where he had an office. Clinton worked with future two-term mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk, future governor of Texas Ann Richards, and then unknown television director and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
Failed congressional campaign and tenure as Attorney General of Arkansas
After graduating from Yale Law School, Clinton returned to Arkansas and became a law professor at the University of Arkansas. In 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives. Running in the conservative 3rd district against incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt, Clinton's campaign was bolstered by the anti-Republican and anti-incumbent mood resulting from the Watergate scandal. Hammerschmidt, who had received 77 percent of the vote in 1972, defeated Clinton by only a 52 percent to 48 percent margin. In 1976, Clinton ran for Arkansas attorney general. Defeating the secretary of state and the deputy attorney general in the Democratic primary, Clinton was elected with no opposition in the general election, as no Republican had run for the office. Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called the "Boy Governor". He worked on educational reform and directed the maintenance of Arkansas's roads, with wife Hillary leading a successful committee on urban health care reform. However, his term included an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the Mariel boatlift) detained in Fort Chaffee in 1980. Monroe Schwarzlose, of Kingsland in Cleveland County, polled 31 percent of the vote against Clinton in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 1980. Some suggested Schwarzlose's unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton's defeat by Republican challenger Frank D. White in the general election that year. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history. In 1982, he was elected governor a second time and kept the office for ten years. Effective with the 1986 election, Arkansas had changed its gubernatorial term of office from two to four years. During his term, he helped transform Arkansas's economy and improved the state's educational system. Clinton delivered the Democratic response to Reagan's 1985 State of the Union Address and served as chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas. Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship. After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.
According to some sources, Clinton was a death penalty opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions. However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent". During Clinton's final term as governor, Arkansas performed its first executions since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976). As Governor, he oversaw the first four executions carried out by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by electric chair and three by lethal injection. To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that the controversial execution of Ricky Ray Rector would go forward as scheduled.
Scandals and allegations
During his time as governor in the 1980s, Arkansas was the center of a drug smuggling operation through Mena Airport. CIA agent Barry Seal allegedly imported three to five billion dollars worth of cocaine through the airport, and the operation was linked to the Iran–Contra affair. Clinton was accused of knowing about this operation, although nothing could be proven against him. Journalist Sam Smith tied him to various questionable business dealings. Clinton was also accused by Gennifer Flowers to have used cocaine as governor and his half-brother Roger was sentenced to prison in 1985 for possession and smuggling of cocaine, but was later pardoned by his brother after serving his sentence. During his time in Arkansas, there were also other scandals such as the Whitewater controversy involving the Clintons' real estate dealings, and Bill Clinton was accused of serious sexual misconduct in Arkansas, including allegations of using the Arkansas State Police to gain access to women (Troopergate affair). The killing of Don Henry and Kevin Ives in 1987 started various conspiracy theories that accused Clinton and the Arkansas state authorities of covering up the crime.
1988 Democratic presidential primaries
In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race. Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for the potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady). For the nomination, Clinton endorsed Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. He gave the nationally televised opening night address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, but his speech, which was 33 minutes long and twice the length it was expected to be, was criticized for being too long. Clinton presented himself both as a moderate and as a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, and he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.1992 United States presidential election
In the first primary contest, the Iowa Caucus, Clinton finished a distant third to Iowa senator Tom Harkin. During the campaign for the New Hampshire primary, reports surfaced that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers. Clinton fell far behind former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas in the New Hampshire polls. Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the New Hampshire primary, but after trailing badly in the polls and coming within single digits of winning, the media viewed it as a victory. News outlets labeled him "The Comeback Kid" for earning a firm second-place finish.
Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the Southern primaries on Super Tuesday gave Clinton a sizable delegate lead. However, former California governor Jerry Brown was scoring victories and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside his native South. Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one".
Clinton was still the governor of Arkansas while campaigning for U.S. president, and he returned to his home state to see that Ricky Ray Rector would be executed. After killing a police officer and a civilian, Rector shot himself in the head, leading to what his lawyers said was a state where he could still talk but did not understand the idea of death. According to both Arkansas state law and federal law, a seriously mentally impaired inmate cannot be executed. The courts disagreed with the allegation of grave mental impairment and allowed the execution. Clinton's return to Arkansas for the execution was framed in an article for The New York Times as a possible political move to counter "soft on crime" accusations.
Bush's approval ratings were around 80 percent during the Gulf War, and he was described as unbeatable. When Bush compromised with Democrats to try to lower federal deficits, he reneged on his promise not to raise taxes, which hurt his approval rating. Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making a promise he failed to keep. Finally, conservatives were previously united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, the party lacked a uniting issue. When Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson addressed Christian themes at the Republican National Convention—with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated. Clinton then pointed to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as governor of Arkansas, though some on the more liberal side of the party remained suspicious. Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton. Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore, toured the country during the final weeks of the campaign, shoring up support and pledging a "new beginning". The televised exchange led to AIDS becoming an issue in the 1992 presidential election. On April 4, then candidate Clinton met with members of ACT UP and other leading AIDS advocates to discuss his AIDS agenda and agreed to make a major AIDS policy speech, to have people with HIV speak to the Democratic Convention, and to sign onto the AIDS United Action five point plan.
Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire populist Ross Perot (zero electoral votes), who ran as an independent on a platform that focused on domestic issues. Bush's steep decline in public approval was a significant part of Clinton's success.
According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A rare event was the presence of a strong third-party candidate. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups.Presidency (1993–2001)
Clinton's "third way" of moderate liberalism built up the nation's fiscal health and put the nation on a firm footing abroad amid globalization and the development of anti-American terrorist organizations.
During his presidency, Clinton advocated for a wide variety of legislation and programs, most of which were enacted into law or implemented by the executive branch. His policies, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement and welfare reform, have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. His policy of fiscal conservatism helped to reduce deficits on budgetary matters. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history.
The Congressional Budget Office reported budget surpluses of $69 billion in 1998, $126 billion in 1999, and $236 billion in 2000, during the last three years of Clinton's presidency. Over the years of the recorded surplus, the gross national debt rose each year. At the end of the fiscal year (September 30) for each of the years a surplus was recorded, the U.S. Treasury reported a gross debt of $5.413 trillion in 1997, $5.526 trillion in 1998, $5.656 trillion in 1999, and $5.674 trillion in 2000. Over the same period, the Office of Management and Budget reported an end of year (December 31) gross debt of $5.369 trillion in 1997, $5.478 trillion in 1998, $5.606 in 1999, and $5.629 trillion in 2000. At the end of his presidency, the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York, in order to quell political worries about his wife's residency for election as a U.S. Senator from New York.
First term (1993–1997)
, with Yitzhak Rabin (left) and King Hussein of Jordan (right)]]
After his presidential transition, Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd president of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton was physically exhausted at the time, and had an inexperienced staff. His high levels of public support dropped in the first few weeks, as he made a series of mistakes. His first choice for attorney general had not paid her taxes on babysitters and was forced to withdraw. The second appointee also withdrew for the same reason. Clinton had repeatedly promised to encourage gays in the military service, despite what he knew to be the strong opposition of the military leadership. He tried anyway, and was publicly opposed by the top generals, and forced by Congress to a compromise position of "Don't ask, don't tell" whereby homosexuals could serve if and only if they kept it secret. He devised a $16-billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. His popularity at the 100 day mark of his term was the lowest of any president at that point.
Public opinion did support one liberal program, and Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition. This action had bipartisan support, and was popular with the public.
Two days after taking office, on January 22, 1993—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade—Clinton reversed restrictions on domestic and international family planning programs that had been imposed by Reagan and Bush. Clinton said abortion should be kept "safe, legal, and rare"—a slogan that had been suggested by political scientist Samuel L. Popkin and first used by Clinton in December 1991, while campaigning. During the eight years of the Clinton administration, the abortion rate declined by 18 percent.
On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to close a budget deficit. Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress, Clinton unveiled his economic plan. The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for the middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda. Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes, based on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates.
President Clinton's attorney general Janet Reno authorized the FBI's use of armored vehicles to deploy tear gas into the buildings of the Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas, in hopes of ending a 51 day siege. During the operation on April 19, 1993, the buildings caught fire and 75 of the residents died, including 24 children. The raid had originally been planned by the Bush administration; Clinton had played no role.
In August, Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which passed Congress without a Republican vote. It cut taxes for 15million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses, and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over many years through the implementation of spending restraints.
on the South Lawn, August 10, 1993]]
On September 22, 1993, Clinton made a major speech to Congress regarding a health care reform plan; the program aimed at achieving universal coverage through a national health care plan. This was one of the most prominent items on Clinton's legislative agenda and resulted from a task force headed by Hillary Clinton. The plan was well received in political circles, but it was eventually doomed by well-organized lobby opposition from conservatives, the American Medical Association, and the health insurance industry. However, Clinton biographer John F. Harris said the program failed because of a lack of coordination within the White House.
, Clinton and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993]]
That month, Clinton implemented a Department of Defense directive known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", which allowed gay men and women to serve in the armed services provided they kept their sexual orientation a secret. The Act forbade the military from inquiring about an individual's sexual orientation. The policy was developed as a compromise after Clinton's proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the military met staunch opposition from prominent Congressional Republicans and Democrats, including senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Sam Nunn (D-GA). According to David Mixner, Clinton's support for the compromise led to a heated dispute with Vice President Al Gore, who felt that "the President should lift the ban ... even though [his executive order] was sure to be overridden by the Congress". Some gay-rights advocates criticized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise to get votes and contributions. Their position was that Clinton should have integrated the military by executive order, noting that President Harry S. Truman used executive order to racially desegregate the armed forces. Clinton's defenders argued that an executive order might have prompted the Senate to write the exclusion of gays into law, potentially making it harder to integrate the military in the future. The policy remained controversial, and was finally repealed in 2011, removing open sexual orientation as a reason for dismissal from the armed forces.
On January 1, 1994, Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law. Throughout his first year in office, Clinton consistently supported ratification of the treaty by the U.S. Senate. Clinton and most of his allies in the Democratic Leadership Committee strongly supported free trade measures; there remained, however, strong disagreement within the party. Opposition came chiefly from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. The bill passed the house with 234 votes in favor and 200 votes opposed (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats in favor; 156 Democrats, 43 Republicans, and one independent opposed). The treaty was then ratified by the Senate and signed into law by the president. The site was followed with three more versions, with the final version being launched on July 21, 2000.
The Omnibus Crime Bill, which Clinton signed into law in September 1994, made many changes to U.S. crime and law enforcement legislation including the expansion of the death penalty to include crimes not resulting in death, such as running a large-scale drug enterprise. During Clinton's re-election campaign he said, "My 1994 crime bill expanded the death penalty for drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers, and nearly 60 additional categories of violent felons." It also included a subsection of assault weapons ban for a ten-year period.
After two years of Democratic Party control, the Democrats lost control of Congress to the Republicans in the mid-term elections in 1994, for the first time in forty years.
A speech delivered by President Bill Clinton at the December 6, 1995 White House Conference on HIV/AIDS projected that a cure for AIDS and a vaccine to prevent further infection would be developed. The President focused on his administration's accomplishments and efforts related to the epidemic, including an accelerated drug-approval process. He also condemned homophobia and discrimination against people with HIV. Clinton announced three new initiatives: creating a special working group to coordinate AIDS research throughout the federal government; convening public health experts to develop an action plan that integrates HIV prevention with substance abuse prevention; and launching a new effort by the Department of Justice to ensure that health care facilities provide equal access to people with HIV and AIDS. 1996 would mark the first year since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that the number of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses would decline, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) even later reporting a significant 47% decline in the number of AIDS-related deaths in 1997 compared to the previous year. Credit for this decline would be given to the growing effectiveness of new drug therapy which was promoted by the Clinton Administration's Department of Health and Human Services, such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Paul Yandura, speaking for the White House gay and lesbian liaison office, said Clinton's signing DOMA "was a political decision that they made at the time of a re-election". In defense of his actions, Clinton has said that DOMA was intended to "head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states", a possibility he described as highly likely in the context of a "very reactionary Congress". Administration spokesman Richard Socarides said, "the alternatives we knew were going to be far worse, and it was time to move on and get the president re-elected." Clinton himself said DOMA was something "which the Republicans put on the ballot to try to get the base vote for Bush up, I think it's obvious that something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress from presenting that"; others were more critical. The veteran gay rights and gay marriage activist Evan Wolfson has called these claims "historic revisionism". In a July 2, 2011, editorial The New York Times opined, "The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 as an election-year wedge issue, signed by President Bill Clinton in one of his worst policy moments." Ultimately, in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA in June 2013.
Despite DOMA, Clinton was the first president to select openly gay persons for administrative positions, and he is generally credited as being the first president to publicly champion gay rights. During his presidency, Clinton issued two substantially controversial executive orders on behalf of gay rights, the first lifting the ban on security clearances for LGBT federal employees and the second outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce. Under Clinton's leadership, federal funding for HIV/AIDS research, prevention and treatment more than doubled. Clinton also pushed for passing hate crimes laws for gays and for the private sector Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which, buoyed by his lobbying, failed to pass the Senate by a single vote in 1996. Advocacy for these issues, paired with the politically unpopular nature of the gay rights movement at the time, led to enthusiastic support for Clinton's election and reelection by the Human Rights Campaign. and urged the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA in 2013. He was later honored by GLAAD for his prior pro-gay stances and his reversal on DOMA.
The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy was an alleged effort by China to influence the domestic policies of the United States, before and during the Clinton administration, and involved the fundraising practices of the administration itself. Despite the evidence, the Chinese government denied all accusations.
As part of a 1996 initiative to curb illegal immigration, Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) on September 30, 1996. Appointed by Clinton, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform recommended reducing legal immigration from about 800,000 people a year to about 550,000.
In November 1996, Clinton narrowly escaped possible assassination in the Philippines, which was a bridge bomb planted by al-Qaeda and was masterminded by Osama bin Laden. During Clinton's presidency, the attempt remained top secret, and it remains classified , when Reuters reported having spoken with eight retired secret service agents about the incident.
1996 presidential campaign
Leading up to the 1996 presidential election, Clinton's chances of being re-elected initially seemed slim, partially due to his growing untrust among the general public due to the Whitewater controversy and the lopsided defeat of national Democrats in the 1994 elections. His approval rating got as low as 40 percent in early 1995, which led to several high-profile Democrats suggesting he drop out of the race. However in mid-1995, as a result of a rebounding economy and the growing unpopularity of congressional Republicans, public opinion of Clinton up-ticked and early 1996 polls found he had a lead of up to 20 points over his likely Republican opponent Bob Dole.
Unlike Bush in the 1992 election, Clinton's incumbency greatly benefited him in the general election, as most Americans felt the country was going in the right direction. Along with Dole, Clinton once again faced Ross Perot, who was nominated by the Reform Party, but he garnered significantly less support than he did in the 1992 election. In the month leading up the election, pundits were predicting a big win for Clinton, as his approval rating saw a high of 60 percent and pollsters finding he was favored with voters in over 30 states.
On election day, Clinton won 379 electoral votes, securing reelection and defeating Dole, who received 159 electoral votes. Clinton garnered 49.2 percent of the popular vote to Dole's 40.7 percent and Perot's 8.4 percent. With his victory, he became the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt.Second term (1997–2001)
, 1997]]
In the January 1997, State of the Union address, Clinton proposed a new initiative to provide health coverage to up to five million children. Senators Ted Kennedy—a Democrat—and Orrin Hatch—a Republican—teamed up with Hillary Rodham Clinton and her staff in 1997, and succeeded in passing legislation forming the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the largest (successful) health care reform in the years of the Clinton Presidency. That year, Hillary Clinton shepherded through Congress the Adoption and Safe Families Act and two years later she succeeded in helping pass the Foster Care Independence Act. Bill Clinton negotiated the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 by the Republican Congress.
In October 1997, Clinton announced he was getting hearing aids, due to hearing loss attributed to his age, and his time spent as a musician in his youth. In 1999, he signed into law the Financial Services Modernization Act also known as the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, which repealed the part of the Glass–Steagall Act that had prohibited a bank from offering a full range of investment, commercial banking, and insurance services since its enactment in 1933. Investigations In November 1993, David Hale—the source of criminal allegations against Bill Clinton in the Whitewater controversy—alleged that while governor of Arkansas, Clinton pressured Hale to provide an illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, the Clintons' partner in the Whitewater land deal. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation resulted in convictions against the McDougals for their role in the Whitewater project, but the Clintons themselves were never charged, and Clinton maintains his and his wife's innocence in the affair. Investigations by Robert B. Fiske and Ken Starr found insufficient to evidence to prosecute the Clintons.
The White House FBI files controversy of June 1996 arose concerning improper access by the White House to FBI security-clearance documents. Craig Livingstone, head of the White House Office of Personnel Security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, background report files without asking permission of the subject individuals; many of these were employees of former Republican administrations. In March 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray determined there was no credible evidence of any crime. Ray's report further stated, "there was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official was involved" in seeking the files.
On May 19, 1993, Clinton fired seven employees of the White House Travel Office. This caused the White House travel office controversy even though the travel office staff served at the pleasure of the president and could be dismissed without cause. The White House responded to the controversy by claiming that the firings were done in response to financial improprieties that had been revealed by a brief FBI investigation. Critics contended that the firings had been done to allow friends of the Clintons to take over the travel business and the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted. The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee issued a report which accused the Clinton administration of having obstructed their efforts to investigate the affair. Special counsel Robert Fiske said that Hillary Clinton was involved in the firing and gave "factually false" testimony to the GAO, congress, and the independent counsel. However Fiske said there was not enough evidence to prosecute. and voted 221–212 to impeach him for obstruction of justice. Clinton was only the second U.S. president (the first being Andrew Johnson) to be impeached. Impeachment proceedings were based on allegations that Clinton had illegally lied about and covered up his relationship with 22-year-old White House (and later Department of Defense) employee Monica Lewinsky. After the Starr Report was submitted to the House providing what it termed "substantial and credible information that President Clinton Committed Acts that May Constitute Grounds for an Impeachment", the House began impeachment hearings against Clinton before the mid-term elections. To hold impeachment proceedings, Republican leadership called a lame-duck session in December 1998.
, shaking hands with future 45th and 47th President Donald Trump]]
While the House Judiciary Committee hearings ended in a straight party-line vote, there was lively debate on the House floor. The two charges passed in the House (largely with Republican support, but with a handful of Democratic votes as well) were for perjury and obstruction of justice. The perjury charge arose from Clinton's testimony before a grand jury that had been convened to investigate perjury he may have committed in his sworn deposition during Jones v. Clinton, Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit. The obstruction charge was based on his actions to conceal his relationship with Lewinsky before and after that deposition.
The Senate later acquitted Clinton of both charges. The Senate refused to meet to hold an impeachment trial before the end of the old term, so the trial was held over until the next Congress. Clinton was represented by Washington law firm Williams & Connolly. The Senate finished a twenty-one-day trial on February 12, 1999, with the vote of 55 not guilty/45 guilty on the perjury charge Both votes fell short of the constitutional two-thirds majority requirement to convict and remove an officeholder. The final vote was generally along party lines, with no Democrats voting guilty, and only a handful of Republicans voting not guilty. On October 1, the U.S. Supreme Court suspended Clinton from practicing law in the high court, citing fallout from the Lewinsky scandal, but rather than appealing the decision he resigned from the bar entirely.
Pardons and commutations
Clinton issued 141 pardons and 36 commutations on his last day in office on January 20, 2001. Controversy surrounded Marc Rich and allegations that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, accepted payments in return for influencing the president's decision-making regarding the pardons. Federal prosecutor Mary Jo White was appointed to investigate the pardon of Rich. She was later replaced by then-Republican James Comey. The investigation found no wrongdoing on Clinton's part. Clinton also pardoned four defendants in the Whitewater Scandal, Chris Wade, Susan McDougal, Stephen Smith, and Robert W. Palmer, all of whom had ties to Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. Former Clinton HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, was also among Clinton's pardons.
Campaign finance controversies
In February 1997 it was discovered upon documents being released by the Clinton Administration that 938 people had stayed at the White House and that 821 of them had made donations to the Democratic Party and got the opportunity to stay in the Lincoln bedroom as a result of the donations. Some donors included Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Jane Fonda, and Judy Collins. Top donors also got golf games and morning jogs with Clinton as a result of the contributions.
In 1996, it was found that several Chinese foreigners made contributions to Clinton's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee with the backing of the People's Republic of China. Some of them also attempted to donate to Clinton's defense fund. This violated United States law forbidding non-American citizens from making campaign contributions. Clinton and Al Gore also allegedly met with the foreign donors. A Republican investigation led by Fred Thompson found that Clinton was targeted by the Chinese government. However, Democratic senators Joe Lieberman and John Glenn said that the evidence showed that China only targeted congressional elections and not presidential elections.Military and foreign affairsSomalia
Paul Fletcher, USAF and Clinton speak before boarding Air Force One, November 4, 1999]]
American troops had first entered Somalia during the Bush administration in response to a humanitarian crisis and civil war. Though initially involved to assist humanitarian efforts, the Clinton administration shifted the objectives set out in the mission and began pursuing a policy of attempting to neutralize Somali warlords. In 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu, two U.S. helicopters were shot down by rocket-propelled grenade attacks to their tail rotors, trapping soldiers behind enemy lines. This resulted in an urban battle that killed 18 American soldiers, wounded 73 others, and resulted in one being taken prisoner. Television news programs depicted the supporters of warlord Mohammed Aidid desecrating the corpses of troops.
Rwanda
In April 1994, genocide broke out in Rwanda. Intelligence reports indicate that Clinton was aware a "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" was underway, long before the administration publicly used the word "genocide". Fearing a reprisal of the events in Somalia the previous year, Clinton chose not to intervene. Clinton has called his failure to intervene one of his main foreign policy failings, saying "I don't think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down. And I regret it."Bosnia and Herzegovina
on December 22, 1997. Clinton is seen alongside future President Joe Biden.]]
In 1993 and 1994, Clinton pressured Western European leaders to adopt a strong military policy against Bosnian Serbs during the Bosnian War. This strategy faced staunch opposition from the United Nations, NATO allies, and Congressional Republicans, leading Clinton to adopt a more diplomatic approach. In 1995, U.S. and NATO aircraft bombed Bosnian Serb targets to halt attacks on UN safe zones and pressure them into a peace accord that would end the Bosnian war. Clinton deployed U.S. peacekeepers to Bosnia in late 1995, to uphold the subsequent Dayton Agreement.
Irish peace talks
outside a business in East Belfast, November 30, 1995]]
In 1992, before his presidency, Clinton proposed sending a peace envoy to Northern Ireland, but this was dropped to avoid tensions with the British government. In November 1995, in a ceasefire during the Troubles, Clinton became the first president to visit Northern Ireland, examining both of the two divided communities of Belfast. Despite unionist criticism, Clinton used his visit as a way to negotiate an end to the violent conflict, playing a key role in the peace talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
at a private dinner in Russia, January 13, 1994.]]
Iran
Clinton sought to continue the Bush administration's policy of limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East, which he laid out in the dual containment strategy. In 1994, Clinton declared that Iran was a "state sponsor of terrorism" and a "rogue state", marking the first time that an American President used that term. Subsequent executive orders heavily sanctioned Iran's oil industry and banned almost all trade between U.S. companies and the Iranian government. In February 1996, the Clinton administration agreed to pay Iran US$131.8million (equivalent to $ million in ) in settlement to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the U.S. in the International Court of Justice after the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser.
Iraq
In Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, he warned Congress that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was building an arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Although, there was no evidence for that claim.
Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 on October 31, 1998, which instituted a policy of "regime change" against Iraq, though it explicitly stated it did not provide for direct intervention on the part of American military forces. The administration then launched a four-day bombing campaign named Operation Desert Fox, lasting from December 16 to 19, 1998. At the end of this operation Clinton announced that "So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his people, his region, and the world. With our allies, we must pursue a strategy to contain him and to constrain his weapons of mass destruction program, while working toward the day Iraq has a government willing to live at peace with its people and with its neighbors." American and British aircraft in the Iraq no-fly zones attacked hostile Iraqi air defenses 166 times in 1999 and 78 times in 2000.
Osama bin Laden
Capturing Osama bin Laden was an objective of the U.S. government during the Clinton presidency (and continued to be until bin Laden's death in 2011). Despite claims by Mansoor Ijaz and Sudanese officials that the Sudanese government had offered to arrest and extradite bin Laden, and that U.S. authorities rejected each offer, the 9/11 Commission Report stated that "we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim".
In response to a 1996 State Department warning about bin Laden and the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa by al-Qaeda (which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans), Clinton ordered several military missions to capture or kill bin Laden, all of which were unsuccessful. In August 1998, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, targeting the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, which was suspected of assisting bin Laden in making chemical weapons, and bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The factory was destroyed by the attack, resulting in the death of one employee and the wounding of 11 other people. After the destruction of the factory, there was a medicine shortage in Sudan due to the plant providing 50 percent of Sudan's medicine, and the destruction of the plant led to a shortage of chloroquine, a drug which is used to treat malaria. U.S. officials later acknowledged that there was no evidence the plant was acknowledging manufacturing or storing nerve gas. The attack provoked criticism of Clinton from journalists and academics including Christopher Hitchens, Seymour Hersh, Max Taylor, and others.KosovoIn the midst of a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in the province of Kosovo by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Clinton authorized the use of U.S. Armed Forces in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, named Operation Allied Force. The stated reasoning behind the intervention was to stop the ethnic cleansing (and what the Clinton administration labeled genocide) of Albanians by Yugoslav anti-guerilla military units. General Wesley Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and oversaw the mission. With United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, the bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999. The resolution placed Kosovo under UN administration and authorized a peacekeeping force to be deployed to the region. NATO announced its soldiers all survived combat, though two died in an Apache helicopter crash. Journalists in the popular press criticized genocide statements by the Clinton administration as false and greatly exaggerated. Prior to the bombing campaign on March 24, 1999, estimates showed that the number of civilians killed in the over year long conflict in Kosovo had been approximately 1,800, with critics asserting that little or no evidence existed of genocide. In a post-war inquiry, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted "the patterns of the expulsions and the vast increase in lootings, killings, rape, kidnappings and pillage once the NATO air war began on March 24." In 2001, the UN-supervised Supreme Court of Kosovo ruled that genocide (the intent to destroy a people) did not take place, but recognized "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments" with the intention being the forceful departure of the Albanian population. The term "ethnic cleansing" was used as an alternative to "genocide" to denote not just ethnically motivated murder but also displacement, though critics charge there is little difference. Slobodan Milošević, the president of Yugoslavia at the time of the atrocities, was eventually brought to trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague on charges including crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the war. He died in 2006, before the completion of the trial.
China
holding a joint press conference at the White House, October 29, 1997]]
Clinton aimed to increase trade with China, minimizing import tariffs and offering the country most favoured nation status in 1993, his administration minimized tariff levels in Chinese imports. Clinton initially conditioned extension of this status on human rights reforms, but ultimately decided to extend the status despite a lack of reform in the specified areas, including free emigration, treatment of prisoners in terms of international human rights, and observation of human rights specified by UN resolutions, among others.
Relations were damaged briefly by the American bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999. Clinton apologized for the bombing, stating it was accidental.
, President Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David, July 2000]]
On October 10, 2000, Clinton signed into law the United States–China Relations Act of 2000, which granted permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) trade status to China. The president asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.
In encouraging Congress to approve the agreement and China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Clinton stated that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests, saying that "economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street. It requires China to open its markets—with a fifth of the world's population, potentially the biggest markets in the world—to both our products and services in unprecedented new ways."
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
, King Husein, Shimon Peres, Clinton, Hosni Mubarak, Boris Yeltsin and Yasser Arafat in Sharm El Sheikh, March 1996]]
Clinton attempted to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Secret negotiations mediated by Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat led to a historic declaration of peace in September 1993, called the Oslo Accords, which were signed at the White House on September 13. The agreement led to the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994 and the Wye River Memorandum in October 1998, however, this did not end the conflict. He brought Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat together at Camp David for the 2000 Camp David Summit, which lasted 14 days in July. and Stephen Breyer in 1994. Both justices went on to serve until the 2020s, leaving a lasting judicial legacy for President Clinton.
Clinton was the first president in history to appoint more women and minority judges than white male judges to the federal courts. In his eight years in office, 11.6% of Clinton's court of appeals nominees and 17.4% of his district court nominees were black; 32.8% of his court of appeals nominees and 28.5% of his district court nominees were women. After his impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999, Clinton's rating reached its highest point. According to a CBS News/New York Times poll, Clinton left office with an approval rating of 68 percent, which matched those of Ronald Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era. Clinton's average Gallup poll approval rating for his last quarter in office was 61 percent, the highest final quarter rating any president has received for fifty years. Forty-seven percent of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters. During his first term, roughly 7 in 10 Americans believed that the media unfairly covered Clinton's character flaws, according to polling.
A year after he left office, a Gallup poll found that 51 percent of respondents said they approved of the overall job Clinton did as president. In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton's job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found that a strong majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different areas questioned. A June 2006 poll by Gallup found that 61 percent of Americans said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, a 10-point increase from the 2002 poll. Gallup polls in 2007 and 2011 showed that Clinton was regarded by 13 percent of Americans as the greatest president in U.S. history.
In 2010, 69 percent of respondents in a Gallup survey said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, including 47 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of independents. His sudden spike in popularity during this time was attributed to Americans comparing him to then-incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama, who had low approval ratings. In 2014, 18 percent of respondents in a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll of American voters regarded Clinton as the best president since World War II, making him the third most popular among postwar presidents, behind John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. The same poll showed that just 3 percent of American voters regarded Clinton as the worst president since World War II.Public image
on November 29, 1995]]
Clinton was the first baby boomer president. Authors Martin Walker and Bob Woodward stated that Clinton's innovative use of sound bite-ready dialogue, personal charisma, and public perception-oriented campaigning were a major factor in his high public approval ratings. When Clinton played the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show, he was described by some religious conservatives as "the MTV president". Opponents sometimes referred to him as "Slick Willie", a nickname which was first applied to him in 1980 by Pine Bluff Commercial journalist Paul Greenberg; Greenberg believed that Clinton was abandoning the progressive policies of previous Arkansas Governors such as Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor. His folksy manner led him to be nicknamed Bubba starting from the 1992 presidential election. Since 2000, he has frequently been referred to as "The Big Dog" or "Big Dog". His prominent role in campaigning for Obama during the 2012 presidential election and his widely publicized speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where he officially nominated Obama and criticized Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Republican policies in detail, earned him the nickname "Explainer-in-Chief".
Clinton drew strong support from the African American community and insisted that the improvement of race relations would be a major theme of his presidency. In 1998, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison called Clinton "the first black president", saying, "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas". Morrison noted that Clinton's sex life was scrutinized more than his career accomplishments, and she compared this to the stereotyping and double standards that, she said, black people typically endure.
Sexual assault and misconduct allegations
on February 28, 1997]]
Several women have publicly accused Clinton of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault. Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time. These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the #MeToo movement, with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky affair.
In 1994, Paula Jones initiated a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton, claiming he had made unwanted advances towards her in 1991; Clinton denied the allegations. In April 1998, the case was initially dismissed by Judge Susan Webber Wright on the grounds that it lacked legal merit. Jones appealed Webber Wright's ruling, and her suit gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky in August 1998. In 1998, lawyers for Paula Jones released court documents that alleged a pattern of sexual harassment by Clinton when he was Governor of Arkansas. Robert S. Bennett, Clinton's main lawyer for the case, called the filing "a pack of lies" and "an organized campaign to smear the President of the United States" funded by Clinton's political enemies. In October 1998, Clinton's attorneys tentatively offered $700,000 to settle the case, which was then the $800,000 which Jones' lawyers sought. Clinton later agreed to an out-of-court settlement and paid Jones $850,000. Bennett said the president made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life. During the deposition for the Jones lawsuit, which was held at the White House, Clinton denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky—a denial that became the basis for an impeachment charge of perjury.
In 1998, Kathleen Willey alleged that Clinton had groped her in a hallway in 1993. An independent counsel determined Willey gave "false information" to the FBI, inconsistent with sworn testimony related to the Jones allegation. On March 19, 1998, Julie Hiatt Steele, a friend of Willey, released an affidavit, accusing the former White House aide of asking her to lie to corroborate Ms. Willey's account of being sexually groped by Clinton in the Oval Office. An attempt by Kenneth Starr to prosecute Steele for making false statements and obstructing justice ended in a mistrial and Starr declined to seek a retrial after Steele sought an investigation against the former independent counsel for prosecutorial misconduct.
Also in 1998, Juanita Broaddrick alleged that Clinton had raped her in the spring of 1978, although she said she did not remember the exact date. To support her charge, Broaddrick notes that she told multiple witnesses in 1978 she had been raped by Clinton, something these witnesses also state in interviews to the press. Broaddrick had earlier filed an affidavit denying any "unwelcome sexual advances" and later repeated the denial in a sworn deposition. In the wake of the #MeToo movement (which shed light on the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace), various commentators and Democratic political leaders, as well as Lewinsky herself, have revisited their view that the Lewinsky affair was consensual, and instead characterized it as an abuse of power or harassment, in light of the power differential between a president and a 22-year-old intern. In 2018, Clinton was asked in several interviews about whether he should have resigned, and he said he had made the right decision in not resigning. During the 2018 Congressional elections, The New York Times alleged that having no Democratic candidate for office asking Clinton to campaign with them was a change that attributed to the revised understanding of the Lewinsky scandal. Alleged affairs Clinton admitted to having extramarital affairs with singer Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky. Actress Elizabeth Gracen, Miss Arkansas winner Sally Perdue, and Dolly Kyle Browning all claimed that they had affairs with Clinton during his time as governor of Arkansas. Browning later sued Clinton, Bruce Lindsey, Robert S. Bennett, and Jane Mayer, alleging they engaged in a conspiracy to attempt to block her from publishing a book loosely based on her relationship with Clinton and tried to defame him. However, Browning's lawsuit was dismissed.Post-presidency (2001–present)Activities until 2008 campaignIn 2002, Clinton warned that pre-emptive military action against Iraq would have unwelcome consequences, and later claimed to have opposed the Iraq War from the start (though some dispute this). In 2005, Clinton criticized the Bush administration for its handling of emissions control, while speaking at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Montreal.
The William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, was dedicated in 2004. Clinton released a best-selling autobiography, My Life, in 2004. Clinton's official White House portrait, commissioned by the White House Historical Association, was unveiled in June 2004. It was painted by Simmie Knox. In 2007, he released Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, which also became a New York Times Best Seller and garnered positive reviews.
In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami, U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan appointed Clinton to head a relief effort. After Hurricane Katrina, Clinton joined with fellow former president George H. W. Bush to establish the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund in January 2005, and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund in October of that year. As part of the tsunami effort, these two ex-presidents appeared in a Super Bowl XXXIX pre-game show, and traveled to the affected areas. They also spoke together at the funeral of Boris Yeltsin in April 2007.
Based on his philanthropic worldview, Clinton created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address issues of global importance. This foundation includes the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI), which strives to combat that disease, and has worked with the Australian government toward that end. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), begun by the Clinton Foundation in 2005, attempts to address world problems such as global public health, poverty alleviation and religious and ethnic conflict. In 2005, Clinton announced through his foundation an agreement with manufacturers to stop selling sugary drinks in schools. Clinton's foundation joined with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group in 2006 to improve cooperation among those cities, and he met with foreign leaders to promote this initiative. The foundation has received donations from many governments all over the world, including Asia and the Middle East. In 2008, Foundation director Inder Singh announced deals to reduce the price of anti-malaria drugs by 30 percent in developing nations. Clinton also spoke in favor of California Proposition 87 on alternative energy, which was voted down.
2008 presidential election
]]
During the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, Clinton vigorously advocated on behalf of his wife, Hillary. Through speaking engagements and fundraisers, he was able to raise $10 million toward her campaign. Some worried that as an ex-president, he was too active on the trail, too negative to Clinton rival Barack Obama, and alienating his supporters at home and abroad. Many were especially critical of him following his remarks in the South Carolina primary, which Obama won. Later in the 2008 primaries, there was some infighting between Bill and Hillary's staffs, especially in Pennsylvania. Considering Bill's remarks, many thought he could not rally Hillary supporters behind Obama after Obama won the primary. Such remarks led to apprehension that the party would be split to the detriment of Obama's election. Fears were allayed August 27, 2008, when Clinton enthusiastically endorsed Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, saying all his experience as president assures him that Obama is "ready to lead". After Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was over, Bill Clinton continued to raise funds to help pay off her campaign debt.After the 2008 electionIn 2009, Clinton travelled to North Korea on behalf of two American journalists imprisoned there. Euna Lee and Laura Ling had been imprisoned for illegally entering the country from China. Jimmy Carter had made a similar visit in 1994.
Since then, Clinton has been assigned many other diplomatic missions. He was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti in 2009 following a series of hurricanes which caused $1 billion in damages. Clinton organized a conference with the Inter-American Development Bank, where a new industrial park was discussed in an effort to "build back better". In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, U.S. president Barack Obama announced that Clinton and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti's recovery. Funds began pouring into Haiti, which led to funding becoming available for Caracol Industrial Park in a part of the country unaffected by the earthquake. While Hillary Clinton was in South Korea, she and Cheryl Mills worked to convince SAE-A, a large apparel subcontractor, to invest in Haiti despite the company's deep concerns about plans to raise the minimum wage. In the summer of 2010, the South Korean company signed a contract at the U.S. State Department, ensuring that the new industrial park would have a key tenant. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Clinton gave a widely praised speech nominating Barack Obama.
2016 presidential election and after
During the 2016 presidential election, Clinton again encouraged voters to support Hillary, and made appearances speaking on the campaign trail. In a series of tweets, then-President-elect Donald Trump criticized his ability to get people out to vote. Clinton served as a member of the electoral college for the state of New York. He voted for the Democratic ticket consisting of his wife Hillary and her running-mate Tim Kaine.
On September 7, 2017, Clinton partnered with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities.
and President Joe Biden in February 2023]]
In 2020, Clinton again served as a member of the United States Electoral College from New York, casting his vote for the successful Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Clinton was one of the first public figures to endorse Biden's re-election campaign in 2024, with him appearing in interviews and fundraisers with various politicians and national figures. He was also one of the most notable politicians to defend Biden after his critically maligned first presidential debate on June 27, with him stating that "bad debate nights happen" and continued to press support for him despite increasing demand from the public and Democratic party requesting for him to drop out. After Biden withdrew his candidacy and vice president Harris replaced him on the ticket, both Bill and Hillary Clinton endorsed her and praised Biden for his work in public service. Clinton later gave a critically acclaimed speech at the 2024 DNC, where he emphasized the Democratic Party's record on job creation and Harris' career achievements as a prosecutor, Senator, and Vice President.
He later stumped for Harris at various battleground states, where he met with supporters in small towns and at campaign stops. At a stop in Michigan, Clinton caused a backlash by criticizing Arab and Muslim Americans hesitant to support Harris due to her pro-Israeli position, stating Israel had been "forced" to kill civilians during its war in Gaza. His comments led the Institute for Middle East Understanding to state, "Bill Clinton’s racist and ahistorical remarks were meant to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land. The Harris campaign is doing itself no favors attaching itself to that kind of hateful rhetoric". He expanded on his comments in an interview with CNN shortly after, stating that he was trying to appeal to both sides of the issue and highlighted his work with Arafat and Rabin in the Oslo Occords, although his response still received sharp condemnation from Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian-Americans.
After Harris lost the general election to Trump, Clinton's remarks were brought up by critics and pundits, who stated that they were the reason why Harris lost support among Arab-American voters and why she fared poorly in the Muslim-populated cities of Dearborn and Hamtramck when compared to previous Democratic candidates. Critics also questioned his relevance to the modern Democratic Party, with pundits stating that his centrist policies and promotion of candidates who align with his views no longer work with a party that has tried to rebrand itself after losing support amongst progressive and populist supporters. After the election, he and Hillary released a statement congratulating President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, while stating that Harris and her running-mate Tim Walz ran a "positive, forward-looking campaign to be proud of".
Clinton's second volume of memoirs, Citizen: My Life After the White House, was published in November 2024.
Wealth
The Clintons incurred several million dollars in legal bills during his presidency, which were paid off four years after he left office. Bill and Hillary Clinton have each earned millions of dollars from book publishing. In 2016, Forbes reported Bill and Hillary Clinton made about $240million in the 15years from January 2001, to December 2015, (mostly from paid speeches, business consulting and book-writing). Also in 2016, CNN reported the Clintons combined to receive more than $153million in paid speeches from 2001 until spring 2015. In May 2015, The Hill reported that Bill and Hillary Clinton have made more than $25million in speaking fees since the start of 2014, and that Hillary Clinton also made $5million or more from her book, Hard Choices, during the same time period. In July 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that at the end of 2012, the Clintons were worth between $5million and $25.5million, and that in 2012 (the last year they were required to disclose the information) the Clintons made between $16 and $17million, mostly from speaking fees earned by the former president. Clinton earned more than $104million from paid speeches between 2001 and 2012. In June 2014, ABC News and The Washington Post reported that Bill Clinton has made more than $100million giving paid speeches since leaving public office, and in 2008, The New York Times reported that the Clintons' income tax returns show they made $109million in the eight years from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2007, including almost $92million from his speaking and book-writing.
Bill Clinton has given dozens of paid speeches each year since leaving office in 2001, mostly to corporations and philanthropic groups in North America and Europe; he often earned $100,000 to $300,000 per speech. Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin paid Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow. Hillary Clinton said she and Bill came out of the White House financially "broke" and in debt, especially due to large legal fees incurred during their years in the White House. "We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea's education". She added, "Bill has worked really hard ... we had to pay off all our debts ... he had to make double the money because of, obviously, taxes; and then pay off the debts, and get us houses, and take care of family members". In 2002, a spokesperson for Clinton described Epstein as "both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist" who "provided 'insights and generosity'". While Clinton was president, Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times between 1993 and 1995; logs show that Clinton was not at the White House for some of the visits. Clinton's office released a statement in 2019 saying that Clinton "knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York. In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took four trips on Jeffrey Epstein's airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation. Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg of every trip. [...] He's not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade."
In 1995 the Palm Beach Post reported that Clinton had attended a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee hosted by Ron Perelman at his Palm Beach home for 14 invited guests. The guests included Epstein, singer Jimmy Buffett, actor Don Johnson, Deandra Douglas (wife of actor Michael Douglas), and others, and each guest donated $100,000.
Unverified reports alleged that Clinton flew to Little St. James Island, Epstein's Caribean island, on Epstein's private jet between January 2001 and 2003. Virginia Roberts, later known as Virginia Giuffre, said in a lawsuit against Prince Andrew, which was settled in 2017, that Clinton had traveled to
Little St. James in 2002. Epstein's flight logs do not report Clinton flying near the U.S. Virgin Islands. In July 2019, a Clinton spokesperson issued a statement saying Clinton never visited the island. When he was asked by a journalist about his ties with Epstein in a rally in Laredo, Texas in November 2022, Clinton said "I think the evidence is clear." Personal life At the age of 10, he was baptized at Park Place Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. When he became president in 1993, he became a member of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. with his wife, a Methodist.
On October 11, 1975, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he married Hillary Rodham, whom he met while studying at Yale University. They had Chelsea Clinton, their only child, on February 27, 1980. He is the maternal grandfather to Chelsea's three children.
Health
In September 2004, Clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery. In March 2005, he again underwent surgery, this time for a partially collapsed lung. On February 11, 2010, he was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital in Manhattan after complaining of chest pains, and he had two coronary stents implanted in his heart. After this procedure, Clinton adopted a plant-based whole foods (vegan) diet, which had been recommended by doctors Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn. He has since incorporated fish and lean animal flesh at the suggestion of Mark Hyman, a proponent of the pseudoscientific ethos of functional medicine. As a result, he is no longer strictly on a plant-based diet.
In October 2021, Clinton was treated for sepsis at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center. In December 2022, Clinton tested positive for COVID-19. In December 2024, Clinton was hospitalized after developing fever at the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C.Accolades
from Barack Obama, 2013]]
Several colleges and universities have awarded Clinton honorary degrees. He is an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, although he did not complete his studies there. Schools have been named for Clinton, and statues have been built of him. He was presented with the Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 2001. The Clinton Presidential Center was opened in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2001.
The Republic of Kosovo, in gratitude for his help during the Kosovo War, renamed a major street in the capital city of Pristina as Bill Clinton Boulevard and added a Clinton statue. In 2011, Haitian president Michel Martelly awarded Clinton with the National Order of Honour and Merit to the rank of Grand Cross "for his various initiatives in Haiti and especially his high contribution to the reconstruction of the country after the earthquake of January 12, 2010".
Clinton was selected as Time "Man of the Year" in 1992, and again in 1998, along with Ken Starr. From a poll conducted of the American people in December 1999, Clinton was among eighteen included in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. In 2001, Clinton received the NAACP President's Award. He has also been honored with a J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, a TED Prize, and was named as an Honorary GLAAD Media Award recipient for his work as an advocate for the LGBT community.
Clinton, along with Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren, received the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf. The audiobook edition of his autobiography, My Life, read by Clinton himself, won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, Clinton has two more Grammy nominations for his audiobooks: Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World in 2007 and Back to Work in 2012.
See also
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description WP:SEEALSO -->
* Clinton family
* Clinton School of Public Service
* Efforts to impeach Bill Clinton
* Electoral history of Bill Clinton
* Gun control policy of the Clinton Administration
* List of presidents of the United States
* List of presidents of the United States by previous experience
<!-- PLEASE KEEP ENTRIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. -->
References
Citations
Further reading
Primary sources
* Clinton, Bill. (with Al Gore). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070621005829/http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/22/4f/40.pdf Science in the National Interest]. Washington, D.C.: The White House, August 1994.
* --- (with Al Gore). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080316091133/http://www.gcrio.org/USCCAP/toc.html The Climate Change Action Plan]. Washington, D.C.: The White House, October 1993.
* Taylor Branch The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President. (2009) Simon & Schuster.
* Official Congressional Record Impeachment Set: ... Containing the Procedures for Implementing the Articles of Impeachment and the Proceedings of the Impeachment Trial of President William Jefferson Clinton. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1999.
* Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1994–2002.
* S. Daniel Abraham Peace Is Possible, foreword by Bill Clinton
Popular books
* Peter Baker The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (2000)
* James Bovard Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years (2000)
* Joe Conason and Gene Lyons The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton (2003)
* Elizabeth Drew On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency (1994)
* David Gergen Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership. (2000)
* Nigel Hamilton Bill Clinton: An American Journey (2003)
* Christopher Hitchens No One Left to Lie to: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton (1999)
* Michael Isikoff ''Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story (1999)
* Mark Katz Clinton and Me: A Real-Life Political Comedy (2004)
* David Maraniss The Clinton Enigma: A Four and a Half Minute Speech Reveals This President's Entire Life (1998)
* Dick Morris with Eileen McGann Because He Could (2004)
* Richard A. Posner An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton (1999)
* Mark J. Rozell The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government (2000)
* Timperlake, Edward, and William C. Triplett II Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 1998.
* Michael Waldman POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency (2000)
* Ivory Tower Publishing Company. Achievements of the Clinton Administration: the Complete Legislative and Executive. (1995)
Scholarly studies
* Campbell, Colin, and Bert A. Rockman, eds. The Clinton Legacy'' (Chatham House Pub, 2000)
*
* |jstor27551947 }}
* |last1Davis |first1John |titleThe evolution of American grand strategy and the war on terrorism: Clinton and Bush perspectives |journalWhite House Studies |dateSeptember 22, 2003 |volume3 |issue4 |pages=459–477 }}
*
* |jstor27551927 }}
* |last1Fisher |first1Patrick |titleClinton's greatest legislative achievement? The success of the 1993 Budget Reconciliation Bill |journalWhite House Studies |dateSeptember 22, 2001 |volume1 |issue4 |pages=479–496 }}
* |jstor27551943 }}
* Halberstam, David. War in a time of peace: Bush, Clinton, and the generals (Simon and Schuster, 2001). [https://archive.org/details/warintimeofpeace00halb online]
* Harris, John F. The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House (2006). [https://archive.org/details/survivorbillclin00harr online]
* Head, Simon. [http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/01/30/clinton-system-donor-machine-2016-election/ The Clinton System] (January 30, 2016), The New York Review of Books
* Hyland, William G. ''Clinton's World: Remaking American Foreign Policy (1999)
* |jstor27551906 }}
*
* Laham, Nicholas, A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance (1996)
*
* Levy, Peter B. Encyclopedia of the Clinton presidency (Greenwood, 2002) [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy online]
* |doi10.1111/1741-5705.00019 |jstor=27551959 }}
*
*
*
*
* Renshon; Stanley A. The Clinton Presidency: Campaigning, Governing, and the Psychology of Leadership Westview Press, 1995
* |doi10.1111/j.0360-4918.2002.00228.x |jstor=27552394 }}
* Romano, Flavio. Clinton and Blair: the political economy of the third way (Routledge, 2007)
* Rushefsky, Mark E. and Kant Patel. Politics, Power & Policy Making: The Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s (1998)
* Schantz, Harvey L. Politics in an Era of Divided Government: Elections and Governance in the Second Clinton Administration (2001)
* Troy, Gill. The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s (2015)
*
* Warshaw, Shirley Anne. The Clinton Years (Infobase Publishing, 2009)
* White, Mark, ed. The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy (I.B.Tauris, 2012)
Arkansas years
* Allen, Charles and Jonathan Portis. The Life and Career of Bill Clinton: The Comeback Kid (1992).
* Blair, Diane D. "The Big Three of Late Twentieth-Century Arkansas Politics: Dale Bumpers, Bill Clinton, and David Pryor." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 54.1 (1995): 53–79. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40030927 online]
* Blair, Diane D. "William Jefferson Clinton" in The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography ed. by Willard B. Gatewood Jr., et al. (1995)
* Brummett, John. Highwire: From the Backroads to the Beltway: The Education of Bill Clinton (Hyperion, 1994).
* Clinton, Bill. My Life: The Early Years (Random House, 2004)
* Dumas, Ernest, ed. The Clintons of Arkansas: An Introduction by Those Who Knew Them Best (University of Arkansas Press, 1993) [https://books.google.com/books?idX3fKRpNuMe0C&dqGovernor++Clinton++Arkansas:&pg=PR11 online].
* Encyclopedia of Arkansas (2023) [https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/?s=Clinton online]
* Johnston, Phyllis F. Bill Clinton's Public Policy for Arkansas: 1979-80 (Little Rock: August House, 1982).
* Maraniss, David. First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton (Simon & Schuster, 1995).
* Marcus, Alan. "Bill Clinton in Arkansas: generational politics, the technology of political communication and the permanent campaign." The Historian 72.2 (2010): 354–385. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24454837 online]
* Oakley, Meredith L. On the make: The rise of Bill Clinton'' (Regnery Publishing, 1994), attack from the right.
* Osborne, David. "Turning around Arkansas' Schools: Bill Clinton and Education Reform." American Educator: The Professional Journal of the American Federation of Teachers 16.3 (1992): 6–17. [https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ453909 online]
* Smith, Stephen A., ed. Preface to the Presidency: Selected Speeches of Bill Clinton, 1974–1992 (University of Arkansas Press, 1996).
External links
Official
* [http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/ Presidential Library & Museum]
* [http://www.clintonfoundation.org/ Clinton Foundation]
* [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-j-clinton/ White House biography]
* [https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html Archived White House website]
Interviews, speeches, and statements
*
*
* [http://millercenter.org/president/speeches#clinton Full audio of a number of Clinton speeches] Miller Center of Public Affairs
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0027/menu.html Oral History Interview with Bill Clinton] from [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/ Oral Histories of the American South], June 1974
* [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/09/18/060918fa_fact1 "The Wanderer"], a profile from The New Yorker, September 2006
Media coverage
*
* Other
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070504050918/http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/clinton Extensive essays on Bill Clinton] and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?151639-1/life-portrait-bill-clinton "Life Portrait of Bill Clinton"], from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, December 20, 1999
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/clinton/player/ Clinton] an American Experience documentary
*
*
*
* [https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/04/04/clinton-bush-heavyweight-orig.cnn 1992 election episode in CNN's Race for the White House]
}}
}}
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Category:Grammy Award winners
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Category:Georgetown University alumni | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.691953 |
3358 | Black-letter law | right|thumb|Blackletter L
In common law legal systems, black-letter law refers to well-established legal rules that are no longer subject to reasonable dispute. Black-letter law can be contrasted with legal theory or unsettled legal issues.
History and etymology
In an 1831 case in the U.S. Supreme Court, Jackson ex dem. Bradstreet v. Huntington, the phrase "black letter" was used: "It is seldom that a case in our time savours so much of the black letter; but the course of decisions in New York renders it unavoidable...". The phrase "black-letter law" was used in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Naglee v. Ingersoll, 7 Pa. 185 (1847). The phrase does not apparently come directly from association with Black's Law Dictionary, which was first published in 1891. It may refer to the practice of setting law books and citing legal precedents in blackletter type, a tradition that survived long after the switch to Roman and italic text for other printed works. It may also be linked to the Black Book of the Admiralty published in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that collates at least 1,000 years of European-based laws of the sea and an authority for the High Court of Admiralty Court and maritime cases in the early modern period.
The phrase refers to a distillation of the common law into general and accepted legal principles. This can be seen in the quote above from the Supreme Court where the court is noting that while the black-letter law is clear, New York precedent deviates from the general principles.
In common law, the informal notion of black-letter law includes the basic principles of law generally accepted by the courts and/or embodied in the statutes of a particular jurisdiction. The letter of the law is its actual implementation, thereby demonstrating that black-letter laws are those statutes, rules, acts, laws, provisions, etc. that are or have been written down, codified, or indicated somewhere in legal texts throughout history of specific state law. This is often the case for many precedents that have been set in the common law.
An example of such a state within the common law jurisdiction, and using the black letter legal doctrine is Canada. Canadian law is based on British law and black-letter law is the principles of law accepted by the majority of judges in most provinces and territories. Sometimes it is referred to as "hornbook law" meaning treatise or textbook, often relied upon as authoritative, competent, and generally accepted in the field of Canadian law.
In lawyer lingo, hornbook law or black-letter law is a fundamental and well-accepted legal principle that does not require any further explanation, since a hornbook is a primer of basics. Law is the rule which establish that a principle, provision, references, inference, observation, etc. may not require further explanation or clarification when the very nature of them shows that they are basic and elementary.
Similar phrases
The phrase is nearly synonymous with the phrase "hornbook law". There are a number of venerable legal sources that distill the common law on various subjects known as restatement of the Law. The specific titles will be "The Restatement (First) of Contracts" or "The Restatement of Agency", etc. Each of these volumes is divided into sections that begin with a text in boldface that summarizes a basic rule on an aspect of the law of contracts, agency, etc. This "restatement" is followed by commentary and examples that expand on the principle stated.
Another synonymous term, usually used in the United Kingdom, is "trite law".
Examples
Examples of black-letter law include that the formation of a contract requires consideration, or that the registration of a trademark requires established use in the course of trade.
References
Category:Informal legal terminology | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-letter_law | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.718762 |
3359 | Blue law | ]]
Blue laws (also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws, and Sunday closing laws) are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, specifically to promote the observance of the Christian day of worship. Since then, they have come to serve secular purposes as well.
Blue laws commonly ban certain business and recreational activities on Sundays, and impose restrictions on the retail sale of hard goods and consumables, particularly alcoholic beverages. The laws also place limitations on a range of other endeavors—including travel, fashions, hunting, professional sports, stage performances, movie showings, and gambling. While less prevalent today, blue laws continue to be enforced in parts of the United States and Canada as well as in European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Norway, and Poland, where most stores are required to close on Sundays.
In the United States, the Supreme Court has upheld blue laws as constitutional despite their religious origins if supported by secular justifications. This has resulted to the provision of a day of rest for the general population. Meanwhile, various state courts have struck down the laws as either unenforceable or in violation of their states' constitutions. In response, state legislators have re-enacted certain Sunday laws to satisfy the rulings while allowing some of the other statutes to remain on the books with no intention to enforce them.
History
The Roman Emperor Constantine promulgated the first known law regarding prohibition of Sunday labour for apparent religion-associated reasons in A.D. 321:
The earliest laws in North America addressing Sunday activities and public behavior were enacted in the Jamestown Colony in 1619 by the first General Assembly of Virginia. Among the 70 laws passed by the assembly was a mandate requiring attendance by all colonists at both morning and afternoon worship services on Sundays. The laws adopted that year also included provisions addressing idleness, gambling, drunkenness, and excessive apparel. Similar laws aimed at keeping the Sabbath holy and regulating morals were soon adopted throughout the colonies.
The first known example of the phrase "blue laws" in print was in the March 3, 1755, edition of the New-York Mercury, in which the writer imagines a future newspaper praising the revival of "our [Connecticut's] old Blue Laws". In his 1781 book General History of Connecticut, the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) used the phrase to describe numerous laws adopted by 17th-century Puritans that prohibited various activities on Sunday, recreational as well as commercial. Beyond that, Peters' book is regarded as an unreliable account of the laws and probably was written to satirize their puritanical nature. Other explanations have been offered. One of the most widely circulated is that early blue laws adopted in Connecticut were printed on blue paper. However, no copies have been found that would support this claim and it is not deemed credible. A more plausible explanation, one that is gaining general acceptance, is that the laws adopted by Puritans were aimed at enforcing morality and thus were "blue-nosed", though the term "blue" may have been used in the vernacular of the times as a synonym for puritanism itself, in effect, overly strict.
In Canada, the Ligue du Dimanche, a Roman Catholic Sunday league, supported the ''Lord's Day Act in 1923 and promoted first-day Sabbatarian legislation. Beginning in the 1840s, workers, Jews, Seventh Day Baptists, freethinkers, and other groups began to organize opposition. Throughout the century, Sunday laws fueled churchstate controversy, and as an issue that contributed to the emergence of modern American minority-rights politics. On the other hand, the more recent Dies Domini, written by Pope John Paul II in 1998, advocates Sunday legislation in that it protects civil servants and workers; the North Dakota Catholic Conference in 2011 likewise maintained that blue laws, in accordance with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church'', "ensure that, for reasons of economic productivity, citizens are not denied time for rest and divine worship". Similarly, Chief Justice Earl Warren, while recognizing the partial religious origin of blue laws, acknowledged the "secular purpose they served by providing a benefit to workers at the same time that they enhanced labor productivity". Laws by jurisdiction Europe Germany The ("shop closing law") on Sundays and public holidays have been in effect since 1956. Denmark In Denmark the closing laws restricting retail trade on Sundays were effectively abolished on October 1, 2012. Retail trade is only restricted on public holidays (New Year's Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Day of Prayer, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) and on Constitution Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (on New Year's Eve from 3 pm only). On these days almost all shops will remain closed. Exempt are bakeries, DIYs, garden centres, gas stations and smaller supermarkets. England and Wales Before 1994 Prior to 1994, trading laws forbade sale of certain products on a Sunday; the distinction between those that could and could not be sold was increasingly seen as arbitrary, and the laws were inadequately enforced and widely flouted. For example, some supermarkets would treat the relatively modest fines arising as a business cost and open nonetheless.
Since 1994
The Sunday Trading Act 1994 relaxed restrictions on Sunday trading. This produced vocal opposition from bodies such as the Keep Sunday Special campaign, and the Lord's Day Observance Society: on religious grounds, on the grounds that it would increase consumerism, and that it would reduce shop assistants' weekend leisure time.
The legislation permits large shops (those with a relevant floor area in excess of 280 square metres; 3000 sq. ft.) to open for up to six hours on Sunday. Small shops, those with an area of below 280 square metres (3000 sq. ft.), are free to set their own Sunday trading times. Some large shops, such as off-licences, service stations and garages, are exempt from the restrictions.
Some very large shops (e.g. department stores) open for longer than six hours on a Sunday by allowing customers in to browse 30 minutes prior to allowing them to make a purchase, since the six-hour restriction only applies to time during which the shop may make sales.
Christmas Day and Easter Sunday are non-trading days. This applies even to garden centres, which earlier had been trading over Easter, but not to small shops (those with an area of below 280 square metres; 3000 sq. ft.). Netherlands
Prior to 1996, shops were generally closed on Sundays. A new law () regarding opening times changed that and leaves that decision mostly up to local municipalities. This law was changed several times since.
The Zondagswet (“”), a law on Sabbath desecration, is mainly to ensure that church services remain undisturbed on Sundays and Christian holidays. It forbids public festivities on a Sunday before 13:00, as well as making noise that carries farther than , but activities that are unlikely to disturb church services are exempt.
Northern Ireland
Prior to 2008, no football was permitted to be played on Sundays by clubs affiliated to the Irish Football Association in Northern Ireland.
Shops with a floor area of over may only open from 1 to 6pm on Sundays.
In Belfast, public playgrounds were closed on Sundays until 1965. Swings in public parks were tied up and padlocked to prevent their use. Similar laws formerly applied to cinemas, pubs and parks. Poland
Since 2007, blue laws were enacted and resulted in stores closing on the 13 state holidays in Poland – these are both religious and secular days of rest. In 2014, an initiative by the Law and Justice party failed to pass the reading in the Sejm to ban trading on Sundays and state holidays. However, since 2018, the ruling government and the President of Poland has signed a law that restricts store trading from March 1, 2018, to the first and last Sunday of the month, Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve.
In 2019, the restriction was extended, and trading was permitted solely on the last Sunday of the month, as well as Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve. From 2020, stores may only be open on seven Sundays in the year: Palm Sunday, the 3rd and 4th Advent Sundays, the last Sunday of January, April, June and August as well as trading until 14.00 for Easter Saturday and Christmas Eve. As a result of restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2nd Advent Sunday was later added as a shopping day.
North America
Canada
The ''Lord's Day Act, which since 1906 had prohibited business transactions from taking place on Sundays, was declared unconstitutional in the 1985 case R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd. Calgary police officers witnessed several transactions at the Big M Drug Mart, all of which occurred on a Sunday. Big M was charged with a violation of the Lord's Day Act. A provincial court ruled that the Lord's Day Act was unconstitutional, but the Crown proceeded to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. In a unanimous 6–0 decision, the Lord's Day Act was ruled an infringement of the freedom of conscience and religion defined in section 2(a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A Toronto referendum in 1950 allowed only team sports to be played professionally on Sunday. Theatre performances, movie screenings, and horse racing were not permitted until the 1960s.
The Supreme Court later concluded, in R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd.'' [1986] (2 S.C.R. 713), that Ontario's Retail Business Holiday Act, which required some Sunday closings, did not violate the Charter because it did not have a religious purpose. Nonetheless, as of today, virtually all provincial Sunday closing laws have ceased to exist. Some were struck down by provincial courts, but most were simply abrogated, often due to competitive reasons where out-of-province or foreign merchants were open. United States
In the United States, judges have defended blue laws "in terms of their secular benefit to workers", holding that "the laws were essential to social well-being".
Many states prohibit selling alcohol for on and off-premises sales in one form or another on Sundays at some restricted time, under the idea that people should be in church on Sunday morning, or at least not drinking.
Many blue laws in the United States restrict the purchase of particular items on Sundays. Some of these laws restrict the ability to buy cars, groceries, office supplies, and housewares among other things. Though most of these laws have been relaxed or repealed in most states, they are still enforced in some other states.
In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling housewares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985. In Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, car dealerships continue to operate under blue-law prohibitions in which an automobile may not be purchased or traded on a Sunday. Maryland permits Sunday automobile sales only in the counties of Charles, Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard; similarly, Michigan restricts Sunday sales to only those counties with a population of less than 130,000. Texas and Utah prohibit car dealerships from operating over consecutive weekend days. In some cases, these laws were created or retained with the support of those whom they affected, to allow them a day off each week without fear of their competitors still being open.
Blue laws may also prohibit retail activity on days other than Sunday. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine, for example, blue laws prohibit most retail stores, including grocery stores, from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Research regarding the effect of the repeal of blue laws has been conducted, with Professor Elesha Coffman of Baylor University writing:
Bibliography
* Algeo, Matthew (2006). Last Team Standing. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press.
* Ruck, Rob; with Patterson, Maggie Jones and Weber, Michael P. (2010). Rooney: A Sporting Life. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press.
* Sarna, Jonathan D. and Dalin, David G. (1997). Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
* Volk, Kyle G. (2014). Minorities and the Making of American Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Westcott, Rich (2001). A Century of Philadelphia Sports. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170120172630/https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay Red, White, but Mostly Blue: The Validity of Modern Sunday Closing Laws Under the Establishment Clause - Vanderbilt Law Review (2007)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141229161527/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BL014.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Blue Laws]
* [http://www.mass.gov/lwd/labor-standards/dls/mass-blue-laws/ The Massachusetts Blue Laws]
* [http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/sunday-movies-come-to-bloomington-in/article_27ea9b0c-a481-11e2-889a-001a4bcf887a.html Blue Law - Pantagraph] (Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)
Category:Political terminology of the United States
Category:Religion and law
Category:Sunday shopping
Category:Sabbath in Christianity
Category:Social conservatism
Category:Sabbatarianism | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.764917 |
3360 | Bar | Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
Candy bar
Chocolate bar
Protein bar
Science and technology
Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
Bar (galaxy), a feature of many spiral galaxies
Bar (unit), a unit of pressure
BAR domain, a protein domain
Bar stock, of metal
Sandbar
Computing
Bar (computer science), a placeholder name in programming
Base Address Register in PCI
Bar, a mobile phone form factor
Bar, a type of graphical control element
Typography
Fraction bar
Overbar, a line over a formula or segment of text
Underbar, a line under a formula or segment of text
Vertical bar
Law
Bar (law), the legal profession
Bar association
Bar examination
Media and entertainment
Bar (Croatian TV series)
Bar (Czech TV series)
Bar (dance), Turkey
Bar (music), a segment
Bar (Polish TV series)
Bar (Slovenian TV series)
Bay Area Reporter, a newspaper
Biblical Archaeology Review, a magazine
"Bar" (song), by Tini and L-Gante
B.A.R. (Bay Area Representatives), 2014 album by Lil Wyte and Frayser Boy
Places
France
Bar (river)
Bar, Corrèze, a commune
Bar-le-Duc, a commune formerly known as "Bar"
Bar-sur-Aube, a commune
Bar-sur-Seine, a commune
Iran
Bar, Bushehr, a village
Bar, Hormozgan, a village
Bar, Razavi Khorasan, a city
Elsewhere
Bar (Martian crater)
Bar, Rutog County, Tibet, China
Bár, Hungary, a village
Bar Municipality, Montenegro
Bar, Montenegro, a town
Bar Region, Punjab, Pakistan
Bar, Republic of Buryatia, Russia
Bar, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine, a town
Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire
Barbados, IOC and UNDP country code BAR
Language
Bar (diacritic), a line through a letter
Bavarian language (ISO 639-3: bar)
Vertical bar, a punctuation symbol
X-bar theory, in linguistics
Transportation
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, US, reporting mark
Barstow station, US, station code
California Bureau of Automotive Repair, a consumer protection agency
Qionghai Bo'ao Airport, IATA code
Firearms
M1918 Browning automatic rifle
Browning BAR, a Belgian rifle
Other uses
Bar (Aramaic), a patronymic prefix in Aramaic
Bar (heraldry), a band across a shield
Bar (name)
Bar Confederation, an 18th-century Polish association
Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish coming of age ceremony
Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment, South African Army
British Archaeological Reports
British American Racing, a Formula One constructor
Chin-up bar, playground equipment
Horizontal bar, a gymnastic apparatus
Medal bar, additional award
Space bar, on a keyboard
Historical gatehouse
Bennett acceptance ratio in thermodynamics
BlackArts Racing Team, a motor racing team from Hong Kong
Business Analysis and Reporting in the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination
See also
The Bar (disambiguation)
Barr (disambiguation)
Barre (disambiguation)
Bars (disambiguation)
Bär (disambiguation)
FUBAR | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.811828 |
3363 | Beer | Rauchbier, a traditional smoked beer, being poured from a cask into a beer glass]]
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars, which dissolve in water to form wort. Fermentation of the wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and one of the most popular of all drinks<!--hard or soft-->. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).
Some of the earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC) included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, contains a recipe for it. Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub games.
Etymology
In early forms of English and in the Scandinavian languages, the usual word for beer was the word whose Modern English form is ale.
Christine Fell, in Leeds Studies in English (1975), suggests that the Old English/Norse word bēor did not originally denote ale or beer, but a strong, sweet drink rather like mead or cider. Whatever the case, the meaning of bēor expanded to cover the meaning of ale. When hopped ale from Europe was imported into Britain in the late Middle Ages, it was described as "beer" to differentiate it from the British unhopped ale, later acquiring a broader meaning. The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic Natufians for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in northern Israel. There is evidence that beer was produced at Göbekli Tepe during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (around 8500 BC to 5500 BC). The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley dates to about 3500–3100 BC, from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. Early civilisations Beer is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt, and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer. During the building of the Egyptian pyramids, each worker got a daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction.
Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess Ninkasi, known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi", which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and the ancient advice ("Fill your belly. Day and night make merry") to Gilgamesh, recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh by the alewife Siduri, may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer. The Ebla tablets, discovered in 1974 in Ebla, Syria, show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC. A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by chewing or malting. During the Vedic period in Ancient India, there are records of the consumption of the beer-like sura. Xenophon noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia.
Medieval
Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers may have contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices, and other substances such as narcotic herbs. and again in 1067 by abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution was made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal to industrial manufacture, while domestic production ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century. Modern In 1912, brown bottles began to be used by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. This innovation has since been accepted worldwide as it prevents light rays from degrading the quality and stability of beer. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers, ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. As of 2006, more than of beer are sold per year, producing global revenues of US$294.5 billion. In 2010, China's beer consumption hit , or nearly twice that of the United States, but only 5 per cent sold were premium beers, compared with 50 per cent in France and Germany. Beer is the most widely consumed of all alcoholic drinks. A widely publicised study in 2018 suggested that sudden decreases in barley production due to extreme drought and heat could in the future cause substantial volatility in the availability and price of beer.
Brewing
Process
The process of making beer is brewing. It converts the grain into a sugary liquid called wort and then ferments this into beer using yeast. The first step, mixing malted barley with hot water in a mash tun, is "mashing". The starches are converted to sugars, and the sweet wort is drained off. The grains are washed to extract as much fermentable liquid from the grains as possible. The sweet wort is put into a kettle, or "copper", and boiled. Hops are added as a source of bitterness, flavour, and aroma. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remain. The wort is cooled and the yeast is added. The wort is then fermented, often for a week or longer. The yeast settles, leaving the beer clear. During fermentation, most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape through a trap. The carbonation is often increased either by transferring the beer to a pressure vessel and introducing pressurised carbon dioxide or by transferring it before the fermentation is finished so that carbon dioxide pressure builds up inside the container.
Ingredients
before roasting]]
The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, usually malted barley; a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops. A mixture of starch sources may be used, with a secondary carbohydrate source, such as maize (corn), rice, wheat, or sugar, often termed an adjunct, especially when used alongside malted barley. Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum, and cassava root in Africa; potato in Brazil; and agave in Mexico.
Water is the main ingredient, accounting for 93% of beer's weight. The level of dissolved bicarbonate influences beer's finished taste. Due to the mineral properties of each region's water, specific areas were originally the sole producers of certain types of beer, each identifiable by regional characteristics. The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum, which benefits making pale ale to such a degree that brewers of pale ale add gypsum in a process known as Burtonisation.
The starch source provides the fermentable material and determines the strength and flavour of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting produces enzymes that convert starches into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures produce different colours of malt from the same grain. Darker malts produce darker beers. Nearly all beers use barley malt for most of the starch, as its fibrous hull remains attached to the grain during threshing. After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces. These pieces remain with the grain during the mash and act as a filter bed during lautering, when sweet wort is separated from insoluble grain material. Other grains, including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, corn and sorghum may be used. Some brewers have produced gluten-free beer, made with sorghum, for those who cannot consume gluten-containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye.
in a Hallertau, Germany, hop yard]]
Flavouring beer is the sole commercial use of hops. The flower of the hop vine acts as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops". The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer dates from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalard of Corbie, though widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer began in the thirteenth century. Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company use plants other than hops for flavouring. and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company,
Hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. Hops further contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours. They have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and aids in "head retention", the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops is a preservative.
Yeast is the microorganism responsible for fermenting beer. It metabolises the sugars, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition, yeast influences the character and flavour. The dominant types of beer yeast are top-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus. Brettanomyces ferments lambics, and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier. Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles, such as lambics, rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures.
Some brewers add clarifying agents or finings to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out along with protein solids, and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. This process makes the beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles such as wheat beers. Clarifying agents include isinglass, from the swimbladders of fish; Irish moss, a seaweed; kappa carrageenan, from the seaweed Kappaphycus cottonii; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin. Beer marked "suitable for vegans" is clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents.
' Brewery in the early 1900s, Argentina.]]
Industry
In the 21st century, larger breweries have repeatedly absorbed smaller breweries. In 2002, South African Breweries bought the North American Miller Brewing Company to found SABMiller, becoming the second-largest brewery after North American Anheuser-Busch. In 2004, the Belgian Interbrew was the third-largest brewery by volume, and the Brazilian AmBev was the fifth-largest. They merged into InBev, becoming the largest brewery. In 2007, SABMiller surpassed InBev and Anheuser-Busch when it acquired Royal Grolsch, the brewer of Dutch brand Grolsch. In 2008, when InBev (the second-largest) bought Anheuser-Busch (the third-largest), the new Anheuser-Busch InBev company became again the largest brewer in the world.
, according to the market research firm Technavio, AB InBev was the largest brewing company in the world, with Heineken second, CR Snow third, Carlsberg fourth, and Molson Coors fifth.
A microbrewery, or craft brewery, produces a limited amount of beer. The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a 'microbrewery' varies by region and by authority; in the US, it is a year. A brewpub is a type of microbrewery that incorporates a pub or other drinking establishment. The highest density of breweries in the world, most of them microbreweries, exists in Franconia, Germany, especially in the district of Upper Franconia, which has about 200 breweries. The Benedictine Weihenstephan brewery in Bavaria, Germany, can trace its roots to the year 768, as a document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. It claims to be the oldest working brewery in the world. Varieties
with pump clips detailing the beers and their breweries]]
Top-fermented beers
Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between . At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune, among others. After the introduction of hops into England from Flanders in the 15th century, "ale" came to mean an unhopped fermented brew, while "beer" meant a brew with an infusion of hops. The term 'real ale' was coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". It is applied to both bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers.
As for the types of top-fermented beers, pale ale predominantly uses pale malt. It is one of the world's major beer styles and includes India pale ale (IPA). Mild ale has a predominantly malty palate. It is usually dark, with an abv of 3% to 3.6%. Wheat beer is brewed with a large proportion of wheat although it often also contains a significant proportion of malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented. Stout is a dark beer made using roasted barley, and typically brewed with slow fermenting yeast. There are a number of variations including dry stout (such as Guinness), sweet stout, and Imperial (or Russian) stout. Bottom-fermented beers
, a lambic beer brewed with cherries]]
Lager is cool-fermented beer. Pale lagers are the most commonly drunk beers in the world. Many are of the "pilsner" type. The name "lager" comes from the German "lagern" for "to store", as brewers in Bavaria stored beer in cool cellars during the warm summer months, allowing the beers to continue to ferment, and to clear any sediment. Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus). Lager typically undergoes primary fermentation at , and then a long secondary fermentation at (the lagering phase). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "cleaner"-tasting beer. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically no more than 2 weeks. Some traditional lagers are still stored for several months. Lambic Lambic, a beer of Belgium, is naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated. Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus are common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to the sourness. Non-barley beers
Around the world, many traditional and ancient starch-based drinks are classed as beer. In Africa, there are ethnic beers made from sorghum or millet, such as Oshikundu in Namibia and Tella in Ethiopia. Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called "Bozo". Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas.
The Andes in South America has Chicha, made from germinated maize (corn); while the indigenous peoples in Brazil have Cauim, a traditional drink made since pre-Columbian times by chewing manioc so that an enzyme (amylase) present in human saliva can break down the starch into fermentable sugars; this is similar to Masato in Peru.
Beers made from bread, among the earliest forms of the drink, are Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and Ukraine, and Bouza in Sudan. 4000 years ago fermented bread was used in Mesopotamia. Food waste activists got inspired by these ancient recipes and use leftover bread to replace a third of the malted barley that would otherwise be used for brewing their craft ale. Measurement
Beer is measured and assessed by colour, by strength and by bitterness. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6%, measured as alcohol by volume (ABV). The perceived bitterness is measured by the International Bitterness Units scale (IBU), defined in co-operation between the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the European Brewery Convention. The international scale was a development of the European Bitterness Units scale, often abbreviated as EBU, and the bitterness values should be identical. Colour
dunkel – a dark lager]]
Beer colour is determined by the malt. The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager and pale ale are terms used for beers made from malt dried and roasted with the fuel coke. Coke was first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it was not until around 1703 that the term pale ale was used.
In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the city of Plzeň in the present-day Czech Republic. The modern pale lager is light in colour due to use of coke for kilning, which gives off heat with little smoke.
Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer. Some have roasted unmalted barley.
Strength
Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to around 14% abv, though this strength can be increased to around 20% by re-pitching with champagne yeast, The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical ABVof 5%. The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv. In Belgium, some beers, such as table beer are of such low alcohol content (1%–4%) that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools. The weakest beers are described as 'alcohol-free', typically containing 0.05% ABV; this compares to low alcohol beers which may contain 1.2% ABV or less, and conventional beers which average 4.4% ABV.
The strength of beers has climbed during the later years of the 20th century. Vetter 33, a 10.5% ABV (33 degrees Plato, hence Vetter "33") doppelbock, was listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time, though Samichlaus, by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% |BV. Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% ABVwith Millennium, and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% ABV with Utopias. The strongest beer brewed in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% ABVbeer. In September 2011, the Scottish brewery BrewDog produced Ghost Deer, which, at 28%, they claim to be the world's strongest beer produced by fermentation alone.
The product claimed to be the strongest beer made is Schorschbräu's 2011 Schorschbock 57 with 57,5% ABV. It was preceded by The End of History, a 55% Belgian ale, made by BrewDog in 2010. The same company had previously made Sink The Bismarck!, a 41% ABV IPA, and Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a 32% ABV Imperial stout. Each of these beers are made using the eisbock method of fractional freezing, in which a strong ale is partially frozen and the ice is repeatedly removed, until the desired strength is reached, a process that may class the product as spirits rather than beer. The German brewery Schorschbräu's Schorschbock, a 31% ABV eisbock, and Hair of the Dog's Dave, a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994, used the same fractional freezing method. A 60% ABV blend of beer with whiskey was jokingly claimed as the strongest beer by a Dutch brewery in July 2010.
Serving
Draught
s]]
Draught (also spelled "draft") beer from a pressurised keg using a lever-style dispenser and a spout is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet. Some beers may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture. Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel. In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the beer widget, a nitrogen-pressurised ball inside a can which creates a moderately dense, tight head. This approximates the effect of serving from a keg, at least for a British-style beer which does not have a specially large head.
Cask-conditioned ales (or cask ales) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers. These beers are termed "real ale" by the CAMRA organisation. When a cask arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a "stillage" frame, designed to hold it steady and at the right angle, and then allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically between ), before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a rubber bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile is used to open a hole in the uppermost side of the cask. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period of hours to days to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition the beer. At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass.
Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences. A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds). The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square metres (26 square feet). Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Packaging
Most beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans. However, bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast.
Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries. In Sweden in 2001, 63.9% of beer was sold in cans. People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. A technology developed by Crown Holdings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 'full aperture' can, so named because the entire lid is removed during the opening process, turning the can into a drinking cup. Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing spoilage) and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles. Plastic (PET) bottles are used by some breweries.
Temperature
The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience; warmer temperatures reveal the range of flavours in a beer but cooler temperatures are more refreshing. Most drinkers prefer pale lager to be served chilled, a low- or medium-strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature.
Beer writer Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled () for "light" beers (pale lagers); chilled () for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled () for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers; cellar temperature () for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialities; and room temperature () for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine.
Drinking chilled beer began with the development of artificial refrigeration and by the 1870s, was spread in those countries that concentrated on brewing pale lager. Chilling beer makes it more refreshing, though below 15.5 °C (60 °F) the chilling starts to reduce taste awareness and reduces it significantly below . Beer served unchilled—either cool or at room temperature—reveal more of their flavours. Cask Marque, a non-profit UK beer organisation, has set a temperature standard range of 12°–14 °C (53°–57 °F) for cask ales to be served. Vessels
Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein, a mug, a pewter tankard, a beer bottle or a can; or at music festivals and some bars and nightclubs, from a plastic cup. The shape of the glass from which beer is consumed can influence the perception of the beer and can define and accent the character of the style. Breweries offer branded glassware intended only for their own beers as a marketing promotion, as this increases sales of their product.
The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down the side) into the glass all influence the result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and the release of carbonation.
A beer tower or portable beer tap is sometimes used in bars and restaurants to allow a group of customers to serve themselves. The device consists of a tall container with a cooling mechanism and a beer tap at its base.Chemistry
s found naturally in beer, such as tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, absorb blue light and fluoresce in green under 450 nm laser light.]]
Beer contains the phenolic acids 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic acid. Alkaline hydrolysis experiments show that most of the phenolic acids are present as bound forms and only a small portion can be detected as free compounds. Hops, and beer made with it, contain 8-prenylnaringenin which is a potent phytoestrogen. Hop also contains myrcene, humulene, xanthohumol, isoxanthohumol, myrcenol, linalool, tannins, and resin. The alcohol 2M2B is a component of hops brewing.
Barley, in the form of malt, brings the condensed tannins prodelphinidins B3, B9 and C2 into beer. Tryptophol, tyrosol, and phenylethanol are aromatic higher alcohols (congeners) produced by yeast during the brewing process. as secondary products of alcoholic fermentation
Nutrition
Beers vary in their nutritional content. The ingredients used to make beer, including the yeast, provide a rich source of nutrients; therefore beer may contain nutrients including magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, chromium and B vitamins. Beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread", though beer is not a meal in itself.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Nutrition from different beers<br/>(serving size: 12 oz./355 ml)
|-
! Beer Brand !! Carbohydrate <br/> (g) !! Alcohol <br/> (%) !! Energy <br/> (kcal)
|-
| Budweiser Select 55 || 1.8 || 2.4 || 55
|-
| Coors Light || 5 || 4.2 || 102
|-
| Guinness Draught || 10 || 4.0 || 126
|-
| Sierra Nevada Bigfoot || 30.3 || 9.6 || 330
|}
Health effects
A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found that moderate ethanol consumption brought no mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention from ethanol consumption. Some studies have concluded that drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men, per day) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and early death. Some of these studies combined former ethanol drinkers and lifelong abstainers into a single group of nondrinkers, which hides the health benefits of lifelong abstention from ethanol. The long-term health effects of continuous, moderate or heavy alcohol consumption include the risk of developing alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease. Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol use disorder", is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems. It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. In the United States, a total of 3.3 million deaths per year (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol.
Overeating and lack of muscle tone is the main cause of a beer belly, rather than beer consumption, though a 2004 study found a link between binge drinking and a beer belly. Several diet books quote beer as having an undesirably high glycemic index of 110, the same as maltose; however, the maltose in beer undergoes metabolism by yeast during fermentation so that beer consists mostly of water, hop oils and only trace amounts of sugars, including maltose.
The multi-step process of beer production is effective at removing pesticide residues from grain. At each step (e.g. mashing or malting) pesticide levels are typically reduced by 50-90%, varying with the particular process and pesticide's chemical properties.
A 2013 study found that the flavour of beer alone could provoke dopamine activity in the brain of the male participants, who wanted to drink more as a result. The 49 men in the study were subject to positron emission tomography scans, while a computer-controlled device sprayed minute amounts of beer, water and a sports drink onto their tongues. Compared with the taste of the sports drink, the taste of beer significantly increased the participants desire to drink. Test results indicated that the flavour of the beer triggered a dopamine release, even though alcohol content in the spray was insufficient for the purpose of becoming intoxicated.
Society and culture
in Germany. The event is known as the world's largest beer festival.]]
Some of the earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the 1750 BC Babylonian Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a 1800 BC prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, a recipe for it.
In many societies, beer is the most popular alcoholic drink. Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing cards, darts, or other pub games; attending beer festivals; engaging in zythology (the study of beer); visiting a series of pubs in one evening; visiting breweries; beer-oriented tourism; or rating beer. Drinking games, such as beer pong, accompany the drinking of beer. Even having a "shower beer" has developed a following. A relatively new profession is that of the beer sommelier, who informs restaurant patrons about beers and food pairings. Some breweries have developed beers to pair with food. Wine writer Malcolm Gluck disputed the need to pair beer with food, while beer writers Roger Protz and Melissa Cole contested that claim.
Beer is considered to be a social lubricant, and is consumed in countries all over the world. There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, and in some African countries. Sales of beer are four times those of wine, which is the second most popular alcoholic drink. See also
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Beer
Category:Brewing
Category:Alcoholic drinks
Category:Fermented drinks | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.946803 |
3364 | Bit | The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. but this usage is now rare.
In data compression, the goal is to find a shorter representation for a string, so that it requires fewer bits during storage or transmissionbut it must be "compressed" before doing so, and then "decompressed" after. The field of algorithmic information theory is devoted to the study of the "irreducible information content" of a string (i.e. its shortest-possible representation length, in bits), under the assumption that the receiver has minimal a priori knowledge of the method used to compress the string. In error detection and correction, the goal is to add redundant data to a string, to enable the detection and/or correction of errors during storage or transmissionbut the redundant data has to be computed before doing so, and then "checked" or "corrected" after.
The symbol for the binary digit is either "bit", per the IEC 80000-13:2008 standard, or the lowercase character "b", per the IEEE 1541-2002 standard. Use of the latter may create confusion with the capital "B" which is the international standard symbol for the byte.
History
Ralph Hartley suggested the use of a logarithmic measure of information in 1928.
Mass storage devices are usually measured in decimal SI multiples, for example 1 TB = <math>10^{12}</math> bytes.
Confusingly, the storage capacity of a directly-addressable memory device, such as a DRAM chip, or an assemblage of such chips on a memory module, is specified as a binary multiple -- using the ambiguous prefix G rather than the IEC recommended Gi prefix. For example, a DRAM chip that is specified (and advertised) as having "1 GB" of capacity has <math>2^{30}</math> bytes of capacity. As at 2022, the difference between the popular understanding of a memory system with "8 GB" of capacity, and the SI-correct meaning of "8 GB" was still causing difficulty to software designers. Unit and symbol The bit is not defined in the International System of Units (SI). However, the International Electrotechnical Commission issued standard IEC 60027, which specifies that the symbol for binary digit should be 'bit', and this should be used in all multiples, such as 'kbit', for kilobit. However, because of the ambiguity of relying on the underlying hardware design, the unit octet was defined to explicitly denote a sequence of eight bits.
Computers usually manipulate bits in groups of a fixed size, conventionally named "words". Like the byte, the number of bits in a word also varies with the hardware design, and is typically between 8 and 80 bits, or even more in some specialized computers. In the early 21st century, retail personal or server computers have a word size of 32 or 64 bits.
The International System of Units defines a series of decimal prefixes for multiples of standardized units which are commonly also used with the bit and the byte. The prefixes kilo (10<sup>3</sup>) through yotta (10<sup>24</sup>) increment by multiples of one thousand, and the corresponding units are the kilobit (kbit) through the yottabit (Ybit).
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*
*
* (quantum bit)
*
*
* (Trinary digit)
References
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090216151053/http://www.bit-calculator.com/ Bit Calculator] – a tool providing conversions between bit, byte, kilobit, kilobyte, megabit, megabyte, gigabit, gigabyte
* [http://nxu.biz/tools/BitXByteConverter/ BitXByteConverter] – a tool for computing file sizes, storage capacity, and digital information in various units
Category:Binary arithmetic
Category:Primitive types
Category:Data types
Category:Units of information | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit | 2025-04-05T18:26:20.983359 |
3365 | Byte | The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer Those bits in an octet are usually counted with numbering from 0 to 7 or 7 to 0 depending on the bit endianness.
The size of the byte has historically been hardware-dependent and no definitive standards existed that mandated the size. Sizes from 1 to 48 bits have been used. He notes that "Since 1975 or so, the word byte has come to mean a sequence of precisely eight binary digits...When we speak of bytes in connection with MIX we shall confine ourselves to the former sense of the word, harking back to the days when bytes were not yet standardized." The IEC standard defines eight such multiples, up to 1 yottabyte (YB), equal to 1000<sup>8</sup> bytes. The additional prefixes ronna- for 1000<sup>9</sup> and quetta- for 1000<sup>10</sup> were adopted by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 2022.
This definition is most commonly used for data-rate units in computer networks, internal bus, hard drive and flash media transfer speeds, and for the capacities of most storage media, particularly hard drives, flash-based storage, and DVDs. Operating systems that use this definition include macOS, iOS, and Debian. It is also consistent with the other uses of the SI prefixes in computing, such as CPU clock speeds or measures of performance.
Prior art, the IBM System 360 and the related tape systems set the byte at 8 bits. Early 5.25" disks used decimal even though they used 128 byte and 256 byte sectors. Hard disks used mostly 256 byte and then 512 byte before 4096 byte blocks became standard. RAM was always sold in powers of 2. Units based on powers of 2 A system of units based on powers of 2 in which 1 kibibyte (KiB) is equal to 1,024 (i.e., 2<sup>10</sup>) bytes is defined by international standard IEC 80000-13 and is supported by national and international standards bodies (BIPM, IEC, NIST). The IEC standard defines eight such multiples, up to 1 yobibyte (YiB), equal to 1024<sup>8</sup> bytes. The natural binary counterparts to ronna- and quetta- were given in a consultation paper of the International Committee for Weights and Measures' Consultative Committee for Units (CCU) as robi- (Ri, 1024<sup>9</sup>) and quebi- (Qi, 1024<sup>10</sup>), but have not yet been adopted by the IEC or ISO.
An alternative system of nomenclature for the same units (referred to here as the customary convention), in which 1 kilobyte (KB) is equal to 1,024 bytes, 1 megabyte (MB) is equal to 1024<sup>2</sup> bytes and 1 gigabyte (GB) is equal to 1024<sup>3</sup> bytes is mentioned by a 1990s JEDEC standard. Only the first three multiples (up to GB) are mentioned by the JEDEC standard, which makes no mention of TB and larger. While confusing and incorrect, the customary convention is used by the Microsoft Windows operating system and random-access memory capacity, such as main memory and CPU cache size, and in marketing and billing by telecommunication companies, such as Vodafone, AT&T, Orange and Telstra.
For storage capacity, the customary convention was used by macOS and iOS through Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and iOS 10, after which they switched to units based on powers of 10.}}
Contemporary computer memory has a binary architecture making a definition of memory units based on powers of 2 most practical. The use of the metric prefix kilo for binary multiples arose as a convenience, because is approximately . and was advertised as "110 Kbyte", using the 1000 convention. Likewise, the 8-inch DEC RX01 floppy (1975) held bytes formatted, and was advertised as "256k". Some devices were advertised using a mixture of the two definitions: most notably, floppy disks advertised as "1.44 MB" have an actual capacity of , the equivalent of 1.47 MB or 1.41 MiB.
In 1995, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry's (IUPAC) Interdivisional Committee on Nomenclature and Symbols attempted to resolve this ambiguity by proposing a set of binary prefixes for the powers of 1024, including kibi (kilobinary), mebi (megabinary), and gibi (gigabinary).
In December 1998, the IEC addressed such multiple usages and definitions by adopting the IUPAC's proposed prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, etc.) to unambiguously denote powers of 1024. Thus one kibibyte (1 KiB) is 1024<sup>1</sup> bytes 1024 bytes, one mebibyte (1 MiB) is 1024<sup>2</sup> bytes bytes, and so on.
In 1999, Donald Knuth suggested calling the kibibyte a "large kilobyte" (KKB). Modern standard definitions The IEC adopted the IUPAC proposal and published the standard in January 1999. The IEC prefixes are part of the International System of Quantities. The IEC further specified that the kilobyte should only be used to refer to bytes.
Lawsuits over definition
Lawsuits arising from alleged consumer confusion over the binary and decimal definitions of multiples of the byte have generally ended in favor of the manufacturers, with courts holding that the legal definition of gigabyte or GB is 1 GB (10<sup>9</sup>) bytes (the decimal definition), rather than the binary definition (2<sup>30</sup>, i.e., ). Specifically, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held that "the U.S. Congress has deemed the decimal definition of gigabyte to be the 'preferred' one for the purposes of 'U.S. trade and commerce' [...] The California Legislature has likewise adopted the decimal system for all 'transactions in this state.
Earlier lawsuits had ended in settlement with no court ruling on the question, such as a lawsuit against drive manufacturer Western Digital. Western Digital settled the challenge and added explicit disclaimers to products that the usable capacity may differ from the advertised capacity.
Practical examples
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="55"| Unit
!width"450" class"unsortable" | Approximate equivalent
|-
|rowspan="1"|bit
|a Boolean variable indicating true (1) or false (0).
|-
|rowspan="1"|byte
|a basic Latin character.
|-
|rowspan="2"|kilobyte
|text of "Jabberwocky"<!-- text is widely available, easy to count, no source needed-->
|-
|a typical favicon
|-
|rowspan="1"|megabyte
|text of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
|-
|rowspan="2"|gigabyte
|about half an hour of DVD video
|-
|CD-quality uncompressed audio of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
|-
|rowspan="2"|terabyte
|the largest consumer hard drive in 2007
|-
||75 hours of video, encoded at 30 Mbit/second
|-
|petabyte
| years of MP3-encoded music
|-
|rowspan="1"|exabyte
|global monthly Internet traffic in 2004
|-
|zettabyte
|global yearly Internet traffic in 2016 (known as the Zettabyte Era)
|}
Common uses
Many programming languages define the data type byte.
The C and C++ programming languages define byte as an "addressable unit of data storage large enough to hold any member of the basic character set of the execution environment" (clause 3.6 of the C standard). The C standard requires that the integral data type unsigned char must hold at least 256 different values, and is represented by at least eight bits (clause 5.2.4.2.1). Various implementations of C and C++ reserve 8, 9, 16, 32, or 36 bits for the storage of a byte.
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
}}
Further reading
*
* Ashley Taylor. "Bits and Bytes". Stanford. https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-bytes.html
Category:Data types
Category:Units of information
Category:Binary arithmetic
Category:Computer memory
Category:Data unit
Category:Primitive types
Category:1950s neologisms
Category:8 (number) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.038352 |
3370 | Boron nitride | | ImageSize = 140
| ImageName = Magnified sample of crystalline hexagonal boron nitride
| IUPACName = Boron nitride
| Section1 =
| UNII_Ref =
| UNII = 2U4T60A6YD
| PubChem = 66227
| ChemSpiderID = 59612
| ChemSpiderID_Ref =
| EINECS = 233-136-6
| MeSHName = Elbor
| ChEBI_Ref =
| ChEBI = 50883
| RTECS = ED7800000
| Gmelin = 216
| SMILES = B#N
| StdInChI = 1S/BN/c1-2
| StdInChI_Ref =
| InChI = 1S/B2N2/c1-3-2-4-1
| InChI1 = 1S/B3N3/c1-4-2-6-3-5-1
| InChI2 = 1/BN/c1-2
| StdInChIKey = PZNSFCLAULLKQX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
| StdInChIKey_Ref =
| InChIKey = AMPXHBZZESCUCE-UHFFFAOYSA-N
| InChIKey1 = WHDCVGLBMWOYDC-UHFFFAOYSA-N
| InChIKey2 = PZNSFCLAULLKQX-UHFFFAOYAL
}}
| Section2 =
| Section3 =
| Section4 =
| Section5 =
| GHSSignalWord = Warning
| HPhrases =
| PPhrases =
| NFPA-H = 0
| NFPA-F = 0
| NFPA-R = 0
}}
| Section8 =
}}
}}
Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagonal form corresponding to graphite is the most stable and soft among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products. The cubic (zincblende aka sphalerite structure) variety analogous to diamond is called c-BN; it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior. The rare wurtzite BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite but slightly softer than the cubic form.
Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are used in high-temperature equipment and metal casting. Boron nitride has potential use in nanotechnology.
History
Boron nitride was discovered by chemistry teacher of the Liverpool Institute in 1842 via reduction of boric acid with charcoal in the presence of potassium cyanide. Boron Nitride is now used to make nanotubes, and used for mechanical insulation, and other nanomaterials used in the industry and occasionally pharmaceutical purposes, as well as recent development in electronics.
StructureBoron nitride exists in multiple forms that differ in the arrangement of the boron and nitrogen atoms, giving rise to varying bulk properties of the material. Amorphous form (a-BN)
The amorphous form of boron nitride (a-BN) is non-crystalline, lacking any long-distance regularity in the arrangement of its atoms. It is analogous to amorphous carbon.
All other forms of boron nitride are crystalline.
Hexagonal form (h-BN)
The most stable crystalline form is the hexagonal one, also called h-BN, α-BN, g-BN, graphitic boron nitride and "white graphene". Hexagonal boron nitride (point group D<sub>3h</sub>; space group P6<sub>3</sub>/mmc) has a layered structure similar to graphite. Within each layer, boron and nitrogen atoms are bound by strong covalent bonds, whereas the layers are held together by weak van der Waals forces. The interlayer "registry" of these sheets differs, however, from the pattern seen for graphite, because the atoms are eclipsed, with boron atoms lying over and above nitrogen atoms. This registry reflects the local polarity of the B–N bonds, as well as interlayer N-donor/B-acceptor characteristics. Likewise, many metastable forms consisting of differently stacked polytypes exist. Therefore, h-BN and graphite are very close neighbors, and the material can accommodate carbon as a substituent element to form BNCs. BC<sub>6</sub>N hybrids have been synthesized, where carbon substitutes for some B and N atoms. Hexagonal boron nitride monolayer is analogous to graphene, having a honeycomb lattice structure of nearly the same dimensions. Unlike graphene, which is black and an electrical conductor, h-BN monolayer is white and an insulator. It has been proposed for use as an atomic flat insulating substrate or a tunneling dielectric barrier in 2D electronics. .
Cubic form (c-BN)
Cubic boron nitride has a crystal structure analogous to that of diamond. Consistent with diamond being less stable than graphite, the cubic form is less stable than the hexagonal form, but the conversion rate between the two is negligible at room temperature, as it is for diamond. The cubic form has the sphalerite crystal structure (space group F3m), the same as that of diamond (with ordered B and N atoms), and is also called β-BN or c-BN. Wurtzite form (w-BN) The wurtzite form of boron nitride (w-BN; point group C<sub>6v</sub>; space group P6<sub>3</sub>mc) has the same structure as lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal polymorph of carbon. As in the cubic form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into tetrahedra. In the wurtzite form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into 6-membered rings. In the cubic form all rings are in the chair configuration, whereas in w-BN the rings between 'layers' are in boat configuration. Earlier optimistic reports predicted that the wurtzite form was very strong, and was estimated by a simulation as potentially having a strength 18% stronger than that of diamond. Since only small amounts of the mineral exist in nature, this has not yet been experimentally verified. Its hardness is 46 GPa, slightly harder than commercial borides but softer than the cubic form of boron nitride.
! rowspan2 | Diamond
|-
! a-
! h-
! c-
| 10.1-10.7
| 4.5–5.5
| 0
| 5.5
|-
! Refractive index
| 1.7
| 1.8
| 2.1
| 2.05
|
| 2.4
|-
! Magnetic susceptibility <br/>(µemu/g)
|
| −0.48 ∥, <br/>−17.3 ⟂
|
|
| −0.2 – −2.7 ∥, <br/>−20 – −28 ⟂
| −1.6
|}
The partly ionic structure of BN layers in h-BN reduces covalency and electrical conductivity, whereas the interlayer interaction increases resulting in higher hardness of h-BN relative to graphite. The reduced electron-delocalization in hexagonal-BN is also indicated by its absence of color and a large band gap. Very different bonding – strong covalent within the basal planes (planes where boron and nitrogen atoms are covalently bonded) and weak between them – causes high anisotropy of most properties of h-BN.
For example, the hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity are much higher within the planes than perpendicular to them. On the contrary, the properties of c-BN and w-BN are more homogeneous and isotropic.
Those materials are extremely hard, with the hardness of bulk c-BN being slightly smaller and w-BN even higher than that of diamond. Polycrystalline c-BN with grain sizes on the order of 10 nm is also reported to have Vickers hardness comparable or higher than diamond. Because of much better stability to heat and transition metals, c-BN surpasses diamond in mechanical applications, such as machining steel. The thermal conductivity of BN is among the highest of all electric insulators (see table).
Boron nitride can be doped p-type with beryllium and n-type with boron, sulfur, silicon or if co-doped with carbon and nitrogen. or c-BN, then it emits UV light in the range 215–250 nm and therefore can potentially be used as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers.
Little is known on melting behavior of boron nitride. It degrades at 2973 °C, but melts at elevated pressure.Thermal stability
Hexagonal and cubic BN (and probably w-BN) show remarkable chemical and thermal stabilities. For example, h-BN is stable to decomposition at temperatures up to 1000 °C in air, 1400 °C in vacuum, and 2800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The reactivity of h-BN and c-BN is relatively similar, and the data for c-BN are summarized in the table below.
{| class"wikitable" style"margin:10px;"
|+ Reactivity of c-BN with solids Moreover, the thermal transport in the BNNRs is anisotropic. The thermal conductivity of zigzag-edged BNNRs is about 20% larger than that of armchair-edged nanoribbons at room temperature. Mechanical properties BN nanosheets consist of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). They are stable up to 800°C in air. The structure of monolayer BN is similar to that of graphene, which has exceptional strength, a high-temperature lubricant, and a substrate in electronic devices.
The anisotropy of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio depends on the system size. h-BN also exhibits strongly anisotropic strength and toughness, and maintains these over a range of vacancy defects, showing that the anisotropy is independent to the defect type.
Natural occurrence
In 2009, cubic form (c-BN) was reported in Tibet, and the name qingsongite proposed. The substance was found in dispersed micron-sized inclusions in chromium-rich rocks. In 2013, the International Mineralogical Association affirmed the mineral and the name.SynthesisPreparation and reactivity of hexagonal BNHexagonal boron nitride is obtained by the treating boron trioxide () or boric acid () with ammonia () or urea () in an inert atmosphere:
: (T = 900 °C)
: (T = 900 °C)
: (T > 1000 °C)
: (T > 1500 °C)
The resulting disordered (amorphous) material contains 92–95% BN and 5–8% . The remaining can be evaporated in a second step at temperatures in order to achieve BN concentration >98%. Such annealing also crystallizes BN, the size of the crystallites increasing with the annealing temperature.
h-BN parts can be fabricated inexpensively by hot-pressing with subsequent machining. The parts are made from boron nitride powders adding boron oxide for better compressibility. Thin films of boron nitride can be obtained by chemical vapor deposition from borazine. ZYP Coatings also has developed boron nitride coatings that may be painted on a surface. Combustion of boron powder in nitrogen plasma at 5500 °C yields ultrafine boron nitride used for lubricants and toners.
Boron nitride reacts with iodine fluoride to give in low yield.
Boron nitride reacts with nitrides of lithium, alkaline earth metals and lanthanides to form nitridoborates. For example:
:
Intercalation of hexagonal BN
Various species intercalate into hexagonal BN, such as intercalate or alkali metals.
Preparation of cubic BN
c-BN is prepared analogously to the preparation of synthetic diamond from graphite. Direct conversion of hexagonal boron nitride to the cubic form has been observed at pressures between 5 and 18 GPa and temperatures between 1730 and 3230 °C, that is similar parameters as for direct graphite-diamond conversion. The addition of a small amount of boron oxide can lower the required pressure to 4–7 GPa and temperature to 1500 °C. As in diamond synthesis, to further reduce the conversion pressures and temperatures, a catalyst is added, such as lithium, potassium, or magnesium, their nitrides, their fluoronitrides, water with ammonium compounds, or hydrazine. Other industrial synthesis methods, again borrowed from diamond growth, use crystal growth in a temperature gradient, or explosive shock wave. The shock wave method is used to produce material called heterodiamond, a superhard compound of boron, carbon, and nitrogen.
Low-pressure deposition of thin films of cubic boron nitride is possible. As in diamond growth, the major problem is to suppress the growth of hexagonal phases (h-BN or graphite, respectively). Whereas in diamond growth this is achieved by adding hydrogen gas, boron trifluoride is used for c-BN. Ion beam deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, pulsed laser deposition, reactive sputtering, and other physical vapor deposition methods are used as well.Preparation of wurtzite BNWurtzite BN can be obtained via static high-pressure or dynamic shock methods. The limits of its stability are not well defined. Both c-BN and w-BN are formed by compressing h-BN, but formation of w-BN occurs at much lower temperatures close to 1700 °C.
Hexagonal BN was first used in cosmetics around 1940 in Japan. Because of its high price, h-BN was abandoned for this application. Its use was revitalized in the late 1990s with the optimization h-BN production processes, and currently h-BN is used by nearly all leading producers of cosmetic products for foundations, make-up, eye shadows, blushers, kohl pencils, lipsticks and other skincare products.
Hexagonal BN is used in xerographic process and laser printers as a charge leakage barrier layer of the photo drum. In the automotive industry, h-BN mixed with a binder (boron oxide) is used for sealing oxygen sensors, which provide feedback for adjusting fuel flow. The binder utilizes the unique temperature stability and insulating properties of h-BN.
Boron nitride nanosheets (h-BN) can be deposited by catalytic decomposition of borazine at a temperature ~1100 °C in a chemical vapor deposition setup, over areas up to about 10 cm<sup>2</sup>. Owing to their hexagonal atomic structure, small lattice mismatch with graphene (~2%), and high uniformity they are used as substrates for graphene-based devices. BN nanosheets are also excellent proton conductors. Their high proton transport rate, combined with the high electrical resistance, may lead to applications in fuel cells and water electrolysis.
h-BN has been used since the mid-2000s as a bullet and bore lubricant in precision target rifle applications as an alternative to molybdenum disulfide coating, commonly referred to as "moly". It is claimed to increase effective barrel life, increase intervals between bore cleaning and decrease the deviation in point of impact between clean bore first shots and subsequent shots.
h-BN is used as a release agent in molten metal and glass applications. For example, ZYP Coatings developed and currently produces a line of paintable h-BN coatings that are used by manufacturers of molten aluminium, non-ferrous metal, and glass. Because h-BN is nonwetting and lubricious to these molten materials, the coated surface (i.e. mold or crucible) does not stick to the material.
Cubic BN
Cubic boron nitride (CBN or c-BN) is widely used as an abrasive. Its usefulness arises from its insolubility in iron, nickel, and related alloys at high temperatures, whereas diamond is soluble in these metals. Polycrystalline c-BN (PCBN) abrasives are therefore used for machining steel, whereas diamond abrasives are preferred for aluminum alloys, ceramics, and stone. When in contact with oxygen at high temperatures, BN forms a passivation layer of boron oxide. Boron nitride binds well with metals due to formation of interlayers of metal borides or nitrides. Materials with cubic boron nitride crystals are often used in the tool bits of cutting tools. For grinding applications, softer binders such as resin, porous ceramics and soft metals are used. Ceramic binders can be used as well. Commercial products are known under names "Borazon" (by Hyperion Materials & Technologies), and "Elbor" or "Cubonite" (by Russian vendors).
Amorphous BN
Layers of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) are used in some semiconductor devices, e.g. MOSFETs. They can be prepared by chemical decomposition of trichloroborazine with caesium, or by thermal chemical vapor deposition methods. Thermal CVD can be also used for deposition of h-BN layers, or at high temperatures, c-BN.Other forms of boron nitride Atomically thin boron nitride
Hexagonal boron nitride can be exfoliated to mono or few atomic layer sheets. Due to its analogous structure to that of graphene, atomically thin boron nitride is sometimes called white graphene.Mechanical propertiesAtomically thin boron nitride is one of the strongest electrically insulating materials. Monolayer boron nitride has an average Young's modulus of 0.865TPa and fracture strength of 70.5GPa, and in contrast to graphene, whose strength decreases dramatically with increased thickness, few-layer boron nitride sheets have a strength similar to that of monolayer boron nitride.Thermal conductivityAtomically thin boron nitride has one of the highest thermal conductivity coefficients (751 W/mK at room temperature) among semiconductors and electrical insulators, and its thermal conductivity increases with reduced thickness due to less intra-layer coupling.
Thermal stability
The air stability of graphene shows a clear thickness dependence: monolayer graphene is reactive to oxygen at 250 °C, strongly doped at 300 °C, and etched at 450 °C; in contrast, bulk graphite is not oxidized until 800 °C. The excellent thermal stability, high impermeability to gas and liquid, and electrical insulation make atomically thin boron nitride potential coating materials for preventing surface oxidation and corrosion of metals and other two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as black phosphorus.Better surface adsorptionAtomically thin boron nitride has been found to have better surface adsorption capabilities than bulk hexagonal boron nitride. According to theoretical and experimental studies, atomically thin boron nitride as an adsorbent experiences conformational changes upon surface adsorption of molecules, increasing adsorption energy and efficiency. The synergic effect of the atomic thickness, high flexibility, stronger surface adsorption capability, electrical insulation, impermeability, high thermal and chemical stability of BN nanosheets can increase the Raman sensitivity by up to two orders, and in the meantime attain long-term stability and reusability not readily achievable by other materials.
Dielectric properties
Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride is an excellent dielectric substrate for graphene, molybdenum disulfide (), and many other 2D material-based electronic and photonic devices. As shown by electric force microscopy (EFM) studies, the electric field screening in atomically thin boron nitride shows a weak dependence on thickness, which is in line with the smooth decay of electric field inside few-layer boron nitride revealed by the first-principles calculations.
Raman characteristics
Raman spectroscopy has been a useful tool to study a variety of 2D materials, and the Raman signature of high-quality atomically thin boron nitride was first reported by Gorbachev et al. in 2011. and Li et al. It reveals that atomically thin boron nitride without interaction with a substrate has a G band frequency similar to that of bulk hexagonal boron nitride, but strain induced by the substrate can cause Raman shifts. Nevertheless, the Raman intensity of G band of atomically thin boron nitride can be used to estimate layer thickness and sample quality.. The center of each ring corresponds to the center of the pores]]
by BN aerogel. Cyclohexane is stained with Sudan II red dye and is floating on water. Bottom: reuse of the aerogel after burning in air.]]
Boron nitride nanomesh
Boron nitride nanomesh is a nanostructured two-dimensional material. It consists of a single BN layer, which forms by self-assembly a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium or ruthenium surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum. The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores. The distance between two pore centers is 3.2 nm and the pore diameter is ~2 nm. Other terms for this material are boronitrene or white graphene.
The boron nitride nanomesh is air-stable and compatible with some liquids. up to temperatures of 800 °C.]]Boron nitride nanotubes
Boron nitride tubules were first made in 1989 by Shore and Dolan This work was patented in 1989 and published in 1989 thesis (Dolan) and then 1993 Science. The 1989 work was also the first preparation of amorphous BN by B-trichloroborazine and cesium metal.
Boron nitride nanotubes were predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995. They can be imagined as a rolled up sheet of h-boron nitride. Structurally, it is a close analog of the carbon nanotube, namely a long cylinder with diameter of several to hundred nanometers and length of many micrometers, except carbon atoms are alternately substituted by nitrogen and boron atoms. However, the properties of BN nanotubes are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a bandgap of ~5.5 eV, basically independent of tube chirality and morphology. In addition, a layered BN structure is much more thermally and chemically stable than a graphitic carbon structure.Boron nitride aerogel
Boron nitride aerogel is an aerogel made of highly porous BN. It typically consists of a mixture of deformed BN nanotubes and nanosheets. It can have a density as low as 0.6 mg/cm<sup>3</sup> and a specific surface area as high as 1050 m<sup>2</sup>/g, and therefore has potential applications as an absorbent, catalyst support and gas storage medium. BN aerogels are highly hydrophobic and can absorb up to 160 times their weight in oil. They are resistant to oxidation in air at temperatures up to 1200 °C, and hence can be reused after the absorbed oil is burned out by flame. BN aerogels can be prepared by template-assisted chemical vapor deposition using borazine as the feed gas.
Zirconia Stabilized Boron Nitride (ZSBN) is produced by adding zirconia to BN, enhancing its thermal shock resistance and mechanical strength through a sintering process. It offers better performance characteristics including Superior corrosion and erosion resistance over a wide temperature range. Its unique combination of thermal conductivity, lubricity, mechanical strength, and stability makes it suitable for various applications including cutting tools and wear-resistant coatings, thermal and electrical insulation, aerospace and defense, and high-temperature components.
Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN)
Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN), also known as Chemical vapour-deposited Boron Nitride(CVD-BN), is a high-purity ceramic material characterized by exceptional chemical resistance and mechanical strength at high temperatures.
Pyrolytic boron nitride is typically prepared through the thermal decomposition of boron trichloride and ammonia vapors on graphite substrates at 1900°C.
Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) generally has a hexagonal structure similar to hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), though it can exhibit stacking faults or deviations from the ideal lattice. Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) shows some remarkable attributes, including exceptional chemical inertness, high dielectric strength, excellent thermal shock resistance, non-wettability, non-toxicity, oxidation resistance, and minimal outgassing.
Due to a highly ordered planar texture similar to pyrolytic graphite (PG), it exhibits anisotropic properties such as lower dielectric constant vertical to the crystal plane and higher bending strength along the crystal plane. PBN material has been widely manufactured as crucibles of compound semiconductor crystals, output windows and dielectric rods of traveling-wave tubes, high-temperature jigs and insulator.
Health issues
Boron nitride (along with , NbN, and BNC) is generally considered to be non-toxic and does not exhibit chemical activity in biological systems. Due to its excellent safety profile and lubricious properties, boron nitride finds widespread use in various applications, including cosmetics and food processing equipment.See also
* Beta-carbon nitride
* Borazon
* Borocarbonitrides
* Boron suboxide
* Superhard materials
* Wide-bandgap semiconductors
Notes
References
External links
*[http://www.npi.gov.au/resource/boron-and-compounds National Pollutant Inventory: Boron and Compounds]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061014174243/http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BO/boron_nitride.html Materials Safety Data Sheet] at University of Oxford
Category:Boron compounds
Category:Ceramic materials
Category:Nitrides
Category:III-V semiconductors
Category:Non-petroleum based lubricants
Category:Dry lubricants
Category:Abrasives
Category:Superhard materials
Category:Neutron poisons
Category:Monolayers
Category:III-V compounds
Category:Boron–nitrogen compounds
Category:Zincblende crystal structure
Category:Wurtzite structure type | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.171994 |
3371 | Bach (disambiguation) | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer of the Baroque period.
Bach may also refer to:
People
Bach (surname)
Bach family, a noted family in music
Bach (actor), stage name of French actor, singer and music hall performer Charles-Joseph Pasquier (1882–1953)
Sebastian Bach (born 1968), stage name of Canadian heavy metal singer Sebastian Bierk
King Bach, American actor, comedian, and Internet personality
Bill Bachrach (1879–1959), American swim coach known as "Bach"
Joel Sirkis (1561–1640), Polish posek and halakhist, known as "the Bach"
P. D. Q. Bach (1807–1742), a fictitious composer invented by musical satirist Peter Schickele
Nigel Bach, the nom de plume of Tom Fanslau, the creator of the Bad Ben series
Places
Bach, Austria, a municipality in Reutte
Bach, Lot, a commune in France
Bach an der Donau, a town in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany
Bäch, a settlement of the Freienbach municipality in Schwyz, Switzerland
Bäch railway station, in Freienbach, Switzerland
Bach, Michigan, US, an unincorporated community
Bach Ice Shelf, on Alexander Island, Antarctica
Bach quadrangle, on the planet Mercury
Bach (crater), on the planet Mercury
1814 Bach, an asteroid
Radio stations
WBQK, a radio station licensed to West Point, Virginia, US, known as Bach FM
WLTT, a defunct radio station formerly licensed to Carolina Beach, North Carolina, US, known as Bach FM from 2011 to 2013
Other uses
Bach Gesellschaft, an 1850 society for publishing J.S. Bach's complete works
Bach (journal), an academic journal of Baroque music
BACH motif, a sequence of notes
Bach (New Zealand), a modest holiday home or beach house
Brown Association for Cooperative Housing, in Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Bach Aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer from 1927 to 1931
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (abbreviated BWV), a catalogue of compositions by J.S. Bach
Quarry Bach, a slate quarry near Cilgerran, Wales
See also
Bache (disambiguation)
Bach House (disambiguation)
Batch (disambiguation)
Bạch, a Vietnamese surname
Bachs, a municipality in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_(disambiguation) | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.205089 |
3374 | Blood on the Tracks | | recorded = September 16–19 and December 27–30, 1974
| studio = *A & R, New York City
*Sound 80, Minneapolis
| genre *Folk
*folk rock
| length
| label = Columbia
| producer
| prev_title = Before the Flood
| prev_year = 1974
| next_title = The Basement Tapes
| next_year = 1975
| misc =
}}
Blood on the Tracks is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975, by Columbia Records. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dylan began recording the album at an A & R studio in New York City in September 1974. In December, shortly before Columbia was due to release the album, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of the material in Sound 80 studio in Minneapolis. The final album contains five tracks recorded in New York and five from Minneapolis. The songs have been linked to tensions in Dylan's personal life, including his estrangement from his then-wife Sara. One of their children, Jakob Dylan, described the songs as "my parents talking". Dylan denied that the songs were autobiographical.
Although Blood on the Tracks initially received mixed reviews from critics, it has retrospectively been acclaimed as one of Dylan's best albums by both critics and fans and various publications have since listed it as one of the greatest albums of all time. It was a commercial success, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, with the single "Tangled Up in Blue" peaking at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of Dylan's best-selling studio releases, with a double-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for at least two million copies sold in the United States. In 2015, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Blood on the Tracks was voted number 7 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In 2003, the album was ranked number 16 on Rolling Stone<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, rising to number 9 in the 2020 revision of the list. In 2004, it was placed at number 5 on Pitchfork<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 1970s". A high-definition 5.1 surround sound edition of the album was released on SACD by Columbia in 2003.
Background and recording
At the conclusion of his 1974 tour with the Band, Dylan began a relationship with a Columbia Records employee, Ellen Bernstein, which Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin has described as the beginning of the end of Dylan's marriage to his wife Sara. In spring 1974, Dylan was in New York for several weeks while he attended art classes with the painter Norman Raeben. Dylan subsequently gave Raeben credit in interviews for transforming his understanding of time, and during the summer of 1974 Dylan began to write a series of songs in a series of three small notebooks which used his new knowledge:
Bloomfield later recalled the experience: "They all began to sound the same to me; they were all in the same key; they were all long. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. He was sort of pissed off that I didn't pick it up." In the end, Dylan rejected the idea of recording the album with a band, and instead substituted stripped-down acoustic arrangements for all of his songs. On August 2, 1974, Dylan signed a contract with Columbia Records. After releasing his two previous albums, Planet Waves and Before the Flood, on Asylum Records, Dylan decided his new album would benefit from the commercial muscle of the record label that had made him famous, and his new contract gave him increased control over his own masters. A & R Studios was the former Columbia Records "Studio A", where Dylan had recorded six albums in the 1960s.
Eric Weissberg and his band, Deliverance, originally recruited as session men, were rejected after two days of recording because they could not keep up with Dylan's pace. Dylan retained bassist Tony Brown from the band, and soon added organist Paul Griffin (who had also worked on Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde) and steel guitarist Buddy Cage. After ten days and four sessions with the current lineup, Dylan had finished recording and mixing, and, by November, had cut a test pressing of the album. Columbia began to prepare to release the album before Christmas.
Dylan played the test pressing for his brother, David Zimmerman, who persuaded Dylan the album would not sell because the overall sound was too stark. Robert Christgau also heard the early version of the album and called it "a sellout to the memory of Dylan's pre-electric period". The version on the original test pressing was given a limited release in 2019 for Record Store Day.
Outtakes
The five New York acetate recordings that were replaced on the official album have been officially released on varied reissues archival releases, but only in 2019 did an official release of the original test pressing get released, as a limited-edition vinyl-only Record Store Day release. The acetate version of "You're a Big Girl Now" was released on 1985's Biograph. New York takes of "Tangled Up in Blue", "Idiot Wind", and "If You See Her, Say Hello" were released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1–3, but these were not the versions on the original test pressing. That collection also includes "Call Letter Blues", an outtake/early version of "Meet Me in the Morning" with alternate lyrics. "Up to Me", another outtake from these sessions, was also released on 1985's Biograph. An alternate take of the song "Shelter from the Storm" is featured in the original soundtrack album for Jerry Maguire (1996). An alternate take of "Meet Me in the Morning" was released on the B-side of the Record Store Day 2012 release of "Duquesne Whistle". The acetate versions of "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts", "If You See Her, Say Hello", and "Tangled Up in Blue" were not released officially until 2018, when they were released, alongside 70 previously unreleased recordings, on the 6-disc deluxe edition of More Blood, More Tracks, volume 14 of Dylan's ongoing archival Bootleg Series. Despite featuring multiple versions of nearly every song from the sessions, the actual mix of "Idiot Wind" found on the test pressing is not in the box set, and was only made available on the aforementioned 2019 reissue.Artwork and packaging
The front cover shows Bob Dylan in a portrait in profile looking to the left. To the left of this is a burgundy color strip with the artist's name and album title, both in white and underlined. While the cover image looks like a painting, it is a heavily edited photograph by Paul Till (who is credited accordingly). Till explained that the picture was taken with a telephoto lens at a concert in the Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto on January 10, 1974. When developing the photo he solarized it, then handcolored it using watercolors.
The backcover shows, depending on the edition, one of two lithographs by David Oppenheim. The main difference is between a version issued with and one issued without liner notes. The liner notes were written by Pete Hamill, then removed by Columbia Records for later 1975 pressings - which is when the lithograph was switched out - and then reinstated after Hamill was awarded a Grammy for his comments. There exist later issues of both versions of the back cover.
Autobiographical interpretation
The songs that constitute Blood on the Tracks have been described by many Dylan critics as stemming from his personal turmoil at the time, particularly his estrangement from his then-wife Sara Dylan. One of Bob and Sara Dylan's children, Jakob Dylan, has said, "When I'm listening to Blood On The Tracks, that's about my parents."
Dylan has denied this autobiographical interpretation, stating in a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, "A lot of people thought that album pertained to me. It didn't pertain to me ... I'm not going to make an album and lean on a marriage relationship." Informed of the album's popularity, Dylan told Mary Travers in a radio interview in April 1975: "A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. It's hard for me to relate to that. I mean ... people enjoying that type of pain, you know?" Addressing whether the album described his own personal pain, Dylan replied that he didn't write "confessional songs". However, on the live At Budokan album, Dylan seems to acknowledge the autobiographical nature of the song "Simple Twist of Fate" by introducing it as "Here's a simple love story. Happened to me." And in a 1978 interview, he responded to an observation that the album was confessional and that "Tangled Up in Blue" drew on his relationship with Sara by saying, "There might be some little part of me which is confessing something which I've experienced and I know, but is not definitely the total me confessing anything."
According to Rolling Stone, in Dylan's lyric notebook, the working title of "Simple Twist of Fate" was "4th Street Affair"; Dylan and Suze Rotolo lived at 161 W. 4th St. The narrator of the song memorializes an affair of ten years ago instead of singing about Dylan's marriage. In Hot Press, writing about the three known lyric notebooks for the songs, Anne Margaret Daniel noted that "Simple Twist of Fate" was first entitled "Snowbound", and set in part, like "Tangled Up in Blue", in a New York City apartment.
In his 2004 memoir, Chronicles, Vol. 1, Dylan stated that the songs have nothing to do with his personal life, and that they were inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekhov.Critical reception and legacy
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
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| rev10Score A while Crawdaddy magazine's Jim Cusimano found the instrumentation incompetent.
An influential review of the album was written by Dylan critic Michael Gray for the magazine Let It Rock. Gray argued that it transformed the cultural perception of Dylan, and that he was no longer defined as "the major artist of the sixties. Instead, Dylan has legitimized his claim to a creative prowess as vital now as then—a power not bounded by the one decade he so affected." This view was amplified by Clinton Heylin, who wrote: "Ten years after he turned the rock & roll brand of pop into rock ... [Dylan] renewed its legitimacy as a form capable of containing the work of a mature artist."
Since its initial reception, Blood on the Tracks has been viewed by critics as one of Dylan's best albums. In Salon.com, Wyman wrote: "Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years." Bell, in his critical biography of Dylan, wrote that Blood on the Tracks was proof that "Dylan had won the argument over his refusal to argue about politics. In this, he began to seem prescient." Bell concluded the album "might well count as one of the best things Dylan ever did". Novelist Rick Moody called it "the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape".
A result of the acclaim surrounding the album has been that when critics have praised one of Dylan's subsequent albums, they have often described it as "his best since Blood on the Tracks". According to music journalist Rob Sheffield, Blood on the Tracks became a benchmark album for Dylan in the years that followed because it was "such a stunning comeback".
Hip hop group Public Enemy reference it in their 2007 Dylan tribute song "Long and Whining Road": "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back / You bet there's blood on them Bomb Squad tracks".
A film adaptation of the album is currently in pre-production, under the direction of Luca Guadagnino.
Track listing
Personnel
For personnel details, see Heylin, 1996 and Björner, 2014. Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.Personnel
* Bob Dylan – lead vocals, acoustic guitar; mandolin (8); hammond organ (4); harmonica (1–5, 7, 9)
* Chris Weber – acoustic guitar (1, 3, 4, 7); twelve-string guitar (8)
* Kevin Odegard – acoustic guitar (1)
* Eric Weissberg – acoustic guitar (6)
* Charles Brown III – electric guitar (6)
* Buddy Cage – pedal steel guitar (6)
* Peter Ostroushko – mandolin (8)
* Gregg Inhofer – piano (3, 4); keyboards (1); Hammond organ (7, 8)
* Thomas McFaul – keyboards (6)
* Billy Peterson – bass guitar (1, 4, 7)
* Tony Brown – bass guitar (2, 5, 6, 9, 10)
* Bill Berg – drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 8)
* Richard Crooks – drums (6)
Technical
* Bob Dylan – producer
* Phil Ramone – producer
* Philip Rabinowitz – engineering
* Paul Martinson – engineering
* Glenn Berger – tape operator, assistant engineer
* Paul Till – photography
* Ron Coro – art direction
* Pete Hamill – liner notes
* David Oppenheim – illustrations
MInvolved in the Minneapolis recording sessions
NYInvolved in the New York recording sessions
Cover albums
In 2002, Mary Lee's Corvette released an album covering Blood on the Tracks in its entirety.
In 2022, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams also released an album covering each song on the album track-by-track.Charts
Weekly charts
{| class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1975)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope"row"| Canadian Albums (RPM)
| 1
|-
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!scope"row"|Spanish Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
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! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2019)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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Year-end charts
{| class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1975)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 31
|-
! scope"row" | UK Albums (OCC)
| 49
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| 40
|-
|}
Singles
{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"|
! scope"col" rowspan"2"| Year
! scope"col" rowspan"2"| Single
! scope"col" colspan"1"| Peak position
|-
! style"width:2em;"| US<br />
|-
! scope="row"| 1975
| "Tangled Up in Blue"
| style="text-align:center;"| 31
|}
Certifications
References Citations General sources
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External links
<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->
* [https://open.spotify.com/album/4WD4pslu83FF6oMa1e19mF Blood on the Tracks] (Adobe Flash) at Spotify (streamed copy where licensed – registration required)
*
* [http://www.superseventies.com/spdylanbob2.html Reviews], superseventies.com
* [http://www.prx.org/pieces/135893-right-on-target-so-direct-bob-dylan-s-blood-on Public Radio Special], "Right On Target, So Direct: Bob Dylan's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS"
Category:1975 albums
Category:Albums produced by Bob Dylan
Category:Bob Dylan albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
Category:Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_on_the_Tracks | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.299919 |
3375 | Love and Theft (Bob Dylan album) | | recorded = May 2001
| venue | studio Clinton Recording, New York City
| genre
| length
| label = Columbia
| producer = Jack Frost (Bob Dylan's pseudonym)
| prev_title = Live 1961–2000: Thirty-Nine Years of Great Concert Performances
| prev_year = 2001
| next_title = The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue
| next_year = 2002
}}
"Love and Theft" is the thirty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 11, 2001, by Columbia Records. It featured backing by his touring band of the time, with keyboardist Augie Meyers added for the sessions. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The album's highest chart positions worldwide were in Norway and Sweden, where it peaked at No. 1, giving Dylan his first No. 1 album in Norway since Infidels, and his first No. 1 album ever in Sweden. A limited edition release included a separate disc with two bonus tracks recorded in the early 1960s, and two years later, on September 16, 2003, this album was remixed into 5.1 surround sound and became one of 15 Dylan titles reissued and remastered for SACD playback.
Background and recording
"Love and Theft" was the first album Dylan recorded with his Never Ending Tour road band. This is a trend that would continue with his subsequent eight studio albums. Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell recalls Dylan showing him the chord changes for the new song "Po' Boy" shortly after the band had recorded Dylan's Oscar-winning original and non-album song "Things Have Changed" in 1999: "They were relatively sophisticated changes for a Bob Dylan song [...] That was the first inkling of what the material might be like—taking elements from the jazz era and adding a folk sensibility to it".
David Kemper, Dylan's drummer at the time, described in an interview how the sound of "Love and Theft" arose from lessons the band had absorbed from Dylan: "I didn't realise we were actually headed somewhere. I wasn't smart enough to realise: you are in the School of Bob. But when we went in to record "Love And Theft", I realised then, because the influences were really so old on that record. It comes from really early Americana, way back at the turn of the century, and the 1920s. And not everybody in the band was familiar with that style of playing. And I know that the songs that he would bring in would be these amazing examples of early Americana. Nobody that I know, knows as much about American music as Bob Dylan. He has spent so much time trying to understand, and collecting these songs—it was like a never stopping resource. He was always coming up with these songs or artists that I had never heard of. And then when we went in and recorded "Love And Theft" it was like, oh my God, he's been teaching us this music—not literally these songs, but these styles. And as a band, we're familiar with every one of these. That's why we could cut a song a day […] and the album was done".
As Kemper indicated, the twelve songs on "Love and Theft" were recorded in just 12 days in May 2001 at Clinton Recording in Midtown Manhattan. The recording sessions were notable for their spontaneity. According to engineer Chris Shaw, "What surprised me was how quickly [Dylan] would abandon an arrangement when he was working. He'd say, 'What's the tempo? Let's do it in F and drop the tempo down and do it like a Western swing tune, and I want the drummer to play brushes, not drums.' And suddenly the song was completely different. Nothing was set in stone until he found that key, tempo and style that fit that vocal and that lyric".
For his part, Dylan had been interested in working with Chris Shaw when he heard Shaw had gotten his start on Public Enemy's early records. Dylan praised Shaw's work as an engineer during a press conference in Rome to promote "Love and Theft" in 2001: After complaining that previous producers had botched the recording of his vocals, he was asked if he felt it was difficult to record his voice in the studio. Dylan referenced Shaw when he responded, "I don't think so […] On this particular record we had a young guy who understood how to do it." Dylan would subsequently employ Shaw to engineer and mix his albums Modern Times (2006) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020) as well as various non-album tracks.Content
The album continued Dylan's artistic comeback following 1997's Time Out of Mind and was given an even more enthusiastic reception. The title of the album was apparently inspired by historian Eric Lott's book Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class, which was published in 1993. "Love and Theft becomes his Fables of the Reconstruction, to borrow an R.E.M. album title", writes Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune (published September 11, 2001), "the myths, mysteries and folklore of the South as a backdrop for one of the finest roots rock albums ever made".
The opening track, "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum", includes many references to parades in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where participants are masked, and "determined to go all the way" of the parade route, in spite of being intoxicated. "It rolls in like a storm, drums galloping over the horizon into ear shot, guitar riffs slicing with terse dexterity while a tale about a pair of vagabonds unfolds," writes Kot. "It ends in death, and sets the stage for an album populated by rogues, con men, outcasts, gamblers, gunfighters and desperados, many of them with nothing to lose, some of them out of their minds, all of them quintessentially American.
Offered the song by Dylan, Sheryl Crow later recorded an up-tempo cover of "Mississippi" for her The Globe Sessions, released in 1998, before Dylan revisited it for "Love and Theft". Subsequently, the Dixie Chicks made it a mainstay of their Top of the World, Vote for Change, and Accidents & Accusations Tours.
As music critic Tim Riley notes, "[Dylan's] singing [on Love and Theft ] shifts artfully between humble and ironic...'I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound,' he sings in 'Floater,' which is either hilarious or horrifying, and probably a little of both".
"Love and Theft is, as the title implies, a kind of homage," writes Kot, "[and] never more so than on 'High Water (for Charley Patton),' in which Dylan draws a sweeping portrait of the South's racial history, with the unsung blues singer as a symbol of the region's cultural richness and ingrained social cruelties. Rumbling drums and moaning backing vocals suggest that things are going from bad to worse. 'It's tough out there,' Dylan rasps. 'High water everywhere.' Death and dementia shadow the album, tempered by tenderness and wicked gallows humor".
"'Po' Boy', scored for guitar with lounge chord jazz patterns, 'almost sounds as if it could have been recorded around 1920", says Riley. "He leaves you dangling at the end of each bridge, lets the band punctuate the trail of words he's squeezed into his lines, which gives it a reluctant soft-shoe charm".
The album closes with "Sugar Baby", a lengthy, dirge-like ballad, noted for its evocative, apocalyptic imagery and sparse production drenched in echo. Praising it as "a finale to be proud of", Riley notes that "Sugar Baby" is "built on a disarmingly simple riff that turns foreboding".
In a Rolling Stone interview with Mikal Gilmore, Dylan himself summarized the album's themes as dealing with "business, politics and war, and maybe love interest on the side".Release and promotionAlthough no singles were released from the album, Dylan appeared in a 30-second commercial featuring the song "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" that appeared online on August 28, 2001, and on network television beginning on September 3, 2001. The spot, directed by Kinka Usher, shows Dylan in a tense poker game with magician Ricky Jay, actress Francine York and Dharma & Greg writer Eddie Gorodetsky. The poker setting was Dylan's idea and, according to Usher, he only made one request of the director: "He said, `You know, I just don't want it to be corporate'. And I assured him that I wasn't going to do that, I was going to shoot it like a little film. I know he's very happy with it".
Dylan also consented to what, for him, was an unusual number of interviews with press to promote the album. On July 23, 2001, he participated in a press conference at the Hotel de la Ville in Rome with reporters from Austria, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. He was also interviewed by Edna Gundersen for USA Today, Robert Hilburn for the Los Angeles Times and Mikal Gilmore for Rolling Stone. All of these interviews appeared shortly before or shortly after the album's release on September 11, 2001.PackagingThe album's cover features a black-and-white photograph of Dylan, sporting a then-new pencil-thin mustache, which was taken in the studio by Kevin Mazur. The back cover features a black-and-white portrait of Dylan taken by photographer David Gahr. Mazur also took the album's inside cover photo of Dylan and the "Love and Theft" band (including organist Augie Meyers). The album's art direction is credited to Geoff Gans.
Reception and legacy
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The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. It was nominated for Album of the Year and the track "Honest with Me" was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
In a glowing review for his "Consumer Guide" column published by The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote: "If Time Out of Mind was his death album—it wasn't, but you know how people talk—this is his immortality album". It also topped Rolling Stones list. Q listed "Love and Theft" as one of the best 50 albums of 2001. Kludge ranked it at number eight on their list of best albums of 2001.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 467 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, climbing to number 385 in the 2012 update and dropping to number 411 in the 2020 update of the list. Newsweek magazine pronounced it the second best album of its decade. In 2009, Glide Magazine ranked it as the No. 1 Album of the Decade. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "The predictably unpredictable rock poet greeted the new millennium with a folksy, bluesy instant classic".
In a 2020 list of "Bob Dylan's 10 greatest albums" in Far Out magazine, "Love and Theft" was ranked seventh. An article accompanying the list characterized the album as one in which "Dylan turns into a historian and showcases the music which moves him. It is another rootsy affair and one which feels capable of stirring up the ghosts of music past all on its own". A 2020 article at the Ultimate Classic Rock website also placed "Love and Theft" seventh in the Dylan pantheon, noting that it "plays like an attic-sweeping of songs and themes Dylan and others left behind over the years" and that it evokes "long-gone musical spirits from the other turn of the century". Finally, Glide Magazine likewise placed "Love and Theft" seventh in a comprehensive list ranking all of Dylan's albums, writing that "Dylan here pulls readers through a bevy of American song traditions" and that "each song recaptures and renews a sub-genre that influenced Dylan's career". Ian O'Riordan, in a 2021 article in the Irish Times, ranked the album sixth out of the 39, praising David Kemper's drumming and citing "Lonesome Day Blues" as his favourite track.
Johnny Cash, in a 2001 interview with The New York Times, named it as Dylan's best album.
Critic Jake Cole, in a 2021 Spectrum Culture article celebrating the album's 20th anniversary, referred to it as Dylan's most eclectic work "from the storming rock of 'Lonesome Day Blues' to the gorgeous slow-dance lounge number 'Moonlight', which points straight at Dylan's later Great American Songbook phase of the 2010s. In that sense, ''Love and Theft' might be the closest that Dylan ever came to capturing the spirit of his lauded Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the studio. If that roadshow was conceived as a way to rummage through folk tradition and feeding it into some kind of interpretive revivalism, this album codifies that approach into a freewheeling tour of blues, jazz, country and folk, all of it wrangled into a form of rock so rustic that even roots rock sounds modern compared to it".Allegations of plagiarism"Love and Theft"'' generated controversy when some similarities between the album's lyrics and Japanese writer Junichi Saga's book Confessions of a Yakuza were pointed out. Translated to English by John Bester, the book is a biography of one of the last traditional yakuza bosses in Japan. In the article published in the Journal, a line from "Floater" ("I'm not quite as cool or forgiving as I sound") was traced to a line in the book, which said "I'm not as cool or forgiving as I might have sounded." Another line from "Floater" is "My old man, he's like some feudal lord". One line in the book's first chapter is, "My old man would sit there like a feudal lord." However, when informed of this, author Saga's reaction was one of having been honored rather than abused from Dylan's use of lines from his work. Similarly, in defense of Dylan, Robert Christgau wrote: "All pop music is love and theft, and in 40 years of records whose sources have inspired volumes of scholastic exegesis, Dylan has never embraced that truth so warmly."
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Personnel
* Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, record production
* Larry Campbell – guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin
* Charlie Sexton – guitar
* Augie Meyers – accordion, Hammond B3 organ, Vox organ
* Tony Garnier – bass guitar and upright bass
* David Kemper – drums
* Clay Meyers – bongos
* Chris Shaw – engineering
Charts
Weekly charts
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!scope"row"|Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)
| style="text-align:center;"|21
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Year-end charts
{| class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for "Love and Theft" by Bob Dylan
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope"row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 148
|-
! scope"row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
| 84
|-
! scope"row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 91
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| 200
|}
Certifications
ReferencesExternal links*[https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v342051386610410 Love and Theft commercial] at Bob Dylan's official Facebook page
*[http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/love-and-theft/ Lyrics] at Bob Dylan's official site
*[http://dylanchords.com/41_lat Chords] at Dylanchords
Category:2001 albums
Category:Albums produced by Bob Dylan
Category:Bob Dylan albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
Category:Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album
Category:Albums involved in plagiarism controversies
Category:Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Theft_(Bob_Dylan_album) | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.356461 |
3376 | The Beverly Hillbillies | | opentheme = "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" played by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, sung by Jerry Scoggins
| composer | country United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 9
| num_episodes = 274
| list_episodes = list of The Beverly Hillbillies episodes
| executive_producer =
| producer | cinematography
| camera = Single-camera
| runtime = 25 minutes
| company =
| network = CBS
| first_aired =
| last_aired =
| related =
}}
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri who move to posh Beverly Hills, California after striking oil on their land. The show was produced by Filmways and was created by Paul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning-inspired "country cousin" series on CBS: Petticoat Junction and its spin-off Green Acres, which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of The Beverly Hillbillies.
The Beverly Hillbillies ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, ranking as the No.1 series of the year during its first two seasons, with 16 episodes that still remain among the 100 most-watched television episodes in American history. It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. It remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film adaptation by 20th Century Fox.Premise
The series starts with Jed Clampett, a poor, widowed hillbilly who lives with his daughter and mother-in-law near an oil-rich swamp in Silver Dollar City in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.
The opening sequence shows Jed discovering oil while shooting at a rabbit, although the first episode shows the oil being discovered by a surveyor for the OK Oil Company. The company pays Jed many millions of dollars for the right to drill on his land. Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine prods him to move to California now that he is wealthy and pressures him into taking her son Jethro along. The family moves into a mansion in upscale Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed's banker, Milburn Drysdale, and his wife, Margaret, who is appalled by the hillbilly Clampetts.
The Clampetts bring an unsophisticated, simple, moral lifestyle to the wealthy and sometimes superficial community. Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom's humor. Plots often involve Drysdale's outlandish efforts to keep the Clampetts' money in his bank and his wife's efforts to rid the neighborhood of "those hillbillies". The family's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often the result of Granny feeling slighted by the "city folk".
Characters
Three of the main charactersJed, Granny and Elly Mayappear in all 274 episodes. Jethro (272 episodes) is not in the last two episodes of the series, having gone into hiding to avoid an anticipated marriage proposal.
Jed Clampett
Good-natured patriarch Jed Clampett (portrayed by Buddy Ebsen) has little formal education and is naive about the world outside the rural area where he lived but has a great deal of wisdom and common sense. His forebears are revealed in series 1, episode 25, to have come to America before the Mayflower arrived. However, he later denies this to avoid offending Mrs. Drysdale.
He is the widower of Granny's daughter, Rose Ellen (Buddy Ebsen was only 5 years younger than Irene Ryan). He is the son of Luke Clampett and his wife and has a sister called Myrtle. In episode 13, it is revealed that Jed's grandfather was 98 when he married Jed's grandmother, who was 18. In an early episode, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother. He is usually the straight man to Granny's and Jethro's antics. His catchphrase is, "Welllllll, doggies!"Granny
Daisy May Moses (portrayed by Irene Ryan in all 274 episodes), called "Granny" by all, is Jed's mother-in-law, so is often called "Granny Clampett" in spite of her last name and despite the fact that in the pilot episode Milburn Drysdale refers to her as Jed's mother. She is a descendant of the Moses clan, who feuded with another family, the Bodkins, and drove them out of Napoleon, Tennessee. In Season 9, Episode 23, Granny states that she is "from Limestone, Tennessee".
Granny has an abrasive personality and is quick to anger but is often overruled by Jed. She is a devout Confederate and fancies herself a Baptist Christian ("dunked, not sprinkled"). A self-styled "M.D." ("mountain doctor"), Granny uses her "white lightning" brew as a form of anesthesia when performing painful treatments such as leeching or tooth pulling. She often refers to the concoction as "rheumatize medicine". Like the other Clampetts, she is known to take things literally, having thought Mrs. Drysdale had turned herself into a bird using black magic (astrology) and mistook an escaped kangaroo for a giant jackrabbit (but failed to convince anyone of its existence).
Paul Henning discarded the idea of making Granny Jed's mother, which would have changed the show's dynamics, making Granny the matriarch and Jed her subordinate.
Elly May Clampett
Elly May (portrayed by Donna Douglas in all 274 episodes), the only child of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, is a mountain beauty with the body of a pin-up girl and the soul of a tomboy. In a very early episode, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother. She can throw a fastball and "wrassle" most men to a fall, and she can be tender with her friends, animals, and family. She says once that animals can be better companions than people, but as she grows older, she allows that "fellas kin be more fun than critters." In addition to the family dog, Duke (an old Bloodhound), a number of pets live on the Clampett estate thanks to Elly May's love of animals.
She is a terrible cook and family members cringe whenever she takes over the kitchen. Elly May is easily in her 20s, but Granny usually promotes her age as "14" since an unmarried mountain woman as old as Elly May is considered an old maid.
In the 1981 reunion TV movie, Elly May is the head of a zoo.
Jethro Bodine
as Jethro (1962)]]
Jethro (portrayed by Max Baer Jr. in 272 episodes) is the dim-witted son of Jed's cousin, Pearl Bodine (in a customary practice, he addresses Jedhis once-removed elder cousinas "Uncle Jed", just as his second cousin, Elly May, addresses Jethro's mother as "Aunt Pearl"). Pearl's mother and Jed's father were siblings. Jethro drives the Clampett family to their new home in California and stays on with them to further his education. In the first season, he is in the fifth grade, having spent three years in the fourth grade and two years in the first grade. The others boast of Jethro's "sixth-grade education". Jethro often speaks enthusiastically of his abilities in "cipherin'" (1 and 1 is 2, 2 and 2 is 4), and "gazintas" (4 gazinta 8 2 times, 3 gazinta 12 4 times), and he is ignorant about nearly every aspect of modern California life. In one episode, he attends a local secretarial school and is so disruptive that he is given a diploma at the end of the day to keep him from returning. In real life, Max Baer Jr. has a bachelor's degree in business administration, minoring in philosophy, from Santa Clara University.
Many story lines involve Jethro's endless career search. He considers becoming a brain surgeon, a fry cook, a millwright, a street car conductor, a spy, a telephone lineman, a soda jerk, a chauffeur, a USAF general, a sculptor, a restaurant owner, a psychiatrist, a bookkeeper for Milburn Drysdale's bank, a talent agent for "cousin" Bessie and "Cousin Roy" (see below), and a Hollywood producer. More often than not, his goal is merely to meet pretty girls. Miss Hathaway has a crush on him, but he is oblivious to this. Of all the Clampett clan, he is the most eager to embrace city life. Jethro has a huge appetite—in one episode, he eats a jetliner's entire supply of steaks, in another he tries to set himself up as a Hollywood agent for cousin "Bessie" the chimpanzee—with a fee of 10,000 bananas for Bessie and 1,000 for him. When "Cousin Roy" (Roy Clark) comes from "the hills" to Beverly Hills to become a country music star, Jethro refuses to be his agent when Roy becomes a success. Jethro does not appear in the third- or second-to-last episodes, but Baer remains billed in the title credits.
As of 2025, Baer is the only surviving main cast member.Milburn DrysdaleMilburn Drysdale (portrayed by Raymond Bailey in 247 episodes) is the Clampetts' banker, confidant, and next-door neighbor. He is obsessed with money and to keep the Clampetts' $96,000,000 (in 1969; ) in his Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, Mr. Drysdale will go to great lengths to cater to their wishes. He often forces others, especially his long-suffering secretary, to help fulfill their outlandish requests. He is a descendant of the Bodkins family from Tennessee. It is revealed in the first season that Granny's clan, the Moses family, feuded with the Bodkins family and drove them from Napoleon, Tennessee. A recurring comedic scene shows Drysdale angrily answering his phone only to find Jed on the other end of the line, at which point Drysdale's demeanor instantly changes to one of good humor and accommodation.
Jane Hathaway
(center) as Jane Hathaway, with Max Baer Jr. and Sharon Tate (in a dark wig)]]
Jane Hathaway (portrayed by Nancy Kulp in 246 episodes), whom the Clampetts address as "Miss Jane", is Drysdale's loyal, well-educated, efficient secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills. She is genuinely fond of the family and tries to shield them from her boss's greed. Miss Hathaway frequently has to "rescue" Drysdale from his schemes, receiving little or no thanks for her efforts. The Clampetts consider her family; even Granny, the one most averse to living in California, likes her. Jane has a crush on Jethro for most of the series' run. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Jane Hathaway number 38 on its list titled "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time".Recurring characters
* Margaret Drysdale (portrayed by Harriet MacGibbon in 55 episodes) is the snobbish wife of Milburn Drysdale. She is appalled by the Clampetts and their hillbilly lifestyle. She touts herself as a "blue-blooded Bostonian" and repeatedly tries to drive the Clampetts out of Beverly Hills, without success.
* "Cousin" Pearl Bodine (portrayed by Bea Benaderet in 23 episodes) is Jethro's mother and Jed's first cousin. Pearl encouraged the Clampetts to move to Beverly Hills and is envious of their wealth. She attempts to achieve success through various schemes, including wooing oil man John Brewster and finding a wealthy husband for her daughter Jethrine.
* Jethrine Bodine (portrayed by Max Baer Jr., voiced by Linda Kaye Henning in 11 episodes) is the sister of Jethro and the daughter of Pearl.
* Shorty Kellems (portrayed by Shug Fisher in 17 episodes) is Jed's best friend who occasionally visits from back in Silver Dollar City. In one storyline, Drysdale mistakenly believes Shorty is richer than Jed and goes to great lengths to win his business.
* Helen Thompson (portrayed by Danielle Mardi in 17 episodes) is a British secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.
* Janet Trego (portrayed by Sharon Tate in 15 episodes) is a secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills. She assists Jane Hathaway and is often the object of Jethro's romantic overtures.
* John Brewster (portrayed by Frank Wilcox in 14 episodes) is an oil executive from Tulsa whose company made Jed a millionaire after leasing Jed's land for oil production.
* Elverna Bradshaw (portrayed by Elvia Allman in 13 episodes) is Granny's rival from Silver Dollar City.
* Dash Riprock (portrayed by Larry Pennell in 10 episodes) is a conceited macho movie star employed by Mammoth Pictures. He often tries to win Elly May's affections to no avail.
* Mark Templeton (portrayed by Roger Torrey in 9 episodes) is a frogman and the brother of Matthew Templeman who Granny thought was an actual frog.
* Ravenswood (portrayed by Arthur Gould-Porter in 8 episodes) is the Drysdale family's butler.
* Lawrence Chapman (portrayed by Milton Frome in 8 episodes) is the head of Mammoth Pictures that Jed owns.
* Parkins (portrayed by Barney Elmore in 7 episodes) is the Drysdale family's chauffeur.
* Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (portrayed by themselves in 7 episodes) are a music duo who are longtime friends of the Clampett family.
* John Faversham (portrayed by Richard Caldicot in 7 episodes) is the majordomo of Clampett Castle in Kent, England.
* Gloria Buckles (portrayed by Bettina Brenna in 6 episodes) is a secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills. She is not to be confused with the earlier secretary that appeared in "Granny's Spring Tonic".
* Shifty Shaffer/Honest John (portrayed by Phil Silvers in 6 episodes) is a con artist that the Clampetts often encounter.
* Homer Cratchit (portrayed by Percy Helton in 6 episodes) is a bookkeeper at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.
* Shad (portrayed by Lloyd "Shad" Heller in 6 episodes) is a blacksmith in Silver Dollar City, and later its mayor.
* Gladys Flatt (portrayed by Joi Lansing in 6 episodes) is Lester Flatt's wife.
* Patricia Switzer (portrayed by Judith Jordan in 5 episodes) is a secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.
* Foster Phinney (portrayed by Charles Lane in 5 episodes) is Jane Hathaway's landlord.
* Dr. Roy Clyburn (portrayed by Fred Clark in 5 episodes) is a doctor who is often competing with Granny's medical skills.
* Sugar Jean Bell (portrayed by Jean Bell in 5 episodes)
Episodes
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Theme music
The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by bluegrass artists Foggy Mountain Boys, led by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. The song is sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs subsequently cut their own version of the theme (with Flatt singing) for Columbia Records; released as a single, it reached number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on the Billboard Hot Country chart (the lone country chart-topper for the duo).
As was customary in the early 1960s, the show's advertising sponsors were woven into bumpers involving the cast. To this end, the show sometimes included extra verses of the theme song about Winston cigarettes and Kellogg's cereals.
Perry Botkin composed many songs for The Beverly Hillbillies. Botkin's upbeat tune from Murder by Contract, played during scenes of sunny LA, signaled scenes at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.
The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia soundtrack album, which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show's success, including Ryan's 1966 novelty single, "Granny's Miniskirt".
The series generally features no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally play on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appears in one episode as himself, under the premise that he hails from the same area of the country as the Clampetts, although Boone is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.
The 1989 film UHF featured a "Weird Al" Yankovic parody music video, "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", combining "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" and English rock band Dire Straits' 1985 hit song "Money for Nothing".
Reception
]]
The Beverly Hillbillies received generally poor reviews from contemporary critics. The New York Times called the show "strained and unfunny"; Variety called it "painful to sit through". Film professor Janet Staiger writes that "the problem for these reviewers was that the show confronted the cultural elite's notions of quality entertainment."
Regardless of the poor reviews, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number-one program in the U.S; during its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half-hour sitcom. The season-two episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" also became the most-watched telecast up to the time of its airing and remains the most-watched half-hour episode of a sitcom, as well. The series enjoyed excellent ratings throughout its run, although it had fallen out of the top 20 most-watched shows during its final season.
In 1997, the season-three episode "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" was ranked number 62 on "TV Guides 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".
Nielsen ratings
{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|+Nielsen ratings for The Beverly Hillbillies]]
The show was canceled in the spring of 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on new urban-themed shows and, to make room for them, the two remaining series of CBS's rural-themed comedies were cancelled. This action came to be known as "the Rural Purge". Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on Green Acres, famously remarked, "It was the year CBS cancelled everything with a tree—including Lassie."
Reunions
1981 CBS film
In 1981, Return of the Beverly Hillbillies television film, written and produced by series creator Henning, was aired on the CBS network. Irene Ryan had died in 1973, and Raymond Bailey had died in 1980. The script acknowledged Granny's passing, but featured Imogene Coca as Granny's mother. Max Baer decided against reprising the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young.
The film's plot had Jed back in his old homestead in Bugtussle, having divided his massive fortune among Elly May and Jethro, both of whom stayed on the West Coast. Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny's "White Lightnin'" recipe to combat the energy crisis. Since Granny had gone on to "her re-ward", it was up to Granny's centenarian "Maw" (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew's ingredients. Subplots included Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet-starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance, and Elly May owning a large petting zoo. The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story.
According to viewer consensus, though filmed a mere decade after the final episode of the series, the movie lacked the series' original spirit on many fronts, among them being the deaths of Ryan and Bailey and Baer's absence, leaving only three of the six original cast members to reprise their respective roles. Further subtracting from the familiarity was that the legendary Clampett mansion (the Sumner Spaulding–designed Chartwell Mansion)—was unavailable for a location shoot as the owners' lease was too expensive. Henning himself admitted sheer embarrassment when the finished product aired, blaming his inability to rewrite the script due to the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike.
1993 special
In 1993, Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunited onscreen for the only time in the CBS-TV retrospective television special, The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies hosted by Mac Davis and written by Al Bendix, Tino Insana, and Mike Rowe while Dakin Matthews served as the field interviewer. This special was ranked as the fourth-most watched television program of the week—a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 television film. It was a rare tribute from the "Tiffany network", which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often downplaying the show in retrospective television specials on the network's history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all-star broadcasts.
The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies special ignored several plot twists of the television film, notably that Jethro was now not a film director but a leading Los Angeles physician. Critter-loving Elly May was still in California with her animals. Jed was back home in the Hills where he declined interviews until now. He also mentioned how he got richer in the hills where he purchased some land and spends some of his days whittling. Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special. When asked if he bears no grudge against Drysdale, Jed states "I never bear no grudge against any man. The way I see it, I lost some money, but Mr. Drysdale lost his freedom. I don't think I'm bad off at all". Jed then tells his interviewer that he goes into town to ring up Elly May and that Jethro brings his children around often. He then takes the man interviewing with him to meet some friends unaware that he struck another area of oil. The scene closes with Jed dancing to the theme song with Jerry Scoggins while Earl Scruggs and Roy Clark (who is substituting for the late Lester Flatt) playing the music. The special was released on VHS tape by CBS/Fox Video in 1995 and as a bonus feature on the Official Third Season DVD Set in 2009.
Controversy
In 1974, CBS made a reportedly large cash payment settlement to employee Hamilton Morgen after Morgen sued the network. Morgen claimed CBS appropriated his submitted ideas and script for a show called Country Cousins to form The Beverly Hillbillies.Syndication
Jim Backus and Nancy Kulp in The Beverly Hillbillies (1963)]]
The Beverly Hillbillies is still televised daily around the world in syndication. In the United States, the show has been broadcast on MeTV, Circle, Classic Reruns TV, GAC Family and Laff and was previously on TBS Superstation, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Hallmark Channel, and Superstation WGN. A limited number of episodes from the earlier portions of the series run have turned up in the public domain and as such are seen occasionally on many smaller networks such as Retro TV and MyFamily TV.
MeTV airs The Beverly Hillbillies Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., on Sundays at 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and weeknights at 9 p.m. (all Eastern/Pacific Time)
The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures, the syndication arm of CBS Television Studios and the CBS network. It was previously distributed by CBS Enterprises, Viacom Enterprises, Paramount Domestic Television, and CBS Paramount Domestic Television (all through corporate changes involving TV distribution rights to the early CBS library). The repeats of the show that debuted on CBS Daytime on September 5–9, 1966, as "Mornin' Beverly Hillbillies" through September 10, 1971, and on September 13–17, 1971, as "The Beverly Hillbillies" lasted up to winter 1971–72. It aired at 11:00–11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:00-10:30 a.m. Central through September 3, 1971, then moved to 10:30–11:00 a.m. Eastern/9:30–10:00 a.m. Central for the last season on CBS Daytime.Home media and legal status
]]
Fifty-five episodes of the series are in the public domain (all 36 season-one episodes and 19 season-two episodes), because Orion Television, successor to Filmways, neglected to renew their copyrights. As a result, these episodes have been released on home video and DVD on many low-budget labels and shown on low-power television stations and low-budget networks in prints. In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music has been replaced by generic music due to copyright issues.
Before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the public domain episodes, authorized MPI Home Video to release the best of the first two seasons on DVD, the first "ultimate collection" of which was released in the fall of 2005. These collections include the original, uncut versions of the first season's episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs. Volume 1 has, among its bonus features, the alternate, unaired version of the pilot film, The Hillbillies Of Beverly Hills (the version of the episode that sold the series to CBS), and the "cast commercials" (cast members pitching the products of the show's sponsors) originally shown at the end of each episode. The alternate version is also the version seen on Amazon Prime Video.
With the exception of the public domain episodes, the copyrights to the series were renewed by Orion Television. However, any new compilation of Hillbillies material will be copyrighted by either MPI Media Group or CBS, depending on the content of the material used.
For many years, 20th Century Fox, through a joint venture with CBS called CBS/Fox Video, released select episodes of Hillbillies on videocassette. After Viacom merged with CBS in 1999, Paramount Home Entertainment (the video division of Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) took over the video rights.
In 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets through CBS DVD later that year. The show's second season (consisting of the public domain episodes from that season) was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008, as "...The Official Second Season". The third season was released on February 17, 2009. Both seasons are available to be purchased together from major online retailers. On October 1, 2013, season four was released on DVD as a Walmart exclusive. It was released as a full retail release on April 15, 2014. On April 26, 2016, CBS/Paramount released the complete first season on DVD. The fifth season was released on October 2, 2018.
{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | DVD title
! scope="col" | No. of<br />episodes
! scope="col" | Region 1<br />release date
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (Ultimate Collection)
| 26
| September 27, 2005
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (Ultimate Collection Volume 2)
| 27
| February 28, 2006
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official First Season)
| 36
| April 26, 2016
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Second Season)
| 36
| October 7, 2008
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Third Season)
| 34
| February 17, 2009
|-
| scope="row" | Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (TV Movie)
| —
| March 12, 2013
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Fourth Season)
| 32
| April 15, 2014
|-
| scope="row" | The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Fifth Season)
| 30
| October 2, 2018
|}
Spin-offs and associated merchandise
Theatrical adaptation
A three-act stage play based on the pilot was written by David Rogers in 1968.
The Deadly Hillbillies, an interactive murder mystery, was written by John R. Logue using the core cast of characters as inspiration. This Gypsy Productions Murder Mystery Parody features characters such as Jed Clumpett, Daisy May Mostes, and Jane Hatchaway.
Comics
Dell Comics adapted the series into a comic book series in 1962. The art work was provided by Henry Scarpelli. The comic ran for 18 issues, ending in August 1967.Feature filmIn 1993, a film version of The Beverly Hillbillies was released starring Jim Varney as Jed Clampett and featuring Buddy Ebsen in a cameo as Barnaby Jones, the lead character in his long-running post-Hillbillies television series. Computer game Based on The Beverly Hillbillies movie, a PC computer adventure game for operating system MS-DOS was developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published in 1993 by Capstone Software.See also
* Chartwell Mansion
* Rural purge
References
External links
*
* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/beverlyhillb/beverlyhillb.htm The Beverly Hillbillies]; at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
* [http://www.bluegrassnet.com/lyrics/b/ballad-of-jed-clampett Beverly Hillbillies Theme Bluegrass Lyrics ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett")]
* [https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Beverly+Hillbillies%22 All 55 public domain episodes (Season 1 and part of 2)] at Internet Archive#Moving image collection
*
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Category:Television series about hillbillies | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beverly_Hillbillies | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.396875 |
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Beryllium is a steel gray and hard metal that is brittle at room temperature and has a close-packed hexagonal crystal structure. It has exceptional stiffness (Young's modulus 287 GPa) and a melting point of 1287 °C. The modulus of elasticity of beryllium is approximately 35% greater than that of steel. The combination of this modulus and a relatively low density results in an unusually fast sound conduction speed in beryllium – about 12.9 km/s at ambient conditions.
Among all metals, beryllium dissipates the most heat per unit weight, with both high specific heat () and thermal conductivity ().
Beryllium's conductivity and relatively low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (11.4 × 10<sup>−6</sup> K<sup>−1</sup>), make it uniquely stable under extreme temperature differences.Nuclear propertiesNaturally occurring beryllium, save for slight contamination by the radioisotopes created by cosmic rays, is isotopically pure beryllium-9, allowing for significant slowing of higher-energy neutrons. Therefore, it works as a neutron reflector and neutron moderator; the exact strength of neutron slowing strongly depends on the purity and size of the crystallites in the material.
The single primordial beryllium isotope <sup>9</sup>Be also undergoes a (n,2n) neutron reaction with neutron energies over about 1.9 MeV, to produce <sup>8</sup>Be, which almost immediately breaks into two alpha particles. Thus, for high-energy neutrons, beryllium is a neutron multiplier, releasing more neutrons than it absorbs. This nuclear reaction is:
Beryllium also releases neutrons under bombardment by gamma rays.
Small amounts of tritium are liberated when nuclei absorb low energy neutrons in the three-step nuclear reaction
: + n → + , → + β<sup>−</sup>, + n → +
has a half-life of only 0.8 seconds, β<sup>−</sup> is an electron, and has a high neutron absorption cross section. Tritium is a radioisotope of concern in nuclear reactor waste streams.Optical propertiesAs a metal, beryllium is transparent or translucent to most wavelengths of X-rays and gamma rays, making it useful for the output windows of X-ray tubes and other such apparatus.
Isotopes and nucleosynthesis
Both stable and unstable isotopes of beryllium are created in stars, but the radioisotopes do not last long. It is believed that the beryllium in the universe was created in the interstellar medium when cosmic rays induced fission in heavier elements found in interstellar gas and dust, a process called cosmic ray spallation. Natural beryllium is solely made up of the stable isotope beryllium-9. Beryllium is the only monoisotopic element with an even atomic number. <sup>7</sup>Be is unstable and decays by electron capture into <sup>7</sup>Li with a half-life of 53 days, but in the early universe this decay channel was unavailable due to atoms being fully ionized. The conversion of <sup>7</sup>Be to Li was only complete near the time of recombination.
The isotope <sup>7</sup>Be (half-life 53 days) is also a cosmogenic nuclide, and also shows an atmospheric abundance inversely proportional to solar activity.
The 2s electrons of beryllium may contribute to chemical bonding. Therefore, when <sup>7</sup>Be decays by L-electron capture, it does so by taking electrons from its atomic orbitals that may be participating in bonding. This makes its decay rate dependent to a measurable degree upon its chemical surroundings – a rare occurrence in nuclear decay.
<sup>8</sup>Be is unstable but has a ground state resonance with an important role in the
triple-alpha process in helium-fueled stars. As first proposed by
British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle based solely on astrophysical analysis, the energy levels of <sup>8</sup>Be and <sup>12</sup>C allow carbon nucleosynthesis by increasing the contact time for two of the three alpha particles in the carbon production process. The main carbon producing reaction in the universe is
<math display="block">^4\textrm{He}\ +\ ^8\textrm{Be} \rightarrow\ ^{12}\textrm{C} + \gamma</math>
where 4-He is an alpha particle.
Radioactive cosmogenic <sup>10</sup>Be is produced in the atmosphere of the Earth by the cosmic ray spallation of oxygen<!-- NEEDS CITE and nitrogen-->. <sup>10</sup>Be accumulates at the soil surface, where its relatively long half-life (1.36 million years) permits a long residence time before decaying to boron-10. Thus, <sup>10</sup>Be and its daughter products are used to examine natural soil erosion, soil formation and the development of lateritic soils, and as a proxy for measurement of the variations in solar activity and the age of ice cores. The production of <sup>10</sup>Be is inversely proportional to solar activity, because increased solar wind during periods of high solar activity decreases the flux of galactic cosmic rays that reach the Earth. Nuclear explosions also form <sup>10</sup>Be by the reaction of fast neutrons with <sup>13</sup>C in the carbon dioxide in air. This is one of the indicators of past activity at nuclear weapon test sites.
The exotic isotopes <sup>11</sup>Be and <sup>14</sup>Be are known to exhibit a nuclear halo. This phenomenon can be understood as the nuclei of <sup>11</sup>Be and <sup>14</sup>Be have, respectively, 1 and 4 neutrons orbiting substantially outside the expected nuclear radius.
Occurrence
for scale]]
is a naturally occurring compound of beryllium.]]
Beryllium is found in over 100 minerals, but most are uncommon to rare. The more common beryllium containing minerals include: bertrandite (Be<sub>4</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>(OH)<sub>2</sub>), beryl (Al<sub>2</sub>Be<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>6</sub>O<sub>18</sub>), chrysoberyl (Al<sub>2</sub>BeO<sub>4</sub>) and phenakite (Be<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>4</sub>). Precious forms of beryl are aquamarine, red beryl and emerald. <!---->
<!--
In the human body, beryllium has a concentration of 0.4 ppb by weight.
ALSO CITED AS 0.05 ppb by weight by:
Thomas J. Glover, comp., Pocket Ref, 3rd ed. (Littleton: Sequoia, 2003), p. 324 (LCCN 2002-91021),
which in turn cites Geigy Scientific Tables, Ciba-Geigy Limited, Basel, Switzerland, 1984.
-->The green color in gem-quality forms of beryl comes from varying amounts of chromium (about 2% for emerald).
The two main ores of beryllium, beryl and bertrandite, are found in Argentina, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Russia and the United States. Total world reserves of beryllium ore are greater than 400,000 tonnes.
The Sun has a concentration of 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of beryllium. Beryllium has a concentration of 2 to 6 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth's crust and is the 47th most abundant element. It is most concentrated in the soils at 6 ppm. Trace amounts of <sup>9</sup>Be are found in the Earth's atmosphere. The concentration of beryllium in sea water is 0.2–0.6 parts per trillion. In stream water, however, beryllium is more abundant with a concentration of 0.1 ppb.ExtractionThe extraction of beryllium from its compounds is a difficult process due to its high affinity for oxygen at elevated temperatures, and its ability to reduce water when its oxide film is removed. Currently the United States, China and Kazakhstan are the only three countries involved in the industrial-scale extraction of beryllium. Kazakhstan produces beryllium from a concentrate stockpiled before the breakup of the Soviet Union around 1991. This resource had become nearly depleted by mid-2010s.
Production of beryllium in Russia was halted in 1997, and is planned to be resumed in the 2020s.
Beryllium is most commonly extracted from the mineral beryl, which is either sintered using an extraction agent or melted into a soluble mixture. The sintering process involves mixing beryl with sodium fluorosilicate and soda at to form sodium fluoroberyllate, aluminium oxide and silicon dioxide. Beryllium in the 0 oxidation state is also known in a complex with a Mg-Be bond. Once the metal is ignited in air by heating above the oxide melting point around 2500 °C, beryllium burns brilliantly,
Binary compounds of beryllium(II) are polymeric in the solid state. BeF<sub>2</sub> has a silica-like structure with corner-shared BeF<sub>4</sub> tetrahedra. BeCl<sub>2</sub> and BeBr<sub>2</sub> have chain structures with edge-shared tetrahedra. Beryllium oxide, BeO, is a white refractory solid which has a wurtzite crystal structure and a thermal conductivity as high as some metals. BeO is amphoteric. Beryllium sulfide, selenide and telluride are known, all having the zincblende structure. Beryllium nitride, Be<sub>3</sub>N<sub>2</sub>, is a high-melting-point compound which is readily hydrolyzed. Beryllium azide, BeN<sub>6</sub> is known and beryllium phosphide, Be<sub>3</sub>P<sub>2</sub> has a similar structure to Be<sub>3</sub>N<sub>2</sub>. A number of beryllium borides are known, such as Be<sub>5</sub>B, Be<sub>4</sub>B, Be<sub>2</sub>B, BeB<sub>2</sub>, BeB<sub>6</sub> and BeB<sub>12</sub>. Beryllium carbide, Be<sub>2</sub>C, is a refractory brick-red compound that reacts with water to give methane. formed through a spontaneous reaction between pure beryllium and silicon. The halides BeX<sub>2</sub> (X F, Cl, Br, and I) have a linear monomeric molecular structure in the gas phase.
Aqueous solutions
]]
Solutions of beryllium salts, such as beryllium sulfate and beryllium nitrate, are acidic because of hydrolysis of the [Be(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub>]<sup>2+</sup> ion. The concentration of the first hydrolysis product, [Be(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>3</sub>(OH)]<sup>+</sup>, is less than 1% of the beryllium concentration. The most stable hydrolysis product is the trimeric ion [Be<sub>3</sub>(OH)<sub>3</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>6</sub>]<sup>3+</sup>. Beryllium hydroxide, Be(OH)<sub>2</sub>, is insoluble in water at pH 5 or more. Consequently, beryllium compounds are generally insoluble at biological pH. Because of this, inhalation of beryllium metal dust leads to the development of the fatal condition of berylliosis. Be(OH)<sub>2</sub> dissolves in strongly alkaline solutions.
Beryllium(II) forms few complexes with monodentate ligands because the water molecules in the aquo-ion, [Be(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>4</sub>]<sup>2+</sup> are bound very strongly to the beryllium ion. Notable exceptions are the series of water-soluble complexes with the fluoride ion:
:{{chem2 | [Be(H2O)4](2+) + n F- <-> Be[(H2O)_{2-n}F_{n}](2-) + n H2O }}
Beryllium(II) forms many complexes with bidentate ligands containing oxygen-donor atoms.
With organic ligands, such as the malonate ion, the acid deprotonates when forming the complex. The donor atoms are two oxygens.
:
:
The formation of a complex is in competition with the metal ion-hydrolysis reaction and mixed complexes with both the anion and the hydroxide ion are also formed. For example, derivatives of the cyclic trimer are known, with a bidentate ligand replacing one or more pairs of water molecules.
Aliphatic hydroxycarboxylic acids such as glycolic acid form rather weak monodentate complexes in solution, in which the hydroxyl group remains intact. In the solid state, the hydroxyl group may deprotonate: a hexamer, , was isolated long ago. Aromatic hydroxy ligands (i.e. phenols) form relatively strong complexes. For example, log K<sub>1</sub> and log K<sub>2</sub> values of 12.2 and 9.3 have been reported for complexes with tiron.
Beryllium has generally a rather poor affinity for ammine ligands. There are many early reports of complexes with amino acids, but unfortunately they are not reliable as the concomitant hydrolysis reactions were not understood at the time of publication. Values for log β of ca. 6 to 7 have been reported. The degree of formation is small because of competition with hydrolysis reactions. Examples of known organoberyllium compounds are dineopentylberyllium, beryllocene (Cp<sub>2</sub>Be), diallylberyllium (by exchange reaction of diethyl beryllium with triallyl boron), bis(1,3-trimethylsilylallyl)beryllium, Be(mes)<sub>2</sub>, and alkynyls.HistoryThe mineral beryl, which contains beryllium, has been used at least since the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. In the first century CE, Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder mentioned in his encyclopedia Natural History that beryl and emerald ("smaragdus") were similar. The Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis, written in the third or fourth century CE, contains notes on how to prepare artificial emerald and beryl.
discovered beryllium]]
Early analyses of emeralds and beryls by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, Torbern Olof Bergman, Franz Karl Achard, and always yielded similar elements, leading to the mistaken conclusion that both substances are aluminium silicates. Mineralogist René Just Haüy discovered that both crystals are geometrically identical, and he asked chemist Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin for a chemical analysis.
In a 1798 paper read before the Institut de France, Vauquelin reported that he found a new "earth" by dissolving aluminium hydroxide from emerald and beryl in an additional alkali. The editors of the journal Annales de chimie et de physique named the new earth "glucine" for the sweet taste of some of its compounds. The name beryllium was first used by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828.
was one of the men who independently isolated beryllium]]
Friedrich Wöhler and Antoine Bussy independently isolated beryllium in 1828 by the chemical reaction of metallic potassium with beryllium chloride, as follows:
:BeCl<sub>2</sub> + 2 K → 2 KCl + Be
Using an alcohol lamp, Wöhler heated alternating layers of beryllium chloride and potassium in a wired-shut platinum crucible. The above reaction immediately took place and caused the crucible to become white hot. Upon cooling and washing the resulting gray-black powder, he saw that it was made of fine particles with a dark metallic luster. The highly reactive potassium had been produced by the electrolysis of its compounds. He did not succeed to melt the beryllium particles.
The direct electrolysis of a molten mixture of beryllium fluoride and sodium fluoride by Paul Lebeau in 1898 resulted in the first pure (99.5 to 99.8%) samples of beryllium. However, industrial production started only after the First World War. The original industrial involvement included subsidiaries and scientists related to the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, and Siemens & Halske AG in Berlin. In the US, the process was ruled by Hugh S. Cooper, director of The Kemet Laboratories Company. In Germany, the first commercially successful process for producing beryllium was developed in 1921 by Alfred Stock and Hans Goldschmidt.
A sample of beryllium was bombarded with alpha rays from the decay of radium in a 1932 experiment by James Chadwick that uncovered the existence of the neutron. This same method is used in one class of radioisotope-based laboratory neutron sources that produce 30 neutrons for every million α particles.
Electrolysis of a mixture of beryllium fluoride and sodium fluoride was used to isolate beryllium during the 19th century. The metal's high melting point makes this process more energy-consuming than corresponding processes used for the alkali metals. Early in the 20th century, the production of beryllium by the thermal decomposition of beryllium iodide was investigated following the success of a similar process for the production of zirconium, but this process proved to be uneconomical for volume production.
Pure beryllium metal did not become readily available until 1957, even though it had been used as an alloying metal to harden and toughen copper much earlier. Beryllium could be produced by reducing beryllium compounds such as beryllium chloride with metallic potassium or sodium. Currently, most beryllium is produced by reducing beryllium fluoride with magnesium. The price on the American market for vacuum-cast beryllium ingots was about $338 per pound ($745 per kilogram) in 2001.
Between 1998 and 2008, the world's production of beryllium had decreased from 343 to about 200 tonnes. It then increased to 230 metric tons by 2018, of which 170 tonnes came from the United States.
Etymology
Beryllium was named for the semiprecious mineral beryl, from which it was first isolated. Martin Klaproth, having independently determined that beryl and emerald share an element, preferred the name "beryllina" due to the fact that yttria also formed sweet salts.ApplicationsRadiation windows
. Beryllium is highly transparent to X-rays owing to its low atomic number.]]
Because of its low atomic number and very low absorption for X-rays, the oldest and still one of the most important applications of beryllium is in radiation windows for X-ray tubes. Extreme demands are placed on purity and cleanliness of beryllium to avoid artifacts in the X-ray images. Thin beryllium foils are used as radiation windows for X-ray detectors, and their extremely low absorption minimizes the heating effects caused by high-intensity, low energy X-rays typical of synchrotron radiation. Vacuum-tight windows and beam-tubes for radiation experiments on synchrotrons are manufactured exclusively from beryllium. In scientific setups for various X-ray emission studies (e.g., energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) the sample holder is usually made of beryllium because its emitted X-rays have much lower energies (≈100 eV) than X-rays from most studied materials. the Tevatron and at SLAC. The low density of beryllium allows collision products to reach the surrounding detectors without significant interaction, its stiffness allows a powerful vacuum to be produced within the pipe to minimize interaction with gases, its thermal stability allows it to function correctly at temperatures of only a few degrees above absolute zero, and its diamagnetic nature keeps it from interfering with the complex multipole magnet systems used to steer and focus the particle beams.
Mechanical applications
Because of its stiffness, light weight and dimensional stability over a wide temperature range, beryllium metal is used for lightweight structural components in the defense and aerospace industries in high-speed aircraft, guided missiles, spacecraft, and satellites, including the James Webb Space Telescope. Several liquid-fuel rockets have used rocket nozzles made of pure beryllium. Beryllium powder was itself studied as a rocket fuel, but this use has never materialized. A small number of extreme high-end bicycle frames have been built with beryllium. From 1998 to 2000, the McLaren Formula One team used Mercedes-Benz engines with beryllium-aluminium alloy pistons. The use of beryllium engine components was banned following a protest by Scuderia Ferrari.
Mixing about 2.0% beryllium into copper forms an alloy called beryllium copper that is six times stronger than copper alone. Beryllium alloys are used in many applications because of their combination of elasticity, high electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, high strength and hardness, nonmagnetic properties, as well as good corrosion and fatigue resistance.
In sound amplification systems, the speed at which sound travels directly affects the resonant frequency of the amplifier, thereby influencing the range of audible high-frequency sounds. Beryllium stands out due to its exceptionally high speed of sound propagation compared to other metals. This unique property allows beryllium to achieve higher resonant frequencies, making it an ideal material for use as a diaphragm in high-quality loudspeakers.
Beryllium was used for cantilevers in high-performance phonograph cartridge styli, where its extreme stiffness and low density allowed for tracking weights to be reduced to 1 gram while still tracking high frequency passages with minimal distortion.
An earlier major application of beryllium was in brakes for military airplanes because of its hardness, high melting point, and exceptional ability to dissipate heat. Environmental considerations have led to substitution by other materials.
Mirrors
Large-area beryllium mirrors, frequently with a honeycomb support structure, are used, for example, in meteorological satellites where low weight and long-term dimensional stability are critical. Smaller beryllium mirrors are used in optical guidance systems and in fire-control systems, e.g. in the German-made Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 main battle tanks. In these systems, very rapid movement of the mirror is required, which again dictates low mass and high rigidity. Usually the beryllium mirror is coated with hard electroless nickel plating which can be more easily polished to a finer optical finish than beryllium. In some applications, the beryllium blank is polished without any coating. This is particularly applicable to cryogenic operation where thermal expansion mismatch can cause the coating to buckle. Because JWST will face a temperature of 33 K, the mirror is made of gold-plated beryllium, which is capable of handling extreme cold better than glass. Beryllium contracts and deforms less than glass and remains more uniform in such temperatures. For the same reason, the optics of the Spitzer Space Telescope are entirely built of beryllium metal.Magnetic applicationsof the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress aircraft]]
Beryllium is non-magnetic. Therefore, tools fabricated out of beryllium-based materials are used by naval or military explosive ordnance disposal teams for work on or near naval mines, since these mines commonly have magnetic fuzes. They are also found in maintenance and construction materials near magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines because of the high magnetic fields generated.
Nuclear applications
High purity beryllium can be used in nuclear reactors as a moderator, reflector, or as cladding on fuel elements.
Thin plates or foils of beryllium are sometimes used in nuclear weapon designs as the very outer layer of the plutonium pits in the primary stages of thermonuclear bombs, placed to surround the fissile material. These layers of beryllium are good "pushers" for the implosion of the plutonium-239, and they are good neutron reflectors, just as in beryllium-moderated nuclear reactors. Neutron sources in which beryllium is bombarded with gamma rays from a gamma decay radioisotope are also used to produce laboratory neutrons.
Beryllium is used in fuel fabrication for CANDU reactors. The fuel elements have small appendages that are resistance brazed to the fuel cladding using an induction brazing process with Be as the braze filler material. Bearing pads are brazed in place to prevent contact between the fuel bundle and the pressure tube containing it, and inter-element spacer pads are brazed on to prevent element to element contact.
Beryllium is used at the Joint European Torus nuclear-fusion research laboratory, and it will be used in the more advanced ITER to condition the components which face the plasma. Beryllium has been proposed as a cladding material for nuclear fuel rods, because of its good combination of mechanical, chemical, and nuclear properties.
Acoustics
The low weight and high rigidity of beryllium make it useful as a material for high-frequency speaker drivers. Because beryllium is expensive (many times more than titanium), hard to shape due to its brittleness, and toxic if mishandled, beryllium tweeters are limited to high-end home, pro audio, and public address applications. Some high-fidelity products have been fraudulently claimed to be made of the material.
Some high-end phonograph cartridges used beryllium cantilevers to improve tracking by reducing mass.ElectronicBeryllium is a p-type dopant in III-V compound semiconductors. It is widely used in materials such as GaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAs and InAlAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Cross-rolled beryllium sheet is an excellent structural support for printed circuit boards in surface-mount technology. In critical electronic applications, beryllium is both a structural support and heat sink. The application also requires a coefficient of thermal expansion that is well matched to the alumina and polyimide-glass substrates. The beryllium-beryllium oxide composite "E-Materials" have been specially designed for these electronic applications and have the additional advantage that the thermal expansion coefficient can be tailored to match diverse substrate materials. Beryllium compounds were used in fluorescent lighting tubes, but this use was discontinued because of the disease berylliosis which developed in the workers who were making the tubes.
Medical applications
Beryllium is a component of several dental alloys. Beryllium is used in X-ray windows because it is transparent to X-rays, allowing for clearer and more efficient imaging. In medical imaging equipment, such as CT scanners and mammography machines, beryllium's strength and light weight enhance durability and performance. Beryllium is used in analytical equipment for blood, HIV, and other diseases. Beryllium alloys are used in surgical instruments, optical mirrors, and laser systems for medical treatments.Toxicity and safety
| GHSSignalWord = Danger
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Biological effects
Approximately 35 micrograms of beryllium is found in the average human body, an amount not considered harmful. Beryllium is chemically similar to magnesium and therefore can displace it from enzymes, which causes them to malfunction. Because Be<sup>2+</sup> is a highly charged and small ion, it can easily get into many tissues and cells, where it specifically targets cell nuclei, inhibiting many enzymes, including those used for synthesizing DNA. Its toxicity is exacerbated by the fact that the body has no means to control beryllium levels, and once inside the body, beryllium cannot be removed.
Inhalation
Chronic beryllium disease (CBD), or berylliosis, is a pulmonary and systemic granulomatous disease caused by inhalation of dust or fumes contaminated with beryllium; either large amounts over a short time or small amounts over a long time can lead to this ailment. Symptoms of the disease can take up to five years to develop; about a third of patients with it die and the survivors are left disabled. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists beryllium and beryllium compounds as Category 1 carcinogens.
Occupational exposure
In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has designated a permissible exposure limit (PEL) for beryllium and beryllium compounds of 0.2 μg/m<sup>3</sup> as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) and 2.0 μg/m<sup>3</sup> as a short-term exposure limit over a sampling period of 15 minutes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) upper-bound threshold of 0.5 μg/m<sup>3</sup>. The IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) value is 4 mg/m<sup>3</sup>. The toxicity of beryllium is on par with other toxic metalloids/metals, such as arsenic and mercury.
Exposure to beryllium in the workplace can lead to a sensitized immune response, and over time development of berylliosis. NIOSH in the United States researches these effects in collaboration with a major manufacturer of beryllium products. NIOSH also conducts genetic research on sensitization and CBD, independently of this collaboration.
Beryllium may be found in coal slag. When the slag is formulated into an abrasive agent for blasting paint and rust from hard surfaces, the beryllium can become airborne and become a source of exposure.
Although the use of beryllium compounds in fluorescent lighting tubes was discontinued in 1949, potential for exposure to beryllium exists in the nuclear and aerospace industries, in the refining of beryllium metal and the melting of beryllium-containing alloys, in the manufacturing of electronic devices, and in the handling of other beryllium-containing material.DetectionEarly researchers undertook the highly hazardous practice of identifying beryllium and its various compounds from its sweet taste. A modern test for beryllium in air and on surfaces has been developed and published as an international voluntary consensus standard, ASTM D7202. The procedure uses dilute ammonium bifluoride for dissolution and fluorescence detection with beryllium bound to sulfonated hydroxybenzoquinoline, allowing up to 100 times more sensitive detection than the recommended limit for beryllium concentration in the workplace. Fluorescence increases with increasing beryllium concentration. The new procedure has been successfully tested on a variety of surfaces and is effective for the dissolution and detection of refractory beryllium oxide and siliceous beryllium in minute concentrations (ASTM D7458). The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods contains methods for measuring occupational exposures to beryllium.
Notes
References
Cited sources
* <!-- Ems -->
* <!-- We -->
Further reading
*
* Mroz MM, Balkissoon R, and Newman LS. "Beryllium". In: Bingham E, Cohrssen B, Powell C (eds.) ''Patty's Toxicology, Fifth Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons 2001, 177–220.
* Walsh, KA, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3-GbhmSfyeYC Beryllium Chemistry and Processing'']. Vidal, EE. et al. Eds. 2009, Materials Park, OH:ASM International.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015758/http://www.bjorklundnutrition.net/2011/11/belpt/ Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Testing (BeLPT).] DOE Specification 1142–2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2001.
External links
* [https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.html ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Beryllium Toxicity] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
* [http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele004.html It's Elemental – Beryllium]
* MSDS: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003708/http://espi-metals.com/msds%27s/beryllium.pdf ESPI Metals]
* [http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/004.htm Beryllium] at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham)
* [https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/beryllium/ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Beryllium Page]
* [http://www.orau.org/nssp/ National Supplemental Screening Program (Oak Ridge Associated Universities)]
* [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/beryllium/100798.pdf Historic Price of Beryllium in USA]
Category:Chemical elements
Category:Alkaline earth metals
Category:Neutron moderators
Category:Nuclear materials
Category:IARC Group 1 carcinogens
Category:Chemical hazards
Category:Reducing agents
Category:Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.626546 |
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Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer.<!--Keep most notable occupation in lead per MOS:ROLEBIO.--> Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. An influential figure in popular music, Spears became the best-selling teenage artist of all time, credited with the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Spears was born in McComb, Mississippi. After appearing in the television shows Star Search and The Mickey Mouse Club, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age 15. Her first two studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time. She adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums Britney (2001) and In the Zone (2003). Spears was the executive producer of her fifth studio album, Blackout (2007), often referred to as her best work. She returned to the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with the albums Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011), and embarked on a four-year concert residency, Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017), to promote her next two albums, Britney Jean (2013) and Glory (2016). Spears' catalog of high-charting singles includes "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!... I Did It Again", "I'm a Slave 4 U", "Toxic", "Gimme More", "Womanizer", "3", "Hold It Against Me", and "Scream & Shout".
Spears' life, including her high-profile relationships and personal struggles during the 2000s, received widespread media coverage. In 2008, she was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship following a highly publicized breakdown. In 2019, her legal battle over her conservatorship led to the establishment of the #FreeBritney movement and a release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears (2021). The conservatorship was terminated in 2021, following her public testimony in which she accused her management team and family of abuse. Her other ventures include starring in the film Crossroads (2002) and launching numerous products, with her 2005 fragrance Fantasy with Elizabeth Arden, Inc. generating over $1.5 billion in sales.
In the United States, Spears is the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, as well as the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness World Records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards (including the Millennium Award), the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Billboard ranked her sixth on their list of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century. "...Baby One More Time" was named the greatest debut single of all time by Rolling Stone in 2020. Forbes listed Spears as the world's highest-paid female musician in 2001 and 2012. By 2012, she had topped Yahoo!'s list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years. Time named Spears one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, placing first in the reader poll.
Life and career
1981–1997: Early life, family, and career beginnings
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi, Her siblings are Bryan James Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears.
Born in the Bible Belt, where socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a particularly strong religious influence, she was baptized as a Southern Baptist and sang in a church choir as a child. As an adult, she has studied Kabbalist teachings. On August 5, 2021, Spears announced that she had converted to Catholicism. Her mother, sister, and nieces Maddie Aldridge and Ivey Joan Watson, are also Catholic. However, on September 5, 2022, after Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, and youngest son did an interview defending her father's actions during her conservatorship, she stated: "I don't believe in God anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me. There is nothing to believe in anymore. I'm an atheist y'all".
At age three, Spears began attending dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform as a solo artist at the annual recital. Aged five she made her local stage debut, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. During her childhood, she also had gymnastics and voice lessons and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows. In gymnastics, Spears attended Béla Károlyi's training camp. She said of her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, ... I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age".
Spears was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the off-Broadway musical Ruthless! She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show Star Search and was cast in a number of commercials. In December 1992, she was cast in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. Other fellow cast members included Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, and JC Chasez. After the show was canceled in 1994, she returned to Mississippi and enrolled at McComb's Parklane Academy. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in Clueless with all the cliques. ... I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."
In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided that he wanted to pitch her to record labels, for which she needed a professional demo made. He sent Spears an unused song of Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, saying that audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." They assigned her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month; he reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney". After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger; more adult contemporary". She felt secure with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." Her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time, was released on January 12, 1999. It became the biggest-selling album ever by a teenage artist. "...Baby One More Time" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies. It would later become the 25th-most successful song of all time in British chart history. Spears is the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the UK. The album's third single, "(You Drive Me) Crazy", became a top-ten hit worldwide and further propelled the success of the ...Baby One More Time album. The album has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is the best-selling debut album by any artist.
On June 28, 1999, Spears began her first headlining ...Baby One More Time Tour in North America, which was positively received by critics. It also generated some controversy due to her racy outfits. An extension of the tour, titled (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour, followed in March 2000. Spears premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show. It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said that "the great thing about Oops! – under the cheese surface, Britney's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, making her a true child of rock & roll tradition." The album's lead single, "Oops!... I Did It Again", peaked at the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and many other European nations, while the second single, "Lucky", peaked at number one in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.
The same year, Spears embarked on the Oops!... I Did It Again Tour, which grossed $40.5 million; she also released her first book, ''Britney Spears' Heart to Heart, co-written with her mother. On September 7, 2000, Spears performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Halfway through the performance, she ripped off her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine. It is noted by critics as the moment that Spears showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer. Amidst media speculation, Spears confirmed she was dating NSYNC member Justin Timberlake. She also bought a home in Destin, Florida. In her 2023 memoir, Spears revealed that she had an abortion in late 2000 while dating Timberlake after he said they were not prepared for parenthood. Spears called the abortion "one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life."
2001–2002: Britney and Crossroads
(2002).]]
In January 2001, Spears hosted the 28th Annual American Music Awards, starred at Rock in Rio alongside NSYNC, and performed as a special guest in the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show headlined by Aerosmith and NSYNC. In February 2001, she signed a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, and released another book co-written with her mother, A Mother's Gift. Britney debuted at number one in the Billboard'' 200 and reached top five positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, and mainland Europe, and has sold 10 million copies worldwide.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called Britney "the record where she strives to deepen her persona, making it more adult while still recognizably Britney. ... It does sound like the work of a star who has now found and refined her voice, resulting in her best record yet." It was nominated for the Grammy awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Overprotected", and in 2007 it was named one of the best albums of the preceding 25 years by Entertainment Weekly. The lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U", became a top-ten hit in several countries.
Spears' performance of the single at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards featured a caged tiger (wrangled by Bhagavan Antle) and a large albino python draped over her shoulders. It was harshly received by animal rights organization PETA, who claimed the animals were mistreated and scrapped plans for an anti-fur billboard that was to feature Spears.
To support the album, Spears embarked on the Dream Within a Dream Tour. The show was critically praised for its technical innovations, the pièce de résistance being a water screen that pumped two tons of water into the stage. The tour grossed $53.3 million, becoming the second highest-grossing tour of 2002 by a female artist, behind Cher's Farewell Tour. Her career success was highlighted by Forbes in 2002, as Spears was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity. Spears also landed her first starring role in Crossroads, released in February 2002. Although the film was largely panned, critics praised Spears' acting. The film was a box office success, grossing over $61.1 million worldwide on a $12 million budget. In July 2002, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her career; however, she went back into the studio in November to record her new album. Spears' relationship with Justin Timberlake ended after three years. In November 2002, Timberlake released the song "Cry Me a River" as the second single from his solo debut album. The music video featured a Spears look-alike and fueled the rumors that she had been engaging in an affair, fueled by further rumors of possible relationships involving Timberlake's choreographer Wade Robson and Limp Bizkit's frontman Fred Durst. Spears had initially denied the allegations of a possible affair involving Durst, despite the two being spotted together on multiple occasions; even claiming the two had a friendly connection. In 2023, she admitted to engaging in an affair with Robson. As a response, Spears wrote the ballad "Everytime" with her backing vocalist and friend Annet Artani.
2003–2005: In the Zone and first two marriages
In August 2003, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with Christina Aguilera, performing "Like a Virgin". Halfway through they were joined by Madonna, whom they both kissed. The incident was highly publicized. In 2008, MTV listed the performance as the number-one opening moment in the history of MTV Video Music Awards, while Blender cited it as one of the 25 sexiest music moments on television history.
Spears released her fourth studio album, In the Zone, in November 2003. She assumed more creative control by writing and co-producing most of the material. NPR named it one of the most important recordings of the decade, writing that "the decade's history of impeccably crafted pop is written on her body of work". In the Zone sold over 609,000 copies during its first week of availability in the United States, debuting at the top of the charts, making Spears the first female artist in the SoundScan era to have her first four studio albums to debut at number one. The album produced four singles: "Me Against the Music", a collaboration with Madonna; "Toxic"—which won Spears her first Grammy for Best Dance Recording; "Everytime", and "Outrageous".
In March 2004, Spears embarked on the Onyx Hotel Tour in support of In the Zone. The tour was canceled in June 2004, when she fell and injured her left knee during the music video shoot for "Outrageous". She underwent arthroscopic surgery and wore a thigh brace for six weeks, followed by eight to twelve weeks of rehabilitation. That year, Spears became involved in the Kabbalah Centre through her friendship with Madonna.
In July 2004, Spears became engaged to dancer Kevin Federline, whom she had met three months earlier. The romance was the subject of intense media attention, since Federline had recently broken up with actress Shar Jackson, who was still pregnant with their second child at the time. They held a wedding ceremony on September 18, 2004, but were not legally married until three weeks later on October 6 due to a delay finalizing the couple's prenuptial agreement.
Shortly after, she released her first perfume, Curious, with Elizabeth Arden, which broke the company's first-week gross for a perfume. Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, her first greatest hits compilation album, was released in November 2004. Spears' cover version of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" was released as the lead single from the album, reaching the top of the charts in Finland, Ireland, Italy, and Norway. The second single, "Do Somethin'", was a top ten hit in Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries of mainland Europe. In August 2005, Spears released "Someday (I Will Understand)", which was dedicated to her first child, a son named Sean Preston, who was born the following month. In November 2005, she released her first remix compilation, B in the Mix: The Remixes, which consists of 11 remixes.2006–2007: Personal struggles and BlackoutIn February 2006, pictures surfaced of Spears driving with her son, Sean, on her lap instead of in a car seat. Child advocates were horrified by the photos of her holding the wheel with one hand and Sean with the other. Spears claimed that the situation happened because of a frightening encounter with paparazzi, and that it was a mistake on her part. She announced she no longer studied Kabbalah in May 2006, explaining, "my baby is my religion". In November 2006, Spears filed for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the two reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their sons.
Spears' maternal aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January 2007. In February, Spears stayed in a drug rehabilitation facility in Antigua for less than a day. The following night, she shaved her head with electric clippers at a hair salon in Tarzana, Los Angeles. She admitted herself to other treatment facilities during the following weeks. In May 2007, she produced a series of promotional concerts at House of Blues venues, titled The M+M's Tour. In October 2007, Spears lost physical custody of her sons to Federline. The reasons of the court ruling were not revealed to the public. Spears was also sued by Louis Vuitton over her 2005 music video "Do Somethin'" for upholstering her Hummer interior in counterfeit Louis Vuitton cherry blossom fabric, which resulted in the video being banned on European TV stations.
In October 2007, Spears released her fifth studio album, Blackout. The album debuted atop the charts in Canada and Ireland, at number two in the U.S. Billboard 200, France, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and many European nations. In the United States, it was Spears' first album not to debut at number one, although, she did become the only female artist to have her first five studio albums debut at the two top slots of the chart. The album received positive reviews from critics and had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide by the end of 2008. Blackout won Album of the Year at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and was listed as the fifth Best Pop Album of the Decade by The Times.
Spears performed the lead single, "Gimme More", at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was widely panned by critics. Despite the criticism, the single enjoyed worldwide success, peaking at number one in Canada and within the top ten in almost every country it charted. The second single, "Piece of Me", reached the top of the charts in Ireland and reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The third single, "Break the Ice", was released the following year, and respectively reached numbers seven and nine in Ireland and Canada. In December 2007, Spears began a relationship with paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.2008–2010: Conservatorship and CircusIn January 2008, Spears refused to relinquish custody of her sons to Federline's representatives. She was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after police that had arrived at her house noted she appeared to be under the influence of an unidentified substance. The following day, Spears' visitation rights were suspended at an emergency court hearing, and Federline was given sole physical and legal custody of their sons. She was committed to the psychiatric ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold under California state law. The court placed her under a conservatorship led by her father, Jamie Spears, and attorney Andrew Wallet, giving them complete control of her assets. She was released five days later.
The following month, Spears guest-starred on the How I Met Your Mother episode "Ten Sessions" as receptionist Abby. She received positive reviews for her performance, as well as bringing the series its highest ratings ever. In July 2008, Spears regained some visitation rights after coming to an agreement with Federline and his counsel. In September 2008, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with a pre-taped comedy sketch with Jonah Hill and an introduction speech. She won Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, and Video of the Year for "Piece of Me". A 60-minute introspective documentary, Britney: For the Record, was produced to chronicle Spears' return to the recording industry. Directed by Phil Griffin, For the Record was shot in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and New York City during the third quarter of 2008. The documentary was broadcast on MTV to 5.6 million viewers for the two airings on the premiere night. It was the highest rating in its Sunday night timeslot and in the network's history. tour, March 2009]]
In December 2008, Spears' sixth studio album, Circus, was released. It received positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one in Canada, Czech Republic, and the United States, and within the top ten in many European nations. In the United States, Spears became the youngest female artist to have five albums debut at number one, earning a place in Guinness World Records. She also became the only act in the SoundScan era to have four albums debut with 500,000 or more copies sold. and has sold 4 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Womanizer", became Spears' first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 since "...Baby One More Time". The single also topped the charts in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, and Sweden. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In January 2009, Spears and her father obtained a restraining order against her former manager Sam Lutfi, ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, and attorney Jon Eardley, all of whom had been accused of conspiring to gain control of Spears' affairs. Spears embarked on The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour in March 2009. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest-grossing tour of the year. In November 2009, Spears released her second greatest hits album, The Singles Collection. The album's lead and only single, "3", became her third number-one single in the U.S.
In May 2010, Spears' representatives confirmed she was dating her agent, Jason Trawick, and that they had decided to end their professional relationship to focus on their personal relationship. Spears designed a limited edition clothing line for Candie's, which was released in stores in July 2010. In September 2010, she made a cameo appearance on a Spears-themed tribute episode of the television series Glee, titled "Britney/Brittany"; the episode drew the highest Nielsen ratingup to that point in the series's runin the 18–49 demographic.2011–2012: Femme Fatale and The X FactorIn March 2011, Spears released her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. The album peaked at number one in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and within the top ten on nearly every other chart. Its peak in the United States tied Spears with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson for the third-most number ones among women. Femme Fatale has been certified platinum by the RIAA and as of February 2014, it had sold 2.4 million copies worldwide.
, July 2011|alt=Image of a blonde female performer wearing a white leotard and black fishnets.]]
The album's lead single, "Hold It Against Me", debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Spears' fourth number-one single on the chart and making her the second artist in history to have two consecutive singles debut at number one, after Mariah Carey. The second single, "Till the World Ends", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in May, while the third single, "I Wanna Go", reached number seven in August. Femme Fatale became Spears' first album in which three of its songs reached the top ten of the chart. The fourth and final single "Criminal" was released in September 2011. The music video sparked controversy when British politicians criticized Spears for using replica guns while filming the video in a London area that had been badly affected by the 2011 England riots. Spears' management briefly responded, stating, "The video is a fantasy story featuring Britney's boyfriend, Jason Trawick, which literally plays out the lyrics of a song written three years before the riots ever happened." In April 2011, Spears appeared in a remix of Rihanna's song "S&M". It reached number one in the US later that month, giving Spears her fifth number one on the chart. On Billboards 2011 Year-End list, Spears was ranked number fourteen on the Artists of the Year, thirty-two on Billboard 200 artists, and ten on Billboard Hot 100 artists. Spears co-wrote "Whiplash", a song from the album When the Sun Goes Down (2011) by Selena Gomez & the Scene.
In June 2011, Spears embarked on her Femme Fatale Tour. The first ten dates of the tour grossed $6.2 million, landing the fifty-fifth spot on Pollstars Top 100 North American Tours list for the half-way point of the year. The tour ended on December 10, 2011, in Puerto Rico, after 79 performances. A DVD of the tour was released in November 2011. In August 2011, Spears received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. In December 2011, Spears became engaged to her long-time boyfriend Jason Trawick, who had formerly been her agent. Trawick was legally granted a role as co-conservator, alongside her father, in April 2012.
In May 2012, Spears was hired to replace Paula Abdul as a judge for the second season of the USA show of The X Factor, joining Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, and fellow new judge Demi Lovato, who replaced Nicole Scherzinger. With a reported salary of $15 million, she became the highest-paid judge on a singing competition series in television history. However, Katy Perry broke her record in 2018 after Perry was signed for a $25-million salary to serve as a judge on ABC's revival of American Idol. Spears mentored the Teens category; her final act, Carly Rose Sonenclar, was named the runner-up of the season. Spears did not return for the show's third season and was replaced by Paulina Rubio.
Spears appeared on the song "Scream & Shout" with will.i.am, which was released as the third single from his fourth studio album, #willpower (2013). The song later became Spears' sixth number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. "Scream & Shout" was among the best-selling songs of 2012 and 2013 with denoting sales of over 8.1 million worldwide, the accompanying music video was the third most-viewed video in 2013 on Vevo despite the video being released in 2012. In December 2012, Forbes named her music's top-earning woman of 2012, with estimated earnings of $58 million.
2013–2015: Britney Jean and Britney: Piece of Me
, a four-year concert residency in Las Vegas]]
Spears began work on her eighth studio album, Britney Jean, in December 2012, and enlisted will.i.am as its executive producer in May 2013. In January 2013, Spears and Jason Trawick ended their engagement. Trawick was also removed as Spears' co-conservator, restoring her father as the sole conservator. Following the breakup, she began dating David Lucado in March; the couple split in August 2014. During the production of Britney Jean, Spears recorded the song "Ooh La La" for the soundtrack of The Smurfs 2, which was released in June 2013.
On September 17, 2013, she appeared on Good Morning America to announce her two-year concert residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, titled Britney: Piece of Me. It began on December 27, 2013, and included a total of 100 shows throughout 2014 and 2015. During the same appearance, Spears announced that Britney Jean would be released on December 3, 2013, in the United States. It was released through RCA Records due to the disbandment of Jive Records in 2011, which had formed the joint RCA/Jive Label Group (initially known as BMG Label Group) between 2007 and 2011.
Britney Jean became Spears' final project under her original recording contract with Jive, which had guaranteed the release of eight studio albums. The record received a low amount of promotion and had little commercial impact, reportedly due to time conflicts involving preparations for Britney: Piece of Me. Upon its release, the record debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 107,000 copies, becoming her lowest-peaking and lowest-selling album in the United States. Britney Jean debuted at number 34 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 12,959 copies in its first week. In doing so, it became Spears' lowest-charting and lowest-selling album in the country.
"Work Bitch" was released as the lead single from Britney Jean in September 2013. It debuted and peaked at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 marking Spears' 31st entry on the chart and the fifth highest debut of her career on the chart, and her seventh in the top 20. It also marked Spears' 19th top 20 entry and overall her 23rd top 40 single. The song marked Spears' highest sales debut since her 2011 number-one single "Hold It Against Me". "Work Bitch" debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.
The second single, "Perfume", premiered in November 2013. It debuted and peaked at number 76 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In October 2013, she was featured as a guest vocalist on the song "SMS (Bangerz)" by Miley Cyrus, from the latter's fourth studio album, Bangerz (2013). On January 8, 2014, Spears won Favorite Pop Artist at the 40th People's Choice Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. In August 2014, Spears confirmed she had renewed her contract with RCA and that she was writing and recording new music for her next album.
Spears announced via Twitter in August 2014 that she would be releasing an intimate apparel line called "The Intimate Britney Spears". It was available to be purchased beginning on September 9, 2014, in the United States and Canada through Spears' Intimate Collection website. It was later available on September 25 for purchase in Europe. The company now ships to over 200 countries including Australia and New Zealand. On September 25, 2014, Spears confirmed on Good Morning Britain that she extended her contract to perform her Britney: Piece of Me concert residency at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas for two additional years. Spears began dating television producer Charlie Ebersol in October 2014. The pair were split in June 2015.
On May 14, 2015, Spears released a single, "Pretty Girls", with Iggy Azalea. It reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately in international territories. Spears and Azalea performed the track live at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards from The AXIS, the home of Spears' residency, to positive critical response. Entertainment Weekly praised the performance, noting "Spears gave one of her most energetic televised performances in years."
On June 16, 2015, Giorgio Moroder released the album Déjà Vu, which featured Spears on "Tom's Diner". The song was released as the fourth single from the album on October 9, 2015. In an interview, Moroder praised Spears' vocals and said she "sounds so good that you would hardly recognize her". At the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, Spears received the Candie's Style Icon Award, her ninth Teen Choice Award. In November 2015, Spears guest-starred as a fictionalized version of herself on the CW series Jane the Virgin. On the show, she danced to "Toxic" with Gina Rodriguez's character.2016–2018: Glory, continued residency, and the Piece of Me Tour
at the Roundhouse in London in September 2016]]
In November 2015, Spears confirmed via social media that she had begun recording her ninth studio album. On March 1, 2016, V announced that Spears would appear on the cover of its 100th issue, dated March 8, 2016, in addition to revealing three different covers shot by photographer Mario Testino for the milestone publication. The V editor-in-chief, Stephen Gan, said Spears was selected because of her status as an icon in the industry, and asked: "Who in our world did not grow up listening to her music?" In May 2016, Spears launched a casual role-play gaming application, Britney Spears: American Dream. The app, created by Glu Mobile, was made available through both iOS and Google Play.
On May 22, 2016, Spears performed a medley of her past singles at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. In addition to opening the show, Spears was honored with the Billboard Millennium Award. On July 15, 2016, Spears released the lead single, "Make Me", from her ninth studio album, featuring guest vocals from American rapper G-Eazy. The album, Glory, was formally released on August 26, 2016. On August 16, 2016, MTV and Spears announced that she would perform at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance marked Spears' first time returning to the VMA stage after her widely panned performance of "Gimme More" at the 2007 show nine years earlier. Along with "Make Me", Spears and G-Eazy also performed the latter's hit song "Me, Myself & I".
Spears appeared on the cover of Marie Claire UK for the October 2016 issue. In the publication, Spears revealed that she had suffered from crippling anxiety in the past, and that motherhood played a major role in helping her overcome it. "My boys don't care if everything isn't perfect. They don't judge me", Spears said in the issue. In November 2016, during an interview with Las Vegas Blog, Spears confirmed she had already begun work on her next album, stating: "I'm not sure what I want the next album to sound like. ... I just know that I'm excited to get into the studio again and actually have already been back recording." In the same month, she released a remix version of "Slumber Party" as the second single from Glory, featuring Tinashe.
She began dating "Slumber Party"'s music video co-star Sam Asghari after the two met on set. In January 2017, Spears received four wins out of four nominations at the 43rd People's Choice Awards, including Favorite Pop Artist, Female Artist, Social Media Celebrity, as well as Comedic Collaboration for a skit with Ellen DeGeneres for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In March 2017, Spears announced that her residency concert would be performed abroad as a world tour, Britney: Live in Concert, with dates in select Asian cities. In April 2017, the Israeli Labor Party announced that it would reschedule its July primary election to avoid conflict with Spears' sold-out Tel Aviv concert, citing traffic, and security concerns.
Spears' manager Larry Rudolph also announced the residency would not be extended following her contract expiration with Caesars Entertainment at the end of 2017. On April 29, 2017, Spears became the first recipient of the Icon Award at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. On November 4, 2017, Spears attended the grand opening of the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation Britney Spears Campus in Las Vegas. Later that month, Forbes announced that Spears was the 8th highest earning female musician, earning $34 million in 2017. On December 31, 2017, Spears performed the final show of Britney: Piece of Me. The final performance reportedly brought in $1.172 million, setting a new box office record for a single show in Las Vegas, and breaking the record previously held by Jennifer Lopez.
In January 2018, Spears released her 24th perfume with Elizabeth Arden, Sunset Fantasy, and announced the Piece of Me Tour which took place in July 2018 in North America and Europe. Tickets were sold out within minutes for major cities, and additional dates were added to meet the demand. Pitbull was the supporting act for the European leg. The tour ranked at 86 and 30 on Pollstars 2018 Year-End Top 100 Tours chart both in North America and worldwide, respectively. In total, the tour grossed $54.3 million with 260,531 tickets sold and was the sixth highest-grossing female tour of 2018, and was the United Kingdom's second best-selling female tour of 2018.
On March 20, 2018, Spears was announced as part of a campaign for French luxury fashion house Kenzo. The company said it aimed to shake up the 'jungle' world of fashion with Spears' 'La Collection Memento No. 2' campaign. On April 12, 2018, Spears was honored with the 2018 GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for her role in "accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community". On April 27, 2018, Epic Rights announced a new partnership with Spears to debut her own fashion line in 2019, which would include clothing, fitness apparel, accessories, and electronics.
In July 2018, Spears released her first unisex fragrance, Prerogative. On October 18, 2018, Spears announced her second Las Vegas residency show, Britney: Domination, which was set to launch at Park MGM's Park Theatre on February 13, 2019. Spears was slated to make $507,000 per show, which would have made her the highest paid act on the Las Vegas Strip. On October 21, 2018, Spears performed at the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, the final performance of her Piece of Me Tour.2019–2021: Conservatorship dispute, #FreeBritney, and abuse allegations
On January 4, 2019, Spears announced an indefinite hiatus and the cancellation of her Las Vegas residency after her father, Jamie, suffered a near-fatal colon rupture. In March 2019, Andrew Wallet resigned as co-conservator of her estate after 11 years. Spears entered a psychiatric facility amidst stress from her father's illness that same month. The following month, a fan podcast, ''Britney's Gram'', released a voicemail message from a source who claimed to be a former member of Spears' legal team. They alleged that Jamie had canceled the residency due to Spears' refusal to take her medication, that he had been holding her in the facility against her will since January 2019 after she violated a no-driving rule, and that her conservatorship was supposed to have ended in 2009. The allegations gave rise to a movement to terminate the conservatorship, #FreeBritney, which received support from celebrities including singers Cher, Paris Hilton, and Miley Cyrus, and the nonprofit organization American Civil Liberties Union. On April 22, 2019, fans protested outside the West Hollywood City Hall and demanded Spears' release.
, 2021]]
In a May 2019 hearing, Judge Brenda Penny ordered a professional evaluation of the conservatorship. In September, Spears' ex-husband Federline obtained a restraining order against Britney's father, Jamie, following an alleged physical altercation between Jamie and one of her sons. Spears' longtime care manager, Jodi Montgomery, temporarily replaced Jamie as her conservator that same month, which also saw a hearing where no decisions about the arrangement were reached. An interactive pop-up museum dedicated to Spears, dubbed "The Zone", opened in Los Angeles in February 2020, though it was later suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She released Glorys Japanese-exclusive bonus track, "Mood Ring" as a single, and debuted a new cover of the album to streaming and digital platforms worldwide in May 2020. In August, Jamie called the #FreeBritney movement "a joke" and its organizers "conspiracy theorists".
On August 17, 2020, Spears' court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, submitted a court filing that documented Spears' desire to have her conservatorship altered to reflect her wishes as well as lifestyle, to instate Montgomery as her permanent conservator, and to replace Jamie with a fiduciary as conservator of her estate. Four days later, Penny extended the established arrangement until February 2021. In November 2020, Penny approved Bessemer Trust as co-conservator of Spears' estate alongside Jamie. The following month, Spears released a new deluxe edition of Glory, which includes "Mood Ring" and new songs "Swimming in the Stars" and "Matches".
A documentary about Spears' career and conservatorship, Framing Britney Spears, premiered on FX in February 2021. Spears later revealed that she had seen parts of the documentary, stating that she felt humiliated by the perception of her that was presented and that she "cried for two weeks" following the initial broadcast. The following month, Ingham filed a petition to permanently replace Jamie with Montgomery as the conservator of Spears' person, citing a 2014 order that determined that Spears did not have the capacity to consent to medical treatment of any form.
On June 22, 2021, shortly before Spears was set to speak to the court, The New York Times obtained confidential court documents stating that Spears had pushed for years to end her conservatorship. Spears spoke to the court on June 23, calling the conservatorship "abusive". She said she had lied by "telling the whole world I'm OK and I'm happy", and that she was traumatized and angry. The court statement received widespread media coverage and generated over 1 million shares on Twitter, over 500,000 messages using the tag #FreeBritney, and more than 150,000 messages with a new hashtag referencing the court appearance, #BritneySpeaks.
On July 1, Bessemer Trust asked the judge to allow them to withdraw from the conservatorship, saying that they had been misled and had entered into the arrangement on the understanding that the conservatorship was voluntary. The same day, senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey Jr. called on federal agencies to increase oversight of the country's conservatorship systems. Spears' manager of 25 years, Larry Rudolph, resigned on July 6 due to her "intention to officially retire" and on that same day, it was reported that Ingham planned to file documents to the court asking to be dismissed. In a July 14 hearing, Judge Penny approved the resignations of Bessemer Trust and Ingham. The court also approved of Spears' request to hire attorney Mathew S. Rosengart to represent her. Rosengart informed the court that he would be working to terminate the conservatorship. Later that day, Spears publicly endorsed the #FreeBritney movement for the first time, using the hashtag in a caption on an Instagram post. She mentioned feeling "blessed" after earning "real representation", referring to Judge Penny's decision to allow her to choose her own counsel.
On July 26, Rosengart filed a petition seeking to remove Jamie as conservator of Spears' estate and to replace him with Jason Rubin, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) at Certified Strategies Inc. in Woodland Hills, California. On August 12, Jamie agreed to step down as conservator at some future date, with his lawyers stating that he wanted "an orderly transition to a new conservator". On September 7, Jamie filed a petition to end the conservatorship. Five days later, Spears announced her engagement to her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, through an Instagram post. On September 29, Judge Penny suspended Jamie as conservator of Spears' estate, with accountant John Zabel replacing him on a temporary basis. On November 12, Judge Penny terminated the conservatorship.2022–present: Third marriage, The Woman in Me, and retirement from singingIn April 2022, she announced her pregnancy with Asghari's child, which ended in a miscarriage the following month. The couple married on June 9 at her home in Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles. None of Spears' immediate family (including her parents, sister, and brother) were invited; her two sons did not attend. Spears' first husband, Jason Alexander, attempted to crash the wedding by breaking into her home, armed with a knife, but was arrested. Spears had a three-year restraining order against him. On August 26, Spears and English musician Elton John released the duet "Hold Me Closer", a remake of John's 1972 single "Tiny Dancer". It was Spears' first musical release since the termination of her conservatorship. "Hold Me Closer" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her 14th top-ten single and her highest-charting song in the chart since "Scream & Shout" (2012). It debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, earning Spears her 24th top-ten.
Since the termination of her conservatorship, Spears' personal life, social media presence, and overall well-being have been subject to renewed media interest and fan speculation, giving rise to conspiracy theories. On January 24, 2023, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office performed a welfare check at Spears' residence after receiving several calls from fans who were concerned after she deleted her Instagram account. A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department stated that Spears "was safe and in no danger". Spears addressed the incident on her Twitter account, asking fans to respect her privacy. Spears and the rapper will.i.am released their single, "Mind Your Business", on July 21, 2023. On August 16, it was announced Spears and Asghari separated after 14 months of marriage. On May 1, 2024, they reached a divorce settlement. The following day, the judge signed off on the settlement and the couple were divorced on December 2, 2024. In September 2023, an additional welfare check was initiated when Spears posted an Instagram video of herself dancing with knives. Her security team assured the attending officer that there was no immediate threat to her safety, and the officer departed. Spears also clarified that the knives were not real.
In February 2022, Spears signed a $15 million book deal for a memoir in one of the biggest book deals of all time. The memoir, The Woman in Me, was released on October 24, 2023. It details her rise to fame, public media events, her conservatorship, and her newfound freedom. In the United States, it sold 1.1 million copies, while worldwide it sold 2.4 million copies in print sales during its first week of release.
In January 2024, reports circulated that Charli XCX and Julia Michaels had been asked to write songs for Spears, and Rolling Stone reported that "management and A&R are trying to get her excited for the music". Spears denied the reports, saying she would never return to the music industry. However, she also said that she had written more than 20 songs for other artists in the previous two years. In May 2024, Charli XCX confirmed in an interview that she was indeed asked to write for Spears, for which she traveled to Malibu, but that she did not know if Spears was a part of the process explaining that "the team were present... But she didn't record it. She obviously didn't."ArtistryInfluences
Spears has cited Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston as major influences, her "three favorite artists" as a child, whom she would "sing along to ... day and night in [her] living room"; Houston's "I Have Nothing" was the song she auditioned to that landed her record deal with Jive Records. Spears also named Mariah Carey as "one of the main reasons I started singing". Throughout her career, Spears has drawn frequent comparisons to Madonna and Jackson in particular, in terms of vocals, choreography, and stage presence. According to Spears: "I know when I was younger, I looked up to people ... like, you know, Janet Jackson and Madonna. And they were major inspirations for me. But I also had my own identity and I knew who I was."
In the 2002 book Madonnastyle by Carol Clerk, she is quoted saying: "I have been a huge fan of Madonna since I was a little girl. She's the person that I've really looked up to. I would really, really like to be a legend like Madonna." Spears cited "That's the Way Love Goes" as the inspiration for her song "Touch of My Hand" from her album In the Zone, saying "I like to compare it to 'That's the Way Love Goes,' kind of a Janet Jackson thing." She also said her song "Just Luv Me" from her Glory album also reminded her of "That's the Way Love Goes".
After meeting Spears face to face, Janet Jackson stated: "she said to me, 'I'm such a big fan; I really admire you.' That's so flattering. Everyone gets inspiration from some place. And it's awesome to see someone else coming up who's dancing and singing, and seeing how all these kids relate to her. A lot of people put it down, but what she does is a positive thing." Madonna said of Spears in the documentary Britney: For the Record: "I admire her talent as an artist ... There are aspects about her that I recognize in myself when I first started out in my career". Spears has also named Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Otis Redding, Shania Twain, Brandy, Beyoncé, Natalie Imbruglia, Cher, and Prince as inspirations, and younger artists such as Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande.Musical styleSpears is described as a pop artist and generally explores the genre in the form of In a review of ...Baby One More Time, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described her music as a "blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry". Oops!... I Did It Again saw Spears working with several R&B producers to create "a combination of bubblegum, urban soul, and raga". Her third studio album, Britney, derived from the teen pop niche "[r]hythmically and melodically", but was described as "sharper, tougher than what came before", incorporating genres such as R&B, disco, and funk. and dance music in her records, as well as influences of urban and hip hop, which are most present on In the Zone and Blackout. In the Zone also experiments with Euro trance, reggae, and Middle Eastern music.
...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again address themes such as love and relationships from a teenager's point of view. Following the massive commercial success of her first two studio albums, Spears' team and producers wanted to maintain the formula that took her to the top of the charts. Sex, dancing, freedom, and love continued to be Spears' music main subjects on her subsequent albums. Her fifth studio effort, Blackout, also addresses issues such as fame and media scrutiny, including on the song "Piece of Me".
Spears' music has also been noted for some catchphrases. The opening in her debut single "...Baby One More Time", "Oh, baby baby" is considered to be one of her signature lines and has been parodied in the media by various artists such as Nicole Scherzinger and Ariana Grande. It has been used in variating forms throughout her music, such as simply, "baby" and "oh baby", as well as the Blackout track, "Ooh Ooh Baby". On the initial development of "...Baby One More Time", Barry Weiss noted Spears' inception of the catchphrase from her strange ad-libbing during the recording of the song. He commented further, "We thought it was really weird at first. It was strange. It was not the way Max wrote it. But it worked! We thought it could be a really good opening salvo for her." The opening line in "Gimme More", "It's Britney, bitch" has become another signature phrase. An early review of Blackout suggested the phrase was "simply laughable". The prominent use of melisma and vibrato as she continuously raises key into a high range was viewed as a Mariah Carey influence.|format1Ogg|filename2Britney Spears - Freakshow.ogg|title2"Freakshow"|description2The track is built around the 'wobbler' effect of dubstep, and her vocals are pitched down low, making her sound masculine. She has been credited as one of the artists who prompted the genre within a pop mainstream audience.
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Spears is a soprano. Other sources state that she possesses a contralto vocal range. Prior to her breakthrough success, she is described as having sung "much deeper than her highly recognizable trademark voice of today", with Eric Foster White, who worked with Spears on her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, being cited as "[shaping] her voice over the course of a month" upon being signed to Jive Records "to where it is today—distinctively, unmistakably Britney". Rami Yacoub, who co-produced Spears' debut album with lyricist Max Martin, commented, "I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing. With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice. When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice."
Guy Blackman of The Age wrote that "[t]he thing about Spears, though, is that her biggest songs, no matter how committee-created or impossibly polished, have always been convincing because of her delivery, her commitment and her presence. ... Spears expresses perfectly the conflicting urges of adolescence, the tension between chastity and sexual experience, between hedonism and responsibility, between confidence and vulnerability." Producer William Orbit, who worked with Spears on her album Britney Jean, stated regarding her vocals: "[Britney] didn't get so big just because [she] put on great shows; [she] got to be that way because [her voice is] unique: you hear two words and you know who is singing".
Spears has also been criticized for her reliance on Auto-Tune and her vocals being "over-processed" on records. Erlewine criticized Spears' singing abilities in a review of her Blackout album, stating: "Never the greatest vocalist, her thin squawk could be dismissed early in her career as an adolescent learning the ropes, but nearly a decade later her singing hasn't gotten any better, even if the studio tools to masquerade her weaknesses have." Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe remarked that "Spears sounds robotic, nearly inhuman, on her records, so processed is her voice by digital pitch-shifters and synthesizers."
Kayla Upadhyaya of The Michigan Daily has provided a different point of view, stating: "Auto-tuned and over-processed vocals define [Spears]'s voice as an artist, and in her music, auto-tune isn't so much a gimmick as it is an instrument used to highlight, contort and make a statement." Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly opines that "Spears is no technical singer, that's for sure. But backed by Martin and Dr. Luke's wall of sound, her vocals melt into a mix of babytalk coo and coital panting that is, in its own overprocessed way, just as iconic and propulsive as Michael Jackson's yips or Eminem's snarls." Rolling Stone readers voted Spears their second-favorite dancing musician. Spears is described as being much more shy than her stage persona suggests. She said that performing is "a boost to [her] confidence. It's like an alter-ego type thing. Something clicks and I go and turn into this different person. I think it's kind of a gift to be able to do that." Her 2000, 2001, and 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performances were lauded, while her 2007 presentation was widely panned by critics, as she "teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words". Billboard called her 2016 "comeback" performance at the show "an effective, but not entirely glorious, bid to regain pop superstardom". Las Vegas Suns Robin Leach seemed more impressed over Spears' efforts on the concert by saying that she delivered a "flawless performance" on the residency's opening night.
It has been widely reported that Spears lip-syncs during live performances, which often prompts criticism from music critics and concert goers. Some, however, claimed that, although she "got plenty of digital support", she "doesn't merely lip-sync" during her live shows. In 2016, Sabrina Weiss of Refinery29 referred to her lip-syncing as a "well-known fact that's not even taboo anymore." Noting on the prevalence of lip-syncing, the Los Angeles Daily News opined: "In the context of a Britney Spears concert, does it really matter? ... you [just] go for the somewhat-ridiculous spectacle of it all". Spears herself has commented on the topic, arguing: "Because I'm dancing so much, I do have a little bit of playback, but there's a mixture of my voice and the playback. ... It really pisses me off because I'm busting my ass out there and singing at the same time and nobody ever gives me credit for it". She conceptualized the "iconic Catholic schoolgirl and cheerleader motif" in the "...Baby One More Time" video, rejecting the animation video idea. She also made the "Oops!... I Did It Again" video "dance-centric rather than space-centric as her producers suggested". She also used her dancer's intuition to help select the beats for each track.]]
Upon launching her music career with ...Baby One More Time, Spears was labeled a teen idol, and Rolling Stone described her as "the latest model of a classic product: the unneurotic pop star who performs her duties with vaudevillian pluck and spokesmodel charm." The April 1999 cover of Rolling Stone pictured a 17-year-old Spears reclining on a bed, wearing an exposed bra and hot pants while cradling a Teletubby in one arm. The American Family Association (AFA) decried the image as "a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality" and called on "God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney's albums". Spears addressed the outcry, commenting: "What's the big deal? I have strong morals. ... I'd do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time." Shortly before this, Spears had announced publicly she would remain abstinent until marriage.
An early criticism of Spears dismissed her as "the product of a Swedish songwriting factory that had no real hand in either her music or her persona". Vox editor Constance Grady wrote this was perpetuated from the fact that Spears debuted in the late 1990s, when music was dominated by rockism, that prizes "so-called authenticity and grittiness of rock above all else". Spears' "slick, breezy pop was an affront to rockist sensibilities, and claiming that Spears was fake was an easy way to dismiss her." Ron Levy for Rolling Stone noted that "I have to tell you, if the record company could have created more than one Britney Spears, they would have done it, and they tried!" Britneys lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U", and its music video were also credited for distancing her from her previous "wholesome bubblegum star" image. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic remarked, "If 2001's Britney was a transitional album, capturing Spears at the point when she wasn't a girl and not yet a woman, its 2003 follow-up, In the Zone, is where she has finally completed that journey and turned into Britney, the Adult Woman." Erlewine likened Spears to fellow singer Christina Aguilera, explaining that both equated "maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs". Brittany Spanos of LA Weekly stated that Spears "set the bar for the 'adulthood' transition teen pop stars often struggle with".
Spears' erratic behavior and personal problems during 2006–2008 were highly publicized and affected both her career and public image. Erlewine writes that "each new disaster [was] stripping away any residual sexiness in her public image". while Business Insider ran an article on how she had "lost control of her life ... and then made an incredible career comeback". In 2017, Spears said: "I think I had to give myself more breaks through my career and take responsibility for my mental health. ... I wrote back then, that I was lost and didn't know what to do with myself. I was trying to please everyone around me because that's who I am deep inside. There are moments where I look back and think: 'What the hell was I thinking?'"
In September 2002, Spears was placed at number eight on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists list. She was placed at number one on FHMs 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2004, and, in December 2012, Complex ranked her 12th on its 100 Hottest Female Singers of All Time list. Remarking upon her perceived image as a sex symbol, Spears stated: "When I'm on stage, that's my time to do my thing and go there and be that and it's fun. It's exhilarating just to be something that you're not. And people tend to believe it." In 2003, People cited her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People.
Spears is recognized as a gay icon and received the 2018 GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for her role in "accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community". Manuel Betancourt of Vice wrote about the "queer adoration", especially of gay men, on Spears, and said that "Where other gay icons exude self-possession, Spears' fragile resilience has made her an even more fascinating role model, closer to Judy Garland than to Lady Gaga ... she's a glittering mirror ball, a fractured reflection of those men on the dance floor back onto themselves." HuffPosts Ben Appel attributed Spears' status as a gay icon to her "oh-so-innocent/not that innocent" Monroe-like sensuality, her sweet, almost saccharine nature, her beyond basic but addictive pop songs, her dance moves, her phoenix-out-of-the-fire comeback from a series of mental health crises, and her unmistakable tenderness. "Britney is camp. She is a fashion plate. A doll. Britney is a drag queen."
Since her early years in the public eye, Spears has been a tabloid fixture and a paparazzi target. According to Vanity Fair, photos of Spears sold for a combined value of $100 million in 2007. Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, said in an interview, "Britney is gold. She is crack to our readers. Her life is a complete train-wreck, and I thank God for her every day." Steve Huey of AllMusic remarked that "among female singers of [Spears'] era ... her celebrity star power was rivaled only by Jennifer Lopez." Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the Guinness World Records book edition 2007 and 2009. She was later named as the most searched person of the decade 2000–2009.
As a public figure, Spears "has never been known to her fans as a politically active, committed—or even aware—entertainer." In a 2003 interview with Tucker Carlson, she commented on President George W. Bush and the Iraq War, saying that "we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes ... and be faithful in what happens". Michael Moore included the footage of Spears' answer in his "anti-Bush" documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which, according to The Washington Timess James Frazier, presented her "as an example of a naive American blindly trusting a dishonest commander in chief" and fueled the "urban legend" of a "conservative" Spears. Frazier also said that "the few positions she has taken can hardly be considered conservative", such as supporting same-sex marriage.
In December 2017, Spears publicly showed support for the DREAM Act in the wake of the announcement that Donald Trump would end the DACA policy, which previously granted undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. She posted a photo of herself on social media wearing a black T-shirt that reads "We Are All Dreamers" in white letters. The caption read, "Tell Congress to pass the #DreamAct".
On September 15, 2021, Spears was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by Time. A few days before the editors's list was released, Spears was put at the top of the readers voting list of which personalities should be included on the annual Time 100 list. Deemed an icon of 2021, editors highlighted the impact of her fight against her conservatorship as well as of the #FreeBritney movement. In October 2021, Spears thanked her fans and the #FreeBritney movement for "freeing me from my conservatorship". Britney Spears was also named most famous celebrity from Louisiana according to a study done by Baton Rouge.
Legacy
Referred to as the "Princess of Pop", Rolling Stones Stacy Lambe explained that she "help[ed] to usher in a new era for the genre that had gone dormant in the decade that followed New Kids on the Block. ... Spears would lead an army of pop stars ... built on slick Max Martin productions, plenty of sexual innuendo and dance-heavy performances. [She became] one of the most successful artists of all time—and a cautionary tale for a generation, whether they paid attention or not." In a 2021 article for Time, Maura Johnston opined that "Spears' legacy as a pop artist is complex, made up of dazzling musical heights and music-business-borne lows". Johnston also commented: "While Spears' catalog is part of the canon that defines the first 20 years of this millennium, one hopes that her public struggles, and the strength she's shown while enduring them, will lead to her cementing her true legacy: Reshaping the machine that turns those songs into cultural touchstones."
Glamour contributor Christopher Rosa described her as "one of pop music's defining voices. ... When she emerged onto the scene in 1998 with ...Baby One More Time, the world hadn't seen a performer like her. Not since Madonna had a female artist affected the genre so profoundly." Billboards Robert Kelly observed that Spears' "sexy and coy" vocals on her debut single "...Baby One More Time" "kicked off a new era of pop vocal stylings that would influence countless artists to come". In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number one on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time and Rob Sheffield described it as "One of those pop manifestos that announces a new sound, a new era, a new century. But most of all, a new star ... With "...Baby One More Time", [Spears] changed the sound of pop forever: It's Britney, bitch. Nothing was ever the same."
Spears was at the forefront of the female teen pop explosion starting in 1999 and extending through the 2000s, leading the pack of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears' single and video were charting highly. RCA Records quickly signed Aguilera and released her debut single to capitalize on Spears' success, producing her debut hit single "Genie in a Bottle". Simpson consciously modeled her persona as more mature than Spears; her "I Wanna Love You Forever" charted in September 1999, and her album Sweet Kisses followed shortly after. Moore's first single, "Candy", hit the airwaves a month before Simpson's single, but it did not perform as well on the charts; Moore was often seen as less accomplished than Spears and the others, coming in fourth of the "pop princesses". Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s.
Alim Kheraj of Dazed called Spears "one of pop's most important pioneers". After eighteen years as a performer, Billboard described her as having "earned her title as one of pop's reigning queens. Since her early days as a Mouseketeer, [Spears] has pushed the boundaries of 21st century sounds, paving the way for a generation of artists to shamelessly embrace glossy pop and redefine how one can accrue consistent success in the music industry." In 2012, she was ranked as the fourth VH1's 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era show list. VH1 also cited her among its choices on the 100 Greatest Women in Music in 2012 and the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons in 2003. In 2020, Billboard ranked her eight on its 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of all-time list. In October 2024, Billboard placed Spears at number six on their Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century list.
Spears and her work have influenced various artists including Katy Perry, Meghan Trainor, Demi Lovato, Kristinia DeBarge, Little Boots, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, Marina Diamandis, the Weeknd, Tegan and Sara, Pixie Lott, Grimes, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, Pabllo Vittar, Tinashe, Victoria Justice, Cassie, Leah Wellbaum of Slothrust, the Saturdays, Normani, Miley Cyrus, Cheryl, Lana Del Rey, Ava Max, Sam Smith, and Rina Sawayama. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga said that Spears "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her." Gaga has also cited Spears as an influence, calling her "the most provocative performer of my time".
Before Spears joined The X Factor, Simon Cowell explained that he is "fascinated by [Britney]. The fact that she's one of the most talked about – not just pop stars – but people in the world today, means that you've got this star power. ... She's still hot, she's still having hit records and she's still controversial, there's a reason for that." Marina Diamandis named Spears as the main influence behind her album Electra Heart. Lana Del Rey said that the music video for "Toxic" inspires her. Porcelain Black describes her music as a "love child" of Spears and Marilyn Manson. Rita Ora's 2019 music video for "Only Want You" was inspired by Spears' "Everytime" music video, and said in a stories from Instagram, "Hey @britneyspears this was for you because I love you so. Pay homage to the ones who inspire! #icon."
Spears has been credited with redefining Las Vegas residencies as a retirement place for musicians. Her debut concert residency Britney: Piece of Me was described as "the natural evolution of Celine Dion's powerhourse Vegas residency, a still-charting star of another generation redefining the role of Strip headliner." Forbes named Spears the sixth-highest-earning female musician of 2015." She is credited with influencing and paving the way for other artists's residencies such as Jennifer Lopez's Jennifer Lopez: All I Have, Bruno Mars's Bruno Mars at Park MGM, and Backstreet Boys' Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life. The arrival of Spears "saw the pop promoters finally tap into the younger crowd arriving in town for a good time".
Spears' much-publicized personal problems and her subsequent career comeback have inspired some artists. Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the 2010 film Country Strong was inspired by Spears' treatment by the media. According to film director Shana Fest, "that's where this movie came from. I mean, I was seeing what was happening in the media to Britney Spears. I think it's tragic how we treat people who give us so much, and we love to see them knocked down to build them back up again, to knock them down again." Nicki Minaj has cited Spears' comeback after her much-publicized personal issues as an inspiration. Spears' hounding by paparazzi and personal problems also inspired Barry Manilow's album 15 Minutes. Manilow said: "She couldn't have a life without them pulling up next to her car and following her and driving her crazy to the point where, that was around the time she shaved off her hair. ... We all looked at it in horror ... So it seemed like a thing to be writing an album about." Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was inspired by "culture's make-or-break treatment of celebrities".
In 2008, Salon published an article titled "The Britney Economy" describing how Spears is a driving force in music and fashion, stimulating consumer purchases and media coverage. Magazines, paparazzi, and record labels make millions of dollars, and Spears profits to a lesser degree. Along with Alicia Silverstone, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell, Spears has been credited with introducing the navel piercing to mainstream culture.Achievements
Spears' awards and accolades include a Grammy Award; 15 Guinness World Records; six MTV Video Music Awards, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award; seven Billboard Music Awards, including the Millennium Award; the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award; the GLAAD Media Award's Vanguard Award; and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Spears is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time, which sold over 13 million copies in the United States. Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported: "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist. Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears had sold over 37 million albums worldwide".
, according to the Evening Standard, Spears has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She also sold more than 70 million records in United States, including 36.9 million digital singles and 33.6 million digital albums. Spears is further recognized as the best-selling female albums artist of the 2000s in the United States, as well as the fifth overall. In December 2009, Billboard ranked Spears the 8th Artist of the 2000s decade in the United States. She is one of the few artists in history to have had a number-one single and a number-one studio album in the US during each of the three decades of her career. With "3" in 2009 and "Hold It Against Me" in 2011, she became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs.
Other ventures
Product and endorsements
]]
In 2000, Spears released a limited edition of sunglasses titled Shades of Britney. In 2001, she signed a deal with shoe company Skechers, and a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, their biggest entertainment deal at the time. Aside from numerous commercials with the latter during that year, she also appeared in a 2004 Pepsi television commercial in the theme of "Gladiators" with singers Beyoncé, Pink, and Enrique Iglesias. On June 19, 2002, she released her first multi-platform video game, ''Britney's Dance Beat'', which received positive reviews.
In March 2009, Spears was announced as the new face of clothing brand Candie's. Dari Marder, chief marketing officer for the brand, said: "Everybody loves a comeback and nobody's doing it better than Britney. She's just poised for even greater success."
Spears also teamed up with Hasbro in 2012 to release an exclusive version of Twister Dance, which includes a remix of "Till the World Ends". She was also featured on a commercial, which was directed by Ray Kay, to promote the game. Spears was also featured on the commercial of Twister Dance Rave, and the game included a Twister remix of "Circus". In March 2018, it was revealed that Spears would be the face of Kenzo, a contemporary French luxury clothing house. In 2010, Spears released her eighth fragrance, Radiance.
In 2011, Radiance was reissued as a new perfume titled Cosmic Radiance. Worldwide, Spears sold over one million bottles in the first five years, with gross receipts of $1.5 billion. In 2016, Spears contacted Glu Mobile to create her own role-playing game, Britney Spears: American Dream. The app officially launched in May 2016 and is compatible with iOS and Android. , Spears has released 24 fragrances through Elizabeth Arden.
Philanthropy
Spears founded The Britney Spears Foundation, a charitable entity set up to help children in need. The philosophy behind the Foundation was that music and entertainment has a healing quality that can benefit children. The Foundation also supported the annual Britney Spears Camp for the Performing Arts, where campers had the opportunity to explore and develop their talents. In April 2002, through the efforts of Spears and The Britney Spears Foundation, a grant of $1 million was made to the Twin Towers Fund to support the children of uniformed service heroes affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including New York City Fire Department and its Emergency Medical Services Command, the New York City Police Department, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Office of court Administration and other government offices. However, it was reported in 2008 that the Foundation had a deficit of $200,000. After Spears went through conservatorship, her father and lawyer Andrew Wallet zeroed out the effort, leading to its closure in 2011.
On October 30, 2001, Spears, alongside Bono and other popular recording artists under the name "Artists Against AIDS Worldwide", released an album consisting of multiple versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", intending to benefit AIDS programs in Africa and other impoverished regions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Spears donated $350,000 to Music Rising. Spears has also helped several charities during her career, including Madonna's Kabbalah-based Spirituality for Kids, cancer charity Gilda's Club Worldwide, Promises Foundation, and United Way, with the latter two focused on giving families from various disadvantaged situations new hope and stable foundations for the future. In addition, $1 of each ticket sale for her Las Vegas residency, Britney: Piece of Me, was donated to the nonprofit organization. Spears also fundraised for the charity through social media, in addition to selling limited edition merchandise, with all proceeds going to the NCCF. On October 27, 2016, Spears partnered with Zappos and XCYCLE to host the Britney Spears Piece of Me Charity Ride in Boca Park, Las Vegas to raise additional money toward her goal of $1 million for the NCCF, with $450,000 having already been raised from Spears' ticket sales and merchandise. Participants were entered for a chance to win a spin class with Spears herself. The event ultimately went on to raise $553,130. The fundraising ultimately led to the development of the NCCF Britney Spears Campus in Las Vegas, which saw its grand opening on November 4, 2017. Spears also regularly participates in Spirit Day to combat bullying of LGBTQ youth and bullying.
In March 2020, Spears was participating in the #DoYourPartChallenge, which entails helping people with anything they might need during the COVID-19 pandemic. She told fans to send her messages on Instagram if they need supportive words during the coronavirus pandemic, with Spears picking three fans. In February 2024, Spears partnered with New York City dessert shop Glace, to create the "Britney Brûlée" dessert, with a portion of the proceeds from its sales being donated to The Trevor Project.
Discography
* ...Baby One More Time (1999)
* Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)
* Britney (2001)
* In the Zone (2003)
* Blackout (2007)
* Circus (2008)
* Femme Fatale (2011)
* Britney Jean (2013)
* Glory (2016)
Filmography
* Longshot (2001)
* Crossroads (2002)
* Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
* Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)
* Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
* Corporate Animals (2019)
Concerts and residencies
Tours
* ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999)
* (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour (2000)
* Oops!... I Did It Again Tour (2000–2001)
* Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–2002)
* The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004)
* The M+M's Tour (2007)
* The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009)
* Femme Fatale Tour (2011)
* Britney: Live in Concert (2017)
* Piece of Me Tour (2018)
Residencies
* Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017)
Written works
* Heart to Heart (with Lynne Spears) (2000)
* ''A Mother's Gift (with Lynne Spears) (2001)
* Crossroads Diary'' (with Felicia Culotta) (2002)
* The Woman in Me (2023)
See also
* Artists with the most number-one European singles
* Forbes Celebrity 100
* List of artists who reached number one in the United States
* List of best-selling singles
* List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones
* List of dancers
* List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
* List of most expensive music videos
* List of most-followed Twitter accounts
* Time 100
References
Citations
Book sources
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Further reading
* External links
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Category:1981 births
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Category:20th-century American actresses
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Category:20th-century American women singers
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Category:American people of English descent
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Category:American atheists | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears | 2025-04-05T18:26:21.830605 |
3383 | Brazil | | image_flag = Flag of Brazil.svg
| alt_flag | image_coat Coat of arms of Brazil.svg
| alt_coat | symbol_type Coat of arms
| other_symbol = <br />National Seal of Brazil <br />}}
| other_symbol_type = National Seal
| national_motto = <br /><br />"Order and Progress"
| national_anthem <br /><br />"Brazilian National Anthem"<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| flag_anthem <br /><br />"National Flag Anthem"<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map = BRA orthographic.svg
| alt_map | capital Brasília
| coordinates =
| largest_city São Paulo<br />
| languages_type = Official language<br />
| languages = Portuguese
| languages2_type = Recognized regional languages
| languages2 = See regional official languages
| ethnic_groups =
*
*43.5% White
*10.2% Black
*0.6% Indigenous
*0.4% East Asian
| ethnic_groups_year = 2022
| ethnic_groups_ref
| demonym = Brazilian
| government_type = Federal presidential republic
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
| leader_title2 = Vice President
| leader_name2 = Geraldo Alckmin
| leader_title3 =
| leader_name3 = Hugo Motta
| leader_title4 = President of the <br />Federal Senate
| leader_name4 =
| leader_title5 =
| leader_name5 = Luís Roberto Barroso
| legislature =
| upper_house =
| lower_house =
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from Portugal
| established_event1 = Declared
| established_date1 = 7 September 1822
| established_event2 = Recognized
| established_date2 = 29 August 1825
| established_event3 = Republic
| established_date3 = 15 November 1889
| established_event4 = Current constitution
| established_date4 = 5 October 1988
| area_km2 = 8515767
| area_label = Total
| area_rank = 5th
| area_sq_mi = 3287597
| percent_water = 0.65
| population_estimate 212,583,750
| population_census 203,080,756
| population_census_year = 2022
| population_estimate_year = 2024
| population_estimate_rank = 7th
| population_census_rank = 7th
| population_density_km2 23.8
| population_density_sq_mi = 64
| population_density_rank = 193rd
| GDP_PPP $4.891 trillion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 8th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $22,928
| HDI = 0.760<!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 89th
| currency = Real (R$)
| currency_code = BRL
| time_zone = BT
| utc_offset = −02:00 to −05:00
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy (CE)
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +55
| iso3166code | cctld .br
| religion =
*75% Christianity
**49% Catholicism
**26% Evangelical Christian
|14% no religion
|11% not specified}}
| religion_ref
| religion_year = 2022
}}
Brazil,, .}} officially the Federative Republic of Brazil,, .}} is the largest and easternmost country in South America. It is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh largest by population, with over 212 million people. The country is a federation composed of 26 states and a Federal District, which hosts the capital, Brasília. Its most populous city is São Paulo, followed by Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has the most Portuguese speakers in the world and is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is an official language.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of . Brazil encompasses a wide range of tropical and subtropical landscapes, as well as wetlands, savannas, plateaus, and low mountains. It contains most of the Amazon basin, including the world’s largest river system and most extensive virgin tropical forest. Brazil has diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. The country ranks first among 17 megadiverse countries, with its natural heritage being the subject of significant global interest, as environmental degradation (through processes such as deforestation) directly affect global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
Brazil was inhabited by various indigenous peoples prior to the landing of Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. It was claimed and settled by Portugal, which forcibly imported enslaved Africans to work on plantations. Brazil remained a colony until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves after the transfer of the Portuguese court to Rio de Janeiro. Prince Pedro of Braganza declared the country's independence in 1822, establishing the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Brazil's first constitution in 1824 established a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress, and enshrined principles such as freedom of religion and the press, but retained slavery, which was gradually abolished throughout the 19th century until its final abolition in 1888. Brazil became a presidential republic following a military coup d'état in 1889. An authoritarian military dictatorship emerged in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, enacted in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic.
Brazil is a regional and middle power and rising global power. It is an emerging, upper-middle income economy and newly industrialized country, with one of the 10 largest economies in the world in both nominal and PPP terms, the largest economy in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere, and the largest share of wealth in South America. With a complex and highly diversified economy, Brazil is one of the world's major or primary exporters of various agricultural goods, mineral resources, and manufactured products. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, G4, Mercosur, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries; it is also an observer state of the Arab League and a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Etymology
The word Brazil probably comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from brasa ('ember') and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium). It has alternatively been suggested that this is a folk etymology for a word for the plant related to an Arabic or Asian word for a red plant. As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was highly valued by the European textile industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. Throughout the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi) along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders (mostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorted European consumer goods.
The official Portuguese name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross" (Terra da Santa Cruz), but European sailors and merchants commonly called it the "Land of Brazil" (Terra do Brasil) because of the brazilwood trade. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name. Some early sailors called it the "Land of Parrots".
In the Guaraní language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama", meaning 'land of the palm trees'.
History
Pre-Cabraline era
Pre-Cabraline history of Brazil}}
at Serra da Capivara National Park, one of the largest and oldest concentrations of prehistoric sites in the Americas]]
Some of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais and provide evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years.
The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to over 8,000 years ago (6000 BC). The pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the region supported a complex prehistoric culture. The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó in the Amazon delta from AD 400 to 1400, developing sophisticated pottery, social stratification, large populations, mound building, and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.
Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people, mostly semi-nomadic, who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture. The population comprised several large indigenous ethnic groups (e.g., the Tupis, Guaranis, Gês, and Arawaks). The Tupi people were subdivided into the Tupiniquins and Tupinambás.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the boundaries between these groups and their subgroups were marked by wars that arose from differences in culture, language and moral beliefs. These wars also involved large-scale military actions on land and water, with cannibalistic rituals on prisoners of war. While heredity had some weight, leadership was a status more won over time than assigned in succession ceremonies and conventions.
}}
Following the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, the land now called Brazil was claimed for the Portuguese Empire on 22 April 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral. The Portuguese encountered indigenous peoples divided into several ethnic societies, most of whom spoke languages of the Tupi–Guarani family and fought among themselves. Though the first settlement was founded in 1532, colonization effectively began in 1534, when King John III of Portugal divided the territory into the fifteen private and autonomous captaincies.
However, the decentralized and unorganized tendencies of the captaincies proved problematic, and in 1549 the Portuguese king restructured them into the Governorate General of Brazil in the city of Salvador, which became the capital of a single and centralized Portuguese colony in South America. In the first two centuries of colonization, Indigenous and European groups lived in constant war, establishing opportunistic alliances in order to gain advantages against each other.
By the mid-16th century, cane sugar had become Brazil's most important export, while slaves purchased in Sub-Saharan Africa in the slave market of Western Africa (not only those from Portuguese allies of their colonies in Angola and Mozambique), had become its largest import, to cope with sugarcane plantations, due to increasing international demand for Brazilian sugar. Brazil received more than 2.8 million slaves from Africa between the years 1500 and 1800.
By the end of the 17th century, sugarcane exports began to decline and the discovery of gold by bandeirantes in the 1690s would become the new backbone of the colony's economy, fostering a gold rush which attracted thousands of new settlers to Brazil from Portugal and all Portuguese colonies around the world. This increased level of immigration in turn caused some conflicts between newcomers and old settlers.
Portuguese expeditions known as bandeiras gradually expanded Brazil's original colonial frontiers in South America to its approximately current borders. In this era, other European powers tried to colonize parts of Brazil, in incursions that the Portuguese had to fight, notably the French in Rio during the 1560s, in Maranhão during the 1610s, and the Dutch in Bahia and Pernambuco, during the Dutch–Portuguese War, after the end of Iberian Union.
The Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil had two objectives that would ensure colonial order and the monopoly of Portugal's wealthiest and largest colony: to keep under control and eradicate all forms of slave rebellion and resistance, such as the Quilombo of Palmares, and to repress all movements for autonomy or independence, such as the Minas Gerais Conspiracy.
Elevation to kingdom
of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in Rio de Janeiro, 6 February 1818]]
In late 1807, Spanish and Napoleonic forces threatened the security of continental Portugal, causing Prince Regent John, in the name of Queen Maria I, to move the royal court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. There they established some of Brazil's first financial institutions, such as its local stock exchanges and its National Bank, additionally ending the Portuguese monopoly on Brazilian trade and opening Brazil's ports to other nations. In 1809, in retaliation for being forced into exile, the Prince Regent ordered the conquest of French Guiana.
With the end of the Peninsular War in 1814, the courts of Europe demanded that Queen Maria I and Prince Regent John return to Portugal, deeming it unfit for the head of an ancient European monarchy to reside in a colony. In 1815, to justify continuing to live in Brazil, where the royal court had thrived for six years, the Crown established the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, thus creating a pluricontinental transatlantic monarchic state. However, the leadership in Portugal, resentful of the new status of its larger colony, continued to demand the return of the court to Lisbon (see Liberal Revolution of 1820). In 1821, acceding to the demands of revolutionaries who had taken the city of Porto, John VI departed for Lisbon. There he swore an oath to the new constitution, leaving his son, Prince Pedro de Alcântara, as Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil.
Independent empire
by Pedro I on 7 September 1822]]
Tensions between Portuguese and Brazilians increased and the Portuguese Cortes, guided by the new political regime imposed by the Liberal Revolution, tried to re-establish Brazil as a colony. The Brazilians refused to yield, and Prince Pedro decided to stand with them, declaring the country's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. A month later, Prince Pedro was declared the first Emperor of Brazil, with the royal title of Dom Pedro I, resulting in the founding of the Empire of Brazil.
The Brazilian War of Independence, which had already begun along this process, spread through the northern, northeastern regions and in the Cisplatina province. The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered on 8 March 1824; Portugal officially recognized Brazilian independence on 29 August 1825.
On 7 April 1831, worn down by years of administrative turmoil and political dissent with both liberal and conservative sides of politics, including an attempt of republican secession and unreconciled to the way that absolutists in Portugal had given in the succession of King John VI, Pedro I departed for Portugal to reclaim his daughter's crown after abdicating the Brazilian throne in favor of his five-year-old son and heir (Dom Pedro II).
, Emperor of Brazil between 1831 and 1889]]
As the new Emperor could not exert his constitutional powers until he came of age, a regency was set up by the National Assembly. In the absence of a charismatic figure who could represent a moderate face of power, during this period a series of localized rebellions took place, such as the Cabanagem in Grão-Pará, the Malê Revolt in Salvador, the Balaiada (Maranhão), the Sabinada (Bahia), and the Ragamuffin War, which began in Rio Grande do Sul and was supported by Giuseppe Garibaldi. These emerged from the provinces' dissatisfaction with the central power, coupled with old and latent social tensions peculiar to a vast, slaveholding and newly independent nation state. This period of internal political and social upheaval, which included the Praieira revolt in Pernambuco, was overcome only at the end of the 1840s, years after the end of the regency, which occurred with the premature coronation of Pedro II in 1841.
During the last phase of the monarchy, internal political debate centered on the issue of slavery. The Atlantic slave trade was abandoned in 1850, as a result of the British Aberdeen Act and the Eusébio de Queirós Law, but only in May 1888, after a long process of internal mobilization and debate for an ethical and legal dismantling of slavery in the country, was the institution formally abolished with the approval of the Golden Law.
The foreign-affairs policies of the monarchy dealt with issues with the countries of the Southern Cone with whom Brazil had borders. Long after the Cisplatine War that resulted in the independence of Uruguay, Brazil won three international wars during the 58-year reign of Pedro II: the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the devastating Paraguayan War, the largest war effort in Brazilian history.
Although there was no desire among the majority of Brazilians to change the country's form of government, on 15 November 1889, in disagreement with the majority of the Imperial Army officers, as well as with rural and financial elites (for different reasons), the monarchy was overthrown by a military coup. A few days later, the national flag was replaced with a new design that included the national motto "Ordem e Progresso", influenced by positivism. 15 November is now Republic Day, a national holiday.
Early republic
The early republican government was a military dictatorship, with the army dominating affairs both in Rio de Janeiro and in the states. Freedom of the press disappeared and elections were controlled by those in power. Not until 1894, following an economic crisis and a military one, did civilians take power, remaining there until October 1930.
In relation to its foreign policy, the country in this first republican period maintained a relative balance characterized by a success in resolving border disputes with neighboring countries, only broken by the Acre War (1899–1902) and its involvement in World War I (1914–1918), followed by a failed attempt to exert a prominent role in the League of Nations; Internally, from the crisis of Encilhamento and the Navy Revolts, a prolonged cycle of financial, political and social instability began until the 1920s, keeping the country besieged by various rebellions, both civilian and military.
Little by little, a cycle of general instability sparked by these crises undermined the regime to such an extent that in the wake of the murder of his running mate, the defeated opposition presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas, supported by most of the military, successfully led the Revolution of 1930. Vargas and the military were supposed to assume power temporarily, but instead closed down Congress, extinguished the Constitution, ruled with emergency powers and replaced the states' governors with his own supporters.
In the 1930s, three attempts to remove Vargas and his supporters from power failed. The first was the Constitutionalist Revolution in 1932, led by São Paulo's oligarchy. The second was a Communist uprising in November 1935, and the last one a putsch attempt by local fascists in May 1938. The 1935 uprising created a security crisis in which Congress transferred more power to the executive branch. The 1937 ''coup d'état resulted in the cancellation of the 1938 election and formalized Vargas as dictator, beginning the Estado Novo era. During this period, government brutality and censorship of the press increased.
During World War II, Brazil remained neutral until August 1942, when the country suffered retaliation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in a strategic dispute over the South Atlantic, and, therefore, entered the war on the allied side. In addition to its participation in the battle of the Atlantic, Brazil also sent an expeditionary force to fight in the Italian campaign.
With the Allied victory in 1945 and the end of the fascist regimes in Europe, Vargas's position became unsustainable, and he was swiftly overthrown in another military coup, with democracy "reinstated" by the same army that had ended it 15 years earlier. Vargas committed suicide in August 1954 amid a political crisis, after having returned to power by election in 1950.
Contemporary era
in Brasília, 1959, during the JK administration]]
Several brief interim governments followed Vargas's suicide. Juscelino Kubitschek became president in 1956 and assumed a conciliatory posture towards the political opposition that allowed him to govern without major crises. The economy and industrial sector grew remarkably, but his greatest achievement was the construction of the new capital city of Brasília, inaugurated in 1960. Kubitschek's successor, Jânio Quadros, resigned in 1961 less than a year after taking office. His vice-president, João Goulart, assumed the presidency, but aroused strong political opposition and was deposed in April 1964 by a coup that resulted in a military dictatorship.
along the Avenida Presidente Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, in April 1968, during the military dictatorship]]
The new regime was intended to be transitory but gradually closed in on itself and became a full dictatorship with the promulgation of the Fifth Institutional Act in 1968. Oppression was not limited to those who resorted to guerrilla tactics to fight the regime, but also reached institutional opponents, artists, journalists and other members of civil society, inside and outside the country through the infamous "Operation Condor". Like other brutal authoritarian regimes, due to an economic boom, known as the "economic miracle", the regime reached a peak in popularity in the early 1970s.
Slowly, however, the wear and tear of years of dictatorial power had not slowed the repression, even after the defeat of the leftist guerrillas. The inability to deal with the economic crises of the period and popular pressure made an opening policy inevitable, which from the regime side was led by Generals Ernesto Geisel and Golbery do Couto e Silva. With the enactment of the Amnesty Law in 1979, Brazil began a slow return to democracy, which was completed during the 1980s.
holding the Constitution of 1988]]
Civilians returned to power in 1985 when José Sarney assumed the presidency. He became unpopular during his tenure through failure to control the economic crisis and hyperinflation he inherited from the military regime. Sarney's unsuccessful government led to the election in 1989 of the almost-unknown Fernando Collor, who was subsequently impeached by the National Congress in 1992. Collor was succeeded by his vice-president, Itamar Franco, who appointed Fernando Henrique Cardoso Minister of Finance. In 1994, Cardoso produced a highly successful Plano Real, that, after decades of failed economic plans made by previous governments attempting to curb hyperinflation, finally stabilized the Brazilian economy. Cardoso won the 1994 election, and again in 1998.
The peaceful transition of power from Cardoso to his main opposition leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006), was seen as proof that Brazil had achieved a long-sought political stability. However, sparked by indignation and frustrations accumulated over decades from corruption, police brutality, inefficiencies of the political establishment and public service, numerous peaceful protests erupted in Brazil in the middle of the first term of Dilma Rousseff, who had succeeded Lula after winning election in 2010 and again in 2014 by narrow margins.
Rousseff was impeached by the Brazilian Congress in 2016, halfway into her second term, and replaced by her Vice-president Michel Temer, who assumed full presidential powers after Rousseff's impeachment was accepted on 31 August. Large street protests for and against her took place during the impeachment process. The charges against her were fueled by political and economic crises along with evidence of involvement with politicians from all the primary political parties. In 2017, the Supreme Court requested the investigation of 71 Brazilian lawmakers and nine ministers of President Michel Temer's cabinet who were allegedly linked to the Petrobras corruption scandal. President Temer himself was also accused of corruption. According to a 2018 poll, 62% of the population said that corruption was Brazil's biggest problem.
In the fiercely disputed 2018 elections, the controversial conservative candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) was elected president, winning in the second round against Fernando Haddad, of the Workers Party (PT), with the support of 55.13% of the valid votes. In the early 2020s, Brazil became one of the hardest hit countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving the second-highest death toll worldwide after the United States. In May 2021, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that he would run for a third term in the 2022 Brazilian general election against Bolsonaro. In October 2022, Lula was in first place in the first round, with 48.43% of the support from the electorate, and received 50.90% of the votes in the second round. On 8 January 2023, a week after Lula's inauguration, a mob of Bolsonaro's supporters attacked Brazil's federal government buildings in the capital, Brasília, after several weeks of unrest. Geography
Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north. It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile. including of water. North to South, Brazil is also the longest country in the world, spanning 4,395 km (2,731 mi) from north to south,
Climate
zones]]
The climate of Brazil comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a large area and varied topography, but most of the country is tropical.
In Brazil, forest cover is around 59% of the total land area, equivalent to 496,619,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 588,898,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 485,396,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 11,223,600 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest, 44% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 30% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For 2015, 56.% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 44% private ownership.
Many regions have starkly different microclimates. An equatorial climate characterizes much of northern Brazil. There is no real dry season, but there are some variations in the period of the year when most rain falls. most of which generally falls in a period of three to five months of the year and occasionally less than this, creating long periods of drought. caused approximately half a million deaths. A similarly devastating drought occurred in 1915. In 2024, for the first time, "a drought has covered all the way from the North to the country’s Southeast". It is the strongest drought in Brazil since the beginning of measurement in the 1950s, covering almost 60% of the country's territory. The drought is linked to deforestation and climate change.
Climate change in Brazil is causing higher temperatures and longer-lasting heatwaves, changing precipitation patterns, more intense wildfires and heightened fire risk. Brazil's hydropower, agriculture and urban water supplies will be affected. Brazil's rainforests, and the Amazon, are particularly at risk to climate change. At worst, large areas of the Amazon River basin could turn into savannah, with severe consequences for global climate and local livelihoods. Extreme weather events like droughts and flash floods are causing annual losses of around R$13 billion (US$2.6 billion), equivalent to 0.1% of the country’s 2022 GDP. Climate impacts could exacerbate poverty. In 2024 Brazil revised its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), setting a goal to cut greenhouse emissions by 59% to 67% compared to 2005 levels by 2035. It has an indicative target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 if the country receives 10 billion dollars per year.
Topography and hydrography
Brazilian topography is also diverse and includes hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Much of the terrain lies between and in elevation. The main upland area occupies most of the southern half of the country. Major rivers include the Amazon (the world's second-longest river and the largest in terms of volume of water), the Paraná and its major tributary the Iguaçu (which includes the Iguazu Falls), the Negro, São Francisco, Xingu, Madeira and Tapajós rivers. Brazil is considered to have the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet, containing over 70% of all animal and plant species catalogued. Brazil has the most known species of plants (55,000), freshwater fish (3,000) and mammals (over 689). It also ranks third on the list of countries with the most bird species (1,832) and second with the most reptile species (744). Brazil is second only to Indonesia as the country with the most endemic species.
Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, recognized as having the greatest biological diversity in the world, with the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado sustaining the greatest biodiversity. In the south, the Araucaria moist forests grow under temperate conditions.
More than one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has been completely destroyed, and more than 70 mammals are endangered. Of the 202 endangered animals in Brazil, 171 are in the Atlantic Forest. The Amazon rainforest has been under direct threat of deforestation since the 1970s because of rapid economic and demographic expansion. Extensive legal and illegal logging destroy forests the size of a small country per year, and with it a diverse series of species through habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation. Since 1970, over of the Amazon rainforest have been cleared by logging.
In 2017, preserved native vegetation occupied 61% of the Brazilian territory. Agriculture occupied only 8% of the national territory and pastures 19.7%. For comparison, in 2019, although 43% of the entire European continent has forests, only 3% of the total forest area in Europe is of native forest. Brazil has a strong interest in conservation, as its agriculture sector directly depends on its forests. Government and politics
, seat of the legislative branch]]
, the official workplace of the President of Brazil]]
The form of government is a democratic federative republic, with a presidential system. The President appoints the Ministers of State, who assist in government. and Freedom House classified it as a free country at Freedom in the World report.
The political-administrative organization of the Federative Republic of Brazil comprises the Union, the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities.
For most of its democratic history, Brazil has had a multi-party system, with proportional representation. Voting is compulsory for the literate between 18 and 70 years old and optional for illiterates and those between 16 and 18 or beyond 70.
Law
serves primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country.]]
Brazilian law is based on the civil law legal system and civil law concepts prevail over common law practice. Most of Brazilian law is codified, although non-codified statutes also represent a substantial part, playing a complementary role. Court decisions set out interpretive guidelines; however, they are seldom binding on other specific cases. Doctrinal works and the works of academic jurists have strong influence in law creation and in law cases. Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams. , there have been 124 amendments. The highest court is the Supreme Federal Court. States have their own constitutions, which must not contradict the Federal Constitution. Municipalities and the Federal District have "organic laws" (), which act in a similar way to constitutions. Legislative entities are the main source of statutes, although in certain matters judiciary and executive bodies may enact legal norms. The country was considered the 9th largest military power on the planet in 2021. It consists of the Brazilian Army (including the Army Aviation Command), the Brazilian Navy (including the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation) and the Brazilian Air Force. Brazil's conscription policy gives it one of the world's largest military forces, estimated at more than 1.6 million reservists annually. The Air Force is the largest in Latin America and has about 700 crewed aircraft in service and effective about 67,000 personnel.
Numbering close to 236,000 active personnel, the Brazilian Army has the largest number of armored vehicles in South America, including armored transports and tanks. The states' Military Police and the Military Firefighters Corps are described as an ancillary forces of the Army by the constitution, but are under the control of each state's governor. Today, it is a green water force and has a group of specialized elite in retaking ships and naval facilities, GRUMEC, unit specially trained to protect Brazilian oil platforms along its coast. , it is the only navy in Latin America that operates a helicopter carrier, NAM Atlântico and one of twelve <!--Popular Mechanics reference from April 2022 below lists thirteen navies, but South Korea is merely contemplating them.-->navies in the world to operate or have one under construction.
Foreign policy
, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]
Brazil's international relations are based on Article 4 of the Federal Constitution, which establishes non-intervention, self-determination, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of conflicts as the guiding principles of Brazil's relationship with other countries and multilateral organizations. According to the Constitution, the President has ultimate authority over foreign policy, while the Congress is tasked with reviewing and considering all diplomatic nominations and international treaties, as well as legislation relating to Brazilian foreign policy.
Brazil's foreign policy is a by-product of the country's position as a regional power in Latin America, a leader among developing countries, and an emerging world power. Brazilian foreign policy has generally been based on the principles of multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and non-intervention in the affairs of other countries. Brazil is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations.
An increasingly well-developed tool of Brazil's foreign policy is providing aid as a donor to other developing countries. Brazil does not just use its growing economic strength to provide financial aid, but it also provides high levels of expertise and most importantly of all, a quiet non-confrontational diplomacy to improve governance levels. Law enforcement and crime
in Brasília]]
In Brazil, the Constitution establishes six different police agencies for law enforcement: Federal Police Department, Federal Highway Police, Federal Railroad Police, Federal, District and State Penal Police (included by the Constitutional Amendment No. 104, of 2019), Military Police and Civil Police. Of these, the first three are affiliated with federal authorities, the last two are subordinate to state governments and the Penal Police can be subordinated to the federal or state/district government. All police forces are overseen by the executive branch of the federal or state government.
The country has high levels of violent crime, such as gun violence and homicides. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the number of 32 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest rates of homicide of the world. The number considered acceptable by the WHO is about 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2018, Brazil had a record 63,880 murders. However, there are differences between the crime rates in the Brazilian states. While in São Paulo the homicide rate registered in 2013 was 10.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, in Alagoas it was 64.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Brazil also has high levels of incarceration. It had the third largest prison population in the world of approximately 700,000 prisoners as of June 2014, which put it only behind the United States (2,228,424) and China (1,701,344). The high number of prisoners eventually overloaded the Brazilian prison system, leading to a shortfall of about 200,000 accommodations.
Human rights
Same-sex couples in Brazil have held nationwide marriage rights since May 2013. Political subdivisions
Brazil is a federation composed of 26 states, one federal district, and the 5,571 municipalities.
Economy
is considered the main financial center of Brazil]]
, the largest stock exchange of Latin America by market capitalization]]
crop in Tangará da Serra, Mato Grosso]]
, developed by Embraer, the third largest producer of civil aircraft, after Boeing and Airbus]]
Brazil is a developing country with an upper-middle income mixed market economy that is rich in natural resources. It has the largest national economy in Latin America, the eighth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, and the eighth largest by PPP. After rapid growth in preceding decades, Brazil entered an ongoing recession in 2014 amid a political corruption scandal and nationwide protests; in 2024, the economy began showing consistent significant growth. Brazil has a labor force of roughly 100 million, which is the world's fifth largest, albeit with a high unemployment rate of 14.4% . Its foreign exchange reserves are the tenth-highest in the world. The B3 in São Paulo is the largest stock exchange of Latin America by market capitalization. Roughly one-fifth of Brazilians live in poverty: about 1.9% of the total population lives at $2.15 a day, while about 19% live at $6.85 a day. Brazil's economy suffers from endemic corruption and high income inequality. The Brazilian real is the national currency.
Brazil's diversified economy includes agriculture, industry and a wide range of services. The large service sector accounts for about 72.7% of total GDP, followed by the industrial sector (20.7%), while the agriculture sector is by far the smallest, making up 6.6% of total GDP.
Brazil is one of the largest producers of various agricultural commodities, and also has a large cooperative sector that provides 50% of the food in the country. It has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, soy, coffee and orange; is one of the top fve producers of maize, cotton, lemon, tobacco, pineapple, banana, beans, coconut, watermelon and papaya; and is one of the top 10 world producers of cocoa, cashew, mango, rice, tomato, sorghum, tangerine, avocado, persimmon, and guava, among others. Regarding livestock, it is one of the five largest producers of chicken meat, beef, pork and cow's milk in the world. In the mining sector, Brazil is among the largest producers of iron ore, copper, gold, bauxite, manganese, tin, niobium, and nickel. In terms of precious stones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine, garnet and opal. The country is a major exporter of soy, iron ore, pulp (cellulose), maize, beef, chicken meat, soybean meal, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, orange juice, footwear, airplanes, cars, vehicle parts, gold, ethanol and semi-finished iron, among other products.
Brazil is the world's 24th-largest exporter and 26th-largest importer . China is its largest trading partner, accounting for 32% of the total trade. Other large trading partners include the United States, Argentina, the Netherlands and Canada. Its automotive industry is the eighth-largest in the world. In the food industry, Brazil was the second-largest exporter of processed foods in the world in 2019. The country was the second-largest producer of pulp in the world and the eighth-largest producer of paper in 2016. In the footwear industry, Brazil was the fourth-largest producer in 2019. It was also the ninth-largest producer of steel in the world. In 2018, the chemical industry of Brazil was the eighth-largest in the world. Although it was among the five largest world producers in 2013, Brazil's textile industry is very little integrated into world trade.
The tertiary sector (trade and services) represented 75.8% of the country's GDP in 2018, according to the IBGE. The service sector was responsible for 60% of GDP and trade for 13%. It covers commerce, transport, education, social and health services, research and development, sports activities, etc. Micro and small businesses represent 30% of the country's GDP. In the commercial sector, for example, they represent 53% of the GDP within the activities of the sector. Tourism
in Paraná]]
in Maranhão]]
Tourism in Brazil is a growing sector and key to the economies of several regions of the country. The country had 6.36 million visitors in 2015, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the main destination in South America and second in Latin America after Mexico. Revenues from international tourists reached billion in 2010, showing a recovery from the 2008–2009 economic crisis. Historical records of 5.4 million visitors and billion in receipts were reached in 2011. In the list of world tourist destinations, in 2018, Brazil was the 48th most visited country, with 6.6 million tourists (and revenues of 5.9 billion dollars).
Natural areas are its most popular tourism product, a combination of ecotourism with leisure and recreation, mainly sun and beach, and adventure travel, as well as cultural tourism. Among the most popular destinations are the Amazon Rainforest, beaches and dunes in the Northeast Region, the Pantanal in the Center-West Region, beaches at Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, cultural tourism in Minas Gerais and business trips to São Paulo.
In terms of the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, Brazil ranked in the 28th place at the world's level, third in the Americas, after Canada and United States. Domestic tourism is a key market segment for the tourism industry in Brazil. In 2005, 51 million Brazilian nationals made ten times more trips than foreign tourists and spent five times more money than their international counterparts. The main destination states in 2023 were São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul. The main source of tourists for the entire country is São Paulo state. In terms of tourism revenues, the top earners by state were São Paulo and Bahia. For 2005, the three main trip purposes were visiting friends and family (53.1%), sun and beach (40.8%), and cultural tourism (12.5%). Science and technology
at the Alcântara Launch Center of the Brazilian Space Agency, in Alcântara, Maranhão]]
, a diffraction-limited storage ring synchrotron light source at the Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron, in Campinas, São Paulo]]
Technological research in Brazil is largely carried out in public universities and research institutes, with the majority of funding for basic research coming from various government agencies. Brazil's most esteemed technological hubs are the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the Butantan Institute, the Air Force's Aerospace Technical Center, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the National Institute for Space Research.
The Brazilian Space Agency has the most advanced space program in Latin America, with significant resources to launch vehicles, and manufacture of satellites. The country develops submarines and aircraft, as well as being involved in space research, having a Vehicle Launch Center Light and being the only country in the Southern Hemisphere to integrate a team building the well-known International Space Station (ISS).
The country is also a pioneer in the search for oil in deep water, from where it extracts 73% of its reserves. Uranium is enriched at the Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory, mostly for research purposes (as Brazil obtains 88% of its electricity from hydroelectricity) and the country's first nuclear submarine is expected to be launched in 2029.
Brazil is one of the three countries in Latin America with an operational Synchrotron Laboratory, a research facility on physics, chemistry, material science and life sciences, and Brazil is the only Latin American country to have a semiconductor company with its own fabrication plant, the CEITEC. According to the Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010 of the World Economic Forum, Brazil is the world's 61st largest developer of information technology. Brazil was ranked 50th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, up from 66th in 2019.
Among the most renowned Brazilian inventors are priests Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Landell de Moura and Francisco João de Azevedo, besides Alberto Santos-Dumont, Evaristo Conrado Engelberg, Manuel Dias de Abreu, Andreas Pavel and Nélio José Nicolai. Brazilian science is represented by the likes of César Lattes (Brazilian physicist Pathfinder of Pi Meson), Mário Schenberg (considered the greatest theoretical physicist of Brazil), José Leite Lopes (the only Brazilian physicist holder of the UNESCO Science Prize), Artur Avila (the first Latin American winner of the Fields Medal) and Fritz Müller (pioneer in factual support of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin).
Energy
on the Paraná River, the second largest of the world. Brazilian energy matrix is one of the cleanest in the world]]
in Parnaíba, Piauí. Brazil is one of the 5 largest producers of wind energy in the world]]
Brazil is the world's ninth-largest energy consumer. Much of its energy comes from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity and ethanol; the Itaipu Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric plant by energy generation, and the country has other large plants such as Belo Monte and Tucuruí. The first car with an ethanol engine was produced in 1978 and the first airplane engine running on ethanol in 2005.
At the end of 2021 Brazil was the 2nd country in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (109.4 GW) and biomass (15.8 GW), the 7th country in the world in terms of installed wind power (21.1 GW) and the 14th country in the world in terms of installed solar power (13.0 GW)—on track to also become one of the top 10 in the world in solar energy. At the end of 2021, Brazil was the 4th largest producer of wind energy in the world (72 TWh), behind only China, the United States and Germany, and the 11th largest producer of solar energy in the world (16.8 TWh).
The main characteristic of the Brazilian energy matrix is that it is much more renewable than that of the world. While in 2019, the world matrix was only 14% made up of renewable energy, Brazil's was at 45%. Petroleum and oil products made up 34.3% of the matrix; sugar cane derivatives, 18%; hydraulic energy, 12.4%; natural gas, 12.2%; firewood and charcoal, 8.8%; varied renewable energies, 7%; mineral coal, 5.3%; nuclear, 1.4%, and other non-renewable energies, 0.6%.
In the electric energy matrix, the difference between Brazil and the world is even greater: while the world only had 25% of renewable electric energy in 2019, Brazil had 83%. The Brazilian electric matrix was composed of: hydraulic energy, 64.9%; biomass, 8.4%; wind energy, 8.6%; solar energy, 1%; natural gas, 9.3%; oil products, 2%; nuclear, 2.5%; coal and derivatives, 3.3%.
As for oil, the Brazilian government has embarked on a program over the decades to reduce dependence on imported oil, which previously accounted for more than 70% of the country's oil needs. Brazil became self-sufficient in oil in 2006–2007. In 2021, the country closed the year as the 7th oil producer in the world, with an average of close to three million barrels per day, becoming an exporter of the product. Transportation
, the busiest airport in South America]]
in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, the longest highway in the country, with of extension]]
Brazilian roads are the primary carriers of freight and passenger traffic. The road system totaled in 2019. The total of paved roads increased from in 1967 to in 2018.
Brazil's railway system has been declining since 1945, when emphasis shifted to highway construction. The country's total railway track length was in 2015, as compared with in 1970, making it the ninth largest network in the world. Most of the railway system belonged to the Federal Railroad Network Corporation (RFFSA), which was privatized in 2007. The São Paulo Metro began operating on 14 September 1974 as the first underground transit system in Brazil.
There are about 2,500 airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the second-largest number in the world, after the United States. São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, near São Paulo, is the largest and busiest airport with nearly 43 million passengers annually, while handling the vast majority of commercial traffic for the country.
For freight transport, waterways are of importance. The industrial zones of Manaus can be reached only by means of the Solimões–Amazonas waterway ( in length, with a minimum depth of ). The country also has of waterways. Coastal shipping links widely separated parts of the country. Bolivia and Paraguay have been given free ports at Santos. Of the 36 deep-water ports, Santos, Itajaí, Rio Grande, Paranaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Sepetiba, Vitória, Suape, Manaus and São Francisco do Sul are the most important. Bulk carriers have to wait up to 18 days before being serviced; container ships take 36.3 hours on average. Demographics
According to the latest official projection, it is estimated that Brazil’s population was 210,862,983 on July 1, 2022—an adjustment of 3.9% from the initial figure of 203 million reported by the 2022 census. The population of Brazil, as recorded by the 2008 PNAD, was approximately 190 million (), with a ratio of men to women of 0.95:1 and 83.75% of the population defined as urban. The population is heavily concentrated in the Southeastern (79.8 million inhabitants) and Northeastern (53.5 million inhabitants) regions, while the two most extensive regions, the Center-West and the North, which together make up 64.12% of the Brazilian territory, have a total of only 29.1 million inhabitants.
The first census in Brazil was carried out in 1872 and recorded a population of 9,930,478. From 1880 to 1930, 4 million Europeans arrived. Brazil's population increased significantly between 1940 and 1970, because of a decline in the mortality rate, even though the birth rate underwent a slight decline. In the 1940s the annual population growth rate was 2.4%, rising to 3.0% in the 1950s and remaining at 2.9% in the 1960s, as life expectancy rose from 44 to 54 years and to 72.6 years in 2007. It has been steadily falling since the 1960s, from 3.04% per year between 1950 and 1960 to 1.05% in 2008 and is expected to fall to a negative value of –0.29% by 2050 thus completing the demographic transition.
In 2008, the illiteracy rate was 11.48%.
Race and ethnicity
According to the 2022 Brazilian census, 45.3% of the population (92.1 million) described themselves as Pardo (meaning brown or multiracial), 43.5% (88.2 million) as White, 10.2% (20.7 million) as Black, 0.6% (1.2 million) as Indigenous and 0.4% (850 thousand) as East Asian (officially called yellow or amarela).
Since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500, considerable genetic mixing between Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans has taken place in all regions of the country:
* European ancestry being dominant according to all autosomal studies undertaken covering the population, accounting for between 60% and 65% of the average genetic makeup of the Brazilian population.
* African ancestry among the Brazilians is estimated at 20% to 25% of the average genetic makeup
* Indigenous ancestry is significant and present in all regions of Brazil, accounting for around 15% to 20% of the average genetic ancestry of Brazilians.
From the 19th century, Brazil opened its borders to immigration. About five million people from over 60 countries migrated to Brazil between 1808 and 1972, most of them of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, German, English, Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, African, Armenian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Arab origin. Brazil has the second-largest Jewish community in both Latin and South America after Argentina making up 0.06% of its population. Outside of the Arab world, Brazil also has the largest population of Arab ancestry in the world, with 15–20 million people. According to Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil is home to a Lebanese diaspora of 7 million to 10 million, surpassing the population of Lebanese individuals residing in Lebanon.
Brazilian society is more markedly divided by social class lines, although a high income disparity is found between race groups, so racism and classism often overlap. The brown population (officially called pardo in Portuguese, also colloquially moreno) is a broad category that includes caboclos (assimilated Amerindians in general, and descendants of Whites and Natives), mulatos (descendants of primarily Whites and Afro-Brazilians) and cafuzos (descendants of Afro-Brazilians and Natives). Higher percents of Blacks, mulattoes and tri-racials can be found in the eastern coast of the Northeastern region from Bahia to Paraíba and also in northern Maranhão, southern Minas Gerais and eastern Rio de Janeiro. In 2007, the National Indian Foundation estimated that Brazil has 67 different uncontacted tribes, up from their estimate of 40 in 2005. Brazil is believed to have the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world.
Religion
Christianity is the country's predominant faith, with Roman Catholicism being its largest denomination. Brazil has the world's largest Catholic population. According to the 2010 demographic census (the PNAD survey does not inquire about religion), 64.63% of the population followed Roman Catholicism; 22.2% Protestantism; 2.0% Kardecist spiritism; 3.2% other religions, undeclared or undetermined; while 8.0% had no religion. In 2019, it was estimated that 50% were Roman Catholic; 31% Protestant; 11% irreligious; 3% Spiritist; 2% practitioners of Afro-Brazilian faiths; and 0.3% Jewish. In another 2020 study by the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Christians made up 90.77% of the population; among Christians, 70.57% were Roman Catholic; 15.12% Protestant; 12.23% Independents, 0.12% Orthodox, and 0.09% unaffiliated Christian. Kardecist spiritism was the second-largest religion practiced in Brazil as ARDA's 2020 study, with 4.83% of the population. Of its 3.03% irreligious population, 2.59% were agnostic and 0.44% atheist. This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices within the overarching umbrella of Brazilian Catholic Church, characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities.
Religious pluralism increased during the 20th century, and the Protestant community had grown to include over 22% of the population by 2010. The most common Protestant denominations are Evangelical Pentecostal ones. Other Protestant branches with a notable presence in the country include the Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Lutherans and the Reformed tradition. In recent decades, Protestantism, particularly in forms of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, has spread in Brazil, while the proportion of Catholics had dropped significantly during the 2010s. As they have spread throughout Brazil, many have even been deeply involved in Brazilian and international politics, and Evangelical Protestant influence has been implicated in the 2022 Brazilian coup plot.
After Protestantism, individuals professing no religion are also a significant group, having exceeded 8% of the population according to the 2010 census. The cities of Boa Vista, Salvador, and Porto Velho have the greatest proportion of Irreligious residents in Brazil. Teresina, Fortaleza, and Florianópolis were the most Roman Catholic in the country. Greater Rio de Janeiro, not including the city proper, is the most irreligious and least Roman Catholic Brazilian periphery, while Greater Porto Alegre and Greater Fortaleza are on the opposite sides of the lists, respectively. Health
is academically linked to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and is part of the SUS, the Brazilian publicly funded health care system.]]
The Brazilian public health system, the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde – SUS), is managed and provided by all levels of government, being the largest system of this type in the world. On the other hand, private healthcare systems play a complementary role. Public health services are universal and offered to all citizens of the country for free. However, the construction and maintenance of health centers and hospitals are financed by taxes, and the country spends about 9% of its GDP on expenditures in the area. In 2012, Brazil had 1.85 doctors and 2.3 hospital beds for every 1,000 inhabitants.
Despite all the progress made since the creation of the universal health care system in 1988, there are still several public health problems in Brazil. In 2006, the main points to be solved were the high infant (2.51%) and maternal mortality rates (73.1 deaths per 1000 births). The Brazilian health system was ranked 125th among the 191 countries evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000.
Education
, one of the oldest universities in Brazil, located in Curitiba]]
The Federal Constitution and the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education determine that the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities must manage and organize their respective education systems. Each of these public educational systems is responsible for its own maintenance, which manages funds as well as the mechanisms and funding sources. The constitution reserves 25% of the state budget and 18% of federal taxes and municipal taxes for education.
According to the IBGE, in 2019, the literacy rate of the population was 93.4%, meaning that 11.3 million (6.6% of population) people are still illiterate in the country, with some states such as Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina reaching around 97% of literacy rate; functional illiteracy has reached 21.6% of the population. Illiteracy is higher in the Northeast, where 13.87% of the population is illiterate, while the South, has 3.3% of its population illiterate. The University of São Paulo is often considered the best in Brazil and Latin America. Of the top 20 Latin American universities, eight are Brazilian. Most of them are public. Attending an institution of higher education is required by Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education. Kindergarten, elementary and medium education are required of all students. Language
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The official language of Brazil is Portuguese (Article 13 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil), which almost all of the population speaks and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for business and administrative purposes. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from those of its Spanish-speaking neighbors.
Brazilian Portuguese has had its own development, mostly similar to 16th-century Central and Southern dialects of European Portuguese (despite a very substantial number of Portuguese colonial settlers, and more recent immigrants, coming from Northern regions, and in minor degree Portuguese Macaronesia), with a few influences from the Amerindian and African languages, especially West African and Bantu restricted to the vocabulary only.
The 2002 sign language law requires government authorities and public agencies to accept and provide information in Língua Brasileira dos Sinais or "LIBRAS", the Brazilian Sign Language, while a 2005 presidential edict extends this to require teaching of the language as a part of the education and speech and language pathology curricula. LIBRAS teachers, instructors and translators are recognized professionals. Schools and health services must provide access ("inclusion") to deaf people.
Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation. One hundred and eighty Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and a significant number of other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants. Baniwa and Tucano languages had been granted co-official status with Portuguese.
There are significant communities of German (mostly the Brazilian Hunsrückisch, a High German language dialect) and Italian (mostly the Talian, a Venetian dialect) origins in the Southern and Southeastern regions, whose ancestors' native languages were carried along to Brazil, and which, still alive there, are influenced by the Portuguese language. Talian is officially a historic patrimony of Rio Grande do Sul, and two German dialects possess co-official status in a few municipalities. Italian is also recognized as ethnic language in Santa Teresa and Vila Velha, in the state of Espírito Santo, and is taught as mandatory second language at school.
Urbanization
According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) urban areas already concentrate 84.35% of the population, while the Southeast region remains the most populated one, with over 80 million inhabitants.
The largest urban agglomerations in Brazil are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte—all in the Southeastern Region—with 21.1, 12.3, and 5.1 million inhabitants respectively. The majority of state capitals are the largest cities in their states, except for Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina.
Culture
samba school at the Rio Carnival, the largest carnival in the world]]
The core culture of Brazil is derived from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese Empire. Among other influences, the Portuguese introduced the Portuguese language, Roman Catholicism and colonial architectural styles. The culture was also strongly influenced by African, indigenous and non-Portuguese European cultures and traditions.
Some aspects of Brazilian culture were influenced by the contributions of Italian, German and other European as well as Japanese, Jewish and Arab immigrants who arrived in large numbers in the South and Southeast of Brazil during the 19th and 20th centuries. The indigenous Amerindians influenced Brazil's language and cuisine; and the Africans influenced language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.
Brazilian art has developed since the 16th century into different styles that range from Baroque (the dominant style in Brazil until the early 19th century) to Romanticism, Modernism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstractionism. Brazilian cinema dates back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century and has gained a new level of international acclaim since the 1960s. Architecture
, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer for the federal capital, an example of Modern architecture]]
The architecture of Brazil is influenced by Europe, especially Portugal. It has a history that goes back 500 years to the time, when Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil in 1500. Portuguese colonial architecture was the first wave of architecture to go to Brazil. It is the basis for all Brazilian architecture of later centuries. In the 19th century, during the time of the Empire of Brazil, the country followed European trends and adopted Neoclassical and Gothic Revival architecture. Then, in the 20th century, especially in Brasília, Brazil experimented with modernist architecture.
The colonial architecture of Brazil dates to the early 16th century, when Brazil was first explored, conquered and settled by the Portuguese. The Portuguese built architecture familiar to them in Europe in their aim to colonize Brazil. They built Portuguese colonial architecture, which included churches and civic architecture, including houses and forts, in Brazilian cities and the countryside. In the 1950s modernist architecture was introduced when Brasília was built as a new federal capital in the interior of Brazil to help develop the interior. The architect Oscar Niemeyer idealized and built government buildings, churches and civic buildings in the modernist style.
Music
(left) and de Vinícius de Moraes (right) in 1962. The two wrote many successful songs together, including the music for Orfeu da Conceição and ''The girl from Ipanema.]]
The music of Brazil was formed mainly from the fusion of European, Native Indigenous, and African elements. Until the nineteenth century, Portugal was the gateway to most of the influences that built Brazilian music, although many of these elements were not of Portuguese origin, but generally European. The first was José Maurício Nunes Garcia, author of sacred pieces with an influence of Viennese classicism. The major contribution of the African element was the rhythmic diversity and some dances and instruments. Samba-reggae, Maracatu, Frevo and Afoxê are four music traditions that have been popularized by their appearance in the annual Brazilian Carnivals. Capoeira is usually played with its own music referred to as capoeira music, which is usually considered to be a call-and-response type of folk music. Forró is a type of folk music prominent during the Festa Junina in northeastern Brazil. Jack A. Draper III, a professor of Portuguese at the University of Missouri, argues that Forró was used as a way to subdue feelings of nostalgia for a rural lifestyle.
Choro is a popular musical instrumental style. Its origins are in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro. The style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by subtle modulations and full of syncopation and counterpoint. Bossa nova is also a well-known style of Brazilian music developed and popularized in the 1950s and 1960s. The phrase "bossa nova" means literally 'new trend'. A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova acquired a large following starting in the 1960s. Some international Brazilian music artists are, for example: Carmen Miranda, Tom Jobim, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, Eumir Deodato, Kaoma, Sepultura, Olodum.
Literature
, poet and novelist, founder of the Brazilian Academy of Letters]]
Brazilian literature dates back to the 16th century, to the writings of the first Portuguese explorers in Brazil, such as Pero Vaz de Caminha, filled with descriptions of fauna, flora and commentary about the indigenous population that fascinated European readers.
Brazil produced significant works in Romanticism—novelists such as Joaquim Manuel de Macedo and José de Alencar wrote novels about love and pain. Alencar, in his long career, also treated indigenous people as heroes in the Indigenist novels O Guarani, Iracema and Ubirajara. Machado de Assis, one of his contemporaries, wrote in virtually all genres and continues to gain international prestige from critics worldwide.
Brazilian Modernism, evidenced by the Modern Art Week in 1922, was concerned with a nationalist avant-garde literature, while Post-Modernism brought a generation of distinct poets such as João Cabral de Melo Neto, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Vinicius de Moraes, Cora Coralina, Graciliano Ramos, Cecília Meireles, and internationally known writers dealing with universal and regional subjects such as Jorge Amado, João Guimarães Rosa, Clarice Lispector and Manuel Bandeira.
Brazil's most significant literary award is the Camões Prize, which it shares with the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world. As of 2016, Brazil has eleven recipients of the prize. Brazil also holds its own literary academy, the Brazilian Academy of Letters, a non-profit cultural organization aimed at perpetuating the care of the national language and literature. Cinema
, the biggest film festival in the country]]
The Brazilian film industry began in the late 19th century, during the early days of the Belle Époque. While there were national film productions during the early 20th century, American films such as Rio the Magnificent were made in Rio de Janeiro to promote tourism in the city. The films Limite (1931) and Ganga Bruta (1933), the latter being produced by Adhemar Gonzaga through the prolific studio Cinédia, were poorly received at release and failed at the box office, but are acclaimed nowadays and placed among the finest Brazilian films of all time. The 1941 unfinished film ''It's All True'' was divided into four segments, two of which were filmed in Brazil and directed by Orson Welles; it was originally produced as part of the United States' Good Neighbor Policy during Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo government.
During the 1960s, the Cinema Novo movement rose to prominence with directors such as Glauber Rocha, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Paulo Cesar Saraceni and Arnaldo Jabor. Rocha's films Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (1964) and Terra em Transe (1967) are considered to be some of the greatest and most influential in Brazilian film history.
During the 1990s, Brazil saw a surge of critical and commercial success with films such as O Quatrilho (Fábio Barreto, 1995), O Que É Isso, Companheiro? (Bruno Barreto, 1997) and Central do Brasil (Walter Salles, 1998), all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the latter receiving a Best Actress nomination for Fernanda Montenegro. The 2002 crime film City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles, was critically acclaimed, scoring 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, being placed in Roger Ebert's Best Films of the Decade list and receiving four Academy Award nominations in 2004, including Best Director. Notable film festivals in Brazil include the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro International Film Festivals and the Gramado Festival. Visual arts
by Candido Portinari, one of the most important Brazilian painters]]
Brazilian painting emerged in the late 16th century, influenced by Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Cubism and Abstracionism making it a major art style called Brazilian academic art.
Upon the creation of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, new artistic movements spread across the country during the 19th century and later the event called Modern Art Week broke with academic tradition in 1922 and started a nationalist trend which was influenced by modernist arts.
Among the best-known Brazilian painters are Ricardo do Pilar and Manuel da Costa Ataíde (baroque and rococo), Victor Meirelles, Pedro Américo and Almeida Júnior (romanticism and realism), Anita Malfatti, Ismael Nery, Lasar Segall, Emiliano di Cavalcanti, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, and Tarsila do Amaral (expressionism, surrealism and cubism), Aldo Bonadei, José Pancetti and Cândido Portinari (modernism).
Theatre
presenting a workshop on the Theatre of the Oppressed at Riverside Church in New York City in 2008]]
The theatre in Brazil has its origins in the period of Jesuit expansion, when theater was used for the dissemination of Catholic doctrine in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, dramatists on the scene of European derivation were for court or private performances. During the 19th century, the playwrights Antônio Gonçalves Dias and Luís Carlos Martins Pena were known for their performance. There were also numerous operas and orchestras. The Brazilian conductor Antônio Carlos Gomes became internationally known with operas such as Il Guarany. At the end of the 19th century, orchestrated dramaturgias were accompanied with songs of famous artists such as the conductress Chiquinha Gonzaga.
Already in the early 20th century there was the presence of theaters, entrepreneurs and actor companies. In 1940, Paschoal Carlos Magno and his student's theater, the comedians group and the Italian actors Adolfo Celi, Ruggero Jacobbi and Aldo Calvo, founders of the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia, renewed the Brazilian theater. From the 1960s, it was attended by a theater dedicated to social and religious issues. The most prominent authors at this stage were Jorge Andrade and Ariano Suassuna. Some of the most well known Brazilian foods are the Feijoada, considered the country's national dish; and Churrasco, a kind of barbecue which is often served in rodízio style. Other regional foods include beijú, feijão tropeiro, vatapá, moqueca, polenta (from Italian cuisine) and acarajé (from African cuisine). The national beverage is coffee; cachaça is Brazil's native liquor. Cachaça is distilled from sugar cane and is the main ingredient in the national cocktail, Caipirinha.
A typical meal consists mostly of rice and beans with beef, salad, french fries and a fried egg. Often, it is mixed with cassava flour (farofa). Fried potatoes, fried cassava, fried banana, fried meat and fried cheese are very often eaten in lunch and served in most typical restaurants. Popular snacks are pastel (a fried pastry); coxinha (a variation of chicken croquete); pão de queijo (cheese bread and cassava flour / tapioca); pamonha (corn and milk paste); esfirra (a variation of Lebanese pastry); kibbeh (from Arabic cuisine); empanada (pastry) and empada, little salt pies filled with shrimps or heart of palm.
Brazil has a variety of desserts such as brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls), bolo de rolo (roll cake with goiabada), cocada (a coconut sweet), beijinhos (coconut truffles and clove) and Romeu e Julieta (cheese with goiabada). Peanuts are used to make paçoca, rapadura and pé-de-moleque. Local common fruits such as açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, cocoa, cashew, guava, orange, lime, passionfruit, pineapple, and hog plum are turned in juices and used to make chocolates, ice pops and ice cream.
Media
at Jornal Nacional news program. Rede Globo is the world's second-largest commercial television network.]]
The Brazilian press was officially born in Rio de Janeiro on 13 May 1808 with the creation of the Royal Printing National Press by the Prince Regent Dom João. The , the first newspaper published in the country, began to circulate on 10 September 1808. The largest newspapers nowadays are , Super Notícia, O Globo and O Estado de S. Paulo.
Radio broadcasting began on 7 September 1922, with a speech by then President Pessoa, and was formalized on 20 April 1923 with the creation of the "Radio Society of Rio de Janeiro". Television in Brazil began officially on 18 September 1950, with the founding of TV Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand. Since then, television has grown in the country, creating large commercial broadcast networks such as Globo, SBT, RecordTV, Bandeirantes and RedeTV. Today it is the most important factor in the popular culture of Brazilian society, as indicated by research showing that as much as 67% of the general population follow the same daily telenovela broadcast.
By the mid-1960s, Brazilian universities had installed mainframe computers from IBM and Burroughs Large Systems. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Brazilian government restricted foreign imports to protect the local manufacturing of computers. In the 1980s, Brazil produced half of the computers sold in the country. By 2009, the mobile phone and Internet use in Brazil was the fifth largest in the world.
In May 2010, the Brazilian government launched TV Brasil Internacional, an international television station, initially broadcasting to 49 countries. Commercial television channels broadcast internationally include Globo Internacional, RecordTV Internacional and Band Internacional. Sports
The most popular sport in Brazil is football. The Brazilian men's national team is ranked among the best in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings, and has won the World Cup tournament a record five times.
Volleyball, basketball, auto racing and martial arts also has large audiences. The Brazil men's national volleyball team, for example, currently holds the titles of the World League, World Grand Champions Cup, World Championship and the World Cup. In auto racing, three Brazilian drivers have won the Formula One world championship eight times. The country has also produced significant achievements in other sports such as sailing, swimming, tennis, surfing, skateboarding, MMA, gymnastics, boxing, judo, athletics and table tennis.
Some sport variations have their origins in Brazil: beach football, futsal (indoor football) and footvolley emerged in Brazil as variations of football. In martial arts, Brazilians developed Capoeira, Vale tudo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Brazil has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, such as the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and recently has hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2019 Copa América and 2021 Copa América . The São Paulo circuit, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, hosts the annual Grand Prix of Brazil. São Paulo organized the IV Pan American Games in 1963, and Rio de Janeiro hosted the XV Pan American Games in 2007. On 2 October 2009, Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games and 2016 Paralympic Games, making it the first South American city to host the games and second in Latin America, after Mexico City. Furthermore, the country hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 1954 and 1963. At the 1963 event, the Brazil national basketball team won one of its two world championship titles.
See also
* Outline of Brazil
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Azevedo, Aroldo. O Brasil e suas regiões. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 1971
* Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.
*
* Boxer, Charles R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire (1969)
** O império marítimo português 1415–1825. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2002.
* Bueno, Eduardo. Brasil: uma História. São Paulo: Ática, 2003.
* Calmon, Pedro. História da Civilização Brasileira. Brasília: Senado Federal, 2002
* Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007
* Coelho, Marcos Amorim. Geografia do Brasil. 4th ed. São Paulo: Moderna, 1996
* Diégues, Fernando. A revolução brasílica. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2004
* Enciclopédia Barsa. Volume 4: Batráquio – Camarão, Filipe. Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopædia Britannica do Brasil, 1987
*
* Fausto, Boris and Devoto, Fernando J. Brasil e Argentina: Um ensaio de história comparada (1850–2002), 2nd ed. São Paulo: Editoria 34, 2005.
* Gaspari, Elio. A ditadura envergonhada. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2002.
* Janotti, Aldo. O Marquês de Paraná: inícios de uma carreira política num momento crítico da história da nacionalidade. Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1990
* Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Ascenção (1825–1870). v. 1. Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977
* Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Declínio (1880–1891). v. 3. Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977
* Lustosa, Isabel. D. Pedro I: um herói sem nenhum caráter. São Paulo: Companhia das letras, 2006.
* Moreira, Igor A. G. O Espaço Geográfico, geografia geral e do Brasil. 18. Ed. São Paulo: Ática, 1981
* Munro, Dana Gardner. The Latin American Republics; A History. New York: D. Appleton, 1942.
* Peres, Damião (1949) O Descobrimento do Brasil por Pedro Álvares Cabral: antecedentes e intencionalidade Porto: Portucalense.
* Scheina, Robert L. Latin America: A Naval History, 1810–1987. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987.
* }}
* Stuart B. Schwartz Sovereignty and Society in Colonial Brazil (1973)
** Early Latin America (1983)
** Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society (1985)
* Skidmore, Thomas E. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Oxford University Press, 1999)
** Uma História do Brasil. 4th ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2003.
* Souza, Adriana Barreto de. Duque de Caxias: o homem por trás do monumento. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2008. .
* |referenceWright, Simon. 1992. Villa-Lobos. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. }}
* Vainfas, Ronaldo. Dicionário do Brasil Imperial. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2002.
* Vesentini, José William. Brasil, sociedade e espaço – Geografia do Brasil. 7th Ed. São Paulo: Ática, 1988
* Vianna, Hélio. História do Brasil: período colonial, monarquia e república, 15th ed. São Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1994
* Zirin, Dave. ''Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy Haymarket Books 2014.
Further reading
* Alencastro Felipe, Luiz Felipe de. The Trade in the Living: The Formation of Brazil in the South Atlantic, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries (SUNY Press, 2019)
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* Levine, Robert M. Historical Dictionary of Brazil'' (2019)
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External links
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Government
* [https://www.gov.br/ Brazilian Federal Government]
* [http://www.visitbrasil.com/en/ Official Tourist Guide of Brazil]
* [http://www.ibge.gov.br/english/ Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]
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Category:States and territories established in 1822 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.040020 |
3385 | Black Forest | <!-- centroid of Gaggenau and Schopfheim -->
| highest = Feldberg
| elevation_m = 1493
| coordinates
| map | map_image Relief Map of Germany, Black Forest.png
| map_caption = Map of Germany with the Black Forest outlined in green
| map_relief | map_size 260
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-frame-width = 260
| mapframe-stroke-width = 1
| mapframe-stroke-color = #00ff00
}}
The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers.
Its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of above sea level. Roughly oblong in shape, with a length of and breadth of up to , it has an area of about . There are several ruined military fortifications dating back to the 17th century. History
}}: a mountain chain with fantastically formed trees as a symbol of an unsettled and virtually inaccessible terrain]]
, 1898]]
}}, 1898]]
In ancient times, the Black Forest was known as , after the Celtic deity, Abnoba. In Roman times (Late antiquity), it was given the name ("Marcynian Forest", from the Germanic word marka, "border"). The Black Forest probably represented the border area of the Marcomanni ("border people") who were settled east of the Roman . They, in turn, were part of the Germanic tribe of Suebi, who subsequently gave their name to the historic state of Swabia. With the exception of Roman settlements on the perimeter (e.g. the baths in Badenweiler, and mines near Badenweiler and Sulzburg) and the construction of the Roman road of Kinzigtalstraße, the colonization of the Black Forest was not carried out by the Romans but by the Alemanni. They settled and first colonized the valleys, crossing the old settlement boundary, the so-called "red sandstone border", for example, from the region of Baar. Soon afterwards, increasingly higher areas and adjacent forests were colonized, so that by the end of the 10th century, the first settlements could be found in the red (bunter) sandstone region. These include, for example, Rötenbach, which was first mentioned in 819.
Some of the uprisings (including the Bundschuh movement) that preceded the 16th century German Peasants' War, originated in the Black Forest. Further peasant unrest, in the shape of the saltpetre uprisings, took place over the next two centuries in Hotzenwald.
Remnants of military fortifications dating from the 17th and 18th centuries can be found in the Black Forest, especially on the mountain passes. Examples include the multiple baroque fieldworks of Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden or individual defensive positions such as the Alexanderschanze (Alexander's Redoubt), the Röschenschanze and the Schwedenschanze (Swedish Redoubt).
Originally, the Black Forest was a mixed forest of deciduous trees and firs. At the higher elevations spruce also grew. In the middle of the 19th century, the Black Forest was almost completely deforested by intensive forestry and was subsequently replanted, mostly with spruce monocultures.
In 1990, extensive damage to the forest was caused by a series of windstorms. On 26 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar raged across the Black Forest and caused even greater damage, especially to the spruce monocultures. As had happened following the 1990 storms, large quantities of fallen logs were kept in provisional wet-storage areas for years. The effects of the storm are demonstrated by the Lothar Path, a forest educational and adventure trail at the nature centre in Ruhestein on a highland timber forest of about 10 hectares that was destroyed by a hurricane. Several areas of storm damage, both large and small, were left to nature and have developed today into a natural mixed forest again.
Geography
]]
The Black Forest stretches from the High Rhine in the south to the Kraichgau in the north. In the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain (which, from a natural region perspective, also includes the low chain of foothills); in the east it transitions to the Gäu, Baar and hill country west of the Klettgau. From north to south, the Black Forest extends for over , attaining a width of up to in the south and in the north. The Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands, and much of it is densely wooded, a fragment of the Hercynian Forest of antiquity.
Administratively, the Black Forest belongs completely to the state of Baden-Württemberg and comprises the cities of Freiburg, Pforzheim and Baden-Baden as well as the following districts (Kreise). In the north: Enz, Rastatt and Calw; in the middle: Freudenstadt, Ortenaukreis and Rottweil; in the south: Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Lörrach and Waldshut.
Natural regions
The natural regions of the Black Forest are separated by various features.
Geomorphologically, the main division is between the gentle eastern slopes with their mostly rounded hills and broad plateaux (so-called Danubian relief, especially prominent in the north and east on the Bunter Sandstone) and the deeply incised, steeply falling terrain in the west that drops into the Upper Rhine Graben; the so-called Valley Black Forest () with its Rhenanian relief. It is here, in the west, where the highest mountains and the greatest local differences in height (of up to 1000 metres) are found. The valleys are often narrow and ravine-like. The summits are rounded, and there are remnants of plateaux and -like landforms.
Geologically the clearest division is also between east and west. Large areas of the eastern Black Forest, the lowest layer of the South German Scarplands composed of Bunter Sandstone, are covered by seemingly endless coniferous forest with their island clearings. The exposed basement in the west, predominantly made up of metamorphic rocks and granites, was, despite its rugged topography, easier to settle and appears much more open and inviting today with its varied meadow valleys.
, the highest mountain in the Black Forest, SE of Freiburg]]
The most common way of dividing the regions of the Black Forest is, however, from north to south. Until the 1930s, the Black Forest was divided into the Northern and Southern Black Forest, the boundary being the line of the Kinzig valley. Later the Black Forest was divided into the heavily forested Northern Black Forest, the lower, central section, predominantly used for agriculture in the valleys, was the Central Black Forest and the much higher Southern Black Forest with its distinctive highland economy and ice age glacial relief. The term High Black Forest referred to the highest areas of the South and southern Central Black Forest.
The boundaries drawn were, however, quite varied. In 1931, Robert Gradmann called the Central Black Forest the catchment area of the Kinzig and in the west the section up to the lower Elz and Kinzig tributary of the Gutach. A pragmatic division, which is oriented not just on natural and cultural regions, uses the most important transverse valleys. Based on that, the Central Black Forest is bounded by the Kinzig in the north and the line from Dreisam to Gutach in the south, corresponding to the Bonndorf Graben zone and the course of the present day B 31.
In 1959, Rudolf Metz combined the earlier divisions and proposed a modified tripartite division, which combined natural and cultural regional approaches and was widely used. His Central Black Forest is bounded in the north by the watershed between the Acher and Rench and subsequently between the Murg and Kinzig or Forbach and Kinzig, in the south by the Bonndorf Graben zone, which restricts the Black Forest in the east as does the Freudenstadt Graben further north by its transition into the Northern Black Forest. Work of the Institute of Applied Geography The Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany published by the Federal Office of Regional Geography () since the early 1950s names the Black Forest as one of six tertiary-level major landscape regions within the secondary-level region of the South German Scarplands and, at the same time, one of nine new major landscape unit groups. It is divided into six so-called major units (level 4 landscapes). This division was refined and modified in several successor publications (1:200,000 individual map sheets) up to 1967, each covering individual sections of the map. The mountain range was also divided into three regions. The northern boundary of the Central Black Forest in this classification runs south of the Rench Valley and the Kniebis to near Freudenstadt. Its southern boundary varied with each edition. It is restricted to the level of the natural regional major units and has been used since for the state's administration of nature conservation:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! No. !! Natural region
! Area<br />in km<sup>2</sup> !! Population !! Pop./km<sup>2</sup>
! Settlement<br />area<br />in % !! Open land<br />in % !! Forest<br />in %
! Major<br />centres of<br />population !! Middle-sized<br />centres of<br />population
|-
| 150 || Black Forest Foothills
| 930 || 268,000 || 289
| 7.69 || 29.33 || 62.92
| Pforzheim || Calw,<br />Freudenstadt
|-
| 151 || Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills
| 699 || 60,000 || 86
| 1.92 || 6.39 || 91.51
| ||
|-
| 152 || Northern Black Forest Valleys
| 562 || 107,000 || 190
| 4.12 || 19.48 || 76.41
| || Baden-Baden,<br />Gaggenau/Gernsbach
|-
|153 || Central Black Forest
| 1,422 || 188,000 || 133
| 3.35 || 30.25 || 66.39
| || Haslach/Hausach/Wolfach,<br />Waldkirch, Schramberg
|-
|154 || Southeastern Black Forest
| 558 || 80,923 || 112
| 3.03 || 32.44 || 64.49
| Villingen-Schwenningen ||
|-
|155 || High Black Forest
| 1,990 || 213,000 || 107
| 2.44 || 26.93 || 70.31
| || Schopfheim,<br />Titisee-Neustadt
|}
The Black Forest Foothills (, 150) geomorphologically form plateaux on the north and northeast periphery of the mountain range that descend to the Kraichgau in the north and the Heckengäu landscapes in the east. They are incised by valleys, especially those of the Nagold river system, into individual interfluves; a narrow northwestern finger extends to beyond the Enz near Neuenbürg and also borders the middle reaches of the Alb to the west as far as a point immediately above Ettlingen. To the southwest it is adjoined by the Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills (, 151), along the upper reaches of the Enz and Murg, forming the heart of the Northern Black Forest. The west of the Northern Black Forest is formed by the Northern Black Forest Valleys (, 152) with the middle reaches of the Murg around Gernsbach, the middle course of the Oos to Baden-Baden, the middle reaches of the Bühlot above Bühls and the upper reaches of the Rench around Oppenau. Their exit valleys from the mountain range are all oriented towards the northwest.
The Central Black Forest (153) is mainly restricted to the catchment area of the River Kinzig above Offenburg as well as the Schutter and the low hills north of the Elz.
The Southeastern Black Forest (, 154) consists mainly of the catchment areas of the upper reaches of the Danube headstreams, the Brigach and Breg as well as the left side valleys of the Wutach north of Neustadt – and thus draining from the northeast of the Southern Black Forest. To the south and west it is adjoined by the High Black Forest (, 155) with the highest summits in the whole range around the Feldberg and the Belchen. Its eastern part, the Southern Black Forest Plateau, is oriented towards the Danube, but drained over the Wutach and the Alb into the Rhine. The southern crest of the Black Forest in the west is deeply incised by the Rhine into numerous ridges. Immediately right of the Wiese above Lörrach rises the relatively small Bunter Sandstone-Rotliegendes table of the Weintenau Uplands () in the extreme southwest of the Black Forest; morphologically, geologically and climatically it is separate from the other parts of the Southern Black Forest and, in this classification, is also counted as part of the High Black Forest.
in the Southern Black Forest with its bare dome, seen from Münstertal]]
Mountains
At the Feldberg in the Southern Black Forest is the range's highest summit. Also in the same area are the Herzogenhorn (1,415 m) and the Belchen (1,414 m). In general the mountains of the Southern or High Black Forest are higher than those in the Northern Black Forest. The highest Black Forest peak north of the Freiburg–Höllental–Neustadt line is the Kandel (1,241.4 m). Like the highest point of the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde (1,163 m), or the Southern Black Forest lookout mountains, the Schauinsland (1,284.4 m) and Blauen (1,164.7 m) it lies near the western rim of the range. Rivers and lakes
in Schiltach]]
, north of St. Blasien]]
Rivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which originates in the Black Forest as the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers), the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench, and the Wiese. The Black Forest occupies part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine) and the Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube).
The longest Black Forest rivers are (length includes stretches outside the Black Forest):
* Enz ()
* Kinzig ()
* Elz ()
* Wutach ()
* Nagold (), hydrological main artery of the Nagold-Enz systems
* Danube (), headstreams:
** Breg ()
** Brigach ()
* Murg ()
* Rench ()
* Schutter ()
* Wiese ()
* Acher ()
* Dreisam (incl. Rotbach )
* Alb (incl. Menzenschwander Alb )
* Glatt ()
* Möhlin ()
* Wolf ()
* Schiltach ()
* Wehra (incl. Rüttebach )
* Oos ()
* Glasbach (), hydrological main artery of the Neckar system
Important lakes of natural, glacial origin in the Black Forest include the Titisee, the Mummelsee and the Feldsee. Especially in the Northern Black Forest are a number of other, smaller tarns. Numerous reservoirs like the – formerly natural but much smaller – Schluchsee with the other lakes of the Schluchseewerk, the Schwarzenbach Reservoir, the Kleine Kinzig Reservoir or the Nagold Reservoir are used for electricity generation, flood protection or drinking water supply.
Geology
The Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss and granite. Formerly it shared tectonic evolution with the nearby Vosges Mountains. Later during the Middle Eocene a rifting period affected the area and caused formation of the Upper Rhine Plain. During the last glacial period of the Würm glaciation, the Black Forest was covered by glaciers; several tarns (or lakes) such as the Mummelsee are remains of this period.
Basement
The geological foundation of the Black Forest is formed by the crystalline bedrock of the Variscan basement. This is covered in the east and northeast by Bunter Sandstone slabs, the so-called platforms. On the western edge a descending, step-fault-like, foothill zone borders the Upper Rhine Graben consisting of rocks of the Triassic and Jurassic periods.
The dominant rocks of the basement are gneiss (ortho- and paragneisses, in the south also migmatites and diatexites, for example on the Schauinsland and Kandel). These gneisses were penetrated by a number of granitic bodies during the Carboniferous period. Among the bigger ones are the Triberg Granite and the Forbach Granite, the youngest is the Bärhalde Granite. In the south lies the zone of Badenweiler-Lenzkirch, in which Palaeozoic rocks have been preserved (volcanite and sedimentary rocks), which are interpreted as the intercalated remains of a microcontinental collision. Still further in the southeast (around Todtmoos) is a range of exotic inclusions: gabbro from Ehrsberg, serpentinites and pyroxenites near Todtmoos, norite near Horbach), which are possibly the remnants of an accretionary wedge from a continental collision. Also noteworthy are the basins in the Rotliegend, for example the Schramberg or the Baden-Baden Basin with thick quartz-porphyry and tuff plates (exposed, for example, on the rock massif of Battert near Baden-Baden). Thick rock, covered by bunter, also occurs in the north of the Dinkelberg block (several hundred metres thick in the Basel geothermal borehole). Even further to the southeast, under the Jura, lies the North Swiss Permocarboniferous Basin.
Uplift of the mountains
Since the downfaulting of the Upper Rhine Graben during the Eocene epoch, the two shoulders on either side have been uplifted: the Black Forest to the east and the Vosges to the west. In the centre lies the Kaiserstuhl volcano, which dates to the Miocene. In the times that followed, the Mesozoic platform on the uplands was largely eroded, apart from remains of Bunter Sandstone and Rotliegend Group, but it has survived within the graben itself. During the Pliocene a pronounced but uneven bulge especially affected the southern Black Forest, including the Feldberg. As a result, the upper surface of the basement in the northern part of the forest around the Hornisgrinde is considerably lower. In the central Black Forest, the tectonic syncline of the Kinzig and Murg emerged.
Geomorphologist Walther Penck regarded the Black Forest as an uplifted geologic dome and modeled his theory of piedmonttreppen (piedmont benchlands) on it.
Platform
Above the crystalline basement of the Northern Black Forest and the adjacent parts of the Central Black Forest, the bunter sandstone platforms rise in prominent steps. The most resistant surface strata on the stepped terrain of the uplands and the heights around the upper reaches of the Enz, which have been heavily eroded by the tributaries of the Murg, is the silicified main conglomerate (Middle Bunter). To the east and north are the nappes of the Upper Bunter (platten sandstones and red clays). South of the Kinzig the Bunter Sandstone zone narrows to a fringe in the east of the mountain range.
Ice age and topography
It is considered proven that the Black Forest was heavily glaciated during the peak periods of at least the Riss and Würm glaciations (up to about 10,000 years ago). This glacial geomorphology characterizes almost all of the High Black Forest as well as the main ridge of the Northern Black Forest. Apart from that, it is only discernible from a large number of cirques mainly facing northeast. Especially in this direction snow accumulated on the shaded and leeward slopes of the summit plateau to form short cirque glaciers that made the sides of these funnel-shaped depressions. There are still tarns in some of these old cirques, partly a result of the anthropogenic elevation of the low-side lip of the cirque, such as the Mummelsee, Wildsee, Schurmsee, Glaswaldsee, Buhlbachsee, Nonnenmattweiher, and Feldsee. The Titisee formed as glacial lake behind a glacial moraine.
Culture
The Black Forest is mainly rural, with many scattered villages and a few large towns. Tradition and custom are celebrated in many places in the form of annual festivities. The main dialect spoken in the Black Forest area is Alemannic. The forest is best known for its typical farmhouses with their sweeping half-hipped roofs, its Black Forest gâteaus, Black Forest ham, Black Forest gnomes, Kirschwasser and the cuckoo clock.
Traditional costume
Traditional costume or Tracht is still sometimes worn today, usually at festive occasions. The appearance of such costume varies from region to region, sometimes markedly. One of the best-known Black Forest costumes is that of the villages of Kirnbach, Reichenbach and Gutach im Kinzigtal with the characteristic Bollenhut headdress. Unmarried women wear the hats with red bobbles or Bollen; married women wear black. Engaged women sometimes wear a bridal crown (Schäppel) before and on the day of their wedding, whose largest examples from the town of St. Georgen weigh up to 5 kilograms.
<gallery mode"nolines" class"center" heights="200">
File:Bollenhut-Gutach.jpg|Traditionally, the Bollenhut is worn by unmarried women as part of the tracht.
File:Angelo Jank - Jugend Nr. 36, 1904.jpg
</gallery>
Art
Its rural beauty as well as the sense of tradition of its inhabitants attracted many artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works made the Black Forest famous the world over. Notable were Hans Thoma from Bernau and his fellow student, Rudolf Epp, who was sponsored by the Grand Duke of Baden, Frederick I. Both artists painted motifs from the Black Forest throughout their lives. Artist J. Metzler from Düsseldorf travelled through the Black Forest to paint his landscapes. The works of the Gutach artist colony around Wilhelm Hasemann were widely admired, their landscape and genre motifs capturing the character of the Black Forest. Like local author Heinrich Hansjakob, they were part of a Baden folk costume movement.
<gallery mode"nolines" widths"300" class"center" caption"Art gallery">
File:Arnold Lyongrün, Frühling im Schwarzwald, 1912.jpg|Arnold Lyongrün: Frühling im Schwarzwald (1912)
File:Hans Thoma - Kinderreigen (1872).jpg|Kinderreigen (1872) by Black Forest artist Hans Thoma
File:J.metzler-schwarzwaldlandschaft.jpg|Black Forest landscape by J. Metzler
File:J. Metzler - Schwarzwaldlandschaft.jpg|Black Forest landscape by J. Metzler
File:Bauernhaus (Hasemann).jpg|Black Forest farmhouse, painted by Wilhelm Hasemann
File:Gutacher Familie (Hasemann).jpg|A Gutach family, painted by Wilhelm Hasemann ()
</gallery>
Crafts
In the field of handicrafts, wood carving produces folk art like the Longinus crosses along with sculptors like Matthias Faller. Wood carving is a traditional cottage industry in the region, and carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs for tourists. Cuckoo clocks are a popular example.
Glassblowing is another notable craft of the Black Forest region. At the beginning of the 15th century, the art of glassmaking took hold in the Bavarian-Bohemian border mountains, especially since the necessary raw materials such as quartz and wood were abundant here. With the permission of the manor, glassblowers operated simple glass production facilities as "wandering huts" (Wanderhütten), the locations of which were relocated when the local resources were available. They needed huge amounts of firewood and wood for potash. In the second half of the 18th century, the huts had to close due to a shortage of wood and sales difficulties. Only after 1800, when the demand for luxury glass increased enormously, when a few decades of regulated forestry had ensured the regrowth of the raw material wood and when the forest-destroying potash extraction had become unnecessary due to the new glass flux soda, some glass huts (Glashütten) revived. Some glassblowing factories still testify to this today, for example in Höllental, near Todtnau and in Wolfach.
Cuisine
Black Forest ham originated from this region, as did the Black Forest gâteau, which is also known as "Black Forest Cherry Cake" or "Black Forest Cake" and is made with chocolate cake, cream, sour cherries and Kirsch. The Black Forest variety of Flammekueche is a Baden specialty made with ham, cheese and cream. Pfannkuchen, a crêpe or crêpe-like (Eierkuchen or Palatschinken) pastry, is also common.
The Black Forest is known for its long tradition in gourmet cuisine. No fewer than 17 Michelin starred restaurants are located in the region, among them two restaurants with three stars (Restaurants Bareiss and Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn) as well as the only restaurant in Germany that has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 1966. At Schwarzwald Hotel Adler in Häusern, three generations of chefs from the same family have defended the award from the first year the Michelin Guide selected restaurants in Germany until today.
<gallery mode"nolines" widths"300" class"center" caption"Cuisine gallery">
File:Schwarzwaelderspeck.jpg|Black Forest ham with German bread
File:Black Forest cake 5.jpg|A Black Forest cake
File:Bryan's Grocery Black Forest Cake (33577971241).jpg|Slice of a Black Forest Cake
</gallery>
Fasnet
The German holiday of Fastnacht, or Fasnet, as it is known in the Black Forest region, occurs in the time leading up to Lent. On Fasnetmendig, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday, crowds of people line the streets, wearing wooden, mostly hand-carved masks. One prominent style of mask is called the Black Forest Style, originating from the Black Forest Region.
<gallery mode"nolines" widths"200px" heights"200" class"center" caption="Fastnacht gallery">
File:Fastnacht im Schwarzwald - panoramio (4).jpg|Fastnacht in the Black Forest
File:Fastnachtsvergnügen im Schwarzwald 1890.jpg|Carnival pleasure in the Black Forest (1890)
File:Gernsbacher Fastnacht - panoramio.jpg|Fastnacht in Gernsbach (Black Forest)
</gallery>
Cego
The Black Forest is home to an unusual tarot card game called Cego, that is part of the region's cultural heritage. After the defeat of Further Austria in 1805, much of its territory was allocated to the Grand Duchy of Baden. During the ensuing Napoleonic Wars, soldiers from Baden deployed with Napoleon's troops to Spain where, among other things, they learned a new card game, Ombre. They took this back to Baden and adapted it to be played with Tarot cards which were then in common use in southern Germany.
Cego soon developed into the national game of Baden and Hohenzollern, and these are the only regions of Germany where tarot cards are still used for playing games. The game has grown organically, and there are many regional variations, but in recent years the establishment of a Cego Black Forest Championship has led to official tournament rules being defined.
Nature
Conservation areas
(highest mountain of the Northern Black Forest)]]
There are two nature parks and one national park named after the Black Forest that cover the region: the Southern Black Forest Nature Park, the Central/North Black Forest and the Black Forest National Park. The difference between a nature park and a national park is that a nature park's aim is to strive for environmentally sustainable land use, to preserve the countryside as a cultural landscape, to market local produce more effectively, to make the area more suitable for sustainable tourism and to practice environmental education. A national park's aims are to protect the country's natural heritage, to practice environmental education, to serve purposes of scientific environmental observation and to prevent the area from being commercially exploited.
The Southern Black Forest Nature Park (Naturpark Südschwarzwald) was founded in 1999. It comprises 394,000 ha and is therefore Germany's largest nature park (as of 2020). It encloses the southern part of the Central Black Forest, the Southern Black Forest and adjacent areas.
The Central/North Black Forest Nature Park (Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord) was founded in 2000. It covers 375,000 ha and is thus the second-largest in Germany (as of 2020). It begins in the southern part of the Central Black Forest, bordering on the Southern Black Forest Nature Park and covers the rest of the Black Forest to the north.
The Black Forest National Park, established in 2014, is the first national park in Baden-Württemberg. It lies completely within the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park between the cities of Freudenstadt and Baden-Baden and covers an area of 10,062 ha. Its motto is "Natur Natur sein lassen" (let nature be nature).s pulling a sled in the winter]]FaunaIn addition to the characteristic range of fauna found in Central European forests, the following less common animals may be observed in the Black Forest:
* Black Forest cattle which belong to the rare breed of Hinterwälder cattle,
* the giant earthworm Lumbricus badensis, which is found only in the Black Forest region,
* the Black Forest Horse, a draft horse once indispensable for heavy field work and nowadays an endangered breed, and
* the endangered Western capercaillie. Climate
The mountain range has lower temperatures and higher rainfall than its surrounding countryside. The highlands of the Black Forest are characterized by regular rainfall throughout the year. However, temperatures do not fall evenly with increasing elevation, nor does the rainfall increase uniformly. Rather, the precipitation rises quickly even in the lower regions and is disproportionately heavy on the rainier western side of the mountains.. In the background are the Vosges.]]
The wettest areas are the highlands around the Hornisgrinde in the north and around the Belchen and Feldberg in the south, where annual rainfall reaches 1,800–2,100 mm. Moisture-laden Atlantic westerlies dump about as much rain in the Northern Black Forest, despite its lower elevation, than in the higher area of the Southern Black Forest. There, the Vosges act as a rain shield in the face of the prevailing winds. On the exposed east side of the Central Black Forest, it is much drier; the annual rainfall there is about 750 L/m<sup>2</sup>.
The higher elevations of the Black Forest are characterized by relatively small annual fluctuations and steamed extreme values. This is the result of the frequent light winds and greater cloud cover in summer. During the winter months, frequent high pressure means that the summits are often bathed in sunshine, while the valleys disappear under a thick blanket of fog as a result of pockets of cold air (temperature inversion).
Tourism and transport
The main industry of the Black Forest is tourism. Black Forest Tourism (Schwarzwald Tourismus) assesses that there are around 140,000 direct full-time jobs in the tourist sector and around 34.8 million tourist overnight stays in 2009. In spring, summer and autumn an extensive network of hiking trails and mountain bike routes enable different groups of people to use the natural region. In winter, it is the various types of winter sport that come to the fore. There are facilities for both downhill and Nordic skiing in many places.
Tourist attractions
in the Northern Black Forest]]
The most heavily frequented tourist destinations and resorts in the Black Forest are the Titisee and the Schluchsee. Both lakes offer opportunities for water sports like diving and windsurfing. The Mummelsee is a recreational lake and a starting point for a number of hiking trails including the Kunstpfad am Mummelsee ("sculpture trail at the Mummelsee"). The Murg valley, the Kinzig valley, the Triberg Waterfalls and the Open Air Museum at Vogtsbauernhof are also popular. Lookout mountains include the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel and the Schauinsland in the Southern Black Forest; and the Hornisgrinde, the Schliffkopf, the Hohloh, the Merkur and the Teufelsmühle in the Northern Black Forest. The height differences in the mountains are used in many places for hang gliding and paragliding.
One often visited town is Baden-Baden with its thermal baths and festival hall. Other thermal baths are found in the spa resorts of Badenweiler, Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, Bad Krozingen, Bad Liebenzell and Bad Bellingen. From the beginning of the 19th century, the desire for spa and bathing resorts arose in all of Central Europe because of the increasing economic potential, increasing mobility and the use of advertising. The Neo-renaissance style Friedrichsbad and the Palais Thermal are examples for spas built in this era.
Other tourist destinations are the old imperial town of Gengenbach, the former county towns of Wolfach, Schiltach and Haslach im Kinzigtal and the flower and wine village of Sasbachwalden at the foot of the Hornisgrinde. Picturesque old towns may be visited in Altensteig, Dornstetten, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gernsbach, Villingen and Zell am Harmersbach. Baiersbronn is a centre of gastronomic excellence, Freudenstadt is built around the largest market place in Germany. Gersbach's floral displays have won awards as the German Golden Village of 2004 and the European Golden Village of 2007.
Noted for their fine interiors are the former monastery of St. Blasien as well as the abbeys of Sankt Trudpert, St. Peter and St. Märgen. Alpirsbach Abbey and the ruined Hirsau Abbey were built of red sandstone in the Hirsau style. Another idyllic rural edifice is Wittichen Abbey near Schenkenzell. along the Black Forest High Road]]
There are well known winter sports areas around the Feldberg, near Todtnau with its FIS downhill ski run of Fahler Loch and in Hinterzarten, a centre and talent forge for German ski jumpers. In the Northern Black Forest, the winter-sports areas are concentrated along the Black Forest High Road and on the ridge between the Murg and Enz rivers around Kaltenbronn.
Hiking trails
The Black Forest has a great number of very varied trails; some of pan-regional significance. The European long-distance path E1 crosses the Black Forest following the routes of some of the local long-distance paths. Their framework is a network of long-distance paths with main routes and side branches, many of which were laid out in the early 20th century by the Black Forest Club (Schwarzwaldverein). The best known of these is the challenging West Way (Westweg) with its many steep inclines. After 1950, circular walks were constructed to meet the changing demand, initially from the relatively dense railway network and, later, mainly from locally established hiking car parks. Currently, special, more experience-oriented themed paths are being laid out, such as the Dornstetten Barefoot Park (Barfußpark Dornstetten), the Park of All Senses (Park mit allen Sinnen) in Gutach (Black Forest Railway), as well as those designed to bring the walker more directly in contact with nature (e.g. the Schluchtensteig). Roads and wide forest tracks are thus less often used than hitherto.
There are numerous shorter paths suitable for day walks, as well as mountain biking and cross-country skiing trails. The total network of tracks amounts to around , and is maintained and overseen by volunteers of the Black Forest Club (figures from Bremke, 1999, p. 9), which is the second largest German hiking association. As of 2021, the club counts 65,000 members.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Notable hiking trails
|
* West Way (Westweg) Pforzheim–Basel
* Middle Way (Mittelweg) Pforzheim-Waldshut
* East Way (Ostweg) Pforzheim-Schaffhausen
* Rottweil-Lahr Trail (Querweg Rottweil-Lahr) (4 days)
* Gengenbach-Alpirsbach Trail (Querweg Gengenbach-Alpirsbach) (2–3 days)
* Hansjakob Way I (Hansjakobweg I, circular walk, 3 days)
* Hansjakob Way II (circular walk, 4 days)
* Murgleiter (5 days, premium trail)
|
* Gernsbach Circular Walk (Gernsbacher Runde, 2–3 days, premium trail)
* Schluchtensteig (long-distance path, 5–6 days)
* Baiersbronn Lake Trail (Baiersbronner Seensteig) (circular walk, 5 days)
* Freiburg-Lake Constance Trail (Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee) (6–7 days)
* Kandel Ridgway (Kandelhöhenweg), Oberkirch–Freiburg (5 days)
* Two Valleys Trail (Zweitälersteig) (5 days)
* Black Forest-Swabian Jura-Allgäu Way (Schwarzwald-Schwäbische-Alb-Allgäu-Weg), also Main Path (Hauptwanderweg) 5, runs for over 311 kilometres into the Allgäu
|}
Museums in the Black Forest
Culture and crafts
in the Gutach valley]]
The Black Forest Open Air Museum at the Vogtsbauernhof farm in Gutach has original Black Forest houses offering insights into farming life of the 16th and 17th centuries. The buildings were dismantled at their original sites, the individual pieces numbered and then re-erected to exactly the same plan in the museum. The open-air museum shows the life of 16th and 17th century farmers in the region featuring the Vogtsbauernhof which dates back to 1612.
The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen gives a comprehensive cross-section of the history of the watchmaking and clockmaking industries.
From this early precision engineering a formerly important phonographic industry developed in the 20th century; the history of leisure electronics is presented in the German Phono Museum in St. Georgen.
The Schüttesäge Museum in Schiltach has information and living history demonstrations covering the themes of lumbering and timber rafting in the Kinzig valley as well as tanning.
The Black Forest Costume Museum in Haslach im Kinzigtal offers an overview of the traditional costume of the whole of the Black Forest and its peripheral regions. Also located in Haslach: the Hansjakob Museum and the Hansjakob Archive with numerous works of the writer, priest, politician, historian and chronicler, Heinrich Hansjakob.
Nature and science
The MiMa Mineralogy and Mathematics Museum in Oberwolfach houses minerals and mining exhibits from the whole of the Black Forest and links them to mathematical explanations.
Infrastructure
Road transport
Several tourist routes run through the Black Forest. Well known holiday routes are the Black Forest High Road (B 500) and the German Clock Road.
Thanks to its winding country roads, the Black Forest is a popular destination for motorcyclists. This arm of tourism is controversial due to the high number of accidents and the wide-ranging noise pollution and has been restricted through the introduction of speed limits and by placing certain roads out of bounds. For example, since 1984, motorcyclists have been banned from using the mountain-racing route on the Schauinsland during summer weekends.
Railway transport
]]
The whole of the Black Forest was once linked by railway. In the eastern part of the Northern Black Forest by the Enz Valley Railway from Pforzheim to Bad Wildbad, by the Nagold Valley Railway from Pforzheim via Calw and Nagold to Horb am Neckar, by the Württemberg Black Forest Railway from Stuttgart to Calw and the Gäu Railway from Stuttgart to Freudenstadt or its present-day section from Eutingen to Freudenstadt.
Many railway lines run from the Rhine Plain up the valleys into the Black Forest: the Alb Valley Railway runs from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb, the Murg Valley Railway from Rastatt to Freudenstadt, the Acher Valley Railway from Achern to Ottenhöfen im Schwarzwald and the Rench Valley Railway from Appenweier to Bad Griesbach. The Baden Black Forest Railway has linked Offenburg with Konstanz on Lake Constance since 1873, running via Hausach, Triberg, St. Georgen, Villingen and Donaueschingen. In Hausach the Kinzig Valley Railway branches off to Freudenstadt, in Denzlingen the Elz Valley Railway peels off towards Elzach, the Höllental Railway runs from Freiburg im Breisgau through the Höllental valley to Donaueschingen, the Münstertal Railway from Bad Krozingen to Münstertal, the Kander Valley Railway from Haltingen near Basel through the Kander valley to Kandern and the Wiesen Valley Railway from Basel to Zell im Wiesental.
The Three Lakes Railway branches off at the Titisee from the Höllental Railway and runs to the Windgfällweiher and the Schluchsee. The Wutach Valley Railway runs along the border between Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland, linking Waldshut-Tiengen with Immendingen on the Black Forest Railway.
Most of these routes are still busy today, whilst some are popular heritage lines.
Administration
Since January 2006, the Black Forest Tourist organisation, Schwarzwald Tourismus, whose head office is in Freiburg, has been responsible for the administration of tourism in the 320 municipalities of the region. Hitherto there had been four separate tourist associations.
Points of interest
: famous "Windbuchen" beeches bent by the wind]]
There are many historic towns in the Black Forest. Popular tourist destinations include Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Calw (the birth town of Hermann Hesse), Gengenbach, Staufen, Schiltach, Haslach and Altensteig. Other popular destinations include such mountains as the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel, and the Schauinsland; the Titisee and Schluchsee lakes; the All Saints Waterfalls; the Triberg Waterfalls, not the highest, but the most famous waterfalls in Germany; and the gorge of the River Wutach.
For drivers, the main route through the region is the fast A 5 (E35) motorway, but a variety of signposted scenic routes such as the Schwarzwaldhochstraße (, Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt), Schwarzwald Tälerstraße (, the Murg and Kinzig valleys) or Badische Weinstraße (Baden Wine Street, , a wine route from Baden-Baden to Weil am Rhein) offers calmer driving along high roads. The last is a picturesque trip starting in the south of the Black Forest going north and includes numerous old wineries and tiny villages. Another, more specialized route is the German Clock Route, a circular route that traces the horological history of the region.
Due to the rich mining history dating from medieval times (the Black Forest was one of the most important mining regions of Europe ) there are many mines re-opened to the public. Such mines may be visited in the Kinzig valley, the Suggental, the Muenster valley, and around Todtmoos.
The Black Forest was visited on several occasions by Count Otto von Bismarck during his years as Prussian and later German chancellor (1862–1890). Allegedly, he was especially interested in the Triberg Waterfalls. There is now a monument in Triberg dedicated to Bismarck, who apparently enjoyed the tranquility of the region as an escape from his day-to-day political duties in Berlin.
The Black Forest featured in the philosophical development of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger wrote and edited some of his philosophical works in a small hut in the Black Forest, and would receive visitors there for walks, including his former pupil Hannah Arendt. This hut features explicitly in his essay Building, Dwelling, Thinking. His walks in the Black Forest are supposed to have inspired the title of his collection of essays Holzwege, translated as Off The Beaten Track. Economy and craftsmanship Mining
Mining developed in the Black Forest due to its ore deposits, which were often lode-shaped. The formation of these deposits (Schauinsland Pit: zinc, lead, about 700–1000 g silver/ton of lead; baryte, fluorite, less lead and zinc in the Kinzig valley; BiCoNi ores near Wittichen, uranium discovered in the Krunkelbach valley near Menzenschwand but never officially mined) often used to be linked to the intrusion of Carboniferous granite in the para- and orthogneisses. More recent research has revealed that most of these lode fillings are much younger (Triassic to Tertiary). Economic deposits of other minerals included: fluorite in the Northern Black Forest near Pforzheim, baryte in the central region near Freudenstadt, fluorite along with lead and silver near Wildschapbach, baryte and fluorite in the Rankach valley and near Ohlsbach, in the Southern Black Forest near Todtnau, Wieden and Urberg.
Small liquid magmatic deposits of nickel-magnetite gravel in norite were mined or prospected in the Hotzenwald forest near Horbach and Todtmoos. Strata-bound deposits include iron ores in the Dogger layer of the foothill zone and uranium near Müllenbach/Baden-Baden. Stone coal is only found near Berghaupten and Diersburg, but was always only of local importance.
Chronology: Stone Age mining of haematite (as red pigment) near Sulzburg. By the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. iron ore was being mined by the Celts in the Northern Black Forest (for example in Neuenbürg). Especially in the Middle Black Forest, but also in the south (for example in the Münster valley) ore mining was already probably taking place in Roman times (mining of silver and lead ore; evidence of this at Sulzburg and possibly Badenweiler). Until the High Middle Ages the High Black Forest was practically unsettled. In the course of inland colonisation in the Late High Middle Ages even the highlands were cultivated by settlers from the abbeys (St. Peter's, St. Märgen's). In the Late High Middle Ages (from about 1100) mining experienced another boom, especially around Todtnau, in the Münster and Suggen valleys and, later, on the Schauinsland too. It is believed that around 800–1,000 miners lived and worked in the Münster valley until the end of the Middle Ages. After the Plague, which afflicted the valley in 1516, the German Peasants' War (1524–26) and the Thirty Years' War, mining in the region declined until just a few pits remained.
An important mining area was the Kinzig valley and its side valleys. The small mining settlement of Wittichen near Schenkenzell in the upper Kinzig valley had many pits from which miners dug baryte, cobalt and silver of many kinds. A circular, geological footpath runs today past the old pits and tips.
Another boom began in the early 18th century after the loss of the Alsace to France. It lasted until the 19th century. Many pits from this period may be visited today as show mines; for example the Teufelsgrund Pit (Münstertal), the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden, the Hoffnungsstollen ("Hope Gallery") at Todtmoos, the mine in the Schauinsland, the formerly especially silver-rich Wenzel Pit in Oberwolfach and Gr. Segen Gottes ("God's Great Blessing") in Haslach-Schnellingen.
Non-ferrous metal mining in the Black Forest continued until the middle of the 20th century near Wildschapbach and on the Schauinsland (to 1954); fluorite and baryte are still mined today at the Clara Pit in the Rankach valley in Oberwolfach. Iron ores of the Dogger formation was worked until the 1970s near Ringsheim and was smelted in Kehl.
Compared with the Harz and Ore Mountains the quantities of silver extracted in the Black Forest were rather modest and reached only about ten percent of that produced in the other silver-mining regions.
There are many show mines in the Black Forest. These include: the Frischglück Pit near Neuenbürg, the Hella Glück Pit near Neubulach, the Silbergründle Pit near Seebach, the Himmlich Heer Pit near Hallwangen, the Heilige Drei Könige Pit near Freudenstadt, the Segen Gottes Pit near Haslach, the Wenzel Pit near Oberwolfach, the Caroline Pit near Sexau, the Suggental Silver Mine near Waldkirch, the Schauinsland Pit near Freiburg, the Teufelsgrund Pit near Münstertal, the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden and the Hoffnungsstollen Pit near Todtmoos.
Forestry
from Gersbach hold up the largest unsupported wooden roof in the world at Expo 2000.]]
For several centuries logs from the Black Forest were rafted down the Enz, Kinzig, Murg, Nagold and Rhine rivers for use in the shipping industry, as construction timber and for other purposes. This branch of industry boomed in the 18th century and led to large-scale clearances. As most of the long, straight pine logs were transported downriver for shipbuilding in the Netherlands, they were referred to as "Dutchmen". The logs were used in the Netherlands, above all, as piles for house construction in the sandy and wet ground. Even today in Amsterdam large numbers of historic building are built on these posts and the reforestation of the Black Forest with spruce monocultures testifies to the destruction of the original mixed forest. With the expansion of the railway and road network as alternative transportation, rafting largely came to an end in the late 19th century.
Today, loggers harvest fir trees—especially very tall and branchless ones—mainly to ship to Japan. The global advertising impact of Expo 2000 fuelled a resurgence of timber exports. The importance of the timber resources of the Black Forest has also increased sharply recently due to the increasing demand for wood pellets for heating.
Glass-making, charcoal-burning and potash-mining
The timber resources of the Black Forest provided the basis for other sectors of the economy that have now largely disappeared. Charcoal burners (Köhler) built their wood piles (Meiler) in the woods and produced charcoal, which, like the products of the potash boilers—further processed inter alia for the glassmaking industry. The Black Forest supplied raw materials and energy for the manufacture of forest glass. This is evidenced today by a number of glassblowing houses e.g. in the Hoellental in Todtnau and Wolfach and the Forest Glass Centre in Gersbach (Schopfheim), which is open to visitors.
Precision-engineering, clock and jewellery manufacture
's workshop in a sitting room (postcard from around 1900)]]
In the relatively inaccessible Black Forest valleys, industrialization did not arrive until late in the day. In winter, many farmers made wooden cuckoo clocks to supplement their income. This developed in the 19th century into the precision engineering and watch industry, which boomed with the arrival of the railway in many of the Black Forest valleys. The initial disadvantage of their remote location, which led to the development of precision-engineered wooden handicrafts, became a competitive advantage because of their access to raw materials: timber from the forest and metal from the mines. As part of a structural support programme the Baden State Government founded the first clockmaking school in 1850 in Furtwangen to ensure that small artisans were given good training and thus better sales opportunities. Due to the increasing demand for mechanical devices, large companies such as Junghans and Kienzle became established. In the 20th century, the production of consumer electronics was developed by companies such as SABA, Dual and Becker. In the 1970s, the industry declined due to Far Eastern competition. Nevertheless, the Black Forest remains a centre for the metalworking industry and is home to many high-tech companies.
Since the start of industrialisation there have been numerous firms in Pforzheim that manufacture jewellery and work with precious metals and stones. There is also a goldsmith's school in Pforzheim.
Hydropower
, a typical Black Forest farming mill]]
near Herrischried, upper reservoir of the Wehr pumped storage station (emptied, May 2008)]]
Due to the large amounts of precipitation and elevation changes the Black Forest has significant hydropower potential. This was used until the 19th century especially for operating numerous mills, including sawmills and hammer mills and was one of the local factors in the industrialization of some Black Forest valleys.
Since the 20th century, the Black Forest has seen the large-scale generation of electrical power using run-of-the-river power plants and pumped storage power stations. From 1914 to 1926, the Rudolf Fettweis Company was established in the Murg valley in the Northern Black Forest with the construction of the Schwarzenbach Dam. In 1932, the Schluchsee reservoir, with its new dam, became the upper basin of a pumped-storage power plant. In 2013 the association of the Southern Black Forest's Schluchseewerk owned five power plants with 14 storage tanks. At the Hornberg Basin topographical conditions allow an average head of water of 625 m to drive the turbines before it flows into the Wehra Reservoir.
In the 21st century, in the wake of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, numerous smaller run-of-the-river power stations were re-opened or newly constructed.
Notable people and residents
* Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621/22–1676), German novelist; in 1665–67, he kept an inn in Gaisbach in the Black Forest while writing his famous picaresque novel Simplicius Simplicissimus (1669)
* Hans Thoma, born in Bernau (1839–1924), German painter
* Hermann Hesse, born in Calw (1877–1962), German poet and novelist
* Jürgen Klopp, football manager, who grew up in village of Glatten
* Martin Heidegger, German philosopher, who spent much of his time in Todtnauberg, where he wrote most of Being and Time.
Gallery
<gallery mode"nolines" widths"200px">
File:Luftaufnahme-Feldberg-Seebuck-30122004.jpg|The Feldberg
File:Belchen - Gipfel.JPG|View from the Belchen towards the Alps
File:Zweitaelersteig Eckleberg04.jpg|Cattle near Simonswald
File:Titisee winter.jpg|The Titisee, popular year-round
File:Münster Freiburg.jpg|The Minster in Freiburg, the region's biggest city
File:Kinzig.jpg|The River Kinzig passing through the Black Forest
File:Mummelsee.jpg|The Mummelsee
File:Jugendherberge Schloss Ortenberg.jpg|Ortenberg Castle near Offenburg (now a youth hostel)
File:Murgtalbahn Tennetschluchtbruecke Stadtbahn-dvdb.jpg|The Murg Valley Railway
File:Clock forest.jpg|The Black Forest is known for its native clockmakers
File:Vogtsbauernhof klein.jpg|Traditional farmhouse of the Black Forest
File:Hausach 4.jpg|Hausach
File:Schiltach Altstadt 3.JPG|Schiltach
File:Paragleiter.JPG|Paragliding above Baden-Baden
File:Palais thermal aussenansicht.jpg|The former Graf-Eberhard-Bad (now: Palais Thermal) in Bad Wildbad
</gallery>
See also
* Hercynian Forest (historic)
* Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Association)
* German Clock Museum
* Black Forest gateau
* Black Forest ham
Notes
References
Bibliography
Geography
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
Economy, geology and mining
* .
* Eberhard Gothein: Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Schwarzwaldes und der angrenzenden Landschaften. Erster Band: Städte- und Gewerbegeschichte, Verlag Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg 1892 ([http://www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de/Gothein/gothein_index.html digitalised]).
* .
* .
* . Art history * Richard Schmidt: Schwarzwald (Deutsche Lande – Deutsche Kunst). Munich/Berlin, 1965. Nature
* Adolf Hanle: Nordschwarzwald (Meyers Naturführer). Mannheim/Vienna/Zurich, 1989.
* Adolf Hanle: Südschwarzwald (Meyers Naturführer). Mannheim/Vienna/Zurich, 1989.
* Ulrike Klugmann (Hrsg.): Südschwarzwald, Feldberg und Wutachschlucht (Naturmagazin Draußen). Hamburg, 1983.
* Hans-Peter Schaub: Der Schwarzwald. Naturvielfalt in einer alten Kulturlandschaft. Mannheim, 2001.
Fiction
* Jürgen Lodemann (ed.): Schwarzwaldgeschichten. Klöpfer & Mayer, Tübingen, 2007, .
* Herbert Schnierle-Lutz (ed.): Schwarzwald-Lesebuch. Geschichten aus 6 Jahrhunderten mit zahlreichen Bildern, 224 pages, Hohenheim Verlag, Stuttgart, 2011, .
General
* Barnes, K. J. (2007). A Rough Passage: Memories of an Empire
* Bremke, N. (1999). Schwarzwald quer. Karlsruhe: Braun. .
*
* Lamparski, F. (1985). Der Einfluß der Regenwurmart Lumbricus badensis auf Waldböden im Südschwarzwald. Schriftenreihe des Institut für Bodenkunde und Waldernährungslehre der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br., 15. . [http://www.bodenkunde.uni-freiburg.de/veroeffentlichungen/fba/inhalt_15 English summary]
External links
*
Category:Forests and woodlands of Germany
Category:Horsts (geology)
Category:Mountain and hill ranges of Baden-Württemberg
Category:Natural regions of the South German Scarplands
Category:Regions of Baden-Württemberg | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.119525 |
3386 | Black Sea | | location = Eastern Europe and West Asia
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| outflow = Bosporus, Kerch Strait
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Partially recognised states:
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<br />A large number of countries included in drainage basins for inflow rivers
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| islands_category = Islands of the Black Sea
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in the Black Sea. Longshore drift has deposited sediment along the shoreline which has led to the formation of a spit (Sinemorets, Bulgaria).]] , with the skyline of Batumi on the horizon]]
in Crimea]]
in Turkey]]
in Sochi, Russia]]
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.
The Black Sea, not including the Sea of Azov, covers , has a maximum depth of , and a volume of .
Most of its coasts ascend rapidly.
These rises are the Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north.
In the west, the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills such as the Strandzha; Cape Emine, a dwindling of the east end of the Balkan Mountains; and the Dobruja Plateau considerably farther north.
The longest east–west extent is about .
Important cities along the coast include (clockwise from the Bosporus) Burgas, Varna, Constanța, Odesa, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Sochi, Poti, Batumi, Trabzon and Samsun.
The Black Sea has a positive water balance, with an annual net outflow of per year through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles into the Aegean Sea. While the net flow of water through the Bosporus and Dardanelles (known collectively as the Turkish Straits) is out of the Black Sea, water generally flows in both directions simultaneously: Denser, more saline water from the Aegean flows into the Black Sea underneath the less dense, fresher water that flows out of the Black Sea. This creates a significant and permanent layer of deep water that does not drain or mix and is therefore anoxic. This anoxic layer is responsible for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks which have been found in the Black Sea, which ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea. The Bosporus strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the strait of the Dardanelles. To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait.
The water level has varied significantly over geological time. Due to these variations in the water level in the basin, the surrounding shelf and associated aprons have sometimes been dry land. At certain critical water levels, connections with surrounding water bodies can become established. It is through the most active of these connective routes, the Turkish Straits, that the Black Sea joins the World Ocean. During geological periods when this hydrological link was not present, the Black Sea was an endorheic basin, operating independently of the global ocean system (similar to the Caspian Sea today). Currently, the Black Sea water level is relatively high; thus, water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean. The Black Sea undersea river is a current of particularly saline water flowing through the Bosporus Strait and along the seabed of the Black Sea, the first of its kind discovered.
Name
]]
, Romania]]
]]
Modern names
Current names of the sea are usually equivalents of the English name "Black Sea", including these given in the countries bordering the sea:
* ,
* ,
* ,
* ,
* ,
* ,
*
* ,
* Laz and , , or simply , , , "Sea"
* ,
* ,
* ,
* ,
Such names have not yet been shown conclusively to predate the 13thcentury.
In Greece, the historical name "Euxine Sea", which holds a different literal meaning (see below), is still widely used:
* , ; the name , , is used, but is much less common.
The Black Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms – the others being the Red Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea.
Historical names and etymology
The earliest known name of the Black Sea is the Sea of Zalpa, so called by both the Hattians and their conquerors, the Hittites. The Hattic city of Zalpa was "situated probably at or near the estuary of the Marrassantiya River, the modern Kızıl Irmak, on the Black Sea coast."
The principal Greek name Póntos Áxeinos is generally accepted to be a rendering of the Iranian word ("dark colored"). Ancient Greek voyagers adopted the name as , identified with the Greek word (inhospitable). The name (Inhospitable Sea), first attested in Pindar (), was considered an ill omen and was euphemized to its opposite, (Hospitable Sea), also first attested in Pindar. This became the commonly used designation in Greek, although in mythological contexts the "true" name remained favored.
Strabo's Geographica (1.2.10) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often simply called "the Sea" ( ). He thought that the sea was called the "Inhospitable Sea" by the inhabitants of the Pontus region of the southern shoreline before Greek colonization due to its difficult navigation and hostile barbarian natives (7.3.6), and that the name was changed to "hospitable" after the Milesians colonized the region, bringing it into the Greek world.
Popular supposition derives "Black Sea" from the dark color of the water or climatic conditions. Some scholars understand the name to be derived from a system of color symbolism representing the cardinal directions, with black or dark for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east. Hence, "Black Sea" meant "Northern Sea". According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between the northern (black) and southern (red) seas: this points to the Achaemenids (550–330 BC). This interpretation has been labeled as folk etymology and may reflect a primitive historical understanding of the "P/Bla" phoneme originally associated with the name.
In the Greater Bundahishn, a Middle Persian Zoroastrian scripture, the Black Sea is called . In the tenth-century Persian geography book , the Black Sea is called Georgian Sea (). The Georgian Chronicles use the name (Sea of Speri) after the Kartvelian tribe of Speris or Saspers. Other modern names such as and (both meaning Black Sea) originated during the 13th century. A 1570 map from Abraham Ortelius's labels the sea (Great Sea), compare Latin .
English writers of the 18th century often used Euxine Sea ( or ). During the Ottoman Empire, it was called either (Perso-Arabic) or (Ottoman Turkish), both meaning "Black Sea". Geography The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Black Sea as follows:
The area surrounding the Black Sea is commonly referred to as the Black Sea Region. Its northern part lies within the Chernozem belt (black soil belt) which goes from eastern Croatia (Slavonia), along the Danube (northern Serbia, northern Bulgaria (Danubian Plain) and southern Romania (Wallachian Plain) to northeast Ukraine and further across the Central Black Earth Region and southern Russia into Siberia.
The littoral zone of the Black Sea is often referred to as the Pontic littoral or Pontic zone.
The largest bays of the Black Sea are Karkinit Bay in Ukraine; the Gulf of Burgas in Bulgaria; Dnieprovska Gulf and Dniestrovsky Liman, both in Ukraine; and Sinop Bay and Samsun Bay, both in Turkey. Coastline and exclusive economic zones <!-- Possibly some text about exclusive economic zones in Black Sea (including Sea of Azov). Possibly some text about coastline length in Black Sea (including Sea of Azov) -->{| class"wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Coastline length and area of exclusive economic zones
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope"col" | Coastline length (km)
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1,329
| 172,484
|-
! scope="row" |
| 2,782
| 132,414
|-
! scope="row" |
| 800
| 67,351
|-
! scope="row" |
| 354
| 35,132
|-
! scope="row" |
| 310 (without Abkhazia 100)
| 22,947
|-
! scope="row" |
| 225
| 29,756
|-
! scope"row" |
| 210
| –
|- class"sortbottom" style"background:#9acdff;"
! scope="row" | Total
| style="background:#9acdff; font-weight:bold;" | 5,800
| style="background:#9acdff; font-weight:bold;" | 460,084
|}
Drainage basin
The largest rivers flowing into the Black Sea are:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Unrecognized states:
*
Islands
Some islands in the Black Sea belong to Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine:
* St. Thomas Island – Bulgaria
* St. Anastasia Island – Bulgaria
* St. Cyricus Island – Bulgaria
* St. Ivan Island – Bulgaria
* St. Peter Island – Bulgaria
* Sacalinu Mare Island – Romania
* Sacalinu Mic Island – Romania
* K Island – Romania and Ukraine
* Utrish Island
* Krupinin Island
* Sudiuk Island
* Kefken Island
* Oreke Island
* Giresun Island – Turkey
* Dzharylhach Island – Ukraine
* Zmiinyi (Snake) Island – Ukraine
Climate
]]
Short-term climatic variation in the Black Sea region is significantly influenced by the operation of the North Atlantic oscillation, the climatic mechanisms resulting from the interaction between the north Atlantic and mid-latitude air masses. While the exact mechanisms causing the North Atlantic Oscillation remain unclear, it is thought the climate conditions established in western Europe mediate the heat and precipitation fluxes reaching Central Europe and Eurasia, regulating the formation of winter cyclones, which are largely responsible for regional precipitation inputs and influence Mediterranean sea surface temperatures (SSTs).
The relative strength of these systems also limits the amount of cold air arriving from northern regions during winter. Other influencing factors include the regional topography, as depressions and storm systems arriving from the Mediterranean are funneled through the low land around the Bosporus, with the Pontic and Caucasus mountain ranges acting as waveguides, limiting the speed and paths of cyclones passing through the region. Geology and bathymetry
, Crimea]]
The Black Sea is divided into two depositional basins—the Western Black Sea and Eastern Black Sea—separated by the Mid-Black Sea High, which includes the Andrusov Ridge, Tetyaev High, and Archangelsky High, extending south from the Crimean Peninsula. The basin includes two distinct relict back-arc basins which were initiated by the splitting of an Albian volcanic arc and the subduction of both the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys oceans, but the timings of these events remain uncertain. Arc volcanism and extension occurred as the Neo-Tethys Ocean subducted under the southern margin of Laurasia during the Mesozoic. Uplift and compressional deformation took place as the Neotethys continued to close. Seismic surveys indicate that rifting began in the Western Black Sea in the Barremian and Aptian followed by the formation of oceanic crust 20million years later in the Santonian. Since its initiation, compressional tectonic environments led to subsidence in the basin, interspersed with extensional phases resulting in large-scale volcanism and numerous orogenies, causing the uplift of the Greater Caucasus, Pontides, southern Crimean Peninsula and Balkanides mountain ranges.
in Istanbul, Turkey, crosses the Bosporus strait near its entrance to the Black Sea. Connecting Europe and Asia, it is one of the tallest suspension bridges in the world.]]
During the Messinian salinity crisis in the neighboring Mediterranean Sea, water levels fell but without drying up the sea. The collision between the Eurasian and African plates and the westward escape of the Anatolian block along the North Anatolian and East Anatolian faults dictates the current tectonic regime, These geological mechanisms, in the long term, have caused the periodic isolations of the Black Sea from the rest of the global ocean system.
The large shelf to the north of the basin is up to wide and features a shallow apron with gradients between 1:40 and 1:1000. The southern edge around Turkey and the eastern edge around Georgia, however, are typified by a narrow shelf that rarely exceeds in width and a steep apron that is typically 1:40 gradient with numerous submarine canyons and channel extensions. The Euxine abyssal plain in the center of the Black Sea reaches a maximum depth of just south of Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula. Chronostratigraphy The Paleo-Euxinian is described by the accumulation of eolian silt deposits (related to the Riss glaciation) and the lowering of sea levels (MIS 6, 8 and 10). The Karangat marine transgression occurred during the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e). This may have been the highest sea levels reached in the late Pleistocene. Based on this some scholars have suggested that the Crimean Peninsula was isolated from the mainland by a shallow strait during the Eemian Interglacial.
The Neoeuxinian transgression began with an inflow of waters from the Caspian Sea. Neoeuxinian deposits are found in the Black Sea below water depth in three layers. The upper layers correspond with the peak of the Khvalinian transgression, on the shelf shallow-water sands and coquina mixed with silty sands and brackish-water fauna, and inside the Black Sea Depression hydrotroilite silts. The middle layers on the shelf are sands with brackish-water mollusc shells. Of continental origin, the lower level on the shelf is mostly alluvial sands with pebbles, mixed with less common lacustrine silts and freshwater mollusc shells. Inside the Black Sea Depression they are terrigenous non-carbonate silts, and at the foot of the continental slope turbidite sediments. Hydrology
view reveals the colorful interplay of currents on the sea's surface.]]
The Black Sea is the world's largest body of water with a meromictic basin. The deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive oxygen from the atmosphere. As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water. The Black Sea's circulation patterns are primarily controlled by basin topography and fluvial inputs, which result in a strongly stratified vertical structure. Because of the extreme stratification, it is classified as a salt wedge estuary.
Inflow from the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus and Dardanelles has a higher salinity and density than the outflow, creating the classic estuarine circulation. This means that the inflow of dense water from the Mediterranean occurs at the bottom of the basin while the outflow of fresher Black Sea surface-water into the Sea of Marmara occurs near the surface. According to Gregg (2002), the outflow is or around , and the inflow is or around .
The following water budget can be estimated:
* Water in:
** Total river discharge:
** Precipitation:
** Inflow via Bosporus: Surface water leaves the Black Sea with a salinity of 17 practical salinity units (PSU) and reaches the Mediterranean with a salinity of 34 PSU. Likewise, an inflow of the Mediterranean with salinity 38.5 PSU experiences a decrease to about 34 PSU.
Beneath the surface waters—from about —there exists a halocline that stops at the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL). This layer is composed of cool, salty surface waters, which are the result of localized atmospheric cooling and decreased fluvial input during the winter months. It is the remnant of the winter surface mixed layer. The undersea river stems from salty water spilling through the Bosporus Strait from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea, where the water has a lower salt content. As a result of these characteristics the Black Sea has gained interest from the field of marine archaeology, as ancient shipwrecks in excellent states of preservation have been discovered, such as the Byzantine wreck Sinop D, located in the anoxic layer off the coast of Sinop, Turkey.
Modelling shows that, in the event of an asteroid impact on the Black Sea, the release of hydrogen sulfide clouds would pose a threat to health—and perhaps even life—for people living on the Black Sea coast.
There have been isolated reports of flares on the Black Sea occurring during thunderstorms, possibly caused by lightning igniting combustible gas seeping up from the sea depths.
Ecology
Marine
, Georgia]]
The Black Sea supports an active and dynamic marine ecosystem, dominated by species suited to the brackish, nutrient-rich, conditions. As with all marine food webs, the Black Sea features a range of trophic groups, with autotrophic algae, including diatoms and dinoflagellates, acting as primary producers. The fluvial systems draining Eurasia and central Europe introduce large volumes of sediment and dissolved nutrients into the Black Sea, but the distribution of these nutrients is controlled by the degree of physiochemical stratification, which is, in turn, dictated by seasonal physiographic development.
During winter, strong winds promote convective overturning and upwelling of nutrients, while high summer temperatures result in marked vertical stratification and a warm, shallow mixed layer. Day length and insolation intensity also control the extent of the photic zone. Subsurface productivity is limited by nutrient availability, as the anoxic bottom waters act as a sink for reduced nitrate, in the form of ammonia. The benthic zone also plays an important role in Black Sea nutrient cycling, as chemosynthetic organisms and anoxic geochemical pathways recycle nutrients which can be upwelled to the photic zone, enhancing productivity.
In total, the Black Sea's biodiversity contains around one-third of the Mediterranean's and is experiencing natural and artificial invasions or "Mediterranizations".
Phytoplankton
blooms and plumes of sediment form the bright blue swirls that ring the Black Sea in this 2004 image.]]
The main phytoplankton groups present in the Black Sea are dinoflagellates, diatoms, coccolithophores and cyanobacteria. Generally, the annual cycle of phytoplankton development comprises significant diatom and dinoflagellate-dominated spring production, followed by a weaker mixed assemblage of community development below the seasonal thermocline during summer months, and surface-intensified autumn production. This pattern of productivity is augmented by an Emiliania huxleyi bloom during the late spring and summer months.
* Dinoflagellates
: Annual dinoflagellate distribution is defined by an extended bloom period in subsurface waters during the late spring and summer. In November, subsurface plankton production is combined with surface production, due to vertical mixing of water masses and nutrients such as nitrite. Estimates of dinoflagellate diversity in the Black Sea range from 193 to 267 species. This level of species richness is relatively low in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea, which is attributable to the brackish conditions, low water transparency and presence of anoxic bottom waters. It is also possible that the low winter temperatures below of the Black Sea prevent thermophilous species from becoming established. The relatively high organic matter content of Black Sea surface water favors the development of heterotrophic (an organism that uses organic carbon for growth) and mixotrophic dinoflagellates species (able to exploit different trophic pathways), relative to autotrophs. Despite its unique hydrographic setting, there are no confirmed endemic dinoflagellate species in the Black Sea.
Animal species
* Zebra mussel
: The Black Sea along with the Caspian Sea is part of the zebra mussel's native range. The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world and become an invasive species where it has been introduced.
* Common carp
: The common carp's native range extends to the Black Sea along with the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea. Like the zebra mussel, the common carp is an invasive species when introduced to other habitats.
* Round goby
: Another native fish that is also found in the Caspian Sea. It preys upon zebra mussels. Like the mussels and common carp, it has become invasive when introduced to other environments, like the Great Lakes in North America.
* with a ferry at Batumi port]]Marine mammals and marine megafauna
: Marine mammals present within the basin include two species of dolphin (common and bottlenose) and the harbour porpoise, although all of these are endangered due to pressures and impacts by human activities. All three species have been classified as distinct subspecies from those in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and are endemic to the Black and Azov seas, and are more active during nights in the Turkish Straits. However, construction of the Crimean Bridge has caused increases in nutrients and planktons in the waters, attracting large numbers of fish and more than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins. However, others claim that construction may cause devastating damages to the ecosystem, including dolphins.
: Mediterranean monk seals, now a vulnerable species, were historically abundant in the Black Sea, and are regarded to have become extinct from the basin in 1997. Monk seals were present at Snake Island, near the Danube Delta, until the 1950s, and several locations such as the and Doğankent were the last of the seals' hauling-out sites post-1990. Very few animals still thrive in the Sea of Marmara.
: Ongoing Mediterranizations may or may not boost cetacean diversity in the Turkish Straits were introduced into the Black Sea by mankind and later escaped either by accidental or purported causes. Of these, grey seals and beluga whales Ecological effects of pollution Since the 1960s, rapid industrial expansion along the Black Sea coastline and the construction of a major dam on the Danube have significantly increased annual variability in the N:P:Si ratio in the basin. Coastal areas, accordingly, have seen an increase in the frequency of monospecific phytoplankton blooms, with diatom-bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 2.5 and non-diatom bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 6. The non-diatoms, such as the prymnesiophytes (coccolithophore), sp., and the Euglenophyte , can out-compete diatom species because of the limited availability of silicon, a necessary constituent of diatom frustules. As a consequence of these blooms, benthic macrophyte populations were deprived of light, while anoxia caused mass mortality in marine animals.
Overfishing during the 1970s further compounded the decline in macrophytes, while the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis reduced the biomass of copepods and other zooplankton in the late 1980s. Additionally, an alien species—the warty comb jelly ()—established itself in the basin, exploding from a few individuals to an estimated biomass of one billion metric tons. The change in species composition in Black Sea waters also has consequences for hydrochemistry, as calcium-producing coccolithophores influence salinity and pH, although these ramifications have yet to be fully quantified. In central Black Sea waters, silicon levels also reduced significantly, due to a decrease in the flux of silicon associated with advection across isopycnal surfaces. This phenomenon demonstrates the potential for localized alterations in Black Sea nutrient-input to have basin-wide effects.
Pollution-reduction and regulation efforts led to a partial recovery of the Black Sea ecosystem during the 1990s, and an EU monitoring exercise, 'EROS21', revealed decreased nitrogen and phosphorus values relative to the 1989 peak. Recently, scientists have noted signs of ecological recovery, in part due to the construction of new sewage-treatment plants in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria in connection with those countries' membership of the European Union. populations have been checked with the arrival of another alien species that feeds on them.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:black sea fauna jelly 01.jpg|Jellyfish
File:black sea fauna actinia 01.jpg|Actinia
File:black sea fauna actinia 02.JPG|Actinia
File:black sea fauna goby 01.jpg|Goby
File:black sea fauna stingray 01.jpg|Stingray
File:Black sea mullus barbatus ponticus 01.jpg|Goat fish
File:Black sea fauna hermit crab 01.jpg|Hermit crab, Diogenes pugilator
File:Black sea fauna blue sponge.jpg|Blue sponge
File:Squalus acanthias2.jpg|Spiny dogfish
File:Black Sea fauna Seahorse.JPG|Seahorse
File:Kitesurfer and Dolphins Cropped.jpg|Black Sea common dolphins with a kite-surfer off Sochi
</gallery>
History
Mediterranean connection during the Holocene
, taken from the International Space Station]]
]]
The Black Sea is connected to the World Ocean by a chain of two shallow straits, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. The Dardanelles is deep, and the Bosporus is as shallow as . By comparison, at the height of the last ice age, sea levels were more than lower than they are now.
There is evidence that water levels in the Black Sea were considerably lower at some point during the post-glacial period. Some researchers theorize that the Black Sea had been a landlocked freshwater lake (at least in upper layers) during the last glaciation and for some time after.
In the aftermath of the last glacial period, water levels in the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea rose independently until they were high enough to exchange water. The exact timeline of this development is still subject to debate. One possibility is that the Black Sea filled first, with excess freshwater flowing over the Bosporus sill and eventually into the Mediterranean Sea. There are also catastrophic scenarios, such as the "Black Sea deluge hypothesis" put forward by William Ryan, Walter Pitman and Petko Dimitrov.
Deluge hypothesis
The Black Sea deluge is a hypothesized catastrophic rise in the level of the Black Sea BC}} due to waters from the Mediterranean Sea breaching a sill in the Bosporus Strait. The hypothesis was headlined when The New York Times published it in December 1996, shortly before it was published in an academic journal. While it is agreed that the sequence of events described did occur, there is debate over the suddenness, dating, and magnitude of the events. Relevant to the hypothesis is that its description has led some to connect this catastrophe with prehistoric flood myths.
Archaeology
. Black Sea Fleet in the Bay of Theodosia, just before the Crimean War]]
The Black Sea was sailed by Hittites, Carians, Colchians, Armenians, Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Varangians, Crusaders, Venetians, Genoese, Georgians, Bulgarians, Tatars and Ottomans.
The concentration of historical powers, combined with the preservative qualities of the deep anoxic waters of the Black Sea, has attracted increased interest from marine archaeologists who have begun to discover a large number of ancient ships and organic remains in a high state of preservation.
Recorded history
]]
(8th–3rd century BC) of the Black Sea (Euxine, or "hospitable" sea)]]
The Black Sea was a busy waterway on the crossroads of the ancient world: the Balkans to the west, the Eurasian steppes to the north, the Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the southwest.
The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Colchis (in present-day Georgia), marked for the ancient Greeks the edge of the known world.
The Pontic–Caspian steppe to the north of the Black Sea is seen by several researchers as the pre-historic original homeland () of the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).
Greek presence in the Black Sea began at least as early as the 9th century BC with colonies scattered along the Black Sea's southern coast, attracting traders and colonists due to the grain grown in the Black Sea hinterland.
By 500 BC, permanent Greek communities existed all around the Black Sea, and a lucrative trade-network connected the entirety of the Black Sea to the wider Mediterranean. While Greek colonies generally maintained very close cultural ties to their founding polis, Greek colonies in the Black Sea began to develop their own Black Sea Greek culture, known today as Pontic. The coastal communities of Black Sea Greeks remained a prominent part of the Greek world for centuries, and the realms of Mithridates of Pontus, Rome and Constantinople spanned the Black Sea to include Crimean territories.
The Black Sea became a virtual Ottoman Navy lake within five years of the Republic of Genoa losing control of the Crimean Peninsula in 1479, after which the only Western merchant vessels to sail its waters were those of Venice's old rival Ragusa. The Black Sea became a trade route of slaves between Crimea and Ottoman Anatolia via the Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe.
]]
Imperial Russia became a significant Black Sea power in the late-18th century,
occupying the littoral of Novorossiya in 1764 and of Crimea in 1783. Ottoman restrictions on Black Sea navigation were challenged by the Black Sea Fleet (founded in 1783) of the Imperial Russian Navy, and the Ottomans relaxed export controls after the outbreak in 1789 of the French Revolution.
Modern history
The Crimean War, fought between 1853 and 1856, saw naval engagements between the French and British allies and the forces of Nicholas I of Russia. On 2 March 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, Alexander II became Tsar. On 15 January 1856, the new tsar took Russia out of the war on the very unfavorable terms of the Treaty of Paris (1856), which included the loss of a naval fleet on the Black Sea, and the provision that the Black Sea was to be a demilitarized zone similar to a contemporaneous region of the Baltic Sea.
World Wars
The Black Sea was a significant naval theatre of World War I (1914–1918) and saw both naval and land battles between 1941 and 1945 during World War II. For example, Sevastopol was obliterated by the Nazis, who even brought Schwerer Gustav to the Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942). The Soviet naval base was one of the strongest fortifications in the world. Its site, on a deeply eroded, bare limestone promontory at the southwestern tip of the Crimea, made an approach by land forces exceedingly difficult. The high-level cliffs overlooking Severnaya Bay protected the anchorage, making an amphibious landing just as dangerous. The Soviet Navy had built upon these natural defenses by modernizing the port and installing heavy coastal batteries consisting of 180mm and 305mm re-purposed battleship guns which were capable of firing inland as well as out to sea. The artillery emplacements were protected by reinforced concrete fortifications and 9.8-inch thick armored turrets.
21st century
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Snake Island was a source of contention. On 24 February 2022, two Russian navy warships attacked and captured Snake Island. It was subsequently bombarded heavily by Ukraine. On 30 June 2022, Ukraine announced that it had driven Russian forces off the island.
On 14 April 2022, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk by Ukrainian missiles.
As early as 29 April 2022 submarines of the Black Sea Fleet were used by Russia to bombard Ukrainian cities with Kalibr SLCMs. The Kalibr missile was so successful that on 10 March 2023 Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced plans to broaden the type of ship which carried it, to include the corvette Steregushchiy and the nuclear-powered cruiser Admiral Nakhimov.
On the morning of 14 March 2023, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted and damaged an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing the latter to crash into the Black Sea. At 13:20 on 5 May 2023 a Russian Su-35 fighter jet intercepted and threatened the safety of a Polish L-140 Turbolet on a . The incident, which occurred east of Romanian airspace,
As of January 2025, neither Ukraine nor Russia control the Black Sea, making it contested, claims Estonian Navy Commander Ivo Värk. "The entire Black Sea can currently be seen as a contested maritime area where both sides have some room for action,". This room is greater near the coasts, where both sides benefit from air defense systems, sea mines, and various land-based weaponry. Ships only move out for specific operations to prevent excessive risks. He also noted that both parties operate gas drilling platforms equipped with surveillance devices to monitor the situation, but that those platforms often change hands.
Economy and politics
, Crimea]]
, Turkey, is located on a small island in the Black Sea.]]The Black Sea plays an integral part in the connection between Asia and Europe. In addition to sea ports and fishing, key activities include hydrocarbons exploration for oil and natural gas, and tourism.
According to NATO, the Black Sea is a strategic corridor that provides smuggling channels for moving legal and illegal goods including drugs, radioactive materials, and counterfeit goods that can be used to finance terrorism. Navigation According to an International Transport Workers' Federation 2013 study, there were at least 30 operating merchant seaports in the Black Sea (including at least 12 in Ukraine). There were also around 2,400 commercial vessels operating in the Black Sea.
Hydrocarbon exploration
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union started offshore drilling for petroleum in the sea's western portion (adjoining Ukraine's coast). Independent Ukraine continued and intensified that effort within its exclusive economic zone, inviting major international oil companies for exploration. Discovery of the new, massive oilfields in the area stimulated an influx of foreign investments. It also provoked a short-term peaceful territorial dispute with Romania which was resolved in 2011 by an international court redefining the exclusive economic zones between the two countries.
The Black Sea contains oil and natural gas resources but exploration in the sea is incomplete. , 20 wells are in place. Throughout much of its existence, the Black Sea has had significant oil and gas-forming potential because of significant inflows of sediment and nutrient-rich waters. However, this varies geographically. For example, prospects are poorer off the coast of Bulgaria because of the large influx of sediment from the Danube which obscured sunlight and diluted organic-rich sediments. Many of the discoveries to date have taken place offshore of Romania in the Western Black Sea and only a few discoveries have been made in the Eastern Black Sea.
During the Eocene, the Paratethys Sea was partially isolated and sea levels fell. During this time sand shed off the rising Balkanide, Pontide and Caucasus mountains trapped organic material in the Maykop Suite of rocks through the Oligocene and early Miocene. Natural gas appears in rocks deposited in the Miocene and Pliocene by the paleo-Dnieper and paleo-Dniester rivers, or in deep-water Oligocene-age rocks. Serious exploration began in 1999 with two deep-water wells, Limanköy-1 and Limanköy-2, drilled in Turkish waters. Next, the HPX (Hopa)-1 deepwater well targeted late Miocene sandstone units in Achara-Trialeti fold belt (also known as the Gurian fold belt) along the Georgia-Turkey maritime border. Although geologists inferred that these rocks might have hydrocarbons that migrated from the Maykop Suite, the well was unsuccessful. No more drilling happened for five years after the HPX-1 well. In 2010, Sinop-1 targeted carbonate reservoirs potentially charged from the nearby Maykop Suite on the Andrusov Ridge, but the well-struck only Cretaceous volcanic rocks. Yassihöyük-1 encountered similar problems.
Other Turkish wells, Sürmene-1 and Sile-1 drilled in the Eastern Black Sea in 2011 and 2015 respectively tested four-way closures above Cretaceous volcanoes, with no results in either case. A different Turkish well, Kastamonu-1 drilled in 2011 did successfully find thermogenic gas in Pliocene and Miocene shale-cored anticlines in the Western Black Sea. A year later in 2012, Romania drilled Domino-1 which struck gas prompting the drilling of other wells in the Neptun Deep. In 2016, the Bulgarian well Polshkov-1 targeted Maykop Suite sandstones in the Polshkov High and Russia is in the process of drilling Jurassic carbonates on the Shatsky Ridge as of 2018.
In August 2020, Turkey found of natural gas in the biggest ever discovery in the Black Sea, and hoped to begin production in the Sakarya Gas Field by 2023. The sector is near where Romania has also found gas reserves.
Trans-sea cooperation
Urban areas
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"text-align:center;"
|+ Most populous urban areas along the Black Sea
|-
! scope="col" | City
! scope"col" classunsortable| Image
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Region/county
! scope="col" | Population (urban)
|-
! scope="row" | Odesa
|
| ||Odesa||1,003,705
|-
! scope="row" | Samsun
|
| ||Samsun||639,930
|-
! scope="row" | Varna
|
| ||Varna||500,076
|-
! scope="row" | Constanța
|
| ||Constanța||491,498
|-
! scope="row" | Sevastopol
|
| disputed:<br /> (de facto)<br /> (de jure)|| Federal city /<br />City with special status||379,200
|-
! scope="row" | Sochi
|
| ||Krasnodar Krai||343,334
|-
! scope="row" | Trabzon
|
| ||Trabzon||293,661
|-
! scope="row" | Ordu
|
| ||Ordu||190,425
The following is a list of notable Black Sea resort towns:
* 2 Mai (Romania)
* Agigea (Romania)
* Ahtopol (Bulgaria)
* Amasra (Turkey)
* Anaklia (Georgia)
* Anapa (Russia)
* Albena (Bulgaria)
* Alupka (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Alushta (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Balchik (Bulgaria)
* Batumi (Georgia)
* Burgas (Bulgaria)
* Byala (Bulgaria)
* Cap Aurora (Romania)
* Chakvi (Georgia)
* Constanța (Romania)
* Constantine and Helena (Bulgaria)
* Corbu (Romania)
* Costinești (Romania)
* Eforie (Romania)
* Emona (Bulgaria)
* Feodosia (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Foros (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Gagra (Abkhazia/Georgia)
* Gelendzhik (Russia)
* Giresun (Turkey)
* Golden Sands (Bulgaria)
* Gonio (Georgia)
* Gudauta and subsequently the Gudauta Bay (Abkhazia/Georgia)
* Gurzuf (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Hopa (Artvin, Turkey)
* Jupiter (Romania)
* Kamchia (Bulgaria)
* Kavarna (Bulgaria)
* Kiten (Bulgaria)
* Kobuleti (Georgia)
* Koktebel (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Lozenetz (Bulgaria)
* Mamaia (Romania)
* Mangalia (Romania)
* Năvodari (Romania)
* Neptun (Romania)
* Nesebar (Bulgaria)
* Novorossiysk (Russia)
* Obzor (Bulgaria)
* Odesa (Ukraine)
* Olimp (Romania)
* Ordu (Turkey)
* Pitsunda/Bichvinta (Abkhazia/Georgia)
* Pomorie (Bulgaria)
* Primorsko (Bulgaria)
* Rize (Turkey)
* Rusalka (Bulgaria)
* Samsun (Turkey)
* Saturn (Romania)
* Şile (Turkey)
* Sinop (Turkey)
* Skadovsk (Ukraine)
* Sochi (Russia)
* Sozopol (Bulgaria)
* Sudak (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Sulina (Romania)
* Sunny Beach (Bulgaria)
* Sveti Vlas (Bulgaria)
* Trabzon (Turkey)
* Tsikhisdziri (Georgia)
* Tuapse (Russia)
* Ureki (Georgia)
* Vama Veche (Romania)
* Varna (Bulgaria)
* Venus (Romania)
* Yalta (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Yevpatoria (Crimea, Ukraine/Russia <small>(disputed)</small>)
* Zonguldak (Turkey)
Modern military use
(right) bumping the USS Yorktown'' during the 1988 Black Sea bumping incident]]
artillery boat U170 in the Bay of Sevastopol]]
The 1936 Montreux Convention provides for free passage of civilian ships between the international waters of the Black and the Mediterranean seas. However, a single country (Turkey) has complete control over the straits connecting the two seas. Military ships are categorized separately from civilian vessels and can pass through the straits only if the ship belongs to a Black Sea country. Other military ships have the right to pass through the straits if they are not in a war against Turkey and if they stay in the Black Sea basin for a limited time. The 1982 amendments to the Montreux Convention allow Turkey to close the straits at its discretion in both war and peacetime.
The Montreux Convention governs the passage of vessels between the Black, Mediterranean, and Aegean seas and the presence of military vessels belonging to non-littoral states in the Black Sea waters.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities in the city of Sevastopol (Sevastopol Naval Base).
The Soviet hospital ship was sunk on 7 November 1941 by German aircraft while evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers from Crimea. It has been estimated that approximately 5,000 to 7,000 people were killed during the sinking, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. There were only eight survivors.
In December 2018, the Kerch Strait incident occurred, in which the Russian navy and coast guard took control of three Ukrainian vessels as the ships were trying to transit from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov.
In April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian cruiser Moskva was sunk in the western Black Sea by sea-skimming Neptune missiles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces while the Russians claimed that an onboard fire had caused munitions to explode and damage the ship extensively. She was the largest ship to be lost in naval combat in Europe since World War II.
In late 2023, Russia announced plans to build a naval base on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia.
See also
* 1927 Crimean earthquakes
* Kerch Strait
* Regions of Europe
* Sea of Azov
Notes and references
Informational notes
Citations
General and cited references
*
* Stella Ghervas, "Odessa et les confins de l'Europe: un éclairage historique", in Stella Ghervas et François Rosset (ed), ''Lieux d'Europe. Mythes et limites'' (Paris: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 2008), pp.107–124.
* Charles King, The Black Sea: A History, 2004,
* William Ryan and Walter Pitman, ''Noah's Flood, 1999,
* Neal Ascherson, Black Sea (Vintage 1996),
*
* Rüdiger Schmitt, "Considerations on the Name of the Black Sea", in: Hellas und der griechische Osten'' (Saarbrücken 1996), pp.219–224
*
*
*
External links
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--->
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080207093027/http://www.blacksea-online.com/eng/ Space Monitoring of the Black Sea Coastline and Waters]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081226115914/http://www.mapofukraine.net/crimean_peninsula/black_sea/crimea_black_sea_coast.html Pictures of the Black sea coast all along the Crimean peninsula]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131110111415/http://www.grid.unep.ch/bsein/ Black Sea Environmental Internet Node]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141006150829/http://sealevel.ns.ca/igcp521/ Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during the last 30 ky: UNESCO IGCP 521 WG12]
Category:Seas of the Mediterranean Sea
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Category:Seas of Russia
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Category:Bodies of water of Georgia (country)
Category:Bodies of water of Romania
Category:Bodies of water of Crimea
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Category:Geography of West Asia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.224194 |
3390 | Bible | , published in the mid-15th century by Johannes Gutenberg, is the first published Bible.]]
<!-- Consensus established on the talk page for this article has established that BCE/CE dates will be used when referring to the Jewish Bible/Judaism and BC/AD dates for the Christian Bible/Christianity. -->
The Bible<!-- Per consensus, please do not add the word 'holy'. -->, , 'the books'}} is a collection of religious texts and scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, and partly in Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. The texts include instructions, stories, poetry, prophecies, and other genres. The collection of materials accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.
The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning "five books") in Greek. The second-oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im). The third collection, the Ketuvim, contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. "Tanakh" () is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible, which is composed of the first letters of the three components comprising scriptures written originally in Hebrew: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings"). The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh—written in Hebrew and Aramaic—that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism. The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BCE; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.
Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament. The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books. The gospels, which are narratives about the life and teachings of Jesus, along with the Pauline epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament.
With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, the Bible is the best-selling publication of all time. It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe. The study of it through biblical criticism has also indirectly impacted culture and history. The Bible is currently translated or is being translated into about half of the world's languages.
Some view biblical texts as morally problematic, historically inaccurate, or corrupted by time; others find it a useful historical source for certain peoples and events or a source of ethical teachings.
Etymology
The term "Bible" can refer to the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Bible, which contains both the Old and New Testaments.
The English word Bible is derived from , meaning "the books" (singular ).
The word itself had the literal meaning of "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book". It is the diminutive of byblos, "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician seaport Byblos (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece.
The Greek ta biblia ("the books") was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books". The biblical scholar F. F. Bruce notes that John Chrysostom appears to be the first writer (in his Homilies on Matthew, delivered between 386 and 388 CE) to use the Greek phrase ta biblia ("the books") to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.
Latin biblia sacra "holy books" translates Greek (tà biblía tà hágia, "the holy books"). Medieval Latin is short for biblia sacra "holy book". It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (, gen. ) in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.
Development and history
in a Hebrew Bible]]
(1QIsa<sup>a</sup>), one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is the oldest complete copy of the Book of Isaiah.]]
The Bible<!-- Per consensus, please do not add the word 'holy'. --> is not a single book; it is a collection of books whose complex development is not completely understood. The oldest books began as songs and stories orally transmitted from generation to generation. Scholars of the twenty-first century are only in the beginning stages of exploring "the interface between writing, performance, memorization, and the aural dimension" of the texts. Current indications are that writing and orality were not separate as much as ancient writing was learned in communal oral performance. The Bible was written and compiled by many people, who many scholars say are mostly unknown, from a variety of disparate cultures and backgrounds.
British biblical scholar John K. Riches wrote:
), the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (70 CE), and the extension of Roman rule to parts of Scotland (84 CE).}}
The books of the Bible were initially written and copied by hand on papyrus scrolls. No originals have survived. The age of the original composition of the texts is, therefore, difficult to determine and heavily debated. Using a combined linguistic and historiographical approach, Hendel and Joosten date the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible (the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 and the Samson story of Judges 16 and 1 Samuel) to having been composed in the premonarchial early Iron Age (). The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the caves of Qumran in 1947, are copies that can be dated to between 250 BCE and 100 CE. They are the oldest existing copies of the books of the Hebrew Bible of any length that are not fragments.
The earliest manuscripts were probably written in paleo-Hebrew, a kind of cuneiform pictograph similar to other pictographs of the same period. The exile to Babylon most likely prompted the shift to square script (Aramaic) in the fifth to third centuries BCE. From the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hebrew Bible was written with spaces between words to aid reading. By the eighth century CE, the Masoretes added vowel signs. Levites or scribes maintained the texts, and some texts were always treated as more authoritative than others. Scribes preserved and changed the texts by changing the script, updating archaic forms, and making corrections. These Hebrew texts were copied with great care.
Considered to be scriptures (sacred, authoritative religious texts), the books were compiled by different religious communities into various biblical canons (official collections of scriptures). The earliest compilation, containing the first five books of the Bible and called the Torah (meaning "law", "instruction", or "teaching") or Pentateuch ("five books"), was accepted as Jewish canon by the fifth century BCE. A second collection of narrative histories and prophesies, called the Nevi'im ("prophets"), was canonized in the third century BCE. A third collection called the Ketuvim ("writings"), containing psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories, was canonized sometime between the second century BCE and the second century CE. These three collections were written mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with some parts in Aramaic, which together form the Hebrew Bible or "TaNaKh" (an abbreviation of "Torah", "Nevi'im", and "Ketuvim"). Hebrew Bible There are three major historical versions of the Hebrew Bible: the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text, and the Samaritan Pentateuch (which contains only the first five books). They are related but do not share the same paths of development. The Septuagint, or the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew scriptures and some related texts into Koine Greek and is believed to have been carried out by approximately seventy or seventy-two scribes and elders who were Hellenic Jews, begun in Alexandria in the late third century BCE and completed by 132 BCE. Probably commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt, it addressed the need of the primarily Greek-speaking Jews of the Graeco-Roman diaspora. Existing complete copies of the Septuagint date from the third to the fifth centuries CE, with fragments dating back to the second century BCE. Revision of its text began as far back as the first century BCE. Fragments of the Septuagint were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; portions of its text are also found on existing papyrus from Egypt dating to the second and first centuries BCE and to the first century CE.</blockquote> These differing histories produced what modern scholars refer to as recognizable "text types". The four most commonly recognized are Alexandrian, Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine.
The list of books included in the Catholic Bible was established as canon by the Council of Rome in 382, followed by those of Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397. Between 385 and 405 CE, the early Christian church translated its canon into Vulgar Latin (the common Latin spoken by ordinary people), a translation known as the Vulgate. Since then, Catholic Christians have held ecumenical councils to standardize their biblical canon. The Council of Trent (1545–63), held by the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation, authorized the Vulgate as its official Latin translation of the Bible. A number of biblical canons have since evolved. Christian biblical canons range from the 73 books of the Catholic Church canon and the 66-book canon of most Protestant denominations to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon, among others. Judaism has long accepted a single authoritative text, whereas Christianity has never had an official version, instead having many different manuscript traditions.
Variants
All biblical texts were treated with reverence and care by those who copied them, yet there are transmission errors, called variants, in all biblical manuscripts. A variant is any deviation between two texts. Textual critic Daniel B. Wallace explains, "Each deviation counts as one variant, regardless of how many MSS [manuscripts] attest to it." Hebrew scholar Emanuel Tov says the term is not evaluative; it is a recognition that the paths of development of different texts have separated.
Medieval handwritten manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible were considered extremely precise: the most authoritative documents from which to copy other texts. Even so, David Carr asserts that Hebrew texts still contain some variants. The majority of all variants are accidental, such as spelling errors, but some changes were intentional. In the Hebrew text, "memory variants" are generally accidental differences evidenced by such things as the shift in word order found in 1 Chronicles 17:24 and 2 Samuel 10:9 and 13. Variants also include the substitution of lexical equivalents, semantic and grammar differences, and larger scale shifts in order, with some major revisions of the Masoretic texts that must have been intentional.
Intentional changes in New Testament texts were made to improve grammar, eliminate discrepancies, harmonize parallel passages, combine and simplify multiple variant readings into one, and for theological reasons. Bruce K. Waltke observes that one variant for every ten words was noted in the recent critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, leaving 90% of the Hebrew text without variation. The fourth edition of the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament notes variants affecting about 500 out of 6900 words, or about 7% of the text.
Content and themes
Themes
.]]
The narratives, laws, wisdom sayings, parables, and unique genres of the Bible provide opportunity for discussion on most topics of concern to human beings: The role of women, sex, children, marriage, neighbours, friends, the nature of authority and the sharing of power, animals, trees and nature, money and economics, work, relationships, sorrow and despair and the nature of joy, among others. Philosopher and ethicist Jaco Gericke adds: "The meaning of good and evil, the nature of right and wrong, criteria for moral discernment, valid sources of morality, the origin and acquisition of moral beliefs, the ontological status of moral norms, moral authority, cultural pluralism, [as well as] axiological and aesthetic assumptions about the nature of value and beauty. These are all implicit in the texts."
However, discerning the themes of some biblical texts can be problematic. Much of the Bible is in narrative form and in general, biblical narrative refrains from any kind of direct instruction, and in some texts the author's intent is not easy to decipher. It is left to the reader to determine good and bad, right and wrong, and the path to understanding and practice is rarely straightforward. God is sometimes portrayed as having a role in the plot, but more often there is little about God's reaction to events, and no mention at all of approval or disapproval of what the characters have done or failed to do. The writer makes no comment, and the reader is left to infer what they will. Jewish philosophers Shalom Carmy and David Schatz explain that the Bible "often juxtaposes contradictory ideas, without explanation or apology".
The Hebrew Bible contains assumptions about the nature of knowledge, belief, truth, interpretation, understanding and cognitive processes. Ethicist Michael V. Fox writes that the primary axiom of the book of Proverbs is that "the exercise of the human mind is the necessary and sufficient condition of right and successful behavior in all reaches of life". The Bible teaches the nature of valid arguments, the nature and power of language, and its relation to reality. According to Mittleman, the Bible provides patterns of moral reasoning that focus on conduct and character.
In the biblical metaphysic, humans have free will, but it is a relative and restricted freedom. Beach says that Christian voluntarism points to the will as the core of the self, and that within human nature, "the core of who we are is defined by what we love". Natural law is in the Wisdom literature, the Prophets, Romans 1, Acts 17, and the book of Amos (Amos 1:3–2:5), where nations other than Israel are held accountable for their ethical decisions even though they do not know the Hebrew god. Political theorist Michael Walzer finds politics in the Hebrew Bible in covenant, law, and prophecy, which constitute an early form of almost democratic political ethics. Key elements in biblical criminal justice begin with the belief in God as the source of justice and the judge of all, including those administering justice on earth.
Carmy and Schatz say the Bible "depicts the character of God, presents an account of creation, posits a metaphysics of divine providence and divine intervention, suggests a basis for morality, discusses many features of human nature, and frequently poses the notorious conundrum of how God can allow evil." Hebrew Bible
The authoritative Hebrew Bible is taken from the masoretic text (called the Leningrad Codex) which dates from 1008. The Hebrew Bible can therefore sometimes be referred to as the Masoretic Text.
The Hebrew Bible is also known by the name Tanakh (Hebrew: ). This reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew scriptures, Torah ("Teaching"), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings") by using the first letters of each word. It is not until the Babylonian Talmud () that a listing of the contents of these three divisions of scripture are found.
The Tanakh was mainly written in Biblical Hebrew, with some small portions (Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2:4–7:28) written in Biblical Aramaic, a language which had become the lingua franca for much of the Semitic world. Torah
recovered from Glockengasse Synagogue in Cologne]]
text, currently housed in the British Museum in London]]
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of Moses" or the Pentateuch, meaning "five scroll-cases". Traditionally these books were considered to have been dictated to Moses by God himself. Since the 17th century, scholars have viewed the original sources as being the product of multiple anonymous authors while also allowing the possibility that Moses first assembled the separate sources. There are a variety of hypotheses regarding when and how the Torah was composed, but there is a general consensus that it took its final form during the reign of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (probably 450–350 BCE), or perhaps in the early Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE).
The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the first words in the respective texts. The Torah consists of the following five books:
* Genesis, Bereshith (בראשית)
* Exodus, Shemot (שמות)
* Leviticus, Vayikra (ויקרא)
* Numbers, Bamidbar (במדבר)
* Deuteronomy, Devarim (דברים)
The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel) and Jacob's children, the "Children of Israel", especially Joseph. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt.
The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in ancient Egypt to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.
The commandments in the Torah provide the basis for Jewish religious law. Tradition states that there are 613 commandments (taryag mitzvot).
Nevi'im
Nevi'im (, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the Torah and Ketuvim. It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ( , the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ( , the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets).
The Nevi'im tell a story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the God" (Yahweh) and believers in foreign gods,}}}} and the criticism of unethical and unjust behaviour of Israelite elites and rulers;}}}}}} in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the neo-Babylonian Empire and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Former Prophets
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and end with the release from imprisonment of the last king of Judah. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the Book of Joshua),
* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the Book of Judges),
* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the Books of Samuel)
* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile (Books of Kings)
Latter Prophets
The Latter Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets, counted as a single book.
* Hosea, Hoshea (הושע) denounces the worship of gods other than Yahweh (God), comparing Israel to a woman being unfaithful to her husband.
* Joel, ''Yo'el (יואל) includes a lament and a promise from God.
* Amos, Amos (עמוס) speaks of social justice, providing a basis for natural law by applying it to unbelievers and believers alike.
* Obadiah, Ovadya (עבדיה) addresses the judgment of Edom and restoration of Israel.
* Jonah, Yona (יונה) tells of a reluctant redemption of Ninevah.
* Micah, Mikha (מיכה) reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor, and looks forward to world peace.
* Nahum, Nakhum (נחום) speaks of the destruction of Nineveh.
* Habakkuk, Havakuk (חבקוק) upholds trust in God over Babylon.
* Zephaniah, Tzefanya (צפניה) pronounces coming of judgment, survival and triumph of remnant.
* Haggai, Khagay (חגי) rebuild Second Temple.
* Zechariah, Zekharya (זכריה) God blesses those who repent and are pure.
* Malachi, Malakhi (מלאכי) corrects lax religious and social behaviour.
Ketuvim
text of Psalm 1:1–2]]
Ketuvim (in "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the inspiration of Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of prophecy.
In Masoretic manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing their internal parallelism, which was found early in the study of Hebrew poetry. "Stichs" are the lines that make up a verse "the parts of which lie parallel as to form and content". Collectively, these three books are known as Sifrei Emet (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields Emet אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "truth"). Hebrew cantillation is the manner of chanting ritual readings as they are written and notated in the Masoretic Text of the Bible. Psalms, Job and Proverbs form a group with a "special system" of accenting used only in these three books.
The five scrolls
by Egon Tschirch, published in 1923]]
The five relatively short books of Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Book of Esther are collectively known as the Hamesh Megillot. These are the latest books collected and designated as authoritative in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the second century CE. Other books
, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, contains almost the whole Book of Isaiah and dates from the second century BCE.]]
The books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles share a distinctive style that no other Hebrew literary text, biblical or extra-biblical, shares. They were not written in the normal style of Hebrew of the post-exilic period. The authors of these books must have chosen to write in their own distinctive style for unknown reasons.
* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).
* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.
* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in the Tanakh with significant portions in Aramaic.
Book order
The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most current printed editions.
* Tehillim (Psalms) תְהִלִּים is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns.
* Mishlei (Book of Proverbs) מִשְלֵי is a "collection of collections" on values, moral behaviour, the meaning of life and right conduct, and its basis in faith.
* Iyov (Book of Job) אִיּוֹב is about faith, without understanding or justifying suffering.
* Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשִׁירִים (Passover) is poetry about love and sex.
* Ruth (Book of Ruth) רוּת (Shavuot) tells of the Moabite woman Ruth, who decides to follow the God of the Israelites, and remains loyal to her mother-in-law, who is then rewarded.
* Eikha (Lamentations) איכה (Ninth of Av) [Also called Kinnot in Hebrew.] is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
* Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) קהלת (Sukkot) contains wisdom sayings disagreed over by scholars. Is it positive and life-affirming, or deeply pessimistic?
* Ester (Book of Esther) אֶסְתֵר (Purim) tells of a Hebrew woman in Persia who becomes queen and thwarts a genocide of her people.
* Dani’el (Book of Daniel) דָּנִיֵּאל combines prophecy and eschatology (end times) in story of God saving Daniel just as He will save Israel.
* ‘Ezra (Book of Ezra–Book of Nehemiah) עזרא tells of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.
* Divrei ha-Yamim (Chronicles) דברי הימים contains genealogy.
The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 14b–15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.
One of the large scale differences between the Babylonian and the Tiberian biblical traditions is the order of the books. Isaiah is placed after Ezekiel in the Babylonian, while Chronicles opens the Ketuvim in the Tiberian, and closes it in the Babylonian.
The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as canonical. While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the fifth century BCE and the Former and Latter Prophets were canonized by the second century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE.
Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets. As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title. Against Apion, the writing of Josephus in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable..." For an extended period after 95CE, the divine inspiration of Esther, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes was often under scrutiny. Septuagint
book from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus'' c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and English translation]]
, listing "The Books of the Old Testament", "The Books called Apocrypha", and "The Books of the New Testament".|linkFile:KJV_1769_Oxford_Edition,_vol._1.djvu%3Fpage21]]
The Septuagint ("the Translation of the Seventy", also called "the LXX"), is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible begun in the late third century BCE.
As the work of translation progressed, the Septuagint expanded: the collection of prophetic writings had various hagiographical works incorporated into it. In addition, some newer books such as the Books of the Maccabees and the Wisdom of Sirach were added. These are among the "apocryphal" books, (books whose authenticity is doubted). The inclusion of these texts, and the claim of some mistranslations, contributed to the Septuagint being seen as a "careless" translation and its eventual rejection as a valid Jewish scriptural text.
The apocrypha are Jewish literature, mostly of the Second Temple period (c. 550 BCE – 70 CE); they originated in Israel, Syria, Egypt or Persia; were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, and attempt to tell of biblical characters and themes. Their provenance is obscure. One older theory of where they came from asserted that an "Alexandrian" canon had been accepted among the Greek-speaking Jews living there, but that theory has since been abandoned. Indications are that they were not accepted when the rest of the Hebrew canon was. It is clear the Apocrypha were used in New Testament times, but "they are never quoted as Scripture." In modern Judaism, none of the apocryphal books are accepted as authentic and are therefore excluded from the canon. However, "the Ethiopian Jews, who are sometimes called Falashas, have an expanded canon, which includes some Apocryphal books".
The rabbis also wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.}}
Textual critics are now debating how to reconcile the earlier view of the Septuagint as 'careless' with content from the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, scrolls discovered at Wadi Murabba'at, Nahal Hever, and those discovered at Masada. These scrolls are 1000–1300 years older than the Leningrad text, dated to 1008 CE, which forms the basis of the Masoretic text. The scrolls have confirmed much of the Masoretic text, but they have also differed from it, and many of those differences agree with the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch or the Greek Old Testament instead.
Copies of some texts later declared apocryphal are also among the Qumran texts. Ancient manuscripts of the book of Sirach, the "Psalms of Joshua", Tobit, and the Epistle of Jeremiah are now known to have existed in a Hebrew version. The Septuagint version of some biblical books, such as the Book of Daniel and Book of Esther, are longer than those in the Jewish canon. In the Septuagint, Jeremiah is shorter than in the Masoretic text, but a shortened Hebrew Jeremiah has been found at Qumran in cave 4. The scrolls of Isaiah, Exodus, Jeremiah, Daniel and Samuel exhibit striking and important textual variants from the Masoretic text. The Septuagint is now seen as a careful translation of a different Hebrew form or recension (revised addition of the text) of certain books, but debate on how best to characterize these varied texts is ongoing. Pseudepigraphal books
Pseudepigrapha are works whose authorship is wrongly attributed. A written work can be pseudepigraphical and not be a forgery, as forgeries are intentionally deceptive. With pseudepigrapha, authorship has been mistransmitted for any one of a number of reasons. For example, the Gospel of Barnabas claims to be written by Barnabas the companion of the Apostle Paul, but both its manuscripts date from the Middle Ages.
Apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works are not the same. Apocrypha includes all the writings claiming to be sacred that are outside the canon because they are not accepted as authentically being what they claim to be. Pseudepigrapha is a literary category of all writings whether they are canonical or apocryphal. They may or may not be authentic in every sense except a misunderstood authorship.
The term "pseudepigrapha" is commonly used to describe numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. (It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is questioned.) The Old Testament pseudepigraphal works include the following:
* 3 Maccabees
* 4 Maccabees
* Assumption of Moses
* Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)
* Slavonic Book of Enoch (2 Enoch)
* Hebrew Book of Enoch (3 Enoch) (also known as "The Revelation of Metatron" or "The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest")
* Book of Jubilees
* Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch)
* Letter of Aristeas (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek)
* Life of Adam and Eve
* Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
* Psalms of Solomon
* Sibylline Oracles
* Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch)
* Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Book of Enoch
Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch such as 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, which survives only in Old Slavonic, and 3 Enoch, surviving in Hebrew of the CE. These are ancient Jewish religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet Enoch, the great-grandfather of the patriarch Noah. The fragment of Enoch found among the Qumran scrolls attest to it being an ancient work. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 BCE, and the latest part (Book of Parables) was probably composed at the end of the first century BCE.
Enoch is not part of the biblical canon used by most Jews, apart from Beta Israel. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance. Part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the Epistle of Jude and the Book of Hebrews (parts of the New Testament), but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical. The exceptions to this view are the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
The Ethiopian Bible is not based on the Greek Bible, and the Ethiopian Church has a slightly different understanding of canon than other Christian traditions. In Ethiopia, canon does not have the same degree of fixedness, (yet neither is it completely open). Enoch has long been seen there as inspired scripture, but being scriptural and being canon are not always seen the same. The official Ethiopian canon has 81 books, but that number is reached in different ways with various lists of different books, and the book of Enoch is sometimes included and sometimes not. Current evidence confirms Enoch as canonical in both Ethiopia and in Eritrea.
Christian Bible
]]
A Christian Bible is a set of books divided into the Old and New Testament that a Christian denomination has, at some point in their past or present, regarded as divinely inspired scripture by the Holy Spirit. The Early Church primarily used the Septuagint, as it was written in Greek, the common tongue of the day, or they used the Targums among Aramaic speakers. Modern English translations of the Old Testament section of the Christian Bible are based on the Masoretic Text. The Pauline epistles and the gospels were soon added, along with other writings, as the New Testament. Old Testament
The Old Testament has been important to the life of the Christian church from its earliest days. Bible scholar N. T. Wright says "Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures." Wright adds that the earliest Christians searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the "holy writings" of the Israelites as necessary and instructive for the Christian, as seen from Paul's words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), as pointing to the Messiah, and as having reached a climactic fulfilment in Jesus generating the "new covenant" prophesied by Jeremiah.
The Protestant Old Testament of the 21st century has a 39-book canon. The number of books (although not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division. The term "Hebrew scriptures" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books.
However, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books as its Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one), and the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize six additional books. These additions are also included in the Syriac versions of the Bible called the Peshitta and the Ethiopian Bible.}}}}}}
Because the canon of Scripture is distinct for Jews, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Western Protestants, the contents of each community's Apocrypha are unique, as is its usage of the term. For Jews, none of the apocryphal books are considered canonical. Catholics refer to this collection as "Deuterocanonical books" (second canon) and the Orthodox Church refers to them as "Anagignoskomena" (that which is read).}}
Books included in the Catholic, Orthodox, Greek, and Slavonic Bibles are: Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah (also called the Baruch Chapter 6), 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, the Greek Additions to Esther and the Greek Additions to Daniel.
The Greek Orthodox Church, and the Slavonic churches (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia) also add:
* 3 Maccabees
* 1 Esdras
* Prayer of Manasseh
* Psalm 151
2 Esdras (4 Esdras), which is not included in the Septuagint, does not exist in Greek, though it does exist in Latin. There is also 4 Maccabees which is only accepted as canonical in the Georgian Church. It is in an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.
The Syriac Orthodox Church also includes:
* Psalms 151–155
* The Apocalypse of Baruch
* The Letter of Baruch
The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon uses Enoch and Jubilees (that only survived in Ge'ez), 1–3 Meqabyan, Greek Ezra, 2 Esdras, and Psalm 151.
The Revised Common Lectionary of the Lutheran Church, Moravian Church, Reformed Churches, Anglican Church and Methodist Church uses the apocryphal books liturgically, with alternative Old Testament readings available. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Lutheran Church and Anglican Church include the fourteen books of the Apocrypha, many of which are the deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, which were in the Vulgate appendix.
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while Protestant churches usually do not. After the Protestant Reformation, many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called apocryphal. The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the King James Version of the Bible, the basis for the Revised Standard Version.
{| class"toccolours" style"width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;" cellspacing="0"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style"border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox <br />Old Testament
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based<br /> name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional<br /> English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of (Basileia).}}}} || I Basileiōn || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || II Basileiōn || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || III Basileiōn || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || IV Basileiōn || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || I Paraleipomenon.}} || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || II Paraleipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || I Esdras || 1 Esdras
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || II Esdras || Ezra–Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Tōbit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || I Makkabaion || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || II Makkabaion || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || III Makkabaion || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Psalmoi || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"| || Psalmos 151 || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Proseuchē Manassē || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Paroimiai || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Ekklēsiastēs || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Asma Asmatōn|| Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Sophia Salomōntos || Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Sophia Iēsou Seirach|| Sirach or Ecclesiasticus or Wisdom of Sirach
|-
| style"text-indent:1em"| || Psalmoi Salomōntos || Psalms of Solomon
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"| || Dōdeka (The Twelve) || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || I Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || II Amōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || III Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || IV Ioël || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || V Obdiou || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || VI Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || VII Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || VIII Ambakoum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || IX Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || X Angaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| || XI Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| Μαλαχίας ΙΒʹ || XII Malachias || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Ēsaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Barouch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Thrēnoi || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Epistolē Ieremiou|| Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"| || IV Makkabaiōn Parartēma || 4 Maccabees
|}
New Testament
. Jerome produced a fourth-century Latin edition of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, that became the Catholic Church's official translation.]]
The New Testament is the name given to the second portion of the Christian Bible. While some scholars assert that Aramaic was the original language of the New Testament, the majority view says it was written in the vernacular form of Koine Greek. Still, there is reason to assert that it is a heavily Semitized Greek: its syntax is like conversational Greek, but its style is largely Semitic.}}}} Koine Greek was the common language of the western Roman Empire from the Conquests of Alexander the Great (335–323 BCE) until the evolution of Byzantine Greek () while Aramaic was the language of Jesus, the Apostles and the ancient Near East. Ethiopian Orthodox canon
The canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible. In addition to the books found in the Septuagint accepted by other Orthodox Christians, the Ethiopian Old Testament Canon uses Enoch and Jubilees (ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge'ez, but are quoted in the New Testament), Greek Ezra and the Apocalypse of Ezra, 3 books of Meqabyan, and Psalm 151 at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the books is somewhat different in that the Ethiopian Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Western Protestant churches do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the inspired Bible.
Textual history
The original autographs, that is, the original Greek writings and manuscripts written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived. But, historically, copies of those original autographs exist and were transmitted and preserved in a number of manuscript traditions. The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian text-type (generally minimalist), the Byzantine text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western text-type (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts. Very early on, Christianity replaced scrolls with codexes, the forerunner of bound books, and by the 3rd century, collections of biblical books began being copied as a set.
Since all ancient texts were written by hand, often by copying from another handwritten text, they are not exactly alike in the manner of printed works. The differences between them are considered generally minor and are called textual variants. A variant is simply any variation between two texts. The majority of variants are accidental, but some are intentional. Intentional changes were made to improve grammar, to eliminate discrepancies, to make Liturgical changes such as the doxology of the Lord's prayer, to harmonize parallel passages or to combine and simplify multiple variant readings into one.
Influence
With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible is one of the most influential works ever written. From practices of personal hygiene to philosophy and ethics, the Bible has directly and indirectly influenced politics and law, war and peace, sexual morals, marriage and family life, letters and learning, the arts, economics, social justice, medical care and more.
The Bible is the world's most published book, with estimated total sales of over five billion copies. As such, the Bible has had a profound influence, especially in the Western world, where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe using movable type. It has contributed to the formation of Western law, art, literature, and education.Politics and lawThe Bible has been used to support and oppose political power. It has inspired revolution and "a reversal of power" because God is so often portrayed as choosing what is "weak and humble...(the stammering Moses, the infant Samuel, Saul from an insignificant family, David confronting Goliath, etc.)....to confound the mighty". Biblical texts have been the catalyst for political concepts like democracy, religious toleration and religious freedom. These have, in turn, inspired movements ranging from abolitionism in the 18th and 19th century, to the civil rights movement, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and liberation theology in Latin America. The Bible has been the source of many peace movements and efforts at reconciliation around the world .
The roots of many modern laws can be found in the Bible's teachings on due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of the law. Judges are told not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), are required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16, 17; Exodus 23:2–6). The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also found in the Bible (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23–25). Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal societychildren, women, and strangersare singled out in the Bible for special protection (Psalm 72:2, 4).
The Bible has been noted by scholars as a significant influence on the development of nationhood and nationalism, first among ancient Jews and later in Christian societies. For the ancient Jews, it served as "both a national history and a source of law", providing a framework that established shared ancestry, common history, legal codes, and cultural markers that defined Jewish collective identity. It has been suggested that the practice of regular public readings of biblical texts during the Second Temple period facilitated the transmission of these identity-forming narratives across the wider Jewish public.Social responsibilityThe philosophical foundation of human rights is in the Bible's teachings of natural law. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible repeatedly admonish the people to practice justice, charity, and social responsibility. H. A. Lockton writes that "The Poverty and Justice Bible (The Bible Society (UK), 2008) claims there are more than 2000 verses in the Bible dealing with the justice issues of rich-poor relations, exploitation and oppression". Judaism practised charity and healing the sick but tended to limit these practices to their own people.
In the process of following this command, monasticism in the third century transformed health care. This produced the first hospital for the poor in Caesarea in the fourth century. The monastic health care system was innovative in its methods, allowing the sick to remain within the monastery as a special class afforded special benefits; it destigmatized illness, legitimized the deviance from the norm that sickness includes, and formed the basis for future modern concepts of public health care. The biblical practices of feeding and clothing the poor, visiting prisoners, supporting widows and orphan children have had sweeping impact.
The Bible's emphasis on learning has had formidable influence on believers and western society. For centuries after the fall of the western Roman Empire, all schools in Europe were Bible-based church schools, and outside of monastic settlements, almost no one had the ability to read or write. These schools eventually led to the West's first universities (created by the church) in the Middle Ages which have spread around the world in the modern day. Protestant Reformers wanted all members of the church to be able to read the Bible, so compulsory education for both boys and girls was introduced. Translations of the Bible into local vernacular languages have supported the development of national literatures and the invention of alphabets.
Biblical teachings on sexual morality changed the Roman empire, the millennium that followed, and have continued to influence society. Rome's concept of sexual morality was centered on social and political status, power, and social reproduction (the transmission of social inequality to the next generation). The biblical standard was a "radical notion of individual freedom centered around a libertarian paradigm of complete sexual agency". Classicist Kyle Harper describes the change biblical teaching evoked as "a revolution in the rules of behavior, but also in the very image of the human being".Literature and the arts
'', by Henri Regnault (1870)]]
The Bible has directly and indirectly influenced literature: St Augustine's Confessions is widely considered the first autobiography in Western Literature. The Summa Theologica, written 1265–1274, is "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." These both influenced the writings of Dante's epic poetry and his Divine Comedy, and in turn, Dante's creation and sacramental theology has contributed to influencing writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien and William Shakespeare.
Many masterpieces of Western art were inspired by biblical themes: from Michelangelo's David and Pietà sculptures, to Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and Raphael's various Madonna paintings. There are hundreds of examples. Eve, the temptress who disobeys God's commandment, is probably the most widely portrayed figure in art. The Renaissance preferred the sensuous female nude, while the "femme fatale" Delilah from the nineteenth century onward demonstrates how the Bible and art both shape and reflect views of women.
The Bible has many rituals of purification which speak of clean and unclean in both literal and metaphorical terms. The biblical toilet etiquette encourages washing after all instances of defecation, hence the invention of the bidet.Criticism
Critics view certain biblical texts to be morally problematic. The Bible neither calls for nor condemns slavery outright, but there are verses that address dealing with it, and these verses have been used to support it, although the Bible has also been used to support abolitionism. Some have written that supersessionism begins in the book of Hebrews where others locate its beginnings in the culture of the fourth century Roman empire. The Bible has been used to support the death penalty, patriarchy, sexual intolerance, the violence of total war, and colonialism.
In the Christian Bible, the violence of war is addressed four ways: pacifism, non-resistance; just war, and preventive war which is sometimes called crusade. In the Hebrew Bible, there is just war and preventive war which includes the Amalekites, Canaanites, Moabites, and the record in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and both books of Kings. John J. Collins, biblical scholar, writes that people throughout history have used these biblical texts to justify violence against their enemies. Anthropologist Leonard B. Glick offers the modern example of Jewish fundamentalists in Israel, such as Shlomo Aviner, a rabbi and prominent theorist of the Gush Emunim movement, who considers the Palestinians to be like biblical Canaanites, and therefore suggests that Israel "must be prepared to destroy" the Palestinians if the Palestinians do not leave the land.
Historian Nur Masalha argues that genocide is inherent in these commandments, and that they have served as inspirational examples of divine support for slaughtering national opponents. However, the "applicability of the term [genocide] to earlier periods of history" is questioned by sociologists Frank Robert Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn. Since most societies of the past endured and practised genocide, it was accepted at that time as "being in the nature of life" because of the "coarseness and brutality" of life; the moral condemnation associated with terms like genocide are products of modern morality. The Bible reflects how perceptions of violence changed for its authors.
John Riches, professor of divinity and biblical criticism at the University of Glasgow, provides the following view of the diverse historical influences of the Bible:
}} Interpretation and inspiration
altar, highlighting its importance]]
Biblical texts have always required interpretation, and this has given rise to multiple views and approaches according to the interplay between various religions and the book.
The primary source of Jewish commentary and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible is the Talmud. The Talmud, (which means study and learning), is a summary of ancient oral law and commentary on it. It is the primary source of Jewish Law. Adin Steinsaltz writes that "if the Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, then the Talmud is the central pillar". Seen as the backbone of Jewish creativity, it is "a conglomerate of law, legend and philosophy, a blend of unique logic and shrewd pragmatism, of history and science, anecdotes and humor" all aimed toward the purpose of studying biblical Torah.
Christians often treat the Bible as a single book, and while John Barton says they are "some of the most profound texts humanity has ever produced", liberals and moderates see it as a collection of books that are not perfect. Conservative and fundamentalist Christians see the Bible differently and interpret it differently. Christianity interprets the Bible differently than Judaism does with Islam providing yet another view. How inspiration works and what kind of authority it means the Bible has are different for different traditions.
The Second Epistle to Timothy claims, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (). Various related but distinguishable views on divine inspiration include:
* the view of the Bible as the inspired word of God: the belief that God, through the Holy Spirit, intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible
* the view that the Bible is also infallible, and incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters
* the view that the Bible represents the inerrant word of God, without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans
Within these broad beliefs many schools of hermeneutics operate. "Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture." and a similar belief emerges in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings. In their book A General Introduction to the Bible, Norman Geisler and William Nix write: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record." Most evangelical biblical scholars associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy which asserted that inspiration applied only to the autographic text of scripture. Among adherents of biblical literalism, a minority, such as followers of the King-James-Only Movement, extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular version.
Religious significance
Both Judaism and Christianity see the Bible as religiously and intellectually significant. It provides insight into its time and into the composition of the texts, and it represents an important step in the development of thought.<blockquote>The Bible is centrally important to both Judaism and Christianity, but not as a holy text out of which entire religious systems can somehow be read. Its contents illuminate the origins of Christianity and Judaism, and provide spiritual classics on which both faiths can draw; but they do not constrain subsequent generations in the way that a written constitution would. They are simply not that kind of thing. They are a repository of writings, both shaping and shaped by the two religions..."</blockquote> As a result, there are teachings and creeds in Christianity and laws in Judaism that are seen by those religions as derived from the Bible which are not directly in the Bible.
For the Hebrew Bible, canonization is reserved for written texts, while sacralization reaches far back into oral tradition. When sacred stories, such as those that form the narrative base of the first five books of the Bible, were performed, "not a syllable [could] be changed in order to ensure the magical power of the words to 'presentify' the divine".
The Christian religion and its sacred book are connected and influence one another, but the significance of the written text has varied throughout history. For Christianity, holiness did not reside in the written text, or in any particular language, it resided in the Christ the text witnessed to. David M. Carr writes that this gave early Christianity a more 'flexible' view of the written texts. Wilfred Cantwell Smith points out that "in the Islamic system, the Quran fulfills a function comparable to the role... played by the person of Jesus Christ, while a closer counterpart to Christian scriptures are the Islamic Hadith 'Traditions'." For centuries the written text had less significance than the will of the church as represented by the Pope, since the church saw the text as having been created by the church. One cause of the Reformation was the perceived need to reorient Christianity around its early text as authoritative. Some Protestant churches still focus on the idea of sola scriptura, which sees scripture as the only legitimate religious authority. Some denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only infallible source of Christian teaching. Others, though, advance the concept of prima scriptura in contrast, meaning scripture primarily or scripture mainly.}}
In the 21st century, attitudes towards the significance of the Bible continue to differ. Roman Catholics, High Church Anglicans, Methodists and Eastern Orthodox Christians stress the harmony and importance of both the Bible and sacred tradition in combination. United Methodists see Scripture as the major factor in Christian doctrine, but they also emphasize the importance of tradition, experience, and reason. Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine.}} The Rastafari view the Bible as essential to their religion, while the Unitarian Universalists view it as "one of many important religious texts".
Versions and translations
translation of the Bible, published in 1588, and translated by William Morgan)]]
translation of the Bible by Martin Luther, whose translation of the text into the vernacular was highly influential in the development of Lutheranism and the Reformation]]
The original texts of the Tanakh were almost entirely written in Hebrew with about one per cent in Aramaic. The earliest translation of any Bible text is the Septuagint which translated the Hebrew into Greek. As the first translation of any biblical literature, the translation that became the Septuagint was an unparalleled event in the ancient world. This translation was made possible by a common Mediterranean culture where Semitism had been foundational to Greek culture. In the Talmud, Greek is the only language officially allowed for translation. The Targum Onkelos is the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible believed to have been written in the second century CE. These texts attracted the work of various scholars, but a standardized text was not available before the 9th century.
There were different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew. These were copied and edited in three different locations producing slightly varying results. Masoretic scholars in Tiberias in ancient Palestine copied the ancient texts in Tiberian Hebrew. A copy was recovered from the "Cave of Elijah" (the synagogue of Aleppo in the Judean desert) and is therefore referred to as the Aleppo Codex which dates to around 920. This codex, which is over a thousand years old, was originally the oldest codex of the complete Tiberian Hebrew Bible. Babylonian masoretes had also copied the early texts, and the Tiberian and Babylonian were later combined, using the Aleppo Codex and additional writings, to form the Ben-Asher masoretic tradition which is the standardized Hebrew Bible of today. The Aleppo Codex is no longer the oldest complete manuscript because, during riots in 1947, the Aleppo Codex was removed from its location, and about 40% of it was subsequently lost. It must now rely on additional manuscripts, and as a result, the Aleppo Codex contains the most comprehensive collection of variant readings. The oldest complete version of the Masoretic tradition is the Leningrad Codex from 1008. It is the source for all modern Jewish and Christian translations.
Levidas writes that, "The Koine Greek New Testament is a non-translated work; most scholars agree on thisdespite disagreement on the possibility that some passages may have appeared initially in Aramaic... It is written in the Koine Greek of the first century [CE]". Early Christians translated the New Testament into Old Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Latin, among other languages. The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text, or Vetus Latina, which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time.
Pope Damasus I (366–383) commissioned Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible, in the 4th century CE (although Jerome expressed in his prologues to most deuterocanonical books that they were non-canonical). In 1546, at the Council of Trent, Jerome's Vulgate translation was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the Latin Church. The Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament, and they had no need to translate the Greek New Testament. This contributed to the East-West Schism.
Many ancient translations coincide with the invention of the alphabet and the beginning of vernacular literature in those languages. According to British Academy professor N. Fernández Marcos, these early translations represent "pioneer works of enormous linguistic interest, as they represent the oldest documents we have for the study of these languages and literature".
Translations to English can be traced to the seventh century, Alfred the Great in the 9th century, the Toledo School of Translators in the 12th and 13th century, Roger Bacon (1220–1292), an English Franciscan friar of the 13th century, and multiple writers of the Renaissance. The Wycliffite Bible, which is "one of the most significant in the development of a written standard", dates from the late Middle English period. William Tyndale's translation of 1525 is seen by several scholars as having influenced the form of English Christian discourse as well as impacting the development of the English language itself. Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522, and both Testaments with Apocrypha in 1534, thereby contributing to the multiple wars of the Age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Important biblical translations of this period include the Polish Jakub Wujek Bible (Biblia Jakuba Wujka) from 1535, and the English King James/Authorized Version (1604–1611). The King James Version was the most widespread English Bible of all time, but it has largely been superseded by modern translations.
Some New Testaments verses found to be later additions to the text are not included in modern English translations, despite appearing in older English translations such as the King James Version.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Historically significant translations of the Bible in English
!Name
!Abbreviation
!Published
|-
|Wycliffe Bible
|WYC
|1382
|-
|Tyndale Bible
|TYN
|1526
|-
|Geneva Bible
|GNV
|1560
|-
|Douay–Rheims Bible
|DRB
|1610
|-
|King James Version
|KJV
|1611
|-
|English Revised Version
|RV
|1885
|-
|Revised Standard Version
|RSV
|1952
|-
|New American Bible
|NAB
|1970
|-
|New International Version
|NIV
|1978
|-
|New King James Version
|NKJV
|1982
|-
|New Revised Standard Version
|NRSV
|1989
|-
|English Standard Version
|ESV
|2001
|}
Some denominations have additional canonical texts beyond the Bible, including the Standard Works of the Latter Day Saints movement and Divine Principle in the Unification Church.
Nearly all modern English translations of the Old Testament are based on a single manuscript, the Leningrad Codex, copied in 1008 or 1009. It is a complete example of the Masoretic Text, and its published edition is used by the majority of scholars. The Aleppo Codex is the basis of the Hebrew University Bible Project in Jerusalem.
Since the Reformation era, Bible translations have been made into the common vernacular of many languages. The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organizations such as Wycliffe Bible Translators, New Tribes Mission and Bible societies. Lamin Sanneh writes that tracing the impact on the local cultures of translating the Bible into local vernacular language shows it has produced "the movements of indigenization and cultural liberation". "The translated scripture ... has become the benchmark of awakening and renewal".
{|class="wikitable"
|+Bible translations, worldwide ()
! Number !! Statistic
|-
| 7,396 || Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
|-
| 3,526 || Number of translations into new languages in progress
|-
| 1,274 || Number of languages with some translated Bible portions
|-
| 1,726 || Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament
|-
| 756 || Number of languages with a full translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon)
|-
| 3,756 || Total number of languages with some Bible translation
|}
Archaeological and historical research
at the Israel Museum. Highlighted in white: the sequence B Y T D W D]]
Biblical archaeology is a subsection of archaeology that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes biblical maximalism, which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. According to historian Lester L. Grabbe, there are "few, if any" maximalists in mainstream scholarship. It is considered to be the extreme opposite of biblical minimalism which considers the Bible to be a purely post-exilic (5th century BCE and later) composition. According to Mary-Joan Leith, professor of religious studies, many minimalists have ignored evidence for the antiquity of the Hebrew language in the Bible, and few take archaeological evidence into consideration. Most biblical scholars and archaeologists fall somewhere on a spectrum between these two.
The biblical account of events of the Exodus from Egypt in the Torah, the migration to the Promised Land, and the period of Judges are sources of heated ongoing debate. There is an absence of evidence for the presence of Israel in Egypt from any Egyptian source, historical or archaeological. Yet, as William Dever points out, these biblical traditions were written long after the events they describe, and they are based in sources now lost and older oral traditions.
The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, ancient non–biblical texts, and archaeology support the Babylonian captivity beginning around 586 BCE. Excavations in southern Judah show a pattern of destruction consistent with the Neo-Assyrian devastation of Judah at the end of the eighth century BCE and 2 Kings 18:13. In 1993, at Tel Dan, archaeologist Avraham Biran unearthed a fragmentary Aramaic inscription, the Tel Dan stele, dated to the late ninth or early eighth century that mentions a "king of Israel" as well as a "house of David" (bet David). This shows David could not be a late sixth-century invention, and implies that Judah's kings traced their lineage back to someone named David. However, there is no current archaeological evidence for the existence of King David and Solomon or the First Temple as far back as the tenth century BCE where the Bible places them.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, surveys demonstrated that Acts of the Apostles (Acts) scholarship was divided into two traditions, "a conservative (largely British) tradition which had great confidence in the historicity of Acts and a less conservative (largely German) tradition which had very little confidence in the historicity of Acts". Subsequent surveys show that little has changed. Author Thomas E. Phillips writes that "In this two-century-long debate over the historicity of Acts and its underlying traditions, only one assumption seemed to be shared by all: Acts was intended to be read as history". This too is now being debated by scholars as: what genre does Acts actually belong to? There is a growing consensus, however, that the question of genre is unsolvable and would not, in any case, solve the issue of historicity: "Is Acts history or fiction? In the eyes of most scholars, it is historybut not the kind of history that precludes fiction." says Phillips.
Biblical criticism
, often called the "father of biblical criticism", at Centre hospitalier universitaire de Toulouse]]
Biblical criticism refers to the analytical investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as history, authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as criticism of the Bible, which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, nor is it criticism of possible translation errors.
Biblical criticism made study of the Bible secularized, scholarly, and more democratic, while it also permanently altered the way people understood the Bible. The Bible is no longer thought of solely as a religious artefact, and its interpretation is no longer restricted to the community of believers. Michael Fishbane writes, "There are those who regard the desacralization of the Bible as the fortunate condition for" the development of the modern world. For many, biblical criticism "released a host of threats" to the Christian faith. For others biblical criticism "proved to be a failure, due principally to the assumption that diachronic, linear research could master any and all of the questions and problems attendant on interpretation". Still others believed that biblical criticism, "shorn of its unwarranted arrogance," could be a reliable source of interpretation. Michael Fishbane compares biblical criticism to Job, a prophet who destroyed "self-serving visions for the sake of a more honest crossing from the divine textus to the human one". Or as Rogerson says: biblical criticism has been liberating for those who want their faith "intelligently grounded and intellectually honest". Bible museums * The Dunham Bible Museum is located at Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas. It is known for its collection of rare Bibles from around the world and for having many different Bibles of various languages.
* The Museum of the Bible opened in Washington, D.C. in November 2017. The museum states that its intent is to "share the historical relevance and significance of the sacred scriptures in a nonsectarian way", but this has been questioned.
* The Bible Museum in St Arnaud, Victoria in Australia opened in 2009. , it is closed for relocation.
* There is a Bible Museum at The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
* The Bible Museum on the Square in Collierville, Tennessee opened in 1997.
* Biedenharn Museum and Gardens in Monroe, Louisiana includes a Bible Museum.
Illustrations
The grandest medieval Bibles were illuminated manuscripts in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations. Up to the 12th century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a commission from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the monks who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a scriptorium, where "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk." By the 14th century, the cloisters of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.
Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators. These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. A notable example of an illuminated manuscript is the Book of Kells, produced circa the year 800 containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables.
The manuscript was "sent to the rubricator, who added (in red or other colours) the titles, headlines, the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator." In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation."
<gallery widths"200" heights"200">
File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg|Bible from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angels
File:Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France.jpg|Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th century
File:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg|Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, Abner (in the centre in green) sends Michal back to David.
File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG|Jephthah's daughter laments – Maciejowski Bible (France, )
File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg|Coloured version of the Whore of Babylon illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the Bible
File:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg|An Armenian Bible, 17th century, illuminated by Malnazar
File:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible, 19th century
File:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg|Jonah being swallowed by the fish, Kennicott Bible, 1476
</gallery>
Gallery
<gallery widths"200" heights"200" caption="Bibles">
File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg|An old Bible from a Greek monastery
File:Imperial Bible.jpg|The Imperial Bible, or Vienna Coronation Gospels from Wien, Austria,
File:Kennicott Bible.jpg|The Kennicott Bible in 1476
File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg|A Baroque Bible
File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg|The Bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his oath of office during his first inaugural in 1861
File:Holy Bible The Improved Domestic Bible London Schuyler Smith & Co 1880 Maps.jpg|American Civil War-era illustrated Bible
File:Bible and Key Divination.jpg|A miniature Bible
File:Bibel-1.jpg|An 1866 Victorian Bible
File:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg|Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at Bizzell Memorial Library
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Annunciazione (dettaglio).jpg|Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation (–1475), showing the Virgin Mary reading the Bible
</gallery>
See also
* Additional and alternative scriptures relating to Christianity
* Bible box
* Bible case
* Bible paper
* Biblical software
* Christian theology
* Code of Hammurabi
* Family Bible (book)
* International Bible Contest
* Lectionary – schedule of ceremonial Bible readings which varies by denomination
* List of major biblical figures
* List of nations mentioned in the Bible
* Theodicy and the Bible
* Typology (theology)
Notes
References
Works cited
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* |archive-date8 July 2024 |access-date17 April 2024 |archive-urlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20240708085814/https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_fac_pubs/18/ |url-status=live }}
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External links
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* [https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/the-bible "The Bible collected news and commentary"] The New York Times.
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/the-bible "The Bible collected news and commentary"] The Guardian.
* [https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/themes/christianity The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Christianity]
* [https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/en/manuscript/pages/results.aspx#querylsr01,contains,openforall&queryany,contains,bible The National Library of Israel – Over 15,000 scanned manuscripts of the Old Testament]
* [http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=MS58_003v Trinity College Digital Collections] images of complete manuscript of the Book of Kells.
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/ Check out different versions of the Christian Bible]
Category:Judeo-Christian topics | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.387138 |
3392 | British Columbia | | image_map = British Columbia in Canada 2.svg
| Label_map = yes
| coordinates
| official_lang = English (de facto)
| Slogan = Beautiful British Columbia
| capital = Victoria
| largest_city = Vancouver
| largest_metro = Greater Vancouver
| Premier = David Eby
| government_type = Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
| Viceroy = Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia
| ViceroyType = Lieutenant governor
| Legislature = Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
| area_rank = 5th
| area_total_km2 = 944735
| area_land_km2 = 925186
| area_water_km2 = 19548.9
| PercentWater = 2.1
| population_demonym = British Columbian; p. 335), BCer(s) is an informal demonym that is sometimes used for residents of BC}}
| population_rank = 3rd
| population_total = 5000879<!-- 2021 StatCan federal census population only per WP:CANPOP. Do not update until 2026 census population released. -->
| population_ref
| population_as_of = 2021
| population_est = 5722318
<!-- Latest StatCan quarterly estimate only. -->
| pop_est_as_of = <!-- don't update this figure unless you are also updating the source and its archive -->Q1 2025<!-- don't update this figure unless you are also updating the source and its archive -->
| pop_est_ref <!-- don't update the est. pop. figure unless you are also updating the source and its archive --><!-- don't update the est. pop. figure unless you are also updating the source and its archive -->
| DensityRank = 7th
| Density_km2 4.8
| GDP_year = 2015
| GDP_total
| GDP_rank = 4th
| GDP_per_capita =
| GDP_per_capita_rank = 8th
| HDI_year = 2021
| HDI 0.944 — <span style="color:#090">Very high</span>
| HDI_rank = 2nd
| LandBorders = Canada: Alberta, Northwest Territories, Yukon. United States: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington
| Former = United Colony of British Columbia
| AdmittanceOrder = 7th
| AdmittanceDate = July 20, 1871
| HouseSeats = 42
| SenateSeats = 6
| timezone_link = Time in Canada
| timezone1_location = Most of province
| timezone1 = Pacific
| utc_offset1 = −08:00
| timezone1_DST = Pacific DST
| utc_offset1_DST = −07:00
| timezone2_location = Southeastern
| timezone2 = Mountain
| utc_offset2 = −07:00
| timezone2_DST = Mountain DST
| utc_offset2_DST = −06:00
| timezone3_location = Eastern
| utc_offset3 = −07:00
| timezone3 = Mountain [no DST]
| PostalAbbreviation = BC
| PostalCodePrefix = V
| iso_code = CA-BC
| website =
| flower = Pacific dogwood
| tree = Western red cedar
| bird = Steller's jay
}}
British Columbia}} is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north; the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south, and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.7million as of 2025, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with the 2021 census recording 2.6million people in Metro Vancouver. British Columbia is Canada's third-largest province in terms of total area, after Quebec and Ontario.
The first known human inhabitants of the area settled in British Columbia at least 10,000 years ago. Such groups include the Coast Salish, Tsilhqotʼin, and Haida peoples, among many others. One of the earliest British settlements in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island. The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody, and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Moody selected the site for and founded the mainland colony's capital New Westminster. The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were incorporated in 1866, subsequent to which Victoria became the united colony's capital. In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada, in enactment of the British Columbia Terms of Union.
British Columbia is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British Canadian, European, and Asian diasporas, as well as the Indigenous population. Though the province's ethnic majority originates from the British Isles, many British Columbians also trace their ancestors to continental Europe, East Asia, and South Asia. Indigenous Canadians constitute about 6 percent of the province's total population. Christianity is the largest religion in the region, though the majority of the population is non-religious. English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese also have a large presence in the Metro Vancouver region. The Franco-Columbian community is an officially recognized linguistic minority, and around one percent of British Columbians claim French as their mother tongue. British Columbia is home to at least 34 distinct Indigenous languages.
Major sectors of British Columbia's economy include forestry, mining, filmmaking and video production, tourism, real estate, construction, wholesale, and retail. Its main exports include lumber and timber, pulp and paper products, copper, coal, and natural gas. British Columbia exhibits high property values and is a significant centre for maritime trade: the Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the most diversified port in North America. Although less than 5 percent of the province's territory is arable land, significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan due to the warmer climate. British Columbia is home to 45% of all publicly listed companies in Canada.Origin of the nameThe province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), i.e., "the Mainland", became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from the United States' ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory on August 8, 1848, as a result of the treaty.
Ultimately, the Columbia in the name British Columbia is derived from the name of the Columbia Rediviva, an American ship which lent its name to the Columbia River and later the wider region; the Columbia in the name Columbia Rediviva came from the name Columbia for the New World or parts thereof, a reference to Christopher Columbus.
The governments of Canada and British Columbia recognize as the French name for the province.
Geography
is epitomized by the variety and intensity of its physical relief, which has defined patterns of settlement and industry since colonization.]]
British Columbia is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the American state of Alaska, to the north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, to the east by the province of Alberta, and to the south by the American states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California. British Columbia's land area is . British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than , and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited. It is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbia's highest mountain is Mount Fairweather; the highest mountain entirely within the province is Mount Waddington.
British Columbia's capital is Victoria, at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of Vancouver Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated. Much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rainforest.
The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is at the confluence of the Fraser River and Georgia Strait, in the mainland's southwest corner (an area often called the Lower Mainland). By land area, Abbotsford is the largest city. Vanderhoof is near the geographic centre of the province.
The Coast Mountains and the Inside Passage's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. 75 percent of the province is mountainous (more than above sea level); 60 percent is forested; and only about 5 percent is arable.
The province's mainland away from the coastal regions is somewhat moderated by the Pacific Ocean. Terrain ranges from dry inland forests and semi-arid valleys, to the range and canyon districts of the Central and Southern Interior, to boreal forest and subarctic prairie in the Northern Interior. High mountain regions both north and south have subalpine flora and subalpine climate.
The Okanagan wine area, extending from Vernon to Osoyoos at the Oroville–Osoyoos Border Crossing, is one of several wine and cider-producing regions in Canada. Other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley.
The Southern Interior cities of Kamloops and Penticton have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada (while higher elevations are cold and snowy), although their temperatures are often exceeded north of the Fraser Canyon, close to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers, where the terrain is rugged and covered with desert-type flora. Semi-desert grassland is found in large areas of the Interior Plateau, with land uses ranging from ranching at lower altitudes to forestry at higher ones.
The northern, mostly mountainous, two-thirds of the province is largely unpopulated and undeveloped, except for the area east of the Rockies, where the Peace River Country contains BC's portion of the Canadian Prairies, centred at the city of Dawson Creek.
British Columbia is considered part of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the American states of Alaska, Idaho, (western) Montana, Oregon, Washington, and (northern) California.
Climate
in British Columbia]]
, near Vancouver]]
Because of the many mountain ranges and rugged coastline, British Columbia's climate varies dramatically across the province.
Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current. Most of the region is classified as oceanic, though pockets of warm-summer Mediterranean climate also exist in the far-southern parts of the coast. Precipitation averages above in almost all of the coastal region, and Hucuktlis Lake on Vancouver Island receives an average of of rain annually.
Due to the blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the climate of some of the interior valleys of the province (such as the Thompson, parts of the Fraser Canyon, the southern Cariboo and parts of the Okanagan) is semi-arid with certain locations receiving less than in annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to , the mildest anywhere in Canada.
The valleys of the Southern Interior have short winters with only brief bouts of cold or infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Cariboo, in the Central Interior, are colder because of increased altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada. Outside of the driest valleys, the Southern and Central Interior generally have a humid continental climate with widely variable precipitation. For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is . Small towns in the southern interior with high elevation such as Princeton are typically colder and snowier than cities in the valleys.
Heavy snowfall occurs in all elevated mountainous terrain providing bases for skiers in both south and central British Columbia. Annual snowfall on highway mountain passes in the southern interior rivals some of the snowiest cities in Canada, and freezing rain and fog are sometimes present on such roads as well. This can result in hazardous driving conditions, as people are usually travelling between warmer areas such as Vancouver or Kamloops, and may be unaware that the conditions may be slippery and cold.
Winters are generally severe in the Northern Interior which is generally in the subarctic climate zone, but even there, milder air can penetrate far inland. The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River, where it dropped to on January 31, 1947, one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America. Atlin in the province's far northwest, along with the adjoining Southern Lakes region of Yukon, get midwinter thaws caused by the Chinook effect, which is also common (and much warmer) in more southerly parts of the Interior.
During winter on the coast, rainfall, sometimes relentless heavy rain, dominates because of consistent barrages of cyclonic low-pressure systems from the North Pacific. Average snowfall on the coast during a normal winter is between , but on occasion (and not every winter) heavy snowfalls with more than and well below freezing temperatures arrive when modified arctic air reaches coastal areas, typically for short periods, and can take temperatures below , even at sea level. Arctic outflow winds can occasionally result in wind chill temperatures at or even below . While winters are very wet, coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer under the influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure.
Southern Interior valleys are hot in summer; for example, in Osoyoos, the July maximum temperature averages , making it the hottest month of any location in Canada; this hot weather sometimes spreads towards the coast or to the far north of the province. Temperatures often exceed in the lower elevations of valleys in the Interior during mid-summer, with the record high of being held in Lytton on June 29, 2021, during a record-breaking heat wave that year.
region has a climate suitable for vineyards.]]
The extended summer dryness often creates conditions that spark forest fires, from dry-lightning or man-made causes. Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during the winter months, in contrast to abundant summer sunshine. Annual sunshine hours vary from 2200 near Cranbrook and Victoria to less than 1300 in Prince Rupert, on the North Coast just south of Southeast Alaska.
The exception to British Columbia's wet and cloudy winters is during the El Niño phase. During El Niño events, the jet stream is much farther south across North America, making the province's winters milder and drier than normal. Winters are much wetter and cooler during the opposite phase, La Niña.
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:60%; font-size:95%;"
|+ Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in British Columbia
|-
! rowspan=2 | Municipality
! colspan=2 | January
! colspan=2 | April
! colspan=2 | July
! colspan=2 | October
|-
! data-sort-type=number | Max
! data-sort-type=number | Min
! data-sort-type=number | Max
! data-sort-type=number | Min
! data-sort-type=number | Max
! data-sort-type=number | Min
! data-sort-type=number | Max
! data-sort-type=number | Min
|-
| Prince Rupert
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| Victoria
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| Vancouver
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| Chilliwack
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| Penticton
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| Kamloops
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| Osoyoos
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| Princeton
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| Cranbrook
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| Prince George
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| Fort Nelson
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Parks and protected areas
, Canadian Rockies]]
and Lake O'Hara]]
There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in the province that reflect the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 provincial heritage sites, 6 National Historic Sites of Canada, 4 national parks and 3 national park reserves. 12.5 percent of the province's area () is considered protected under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas.
British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks and National Park Reserves:
* Glacier National Park
* Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
* Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
* Kootenay National Park
* Mount Revelstoke National Park
* Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
* Yoho National Park
British Columbia contains a large number of provincial parks, run by BC Parks under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment. British Columbia's provincial parks system is the second largest parks system in Canada, the largest being Canada's National Parks system.
Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks, which are maintained and run by the province's regional districts. The Ministry of Forests operates forest recreation sites.
In addition to these areas, over of arable land are protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Fauna
]]
Much of the province is undeveloped, so populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia. Watching animals of various sorts, including a very wide range of birds, has long been popular. Bears (grizzly, black—including the Kermode bear or spirit bear) live here, as do deer, elk, moose, caribou, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, beavers, muskrats, coyotes, wolves, mustelids (such as wolverines, badgers and fishers), cougars, eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, harlequin ducks, and many other sorts of ducks. Smaller birds (robins, jays, grosbeaks, chickadees, and so on) also abound. Murrelets are known from Frederick Island, a small island off the coast of Haida Gwaii.
Many healthy populations of fish are present, including salmonids such as several species of salmon, trout, steelhead, and char. Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in BC also catch halibut, bass, and sturgeon. On the coast, harbour seals and river otters are common. Cetacean species native to the coast include the orca, humpback whale, grey whale, harbour porpoise, Dall's porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphin and minke whale.
in Garibaldi Provincial Park]]
in Sooke coast]]
Some endangered species in British Columbia are: Vancouver Island marmot, spotted owl, American white pelican, and badgers.
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align: right"
|+ Endangered species in British Columbia
! scope="col" | Type of organism
! scope="col" | Red-listed species in BC
! scope="col" | Total number of species in BC
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Freshwater fish
| 24
| 80
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Amphibians
| 5
| 19
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Reptiles
| 6
| 16
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Birds
| 34
| 465
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Terrestrial mammals
|
|
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| style="text-align: left" | Marine mammals
| 3
| 29
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Plants
| 257
| 2333
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Butterflies
| 19
| 187
|-
| style="text-align: left" | Dragonflies
| 9
| 87
|}
Forests
White spruce or Engelmann spruce and their hybrids occur in 12 of the 14 biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia. Common types of trees present in BC's forests include western redcedar, yellow-cedar, Rocky Mountain juniper, lodgepole pine, ponderosa or yellow pine, whitebark pine, limber pine, western white pine, western larch, tamarack, alpine larch, white spruce, Engelmann spruce, Sitka spruce, black spruce, grand fir, Amabilis fir, subalpine fir, western hemlock, mountain hemlock, Douglas-fir, western yew, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, Douglas maple, vine maple, arbutus, black hawthorn, cascara, Garry oak, Pacific crab apple, choke cherry, pin cherry, bitter cherry, red alder, mountain alder, paper birch, water birch, black cottonwood, balsam poplar, trembling aspen.Traditional plant foods
First Nations peoples of British Columbia used plants for food, and to produce material goods like fuel and building products. Plant foods included berries, and roots like camas.
Ecozones
Environment Canada subdivides British Columbia into six ecozones:
* Pacific Marine
* Pacific Maritime
* Boreal Cordillera
* Montane Cordillera
* Taiga Plains
* Boreal Plains Ecozones.
History
Indigenous societies
Thunderbird Transformation Mask, 19th century]]
The area now known as British Columbia is home to First Nations groups that have a deep history with a significant number of indigenous languages. There are more than 200 First Nations in BC. Prior to contact (with non-Aboriginal people), human history is known from oral histories, archaeological investigations, and from early records from explorers encountering societies early in the period.
The arrival of Paleoindians from Beringia took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer families were the main social structure from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. The nomadic population lived in non-permanent structures foraging for nuts, berries and edible roots while hunting and trapping larger and small game for food and furs. Thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization with a more sedentary lifestyle. The Interior of British Columbia is home to the Salishan language groups such as the Shuswap (Secwepemc), Okanagan and Athabaskan language groups, primarily the Dakelh (Carrier) and the Tsilhqotʼin.
Contact with Europeans brought a series of devastating epidemics of diseases the people had no immunity to. The population dramatically collapsed, culminating in the 1862 smallpox outbreak in Victoria that spread throughout the coast. European settlement did not bode well for the remaining native population of British Columbia. Colonial officials deemed colonists could make better use of the land than the First Nations people, and thus the land should be owned by the colonists. To ensure colonists would be able to settle properly and make use of the land, First Nations were forcibly relocated onto reserves, which were often too small to support their way of life. This devastating epidemic was the first in a series; the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about half to two-thirds of the native population of what became British Columbia.
at Nootka in 1793]]
house pole, second half of the 19th century]]
The arrival of Europeans began around the mid-18th century, as fur traders entered the area to harvest sea otters. While it is thought Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Pérez who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1774. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra explored the coast in 1775. In doing so, Pérez and Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the Pacific coast, first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513.
The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River. In 1793, Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to journey across North America overland to the Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone marking his accomplishment on the shoreline of Dean Channel near Bella Coola. His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. Mackenzie and other explorers—notably John Finlay, Simon Fraser, Samuel Black, and David Thompson—were primarily concerned with extending the fur trade, rather than political considerations. In 1794, by the third of a series of agreements known as the Nootka Conventions, Spain conceded its claims of exclusivity in the Pacific. This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars, there was little British action on its claims in the region until later.
The establishment of trading posts by the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40′ north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains. It was, by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, under the "joint occupancy and use" of citizens of the United States and subjects of Britain. This co-occupancy was ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846.
The major supply route was the York Factory Express between Hudson Bay and Fort Vancouver. Some of the early outposts grew into settlements, communities and cities. Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). Fur company posts that became cities in what is now the United States include Vancouver, Washington (Fort Vancouver), formerly the "capital" of Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia District, Colville and Walla Walla (old Fort Nez Percés).
, Vancouver Island, 1851]]
With the amalgamation of the two fur trading companies in 1821, modern-day British Columbia existed in three fur-trading departments. The bulk of the central and northern interior was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James. The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District, headquartered in Fort Chipewyan, in present-day Alberta.
Until 1849, these districts were a wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators; however, unlike Rupert's Land to the north and east, the territory was not a concession to the company. Rather, it was simply granted a monopoly to trade with the First Nations inhabitants. All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in the southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) transferred to sole American sovereignty. The Colony of Vancouver Island was created in 1849, with Victoria designated as the capital. New Caledonia, as the whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, "administered" by individual HBC trading post managers.
Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)
With the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, an influx of Americans into New Caledonia prompted the colonial office to designate the mainland as the Colony of British Columbia. When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Richard Clement Moody was hand-picked by the Colonial Office, under Edward Bulwer-Lytton, to establish British order and to transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west" and "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific". Lytton desired to send to the colony "representatives of the best of British culture, not just a police force": he sought men who possessed "courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world" and he decided to send Moody, whom the government considered to be the "English gentleman and British Officer"}}
Lord Lytton "forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town" and the efforts of Moody's engineers were continuously hampered by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Governor James Douglas, whom Thomas Frederick Elliot described as "like any other fraud", "made it impossible for [Moody's] design to be fulfilled". He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named Port Coquitlam's 400-foot "Mary Hill" after his wife. As part of the surveying effort, several tracts were designated "government reserves", which included Stanley Park as a military reserve (a strategic location in case of an American invasion). The Pre-emption Act did not specify conditions for distributing the land, so large parcels were snapped up by speculators, including by Moody himself. For this he was criticized by local newspapermen for land grabbing. Moody designed the first coat of arms of British Columbia. Port Moody is named after him. It was established at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack from the US.
By 1862, the Cariboo Gold Rush, attracting an additional 5000 miners, was underway, and Douglas hastened construction of the Great North Road (commonly known now as the Cariboo Wagon Road) up the Fraser Canyon to the prospecting region around Barkerville. By the time of this gold rush, the character of the colony was changing, as a more stable population of British colonists settled in the region, establishing businesses, opening sawmills, and engaging in fishing and agriculture. With this increased stability, objections to the colony's absentee governor and the lack of responsible government began to be vocalized, led by the influential editor of the New Westminster British Columbian and future premier, John Robson. A series of petitions requesting an assembly were ignored by Douglas and the colonial office until Douglas was eased out of office in 1864. Finally, the colony would have both an assembly and a resident governor.
Later gold rushes
A series of gold rushes in various parts of the province followed, the largest being the Cariboo Gold Rush in 1862, forcing the colonial administration into deeper debt as it struggled to meet the extensive infrastructure needs of far-flung boom communities like Barkerville and Lillooet, which sprang up overnight. The Vancouver Island colony was facing financial crises of its own, and pressure to merge the two eventually succeeded in 1866, when the colony of British Columbia was amalgamated with the Colony of Vancouver Island to form the Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871), which was, in turn, succeeded by the present day province of British Columbia following the Canadian Confederation of 1871.
Rapid growth and development (1860s to 1910s)
drives the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at Craigellachie, November 7, 1885. Completion of the transcontinental railroad was a condition of British Columbia's entry into Confederation.]]
The Confederation League led the chorus pressing for the colony to join Canada, which had been created out of three British North American colonies in 1867 (the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). With the agreement by the Canadian government to extend the Canadian Pacific Railway to British Columbia and assume the colony's debt, British Columbia became the sixth province to join Confederation on July 20, 1871. The Treaty of Washington sent the Pig War San Juan Islands Border dispute to arbitration in 1871 and in 1903, the province's territory shrank again after the Alaska boundary dispute settled the vague boundary of the Alaska Panhandle.
Population in British Columbia continued to expand as the mining, forestry, agriculture, and fishing sectors were developed. Mining activity was notable throughout the Mainland, that a common epithet it, even after provincehood, was "the Gold Colony". Agriculture attracted settlers to the fertile Fraser Valley. Cattle ranchers and later fruit growers came to the drier grasslands of the Thompson Rivers, the Cariboo, the Chilcotin, and the Okanagan. Forestry drew workers to the temperate rainforests of the coast, which was also the locus of a growing fishery.
The completion of the railway in 1885 contributed to the economy, facilitating the transportation of the region's considerable resources to the east. The milltown of Granville, also known as Gastown was selected as the terminus. This prompted the incorporation of the city of Vancouver in 1886. The completion of the Port of Vancouver spurred rapid growth, and in less than fifty years the city surpassed Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the largest in Western Canada. The early decades of the province were ones in which issues of land use—specifically, its settlement and development—were paramount. This included expropriation from First Nations people of their land, control over its resources, as well as the ability to trade in some resources, such as fishing.
Establishing a labour force to develop the province was problematic, and British Columbia was a destination of immigration from Europe, China, Japan and India. The influx of a non-European population stimulated resentment from the dominant ethnic groups, resulting in agitation and an attempt to restrict the ability of Asian people to immigrate to British Columbia through the imposition of the Chinese head tax. This resentment culminated in mob attacks against Chinese and Japanese immigrants in Vancouver in 1887 and 1907.
20th century
'', a photo taken by Claude P. Dettloff of the British Columbia Regiment marching in New Westminster, October 1940]]
In World War I, the province responded strongly to the call to assist the British Empire against its German foes in French and Belgian battlefields. About 55,570 of the province's 400,000 residents, the highest per-capita rate in Canada, responded to the military's need. About 6,225 men from the province died in combat.
In 1914, a second transcontinental rail line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, was completed. This opened up the North Coast and Bulkley Valley region to new economic opportunities. What had previously been an almost exclusively fur-trading and subsistence economy soon became an area for forestry, farming, and mining. This sector attracted workers from Asia and Europe, leading to a diverse but conflict-ridden society. The early 20th century saw significant interaction between immigrants, First Nations, and economic forces. There was a rise in the labour movement, marked by strikes and conflicts such as the 1935 docker's strike at Ballantyne Pier and the On-to-Ottawa Trek. These events underscored tensions between workers and big business, often mediated by the Communist Party. Racial and ethnic relations were strained, with legislation reflecting the era's racial prejudices, notably against Asian immigrants and First Nations. The early and mid-20th century was marred by incidents like the Komagata Maru incident, highlighting anti-Asian sentiment.
The interwar period and World War II introduced significant changes, including prohibition and its eventual repeal, and the internment of Japanese Canadians. The post-war era saw coalition governments and a booming economy, spearheaded by infrastructure projects and industrial expansion. The Social Credit Party, under W.A.C. Bennett, dominated BC politics, initiating major projects and laying the groundwork for future economic growth. The 1970s and 1980s brought economic challenges and political shifts, culminating in the Expo 86 world's fair and the end of Social Credit dominance. This period also saw significant social movements, such as Operation Solidarity. There was a transition to New Democratic Party governance in the 1990s, focusing on environmental conservation and economic struggles. In its second term especially, the NDP government faced political scandals, such as the fast ferry scandal, that ultimately contributed to its downfall.
21st century
in Vancouver]]
In the 2001 provincial election, Gordon Campbell's Liberals defeated the NDP, gaining 77 out of 79 total seats in the provincial legislature. Campbell instituted reforms and removed some of the NDP's policies, along with selling off the previous government's "fast ferries", lowering income taxes, and instituting the controversial long-term lease of BC Rail to Canadian National Railway. Campbell led his party to victory in the 2005 provincial election against a substantially strengthened NDP opposition and won a third term in the 2009 provincial election.
The province won a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler. In 2003, Vancouver's residents had voted in a referendum accepting the responsibilities of the host city should it win its bid. 64 percent of residents voted in favour of hosting. After the Olympic joy faded, Campbell's popularity fell. His management style, implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) despite election promises not to introduce it, and cancellation of the BC Rail corruption trial led to low approval ratings and loss of caucus support: he resigned in November 2010. In early 2011, former deputy premier Christy Clark became leader of the Liberals. Early Clark government actions included raising the minimum wage, creating a new statutory holiday in February called "Family Day", and pushing the development of BC's liquefied natural gas industry. In the lead-up to the 2013 election, the Liberals lagged behind the NDP by a double-digit gap in the polls but were able to achieve a surprise victory, winning a majority and making Clark the first woman to lead a party to victory in BC. Her government went on to balance the budget, implement changes to liquor laws and continue with the question of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines. In the 2017 election, the NDP formed a minority government with the support of the Green Party through a confidence and supply agreement. In July 2017, NDP leader John Horgan was sworn in as a premier. Clark resigned and Andrew Wilkinson became leader of the BC Liberals. In the 2020 British Columbia general election, the NDP won 57 seats and formed a majority government. Wilkinson resigned as the leader of the BC Liberals.
British Columbia has been significantly affected by demographic changes within Canada and around the world. Vancouver was a major destination for many immigrants from Hong Kong who left the former UK colony prior to its handover to China. Trends of urbanization mean the Greater Vancouver area now includes 51 percent of the province's population, followed by Greater Victoria with 8 percent. These two metropolitan regions have dominated the demographics of BC.
By 2018, housing prices in Vancouver were the second-least affordable in the world. Many experts point to evidence of money-laundering from China as a contributing factor. The high price of residential real estate has led to the implementation of an empty homes tax, a housing speculation and vacancy tax, and a foreign buyers' tax on housing. The net number of people coming to BC from other provinces in 2016 was almost four times larger than in 2012 and BC was the largest net recipient of interprovincial migrants in Canada. In 2023, British Columbia experienced a net population loss of 8,624; a substantial percentage of which were people who moved to Alberta.
By 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had had a major effect on the province, with over 2,000 deaths and 250,000 confirmed cases. However, the COVID-19 vaccine reduced the spread, with 78 percent of people in BC over the age of five having been fully vaccinated. Also in 2021 but unrelated to COVID-19, the unmarked gravesites of hundreds of Indigenous children were discovered at three former Indian residential schools (Kamloops, St. Eugene's Mission, Kuper Island).
Demographics
Population
Statistics Canada's 2021 Canadian census recorded a population of 5,000,879 — making British Columbia Canada's third-most populous province after Ontario and Quebec.
Cities
Half of all British Columbians live in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, which includes Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Langley (district municipality), Delta, North Vancouver (district municipality), Maple Ridge, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver (city), West Vancouver, Port Moody, Langley (city), White Rock, Pitt Meadows, Bowen Island, Anmore, Lions Bay, and Belcarra, with adjacent unincorporated areas (including the University Endowment Lands) represented in the regional district as the electoral area known as Greater Vancouver Electoral Area A. The metropolitan area has seventeen Indian reserves, but they are outside of the regional district's jurisdiction and are not represented in its government.
The second largest concentration of British Columbia population is at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is made up of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria, Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Highlands, Colwood, Langford, Central Saanich/Saanichton, North Saanich, Sidney, Metchosin, Sooke, which are part of the Capital Regional District. The metropolitan area also includes several Indian reserves (the governments of which are not part of the regional district). Almost half of the Vancouver Island population is in Greater Victoria.
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"margin-left:20px;"
|+ Ten largest metropolitan areas by population
!#
!Metropolitan area
!2021
!2016
!2011
|-
| 1
| style="text-align: left;" |Vancouver
| style="text-align: right;" |2,642,825
| style="text-align: right;" |2,463,431
| style="text-align: right;" |2,313,328
|-
| 2
| style="text-align: left;" |Victoria
| style="text-align: right;" |397,237
| style="text-align: right;" |367,770
| style="text-align: right;" |344,615
|-
| 3
| style="text-align: left;" |Kelowna
| style="text-align: right;" |222,162
| style="text-align: right;" |194,882
| style="text-align: right;" |179,839
|-
| 4
| style="text-align: left;" |Abbotsford
| style="text-align: right;" |195,726
| style="text-align: right;" |180,518
| style="text-align: right;" |170,191
|-
| 5
| style="text-align: left;" |Nanaimo
| style="text-align: right;" |115,459
| style="text-align: right;" |104,936
| style="text-align: right;" |98,021
|-
| 6
| style="text-align: left;" |Kamloops
| style="text-align: right;" |114,142
| style="text-align: right;" |103,811
| style="text-align: right;" |98,754
|-
| 7
| style="text-align: left;" |Chilliwack
| style="text-align: right;" |113,767
| style="text-align: right;" |101,512
| style="text-align: right;" |92,308
|-
| 8
| style="text-align: left;" |Prince George
| style="text-align: right;" |89,490
| style="text-align: right;" |86,622
| style="text-align: right;" |84,232
|-
| 9
| style="text-align: left;" |Vernon
| style="text-align: right;" |67,086
| style="text-align: right;" |61,334
| style="text-align: right;" |58,584
|-
| 10
| style="text-align: left;" |Courtenay
| style="text-align: right;" |63,282
| style="text-align: right;" |54,157
| style="text-align: right;" |55,213
|}
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"margin-left:20px;"
|+ Ten largest municipalities by population
!#
!Municipality
!2021
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Top ethnic origins in BC (2016 census)
*Irreligion (2,559,250 persons or 52.1%)
*Christianity (1,684,870 persons or 34.3%)
*Sikhism (290,870 persons or 5.9%)
*Islam (125,915 persons or 2.6%)
*Buddhism (83,860 persons or 1.7%)
*Hinduism (81,320 persons or 1.7%)
*Judaism (26,850 persons or 0.5%)
*Indigenous spirituality (11,570 persons or 0.2%)
*Other (51,440 persons or 1.0%)
Language
in both English and French]]
As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (4,753,280 or 96.69%), French (327,350 or 6.66%), Punjabi (315,000 or 6.41%), Mandarin (312,625 or 6.36%), Cantonese (246,045 or 5.01%), Spanish (143,900 or 2.93%), Hindi (134,950 or 2.75%), Tagalog (133,780 or 2.72%), German (84,325 or 1.72%), and Korean (69,935 or 1.42%). The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses.
Of the 4,648,055 population counted by the 2016 census, 4,598,415 people completed the section about language. Of these, 4,494,995 gave singular responses to the question regarding their first language. The languages most commonly reported were the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Most common reported mother tongue in BC (2016) They are spoken by about 6000 people in total, with 4000 people fluent in their Indigenous languages.
Economy
in Downtown Vancouver]]
]]
BC's economy is diverse, with service-producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the province's GDP. It is the terminus of two transcontinental railways, and the site of 27 major marine cargo and passenger terminals. Though less than 5 percent of its vast land is arable, the province is agriculturally rich (particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys), because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern valleys. Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the province's largest city, serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies. It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average.<!-- Should the following be in climate subsection? --> While the coast of British Columbia and some valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of its land mass experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to the rest of Canada. The Northern Interior region has a subarctic climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, with nighttime January temperatures averaging above the freezing point.
British Columbia has a history of being a resource dominated economy, centred on the forestry industry but also with fluctuating importance in mining. Employment in the resource sector has fallen steadily as a percentage of employment, and new jobs are mostly in the construction and retail/service sectors. It now has the highest percentage of service industry jobs in the west, constituting 72 percent of industry (compared to 60 percent Western Canadian average). The largest section of this employment is in finance, insurance, real estate and corporate management; however, many areas outside of metropolitan areas are still heavily reliant on resource extraction. With its film industry known as Hollywood North, the Vancouver region is the third-largest feature film production location in North America, after Los Angeles and New York City.
The economic history of British Columbia is replete with tales of dramatic upswings and downswings, and this boom and bust pattern has influenced the politics, culture and business climate of the province. Economic activity related to mining in particular has widely fluctuated with changes in commodity prices over time, with documented costs to community health.
In 2020, British Columbia had the third-largest GDP in Canada, with a GDP of $309 billion and a GDP per capita of $60,090. British Columbia's debt-to-GDP ratio is edging up to 15.0 percent in fiscal year 2019–20, and it is expected to reach 16.1 percent by 2021–22. British Columbia's economy experienced strong growth in recent years with a total growth rate of 9.6% from 2017 to 2021, a growth rate that was second in the country.
Government and politics
]]
of the current lieutenant governor]]
The lieutenant governor, Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, is the Crown's representative in the province. During the absence of the lieutenant governor, the Governor in Council (federal Cabinet) may appoint an administrator to execute the duties of the office. This is usually the chief justice of British Columbia. British Columbia is divided into regional districts as a means to better enable municipalities and rural areas to work together at a regional level.
British Columbia has an 87-member elected Legislative Assembly, elected by the plurality voting system, though from 2003 to 2009 there was significant debate about switching to a single transferable vote system called BC-STV. The government of the day appoints ministers for various portfolios, what are officially part of the Executive Council, of whom the premier is chair.
is premier, BC's head of government.]]
The province is currently governed by the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) under Premier David Eby. The 2017 provincial election saw the Liberal Party take 43 seats, the NDP take 41, and the British Columbia Green Party take 3. No party met the minimum of 44 seats for a majority, therefore leading to the first minority government since 1953. Following the election, the Greens entered into negotiations with both the Liberals and NDP, eventually announcing they would support an NDP minority government. Previously, the right-of-centre British Columbia Liberal Party governed the province for 16 years between 2001 and 2017, and won the largest landslide election in British Columbia history in 2001, with 77 of 79 seats. The legislature became more evenly divided between the Liberals and NDP following the 2005 (46 Liberal seats of 79) and 2009 (49 Liberal seats of 85) provincial elections. The NDP and its predecessor the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) have been the main opposition force to right-wing parties since the 1930s and have governed with majority governments in 1972–1975, 1991–2001 and since 2020 (with a minority government from 2017 to 2020). The Green Party plays a larger role in the politics of British Columbia than Green parties do in most other jurisdictions in Canada. After a breakthrough election in 2001 (12.39 percent), the party's vote share declined (2005 – 9.17 percent, 2009 – 8.09 percent, 2013 – 8.13 percent) before increasing again to a record high of 16.84 percent at the 2017 election.
The British Columbia Liberal Party is not related to the federal Liberal Party and does not share the same ideology. Instead, the BC Liberal party is a rather diverse coalition, made up of the remnants of the Social Credit Party, many federal Liberals, federal Conservatives, and those who would otherwise support right-of-centre or free enterprise parties. In 2022, Kevin Falcon was elected leader of the BC Liberals, promising to rename the party in an effort to distance themselves from their federal counterparts. In 2023, the party rebranded as BC United. Historically, there have commonly been third parties present in the legislature (including the Liberals themselves from 1952 to 1975); the BC Green Party is the current third party in British Columbia, with three seats in the legislature.
Prior to the rise of the Liberal Party, British Columbia's main political party was the BC Social Credit Party, which governed the province for 20 years. While sharing some ideology with the subsequent Liberal government, they were more right-wing, although they undertook nationalization of various important monopolies, notably BC Hydro and BC Ferries.
British Columbia is known for having politically active labour unions who have traditionally supported the NDP or its predecessor, the CCF.
British Columbia's political history is typified by scandal and a cast of colourful characters, beginning with various colonial-era land scandals and abuses of power by early officials (such as those that led to McGowan's War in 1858–59). Notable scandals in Social Credit years included the Robert Bonner Affair and the Fantasy Gardens scandal which forced Premier Bill Vander Zalm to resign and ended the Social Credit era. NDP scandals included Bingogate, which brought down NDP Premier Mike Harcourt, and the alleged scandal named Casinogate which drove NDP Premier Glen Clark to resign. A variety of scandals plagued the 2001–2017 Liberal government, including Premier Gordon Campbell's arrest for drunk driving in Maui and the resignation of various cabinet ministers because of conflict-of-interest allegations. A raid on the Parliament Buildings on December 28, 2003, in Victoria, including the Premier's Office, resulted in charges only for ministerial aides, although key cabinet members from the time resigned. Campbell eventually resigned in late 2010 due to opposition to his government's plan to introduce a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and was replaced by Christy Clark as premier in the 2011 BC Liberal leadership election.
British Columbia is underrepresented in the Senate of Canada, leading Premier Christy Clark to refuse to cooperate with the federal government's reforms for senate appointments to be made based on the recommendations of an advisory board that would use non-partisan criteria. Hours after that plan was unveiled in Ottawa on December 3, 2015, Clark issued a statement that it did "not address what's been wrong with the Senate since the beginning".
The imbalance in representation in that House is apparent when considering population size. The six senators from BC constitute only one for every 775,000 people vs. one for every 75,000 in Prince Edward Island, which has four senators. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have much smaller populations than BC, yet each has ten senators according to a Global News summary. Correcting this imbalance would require a constitutional amendment, but that is unlikely to be supported by the Atlantic provinces.
* Flag: Flag of British Columbia
* Coat of arms: Coat of arms of British Columbia
* Floral emblem: Pacific dogwood
* Mineral emblem: Jade
* Tree emblem: Western red cedar
* Bird emblem: Steller's jay
* Mammal emblem: "Spirit" or Kermode bear
* Fish emblem: Pacific salmon
* Tartan emblem: British Columbia Tartan
Transportation
Transportation played a huge role in British Columbia's history. The Rocky Mountains and the ranges west of them constituted a significant obstacle to overland travel until the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1885. The Peace River Canyon through the Rocky Mountains was the route the earliest explorers and fur traders used. Fur trade routes were only marginally used for access to British Columbia through the mountains. Travel from the rest of Canada before 1885 meant the difficulty of overland travel via the United States, around Cape Horn or overseas from Asia. Nearly all travel and freight to and from the region occurred via the Pacific Ocean, primarily through the ports of Victoria and New Westminster.
Until the 1930s, rail was the only means of overland travel to and from the rest of Canada; travellers using motor vehicles needed to journey through the United States. With the construction of the Inter-Provincial Highway in 1932 (now known as the Crowsnest Pass Highway), and later the Trans-Canada Highway, road transportation evolved into the preferred mode of overland travel to and from the rest of the country.
, the number of electric vehicles sold in British Columbia (as a percentage of total vehicle sales) was the highest of any Canadian province or U.S. state.Roads and highways
on Highway 91 between Richmond and Delta]]
Because of its size and rugged, varying topography, British Columbia requires thousands of kilometres of provincial highways to connect its communities. British Columbia's roads systems were notoriously poorly maintained and dangerous until a concentrated program of improvement was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s. There are now freeways in Greater Victoria, the Lower Mainland, and Central Interior of the province. Much of the rest of the province, where traffic volumes are generally low, is accessible by well-maintained generally high-mobility two-lane arterial highways with additional passing lanes in mountainous areas and usually only a few stop-controlled intersections outside the main urban areas.
A couple of busy intercity corridors outside Greater Vancouver feature more heavily signalized limited-mobility arterial highways that are mostly four-lane and often divided by portable median traffic barriers. Highway 1 on Vancouver Island and Highway 97 through the Okanagan Valley are medium- to high-volume roadways with variable posted speeds that range from to maximums just slightly lower than the principal grade-separated highways. Numerous traffic lights operate in place of interchanges on both arterials as long-term cost-cutting measures. Signalization along both these highways is heaviest through urban areas and along inter-urban sections where traffic volumes are similar to and sometimes higher than the freeways, but where funding is not available for upgrades to interchanges or construction of high-mobility alternative routes or bypasses. The building and maintenance of provincial highways is the responsibility of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
There are only five major routes to the rest of Canada. From south to north they are: BC Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass, the Vermilion Pass (Highway 93 in both British Columbia and Alberta), the Kicking Horse Pass, the latter being used by the Trans-Canada Highway entering Alberta through Banff National Park, the Yellowhead Highway (16) through Jasper National Park, and Highway 2 through Dawson Creek. There are also several highway crossings to the adjoining American states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The longest highway is Highway 97, running from the British Columbia-Washington border at Osoyoos north to Watson Lake, Yukon and which includes the British Columbia portion of the Alaska Highway.
Public transit
is the rail rapid transit system that serves Metro Vancouver.]]
]]
Prior to 1979, surface public transit in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan areas was administered by BC Hydro, the provincially owned electricity utility. Subsequently, the province established BC Transit to oversee and operate all municipal transportation systems. In 1998, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, now TransLink, a separate authority for routes within the Greater Vancouver Regional District, was established. Some smaller island communities, such as Gabriola Island and, formerly, Pender Island operate routes independent of BC Transit or TransLink. BC Transit has recently expanded to provide intercity routes, particularly in the Northern region of British Columbia. Other intercity routes were introduced connecting southern communities in preparation of the cancellation of Greyhound Canada's pullout from Western Canada, though options for intercity bus travel are still extremely limited.
Public transit in British Columbia consists mainly of diesel buses, although Vancouver is also serviced by a fleet of trolley buses. Several experimental buses are being tested such as hybrid buses that have both gasoline and electric engines. Additionally, there are CNG-fuelled buses being tested and used in Nanaimo and Kamloops systems. British Columbia also tested a fleet of Hydrogen-fuelled buses for the Vancouver-Whistler Winter Olympics in 2010. TransLink operates SkyTrain, an automated metro system serving the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, and Port Moody. In 2009, the Canada Line SkyTrain was completed, linking Vancouver International Airport and the city of Richmond to downtown Vancouver bringing the total to three operating metro lines.
A new extension to Coquitlam and Port Moody (the Evergreen Extension of the Millennium Line) was completed in December 2016. Construction of an extension of the Millennium Line westwards through Vancouver to Arbutus Street began in February 2021, with future plans to extend the line farther west from Arbutus station to the University of British Columbia. Fare gates have been added to all existing stations, though in the past, SkyTrain used a proof of payment honour system. In the capital city of Victoria, BC Transit and the provincial government's infrastructure ministry are working together to create a bus rapid transit from the Westshore communities to downtown Victoria. In Kamloops, there is a bus rapid transit GPS trial underway to see how bus rapid transit affects smaller cities, rather than larger ones, like Victoria and Vancouver.
Rail
]]
Rail development expanded greatly in the decades after the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, in 1885, and was the chief mode of long-distance surface transportation until the expansion and improvement of the provincial highways system began in the 1950s. Two major routes through the Yellowhead Pass competed with the Canadian Pacific Railway – the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, terminating at Prince Rupert, and the Canadian Northern Railway, terminating at Vancouver.
The British Columbia Electric Railway provided rail services in Victoria and Vancouver between the nineteenth century and mid twentieth century.
The Pacific Great Eastern line supplemented this service, providing a north–south route between interior resource communities and the coast. The Pacific Great Eastern (later known as British Columbia Railway and now owned by Canadian National Railway) connects Fort St James, Fort Nelson, and Tumbler Ridge with North Vancouver. The E&N Railway, rebranded as the Island Rail Corridor, formerly served the commercial and passenger train markets of Vancouver Island. Service along the route is now minimal. Vancouver Island was also host to the last logging railway in North America until its closure in 2017.
Current passenger services in British Columbia are limited. Via Rail operates 10 long-distance trains per week on two lines. Local services are limited to two regions, with TransLink providing rapid transit and commuter services in the Lower Mainland and by the Seton Lake Indian Band South of Lillooet with the Kaoham Shuttle. Amtrak runs international passenger service between Vancouver, Seattle, and intermediate points.
Several heritage railways operate within the province, including the White Pass and Yukon Route that runs between Alaska and the Yukon via British Columbia.
Water
BC Ferries was established as a provincial crown corporation in 1960 to provide passenger and vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as a cheaper and more reliable alternative to the service operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway and other private operators. It now operates 25 routes among the islands of British Columbia, as well as between the islands and the mainland. Ferry service to Washington is offered by the Washington State Ferries (between Sidney and Anacortes) and Black Ball Transport (between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington). Ferry service over inland lakes and rivers is provided by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Various other coastal ferries are operated privately.
Commercial ocean transport is of vital importance. Major ports are at Vancouver, Roberts Bank (near Tsawwassen), Prince Rupert, and Victoria.
Vancouver, Victoria, and Prince Rupert are also major ports of call for cruise ships. In 2007, a large maritime container port was opened in Prince Rupert with an inland sorting port in Prince George.
Air
There are over 200 airports throughout British Columbia, the major ones being the Vancouver International Airport, the Victoria International Airport, the Kelowna International Airport, and the Abbotsford International Airport, the first three of which each served over 1,000,000 passengers in 2005. , Vancouver International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the country and the second biggest International Gateway on the west coast (after Los Angeles) with an estimated 26.4 million travellers passing through in 2019.Arts and cultureVisual arts
by Emily Carr (1929)]]
The earliest known visual art produced in the Pacific Northwest, and what would become British Columbia, was by First Nations such as the Coast Salish, Haida, Heiltsuk, and Tsimshian, among others. Such Indigenous work comes particularly in the form of woodcarving, as seen in totem poles, transformation masks, and canoes, as well as textile arts like Chilkat weaving and button blankets. Traditional Indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest is typically distinguished by the formline style, which is defined as "continuous, flowing, curvilinear lines that turn, swell and diminish in a prescribed manner. They are used for figure outlines, internal design elements and in abstract compositions."
Western styles and forms were introduced to the region through the establishment of British North American settlements in the late 18th century. Notable English-Canadian artists of 19th and early 20th century British Columbia include architect Francis Rattenbury, designer James Blomfield, and painter Emily Carr.
Vancouver's art scene was dominated by lyrical abstraction and surrealist landscape painting in the mid-20th century through such artists as B. C. Binning, Jack Shadbolt, Gordon A. Smith, Takao Tanabe, Don Jarvis, and Toni Onley. In the following decades, the city would undergo more artistic diversification with the emergence of conceptual art, communication art, video art, and performance art.
The Vancouver School of conceptual photography encompasses a cohort of Vancouver-based artists who gained notoriety in the 1980s. This school is generally considered to include artists Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Ken Lum, Roy Arden, Stan Douglas, and Rodney Graham.
Vancouver maintains roughly 350 works of outdoor public art. Some notable works include A-maze-ing Laughter, Digital Orca, Girl in a Wetsuit, Angel of Victory, The Birds, and the Brockton Point totem poles.Performing artsBritish Columbia is home to the Vancouver Opera, the City Opera of Vancouver, Ballet BC, contemporary dance companies Holy Body Tattoo, Kidd Pivot, Mascall Dance Society, and butoh dance troupe Kokoro Dance. It is also the home province for a plethora of independent theatre companies, including the Arts Club Theatre Company, the Shakespearean Bard on the Beach, and Theatre Under the Stars. Performing arts venues include the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Orpheum Theatre, and the Royal Theatre, among others.Music
British Columbia is the third largest music-producing province in Canada and the local music industry generates an estimated yearly revenue of $265million. The province is home to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony. Some important popular music acts include bands such as Spirit of the West, Theory of a Deadman, Trooper, Gob, and The New Pornographers, and solo artists such as Bryan Adams, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mac DeMarco, Michael Bublé, Nelly Furtado, and Diana Krall. Music festivals in BC have included the Squamish Valley Music Festival, Shambhala Music Festival, and Pemberton Music Festival.
Cuisine
British Columbian cuisine is commonly associated with healthy living, fusion, fresh local ingredients, and innovation. It can be divided into two broadly-defined traditions: cuisine associated with the west coast, which incorporates a variety of seafood elements, and cuisine associated with the interior of the province, which embraces local game meat, farm-to-table produce, and methods of curing and smoking. Seafood is an important staple of the province's local food culture due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, as well as the region's numerous rivers and lakes. BC is known for several unique dishes and is a producer of fruit, wine, and cheese.
Seafoods of British Columbia include sushi (BC roll, dynamite roll, California roll), dungeness crab (boiled, tacos), spot prawns, wild pacific salmon (smoked, candied, teriyaki, chowder, sandwich), and halibut (baked, lemon ginger), as well as delicacies like white sturgeon caviar and geoduck
and consist of a crumb and nut base, custard middle, and ganache top layer|thumb]]
British Columbia is also home to numerous unique non-seafood culinary staples. Some dishes include Doukhobour borscht, Salt Spring Island lamb, Japadog street food, and Butter chicken pizza. Some unique pastries include apple cranberry cinnamon buns, Nanaimo bars, and Victoria creams. British Columbia also produces several distinct local cheeses, such as kabritt, Castle Blue, and Comox Brie.
The Okanagan produces many unique fruits originating from the region, including Ambrosia and Spartan apples, Stella and Skeena cherries, and Corontation grapes. Other fruits grown in the province include peaches, pears, plums, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and loganberries.
Outdoor life and athletics
]]
Given its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing.
Water sports, both motorized and non-motorized, are enjoyed in many places. Sea kayaking opportunities abound on the British Columbia coast with its fjords. Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular on many inland rivers. Sailing and sailboarding are widely enjoyed.
In winter, cross-country and telemark skiing are much enjoyed, and in recent decades high-quality downhill skiing has been developed in the Coast Mountain range and the Rockies, as well as in the southern areas of the Shuswap Highlands and the Columbia Mountains. Snowboarding has mushroomed in popularity since the early 1990s. The 2010 Winter Olympics downhill events were held in the Whistler Blackcomb area of the province, while the indoor events were conducted in the Vancouver area.
In Vancouver and Victoria (as well as some other cities), opportunities for joggers and bicyclists have been developed. Cross-country bike touring has been popular since the ten-speed bike became available many years ago. Since the advent of the more robust mountain bike, trails in more rugged and wild places have been developed for them. A 2016 poll on global biking website Pinkbike rated BC as the top destination mountain bikers would like to ride. Some of the province's retired rail beds have been converted and maintained for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Longboarding is also a popular activity because of the hilly geography of the region.
Horseback riding is enjoyed by many British Columbians. Opportunities for trail riding, often into especially scenic areas, have been established for tourists in numerous areas of the province.
British Columbia also has strong participation levels in many other sports, including golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, Canadian football, rugby union, lacrosse, baseball, softball, basketball, curling, disc golf, Ultimate and figure skating. British Columbia has produced many outstanding athletes, especially in aquatic and winter sports.
Consistent with both increased tourism and increased participation in diverse recreations by British Columbians has been the proliferation of lodges, chalets, bed and breakfasts, motels, hotels, fishing camps, and park-camping facilities in recent decades.
In certain areas, there are businesses, non-profit societies, or municipal governments dedicated to promoting ecotourism in their region. A number of British Columbia farmers offer visitors to combine tourism with farm work, for example, through the WWOOF Canada program.Sports{| class"wikitable sortable"
|+ List of sport teams in British Columbia
|-
! Team !! City !! League
!Stadium/arena
|-
|Abbotsford Canucks|| Abbotsford|| American Hockey League
|Abbotsford Centre
|-
| BC Lions|| Vancouver|| Canadian Football League
|BC Place
|-
|BC Thunder
|Richmond
|National Ringette League
|Richmond Ice Centre
|-
|Kamloops Blazers|| Kamloops|| Canadian Hockey League
|Sandman Centre
|-
|Kelowna Rockets|| Kelowna|| Canadian Hockey League
|Prospera Place
|-
|Pacific FC || Langford || Canadian Premier League
|Starlight Stadium
|-
|Prince George Cougars|| Prince George|| Canadian Hockey League
|CN Centre
|-
|Vancouver Bandits|| Langley|| Canadian Elite Basketball League
|Langley Events Centre
|-
|Vancouver Canucks|| Vancouver|| National Hockey League
|Rogers Arena
|-
|Vancouver FC || Langley || Canadian Premier League
|Willoughby Community Park Stadium
|-
|Vancouver Giants || Langley || Canadian Hockey League
|Langley Events Centre
|-
|Vancouver Warriors || Vancouver || National Lacrosse League
|Rogers Arena
|-
|Vancouver Whitecaps || Vancouver || Major League Soccer
|BC Place
|-
|Victoria Royals || Victoria || Canadian Hockey League
|Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
|}
Education
on the campus of Royal Roads University]]
K-12 education
British Columbia is home to a comprehensive education system consisting of public schools and independent schools that is overseen by the provincial Ministry of Education. The public school system is divided in 59 anglophone school districts and one francophone school district, the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, which operates French-language public schools throughout the province. The anglophone school districts are governed by school board trustees who are directly elected by the school district's residents. Although 86 percent of students are enrolled in the public school system, British Columbia has one of the highest shares of independent school enrolment among Canadian province, at 14 percent of the student population, due to its relatively generous funding model; most independent schools receive 50 percent of the operating funding that their public counterparts receive from the government. A very small percentage (less than 1 percent) of students are home schooled.
Like most other provinces in Canada, education is compulsory from ages 6 to 16 (grades 1–10), although the vast majority of students remain in school until they graduate from high school (grade 12) at the age of 18. In order to graduate with a graduation certificate, known as a Dogwood Diploma in BC, students must take a minimum of 80 course credits during grades 10 to 12. These credits include a variety of required courses (e.g. in language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science), as well as elective courses.
Academic achievement in British Columbia is relatively good, although it has been slipping in recent years by some measures. In 2020, 86 percent of students in British Columbia graduated from high school within six years of entering grade 8. According to the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, students in British Columbia scored the second highest in reading ability, fourth highest in mathematic prowess, and fourth highest in science knowledge of the 10 Canadian provinces, although these scores have declined significantly since the 2000 and 2015 assessments.
International students
In September 2014, there were 11,000 international students in BC public K-12 schools and about 3,000 international students in other BC K-12 schools. in Burnaby]]Higher education
British Columbia has a diverse array of higher educational institutions, ranging from publicly funded universities, colleges, and institutes, to private universities, colleges, seminaries, and career institutes. Public institutions receive approximately half of their funding from grants from the provincial government, with the remaining revenue stemming from tuition charges and philanthropic donations. Each post-secondary institution sets its own admission requirements, although the standard requirement is the completion of high school.
Public universities and colleges include:
* University of British Columbia
* Simon Fraser University
* University of Victoria
* University of Northern British Columbia
* Vancouver Island University
* British Columbia Institute of Technology
* Kwantlen Polytechnic University
* Thompson Rivers University
* Emily Carr University of Art and Design
* Royal Roads University
* Capilano University
* University of the Fraser Valley
* Douglas College
* Camosun College
* Langara College
* Selkirk College
* College of New Caledonia
* College of the Rockies
* Okanagan College
* Coast Mountain College
* Justice Institute of BC
British Columbia is also home to 11 private colleges and universities located throughout the province, including:
* Quest University
* Trinity Western University
* Alexander College
* University Canada West
* Columbia College
* Coquitlam College
* Tamwood International College
* Ashton College
* Blanche Macdonald
* Vanwest College
Two American universities (Fairleigh Dickinson University and Northeastern University) also have degree-granting campuses in Vancouver.See also
* Index of British Columbia–related articles
* Outline of British Columbia
* Symbols of British Columbia
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
* [https://www.hellobc.com/ Tourism British Columbia official website]
* [https://bcweathercams.ca BC Weathercams: Webcams showing realtime conditions across the province]
* [https://news.gov.bc.ca/ BC government news]
*
*
*
* [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/geographic-data-services/web-based-mapping/map-services BC government online map archive]
Category:1871 establishments in Canada
Category:Provinces and territories of Canada
Category:States and territories established in 1871
Category:Geography of the Pacific Northwest
Category:Western Canada | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.514849 |
3395 | The Buddha | <!--
*** WARNING REGARDING NEPAL ***
Buddha's birthplace is a matter of contention; the present lead represents a consensus on mentioning Lumbini, present-day Nepal, as his birthplace, and spending most of his adult life in what is today India.
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| image = Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra).jpg
| caption Sculpture of the Buddha preaching his first sermon from Sarnath, 5th century CE
| module
| birth_name = Siddhartha Gautama
| birth_date =
| death_date (aged 80)
| birth_place <!---Note: Gautama was a Shakya, born in the Shakya republic. The states of both Nepal and India did not exist at that time. The Shakya territory covered an area which is nowadays partly in Nepal, partly in India.--->Lumbini, Shakya Republic (according to Buddhist tradition)<!-- Do not change without getting consensus on talk page first -->
| death_place Kushinagar, Malla republic (according to Buddhist tradition)
| resting_place = Cremated; ashes divided among followers
| known_for = Founding Buddhism
| predecessor = Kassapa Buddha
| successor = Maitreya
| father = Śuddhodana
| mother = Maya
| spouse = Yaśodharā
| children = Rāhula
| religion =
}}
<!--
*** Warning regarding the lead ***
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Siddhartha Gautama,, }} most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),<!--and savior--> was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained nirvana at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached parinirvana ("final release from conditioned existence").
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His core teachings are summarized in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes ethical training and kindness toward others, and meditative practices such as sense restraint, mindfulness, dhyana (meditation proper). Another key element of his teachings are the concepts of the five skandhas and dependent origination, describing how all dharmas (both mental states and concrete 'things') come into being, and cease to be, depending on other dharmas, lacking an existence on their own svabhava).
While in the Nikayas he frequently refers to himself as the Tathāgata, the earliest attestation of the title Buddha is from the 3rd century BCE, meaning 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'. His teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice, and the Sutta Piṭaka, a compilation of teachings based on his discourses. These were passed down in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects through an oral tradition. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma, biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahayana sutras.
Buddhism evolved into a variety of traditions and practices, represented by Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, and spread beyond the Indian subcontinent. While Buddhism declined in India, and mostly disappeared after the 8th century CE due to a lack of popular and economic support, Buddhism is more prominent in Southeast and East Asia.
Etymology, names and titles
monastery in Hadda, Afghanistan, 2nd century CE]]
Siddhārtha Gautama and Buddha Shakyamuni
According to Donald Lopez Jr., "... he tended to be known as either Buddha or Sakyamuni in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, and as either Gotama Buddha or Samana Gotama ('the ascetic Gotama') in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia."
Buddha, "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One", is the masculine form of budh (बुध् ), "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again", "to awaken" to open up' (as does a flower)", "one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge". It is not a personal name, but a title for those who have attained bodhi (awakening, enlightenment). Buddhi, the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand", and comes from the fact that Kshatriya clans adopted the names of their house priests.
While the term Buddha is used in the Agamas and the Pali Canon, the oldest surviving written records of the term Buddha is from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, when several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned –232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism. Ashoka's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the Buddha Shakyamuni}} (Brahmi script: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī, "Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas").
Śākyamuni, Sakyamuni, or Shakyamuni (}}, ) means "Sage of the Shakyas".TathāgataTathāgata (Pali; ) is a term the Buddha commonly used when referring to himself or other Buddhas in the Pāli Canon. The exact meaning of the term is unknown, but it is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (tathā-gata), "one who has thus come" (tathā-āgata), or sometimes "one who has thus not gone" (tathā-agata). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going—beyond all transitory phenomena. A tathāgata is "immeasurable", "inscrutable", "hard to fathom", and "not apprehended".
Other epithets
A list of other epithets is commonly seen together in canonical texts and depicts some of his perfected qualities:
* Bhagavato (Bhagavan) – The Blessed one, one of the most used epithets, together with tathāgata
* Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
* Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
* Sugata – Well-gone or well-spoken.
* Lokavidu – Knower of the many worlds.
* Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
* Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
* Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge".
* Jina – Conqueror. Although the term is more commonly used to name an individual who has attained liberation in the religion Jainism, it is also an alternative title for the Buddha.
The Pali Canon also contains numerous other titles and epithets for the Buddha, including: All-seeing, All-transcending sage, Bull among men, The Caravan leader, Dispeller of darkness, The Eye, Foremost of charioteers, Foremost of those who can cross, King of the Dharma (Dharmaraja), Kinsman of the Sun, Helper of the World (Lokanatha), Lion (Siha), Lord of the Dhamma, Of excellent wisdom (Varapañña), Radiant One, Torchbearer of mankind, Unsurpassed doctor and surgeon, Victor in battle, and Wielder of power. Another epithet, used at inscriptions throughout South and Southeast Asia, is Maha sramana, "great sramana" (ascetic, renunciate).
Sources
Historical sources
Pali suttas
On the basis of philological evidence, Indologist and Pāli expert Oskar von Hinüber says that some of the Pāli suttas have retained very archaic place-names, syntax, and historical data from close to the Buddha's lifetime, including the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta which contains a detailed account of the Buddha's final days. Hinüber proposes a composition date of no later than 350–320 BCE for this text, which would allow for a "true historical memory" of the events approximately 60 years prior if the Short Chronology for the Buddha's lifetime is accepted (but he also points out that such a text was originally intended more as hagiography than as an exact historical record of events).
John S. Strong sees certain biographical fragments in the canonical texts preserved in Pāli, as well as Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit as the earliest material. These include texts such as the "Discourse on the Noble Quest" (Ariyapariyesanā-sutta) and its parallels in other languages.Pillar and rock inscriptions
), with the words "Bu-dhe" (𑀩𑀼𑀥𑁂, the Buddha) and "Sa-kya-mu-nī " (𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻, "Sage of the Shakyas") in the Brahmi script
}}
No written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or from the one or two centuries thereafter. But from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned c. 268 to 232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism. Particularly, Ashoka's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the Buddha Shakyamuni (Brahmi script: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī, "Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas")., in }} establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon.<br /><br />Dhammika: "There is disagreement amongst scholars concerning which Pali suttas correspond to some of the text. Vinaya samukose: probably the Atthavasa Vagga, Anguttara Nikaya, 1:98–100. Aliya vasani: either the Ariyavasa Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya, V:29, or the Ariyavamsa Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya, II: 27–28. Anagata bhayani: probably the Anagata Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya, III:100. Muni gatha: Muni Sutta, Sutta Nipata 207–21. Upatisa pasine: Sariputta Sutta, Sutta Nipata 955–75. Laghulavade: Rahulavada Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya, I:421."<br><br> See [https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/asoka.html Readings Selected by King Asoka] for a translation of these texts.}}
"Sakamuni" is also mentioned in a relief of Bharhut, dated to , in relation with his illumination and the Bodhi tree, with the inscription Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho ("The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni").
Oldest surviving manuscripts
The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, found in Gandhara (corresponding to modern northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) and written in Gāndhārī, they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.
Biographical sources
Early canonical sources include the Ariyapariyesana Sutta (MN 26), the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (DN 16), the Mahāsaccaka-sutta (MN 36), the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123), which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātaka tales retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.
The sources which present a complete picture of the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies from a later date. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.
The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.
Historical person
Understanding the historical person
Scholars are hesitant to make claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most of them accept that the Buddha lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada period, specifically during the reign of Bimbisara, ruler of Magadha, and died during the reign of Bimbisara's successor Ajatashatru, thus also making him a contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara.
There is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies, as "Buddhist scholars [...] have mostly given up trying to understand the historical person." The earliest versions of Buddhist biographical texts that we have already contain many supernatural, mythical, or legendary elements. In the 19th century, some scholars simply omitted these from their accounts of the life, so that "the image projected was of a Buddha who was a rational, socratic teacher—a great person perhaps, but a more or less ordinary human being". More recent scholars tend to see such demythologisers as remythologisers, "creating a Buddha that appealed to them, by eliding one that did not".
Dating
The dates of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Within the Eastern Buddhist tradition of China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the traditional date for Buddha's death was 949 BCE, but according to the Ka-tan system of the Kalachakra tradition, Buddha's death was about 833 BCE.
Buddhist texts present two chronologies which have been used to date the lifetime of the Buddha. The "long chronology", from Sri Lankese chronicles, states the Buddha was born 298 years before Asoka's coronation and died 218 years before the coronation, thus a lifespan of about 80 years. According to these chronicles, Asoka was crowned in 326 BCE, which gives Buddha's lifespan as 624–544 BCE, and are the accepted dates in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. Alternatively, most scholars who also accept the long chronology but date Asoka's coronation around 268 BCE (based on Greek evidence) put the Buddha's lifespan later at 566–486 BCE.
However, the "short chronology", from Indian sources and their Chinese and Tibetan translations, place the Buddha's birth at 180 years before Asoka's coronation and death 100 years before the coronation, still about 80 years. Following the Greek sources of Asoka's coronation as 268 BCE, this dates the Buddha's lifespan even later as 448–368 BCE.
Most historians in the early 20th century use the earlier dates of 563–483 BCE, differing from the long chronology based on Greek evidence by just three years. More recently, there are attempts to put his death midway between the long chronology's 480s BCE and the short chronology's 360s BCE, so circa 410 BCE. At a symposium on this question held in 1988,}} the majority of those who presented gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.: "...as is now almost universally accepted by informed Indological scholarship, a re-examination of early Buddhist historical material, [...], necessitates a redating of the Buddha's death to between 411 and 400 BCE..."
* 405: Richard Gombrich
* Around 400: See the consensus in the essays by leading scholars in .
* According to Pali scholar K. R. Norman, a life span for the Buddha of to 400 BCE (and his teaching period roughly from to 400 BCE) "fits the archaeological evidence better". See also [https://web.archive.org/web/20150903184503/http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic138396.files/Buddha-Dates.pdf Notes on the Dates of the Buddha Íåkyamuni].
* Indologist Michael Witzel provides a "revised" dating of 460–380 BCE for the lifetime of the Buddha.}} These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.<br />Geoffrey Samuel notes that several locations of both early Buddhism and Jainism are closely related to Yaksha-worship, that several Yakshas were "converted" to Buddhism, a well-known example being Vajrapani, and that several Yaksha-shrines, where trees were worshipped, were converted into Buddhist holy places.}}
The dating of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru also depends on the long or short chronology. In the long chrononology, Bimbisara reigned , and died 492 BCE, while Ajatashatru reigned . In the short chronology Bimbisara reigned ,: "The date [of Buddha's meeting with Bimbisara] (given the Buddhist 'short chronology') must have been around 400 BCE[...] He was now in the middle of his reign."}} while Ajatashatru died between and 330 BCE. According to historian K. T. S. Sarao, a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was , it can be estimated that Bimbisara was reigning , and Ajatashatru was reigning . Historical context ShakyasAccording to the Buddhist tradition, Shakyamuni Buddha was a Shakya, a sub-Himalayan ethnicity and clan of north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent.: "The Buddha [...] was born in the Sakya Republic, which was the city state of Kapilavastu, a very small state just inside the modern state boundary of Nepal against the Northern Indian frontier.
* : "He belonged to the Sakya clan dwelling on the edge of the Himalayas, his actual birthplace being a few kilometres north of the present-day Northern Indian border, in Nepal. His father was, in fact, an elected chief of the clan rather than the king he was later made out to be, though his title was raja—a term which only partly corresponds to our word 'king'. Some of the states of North India at that time were kingdoms and others republics, and the Sakyan republic was subject to the powerful king of neighbouring Kosala, which lay to the south".}} The Shakya community was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. The community, though describable as a small republic, was probably an oligarchy, with his father as the elected chieftain or oligarch. The Shakyas were widely considered to be non-Vedic (and, hence impure) in Brahminic texts; their origins remain speculative and debated. Bronkhorst terms this culture, which grew alongside Aryavarta without being affected by the flourish of Brahminism, as Greater Magadha.
The Buddha's tribe of origin, the Shakyas, seems to have had non-Vedic religious practices which persist in Buddhism, such as the veneration of trees and sacred groves, and the worship of tree spirits (yakkhas) and serpent beings (nagas). They also seem to have built burial mounds called stupas. Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, as recorded in Samaññaphala Sutta, with whose viewpoints the Buddha must have been acquainted.
Śāriputra and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the sceptic. The Pāli canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought. There is philological evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Rāmaputta, were historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. Thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. In an era where holiness of person was judged by their level of asceticism, Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism.
Coningham and Young note that both Jains and Buddhists used stupas, while tree shrines can be found in both Buddhism and Hinduism.Urban environment and egalitarianism
The rise of Buddhism coincided with the Second Urbanisation, in which the Ganges Basin was settled and cities grew, in which egalitarianism prevailed. According to Thapar, the Buddha's teachings were "also a response to the historical changes of the time, among which were the emergence of the state and the growth of urban centres". While the Buddhist mendicants renounced society, they lived close to the villages and cities, depending for alms-givings on lay supporters.
According to Dyson, the Ganges basin was settled from the north-west and the south-east, as well as from within, "[coming] together in what is now Bihar (the location of Pataliputra)". The Ganges basin was densely forested, and the population grew when new areas were deforestated and cultivated. The society of the middle Ganges basin lay on "the outer fringe of Aryan cultural influence", and differed significantly from the Aryan society of the western Ganges basin. According to Stein and Burton, "[t]he gods of the brahmanical sacrificial cult were not rejected so much as ignored by Buddhists and their contemporaries." Jainism and Buddhism opposed the social stratification of Brahmanism, and their egalitarism prevailed in the cities of the middle Ganges basin. This "allowed Jains and Buddhists to engage in trade more easily than Brahmans, who were forced to follow strict caste prohibitions."
Semi-legendary biography
Nature of traditional depictions
(left) and Śakra (right). Bimaran Casket, mid-1st century CE, British Museum.]]
miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha. Sanskrit, palm-leaf manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period]]
In the earliest Buddhist texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (sabbaññu) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu. In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher.
Traditional biographies of Gautama often include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".}} As noted by Andrew Skilton, the Buddha was often described as being superhuman, including descriptions of him having the 32 major and 80 minor marks of a "great man", and the idea that the Buddha could live for as long as an aeon if he wished (see DN 16).
The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes further, stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.}}
Previous lives
Legendary biographies like the Pali Buddhavaṃsa and the Sanskrit Jātakamālā depict the Buddha's (referred to as "bodhisattva" before his awakening) career as spanning hundreds of lifetimes before his last birth as Gautama. Many of these previous lives are narrated in the Jatakas, which consists of 547 stories. The format of a Jataka typically begins by telling a story in the present which is then explained by a story of someone's previous life.
Besides imbuing the pre-Buddhist past with a deep karmic history, the Jatakas also serve to explain the bodhisattva's (the Buddha-to-be) path to Buddhahood. In biographies like the Buddhavaṃsa, this path is described as long and arduous, taking "four incalculable ages" (asamkheyyas).
In these legendary biographies, the bodhisattva goes through many different births (animal and human), is inspired by his meeting of past Buddhas, and then makes a series of resolves or vows (pranidhana) to become a Buddha himself. Then he begins to receive predictions by past Buddhas. One of the most popular of these stories is his meeting with Dipankara Buddha, who gives the bodhisattva a prediction of future Buddhahood.
Another theme found in the Pali Jataka Commentary (Jātakaṭṭhakathā) and the Sanskrit Jātakamālā is how the Buddha-to-be had to practice several "perfections" (pāramitā) to reach Buddhahood. The Jatakas also sometimes depict negative actions done in previous lives by the bodhisattva, which explain difficulties he experienced in his final life as Gautama.
Birth and early life
and other major Buddhist sites in India. Lumbini (present-day Nepal), is the birthplace of the Buddha,]]
marking the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini]]
stating that this is the Buddha's birthplace.]]
According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal,) discusses the hypothesis and states, "The inscription has generally been considered spurious (...)" He quotes Sircar: "There can hardly be any doubt that the people responsible for the Kapilesvara inscription copied it from the said facsimile not much earlier than 1928."}} and raised in Kapilavastu. Gethin does not give references for this statement.}} The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India, or Tilaurakot, in present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only apart.
In the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: "...this is where the Buddha, sage of the Śākyas (Śākyamuni), was born."
According to later biographies such as the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara, his mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a princess from Devdaha, the ancient capital of the Koliya Kingdom (what is now the Rupandehi District of Nepal). Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth.
Her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree. The earliest Buddhist sources state that the Buddha was born to an aristocratic Kshatriya (Pali: khattiya) family called Gotama (Sanskrit: Gautama), who were part of the Shakyas, a tribe of rice-farmers living near the modern border of India and Nepal. in a moderate Vedic culture at the central Ganges Plain area, where the shramana-traditions developed. This area had a moderate Vedic culture, where the Kshatriyas were the highest varna, in contrast to the Brahmanic ideology of Kuru–Panchala, where the Brahmins had become the highest varna. Both the Vedic culture and the shramana tradition contributed to the emergence of the so-called "Hindu-synthesis" around the start of the Common Era.}} His father Śuddhodana was "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime.
The early Buddhist texts contain very little information about the birth and youth of Gotama Buddha. Later biographies developed a dramatic narrative about the life of the young Gotama as a prince and his existential troubles. They depict his father Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of (Pāli: Okkāka). This is unlikely, as many scholars think that Śuddhodana was merely a Shakya aristocrat (khattiya), and that the Shakya republic was not a hereditary monarchy.}} The more egalitarian form of government, as a political alternative to Indian monarchies, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.
The day of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak and the day he got conceived as Poson. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day.
According to later biographical legends, during the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode, analyzed the child for the "32 marks of a great man" and then announced that he would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great religious leader. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave similar predictions. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.
Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. According to the early Buddhist Texts of several schools, and numerous post-canonical accounts, Gotama had a wife, Yasodhara, and a son, named Rāhula. Besides this, the Buddha in the early texts reports that "I lived a spoilt, a very spoilt life, monks (in my parents' home)."
The legendary biographies like the Lalitavistara also tell stories of young Gotama's great martial skill, which was put to the test in various contests against other Shakyan youths. Renunciation
, he is accompanied by numerous guards and devata who have come to pay homage; Gandhara, Kushan period.]]
While the earliest sources merely depict Gotama seeking a higher spiritual goal and becoming an ascetic or śramaṇa after being disillusioned with lay life, the later legendary biographies tell a more elaborate dramatic story about how he became a mendicant.
The earliest accounts of the Buddha's spiritual quest is found in texts such as the Pali Ariyapariyesanā-sutta ("The discourse on the noble quest", MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204. These texts report that what led to Gautama's renunciation was the thought that his life was subject to old age, disease and death and that there might be something better. The early texts also depict the Buddha's explanation for becoming a sramana as follows: "The household life, this place of impurity, is narrow—the samana life is the free open air. It is not easy for a householder to lead the perfected, utterly pure and perfect holy life." MN 26, MĀ 204, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Mahāvastu all agree that his mother and father opposed his decision and "wept with tearful faces" when he decided to leave.
. Borobudur, 8th century]]
Legendary biographies also tell the story of how Gautama left his palace to see the outside world for the first time and how he was shocked by his encounter with human suffering. These depict Gautama's father as shielding him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering, so that he would become a great king instead of a great religious leader. In the Nidanakatha (5th century CE), Gautama is said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Chandaka explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic that inspired him. This story of the "four sights" seems to be adapted from an earlier account in the Digha Nikaya (DN 14.2) which instead depicts the young life of a previous Buddha, Vipassi.
The legendary biographies depict Gautama's departure from his palace as follows. Shortly after seeing the four sights, Gautama woke up at night and saw his female servants lying in unattractive, corpse-like poses, which shocked him. Therefore, he discovered what he would later understand more deeply during his enlightenment: dukkha ("standing unstable", "dissatisfaction") and the end of dukkha. Moved by all the things he had experienced, he decided to leave the palace in the middle of the night against the will of his father, to live the life of a wandering ascetic.
Accompanied by Chandaka and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama leaves the palace, leaving behind his son Rahula and Yaśodhara. He travelled to the river Anomiya, and cut off his hair. Leaving his servant and horse behind, he journeyed into the woods and changed into monk's robes there, though in some other versions of the story, he received the robes from a Brahma deity at Anomiya.
According to the legendary biographies, when the ascetic Gautama first went to Rajagaha (present-day Rajgir) to beg for alms in the streets, King Bimbisara of Magadha learned of his quest, and offered him a share of his kingdom. Gautama rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom first, upon attaining enlightenment.
Ascetic life and awakening
in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism]]
in Bodh Gaya]]
of the Buddha at Bodh Gaya, as recreated by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE]]
walking on the River Nairañjanā. The Buddha is not visible (aniconism), only represented by a path on the water, and his empty throne bottom right. Sanchi.]]
Majjhima Nikaya 4 mentions that Gautama lived in "remote jungle thickets" during his years of spiritual striving and had to overcome the fear that he felt while living in the forests. The Nikaya-texts narrate that the ascetic Gautama practised under two teachers of yogic meditation. According to the Ariyapariyesanā-sutta (MN 26) and its Chinese parallel at MĀ 204, after having mastered the teaching of Ārāḍa Kālāma (), who taught a meditation attainment called "the sphere of nothingness", he was asked by Ārāḍa to become an equal leader of their spiritual community.
Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice because it "does not lead to revulsion, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to knowledge, to awakening, to Nibbana", and moved on to become a student of Udraka Rāmaputra (). With him, he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness (called "The Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception") and was again asked to join his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied for the same reasons as before, and moved on.
According to some sutras, after leaving his meditation teachers, Gotama then practiced ascetic techniques.}} The ascetic techniques described in the early texts include very minimal food intake, different forms of breath control, and forceful mind control. The texts report that he became so emaciated that his bones became visible through his skin. The Mahāsaccaka-sutta and most of its parallels agree that after taking asceticism to its extremes, Gautama realized that this had not helped him attain nirvana, and that he needed to regain strength to pursue his goal. One popular story tells of how he accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.
According to the 身毛喜豎經, his break with asceticism led his five companions to abandon him, since they believed that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined. At this point, Gautama remembered a previous experience of dhyana ("meditation") he had as a child sitting under a tree while his father worked. This memory leads him to understand that dhyana is the path to liberation, and the texts then depict the Buddha achieving all four dhyanas, followed by the "three higher knowledges" (tevijja),}} culminating in complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth.<br />* <br />* <br />* <br />* <br />* <br />* }}
According to the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56), the Tathagata, the term Gautama uses most often to refer to himself, realized "the Middle Way"—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path.
Following his decision to leave his meditation teachers, MĀ 204 and other parallel early texts report that Gautama sat down with the determination not to get up until full awakening (sammā-sambodhi) had been reached; the Ariyapariyesanā-sutta does not mention "full awakening", but only that he attained nirvana. In Buddhist tradition, this event was said to have occurred under a pipal tree—known as "the Bodhi tree"—in Bodh Gaya, Bihar.
As reported by various texts from the Pali Canon, the Buddha sat for seven days under the bodhi tree "feeling the bliss of deliverance". The Pali texts also report that he continued to meditate and contemplated various aspects of the Dharma while living by the River Nairañjanā, such as Dependent Origination, the Five Spiritual Faculties and suffering (dukkha).
The legendary biographies like the Mahavastu, Nidanakatha and the Lalitavistara depict an attempt by Mara, the ruler of the desire realm, to prevent the Buddha's nirvana. He does so by sending his daughters to seduce the Buddha, by asserting his superiority and by assaulting him with armies of monsters. However the Buddha is unfazed and calls on the earth (or in some versions of the legend, the earth goddess) as witness to his superiority by touching the ground before entering meditation. Other miracles and magical events are also depicted.
First sermon and formation of the saṅgha
in Sarnath, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciples]]
According to MN 26, immediately after his awakening, the Buddha hesitated on whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were overpowered by ignorance, greed, and hatred that it would be difficult for them to recognise the path, which is "subtle, deep and hard to grasp". However, the god Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some "with little dust in their eyes" will understand it. The Buddha relented and agreed to teach. According to Anālayo, the Chinese parallel to MN 26, MĀ 204, does not contain this story, but this event does appear in other parallel texts, such as in an Ekottarika-āgama discourse, in the Catusparisat-sūtra, and in the Lalitavistara.
According to MN 26 and MĀ 204, after deciding to teach, the Buddha initially intended to visit his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to teach them his insights, but they had already died, so he decided to visit his five former companions. MN 26 and MĀ 204 both report that on his way to Vārānasī (Benares), he met another wanderer, an Ājīvika ascetic named Upaka in MN 26. The Buddha proclaimed that he had achieved full awakening, but Upaka was not convinced and "took a different path".
MN 26 and MĀ 204 continue with the Buddha reaching the Deer Park (Sarnath) (Mrigadāva, also called Rishipatana, "site where the ashes of the ascetics fell") near Vārānasī, where he met the group of five ascetics and was able to convince them that he had indeed reached full awakening. According to MĀ 204 (but not MN 26), as well as the Theravāda Vinaya, an Ekottarika-āgama text, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, and the Mahāvastu, the Buddha then taught them the "first sermon", also known as the "Benares sermon", At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. According to the Pali texts, shortly after the formation of the sangha, the Buddha travelled to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, and met with King Bimbisara, who gifted a bamboo grove park to the sangha.
The Buddha's sangha continued to grow during his initial travels in north India. The early texts tell the story of how the Buddha's chief disciples, Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna, who were both students of the skeptic sramana Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta, were converted by Assaji. They also tell of how the Buddha's son, Rahula, joined his father as a bhikkhu when the Buddha visited his old home, Kapilavastu. Over time, other Shakyans joined the order as bhikkhus, such as Buddha's cousin Ananda, Anuruddha, Upali the barber, the Buddha's half-brother Nanda and Devadatta. Meanwhile, the Buddha's father Suddhodana heard his son's teaching, converted to Buddhism and became a stream-enterer.
The early texts also mention an important lay disciple, the merchant Anāthapiṇḍika, who became a strong lay supporter of the Buddha early on. He is said to have gifted Jeta's grove (Jetavana) to the sangha at great expense (the Theravada Vinaya speaks of thousands of gold coins).
Formation of the bhikkhunī order
The formation of a parallel order of female monastics (bhikkhunī) was another important part of the growth of the Buddha's community. As noted by Anālayo's comparative study of this topic, there are various versions of this event depicted in the different early Buddhist texts.
# the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya in Four Parts, preserved in Chinese
# a *Vinayamātṛkā preserved in Chinese translation, which some scholars suggest represents the Haimavata tradition
# the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda Vinaya, preserved in Sanskrit
# the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya in Five Parts, preserved in Chinese
# the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, where the episode is extant in Chinese and Tibetan translation, with considerable parts also preserved in Sanskrit fragments
# a discourse in the Madhyama-āgama, preserved in Chinese, probably representing the Sarvāstivāda tradition
# a Pāli discourse found among the Eights of the Aṅguttara-nikāya; the same account is also found in the Theravāda Vinaya preserved in Pāli}}
According to all the major versions surveyed by Anālayo, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, Buddha's step-mother, is initially turned down by the Buddha after requesting ordination for her and some other women. Mahāprajāpatī and her followers then shave their hair, don robes and begin following the Buddha on his travels. The Buddha is eventually convinced by Ānanda to grant ordination to Mahāprajāpatī on her acceptance of eight conditions called gurudharmas which focus on the relationship between the new order of nuns and the monks.
According to Anālayo, the only argument common to all the versions that Ananda uses to convince the Buddha is that women have the same ability to reach all stages of awakening. Anālayo also notes that some modern scholars have questioned the authenticity of the eight gurudharmas in their present form due to various inconsistencies. He holds that the historicity of the current lists of eight is doubtful, but that they may have been based on earlier injunctions by the Buddha.
Anālayo notes that various passages indicate that the reason for the Buddha's hesitation to ordain women was the danger that the life of a wandering sramana posed for women that were not under the protection of their male family members, such as dangers of sexual assault and abduction. Due to this, the gurudharma injunctions may have been a way to place "the newly founded order of nuns in a relationship to its male counterparts that resembles as much as possible the protection a laywoman could expect from her male relatives". Later years
Stupa at the Indian Museum, Kolkata]]
According to J.S. Strong, after the first 20 years of his teaching career, the Buddha seems to have slowly settled in Sravasti, the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala, spending most of his later years in this city.
As the sangha grew in size, the need for a standardized set of monastic rules arose and the Buddha seems to have developed a set of regulations for the sangha. These are preserved in various texts called "Pratimoksa" which were recited by the community every fortnight. The Pratimoksa includes general ethical precepts, as well as rules regarding the essentials of monastic life, such as bowls and robes.
In his later years, the Buddha's fame grew and he was invited to important royal events, such as the inauguration of the new council hall of the Shakyans (as seen in MN 53) and the inauguration of a new palace by Prince Bodhi (as depicted in MN 85). The early texts also speak of how during the Buddha's old age, the kingdom of Magadha was usurped by a new king, Ajatashatru, who overthrew his father Bimbisara. According to the Samaññaphala Sutta, the new king spoke with different ascetic teachers and eventually took refuge in the Buddha. However, Jain sources also claim his allegiance, and it is likely he supported various religious groups, not just the Buddha's sangha exclusively.
As the Buddha continued to travel and teach, he also came into contact with members of other śrāmana sects. There is evidence from the early texts that the Buddha encountered some of these figures and critiqued their doctrines. The Samaññaphala Sutta identifies six such sects.
The early texts also depict the elderly Buddha as suffering from back pain. Several texts depict him delegating teachings to his chief disciples since his body now needed more rest. However, the Buddha continued teaching well into his old age.
One of the most troubling events during the Buddha's old age was Devadatta's schism. Early sources speak of how the Buddha's cousin, Devadatta, attempted to take over leadership of the order and then left the sangha with several Buddhist monks and formed a rival sect. This sect is said to have been supported by King Ajatashatru. The Pali texts depict Devadatta as plotting to kill the Buddha, but these plans all fail. They depict the Buddha as sending his two chief disciples (Sariputta and Moggallana) to this schismatic community in order to convince the monks who left with Devadatta to return.
All the major early Buddhist Vinaya texts depict Devadatta as a divisive figure who attempted to split the Buddhist community, but they disagree on what issues he disagreed with the Buddha on. The Sthavira texts generally focus on "five points" which are seen as excessive ascetic practices, while the Mahāsaṅghika Vinaya speaks of a more comprehensive disagreement, which has Devadatta alter the discourses as well as monastic discipline.
At around the same time of Devadatta's schism, there was also war between Ajatashatru's Kingdom of Magadha, and Kosala, led by an elderly king Pasenadi. Ajatashatru seems to have been victorious, a turn of events the Buddha is reported to have regretted.
Last days and parinirvana
, his chief attendant. |alt=Metal relief]]
The main narrative of the Buddha's last days, death and the events following his death is contained in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16) and its various parallels in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. According to Anālayo, these include the Chinese Dirgha Agama 2, "Sanskrit fragments of the Mahaparinirvanasutra", and "three discourses preserved as individual translations in Chinese".
The Mahaparinibbana sutta depicts the Buddha's last year as a time of war. It begins with Ajatashatru's decision to make war on the Vajjika League, leading him to send a minister to ask the Buddha for advice. The Buddha responds by saying that the Vajjikas can be expected to prosper as long as they do seven things, and he then applies these seven principles to the Buddhist Sangha, showing that he is concerned about its future welfare.
The Buddha says that the Sangha will prosper as long as they "hold regular and frequent assemblies, meet in harmony, do not change the rules of training, honour their superiors who were ordained before them, do not fall prey to worldly desires, remain devoted to forest hermitages, and preserve their personal mindfulness". He then gives further lists of important virtues to be upheld by the Sangha.
The early texts depict how the Buddha's two chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana, died just before the Buddha's death. The Mahaparinibbana depicts the Buddha as experiencing illness during the last months of his life but initially recovering. It depicts him as stating that he cannot promote anyone to be his successor. When Ānanda requested this, the Mahaparinibbana records his response as follows:
, Gandhara, 3rd or 4th century CE, gray schist]]
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After travelling and teaching some more, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his death and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Bhikkhu Mettanando and Oskar von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.
The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms. The Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns. Modern scholars also disagree on this topic, arguing both for pig's flesh or some kind of plant or mushroom that pigs like to eat. Whatever the case, none of the sources which mention the last meal attribute the Buddha's sickness to the meal itself.
As per the Mahaparinibbana sutta, after the meal with Cunda, the Buddha and his companions continued travelling until he was too weak to continue and had to stop at Kushinagar, where Ānanda had a resting place prepared in a grove of Sala trees. After announcing to the sangha at large that he would soon be passing away to final Nirvana, the Buddha ordained one last novice into the order personally. His name was Subhadda. He then repeated his final instructions to the sangha, which was that the Dhamma and Vinaya was to be their teacher after his death. Then he asked if anyone had any doubts about the teaching, but nobody did. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All saṅkhāras decay. Strive for the goal with diligence (appamāda)" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā').
He then entered his final meditation and died, reaching what is known as parinirvana (final nirvana; instead of a person being reborn, "the five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur"). The Mahaparinibbana reports that in his final meditation he entered the four dhyanas consecutively, then the four immaterial attainments and finally the meditative dwelling known as nirodha-samāpatti, before returning to the fourth dhyana right at the moment of death.
(Kushinara)]]
vase with relics of the Buddha. The inscription reads: ...salilanidhane Budhasa Bhagavate... (Brahmi script: ...𑀲𑀮𑀺𑀮𑀦𑀺𑀥𑀸𑀦𑁂 𑀩𑀼𑀥𑀲 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁂...) "Relics of the Buddha Lord".]]
Posthumous events
According to the Mahaparinibbana sutta, the Mallians of Kushinagar spent the days following the Buddha's death honouring his body with flowers, music and scents. The sangha waited until the eminent elder Mahākassapa arrived to pay his respects before cremating the body.
The Buddha's body was then cremated and the remains, including his bones, were kept as relics and they were distributed among various north Indian kingdoms like Magadha, Shakya and Koliya. These relics were placed in monuments or mounds called stupas, a common funerary practice at the time. Centuries later they would be exhumed and enshrined by Ashoka into many new stupas around the Mauryan realm. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.
According to various Buddhist sources, the First Buddhist Council was held shortly after the Buddha's death to collect, recite and memorize the teachings. Mahākassapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the council. However, the historicity of the traditional accounts of the first council is disputed by modern scholars.
Teachings and views
Historicity Scholarly views on the earliest teachings
ruler Kanishka I, CE]]
One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest versions of the Pali Canon and other texts, such as the surviving portions of Sarvastivada, Mulasarvastivada, Mahisasaka, Dharmaguptaka,}} and the Chinese Agamas. The reliability of these sources, and the possibility of drawing out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Lambert Schmithausen, there are three positions held by modern scholars of Buddhism with regard to the authenticity of the teachings contained in the Nikayas:
# "Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials". According to Warder, c.q. his publisher: "This kernel of doctrine is presumably common Buddhism of the period before the great schisms of the fourth and third centuries BCE. It may be substantially the Buddhism of the Buddha himself, although this cannot be proved: at any rate it is a Buddhism presupposed by the schools as existing about a hundred years after the parinirvana of the Buddha, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers".
* Richard Gombrich: "I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By "the main edifice" I mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and of the main body of monastic rules."}}
# "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism". that a relatively early community (disputed) maintained and transmitted, we have little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is actually the word of the historical Buddha."}}
# "Cautious optimism in this respect".
* Johannes Bronkhorst: "This position is to be preferred to (ii) for purely methodological reasons: only those who seek may find, even if no success is guaranteed."
* Donald Lopez: "The original teachings of the historical Buddha are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recover or reconstruct."}}
Scholars such as Richard Gombrich, Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne and A.K. Warder hold that these Early Buddhist Texts contain material that could possibly be traced to the Buddha.}} Likewise, A. K. Warder has written that "there is no evidence to suggest that it [the shared teaching of the early schools] was formulated by anyone other than the Buddha and his immediate followers." According to Alexander Wynne, "the internal evidence of the early Buddhist literature proves its historical authenticity."
Other scholars of Buddhist studies have disagreed with the mostly positive view that the early Buddhist texts reflect the teachings of the historical Buddha, arguing that some teachings contained in the early texts are the authentic teachings of the Buddha, but not others. Ainslie Embree writes that many sermons credited to the Buddha are the works of later teachers, so there is considerable doubt about his original message. According to Tilmann Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies. the overview of early Buddhism by Tilmann Vetter, the philological work on the four truths by K.R. Norman, the textual studies by Richard Gombrich, and the research on early meditation methods by Johannes Bronkhorst.}} According to Tilmann Vetter, the earliest core of the Buddhist teachings is the meditative practice of dhyāna,}} but "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition only at a later date.
He posits that the Fourth Noble Truths, the Eightfold path and Dependent Origination, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight". Lambert Schmithausen similarly argues that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the four dhyānas, is a later addition. Johannes Bronkhorst also argues that the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight".
Edward Conze argued that the attempts of European scholars to reconstruct the original teachings of the Buddha were "all mere guesswork".
Core teachings
birchbark scroll fragments]]
A number of teachings and practices are deemed essential to Buddhism, including: the samyojana (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the sankharas ("formations"), the kleshas (unwholesome mental states), including the three poisons, and the āsavas ("influx, canker"), that perpetuate sasāra, the repeated cycle of becoming; the six sense bases and the five aggregates, which describe the process from sense contact to consciousness which lead to this bondage to sasāra; dependent origination, which describes this process, and its reversal, in detail; and the Middle Way, summarized by the later tradition in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which prescribes how this bondage can be reversed.
According to N. Ross Reat, the Theravada Pali texts and the Mahasamghika school's Śālistamba Sūtra share
these basic teachings and practices. Bhikkhu Analayo concludes that the Theravada Majjhima Nikaya and Sarvastivada Madhyama Agama contain mostly the same major doctrines. Likewise, Richard Salomon has written that the doctrines found in the Gandharan Manuscripts are "consistent with non-Mahayana Buddhism, which survives today in the Theravada school of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, but which in ancient times was represented by eighteen separate schools".
Samsara
All beings have deeply entrenched samyojana (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the sankharas ("formations"), kleshas (unwholesome mental states), including the three poisons, and āsavas ("influx, canker"), that perpetuate sasāra, the repeated cycle of becoming and rebirth. According to the Pali suttas, the Buddha stated that "this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving." In the Dutiyalokadhammasutta sutta (AN 8:6) the Buddha explains how "eight worldly winds" "keep the world turning around [...] Gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain". He then explains how the difference between a noble (arya) person and an uninstructed worldling is that a noble person reflects on and understands the impermanence of these conditions.
This cycle of becoming is characterized by dukkha, commonly referred to as "suffering", dukkha is more aptly rendered as "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease". It is the unsatisfactoriness and unease that comes with a life dictated by automatic responses and habituated selfishness, and the unsatifacories of expecting enduring happiness from things which are impermanent, unstable and thus unreliable. The ultimate noble goal should be liberation from this cycle.
Samsara is dictated by karma, which is an impersonal natural law, similar to how certain seeds produce certain plants and fruits. Karma is not the only cause for one's conditions, as the Buddha listed various physical and environmental causes alongside karma. The Buddha's teaching of karma differed to that of the Jains and Brahmins, in that on his view, karma is primarily mental intention (as opposed to mainly physical action or ritual acts). The Buddha is reported to have said "By karma I mean intention." Richard Gombrich summarizes the Buddha's view of karma as follows: "all thoughts, words, and deeds derive their moral value, positive or negative, from the intention behind them".
The six sense bases and the five aggregates
The āyatana (six sense bases) and the five skandhas (aggregates) describe how sensory contact leads to attachment and dukkha. The six sense bases are eye and sight, ear and sound, nose and odour, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and thoughts. Together they create the input from which we create our world or reality, "the all". This process takes place through the five skandhas, "aggregates", "groups", "heaps", five groups of physical and mental processes, namely form (or material image, impression) (), sensations (or feelings, received from form) (), perceptions (), mental activity or formations (), consciousness (). They form part of other Buddhist teachings and lists, such as dependent origination, and explain how sensory input ultimately leads to bondage to samsara by the mental defilements.
Dependent Origination
Buddha statue with the famed Ye Dharma Hetu dhāraṇī around the head, which was used as a common summary of Dependent Origination. It states: "Of those experiences that arise from a cause, The Tathāgata has said: 'this is their cause, And this is their cessation': This is what the Great Śramaṇa teaches."]]
In the early texts, the process of the arising of dukkha is explicated through the teaching of dependent origination, which says that everything that exists or occurs is dependent on conditioning factors. The most basic formulation of dependent origination is given in the early texts as: 'It being thus, this comes about' (Pali: evam sati idam hoti). This can be taken to mean that certain phenomena only arise when there are other phenomena present, thus their arising is "dependent" on other phenomena.
The philosopher Mark Siderits has outlined the basic idea of the Buddha's teaching of Dependent Origination of dukkha as follows:
}}
In numerous early texts, this basic principle is expanded with a list of phenomena that are said to be conditionally dependent,}} as a result of later elaborations, including Vedic cosmogenies as the basis for the first four links. According to Boisvert, nidana 3-10 correlate with the five skandhas. According to Richard Gombrich, the twelve-fold list is a combination of two previous lists, the second list beginning with tanha'', "thirst", the cause of suffering as described in the second noble truth". According to Gombrich, the two lists were combined, resulting in contradictions in its reverse version.}}
Anatta
The Buddha saw his analysis of dependent origination as a "Middle Way" between "eternalism" (sassatavada, the idea that some essence exists eternally) and "annihilationism" (ucchedavada, the idea that we go completely out of existence at death). in this view, persons are just a causal series of impermanent psycho-physical elements, which are anatta, without an independent or permanent self. The Buddha instead held that all things in the world of our experience are transient and that there is no unchanging part to a person. According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's position is simply that "everything is process".
The Buddha's arguments against an unchanging self rely on the scheme of the five skandhas, as can be seen in the Pali Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (and its parallels in Gandhari and Chinese). In the early texts the Buddha teaches that all five aggregates, including consciousness (viññana, which was held by Brahmins to be eternal), arise due to dependent origination. Since they are all impermanent, one cannot regard any of the psycho-physical processes as an unchanging self. Even mental processes such as consciousness and will (cetana) are seen as being dependently originated and impermanent and thus do not qualify as a self (atman).
The Buddha saw the belief in a self as arising from our grasping at and identifying with the various changing phenomena, as well as from ignorance about how things really are. Furthermore, the Buddha held that we experience suffering because we hold on to erroneous self views. As Rupert Gethin explains, for the Buddha, a person is
}}
Due to this view (termed ), the Buddha's teaching was opposed to all soul theories of his time, including the Jain theory of a "jiva" ("life monad") and the Brahmanical theories of atman (Pali: atta) and purusha. All of these theories held that there was an eternal unchanging essence to a person, which was separate from all changing experiences, and which transmigrated from life to life. The Buddha's anti-essentialist view still includes an understanding of continuity through rebirth, it is just the rebirth of a process (karma), not an essence like the atman.
The path to liberation
sculpture of the Buddha in the full lotus seated meditation posture, 2nd–3rd century CE]]
. The Early Buddhist texts also mention meditation practice while standing and lying down.]]
The Buddha taught a path (marga) of training to undo the samyojana, kleshas and āsavas and attain vimutti (liberation). This path taught by the Buddha is depicted in the early texts (most famously in the Pali Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and its numerous parallel texts) as a "Middle Way" between sensual indulgence on one hand and mortification of the body on the other.
A common presentation of the core structure of Buddha's teaching found in the early texts is that of the Four Noble Truths, which refers to the Noble Eightfold Path.}} According to Gethin, another common summary of the path to awakening wisely used in the early texts is "abandoning the hindrances, practice of the four establishments of mindfulness and development of the awakening factors".
According to Rupert Gethin, in the Nikayas and Agamas, the Buddha's path is mainly presented in a cumulative and gradual "step by step" process, such as that outlined in the Samaññaphala Sutta.<br>Gethin adds: "This schema is assumed and, in one way or another, adapted by the later manuals such as the Visuddhimagga, the Abhidharmakosa, Kamalasila's Bhavanakrama ('Stages of Meditation', eighth century) and also Chinese and later Tibetan works such as Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan ('Great Calm and Insight') and Hsiu-hsi chih-kuan tso-ch'an fa-yao ('The Essentials for Sitting in Meditation and Cultivating Calm and Insight', sixth century), sGam-po-pa's Thar-pa rin-po che'i rgyan ('Jewel Ornament of Liberation', twelfth century) and Tsong-kha-pa's Lam rim chen mo ('Great Graduated Path', fourteenth century).}} Other early texts like the Upanisa sutta (SN 12.23), present the path as reversions of the process of Dependent Origination.}}
Bhāvanā, cultivation of wholesome states, is central to the Buddha's path. Common practices to this goal, which are shared by most of these early presentations of the path, include sila (ethical training), restraint of the senses (indriyasamvara), sati (mindfulness) and sampajañña (clear awareness), and the practice of dhyana, the cumulative development of wholesome states leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)". Dhyana is preceded and supported by various aspects of the path such as sense restraint and mindfulness, which is elaborated in the satipatthana-scheme, as taught in the Pali Satipatthana Sutta and the sixteen elements of Anapanasati, as taught in the Anapanasati Sutta.. For a comparative survey of Anapanasati, see: . }} Jain and Brahmanical influences
, Borobudur relief.]]
In various texts, the Buddha is depicted as having studied under two named teachers, Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta. According to Alexander Wynne, these were yogis who taught doctrines and practices similar to those in the Upanishads. According to Johannes Bronkhorst, the "meditation without breath and reduced intake of food" which the Buddha practiced before his awakening are forms of asceticism which are similar to Jain practices.
According to Richard Gombrich, the Buddha's teachings on Karma and Rebirth are a development of pre-Buddhist themes that can be found in Jain and Brahmanical sources, like the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Likewise, samsara, the idea that we are trapped in cycles of rebirth and that we should seek liberation from them through non-harming (ahimsa) and spiritual practices, pre-dates the Buddha and was likely taught in early Jainism. According to K.R. Norman, the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence): That nothing which comes to be is ultimately satisfying;
* Anattā (Sanskrit: anātman): That nothing in the realm of experience can really be said to be "I" or "mine".}} may also reflect Upanishadic or other influences . The Buddhist practice called Brahma-vihara may have also originated from a Brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common in the sramana traditions.
Homeless life
The early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as promoting the life of a homeless and celibate "sramana", or mendicant, as the ideal way of life for the practice of the path. He taught that mendicants or "beggars" (bhikkhus) were supposed to give up all possessions and to own just a begging bowl and three robes. As part of the Buddha's monastic discipline, they were also supposed to rely on the wider lay community for the basic necessities (mainly food, clothing, and lodging).
The Buddha's teachings on monastic discipline were preserved in the various Vinaya collections of the different early schools.
Buddhist monastics, which included both monks and nuns, were supposed to beg for their food, were not allowed to store up food or eat after noon and they were not allowed to use gold, silver or any valuables.Society Critique of Brahmanism
.]]
According to Bronkhorst, "the bearers of [the Brahmanical] tradition, the Brahmins, did not occupy a dominant position in the area in which the Buddha preached his message." Nevertheless, the Buddha was acquainted with Brahmanism, and in the early Buddhist Texts, the Buddha references Brahmanical devices. For example, in Samyutta Nikaya 111, Majjhima Nikaya 92 and Vinaya i 246 of the Pali Canon, the Buddha praises the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Sāvitrī meter as the foremost meter.}} In general, the Buddha critiques the animal sacrifices and social system on certain key points.
The Brahmin caste held that the Vedas were eternal revealed (sruti) texts. The Buddha, on the other hand, did not accept that these texts had any divine authority or value.
The Buddha also did not see the Brahmanical rites and practices as useful for spiritual advancement. For example, in the Udāna, the Buddha points out that ritual bathing does not lead to purity: only "truth and morality" lead to purity. Similarly, in several other suttas, the Buddha teaches on how to improve family relationships, particularly on the importance of filial love and gratitude as well as marital well-being.
Regarding the happiness of the next life, the Buddha (in the Dīghajāṇu Sutta) states that the virtues which lead to a good rebirth are: faith (in the Buddha and the teachings), moral discipline, especially keeping the five precepts, generosity, and wisdom (knowledge of the arising and passing of things).
According to the Buddha of the suttas then, achieving a good rebirth is based on cultivating wholesome or skillful (kusala) karma, which leads to a good result, and avoiding unwholesome (akusala) karma. A common list of good karmas taught by the Buddha is the list of ten courses of action (kammapatha) as outlined in MN 41 Saleyyaka Sutta (and its Chinese parallel in SĀ 1042).
Good karma is also termed merit (puñña), and the Buddha outlines three bases of meritorious actions: giving, moral discipline and meditation (as seen in AN 8:36). Physical characteristics
Early sources depict the Buddha's appearance as similar to other Buddhist monks. Various discourses describe how he "cut off his hair and beard" when renouncing the world. Likewise, Digha Nikaya 3 has a Brahmin describe the Buddha as a shaved or bald (mundaka) man. Digha Nikaya 2 also describes how king Ajatashatru is unable to tell which of the monks is the Buddha when approaching the sangha and must ask his minister to point him out. Likewise, in MN 140, a mendicant who sees himself as a follower of the Buddha meets the Buddha in person but is unable to recognize him.
The Buddha is also described as being handsome and with a clear complexion (Digha I:115; Anguttara I:181), at least in his youth. In old age, however, he is described as having a stooped body, with slack and wrinkled limbs.
Various Buddhist texts attribute to the Buddha a series of extraordinary physical characteristics, known as "the 32 Signs of the Great Man" (Skt. mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa).
According to Anālayo, when they first appear in the Buddhist texts, these physical marks were initially held to be imperceptible to the ordinary person, and required special training to detect. Later though, they are depicted as being visible by regular people and as inspiring faith in the Buddha.
These characteristics are described in the Digha Nikaya's (D, I:142). In other religions Hinduism , from Sunari, Medieval period. Gujari Mahal Archaeological Museum]]
After the lifetime of the Buddha the Hindu synthesis emerged, between 500–200 BCE and , under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism. In response to the success of Buddhism, Gautama was incorporated into Vaishnavism as the 9th avatar of Vishnu.}} The adoption of the Buddha as an incarnation began at approximately the same time as Hinduism began to predominate and Buddhism to decline in India, and the inclusion is ambiguous, as the co-option into a list of avatars may be seen as an aspect of Hindu efforts to decisively weaken Buddhist power and appeal in India. While his inclusion has been rejected by some traditionalists, many modern Hindus include the Buddha in their conception of Hinduism.
Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and the concepts of Brahman-Atman. Consequently, Buddhism is generally classified as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so") in contrast to the six orthodox schools of Hinduism.
Islam
Buddhist ideas in Muslim culture can be traced to the presence of Buddhism in Transoxiana and K̲h̲urāsān. Buddhism lasted from the 2nd century B.C. to the 8th century, there, until it dwindled in the face of Zoroastrianism, the Sassanide state religion. Remnants of Buddhism remains until the 9th century and the lasting impact of Buddhist influence is reflected in Muslim arts and poetry of Islamic Persia. However, in the 9th century, the intellectual distance between Buddhism and Islam increased drastically. Only centuries later, during Turco-Mongol governance, the attention of Muslim scholars shifted towards Buddhism again.
In Islamic sources, Buddha is called Budd (Persian: but) or Shakyamuni. The former term is used in the writings of al-Jahiz, al-Mas'udi, al-Biruni, and al-Shahrastani. The term further denotes a temple or an idol, as many authors believed that Buddhists were idolaters. They are described further as believing in the eternity of the world, the retributation of actions after life, and the appearance of Buddha in various forms. Buddhists were referred to as sumaniyya.
Although Muslims had only rudimentary knowledge about Buddhism, they attempted to integrate the Buddha into their own religious history. Ibn Hazm defines the Buddha as a person who is not born, does not eat or drink, and does not die. The Buddha is compared to various Islamic figures by Muslim heresiologists. In his Fihrist, ibn al-Nadim reiterates three opinions from among the scholars, that the Buddha is either an angel, an ʿifrīt (demon), or a Prophet. Al-Shahrastani identified Buddha with the legendary al-Khizr.
Rashid al-Din Hamadani's (1247–1318) Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh dedicates an entire chapter on describing Buddhist beliefs to the Ilkhanate from a Muslim viewpoint. He identifies Buddha (Shakyamuni) as a monotheistic prophet. He integrates the cyclical reappearance of the Buddha into the lineage of Islamic prophets, who likewise raise whenever a community yielded into decay and violance. In line with Islamic prophetology, Rashid al-Din emphazizes the finality of Muhammad. In order to establish Buddha's monotheism, the author retells a story from the Lalitavistara Sūtra within an Islamic framework: Accordingly, the Indian deities, Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, and Indra are prophets or angels who claim divinity for themselves and thus identified with the "people of Iblis" (ahl-i iblīs). When Buddha is brought to the idols and ordered to worship them, the idols bow down before Buddha instead, an idea linked to the Quranic story of angels prostrating before Adam, and the superiority of prophets over angels in Islamic theology (Kalām).
Muhammad Hamidullah (1908 – December 2002) identifies Buddha as a prophet based on the Quran Surah 95:1. The verse takes an oath by a fig-tree, followed by Mount Sinai. Since Moses received his revelation on Mount Sinai, the fig-tree features as the location of revelation for another prophet, identified with Buddha, since Buddha reached enlightenment under a fig-tree. He is further identified with the prophet Dhu al-Kifl, supposedly related to his birthplace in Kapila-Vastu. He furthermore compares Buddha's teachings with that of Muhammad: The teaching of the omnipresence of dukkha, as formulated in the Four Noble Truths, is compared to 90:04, stating that "humans are created in "pain toil and trial"". Similarly, by receiving his revelation, Muhammad would have entered into a state of peace (salam) and, as per hadith, his devilish nature surrendered to islam (aslama shayṭānī).
Christianity
, 1880]]
The Christian saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph. The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha. Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast-day 27 November)—though not in the Roman Missal—and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).
Other religions
In the Baháʼí Faith, Buddha is regarded as one of the Manifestations of God.
Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Laozi.
In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism, the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.
In Sikhism, Buddha is mentioned as the 23rd avatar of Vishnu in the Chaubis Avtar, a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.
Artistic depictions
The earliest artistic depictions of the Buddha found at Bharhut and Sanchi are aniconic and symbolic. During this early aniconic period, the Buddha is depicted by other objects or symbols, such as an empty throne, a riderless horse, footprints, a Dharma wheel or a Bodhi tree. Since aniconism precludes single devotional figures, most representations are of narrative scenes from his life. These continued to be very important after the Buddha's person could be shown, alongside larger statues. The art at Sanchi also depicts Jataka tales, narratives of the Buddha in his past lives.
Other styles of Indian Buddhist art depict the Buddha in human form, either standing, sitting crossed legged (often in the Lotus Pose) or lying down on one side. Iconic representations of the Buddha became particularly popular and widespread after the first century CE. Some of these depictions, particularly those of Gandharan Buddhism and Central Asian Buddhism, were influenced by Hellenistic art, a style known as Greco-Buddhist art. The subsequently influenced the art of East Asian Buddhist images, as well as those of Southeast Asian Theravada Buddhism.
Gallery showing different Buddha styles
<gallery>
File:A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC, Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh, India, sandstone - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05134.JPG|A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC.
File:Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree Bharhut relief.jpg|Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree, Bharhut.
File:Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven, Sanchi Stupa No. 1.
File:Miracle at Kapilavastu Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air with only path visible Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|The Buddha's Miracle at Kapilavastu, Sanchi Stupa 1.
File:Bamboo garden (Venuvana) at Rajagriha, the visit of Bimbisara.jpg|Bimbisara visiting the Buddha (represented as empty throne) at the Bamboo garden in Rajagriha
File:Andhra pradesh, la grande dipartita, da regione di amaravati, II sec.JPG|The great departure with riderless horse, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.
File:MaraAssault.jpg|The Assault of Mara, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.
File:Isapur Buddha.jpg|Isapur Buddha, one of the earliest physical depictions of the Buddha, . Art of Mathura
File:The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.jpg|The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.
File:Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven. Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2d century AD. Indian Museum, Calcutta.jpg|Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven. Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2nd century CE. Indian Museum, Kolkata.
File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|Standing Buddha from Gandhara.
File:Berenike Buddha (drawing).jpg|The Berenike Buddha, discovered in Berenice, Egypt, 2nd century CE.
File:Buddha-Vajrapani-Herakles.JPG|Gandharan Buddha with Vajrapani-Herakles.
File:BuddhaTriadAndKushanCouple.JPG|Kushan period Buddha Triad.
File:Buddha Statue, Sanchi 01.jpg|Buddha statue from Sanchi.
File:Four Scenes from the Life of the Buddha - Birth of the Buddha - Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century AD, Gandhara, schist - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05128.JPG|Birth of the Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE.
File:InfantBuddhaTakingABathGandhara2ndCenturyCE.jpg|The infant Buddha taking a bath, Gandhara 2nd century CE.
File:Buddha with radiate halo and mandorla.Gandhara.Met.jpg|6th century Gandharan Buddha.
File:Upper Floor, Cave No. 6, Ajanta Caves - 1.jpg|Buddha at Cave No. 6, Ajanta Caves.
File:Standing Buddha Installed by Buddist Monk Yasadinna - Circa 5th Century CE - Jamalpur Mound - ACCN 00-A-5 - Government Museum Mathura Golden background.jpg|Standing Buddha, .
File:Sarnath standing Buddha 5th century CE.jpg|Sarnath standing Buddha, 5th century CE.
File:British Museum - Seated Buddha (Gupta period).JPG|Seated Buddha, Gupta period.
File:Gal Viharaya 02.jpg|Seated Buddha at Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka.
File:Clevelandart 1914.567.jpg|Chinese Stele with Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas, Wei period, 536 CE.
File:Asuka dera daibutsu.jpg|The Shakyamuni Daibutsu Bronze, , Nara, Japan.
File:Buddha Seguntang Palembang.jpg|Amaravati style Buddha of Srivijaya period, Palembang, Indonesia, 7th century.
File:Seokguram Buddha.JPG|Korean Seokguram Cave Buddha, .
File:Buddha Mendut.jpg|Seated Buddha Vairocana flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani of Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia, early 9th century.
File:Stupa Borobudur.jpg|Buddha in the exposed stupa of Borobudur mandala, Central Java, Indonesia, .
File:023 Vairocana Buddha, 9c, Srivijaya (35212721926).jpg|Vairocana Buddha of Srivijaya style, Southern Thailand, 9th century.
File:Seated Shaka Nyorai (Sakyamuni, Gautama Buddha).jpg|Seated Buddha, Japan, Heian period, 9th－10th century.
File:FireLanceAndGrenade10thCenturyDunhuang.jpg|Attack of Mara, 10th century, Dunhuang.
File:Naga-enthroned Buddha - Beyond Angkor - Cleveland Museum of Art (40887945882).jpg|Cambodian Buddha with Mucalinda Nāga, , Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia
File:Thai - Buddha at the Moment of Victory - Walters 542775.jpg|15th century Sukhothai Buddha.
File:Thai - Walking Buddha - Walters 542765.jpg|15th century Sukhothai Walking Buddha.
File:Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius - Google Art Project.jpg|Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius, c. from 1368 until 1644.
File:Shakyamuni detail, Clevelandart 1991.9 (cropped).jpg|Chinese depiction of Shakyamuni, 1600.
File:Sakyamuni Buddha on Snowy Mount, Tay Phuong pagoda, Ha Tay province, 1794 AD, lacquered wood - Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts - Hanoi, Vietnam - DSC05083.JPG|Buddha on the snowy mountain, Vietnam, 18th century
File:Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes - Google Art Project.jpg|Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes, Tibetan, 19th century
File:Bodh Gaya - Wat Thai - Main Buddha Statue (9228460504).jpg|Golden Thai Buddha statue, Bodh Gaya.
File:Gautama Buddha-1.jpg|Gautama statue, Shanyuan Temple, Liaoning Province, China.
File:P1040704.JPG|Burmese style Buddha, Shwedagon pagoda, Yangon.
File:Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla, Sikkim.jpg|Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla.
File:MET DP264118 (cropped).jpg|Head of Buddha, from Hadda, Afghanistan, –6th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
</gallery>
In other media
Films
* Buddha Dev (Life of Lord Buddha), a 1923 Indian silent film by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, first depiction of the Buddha on film with Bhaurao Datar in the title role.
* Prem Sanyas (The Light of Asia), a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai based on Arnold's epic poem with Rai also portraying the Buddha.
* The Life of Buddha, or Prawat Phra Phuttajao, a 2007 Thai animated feature film about the life of Gautama Buddha, based on the Tipitaka.
* Tathagatha Buddha, a 2008 Indian film by Allani Sridhar. Based on Sadguru Sivananda Murthy's book Gautama Buddha, it stars Sunil Sharma as the Buddha.<ref name="Bakker" />
* Sri Siddhartha Gautama, a 2013 Sinhalese epic biographical film based on the life of Lord Buddha.
* A Journey of Samyak Buddha, a 2013 Indian film by Praveen Damle, based on B. R. Ambedkar's 1957 Navayana book The Buddha and His Dhamma with Abhishek Urade in the title role.
Television
* Buddha, a 1996 Indian series which aired on Sony TV. It stars Arun Govil as the Buddha.<ref name="Bakker" />
* [http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/ The Buddha] 2010 PBS documentary by filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere.
* Buddha, a 2013 Indian drama series on Zee TV starring Himanshu Soni in the title role.
Literature
* The Light of Asia, an 1879 epic poem by Edwin Arnold
* The Buddha and His Dhamma, a treatise on Buddha's life and philosophy, by B. R. Ambedkar
* Before He Was Buddha: The Life of Siddhartha, by Hammalawa Saddhatissa
* Buddha, a manga series that ran from 1972 to 1983 by Osamu Tezuka
* Siddhartha novel by Hermann Hesse, written in German in 1922
* Lord of Light, a novel by Roger Zelazny depicts a man in a far future Earth Colony who takes on the name and teachings of the Buddha
* Creation, a 1981 novel by Gore Vidal, includes the Buddha as one of the religious figures that the main character encounters
Music
* The Light of Asia, an 1886 oratorio by Dudley Buck based on Arnold's poem
* Karuna Nadee, a 2010 oratorio by Dinesh Subasinghe
See also
* Buddhist pilgrimage sites
* Family of Gautama Buddha
* List of Indian philosophers
* List of places where Gautama Buddha stayed
* Miracles of Gautama Buddha
Notes
}}, the introductory to the Jataka tales, the stories of the former lives of the Buddha, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern Nepal, but then part of the territory of the Shakya-clan.<ref name"WHC"/><ref name"Victoria and Albert Museum"/> In the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was Gautama's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: "...this is where the Buddha, sage of the Śākyas (Śākyamuni), was born." <br />Based on stone inscriptions, there is also speculation that Lumbei, Kapileswar village, Odisha, at the east coast of India, was the site of ancient Lumbini. (; ; ) Hartmann discusses the hypothesis and states, "The inscription has generally been considered spurious (...)" () He quotes Sircar: "There can hardly be any doubt that the people responsible for the Kapilesvara inscription copied it from the said facsimile not much earlier than 1928."<br />Some sources mention Kapilavastu as the birthplace of the Buddha. Gethin states: "The earliest Buddhist sources state that the future Buddha was born Siddhārtha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha Gotama), the son of a local chieftain—a rājan—in Kapilavastu (Pali Kapilavatthu) what is now Nepal." () Gethin does not give references for this statement.<br />Various sources say Kapilavastu was the place where he grew up: ()
* : "The Buddha [...] was born in the Sakya Republic, which was the city state of Kapilavastu, a very small state just inside the modern state boundary of Nepal against the Northern Indian frontier.
* : "He belonged to the Sakya clan dwelling on the edge of the Himalayas, his actual birthplace being a few kilometres north of the present-day Northern Indian border, in Nepal. His father was, in fact, an elected chief of the clan rather than the king he was later made out to be, though his title was raja—a term which only partly corresponds to our word 'king'. Some of the states of North India at that time were kingdoms and others republics, and the Sakyan republic was subject to the powerful king of neighbouring Kosala, which lay to the south".
* The exact location of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa in Uttar Pradesh, northern India (; ; ), or Tilaurakot , present-day Nepal (, ). The two cities are located only from each other .
See also Conception and birth and Birthplace Sources}}
<!-- "Bodhi" -->
, the preferred translation has shifted to "awakened" and "awakened one" (; :
* : "The Sanskrit and Pāli word bodhi derives from the Indic root [.radical] budh (to awaken, to know) [...] Those who are attentive to the more literal meaning of the Indic original tend to translate bodhi into English as 'awakening', and this is to be recommended. However, it has long been conventional to translate it as 'enlightenment', despite the risks of multiple misrepresentation attendant upon the use of so heavily freighted an English word."
* : "From the fourth jhana he gained bodhi. It is not at all clear what gaining bodhi means. We are accustomed to the translation 'enlightenment' for bodhi, but this is misleading for two reasons. First, it can be confused with the use of the word to describe the development in European thought and culture in the eighteenth century, and second, it suggests that light is being shed on something, whereas there is no hint of the meaning 'light' in the root budh- which underlies the word bodhi. The root means 'to wake up, to be awake, to be awakened', and a buddha is someone who has been awakened. Besides the ordinary sense of being awakened by something, e.g. a noise, it can also mean 'awakened to something'. The desire to get the idea of 'awakened' in English translations of buddha explains the rather peculiar Victorian quasi-poetical translation 'the wake' which we sometimes find."
* Bikkhu Bodhi objects to this shift: "The classical Pali text on grammar, Saddanīti, assigns to this root the meanings of 'knowing (or understanding)', 'blossoming', and 'waking up', in that order of importance. The Pali-Sanskrit noun buddhi, which designates the intellect or faculty of cognition, is derived from budh, yet entails no sense of 'awakening'. Further, when we look at the ordinary use of verbs based on budh in the Pali suttas, we can see that these verbs mean 'to know, to understand, to recognize'. My paper cites several passages where rendering the verb as 'awakens' would stretch the English word beyond its ordinary limits. In those contexts, 'knows', 'understands', 'recognizes', or 'realizes' would fit much better. The verbs derived from budh that do mean 'awaken' are generally preceded by a prefix, but they are not used to refer to the Buddha's attainment of bodhi." (; )
* gives several translations, including "the knowing one": "This is how we understand 'Buddha' in Thailand, as the Awakened One, the Knowing One, and the Blossomed One."}}
<!-- "Buddha-statue" -->
: "Image (ht 5′ 3″ up to the top of the halo; width at base 2′ 7″) of Gautama Buddha seated cross-legged, preaching the first sermon at Sarnath, on a thick cushion supported on a seat with moulded legs."
* : "In the most famous of these images in the Sarnath museum, the Buddha sits cross-legged, his limbs in the perfect proportions prescribed by the iconometry of the day, his hands in a teaching pose, his eyes downcast, half-shut in meditation, his head backed by a beautifully ornamented circular nimbus."
* : "The seated Buddha, B(b) 181 showing Buddha cross-legged in the attitude of preaching, is one of the most exquisite creations of Gupta art. The halo is carved with a pair of celestial figures and conventionalized floral scroll-work."}}
<!-- "Buswell_Lopez_renunciation" -->
* refer to the [https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html Ariyapariyesana Sutta], noting: "Buddha's quest for enlightenment occurs in the ARIYAPARIYESANĀSUTTA. It is noteworthy that many of the most familiar events in the Buddha's life are absent in some of the early accounts."<br>The Ariyapariyesana Sutta says: "So, at a later time, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of life — and while my parents, unwilling, were crying with tears streaming down their faces — I shaved off my hair & beard, put on the ochre robe and went forth from the home life into homelessness.}}
<!-- D -->
<!-- "deathplace" -->
<!-- N -->
<!-- "name_the_buddha" -->
, "Gautama": "Gautama. (P.) Gotama; The family name of the historical Buddha, also known as ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha. ... In Pāli literature, he is more commonly referred to as Gotama Buddha; in Mahāyāna texts, Śākyamuni Buddha is more common."
:* ; Gautama namely Gotama in Pali. "Siddhārtha": "Siddhārtha. (P. Siddhattha; T. Don grub; C. Xidaduo; J. Shiddatta/Shittatta; K. Siltalta ). In Sanskrit, "He Who Achieves His Goal", the personal name of GAUTAMA Buddha, also known as ŚĀKYAMUNI. In some accounts of the life of the Buddha, after his royal birth as the son of King ŚUDDHODANA, the BODHISATTVA was given this name and is referred to by that name during his life as a prince and his practice of asceticism. ... After his achievement of buddhahood, Siddhārtha is instead known as Gautama, Śākyamuni, or simply the TATHĀGATA."
* [Buddha] Shakyamuni:
:* "Śākyamuni": "Śākyamuni. (P. Sakkamuni; ... one of the most common epithets of GAUTAMA Buddha, especially in the MAHĀYĀNA traditions, where the name ŚĀKYAMUNI is used to distinguish the historical buddha from the myriad other buddhas who appear in the SŪTRAs."
:* Buddha Shakyamuni: from the middle of the 3rd century BCE, several Edicts of Ashoka (reigned –232 BCE) mention the Buddha and Buddhism (, ). Particularly, Ashoka's Lumbini pillar inscription commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to Lumbini as the Buddha's birthplace, calling him the Buddha Shakyamuni (Brahmi script: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻 Bu-dha Sa-kya-mu-nī, "Buddha, Sage of the Shakyas") (In Ashoka's Rummindei Edict , in )
* The Buddha:
:* chapter"Buddha (Skt; Pali)": "This is not a personal name but an epithet of those who have achieved enlightenment (*bodhi), the goal of the Buddhist religious life. Buddha comes from the *Sanskrit root 'budh', meaning to awaken, and the Buddhas are those who have awakened to the true nature of things as taught in the *Four Noble Truths. ... It is generally believed that there can never be more than one Buddha in any particular era, and the 'historical Buddha' of the present era was *Siddhartha Gautama. Numerous ahistorical Buddhas make an appearance in Mahayana literature."
:* : "Also with the: (a title for) Siddhārtha Gautama, or Śākyamuni, a spiritual teacher from South Asia on whose teachings Buddhism is based, and who is believed to have been born in what is now Nepal and flourished in what is now Bihar, north-eastern India, during the 5th cent. b.c. Also: (a title given to) any Buddhist teacher regarded as having attained full awakening or enlightenment."}}
<!-- P -->
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}}
<!-- S -->
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<!--: "In this respect, then, Buddha could accurately be viewed as a kind of saviour, and when so conceived he has had for many the attributes of divinity--saving power, omniscience in regard to all essential truth, an all-encompassing compassion, timeless existence, immutable being, unending bliss, etc."}}-->
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}}
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Further reading
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Category:5th-century BC Indian people
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Category:Avatars of Vishnu
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Category:National heroes of Nepal
Category:Philosophers of love
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Category:Shakyas
Category:Indian princes | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buddha | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.674531 |
3397 | Bridge | in Laos]]
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it.
The earliest bridges were likely made with fallen trees and stepping stones. The Neolithic people built boardwalk bridges across marshland. The Arkadiko Bridge, dating from the 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese is one of the oldest arch bridges in existence and use.
Etymology
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word bridge to an Old English word brycg, of the same meaning.
The Oxford English Dictionary also notes that there is some suggestion that the word can be traced directly back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēw-. However, they also note that "this poses semantic problems."
The origin of the word for the card game of the same name is unknown,History
in Himachal Pradesh, India]]
, Canada]]
in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S., "one of the earliest surviving examples of monumental, reinforced concrete construction," according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.]]
in Morocco]]
in Lithuania]]
The simplest and earliest types of bridges were stepping stones.
Neolithic people also built a form of boardwalk across marshes; examples of such bridges include the Sweet Track and the Post Track in England, approximately 6000 years old. Ancient people would also have used log bridges consisting of logs that fell naturally or were intentionally felled or placed across streams. Some of the first human-made bridges with significant span were probably intentionally felled trees. Among the oldest timber bridges is the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden bridge that crossed upper Lake Zürich in Switzerland; prehistoric timber pilings discovered to the west of the Seedamm causeway date back to 1523 BC. The first wooden footbridge there led across Lake Zürich; it was reconstructed several times through the late 2nd century AD, when the Roman Empire built a wooden bridge to carry transport across the lake. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that was used until 1878; it was approximately long and wide. On 6 April 2001, a reconstruction of the original wooden footbridge was opened; it is also the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland.
The Arkadiko Bridge is one of four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between the fort of Tiryns and town of Epidauros in the Peloponnese, in southern Greece. Dating to the Greek Bronze Age (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. Several intact, arched stone bridges from the Hellenistic era can be found in the Peloponnese.
The greatest bridge builders of antiquity were the ancient Romans. The Romans built arch bridges and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy earlier designs, some of which still stand today. An example is the Alcántara Bridge, built over the river Tagus, in Spain. The Romans also used cement, which reduced the variation of strength found in natural stone. One type of cement, called pozzolana, consisted of water, lime, sand, and volcanic rock. Brick and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost (then later rediscovered).
In India, the Arthashastra treatise by Kautilya mentions the construction of dams and bridges. A Mauryan bridge near Girnar was surveyed by James Princep. The use of stronger bridges using plaited bamboo and iron chain was visible in India by about the 4th century. A number of bridges, both for military and commercial purposes, were constructed by the Mughal administration in India.
Although large bridges of wooden construction existed in China at the time of the Warring States period, the oldest surviving stone bridge in China is the Zhaozhou Bridge, built from 595 to 605 AD during the Sui dynasty. This bridge is also historically significant as it is the world's oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge. European segmental arch bridges date back to at least the Alconétar Bridge (approximately 2nd century AD), while the enormous Roman era Trajan's Bridge (105 AD) featured open-spandrel segmental arches in wooden construction.
Rope bridges, a simple type of suspension bridge, were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains of South America, just prior to European colonization in the 16th century.
The Ashanti built bridges over streams and rivers. They were constructed by pounding four large forked tree trunks into the stream bed, placing beams along these forked pillars, then positioning cross-beams that were finally covered with four to six inches of dirt. With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of wrought iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron does not have the tensile strength to support large loads. With the advent of steel, which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel.
In Canada and the United States, numerous timber covered bridges were built in the late 1700s to the late 1800s, reminiscent of earlier designs in Germany and Switzerland. Some covered bridges were also built in Asia. In later years, some were partly made of stone or metal but the trusses were usually still made of wood; in the United States, there were three styles of trusses, the Queen Post, the Burr Arch and the Town Lattice. Hundreds of these structures still stand in North America. They were brought to the attention of the general public in the 1990s by the novel, movie and play The Bridges of Madison County.
In 1927, welding pioneer Stefan Bryła designed the first welded road bridge in the world, the Maurzyce Bridge which was later built across the river Słudwia at Maurzyce near Łowicz, Poland in 1929. In 1995, the American Welding Society presented the Historic Welded Structure Award for the bridge to Poland.Types of bridgesBridges can be categorized in several different ways. Common categories include the type of structural elements used, by what they carry, whether they are fixed or movable, and by the materials used.Structure types
Bridges may be classified by how the actions of tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear are distributed through their structure. Most bridges will employ all of these to some degree, but only a few will predominate. The separation of forces and moments may be quite clear. In a suspension or cable-stayed bridge, the elements in tension are distinct in shape and placement. In other cases the forces may be distributed among a large number of members, as in a truss.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Beam bridge
|Beam bridges are horizontal beams supported at each end by substructure units and can be either simply supported when the beams only connect across a single span, or continuous when the beams are connected across two or more spans. When there are multiple spans, the intermediate supports are known as piers. The earliest beam bridges were simple logs that sat across streams and similar simple structures. In modern times, beam bridges can range from small, wooden beams to large, steel boxes. The vertical force on the bridge becomes a shear and flexural load on the beam which is transferred down its length to the substructures on either side They are typically made of steel, concrete or wood. Girder bridges and plate girder bridges, usually made from steel, are types of beam bridges. Box girder bridges, made from steel, concrete, or both, are also beam bridges. Beam bridge spans rarely exceed long, as the flexural stresses increase proportionally to the square of the length (and deflection increases proportionally to the 4th power of the length). However, the main span of the Rio–Niteroi Bridge, a box girder bridge, is .
The world's longest beam bridge is Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in southern Louisiana in the United States, at , with individual spans of . Beam bridges are the simplest and oldest type of bridge in use today, and are a popular type.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Truss bridge
| A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss. This truss is a structure of connected elements forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges. The basic types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple designs which could be easily analyzed by nineteenth and early twentieth-century engineers. A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient use of materials.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Cantilever bridge
|Cantilever bridges are built using cantilevers—horizontal beams supported on only one end. Most cantilever bridges use a pair of continuous spans that extend from opposite sides of the supporting piers to meet at the center of the obstacle the bridge crosses. Cantilever bridges are constructed using much the same materials and techniques as beam bridges. The difference comes in the action of the forces through the bridge.
Some cantilever bridges also have a smaller beam connecting the two cantilevers, for extra strength.
The largest cantilever bridge is the Quebec Bridge in Quebec, Canada.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Arch bridge
|Arch bridges have abutments at each end. The weight of the bridge is thrust into the abutments at either side. The earliest known arch bridges were built by the Greeks, and include the Arkadiko Bridge.
With the span of , the Solkan Bridge over the Soča River at Solkan in Slovenia is the second-largest stone bridge in the world and the longest railroad stone bridge. It was completed in 1905. Its arch, which was constructed from over of stone blocks in just 18 days, is the second-largest stone arch in the world, surpassed only by the Friedensbrücke (Syratalviadukt) in Plauen, and the largest railroad stone arch. The arch of the Friedensbrücke, which was built in the same year, has the span of and crosses the valley of the Syrabach River. The difference between the two is that the Solkan Bridge was built from stone blocks, whereas the Friedensbrücke was built from a mixture of crushed stone and cement mortar.
The world's largest arch bridge is the Chaotianmen Bridge over the Yangtze River with a length of and a span of . The bridge was opened 29 April 2009, in Chongqing, China.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Tied arch bridge
|Tied-arch bridges have an arch-shaped superstructure, but differ from conventional arch bridges. Instead of transferring the weight of the bridge and traffic loads into thrust forces into the abutments, the ends of the arches are restrained by tension in the bottom chord of the structure. They are also called bowstring arches.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Suspension bridge
|Suspension bridges are suspended from cables. The earliest suspension bridges were made of ropes or vines covered with pieces of bamboo. In modern bridges, the cables hang from towers that are attached to caissons or cofferdams. The caissons or cofferdams are implanted deep into the bed of the lake, river or sea. Sub-types include the simple suspension bridge, the stressed ribbon bridge, the underspanned suspension bridge, the suspended-deck suspension bridge, and the self-anchored suspension bridge. There is also what is sometimes called a "semi-suspension" bridge, of which the Ferry Bridge in Burton-upon-Trent is the only one of its kind in Europe.
The longest suspension bridge in the world is the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey.
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Cable-stayed bridge
|Cable-stayed bridges, like suspension bridges, are held up by cables. However, in a cable-stayed bridge, less cable is required and the towers holding the cables are proportionately higher. The first known cable-stayed bridge was designed in 1784 by C. T. (or C. J.) Löscher.
The longest cable-stayed bridge since 2012 is the Russky Bridge in Vladivostok, Russia.
|}
Some Engineers sub-divide 'beam' bridges into slab, beam-and-slab and box girder on the basis of their cross-section.
The Tank bridge transporter (TBT) has the same cross-country performance as a tank even when fully loaded. It can deploy, drop off and load bridges independently, but it cannot recover them.Double-decked bridges
, connecting New York City and Bergen County, New Jersey, is the world's busiest bridge, carrying 106 million vehicles annually.]]
Double-decked (or double-decker) bridges have two levels, such as the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Bergen County, New Jersey, US, as the world's busiest bridge, carrying 102 million vehicles annually; truss work between the roadway levels provided stiffness to the roadways and reduced movement of the upper level when the lower level was installed three decades after the upper level. The Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge in Hong Kong have six lanes on their upper decks, and on their lower decks there are two lanes and a pair of tracks for MTR metro trains. Some double-decked bridges only use one level for street traffic; the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis reserves its lower level for automobile and light rail traffic and its upper level for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (predominantly students at the University of Minnesota). Likewise, in Toronto, the Prince Edward Viaduct has five lanes of motor traffic, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks on its upper deck; and a pair of tracks for the Bloor–Danforth subway line on its lower deck. The western span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also has two levels.
Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne, completed in 1849, is an early example of a double-decked bridge. The upper level carries a railway, and the lower level is used for road traffic. Other examples include Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and Craigavon Bridge in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö consists of a four-lane highway on the upper level and a pair of railway tracks at the lower level. Tower Bridge in London is different example of a double-decked bridge, with the central section consisting of a low-level bascule span and a high-level footbridge.
Viaducts
A viaduct is made up of multiple bridges connected into one longer structure. The longest and some of the highest bridges are viaducts, such as the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and Millau Viaduct.
Multi-way bridge
, a multi-way bridge in Midland, Michigan, U.S.]]
A multi-way bridge has three or more separate spans which meet near the center of the bridge. Multi-way bridges with only three spans appear as a "T" or "Y" when viewed from above. Multi-way bridges are extremely rare. The Tridge, Margaret Bridge, and Zanesville Y-Bridge are examples.
Bridge types by use
A bridge can be categorized by what it is designed to carry, such as trains, pedestrian or road traffic (road bridge), a pipeline (Pipe bridge) or waterway for water transport or barge traffic. An aqueduct is a bridge that carries water, resembling a viaduct, which is a bridge that connects points of equal height. A road-rail bridge carries both road and rail traffic. Overway is a term for a bridge that separates incompatible intersecting traffic, especially road and rail.
Some bridges accommodate other purposes, such as the tower of Nový Most Bridge in Bratislava, which features a restaurant, or a bridge-restaurant which is a bridge built to serve as a restaurant. Other suspension bridge towers carry transmission antennas.
Conservationists use wildlife overpasses to reduce habitat fragmentation and animal-vehicle collisions. The first animal bridges sprung up in France in the 1950s, and these types of bridges are now used worldwide to protect both large and small wildlife.
Bridges are subject to unplanned uses as well. The areas underneath some bridges have become makeshift shelters and homes to homeless people, and the undertimbers of bridges all around the world are spots of prevalent graffiti. Some bridges attract people attempting suicide, and become known as suicide bridges.
Bridge types by material
in Shropshire, England, completed in 1781, the first cast iron bridge]]
in Erfurt, Germany, a bridge with half timbered buildings]]
, Greece]]
The materials used to build the structure are also used to categorize bridges. Until the end of the 18th century, bridges were made out of timber, stone and masonry. Modern bridges are currently built in concrete, steel, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), stainless steel or combinations of those materials. Living bridges have been constructed of live plants such as Ficus elastica tree roots in India and wisteria vines in Japan.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Bridge type !! Materials used
|-
| Cantilever || For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.
|-
| Suspension || The cables are usually made of steel cables galvanised with zinc, along with most of the bridge, but some bridges are still made with steel-reinforced concrete.
|-
| Arch || Stone, brick and other such materials that are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear.
|-
| Beam || Beam bridges can use pre-stressed concrete, an inexpensive building material, which is then embedded with rebar. The resulting bridge can resist both compression and tension forces.
|-
| Truss ||The triangular pieces of truss bridges are manufactured from straight and steel bars, according to the truss bridge designs.
|}
Analysis and design
over construction on Interstate 5 in Burbank, California, in 2021]]
Unlike buildings whose design is led by architects, bridges are usually designed by engineers. This follows from the importance of the engineering requirements; namely spanning the obstacle and having the durability to survive, with minimal maintenance, in an aggressive outdoor environment. On completion of the analysis, the bridge is designed to resist the applied bending moments and shear forces, section sizes are selected with sufficient capacity to resist the stresses. Many bridges are made of prestressed concrete which has good durability properties, either by pre-tensioning of beams prior to installation or post-tensioning on site.
In most countries, bridges, like other structures, are designed according to Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) principles. In simple terms, this means that the load is factored up by a factor greater than unity, while the resistance or capacity of the structure is factored down, by a factor less than unity. The effect of the factored load (stress, bending moment) should be less than the factored resistance to that effect. Both of these factors allow for uncertainty and are greater when the uncertainty is greater.
Aesthetics
in Utrecht, Netherlands]]
of Stari Most (Old Bridge) gives its name to the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
in London, under which planes pass]]
Most bridges are utilitarian in appearance, but in some cases, the appearance of the bridge can have great importance. Often, this is the case with a large bridge that serves as an entrance to a city, or crosses over a main harbor entrance. These are sometimes known as signature bridges. Designers of bridges in parks and along parkways often place more importance on aesthetics, as well. Examples include the stone-faced bridges along the Taconic State Parkway in New York.
Bridges are typically more aesthetically pleasing if they are simple in shape, the deck is thinner in proportion to its span, the lines of the structure are continuous, and the shapes of the structural elements reflect the forces acting on them. To create a beautiful image, some bridges are built much taller than necessary. This type, often found in east-Asian style gardens, is called a Moon bridge, evoking a rising full moon. Other garden bridges may cross only a dry bed of stream-washed pebbles, intended only to convey an impression of a stream. Often in palaces, a bridge will be built over an artificial waterway as symbolic of a passage to an important place or state of mind. A set of five bridges cross a sinuous waterway in an important courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The central bridge was reserved exclusively for the use of the Emperor and Empress, with their attendants.Bridge maintenance
]]
The estimated life of bridges varies between 25 and 80 years depending on location and material.
Bridges may age hundred years with proper maintenance and rehabilitation. Bridge maintenance consisting of a combination of structural health monitoring and testing. This is regulated in country-specific engineer standards and includes an ongoing monitoring every three to six months, a simple test or inspection every two to three years and a major inspection every six to ten years. In Europe, the cost of maintenance is considerable and is higher in some countries than spending on new bridges. The lifetime of welded steel bridges can be significantly extended by aftertreatment of the weld transitions. This results in a potential high benefit, using existing bridges far beyond the planned lifetime.
Bridge traffic loading
While the response of a bridge to the applied loading is well understood, the applied traffic loading itself is still the subject of research. This is a statistical problem as loading is highly variable, particularly for road bridges. Load Effects in bridges (stresses, bending moments) are designed for using the principles of Load and Resistance Factor Design. Before factoring to allow for uncertainty, the load effect is generally considered to be the maximum characteristic value in a specified return period. Notably, in Europe, it is the maximum value expected in 1000 years.
Bridge standards generally include a load model, deemed to represent the characteristic maximum load to be expected in the return period. In the past, these load models were agreed by standard drafting committees of experts but today, this situation is changing. It is now possible to measure the components of bridge traffic load, to weigh trucks, using weigh-in-motion (WIM) technologies. With extensive WIM databases, it is possible to calculate the maximum expected load effect in the specified return period. This is an active area of research, addressing issues of opposing direction lanes, side-by-side (same direction) lanes, traffic growth, permit/non-permit vehicles and long-span bridges (see below). Rather than repeat this complex process every time a bridge is to be designed, standards authorities specify simplified notional load models, notably HL-93, intended to give the same load effects as the characteristic maximum values. The Eurocode is an example of a standard for bridge traffic loading that was developed in this way.
Traffic loading on long span bridges
in Scotland prior to its opening to general traffic; traffic has now been moved to the Queensferry Crossing (on left)]]
Most bridge standards are only applicable for short and medium spans - for example, the Eurocode is only applicable for loaded lengths up to 200 m. Longer spans are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It is generally accepted that the intensity of load reduces as span increases because the probability of many trucks being closely spaced and extremely heavy reduces as the number of trucks involved increases. It is also generally assumed that short spans are governed by a small number of trucks traveling at high speed, with an allowance for dynamics. Longer spans on the other hand, are governed by congested traffic and no allowance for dynamics is needed.
Calculating the loading due to congested traffic remains a challenge as there is a paucity of data on inter-vehicle gaps, both within-lane and inter-lane, in congested conditions. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems provide data on inter-vehicle gaps but only operate well in free flowing traffic conditions. Some authors have used cameras to measure gaps and vehicle lengths in jammed situations and have inferred weights from lengths using WIM data. Others have used microsimulation to generate typical clusters of vehicles on the bridge.
Bridge vibration
Bridges vibrate under load and this contributes, to a greater or lesser extent, to the stresses. Vibration and dynamics are generally more significant for slender structures such as pedestrian bridges and long-span road or rail bridges. One of the most famous examples is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that collapsed shortly after being constructed due to excessive vibration. More recently, the Millennium Bridge in London vibrated excessively under pedestrian loading and was closed and retrofitted with a system of dampers. For smaller bridges, dynamics is not catastrophic but can contribute an added amplification to the stresses due to static effects. For example, the Eurocode for bridge loading specifies amplifications of between 10% and 70%, depending on the span, the number of traffic lanes and the type of stress (bending moment or shear force).
Vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction
There have been many studies of the dynamic interaction between vehicles and bridges during vehicle crossing events. Fryba did pioneering work on the interaction of a moving load and an Euler-Bernoulli beam. With increased computing power, vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) models have become ever more sophisticated. The concern is that one of the many natural frequencies associated with the vehicle will resonate with the bridge's first natural frequency. The vehicle-related frequencies include body bounce and axle hop but there are also pseudo-frequencies associated with the vehicle's speed of crossing and there are many frequencies associated with the surface profile.Bridge failures
<!-- bridge failure and bridge failures redirect here; be sure to update them if changing the section title -->
bridge over the Homochitto River failed due to flood-induced erosion.]]
The failure of bridges is of special concern for structural engineers in trying to learn lessons vital to bridge design, construction and maintenance.
The failure of bridges first assumed national interest in Britain during the Victorian era when many new designs were being built, often using new materials, with some of them failing catastrophically.
In the United States, the National Bridge Inventory tracks the structural evaluations of all bridges, including designations such as "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete".
Bridge health monitoring
There are several methods used to monitor the condition of large structures, like bridges. Many long-span bridges are now routinely monitored with a range of sensors, including strain transducers, accelerometers, tiltmeters, and GPS. Accelerometers have the advantage that they are inertial, i.e., they do not require a reference point to measure from. This is often a problem for distance or deflection measurement, especially if the bridge is over water. Crowdsourcing bridge conditions by accessing data passively captured by cell phones, which routinely include accelerometers and GPS sensors, has been suggested as an alternative to including sensors during bridge construction and an augment for professional examinations.
An option for structural-integrity monitoring is "non-contact monitoring", which uses the Doppler effect (Doppler shift). A laser beam from a Laser Doppler Vibrometer is directed at the point of interest, and the vibration amplitude and frequency are extracted from the Doppler shift of the laser beam frequency due to the motion of the surface. The advantage of this method is that the setup time for the equipment is faster and, unlike an accelerometer, this makes measurements possible on multiple structures in as short a time as possible. Additionally, this method can measure specific points on a bridge that might be difficult to access. However, vibrometers are relatively expensive and have the disadvantage that a reference point is needed to measure from.
Snapshots in time of the external condition of a bridge can be recorded using Lidar to aid bridge inspection. This can provide measurement of the bridge geometry (to facilitate the building of a computer model) but the accuracy is generally insufficient to measure bridge deflections under load.
While larger modern bridges are routinely monitored electronically, smaller bridges are generally inspected visually by trained inspectors. There is considerable research interest in the challenge of smaller bridges as they are often remote and do not have electrical power on site. Possible solutions are the installation of sensors on a specialist inspection vehicle and the use of its measurements as it drives over the bridge to infer information about the bridge condition. These vehicles can be equipped with accelerometers, gyrometers, Laser Doppler Vibrometers and some even have the capability to apply a resonant force to the road surface to dynamically excite the bridge at its resonant frequency.
Visual index
See also
* Air draft
* Architectural engineering
* Bridge chapel
* Bridge tower
* Bridge to nowhere
* Bridges Act
* BS 5400
* Causeway
* Coal trestle
* Covered bridges
* Cross-sea traffic ways
* Culvert
* Deck
* Devil's Bridge
* Footbridge
* Jet bridge
* Landscape architecture
* Megaproject
* Military bridges
* Orphan bridge
* Outline of bridges
* Overpass
* Pier (bridge structure)
* Pontoon bridge
* Rigid-frame bridge
* Structure gauge
* Transporter bridge
* Tensegrity
* Trestle bridge
* Tunnel
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* Whitney, Charles S. Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003. (Unabridged republication of Bridges : a study in their art, science, and evolution. 1929.)
External links
* [http://bridges.lib.lehigh.edu/ Digital Bridge: Bridges of the Nineteenth Century] , a collection of digitized books at Lehigh University
* [http://en.structurae.de/ Structurae] – International Database and Gallery of Engineerings Structures with over 10000 Bridges.
* [https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/ U.S. Federal Highway Administration Bridge Technology]
* [http://tbl.tec.fukuoka-u.ac.jp/index-en.shtml The Museum of Japanese Timber Bridges] Fukuoka University
* [http://www.bridge-info.org "bridge-info.org": site for bridges]
Category:Transport buildings and structures
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:Infrastructure
Category:Structural engineering | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.715707 |
3398 | Beadwork | of a Datooga woman]]
Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary by the kind of art produced. Most often, beadwork is a form of personal adornment (e.g. jewelry), but it also commonly makes up other artworks.
Beadwork techniques are broadly divided into several categories, including loom and off-loom weaving, stringing, bead embroidery, bead crochet, bead knitting, and bead tatting.
Ancient beading
, a village in the Memphite region of Egypt, c. 1802–1450 B.C.]]
The art of creating and utilizing beads is ancient, and ostrich shell beads discovered in Africa can be carbon-dated to 10,000 BC. Faience beads, a type of ceramic created by mixing powdered clays, lime, soda, and silica sand with water until a paste forms, then molding it around a stick or straw and firing until hard, were notably used in ancient Egyptian jewelry from the First Dynasty (beginning in the early Bronze Age) onward. Faience and other ceramic beads with vitrified quartz coatings predate pure glass beads.
Beads and work created with them were found near-ubiquitously across the ancient world, often made of locally available materials. For example, the Athabaskan peoples of Alaska used tusk shells (scaphopod mollusks), which are naturally hollow, as beads and incorporated them into elaborate jewelry.
Beadwork has historically been used for religious purposes, as good luck talismans, for barter and trade, and for ritual exchange.
Some ancient stitches have become especially popular among contemporary artists. The off-loom peyote stitch, for example, is used in Native American Church members' beadwork.
Jewelry made of beads was widespread and fashionable in Western Ukraine, which was connected with the familiarity of Ukrainian artists with the artistic achievements of the countries of Western Europe, where from the 18th century. There was a fashion for artistic products made of beads. Modern Ukrainian beadwork includes: beaded clothing, collars, bracelets, necklaces, necklaces-gerdanes, clothing accessories, and household items such as pysanka.
Europe
, 1903]]Beadwork in Europe, much like in Egypt and the Americas, can be traced to the use of bone and shell as adornments amongst early modern humans.
In Northern Russia, the Kokoshnik headdress typically includes river pearl netting around the forehead in addition to traditional bead embroidery.
By 1291, artists in Murano, Italy had begun production of intricate glass Murano beads inspired by Venetian glassware. With the advent of lampwork glass, Europeans started producing seed beads for embroidery, crochet, and other, mostly off-loom techniques. Two mayor styles were developed: French beading, in which the wire only goes through each bead once and the wires are arranged vertically, and Victorian (also called English or Russian) beading, in which the wires go through each bead twice and are arranged horizontally. North America Native American beadwork, already established via the use of materials like shells, dendrite, claws, and bone, evolved to incorporate glass beads as Europeans brought them to the Americas beginning in the early 17th century.
Native beadwork today heavily utilizes small glass beads, but artists also continue to use traditionally important materials. Wampum shells, for instance, are ceremonially and politically important to a range of Eastern Woodlands tribes, and are used to depict important events.
Several Native American artists from a wide range of nations are considered to be at the forefront of modern American bead working. These artists include Teri Greeves (Kiowa, known for beaded commentaries on Native voting rights), Marcus Amerman (Choctaw, known for realistic beaded portraits of historical figures and celebrities), and Jamie Okuma (Luiseño-Shoshone-Bannock, known for beaded dolls).
Great Lakes tribes
Ursuline nuns in the Great Lakes introduced floral patterns to young Indigenous women, who quickly applied them to beadwork. Ojibwe women in the area created ornately decorated shoulder bags known as gashkibidaagan (bandolier bags).
Eastern Woodlands tribes Innu, Mi'kmaq, Penobscot, and Haudenosaunee peoples developed, and are known for, beading symmetrical scroll motifs, most often in white beads. Tribes of the Iroqouis Confederacy practice raised beading, where threads are pulled taut to force beads into a bas-relief, which creates a three-dimensional effect.
Southeastern tribes
Southeastern tribes pioneered a beadwork style that features images with white outlines, a visual reference to the shells and pearls coastal Southeasterners used pre-contact. This style was nearly lost during the Trail of Tears, as many beadworkers died during their forced removal to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Roger Amerman (Choctaw, brother of Marcus Amerman) and Martha Berry (Cherokee) have effectively revived the style, however. Huichol beadwork is commonly characterized by bright colors and geometric shapes, and motifs of animals and spirits illustrate their spiritual beliefs.
Métis Nation
Métis were known as the Flower Beadwork People by the Cree and Dene because of their culture of colourful floral beadwork and embroidery. During the early 19th century, European and Euro-North American observers and travelers frequently noted the intricate beadwork adorning Métis clothing. This beadwork, particularly floral patterns, has evolved into one of the most recognizable symbols of Métis culture. Métis artisans employed First Nations beadwork techniques along with floral designs influenced by French-Canadian nuns in Roman Catholic missions. By the 1830s, vibrant and lifelike floral motifs dominated Métis creations from the Red River region. Beadwork adorned nearly every traditional Métis garment, from moccasins to coats, belts to bags. The practice of beadwork became a vital economic activity for Métis women and families, spanning generations and providing both personal and commercial expression. Métis organizations like the Louis Riel Institute and the Gabriel Dumont Institute actively promote and preserve traditional beading through workshops and resources, ensuring its continuation within the community. East Asia Aside from jewelry and apparel bead work, bead curtains made a rise in the 1960-1970’s. Bead curtains root back to as early as the 20th century in China, where they were known for the positive energy that they shared. They typically consist of a horizontal pole or piece of wood that has rows of string dangling vertically, each string adorned with beads from top to bottom. These curtains provide a sense of separation between rooms and sometimes to deflect insects along with their decorative qualities. They often fall under the category of ‘screen’ alongside cloth, stone, or wood, though offer a completely different sensory experience while passing though them.
In both Chinese and Japanese glass bead curtains, they’re inscribed with important messages; they often deal with auspicious factors like ‘double happiness’ and immortality. Common iconography, which was created by hanging the beads in a certain pattern, included suns and cranes, to signify happiness and peace. These beads are often believed to have magical medicinal of fertility powers. In Mauritania, powder-glass Kiffa beads represent a beading tradition that may date as far back as 1200 CE; a group of women have been revitalizing the craft after the last traditional Kiffa artisans died in the 1970s. Cameroonian women are known for crafting wooden sculptures covered in beadwork. See also
*Glass beadmaking
*Beadweaving
References
*
* Dubin, Lois Sherr (1999). North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
* Dubin, Lois Sherr (2009). The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C. to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams. .
* Beads and beadwork. (1996). In Encyclopedia of north american indians, Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 27 January 2014, from [http://search.credoreference.com/]
External links
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Category:Articles containing video clips | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beadwork | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.731811 |
3401 | Board game | '' is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages.]]
library in Finland, 2016]]
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and/or moved in particular ways on a patterned board (game board), potentially including other components, e.g. dice.HistoryAncientClassical board games are divided into four categories: race games (such as pachisi), space games (such as noughts and crosses), chase games (such as hnefatafl), and games of displacement (such as chess).
Board games have been played, traveled, and evolved in most cultures and societies throughout history. Several important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games such as Jiroft civilization game boards in Iran. Senet, found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, and 3100 BC respectively, is the oldest board game known to have existed. Senet was pictured in a fresco painting found in Merknera's tomb (3300–2700 BC). Also from predynastic Egypt is mehen.
Hounds and jackals, another ancient Egyptian board game, appeared around 2000 BC. The first complete set of this game was discovered from a Theban tomb that dates to the 13th dynasty. This game was also popular in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.
Backgammon originated in ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago. Ashtapada, chess, pachisi and chaupar originated in India. Go (4th century BC) and liubo (1st century BC) originated in China. The board game Patolli originated in Mesoamerica and was played by a wide range of pre-Columbian cultures such as the Toltecs and the Aztecs. The royal game of Ur was found in the royal tombs of Ur, dating to Mesopotamia 4,600 years ago.
<gallery mode"packed" heights"160">
File:Maler der Grabkammer der Nefertari 003.jpg|Senet, one of the oldest known board games
File:Game of Hounds and Jackals MET DP264105.jpg|Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty)
File:Men Playing Board Games.jpg| Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript
File:British Museum Royal Game of Ur.jpg|Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCE
File:Macuilxochitl Patolli.png|Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano
File:Han Pottery Figures Playing Liubo, a Lost Game (10352729936).jpg|Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board
</gallery>
Europe
Board games have a long tradition in Europe. The oldest records of board gaming in Europe date back to Homer's Iliad (written in the 8th century BC), in which he mentions the Ancient Greek game of petteia. This game of petteia would later evolve into the Roman ludus latrunculorum. In ancient Ireland, the game of fidchell or ficheall, is said to date back to at least 144 AD, though this is likely an anachronism. A fidchell board dating from the 10th century has been uncovered in Co. Westmeath, Ireland.
In the United Kingdom, association of dice and cards with gambling led to all dice games except backgammon being treated as lotteries by dice in the Gaming Acts of 1710 and 1845. Early board game producers in the second half of the eighteenth century were mapmakers. The global popularization of board games, with special themes and branding, coincided with the formation of the global dominance of the British Empire. John Wallis was an English board game publisher, bookseller, map/chart seller, printseller, music seller, and cartographer. With his sons John Wallis Jr. and Edward Wallis, he was one of the most prolific publishers of board games of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. John Betts' A Tour of the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions and William Spooner's A Voyage of Discovery were popular in the British empire. is a genre of wargaming developed in 19th century Prussia to teach battle tactics to officers.
<gallery mode"packed" heights"160">
File:Attic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg|Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena, Attic black-figure neck amphora,
File:German - Box for Board Games - Walters 7193 - Bottom.jpg|Box for Board Games, 15th century, Walters Art Museum
File:Gaming table with chessboard.jpg|An early games table desk (Germany, 1735) featuring chess/draughts () and nine men's morris ()
File:'Game of Skittles', copy of painting by Pieter de Hooch, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG|'Game of Skittles', copy of 1660–68 painting by Pieter de Hooch in the Saint Louis Art Museum
</gallery>
The Americas
The board game ''Travellers' Tour Through the United States and its sister game Traveller's Tour Through Europe'' were published by New York City bookseller F. & R. Lockwood in 1822 and claim the distinction of being the first board games published in the United States. Board game popularity was boosted, like that of many items, through mass production, which made them cheaper and more easily available.Asia and AfricaDifferent traditional board games are popular in Asian and African countries. In China, Go and many variations of chess are popular. In Africa and the Middle East, mancala is a popular board game archetype with many regional variations. In India, a community game called Carrom is popular. A board game of flicking stones (Alkkagi) became popular among people in South Korea after various Korean variety shows demonstrated its gameplay on television.Modern
. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange.]]
In the late 1990s, companies began producing more new games to serve a growing worldwide market. In the 2010s, several publications said board games were amid a new Golden Age or "renaissance". Board game venues also grew in popularity; in 2016 alone, more than 5,000 board game cafés opened in the U.S., and they were reported to be very popular in China as well.
Board games have been used as a mechanism for science communication.Luck, strategy, and diplomacySome games, such as chess, depend completely on player skill, while many children's games such as Candy Land and snakes and ladders require no decisions by the players and are decided purely by luck.
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Many games require some level of both skill and luck. A player may be hampered by bad luck in backgammon, Monopoly, or Risk; but over many games, a skilled player will win more often. The elements of luck can also make for more excitement at times, and allow for more diverse and multifaceted strategies, as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered.
Luck may be introduced into a game by several methods. The use of dice of various sorts goes back to the earliest board games. These can decide everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, to how their forces fare in battle, as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, as in Catan. Other games such as Sorry! use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble'' creates a similar effect using randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. German-style board games are notable for often having fewer elements of luck than many North American board games. Luck may be reduced in favour of skill by introducing symmetry between players. For example, in a dice game such as Ludo, by giving each player the choice of rolling the dice or using the previous player's roll.
Another important aspect of some games is diplomacy, that is, players, making deals with one another. Negotiation generally features only in games with three or more players, cooperative games being the exception. An important facet of Catan, for example, is convincing players to trade with you rather than with opponents. In Risk, two or more players may team up against others. Easy diplomacy involves convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Advanced diplomacy (e.g., in the aptly named game Diplomacy) consists of making elaborate plans together, with the possibility of betrayal.
In perfect information games, such as chess, each player has complete information on the state of the game, but in other games, such as Tigris and Euphrates or Stratego, some information is hidden from players. This makes finding the best move more difficult and may involve estimating probabilities by the opponents.
Software
Many board games are now available as video games. These are aptly termed digital board games, and their distinguishing characteristic compared to traditional board games is they can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some websites (such as boardgamearena.com, yucata.de, etc.) allow play in real time and immediately show the opponents' moves, while others use email to notify the players after each move. The Internet and cheaper home printing has also influenced board games via print-and-play games that may be purchased and printed. Some games use external media such as audio cassettes or DVDs in accompaniment to the game.
There are also virtual tabletop programs that allow online players to play a variety of existing and new board games through tools needed to manipulate the game board but do not necessarily enforce the game's rules, leaving this up to the players. There are generalized programs such as Vassal, Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia that can be used to play any board or card game, while programs like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are more specialized for role-playing games. Some of these virtual tabletops have worked with the license holders to allow for use of their game's assets within the program; for example, Fantasy Grounds has licenses for both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder materials, while Tabletop Simulator allows game publishers to provide paid downloadable content for their games. However, as these games offer the ability to add in the content through user modifications, there are also unlicensed uses of board game assets available through these programs.
Market
is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009.]]
While the board gaming market is estimated to be smaller than that for video games, it has also experienced significant growth from the late 1990s. Other expert sources suggest that board games never went away, and that board games have remained a popular leisure activity which has only grown over time. Another from 2014 gave an estimate that put the growth of the board game market at "between 25% and 40% annually" since 2010, and described the current time as the "golden era for board games". The rise in board game popularity has been attributed to quality improvement (more elegant mechanics, , artwork, and graphics) as well as increased availability thanks to sales through the Internet.
A 1991 estimate for the global board game market was over $1.2 billion. A 2001 estimate for the United States "board games and puzzle" market gave a value of under $400 million, and for United Kingdom, of about £50 million. A 2009 estimate for the Korean market was put at 800 million won, and another estimate for the American board game market for the same year was at about $800 million. A 2011 estimate for the Chinese board game market was at over 10 billion yuan. A 2013 estimate put the size of the German toy market at 2.7 billion euros (out of which the board games and puzzle market is worth about 375 million euros), and Polish markets at 2 billion and 280 million zlotys, respectively. In 2009, Germany was considered to be the best market per capita, with the highest number of games sold per individual.
Hobby board games
Some academics, such as Erica Price and Marco Arnaudo, have differentiated "hobby" board games and gamers from other board games and gamers. A 2014 estimate placed the U.S. and Canada market for hobby board games (games produced for a "gamer" market) at only $75 million, with the total size of what it defined as the "hobby game market" ("the market for those games regardless of whether they're sold in the hobby channel or other channels,") at over $700 million. A similar 2015 estimate suggested a hobby game market value of almost $900 million.Research kōnane for studious competition. kōnane for lighthearted fun.}}
A dedicated field of research into gaming exists, known as game studies or ludology.
While there has been a fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of older board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala), less has been done on contemporary board games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk, and especially modern board games such as Catan, Agricola, and Pandemic. Much research has been carried out on chess, partly because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise. The works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase, Herbert A. Simon, and Fernand Gobet have established that knowledge, more than the ability to anticipate moves, plays an essential role in chess-playing ability.
Linearly arranged board games have improved children's spatial numerical understanding. This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one.
Research studies show that board games such as Snakes and Ladders result in children showing significant improvements in aspects of basic number skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, numerical estimation, and number comprehension. They also practice fine motor skills each time they grasp a game piece. Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive functions and help reduce risks of dementia for the elderly. Related to this is a growing academic interest in the topic of game accessibility, culminating in the development of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of modern tabletop games and the extent to which they are playable for people with disabilities.
Additionally, board games can be therapeutic. Bruce Halpenny, a games inventor said when interviewed about his game, The Great Train Robbery:<blockquote>With crime you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player's imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble, they take in the early stage of the game there is a build-up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society because most jobs are boring and repetitive.</blockquote>
Playing games has been suggested as a viable addition to the traditional educational curriculum if the content is appropriate and the gameplay informs students on the curriculum content.CategoriesThere are several ways in which board games can be classified, and considerable overlap may exist, so that a game belongs to several categories.
H. J. R. Murray's A History of Board Games Other Than Chess (1952) has been called the first attempt to develop a "scheme for the classification of board games". David Parlett's Oxford History of Board Games (1999) defines four primary categories: race games (where the goal is to be the first to move all one's pieces to the final destination), space games (in which the object is to arrange the pieces into some special configuration), chase games (asymmetrical games, where players start the game with different sets of pieces and objectives) and displace games (where the main objective is the capture the opponents' pieces). Parlett also distinguishes between abstract and thematic games, the latter having a specific theme or frame narrative (ex. regular chess versus, for example, Star Wars-themed chess).
* Large multiplayer games – e.g. Take It Easy or Swat (2010)
* Learning/communication non-competitive games – e.g. The Ungame (1972)
* Mancala games – e.g. Wari, Oware, or The Glass Bead Game
* Multiplayer games – e.g. Risk, Monopoly, or Four-player chess
* Musical games – e.g. Spontuneous
* Negotiation games – e.g. Diplomacy
* Paper-and-pencil games – e.g. tic-tac-toe or dots and boxes
* Physical skill games – e.g. Camp Granada
* Position games (no captures; win by leaving the opponent unable to move) – e.g. kōnane, mū tōrere, or the L game
* Race games – e.g. Pachisi, backgammon, snakes and ladders, hyena chase, or Worm Up
* Role-playing games – e.g. Dungeons & Dragons
* Roll-and-move games – e.g. Monopoly or Life
* Running-fight games – e.g. bul
* Share-buying games (games in which players buy stakes in each other's positions) – typically longer economic-management games, e.g. Acquire or Panamax
* Single-player puzzle games – e.g. peg solitaire or Sudoku
* Social deduction games – e.g. Mafia or Ultimate Werewolf
* Space games - e.g. Terraforming Mars (board game)
* Spiritual development games (games with no winners or losers) – e.g. Transformation Game or ''Psyche's Key
* Stacking games – e.g. Lasca or DVONN
* Storytelling games – e.g. Dixit or Tales of the Arabian Nights
* Territory games – e.g. Go or Reversi
* Tile-based games – e.g. Carcassonne, Scrabble, Tigris and Euphrates, or Evo
* Train games – e.g. Ticket to Ride, Steam, or 18xx
* Trivia games – e.g. Trivial Pursuit
* Two-player-only themed games – e.g. En Garde or Dos de Mayo
* Two-player-only abstract games - e.g. Checkers
* Unequal forces (or "hunt") games – e.g. fox and geese or tablut
* Wargames – ranging from Risk, Diplomacy, or Axis & Allies, to Attack! or Conquest of the Empire
* Word games – e.g. Scrabble, Boggle, Anagrams, or What's My Word? (2010)
Glossary
Although many board games have a jargon all their own, there is a generalized terminology to describe concepts applicable to basic game mechanics and attributes common to nearly all board games.
See also
* Board game awards
* BoardGameGeek—a website for board game enthusiasts
* Going Cardboard—a documentary movie
* History of games
* Interactive movie—DVD games
* List of board games
* List of game manufacturers
* Mind sport
References
Further reading
* Austin, Roland G. "Greek Board Games." Antiquity 14. September 1940: 257–271
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* Fiske, Willard. [https://archive.org/details/chessinicelandin00fiskuoft/page/172/mode/2up Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature—with historical notes on other table-games'']. Florentine Typographical Society, 1905.
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* Golladay, Sonja Musser, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717133812/http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?filefile%3A%2F%2F%2Fdata1%2Fpdf%2Fetd%2Fazu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&typeapplication%2Fpdf "Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games"] (PhD diss., University of Arizona, 2007)
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* Rollefson, Gary O., "A Neolithic Game Board from Ain Ghazal, Jordan", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 286. (May 1992), pp. 1–5.
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External links
* [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ BoardGameGeek]
* [https://www.boardgametheories.com/ BoardGameTheories]
* [https://www.parlettgames.uk/games/bgs.html International Board Game Studies Association]
Category:Egyptian inventions | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_game | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.796145 |
3402 | Bead | thumb|upright=1|right|A selection of glass beads
thumb|Merovingian bead
thumb|Trade beads, 18th century
thumb|Trade beads, 18th century
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 millimeter (0.039 in) to over 1 centimeter (0.39 in) in diameter.
Beads represent some of the earliest forms of jewellery, with a pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells dating to approximately 100,000 years ago thought to be the earliest known example.[1][2] Beadwork is the art or craft of making things with beads. Beads can be woven together with specialized thread, strung onto thread or soft, flexible wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g. fabric, clay).
Etymology
The word "bead" derives from Old English gebed, originally meaning "prayer", until transferred to small globular objects. This refers to the use of beads for counting repetitions of prayers, as in Christian Pater Noster cords and rosaries.
Types
thumb|right|Cloisonné beads
Beads can be divided into several types of overlapping categories based on different criteria such as the materials from which they are made, the process used in their manufacturing, the place or period of origin, the patterns on their surface, or their general shape. In some cases, such as millefiori and cloisonné beads, multiple categories may overlap in an interdependent fashion.
Components
Beads can be made of many different materials. The earliest beads were made of a variety of natural materials which, after they were gathered, could be readily drilled and shaped. As humans became capable of obtaining and working with more difficult materials, those materials were added to the range of available substances.
Beads were a part of different cultures, each made with different materials throughout history and using beads to form something handmade. Beads came in different colors, shapes, and forms, what materials were used, and whether there was a meaning or meaning behind the beads.
In modern manufacturing, the most common bead materials are wood, plastic, glass, metal, and stone.
Natural materials
Beads are still made from many naturally occurring materials, both organic (i.e., of animal- or plant-based origin) and inorganic (purely mineral origin). However, some of these materials now routinely undergo some extra processing beyond mere shaping and drilling such as color enhancement via dyes or irradiation.
The natural organics include bone, coral, horn, ivory, seeds (such as tagua nuts), animal shells, and wood. For most of human history, pearls were the ultimate precious beads of natural origin because of their rarity; the modern pearl-culturing process has made them far more common. Amber and jet are also of natural organic origin although both are the result of partial fossilization.
The natural inorganics include various types of stones, ranging from gemstones to common minerals, and metals. Of the latter, only a few precious metals occur in pure forms, but other purified base metals may as well be placed in this category along with certain naturally occurring alloys such as electrum.
Synthetic materials
thumb|Swarovski crystal beads (), pendant
thumb|page=3|Swedish patent 217875: The plastic bead pegboard (1962)
The oldest-surviving synthetic materials used for bead making have generally been ceramics: pottery and glass.
Glassworking
thumb|right|Pressed glass beads (matte finish with an AB coating)
thumb|left|A box of assorted beads
Most glass beads are pressed glass, mass-produced by preparing a molten batch of glass of the desired color and pouring it into molds to form the desired shape. This is also true of most plastic beads.
A smaller and more expensive subset of glass and lead crystal beads are cut into precise faceted shapes on an individual basis. This was once done by hand but has largely been taken over by precision machinery.
"Fire-polished" faceted beads are a less expensive alternative to hand-cut faceted glass or crystal. They derive their name from the second half of a two-part process: first, the glass batch is poured into round bead molds, then they are faceted with a grinding wheel. The faceted beads are then poured onto a tray and briefly reheated just long enough to melt the surface, "polishing" out any minor surface irregularities from the grinding wheel.
Specialized glass techniques and types
thumb|upright|Dichroic beads ()
thumb|Furnace glass beads
There are several specialized glassworking techniques that create a distinctive appearance throughout the body of the resulting beads, which are then primarily referred to by the glass type.
If the glass batch is used to create a large massive block instead of pre-shaping it as it cools, the result may then be carved into smaller items in the same manner as stone. Conversely, glass artisans may make beads by lampworking the glass on an individual basis; once formed, the beads undergo little or no further shaping after the layers have been properly annealed.
Most of these glass subtypes are some form of fused glass, although goldstone is created by controlling the reductive atmosphere and cooling conditions of the glass batch rather than by fusing separate components together.
Dichroic glass beads incorporate a semitransparent microlayer of metal between two or more layers. Fibre optic glass beads have an eyecatching chatoyant effect across the grain.
There are also several ways to fuse many small glass canes together into a multicolored pattern, resulting in millefiori beads or chevron beads (sometimes called "trade beads"). "Furnace glass" beads encase a multicolored core in a transparent exterior layer which is then annealed in a furnace.
More economically, millefiori beads can also be made by limiting the patterning process to long, narrow canes or rods known as murrine. Thin cross-sections, or "decals", can then be cut from the murrine and fused into the surface of a plain glass bead.
Shapes
Beads can be made in variety of shapes, including the following, as well as tubular and oval-shaped beads.
Round
This is the most common shape of beads that are strung on wire to create necklaces, and bracelets. The shape of the round beads lay together and are pleasing to the eye. Round beads can be made of glass, stone, ceramic, metal, or wood.
Square or cubed
Square beads can be to enhance a necklace design as a spacer however a necklace can be strung with just square beads. The necklaces with square beads are used in Rosary necklaces/prayer necklaces, and wooden or shell ones are made for beachwear.
Hair pipe beads
Elk rib bones were the original material for the long, tubular hair pipe beads. Today these beads are commonly made of bison and water buffalo bones and are popular for breastplates and chokers among Plains Indians. Black variations of these beads are made from the animals' horns.
Seed beads
Seed beads are uniformly shaped spheroidal or tube shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres. "Seed bead" is a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving.
Place or period of origin
thumb|upright|Carved Cinnabar lacquer beads
African trade beads or slave beads may be antique beads that were manufactured in Europe and used for trade during the colonial period, such as chevron beads; or they may have been made in West Africa by and for Africans, such as Mauritanian Kiffa beads, Ghanaian and Nigerian powder glass beads, or African-made brass beads. Archaeologists have documented that as recently as the late-nineteenth century beads manufactured in Europe continued to accompany exploration of Africa using Indigenous routes into the interior.
Austrian crystal is a generic term for cut lead-crystal beads, based on the location and prestige of the Swarovski firm.
Czech glass beads are made in the Czech Republic, in particular an area called Jablonec nad Nisou. Production of glass beads in the area dates back to the 14th century, though production was depressed under communist rule. Because of this long tradition, their workmanship and quality has an excellent reputation.
Islamic glass beads have been made in a wide geographical and historical range of Islamic cultures. Used and manufactured from medieval Spain and North Africa in the West and to China in the East, they can be identified by recognizable features, including styles and techniques.
Vintage beads, in the collectibles and antique market, refers to items that are at least 25 or more years old. Vintage beads are available in materials that include lucite, plastic, crystal, metal and glass.
Miscellaneous ethnic beads
Tibetan Dzi beads and Rudraksha beads are used to make Buddhist and Hindu rosaries (malas). Magatama are traditional Japanese beads, and cinnabar was often used for making beads in China. Wampum are cylindrical white or purple beads made from quahog or North Atlantic channeled whelk shells by northeastern Native American tribes, such as the Wampanoag and Shinnecock. Job's tears are seed beads popular among southeastern Native American tribes. Heishe are beads made of shells or stones by the Kewa Pueblo people of New Mexico.
thumb|Bead, depicting a pomegranate, dated to the Assyrian Empire of the 8th century BCE.
Uses
For prayer or devotion - e.g. rosaries and Pater Noster cords for Christians, misbaha for Muslims, japamala/nenju for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, some Sikhs, Confucianism, Taoists/Daoists, Shinto, etc. The English word "bead" derives from Old English gebed, meaning "prayer", reflecting this use of beads.
See also
Fly tying#Bead (Spherical brass, tungsten, and glass beads are often used in Fly tying)
Glass beadmaking
Jewelry design
Mardi Gras beads
Murano beads
Pearl
Ultraviolet-sensitive bead
References
Further reading
Beck, Horace (1928) "Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants." Archaeologia 77. (Reprinted by Shumway Publishers York, PA 1981)
Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999: 170–171. .
Dubin, Lois Sherr. The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C. to the Present, Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harry N. Abrams, (2009). .
Category:Beadwork
Category:Craft materials
Category:Jewellery components | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bead | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.814425 |
3403 | Bead weaving | Bead weaving (or beadweaving) is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads. Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together. It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
On-loom beadweaving
thumb|A bracelet in progress on a bead-weaving loom
thumb|355px|A 1903 Apache bead loom. 1. Roller. 2. Roller end. 3. Spacers. 4. Spacers.
When weaving on a loom, the beads are strung on the weft threads and locked in between the warp threads. Although loomed pieces are typically rectangular, it is possible to increase and decrease to produce angular or curvy shapes. Fringe can also be added during weaving or before the piece is removed from the loom.
Frame looms
The most common modern loom bead weaving technique requires two passes of the weft thread per row of beads. First, an entire row of beads is strung on the weft thread. Then the beads are pressed in between the warp threads from below. Then the needle is passed back through the beads, but above the warp threads, to lock the beads into place.
Bead looms vary in size and are typically made of wood or metal. Usually, a comb or spring is used to hold the warp threads a bead-width apart (the lede image shows a threaded rod). Some looms have roller bars; these allow the weaver to produce pieces that are longer than the loom. Most looms are meant to sit on a table, but some have floor stands or are meant to sit in the lap. Cheap bead looms are sometimes made from styrofoam trays, wrapping the warp through evenly-spaced small slits notched into opposite edges.
Heddle looms
thumb|Undated rigid heddle for beadwork, Ho-chunk, Wisconsin.
Heddle bead looms were popular in the United States near the beginning of the 20th century. They allow weaving of beads by raising every other thread and inserting strung beads in the shed, the space between the lowered and raised threads. There are still a few heddle bead looms being manufactured today. The most difficult part of loomwork is finishing off the warp threads.
Off-loom beadweaving
thumb|An example of off-loom beadweaving, specifically plaiting, from Sarawak, Malaysia.
Off-loom beadweaving is a family of beadwork techniques in which seed beads are woven together into a flat fabric, a tubular rope, or a three-dimensional object such as a ball, clasp, box, or a piece of jewelry. Most off-loom techniques can be accomplished using a single needle and thread (no warp threads), and some have two-needle variations.
Different stitches produce pieces with distinct textures, shapes, and patterns. There are many different off-loom bead stitches, including new stitches (distinct thread paths) published as recently as 2015:
albion stitch, developed by Heather Kingsley-Heath, published May 2009
brick stitch, also known as Comanche or Cheyenne stitch
chevron stitch, a triangular form of bead netting
diamond weave, developed over a number of years by Gerlinde Lenz, published August 2015
herringbone stitch, also known as Ndebele stitch
hubble stitch and wave hubble stitch, created and developed by Melanie de Miguel, published 2015
netting, to avoid confusion specifically bead netting
peyote stitch, also known as gourd stitch
plaiting, crossing multiple threads as in a plait or braid, using beads to connect the crossings
pondo stitch, also known as African circle stitch
right-angle weave
Saint Petersburg chain
square stitch, an off loom stitch that mimics the look of loomed bead projects.
ladder stitch, a foundation stitch that is used to build a base for brick stitch or herringbone stitch.
triangle weave
Spiral Bead Weaving Stitches
Cellini spiral, a tubular peyote stitch
Dutch spiral
African helix
Russian spiral
Chenille
See also
Glass beadmaking
Beadwork
Bead embroidery
Bead knitting
Bead crochet
Quillwork
References
Further reading
Virginia Blakelock, Those Bad, Bad Beads! Virginia Blakelock Publisher, 1990.
Don Pierce, Beading on a Loom. Interweave Press, 1999.
Carol Wilcox Wells, Creative Bead Weaving. Lark Books, 1996.
Category:Weaving
Category:Beadwork | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bead_weaving | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.821373 |
3406 | Branchiopoda | | taxon = Branchiopoda
| authority = Latreille, 1817
| subdivision_ranks = Subclasses
| subdivision =
* Sarsostraca <small>Tasch, 1969</small>
* Phyllopoda <small>Preuss, 1951</small>
}}
Branchiopoda, from Ancient Greek βράγχια (bránkhia), meaning "gill", and πούς (poús), meaning "foot", is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca, the Devonian Lepidocaris and possibly the Cambrian Rehbachiella. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus.
Description
Members of the Branchiopoda are unified by the presence of gills on many of the animals' appendages, including some of the mouthparts. This is also responsible for the name of the group (from the , gills, akin to , windpipe; , foot). They generally possess compound eyes and a carapace, which may be a shell of two valves enclosing the trunk (as in most Cladocera), broad and shallow (as in the Notostraca), or entirely absent (as in the Anostraca). In the groups where the carapace prevents the use of the trunk limbs for swimming (Cladocera and clam shrimp), the antennae are used for locomotion, as they are in the nauplius.
Most branchiopodans eat floating detritus or plankton, which they take using the setae on their appendages.TaxonomyIn early taxonomic treatments, the current members of the Branchiopoda were all placed in a single genus, Monoculus. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, including pools in deserts, in ice-covered mountain lakes and in Antarctica. They swim "upside-down" and feed by filtering organic particles from the water or by scraping algae from surfaces.Lipostraca
Lipostraca contains a single extinct Early Devonian species, Lepidocaris rhyniensis, which is the most abundant animal in the Rhynie chert deposits. It resembles modern Anostraca, to which it is probably closely related, although its relationships to other orders remain unclear. The body is long, with 23 body segments and 19 pairs of appendages, but no carapace. It occurred chiefly among charophytes, probably in alkaline temporary pools.Notostraca
The order Notostraca comprises the single family Triopsidae, containing the tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp. The two genera, Triops and Lepidurus, are considered living fossils, having not changed significantly in outward form since the Triassic. The evidence of phenotypic plasticity of Arctic tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus arcticus'', Notostraca) has been observed in Svalbard. Notostracans are the largest branchiopodans and are omnivores living on the bottom of temporary pools, ponds and shallow lakes. They are ubiquitous in inland aquatic habitats, but rare in the oceans. Most are long, with a down-turned head, and a carapace covering the apparently unsegmented thorax and abdomen. There is a single median compound eye. In the water bodies of the world, a lot of Cladocera are non-native species, many of which pose a great threat to aquatic ecosystems.EvolutionThe fossil record of branchiopods extends back at least into the Upper Cambrian and possibly further. The group is thought to be monophyletic, with the Anostraca having been the first group to branch off. It is thought that the group evolved in the seas, but was forced into temporary pools and hypersaline lakes by the evolution of bony fishes.See also*VladicarisReferences
Category:Arthropod classes
Category:Extant Cambrian first appearances
Category:Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branchiopoda | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.836583 |
3408 | Baruch Spinoza | * Western philosophy
| era =
| image = Spinoza.jpg
| name = Baruch Spinoza
| birth_name Baruch Espinosa<br/>Bento de Spinosa
| other_names = Benedictus de Spinoza
| birth_date
| birth_place = Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
| death_date
| death_place = The Hague, Dutch Republic
| signature = Spinoza's signature (1664).svg
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Baruch (de) Spinoza; Dutch: ; Portuguese: ; . His boyhood and early adult business name was "Bento", and his synagogue name was "Baruch", the Hebrew translation of "Bento", which means "blessed". As a correspondent, he primarily signed his name as "Benedictus".}} (24 November 163221 February 1677), known under his preferred Latinized pen name as Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century rationalism, and Dutch intellectual culture, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period. Influenced by Stoicism, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Ibn Tufayl, and heterodox Christians, Spinoza was a leading philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age.
Spinoza was born in Amsterdam to a Marrano family that fled Portugal for the more tolerant Dutch Republic. He received a traditional Jewish education, learning Hebrew and studying sacred texts within the Portuguese Jewish community, where his father was a prominent merchant. As a young man, Spinoza challenged rabbinic authority and questioned Jewish doctrines, leading to his permanent expulsion from his Jewish community in 1656. Following that expulsion, he distanced himself from all religious affiliations and devoted himself to philosophical inquiry and lens grinding. Spinoza attracted a dedicated circle of followers who gathered to discuss his writings and joined him in the intellectual pursuit of truth.
Spinoza published little to avoid persecution and bans on his books. In his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, described by Steven Nadler as "one of the most important books of Western thought", Spinoza questioned the divine origin of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of God while arguing that ecclesiastic authority should have no role in a secular, democratic state. Ethics argues for a pantheistic view of God and explores the place of human freedom in a world devoid of theological, cosmological, and political moorings. Rejecting messianism and the emphasis on the afterlife, Spinoza emphasized appreciating and valuing life for oneself and others. By advocating for individual liberty in its moral, psychological, and metaphysical dimensions, Spinoza helped establish the genre of political writing called secular theology.
Spinoza's philosophy spans nearly every area of philosophical discourse, including metaphysics, epistemology, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. His friends posthumously published his works, captivating philosophers for the next two centuries. Celebrated as one of the most original and influential thinkers of the seventeenth century, Rebecca Goldstein dubbed him "the renegade Jew who gave us modernity."
Biography
now stands at the site of Spinoza's childhood home.]]Family background
Spinoza's ancestors, adherents of Crypto-Judaism, faced persecution during the Portuguese Inquisition, enduring torture and public displays of humiliation. In 1597, his paternal grandfather's family left Vidigueira for Nantes and lived outwardly as New Christians, eventually transferring to Holland for an unknown reason. His maternal ancestors were a leading Porto commercial family, and his maternal grandfather was a foremost merchant who drifted between Judaism and Christianity. Spinoza was raised by his grandmother from ages six to nine and probably learned much about his family history from her.
Spinoza's father Michael was a prominent and wealthy merchant in Amsterdam with a business that had wide geographical reach. In 1649, he was elected to serve as an administrative officer of the recently united congregation Talmud Torah. He married his cousin Rachael d'Espinosa, daughter of his uncle Abraham d'Espinosa, who was also a community leader and Michael's business partner. Marrying cousins was common in the Portuguese Jewish community then, giving Michael access to his father-in-law's commercial network and capital. Rachel's children died in infancy, and she died in 1627.
After the death of Rachel, Michael married Hannah Deborah, with whom he had five children. His second wife brought a dowry to the marriage that was absorbed into Michael's business capital instead of being set aside for her children, which may have caused a grudge between Spinoza and his father. The family lived on the artificial island on the south side of the River Amstel, known as the Vlooienburg, at the fifth house along the Houtgracht canal. The Jewish quarter was not formally divided. The family lived close to the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, and nearby were Christians, including the artist Rembrandt. Miriam was their first child, followed by Isaac who was expected to take over as head of the family and the commercial enterprise but died in 1649. Baruch Espinosa, the third child, was born on 24 November 1632 and named as per tradition for his maternal grandfather.
Spinoza's younger brother Gabriel was born in 1634, followed by another sister Rebecca. Miriam married Samuel de Caceres but died shortly after childbirth. According to Jewish practice, Samuel had to marry his former sister-in-law Rebecca. Following his brother's death, Spinoza's place as head of the family and its business meant scholarly ambitions were pushed aside. Spinoza's mother, Hannah Deborah, died when Spinoza was six years old. Michael's third wife, Esther, raised Spinoza from age nine; she lacked formal Jewish knowledge due to growing up a New Christian and only spoke Portuguese at home. The marriage was childless. Spinoza's sister Rebecca, brother Gabriel, and nephew eventually migrated to Curaçao, and the remaining family joined them after Spinoza's death.
Uriel da Costa's early influence
's imagined scene of Uriel da Costa instructing Spinoza (1901)]]
Through his mother, Spinoza was related to the philosopher Uriel da Costa, who stirred controversy in Amsterdam's Portuguese Jewish community. Da Costa questioned traditional Christian and Jewish beliefs, asserting that, for example, their origins were based on human inventions instead of God's revelation. His clashes with the religious establishment led to his excommunication twice by rabbinic authorities, who imposed humiliation and social exclusion. In 1639, as part of an agreement to be readmitted, da Costa had to prostrate himself for worshippers to step over him. He died in 1640, reportedly committing suicide.
During his childhood, Spinoza was likely unaware of his family connection with Uriel da Costa; still, as a teenager, he certainly heard discussions about him. Steven Nadler explains that, although da Costa died when Spinoza was eight, his ideas shaped Spinoza's intellectual development. Amsterdam's Jewish communities long remembered and discussed da Costa's skepticism about organized religion, denial of the soul's immortality, and the idea that Moses didn't write the Torah, influencing Spinoza's intellectual journey.
School days and the family business
Spinoza attended the Talmud Torah school adjoining the Bet Ya'acov synagogue, a few doors down from his home, headed by the senior Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira. Instructed in Spanish, the language of learning and literature, students in the elementary school learned to read the prayerbook and the Torah in Hebrew, translate the weekly section into Spanish, and study Rashi's commentary. Spinoza's name does not appear on the registry after age fourteen, and he likely never studied with rabbis such as Manasseh ben Israel and Morteira. Spinoza possibly went to work around fourteen and almost certainly was needed in his father's business after his brother died in 1649.
During the First Anglo-Dutch War, much of the Spinoza firm's ships and cargo were captured by English ships, severely affecting the firm's financial viability. The firm was saddled with debt by the war's end in 1654 due to its merchant voyages being intercepted by the English, leading to its decline. Spinoza's father died in 1654, making him the head of the family, responsible for organizing and leading the Jewish mourning rituals, and in a business partnership with his brother of their inherited firm. As Spinoza's father had poor health for some years before his death, he was significantly involved in the business, putting his intellectual curiosity on hold. Until 1656, he continued financially supporting the synagogue and attending services in compliance with synagogue conventions and practice. By 1655, the family's wealth had evaporated and the business effectively ended.
In March 1656, Spinoza went to the city authorities for protection against debts in the Portuguese Jewish community. To free himself from the responsibility of paying debts owed by his late father, Spinoza appealed to the city to declare him an orphan; since he was a legal minor, not understanding his father's indebtedness would remove the obligation to repay his debts and retrospectively renounce his inheritance. Though he was released of all debts and legally in the right, his reputation as a merchant was permanently damaged in addition to violating a synagogue regulation that business matters are to be arbitrated within the community.
Expulsion from the Jewish community
(1907), the second of his two modern paintings imagining scenes of Spinoza's life.]]
Amsterdam was tolerant of religious diversity so long as it was practiced discreetly. The community was concerned with protecting its reputation and not associating with Spinoza lest his controversial views provide the basis for possible persecution or expulsion. Spinoza did not openly break with Jewish authorities until his father died in 1654 when he became public and defiant, resulting from lengthy and stressful religious, financial, and legal clashes involving his business and synagogue, such as when Spinoza violated synagogue regulations by going to city authorities rather than resolving his disputes within the community to free himself from paying his father's debt.
On 27 July 1656, the Talmud Torah community leaders, which included Aboab de Fonseca, issued a writ of herem against the 23-year-old Spinoza. Spinoza's censure was the harshest ever pronounced in the community, carrying tremendous emotional and spiritual impact. The exact reason for expelling Spinoza is not stated, only referring to his "abominable heresies", "monstrous deeds", and the testimony of witnesses "in the presence of the said Espinoza". Even though the Amsterdam municipal authorities were not directly involved in Spinoza's censure, the town council expressly ordered the Portuguese-Jewish community to regulate their conduct and ensure that the community kept strict observance of Jewish law. Other evidence indicates a concern about upsetting civil authorities, such as the synagogue's bans on public weddings, funeral processions, and discussing religious matters with Christians, lest such activity might "disturb the liberty we enjoy".
Before the expulsion, Spinoza had not published anything or written a treatise; Steven Nadler states that if Spinoza was voicing his criticism of Judaism that later appeared through his philosophical works, such as Part I of Ethics, then there can be no wonder that he was severely punished. Unlike most censures issued by the Amsterdam congregation, it was never rescinded since the censure did not lead to repentance. After the censure, Spinoza may have written an Apologia in Spanish defending his views, but it is now lost. Spinoza's expulsion did not lead him to convert to Christianity or belong to a confessional religion or sect. From 1656 to 1661, Spinoza found lodgings elsewhere in Amsterdam and Leiden, supporting himself with teaching while learning lens grinding and constructing microscopes and telescopes. Spinoza did not maintain a sense of Jewish identity; he argued that without adherence to Jewish law, the Jewish people lacked a sustaining source of difference and identity, rendering the notion of a secular Jew incoherent.
Education and study group
Sometime between 1654 and 1657, Spinoza started studying Latin with political radical Franciscus van den Enden, a former Jesuit and atheist, who likely introduced Spinoza to scholastic and modern philosophy, including Descartes, who had a dominant influence on Spinoza's philosophy. While boarding with Van den Enden, Spinoza studied in his school, where he learned the arts and sciences and likely taught others. Many of his friends were either secularized freethinkers or belonged to dissident Christian groups that rejected the authority of established churches and traditional dogmas. Spinoza was acquainted with members of the Collegiants, a group of disaffected Mennonites and other dissenting Reformed sects that shunned official theology and must have played some role in Spinoza's developing views on religion and directed him to Van Enden. Jonathan Israel conjectures that another possible influential figure was atheist translator Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker, a collaborator of Spinoza's friend and publisher Rieuwertsz, who could not have mentored Spinoza but was in a unique position to introduce Spinoza to Cartesian philosophy, mathematics, and lens grinding.
After learning Latin with Van Enden, Spinoza studied at Leiden University around 1658, where he audited classes in Cartesian philosophy.}} From 1656 to 1661, Spinoza's main discussion partners who formed his circle and played a formative part in Spinoza's life were Van den Enden, , Jarig Jelles, Lodewijk Meyer, Johannes Bouwmeester and Adriaan Koerbagh. Spinoza's following, or philosophical sect, scrutinized the propositions of the Ethics while it was in draft and Spinoza's second text, Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being. Though a few prominent people in Amsterdam discussed the teachings of the secretive but marginal group, it was mainly a testing ground for Spinoza's philosophy to extend his challenge to the status quo. Their public reputation in Amsterdam was negative, with Ole Borch disparaging them as "atheists". Throughout his life, Spinoza's general approach was to avoid intellectual battles, clashes, and public controversies, viewing them as a waste of energy that served no real purpose.
Career as a philosopher
Rijnsburg
Between 1660 and 1661, Spinoza moved from Amsterdam to Rijnsburg, allowing for a quiet retreat in the country and access to the university town, Leiden, where he still had many friends. Around this time, he wrote his Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being, which he never published in his lifetime, thinking it would enrage the theologians, synods, and city magistrates. The Short Treatise, a long-forgotten text that only survived in Dutch translation, was first published by Johannes van Vloten in 1862. While lodging with Herman Homan in Rijnsburg, Spinoza produced lenses and instruments to support himself and out of scientific interest. He began working on his Ethics and ''Descartes' Principles of Philosophy'', which he completed in two weeks, communicating and interpreting Descartes' arguments and testing the water for his metaphysical and ethical ideas. Spinoza's explanations of essential elements of the Cartesian system helped many interested people study the system, enhancing his philosophical reputation. This work was published in 1663 and was one of the two works published in his lifetime under his name. Spinoza led a modest and frugal lifestyle, earning income by polishing lenses and crafting telescopes and microscopes. He also relied on the generous contributions of his friends to support himself.
Voorburg
In 1663, Spinoza moved to Voorburg for an unknown reason. He continued working on Ethics and corresponded with scientists and philosophers throughout Europe. In 1665, he began writing the Theological-Political Treatise, which addresses theological and political issues such as the interpretation of scripture, the origins of the state, and the bounds of political and religious authority while arguing for a secular, democratic state. Before the publication of the Theological-Political Treatise, Spinoza's friend Adriaan Koerbagh published a book that criticized organized religion, denied the divine authorship of the Bible, and asserted that miracles were impossible—ideas similar to those of Spinoza. His work attracted the attention of the authorities, leading to his imprisonment and eventual death in prison. Anticipating the reaction to his ideas, Spinoza published his treatise in 1670 under a false publisher and a fictitious place of publication. The work did not remain anonymous for long. Samuel Maresius attacked Spinoza personally, while Thomas Hobbes and Johannes Bredenburg criticized his conception of God and saw the book as dangerous and subversive. Spinoza's work was safer than Koerbagh's because it was written in Latin, a language not widely understood by the general public, and Spinoza explicitly forbade its translation. The secular authorities varied enforcing the Reformed Church in Amsterdam's orders to ban the distribution of the blasphemous book.The HagueIn 1670, Spinoza moved to The Hague to have easier access to the city's intellectual life and to be closer to his friends and followers. As he became more famous, Spinoza spent time receiving visitors and responding to letters. He returned to the manuscript of Ethics, reworking part Three into parts Four and Five, and composed a Hebrew grammar for proper interpretation of scripture and for clearing up confusion and problems when studying the Bible, with part One presenting etymology, the alphabet, and principles governing nouns, verbs, and more. Part Two, unfinished before he died, would have presented syntax rules. Another unfinished work from 1676 was Tractatus Politicus, which concerns how states can function well and intended to show that democratic states are best. Spinoza refused an offer to be the chair of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg, perhaps because of the possibility that it might curb his freedom of thought.Correspondence
Few of Spinoza's letters are extant, and none before 1661. Nearly all the contents are philosophical and technical because the original editors of Opera Posthuma—a collection of his works published posthumously—Lodewijk Meyer, Georg Hermann Schuller, and Johannes Bouwmeester, excluded personal matters and letters due to the political and ecclesiastical persecution of the time. Spinoza corresponded with Peter Serrarius, a radical Protestant and millenarian merchant, who was a patron of Spinoza after his expulsion from the Jewish community. He acted as an intermediary for Spinoza's correspondence, sending and receiving letters of the philosopher to and from third parties. They maintained their relationship until Serrarius died in 1669.
Through his pursuits in lens grinding, mathematics, optics, and philosophy, Spinoza forged connections with prominent figures such as scientist Christiaan Huygens, mathematician Johannes Hudde, and Secretary of the British Royal Society Henry Oldenburg. Huygens and others notably praised the quality of Spinoza's lenses. Spinoza engaged in correspondence with Willem van Blijenbergh, an amateur Calvinist theologian, who sought Spinoza's view on the nature of evil and sin. Whereas Blijenbergh deferred to the authority of scripture for theology and philosophy, Spinoza told him not solely to look at scripture for truth or anthropomorphize God. Also, Spinoza told him their views were incommensurable. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz outwardly described Spinoza's work negatively but privately wrote letters to him and desired to examine the manuscript of the Ethics. In 1676, Leibniz traveled to The Hague to meet Spinoza, remaining with him for three days to converse about current events and philosophy. Leibniz's work bears some striking resemblances to parts of Spinoza's philosophy, like in Monadology. Leibniz was concerned when his name was not redacted in a letter printed in the Opera Posthuma. In 1675, Albert Burgh, a friend and possibly former pupil of Spinoza, wrote to him repudiating his teachings and announcing his conversion to the Catholic Church. Burgh attacked Spinoza's views as expressed in the Theological-Political Treatise and tried to persuade Spinoza to embrace Catholicism. In response, Spinoza, at the request of Burgh's family, who hoped to restore his reason, wrote an angry letter mocking the Catholic Church and condemning all religious superstition.
Spinoza published little in his lifetime, and most formal writings were in Latin, reaching few readers. Apart from ''Descartes' Principles of Philosophy and the Theologico-Political Treatise, his works appeared in print after his death. Because the reaction to his anonymously published work, Theologico-Political Treatise, was unfavorable, Spinoza told supporters not to translate his works and abstained from publishing further. Following his death, his supporters published his works posthumously in Latin and Dutch. His posthumous works–Opera Posthuma–were edited by his friends in secrecy to prevent the confiscation and destruction of manuscripts. He wore a signet ring to mark his letters, engraved with the Latin word Caute'', meaning "Caution", and the image of a thorny rose.
Death and rescue of unpublished writings
. When he was buried, no tombstone or plaque was prepared. His vault was close to Johan de Witt's remains.]]
Spinoza's health began to fail in 1676, and he died in The Hague on 21 February 1677 at age 44, attended by a physician friend, Georg Herman Schuller. Spinoza had been ill with some form of lung affliction, probably tuberculosis and possibly complicated by silicosis brought on by grinding glass lenses. Although Spinoza had been becoming sicker for weeks, his death was sudden, and he died without leaving a will. Reports circulated that he repented his philosophical stances on his deathbed, but these tales petered out in the 18th century. Lutheran preacher Johannes Colerus wrote the first biography of Spinoza for the original reason of researching his final days.
Spinoza was buried inside the Nieuwe Kerk four days after his death, with six others in the same vault. At the time, there was no memorial plaque for Spinoza. In the 18th century, the vault was emptied, and the remnants scattered over the earth of the churchyard. The memorial plaque is outside the church, where some of his remains are part of the churchyard's soil. Spinoza's friends rescued his personal belongings, papers, and unpublished manuscripts. His supporters took them away for safekeeping from seizure by those wishing to suppress his writings, and they do not appear in the inventory of his possessions at death. Within a year of his death, his supporters translated his Latin manuscripts into Dutch and other languages. Secular authorities and later the Roman Catholic Church banned his works.
Philosophy
Ethics
Spinoza considered The Ethics his chief project and philosophical legacy. The work has been associated with that of Leibniz and René Descartes as part of the rationalist school of thought, which includes the assumption that ideas correspond to reality perfectly, in the same way that mathematics is supposed to be an exact representation of the world. The Ethics, a "superbly cryptic masterwork", contains many unresolved obscurities and is written with a forbidding mathematical structure modeled on Euclid's geometry. The writings of René Descartes have been described as "Spinoza's starting point". Spinoza's first publication was his 1663 geometric exposition of proofs using Euclid's model with definitions and axioms of Descartes' Principles of Philosophy. Following Descartes, Spinoza aimed to understand truth through logical deductions from 'clear and distinct ideas', a process which always begins from the 'self-evident truths' of axioms. However, his actual project does not end there: from his first work to his last one, there runs a thread of "attending to the highest good" (which also is the highest truth) and thereby achieving a state of peace and harmony, either metaphysically or politically. In this light, the Principles of Philosophy might be viewed as an "exercise in geometric method and philosophy", paving the way for numerous concepts and conclusions that would define his philosophy (see Cogitata Metaphysica).
Metaphysics
Spinoza's metaphysics consists of one thing, substance, and its modifications (modes). Early in The Ethics Spinoza argues that only one substance is absolutely infinite, self-caused, and eternal. He calls this substance "God", or "Nature". He takes these two terms to be synonymous (in the Latin the phrase he uses is "Deus sive Natura"). For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe consists of one substance, God, or, what is the same, Nature, and its modifications (modes).
}}Substance, attributes, and modes}}
Following Maimonides, Spinoza defined substance as "that which is in itself and is conceived through itself", meaning that it can be understood without any reference to anything external. Being conceptually independent also means that the same thing is ontologically independent, depending on nothing else for its existence and being the 'cause of itself' (causa sui). Modes can be further divided into 'finite' and 'infinite' ones, with the latter being evident in every finite mode (he gives examples of "motion" and "rest"). The traditional understanding of an attribute in philosophy is similar to Spinoza's modes, though he uses that word differently. Accordingly, he stated that "Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can exist or be conceived without God". Spinoza attempts to prove that God is just the substance of the universe by first stating that substances do not share attributes or essences and then demonstrating that God is a "substance" with an infinite number of attributes, thus the attributes possessed by any other substances must also be possessed by God. Therefore, God is just the sum of all the substances of the universe. God is the only substance in the universe, and everything is a part of God. This view was described by Charles Hartshorne as Classical Pantheism.
Spinoza argues that "things could not have been produced by God in any other way or in any other order than is the case". Therefore, concepts such as 'freedom' and 'chance' have little meaning. This picture of Spinoza's determinism is illuminated in Ethics: "the infant believes that it is by free will that it seeks the breast; the angry boy believes that by free will he wishes vengeance; the timid man thinks it is with free will he seeks flight; the drunkard believes that by a free command of his mind he speaks the things which when sober he wishes he had left unsaid. … All believe that they speak by a free command of the mind, whilst, in truth, they have no power to restrain the impulse which they have to speak." In his letter to G. H. Schuller (Letter 58), he wrote: "men are conscious of their desire and unaware of the causes by which [their desires] are determined." He also held that knowledge of true causes of passive emotion can transform it into an active emotion, thus anticipating one of the key ideas of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis.
According to Eric Schliesser, Spinoza was skeptical regarding the possibility of knowledge of nature and as a consequence at odds with scientists such as Galileo and Huygens.
Causality
Although the principle of sufficient reason is commonly associated with Gottfried Leibniz, Spinoza employs it in a more systematic manner. In Spinoza's philosophical framework, questions concerning why a particular phenomenon exists are always answerable, and these answers are provided in terms of the relevant cause. Spinoza's approach involves first providing an account of a phenomenon, such as goodness or consciousness, to explain it, and then further explaining the phenomenon in terms of itself. For instance, he might argue that consciousness is the degree of power of a mental state.
Spinoza has also been described as an "Epicurean materialist", Spinoza, however, deviated significantly from Epicureans by adhering to strict determinism, much like the Stoics before him, in contrast to the Epicurean belief in the probabilistic path of atoms, which is more in line with contemporary thought on quantum mechanics.The emotionsOne thing which seems, on the surface, to distinguish Spinoza's view of the emotions from both Descartes' and Hume's pictures of them is that he takes the emotions to be cognitive in some important respect. Jonathan Bennett claims that "Spinoza mainly saw emotions as caused by cognitions. [However] he did not say this clearly enough and sometimes lost sight of it entirely."
Spinoza provides several demonstrations which purport to show truths about how human emotions work. The picture presented is, according to Bennett, "unflattering, coloured as it is by universal egoism".Ethical philosophySpinoza's notion of blessedness figures centrally in his ethical philosophy. Spinoza writes that blessedness (or salvation or freedom), "consists, namely, in a constant and eternal love of God, or in God's love for men. Philosopher Jonathan Bennett interprets this as Spinoza wanting "'blessedness' to stand for the most elevated and desirable state one could possibly be in." Understanding what is meant by "most elevated and desirable state" requires understanding Spinoza's notion of conatus (striving, but not necessarily with any teleological baggage) and that "perfection" refers not to (moral) value, but to completeness. Given that individuals are identified as mere modifications of the infinite Substance, it follows that no individual can ever be fully complete, i.e., perfect, or blessed. Absolute perfection, is, in Spinoza's thought, reserved solely for Substance. Nevertheless, modes can attain a lesser form of blessedness, namely, that of pure understanding of oneself as one really is, i.e., as a definite modification of Substance in a certain set of relationships with everything else in the universe. That this is what Spinoza has in mind can be seen at the end of the Ethics, in E5P24 and E5P25, where Spinoza makes two final key moves, unifying the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical propositions he has developed over the course of the work. In E5P24, he links the understanding of particular things to the understanding of God, or Substance; in E5P25, the conatus of the mind is linked to the third kind of knowledge (Intuition). From here, it is a short step to the connection of Blessedness with the amor dei intellectualis ("intellectual love of God").
Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP)
As the Second Anglo-Dutch War raged and Spinoza grew confident in the near completion of his ethical system, he shifted his intellectual focus from writing The Ethics to the urgent complexities of society, religion, war, and politics. The Tractatus Theologico-Politicus explains the lessons of ancient Israelite history, the moral core of Jesus's teachings, and the purpose of God's commandments, all tailored to current Dutch politics. It relies on biblical commentary, interpretation, history, philology, philosophy, legal analysis, and more to make its points.
The work was published in 1670 and immediately caused an uproar across Europe. While Ethics is written for a narrow audience that the masses would not understand, the TTP audience includes theologians such as teachers on university faculties and religious leaders.
Tractatus Politicus (Political Treatise) (TP)
This unfinished treatise in Latin expounds Spinoza's ideas about forms of government.
Spinoza maintained conventional views regarding women’s societal role. In his Political Treatise (TP), he concludes tersely on the final page that women were naturally subordinate to men—a condition he attributed to inherent differences rather than societal structures, dismissing institutional explanations for their subordination. Biographer Jonathan I. Israel remarked that his views on women were universal for the time.Pantheism
Spinoza was considered to be an atheist because he used the word "God" [Deus] to signify a concept that was different from that of traditional Judeo–Christian monotheism. "Spinoza expressly denies personality and consciousness to God; he has neither intelligence, feeling, nor will; he does not act according to purpose, but everything follows necessarily from his nature, according to law...." Thus, Spinoza's cool, indifferent God differs from the concept of an anthropomorphic, fatherly God who cares about humanity.
In 1785, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi published a condemnation of Spinoza's pantheism, after Gotthold Lessing was thought to have confessed on his deathbed to being a "Spinozist", which was the equivalent in his time of being called an atheist. Jacobi claimed that Spinoza's doctrine was pure materialism, because all Nature and God are said to be nothing but extended substance. This, for Jacobi, was the result of Enlightenment rationalism and it would finally end in absolute atheism. Moses Mendelssohn disagreed with Jacobi, saying that there is no actual difference between theism and pantheism. The issue became a major intellectual and religious concern for European civilization at the time.
The attraction of Spinoza's philosophy to late 18th-century Europeans was that it provided an alternative to materialism, atheism, and deism. Three of Spinoza's ideas strongly appealed to them: the unity of all that exists, the regularity of all that happens, and the identity of spirit and nature.
By 1879, Spinoza's pantheism was praised by many, but was considered by some to be alarming and dangerously inimical.
Spinoza's "God or Nature" (Deus sive Natura) provided a living, natural God, in contrast to Isaac Newton's first cause argument and the dead mechanism of Julien Offray de La Mettrie's (1709–1751) work, Man a Machine (). Coleridge and Shelley saw in Spinoza's philosophy a religion of nature. Novalis called him the "God-intoxicated man". Spinoza inspired the poet Shelley to write his essay "The Necessity of Atheism". and "prince" and most eminent expounder of pantheism. More specifically, in a letter to Henry Oldenburg he states, "as to the view of certain people that I identify God with Nature (taken as a kind of mass or corporeal matter), they are quite mistaken". For Spinoza, the universe (cosmos) is a mode under two attributes of Thought and Extension. God has infinitely many other attributes which are not present in the world.
According to German philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), when Spinoza wrote (Latin for 'God or Nature'), Spinoza meant God was natura naturans (nature doing what nature does; literally, 'nature naturing'), not natura naturata (nature already created; literally, 'nature natured'). Jaspers believed that Spinoza, in his philosophical system, did not mean to say that God and Nature are interchangeable terms, but rather that God's transcendence was attested by his infinitely many attributes, and that two attributes known by humans, namely Thought and Extension, signified God's immanence. Even God under the attributes of thought and extension cannot be identified strictly with our world. That world is of course "divisible"; it has parts. But Spinoza said, "no attribute of a substance can be truly conceived from which it follows that the substance can be divided", meaning that one cannot conceive an attribute in a way that leads to division of substance. He also said, "a substance which is absolutely infinite is indivisible" (Ethics, Part I, Propositions 12 and 13). Following this logic, our world should be considered as a mode under two attributes of thought and extension. Therefore, according to Jaspers, the pantheist formula "One and All" would apply to Spinoza only if the "One" preserves its transcendence and the "All" were not interpreted as the totality of finite things.
Steven Nadler suggests that settling the question of Spinoza's atheism or pantheism depends on an analysis of attitudes. If pantheism is associated with religiosity, then Spinoza is not a pantheist, since Spinoza believes that the proper stance to take towards God is not one of reverence or religious awe, but instead one of objective study and reason, since taking the religious stance would leave one open to the possibility of error and superstition.Other philosophical connectionsMany authors have discussed similarities between Spinoza's philosophy and Eastern philosophical traditions. A few decades after the philosopher's death, Pierre Bayle, in his famous Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697) pointed out a link between Spinoza's alleged atheism with "the theology of a Chinese sect", supposedly called "Foe Kiao", of which he had learned thanks to the testimonies of the Jesuit missions in Eastern Asia. A century later, Kant also established a parallel between the philosophy of Spinoza and the thinking of Laozi (a "monstrous system" in his words), grouping both under the name of pantheists, criticizing what he described as mystical tendencies in them.
In 1863, Elijah Benamozegh purported to establish that the main source of Spinoza's ontology is Kabbalah. The most recent research in the field seems to vindicate that claim.
The 19th-century German Sanskritist Theodor Goldstücker was one of the early figures to notice the similarities between Spinoza's religious conceptions and the Vedanta tradition of India, writing that Spinoza's thought was "... so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus, did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines..." Max Müller also noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza, equating the Brahman in Vedanta to Spinoza's 'Substantia.'Legacy
of Spinoza, 1927]]
Spinoza's ideas have had a major impact on intellectual debates from the seventeenth century to the current era. How Spinoza is viewed has gone from the atheistic author of treatises that undermine Judaism and organized religion, to a cultural hero, the first secular Jew. One writer contends that what draws readers to Spinoza today and "makes him perhaps the most beloved philosopher since Socrates, is his confident equanimity". He is not a despairing nihilist, but rather Spinoza says that "blessedness is nothing else but the contentment of spirit, which arises from the intuitive knowledge of God." One of his biographers, Jonathan I. Israel, argues that "No leading figure of the post-1750 later Enlightenment, for example, or the nineteenth century, was engaged with the philosophy of Descartes, Hobbes, Bayle, Locke, or Leibniz, to the degree leading figures such as Lessing, Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling, Heine, George Eliot, and Nietzsche, remained preoccupied throughout their creative lives with Spinoza." Hegel (1770-1831) asserts that "The fact is that Spinoza is made a testing-point in modern philosophy, so that it may really be said: You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."
His expulsion from the Portuguese synagogue in 1656 has stirred debate over the years on whether he is the "first modern Jew". Spinoza influenced discussions of the so-called Jewish question, the examination of the idea of Judaism and the modern, secular Jew. Moses Mendelsohn, Lessing, Heine, and Kant, as well as subsequent thinkers, including Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud were influenced by Spinoza. The changing conception of Spinoza as "the First Modern Jew" has been explicitly explored by various authors. His expulsion has been revisited in the 21st century, with Jewish writers such Berthold Auerbach; Salomon Rubin, who translated Spinoza's Ethics into Hebrew and saw Spinoza as a new Maimonides, penning "a new guide to the perplexed"; Zionist Yosef Klausner, and fiction-writer Isaac Bashevis Singer shaping his image. Much later, he wrote an introduction to ''Spinoza's Ethics and "De Intellectus Emendatione". In 1932, Santayana was invited to present an essay (published as "Ultimate Religion") at a meeting at The Hague celebrating the tricentennial of Spinoza's birth. In Santayana's autobiography, he characterized Spinoza as his "master and model" in understanding the naturalistic basis of morality.
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein evoked Spinoza with the title (suggested to him by G. E. Moore) of the English translation of his first definitive philosophical work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, an allusion to Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Elsewhere, Wittgenstein deliberately borrowed the expression sub specie aeternitatis from Spinoza (Notebooks, 1914–16, p. 83). The structure of his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus does have some structural affinities with Spinoza's Ethics (though, admittedly, not with the Spinoza's Tractatus) in erecting complex philosophical arguments upon basic logical propositions and principles. In propositions 6.4311 and 6.45 he alludes to a Spinozian understanding of eternity and interpretation of the religious concept of eternal life, contending, "If by eternity is understood not eternal temporal duration, but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present." (6.4311) "The contemplation of the world sub specie aeterni is its contemplation as a limited whole." (6.45)
Spinoza's philosophy played an important role in the development of post-war French philosophy. Many of these philosophers "used Spinoza to erect a bulwark against the nominally irrationalist tendencies of phenomenology", which was associated with the dominance of Hegel, Martin Heidegger, and Edmund Husserl in France at that time. Louis Althusser, as well as his colleagues such as Étienne Balibar, saw in Spinoza a philosophy which could lead Marxism out of what they considered to be flaws in its original formulation, particularly its reliance upon Hegel's conception of the dialectic, as well as Spinoza's concept of immanent causality. Antonio Negri, in exile in France for much of this period, also wrote a number of books on Spinoza, most notably The Savage Anomaly (1981) in his own reconfiguration of Italian Autonomia Operaia. Other notable French scholars of Spinoza in this period included Alexandre Matheron, Martial Gueroult, André Tosel, and Pierre Macherey, the last of whom published a widely read and influential five-volume commentary on Spinoza's Ethics, which has been described as "a monument of Spinoza commentary". His philosophical accomplishments and moral character prompted Gilles Deleuze in his doctoral thesis (1968) to name him "the prince of philosophers". Deleuze's interpretation of Spinoza's philosophy was highly influential among French philosophers, especially in restoring to prominence the political dimension of Spinoza's thought. Deleuze published two books on Spinoza and gave numerous lectures on Spinoza in his capacity as a professor at the University of Paris VIII. His own work was deeply influenced by Spinoza's philosophy, particularly the concepts of immanence and univocity. Marilena de Souza Chaui described Deleuze's Expressionism in Philosophy (1968) as a "revolutionary work for its discovery of expression as a central concept in Spinoza's philosophy." Einstein wrote the preface to a biography of Spinoza, published in 1946.
Leo Strauss dedicated his first book, ''Spinoza's Critique of Religion, to an examination of his ideas. Strauss identified Spinoza as part of the tradition of Enlightenment rationalism that eventually produced Modernity. Moreover, he identifies Spinoza and his works as the beginning of Jewish Modernity. In 2014 a copy of Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus was presented to the Chair of the Dutch Parliament, and shares a shelf with the Bible and the Quran.
Modern era
Spinoza and Zionism
In the Tractatus Spinoza said, in passing, about the Jews that "were it not that the fundamental principles of their religion discourage manliness, I would not hesitate to believe that they will one day, given the opportunity, [...] establish once more their independent state, and that God will again choose them". This comment, and Spinoza's general emphasis on the political-national aspects of Judaism, had inspired some of the secular forerunners of Zionism. Some Zionist leaders even described Spinoza as the first secular proto-Zionist. Some scholars agree (to various degrees) with the characterization of Spinoza as proto-Zionist, while other scholars are critical of it.
Reconsideration of Spinoza's expulsion
There has been a renewed debate in modern times about Spinoza's excommunication among Israeli politicians, rabbis and Jewish press, with many calling for the cherem to be reversed. A conference was organized at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York entitled "From Heretic to Hero: A Symposium on the Impact of Baruch Spinoza on the 350th Anniversary of His Excommunication, 1656–2006". Presenters included Steven Nadler, Jonathan I. Israel, Steven B. Smith, and Daniel B. Schwartz. There have been calls for Spinoza's cherem to be rescinded, but it can only be done by the congregation that issued it, and the chief rabbi of that community, (Portuguese-Israelite commune of Amsterdam)}} Haham Pinchas Toledano, declined to do so, citing Spinoza's "preposterous ideas, where he was tearing apart the very fundamentals of our religion", the Amsterdam Jewish community organised a symposium in December 2015 to discuss lifting the cherem, inviting scholars from around the world to form an advisory committee at the meeting. However, the rabbi of the congregation ruled that it should hold, on the basis that he had no greater wisdom than his predecessors, and that Spinoza's views had not become less problematic over time.
* The Spinoza Havurah (a Humanistic Jewish community) was named in Spinoza's honor.
* The Spinoza Foundation Monument has a statue of Spinoza located in front of the Amsterdam City Hall (at Zwanenburgwal) It was created by Dutch sculptor Nicolas Dings and was erected in 2008.
Depictions and influence in literature
Spinoza's life and work have been the subject of interest for several writers. For example, this influence was considerably early in German literature, where Goethe makes a glowing mention of the philosopher in his memoirs, highlighting the positive influence of the Ethics in his personal life. The same thing happened in the case of his compatriot, the poet Heine, who is also lavish in praise for Spinoza on his On the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany (1834).
In the following century, the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges famously wrote two sonnets in his honor ("Spinoza" in El otro, el mismo, 1964; and "Baruch Spinoza" in La moneda de hierro, 1976), and several direct references to Spinoza's philosophy can be found in this writer's work. Also in Argentina and previously to Borges, the Ukrainian-born Jewish intellectual Alberto Gerchunoff wrote a novella about philosopher's early sentimental life, Los amores de Baruj [sic] Spinoza (lit. "The loves of Baruj Spinoza", 1932), recreating a supposed affair or romantic interest with Clara Maria van den Enden, daughter of his Latin teacher and philosophical preceptor, Franciscus.
That is not the only work of fiction where the philosopher appears as the main character. In 1837 the German writer Berthold Auerbach dedicated to him the first novel in his series on Jewish history, translated into English in 1882 (Spinoza: a Novel). Some other novels of biographical nature have appeared more recently, such as The Spinoza Problem (2012; a parallel story between the philosopher's formative years, and the fascination that his work had on the Nazi leader Alfred Rosenberg) by psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom, or O Segredo de Espinosa (lit. "The Secret of Spinoza", 2023) by Portuguese journalist José Rodrigues dos Santos. Spinoza also appears in the first novel of the Argentinian activist Andres Spokoiny, El impío (lit. "The Impious", 2021), about the marrano physician and philosopher Juan de Prado, a key influence in Spinoza's biography.
Spinoza's Ethics play a central role in Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story, The Spinoza of Market Street. The main character, Dr. Nahum Fischelson, studies the book religiously, and holds Spinoza in divine esteem.
Works
Original Editions
* . Korte Verhandeling van God, de mensch en deszelvs welstand (unpublished until the 19th century; [https://archive.org/details/spinozasshorttre00spinuoft A Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being]; translated by A. Wolf. London, Adam and Charles Black Eds., 1910).
* 1662. Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione (On the Improvement of the Understanding) (unfinished).
* 1663. Principia philosophiae cartesianae ([http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k943625 The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy], also contains Metaphysical Thoughts/Cogitata Metaphisica; translated by Samuel Shirley, with an Introduction and Notes by Steven Barbone and Lee Rice, Indianapolis, 1998).
* 1670. Tractatus Theologico-Politicus ([https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Theologico-Political_Treatise_1862 A Theologico-Political Treatise]), TTP, published anonymously in his lifetime with a false place of publication.
* 1675–76. Tractatus Politicus ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110723220332/http://www.spinozacsack.net78.net/Political%20Treatise%2C%20Benedict%20de%20Spinoza.pdf Political Treatise]), TP (unfinished at his death), published posthumously.
* 1677. Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata (The Ethics, finished 1674, but published posthumously, title added posthumously).
* 1677. Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae (Hebrew Grammar, unfinished; translated with introduction by M. J. Bloom, London, 1963).
* 1677. Epistolae (The Letters, translated by Samuel Shirley, with an Introduction and Notes by S. Barbone, L. Rice and J. Adler, Indianapolis, 1995).
* Last four were originally collected and published by Spinoza's friends briefly later his death, in: [https://books.google.com/books?idBoTe8vhY5dkC B. d. S. Opera Posthuma, Quorum series post Praefationem exhibetur]. (Amsterdam: Jan Rieuwertsz, 1677; both publisher and place were purposely omitted). Simultaneously, Rieuwertsz also published a Dutch translation by Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker (who some years later translated the TTP): De Nagelate Schriften van B. d. S., without the Hebrew Grammar.Contemporary Editions
* Shirley, Samuel (2002). Morgan, Michael L. (ed.). Spinoza Complete Works, with the Translations by Samuel Shirley. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87220-620-5. OCLC 49775415.
* Edwin Curley (ed.), 1985, 2016. The Collected Works of Spinoza (two volumes), Princeton: Princeton University Press.(Excludes the Compendium grammatices linguae hebraeae).
* Spruit, Leen and Pina Totaro, 2011. ''The Vatican Manuscript of Spinoza's Ethica'', Leiden: Brill. This is the only known surviving manuscript of Spinoza's Ethics, discovered in the Vatican archive and published in a bilingual Latin-English edition.
See also
* History of the Jews in the Netherlands
* List of Epistolae (Letters) of Spinoza
* List of works about Baruch Spinoza
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
* Damásio, António, 2003. Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain, Harvest Books,
* Della Rocca, Michael. 1996. Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza. Oxford University Press.
*
* Deleuze, Gilles, 1968. ''Spinoza et le problème de l'expression. Trans. "Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza" Martin Joughin (New York: Zone Books).
* _____, 1970. Spinoza: Philosophie pratique. Transl. "Spinoza: Practical Philosophy".
* _____, 1990. Negotiations trans. Martin Joughin (New York: Columbia University Press).
* Gatens, Moira, and Lloyd, Genevieve, 1999. Collective imaginings: Spinoza, past and present. Routledge.
* Koistinen, Olli, (ed.). 2009. The Cambridge Companion to Spinoza's Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Goode, Francis, 2012. Life of Spinoza. Smashwords edition.
* Hampshire, Stuart, 1951. Spinoza and Spinozism'', OUP, 2005
* Hardt, Michael, trans., University of Minnesota Press. Preface, in French, by Gilles Deleuze, available here:
* _____, 2006. Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670–1752, ()
*_____. 2002. “Philosophy, Commerce and the Synagogue: Spinoza's Expulsion from the Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish Community in 1656.” In Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000). Edited by Jonathan Israel and Reinier Salverda, pp. 125–140. Leiden: Brill.
* )
* Kayser, Rudolf, 1946, with an introduction by Albert Einstein. Spinoza: Portrait of a Spiritual Hero. New York: The Philosophical Library.
* Kisner, Matthew J. 2011. Spinoza on human freedom: Reason, autonomy and the good life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
*Lloyd, Genevieve. 1994. ''Part of Nature: Self-Knowledge in Spinoza's 'Ethics'. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
* Lloyd, Genevieve. 2018. Reclaiming wonder. After the sublime. Edinburgh University Press.
* LeBuffe, Michael. 2010. Spinoza and Human Freedom. Oxford University Press.
* Lovejoy, Arthur O., 1936. "Plenitude and Sufficient Reason in Leibniz and Spinoza" in his The Great Chain of Being. Harvard University Press: 144–82 (). Reprinted in Frankfurt, H. G., ed., 1972. Leibniz: A Collection of Critical Essays. Anchor Books.
* Macherey, Pierre, 1977. Hegel ou Spinoza, Maspéro (2nd ed. La Découverte, 2004).
* _____, 1994–98. Introduction à l'Ethique de Spinoza. Paris: PUF.
* Magnusson 1990: Magnusson, M (ed.), Spinoza, Baruch, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers 1990, .
* Matheron, Alexandre, 1969. Individu et communauté chez Spinoza, Paris: Minuit.
* Millner, Simon L., The Face of Benedictus Spinoza (New York: Machmadim Art Editions, Inc., 1946).
* Montag, Warren, Bodies, Masses, Power: Spinoza and his Contemporaries. (London: Verso, 2002).
* Moreau, Pierre-François, 2003, Spinoza et le spinozisme, PUF (Presses Universitaires de France)
* Nadler, Steven, Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die, 2020 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ).
* Negri, Antonio, 1991. The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics.
* _____, 2004. Subversive Spinoza: (Un)Contemporary Variations.
*
* Ratner, Joseph, 1927. The Philosophy of Spinoza (The Modern Library: Random House)
* Stolze, Ted and Warren Montag (eds.), The New Spinoza, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
* Strauss, Leo. Persecution and the Art of Writing.'' Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press, 1952. Reprint. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
* _____ch. 5, "How to Study Spinoza's Tractus Theologico-Politicus;" reprinted in Strauss, Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, ed. Kenneth Hart Green (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997), 181–233.
* ____''Spinoza's Critique of Religion.'' New York: Schocken Books, 1965. Reprint. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
* _____ "Preface to the English Translation" reprinted as "Preface to Spinoza's Critique of Religion", in Strauss, Liberalism Ancient and Modern (New York: Basic Books, 1968, 224–59; also in Strauss, Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, 137–77).
* Valentiner, W.R., 1957. Rembrandt and Spinoza: A Study of the Spiritual Conflicts in Seventeenth-Century Holland, London: Phaidon Press.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121120221603/http://cral.ehess.fr/index.php?%2Fmembres%2Fdoctorants%2Fmembres-associes%2F964-vinciguerra Vinciguerra, Lorenzo] [https://www.scribd.com/doc/78866030/Lorenzo-Vinciguerra-Spinoza-in-French-Philosophy-Today Spinoza in French Philosophy Today]. [https://www.questia.com/library/p62075/philosophy-today Philosophy Today] , [https://www.questia.com/library/p62075/philosophy-today/i2482527/vol-53-no-4-winter Vol. 53, No. 4, Winter 2009] .
*Van den Ven, Jeroen. Printing Spinoza: A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works Published in the Seventeenth Century. Leiden 2022.
* _____. Documenting Spinoza: A Biographical History of his Life and Time. (forthcoming)
* Williams, David Lay. 2010. "Spinoza and the General Will", The Journal of Politics, vol. 72 (April): 341–356.
* Wolfson, Henry A. "The Philosophy of Spinoza". 2 vols. Harvard University Press.
External links
Works
*
*
*
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503180326/http://www.philosophyarchive.com/text.php?era1600-1699&authorSpinoza&text=A%20Theologico-Political%20Treatise A Theologico-Political Treatise]– English Translation
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080218203218/http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost17/Spinoza/spi_eth0.html Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata et in quinque partes distincta, in quibus agetur]
* [http://www.quodlibet.it/schedap.php?id=1790 Opera posthuma] – Amsterdam 1677. Complete photographic reproduction, ed. by F. Mignini (Quodlibet publishing house website)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20200130001741/https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/321 The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza, translated by George Eliot, transcribed by Thomas Deegan]
* "[https://ethica.bc.edu/#/ Mapping Spinoza's Ethics]": visual representations of the connections between propositions in the Ethics.
*[https://haifa-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/collectionDiscovery?vidHAU&inst972HAI_MAIN&collectionId81168904190002791&langen_US Spinoza Archive] on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa
* [https://allenartcollection.oberlin.edu/objects/3443/het-naerder-veer-the-ferry-to-naarden-from-the-series-vie# Leprozengracht with a view on the houses at Houtgracht by Reinier Nooms, 1657 - 1662]
}}
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Category:Forerunners of Zionism | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza | 2025-04-05T18:26:22.893089 |
3410 | Bird | | image <div class"center"><imagemap>
File:Bird Diversity 2013.png|300px
rect 0 0 333 232 Red-crested turaco
rect 0 232 333 470 Steller's sea eagle
rect 0 696 333 470 Rock dove
rect 0 928 333 700 Southern cassowary
rect 0 1160 333 930 Gentoo penguin
rect 0 1392 333 1160 Bar-throated minla
rect 666 0 333 232 shoebill
rect 666 232 333 470 grey crowned crane
rect 666 696 333 470 Anna's hummingbird
rect 666 928 333 700 rainbow lorikeet
rect 666 1160 333 930 grey heron
rect 666 1392 333 1160 Eurasian eagle-owl
rect 999 0 666 232 white-tailed tropicbird
rect 999 232 666 470 Indian peafowl
rect 999 696 666 470 Atlantic puffin
rect 999 928 666 700 American flamingo
rect 999 1160 666 930 blue-footed booby
rect 999 1392 666 1160 keel-billed toucan
</imagemap></div>
| display_parents = 6
| taxon = Aves
| authority Linnaeus, 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Extant clades
| subdivision = *Palaeognathae (ratites and tinamous)
** Struthioniformes (ostrich)
** Notopalaeognathae
* Neognathae
** Pangalloanserae (fowl)
** Neoaves
| synonyms = * Neornithes <small>Gadow, 1883</small>
}}
<!--Please do not add any cites to the lead. The lead is meant to summarise the body which is already cited.-->
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds is called ornithology.
Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic. According to some estimates, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Late Cretaceous or between the Early and Late Cretaceous (100 Ma) and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-ornithuran dinosaurs.
Many social species preserve knowledge across generations (culture). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.
Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry.
Evolution and classification
is often considered the oldest known true bird.]]
The first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae.
Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or more recently a subclass or class.DefinitionAves and a sister group, the order Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria. During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica. However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode. Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils, and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives.
Scansoriopterygidae
|2=Eosinopteryx
|label2=Eumaniraptora
|2= }} }} }} }}
showing the relationship between modern birds and other dinosaurs]]
Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora, a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs, among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds, the previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs, contributed to this ambiguity.
is an important source of information on the early evolution of birds in the Late Jurassic period.]]
The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans, are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs, which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids. Together, these form a group called Paraves. Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor, have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal, have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that the first avialans were omnivores.
The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor.Early evolution
, a Cretaceous bird from China that lived 125 million years ago, is the oldest known bird to have a beak.]]
Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs, i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex. The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After the appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer.
Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics, such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially the outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle, an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved a better sense of smell.
A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula, and the loss of grasping hands.
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'', which lived 93 million years ago, was the first known prehistoric bird relative preserved with teeth.]]
The first large, diverse lineage of short-tailed avialans to evolve were the Enantiornithes, or "opposite birds", so named because the construction of their shoulder bones was in reverse to that of modern birds. Enantiornithes occupied a wide array of ecological niches, from sand-probing shorebirds and fish-eaters to tree-dwelling forms and seed-eaters. While they were the dominant group of avialans during the Cretaceous period, Enantiornithes became extinct along with many other dinosaur groups at the end of the Mesozoic era.
Many species of the second major avialan lineage to diversify, the Euornithes (meaning "true birds", because they include the ancestors of modern birds), were semi-aquatic and specialised in eating fish and other small aquatic organisms. Unlike the Enantiornithes, which dominated land-based and arboreal habitats, most early euornithians lacked perching adaptations and likely included shorebird-like species, waders, and swimming and diving species.
The latter included the superficially gull-like Ichthyornis and the Hesperornithiformes, which became so well adapted to hunting fish in marine environments that they lost the ability to fly and became primarily aquatic. Euornithes also included the first avialans to develop true pygostyle and a fully mobile fan of tail feathers, which may have replaced the "hind wing" as the primary mode of aerial maneuverability and braking in flight.Diversification of modern birds
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Most studies agree on a Cretaceous age for the most recent common ancestor of modern birds but estimates range from the Early Cretaceous to the latest Cretaceous. Similarly, there is no agreement on whether most of the early diversification of modern birds occurred in the Cretaceous and associated with breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana or occurred later and potentially as a consequence of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event. This disagreement is in part caused by a divergence in the evidence; most molecular dating studies suggests a Cretaceous evolutionary radiation, while fossil evidence points to a Cenozoic radiation (the so-called 'rocks' versus 'clocks' controversy).
The discovery in 2005 of Vegavis from the Maastrichtian, the last stage of the Late Cretaceous, proved that the diversification of modern birds started before the Cenozoic era. The affinities of an earlier fossil, the possible galliform Austinornis lentus, dated to about 85 million years ago, are still too controversial to provide a fossil evidence of modern bird diversification. In 2020, Asteriornis from the Maastrichtian was described, it appears to be a close relative of Galloanserae, the earliest diverging lineage within Neognathae. Modern birds would have expanded from West Gondwana through two routes. One route was an Antarctic interchange in the Paleogene. The other route was probably via Paleocene land bridges between South America and North America, which allowed for the rapid expansion and diversification of Neornithes into the Holarctic and Paleotropics. These two subdivisions have variously been given the rank of superorder, cohort, The number of known living bird species is around 11,000 although sources may differ in their precise numbers.
Cladogram of modern bird relationships based on Stiller et al (2024)., showing the 44 orders recognised by the IOC. Most evidence seems to suggest the assignment of orders is accurate, but scientists disagree about the relationships among the orders themselves; evidence from modern bird anatomy, fossils and DNA have all been brought to bear on the problem, but no strong consensus has emerged. Fossil and molecular evidence from the 2010s is providing an increasingly clear picture of the evolution of modern bird orders.Genomics
In 2010, the genome had been sequenced for only two birds, the chicken and the zebra finch. , the genomes of 542 species of birds had been completed. At least one genome has been sequenced from every order. These include at least one species in about 90% of extant avian families (218 out of 236 families recognised by the Howard and Moore Checklist).
Being able to sequence and compare whole genomes gives researchers many types of information, about genes, the DNA that regulates the genes, and their evolutionary history. This has led to reconsideration of some of the classifications that were based solely on the identification of protein-coding genes. Waterbirds such as pelicans and flamingos, for example, may have in common specific adaptations suited to their environment that were developed independently.]]
Birds live and breed in most terrestrial habitats and on all seven continents, reaching their southern extreme in the snow petrel's breeding colonies up to inland in Antarctica. The highest bird diversity occurs in tropical regions. It was earlier thought that this high diversity was the result of higher speciation rates in the tropics; however studies from the 2000s found higher speciation rates in the high latitudes that were offset by greater extinction rates than in the tropics. Many species migrate annually over great distances and across oceans; several families of birds have adapted to life both on the world's oceans and in them, and some seabird species come ashore only to breed, while some penguins have been recorded diving up to deep.
Many bird species have established breeding populations in areas to which they have been introduced by humans. Some of these introductions have been deliberate; the ring-necked pheasant, for example, has been introduced around the world as a game bird. Others have been accidental, such as the establishment of wild monk parakeets in several North American cities after their escape from captivity. Some species, including cattle egret, yellow-headed caracara and galah, have spread naturally far beyond their original ranges as agricultural expansion created alternative habitats although modern practices of intensive agriculture have negatively impacted farmland bird populations.
Anatomy and physiology
):
# Beak
# Head
# Iris
# Pupil
# Mantle
# Lesser coverts
# Scapulars
# Median coverts
# Tertials
# Rump
# Primaries
# Vent
# Thigh
# Tibio-tarsal articulation
# Tarsus
# Foot
# Tibia
# Belly
# Flanks
# Breast
# Throat
# Wattle
# Eyestripe
]]
Compared with other vertebrates, birds have a body plan that shows many unusual adaptations, mostly to facilitate flight.
Skeletal system
The skeleton consists of very lightweight bones. They have large air-filled cavities (called pneumatic cavities) which connect with the respiratory system. The skull bones in adults are fused and do not show cranial sutures. The orbital cavities that house the eyeballs are large and separated from each other by a bony septum (partition). The spine has cervical, thoracic, lumbar and caudal regions with the number of cervical (neck) vertebrae highly variable and especially flexible, but movement is reduced in the anterior thoracic vertebrae and absent in the later vertebrae. The last few are fused with the pelvis to form the synsacrum. The wings are more or less developed depending on the species; the only known groups that lost their wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds.Excretory systemLike the reptiles, birds are primarily uricotelic, that is, their kidneys extract nitrogenous waste from their bloodstream and excrete it as uric acid, instead of urea or ammonia, through the ureters into the intestine. Birds do not have a urinary bladder or external urethral opening and (with exception of the ostrich) uric acid is excreted along with faeces as a semisolid waste. However, birds such as hummingbirds can be facultatively ammonotelic, excreting most of the nitrogenous wastes as ammonia. They also excrete creatine, rather than creatinine like mammals. The cloaca is a multi-purpose opening: waste is expelled through it, most birds mate by joining cloaca, and females lay eggs from it. In addition, many species of birds regurgitate pellets.
It is a common but not universal feature of altricial passerine nestlings (born helpless, under constant parental care) that instead of excreting directly into the nest, they produce a fecal sac. This is a mucus-covered pouch that allows parents to either dispose of the waste outside the nest or to recycle the waste through their own digestive system.
Reproductive system
Most male birds do not have intromittent penises. Males within Palaeognathae (with the exception of the kiwis), the Anseriformes (with the exception of screamers), and in rudimentary forms in Galliformes (but fully developed in Cracidae) possess a penis, which is never present in Neoaves. Its length is thought to be related to sperm competition and it fills with lymphatic fluid instead of blood when erect. When not copulating, it is hidden within the proctodeum compartment within the cloaca, just inside the vent. Female birds have sperm storage tubules that allow sperm to remain viable long after copulation, a hundred days in some species. Sperm from multiple males may compete through this mechanism. Most female birds have a single ovary and a single oviduct, both on the left side, but there are exceptions: species in at least 16 different orders of birds have two ovaries. Even these species, however, tend to have a single oviduct. Also terrestrial birds generally have a single ovary, as does the platypus, an egg-laying mammal. A more likely explanation is that the egg develops a shell while passing through the oviduct over a period of about a day, so that if two eggs were to develop at the same time, there would be a risk to survival.
Birds are solely gonochoric, meaning they have two sexes: either female or male. The sex of birds is determined by the Z and W sex chromosomes, rather than by the X and Y chromosomes present in mammals. Male birds have two Z chromosomes (ZZ), and female birds have a W chromosome and a Z chromosome (WZ).
In nearly all species of birds, an individual's sex is determined at fertilisation. However, one 2007 study claimed to demonstrate temperature-dependent sex determination among the Australian brushturkey, for which higher temperatures during incubation resulted in a higher female-to-male sex ratio. This, however, was later proven to not be the case. These birds do not exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, but temperature-dependent sex mortality.Respiratory and circulatory systemsBirds have one of the most complex respiratory systems of all animal groups. Sound production is achieved using the syrinx, a muscular chamber incorporating multiple tympanic membranes which diverges from the lower end of the trachea; the trachea being elongated in some species, increasing the volume of vocalisations and the perception of the bird's size.
In birds, the main arteries taking blood away from the heart originate from the right aortic arch (or pharyngeal arch), unlike in the mammals where the left aortic arch forms this part of the aorta.Heart type and features
of an avian heart]]
The avian circulatory system is driven by a four-chambered, myogenic heart contained in a fibrous pericardial sac. This pericardial sac is filled with a serous fluid for lubrication. The heart itself is divided into a right and left half, each with an atrium and ventricle. The atrium and ventricles of each side are separated by atrioventricular valves which prevent back flow from one chamber to the next during contraction. Being myogenic, the heart's pace is maintained by pacemaker cells found in the sinoatrial node, located on the right atrium.
The sinoatrial node uses calcium to cause a depolarising signal transduction pathway from the atrium through right and left atrioventricular bundle which communicates contraction to the ventricles. The avian heart also consists of muscular arches that are made up of thick bundles of muscular layers. Much like a mammalian heart, the avian heart is composed of endocardial, myocardial and epicardial layers.OrganisationBirds have a very efficient system for diffusing oxygen into the blood; birds have a ten times greater surface area to gas exchange volume than mammals. As a result, birds have more blood in their capillaries per unit of volume of lung than a mammal.
Capillaries are organised into capillary beds in tissues; it is here that blood exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide waste. In the capillary beds, blood flow is slowed to allow maximum diffusion of oxygen into the tissues. Once the blood has become deoxygenated, it travels through venules then veins and back to the heart. Veins, unlike arteries, are thin and rigid as they do not need to withstand extreme pressure. As blood travels through the venules to the veins a funneling occurs called vasodilation bringing blood back to the heart. with notable exceptions including kiwis, New World vultures and tubenoses. The avian visual system is usually highly developed. Water birds have special flexible lenses, allowing accommodation for vision in air and water. They also have double cones, likely to mediate achromatic vision.
as it covers the eye of a masked lapwing]]
Many birds show plumage patterns in ultraviolet that are invisible to the human eye; some birds whose sexes appear similar to the naked eye are distinguished by the presence of ultraviolet reflective patches on their feathers. Male blue tits have an ultraviolet reflective crown patch which is displayed in courtship by posturing and raising of their nape feathers. Ultraviolet light is also used in foraging—kestrels have been shown to search for prey by detecting the UV reflective urine trail marks left on the ground by rodents. With the exception of pigeons and a few other species, the eyelids of birds are not used in blinking. Instead the eye is lubricated by the nictitating membrane, a third eyelid that moves horizontally. The nictitating membrane also covers the eye and acts as a contact lens in many aquatic birds. Birds with eyes on the sides of their heads have a wide visual field, while birds with eyes on the front of their heads, such as owls, have binocular vision and can estimate the depth of field. The avian ear lacks external pinnae but is covered by feathers, although in some birds, such as the Asio, Bubo and Otus owls, these feathers form tufts which resemble ears. The inner ear has a cochlea, but it is not a spiral as in mammals. Several species have been demonstrated to hear infrasound (below 20 Hz) and a few cave-dwelling swifts and oilbirds emit ultrasound (above 20 KHz) and echolocate in darkness.
Defence and intraspecific combat
A few species are able to use chemical defences against predators; some Procellariiformes can eject an unpleasant stomach oil against an aggressor, and some species of pitohuis from New Guinea have a powerful neurotoxin in their skin and feathers.
A lack of field observations limit our knowledge, but intraspecific conflicts are known to sometimes result in injury or death. The screamers (Anhimidae), some jacanas (Jacana, Hydrophasianus), the spur-winged goose (Plectropterus), the torrent duck (Merganetta) and nine species of lapwing (Vanellus) use a sharp spur on the wing as a weapon. The steamer ducks (Tachyeres), geese and swans (Anserinae), the solitaire (Pezophaps), sheathbills (Chionis), some guans (Crax) and stone curlews (Burhinus) use a bony knob on the alular metacarpal to punch and hammer opponents. and sex.
Plumage is regularly moulted; the standard plumage of a bird that has moulted after breeding is known as the "" plumage, or—in the Humphrey–Parkes terminology—"basic" plumage; breeding plumages or variations of the basic plumage are known under the Humphrey–Parkes system as "" plumages. Moulting is annual in most species, although some may have two moults a year, and large birds of prey may moult only once every few years. Moulting patterns vary across species. In passerines, flight feathers are replaced one at a time with the innermost being the first. When the fifth of sixth primary is replaced, the outermost begin to drop. After the innermost tertiaries are moulted, the starting from the innermost begin to drop and this proceeds to the outer feathers (centrifugal moult). The greater primary are moulted in synchrony with the primary that they overlap.
A small number of species, such as ducks and geese, lose all of their flight feathers at once, temporarily becoming flightless. As a general rule, the tail feathers are moulted and replaced starting with the innermost pair. The centrifugal moult is modified in the tail feathers of woodpeckers and treecreepers, in that it begins with the second innermost pair of feathers and finishes with the central pair of feathers so that the bird maintains a functional climbing tail. The general pattern seen in passerines is that the primaries are replaced outward, secondaries inward, and the tail from centre outward. Before nesting, the females of most bird species gain a bare brood patch by losing feathers close to the belly. The skin there is well supplied with blood vessels and helps the bird in incubation.
preening]]
Feathers require maintenance and birds preen or groom them daily, spending an average of around 9% of their daily time on this. The bill is used to brush away foreign particles and to apply waxy secretions from the uropygial gland; these secretions protect the feathers' flexibility and act as an antimicrobial agent, inhibiting the growth of feather-degrading bacteria. This may be supplemented with the secretions of formic acid from ants, which birds receive through a behaviour known as anting, to remove feather parasites.
The scales of birds are composed of the same keratin as beaks, claws, and spurs. They are found mainly on the toes and metatarsus, but may be found further up on the ankle in some birds. Most bird scales do not overlap significantly, except in the cases of kingfishers and woodpeckers.
The scales of birds are thought to be homologous to those of reptiles and mammals.Flight
in the downstroke of flapping flight]]
Most birds can fly, which distinguishes them from almost all other vertebrate classes. Flight is the primary means of locomotion for most bird species and is used for searching for food and for escaping from predators. Birds have various adaptations for flight, including a lightweight skeleton, two large flight muscles, the pectoralis (which accounts for 15% of the total mass of the bird) and the supracoracoideus, as well as a modified forelimb (wing) that serves as an aerofoil. Flightlessness often arises in birds on isolated islands, most likely due to limited resources and the absence of mammalian land predators. Flightlessness is almost exclusively correlated with gigantism due to an island's inherent condition of isolation. Although flightless, penguins use similar musculature and movements to "fly" through the water, as do some flight-capable birds such as auks, shearwaters and dippers.
Behaviour
Most birds are diurnal, but some birds, such as many species of owls and nightjars, are nocturnal or crepuscular (active during twilight hours), and many coastal waders feed when the tides are appropriate, by day or night.Diet and feeding
are varied and often include nectar, fruit, plants, seeds, carrion, and various small animals, including other birds. Some species such as pigeons and some psittacine species do not have a gallbladder. Most birds are highly adapted for rapid digestion to aid with flight. Some migratory birds have adapted to use protein stored in many parts of their bodies, including protein from the intestines, as additional energy during migration.
Birds that employ many strategies to obtain food or feed on a variety of food items are called generalists, while others that concentrate time and effort on specific food items or have a single strategy to obtain food are considered specialists. Combined, insectivorous birds eat 400–500 million metric tons of arthropods annually.
Nectar feeders such as hummingbirds, sunbirds, lories, and lorikeets amongst others have specially adapted brushy tongues and in many cases bills designed to fit co-adapted flowers. Kiwis and shorebirds with long bills probe for invertebrates; shorebirds' varied bill lengths and feeding methods result in the separation of ecological niches. Divers, diving ducks, penguins and auks pursue their prey underwater, using their wings or feet for propulsion, Geese and dabbling ducks are primarily grazers.
Some species, including frigatebirds, gulls, and skuas, engage in kleptoparasitism, stealing food items from other birds. Kleptoparasitism is thought to be a supplement to food obtained by hunting, rather than a significant part of any species' diet; a study of great frigatebirds stealing from masked boobies estimated that the frigatebirds stole at most 40% of their food and on average stole only 5%. Other birds are scavengers; some of these, like vultures, are specialised carrion eaters, while others, like gulls, corvids, or other birds of prey, are opportunists.
Water and drinking
Water is needed by many birds although their mode of excretion and lack of sweat glands reduces the physiological demands. Some desert birds can obtain their water needs entirely from moisture in their food. Some have other adaptations such as allowing their body temperature to rise, saving on moisture loss from evaporative cooling or panting. Seabirds can drink seawater and have salt glands inside the head that eliminate excess salt out of the nostrils.
Most birds scoop water in their beaks and raise their head to let water run down the throat. Some species, especially of arid zones, belonging to the pigeon, finch, mousebird, button-quail and bustard families are capable of sucking up water without the need to tilt back their heads. Some desert birds depend on water sources and sandgrouse are particularly well known for congregating daily at waterholes. Nesting sandgrouse and many plovers carry water to their young by wetting their belly feathers. Some birds carry water for chicks at the nest in their crop or regurgitate it along with food. The pigeon family, flamingos and penguins have adaptations to produce a nutritive fluid called crop milk that they provide to their chicks.Feather care
Feathers, being critical to the survival of a bird, require maintenance. Apart from physical wear and tear, feathers face the onslaught of fungi, ectoparasitic feather mites and bird lice. The physical condition of feathers are maintained by often with the application of secretions from the . Birds also bathe in water or dust themselves. While some birds dip into shallow water, more aerial species may make aerial dips into water and arboreal species often make use of dew or rain that collect on leaves. Birds of arid regions make use of loose soil to dust-bathe. A behaviour termed as anting in which the bird encourages ants to run through their plumage is also thought to help them reduce the ectoparasite load in feathers. Many species will spread out their wings and expose them to direct sunlight and this too is thought to help in reducing fungal and ectoparasitic activity that may lead to feather damage.Migration
in V formation]]
Many bird species migrate to take advantage of global differences of seasonal temperatures, therefore optimising availability of food sources and breeding habitat. These migrations vary among the different groups. Many landbirds, shorebirds, and waterbirds undertake annual long-distance migrations, usually triggered by the length of daylight as well as weather conditions. These birds are characterised by a breeding season spent in the temperate or polar regions and a non-breeding season in the tropical regions or opposite hemisphere. Before migration, birds substantially increase body fats and reserves and reduce the size of some of their organs.
Migration is highly demanding energetically, particularly as birds need to cross deserts and oceans without refuelling. Landbirds have a flight range of around and shorebirds can fly up to , Some seabirds undertake long migrations, with the longest annual migrations including those of Arctic terns, which were recorded travelling an average of between their Arctic breeding grounds in Greenland and Iceland and their wintering grounds in Antarctica, with one bird covering , and sooty shearwaters, which nest in New Zealand and Chile and make annual round trips of to their summer feeding grounds in the North Pacific off Japan, Alaska and California.
Other seabirds disperse after breeding, travelling widely but having no set migration route. Albatrosses nesting in the Southern Ocean often undertake circumpolar trips between breeding seasons.
s migrating north from New Zealand. This species has the longest known non-stop migration of any species, up to .]]
Some bird species undertake shorter migrations, travelling only as far as is required to avoid bad weather or obtain food. Irruptive species such as the boreal finches are one such group and can commonly be found at a location in one year and absent the next. This type of migration is normally associated with food availability. Species may also travel shorter distances over part of their range, with individuals from higher latitudes travelling into the existing range of conspecifics; others undertake partial migrations, where only a fraction of the population, usually females and subdominant males, migrates. Partial migration can form a large percentage of the migration behaviour of birds in some regions; in Australia, surveys found that 44% of non-passerine birds and 32% of passerines were partially migratory.
Altitudinal migration is a form of short-distance migration in which birds spend the breeding season at higher altitudes and move to lower ones during suboptimal conditions. It is most often triggered by temperature changes and usually occurs when the normal territories also become inhospitable due to lack of food. Some species may also be nomadic, holding no fixed territory and moving according to weather and food availability. Parrots as a family are overwhelmingly neither migratory nor sedentary but considered to either be dispersive, irruptive, nomadic or undertake small and irregular migrations.
The ability of birds to return to precise locations across vast distances has been known for some time; in an experiment conducted in the 1950s, a Manx shearwater released in Boston in the United States returned to its colony in Skomer, in Wales within 13 days, a distance of . Birds navigate during migration using a variety of methods. For diurnal migrants, the sun is used to navigate by day, and a stellar compass is used at night. Birds that use the sun compensate for the changing position of the sun during the day by the use of an internal clock. These are backed up in some species by their ability to sense the Earth's geomagnetism through specialised photoreceptors.Communication
Birds communicate primarily using visual and auditory signals. Signals can be interspecific (between species) and intraspecific (within species).
Birds sometimes use plumage to assess and assert social dominance, to display breeding condition in sexually selected species, or to make threatening displays, as in the sunbittern's mimicry of a large predator to ward off hawks and protect young chicks.
mimics a large predator.]]Visual communication among birds may also involve ritualised displays, which have developed from non-signalling actions such as preening, the adjustments of feather position, pecking, or other behaviour. These displays may signal aggression or submission or may contribute to the formation of pair-bonds. males' breeding success may depend on the quality of such displays.
Bird calls and songs, which are produced in the syrinx, are the major means by which birds communicate with sound. This communication can be very complex; some species can operate the two sides of the syrinx independently, allowing the simultaneous production of two different songs. bond formation, the claiming and maintenance of territories, and the warning of other birds of potential predators, sometimes with specific information about the nature of the threat. Some birds also use mechanical sounds for auditory communication. The Coenocorypha snipes of New Zealand drive air through their feathers, woodpeckers drum for long-distance communication, and palm cockatoos use tools to drum.
Flocking and other associations
s, the most numerous species of wild bird, form enormous flockssometimes tens of thousands strong.]]
While some birds are essentially territorial or live in small family groups, other birds may form large flocks. The principal benefits of flocking are safety in numbers and increased foraging efficiency. Costs of flocking include bullying of socially subordinate birds by more dominant birds and the reduction of feeding efficiency in certain cases. Some species have a mixed system with breeding pairs maintaining territories, while unmated or young birds live in flocks where they secure mates prior to finding territories.
Birds sometimes also form associations with non-avian species. Plunge-diving seabirds associate with dolphins and tuna, which push shoaling fish towards the surface. Some species of hornbills have a mutualistic relationship with dwarf mongooses, in which they forage together and warn each other of nearby birds of prey and other predators.
Resting and roosting
<!--Roosting redirects here-->
Roost}}
, tuck their head into their back when sleeping.]]
The high metabolic rates of birds during the active part of the day is supplemented by rest at other times. Sleeping birds often use a type of sleep known as vigilant sleep, where periods of rest are interspersed with quick eye-opening "peeks", allowing them to be sensitive to disturbances and enable rapid escape from threats. Swifts are believed to be able to sleep in flight and radar observations suggest that they orient themselves to face the wind in their roosting flight. It has been suggested that there may be certain kinds of sleep which are possible even when in flight.
Some birds have also demonstrated the capacity to fall into slow-wave sleep one hemisphere of the brain at a time. The birds tend to exercise this ability depending upon its position relative to the outside of the flock. This may allow the eye opposite the sleeping hemisphere to remain vigilant for predators by viewing the outer margins of the flock. This adaptation is also known from marine mammals. Communal roosting is common because it lowers the loss of body heat and decreases the risks associated with predators. Roosting sites are often chosen with regard to thermoregulation and safety. Unusual mobile roost sites include large herbivores on the African savanna that are used by oxpeckers.
Many sleeping birds bend their heads over their backs and tuck their bills in their back feathers, although others place their beaks among their breast feathers. Many birds rest on one leg, while some may pull up their legs into their feathers, especially in cold weather. Perching birds have a tendon-locking mechanism that helps them hold on to the perch when they are asleep. Many ground birds, such as quails and pheasants, roost in trees. A few parrots of the genus Loriculus roost hanging upside down. Some hummingbirds go into a nightly state of torpor accompanied with a reduction of their metabolic rates. This physiological adaptation shows in nearly a hundred other species, including owlet-nightjars, nightjars, and woodswallows. One species, the common poorwill, even enters a state of hibernation. Birds do not have sweat glands, but can lose water directly through the skin, and they may cool themselves by moving to shade, standing in water, panting, increasing their surface area, fluttering their throat or using special behaviours like urohidrosis to cool themselves.
Breeding
Social systems
has elaborate breeding plumage used to impress females.]]
95 per cent of bird species are socially monogamous. These species pair for at least the length of the breeding season or—in some cases—for several years or until the death of one mate. Monogamy allows for both paternal care and biparental care, which is especially important for species in which care from both the female and the male parent is required in order to successfully rear a brood. Among many socially monogamous species, extra-pair copulation (infidelity) is common. Such behaviour typically occurs between dominant males and females paired with subordinate males, but may also be the result of forced copulation in ducks and other anatids.
For females, possible benefits of extra-pair copulation include getting better genes for her offspring and insuring against the possibility of infertility in her mate. Males of species that engage in extra-pair copulations will closely guard their mates to ensure the parentage of the offspring that they raise.
Other mating systems, including polygyny, polyandry, polygamy, polygynandry, and promiscuity, also occur. but variations within species are thought to be driven by environmental conditions. A unique system is the formation of trios where a third individual is allowed by a breeding pair temporarily into the territory to assist with brood raising thereby leading to higher fitness.
Breeding usually involves some form of courtship display, typically performed by the male. Most displays are rather simple and involve some type of song. Some displays, however, are quite elaborate. Depending on the species, these may include wing or tail drumming, dancing, aerial flights, or communal lekking. Females are generally the ones that drive partner selection, although in the polyandrous phalaropes, this is reversed: plainer males choose brightly coloured females. Courtship feeding, billing and are commonly performed between partners, generally after the birds have paired and mated.
Homosexual behaviour has been observed in males or females in numerous species of birds, including copulation, pair-bonding, and joint parenting of chicks. Over 130 avian species around the world engage in sexual interactions between the same sex or homosexual behaviours. "Same-sex courtship activities may involve elaborate displays, synchronised dances, gift-giving ceremonies, or behaviours at specific display areas including bowers, arenas, or leks."
Territories, nesting and incubation
Many birds actively defend a territory from others of the same species during the breeding season; maintenance of territories protects the food source for their chicks. Species that are unable to defend feeding territories, such as seabirds and swifts, often breed in colonies instead; this is thought to offer protection from predators. Colonial breeders defend small nesting sites, and competition between and within species for nesting sites can be intense.
All birds lay amniotic eggs with hard shells made mostly of calcium carbonate.
s construct elaborate suspended nests out of grass.]]
Bird eggs are usually laid in a nest. Most species create somewhat elaborate nests, which can be cups, domes, plates, mounds, or burrows. Some bird nests can be a simple scrape, with minimal or no lining; most seabird and wader nests are no more than a scrape on the ground. Most birds build nests in sheltered, hidden areas to avoid predation, but large or colonial birds—which are more capable of defence—may build more open nests. During nest construction, some species seek out plant matter from plants with parasite-reducing toxins to improve chick survival, and feathers are often used for nest insulation.
that has been parasitised by a brown-headed cowbird]]
Incubation, which regulates temperature for chick development, usually begins after the last egg has been laid. The warmth for the incubation of the eggs of megapodes comes from the sun, decaying vegetation or volcanic sources. Incubation periods range from 10 days (in woodpeckers, cuckoos and passerine birds) to over 80 days (in albatrosses and kiwis).
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Species
! Adult weight<br />(grams)
! Incubation<br />(days)
! Clutches<br />(per year)
! Clutch size
|-
| Ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
| 3
| 13
| 2.0
| 2
|-
| House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
| 25
| 11
| 4.5
| 5
|-
| Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
| 376
| 20
| 1.5
| 4
|-
| Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)
| 2,200
| 39
| 1.0
| 2
|-
| Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)
| 3,150
| 64
| 1.0
| 1
|-
| Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)
| 4,000
| 40
| 1.0
| 1
|-
| Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
| 4,800
| 40
| 1.0
| 2
|-
| Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
| 6,050
| 28
| 1.0
| 11
|}
Parental care and fledging
At the time of their hatching, chicks range in development from helpless to independent, depending on their species. Helpless chicks are termed altricial, and tend to be born small, blind, immobile and naked; chicks that are mobile and feathered upon hatching are termed precocial. Altricial chicks need help thermoregulating and must be brooded for longer than precocial chicks. The young of many bird species do not precisely fit into either the precocial or altricial category, having some aspects of each and thus fall somewhere on an "altricial-precocial spectrum". Chicks at neither extreme but favouring one or the other may be termed or .
chicks of a white-breasted woodswallow]]
The length and nature of parental care varies widely amongst different orders and species. At one extreme, parental care in megapodes ends at hatching; the newly hatched chick digs itself out of the nest mound without parental assistance and can fend for itself immediately. At the other extreme, many seabirds have extended periods of parental care, the longest being that of the great frigatebird, whose chicks take up to six months to fledge and are fed by the parents for up to an additional 14 months. The chick guard stage describes the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is permanently present at the nest after chicks have hatched. The main purpose of the guard stage is to aid offspring to thermoregulate and protect them from predation.
feeding fully grown chicks]]
In some species, both parents care for nestlings and fledglings; in others, such care is the responsibility of only one sex. In some species, other members of the same species—usually close relatives of the breeding pair, such as offspring from previous broods—will help with the raising of the young. Such alloparenting is particularly common among the Corvida, which includes such birds as the true crows, Australian magpie and fairy-wrens, but has been observed in species as different as the rifleman and red kite. Among most groups of animals, male parental care is rare. In birds, however, it is quite common—more so than in any other vertebrate class.
The point at which chicks fledge varies dramatically. The chicks of the Synthliboramphus murrelets, like the ancient murrelet, leave the nest the night after they hatch, following their parents out to sea, where they are raised away from terrestrial predators. Some other species, such as ducks, move their chicks away from the nest at an early age. In most species, chicks leave the nest just before, or soon after, they are able to fly. The amount of parental care after fledging varies; albatross chicks leave the nest on their own and receive no further help, while other species continue some supplementary feeding after fledging. Chicks may also follow their parents during their first migration.
Brood parasites
raising a common cuckoo, a brood parasite]]
Brood parasitism, in which an egg-layer leaves her eggs with another individual's brood, is more common among birds than any other type of organism. After a parasitic bird lays her eggs in another bird's nest, they are often accepted and raised by the host at the expense of the host's own brood. Brood parasites may be either obligate brood parasites, which must lay their eggs in the nests of other species because they are incapable of raising their own young, or non-obligate brood parasites, which sometimes lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics to increase their reproductive output even though they could have raised their own young. One hundred bird species, including honeyguides, icterids, and ducks, are obligate parasites, though the most famous are the cuckoos.Sexual selection
]]
Birds have evolved a variety of mating behaviours, with the peacock tail being perhaps the most famous example of sexual selection and the Fisherian runaway. Commonly occurring sexual dimorphisms such as size and colour differences are energetically costly attributes that signal competitive breeding situations. Many types of avian sexual selection have been identified; intersexual selection, also known as female choice; and intrasexual competition, where individuals of the more abundant sex compete with each other for the privilege to mate. Sexually selected traits often evolve to become more pronounced in competitive breeding situations until the trait begins to limit the individual's fitness. Conflicts between an individual fitness and signalling adaptations ensure that sexually selected ornaments such as plumage colouration and courtship behaviour are "honest" traits. Signals must be costly to ensure that only good-quality individuals can present these exaggerated sexual ornaments and behaviours.Inbreeding depression
Inbreeding causes early death (inbreeding depression) in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. Embryo survival (that is, hatching success of fertile eggs) was significantly lower for sib-sib mating pairs than for unrelated pairs.
Darwin's finch Geospiza scandens experiences inbreeding depression (reduced survival of offspring) and the magnitude of this effect is influenced by environmental conditions such as low food availability.
Inbreeding avoidance
Incestuous matings by the purple-crowned fairy wren Malurus coronatus result in severe fitness costs due to inbreeding depression (greater than 30% reduction in hatchability of eggs). Females paired with related males may undertake extra pair matings (see Promiscuity#Other animals for 90% frequency in avian species) that can reduce the negative effects of inbreeding. However, there are ecological and demographic constraints on extra pair matings. Nevertheless, 43% of broods produced by incestuously paired females contained extra pair young.
Southern pied babblers Turdoides bicolor appear to avoid inbreeding in two ways. The first is through dispersal, and the second is by avoiding familiar group members as mates.
Cooperative breeding in birds typically occurs when offspring, usually males, delay dispersal from their natal group in order to remain with the family to help rear younger kin. Female offspring rarely stay at home, dispersing over distances that allow them to breed independently, or to join unrelated groups. In general, inbreeding is avoided because it leads to a reduction in progeny fitness (inbreeding depression) due largely to the homozygous expression of deleterious recessive alleles. Cross-fertilisation between unrelated individuals ordinarily leads to the masking of deleterious recessive alleles in progeny.
Ecology
, an example of a bird highly specialised in its habitat, in this case in the Canarian pine forests]]
Birds occupy a wide range of ecological positions. A wide range of endo- and ectoparasites depend on birds and some parasites that are transmitted from parent to young have co-evolved and show host-specificity.
Some nectar-feeding birds are important pollinators, and many frugivores play a key role in seed dispersal. Plants and pollinating birds often coevolve, and in some cases a flower's primary pollinator is the only species capable of reaching its nectar.
Birds are often important to island ecology. Birds have frequently reached islands that mammals have not; on those islands, birds may fulfil ecological roles typically played by larger animals. For example, in New Zealand nine species of moa were important browsers, as are the kererū and kōkako today.
Many birds act as ecosystem engineers through the construction of nests, which provide important microhabitats and food for hundreds of species of invertebrates. Nesting seabirds may affect the ecology of islands and surrounding seas, principally through the concentration of large quantities of guano, which may enrich the local soil and the surrounding seas.
A wide variety of avian ecology field methods, including counts, nest monitoring, and capturing and marking, are used for researching avian ecology.Relationship with humans
of chickens]]
Since birds are highly visible and common animals, humans have had a relationship with them since the dawn of man. Sometimes, these relationships are mutualistic, like the cooperative honey-gathering among honeyguides and African peoples such as the Borana. Other times, they may be commensal, as when species such as the house sparrow have benefited from human activities. Several species have reconciled to habits of farmers who practice traditional farming. Examples include the Sarus Crane that begins nesting in India when farmers flood the fields in anticipation of rains, and the woolly-necked storks that have taken to nesting on a short tree grown for agroforestry beside fields and canals. Several bird species have become commercially significant agricultural pests, and some pose an aviation hazard. Human activities can also be detrimental, and have threatened numerous bird species with extinction (hunting, avian lead poisoning, pesticides, roadkill, wind turbine kills and predation by pet cats and dogs are common causes of death for birds).
Birds can act as vectors for spreading diseases such as psittacosis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, mycobacteriosis (avian tuberculosis), avian influenza (bird flu), giardiasis, and cryptosporidiosis over long distances. Some of these are zoonotic diseases that can also be transmitted to humans.Economic importance
Domesticated birds raised for meat and eggs, called poultry, are the largest source of animal protein eaten by humans; in 2003, tons of poultry and tons of eggs were produced worldwide. Chickens account for much of human poultry consumption, though domesticated turkeys, ducks, and geese are also relatively common. Many species of birds are also hunted for meat. Bird hunting is primarily a recreational activity except in extremely undeveloped areas. The most important birds hunted in North and South America are waterfowl; other widely hunted birds include pheasants, wild turkeys, quail, doves, partridge, grouse, snipe, and woodcock. Muttonbirding is also popular in Australia and New Zealand. Although some hunting, such as that of muttonbirds, may be sustainable, hunting has led to the extinction or endangerment of dozens of species.
Other commercially valuable products from birds include feathers (especially the down of geese and ducks), which are used as insulation in clothing and bedding, and seabird faeces (guano), which is a valuable source of phosphorus and nitrogen. The War of the Pacific, sometimes called the Guano War, was fought in part over the control of guano deposits.
Birds have been domesticated by humans both as pets and for practical purposes. Colourful birds, such as parrots and mynas, are bred in captivity or kept as pets, a practice that has led to the illegal trafficking of some endangered species. Falcons and cormorants have long been used for hunting and fishing, respectively. Messenger pigeons, used since at least 1 AD, remained important as recently as World War II. Today, such activities are more common either as hobbies, for entertainment and tourism.
Amateur bird enthusiasts (called birdwatchers, twitchers or, more commonly, birders) number in the millions. Many homeowners erect bird feeders near their homes to attract various species. Bird feeding has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry; for example, an estimated 75% of households in Britain provide food for birds at some point during the winter.
In religion and mythology
, 15th-century Germany]]
Birds play prominent and diverse roles in religion and mythology.
In religion, birds may serve as either messengers or priests and leaders for a deity, such as in the Cult of Makemake, in which the Tangata manu of Easter Island served as chiefs or as attendants, as in the case of Hugin and Munin, the two common ravens who whispered news into the ears of the Norse god Odin. In several civilisations of ancient Italy, particularly Etruscan and Roman religion, priests were involved in augury, or interpreting the words of birds while the "auspex" (from which the word "auspicious" is derived) watched their activities to foretell events.
They may also serve as religious symbols, as when Jonah (, dove) embodied the fright, passivity, mourning, and beauty traditionally associated with doves. Birds have themselves been deified, as in the case of the common peacock, which is perceived as Mother Earth by the people of southern India. In the ancient world, doves were used as symbols of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (later known as Ishtar), the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In ancient Greece, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and patron deity of the city of Athens, had a little owl as her symbol. In religious images preserved from the Inca and Tiwanaku empires, birds are depicted in the process of transgressing boundaries between earthly and underground spiritual realms. Indigenous peoples of the central Andes maintain legends of birds passing to and from metaphysical worlds. and carvings. Some birds have been perceived as monsters, including the mythological Roc and the Māori's legendary , a giant bird capable of snatching humans. Birds were later used as symbols of power, as in the magnificent Peacock Throne of the Mughal and Persian emperors. With the advent of scientific interest in birds, many paintings of birds were commissioned for books.
Among the most famous of these bird artists was John James Audubon, whose paintings of North American birds were a great commercial success in Europe and who later lent his name to the National Audubon Society. Birds are also important figures in poetry; for example, Homer incorporated nightingales into his Odyssey, and Catullus used a sparrow as an erotic symbol in his Catullus 2. The relationship between an albatross and a sailor is the central theme of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which led to the use of the term as a metaphor for a 'burden'. Other English metaphors derive from birds; vulture funds and vulture investors, for instance, take their name from the scavenging vulture. Aircraft, particularly military aircraft, are frequently named after birds. The predatory nature of raptors make them popular choices for fighter aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Harrier Jump Jet, while the names of seabirds may be chosen for aircraft primarily used by naval forces such as the HU-16 Albatross and the V-22 Osprey.
of Dominica prominently features the Sisserou Parrot, its national bird.]]
Perceptions of bird species vary across cultures. Owls are associated with bad luck, witchcraft, and death in parts of Africa, but are regarded as wise across much of Europe. Hoopoes were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia, but were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia. In heraldry, birds, especially eagles, often appear in coats of arms In vexillology, birds are a popular choice on flags. Birds feature in the flag designs of 17 countries and numerous subnational entities and territories. Birds are used by nations to symbolise a country's identity and heritage, with 91 countries officially recognising a national bird. Birds of prey are highly represented, though some nations have chosen other species of birds with parrots being popular among smaller, tropical nations.In music
In music, birdsong has influenced composers and musicians in several ways: they can be inspired by birdsong; they can intentionally imitate bird song in a composition, as Vivaldi, Messiaen, and Beethoven did, along with many later composers; they can incorporate recordings of birds into their works, as Ottorino Respighi first did; or like Beatrice Harrison and David Rothenberg, they can duet with birds.
A 2023 archaeological excavation of a 10,000-year-old site in Israel yielded hollow wing bones of coots and ducks with perforations made on the side that are thought to have allowed them to be used as flutes or whistles possibly used by Natufian people to lure birds of prey.
Threats and conservation
once numbered only 22 birds, but conservation measures have raised that to over 500 today.]]
Human activities have caused population decreases or extinction in many bird species. Over a hundred bird species have gone extinct in historical times, although the most dramatic human-caused avian extinctions, eradicating an estimated 750–1800 species, occurred during the human colonisation of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian islands. Many bird populations are declining worldwide, with 1,227 species listed as threatened by BirdLife International and the IUCN in 2009. There have been long-term declines in North American bird populations, with an estimated loss of 2.9 billion breeding adults, about 30% of the total, since 1970.
The most commonly cited human threat to birds is habitat loss. Other threats include overhunting, accidental mortality due to collisions with buildings or vehicles, long-line fishing bycatch, pollution (including oil spills and pesticide use), competition and predation from nonnative invasive species, and climate change.
Governments and conservation groups work to protect birds, either by passing laws that preserve and restore bird habitat or by establishing captive populations for reintroductions. Such projects have produced some successes; one study estimated that conservation efforts saved 16 species of bird that would otherwise have gone extinct between 1994 and 2004, including the California condor and Norfolk parakeet.
Human activities have allowed the expansion of a few temperate area species, such as the barn swallow and European starling. In the tropics and sub-tropics, relatively more species are expanding due to human activities, particularly due to the spread of crops such as rice whose expansion in south Asia has benefitted at least 64 bird species, though may have harmed many more species.See also
* Biodiversity loss
* Climate change and birds
* Glossary of bird terms
* List of individual birds
* Ornithology
* List of bird genera
References
Further reading
* All the Birds of the World, Lynx Edicions, 2020.
* Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World (17-volume encyclopaedia), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 1992–2010. (Vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks: , etc.).
* Lederer, Roger; Carol Burr (2014). Latein für Vogelbeobachter: über 3000 ornithologische Begriffe erklärt und erforscht, aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Susanne Kuhlmannn-Krieg, Verlag DuMont, Köln, .
* National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America, National Geographic, 7th edition, 2017.
* National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, National Audubon Society, Knopf.
* National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region, National Audubon Society, Knopf.
* Svensson, Lars (2010). Birds of Europe, Princeton University Press, second edition.
* Svensson, Lars (2010). Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, Collins, 2nd edition.
External links
* [http://www.birdlife.org/ Birdlife International] – Dedicated to bird conservation worldwide; has a database with about 250,000 records on endangered bird species.
* [http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdbiogeography1.htm Bird biogeography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100810134957/http://www.audubon.org/bird/index.html Birds and Science] from the National Audubon Society
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ Cornell Lab of Ornithology]
*
* [http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/completed_essays.html Essays on bird biology]
* [http://www.mrnussbaum.com/birdsindex.htm North American Birds for Kids]
* [http://www.ornithology.com/ Ornithology]
* [http://sora.unm.edu/ Sora] – Searchable online research archive; Archives of the following ornithological journals The Auk, Condor, Journal of Field Ornithology', North American Bird Bander, Studies in Avian Biology, Pacific Coast Avifauna, and the Wilson Bulletin.
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/ The Internet Bird Collection] – A free library of videos of the world's birds
* [http://www.birdpop.org/ The Institute for Bird Populations, California]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100323064035/http://media.library.uiuc.edu/cgi/b/bib/bix-idx?c=bix%3Bcc%3Dbix%3Bsid%3D0c4f6243857204b94fcdebc6dce5d8b2%3Btype%3Dsimple%3Bpage%3Dbrowse%3Binst%3Dbix_10%3Bsort%3Dregion List of field guides to birds], from the International Field Guides database
* [http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/ RSPB bird identifier] – Interactive identification of all UK birds
* [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html Are Birds Really Dinosaurs?] — University of California Museum of Paleontology.
Category:Animal classes
Category:Ornithurae
Category:Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances
Category:Feathered dinosaurs
Category:Extant Maastrichtian first appearances
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.082266 |
3411 | ...Baby One More Time (album) | | recorded = November 1997 – June 1998 <!-- Multiple sources state the album was completed in June 1998. If known, it's better to state the exact time of recording. -->
| studio = * 4MW East (New Jersey)
* Battery (New York City)
* Cheiron (Stockholm)
| genre = * Pop
* bubblegum pop
* dance-pop
* teen pop
| length = 42:20
| label = Jive
| producer = * All Seeing I
* Jörgen Elofsson
* David Kreuger
* Kristian Lundin
* Per Magnusson
* Max Martin
* Rami
* Eric Foster White
| prev_title | prev_year
| next_title = Oops!... I Did It Again
| next_year = 2000
| misc =
}}
...Baby One More Time is the debut studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on January 12, 1999, by Jive Records. Spears had been a child performer on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994, and was looking to expand her career as a teen singer. After being turned away by several record companies, Spears signed with Jive for a multi-album deal in 1997. She travelled to Sweden to collaborate with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, who had been writing songs with producer Denniz Pop and others, for ...Baby One More Time. Their collaboration created a pop, bubblegum pop, dance-pop, and teen pop record, with Spears later saying that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record. The album was completed in June 1998.
Upon its release, ...Baby One More Time garnered mixed reviews from music critics, with many praising its commercial appeal but deeming it silly and premature. Despite its initial mixed reception, it helped Spears receive a nomination for Best New Artist at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards (2000). Retrospectively, it has been hailed for its major impact on pop culture, and has been deemed one of the most influential pop records of all time. A massive global commercial success, it made Spears the fifth artist under the age of 18 to top the US Billboard 200. It has been certified 14× platinum (diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Spears's best-selling album, it has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, as well as the best-selling debut album by a teenage female artist.
...Baby One More Time produced five singles. The lead single, "...Baby One More Time", brought Spears tremendous global success, reaching number one in most countries it charted in and becoming one of the best-selling physical singles of all time. In 2020, it was named the greatest debut single of all time by Rolling Stone. Subsequent singles "Sometimes" and "Born to Make You Happy" peaked within the top ten in most international countries while "(You Drive Me) Crazy" became Spears's second US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit. Spears heavily promoted the album through interviews and televised performances. Furthermore, she embarked on her first headlining concert tour, entitled ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999) and later continued with (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour (2000).
Recording and production
<!--Obviously should be "was one", but the magazine stated "one was".--> of those songs you want to hear again and again. It just felt really right. I went into the studio and did my own thing with it, trying to give it a little more attitude than the demo. In 10 days, I never even saw Sweden. We were so busy."|source—Spears talking to Chuck Taylor of Billboard.}}
In June 1997, Spears was in talks with then-manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense. Her mother, Lynne Spears, asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided to pitch her to record labels, which required a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded in a studio with an audio engineer. Spears traveled from her hometown Kentwood, Louisiana, to New York City with the demo and met executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph. Jive's senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated: "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important. And Britney had that."
Jive soon appointed Spears to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney." One of the first songs Spears recorded with Foster White was "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart", which was released as the album's 4th single. Foster White also produced "Autumn Goodbye", which was the B-side to Spears' debut single "...Baby One More Time". During the same session for "Autumn Goodbye", Spears and Foster White also worked on a song called "Love Is On", which ultimately did not make the album and was later given to Sharon Cuneta. Spears recorded a lot of material with Eric Foster White, such as "Autumn Goodbye", "E-Mail My Heart", "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart", "I'm So Curious", "I Will Still Love You", "Way It Is Loving You", "I'll Be There For You", "Soda Pop", "Thinkin' About You", "Nothing Less Than Real", "Wishing on a Falling Star" and a cover of "You Got It All" by the Jets. She also recorded a cover of Sonny & Cher's 1967 single "The Beat Goes On". with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, and contributions from others, including songwriting from Denniz Pop, who was too ill to attend any recording sessions. Martin showed Spears and her management a track titled "Hit Me Baby One More Time", originally written for American group TLC, who had rejected it. Spears later said that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit. "We at Jive said, 'This is a fuckin' smash, revealed the label's A&R executive, Steven Lunt; however, other executives were concerned that the line "Hit Me" would condone domestic violence, and later revised it to "...Baby One More Time". By June 1998, the album had been completed.
Music and lyrics
Spears originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger – more adult contemporary" for ...Baby One More Time, but acquiesced to the wishes of her label, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." According to Blender, "...Baby One More Time" is composed of "wah-wah guitar lines and EKG-machine bass-slaps". "(You Drive Me) Crazy" runs through a moderately slow dance beat, and has an R&B melody mixed with edgy synthesized instrumentals. "Sometimes" is a ballad, which Spears begins with the lines "You tell me you're in love with me / That you can't take your pretty eyes away from me / It's not that I don't wanna stay / But every time you come too close I move away". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted the song has "a catchy hook and endearing melody, with a reminiscent euro-dance rhythm."
"Soda Pop" draws influences from bubblegum pop and ragga, Its lyrics allude to a relationship that a woman desires to repair, not quite understanding what went wrong, as she comes to realize that "I don't know how to live without your love / I was born to make you happy". "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a sentimental slow-tempo teen pop ballad. "I Will Be There" is a pop rock song featuring a guitar riff similar to Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" (1997), with a "rousing chorus about standing by your man (or a best friend or a house pet)", as noted by Kyle Anderson of MTV. "E-Mail My Heart" is a sensitive piano ballad on which Spears sings: "E-mail me back / And say our love will stay alive". and features a sound similar to spy film themes.
Release and promotion
" at her Las Vegas residency show, Britney: Piece of Me, in February 2016]]
Promotion for ...Baby One More Time began in May 1998, when Spears performed "...Baby One More Time", "Sometimes" and "You Got It All" at the Singapore Jazz Festival. Subsequently, she embarked on the L'Oréal-sponsored promotional tour titled L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour, visiting malls and food courts across North America from August 1998 to January 1999. In December, "...Baby One More Time" first showed up on MTV's and The Box's most-requested video charts. In the United States, ...Baby One More Time was originally set for an October 1998 release, but was pushed back to January 12, 1999, due to marketing issues, with its international release occurring within the following three months. Spears had appeared on Ricki Lake, The Howie Mandel Show, and was a presenter at the 1999 American Music Awards prior to the release. Additionally, she appeared on MTV Spring Break and on the hundredth episode of Nickelodeon's All That.
Outside the US, Spears visited the German shows Wetten, dass..? and Top of the Pops on June 25. According to People'', Spears was returning a favor to actress Melissa Joan Hart, who played a cameo role in Spears' music video for "(You Drive Me) Crazy". Spears also performed live with Joey McIntyre in the Disney Channel taped concert event titled Britney Spears & Joey McIntyre in Concert. In November, Spears performed "...Baby One More Time" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy" at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards. Promotion for the album continued in early 2000, when Spears performed at the 2000 American Music Awards, She announced that the tour would start in July. On May 12, Tommy Hilfiger was announced as the main tour sponsor, as Spears was being featured in the company's "AllStars" campaign at the time. On December 17, during the premiere of the music video of "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" on Total Request Live, Spears called the show to announce the March 2000 US tour dates. The extension, entitled (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour, was considered a prelude to her future world tour, Oops!... I Did It Again Tour. The leg's main sponsor was Got Milk?, whose media director Peter Gardiner explained: "Britney is magic with teen-age girls, and that's an absolutely crucial target for milk". Spears shot an advertising campaign to be shown before her performances began. The secondary sponsor was Polaroid, who released I-Zone as the tour's official camera. Spears used the I-Zone onstage to take pictures of the audience and further promote the product. The show was divided into segments, separated by interludes, and ended with an encore. Some changes were made during the 2000 leg, with the covers replaced by songs from her second studio album Oops!... I Did It Again (2000). The tour received positive critical reception. During the tour, Spears was accused of lip synching, although she denied those claims. It was slightly altered from its tour incarnation and featured different costumes. On June 5, it was broadcast on Fox, airing several times during the year. On November 21, Jive Records released the video album Britney Spears: Live and More!, which included the Fox special. It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 300,000 units.
On August 14, 2017, 18 years after the release of ...Baby One More Time, it was announced that 2,500 pink-and-white-swirl copies of the album would be released on vinyl exclusively through Urban Outfitters on November 3. It received generally favorable critical reviews, which mostly praised its composition. It received numerous certifications around the world, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling over ten million copies. The music video, directed by Nigel Dick, portrays Spears as a high school student who starts to sing and dance around the school, while watching her love interest from afar. In 2010, the video was voted the third most influential video in the history of pop music on Jam!.
"Sometimes" was released as the second single from ...Baby One More Time on April 6, 1999. It achieved commercial success internationally, reaching number one in Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In the United States, however, it missed the top 20, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Nigel Dick. During rehearsals, on February 11, 1999, Spears injured her left knee and needed surgery. After recuperating in Kentwood, Louisiana, It premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on May 6. for a reproduced version subtitled "The Stop! Remix", which was going to be included on the original motion picture soundtrack for the film Drive Me Crazy (1999). The remix was subsequently released as the third single from ...Baby One More Time on August 24.
"Born to Make You Happy" was released as the fourth and final European single from ...Baby One More Time on December 6, 1999, to a mixed critical reception. A commercial success, it peaked within the top five in 11 countries and atop the UK Singles Chart. Its accompanying music video was directed by Bille Woodruff, and choreographed by Wade Robson. Despite its success in Europe, the song was never released as a single in the US.
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was released as the fourth and final North American and Oceanian single from ...Baby One More Time on December 14, 1999. The song received mixed critical reviews, which branded it a classic hit and competent single, despite considering it an unremarkable song referring only to kissing. In Oceania, it peaked at number 37 in Australia and number 23 in New Zealand. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 28, 2000. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Gregory Dark, was released on December 17, 1999.
Critical reception
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score B+
| rev4 = NME
| rev4score 1/10
| rev6 = Rolling Stone
| rev6score
| rev7 = Sonic.net
| rev7score
| rev8 = Sputnikmusic
| rev8score 2/5
}}
...Baby One More Time received mixed reviews from music critics upon its release. The editors of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars. The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau highlighted the title track and "Soda Pop" while summing the album up as a "girl next door" version of Madonna. He also found the album premature, commenting: "hopefully, if she starts to live the wretched life that we all eventually do, her voice will show the scars, she'll stop looking so fucking smug, she'll find solace in drugs and we'll be all the happier for it. Now grow up, girl. Quick!"
In 2024, Paste listed the album among its picks for "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time", with critic Olivia Abercrombie praising the album's iconic status and influence in pop music.
Accolades
|-
! scope="row"| 1999
| Juno Award
| Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic)
| rowspan="2"| ...Baby One More Time
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 1999
| Teen Choice Award
| Choice Music – Album
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 1999
| YoungStar Award
| Best Young Recording Artist or Musical Group
| rowspan="2"| Britney Spears
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 1999
| Billboard Music Award
| Female Albums Artist of the Year
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 2000
| Guinness World Record
| Best Selling Album in the US by a Female Artist
| rowspan="5"| ...Baby One More Time
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 2000
| American Music Award
| Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 2000
| Blockbuster Entertainment Award
| Favorite CD
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 2000
| Hungarian Music Award
| Foreign Pop Album of the Year
|
| style"text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 2003
| Guinness World Record
| Best Selling Album by a Teenage Solo Artist
|
| style"text-align:center;"| Spears broke several records by doing so. and became the fifth artist under the age of 18 to top the Billboard 200. After fluctuating within the top five, the album went back to the summit in its fourth week. It sold over 500,000 copies within its first month, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its fifth week became the album's highest-selling week with 229,000 copies sold, bringing the total to 804,000 copies. ...Baby One More Time spent a total of six non-consecutive weeks at number one, In its 47th week on the Billboard 200, the album held strong at number three, reaching the ten-million sales mark in the country. The album was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 9, 1999, It became the 14th album since 1991 to sell over ten million copies in the US, and Spears became the best-selling female artist of 1999. The album has spent a total of 103 weeks on the Billboard 200. As of May 2020, it has sold 10.7 million copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, with the BMG Music Club sales bringing its total to 12.3 million units.
...Baby One More Time debuted atop the Canadian Albums Chart, spending nine non-consecutive weeks at the summit. On December 12, 1999, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) certified it diamond, for sales of over one million units. The album spent two weeks at number two on the European Top 100 Albums, and has been certified quadruple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). being certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP). The album became the seventh highest-selling album of 1999 in the country, and was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) the following year after shipping 280,000 copies to retailers. The album debuted at number three in New Zealand, later being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears' debut single and video were charting highly. RCA Records signed Aguilera and rushed her debut single to capitalize on Spears' success, producing the hit single "Genie in a Bottle" in May 1999 and Aguilera's eponymous debut studio album in August. Aguilera's album sold millions but not as many as ...Baby One More Time. Simpson consciously modeled her persona as more mature than Spears; her single "I Wanna Love You Forever" charted in September 1999, and her album Sweet Kisses followed shortly after. Moore's first single, "Candy", hit the airwaves a month before Simpson's single, but it did not perform as well on the charts; Moore was often seen as less accomplished than Spears and the others, coming in fourth of the "pop princesses". Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s.
The Daily Yomiuri reported that "critics have hailed her as the most gifted teenage pop idol for many years, but Spears has set her sights a little higher-she is aiming for the level of superstardom that has been achieved by Madonna and Janet Jackson." Rolling Stone wrote: "Britney Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene." Rami Yacoub who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin commented: "I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing. With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice. When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice." Chuck Taylor of Billboard observed, "Spears has become a consummate performer, with snappy dance moves, a clearly real-albeit young-and funkdified voice ... "(You Drive Me) Crazy", her third single ... demonstrates Spears' own development, proving that the 17-year-old is finding her own vocal personality after so many months of steadfast practice." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic referred to her music as a "blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry."
Spears became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career. Rolling Stone wrote: "One of the most controversial and successful female vocalists of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop ... Spears early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that generated lots of cash". She is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist". Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist. Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 25 million albums worldwide". Barbara Ellen of The Observer reported: "Spears is famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and determination. Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career. While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall. Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry". ...Baby One More Time is Spears' most commercially successful album to date, with worldwide sales of 25 million copies. and at number 16 on the Billboard 200 albums by women.
Track listing
| total_length = 45:54
| title9 = Deep in My Heart
| writer9 =
| extra9 =
| length9 = 3:36
| title10 = Thinkin' About You
| writer10 =
| extra10 = White
| length10 = 3:35
| title11 = E-Mail My Heart
| writer11 = White
| extra11 = White
| length11 = 3:41
| title12 = The Beat Goes On
| writer12 =
| extra12 =
}}
| length12 = 3:43
}}
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| total_length = 53:23
| title13 = I'll Never Stop Loving You
| writer13 =
| extra13 =
| length13 = 3:43
| title14 = ...Baby One More Time
| note14 = Davidson Ospina Radio Mix
| writer14 = Martin
| extra14 =
}}
| length14 = 3:26
}}
| total_length = 60:20
| title13 = I'll Never Stop Loving You
| writer13 =
| extra13 =
| length13 = 3:43
| title14 = Autumn Goodbye
| writer14 = White
| extra14 = White
| length14 = 3:42
| title15 = ...Baby One More Time
| note15 = Davidson Ospina Radio Mix
| writer15 = Martin
| extra15 =
}}
| length15 = 3:26
| title16 = ...Baby One More Time
| note16 = Boy Wunder Radio Mix
| writer16 = Martin
| extra16 =
}}
| length16 = 3:27
| all_writing | title6
| title10 | length9
| title9 | length8
| title8 | length7
| title7 | length6
| length5 | title1
| title5 | length4
| title4 | length3
| title3 | length2
| title2 | length1
| length10 =
}}
| total_length = 27:01
| title1 = (You Drive Me) Crazy
| note1 = The Stop! Remix
| writer1 =
| extra1 =
| length1 = 3:16
| title2 = (You Drive Me) Crazy
| note2 = Spacedust Club Mix
| writer2 =
| extra2 =
}}
| length2 = 7:20
| title3 = Sometimes
| note3 = Soul Solution – Mid Tempo Mix
| writer3 = Elofsson
| extra3 =
*Soul Solution
}}
| length3 = 3:29
| title4 = ...Baby One More Time
| note4 = Davidson Ospina Club Mix
| writer4 = Martin
| extra4 =
}}
| length4 = 5:40
| title5 = I'll Never Stop Loving You
| writer5 =
| extra5 =
| length5 = 3:41
| title6 = I'm So Curious
| writer6 =
| extra6 = White
| length6 = 3:35
}}
| total_length = 11:27
| title1 = Born to Make You Happy
| note1 = Radio Edit
| writer1 =
| extra1 = Lundin
| length1 = 3:35
| title2 = Born to Make You Happy
| note2 = Bonus Remix
| writer2 =
| extra2 = Lundin
| length2 = 3:40
| title3 = (You Drive Me) Crazy
| note3 = Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix
| writer3 =
| extra3 =
*Ricky Brown
}}
| length3 = 3:40
| title4 = ...Baby One More Time
| note4 = Answering Machine Message
| length4 = 0:21
}}
Notes
*The very first pressings of the album feature a hidden spoken message by Spears after "The Beat Goes On". In it, Spears thanks fans and promotes the then-upcoming Backstreet Boys album, Millennium, with snippets of songs featured on the album.
*}} signifies a co-producer
*}} signifies an additional producer
*}} signifies a remixer
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ...Baby One More Time, except where noted.
| 8
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Canadian Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 1
|-
! scope"row"|Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)
| 5
|-
! scope"row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| 7
|-
|-
!scope"row"|Estonian Albums (Eesti Top 10)
| 4
|-
!scope"row"|European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 2
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 5
|-
! scope"row"| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)
| 4
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Italian Albums (FIMI)
| 8
|-
! scope"row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 9
|-
! scope"row"| Malaysian Albums (RIM)
| 3
|-
! scope"row"| Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Portuguese Albums (AFP)
| 1
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)
| 2
|-
|-
|-
! scope"row"| Taiwanese Albums (IFPI)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
|}
{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|+ 2022 weekly charts for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart (2022)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope"row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 65
|}
Monthly charts
{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|+Monthly chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
!Chart (1999)
!Peak<br />position
|-
!scope"row"|South Korean Albums (RIAK)
| 13
|}
Year-end charts
{| class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|+1999 year-end chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart (1999)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 7
|-
! scope"row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
| 4
|-
! scope"row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 3
|-
! scope"row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| 4
|-
! scope"row"| Canadian Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 2
|-
! scope"row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| 27
|-
! scope"row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 11
|-
! scope"row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 5
|-
! scope"row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 21
|-
! scope"row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 8
|-
! scope"row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 85
|-
! scope"row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 15
|-
! scope"row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 11
|-
! scope"row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 14
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| 2
|}
{| class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"
|+2000 year-end chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart (2000)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 94
|-
! scope"row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 34
|-
! scope"row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| 42
|-
! scope"row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 71
|-
! scope"row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 64
|-
! scope"row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 22
|-
! scope"row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 45
|-
! scope"row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 61
|-
! scope"row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 27
|-
! scope"row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 36
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| 17
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+1990s decade-end chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart (1990–1999)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"| 29
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+2000s decade-end chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart (2000–2009)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"| 81
|}
All-time charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+All-time chart performance for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Chart
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope"row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"| 41
|-
!scope"row"|US Billboard 200 (Women)
| align="center"| 16
|}
Certifications and sales
! scope"row"|Philippines (PARI)
|4× Platinum
|200,000
|-
Release history{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Release dates and formats for ...Baby One More Time
! scope="col"| Region
! scope="col"| Date
! scope="col"| Format(s)
! scope="col"| Edition
! scope="col"| Label
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope="row"| United States
| January 12, 1999
|
| Standard
| Jive
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Japan
| February 24, 1999
| rowspan="2"| CD
| Deluxe
| Avex Trax
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Germany
| rowspan="2"| March 8, 1999
| rowspan="4"| Standard
| BMG
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| United Kingdom
|
| Jive
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Argentina
| March 17, 1999
| rowspan="3"| CD
| EMI
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| France
| April 9, 1999
| Jive
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Australia
| November 23, 1999
| rowspan="5"| Deluxe
| rowspan="3"| BMG
| align"center"| }}
|-
! scope="row"| Germany
| June 30, 2003
| rowspan="2"| CD
|
|-
! scope="row"| France
| October 14, 2003
| rowspan="2"| Jive
|
|-
! scope"row" rowspan"2"| United States
| December 25, 2007
| Digital download
| align"center"|
|-
| November 3, 2017
| Vinyl
| rowspan="8" | Standard
| rowspan="2" | Legacy
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Various
| November 23, 2018
|
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Australia
| rowspan="6" | March 31, 2023
| rowspan="5" | Opaque pink vinyl
| rowspan="5" | Sony
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Germany
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Mexico
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| Poland
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| United Kingdom
| align"center"|
|-
! scope="row"| United States
| Black vinyl
| Legacy
| align"center"|
|}
See also
* Britney Spears discography
* List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1999
* List of number-one albums of 1999 (Canada)
* List of number-one hits of 1999 (Germany)
* List of number-one albums of 1999 (Portugal)
* List of best-selling albums
* List of best-selling albums by women
* List of best-selling albums in the Philippines
* List of best-selling albums in the United States
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Category:1999 debut albums
Category:Britney Spears albums
Category:Jive Records albums
Category:Albums produced by All Seeing I
Category:Albums produced by David Kreuger
Category:Albums produced by Denniz Pop
Category:Albums produced by Kristian Lundin
Category:Albums produced by Max Martin
Category:Albums produced by Per Magnusson
Category:Albums produced by Rami Yacoub
Category:Albums recorded at Cheiron Studios | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...Baby_One_More_Time_(album) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.186129 |
3412 | Burn card | In card games, a burn card is a playing card dealt from the top of a deck, and discarded ("burned"), unused by the players. Burn cards are usually not shown to the players.
Burning is most often performed in casinos to deter a form of cheating known as card marking.
Usage
In poker the top card of the deck stub is burned at the beginning of each betting round, so that players who might have been able to read markings on that card during the previous round are less able to take advantage of that information. Knowledge of a burn card might be marginally useful, such as knowing there is one fewer Ace in the deck, but far less so than knowing it is about to be in play.
Two other uses for burning are: to prevent second dealing and to provide extra cards for use when an irregularity of play occurs. Sometimes a misdealt card (such as one of the down cards in poker that has flashed during the deal) will be used as the burn card – in those cases, the card should be immediately placed face up on the deck after the deal is complete.
When Texas hold 'em (as well as in Omaha hold 'em) is played in casinos (or other formal games where cheating is a concern), a card is burned before dealing the flop, turn, and river, for a maximum of 3 total burn cards.
References
Category:Poker terminology | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_card | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.191062 |
3415 | Bulgaria | <br /> }}
| common_name = Bulgaria
| image_flag = Flag of Bulgaria.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Bulgaria.svg
| coa_size = 100
| national_motto <wbr/>}}<br />Sŭedinenieto pravi silata<br />("Unity makes strength")
| national_anthem <br />"Mila Rodino"<br />("Dear Motherland")<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map = EU-Bulgaria.svg
| map_caption
| capital = Sofia
| coordinates
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages Bulgarian
| languages_type = Official script
| languages = Cyrillic
| languages_sub = no
| ethnic_groups }}
| ethnic_groups_year = 2021 census
| ethnic_groups_ref
| religion
* 64.7% Christianity
** 62.7% Bulgarian Orthodoxy
** 2.0% other Christian
|15.9% no religion |9.8% Islam |0.1% other |9.5% unanswered}}
| religion_year = 2021 census
| religion_ref
| area_sq_mi = 42,811
| percent_water 2.16
| population_census_year = 2021
| population_census 6,519,789
| population_estimate 6,445,481
| population_estimate_rank = 109th
| population_estimate_year = December 2023
| population_density_km2 =
| population_density_sq_mi =
| population_density_rank = 154th
| GDP_PPP $248.906 billion
| GDP_PPP_rank = 73rd
| GDP_PPP_year = 2024
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $39,185
| Gini_year = 2023
| Gini_change = decrease
| HDI_year = 2022
| HDI = 0.799
| HDI_change = increase
| HDI_rank = 70th
| HDI_ref
| currency = Lev
| currency_code = BGN
| time_zone = EET
| utc_offset = +2
| time_zone_DST = EEST
| utc_offset_DST = +3
| calling_code = +359
| cctld =
}}
Bulgaria,; }} officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, )}} is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north. It covers a territory of and is the sixteenth-largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities include Burgas, Plovdiv, and Varna.
One of the earliest societies in the lands of modern-day Bulgaria was the Karanovo culture (6,500 BC). In the 6th to 3rd century BC, the region was a battleground for ancient Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in AD 45. After the Roman state splintered, tribal invasions in the region resumed. Around the 6th century, these territories were settled by the early Slavs. The Bulgars, led by Asparuh, attacked from the lands of Old Great Bulgaria and permanently invaded the Balkans in the late 7th century. They established the First Bulgarian Empire, victoriously recognised by treaty in 681 AD by the Byzantine Empire. It dominated most of the Balkans and significantly influenced Slavic cultures by developing the Cyrillic script. The First Bulgarian Empire lasted until the early 11th century, when Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered and dismantled it. A successful Bulgarian revolt in 1185 established a Second Bulgarian Empire, which reached its apex under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241). After numerous exhausting wars and feudal strife, the empire disintegrated and in 1396 fell under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 resulted in the formation of the third and current Bulgarian state, which declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Many ethnic Bulgarians were left outside the new nation's borders, which stoked irredentist sentiments that led to several conflicts with its neighbours and alliances with Germany in both world wars. In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and became a socialist state. The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989 and allowed multiparty elections. Bulgaria then transitioned into a democracy.
Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. Its high-income economy is part of the European Single Market and is largely based on services, followed by manufacturing and mining—and agriculture. Bulgaria been influenced by its role as a transit country for natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as its strategic location on the Black Sea. Its foreign relations have been shaped by its geographical location and its modern membership in the European Union and NATO.
Etymology
The name Bulgaria is derived from the Bulgars, a tribe of Turkic origin that founded the First Bulgarian Empire. Their name is not completely understood and is difficult to trace it back earlier than the 4th century AD, but it is possibly derived from the Proto-Turkic word bulģha ("to mix", "shake", "stir") and its derivative bulgak ("revolt", "disorder"). The meaning may be further extended to "rebel", "incite" or "produce a state of disorder", and so, in the derivative, the "disturbers". Tribal groups in Inner Asia with phonologically close names were frequently described in similar terms, as the Buluoji, a component of the "Five Barbarian" groups, which during the 4th century were portrayed as both: a "mixed race" and "troublemakers".
History
Prehistory and Antiquity
in the National History Museum]]
Neanderthal remains dating to around 150,000 years ago, or the Middle Paleolithic, are some of the earliest traces of human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria. Remains from Homo sapiens found there are dated . This result represents the earliest arrival of modern humans in Europe. The Karanovo culture arose and was one of several Neolithic societies in the region that thrived on agriculture. The Copper Age Varna culture (fifth millennium BC) is credited with inventing gold metallurgy. The associated Varna Necropolis treasure contains the oldest golden jewellery in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years. The treasure has been valuable for understanding social hierarchy and stratification in the earliest European societies.
The Thracians, one of the three primary ancestral groups of modern Bulgarians, appeared on the Balkan Peninsula some time before the 12th century BC. The Thracians excelled in metallurgy and gave the Greeks the Orphean and Dionysian cults, but remained tribal and stateless. The Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered parts of present-day Bulgaria (in particular eastern Bulgaria) in the 6th century BC and retained control over the region until 479 BC. The invasion became a catalyst for Thracian unity, and the bulk of their tribes united under king Teres to form the Odrysian kingdom in the 470s BC. It was weakened and vassalised by Philip II of Macedon in 341 BC, attacked by Celts in the 3rd century, and finally became a province of the Roman Empire in AD 45.
By the end of the 1st century AD, Roman governance was established over the entire Balkan Peninsula and Christianity began spreading in the region around the 4th century. The region came under Byzantine control after the fall of Rome in 476. The Byzantines were engaged in prolonged warfare against Persia and could not defend their Balkan territories from barbarian incursions. This enabled the Slavs to enter the Balkan Peninsula as marauders, primarily through an area between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains known as Moesia. Gradually, the interior of the peninsula became a country of the South Slavs, who lived under a democracy. The Slavs assimilated the partially Hellenised, Romanised, and Gothicised Thracians in the rural areas. First Bulgarian Empire
: The Morning Star of Slavonic Literature, The Slav Epic cycle by Alfons Mucha|left]]Not long after the Slavic incursion, Moesia was once again invaded, this time by the Bulgars under Khan Asparukh. Their horde was a remnant of Old Great Bulgaria, an extinct tribal confederacy situated north of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and southern Russia. Asparukh attacked Byzantine territories in Moesia and conquered the Slavic tribes there in 680.
Succeeding rulers strengthened the Bulgarian state throughout the 8th and 9th centuries. Krum introduced a written code of law and checked a major Byzantine incursion at the Battle of Pliska, in which Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I was killed. Boris I abolished paganism in favour of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 864. The conversion was followed by a Byzantine recognition of the Bulgarian church and the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet, developed in the capital, Preslav. The common language, religion and script strengthened central authority and gradually fused the Slavs and Bulgars into a unified people speaking a single Slavic language. A golden age began during the 34-year rule of Simeon the Great, who oversaw the largest territorial expansion of the state. The literature produced in Old Bulgarian soon spread north from Bulgaria and became the lingua franca of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The political, cultural, and spiritual power of the Bulgarian Empire during the Krum dynasty turned Bulgaria into one of the three superpowers in Europe at that time, alongside the Byzantine Empire and the Carolingian Empire of the Franks, which would later become the Holy Roman Empire.After Simeon's death, Bulgaria was weakened by wars with Magyars and Pechenegs and the spread of Bogomilism. Simeon's successor Peter I (r.927–969) negotiated a favourable peace treaty. The Byzantines agreed to recognize him as Emperor of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as an independent Patriarchate, as well as to pay an annual tribute. The peace was reinforced with a marriage between Peter and Romanos's granddaughter Irene Lekapene. This agreement ushered in a period of 40 years of peaceful relations between the two powers. During the first years of his reign, Peter I faced revolts by two of his three brothers, John in 928 and Michael in 930, but both were quelled. During most of the reign of Emperor Peter I, the empire enjoyed a period of political consolidation, economic expansion, and cultural activity.
Preslav was seized by the Byzantine army in 971 after consecutive Rus' and Byzantine invasions. but this ended when Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated the Bulgarian army at Klyuch in 1014. Samuil died shortly after the battle, and by 1018 the Byzantines had conquered the First Bulgarian Empire. After the conquest, Basil II prevented revolts by retaining the rule of local nobility, integrating them in Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy, and relieving their lands of the obligation to pay taxes in gold, allowing tax in kind instead. The Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced to an archbishopric, but retained its autocephalous status and its dioceses.
Second Bulgarian Empire
Byzantine domestic policies changed after Basil's death and a series of unsuccessful rebellions broke out, the largest being led by Peter Delyan. The empire's authority declined after a catastrophic military defeat at Manzikert against Seljuk invaders, and was further disturbed by the Crusades. This prevented Byzantine attempts at Hellenisation and created fertile ground for further revolt. In 1185, Asen dynasty nobles Ivan Asen I and Peter IV organised a major uprising and succeeded in re-establishing the Bulgarian state. Ivan Asen and Peter laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian Empire with its capital at Tarnovo.
Kaloyan, the third of the Asen monarchs, extended his dominion to Belgrade and Ohrid. He acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the pope and received a royal crown from a papal legate. The empire reached its zenith under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), when its borders expanded as far as the coast of Albania, Serbia and Epirus, while commerce and culture flourished. Bulgarian architecture, arts, and literature spread beyond the borders of Bulgaria into Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, and the Rus' Principalities and affected Slavic culture.
Ottoman rule
The Ottomans were employed as mercenaries by the Byzantines in the 1340s, but later became invaders in their own right. The Bulgarian nobility was subsequently eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman masters, while much of the educated clergy fled to other countries.
Bulgarians were subjected to heavy taxes (including Devshirme, or blood tax), their culture was suppressed, Ottoman authorities established a religious administrative community called the Rum Millet, which governed all Orthodox Christians regardless of their ethnicity. Most of the local population then gradually lost its distinct national consciousness, identifying only by its faith. The clergy remaining in some isolated monasteries kept their ethnic identity alive, enabling its survival in remote rural areas, and in the militant Catholic community in the northwest of the country.
As Ottoman power began to wane, Habsburg Austria and Russia saw Bulgarian Christians as potential allies. The Austrians first backed an uprising in Tarnovo in 1598, then a second one in 1686, the Chiprovtsi Uprising in 1688 and finally Karposh's rebellion in 1689. The Russian Empire also asserted itself as a protector of Christians in Ottoman lands with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774.
Third Bulgarian state
The Treaty of San Stefano was signed on 3 March 1878 by Russia and the Ottoman Empire. It was to set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality spanning Moesia, Macedonia and Thrace, roughly on the territories of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and this day is now a public holiday called National Liberation Day. The other Great Powers immediately rejected the treaty out of fear that such a large country in the Balkans might threaten their interests. It was superseded by the Treaty of Berlin, signed on 13 July. It provided for a much smaller state, the Principality of Bulgaria, only comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia, and leaving large populations of ethnic Bulgarians outside the new country. This significantly contributed to Bulgaria's militaristic foreign affairs approach during the first half of the 20th century.
The Bulgarian principality won a war against Serbia and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of Eastern Rumelia in 1885, proclaiming itself an independent state on 5 October 1908. In the years following independence, Bulgaria increasingly militarised and was often referred to as "the Balkan Prussia". It became involved in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918—two Balkan Wars and World War I. After a disastrous defeat in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the Central Powers in World War I. Despite fielding more than a quarter of its population in a 1,200,000-strong army and achieving several decisive victories at Doiran and Monastir, the country capitulated in 1918. The war resulted in significant territorial losses and a total of 87,500 soldiers killed. More than 253,000 refugees from the lost territories immigrated to Bulgaria from 1912 to 1929, placing additional strain on the already ruined national economy.
Between 19 October 1925 and 29 October 1925, the Incident at Petrich, nicknamed "the War of the Stray Dog" occurred, which was a minor armed conflict. Greece invaded Bulgaria, after the killing of a Greek captain and sentry by Bulgarian soldiers. The conflict was settled by the League of Nations, and resulted in a Bulgarian diplomatic victory. The League ordered a ceasefire, Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria and Greece to pay £45,000 to Bulgaria.
The resulting political unrest led to the establishment of a royal authoritarian dictatorship by Tsar Boris III (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of the Axis but declined to participate in Operation Barbarossa and saved its Jewish population from deportation to concentration camps. The sudden death of Boris III in mid-1943 pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Germany, and the communist guerrilla movement gained momentum. The government of Bogdan Filov subsequently failed to achieve peace with the Allies. Bulgaria did not comply with Soviet demands to expel German forces from its territory, resulting in a declaration of war and an invasion by the USSR in September 1944. The communist-dominated Fatherland Front took power, ended participation in the Axis and joined the Allied side until the war ended. Bulgaria suffered little war damage and the Soviet Union demanded no reparations. But all wartime territorial gains, with the notable exception of Southern Dobrudzha, were lost.
, leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1946 to 1949]]
The left-wing coup d'état of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of the monarchy and the executions of some 1,000–3,000 dissidents, war criminals, and members of the former royal elite. But it was not until 1946 that a one-party people's republic was instituted following a referendum. It fell into the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov (1946–1949), who established a repressive, rapidly industrialising Stalinist state. By the mid-1950s, standards of living rose significantly and political repression eased. The Soviet-style planned economy saw some experimental market-oriented policies emerging under Todor Zhivkov (1954–1989). Compared to wartime levels, national GDP increased five-fold and per capita GDP quadrupled by the 1980s, although severe debt spikes took place in 1960, 1977 and 1980. Zhivkov's daughter Lyudmila bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage, culture and arts worldwide. Facing declining birth rates among the ethnic Bulgarian majority, Zhivkov's government in 1984 forced the minority ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names in an attempt to erase their identity and assimilate them. These policies resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 ethnic Turks to Turkey.
The Communist Party was forced to give up its political monopoly on 10 November 1989 under the influence of the Revolutions of 1989. Zhivkov resigned and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a parliamentary democracy. The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Communist Party, now rebranded as the Bulgarian Socialist Party. A new constitution that provided for a relatively weak elected president and for a prime minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991. The new system initially failed to improve living standards or create economic growth—the average quality of life and economic performance remained lower than under communism well into the early 2000s. After 2001, economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly, and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status in 2003. It became a member of NATO in 2004 Geography
, the highest mountain range in the Balkans and Southeast Europe]]
Bulgaria is a middle-sized country situated in Southeast Europe, in the east of the Balkans. Its territory covers an area of , while land borders with its five neighbouring countries run a total length of , and its coastline is long. Bulgaria's geographic coordinates are 43° N 25° E. The most notable topographical features of the country are the Danubian Plain, the Balkan Mountains, the Upper Thracian Plain, and the Rila-Rhodope massif. The southern edge of the Danubian Plain slopes upward into the foothills of the Balkans, while the Danube defines the border with Romania. The Thracian Plain is roughly triangular, beginning southeast of Sofia and broadening as it reaches the Black Sea coast.
The Balkan mountains run laterally through the middle of the country from west to east. The mountainous southwest has two distinct alpine type ranges—Rila and Pirin, which border the lower but more extensive Rhodope Mountains to the east, and various medium altitude mountains to west, northwest and south, like Vitosha, Osogovo and Belasitsa. Musala, at , is the highest point in both Bulgaria and the Balkans. The Black Sea coast is the country's lowest point. Precipitation averages about per year, and varies from in Dobrudja to more than in the mountains. Continental air masses bring significant amounts of snowfall during winter.
Considering its relatively small area, Bulgaria has variable and complex climate. The country occupies the southernmost part of the continental climatic zone, with small areas in the south falling within the Mediterranean climatic zone. The continental zone is predominant, because continental air masses flow easily into the unobstructed Danubian Plain. The continental influence, stronger during the winter, produces abundant snowfall; the Mediterranean influence increases during the second half of summer and produces hot and dry weather. Bulgaria is subdivided into five climatic zones: continental zone (Danubian Plain, Pre-Balkan and the higher valleys of the Transitional geomorphological region); transitional zone (Upper Thracian Plain, most of the Struma and Mesta valleys, the lower Sub-Balkan valleys); continental-Mediterranean zone (the southernmost areas of the Struma and Mesta valleys, the eastern Rhodope Mountains, Sakar and Strandzha); Black Sea zone along the coastline with an average length of 30–40 km inland; and alpine zone in the mountains above 1000 m altitude (central Balkan Mountains, Rila, Pirin, Vitosha, western Rhodope Mountains, etc.).
Biodiversity and conservation
has a growing population in Bulgaria.]]
The interaction of climatic, hydrological, geological and topographical conditions has produced a relatively wide variety of plant and animal species.
Bulgaria's biodiversity, one of the richest in Europe, is conserved in three national parks, 11 nature parks, 10 biosphere reserves and 565 protected areas. Ninety-three of the 233 mammal species of Europe are found in Bulgaria, along with 49% of butterfly and 30% of vascular plant species. Overall, 41,493 plant and animal species are present. Flora includes more than 3,800 vascular plant species of which 170 are endemic and 150 are considered endangered. In Bulgaria forest cover is around 36% of the total land area, equivalent to 3,893,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 3,327,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 3,116,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 777,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 18% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 18% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 88% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 12% private ownership. are among Bulgaria's numerous protected areas.]]In 1998, the Bulgarian government adopted the National Biological Diversity Conservation Strategy, a comprehensive programme seeking the preservation of local ecosystems, protection of endangered species and conservation of genetic resources. Bulgaria has some of the largest Natura 2000 areas in Europe covering 33.8% of its territory. It also achieved its Kyoto Protocol objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 30% from 1990 to 2009.
Bulgaria ranks 37th in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index, but scores low on air quality. Particulate levels are the highest in Europe, especially in urban areas affected by automobile traffic and coal-based power stations. One of these, the lignite-fired Maritsa Iztok-2 station, is causing the highest damage to health and the environment in the European Union. Pesticide use in agriculture and antiquated industrial sewage systems produce extensive soil and water pollution. Water quality began to improve in 1998 and has maintained a trend of moderate improvement. Over 75% of surface rivers meet European standards for good quality.
Politics
in Sofia: The headquarters of the Presidency (right), the National Assembly (centre) and the Council of Ministers (left).]]
.]]
Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy where the prime minister is the head of government and the most powerful executive position. The political system has three branches—legislative, executive and judicial, with universal suffrage for citizens at least 18 years old. The Constitution also provides possibilities of direct democracy, namely petitions and national referendums. Elections are supervised by an independent Central Election Commission that includes members from all major political parties. Parties must register with the commission prior to participating in a national election. Normally, the prime minister-elect is the leader of the party receiving the most votes in parliamentary elections, although this is not always the case.
Unlike the prime minister, presidential domestic power is more limited. The directly elected president serves as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the authority to return a bill for further debate, although the parliament can override the presidential veto by a simple majority vote. Political parties gather in the National Assembly, a body of 240 deputies elected to four-year terms by direct popular vote. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the prime minister and other ministers, declare war, deploy troops abroad, and ratify international treaties and agreements.
Overall, Bulgaria displays a pattern of unstable governments. Boyko Borisov, the leader of the centre-right, pro-EU party GERB, served three terms as prime minister between 2009 and 2021.
It won the 2009 general election and formed a minority government, which resigned in February 2013 after nationwide protests over the low living standards, corruption and the perceived failure of the democratic system.
The subsequent snap elections in May resulted in a narrow win for GERB, but the Bulgarian Socialist Party eventually formed a government led by Plamen Oresharski after Borisov failed to secure parliamentary support. The Oresharski government resigned in July 2014 amid continuing large-scale protests.
The October 2014 elections resulted in a third GERB victory. Borisov formed a coalition with several right-wing parties, but resigned again after the candidate backed by his party failed to win the 2016 Presidential election. The March 2017 snap election was again won by GERB, but with 95 seats in Parliament. They formed a coalition with the far-right United Patriots, who held 27 seats.
Borisov's last cabinet saw a dramatic decrease in freedom of the press, and a number of corruption revelations that triggered yet another wave of mass protests in 2020. GERB came out first in the regular April 2021 election, but with its weakest result so far. All other parties refused to form a government, and after a brief deadlock, another election was called for July 2021. It too failed to break the stalemate, as no political party was able to form a coalition government.
In April 2023, because of the political deadlock, Bulgaria held its fifth parliamentary election since April 2021. GERB was the biggest, winning 69 seats. The bloc led by We Continue the Change won 64 seats in the 240-seat parliament. In June 2023, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov formed a new coalition between We Continue The Change and GERB. According to the coalition agreement, Denkov will lead the government for the first nine months. He will be succeeded by former European Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, of the GERB party. She was supposed to take over as prime minister in nine months.
Denkov resigned in accordance with the rotation agreement on 5 March 2024, to allow Gabriel to become the new Prime Minister. On 20 March 2024, the planned government rotation and signing of a renewed government failed due to disagreements between the two alliances on the cabinet and breaking down of relations. Negotiations ensued across to form a new government, but failed to produce any governments that could reach a majority support. GERB rejected the chance to form a government. PP–DB made a limited attempt to respect the original rotation agreement. The final chance to form a government, chosen by president Rumen Radev, went to ITN, which was immediately rejected.
On 29 March, as per Article 98 of the constitution, the President appointed the Chairman of the National Audit Office, Dimitar Glavchev, as the candidate for caretaker prime minister. He was granted a one week deadline of until 6 April 2024 to propose the composition of the caretaker government.
Glavchev presented his proposal for the caretaker government on 5 April 2024, accepted by the President following negotiations and scheduling the election for 9 June 2024. Glavchev and his cabinet were inaugurated on 9 April 2024 by the National Assembly.
The new elected 51st Parliament replaced the 50th Parliament when all elected members were sworn in on 11 November 2024. After 11 voting rounds, Natalia Kiselova (BSP–OL) was elected as speaker of the National Assembly on 6 December 2024. President Rumen Radev granted the first negotiation mandate to the largest party GERB-SDS on 15 January 2025, which formed a minority government alongside BSP and ITN, with support from APS (Dogan). The government is led by GERB politician Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Freedom House has reported a continuing deterioration of democratic governance after 2009, citing reduced media independence, stalled reforms, abuse of authority at the highest level and increased dependence of local administrations on the central government. Bulgaria is still listed as "Free", with a political system designated as a semi-consolidated democracy, albeit with deteriorating scores. A 2018 survey by the Institute for Economics and Peace reported that less than 15% of respondents considered elections to be fair. Legal system Bulgaria has a civil law legal system. The judiciary is overseen by the Ministry of Justice. The Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Court of Cassation are the highest courts of appeal and oversee the application of laws in subordinate courts. The Supreme Judicial Council manages the system and appoints judges. The legal system is regarded by both domestic and international observers as one of Europe's most inefficient due to a pervasive lack of transparency and corruption. Law enforcement is carried out by organisations mainly subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The General Directorate of National Police (GDNP) combats general crime and maintains public order. GDNP fields 26,578 police officers in its local and national sections. The bulk of criminal cases are transport-related, followed by theft and drug-related crime; homicide rates are low. The Ministry of the Interior also heads the Border Police Service and the National Gendarmerie—a specialised branch for anti-terrorist activity, crisis management and riot control. Counterintelligence and national security are the responsibility of the State Agency for National Security. Administrative divisions
Bulgaria is a unitary state. Since the 1880s, the number of territorial management units has varied from seven to 26. Between 1987 and 1999, the administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (oblasti, singular oblast). A new administrative structure was adopted in parallel with the decentralisation of the economic system. It includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia City). All areas take their names from their respective capital cities. The provinces are subdivided into 265 municipalities. Municipalities are run by mayors, who are elected to four-year terms, and by directly elected municipal councils. Bulgaria is a highly centralised state where the Council of Ministers directly appoints regional governors and all provinces and municipalities are heavily dependent on it for funding.
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Foreign relations
jet fighters of the Bulgarian Air Force]]
Bulgaria became a member of the United Nations in 1955. Since 1966, it has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council three times, most recently from 2002 to 2003. It was also among the founding nations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1975. Euro-Atlantic integration has been a priority since the fall of communism, although the communist leadership also had aspirations of leaving the Warsaw Pact and joining the European Communities by 1987. Bulgaria signed the European Union Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005, and became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007. In addition, it has a tripartite economic and diplomatic collaboration with Romania and Greece, good ties with China and Vietnam and a historical relationship with Russia.
Bulgaria deployed significant numbers of both civilian and military advisors in Soviet-allied countries like Nicaragua and Libya during the Cold War. The first deployment of foreign troops on Bulgarian soil since World War II occurred in 2001, when the country hosted six KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and 200 support personnel for the war effort in Afghanistan. International military relations were further expanded with accession to NATO in March 2004 and the US-Bulgarian Defence Cooperation Agreement signed in April 2006. Bezmer and Graf Ignatievo air bases, the Novo Selo training range, and a logistics centre in Aytos subsequently became joint military training facilities cooperatively used by the United States and Bulgarian militaries. Despite its active international defence collaborations, Bulgaria ranks as among the most peaceful countries globally, tying 6th alongside Iceland regarding domestic and international conflicts, and 26th on average in the Global Peace Index.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bulgaria decided to assist Ukraine; in 2023, after Gazprom illegally stopped exporting gas to Bulgaria, the country in turn stopped importing Russian oil and gas.
Military
The Bulgarian Armed Forces are the military of Bulgaria and are composed of land forces, navy and an air force. The Armed Forces have 36,950 active troops, supplemented by 3,000 reservists. The land forces consist of two mechanised brigades and eight independent regiments and battalions; the air force operates 106 aircraft and air defence systems across six air bases, and the navy operates various ships, helicopters and coastal defence weapons. Military inventory mainly consists of Soviet equipment like Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-25 jets, S-300PT air defence systems and SS-21 Scarab short-range ballistic missiles. The Armed Forces are modernising with F-16 Block 70 fighter jets, new multi-purpose corvettes and other modern NATO-standard equipment. Bulgaria is in the process of buying new US-built Stryker vehicles, new 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, new 3D early-warning radars, new surface-to-air missiles and more.
Economy
Bulgaria has an open, high-income range market economy where the private sector accounts for more than 70% of GDP. From a largely agricultural country with a predominantly rural population in 1948, by the 1980s Bulgaria had transformed into an industrial economy, with scientific and technological research at the top of its budgetary expenditure priorities. The loss of COMECON markets in 1990 and the subsequent "shock therapy" of the planned system caused a steep decline in industrial and agricultural production, ultimately followed by an economic collapse in 1997. The economy largely recovered during a period of rapid growth several years later,
A balanced budget was achieved in 2003 and the country began running a surplus the following year. Expenditures amounted to $21.15 billion and revenues were $21.67 billion in 2017. Most government spending on institutions is earmarked for security. The ministries of defence, the interior and justice are allocated the largest share of the annual government budget, whereas those responsible for the environment, tourism and energy receive the least funding. Taxes form the bulk of government revenue Bulgaria has some of the lowest corporate income tax rates in the EU at a flat 10% rate. The tax system is two-tier. Value added tax, excise duties, corporate and personal income tax are national, whereas real estate, inheritance, and vehicle taxes are levied by local authorities. Strong economic performance in the early 2000s reduced government debt from 79.6% in 1998 to 14.1% in 2008.
near Plovdiv]]
The Yugozapaden planning area is the most developed region with a per capita gross domestic product (PPP) of $29,816 in 2018. It includes the capital city and the surrounding Sofia Province, which alone generate 42% of national gross domestic product despite hosting only 22% of the population. GDP per capita (in PPS) and the cost of living in 2019 stood at 53 and 52.8% of the EU average (100%), respectively. National PPP GDP was estimated at $143.1 billion in 2016, with a per capita value of $20,116. Economic growth statistics take into account illegal transactions from the informal economy, which is the largest in the EU as a percentage of economic output. The Bulgarian National Bank issues the national currency, lev, which is pegged to the euro at a rate of 1.95583 levа per euro.
After several consecutive years of high growth, repercussions of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 resulted in a 3.6% contraction of GDP in 2009 and increased unemployment. Positive growth was restored in 2010 but intercompany debt exceeded $59 billion, meaning that 60% of all Bulgarian companies were mutually indebted. By 2012, it had increased to $97 billion, or 227% of GDP. The government implemented strict austerity measures with IMF and EU encouragement to some positive fiscal results, but the social consequences of these measures, such as increased income inequality and accelerated outward migration, have been "catastrophic" according to the International Trade Union Confederation.
Siphoning of public funds to the families and relatives of politicians from incumbent parties has resulted in fiscal and welfare losses to society. Bulgaria ranks 71st in the Corruption Perceptions Index and experiences the worst levels of corruption in the European Union, a phenomenon that remains a source of profound public discontent. Along with organised crime, corruption has resulted in a rejection of the country's Schengen Area application and withdrawal of foreign investment, though the country officially became a full member of the zone in January 2025. Government officials reportedly engage in embezzlement, influence trading, government procurement violations and bribery with impunity. Government procurement in particular is a critical area in corruption risk. An estimated 10 billion leva ($5.99 billion) of state budget and European cohesion funds are spent on public tenders each year; nearly 14 billion ($8.38 billion) were spent on public contracts in 2017 alone. A large share of these contracts are awarded to a few politically connected companies amid widespread irregularities, procedure violations and tailor-made award criteria. Despite repeated criticism from the European Commission, of whom 6.8% are employed in agriculture, 26.6% in industry and 66.6% in the services sector. Extraction of metals and minerals, production of chemicals, machine building, steel, biotechnology, tobacco, food processing and petroleum refining are among the major industrial activities. Mining alone employs 24,000 people and generates about 5% of the country's GDP; the number of employed in all mining-related industries is 120,000. Bulgaria is Europe's fifth-largest coal producer. Local deposits of coal, iron, copper and lead are vital for the manufacturing and energy sectors. The main destinations of Bulgarian exports outside the EU are Turkey, China and Serbia, while Russia, Turkey and China are by far the largest import partners. Most of the exports are manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel products and food. Two-thirds of food and agricultural exports go to OECD countries.
Although cereal and vegetable output dropped by 40% between 1990 and 2008, output in grains has since increased, and the 2016–2017 season registered the biggest grain output in a decade. Maize, barley, oats and rice are also grown. Quality Oriental tobacco is a significant industrial crop. Bulgaria is also the largest producer globally of lavender and rose oil, both widely used in fragrances. Within the services sector, tourism is a significant contributor to economic growth. Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, coastal resorts Albena, Golden Sands and Sunny Beach and winter resorts Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets are some of the locations most visited by tourists. Most visitors are Romanian, Turkish, Greek and German. Tourism is additionally encouraged through the 100 Tourist Sites system. Science and technology
Spending on research and development amounts to 0.78% of GDP, and the bulk of public R&D funding goes to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). Private businesses accounted for more than 73% of R&D expenditures and employed 42% of Bulgaria's 22,000 researchers in 2015. The same year, Bulgaria ranked 39th out of 50 countries in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, the highest score being in education (24th) and the lowest in value-added manufacturing (48th). Bulgaria was ranked 38th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. Chronic government underinvestment in research since 1990 has forced many professionals in science and engineering to leave Bulgaria.
.]]
Despite the lack of funding, research in chemistry, materials science and physics remains strong. The information and communication technologies (ICT) sector generates three per cent of economic output and employs 40,000 to 51,000 software engineers. Bulgaria was known as a "Communist Silicon Valley" during the Soviet era due to its key role in COMECON computing technology production. A concerted effort by the communist government to teach computing and IT skills in schools also indirectly made Bulgaria a major source of computer viruses in the 1980s and 90s. The country is a regional leader in high performance computing: it operates Avitohol, the most powerful supercomputer in Southeast Europe, and will host one of the eight petascale EuroHPC supercomputers.
Bulgaria has made numerous contributions to space exploration. These include two scientific satellites, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as two cosmonauts since 1971. It was involved in the development of the Granat gamma-ray observatory Bulgarian instruments have been used in the exploration of Mars, including a spectrometer that took the first high quality spectroscopic images of Martian moon Phobos with the Phobos 2 probe. Cosmic radiation en route to and around the planet has been mapped by Liulin-ML dosimeters on the ExoMars TGO. Variants of these instruments have also been fitted on the International Space Station and the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe. Another lunar mission, SpaceIL's Beresheet, was also equipped with a Bulgarian-manufactured imaging payload. Bulgaria's first geostationary communications satellite—BulgariaSat-1—was launched by SpaceX in 2017.
Infrastructure
railcar of the Bulgarian State Railways. Bulgaria's largely antiquated rail transport system is gradually being modernized.]]
Telephone services are widely available, and a central digital trunk line connects most regions. Vivacom (BTC) serves more than 90% of fixed lines and is one of the three operators providing mobile services, along with A1 and Telenor. Internet penetration stood at 69.2% of the population aged 16–74 and 78.9% of households in 2020.
Bulgaria's strategic geographic location and well-developed energy sector make it a key European energy centre despite its lack of significant fossil fuel deposits. Thermal power plants generate 48.9% of electricity, followed by nuclear power from the Kozloduy reactors (34.8%) and renewable sources (16.3%). Equipment for a second nuclear power station at Belene has been acquired, but the fate of the project remains uncertain. Installed capacity amounts to 12,668 MW, allowing Bulgaria to exceed domestic demand and export energy.
The national road network has a total length of , of which are paved. Railroads are a major mode of freight transportation, although highways carry a progressively larger share of freight. Bulgaria has of railway track, with rail links available to Romania, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia, and express trains serving direct routes to Kyiv, Minsk, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Sofia is the country's air travel hub, while Varna and Burgas are the principal maritime trade ports. Demographics
According to the government's official 2022 estimate, the population of Bulgaria consists of 6,447,710 people, down from 6,519,789 according to the last official census in 2021. Population density is 55–60 per square kilometre (ultimo 2023), almost half the European Union average.
Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis. It has had negative population growth since 1989, when the post-Cold War economic collapse caused a long-lasting emigration wave. Some 937,000 to 1,200,000 people—mostly young adults—had left the country by 2005. The majority of children are born to unmarried women. In 2024, the average total fertility rate (TFR) in Bulgaria was 1.59 children per woman, a slight increase from 1.56 in 2018, and well above the all-time low of 1.1 in 1997, but still below the replacement rate of 2.1 and considerably below the historical high of 5.83 children per woman in 1905. Bulgaria thus has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 43 years. Furthermore, a third of all households consist of only one person and 75.5% of families do not have children under the age of 16. while death rates are among the highest.
Bulgaria scores high in gender equality, ranking 18th in the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report. Although women's suffrage was enabled relatively late, in 1937, women today have equal political rights, high workforce participation and legally mandated equal pay. Bulgaria has the highest ratio of female ICT researchers in the EU, as well as the second-highest ratio of females in the technology sector at 44.6% of the workforce. High levels of female participation are a legacy of the Socialist era. Largest cities Health
High death rates result from a combination of an ageing population, high numbers of people at risk of poverty, and a weak healthcare system. Over 80% of deaths are due to cancer and cardiovascular conditions; nearly a fifth of those are avoidable. Although healthcare in Bulgaria is nominally universal, out-of-pocket expenses account for nearly half of all healthcare spending, significantly limiting access to medical care. Other problems disrupting care provision are the emigration of doctors due to low wages, understaffed and under-equipped regional hospitals, supply shortages and frequent changes to the basic service package for those insured. The 2018 Bloomberg Health Care Efficiency Index ranked Bulgaria last out of 56 countries. Average life expectancy is 74.8 years, compared with an EU average of 80.99 and a world average of 72.38.
Education
Public expenditures for education are far below the European Union average as well. Bulgarian students were among the highest-scoring in the world in terms of reading in 2001, performing better than their Canadian and German counterparts; by 2006, scores in reading, math and science had dropped. By 2018, Programme for International Student Assessment studies found 47% of pupils in the 9th grade to be functionally illiterate in reading and natural sciences. Average basic literacy stands high at 98.4% with no significant difference between sexes. The Ministry of Education and Science partially funds public schools, colleges and universities, sets criteria for textbooks and oversees the publishing process. Education in primary and secondary public schools is free and compulsory. The process spans 12 grades, in which grades one through eight are primary and nine through twelve are secondary level. Higher education consists of a 4-year bachelor degree and a 1-year master's degree. Bulgaria's highest-ranked higher education institution is Sofia University.
Language
Bulgarian is the only language with official status. It belongs to the Slavic group of languages but has a number of grammatical peculiarities that set it apart from other Slavic languages: these include a complex verbal morphology (which also codes for distinctions in evidentiality), the absence of noun cases and infinitives, and the use of a suffixed definite article. Religion
]]
Bulgaria is a secular state with guaranteed freedom of religion by constitution, but Eastern Orthodox Christianity is designated as the traditional religion of the country. Approximately two-thirds of Bulgarians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Bulgarian Patriarchate has 12 dioceses and over 2,000 priests.
Muslims are the second-largest religious community and constitute approx. 10% of Bulgaria's overall religious makeup. A 2011 survey of 850 Muslims in Bulgaria found 30% self-professing as deeply religious and 50% as just religious. According to the study, some religious teachings, like Islamic funeral, have been traditionally incorporated and are widely practiced while other major ones are less observed, such as the Muslim prayer or abstaining from drinking alcohol, eating pork, and cohabitation.
Other important religions include Roman Catholicism and Judaism, whose history in Bulgaria dates back to the early Middle Ages, the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as various Protestant denominations, all of which stand for around 2% of Bulgaria's population. An ever increasing number of Bulgarians are either irreligious or unaffiliated with any religion, a percentage that has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, from 3.9% in 2001, through 9.3% in 2011 and all the way to 15.9% in 2021.
According to the most recent census of 2021 the religious denominations of the population are, as follows: Christian (71.5%), Islam (10.8%), other religions (0.1%). Further 12.4% were unaffiliated or did not respond. Martenitsa is also widely celebrated. Nestinarstvo, a ritual fire-dance of Thracian origin, is included in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Nine historical and natural objects are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: <!-- DO NOT make this a pointed list --> Pirin National Park, Sreburna Nature Reserve, the Madara Rider, the Thracian tombs in Sveshtari and Kazanlak, the Rila Monastery, the Boyana Church, the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo and the ancient city of Nesebar. The Rila Monastery was established by Saint John of Rila, Bulgaria's patron saint, whose life has been the subject of numerous literary accounts since Medieval times.]]The establishment of the Preslav and Ohrid literary schools in the 10th century is associated with a golden period in Bulgarian literature during the Middle Ages. Its alphabet, Cyrillic script, was developed by the Preslav Literary School. The Tarnovo Literary School, on the other hand, is associated with a Silver age of literature defined by high-quality manuscripts on historical or mystical themes under the Asen and Shishman dynasties. The enormous body of work of Ivan Vazov (1850–1921) covered every genre and touched upon every facet of Bulgarian society, bridging pre-Liberation works with literature of the newly established state. while Bulgarian-born Elias Canetti was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981.
А religious visual arts heritage includes frescoes, murals and icons, many produced by the medieval Tarnovo Artistic School. Like literature, it was not until the National Revival when Bulgarian visual arts began to reemerge. Zahari Zograf was a pioneer of the visual arts in the pre-Liberation era. Bulgarian folk music has a distinctive sound and uses a wide range of traditional instruments, such as gadulka, gaida, kaval and tupan. A distinguishing feature is extended rhythmical time, which has no equivalent in the rest of European music. Written musical composition can be traced back to the works of Yoan Kukuzel (–1360), but modern classical music began with Emanuil Manolov, who composed the first Bulgarian opera in 1890.}} Bulgarian performers have gained acclaim in other genres like electropop (Mira Aroyo), jazz (Milcho Leviev) and blends of jazz and folk (Ivo Papazov). Bulgarian media were described as generally unbiased in their reporting in the early 2000s and print media had no legal restrictions. Since then, freedom of the press has deteriorated to the point where Bulgaria scores 111th globally in the World Press Freedom Index, lower than all European Union members and membership candidate states. The government has diverted EU funds to sympathetic media outlets and bribed others to be less critical on problematic topics, while attacks against individual journalists have increased. Collusion between politicians, oligarchs and the media is widespread. Yogurt, lukanka, banitsa, shopska salad, lyutenitsa and kozunak are among the best-known local foods. Meat consumption is lower than the European average, given a cultural preference for a large variety of salads. The 2016 harvest yielded 128 million litres of wine, of which 62 million was exported mainly to Romania, Poland and Russia. Mavrud, Rubin, Shiroka melnishka, Dimiat and Cherven Misket are the typical grapes used in Bulgarian wine. Rakia is a traditional fruit brandy that was consumed in Bulgaria as early as the 14th century. Sports
at the 2015 Italian Open]]
Bulgaria appeared at the first modern Olympic games in 1896, when it was represented by gymnast Charles Champaud. Since then, Bulgarian athletes have won 55 gold, 90 silver, and 85 bronze medals, ranking 25th in the all-time medal table. Weight-lifting is a signature sport of Bulgaria. Coach Ivan Abadzhiev developed innovative training practices that have produced many Bulgarian world and Olympic champions in weight-lifting since the 1980s. Bulgarian athletes have also excelled in wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, volleyball and tennis. Grigor Dimitrov is the first Bulgarian tennis player in the Top 3 ATP rankings.
Football is the most popular sport in the country by a substantial margin. The national football team's best performance was a semi-final at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, when the squad was spearheaded by forward Hristo Stoichkov. CSKA and Levski, both based in Sofia, Ludogorets is remarkable for having advanced from the local fourth division to the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage in a mere nine years. Placed 39th in 2018, it is Bulgaria's highest-ranked club in UEFA. See also
* Outline of Bulgaria
* Labour law in Bulgaria
Explanatory notes
References Bibliography
* |urlhttp://www.nsi.bg/bg/content/2975/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D0%BE-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B8-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB |script-titlebg:Население по области, общини, местоживеене и пол |trans-titlePopulation by Province, Municipality, Address and Sex as of 31 December 2017 |publisherNational Statistical Institute of Bulgaria |access-date22 July 2018 |languagebg |date2017}}
* |urlhttp://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/pressreleases/Census2011final.pdf |script-titlebg:Преброяване 2011 (окончателни данни) |trans-titleFinal Results of the 2011 census |publisherNational Statistical Institute of Bulgaria |access-date22 July 2018 |languagebg |date2011 |archive-urlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20181222232458/http://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/pressreleases/Census2011final.pdf |archive-date22 December 2018 |url-status=dead}}
* |urlhttp://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/publications/Brochure_Bulgaria2018.pdf |titleBulgaria 2018 |publisherNational Statistical Institute of Bulgaria |access-date23 July 2018 |languagebg, en |date=2018}}
* }}
*
*
| title = История на България. Том II. Първа българска държава
| trans-title = History of Bulgaria. Volume II. First Bulgarian State
| last1 = Ангелов (Angelov)
| first1 = Димитър (Dimitar)
| first2 = Иван (Ivan)
| last2 = Божилов (Bozhilov)
| first3 = Станчо (Stancho)
| last3 = Ваклинов (Vaklinov)
| first4 = Васил (Vasil)
| last4 = Гюзелев (Gyuzelev)
| first5 = Кую (kuyu)
| last5 = Куев (Kuev)
| first6 = Петър (Petar)
| last6 = Петров (Petrov)
| first7 = Борислав (Borislav)
| last7 = Примов (Primov)
| first8 = Василка (Vasilka)
| last8 = Тъпкова (Tapkova)
| first9 = Геновева (Genoveva)
| last9 = Цанокова (Tsankova)
| others = и колектив
| year = 1981
| language = bg
| publisher = Издателство на БАН (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Press)
| location = София (Sofia)
}}
*
*
| title = История на средновековна България VII–XIV век (History of Medieval Bulgaria VII–XIV centuries)
| last1 = Божилов (Bozhilov)
| first1 = Иван (Ivan)
| first2 = Васил (Vasil)
| last2 = Гюзелев (Gyuzelev)
| author-link2=Vasil Gyuzelev
| year = 1999
| language = bg
| publisher = Анубис (Anubis)
| location = София (Sofia)
| isbn = 954-426-204-0
}}
* |publisherUniversity of Pennsylvania Press |year2012 |isbn978-0-8122-4370-3}}
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External links
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081016001809/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/bulgaria.htm Bulgaria] at UCB Libraries GovPubs.
*
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* [http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgaria Bulgaria Profile] from Balkan Insight
* [https://www.president.bg/ President of The Republic of Bulgaria]
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Category:States and territories established in 1990 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.353786 |
3416 | Bryozoa | long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles used for filter feeding. Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters. The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water. 5,869living species are known. Originally all of the crown group Bryozoa were colonial, but as an adaptation to a mesopsammal (interstitial spaces in marine sand) life or to deep-sea habitats, secondarily solitary forms have since evolved. Solitary species have been described in four genera; (Aethozooides, Aethozoon, Franzenella and Monobryozoon). The latter having a statocyst-like organ with a supposed excretory function.
The terms Polyzoa and Bryozoa were introduced in 1830 and 1831, respectively. Soon after it was named, another group of animals was discovered whose filtering mechanism looked similar, so it was included in Bryozoa until 1869, when the two groups were noted to be very different internally. The new group was given the name "Entoprocta", while the original Bryozoa were called "Ectoprocta". Disagreements about terminology persisted well into the 20th century, but "Bryozoa" is now the generally accepted term.
Colonies take a variety of forms, including fans, bushes and sheets. Single animals, called zooids, live throughout the colony and are not fully independent. These individuals can have unique and diverse functions. All colonies have "autozooids", which are responsible for feeding, excretion, and supplying nutrients to the colony through diverse channels. Some classes have specialist zooids like hatcheries for fertilized eggs, colonial defence structures, and root-like attachment structures. Cheilostomata is the most diverse order of bryozoan, possibly because its members have the widest range of specialist zooids. They have mineralized exoskeletons and form single-layered sheets which encrust over surfaces, and some colonies can creep very slowly by using spiny defensive zooids as legs.
Each zooid consists of a "cystid", which provides the body wall and produces the exoskeleton, and a "polypide", which holds the organs. Zooids have no special excretory organs, and autozooids' polypides are scrapped when they become overloaded with waste products; usually the body wall then grows a replacement polypide. Their gut is U-shaped, with the mouth inside the crown of tentacles and the anus outside it. Zooids of all the freshwater species are simultaneous hermaphrodites. Although those of many marine species function first as males and then as females, their colonies always contain a combination of zooids that are in their male and female stages. All species emit sperm into the water. Some also release ova into the water, while others capture sperm via their tentacles to fertilize their ova internally. In some species the larvae have large yolks, go to feed, and quickly settle on a surface. Others produce larvae that have little yolk but swim and feed for a few days before settling. After settling, all larvae undergo a radical metamorphosis that destroys and rebuilds almost all the internal tissues. Freshwater species also produce statoblasts that lie dormant until conditions are favorable, which enables a colony's lineage to survive even if severe conditions kill the mother colony.
Predators of marine bryozoans include sea slugs (nudibranchs), fish, sea urchins, pycnogonids, crustaceans, mites and starfish. Freshwater bryozoans are preyed on by snails, insects, and fish. In Thailand, many populations of one freshwater species have been wiped out by an introduced species of snail. Bryozoans have spread diseases to fish farms and fishermen. Chemicals extracted from a marine bryozoan species have been investigated for treatment of cancer and Alzheimer's disease, but analyses have not been encouraging.
Mineralized skeletons of bryozoans first appear in rocks from the Early Ordovician period, making it the last major phylum to appear in the fossil record. This has led researchers to suspect that bryozoans arose earlier but were initially unmineralized, and may have differed significantly from fossilized and modern forms. In 2021, some research suggested Protomelission, a genus known from the Cambrian period, could be an example of an early bryozoan, but later research suggested that this taxon may instead represent a dasyclad alga. Early fossils are mainly of erect forms, but encrusting forms gradually became dominant. It is uncertain whether the phylum is monophyletic. Bryozoans' evolutionary relationships to other phyla are also unclear, partly because scientists' view of the family tree of animals is mainly influenced by better-known phyla. Both morphological and molecular phylogeny analyses disagree over bryozoans' relationships with entoprocts, about whether bryozoans should be grouped with brachiopods and phoronids in Lophophorata, and whether bryozoans should be considered protostomes or deuterostomes.
Description
Distinguishing features
Bryozoans, phoronids and brachiopods strain food out of the water by means of a lophophore, a "crown" of hollow tentacles. Bryozoans form colonies consisting of clones called zooids that are typically about long.!! Other Lophotrochozoa !! colspan"2" | Similar-looking phyla
|- align="center"
! Phoronida!! Brachiopoda!! Annelida, Mollusca !! Entoprocta!! Corals (class in phylum Cnidaria) most molluscs have shells, but most modern cephalopods have internal shells or none. || no || Some taxa
|}
Types of zooid
All bryozoans are colonial except for one genus, Monobryozoon. Individual members of a bryozoan colony are about long and are known as zooids, since they are not fully independent animals. All colonies contain feeding zooids, known as autozooids. Those of some groups also contain non-feeding heterozooids, also known as polymorphic zooids, which serve a variety of functions other than feeding; The body wall consists of the epidermis, basal lamina (a mat of non-cellular material), connective tissue, muscles, and the mesothelium which lines the coelom (main body cavity) The other main part of the bryozoan body, known as the polypide and situated almost entirely within the cystid, contains the nervous system, digestive system, some specialized muscles and the feeding apparatus or other specialized organs that take the place of the feeding apparatus.
The basic shape of the "crown" is a full circle. Among the freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata) the crown appears U-shaped, but this impression is created by a deep dent in the rim of the crown, which has no gap in the fringe of tentacles.
The lophophore and mouth are mounted on a flexible tube called the "invert", which can be turned inside-out and withdrawn into the polypide, connects the mesothelium covering the gut with that lining the body wall. The wall of each strand is made of mesothelium, and surrounds a space filled with fluid, thought to be blood. and pull themselves through the sediments.
Avicularia and vibracula
Some authorities use the term avicularia (plural of avicularium) to refer to any type of zooid in which the lophophore is replaced by an extension that serves some protective function, consist only of the body wall and funicular strands crossing the interior, The shapes of colonies vary widely, depend on the pattern of budding by which they grow, the variety of zooids present and the type and amount of skeletal material they secrete. Many species form colonies which consist of sheets of autozooids. These sheets may form leaves, tufts or, in the genus Thalamoporella, structures that resemble an open head of lettuce. Large colonies of encrusting species often have "chimneys", gaps in the canopy of lophophores, through which they swiftly expel water that has been sieved, and thus avoid re-filtering water that is already exhausted. They are formed by patches of non-feeding heterozooids. New chimneys appear near the edges of expanding colonies, at points where the speed of the outflow is already high, and do not change position if the water flow changes.
Some freshwater species secrete a mass of gelatinous material, up to in diameter, to which the zooids stick. Other freshwater species have plant-like shapes with "trunks" and "branches", which may stand erect or spread over the surface. A few species can creep at about per day. Taxonomy
) of eastern Indiana, United States]]
, United States]]
The phylum was originally called "Polyzoa", but this name was eventually replaced by Ehrenberg's term "Bryozoa". in which the anus lies outside the "crown" of tentacles. After the discovery of the Entoprocta (), in which the anus lies within a "crown" of tentacles, the name "Bryozoa" was promoted to phylum level to include the two classes Ectoprocta and Entoprocta. However, in 1869 Hinrich Nitsche regarded the two groups as quite distinct for a variety of reasons, and coined the name "Ectoprocta" for Ehrenberg's "Bryozoa". Nevertheless, some notable scientists have continued to regard the "Ectoprocta" and Entoprocta as close relatives and group them under "Bryozoa". However, the change would have made it harder to find older works in which the phylum was called "Bryozoa", and the desire to avoid ambiguity, if applied consistently to all classifications, would have necessitated renaming of several other phyla and many lower-level groups. In practice, zoological naming of split or merged groups of animals is complex and not completely consistent. Works since 2000 have used various names to resolve the ambiguity, including: "Bryozoa", Some have used more than one approach in the same work.
The common name "moss animals" is the literal meaning of "Bryozoa", from Greek ('moss') and ('animals'), based on the mossy appearance of encrusting species.
<!--ITIS, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, designates the phylum as "Ectoprocta", referring to the position of the anus outside the "crown" of feeding tentacles (based on the Ancient Greek prefix meaning "outside" and word meaning "anus"). The term "Bryozoa" (from the Ancient Greek words meaning "moss" and meaning "animal") is widely used to refer to Ectoprocta in books and articles. and the differing meanings of "Bryozoa" have caused much confusion. ITIS treats the term "Bryozoa" as "invalid – junior synonym", in other words "Ectoprocta" is the longer-established name and ITIS recommends that "Bryozoa" should not be used to identify this phylum. -->
Until 2008 there were "inadequately known and misunderstood type species belonging to the Cyclostome Bryozoan family Oncousoeciidae." Modern research and experiments have been done using low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy of uncoated type material to critically examine and perhaps revise the taxonomy of three genera belonging to this family, including Oncousoecia, Microeciella, and Eurystrotos. This method permits data to be obtained that would be difficult to recognize with an optical microscope. The valid type species of Oncousoecia was found to be Oncousoecia lobulata. This interpretation stabilizes Oncousoecia by establishing a type species that corresponds to the general usage of the genus. Fellow Oncousoeciid Eurystrotos is now believed to be not conspecific with O. lobulata, as previously suggested, but shows enough similarities to be considered a junior synonym of Oncousoecia. Microeciella suborbicularus has also been recently distinguished from O. lobulata and O. dilatans, using this modern method of low vacuum scanning, with which it has been inaccurately synonymized with in the past. A new genus has also been recently discovered called Junerossia in the family Stomachetosellidae, along with 10 relatively new species of bryozoa such as Alderina flaventa, Corbulella extenuata, Puellina septemcryptica, Junerossia copiosa, Calyptotheca kapaaensis, Bryopesanser serratus, Cribellopora souleorum, Metacleidochasma verrucosa, Disporella compta, and Favosipora adunca.
Classification and diversity
Counts of formally described species range between 4,000 and 4,500. The Gymnolaemata and especially Cheilostomata have the greatest numbers of species, possibly because of their wide range of specialist zooids. living members of the phylum Bryozoa are divided into:!! Cyclostomatida !! Ctenostomatida !! Cheilostomata
|- align="center"
! Environments
| Freshwater || Marine || colspan="2" | Mostly marine
|- align="center"
! Lip-like epistome overhanging mouth
| Yes || colspan="3" | none
|- align="center"
! Colony shapes
| Gelatinous masses or tubular branching structures || colspan"2" | Erect or encrusting (except in family Eleidae) || None in most species || Yes (except in genus Bugula)
|- align="center"
! Shape of lophophore
| U-shaped appearance(except in genus Fredericella, whose lophophore is circular) || colspan="3" | Circular
|- align="center"
! How lophophore extended
| Compressing the whole body wall || Compressing the membranous sac(separate inner layer of epithelium that lines the coelom) || Compressing the whole body wall || Pulling inwards of a flexible section of body wall, or making an internal sac expand.
|- align="center"
! Types of zooid
| Autozooids only || Limited heterozooids, mainly gonozooids || Stolons and spines as well as autozooids Bryozoans with calcitic skeletons were a major source of the carbonate minerals that make up limestones, and their fossils are incredibly common in marine sediments worldwide from the Ordovician onward. However, unlike corals and other colonial animals found in the fossil record, Bryozoan colonies did not reach large sizes. Fossil bryozoan colonies are typically found highly fragmented and scattered; the preservation of complete zoaria is uncommon in the fossil record, and relatively little study has been devoted to reassembling fragmented zoaria. The largest known fossil colonies are branching trepostome bryozoans from Ordovician rocks in the United States, reaching 66 centimeters in height. about , all the modern orders of stenolaemates were present, Other types of filter feeders appeared around the same time, which suggests that some change made the environment more favorable for this lifestyle. Marine fossils from the Paleozoic era, which ended , are mainly of erect forms, those from the Mesozoic are fairly equally divided by erect and encrusting forms, and more recent ones are predominantly encrusting. Fossils of the soft, freshwater phylactolaemates are very rare,Traditional viewThe traditional view is that the Bryozoa are a monophyletic group, in which the class Phylactolaemata is most closely related to Stenolaemata and Ctenostomatida, the classes that appear earliest in the fossil record.]]
In 2009 another molecular phylogeny study, using a combination of genes from mitochondria and the cell nucleus, concluded that Bryozoa is a monophyletic phylum, in other words includes all the descendants of a common ancestor that is itself a bryozoan. The analysis also concluded that the classes Phylactolaemata, Stenolaemata and Gymnolaemata are also monophyletic, but could not determine whether Stenolaemata are more closely related to Phylactolaemata or Gymnolaemata. The Gymnolaemata are traditionally divided into the soft-bodied Ctenostomatida and mineralized Cheilostomata, but the 2009 analysis considered it more likely that neither of these orders is monophyletic and that mineralized skeletons probably evolved more than once within the early Gymnolaemata.
Bryozoans' relationships with other phyla are uncertain and controversial. Traditional phylogeny, based on anatomy and on the development of the adult forms from embryos, has produced no enduring consensus about the position of ectoprocts.
In the opinion of Ruth Dewel, Judith Winston, and Frank McKinney, "Our standard interpretation of bryozoan morphology and embryology is a construct resulting from over 100 years of attempts to synthesize a single framework for all invertebrates," and takes little account of some peculiar features of ectoprocts.Entoprocts
When entoprocts were discovered in the 19th century, they and bryozoans (ectoprocts) were regarded as classes within the phylum Bryozoa, because both groups were sessile animals that filter-fed by means of a crown of tentacles that bore cilia.
From 1869 onwards increasing awareness of differences, including the position of the entoproct anus inside the feeding structure and the difference in the early pattern of division of cells in their embryos, caused scientists to regard the two groups as separate phyla, Brachiopods were also assigned to the "Tentaculata", which were renamed Lophophorata as they all use a lophophore for filter feeding. The Lophophorata are usually defined as animals with a lophophore, a three-part coelom and a U-shaped gut. Bryozoan's tentacles bear cells with multiple cilia, while the corresponding cells of phoronids', brachiopods' and pterobranchs' lophophores have one cilium per cell; and bryozoan tentacles have no hemal canal ("blood vessel"), which those of the other three phyla have. "Total evidence" analyses, which used both morphological features and a relatively small set of genes, came to various conclusions, mostly favoring a close relationship between lophophorates and Lophotrochozoa.
A study of the mitochondrial DNA sequence suggests that the Bryozoa may be related to the Chaetognatha.
Physiology
Feeding and excretion
Most species are filter feeders that sieve small particles, mainly phytoplankton (microscopic floating plants), out of the water.
In some species the first part of the stomach forms a muscular gizzard lined with chitinous teeth that crush armored prey such as diatoms. Wave-like peristaltic contractions move the food through the stomach for digestion. The final section of the stomach is lined with cilia (minute hairs) that compress undigested solids, which then pass through the intestine and out through the anus. The different bryozoan groups use various methods to share nutrients and oxygen between zooids: some have quite large gaps in the body walls, allowing the coelomic fluid to circulate freely; in others, the funiculi (internal "little ropes") The developing embryo relies on egg's yolk, extraembryonic nutrition (matrotrophy) or both.
In ctenostomes the mother provides a brood chamber for the fertilized eggs, and her polypide disintegrates, providing nourishment to the embryo. Stenolaemates produce specialized zooids to serve as brood chambers, and their eggs divide within this to produce up to 100 identical embryos.
The cleavage of bryozoan eggs is biradial, in other words the early stages are bilaterally symmetrical. It is unknown how the coelom forms, since the metamorphosis from larva to adult destroys all of the larva's internal tissues. In many animals the blastopore, an opening in the surface of the early embryo, tunnels through to form the gut. However, in bryozoans the blastopore closes, and a new opening develops to create the mouth. Species that brood their embryos form larvae that are nourished by large yolks, have no gut and do not feed, and such larvae quickly settle on a surface. When conditions improve, the valves of the shell separate and the cells inside develop into a zooid that tries to form a new colony. Plumatella emarginata produces both "sessoblasts", which enable the lineage to control a good territory even if hard times decimate the parent colonies, and "floatoblasts", which spread to new sites. New colonies of Plumatella repens produce mainly "sessoblasts" while mature ones switch to "floatoblasts".
Ecology
Habitats and distribution
Most marine species live in tropical waters at depths less than . However, a few have been found in deep-sea trenches, especially around cold seeps, and others near the poles.
The great majority of bryozoans are sessile. Typically, sessile bryozoans live on hard substrates including rocks, sand or shells. Boring bryozoans leave unique borehole traces after dissolving calcium carbonate substrates. Encrusting forms are much the commonest of these in shallow seas, but erect forms become more common as the depth increases. Colonies of the species Alcyonidium disciforme, which is disc-shaped and similarly free-living, inhabit muddy seabeds in the Arctic and can sequester sand grains they have engulfed, potentially using the sand as ballast to turn themselves right-side-up after they have been overturned. Some bryozoan species can form bryoliths, sphere-shaped free-living colonies that grow outward in all directions as they roll about on the seabed.
In 2014 it was reported that the bryozoan Fenestrulina rugula had become a dominant species in parts of Antarctica. Global warming has increased the rate of scouring by icebergs, and this species is particularly adept at recolonizing scoured areas.
The phylactolaemates live in all types of freshwater environment – lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, and estuaries Some ctenostomes are exclusively freshwater while others prefer brackish water but can survive in freshwater.
Interactions with non-human organisms
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Marine species are common on coral reefs, but seldom a significant proportion of the total biomass. In temperate waters, the skeletons of dead colonies form a significant component of shell gravels, and live ones are abundant in these areas. Other predators on marine bryozoans include fish, sea urchins, pycnogonids, crustaceans, mites and starfish. In general marine echinoderms and molluscs eat masses of zooids by gouging pieces of colonies, breaking their mineralized "houses", while most arthropod predators on bryozoans eat individual zooids.
In freshwater, bryozoans are among the most important filter feeders, along with sponges and mussels. Freshwater bryozoans are attacked by many predators, including snails, insects, and fish.
In Thailand the introduced species Pomacea canaliculata (golden apple snail), which is generally a destructive herbivore, has wiped out phylactolaemate populations wherever it has appeared. P. canaliculata also preys on a common freshwater gymnolaemate, but with less devastating effect. Indigenous snails do not feed on bryozoans.
Several species of the hydroid family Zancleidae have symbiotic relationships with bryozoans, some of which are beneficial to the hydroids while others are parasitic. Modifications appear in the shapes of some these hydroids, for example smaller tentacles or encrustation of the roots by bryozoans. The bryozoan Alcyonidium nodosum protects the whelk Burnupena papyracea against predation by the powerful and voracious rock lobster Jasus lalandii. While whelk shells encrusted by the bryozoans are stronger than those without this reinforcement, chemical defenses produced by the bryozoans are probably the more significant deterrent.
]]
In the Banc d'Arguin offshore Mauritania the species Acanthodesia commensale, which is generally growing attached to gravel and hard-substrate, has formed a facultative symbiotic relationship with hermit crabs of the species Pseudopagurus cf. granulimanus resulting in egg-size structures known as bryoliths. Nucleating on an empty gastropod shell, the bryozoan colonies form multilamellar skeletal crusts that produce spherical encrustations and extend the living chamber of the hermit crab through helicospiral tubular growth.
Some phylactolaemate species are intermediate hosts for a group of myxozoa that have also been found to cause proliferative kidney disease, which is often fatal in salmonid fish, and has severely reduced wild fish populations in Europe and North America.
Marine bryozoans are often responsible for biofouling on ships' hulls, on docks and marinas, and on offshore structures. They are among the first colonizers of new or recently cleaned structures. Freshwater species are occasional nuisances in water pipes, drinking water purification equipment, sewage treatment facilities, and the cooling pipes of power stations.
A group of chemicals called bryostatins can be extracted from the marine bryozoan Bugula neritina. In 2001 pharmaceutical company GPC Biotech licensed bryostatin 1 from Arizona State University for commercial development as a treatment for cancer. GPC Biotech canceled development in 2003, saying that bryostatin 1 showed little effectiveness and some toxic side effects. In January 2008 a clinical trial was submitted to the United States National Institutes of Health to measure the safety and effectiveness of Bryostatin 1 in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. However, no participants had been recruited by the end of December 2008, when the study was scheduled for completion. More recent work shows it has positive effects on cognition in patients with Alzheimer's disease with few side effects. About of bryozoans must be processed to extract of bryostatin, As a result, synthetic equivalents have been developed that are simpler to produce and apparently at least as effective.
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Anatomy
, a coralline bryozoan]]
Bryozoan skeletons grow in a variety of shapes and patterns: mound-shaped, lacy fans, branching twigs, and even corkscrew-shaped. Their skeletons have numerous tiny openings, each of which is the home of a minute animal called a zooid. They also have a coelomate body with a looped alimentary canal or gut, opening at the mouth and terminating at the anus. They feed with a specialized, ciliated structure called a lophophore, which is a crown of tentacles surrounding the mouth. Their diet consists of small microorganisms, including diatoms and other unicellular algae. In turn, bryozoans are preyed on by grazing organisms such as sea urchins and fish. Bryozoans do not have any defined respiratory, or circulatory systems due to their small size. However, they do have a simple nervous system and a hydrostatic skeletal system. Several studies have been undertaken on the crystallography of bryozoan skeletons, revealing a complex fabric suite of oriented calcite or aragonite crystallites within an organic matrix – see for example Hall et al. (2002).
The tentacles of the bryozoans are ciliated, and the beating of the cilia creates a powerful current of water which drives water together with entrained food particles (mainly phytoplankton) towards the mouth. The gut is U-shaped, and consists of a pharynx which passes into the esophagus, followed by the stomach, which has three parts: the cardia, the caecum, and the pylorus. The pylorus leads to an intestine and a short rectum terminating at the anus, which opens outside the lophophore. In some groups, notably some ctenostomes, a specialized gizzard may be formed from the proximal part of the cardia. Gut and lophophore are the principal components of the polypide. Cyclical degeneration and regeneration of the polypide is characteristic of marine bryozoans. After the final polypide degeneration, the skeletal aperture of the feeding zooid may become sealed by the secretion of a terminal diaphragm. In many bryozoans only the zooids within a few generations of the growing edge are in an actively feeding state; older, more proximal zooids (e.g. in the interiors of bushy colonies) are usually dormant.
Because of their small size, bryozoans have no need of a blood system. Gaseous exchange occurs across the entire surface of the body, but particularly through the tentacles of the lophophore.
Bryozoans can reproduce both sexually and asexually. All bryozoans, as far as is known, are hermaphroditic (meaning they are both male and female). Asexual reproduction occurs by budding off new zooids as the colony grows, and is the main way by which a colony expands in size. If a piece of a bryozoan colony breaks off, the piece can continue to grow and will form a new colony. A colony formed this way is composed entirely of clones (genetically identical individuals) of the first animal, which is called the ancestrula.
One species of bryozoan, Bugula neritina, is of current interest as a source of cytotoxic chemicals, bryostatins, under clinical investigation as anti-cancer agents.
Fossils
, near Brookville, Indiana.]]
of Iowa.]]
of Iowa.]]
, northern Estonia.]]
fossil specimen on display at Smithsonian, Washington, DC]]
Fossil bryozoans are found in rocks beginning in the Early Ordovician as part of the Ordovician radiation. They were often major components of Ordovician seabed communities and, like modern-day bryozoans, played an important role in sediment stabilization and binding, as well as providing sources of food for other benthic organisms. During the Mississippian (354 to 323 million years ago) bryozoans were so common that their broken skeletons form entire limestone beds. Bryozoan fossil record comprises more than 1,000 described species. It is plausible that the Bryozoa existed in the Cambrian but were soft-bodied or not preserved for some other reason; perhaps they evolved from a phoronid-like ancestor at about this time.
Bryozoans are important members of sclerobiont (organisms which dwell on hard substrates such as shells and rocks) communities in the fossil record and in the Recent. For a review of sclerobiont evolution, history and ecology, see Taylor & Wilson (2003).
Most fossil bryozoans have mineralized skeletons. The skeletons of individual zooids vary from tubular to box-shaped and contain a terminal aperture from which the lophophore is protruded to feed. No pores are present in the great majority of Ordovician bryozoans, but skeletal evidence shows that epithelia were continuous from one zooid to the next.
With regard to the bryozoan groups lacking mineralized skeletons, the statoblasts of freshwater phylactolaemates have been recorded as far back as the Permian, and the ctenostome fossils date from the Triassic.
One of the most important events during bryozoan evolution was the acquisition of a calcareous skeleton and the related change in the mechanism of tentacle protrusion. The rigidity of the outer body walls allowed a greater degree of zooid contiguity and the evolution of massive, multiserial colony forms.
Classification
The bryozoans were formerly considered to contain two subgroups: the ectoprocta and the entoprocta, based on the similar bodyplans and mode of life of these two groups. (Some researchers also included the Cycliophora, which are thought to be closely related to the entoprocta.) However, the ectoprocta are coelomate (possessing a body cavity) and their embryos undergo radial cleavage, while the entoprocta are acoelemate and undergo spiral cleavage. Molecular studies are ambiguous about the exact position of the entoprocta, but do not support a close relationship with the ectoprocta. For these reasons, the entoprocta are now considered a phylum of their own. The removal of the 150 species of entoprocta leaves bryozoa synonymous with ectoprocta; some authors have adopted the latter name for the group, but the majority continue to use the former.
The closest relations of the bryozoans appear to be the brachiopods. The sister group to this clade is still unclear but this seems most likely to be the phoronids.
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See also
*International Bryozoology Association
*List of prehistoric bryozoan genera
*Colony (biology)
References
Bibliography
* Further reading*
*Hayward, P.G., J.S. Ryland and P.D. Taylor (eds.), 1992. Biology and Palaeobiology of Bryozoans, Olsen and Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark.
*
*Robison, R.A. (ed.), 1983. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part G, Bryozoa (revised). Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press.
*
*
*
* Woollacott, R.M. and R.L. Zimmer (eds), 1977. The Biology of Bryozoans'', Academic Press, New York.
External links
*[http://bryozoa.net/ Index to Bryozoa] Bryozoa Home Page, was at RMIT; now bryozoa.net
*[http://bryozoa.net/links.html Other Bryozoan WWW Resources]
*[http://bryozoa.net/iba/index.html International Bryozoology Association] official website
*[http://neogenebryozoans.myspecies.info/ Neogene Bryozoa of Britain]
*[http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/IntroBryozoa.htm Bryozoan Introduction]
*[http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/bryozoa.html The Phylum Ectoprocta (Bryozoa)]
*Phylum Bryozoa at Wikispecies
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141015183508/http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/bryozoa.html Bryozoans] in the Connecticut River
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080720172410/http://www.tafi.org.au/zooplankton/imagekey/bryozoa/index.html Bryozoa Fact Sheet]
Category:Protostome phyla
Category:Early Ordovician first appearances
Category:Extant Ordovician first appearances
Category:Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryozoa | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.445738 |
3417 | Biennial plant | upright=1.2|thumb|Parsley is a common example of a biennial plant.
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle.
Background
In its first year, the biennial plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures (leaves, stems, and roots) develop. Usually, the stem of the plant remains short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming a rosette. After one year's growing season, the plant enters a period of dormancy for the colder months. Many biennials require a cold treatment, or vernalization before they will flower. During the next spring or summer, the stem of the biennial plant elongates greatly, or "bolts". The plant then flowers, producing fruits and seeds before it finally dies. There are far fewer biennials than either perennial plants or annual plants.
Biennials do not always follow a strict two-year life cycle and the majority of plants in the wild can take 3 or more years to fully mature. Rosette leaf size has been found to predict when a plant may enter its second stage of flowering and seed production. Alternatively, under extreme climatic conditions, a biennial plant may complete its life cycle rapidly (e.g., in three months instead of two years). This is quite common in vegetable or flower seedlings that were vernalized before they were planted in the ground. This behavior leads to many normally biennial plants being treated as annuals in some areas. Conversely, an annual grown under extremely favorable conditions may have highly successful seed propagation, giving it the appearance of being biennial or perennial. Some short-lived perennials may appear to be biennial rather than perennial. True biennials flower only once, while many perennials will flower every year once mature.
thumb|The Sweet William Dwarf plant is a biennial plant.
Biennials grown for flowers, fruits, or seeds are grown for two years, whereas those grown for edible leaves or roots are harvested after one year—and are not kept a second year to run to seed.
Examples of biennial plants are members of the onion family including leek, some members of the cabbage family, common mullein, parsley, fennel, Lunaria, silverbeet, black-eyed Susan, sweet William, colic weed, carrot, and some hollyhocks. Plant breeders have produced annual cultivars of several biennials that will flower the first year from seed, for example, foxglove and stock.
See also
References | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biennial_plant | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.452118 |
3419 | Bay leaf | ]]
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The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf imparts to a dish has not been universally agreed upon, but many agree it is a subtle addition.
Bay leaves come from various plants and are used for their distinctive flavour and fragrance. The most common source is the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis). Other types include California bay laurel, Indian bay leaf, West Indian bay laurel, and Mexican bay laurel. Bay leaves contain essential oils, such as eucalyptol, terpenes, and methyleugenol, which contribute to their taste and aroma.
Bay leaves are used in cuisines including Indian, Filipino, European, and Caribbean. They are typically used in soups, stews, meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes. The leaves should be removed from the cooked food before eating as they can be abrasive in the digestive tract.
Bay leaves are used as an insect repellent in pantries and as an active ingredient in killing jars for entomology. In Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy, they are used to symbolize Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead.
While some visually similar plants have poisonous leaves, bay leaves are not toxic. However, they remain stiff even after cooking and may pose a choking hazard or cause harm to the digestive tract if swallowed whole or in large pieces. Canadian food and drug regulations set specific standards for bay leaves, including limits on ash content, moisture levels, and essential oil content.
Sources
Bay leaves come from several plants, such as:
* Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae). Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavour and fragrance. The leaves should be removed from the cooked food before eating (see safety section below). The leaves are often used to flavour soups, stews, braises and pâtés in many countries. The fresh leaves are very mild and do not develop their full flavour until several weeks after picking and drying.
* California bay leaf. The leaf of the California bay tree (Umbellularia californica, Lauraceae), also known as California laurel, Oregon myrtle, and pepperwood, is similar to the Mediterranean bay laurel but contains the toxin umbellulone, which can cause methemoglobinemia.
* Indian bay leaf or malabathrum (Cinnamomum tamala, Lauraceae) differs from bay laurel leaves, which are shorter and light- to medium-green in colour, with one large vein down the length of the leaf. Indian bay leaves are about twice as long and wider, usually olive green in colour, and have three veins running the length of the leaf. Culinarily, Indian bay leaves are quite different, having a fragrance and taste similar to cinnamon (cassia) bark, but milder.
* Indonesian bay leaf or Indonesian laurel (salam leaf, Syzygium polyanthum, Myrtaceae) is not commonly found outside Indonesia; this herb is applied to meat and, less often, to rice and to vegetables.
* West Indian bay leaf, the leaf of the West Indian bay tree (Pimenta racemosa, Myrtaceae) is used culinarily (especially in Caribbean cuisine) and to produce the cologne called bay rum.
* Mexican bay leaf (Litsea glaucescens, Lauraceae).
Chemical constituents
The leaves of the European / Mediterranean plant Laurus nobilis contain about 1.3% essential oils (ol. lauri folii), consisting of 45% eucalyptol, 12% other terpenes, 8–12% terpinyl acetate, 3–4% sesquiterpenes, 3% methyleugenol, and other α- and β-pinenes, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol, terpineol, and also contain lauric acid. Taste and aromaIf eaten whole, Laurus nobilis bay leaves are pungent and have a sharp, bitter taste. As with many spices and flavourings, the fragrance of the bay leaf is more noticeable than its taste. When the leaf is dried, the aroma is herbal, slightly floral, and somewhat similar to oregano and thyme. Myrcene, a component of many essential oils used in perfumery, can be extracted from this bay leaf. They also contain eugenol.
Uses
Culinary
Bay leaf is typically used in cooking to flavor broths, grains, soups, stews and stocks. It is typically removed before serving.
In Indian cuisine, bay laurel leaves are sometimes used in place of Indian bay leaf, although they have a different flavour. They are most often used in rice dishes like biryani and as an ingredient in garam masala. Bay leaves are called (, in Hindi), Tejpātā (তেজপাতা) in Bengali, তেজ পাত in Assamese and usually rendered into English as Tej Patta.
In the Philippines, dried bay laurel leaves are used in several Filipino dishes, such as menudo, beef pares, and adobo. Bay leaves were used for flavouring by the ancient Greeks. They are a fixture in the cooking of many European cuisines (particularly those of the Mediterranean), as well as in the Americas. They are used in soups, stews, brines, meat, seafood, vegetable dishes, and sauces. The leaves also flavour many classic French and Italian dishes. The leaves are most often used whole (sometimes in a ) and removed before serving (they can be abrasive in the digestive tract). Thai and Laotian cuisine employs bay leaf (, ) in a few Arab-influenced dishes, notably massaman curry.
Bay leaves can also be crushed or ground before cooking. Crushed bay leaves impart more fragrance than whole leaves, but are more difficult to remove and thus they are often used in a muslin bag or tea infuser. Ground bay laurel may be substituted for whole leaves and does not need to be removed, but it is much stronger.
To brew tea, bay leaves are best boiled for a brief period—typically 3 minutes—to prevent bitterness, as prolonged boiling may overpower the tea's flavour. Fresh bay leaves impart a stronger aroma, while dried leaves require longer steeping for a similar effect.
Bay leaves are also used in the making of jerk chicken in the Caribbean Islands. The bay leaves are soaked and placed on the cool side of the grill. Pimento sticks are placed on top of the leaves, and the chicken is placed on top and smoked. The leaves are also added whole to soups, stews, and other Caribbean dishes.
Other
Bay leaves can also be used scattered in a pantry to repel meal moths, flies, and cockroaches. Mediouni-Ben Jemaa and Tersim 2011 find the essential oil to be usable as an insect repellent.
Bay leaves have been used in entomology as the active ingredient in killing jars. The crushed, fresh, young leaves are put into the jar under a layer of paper. The vapors they release kill insects slowly but effectively and keep the specimens relaxed and easy to mount. The leaves discourage the growth of molds. They are not effective for killing large beetles and similar specimens, but insects that have been killed in a cyanide killing jar can be transferred to a laurel jar to await mounting. There is confusion in the literature about whether Laurus nobilis is a source of cyanide to any practical extent, but there is no evidence that cyanide is relevant to its value in killing jars. It certainly is rich in various essential oil components that could incapacitate insects in high concentrations; such compounds include 1,8-cineole, alpha-terpinyl acetate, and methyl eugenol. It also is unclear to what extent the alleged effect of cyanide released by the crushed leaves has been mis-attributed to Laurus nobilis in confusion with the unrelated Prunus laurocerasus, the so-called cherry laurel, which certainly does contain dangerous concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides together with the enzymes to generate the hydrogen cyanide from the glycocides if the leaf is physically damaged.
Bay leaves are used in Eastern Orthodoxy liturgy. To mark Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead, parishioners throw bay leaves and flowers into the air, letting them flutter to the ground. SafetySome members of the laurel family, as well as the unrelated but visually similar mountain laurel and cherry laurel, have leaves that are poisonous to humans and livestock. Thus, most recipes that use bay leaves will recommend their removal after the cooking process has finished.
Canadian food and drug regulations
The Canadian government requires that ground bay leaves contain no more than 4.5% total ash material, with a maximum of 0.5% of which is insoluble in hydrochloric acid. To be considered dried, they must contain 7% moisture or less. The oil content cannot be less than 1 millilitre per 100 grams of the spice.
References
External links
Category:Herbs
Category:Leaves
Category:Non-timber forest products
Category:Plant common names | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_leaf | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.478933 |
3421 | Basis | Basis may refer to:
Finance and accounting
Adjusted basis, the net cost of an asset after adjusting for various tax-related items
Basis point, 0.01%, often used in the context of interest rates
Basis trading, a trading strategy consisting of the purchase of a security and the sale of a similar security
Basis of futures, the value differential between a future and the spot price
Basis (options), the value differential between a call option and a put option
Basis swap, an interest rate swap
Cost basis, in income tax law, the original cost of property adjusted for factors such as depreciation
Tax basis, cost of an asset
and technology
Basis function
Basis (linear algebra)
Dual basis
Orthonormal basis
Schauder basis
Basis (universal algebra)
Basis of a matroid
Generating set of an ideal:
Gröbner basis
Hilbert's basis theorem
Generating set of a group
Base (topology)
Change of basis
Greedoid
Normal basis
Polynomial basis
Radial basis function
Standard basis
Transcendence basis of a field extension
Basis database
Chemistry
Basis (crystal structure), the positions of the atoms inside the unit cell
Basis set (chemistry)
Dry basis, an expression of a calculation in which the presence of water is ignored
Organizations
Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services
Basis Educational Group
Basis Schools, a group of schools in Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Texas
Basis Technology Corp., a text analytics company
People
Dimitris Basis, Greek singer
Liron Basis (born 1974), Israeli footballer
See also
Base (disambiguation)
Basic (disambiguation)
Basis of Union (disambiguation)
Basis set (disambiguation) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basis | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.482828 |
3422 | Burgess Shale | }}
| caption = Ottoia, a soft-bodied worm, abundant in the Burgess Shale. (From Smith et al. 2015)
| type = Geological formation
| prilithology = Shale
| otherlithology | namedfor Burgess Pass
| namedby = Charles Doolittle Walcott, 1911
| region = Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park
| country = Canada
| coordinates =
| unitof = Stephen Formation
| subunits | thickness
| extent | area
| map = Canadian Rockies highlighting Yoho National Park.png
| map_caption = Map highlighting Yoho National Park in red
}}
The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.
The rock unit is a black shale and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field in Yoho National Park and the Kicking Horse Pass. Another outcrop is in Kootenay National Park 42 km to the south.
History and significance
'' fossil found.]]
The Burgess Shale was discovered by palaeontologist Charles Walcott on 30 August 1909, towards the end of the season's fieldwork. He returned in 1910 with his sons, daughter, and wife, establishing a quarry on the flanks of Fossil Ridge. The significance of soft-bodied preservation, and the range of organisms he recognised as new to science, led him to return to the quarry almost every year until 1924. At that point, aged 74, he had amassed over 65,000 specimens. Describing the fossils was a vast task, pursued by Walcott until his death in 1927.
The Burgess Shale has attracted the interest of paleoclimatologists who want to study and predict long-term future changes in Earth's climate. According to Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee in the 2003 book The Life and Death of Planet Earth, climatologists study the fossil records in the Burgess Shale to understand the climate of the Cambrian explosion. It can be used to predict what Earth's climate would look like 500 million years in the future as a warming and expanding Sun, combined with declining CO<sub>2</sub> and oxygen levels, eventually heat the Earth toward temperatures not seen since the Archean Eon 3 billion years ago (before the first plants and animals appeared). This in turn furthers understanding of how and when the last living things on Earth could potentially die out. See also Future of the Earth.
After the Burgess Shale site was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1980, it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation in 1984.
In 2012, the discovery was announced of another Burgess Shale outcrop in Kootenay National Park to the south. In just 15 days of field collecting in 2013, 50 animal species were unearthed at the new site.
IUGS geological heritage site
In respect of the site being 'characterized by exceptional soft-tissue preservation, [and containing] the most complete fossil record of Cambrian (Wuliuan) marine ecosystems', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Burgess Shale Cambrian Paleontological Record' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an 'IUGS Geological Heritage Site' as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'
Geological setting
image of the area.]]
The fossil-bearing deposits of the Burgess Shale correlate to the Stephen Formation, a collection of slightly calcareous dark mudstones, about old. This vertical cliff was composed of the calcareous reefs of the Cathedral Formation, which probably formed shortly before the deposition of the Burgess Shale. This would have left a steep cliff, the bottom of which would be protected from tectonic decompression because the limestone of the Cathedral Formation is difficult to compress. This protection explains why fossils preserved further from the Cathedral Formation are impossible to work with – tectonic squeezing of the beds has produced a vertical cleavage that fractures the rocks, so they split perpendicular to the fossils. The anoxic setting had been thought to not only protect the newly dead organisms from decay, but it also created chemical conditions allowing the preservation of the soft parts of the organisms. Further, it reduced the abundance of burrowing organisms – burrows and trackways are found in beds containing soft-bodied organisms, but they are rare and generally of limited vertical extent.
There are many other comparable Cambrian lagerstätten; indeed such assemblages are far more common in the Cambrian than in any other period. This is mainly due to the limited extent of burrowing activity; as such bioturbation became more prevalent throughout the Cambrian, environments capable of preserving organisms' soft parts became much rarer. Working with the Burgess Shale The fossils of the Burgess Shale are preserved as black carbon films on black shales, and so are difficult to photograph; however, various photographic techniques can improve the quality of the images that can be acquired. Other techniques include backscatter SEM, elemental mapping and camera lucida drawing.
Once images have been acquired, the effects of decay and taphonomy must be accounted for before a correct anatomical reconstruction can be made. A consideration of the combination of characters allows researchers to establish the taxonomic affinity.
See also
*Body plan
*Fezouata Formation, a fossil site in Morocco that helped bridge the gap of the Cambrian-Ordovician transition
*Castle Bank
*History of invertebrate paleozoology
*Invertebrate paleontology
*List of fossil sites (with link directory)
*Maotianshan Shales, which is often compared to Burgess Shale
*Paleobiota of the Burgess Shale
*Wheeler Shale, also compared to Burgess Shale
*List of arthropods of the Cambrian Period
References
Further reading
*Gould, Stephen Jay & Conway Morris, Simon. Debating the significance of the Burgess Shale:
*Conway Morris, Simon. The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998 (paperback 1999) (hbk), (pbk)
*Fortey, Richard. Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution, Flamingo, 2001.
*Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, Vintage, 2000.
*Briggs, D. E. G.; Erwin, Douglas H. & Collier, Frederick J. The Fossils of the Burgess Shale, Smithsonian, 1994.
External links
*
* (includes links to resource pages)
*
Category:Cambrian System of North America
Category:Cambrian British Columbia
Category:Cambrian life by stratigraphic provenance
Category:Cambrian southern paleotropical deposits
Category:Paleontology in Canada
Category:First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites
Category:Fossil parks in Canada
Category:Yoho National Park
Category:Geology of the Rocky Mountains
Category:Shale formations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgess_Shale | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.495161 |
3427 | Beavis and Butt-Head | | creator = Mike Judge
| voices =
| theme_music_composer = Mike Judge
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 10<!-- increment when new season is released -->
| num_episodes = 270<!-- increment when new episodes are released --> + 2 pilots
| list_episodes = List of Beavis and Butt-Head episodes
| executive_producer =
| producer =
| runtime =
| company =
* Judgemental Films (seasons 8–present)
* Ternion Productions (season 8)
* 3 Arts Entertainment (seasons 8–present)
* Titmouse, Inc. (seasons 9–present)
* Paramount Television
}}
| first_aired =
| last_aired =
| channel = MTV
| first_aired2 =
| last_aired2 =
| channel2 = Paramount+
| first_aired3 = <!--Only insert start date after the first episode has aired. -->
| last_aired3 = <!--Only insert start date after the first episode has aired.-->
| channel3 Comedy Central
| related = Daria
}}
Beavis and Butt-Head is an American adult animated sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor and love for hard rock and heavy metal. The original series juxtaposes slice-of-life short subjects—in which the teens embark on low-minded misadventures in their Texas town—with the pair watching and commenting on music videos.
Judge developed the pair when financing and making his own animated shorts; two of these films, including Frog Baseball, were broadcast by MTV's animation showcase Liquid Television. The network commissioned a full series, which over its seven seasons became its most popular program. The original series ended in 1997, but has been twice rebooted, first in 2011 for MTV, and again in 2022 for Paramount+. Starting in 2025, new episodes will air on Comedy Central. Rolling Stone described them as "thunderously stupid and excruciatingly ugly". They spend time watching television, drinking unhealthy beverages, eating, and embarking on "mundane, sordid" adventures, which often involve vandalism, abuse, violence, or animal cruelty. Over the course of the series, Beavis and Butt-Head developed more distinct personalities; Beavis was more hyperactive and significantly less intelligent than his best-friend Butt-Head, who was often more relaxed and tended to be the "brains", what little there were, of the duo's shenanigans.
Voice cast
* Mike Judge as Beavis, Butt-Head, Principal McVicker, Coach Buzzcut, David Van Driessen, Tom Anderson, and others
* Tracy Grandstaff as Daria Morgendorffer and Mrs. Stevenson
* Kristofer Brown as various
* Toby Huss as Todd and others
Development
(pictured 2011) created Beavis and Butt-Head and voices most of the characters.]]
Beavis and Butt-Head was created by the American animator Mike Judge. He graduated with a degree in physics but struggled to connect with his work in computer science. In the late 1980s, he began making short animated films on his own; he taught himself how to draw and animate and would shoot his projects with a cheap Bolex 16mm film camera. He made several shorts, including Frog Baseball, which marked the first appearances of the characters. Judge cold-called networks to pitch this concept, and would send out VHS tapes with prints of his films. Aesthetically, Judge likened the program's best episodes to comfort food: "I think there’s something kind of relaxing about it," he noted. He claimed the wacky comedy of The Beverly Hillbillies was an influence on the show. Other elements of the setting are left up to the viewer's imagination: there is little said of the characters' backstories, or their parents, and it's unclear whose house the characters are couch-surfing. This aspect of the show was also inspired by Peanuts, where the characters also seem to inhabit a liminal world without parents.
Production
1993–1997: First seven seasons and first film
In September 1992, MTV flew Judge to their New York headquarters to commission a full series of the concept. Executives initially approved 35 episodes; the show's seven-figure budget floored Judge, who had only made the films on his own for $800. The music video commentary was more-or-less improvised by Judge, who recorded them alongside an engineer in Austin. Judge preferred to produce the show from his Austin home; in a Los Angeles Times piece from 1994, it observes: "Judge makes occasional trips to New York to approve the music videos that will be used in the series and to take care of other business, but generally works by fax, FedEx and video conferencing from Austin." Initially, the show's animators condensed the show's art style down to the industry standard of limited animation, which Judge likened to a Saturday morning-type style. He was specific about the show looking intentionally off-kilter: "there's something kind of interesting about seeing drawings animated that look like they were done by a 15-year old in his notebook," he later said. In describing the show's style, Elizabeth Kolbert from The New York Times wrote: "They are drawn with purposeful crudeness and their motions have the jerky, seasick quality of marionettes." and was ready to end the show after the second season, when he felt like he was running out of ideas. He claimed he got a "second wind" in the series' third season,
2011: Eighth season
Judge returned to the characters to develop an additional season of the program, which aired in 2011. John Altschuler, formerly a writer for King of the Hill, told a Rolling Stone reporter that he saw signs that Mike Judge was thinking of reviving Beavis and Butt-Head. On more than one occasion, Judge told the writers that one of their ideas for an episode of King of the Hill would work well for Beavis and Butt-Head; eventually he concluded, "Maybe we should just actually make some good Beavis and Butt-Head episodes." Later, a Lady Gaga video convinced Van Toffler of the tenability of a Beavis and Butt-Head revival: "I felt like there was a whole crop of new artists—and what the world sorely missed was the point of view that only Beavis and Butt-Head could bring." In updating the show for its millennial-era audience, the duo also watch episodes of Jersey Shore, Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, and amateur videos from YouTube. Some characters like Daria Morgendorffer did not return. According to TMZ, MTV had not asked Tracy Grandstaff to reprise that role; Judge confirmed that the character was limited to a cameo appearance. This number eventually dwindled to 900,000 by the season's end, mainly due to its challenging time slot pitted against regular prime time shows on other networks. As part of a promotional campaign, cinemas screening Jackass 3D opened the feature film with a 3-D Beavis and Butt-Head short subject. The revival encompassed 24 episodes (12 half-hour programs), The network's demographic had also shifted to include more female viewers, complicating the show's appeal. In an interview with Howard Stern in 2014, Judge mentioned that while the show's ratings were high, meeting this key demographic was a factor in its cancellation. He also said that MTV was close to selling it to another network, but it became "lost in deal stuff". Judge remained outwardly open to producing more shows, suggesting in 2014 that there was a chance of pitching Beavis and Butt-Head to another network. Conflicting with the actual season number, MTV incorrectly refers to this season as "Season 9", even though it is technically the eighth season. Later reruns of this iteration of the program were broadcast on MTV Classic in the mid-2010s.2022–present: Second film and revivalOver a decade after the last iteration of the series, the series was again revived, this time in the streaming era for Paramount+. The concept of relaunching the show a second time came from Judge, who created a concert intro for the band Portugal. The Man using the characters. He had not intended to return to the characters again, but found performing the voices fun. He entered discussions with Paramount Global, which was met with more "enthusiasm" than its previous MTV incarnation. The new season followed on August 4, 2022, with its second season debuting on April 20, 2023. In addition, in 2022 Paramount+ announced they were to host the full library of over 227 original episodes, newly remastered, with music videos intact for the first time. As of 2024, only some of these episodes have been hosted.
In the new series, Beavis and Butt-Head enter a "whole new Gen Z world" with meta-themes that are said to be relatable to both new fans, who may be unfamiliar with the original series, and old. This iteration has several episodes that depict the characters settling into middle-age, which is a concept Judge had suggested might be amusing over the years. While promoting his film Extract in 2009, Judge noted: "I wouldn't mind doing something with them as these two dirty old men sitting on the couch." Season 9 continues the concept of the Beavis and Butt-Head multiverse initially explored in its film predecessor; Teenage Beavis and Butt-Head and Smart Beavis and Butt-Head all get their own dedicated episodes in the revival as well.
To promote the revival, Paramount+ attempted to break the world record for the largest serving of nachos at S. Alameda St in Los Angeles to celebrate the return of the show. They were successful and were given a ceremonial plaque from the Guinness World Records representative which stated "The largest serving of nachos was achieved by Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head and Paramount+".
On June 5, 2024, it was announced that the revival had been renewed for a third season, which is expected to air sometime in 2025 on Comedy Central. Judge has also suggested on more than one occasion directing a live-action adaption of the program. He revealed that Johnny Depp had once expressed interest in the role of Beavis, having imitated the character while Marlon Brando imitated Butt-Head during the production of Don Juan DeMarco (1995). around the same time, he also suggested that "Seann William Scott's kinda got Butt-Head eyes." A decade later, Judge told Radio Times "maybe it could be a live-action someday", then went on to speculate that Beavis might be homeless by now. In developing the series' second revival for Paramount+ in the 2020s, executives for the streamer had wanted a live-action Beavis and Butt-Head movie. Judge held auditions over Zoom for the project. He eventually talked the company into doing an animated movie instead to reestablish the characters first, with a future live-action movie still a possibility. Judge found it hard to replicate the characters' onscreen stupidity: "It was just sort of like watching teenagers imitate Beavis and Butt-Head."|width25%|alignright|stylepadding:8px;|border1px}}
During its original run, Beavis and Butt-Head was MTV's highest rated show. It was one of the most popular series when it premiered in 1993. In 1993, Rolling Stone described Beavis and Butt-Head as the "biggest phenomenon on MTV since the heyday of Michael Jackson". It became the focus of criticism from some social critics such as Michael Medved, while others such as David Letterman and the National Review defended it as a cleverly subversive vehicle for social criticism and a particularly creative and intelligent comedy. Either way, the show captured the attention of many young television viewers and is often considered a classic piece of 1990s youth culture and Generation X. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, cite the series as an influence and compared it to the blues.
In 1997, Dan Tobin of The Boston Phoenix commented on the series' humor, saying it transformed "stupidity into a crusade, forcing us to acknowledge how little it really takes to make us laugh." In 1997, Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix described the 1997 Beavis and Butt-Head state as "reduced to self-parody of their self-parody". In the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik said that Beavis and Butt-Head was "intelligent social satire that especially speaks in a meaningful way to a generation of teenage boys who are going through a uniquely complicated socialization at the hands of their baby-boomer parents". In 2012, TV Guide ranked Beavis and Butt-Head as one of the top 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time. IGN ranked the series as the fifth greatest cartoon of all time on their list of the Top 100 Animated Series.
Various television series have done parodies or homages to the series, including The Simpsons, Family Guy, Arthur, Friends, The Critic, Two and a Half Men, Fraiser, Boy Meets World, Full House, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Robot Chicken, Married... With Children, Roseanne, Big Mouth, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Beverly Hills, 90210, 2 broke girls, among others.
On the April 13, 2024 episode of Saturday Night Live guest host Ryan Gosling, and cast regular Mikey Day, appeared in a sketch as live-action versions of Beavis and Butt-Head. The sketch went viral and received large media coverage and critical acclaim. The pair reprised the roles on the red carpet at The Fall Guy movie premiere.ControversiesIn its heyday, Beavis and Butt-Head became a lightning rod for controversy over its content. "The downward spiral of the living white male surely ends here," John Leland wrote in Newsweek in 1993. The mother later claimed that her son watched an episode in which the characters said "fire was fun".
As a result, all references to fire were removed from subsequent airings and prompted the show to a later time slot. The creators found a censorship loophole and took delight in sometimes making Beavis scream things that sounded very similar to his previous "Fire! Fire!" (such as "Fryer! Fryer!" when he and Butt-Head are working the late shift at Burger World) and also having him almost say the forbidden word (such as one time when he sang "Liar, liar, pants on..." and pausing before "fire"). There was also a music video where a man runs on fire in slow motion ("California" by Wax). Beavis is hypnotized by it and can barely say "fire". However, MTV eventually removed the episode entirely, leading it to be locked away in the MTV vault. References to fire were cut from earlier episodes—even the original master tapes were altered permanently. Other episodes MTV opted not to rerun included "Stewart's House" and "Way Down Mexico Way". Copies of early episodes with the controversial content intact are rare, and the copies that exist are made from home video recordings of the original broadcasts, typically on VHS. In an interview included with the Mike Judge Collection DVD set, Judge said he is uncertain whether some of the earlier episodes still exist in their original, uncensored form. During the first video segment, "Werewolves of Highland", the first new episode of the revival, Beavis utters the word "fire" a total of seven times within 28 seconds, with Butt-Head saying it once as well.
In February 1994, watchdog group Morality in Media claimed that the death of eight-month-old Natalia Rivera, struck by a bowling ball thrown from an overpass onto a highway in Jersey City, New Jersey, near the Holland Tunnel by 18-year-old Calvin J. Settle, was partially inspired by Beavis and Butt-Head. The group said that Settle was influenced by the episode "Ball Breakers", in which Beavis and Butt-Head load a bowling ball with explosives and drop it from a rooftop.
They were famously lambasted by Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) as "Buffcoat and Beaver". This subsequently became a running gag on the show where adults mispronounced their names. For example, one character on the show, Tom Anderson, originally called them "Butthole" and "Joe" and believed the two to be of Asian ethnicity (describing them to the police as "Oriental"). In later episodes, Anderson uses the Hollings mispronunciation once and, on at least one occasion, refers to them as "Penis and Butt-Munch". President Clinton called them "Beavis and Bum-head" in "Citizen Butt-head", as well as in the movie, where an old lady (voiced by Cloris Leachman) consistently calls them "Travis" and "Bob-head". In "Incognito", when another student threatens to kill them, the duo uses this to their advantage, pretending to be exchange students named "Crevis and Bung-Head". The bully, seeing through the disguises, calls them "Beaver and Butt-Plug". In "Right On!", when the duo appear on the Gus Baker Show, host Gus Baker (a caricature of Rush Limbaugh) introduces them as "Beavis and Buffcoat". And in the original series finale, "Beavis and Butt-head Are Dead", a news reporter refers to the two boys as "Brevis and Head-Butt". In the Season 9 episode "Locked Out" Tom Anderson mistakes Beavis and Butt-Head for honest and responsible boys, and blames "Buford" and "Bernardo" for the alleged damage to the paint on his new truck, though Beavis and Butt-Head lied about the damage.
Beavis and Butt-Head have been compared to idiot savants because of their creative and subversively intelligent observations of music videos. This part of the show was mostly improvised by Mike Judge. With regard to criticisms of the two as "idiots", Judge responded that a show about straight-A students would not be funny.
Revivals
The series has been revived two times. Once in 2011 as a continuation of the original on MTV (Season 8), and then in 2022 as a reboot series on Paramount+ (Seasons 9-10). It was announced that Season 3 of the revival (the 11th season overall) would premiere exclusively on Comedy Central.
The show's 2011 revival saw mixed reviews. Karen Olsson from The New York Times found it "dumber and funnier" than the original run, and Brian Lowry of Variety "still a rowdy, guilty hoot." Others found it tiresome: Slate Troy Patterson called it a "grim" rehash, and James Poniewozik writing for Time found it not as "innovative" but still amusing. Matthew Gilbert from the Boston Globe felt television was now too dumb for them: "The problem is, there actually isn’t much of a need for the two dopes and their anti-wisdom anymore." Conversely, Tom Carson for GQ found it "just right [...] Judge anticipated the trickle-down version of popland's Age of Meta."
Its 2022 revival received critical acclaim. The New York Times Jason Zinoman extolled the revival: "[the show] remains singular [...] they all hit comic notes with moseying cadences you can’t find elsewhere." Jesse Hassenger from The Wrap wrote "Beavis and Butt-Head have a tendency to mold their environment in their image. Or are they just so timelessly American that surprisingly little adaptation is necessary?" Daniel Fienberg at The Hollywood Reporter called it "solidly amusing, if rarely remarkable." Lowry, now for CNN, viewed it "proudly stupid"; similarly Andy Greene, for Rolling Stone, "really loved" the new take. Its UK and European releases came later in 1997. Along with several of the series regulars, it also features the voices of Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Cloris Leachman, Robert Stack, Eric Bogosian, Richard Linklater, Greg Kinnear (in an uncredited role) and David Letterman (credited as Earl Hofert). The film follows the duo's cross-country trip as accidental fugitives. The film was a commercial success, opening at number one at the US box office and grossed more than $60 million. It held the highest December opening gross of all time before being passed by Scream 2 a year later in 1997. Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe (2022) The second adaptation, Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe, is a sci-fi comedy film that was released as a Paramount+ exclusive on June 23, 2022. A Beavis and Butthead follow-up film was rumored long after Do America<nowiki/>'s release, but such project never materialized. In February 2021, a sequel film was announced to be released on Paramount+ with an unspecified release date. A trailer was eventually released for the film on June 2, 2022, showcasing footage as well as the film's new subtitle; its release date was later that month on June 23. Work for the film was done remotely via zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film follows the titular duo as they get transported from 1998 to 2022 via space, coming into conflicts with their alternate-universe selves and the US government. The film received a highly positive reception from reviewers who praised it as a "return to form" for the franchise. The film served as a lead-in to its Paramount+ revival.
Related media
MerchandiseMTV marketed the program with a surplus of merchandise, with items as varied as clothing, hats, and aftershave.
Daria
A spin-off based on classmate Daria Morgendorffer premiered in 1997. Mike Judge was not involved at all except to give permission for use of the character (created by Glenn Eichler and designed by Bill Peckmann). The only reference to the original show is Daria's mentioning that Lawndale cannot be a second Highland "unless there's uranium in the drinking water here too".
Video games
* ''MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head, a set of games released by Viacom New Media for the Game Gear, Genesis and Super NES in 1994. All three games featured music composed by Gwar.
* Talking MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head: This Game Rules!!!, a handheld LCD video game released by Tiger Electronics in 1994.
* Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity, a graphic adventure game released for Windows 95 in 1995. A PlayStation port was released exclusively in Japan in 1998 featuring dubbed voice acting by Atsushi Tamura and Ryō Tamura from Owarai duo London Boots Ichi-gō Ni-gō.
* Beavis and Butt-Head in Calling All Dorks, a collection of desktop themes for Windows 95 released in 1995 by Viacom New Media.
* Beavis and Butt-Head in Wiener Takes All, a Beavis and Butt-Head-themed trivia game by Viacom New Media. Released as a PC/Macintosh-compatible CD-ROM in 1996.
* Beavis and Butt-Head in Little Thingies, a mini-game collection released for Windows 95 in 1996 featuring four mini-games from the previously released Virtual Stupidity and three new ones.
* Beavis and Butt-Head, a coin-operated video game developed by Atari Games for a 3DO Interactive Multiplayer-based hardware. The game underwent location testing 1996, but was unreleased due to poor reception.
* Beavis and Butt-Head in Screen Wreckers, a collection of screensavers released for Windows 95 in 1997.
* Beavis and Butt-Head: Bunghole in One, a Beavis and Butt-Head-themed golf video game released for Windows 95 by GT Interactive in 1998.
* Beavis and Butt-Head, an overhead action game released by GT Interactive for the Game Boy in 1998.
* Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (originally Beavis and Butt-Head: Get Big in Hollywood), an unreleased 3D action game that was being produced by GT Interactive. It was announced for the PlayStation in 1998.
* Beavis and Butt-Head Do U., a graphic adventure game released by GT Interactive for Windows 95 in 1999.
Books
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* (NOTE: This book is a bundle of four previous books 'Ensucklopedia,' 'Huh Huh for Hollywood,' 'The Butt-Files,' and 'Chicken Soup for the Butt' which are no longer in print separately).
Music
An album inspired by the series, The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience'', was released on Geffen Records. The label's namesake, David Geffen, came up with the concept for the album. He was sold on the show's success upon its debut, and contacted MTV to make a deal to co-finance the album and later film. and a track by themselves called "Come to Butt-Head". The track with Cher also resulted in a music video directed by Tamra Davis and Yvette Kaplan. It sold over two million copies worldwide.
In 2015, the pair were featured in commissioned skits on the album ''Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven'' by Kid Cudi.
Chart success
The Beavis and Butt-Head duet with Cher on "I Got You Babe" was released as a single in the UK, Australia, Europe and the US, the UK CD had a special limited edition sticker to promote The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience available with the release. On January 15, 1994, the song charted at number 35 in the UK charts and stayed on the charts for 4 weeks. On December 4, 1993, the song charted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in the US peaking at number 8.
The single also charted at number 69 in Australia, 19 in Belgium, 18 in Denmark, 69 on the European Hot 100, 10 on the Netherlands top 100 and number 40 in Sweden.
Slot game
In 2019, Gauselmann Group's UK-based games studio Blueprint Gaming launched the Beavis and Butt-Head online slot game. The game features moments and scenes from the TV show and film.
The branded game was among the 10 most exposed slot games in UK online casinos days after its release in late May 2019.
Notes
References
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Category:Television shows about virginity | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis_and_Butt-Head | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.563974 |
3428 | Bromeliales | thumb|Bromelia humilis
Bromeliales is an order of flowering plants. Such an order has been recognized by a few systems of plant taxonomy, with a various placement. It appears that it always has had the same circumscription:
consisting only of the family Bromeliaceae, the bromeliad or pineapple family. The order is not recognized in the APG II system, of 2003, which places the plants involved in the order Poales. Some examples are:
The Cronquist system of 1981 placed this order in subclass Zingiberidae, of class Liliopsida [=monocotyledons].
The Thorne system (1992) placed the order in superorder Commelinanae in subclass Liliidae [=monocotyledons].
The Dahlgren system placed the order in superorder Bromeliiflorae (also known as Bromelianae) in subclass Liliidae [=monocotyledons] together with five other orders.
The Engler system, in its update of 1964, placed the order in class Monocotyledoneae.
References
ITIS 42329
Category:Historically recognized angiosperm orders | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliales | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.567755 |
3429 | Brassicales | The Brassicales (or Cruciales) are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the malvid group of eudicotyledons under the APG IV system. Well-known members of Brassicales include cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprout, broccoli, kale, mustard, turnip, bok choy, rapeseed, radish, horseradish, caper, papaya, moringa or drumstick tree, mignonette, nasturtium, and arabidopsis.
One character common to many members of the order is the production of glucosinolate (mustard oil) compounds. Most systems of classification have included this order, although sometimes under the name Capparales (the name chosen depending on which is thought to have priority).
The order typically contains the following families:
* Akaniaceae – two species of turnipwood trees, native to Asia and eastern Australia
* Bataceae – salt-tolerant shrubs from America and Australasia
* Brassicaceae – mustard and cabbage family; may include the Cleomaceae
* Capparaceae – caper family, sometimes included in Brassicaceae
* Caricaceae – papaya family
* Cleomaceae
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On 20 April 2020, a newly described monotypic species from Namibia, namely, Tiganophyton karasense is placed under this order as a monotypic member of new family Tiganophytaceae, which is closely related to Bataceae, Salvadoraceae and Koeberliniaceae. Historic classifications
Under the Cronquist system, the Brassicales were called the Capparales, and included among the "Dilleniidae". The only families included were the Brassicaceae and Capparaceae (treated as separate families), the Tovariaceae, Resedaceae, and Moringaceae. Other taxa now included here were placed in various other orders.
The families Capparaceae and Brassicaceae are closely related. One group, consisting of Cleome and related genera, was traditionally included in the Capparaceae but doing so results in a paraphyletic Capparaceae.
Gallery of type genera
<gallery mode=packed>
Akania bidwillii leaves.jpg |Akania bidwillii (turnipwood family) |alt="foliage"
Batis maritima male.jpg |Batis maritima (turtleweed family) |alt="flowers and foliage"
Cabbage fertilized with compost and urine (15470416069).jpg |Brassica oleracea (cabbage family) |alt="foliage"
Kappari01.jpg |Capparis spinosa (caper family) |alt="flowers and foliage"
Carica papaya 005.JPG |Carica papaya (papaya family) |alt="fruit and foliage"
Cleome (Spider Flower) in Gavi.jpg |Cleome hassleriana (spiderflower family) |alt="flowers and foliage"
Emblingia calceoliflora.jpg |Emblingia calceoliflora (slippercreeper family) |alt="botanical illustration"
Gyrostemon ramulosis habitus.jpg |Gyrostemon ramulosis (buttoncreeper family) |alt="tree"
Koeberlinia spinosa, the Crucifixion Thorn (10584228396).jpg |Koeberlinia spinosa (allthorn family) |alt="flowers"
Limnanthes douglasii flowers.JPG |Limnanthes douglasii (meadowfoam family) |alt="flowers"
辣木 Moringa oleifera -新加坡植物園 Singapore Botanic Gardens- (9237473791).jpg |Moringa oleifera (horseradish-tree family) |alt="flowers"
Pentadiplandra etching 1909.jpg |Pentadiplandra brazzeana (oubli family) |alt="botanical illustration"
Reseda lutea RHu.JPG |Reseda lutea (mignonette family) |alt="flowers"
Salvadora persica kz04.jpg |Salvadora persica (toothbrush-tree family) |alt="flowers"
Tovaria pendula 03.jpg |Tovaria pendula (stinkbush family) |alt="flowers, fruit and foliage"
Nasturtium-Tropaeolum.jpg |Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium family) |alt="flowers"
</gallery>
Setchellanthaceae is sometimes known as the azulita family.
References
External links
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Category:Angiosperm orders | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassicales | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.578411 |
3430 | Bulletin board system | bulletin board, from 1994]]
A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user performs functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.
Many BBSes also offered online games in which users could compete with each other. BBSes with multiple phone lines often provided chat rooms, allowing users to interact with each other. Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web, social networks, and other aspects of the Internet. Low-cost, high-performance asynchronous modems drove the use of online services and BBSes through the early 1990s. InfoWorld estimated that there were 60,000 BBSes serving 17 million users in the United States alone in 1994, a collective market much larger than major online services such as CompuServe.
The introduction of inexpensive dial-up internet service and the Mosaic web browser offered ease of use and global access that BBS and online systems did not provide, and led to a rapid crash in the market starting in late 1994 to early 1995. Over the next year, many of the leading BBS software providers went bankrupt and tens of thousands of BBSes disappeared. Today, BBSing survives largely as a nostalgic hobby in most parts of the world, but it is still a popular form of communication for middle aged Taiwanese (see PTT Bulletin Board System). Most surviving BBSes are accessible over Telnet and typically offer free email accounts, FTP services, and IRC. Some offer access through packet switched networks or packet radio connections. The poor quality of the original modem connecting the terminals to the mainframe prompted Community Memory hardware person, Lee Felsenstein, to invent the Pennywhistle modem, whose design was influential in the mid-1970s.
Community Memory allowed the user to type messages into a computer terminal after inserting a coin, and offered a "pure" bulletin board experience with public messages only (no email or other features). It did offer the ability to tag messages with keywords, which the user could use in searches. The system acted primarily in the form of a buy and sell system with the tags taking the place of the more traditional classifications. But users found ways to express themselves outside these bounds, and the system spontaneously created stories, poetry and other forms of communications. The system was expensive to operate, and when their host machine became unavailable and a new one could not be found, the system closed in January 1975.
Similar functionality was available to most mainframe users, which might be considered a sort of ultra-local BBS when used in this fashion. Commercial systems, expressly intended to offer these features to the public, became available in the late 1970s and formed the online service market that lasted into the 1990s. One particularly influential example was PLATO, which had thousands of users by the late 1970s, many of whom used the messaging and chat room features of the system in the same way that would later become common on BBSes.
The first BBSes
holds an expansion card from the original CBBS S-100 host machine.]]
Early modems were generally either expensive or very simple devices using acoustic couplers to handle telephone operation. The user would pick up the phone, dial a number, then press the handset into rubber cups on the top of the modem. Disconnecting at the end of a call required the user to pick up the handset and return it to the phone. Examples of direct-connecting modems did exist, and these often allowed the host computer to send it commands to answer or hang up calls, but these were very expensive devices used by large banks and similar companies.
With the introduction of microcomputers with expansion slots, like the S-100 bus machines and Apple II, it became possible for the modem to communicate instructions and data on separate lines. These machines typically only supported asynchronous communications, and synchronous modems were much more expensive than asynchronous modems. A number of modems of this sort were available by the late 1970s. This made the BBS possible for the first time, as it allowed software on the computer to pick up an incoming call, communicate with the user, and then hang up the call when the user logged off.
The first public dial-up BBS was developed by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE). According to an early interview, when Chicago was snowed under during the Great Blizzard of 1978, the two began preliminary work on the Computerized Bulletin Board System, or CBBS. The system came into existence largely through a fortuitous combination of Christensen having a spare S-100 bus computer and an early Hayes internal modem, and Suess's insistence that the machine be placed at his house in Chicago where it would be a local phone call for more users. Christensen patterned the system after the cork board his local computer club used to post information like "need a ride". CBBS officially went online on 16 February 1978. CBBS, which kept a count of callers, reportedly connected 253,301 callers before it was finally retired.
Smartmodem
A key innovation required for the popularization of the BBS was the Smartmodem manufactured by Hayes Microcomputer Products. Internal modems like the ones used by CBBS and similar early systems were usable, but generally expensive due to the manufacturer having to make a different modem for every computer platform they wanted to target. They were also limited to those computers with internal expansion, and could not be used with other useful platforms like video terminals. External modems were available for these platforms but required the phone to be dialed using a conventional handset.}} Internal modems could be software-controlled to perform outbound and inbound calls, but external modems had only the data pins to communicate with the host system.
Hayes' solution to the problem was to use a small microcontroller to implement a system that examined the data flowing into the modem from the host computer, watching for certain command strings. This allowed commands to be sent to and from the modem using the same data pins as all the rest of the data, meaning it would work on any system that could support even the most basic modems. The Smartmodem could pick up the phone, dial numbers, and hang up again, all without any operator intervention. The Smartmodem was not necessary for BBS use but made overall operation dramatically simpler. It also improved usability for the caller, as most terminal software allowed different phone numbers to be stored and dialed on command, allowing the user to easily connect to a series of systems.
The introduction of the Smartmodem led to the first real wave of BBS systems. Limited in speed and storage capacity, these systems were normally dedicated solely to messaging, private email and public forums. File transfers were extremely slow at these speeds, and file libraries were typically limited to text files containing lists of other BBS systems. These systems attracted a particular type of user who used the BBS as a unique type of communications medium, and when these local systems were crowded from the market in the 1990s, their loss was lamented for many years. Higher speeds, commercialization
Speed improved with the introduction of 1200 bit/s asynchronous modems in the early 1980s, giving way to 2400 bit/s fairly rapidly. The improved performance led to a substantial increase in BBS popularity. Most of the information was displayed using ordinary ASCII text or ANSI art, but a number of systems attempted character-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which began to be practical at 2400 bit/s.
There was a lengthy delay before 9600 bit/s models began to appear on the market. 9600 bit/s was not even established as a strong standard before V.32bis at 14.4 kbit/s took over in the early 1990s. This period also saw the rapid rise in capacity and a dramatic drop in the price of hard drives. By the late 1980s, many BBS systems had significant file libraries, and this gave rise to leechingusers calling BBSes solely for their files. These users would use the modem for some time, leaving less time for other users, who got busy signals. The resulting upheaval eliminated many of the pioneering message-centric systems.
This also gave rise to a new class of BBS systems, dedicated solely to file upload and downloads. These systems charged for access, typically a flat monthly fee, compared to the per-hour fees charged by Event Horizons BBS and most online services. Many third-party services were developed to support these systems, offering simple credit card merchant account gateways for the payment of monthly fees, and entire file libraries on compact disk that made initial setup very easy. Early 1990s editions of Boardwatch were filled with ads for single-click install solutions dedicated to these new sysops. While this gave the market a bad reputation, it also led to its greatest success. During the early 1990s, there were a number of mid-sized software companies dedicated to BBS software, and the number of BBSes in service reached its peak.
Towards the early 1990s, BBS became so popular that it spawned three monthly magazines, Boardwatch, BBS Magazine, and in Asia and Australia, Chips 'n Bits Magazine'' which devoted extensive coverage of the software and technology innovations and people behind them, and listings to US and worldwide BBSes. In addition, in the US, a major monthly magazine, Computer Shopper, carried a list of BBSes along with a brief abstract of each of their offerings.GUIs
Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was considerable experimentation with ways to develop user-friendly interfaces for BBSes. Almost every popular system used ANSI-based color menus to make reading easier on capable hardware and terminal emulators, and most also allowed cursor commands to offer command-line recall and similar features. Another common feature was the use of autocomplete to make menu navigation simpler, a feature that would not re-appear on the Web until decades later.
A number of systems also made forays into GUI-based interfaces, either using character graphics sent from the host, or using custom GUI-based terminal systems. The latter initially appeared on the Macintosh platform, where TeleFinder and FirstClass became very popular. FirstClass offered a host of features that would be difficult or impossible under a terminal-based solution, including bi-directional information flow and non-blocking operation that allowed the user to exchange files in both directions while continuing to use the message system and chat, all in separate windows. Will Price's "Hermes", released in 1988, combined a familiar PC style with Macintosh GUI interface. (Hermes was already "venerable" by 1994 although the Hermes II release remained popular.) Skypix featured on Amiga a complete markup language. It used a standardized set of icons to indicate mouse driven commands available online and to recognize different filetypes present on BBS storage media. It was capable of transmitting data like images, audio files, and audio clips between users linked to the same BBS or off-line if the BBS was in the circuit of the FidoNet organization.
On the PC, efforts were more oriented to extensions of the original terminal concept, with the GUI being described in the information on the host. One example was the Remote Imaging Protocol, essentially a picture description system, which remained relatively obscure. Probably the ultimate development of this style of operation was the dynamic page implementation of the University of Southern California BBS (USCBBS) by Susan Biddlecomb, which predated the implementation of the HTML Dynamic web page. A complete Dynamic web page implementation was accomplished using TBBS with a TDBS add-on presenting a complete menu system individually customized for each user.
Rise of the Internet and decline of BBS
The demand for complex ANSI and ASCII screens and larger file transfers taxed available channel capacity, which in turn increased demand for faster modems. 14.4 kbit/s modems were standard for a number of years while various companies attempted to introduce non-standard systems with higher performancenormally about 19.2 kbit/s. Another delay followed due to a long V.34 standards process before 28.8 kbit/s was released, only to be quickly replaced by 33.6 kbit/s, and then 56 kbit/s.
These increasing speeds had the side effect of dramatically reducing the noticeable effects of channel efficiency. When modems were slow, considerable effort was put into developing the most efficient protocols and display systems possible. TCP/IP ran slowly over 1200 bit/s modems. 56 kbit/s modems could access the protocol suite more quickly than with slower modems. Dial-up Internet service became widely available in the mid-1990s to the general public outside of universities and research laboratories, and connectivity was included in most general-use operating systems by default as Internet access became popular.
These developments together resulted in the sudden obsolescence of bulletin board technology in 1995 and the collapse of its supporting market. Technically, Internet service offered an enormous advantage over BBS systems, as a single connection to the user's Internet service provider allowed them to contact services around the world. In comparison, BBS systems relied on a direct point-to-point connection, so even dialing multiple local systems required multiple phone calls. Internet protocols also allowed a single connection to be used to contact multiple services simultaneously; for example, downloading files from an FTP library while checking the weather on a local news website. Even with a shell account, it was possible to multitask using job control or a terminal multiplexer such as GNU Screen. In comparison, a connection to a BBS allowed access only to the information on that system.
Estimating numbers
According to the FidoNet Nodelist, BBSes reached their peak usage around 1996, the same period when the World Wide Web and AOL became mainstream. BBSes rapidly declined in popularity thereafter, and were replaced by systems using the Internet for connectivity. Some of the larger commercial BBSes, such as MaxMegabyte and ExecPC BBS, evolved into Internet service providers.
The website textfiles.com is an archival history of BBSes. It includes a list of over 100,000 BBSes that once existed during a span of 20 years. The creator and maintainer of textfiles.com, Jason Scott, also produced BBS: The Documentary, a film that chronicles the history of BBSes and has interviews with well-known figures from the BBS heyday.
In the 2000s, most traditional BBS systems migrated to the Internet using Telnet or SSH protocols. As of September 2022, between 900 and 1000 are thought to be active via the Internet fewer than 30 of these being of the traditional "dial-up" (modem) variety.
Software and hardware
Unlike modern websites and online services that are typically hosted by third-party companies in commercial data centers, BBS computers (especially for smaller boards) were typically operated from the system operator's home. As such, access could be unreliable, and in many cases, only one user could be on the system at a time. Only larger BBSes with multiple phone lines using specialized hardware, multitasking software, or a LAN connecting multiple computers, could host multiple simultaneous users.
The first BBSes each used their own unique software, quite often written entirely or at least customized by the system operators themselves, running on early S-100 bus microcomputer systems such as the Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080 and Cromemco under the CP/M operating system. Soon after, BBS software was being written for all of the major home computer systems of the late 1970s erathe Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore PET, TI-99/4A, and TRS-80 being some of the most popular.
In 1981, the IBM Personal Computer was introduced and MS-DOS soon became the operating system on which the majority of BBS programs were run. RBBS-PC, ported over from the CP/M world, and Fido BBS, developed by Tom Jennings (who later founded FidoNet) were the first notable MS-DOS BBS programs. Many successful commercial BBS programs were developed, such as PCBoard BBS, RemoteAccess BBS, Magpie and Wildcat! BBS. Popular freeware BBS programs included Telegard BBS and Renegade BBS, which both had early origins from leaked WWIV BBS source code.
BBS systems on other systems remained popular, especially home computers, largely because they catered to the audience of users running those machines. The ubiquitous Commodore 64 (introduced in 1982) was a common platform in the 1980s. Popular commercial BBS programs were Blue Board, Ivory BBS, Color64 and CNet 64. There was also a devoted contingent of BBS users on TI-99/4A computers, long after Texas Instruments had discontinued the computer in the aftermath of their price war with Commodore. Popular BBSes for the TI-99/4A included Techie, TIBBS (Texas Instruments Bulletin Board System), TI-COMM, and Zyolog. In the early 1990s, a small number of BBSes were also running on the Commodore Amiga. Popular BBS software for the Amiga were ABBS, Amiexpress, C-Net, StormforceBBS, Infinity and Tempest. There was also a small faction of devoted Atari BBSes that used the Atari 800, then the 800XL, and eventually the 1040ST. The earlier machines generally lacked hard drive capabilities, which limited them primarily to messaging.
MS-DOS continued to be the most popular operating system for BBS use up until the mid-1990s, and in the early years, most multi-node BBSes were running under a DOS based multitasker such as DESQview or consisted of multiple computers connected via a LAN. In the late 1980s, a handful of BBS developers implemented multitasking communications routines inside their software, allowing multiple phone lines and users to connect to the same BBS computer. These included Galacticomm's MajorBBS (later WorldGroup), eSoft The Bread Board System (TBBS), and Falken. Other popular BBS's were Maximus and Opus, with some associated applications such as BinkleyTerm being based on characters from the Berkley Breathed cartoon strip of Bloom County. Though most BBS software had been written in BASIC or Pascal (with some low-level routines written in assembly language), the C language was starting to gain popularity.
By 1995, many of the DOS-based BBSes had begun switching to modern multitasking operating systems, such as OS/2, Windows 95, and Linux. One of the first graphics-based BBS applications was Excalibur BBS with low-bandwidth applications that required its own client for efficiency. This led to one of the earliest implementations of Electronic Commerce in 1996 with replication of partner stores around the globe. TCP/IP networking allowed most of the remaining BBSes to evolve and include Internet hosting capabilities. Recent BBS software, such as Synchronet, Mystic BBS, EleBBS, DOC, Magpie or Wildcat! BBS, provide access using the Telnet protocol rather than dialup, or by using legacy DOS-based BBS software with a FOSSIL-to-Telnet redirector such as NetFoss.
Presentation
BBSes were generally text-based, rather than GUI-based, and early BBSes conversed using the simple ASCII character set. However, some home computer manufacturers extended the ASCII character set to take advantage of the advanced color and graphics capabilities of their systems. BBS software authors included these extended character sets in their software, and terminal program authors included the ability to display them when a compatible system was called. Atari's native character set was known as ATASCII, while most Commodore BBSes supported PETSCII. PETSCII was also supported by the nationwide online service Quantum Link.
The use of these custom character sets was generally incompatible between manufacturers. Unless a caller was using terminal emulation software written for, and running on, the same type of system as the BBS, the session would simply fall back to simple ASCII output. For example, a Commodore 64 user calling an Atari BBS would use ASCII rather than the native character set of either. As time progressed, most terminal programs began using the ASCII standard, but could use their native character set if it was available.
COCONET, a BBS system made by Coconut Computing, Inc., was released in 1988 and only supported a GUI (no text interface was initially available but eventually became available around 1990), and worked in EGA/VGA graphics mode, which made it stand out from text-based BBS systems. COCONET's bitmap and vector graphics and support for multiple type fonts were inspired by the PLATO system, and the graphics capabilities were based on what was available in the Borland Graphics Interface library. A competing approach called Remote Imaging Protocol (RIP) emerged and was promoted by Telegrafix in the early to mid-1990s but it never became widespread. A teletext technology called NAPLPS was also considered, and although it became the underlying graphics technology behind the Prodigy service, it never gained popularity in the BBS market. There were several GUI-based BBSes on the Apple Macintosh platform, including TeleFinder and FirstClass, but these were mostly confined to the Mac market.
In the UK, the BBC Micro based OBBS software, available from Pace for use with their modems, optionally allowed for color and graphics using the Teletext based graphics mode available on that platform. Other systems used the Viewdata protocols made popular in the UK by British Telecom's Prestel service, and the on-line magazine Micronet 800 whom were busy giving away modems with their subscriptions.
Over time, terminal manufacturers started to support ANSI X3.64 in addition to or instead of proprietary terminal control codes, e.g., color, cursor positioning.
The most popular form of online graphics was ANSI art, which combined the IBM Extended ASCII character set's blocks and symbols with ANSI escape sequences to allow changing colors on demand, provide cursor control and screen formatting, and even basic musical tones. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, most BBSes used ANSI to make elaborate welcome screens, and colorized menus, and thus, ANSI support was a sought-after feature in terminal client programs. The development of ANSI art became so popular that it spawned an entire BBS "artscene" subculture devoted to it.
The Amiga Skyline BBS software in 1988 featured a script markup language communication protocol called Skypix which was capable of giving the user a complete graphical interface, featuring rich graphics, changeable fonts, mouse-controlled actions, animations and sound.
Today, most BBS software that is still actively supported, such as Worldgroup, Wildcat! BBS and Citadel/UX, is Web-enabled, and the traditional text interface has been replaced (or operates concurrently) with a Web-based user interface. For those more nostalgic for the true BBS experience, one can use NetSerial (Windows) or DOSBox (Windows/*nix) to redirect DOS COM port software to telnet, allowing them to connect to Telnet BBSes using 1980s and 1990s era modem terminal emulation software, like Telix, Terminate, Qmodem and Procomm Plus. Modern 32-bit terminal emulators such as mTelnet and SyncTerm include native telnet support. Content and access
Since most early BBSes were run by computer hobbyists, content was largely technical, with user communities revolving around hardware and software discussions.
As the BBS phenomenon grew, so did the popularity of special interest boards. Bulletin Board Systems could be found for almost every hobby and interest. Popular interests included politics, religion, music, dating, and alternative lifestyles. Many system operators also adopted a theme in which they customized their entire BBS (welcome screens, prompts, menus, and so on) to reflect that theme. Common themes were based on fantasy, or were intended to give the user the illusion of being somewhere else, such as in a sanatorium, wizard's castle, or on a pirate ship.
In the early days, the file download library consisted of files that the system operators obtained themselves from other BBSes and friends. Many BBSes inspected every file uploaded to their public file download library to ensure that the material did not violate copyright law. As time went on, shareware CD-ROMs were sold with up to thousands of files on each CD-ROM. Small BBSes copied each file individually to their hard drive. Some systems used a CD-ROM drive to make the files available. Advanced BBSes used Multiple CD-ROM disc changer units that switched 6 CD-ROM disks on demand for the caller(s). Large systems used all 26 DOS drive letters with multi-disk changers housing tens of thousands of copyright-free shareware or freeware files available to all callers. These BBSes were generally more family-friendly, avoiding the seedier side of BBSes. Access to these systems varied from single to multiple modem lines with some requiring little or no confirmed registration.
Some BBSes, called elite, WaReZ, or pirate boards, were exclusively used for distributing cracked software, phreaking materials, and other questionable or unlawful content. These BBSes often had multiple modems and phone lines, allowing several users to upload and download files at once. Most elite BBSes used some form of new user verification, where new users would have to apply for membership and attempt to prove that they were not a law enforcement officer or a lamer. The largest elite boards accepted users by invitation only. Elite boards also spawned their own subculture and gave rise to the slang known today as leetspeak.
Another common type of board was the support BBS run by a manufacturer of computer products or software. These boards were dedicated to supporting users of the company's products with question and answer forums, news and updates, and downloads. Most of them were not a free call. Today, these services have moved to the Web.
Some general-purpose Bulletin Board Systems had special levels of access that were given to those who paid extra money, uploaded useful files or knew the system operator personally. These specialty and pay BBSes usually had something unique to offer their users, such as large file libraries, warez, pornography, chat rooms or Internet access.
Pay BBSes such as The WELL and Echo NYC (now Internet forums rather than dial-up), ExecPC, PsudNetwork and MindVox (which folded in 1996) were admired for their close, friendly communities and quality discussion forums. However, many free BBSes also maintained close communities, and some even had annual or bi-annual events where users would travel great distances to meet face-to-face with their on-line friends. These events were especially popular with BBSes that offered chat rooms.
Some of the BBSes that provided access to illegal content faced opposition. On July 12, 1985, in conjunction with a credit card fraud investigation, the Middlesex County, New Jersey Sheriff's department raided and seized The Private Sector BBS, which was the official BBS for grey hat hacker quarterly 2600 Magazine at the time. The notorious Rusty n Edie's BBS, in Boardman, Ohio, was raided by the FBI in January 1993 for trading unlicensed software, and later sued by Playboy for copyright infringement in November 1997. In Flint, Michigan, a 21-year-old man was charged with distributing child pornography through his BBS in March 1996.
Networks
Most early BBSes operated as individual systems. Information contained on that BBS never left the system, and users would only interact with the information and user community on that BBS alone. However, as BBSes became more widespread, there evolved a desire to connect systems together to share messages and files with distant systems and users. The largest such network was FidoNet.
As is it was prohibitively expensive for the hobbyist system operator to have a dedicated connection to another system, FidoNet was developed as a store and forward network. Private email (Netmail), public message boards (Echomail) and eventually even file attachments on a FidoNet-capable BBS would be bundled into one or more archive files over a set time interval. These archive files were then compressed with ARC or ZIP and forwarded to (or polled by) another nearby node or hub via a dialup Xmodem session. Messages would be relayed around various FidoNet hubs until they were eventually delivered to their destination. The hierarchy of FidoNet BBS nodes, hubs, and zones was maintained in a routing table called a Nodelist. Some larger BBSes or regional FidoNet hubs would make several transfers per day, some even to multiple nodes or hubs, and as such, transfers usually occurred at night or in the early morning when toll rates were lowest. In Fido's heyday, sending a Netmail message to a user on a distant FidoNet node, or participating in an Echomail discussion could take days, especially if any FidoNet nodes or hubs in the message's route only made one transfer call per day.
FidoNet was platform-independent and would work with any BBS that was written to use it. BBSes that did not have integrated FidoNet capability could usually add it using an external FidoNet front-end mailer such as SEAdog, FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, InterMail or D'Bridge, and a mail processor such as FastEcho or Squish. The front-end mailer would conduct the periodic FidoNet transfers, while the mail processor would usually run just before and just after the mailer ran. This program would scan for and pack up new outgoing messages, and then unpack, sort and "toss" the incoming messages into a BBS user's local email box or into the BBS's local message bases reserved for Echomail. As such, these mail processors were commonly called "scanner/tosser/packers".
Many other BBS networks followed the example of FidoNet, using the same standards and the same software. These were called FidoNet Technology Networks (FTNs). They were usually smaller and targeted at selected audiences. Some networks used QWK doors, and others such as RelayNet (RIME) and WWIVnet used non-Fido software and standards.
Before commercial Internet access became common, these networks of BBSes provided regional and international e-mail and message bases. Some even provided gateways, such as UFGATE, by which members could send and receive e-mail to and from the Internet via UUCP, and many FidoNet discussion groups were shared via gateway to Usenet. Elaborate schemes allowed users to download binary files, search gopherspace, and interact with distant programs, all using plain-text e-mail.
As the volume of FidoNet Mail increased and newsgroups from the early days of the Internet became available, satellite data downstream services became viable for larger systems. The satellite service provided access to FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups in large volumes at a reasonable fee. By connecting a small dish and receiver, a constant downstream of thousands of FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups could be received. The local BBS only needed to upload new outgoing messages via the modem network back to the satellite service. This method drastically reduced phone data transfers while dramatically increasing the number of message forums.
FidoNet is still in use today, though in a much smaller form, and many Echomail groups are still shared with Usenet via FidoNet to Usenet gateways. Widespread abuse of Usenet with spam and pornography has led to many of these FidoNet gateways to cease operation completely.
Shareware and freeware
Much of the shareware movement was started via user distribution of software through BBSes. A notable example was Phil Katz's PKARC (and later PKZIP, using the same ".zip" algorithm that WinZip and other popular archivers now use); also other concepts of software distribution like freeware, postcardware like JPEGview and donationware like Red Ryder for the Macintosh first appeared on BBS sites. Doom from id Software and nearly all Apogee Software games were distributed as shareware. The Internet has largely erased the distinction of sharewaremost users now download the software directly from the developer's website rather than receiving it from another BBS user "sharing" it. Today, shareware often refers to electronically distributed software from a small developer.
Many commercial BBS software companies that continue to support their old BBS software products switched to the shareware model or made it entirely free. Some companies were able to make the move to the Internet and provide commercial products with BBS capabilities.
Features
A classic BBS had:
* A computer
* One or more modems
* One or more phone lines, with more allowing for increased concurrent users
* A BBS software package
* A sysop – system operator
* A user community
The BBS software usually provides:
* Menu systems
* One or more message bases
* Uploading and downloading of message packets in QWK format using XMODEM, YMODEM or ZMODEM
* File areas
* Live viewing of all caller activity by the system operator
* Voting – opinion booths
* Statistics on message posters, top uploaders / downloaders
* Online games (usually single player or only a single active player at a given time)
* A doorway to third-party online games
* Usage auditing capabilities
* Multi-user chat (only possible on multi-line BBSes)
* Internet email (more common in later Internet-connected BBSes)
* Networked message boards
* Most modern BBSes allow telnet access over the Internet using a telnet server and a virtual FOSSIL driver.
* A "yell for SysOp" page caller side menu item that sounded an audible alarm to the system operator. If chosen, the system operator could then initiate a text-to-text chat with the caller.
* Primitive social networking features, such as leaving messages on a user's profile
See also
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* [http://www.bbscorner.com/ The BBS Corner]
* [http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/ The BBS Documentary] – [https://archive.org/details/bbs_documentary/ (Video Collection)]
* ()
* [https://telnetbbsguide.com/ The Telnet BBS Guide] (BBSes available via the Internet)
* [http://textfiles.com/ Textfiles.com] – Collection of historical BBS documents, files and history
* [http://thebbs.org/ The BBS organization (longest running bbs services site)]
* [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/the-lost-civilization-of-dial-up-bulletin-board-systems/506465/ The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems (The Atlantic, 2016)]
* [https://color64.com/ Color64 - official project website]
* [https://theoasisbbs.com/color-64-bbs/ Color64 documentation - OasisBBS]
Category:American inventions
Category:Online chat
Category:Pre–World Wide Web online services
Category:Internet forums
Category:Computer-mediated communication
Category:Telephony
Category:Telnet
Category:Computer-related introductions in 1978 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.597338 |
3435 | String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven) | | image = Incipit of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16.png
| caption = Incipit of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16
| key = F major
| opus = 135
| composed = October 1826
| dedication = Johann Nepomuk Wolfmayer
| duration =
| movements = Four
| premiere_date = 23 March 1828
| premiere_performers = Schuppanzigh Quartet
}}
The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was composed later. Beethoven dedicated the composition to his patron and admirer, Johann Nepomuk Wolfmayer. The Schuppanzigh Quartet premiered the work on 23 March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.
The Op. 135 quartet is the shortest of Beethoven's late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed (The difficult decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript (Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, (It must be!).
It is in four movements:
# Allegretto (F major)
# Vivace (F major)
# Lento assai, cantabile e tranquillo (D major)
# . Grave, ma non troppo tratto (, F minor) – Allegro (, F major)
The autograph manuscript of the first movement of the work is preserved in the Beethoven House.
The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes.
The work features in Czech author Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, where the character Tomas uses the phrases and to describe his approach to fate.
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
* [https://www.beethoven.de/en/media/view/4871521885487104/scan/0 "Quartett für zwei Violinen, Viola und Violoncello (F-Dur) op. 135, 1. Satz"], Beethoven House
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12237 Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet]
*
* [https://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/beethoven_op135no16_borromeo.mp3 Performance] by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
String quartet 16
Category:1826 compositions
Category:Compositions in F major
Category:Music dedicated to benefactors or patrons | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._16_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.603387 |
3436 | Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) | | premiere_conductor = Michael Umlauf and Ludwig van Beethoven
| premiere_location = Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna
| premiere_performers = Kärntnertor house orchestra, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde with soloists: Henriette Sontag (soprano), Caroline Unger (alto), Anton Haizinger (tenor), and Joseph Seipelt (bass)
}}
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musicologists as a masterpiece of Western classical music and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music. One of the best-known works in common practice music, it stands as one of the most frequently performed symphonies in the world.
The Ninth was the first example of a major composer scoring vocal parts in a symphony. The final (4th) movement of the symphony, commonly known as the Ode to Joy, features four vocal soloists and a chorus in the parallel key of D major. The text was adapted from the "An die Freude (Ode to Joy)", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additional text written by Beethoven. In the 20th century, an instrumental arrangement of the chorus was adopted by the Council of Europe, and later the European Union, as the Anthem of Europe.
In 2001, Beethoven's original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list established by the United Nations, becoming the first musical score so designated.
History
Composition
The Philharmonic Society of London originally commissioned the symphony in 1817. Beethoven made preliminary sketches for the work later that year with the key set as D minor and vocal participation also forecast. The main composition work was done between autumn, 1822 and the completion of the autograph in February, 1824. The symphony emerged from other pieces by Beethoven that, while completed works in their own right, are also in some sense forerunners of the future symphony. The Choral Fantasy, Op. 80, composed in 1808, basically an extended piano concerto movement, brings in a choir and vocal soloists for the climax. The vocal forces sing a theme first played instrumentally, and this theme is reminiscent of the corresponding theme in the Ninth Symphony.
Going further back, an earlier version of the Choral Fantasy theme is found in the song "Gegenliebe" ("Returned Love") for piano and high voice, which dates from before 1795. According to Robert W. Gutman, Mozart's Offertory in D minor, "Misericordias Domini", K. 222, written in 1775, contains a melody that foreshadows "Ode to Joy".PremiereAlthough most of Beethoven's major works had been premiered in Vienna, the composer planned to have his latest compositions performed in Berlin as soon as possible, as he believed he had fallen out of favor with the Viennese and the current musical taste was now dominated by Italian operatic composers such as Rossini. When his friends and financiers learned of this, they pleaded with Beethoven to hold the concert in Vienna, in the form of a petition signed by a number of prominent Viennese music patrons and performers.
The premiere of the Ninth Symphony involved an orchestra nearly twice as large as usual 20-year-old contralto Caroline Unger, a native of Vienna, had gained critical praise in 1821 appearing in Rossini's Tancredi. After performing in Beethoven's 1824 premiere, Unger then found fame in Italy and Paris. Italian opera composers Bellini and Donizetti were known to have written roles specifically for her voice. Anton Haizinger and Joseph Seipelt sang the tenor and bass/baritone parts, respectively.
, who sang the contralto part at the first performance and is credited with turning Beethoven to face the applauding audience]]
Although the performance was officially conducted by Michael Umlauf, the theatre's Kapellmeister, Beethoven shared the stage with him. Because two years earlier, Umlauf had watched as the composer's attempt to conduct a dress rehearsal for a revision of his opera Fidelio ended in disaster, Umlauf instructed the singers and musicians to ignore the almost completely deaf composer. At the beginning of every part, Beethoven, who sat by the stage, gave the tempos. He was turning the pages of his score and beating time for an orchestra he could not hear.}}
There are a number of anecdotes concerning the premiere of the Ninth. Based on the testimony of some of the participants, there are suggestions that the symphony was under-rehearsed (there were only two complete rehearsals) and somewhat uneven in execution. On the other hand, the premiere was a great success. In any case, Beethoven was not to blame, as violinist Joseph Böhm recalled:
<blockquote>Beethoven himself conducted, that is, he stood in front of a conductor's stand and threw himself back and forth like a madman. At one moment he stretched to his full height, at the next he crouched down to the floor, he flailed about with his hands and feet as though he wanted to play all the instruments and sing all the chorus parts. – The actual direction was in [Louis] Duport's hands; we musicians followed his baton only.</blockquote>
Reportedly, the scherzo was completely interrupted at one point by applause. Either at the end of the scherzo or the end of the symphony (testimonies differ), Beethoven was several bars off and still conducting; the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and gently turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause. According to the critic for the Theater-Zeitung, "the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them." The audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, and raised hands, so that Beethoven, who they knew could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovations.
Editions
The first German edition was printed by B. Schott's Söhne (Mainz) in 1826. The Breitkopf & Härtel edition dating from 1864 has been used widely by orchestras. In 1997, Bärenreiter published an edition by Jonathan Del Mar. According to Del Mar, this edition corrects nearly 3,000 mistakes in the Breitkopf edition, some of which were "remarkable". David Levy, however, criticized this edition, saying that it could create "quite possibly false" traditions. Breitkopf also published a new edition by Peter Hauschild in 2005.
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for the following orchestra. These are by far the largest forces needed for any Beethoven symphony; at the premiere, Beethoven augmented them further by assigning two players to each wind part.
Woodwinds
:
:2 Flutes
:2 Oboes
:2 Clarinets in A, B and C
:2 Bassoons
:
Brass
:4 Horns in D, B and E
:2 Trumpets in D and B
:
Percussion
:Timpani
:Bass drum (fourth movement only)
:Triangle (fourth movement only)
:Cymbals (fourth movement only)
:Soprano solo
:Alto solo
:Tenor solo
:}}
:
Strings
:Violins I, II
:Violas
:Cellos
:Double basses
Form
The symphony is in four movements. The structure of each movement is as follows:
:{| class="wikitable"
! style="background: Silver" |Tempo marking
! style="background: Silver" |Meter
! style="background: Silver" |Key
|-
! colspan"3" style"text-align:center" |Movement I
|-
|Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso = 88
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | d
|-
! colspan"3" style"text-align:center" |Movement II
|-
|Molto vivace = 116
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | d
|-
|Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings|Presto = 116
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Molto vivace
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | d
|-
|Presto
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
! colspan"3" style"text-align:center" |Movement III
|-
|Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings|Adagio molto e cantabile = 60
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | B
|-
|Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings|Andante moderato = 63
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Tempo I
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | B
|-
|Andante moderato
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | G
|-
|Adagio
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | E
|-
|Lo stesso tempo
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | B
|-
! colspan"3" style"text-align:center" |Movement IV
|-
|Presto = 96
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | d
|-
|Allegro assai = 80
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Presto ("O Freunde")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | d
|-
|Allegro assai ("Freude, schöner Götterfunken")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Alla marcia; Allegro assai vivace = 84 ("Froh, wie seine Sonnen")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | B
|-
|Andante maestoso = 72 ("Seid umschlungen, Millionen!")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | G
|-
|Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato = 84<br />("Freude, schöner Götterfunken" – "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Allegro ma non tanto = 120 ("Freude, Tochter aus Elysium!")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings|Prestissimo = 132 ("Seid umschlungen, Millionen!")
| style="text-align:center" |
| style="text-align:center" | D
|-
|}
Beethoven changes the usual pattern of Classical symphonies in placing the scherzo movement before the slow movement (in symphonies, slow movements are usually placed before scherzi). This was the first time he did this in a symphony, although he had done so in some previous works, including the String Quartet Op. 18 no. 5, the "Archduke" piano trio Op. 97, the Hammerklavier piano sonata Op. 106. And Haydn, too, had used this arrangement in a number of his own works such as the String Quartet No. 30 in E major, as did Mozart in three of the Haydn Quartets and the G minor String Quintet.
I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
The first movement is in sonata form without an exposition repeat. It begins with open fifths (A and E) played pianissimo by tremolo strings. The opening, with its perfect fifth quietly emerging, resembles the sound of an orchestra tuning up, steadily building up until the first main theme in D minor at bar 17.
{{block indent|<score sound="1">
\relative c' {
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin"
\set Score.tempoHideNote ##t \tempo 4 88
\key d \minor
\time 2/4
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #17
\partial 32 d32\ff^\markup "First theme"
a4~ a8.. f32
d8.. a32 f8. a32( f)
d4~ d16 f'-. e-. d-.
a'8-. g-. e-. a-.
d,8.\sf
}
</score>}}
Before the development enters, the tremolous introduction returns. The development can be divided into four subdivisions, with adheres strictly to the order of themes. The first and second subdivisions are the development of bars 1–2 of the first theme (bars 17–18 of the first movement) . The third subdivision develops bars 3–4 of the first theme (bars 19–20 of the first movement). The fourth subdivision that follows develops bars 1–4 of the second theme (bars 80–83 of the first movement) for three times: first in A minor, then to F major twice.
At the outset of the recapitulation (which repeats the main melodic themes) in bar 301, the theme returns, this time played fortissimo and in D , rather than D . The movement ends with a massive coda that takes up nearly a quarter of the movement, as in Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies.
A performance of the first movement typically lasts about 15 minutes.
II. Molto vivace
The second movement is a scherzo and trio. Like the first movement, the scherzo is in D minor, with the introduction bearing a passing resemblance to the opening theme of the first movement, a pattern also found in the Hammerklavier piano sonata, written a few years earlier. At times during the piece, Beethoven specifies one downbeat every three bars—perhaps because of the fast tempo—with the direction ritmo di tre battute (rhythm of three beats) and one beat every four bars with the direction ritmo di quattro battute (rhythm of four beats). Normally, a scherzo is in triple time. Beethoven wrote this piece in triple time but punctuated it in a way that, when coupled with the tempo, makes it sound as if it is in quadruple time.
While adhering to the standard compound ternary design (three-part structure) of a dance movement (scherzo-trio-scherzo or minuet-trio-minuet), the scherzo section has an elaborate internal structure; it is a complete sonata form. Within this sonata form, the first group of the exposition (the statement of the main melodic themes) starts out with a fugue in D minor on the subject below. with each pair of variations progressively elaborating the rhythm and melodic ideas. The first variation, like the theme, is in time, the second in . The variations are separated by passages in , the first in D major, the second in G major, the third in E major, and the fourth in B major. The final variation is twice interrupted by episodes in which loud fanfares from the full orchestra are answered by octaves by the first violins. A prominent French horn solo is assigned to the fourth player.
A typical performance of the third movement lasts around 15 minutes.
IV. Finale
The choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of universal brotherhood based on the "Ode to Joy" theme and is in theme and variations form.
{{Block indent|<score sound="1">
\new Score {
\new Staff {
\relative c {
\set Staff.instrumentName = #"Vc."
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"cello"
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #92
\time 4/4
\key d \major
\clef bass
\tempo "Allegro assai" 2 = 60
\set Score.tempoHideNote=##t
\bar ""
fis2\p( g4 a) | a4( g fis e) | d2( e4 fis) | fis4.( e8) e2 |
fis2( g4 a) | a4( g fis e) | d2( e4 fis) | e4.( d8) d2 | \break
e( fis4 d) | e( fis8 g fis4 d) | e( fis8 g fis4 e) | d( e a,) fis'~ |
fis fis( g a) | a( g fis e) | d2( e4 fis) | e4.( d8) d2
}
}
}
</score>}}
The movement starts with an introduction in which musical material from each of the preceding three movements—though none are literal quotations of previous music—are successively presented and then dismissed by instrumental recitatives played by the low strings. Following this, the "Ode to Joy" theme is finally introduced by the cellos and double basses. After three instrumental variations on this theme, the human voice is presented for the first time in the symphony by the baritone soloist, who sings words written by Beethoven himself: <nowiki></nowiki>O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!' Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.<nowiki></nowiki> ("Oh friends, not these sounds! Let us instead strike up more pleasing and more joyful ones!").
{{Block indent|<score sound="1">
\layout { indent = 2.5\cm }
\relative c' {
\set Staff.instrumentName = #"Baritone"
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"voice oohs"
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #216
\bar ""
\clef bass
\key d \minor
\time 3/4
\set Score.tempoHideNote ##t \tempo 4 104
r4^\markup { \bold { \italic { Recitativo } } } r a
\grace { a8^( } e'2.)(~
e4 d8 cis d e)~
e4 g,4 r8 g
bes2( a8) e
f4 f r
}
\addlyrics { O Freun -- de, nicht die -- se Tö -- ne! }
</score>}}
At about 25 minutes in length, the finale is the longest of the four movements. Indeed, it is longer than several entire symphonies composed during the Classical era. Its form has been disputed by musicologists, as Nicholas Cook explains:
major, functioning as a kind of second group), or a kind of concerto form (with bars 1–207 and 208–330 together making up a double exposition), or even a conflation of four symphonic movements into one (with bars 331–594 representing a Scherzo, and bars 595–654 a slow movement). The reason these arguments are interminable is that each interpretation contributes something to the understanding of the movement, but does not represent the whole story.}}
Cook gives the following table describing the form of the movement:
{| class"wikitable" style"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+
! colspan"2" style"background: Silver"|Bar
! style="background: Silver" | Key
! style="background: Silver" | Stanza
! style="background: Silver" | Description
|-
|1
|1
| style="text-align:center" | d
|
|Introduction with instrumental recitative and review of movements 1–3
|-
|92
|92
| style="text-align:center" | D
|
|"Joy" theme
|-
|116
|116
|
|
|"Joy" variation 1
|-
|140
|140
|
|
|"Joy" variation 2
|-
|164
|164
|
|
|"Joy" variation 3, with extension
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
| 208
| 1
| style="text-align:center" | d
|
|Introduction with vocal recitative
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|241
|4
| style="text-align:center" | D
| style="text-align:center" | V.1
|"Joy" variation 4
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|269
|33
|
| style="text-align:center" | V.2
|"Joy" variation 5
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|297
|61
|
| style="text-align:center" | V.3
|"Joy" variation 6, with extension providing transition to
|-
|331
|1
| style="text-align:center" | B
|
|Introduction to
|-
|343
|13
|
|
|"Joy" variation 7 ("Turkish march")
|-
|375
|45
|
| style="text-align:center" | C.4
|"Joy" variation 8, with extension
|-
|431
|101
|
|
|Fugato episode based on "Joy" theme
|-
|543
|213
| style="text-align:center" | D
| style="text-align:center" | V.1
|"Joy" variation 9
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|595
|1
| style="text-align:center" | G
| style="text-align:center" | C.1
|Episode: "Seid umschlungen"
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|627
|76
| style="text-align:center" | g
| style="text-align:center" | C.3
|Episode: "Ihr stürzt nieder"
|-
|655
|1
| style="text-align:center" | D
| style="text-align:center" | V.1, C.3
|Double fugue (based on "Joy" and "Seid umschlungen" themes)
|-
|730
|76
|
| style="text-align:center" | C.3
|Episode: "Ihr stürzt nieder"
|-
|745
|91
|
| style="text-align:center" | C.1
|
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|763
|1
| style="text-align:center" | D
| style="text-align:center" | V.1
|Coda figure 1 (based on "Joy" theme)
|- style="background: Gainsboro;"
|832
|70
|
|
|Cadenza
|-
|851
|1
| style="text-align:center" | D
| style="text-align:center" | C.1
|Coda figure 2
|-
|904
|54
|
| style="text-align:center" | V.1
|
|-
|920
|70
|
|
|Coda figure 3 (based on "Joy" theme)
|}
In line with Cook's remarks, Charles Rosen characterizes the final movement as a symphony within a symphony, played without interruption. This "inner symphony" follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole, with four "movements":
# Theme and variations with slow introduction. The main theme, first in the cellos and basses, is later recapitulated by voices.
# Scherzo in a military style. It begins at Alla marcia (bars 331–594) and concludes with a variation of the main theme with chorus.
# Slow section with a new theme on the text "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!" It begins at Andante maestoso (bars 595–654).
# Fugato finale on the themes of the first and third "movements". It begins at Allegro energico (bars 655–762), and two canons on main theme and "Seid unschlungen, Millionen!" respectively. It begins at Allegro ma non tanto (bars 763–940).
Rosen notes that the movement can also be analysed as a set of variations and simultaneously as a concerto sonata form with double exposition (with the fugato acting both as a development section and the second tutti of the concerto). The text, without repeats, is shown below, with a translation into English. The score includes many repeats.
{|
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen,
und freudenvollere.</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh friends, not these sounds!
Let us instead strike up more pleasing
and more joyful ones!</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Freude!
Freude!</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Joy!
Joy!</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,
Daughter from Elysium,
We enter, burning with fervour,
heavenly being, your sanctuary!
Your magic brings together
what custom has sternly divided.
All men shall become brothers,
wherever your gentle wings hover.</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Wem der große Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Whoever has been lucky enough
to become a friend to a friend,
Whoever has found a beloved wife,
let him join our songs of praise!
Yes, and anyone who can call one soul
his own on this earth!
Any who cannot, let them slink away
from this gathering in tears!</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Every creature drinks in joy
at nature's breast;
Good and Evil alike
follow her trail of roses.
She gives us kisses and wine,
a true friend, even in death;
Even the worm was given desire,
and the cherub stands before God.</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Gladly, just as His suns hurtle
through the glorious universe,
So you, brothers, should run your course,
joyfully, like a conquering hero.</poem>
|-
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen.</poem>
|<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss is for the whole world!
Brothers, above the canopy of stars
must dwell a loving father.
Do you bow down before Him, you millions?
Do you sense your Creator, O world?
Seek Him above the canopy of stars!
He must dwell beyond the stars.</poem>
|}
In the second last section of the text, starting from the line ''Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt, Beethoven goes back to the medieval sacred music tradition:}} the composer recalls a liturgical hymn, more specifically a psalmody, using the eighth mode of Gregorian chant, the Hypomixolydian''.}} The religious questions are musically characterized by archaistic moments, veritable "Gregorian fossils" inserted into a "quasi-liturgical" structure based on the sequence first versicle – response – second versicle – response – hymn.}} Beethoven's employment of this sacred music style has the effect of attenuating the interrogative nature of the text when is mentioned the prostration to the supreme being.}}
Towards the end of the movement, the choir sings the last four lines of the main theme, concluding with "Alle Menschen" before the soloists sing for one last time the song of joy at a slower tempo. The chorus repeats parts of "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!", then quietly sings, "Tochter aus Elysium", and finally, "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Götterfunken!".ReceptionThe symphony was dedicated to the King of Prussia, Frederick William III.
Music critics almost universally consider the Ninth Symphony one of Beethoven's greatest works, and among the greatest musical works ever written.
|author=Giuseppe Verdi
|source=1878
|title}}Performance challengesMetronome markingsConductors in the historically informed performance movement, notably Roger Norrington, have used Beethoven's suggested tempos, to mixed reviews. Benjamin Zander has made a case for following Beethoven's metronome markings, both in writing Beethoven's metronome still exists and was tested and found accurate, but the original heavy weight (whose position is vital to its accuracy) is missing and many musicians have considered his metronome marks to be unacceptably high.
Re-orchestrations and alterations
A number of conductors have made alterations in the instrumentation of the symphony. Notably, Richard Wagner doubled many woodwind passages, a modification greatly extended by Gustav Mahler, who revised the orchestration of the Ninth to make it sound like what he believed Beethoven would have wanted if given a modern orchestra. Wagner's Dresden performance of 1864 was the first to place the chorus and the solo singers behind the orchestra as has since become standard; previous conductors placed them between the orchestra and the audience.
in Porto, Portugal (1955)|alt]]Notable performances and recordingsThe British première of the symphony was presented on 21 March 1825 by its commissioners, the Philharmonic Society of London, at its Argyll Rooms conducted by Sir George Smart and with the choral part sung in Italian. The American première was presented on 20 May 1846 by the newly formed New York Philharmonic at Castle Garden (in an attempt to raise funds for a new concert hall), conducted by the English-born George Loder, with the choral part translated into English for the first time. Leopold Stokowski's 1934 Philadelphia Orchestra and 1941 NBC Symphony Orchestra recordings also used English lyrics in the fourth movement.
Richard Wagner inaugurated his Bayreuth Festspielhaus by conducting the Ninth; since then it is traditional to open each Bayreuth Festival with a performance of the Ninth. Following the festival's temporary suspension after World War II, Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra reinaugurated it with a performance of the Ninth.
Leonard Bernstein conducted a version of the Ninth Symphony at the Konzerthaus Berlin with (Freedom) replacing (Joy), to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall during Christmas of 1989. This concert was performed by an orchestra and chorus made up of many nationalities: from East and West Germany, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Chorus of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden (Philharmonic Children's Choir Dresden); from the Soviet Union, members of the orchestra of the Kirov Theatre; from the United Kingdom, members of the London Symphony Orchestra; from the US, members of the New York Philharmonic; and from France, members of the Orchestre de Paris. Soloists were June Anderson, soprano, Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano, Klaus König, tenor, and Jan-Hendrik Rootering, bass. Bernstein conducted the Ninth Symphony one last time with soloists Lucia Popp, soprano, Ute Trekel-Burckhardt, contralto, Wiesław Ochman, tenor, and , bass, at the Prague Spring Festival with the Czech Philharmonic and in June 1990; he died four months later in October of the same year.
In 1998, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa conducted the fourth movement for the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, with six different choirs simultaneously singing from Japan, Germany, South Africa, China, the United States, and Australia.
In 1923, the first complete recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was made by the acoustic recording process and conducted by Bruno Seidler-Winkler. The recording was issued by Deutsche Grammophon in Germany; the records were issued in the United States on the Vocalion label. The first electrical recording of the Ninth was recorded in England in 1926, with Felix Weingartner conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, issued by Columbia Records. The first complete American recording was made by RCA Victor in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Since the late 20th century, the Ninth has been recorded regularly by period performers, including Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
The BBC Proms Youth Choir performed the piece alongside Georg Solti's UNESCO World Orchestra for Peace at the Royal Albert Hall during the 2018 Proms at Prom 9, titled "War & Peace" as a commemoration to the centenary of the end of World War One.
At 79 minutes, one of the longest Ninths recorded is Karl Böhm's, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981 with Jessye Norman and Plácido Domingo among the soloists.
Influence
dedicated this memorial plaque to the master and his work on 7 May 1924."]]
Many later composers of the Romantic period and beyond were influenced by the Ninth Symphony.
An important theme in the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in C minor is related to the "Ode to Joy" theme from the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. When this was pointed out to Brahms, he is reputed to have retorted "Any fool can see that!" Brahms's first symphony was, at times, both praised and derided as "Beethoven's Tenth".
The Ninth Symphony influenced the forms that Anton Bruckner used for the movements of his symphonies. His Symphony No. 3 is in the same key (D minor) as Beethoven's 9th and makes substantial use of thematic ideas from it. The slow movement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 uses the A–B–A–B–A form found in the 3rd movement of Beethoven's piece and takes various figurations from it.
In the opening notes of the third movement of his Symphony No. 9 (From the New World), Antonín Dvořák pays homage to the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with his falling fourths and timpani strokes.
Béla Bartók borrowed the opening motif of the scherzo from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to introduce the second movement (scherzo) in his own Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12 (Sz 51).
Michael Tippett in his Third Symphony (1972) quotes the opening of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth and then criticises the utopian understanding of the brotherhood of man as expressed in the Ode to Joy and instead stresses man's capacity for both good and evil.
In the film ''The Pervert's Guide to Ideology'', the philosopher Slavoj Žižek comments on the use of the Ode by Nazism, Bolshevism, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the East-West German Olympic team, Southern Rhodesia, Abimael Guzmán (leader of the Shining Path), and the Council of Europe and the European Union.Compact disc formatOne legend is that the compact disc was deliberately designed to have a 74-minute playing time so that it could accommodate Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Kees Immink, Philips' chief engineer, who developed the CD, recalls that a commercial tug-of-war between the development partners, Sony and Philips, led to a settlement in a neutral 12-cm diameter format. The 1951 performance of the Ninth Symphony conducted by Furtwängler was brought forward as the perfect excuse for the change, and was put forth in a Philips news release celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Compact Disc as the reason for the 74-minute length.
TV theme music
The Huntley–Brinkley Report used the opening to the second movement as its theme music during the run of the program on NBC from 1956 until 1970. The theme was taken from the 1952 RCA Victor recording of the Ninth Symphony by the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. A synthesized version of the opening bars of the second movement were also used as the theme for Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and Current TV. A rock guitar version of the "Ode to Joy" theme was used as the theme for Suddenly Susan in its first season.
Use as (national) anthem
During the division of Germany in the Cold War, the "Ode to Joy" segment of the symphony was played in lieu of a national anthem at the Olympic Games for the United Team of Germany between 1956 and 1968. In 1972, the musical backing (without the words) was adopted as the Anthem of Europe by the Council of Europe and subsequently by the European Communities (now the European Union) in 1985. The "Ode to Joy" was used as the national anthem of Rhodesia between 1974 and 1979, as "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia". During the early 1990s, South Africa used an instrumental version of "Ode to Joy" in lieu of its national anthem at the time "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" at sporting events, though it was never actually adopted as an official national anthem.Use as a hymn melodyIn 1907, the Presbyterian pastor Henry van Dyke Jr. wrote the hymn "Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee" while staying at Williams College. The hymn is commonly sung in English-language churches to the "Ode to Joy" melody from this symphony.Year-end traditionThe German workers' movement began the tradition of performing the Ninth Symphony on New Year's Eve in 1918. Performances started at 11 p.m. so that the symphony's finale would be played at the beginning of the new year. This tradition continued during the Nazi period and was also observed by East Germany after the war.
The Ninth Symphony is traditionally performed throughout Japan at the end of the year. In December 2009, for example, there were 55 performances of the symphony by various major orchestras and choirs in Japan. It was introduced to Japan during World War I by German prisoners held at the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp. Japanese orchestras, notably the NHK Symphony Orchestra, began performing the symphony in 1925 and during World War II; the Imperial government promoted performances of the symphony, including on New Year's Eve. In an effort to capitalize on its popularity, orchestras and choruses undergoing economic hard times during Japan's reconstruction performed the piece at year's end. In the 1960s, these year-end performances of the symphony became more widespread, and included the participation of local choirs and orchestras, firmly establishing a tradition that continues today. Some of these performances feature massed choirs of up to 10,000 singers.
Other choral symphonies
Prior to Beethoven's ninth, symphonies had not used choral forces and the piece thus established the genre of choral symphony. Numbered choral symphonies as part of a cycle of otherwise instrumental works have subsequently been written by numerous composers, including Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Charles Ives among many others.
Other ninth symphonies
The scale and influence of Beethoven's ninth led later composers to ascribe a special significance to their own ninth symphonies, which may have contributed to the cultural phenomenon known as the curse of the ninth. A number of other composers' ninth symphonies also employ a chorus, such as those by Kurt Atterberg, Mieczysław Weinberg, Edmund Rubbra, Hans Werner Henze, and Robert Kyr. Anton Bruckner had not originally intended his unfinished ninth symphony to feature choral forces, but the use of his choral Te Deum in lieu of the uncompleted Finale was supposedly sanctioned by the composer. Dmitri Shostakovich had originally intended his Ninth Symphony to be a large work with chorus and soloists, although the symphony as it eventually appeared was a relatively short work without vocal forces.
Of his own Ninth Symphony, George Lloyd wrote: "When a composer has written eight symphonies he may find that the horizon has been blacked out by the overwhelming image of Beethoven and his one and only Ninth. There are other very good No. 5s and No. 3s, for instance, but how can one possibly have the temerity of trying to write another Ninth Symphony?" Niels Gade composed only eight symphonies, despite living for another twenty years after completing the eighth. He is believed to have replied, when asked why he did not compose another symphony, "There is only one ninth", in reference to Beethoven.
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
**
*
* |ref}}
*
*
*
*
*
* ([https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/7865902/The-Ninth-Beethoven-and-the-World-in-1824-by-Harvey-Sachs-review.html Review] by Philip Hensher, The Daily Telegraph (London), 5 July 2010).
*
Further reading
*
*
* Rasmussen, Michelle, [http://schillerinstitute.org/music/2015/0626-beethoven-m_rasmussen.html "All Men Become Brothers: The Decades-Long Struggle for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"], Schiller Institute, June, 2015.
* Taruskin, Richard, "Resisting the Ninth", in his Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance (Oxford University Press, 1995).
*Wegner, Sascha (2018). Symphonien aus dem Geiste der Vokalmusik : Zur Finalgestaltung in der Symphonik im 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.
External links
Scores, manuscripts and text
*
*
* [http://beethoven.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/beethoven/de/sinfonien/9/1/1.html Original manuscript] (site in German)
* [http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/cab4188/index.html Score], William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060525171802/http://edboyden.org/beet9.html Text/libretto, with translation, in English and German]
*Sources for the metronome marks.
Analysis
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070923024056/http://wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/beethoven.html Analysis for students] (with timings) of the final movement, at Washington State University
*
* Signell, Karl, [http://userpages.umbc.edu/~signell/Princeton2010/Beethoven.html "The Riddle of Beethoven's Alla Marcia in his Ninth Symphony"] (self-published)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120419181733/http://www.benjaminzander.com/recordings/boston-philharmonic/beet9/review/130 Beethoven 9], Benjamin Zander advocating a stricter adherence to Beethoven's metronome indications, with reference to Jonathan del Mar's research (before the Bärenreiter edition was published) and to Stravinsky's intuition about the correct tempo for the Scherzo Trio
Audio
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5487727 Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra] from National Public Radio
* [https://archive.org/details/BeethovenSymphonyNo.9choral Felix Weingartner conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (1935 recording)] from the Internet Archive
* [https://archive.org/details/beethoven9 Otto Klemperer conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (1956 live recording)] from the Internet Archive
Video
* , Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on the eve of Hitler's 53rd birthday
* , , , , Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, graphical score
* , Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti conductor, Camilla Nylund soprano, Ekaterina Gubanova mezzo-soprano, Matthew Polenzani tenor, Eric Owens bass-baritone, anniversary May 2015
Other material
* [http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/anthem/index_en.htm Official EU page] about the anthem
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070515013052/http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseactioncomposition&composition_id2761 Program note] by Richard Freed, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, February 2004
* [http://followingtheninth.com/ ''Following the Ninth: In the Footsteps of Beethoven's Final Symphony''], Kerry Candaele's 2013 documentary film about the Ninth Symphony
09
Beethoven 9
Category:Choral compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven
Category:Works commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society
Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty
Category:1824 compositions
Category:Musical settings of poems by Friedrich Schiller
Category:Memory of the World Register
Category:Compositions in D minor
Category:Frederick William III of Prussia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.653006 |
3437 | Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven) | | opus = 1/1–3
| dedication = Prince Lichnowsky
| performed |location=Vienna}}
| published | publisher
| scoring =
}}
Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 1 is a set of three piano trios (written for piano, violin, and cello), first performed in 1795 in the house of Prince Lichnowsky, to whom they are dedicated. The trios were published in 1795.
Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions; this
distinction belongs rather to his Dressler Variations for keyboard (WoO 63). Clearly he recognized the Op. 1 compositions as the earliest ones he had produced that were substantial enough (and marketable enough) to fill out a first major publication to introduce his style of writing to the musical public.
No. 1 in E-flat major
# Allegro (E-flat major),
# Adagio cantabile (A-flat major),
# Scherzo. Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major),
# Finale. Presto (E-flat major),
The first movement opens with an ascending arpeggiated figure (a so-called Mannheim Rocket, like that opening the first movement of the composer's own Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1),
No. 2 in G major
# Adagio, – Allegro vivace, (G major)
# Largo con espressione (E major),
# Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor),
# Finale. Presto (G major),
No. 3 in C minor
# Allegro con brio (C minor),
# Andante cantabile con Variazioni (E-flat major),
# Minuetto. Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in C major),
# Finale. Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major),
Unlike the other piano trios in this opus, the third trio does not have a scherzo as its third movement but a minuet instead.
This third piano trio was later reworked by Beethoven into the C minor string quintet, Op. 104.
References
External links
*
*[https://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/beethoven_op1no1.mp3 Performance of Piano Trio No. 1] by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Piano Trio 01
Category:1793 compositions
Category:Compositions in E-flat major
Category:Compositions in G major
Category:Compositions in C minor
Category:Music dedicated to benefactors or patrons
Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Trios,_Op._1_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.661747 |
3438 | Piano Trios, Op. 70 (Beethoven) | thumb|right|Piano trio in D Major, op. 70, no. 1, musical autograph
Op. 70 is a set of two Piano Trios by Ludwig van Beethoven, written for piano, violin, and cello. Both trios were composed during Beethoven's stay at Countess Marie von Erdödy's estate, and both are dedicated to her for her hospitality. They were published in 1809.
The first, in D major, known as the Ghost, is one of his best known works in the genre (rivaled only by the Archduke Trio). The D major trio features themes found in the second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 2. The All-Music Guide states that "because of its strangely scored and undeniably eerie-sounding slow movement, it was dubbed the 'Ghost' Trio. The name has stuck with the work ever since. The ghostly music may have had its roots in sketches for a Macbeth opera that Beethoven was contemplating at the time." According to Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven's pupil Carl Czerny wrote in 1842 that the slow movement reminded him (Czerny) of the ghost scene at the opening of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and this was the origin of the nickname. James Keller also attributes the nickname to Czerny, adding, "You may discard as erroneous the oft-encountered claim that this movement of the Ghost Trio is a reworking of music Beethoven originally sketched as the Witches Chorus for his Macbeth.
These pieces are representative of Beethoven's "Middle" stylistic period, which went from roughly 1803 to 1812, and which included many of his most famous works. Beethoven wrote the two piano trios while spending the summer of 1808 back once again in Heiligenstadt, Vienna, where he had completed his Symphony No. 5 the previous summer. He wrote the two trios immediately after finishing his Sinfonia pastorale, Symphony No. 6. This was a period of uncertainty in Beethoven's life, in particular because he had no dependable source of income at the time.
Although these two trios are sometimes numbered as "No. 5" and "No. 6", the numbering of Beethoven's twelve piano trios is not standardized, and in other sources the two Op. 70 trios may be shown as having different numbers, if any.
Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Ghost"
Allegro vivace e con brio, D major, 3/4
Largo assai ed espressivo, D minor, 2/4 [This movement is what gave the "Ghost Trio" its name]
Presto, D major, 4/4
Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 70 No. 2
Poco sostenuto – Allegro, ma non troppo, E-flat major, 4/4 - 6/8
Allegretto, C major/minor, 2/4
Allegretto ma non troppo, A-flat major, 3/4
Finale. Allegro, E-flat major, 2/4
The second movement is in double variation form.
References
External links
Performances of Piano Trio Op. 70 No. 1 and Piano Trio Op. 70 No. 2 by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Piano Trio 70
Category:1808 compositions
Category:Compositions in D major
Category:Compositions in E-flat major
Category:Music with dedications | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Trios,_Op._70_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.666189 |
3439 | Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Beethoven) | | key = B-flat major
| opus = 97
| dedication = Archduke Rudolph of Austria
| composed = –11
| performed
| publisher | movements Four
| scoring =
}}
The Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.
The Archduke Trio was written late in Beethoven's so-called "middle period". He sketched out the draft for it in the summer of 1810 and completed the composition in March 1811. It follows the traditional four movement structure with sonata form in the first and rondo sonata form in the last movement. They considered the scherzo to be contrapuntal in nature, which speaks to what music textures were still acceptable for audiences at this time between the Classical and Romantic eras.
* In Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore (2002), the piece and its history are used to explain the relationship between two main characters, Nakata and Hoshino, and the latter's development as a person.
* In the Coen Brothers's film ''The Man Who Wasn't There'' (2001), the melancholic third movement of this work plays a central role, particularly in the climactic final scene in the electric chair.
* In Colm Toibin's Nora Webster the recording figures prominently in the title character's musical development as well as the foil (the album cover) for an internal examination of how her life might have been different
Footnotes
External links
*
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/ram/cdmarchduketrio.ram BBC Discovering Music]
*[https://archive.org/details/ISGM_Podcast-The_Concert-17 Concert Podcast] from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
*[http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php?id15245&templatewerkseite_digitales_archiv_en&_eid1510&_ugPiano%20and%20several%20instruments&_werkid98&_midWorks%20by%20Ludwig%20van%20Beethoven&_seite=1 Information and digitized early editions] at the Beethoven-Haus Digital Archives
Piano Trio 97
Category:1811 compositions
Category:Compositions in B-flat major
Category:Music with dedications | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Trio,_Op._97_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.672385 |
3441 | Violin Sonata No. 5 (Beethoven) | thumb|right|The earliest known portrait of Beethoven; 1801 engraving by Johann Joseph Neidl after a now-lost portrait by Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg, ca. 1800
The Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, is a four movement work for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was first published in 1801. The work is commonly known as the Spring Sonata (Frühlingssonate), although the name "Spring" was apparently given to it after Beethoven's death. The sonata was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries, a patron to whom Beethoven also dedicated two other works of the same year—the String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 and the Violin Sonata No. 4—as well as his later Symphony No. 7 in A major.
The autograph manuscript of the sonata is preserved in the Austrian National Library.
Origin
Beethoven initially intended to pair this work with his Violin Sonata No. 4, Opus 23, and the two sonatas complement each other in both key and character. However, the two were not published together and thus have different opus numbers. The reason for the separation is unknown.
Structure
The work is in four movements:
The entire sonata takes approximately 22 minutes to perform.
See also
Violin Sonata in A major (Beethoven)
References
Notes
Sources
External links
Violin Sonata Op. 24: Beethoven's autograph manuscript in the Austrian National Library
Performance of Violin Sonata No. 5 by Corey Cerovsek (violin) and Paavali Jumppanen (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Violin Sonata 05
Category:1801 compositions
Category:Compositions in F major
Category:Music with dedications
Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Sonata_No._5_(Beethoven) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.676976 |
3443 | Barratry (common law) | Barratry}}
Barratry ( , from Old French ("deceit, trickery")) is a legal term that, at common law, described a criminal offense committed by people who are overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosecution of groundless litigation, or who bring repeated or persistent acts of litigation for the purposes of profit or harassment.
Although it remains a crime in some jurisdictions, barratry has frequently been abolished as being anachronistic and obsolete.
If barratrous litigation is deemed to be for the purpose of silencing critics, it is known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). Jurisdictions that otherwise have no barratry laws may have SLAPP laws.
Barratry by country
Australia
In Australia, the term barratry is predominantly used in the first sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant. The concept has fallen into disuse in Australia.
New South Wales
The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in New South Wales by Section 4A of the Maintenance, Champerty and Barratry Abolition Act 1993.
Victoria
The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in Victoria by section 2 of the Abolition of Obsolete Offences Act 1969.
Canada
In Canada, barratry, alongside all common law offences except contempt of court and contempt of Parliament, was abolished by the 1953 consolidation of the Criminal Code.
United Kingdom
England and Wales
In England and Wales the common law offence of being a common barrator was abolished by section 13(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1967.
History
Being a common barrator was an offence under the common law of England. It was classified as a misdemeanor<!--Note that "misdemeanor" is a correct spelling in British English usage for the legal term of art-->. It consisted of "persistently stirring up quarrels in the Courts or out of them". It is uncertain whether, in the ordinary way, persons charged with commission of the offence were dealt with by indictment.
In 1966, the Law Commission recommended for the offence to be abolished. It said that there had been no indictments for this offence for "many years" and that, as an indictable misdemeanor, it was "wholly obsolete". In Texas, barratry is a misdemeanor on the first conviction, but a felony on subsequent convictions.
* California Penal Code Section 158: "Common barratry is the practice of exciting groundless judicial proceedings, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months and by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000)."
* California Penal Code Section 159: "No person can be convicted of common barratry except upon proof that he has excited suits or proceedings at law in at least three instances, and with a corrupt or malicious intent to vex and annoy."
* Revised Code of Washington 9.12.010: "Every person who brings on his or her own behalf, or instigates, incites, or encourages another to bring, any false suit at law or in equity in any court of this state, with intent thereby to distress or harass a defendant in the suit, or who serves or sends any paper or document purporting to be or resembling a judicial process, that is not in fact a judicial process, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and in case the person offending is an attorney, he or she may, in addition thereto be disbarred from practicing law within this state."
* Virginia laws on barratry, champerty, and maintenance were overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in NAACP v. Button 371 U.S. 415 (1963).
* Vermont Statutes [https://codes.findlaw.com/vt/title-13-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/vt-st-tit-13-sect-701.html Title 13, § 701]: "A person who is a common barrator shall be fined not more than $50.00 and become bound with sufficient surety for his or her good behavior for not less than one year."
See also
* Abuse of process
* Ambulance chasing
* Bleak House
* Champerty
* Collegatary
* Forum shopping
* Frivolous or vexatious
* In terrorem
* Legal threat
* Legal advertising
* Malicious prosecution
* Vexatious litigation
* Isaac Wunder order
References
External links
Category:Abuse of the legal system
Category:Civil law (common law)
Category:Crimes
Category:Criminal law
Category:Common law legal terminology
Category:Common law offences in England and Wales | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barratry_(common_law) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.681542 |
3446 | Bomber | thumb|280px|A U.S. Air Force B-52 flying over Texas
A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes
air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles.
There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets to diminish the enemy's ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure, reducing industrial output, or inflicting massive civilian casualties to an extent deemed to force surrender. Tactical bombing is aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, and is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping.
Bombs were first dropped from an aircraft during the Italo-Turkish War, with the first major deployments coming in the First World War and Second World War by all major airforces, damaging cities, towns, and rural areas. The first bomber planes in history were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. Some bombers were decorated with nose art or victory markings.
During WWII with engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles. Early in the Cold War however, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and held the role of deterrence.
With the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception. High-speed and high-altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack. With the advent of ICBMs the role of the bomber was brought to a more tactical focus in close air support roles, and a focus on stealth technology for strategic bombers.
Classification
Strategic
thumb|A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber
Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets such as supply bases, bridges, factories, shipyards, and cities themselves, to diminish the enemy's ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output. Current examples include the strategic nuclear-armed bombers: B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear', Tupolev Tu-22M 'Backfire' and Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack"; historically notable examples are the: Gotha G.IV, Avro Lancaster, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger'.
Tactical
Tactical bombing, aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping. This role is filled by tactical bomber class, which crosses and blurs with various other aircraft categories: light bombers, medium bombers, dive bombers, interdictors, fighter-bombers, attack aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, and others.
Current examples: Xian JH-7, Dassault Mirage 2000D, and the Panavia Tornado IDS
Historical examples: Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon and Mikoyan MiG-27.
History
The first use of an air-dropped bomb (actually four hand grenades specially manufactured by the Italian naval arsenal) was carried out by Italian Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti on 1 November 1911 during the Italo-Turkish war in Libya – although his plane was not designed for the task of bombing, and his improvised attacks on Ottoman positions had little impact. These picric acid-filled steel spheres were nicknamed "ballerinas" from the fluttering fabric ribbons attached. Turks carried out the first ever anti-airplane operation in history during the Italo-Turkish war. Although lacking anti-aircraft weapons, they were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire. The first aircraft to crash in a war was the one of Lieutenant Piero Manzini, shot down on 25 August 1912.
Early bombers
thumb|left|British Handley Page Type O, 1918
On 16 October 1912, Bulgarian observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karağaç (near the besieged Edirne) from an Albatros F.2 aircraft piloted by Radul Milkov, during the First Balkan War. This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber.
The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. The Bristol T.B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. They were fitted with a prismatic Bombsight in the front cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10 lb (4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required.
The aircraft was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and three T.B.8s, that were being displayed in Paris during December 1913 fitted with bombing equipment, were sent to France following the outbreak of war. Under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914.
The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century. Early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin. Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and more streamlined form of airship designed by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, were outfitted to carry bombs to attack targets at long range. These were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, as well as navigational issues. German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured. The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships.
The Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy. It was a twin-boom biplane with three 67 kW (80 hp) Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, and Caproni soon adopted a more conventional approach installing three 81 kW (110 hp) Fiat A.10s. The improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915.
While mainly used as a trainer, Avro 504s were also briefly used as bombers at the start of the First World War by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) when they were used for raids on the German airship sheds.
Strategic bombing
Bombing raids and interdiction operations were mainly carried out by French and British forces during the War as the German air arm was forced to concentrate its resources on a defensive strategy. Notably, bombing campaigns formed a part of the British offensive at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, with Royal Flying Corps squadrons attacking German railway
stations in an attempt to hinder the logistical supply of the German army. The early, improvised attempts at bombing that characterized the early part of the war slowly gave way to a more organized and systematic approach to strategic and tactical bombing, pioneered by various air power strategists of the Entente, especially Major Hugh Trenchard; he was the first to advocate that there should be "... sustained [strategic bombing] attacks with a view to interrupting the enemy's railway communications ... in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies." The B-21 would be capable of loitering near target areas for extended periods of time.
Other uses
Occasionally, military aircraft have been used to bomb ice jams with limited success as part of an effort to clear them. In 2018, the Swedish Air Force dropped bombs on a forest fire, snuffing out flames with the aid of the blast waves. The fires had been raging in an area contaminated with unexploded ordnance, rendering them difficult to extinguish for firefighters.
See also
Aerial bombing of cities
Air interdiction
Assembly ship
Carpet bombing
Fighter aircraft
List of bomber aircraft
Offensive counter air
Strategic bomber
References
External links | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.699494 |
3447 | Cue sports | present
}}
Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports are also collectively referred to as billiards, though this term has more specific connotations in some varieties of English.
There are three major subdivisions of games within cue sports:
*Carom billiards, played on tables without , typically ten feet in length, including straight rail, balkline, one-cushion carom, three-cushion billiards, artistic billiards, and four-ball
*Pocket billiards (or pool), played on six-pocket tables of seven, eight, nine, or ten-foot length, including among others eight-ball (the world's most widely played cue sport), nine-ball (the dominant professional game), ten-ball, straight pool (the formerly dominant pro game), one-pocket, and bank pool
*Snooker, English billiards, and Russian pyramid, played on a large, six-pocket table (dimensions just under 12 ft by 6 ft), all of which are classified separately from pool based on distinct development histories, player culture, rules, and terminology.
Billiards has a long history from its inception in the 15th century, with many mentions in the works of Shakespeare,<!--Michael Phelan's 1850 book has an entire chapter devoted to mentions in Shakespeare works, which might be useful.--> including the line "let's to billiards" in Antony and Cleopatra (1606–07). Enthusiasts of the sport have included Mozart, Louis XIV of France, Marie Antoinette, Immanuel Kant, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, George Washington, Jules Grévy, Charles Dickens, George Armstrong Custer, Theodore Roosevelt, Lewis Carroll, W. C. Fields, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason.
History
All cue sports are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick-and-ball lawn games, specifically those retroactively termed ground billiards, and as such to be related to the historical games jeu de mail and palle-malle, and modern trucco, croquet, and golf, and more distantly to the stickless bocce and bowls.
The word billiard may have evolved from the French word or , meaning 'stick', in reference to the , an implement similar to a golf putter, and which was the forerunner to the modern cue; however, the term's origin could have been from French , meaning 'ball'. The modern term cue sports can be used to encompass the ancestral mace games, and even the modern cueless variants, such as finger billiards, for historical reasons. Cue itself came from , the French word for 'tail'. This refers to the early practice of using the tail or butt of the mace, instead of its club foot, to strike the ball when it lay against a . The imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, had a billiard table at Tutbury Castle. She complained when her was taken away (by those who eventually became her executioners, who were to cover her body with the table's cloth).As a sportThe games with regulated international professional competition, if not others, have been referred to as "sports" or "sporting" events, not simply "games", since 1893 at the latest. Quite a variety of particular games (i.e., sets of rules and equipment) are the subject of present-day competition, including many of those already mentioned, with competition being especially broad in nine-ball, snooker, three-cushion, and eight-ball.
Snooker, though a pocket billiards variant and closely related in its equipment and origin to the game of English billiards, is a professional sport organized at an international level, and its rules bear little resemblance to those of modern pool, pyramid, and other such games.
A "Billiards" category encompassing pool, snooker, and carom has been part of the World Games since 2001.
Equipment
<!-- Much of this entire section needs to be pared down, with details moving to more specific pages like Pool, Snooker, and Carom billiards. -->
Billiard balls
thumb| from left to right: in)
| Carom—61.5 mm ( in)
| American-style pool—57.15 mm ( in)
| Blackball pool—51 mm (2 in)
}} <!-- I know you metric people try, but fractions aren't arbitrary; and do take into account significant figures in conversions. 2. Just 2. No "2 and 1/127", where the error is <.01, and even then 128 would be the appropriate denominator. -->
Billiard balls vary from game to game, in size, design and quantity.
Russian pyramid and kaisa have a size of 68 mm ( in). In Russian pyramid there are 16 balls, as in pool, but 15 are white and numbered, and the is usually red. In kaisa, five balls are used: the yellow (called the kaisa in Finnish), two red object balls, and the two white cue balls (usually differentiated by one cue ball having a dot or other marking on it and each of which serves as an object ball for the opponent).
Carom billiards balls are larger than pool balls, having a diameter of 61.5 mm ( in), and come as a set of two cue balls (one colored or marked) and an object ball (or two object balls in the case of the game four-ball).
Standard pool balls are 57.15 mm ( in), are used in many pool games found throughout the world, come in sets of two of object balls, seven and seven , an and a ; the balls are racked differently for different games (some of which do not use the entire ball set). Blackball (English-style eight-ball) sets are similar, but have unmarked of and balls instead of solids and stripes, known as "casino" style. They are used principally in Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, though not exclusively, since they are unsuited for playing nine-ball. The diameter varies but is typically slightly smaller than that of standard solids-and-stripes sets.
Snooker balls are smaller than American-style pool balls with a diameter of 52.5 mm ( in), and come in sets of 22 (15 reds, 6 "", and a cue ball). English billiard balls are the same size as snooker balls and come in sets of three balls (two cue balls and a red object ball). Other games, such as bumper pool, have custom ball sets.
Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game, including clay, bakelite, celluloid, crystallite, ivory, plastic, steel and wood. The dominant material from 1627 until the early 20th century was ivory. The search for a substitute for ivory use was not for environmental concerns, but based on economic motivation and fear of danger for elephant hunters. It was in part spurred on by a New York billiard table manufacturer who announced a prize of $10,000 for a substitute material. The first viable substitute was celluloid, invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868, but the material was volatile, sometimes exploding during manufacture, and was highly flammable.
Tables
There are many sizes and styles of billiard tables. Generally, tables are rectangles twice as long as they are wide. Table sizes are typically referred to by the nominal length of their longer dimension. Full-size snooker tables are long. Carom billiards tables are typically . Regulation pool tables are , though pubs and other establishments catering to casual play will typically use tables which are often coin-operated, nicknamed . Formerly, ten-foot pool tables were common, but such tables are now considered antiques.
High-quality tables have a made of thick slate, in three pieces to prevent warping and changes due to temperature and humidity. The slates on modern carom tables are usually heated to stave off moisture and provide a consistent playing surface. Smaller bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate. Pocket billiards tables of all types normally have six pockets, three on each side (four corner pockets, and two side or middle pockets).
Cloth
All types of tables are covered with billiard cloth (often called "felt", but actually a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize). Cloth has been used to cover billiards tables since the 15th century.
Bar or tavern tables, which get a lot of play, use "slower", more durable cloth. The cloth used in upscale pool (and snooker) halls and home billiard rooms is "faster" (i.e., provides less friction, allowing the balls to roll farther across the table ), and competition-quality pool cloth is made from 100% worsted wool. Snooker cloth traditionally has a nap (consistent fiber directionality) and balls behave differently when rolling against versus along with the nap.
The cloth of the billiard table has traditionally been green, reflecting its origin (originally the grass of ancestral lawn games), and has been so colored since at least the 16th century, but it is also produced in other colors such as red and blue. Television broadcasting of pool as well as 3 Cushion billiards prefers a blue colored cloth which was chosen for better visibility and contrast against colored balls.Rack
A rack is the name given to a frame (usually wood, plastic or aluminium) used to organize billiard balls at the beginning of a game. This is traditionally triangular in shape, but varies with the type of billiards played. There are two main types of racks; the more common triangular shape which is used for eight-ball and straight pool and the diamond-shaped rack used for nine-ball.
There are several other types of less common rack types that are also used, based on a "template" to hold the billiard balls tightly together. Most commonly it is a thin plastic sheet with diamond-shaped cut-outs that hold the balls that is placed on the table with the balls set on top of the rack. The rack is used to set up the "break" and removed once the break has been completed and no balls are obstructing the template.
Cues
Billiards games are mostly played with a stick known as a cue. A cue is usually either a one-piece tapered stick or a two-piece stick divided in the middle by a joint of metal or phenolic resin. High-quality cues are generally two pieces and are made of a hardwood, generally maple for billiards and ash for snooker.
The end of the cue is of larger circumference and is intended to be gripped by a player's hand. The of the cue is of smaller circumference, usually tapering to an terminus called a (usually made of fiberglass or brass in better cues), where a rounded leather is affixed, flush with the ferrule, to make final contact with balls. The tip, in conjunction with chalk, can be used to impart spin to the cue ball when it is not hit in its center.
Cheap cues are generally made of pine, low-grade maple (and formerly often of ramin, which is now endangered), or other low-quality wood, with inferior plastic ferrules. A quality cue can be expensive and may be made of exotic woods and other expensive materials which are artfully inlaid in decorative patterns. Many modern cues are also made, like golf clubs, with high-tech materials such as woven graphite. Recently, carbon fiber woven composites have been developed and utilized by top professional players and amateurs. Advantages include less flexibility and no worry of nicks, scratches, or damages to the cue. Skilled players may use more than one cue during a game, including a separate cue with a hard phenolic resin tip for the opening break shot, and another, shorter cue with a special tip for .
Mechanical bridge
<!--Orig. section name; may be linked-to somewhere.-->The mechanical bridge, sometimes called a "rake", "crutch", "bridge stick" or simply "bridge", and in the UK a "rest", is used to extend a player's reach on a shot where the cue ball is too far away for normal hand bridging. It consists of a stick with a grooved metal or plastic head which the cue slides on.
Some players, especially current or former snooker players, use a screw-on cue butt extension instead of or in addition to the mechanical bridge.
Bridge head design is varied, and not all designs (especially those with cue shaft-enclosing rings, or wheels on the bottom of the head), are broadly tournament-approved.
In Italy, a longer, thicker cue is typically available for this kind of tricky shot.
For snooker, bridges are normally available in three forms, their use depending on how the player is hampered; the standard rest is a simple cross, the 'spider' has a raised arch around 12 cm with three grooves to rest the cue in and for the most awkward of shots, the 'giraffe' (or 'swan' in England) which has a raised arch much like the 'spider' but with a slender arm reaching out around 15 cm with the groove.
Chalk
Chalk is applied to the tip of the cue stick, ideally before every shot, to increase the tip's friction coefficient so that when it impacts the cue ball on a non-center hit, no (unintentional slippage between the cue tip and the struck ball) occurs. Chalk is an important element to make good shots in pool or snooker. Cue tip chalk is not actually the substance typically referred to as "chalk" (generally calcium carbonate), but any of several proprietary compounds, with a silicate base. It was around the time of the Industrial Revolution that newer compounds formed that provided better grip for the ball. This is when the English began to experiment with side spin or applying curl to the ball. This was shortly introduced to the American players and is how the term "putting English on the ball" came to be. "Chalk" may also refer to a cone of fine, white ; like talc (talcum powder) it can be used to reduce friction between the cue and bridge hand during shooting, for a smoother stroke. Some brands of hand chalk are made of compressed talc. (Tip chalk is not used for this purpose because it is abrasive, hand-staining and difficult to apply.) Many players prefer a slick pool glove over hand chalk or talc because of the messiness of these powders; buildup of particles on the cloth will affect ball behavior and necessitate more-frequent cloth cleaning.
Cue tip chalk (invented in its modern form by straight rail billiard pro William A. Spinks and chemist William Hoskins in 1897) is made by crushing silica and the abrasive substance corundum or aloxite into a powder. in many former British colonies and in the UK where it originated, was originally called the winning and losing carambole game, folding in the names of three predecessor games, the winning game, the losing game and the carambole game (an early form of straight rail), that combined to form it. The game features both (caroms) and the pocketing of balls as objects of play. English billiards requires two and a red . The object of the game is to score either a fixed number of points, or score the most points within a set time frame, determined at the start of the game.
Points are awarded for:
*Two-ball cannons: striking both the object ball and the other (opponent's) cue ball on the same shot (2 points).
*<!---->: the red ball (3 points); potting the other cue ball (2 points).
* (or "in-offs"): potting one's cue ball by cannoning off another ball (3 points if the red ball was hit first; 2 points if the other cue ball was hit first, or if the red and other cue ball were "", i.e., hit simultaneously).
Snooker
Snooker is a pocket billiards game originated by British officers stationed in India during the 19th century, based on earlier pool games such as black pool and life pool. The name of the game became generalized to also describe one of its prime strategies: to "" the opposing player by causing that player to foul or leave an opening to be exploited.
In the United Kingdom, snooker is by far the most popular cue sport at the competitive level, and major national pastime along with association football and cricket. It is played in many Commonwealth countries as well, and in areas of Asia, becoming increasingly popular in China in particular. Snooker is uncommon in North America, where pool games such as eight-ball and nine-ball dominate, and Latin America and Continental Europe, where carom games dominate. The first World Snooker Championship was held in 1927, and it has been held annually since then with few exceptions. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) was established in 1968 to regulate the professional game, while the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) regulates the amateur games.
List of cue sports and games
Carom games
*Artistic billiards
*Balkline
*Four-ball billiards (, )
*One-cushion billiards
*Straight rail
*Three-cushion billiards
Pocket games
Pool games
Non-pool pocket games
*Golf billiards
*Russian pyramid
Snooker games
*Snooker
**Six-red snooker
**American snooker
**Brazilian snooker
**Volunteer snooker
**Snooker plus
**Power Snooker
Games with pockets and caroms
*Bottle pool
*Cowboy pool
*English billiards
*Kaisa
Obstacle and target games
*Bagatelle
*Bar billiards
*Bumper pool
*Danish pin billiards
*Five-pin billiards
* (or nine-pin billiards)
Disk games
*Novuss (uses full-length cues)
Cueless games
*Boccette
*Crud
Main games
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="3" |Game
!Carom
!Pool
!Snooker
|-
! colspan="3" |Image
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="6" |Table
! rowspan="2" |Length
!Total
|3.065-3.115 meters
|
* (9 feet)
* (8 feet)
|
|-
!Playing surface
|2.79-2.89 meters
|
* (9 feet)
* (8 feet)
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Width
!Total
|1.6245-1.695 meters
|
* (9 feet)
* (8 feet)
|
|-
!Playing surface
|1.37-1.47 meters
|
* (9 feet)
* (8 feet)
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Height
!Total
|0.787-0.837 meters
|
|
|-
!Playing surface
|0.75-0.80 meters
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |Pockets
! colspan="2" |Number
| rowspan="3" |None
|6
|6
|-
! colspan="2" |Corner pockets
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Side pockets
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |Ball
! colspan="2" |Number
|3
|
* 1 (cue ball)
* 15 (object balls)
|
* 1 (white)
* 15 (red)
* 7 (colored)
|-
! colspan="2" |Diameter
|6.1–6.15
centimeters
|
|5.2–5.3 centimeters
|-
! colspan="2" |Weight
|205-220 grams
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Material
|
|cast phenolic resin plastic
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |Cue
! colspan="2" |Length
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Tip
|
|1.4 centimeters (diameter)
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Weight
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |Tournaments
! colspan="2" |World nation championship
|Yes
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Olympic
| colspan="3" |No
|-
! colspan="2" |Professional leagues
|
|
|Yes
|}
See also
*Glossary of cue sports terms
*BCA Hall of Fame
*Hustling
*Cue sports techniques
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Category:Sports entertainment
Category:French inventions | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cue_sports | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.745554 |
3449 | Big Dipper (disambiguation) | The Big/Great Dipper is the American English term for seven stars of the Ursa Major constellation (The Plough in British English).
Big Dipper also may refer to:
Roller coasters
Big Dipper (Battersea Park), a wooden roller coaster that operated in Battersea Park, London, England, from 1951 until 1972
Big Dipper (Blackpool), a wooden roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England
Big Dipper (Geauga Lake), a wooden roller coaster formerly at the now defunct Geauga Lake Park in Ohio, US
Big Dipper (Luna Park Sydney), a wooden roller coaster that operated at Luna Park Sydney, Australia from 1935 until 1981
Woodstock Express (Michigan's Adventure), a steel roller coaster in Michigan, US previously named Big Dipper
Cyclone (Dreamworld), a steel roller coaster which operated as Big Dipper at Luna Park Sydney, Australia from 1995 to 2001
Sport
Wilt Chamberlain (1936–1999), American basketball player
Robert DiPierdomenico (born 1958), Australian rules footballer
Chris Duncan (born 1981), American baseball player
Music
Big Dipper (band), a 1980s-1990s Boston alternative-rock band
Big Dipper (rapper), professional name of American rapper Dan Stermer
The Great Dipper (album), a 2015 album by Roy Kim
"Big Dipper", a 1978 song by Elton John from the album A Single Man
"Big Dipper", a song by Jethro Tull from their 1976 album Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
"Big Dipper", a song by Built to Spill from their 1994 album There's Nothing Wrong with Love
"Big Dipper", a song by Cracker from their 1996 album The Golden Age (Cracker album)
"Big Dipper", a song by Death Grips from their 2014 album The Powers That B
Other uses
Big Dipper Ice Arena, in Fairbanks, Alaska
See also
Beidou (disambiguation), Chinese equivalent of the asterism
Little Dipper (disambiguation)
Starry Plough (disambiguation) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dipper_(disambiguation) | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.761399 |
3450 | Bursa | | image_flag | image_blank_emblem Bursa City Logo.png
| blank_emblem_type = Emblem of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality
| pushpin_map = #Turkey Marmara #Turkey
| pushpin_map_alt | pushpin_map_caption Location of Bursa within the Region of Marmara in Turkey
| pushpin_relief = 1
| coordinates
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name =
| subdivision_type1 = Region
| subdivision_type2 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = Marmara
| subdivision_name2 = Bursa
| leader_party = CHP
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = Mustafa Bozbey
| area_blank1_title = Metropolitan Province
| area_total_km2 = 10422
| area_urban_km2 = 1290
| area_metro_km2 = 17806
| elevation_m = 100
| population_total = 3101833
| population_urban = 1999998
| population_metro = 2161990
| population_as_of = 2021 estimation
| population_footnotes
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_urban_km2 = auto
| population_density_metro_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = (Turkish)
| demographics_type2 = GDP
| demographics2_footnotes
| demographics2_title1 = City
| demographics2_info1 = ₺ 609 billion<br>US$ 37 billion (2022)
| demographics2_title2 = Per capita
| demographics2_info2 = ₺ 192,098<br>US$ 11,591 (2022)
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 16000
| area_code = (+90) 224
| website = [http://www.bursa.bel.tr www.bursa.bel.tr]
| footnotes
| timezone = TRT
| utc_offset = +3
| blank_info = 16
| blank_name = Licence plate
| official_name =
}}
Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yıldırım and Nilüfer) plus Gürsu and Kestel. Its rich history provides various places of interest in Bursa.
Bursa became the capital of the Ottoman Empire (back then the Ottoman Beylik) from 1335 until 1360s. A more recent nickname is ("") referring to the parks and gardens located across the city, as well as to the vast, varied forests of the surrounding region.
Bursa has a rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums. Mount Uludağ, known in classical antiquity as the Mysian Olympus or alternatively Bithynian Olympus, towers over the city, and has a well-known ski resort.
The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century.
History
, bronze, 2nd century AD, at Bursa Archaeological Museum]]
The earliest known human settlement near Bursa's current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC. It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, the King of Bithynia, in 202 BC. King Prusias rebuilt the city with the advice of general Hannibal of Carthage, who took refuge with Prusias after losing the war with the Roman Republic and renamed it Prusa (; sometimes rendered as Prussa). After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, bequeathed the entire kingdom to the Roman Empire in 74 BC. An early Roman Treasure was found near Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a woman's silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum.
Under Byzantine rule, the town became a garrison city in 562, where imperial guards were stationed. Already by the mid-6th century, Bursa was known as a famous silk textile manufacturing centre.
Bursa (from the Greek "Prusa") became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326. As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of urban growth such as the building of hospitals, caravanserais and madrasas throughout the 14th century, with the first official Ottoman mint established in the city. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi (Bayezid I theological complex) in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) between 1396 and 1400. After Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the forces of Timur in 1402, the latter's grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, had the city pillaged and burned. Despite this, Bursa remained as the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487.
During the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products. Aside from the local silk production, the city imported raw silk from Iran, and occasionally from China, and was the main production centre for the kaftans, pillows, embroidery and other silk products for the Ottoman palaces until the 17th century. Devshirme system was also implemented in Bursa and its surroundings where it was negotiated between the authorities and locals. For example, during the 1603-4 levy, the villagers of a Christian village called Eğerciler, in Bursa, declared that they were responsible for providing sheep to the capital, and the children of the village were very much needed as shepherds. They asserted that even though they were not obliged to give any children to the army, the officers took some anyway, and that they should be returned. The villagers’ claim that it was in tremendous need of future shepherds was taken seriously by the state, and a decree commanded the return of the children. Bursa was also notable for its numerous hammams (bath) built during the reign of Suleiman such as the Yeni Kaplıca. The most influential study of Bursa's silk trade and economic history is the work of Ottomanist Halil İnalcık.
In July 1915, thousands of Greek Orthodox Christians sought refuge in Bursa after having been forced out of their coastal villages by orders of the Young Turk government. This worsened the situation of the native Greeks of Bursa, who had managed to survive through the attacks and boycotts of 1914. A short time later, deportation orders came for Bursa's Armenians. Protestant Armenians were initially spared from deportation, but villagers that tried to resist were massacred. Most of the deportees would perish in what became known as the Armenian genocide. Subsequently, large numbers of Kurds and Circassians, as well as Syrians from the south, were settled in the homes and towns of the deported Christians, radically altering the demographic composition of the town and region. According to Mustafa Zahit Oner, in the last days of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the Greek Army attempted to burn the center of Bursa however they were stopped by the allied commanders and were only able to burn the train station together with Turkish civilians in it. The Cretan artilleryman Vasilios Moustakis describes the event with the following words: "The Infantry had come through and set fire to the station. We saw an English general on horseback, who ordered the fire to be put out because if Bursa were burned, it would be harming Greece".
in Bursa]]
Following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the industrial centres of the country. The economic development of the city was followed by population growth, and Bursa became the 4th most populous city in Turkey.
The city has traditionally been a pole of attraction, and was a major centre for refugees from various ethnic backgrounds who immigrated to Anatolia from the Balkans during the loss of the Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place between the 1940s and 1990s, when the People's Republic of Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa (especially in the Hürriyet neighbourhood). With the construction of new industrial zones in the period between 1980 and 2000, many people from the eastern provinces of Turkey came and settled in Bursa.
Geography
|
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|
|
|
}}}}
The area covered by Bursa corresponds to 1.41% of Turkey's land area, which makes the city 27th in the country in terms of land area. Bursa stands on the northwestern slopes of Mount Uludağ (known as the Mysian Olympus in classical antiquity), on the banks of the Nilüfer River, in the southern Marmara Region. It is the capital city of Bursa Province, which borders the Sea of Marmara and Yalova to the north; Kocaeli and Sakarya to the northeast; Bilecik to the east; and Kütahya and Balıkesir to the south.
Climate
Bursa has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) under the Köppen classification, and a dry-hot summer subtropical climate (Csa) under the Trewartha classification. The city has hot, dry summers that last from June until September. Winters are cool and damp, also containing the most rainfall. There can be snow on the ground which will last for a week or two. Air pollution is a chronic problem in Bursa.
Economy
Bursa is the largest production centre of the Turkish automotive industry. Factories of motor vehicle producers like Fiat, Renault and Karsan, as well as automotive parts producers like Bosch, Mako, Valeo, Johnson Controls, Delphi have been active in the city for decades. The textile and food industries are equally strong, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and other beverage brands, as well as fresh and canned food industries being present in the city's organized industrial zones.
Apart from its large automotive industry, Bursa also produces a substantial amount of dairy products (by Sütaş), processed food (by ), and beverages (by ).
and Hüdavendigar Park]]
Traditionally, Bursa was famous for being the largest centre of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road. The city is still a major centre for textiles in Turkey and is home to the Bursa International Textiles and Trade Centre (, or ). Bursa was also known for its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which have decreased in the recent decades due to the heavy industrialization of the city.
Bursa is a major centre for tourism. One of the most popular skiing resorts in Turkey is located on Mount Uludağ, just next to the city proper. Bursa's thermal baths have been used for therapeutical purposes since Roman times. Apart from the baths that are operated by hotels, Uludağ University has a physical therapy centre which also makes use of thermal water.
Transportation
Bursa has a metro (Bursaray), trams and a bus system for inner-city public transport, while taxi cabs are also available. Bursa's Yenişehir Airport is away from the city centre. The citizens of Bursa also prefer Istanbul's airports such as Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport for flights to foreign countries, due to Istanbul's proximity to Bursa. There are numerous daily bus and ferry services between the two cities.
gondola lift]]
The long Bursa Uludağ Gondola () connects Bursa with the ski resort areas high on the mountain Uludağ.
The only railway station in Bursa is the Harmancık station on the Balıkesir-Kütahya railway, which was opened in 1930.
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bursa, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min. 12% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 18 min, while 31% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip on public transit is , while 17% travel for over in a single direction.
Education
Bursa has two public universities and one private university. Uludağ University, founded in 1975, is the oldest institution of higher education in the city. Founded first as the Bursa University then renamed Uludağ University in 1982, the university has a student body of 47,000, one of the largest in Turkey. Bursa Technical University is the second public university of Bursa and was established in 2010, beginning education in the 2011–2012 academic year.
The first private university in Bursa was the Bursa Orhangazi University, which started education in the 2012–2013 academic year. However, Orhangazi University was shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.
Istanbul Commerce University has opened graduate programs in Bursa in 2013.
The vocational high schools, Bursa Sports High School, Culture and Tourism Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque)
and Orhan Gazi Square in Bursa]]
Ulu Cami is the largest mosque in Bursa and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture, which incorporated many elements from Seljuk architecture.
Ordered by Sultan Bayezid I, the mosque was designed and built by architect Ali Neccar in 1396–1400. It is a large and rectangular building, with a total of twenty domes that are arranged in four rows of five, and are supported by 12 columns. Supposedly the twenty domes were built instead of the twenty separate mosques which Sultan Bayezid I had promised for winning the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. The mosque has two minarets.
]]
Inside the mosque, there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by the famous calligraphers of that period. There is also a fountain (şadırvan) where worshipers can perform ritual ablutions before prayer; the dome over the şadırvan is capped by a skylight which creates a soft, serene light below; thus playing an important role in the illumination of the large building.
]]
The horizontally spacious and dimly lit interior is designed to feel peaceful and contemplative. The subdivisions of space formed by multiple domes and pillars create a sense of privacy and even intimacy. This atmosphere contrasts with the later Ottoman mosques (see for example the works of Suleiman the Magnificent's chief architect, Mimar Sinan.) The mosques that were built after the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and influenced by the design of the 6th century Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sophia, had increasingly elevated and large central domes, which create a vertical emphasis that is intended to be more overwhelming; to convey the divine power of Allah, the majesty of the Ottoman Sultan, and the governmental authority of the Ottoman State.
, near Bursa, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Ottoman era historic houses.]]
Mosques and külliye complexes
* Bursa Grand Mosque and
* Yeşil Mosque and
* Bayezid I Mosque and
* Muradiye Mosque and
* Emir Sultan Mosque and
* Orhan Gazi Mosque and
* Hüdavendigar Mosque and
* Koca Sinan Paşa Mosque and
* İshak Paşa Mosque and
* Karacabey Grand Mosque
* Karabaş-i Veli Cultural Centre
* Somuncu Baba Mosque
* Üftade Tekkesi Mosque and complex
* Babasultan Mosque and complex
Bazaars and caravanserais
* Yıldırım Bazaar (bedesten)
* Koza Han
* Pirinç Han
* İpek Han
Other historic monuments
* Bursa Castle
* Irgandı Bridge
* İnkaya Sycamore, a massive and impressive 600-year-old tree (Platanus orientalis)
Museums
* Bursa Archaeological Museum
* Bursa Atatürk Museum,
* Bursa City Museum,
* Bursa Energy Museum
* Bursa Forestry Museum
* Bursa Karagöz Museum
* Bursa Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art
* Bursa Turkish Architecture Museum
* İznik Museum
* Mudanya Armistice House
* Museum of Ottoman House
* Tofaş Museum of Cars and Anatolian Carriages
Parks and gardens
* Uludağ National Park
* Bursa Zoo and Botanical Garden
* Bursa Hüdavendigar Kent Park
Hot springs and thermal baths
* Keramet hot spring
* Çekirge hot spring
* Armutlu hot spring
* Oylat hot spring
* Gemlik hot spring
* Çelik Palas thermal bath
Jewish community
Bursa, initially home to a small Romaniote Jewish community, underwent a demographic shift with the arrival of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century. The Sephardic majority quickly absorbed the Romaniotes, leading to a cultural and numerical dominance. Judaeo-Spanish became the daily language, and the community paid its poll tax through the representative, the kahya.
Throughout the Ottoman period, most Jews resided in Kuruçeşme, Bursa's Jewish quarter, home to three synagogues. Etz Chaim (Eṣ Ḥayyim), the oldest, predated Ottoman conquest, while the Gerush and Mayor synagogues were established by Sephardic newcomers. Despite the 1851 fire destroying Etz Chaim, the other two remain, along with the Berut synagogue. Bursa also had a Jewish cemetery until recently.
* Darmstadt, Germany (1971)
* Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1972)
* Oulu, Finland (1978)
* Kairouan, Tunisia (1987)
* Anshan, China (1991)
* Bitola, North Macedonia (1996)
* Ceadîr-Lunga, Moldova (1997)
* Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan (1997)
* Mascara, Algeria (1998)
* Kulmbach, Germany (1998)
* Pleven, Bulgaria (1998)
* Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1998)
* Tirana, Albania (1998)
* Košice, Slovakia (2000)
* Vinnytsia, Ukraine (2004)
* Szentendre, Hungary (2005)
* Pristina, Kosovo (2010)
* Bakhchysarai, Ukraine (2010)
* Momchilgrad, Bulgaria (2010)
* Mogilev, Belarus (2013)
* Hebron, Palestine (2014)
* Herzliya, Israel (2014)
* Veliko Tărnovo, Bulgaria (2017)
* Galkayo, Somalia (2018)
See also
* 1855 Bursa earthquake
* Complex of Mehmed I
* Emirsultan Mosque
* Grand Mosque of Bursa
* Green Tomb and Mosque
* List of people from Bursa
* List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
* Siege of Bursa
References
Further reading
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160119073649/http://en.bursa.bel.tr/ Bursa Metropolitan Municipality]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120227232200/http://english.bursa.gov.tr/ Bursa Governorship]
Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Category:Greek colonies in Anatolia
Category:Bithynian colonies
Category:Cities in Turkey
Category:Populated places along the Silk Road
Category:Populated places in Bursa Province
Category:Former Armenian communities in Turkey
Category:Capitals of the Ottoman Empire | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursa | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.787172 |
3451 | The Bahamas | </div>
| royal_anthem "God Save the King"<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map =
| image_map2 | capital Nassau
| coordinates =
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages = English
| languages_type = Vernacular language
| languages = Bahamian Creole
| ethnic_groups
| ethnic_groups_year = 2020
| religion
* 93.0% Christianity
** 75.1% Protestantism
** 17.9% other Christian
|4.5% no religion
|1.9% folk religions
|0.6% other
}}
| religion_year = 2020
| religion_ref
| demonym = Bahamian
| government_type Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
| leader_title1 = Monarch
| leader_name1 = Charles III
| leader_title2 =
| leader_name2 = Cynthia A. Pratt
| leader_title3 = Prime Minister
| leader_name3 = Philip Davis
| legislature = Parliament
| upper_house = Senate
| lower_house = House of Assembly
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from the United Kingdom
| established_event1 = Realm
| established_date1 10 July 1973
| area_km2 = 13,943
| area_rank = 155th <!-- Should match the list it links to-->
| area_sq_mi = 5358 <!-- Do not remove WP:MOSNUM-->
| percent_water = 28%
| population_estimate | population_census 412,628
| population_estimate_year = 2023
| population_estimate_rank = 170th
| population_census_year = 2023
| population_density_km2 = 25.21
| population_density_sq_mi = 63.5 <!-- Do not remove WP:MOSNUM-->
| population_density_rank = 181st
| GDP_PPP $18.989 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2024
| GDP_PPP_rank = 153rd
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $46,524
| Gini_rank | HDI_year 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI = 0.820
| HDI_change = increase<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_rank = 57th
| HDI_ref
| currency = Bahamian dollar (BSD)
| time_zone = EST
| utc_offset = −05:00
| time_zone_DST = EDT
| utc_offset_DST = −04:00
| date_format = dd.mm.yyyy (CE)
| drives_on = left
| calling_code = +1 242
| cctld = .bs
| footnote_a Also referred to as Bahamian
}}
The Bahamas ( ), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population. The archipelagic country consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes the Bahamas' territory as encompassing of ocean space.
The Bahama islands were inhabited by the Arawak and Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno, for many centuries. Christopher Columbus was the first European to see the islands, making his first landfall in the "New World" in 1492 when he landed on the island of San Salvador. Later, the Spanish shipped the native Lucayans to Hispaniola and enslaved them there, after which the Bahama islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, as nearly all native Bahamians had been forcibly removed for enslavement or had died of diseases which Europeans had brought with them from Europe. In 1649, English colonists from Bermuda, known as the Eleutheran Adventurers, settled on the island of Eleuthera.
The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to the Bahamas; they took enslaved people with them and established plantations on land grants. Enslaved Africans and their descendants constituted the majority of the population from this period on. The slave trade was abolished by the British in 1807. Although slavery in the Bahamas was not abolished until 1834, the Bahamas became a haven of manumission for African slaves, from outside the British West Indies, in 1818. Though the Bahamas is in the Lucayan Archipelago, and not on the Caribbean Sea, it is still considered part of the wider Caribbean region. The Bahamas is a full member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) but is not part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.Naming and etymologyThe name Bahamas is derived from the Lucayan name ('large upper middle island'), used by the Indigenous Taíno people for the island of Grand Bahama. Tourist guides often state that the name comes from the Spanish ('shallow sea'). Wolfgang Ahrens of York University argues that this is a folk etymology. Alternatively, Bahama may have been derived from , a local name of unclear meaning.
First attested on the 1523 Turin Map, Bahama originally referred to Grand Bahama alone but was used inclusively in English by 1670. Toponymist Isaac Taylor argues that the name was derived from Bimani (Bimini), which Spaniards in Haiti identified with Palombe, a legendary place where John Mandeville's Travels said there was a fountain of youth.
The Bahamas is one of only two countries whose official names start with the article "the"—the other being The Gambia. The usage likely arose because the name also refers to the islands, a geographical feature that would take a definite article.HistoryPre-Hispanic eraThe first inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Taíno people, who moved into the uninhabited southern islands from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 800s–1000s AD, having migrated there from mainland South America; they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayans inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492.
Arrival of the Spanish
for the Crown of Castile in caravels; the Niña and the Pinta, on Watling Island, an island of the Bahamas that the natives called Guanahani and that he named San Salvador, on 12 October 1492.]]
Columbus' first landfall in what was to Europeans a "New World" was on an island he named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as Guanahani). While there is a general consensus that this island lay within the Bahamas, precisely which island Columbus landed on is a matter of scholarly debate. Some researchers believe the site to be present-day San Salvador Island (formerly known as Watling's Island), situated in the southeastern Bahamas, whilst an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbus' log. On the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them, claiming the islands for the Crown of Castile, before proceeding to explore the larger isles of the Greater Antilles. As a result of these depredations the population of the Bahamas was severely diminished.Arrival of the EnglishThe English had expressed an interest in the Bahamas as early as 1629. However, it was not until 1648 that the first English settlers arrived on the islands. Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers and led by William Sayle, they migrated from Bermuda seeking greater religious freedom. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera, Greek for free. They later settled New Providence, naming it Sayle's Island. Life proved harder than envisaged however, and many – including Sayle – chose to return to Bermuda. and in 1703, a joint Franco-Spanish expedition briefly occupied Nassau during the War of the Spanish Succession.18th century
land at New Providence during the Battle of Nassau in 1776]]
During proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including Blackbeard (circa 1680–1718). To put an end to the "Pirates' republic" and restore orderly government, Britain made the Bahamas a crown colony in 1718, which they dubbed "the Bahama islands" under the governorship of Woodes Rogers. In 1720, the Spanish attacked Nassau during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. In 1729, a local assembly was established giving a degree of self-governance for British settlers. The reforms had been planned by the previous Governor George Phenney and authorised in July 1728.
During the American War of Independence in the late 18th century, the islands became a target for US naval forces. Under the command of Commodore Esek Hopkins, US Marines, the US Navy occupied Nassau in 1776, before being evacuated a few days later. In 1782 a Spanish fleet appeared off the coast of Nassau, and the city surrendered without a fight. Later, in April 1783, on a visit made by Prince William of the United Kingdom (later to become King William IV) to Luis de Unzaga at his residence in the Captaincy General of Havana, they made prisoner exchange agreements and also dealt with the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris (1783), in which the recently conquered Bahamas would be exchanged for East Florida, which would still have to conquer the city of St. Augustine, Florida in 1784 by order of Luis de Unzaga; after that, also in 1784, the Bahamas would be declared a British colony.
After US independence, the British resettled some 7,300 Loyalists with their African slaves in the Bahamas, including 2,000 from New York and at least 1,033 Europeans, 2,214 African descendants, and a few Native American Creeks from East Florida. Most of the refugees resettled from New York had fled from other colonies, including West Florida, which the Spanish captured during the war. The government granted land to the planters to help compensate for losses on the continent. These Loyalists, who included Deveaux and also Lord Dunmore, established plantations on several islands and became a political force in the capital. Thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the Royal Navy were resettled in the Bahamas.
In the 1820s during the period of the Seminole Wars in Florida, hundreds of North American slaves and African Seminoles escaped from Cape Florida to the Bahamas. They settled mostly on northwest Andros Island, where they developed the village of Red Bays. From eyewitness accounts, 300 escaped in a mass flight in 1823, aided by Bahamians in 27 sloops, with others using canoes for the journey. This was commemorated in 2004 by a large sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Some of their descendants in Red Bays continue African Seminole traditions in basket making and grave marking.
In 1818, the Home Office in London had ruled that "any slave brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be manumitted." This led to a total of nearly 300 enslaved people owned by US nationals being freed from 1830 to 1835. The American slave ships Comet and Encomium used in the United States domestic coastwise slave trade, were wrecked off Abaco Island in December 1830 and February 1834, respectively. When wreckers took the masters, passengers and slaves into Nassau, customs officers seized the slaves and British colonial officials freed them, over the protests of the Americans. There were 165 slaves on the Comet and 48 on the Encomium. The United Kingdom finally paid an indemnity to the United States in those two cases in 1855, under the Treaty of Claims of 1853, which settled several compensation cases between the two countries.
in Great Isaac Cay.]]
Slavery was abolished in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. The most notable case was that of the Creole in 1841: as a result of a slave revolt on board, the leaders ordered the US brig to Nassau. It was carrying 135 slaves from Virginia destined for sale in New Orleans. The Bahamian officials freed the 128 slaves who chose to stay in the islands. The Creole case has been described as the "most successful slave revolt in U.S. history".
These incidents, in which a total of 447 enslaved people belonging to US nationals were freed from 1830 to 1842, increased tension between the United States and the United Kingdom. They had been co-operating in patrols to suppress the international slave trade. However, worried about the stability of its large domestic slave trade and its value, the United States argued that the United Kingdom should not treat its domestic ships that came to its colonial ports under duress as part of the international trade. The United States worried that the success of the Creole slaves in gaining freedom would encourage more slave revolts on merchant ships.
During the American Civil War of the 1860s, the islands briefly prospered as a focus for blockade runners aiding the Confederate States.
Early 20th century
and Governor of the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945]]
The early decades of the 20th century were ones of hardship for many Bahamians, characterised by a stagnant economy and widespread poverty. Many eked out a living via subsistence agriculture or fishing. He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as "a third-class British colony". He opened the small local parliament on 29 October 1940. The couple visited the "Out Islands" that November, on Axel Wenner-Gren's yacht, which caused controversy; the British Foreign Office strenuously objected because they had been advised by United States intelligence that Wenner-Gren was a close friend of the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring of Nazi Germany.
The Duke was praised at the time for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands. A 1991 biography by Philip Ziegler, however, described him as contemptuous of the Bahamians and other non-European peoples of the Empire. He was praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in Nassau in June 1942, when there was a "full-scale riot". Ziegler said that the Duke blamed the trouble on "mischief makers – communists" and "men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft". The Duke resigned from the post on 16 March 1945.
Post-Second World War
until it gained independence in 1973]]Modern political development began after the Second World War. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s, split broadly along ethnic lines, with the United Bahamian Party (UBP) representing the English-descended Bahamians (known informally as the "Bay Street Boys") and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) representing the Black-Bahamian majority. In 1967, Lynden Pindling of the PLP became the first black Premier of the Bahamian colony; in 1968, the title of the position was changed to Prime Minister. In 1968, Pindling announced that the Bahamas would seek full independence. A new constitution giving the Bahamas increased control over its own affairs was adopted in 1968. In 1971, the UBP merged with a disaffected faction of the PLP to form a new party, the Free National Movement (FNM), a centre-right party which aimed to counter the growing power of Pindling's PLP.
The United Kingdom Government gave the Bahamas its independence by an Order in Council dated 20 June 1973. The Order came into force on 10 July 1973, on which date Prince Charles delivered the official documents to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling. This date is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations on the same day. Sir Milo Butler was appointed the first governor-general of the Bahamas (the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II) shortly after independence.
Post-independence
Shortly after independence, the Bahamas joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on 22 August 1973, and later the United Nations on 18 September 1973.
Politically, the first two decades were dominated by Pindling's PLP, who went on to win a string of electoral victories. Allegations of corruption, links with drug cartels and financial malfeasance within the Bahamian government failed to dent Pindling's popularity. Meanwhile, the economy underwent a dramatic growth period fuelled by the twin pillars of tourism and offshore finance, significantly raising the standard of living on the islands. The Bahamas' booming economy led to it becoming a beacon for immigrants, most notably from Haiti. with 1,300 people missing after two weeks.
The COVID-19 pandemic reached the Bahamas on 15 March 2020.
In September 2021, the ruling Free National Movement lost to the opposition Progressive Liberal Party in a snap election, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971. On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Phillip "Brave" Davis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bahamas to succeed Hubert Minnis.Geography
(light blue). <br/>During the ice ages these would have been two large islands]]
The landmass that makes up what is the modern-day Bahamas, lies at the northern part of the Greater Antilles region and was believed to have been formed 200 million years ago when they began to separate from the supercontinent Pangaea. The Pleistocene Ice Age around 3 million years ago, had a profound impact on the archipelago's formation.
The Bahamas consists of a chain of islands spread out over some in the Atlantic Ocean, located to the east of Florida in the United States, north of Cuba and Hispaniola and west of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands (with which it forms the Lucayan archipelago). It lies between latitudes 20° and 28°N, and longitudes 72° and 80°W and straddles the Tropic of Cancer. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.35/10, ranking it 44th globally out of 172 countries. In the Bahamas forest cover is around 51% of the total land area, equivalent to 509,860 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, which was unchanged from 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 509,860 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 0 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 0% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 80% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 20% private ownership and 0% with ownership listed as other or unknown.
Climate
]] According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of the Bahamas is mostly tropical savannah climate or Aw, with a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. The low latitude, warm tropical Gulf Stream, and low elevation give the Bahamas a warm and winterless climate.
As with most tropical climates, seasonal rainfall follows the sun, and summer is the wettest season. There is only a difference between the warmest month and coolest month in most of the Bahama islands. Every few decades low temperatures can fall below for a few hours when a severe cold outbreak comes down from the North American mainland, however there has never been a frost or freeze recorded in the Bahamian Islands. Only once in recorded history has snow been seen in the air anywhere in the Bahamas. This occurred in Freeport on 19 January 1977, when snow mixed with rain was seen in the air for a short time. The Bahamas are often sunny and dry for long periods, and average more than 3,000 hours or 340 days of sunlight annually. Much of the natural vegetation is tropical scrub and cactus and succulents are common in landscapes.
Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally impact the Bahamas. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed over the northern portions of the islands, and Hurricane Floyd passed near the eastern portions of the islands in 1999. Hurricane Dorian of 2019 passed over the archipelago at destructive Category 5 strength with sustained winds of and wind gusts up to , becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record to impact the northwestern islands of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco.
Climate change is causing temperature increases in the Bahamas. The average temperature has increased by approximately 0.5 °C since 1960, and the rate of warming is more rapid in warmer seasons. Global temperature rise of 2 °C above preindustrial levels can increase the likelihood of extreme hurricane rainfall by four to five times in the Bahamas. The Bahamas is expected to be highly affected by sea level rise because at least 80% of the total land is below 10 meters elevation. Climate change could also affect the seasonality of outbreaks and transmission of disease in the Bahamas.
Although the country's greenhouse gas emissions are comparatively small (2.94 million tonnes of green house gases emitted in 2023), the Bahamas is reliant on imported fossil fuels for energy generation. The government plans to increase solar energy capacity to 30% of the country's total energy production by 2033. The Bahamas has pledged to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2030, if international support is received.Geology
in Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas]]
, Bahamas]]
It was generally believed that the Bahamas were formed approximately 200 million years ago, when Pangaea started to break apart. In current times, it endures as an archipelago containing over 700 islands and cays, fringed around different coral reefs. The limestone that comprises the Banks has been accumulating since at least the Cretaceous period, and perhaps as early as the Jurassic; today the total thickness under the Great Bahama Bank is over 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles). As the limestone was deposited in shallow water, the only way to explain this massive column is to estimate that the entire platform has subsided under its own weight at a rate of roughly 3.6 centimetres (2 inches) per 1,000 years.
Coral growth was greater through the Tertiary, until the start of the ice ages, and hence those deposits are more abundant below a depth of . In fact, an ancient extinct reef exists half a kilometre seaward of the present one, below sea level. Oolites form when oceanic water penetrate the shallow banks, increasing the temperature about and the salinity by 0.5 per cent. Cemented ooids are referred to as grapestone. Additionally, giant stromatolites are found off the Exuma Cays.Government and politics
, located in Nassau]]
]]
The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with King of the Bahamas Charles III as head of state represented locally by a governor-general.
The prime minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Assembly.
Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement and association. The Judiciary of the Bahamas is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English law. There has been a growing republican movement in the Bahamas, particularly since the death of Elizabeth II, with a majority now supporting an elected head of state according to an opinion poll.Foreign relations
with prime minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas at the Office of the Vice President in 2023]]
The Bahamas has strong bilateral relationships with the United States and the United Kingdom, represented by an ambassador in Washington and High Commissioner in London. The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The embassy of the United States in Nassau donated $3.6 million to the minister for disaster preparedness, management, and reconstruction for modular shelters, medical evacuation boats, and construction materials. The donation was made two weeks after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Dorian.
Armed forces
The Bahamian military is the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the navy of the Bahamas which includes a land unit called Commando Squadron (Regiment) and an Air Wing (Air Force). Under the Defence Act, the RBDF has been mandated, in the name of the king, to defend the Bahamas, protect its territorial integrity, patrol its waters, provide assistance and relief in times of disaster, maintain order in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies of the Bahamas, and carry out any such duties as determined by the National Security Council. The Defence Force is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)'s Regional Security Task Force.Administrative divisions
The districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere except New Providence (which holds 70 per cent of the national population), whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. In 1996, the Bahamian Parliament passed the "Local Government Act" to facilitate the establishment of family island administrators, local government districts, local district councillors and local town committees for the various island communities. The overall goal of this act is to allow the various elected leaders to govern and oversee the affairs of their respective districts without the interference of the central government. In total, there are 32 districts, with elections being held every five years. There are 110 councillors and 281 town committee members elected to represent the various districts.
Each councillor or town committee member is responsible for the proper use of public funds for the maintenance and development of their constituency.
The districts other than New Providence are:
Economy
In terms of GDP per capita, the Bahamas is one of the wealthiest countries in the Americas. Its currency (the Bahamian dollar) is kept at a 1-to-1 peg with the US dollar. The Bahamas attracted 5.8 million visitors in 2012, more than 70% of whom were cruise visitors.
After tourism, the next most important economic sector is banking and offshore international financial services, accounting for some 15% of GDP.
The Bahamas is considered a major international financial centre. According to some estimates, it is the fourth-largest tax haven globally based on assets under management. It is believed to hold approximately $13.7 trillion in private household wealth and an additional $12 trillion in corporate wealth sheltered within offshore shell companies. This combined figure represents roughly a quarter of the world's annual wealth creation. As recently as 2019, the offshore financial services sector contributed an estimated 20% to the Bahamian economy.
The economy has a very competitive tax regime (classified by some as a tax haven). The government derives its revenue from import tariffs, VAT, licence fees, property and stamp taxes, but there is no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax. Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer. In 2010, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 17.2%.
Agriculture and manufacturing form the third largest sector of the Bahamian economy, representing 5–7% of total GDP.
Access to biocapacity in the Bahamas is much higher than the world average. In 2016, the Bahamas had 9.2 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 the Bahamas used 3.7 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use less biocapacity than the Bahamas contains. As a result, the Bahamas is running a biocapacity reserve. The infant mortality rate is 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births. Residents have a life expectancy at birth of 69.87 years: 73.49 years for females, 66.32 years for males. The total fertility rate is 2.0 children born/woman (2010). and Grand Bahama, home to the second largest city of Freeport.
Racial and ethnic groups
According to the 99% response rate obtained from the race question on the 2010 Census questionnaire, 90.6% of the population identified themselves as being Black, 4.7% White and 2.1% of a Mixed (African and European). Three centuries prior, in 1722 when the first official census of the Bahamas was taken, 74% of the population was native European and 26% native African.
The Haitian community in the Bahamas is also largely of African descent and numbers about 80,000. Due to an extremely high immigration of Haitians to the Bahamas, the Bahamian government started deporting illegal Haitian immigrants to their homeland in late 2014.
s on the island of New Providence]]
The white Bahamian population are mainly the descendants of the English Puritans and American Loyalists escaping the American Revolution who arrived in 1649 and 1783, respectively. Many Southern Loyalists went to the Abaco Islands, half of whose population was of European descent as of 1985. The term white is usually used to identify Bahamians with Anglo ancestry, as well as some light-skinned Afro-Bahamians. Sometimes Bahamians use the term Conchy Joe'' to describe people of Anglo descent. Generally, however, Bahamians self-identify as white or black along the lines similar to the distinction made in the US.
A small portion of the Euro-Bahamian population are Greek Bahamians, descended from Greek labourers who came to help develop the sponging industry in the 1900s. They make up less than 2% of the nation's population, but have still preserved their distinct Greek Bahamian culture.
Other ethnic groups in the Bahamas include Asians and people of Spanish and Portuguese origin.
Religion
The islands' population is predominantly Christian.
Jews in the Bahamas have a history dating back to the Columbus expeditions, where Luis De Torres, an interpreter and member of Columbus' party, is believed to have been secretly Jewish. Today, there is a small community with about 200 members, according to census data, although higher estimates place this figure at 300.
Muslims also have a minority presence. While some slaves and free Africans in the colonial era were Muslim, the religion was absent until around the 1970s, when it experienced a revival. Today, there are about 300 Muslims. Laurente Gibbs, a Bahamian writer and actor, was the first to coin the latter name in a poem and has since promoted its usage. Both are used as autoglossonyms. Haitian Creole, a French-based creole language is spoken by Haitians and their descendants, who make up of about 25% of the total population. It is known simply as CreoleEducation
According to 2011 estimates, 95% of the Bahamian adult population are literate.
The University of the Bahamas (UB) is the national higher education/tertiary system. Offering baccalaureate, masters and associate degrees, UB has three campuses, and teaching and research centres throughout the Bahamas. The University of the Bahamas was chartered on 10 November 2016.
Culture
celebration in Nassau]]
The culture of the islands is a mixture of African (Afro-Bahamians being the largest ethnicity), British and American due to historical family ties, migration to the Bahamas of people freed from enslavement in the United States, and as the dominant country in the region and source of most tourists. The practice of obeah is illegal in the Bahamas and punishable in law.
In the outer islands also called Family Islands, handicrafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called "straw", is plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items.
Junkanoo is a traditional Afro-Bahamian street parade of 'rushing', music, dance and art held in Nassau (and a few other settlements) every Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Junkanoo is also used to celebrate other holidays and events such as Emancipation Day.
Many dishes are associated with Bahamian cuisine, which reflects Caribbean, African and European influences. Some settlements have festivals associated with the traditional crop or food of that area, such as the "Pineapple Fest" in Gregory Town, Eleuthera or the "Crab Fest" on Andros. Other significant traditions include story telling.
Bahamians have created a rich literature of poetry, short stories, plays and short fictional works. Common themes in these works are (1) an awareness of change, (2) a striving for sophistication, (3) a search for identity, (4) nostalgia for the old ways and (5) an appreciation of beauty. Some major writers are Susan Wallace, Marion Bethel, Percival Miller, Robert Johnson, Raymond Brown, O.M. Smith, William Johnson, Eddie Minnis and Winston Saunders.
The best-known folklore and legends in the Bahamas include the lusca and chickcharney creatures of Andros, Pretty Molly on Exuma Bahamas and the Lost City of Atlantis on Bimini Bahamas.
Media
Symbols
The Bahamian flag was adopted in 1973. Its colours symbolise the strength of the Bahamian people; its design reflects aspects of the natural environment (sun and sea) and economic and social development.
<blockquote>Forward, Upward, Onward Together.</blockquote>
The national flower of the Bahamas is the yellow elder, as it is endemic to the Bahama islands and it blooms throughout the year.
Selection of the yellow elder over many other flowers was made through the combined popular vote of members of all four of New Providence's garden clubs of the 1970s—the Nassau Garden Club, the Carver Garden Club, the International Garden Club and the YWCA Garden Club. They reasoned that other flowers grown there—such as the bougainvillea, hibiscus and poinciana—had already been chosen as the national flowers of other countries. The yellow elder, on the other hand, was unclaimed by other countries (although it is now also the national flower of the United States Virgin Islands) and also the yellow elder is native to the family islands.
Sport
in Nassau.]]
Sport is a significant part of Bahamian culture. The national sport is cricket, which has been played in the Bahamas from 1846 and is the oldest sport played in the country today. The Bahamas Cricket Association was formed in 1936, and from the 1940s to the 1970s, cricket was played amongst many Bahamians. Bahamas is not a part of the West Indies Cricket Board, so players are not eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team. The late 1970s saw the game begin to decline in the country as teachers, who had previously come from the United Kingdom with a passion for cricket, were replaced by teachers who had been trained in the United States. The Bahamian physical education teachers had no knowledge of the game and instead taught track and field, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and association football where primary and high schools compete against each other. Today cricket is still enjoyed by a few locals and immigrants in the country, usually from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados. Cricket is played on Saturdays and Sundays at Windsor Park and Haynes Oval in Nassau, Bahamas. Whiles the main and only cricket grounds on Grand Bahama is the Lucaya Cricket Oval.
The only other sporting event that began before cricket was horse racing, which started in 1796. The most popular spectator sports are those imported from the United States, such as basketball, American football, and baseball, rather than from the British Isles, due to the country's close proximity to the United States, unlike their other Caribbean counterparts, where cricket, soccer, and netball have proven to be more popular.
Over the years American football has become much more popular than soccer. Leagues for teens and adults have been developed by the Bahamas American Football Federation. However soccer, as it is commonly known in the country, is still a very popular sport amongst high school pupils. Leagues are governed by the Bahamas Football Association. In 2013 the Bahamian government has been working closely with Tottenham Hotspur of London to promote the sport in the country as well as promoting the Bahamas in the European market. In 2013, 'Spurs' became the first Premier League club to play an exhibition match in the Bahamas, facing the Jamaica men's national team. Joe Lewis, the owner of the club, is based in the Bahamas.
Other popular sports are swimming, tennis and boxing, where Bahamians have enjoyed some degree of success at the international level. Other sports such as golf, rugby league, rugby union, beach soccer, and netball are considered growing sports. Athletics, commonly known as 'track and field' in the country, is the most successful sport by far amongst Bahamians. Bahamians have a strong tradition in the sprints and jumps. Track and field is probably the most popular spectator sport in the country next to basketball due to their success over the years. Triathlons are gaining popularity in Nassau and the Family Islands.
The Bahamas first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation has never participated in any Winter Olympic Games. Bahamian athletes have won a total of sixteen medals, all in athletics and sailing. The Bahamas has won more Olympic medals than any other country with a population under one million.
The Bahamas were hosts of the first men's senior FIFA tournament to be staged in the Caribbean, the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The Bahamas also hosted the first three editions of the IAAF World Relays. The nation also hosted the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, along with annual events Bahamas Bowl and Battle 4 Atlantis.
See also
*Outline of the Bahamas
*Index of Bahamas-related articles
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
Further reading
General history
*Cash Philip et al. (Don Maples, Alison Packer). The Making of The Bahamas: A History for Schools. London: Collins, 1978.
*Miller, Hubert W. The Colonization of The Bahamas, 1647–1670, The William and Mary Quarterly 2 no.1 (January 1945): 33–46.
*Craton, Michael. A History of The Bahamas. London: Collins, 1962.
*Craton, Michael and Saunders, Gail. Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992
*Collinwood, Dean. "Columbus and the Discovery of Self", Weber Studies, Vol. 9 No. 3 (Fall) 1992: 29–44.
*Dodge, Steve. Abaco: The History of an Out Island and its Cays, Tropic Isle Publications, 1983.
*Dodge, Steve. The Compleat Guide to Nassau, White Sound Press, 1987.
*Boultbee, Paul G. The Bahamas. Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1990.
*Wood, David E., comp., A Guide to Selected Sources to the History of the Seminole Settlements of Red Bays, Andros, 1817–1980, Nassau: Department of Archives
Economic history
*Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas in Slavery and Freedom. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1991.
*Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783–1933. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1996.
*Alan A. Block. Masters of Paradise, New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers, 1998.
*Storr, Virgil H. Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates: Understanding Economic Life in the Bahamas. New York: Peter Lang, 2004.
Social history
*Johnson, Wittington B. Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1784–1834: The Nonviolent Transformation from a Slave to a Free Society, Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2000.
*Shirley, Paul. "Tek Force Wid Force", History Today 54, no. 41 (April 2004): 30–35.
*Saunders, Gail. The Social Life in the Bahamas 1880s–1920s. Nassau: Media Publishing, 1996.
*Saunders, Gail. Bahamas Society After Emancipation. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1990.
*Curry, Jimmy. Filthy Rich Gangster/First Bahamian Movie. Movie Mogul Pictures: 1996.
*Curry, Jimmy. To the Rescue/First Bahamian Rap/Hip Hop Song. Royal Crown Records, 1985.
*Collinwood, Dean. The Bahamas Between Worlds, White Sound Press, 1989.
*Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge. Modern Bahamian Society, Caribbean Books, 1989.
*Dodge, Steve, Robert McIntire and Dean Collinwood. The Bahamas Index, White Sound Press, 1989.
*Collinwood, Dean. "The Bahamas", in The Whole World Handbook 1992–1995, 12th ed., New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
*Collinwood, Dean. "The Bahamas", chapters in Jack W. Hopkins, ed., Latin American and Caribbean Contemporary Record, Vols. 1,2,3,4, Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986.
*Collinwood, Dean. "Problems of Research and Training in Small Islands with a Social Science Faculty", in Social Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO, No. 48, 1982.
*Collinwood, Dean and Rick Phillips, "The National Literature of the New Bahamas", Weber Studies, Vol.7, No. 1 (Spring) 1990: 43–62.
*Collinwood, Dean. "Writers, Social Scientists and Sexual Norms in the Caribbean", Tsuda Review, No. 31 (November) 1986: 45–57.
*Collinwood, Dean. "Terra Incognita: Research on the Modern Bahamian Society", Journal of Caribbean Studies, Vol. 1, Nos. 2–3 (Winter) 1981: 284–297.
*Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge. "Political Leadership in the Bahamas", The Bahamas Research Institute, No.1, May 1987.
External links
*
*
*
*[https://archive.today/20121210193254/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/bahamas.htm The Bahamas] from UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 10 December 2012)
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1154642.stm The Bahamas] from the BBC News
*[http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BS Key Development Forecasts for The Bahamas] from International Futures
*[http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISORESTMPresults.php&CISOVIEWTMPitem_viewer.php&CISOMODEthumb&CISOGRIDthumbnail%2CA%2C1%3Btitle%2CA%2C1%3Boption%2CA%2C0%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%3B20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOBIBtitle%2CA%2C1%2CN%3Boption%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bdescri%2C200%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3Bnone%2CA%2C0%2CN%3B20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTHUMB20+%284x5%29%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOTITLE20%3Btitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOHIERA20%3Bdescri%2Ctitle%2Cnone%2Cnone%2Cnone&CISOSUPPRESS1&CISOOP1all&CISOFIELD1countr&CISOROOT%2Fagdm&CISOBOX1=Bahamas Maps of the Bahamas] from the American Geographical Society Library
*[https://dloc.com/AA00076890/00001/allvolumes The Nassau Guardian] newspaper, 1849–1922, at the Digital Library of the Caribbean.
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Category:Populated places established in 1647
Category:Small Island Developing States
Category:States and territories established in 1973 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.850319 |
3453 | Baker Island | |archipelago |area_km2 2.1
|length_km = 1.81
|width_km = 1.13
|coastline_km = 4.8
|highest_mount |elevation_m 8
|population = 0
|population_as_of = 2000
|country = United States
|timezone1 = International Date Line West
|utc_offset1 = −12:00
|country_admin_divisions_title = Status
|country_admin_divisions = Unincorporated
|footnotes = }}
}}
Baker Island, once known as New Nantucket in the early 19th century, is a small, uninhabited atoll located just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean, approximately southwest of Honolulu. Positioned almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, its closest neighbor is Howland Island, situated to the north-northwest. Both Baker and Howland Islands have been claimed as territories of the United States since 1857, though the United Kingdom regarded them as part of the British Empire between 1897 and 1936 but did not actually annex them. They were not being used when a U.S. Colonization attempt was started in 1935, and the next year formal reassertion of U.S. sovereignty was issued. During WWII the Japanese Empire attacked the island, and it was evacuated and a small military base was established. The island was an important navigation beacon in the remote Pacific waters during and after WWII. In the 1970s it was made into a nature preserve and has remained so into the 21st century.
Covering an area of , with of coastline,
Today, Baker Island is part of the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge, an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the U.S. The island is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is visited annually for conservation purposes. Statistically, Baker Island is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands and, along with Howland Island, is among the last places on Earth to experience the New Year, operating in the UTC−12:00 time zone.
It is one of the most remote U.S. possessions in the equatorial Pacific.
Howland and Baker are the last places on Earth to enter the new year, as they are just east of the International Date Line.Description
among Baker Island corals]]
A cemetery and remnants from previous settlements are located near the middle of Baker Island's west coast, where the boat landing area is situated. There are no ports or harbors on the island, and offshore anchorage is prohibited. The narrow, fringing reef surrounding Baker Island presents a significant maritime hazard, making access to the shore difficult. To aid in navigation, a day beacon is positioned near the site of the former village.
Baker Island's abandoned World War II runway, which measures in length, is now completely overgrown with vegetation and is unserviceable. Today, the island remains uninhabited, and its time zone is unspecified, though it falls within a nautical time zone 12 hours behind UTC (UTC−12:00).HistoryBaker Island was first discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship Equator, who named the island "New Nantucket". In August 1825, it was sighted again by Captain Obed Starbuck aboard the Loper, another Nantucket whaler. The island later took its name from Captain Michael Baker, who visited it in 1834. Some accounts suggest that Baker visited the island earlier, in 1832, and returned on August 14, 1839, aboard the whaler Gideon Howland, where he reportedly buried an American seaman. Captain Baker formerly claimed the island in 1855 and subsequently sold his interest to a group that later established the American Guano Company.
The United States officially took possession of Baker Island in 1857 under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The island's guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 until 1878. Workers from various parts of the Pacific, including Hawaii, were brought in for the mining operations. The Hawaiian laborers referred to Baker Island as "", named after the ilima flower. The scale of guano extraction can be illustrated by ship movements in late 1868, where several ships, including the British vessel Montebello and the American ship Eldorado, transported tons of guano to Liverpool, England.
In February 1869, the British ship Shaftsbury, captained by John Davies, was wrecked on Baker's Island reef after a sudden wind shift and squall caused the ship to drag its moorings. Later that year, the American ship Robin Hood was destroyed by fire while loading guano.
During the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project, settlers set up temporary camps on Baker Island. On December 7, 1886, the American Guano Company sold its rights to the British firm John T. Arundel and Company. The company then used Baker Island as its headquarters for guano operations in the Pacific from 1886 to 1891. Believing that the U.S. had abandoned its claim, Arundel applied to the British Colonial Office in 1897 for a license to work the island. While the United Kingdom considered Baker Island a British territory, they never formally annexed it. The U.S. reasserted its claim in the early 1920s, and after diplomatic discussions, they initiated the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project in 1935. In May 1936, Executive Order 7358 was issued to reaffirm U.S. sovereignty.
As part of the colonization effort, American settlers arrived on Baker Island aboard the USCGC Itasca, which also brought colonists to neighboring Howland Island, on April 3, 1935, establishing a settlement named Meyerton to mine the guano deposits. The settlers built a lighthouse and dwellings and attempted to cultivate plants. However, most of these efforts were unsuccessful due to the island's harsh conditions, including its dry climate and the impact of seabirds. Meyerton's population was recorded as three American civilians in the 1940 U.S. Census. The settlement was eventually evacuated in 1942 following Japanese attacks during World War II, and the U.S. military forces subsequently occupied the island. The town was named for Captain H. A. Meyer, United States Army, who assisted in establishing living quarters and rainwater cisterns for the colonists. It was located on the west side of the island, at an elevation of above sea level.Airfield
On August 11, 1943, a U.S. Army defense force arrived on Baker Island as part of the broader Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign during World War II. By September 1943, the Army had constructed a airfield on the island. This airfield served as a crucial staging base for the Seventh Air Force, allowing B-24 Liberator bombers to launch attacks on Japanese positions, including Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Additionally, the 45th Fighter Squadron operated P-40 fighters from Baker Island's airfield from September 1 to November 27, 1943. However, the strategic importance of the airfield diminished quickly, and by January 1, 1944, it was abandoned as military operations shifted further west.LORAN Station BakerThe LORAN (Long Range Navigation) radio station on Baker operated from September 1944 until July 1946. This station, designated as Unit 91 with the radio call sign NRN-1, was a critical navigation aid for U.S. military operations in the Pacific during and immediately after World War II. LORAN stations like the one on Baker Island were part of a network used to assist ships and aircraft in determining their positions accurately, particularly in the vast and often featureless expanse of the Pacific Ocean.Flora and faunaBaker Island is devoid of natural fresh water sources and receives minimal rainfall, making it an arid and inhospitable environment. The island, over 3700 feet wide, is remote and uninhabited despite its historical significance. It is designated as a wildlife refuge and is characterized by sparse vegetation, including four types of grass, prostrate vines, and low-growing shrubs. The treeless landscape provides a crucial habitat for various seabirds, waders, and marine wildlife.
Baker Island has been recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International due to its support for large breeding colonies of seabirds, such as lesser frigatebirds, masked boobies and sooty terns. The island is home to over one million seabirds, including significant populations of albatrosses. Migratory waders, including ruddy turnstones, bar-tailed godwits, sanderlings, and Pacific golden plovers, visit the island seasonally. Additionally, endangered species like green turtles and hawksbill turtles, as well as gray reef sharks, spinner dolphins, monk seals, and hermit crabs, can be found along the surrounding reef.
National Wildlife Refuge
On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton established the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge. In 2009, the refuge was expanded to include submerged lands extending from the island's shoreline. The refuge now encompasses of land and of surrounding marine waters. Baker Island, along with six other islands, is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January 2009, this entity was redesignated as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush. This was renamed Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument in 2025.
Environmental challenges facing the refuge include remnants of abandoned military debris from World War II and the threat of illegal fishing in offshore waters. Additionally, invasive species introduced by human activity, such as cockroaches and coconut palms, have displaced native wildlife. Feral cats, which were first introduced to the island in 1937, were eradicated by 1965.
Public access to Baker Island is highly restricted and requires a special use permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Permits are typically granted only to scientists and educators. Although limited tour packages are available from early June to mid-August, unauthorized visits and activities such as swimming, fishing, and lighting fires are strictly prohibited. The atoll is only visited during daylight hours, and scuba diving is restricted to scientists affiliated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Agency representatives visit the island approximately once every two years, often coordinating transportation with a NOAA vessel.
Human debris and remnants
Debris from past human activity, particularly from the U.S. military's occupation of Baker Island during World War II, is scattered across the island and in the surrounding offshore waters. The most prominent remnant is the airstrip, which is now completely overgrown with vegetation and is unusable. On the western coast of the island, a day beacon remains from the wartime era, although it has not been maintained since World War II. This beacon is now primarily used by albatross birds and hermit crabs for breeding, and it also serves as a landmark for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during their infrequent visits to the atoll.
In the northeast section of the island, which appears to have been the main camp area during the military occupation, the remains of several buildings and heavy equipment are still visible. Five wooden antenna poles, each approximately tall, continue to stand. Additionally, debris from several crashed aircraft, along with large equipment such as bulldozers, can be found both on the island and underwater.
Numerous bulldozer excavations containing remnants of metal, fuel, and water drums are scattered throughout the north-central portion and along the island's northern edge. The U.S. Navy reported the loss of 11 landing craft in the surf during the wartime operations, contributing to the debris found in the waters surrounding the island.Gallery<gallery mode"nolines" widths"245" perrow"4">
File:Baker Island Coastline.jpg|Baker Island coastline with red-footed booby
File:Fish and Wildlife sign on Baker Island.jpg|Fish and Wildlife sign
File:Baker Island Day Beacon content.jpg|Hermit crabs taking shade in day beacon
File:Baker settlement remains.jpg|Settlement remains, radio mast in the background
File:Baker Island Gravesite.JPG|Masked booby on gravestone
File:Baker Radio Towers.jpg|Brown noddies with radio masts in the background
File:Baker Island wreck.JPG|Landing craft wreckage on Baker Island coast
File:BakerIsland ISS010.jpg|Baker Island satellite image
</gallery>
See also
* 64th Coast Artillery (United States)
* History of the Pacific Islands
* Howland and Baker Islands, includes coverage of the Howland-Baker EEZ
* List of Guano Island claims
* List of islands of the United States
* List of lighthouses in the United States Minor Outlying Islands
* Canton and Enderbury Islands (U.S.- U.K condominium)
References
External links
* [http://www.fws.gov/refuge/baker_island/ Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge]
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ Baker Island]. This article incorporates material from The World Factbook 2000.
Category:Coral islands
Category:Insular areas of the United States
Category:Uninhabited Pacific islands of the United States
Category:Important Bird Areas of United States Minor Outlying Islands
Category:Important Bird Areas of Oceania
Category:Seabird colonies | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Island | 2025-04-05T18:26:23.865935 |
3454 | Bangladesh | <br />}}}}
| image_flag = Flag of Bangladesh.svg
| image_coat = National emblem of Bangladesh.svg
| other_symbol =
| other_symbol_type = Government Seal
| national_anthem (Bengali)<br /><br />"My Golden Bengal"<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
Martial Anthem: (Bengali)<br /><br /> "The Song of Youth"<br />
| image_map
| capital = Dhaka
| coordinates
| largest_city = capital
| languages_type = Official language<br />}}
| languages Bengali
| religion
| religion_year = 2022 census
| ethnic_groups = 99% Bengali<!--Do not modify to "Bengalis". The name of the ethnic group is "Bengali" and the people who belong to Bengali ethnicity are called "Bengalis".-->
| ethnic_groups_ref
| ethnic_groups_year = 2022 census
| religion_ref
| area_rank = 92nd
| area_sq_mi = 57320
| area_label2 = Land area
| area_data2 130,170 km<sup>2</sup>
| area_label3 = Water area
| area_data3 18,290 km<sup>2</sup>
| population_estimate_year = 2025
| population_estimate_rank = 8th
| population_census_year = 2022
| population_census_rank = 8th
| population_density_km2 = 1,165
| population_density_sq_mi = 3,020
| population_density_rank = 13th
| GDP_PPP $1.801 trillion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 24th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $10,367
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.670 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022 <!--Please use the year to which the HDI data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank =
| currency = Taka ()
| currency_code = BDT
| time_zone = BST
| utc_offset = +6
| calling_code = +880
| cctld = }}
| footnotes
| area_magnitude | footnote
| today =
}}
Bangladesh,; , }} officially the '''People's Republic of Bangladesh''',, }} is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and among the most densely populated with a population exceeding 170 million within an area of . Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast. It has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal to its south and is separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim to its north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre. Chittagong is the second-largest city and the busiest port of the country.
The territory of modern Bangladesh was a stronghold of many Buddhist and Hindu dynasties in ancient history. Following the Muslim conquest in 1204, the Sultanate and Mughal periods saw the region's transformation into one of the wealthiest in the world. The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of British colonial rule for the following two centuries. In the aftermath of the Partition of British India in 1947, East Bengal became the most populous province of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan and was later renamed East Pakistan. Following over two decades of political repression and systematic racism from the West Pakistan-based government, East Pakistan experienced a civil war in 1971; ultimately leading to a liberation war in 1971. The Mukti Bahini, with assistance from Indian forces, waged a successful armed revolution; and at the expense of a genocide, Bangladesh became a sovereign nation on 16 December 1971. Post-Independence, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led the country until his assassination in 1975. Presidency was later transferred to Ziaur Rahman, who himself was assassinated in 1981. The 1980s was dominated by the dictatorship of Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was overthrown in a mass uprising in 1990. Following the democratisation in 1991, the "Battle of the Begums" between Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina defined the country's politics for next three decades. Hasina was overthrown in a student–led mass uprising in August 2024, and an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed.
Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary republic based on the Westminster system. It is a middle power with the second-largest economy in South Asia. Bangladesh is home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world and the fifth-most spoken native language. It maintains the third-largest military in South Asia and is the largest contributor to the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations. It consists of eight divisions, 64 districts, and 495 sub districts, and is home to the largest mangrove forest in the world. However, Bangladesh has one of the largest refugee populations in the world and continues to face challenges such as endemic corruption, lack of human rights, political instability, overpopulation, and adverse effects of climate change. It has twice chaired the Climate Vulnerable Forum and is a member of BIMSTEC, SAARC, OIC and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Etymology
The etymology of Bangladesh ("Bengali country") can be traced to the early 20th century, when Bengali patriotic songs, such as Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy by Rabindranath Tagore and Namo Namo Namo Bangladesh Momo by Kazi Nazrul Islam, used the term in 1905 and 1932 respectively. Starting in the 1950s, Bengali nationalists used the term in political rallies in East Pakistan.
The term Bangla is a major name for both the Bengal region and the Bengali language. The origins of the term Bangla are unclear, with theories pointing to a Bronze Age proto-Dravidian tribe, and the Iron Age Vanga Kingdom. The earliest known usage of the term is the Nesari plate in 805 AD. The term Vangala Desa is found in 11th-century South Indian records. The term gained official status during the Sultanate of Bengal in the 14th century. Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah proclaimed himself as the first "Shah of Bangala" in 1342. 16th-century historian Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak mentions in his Ain-i-Akbari that the addition of the suffix "al" came from the fact that the ancient rajahs of the land raised mounds of earth in lowlands at the foot of the hills which were called "al". This is also mentioned in Ghulam Husain Salim's Riyaz-us-Salatin.
The Indo-Aryan suffix Desh is derived from the Sanskrit word deśha, which means "land" or "country". Hence, the name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal".Islamization and economic prosperity
, the first independent Nawab of Bengal]]
, the last independent Nawab of Bengal]]
Bengal was then incorporated into the Delhi Sultanate (A.D. 1206–1526). In 1341, the independent Bengal Sultanate was established by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah. The Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in 1576. Following the decline of the Mughal Empire in the early 1700s, the region became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, founded by Murshid Quli Khan in 1717.British colonial rule
In 1757, the state led by Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated by the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey—which was key in establishing colonial British rule over Bengal and the wider Indian subcontinent. Bengal played a crucial role in the Industrial Revolution at the expense of an extraordinary capital flight and deindustrialization following British colonial loot and the collapse of the Bengali textile industry. killing one-third of the total population of the Bengal Presidency, and remains one of the deadliest man-made famines in history.
As a part of Pakistan
In the aftermath of direct British rule for nearly two centuries, the borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal between India and Pakistan by the Radcliffe Line during the partition of India on 15 August 1947, when the region became East Bengal as the eastern and most populous wing of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan—alongside West Pakistan. The western and eastern wings of the newly formed Pakistan were geographically separated by a distance of over 1,000 miles, which became the root cause of deep economic inequality. Khawaja Nazimuddin was East Bengal's first chief minister with Frederick Chalmers Bourne its governor. The All Pakistan Awami Muslim League was formed in 1949. In 1950, the East Bengal Legislative Assembly enacted land reform, abolishing the Permanent Settlement and the zamindari system. The Awami Muslim League was renamed as a more "secular" Awami League in 1953. The first constituent assembly was dissolved in 1954. The United Front coalition swept aside the Muslim League in a landslide victory in the 1954 East Bengali legislative election. The following year, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan as part of the One Unit programme, and the province became a vital part of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Amidst rising cultural and societal differences—the brutal government crackdown on the 1952 Bengali language movement to establish Bengali as the official language of Pakistan spurred Bengali nationalism and pro-democracy movements. Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956. The Pakistan Armed Forces imposed martial law in 1958, following a coup d'état, with Ayub Khan establishing a dictatorship for over a decade. A new constitution was introduced in 1962, replacing the parliamentary system with a presidential and gubernatorial system (based on electoral college selection) known as "Basic Democracy". In 1962, Dhaka became the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan, a move seen as appeasing increased Bengali nationalism. In 1966, Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced a six-point movement for a federal parliamentary democracy.
Ethnic, linguistic, and cultural discrimination was common in Pakistan's civil and military services, in which Bengalis were under-represented; leading to East Pakistan forging a distinct political identity. Authorities banned Bengali literature and music in the state media. The Pakistani government practised extensive economic discrimination against East Pakistan, including the refusal for foreign aid allocation. Despite generating 70% of Pakistan's export revenue with jute and tea, East Pakistan received much less government spending. Notable economists from East Pakistan, including Rehman Sobhan and Nurul Islam demanded a separate foreign exchange account for the eastern wing, also pointing to the existence of two different economies within Pakistan itself, dubbed the Two-Economies Theory. The populist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested for treason in the Agartala Conspiracy Case and was released during the 1969 uprising in East Pakistan which resulted in Ayub Khan's resignation. General Yahya Khan assumed power, reintroducing martial law.
A cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan in 1970, killing an estimated 500,000 people, and the central government was criticised for its poor response. After the December 1970 elections, the Bengali-nationalist Awami League won 167 of 169 East Pakistani seats in the National Assembly. The League claimed the right to form a government and develop a new constitution but was strongly opposed by the Pakistani military and the Pakistan Peoples Party (led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto).
The 7 March Speech of Mujib led to a non-cooperation movement. The autocratic Pakistani government then initiated Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 in response. Mujib signed the Proclamation of Independence on 26 March 1971, leading to the nine-month-long bloody liberation war, which led to a genocide, and the culmination of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation following Pakistani surrender on 16 December 1971.Independent BangladeshThe Constitution of Bangladesh was enacted on November 4, 1972. Following independence, the Mujib-led government engaged in large-scale corruption and mismanagement, leading to nationwide lawlessness and economic devastation. Efforts to establish one party socialism and a large famine in 1974 led to Mujib's assassination in 1975, whose popularity had experienced a significant decline among the general populace. Following Zia's assassination in 1981, the ensuing decade was a military dictatorship under Hussain Muhammad Ershad which saw infrastructural development, devolution reforms, privatization of nationalised industries and the declaration of Islam as the state religion in 1988.
After the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991, power alternated between Khaleda Zia of the BNP and Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, an era dubbed the "Battle of the Begums"—which defined Bangladesh's politics and history for next 34 years. under Sheikh Hasina's leadership saw unprecedented economic progress alongside democratic backsliding, increasing authoritarianism, endemic corruption, and widespread human right abuses. Hasina won her second, third and fourth consecutive terms in the 2014, 2018 and the 2024 general elections—all of which were sham and neither free or fair. Following a student-led mass uprising against the authoritarian government, Hasina was forced to resign and flee to India on 5 August 2024. An interim government was formed on 8 August 2024, with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the Chief Adviser.
Since the 1980s, driven by free market policies and economic liberalization measures, Bangladesh has achieved significant economic growth—emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, driven by its large textile industry, which is the second-largest in the world. It has emerged as the second-largest economy in South Asia, surpassing the nominal GDP per capita of neighboring India. Bangladesh has achieved remarkable feats in reducing its poverty rate, which has gone down from 80% in 1971, to 44.2% in 1991, all the way down to 18.7% in 2022. Its Human Development Index growth during the 21st century was surpassed only by China. As part of the green transition, Bangladesh's industrial sector emerged as a leader in building green factories, with the country having the largest number of certified green factories in the world. It has also given shelter to over a million Rohingya refugees fleeing the Rohingya genocide since 2017, which has strained its resources and highlighted its humanitarian commitments.Geography
Bangladesh is in South Asia on the Bay of Bengal. It is surrounded almost entirely by neighbouring India, and shares a small border with Myanmar to its southeast, though it lies very close to Nepal, Bhutan, and China. The country is divided into three regions. Most of the country is dominated by the fertile Ganges Delta, the largest river delta in the world. The northwest and central parts of the country are formed by the Madhupur and the Barind plateaus. The northeast and southeast are home to evergreen hill ranges.
The Ganges delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or Jomuna), and Meghna rivers and their tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is called the "Land of Rivers", as it is home to over 57 trans-boundary rivers, the most of any nation-state. Water issues are politically complicated since Bangladesh is downstream of India.
Bangladesh is predominantly rich fertile flat land. Most of it is less than above sea level, and it is estimated that about 10% of its land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by . 12% of the country is covered by hill systems. The country's haor wetlands are of significance to global environmental science. The highest point in Bangladesh is the Saka Haphong, located near the border with Myanmar, with an elevation of .Climate
Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh's climate is tropical, with a mild winter from October to March and a hot, humid summer from March to June. The country has never recorded an air temperature below , with a record low of in the northwest city of Dinajpur on 3 February 1905. A warm and humid monsoon season lasts from June to October and supplies most of the country's rainfall. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores occur almost every year, combined with the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion. The cyclones of 1970 and 1991 were particularly devastating, the latter killing approximately 140,000 people.
In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most severe flooding in modern history, after which two-thirds of the country went underwater, along with a death toll of 1,000. As a result of various international and national level initiatives in disaster risk reduction, the human toll and economic damage from floods and cyclones have come down over the years. The 2007 South Asian floods ravaged areas across the country, leaving five million people displaced, with a death toll around 500., which killed around 140,000 people|199x199px]] Climate change
Bangladesh is recognised to be one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Over the course of a century, 508 cyclones have affected the Bay of Bengal region, 17 percent of which are believed to have made landfall in Bangladesh. Natural hazards that come from increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones are expected to increase as the climate changes, each seriously affecting agriculture, water and food security, human health, and shelter. It is estimated that by 2050, a three-foot rise in sea levels will inundate some 20 percent of the land and displace more than 30 million people. To address the sea level rise threat in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 has been launched.Biodiversity
, the national animal, in the Sundarbans]]
Bangladesh is located in the Indomalayan realm, and lies within four terrestrial ecoregions: Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests, Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests, Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests, and Sundarbans mangroves. Its ecology includes a long sea coastline, numerous rivers and tributaries, lakes, wetlands, evergreen forests, semi evergreen forests, hill forests, moist deciduous forests, freshwater swamp forests and flat land with tall grass. The Bangladesh Plain is famous for its fertile alluvial soil which supports extensive cultivation. The country is dominated by lush vegetation, with villages often buried in groves of mango, jackfruit, bamboo, betel nut, coconut, and date palm. The country has up to 6000 species of plant life, including 5000 flowering plants. Water bodies and wetland systems provide a habitat for many aquatic plants. Water lilies and lotuses grow vividly during the monsoon season. The country has 50 wildlife sanctuaries.
Bangladesh is home to most of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, covering an area of in the southwest littoral region. It is divided into three protected sanctuaries: the South, East, and West zones. The forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The northeastern Sylhet region is home to haor wetlands, a unique ecosystem. It also includes tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, a freshwater swamp forest, and mixed deciduous forests. The southeastern Chittagong region covers evergreen and semi-evergreen hilly jungles. Central Bangladesh includes the plainland Sal forest running along with the districts of Gazipur, Tangail, and Mymensingh. St. Martin's Island is the only coral reef in the country.
Bangladesh has an abundance of wildlife in its forests, marshes, woodlands, and hills. The Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, saltwater crocodile, black panther and fishing cat are among the chief predators in the Sundarbans. Northern and eastern Bangladesh is home to the Asian elephant, hoolock gibbon, Asian black bear and oriental pied hornbill. The chital deer are widely seen in southwestern woodlands. Other animals include the black giant squirrel, capped langur, Bengal fox, sambar deer, jungle cat, king cobra, wild boar, mongooses, pangolins, pythons and water monitors. Bangladesh has one of the largest populations of Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins. The country has numerous species of amphibians (53), reptiles (139), marine reptiles (19) and marine mammals (5). It also has 628 species of birds.
Several animals became extinct in Bangladesh during the last century, including the one-horned and two-horned rhinoceros and common peafowl. The human population is concentrated in urban areas, limiting deforestation to a certain extent. Rapid urban growth has threatened natural habitats. The country has widespread environmental issues; pollution of the Dhaleshwari River by the textile industry and shrimp cultivation in Chakaria Sundarbans have both been described by academics as ecocides. Although many areas are protected under law, some Bangladeshi wildlife is threatened by this growth. The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act was enacted in 1995. The government has designated several regions as Ecologically Critical Areas, including wetlands, forests, and rivers. The Sundarbans tiger project and the Bangladesh Bear Project are among the key initiatives to strengthen conservation. , the country was set to revise its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The government can be divided into three pillars: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary—all function to ensure accountability, transparency and checks and balances of the government. Since its independence, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have remained two of the most powerful political parties in Bangladesh.
*The first pillar of the government is the executive organ, which is entrusted with the total administration of the country. and the chancellor of all universities.
*The second pillar of the government is the legislative organ, also known as the Jatiya Sangsad (House of the Nation). Citizens across the country vote to elect the members of parliament (MPs). Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh forbids MPs from voting against their party. The parliament is presided over by the Speaker, who is second in line to the president as per the constitution.
*The third pillar of the government is the judiciary organ, which is in charge of interpreting the law, resolving conflicts, and maintaining justice across the nation. The judiciary includes district and metropolitan courts divided into civil and criminal courts. Due to a shortage of judges, the judiciary has a large backlog.
Administrative divisions
Bangladesh is divided into eight administrative divisions, each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal (officially Barishal), Chittagong (officially Chattogram
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"text-align: right"
|+ Administrative Divisions of Bangladesh
|-
! scope="col" | Division
! scope="col" | Capital
! scope"col" data-sort-type"date" | Established
! scope"col" | Area (km<sup>2</sup>)<br />
! scope"col" | 2021 Population <br />(projected)
! scope="col" | Density<br />2021
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Barisal Division
| style="text-align:left" | Barisal
| 1 January 1993
| 13,225
| 9,713,000
| 734
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Chittagong Division
| style="text-align:left" | Chittagong
| 1 January 1829
| 33,909
| 34,747,000
| 1,025
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Dhaka Division
| style="text-align:left" | Dhaka
| 1 January 1829
| 20,594
| 42,607,000
| 2,069
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Khulna Division
| style="text-align:left" | Khulna
| 1 October 1960
| 22,284
| 18,217,000
| 817
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Mymensingh Division
| style="text-align:left" | Mymensingh
| 14 September 2015
| 10,584
| 13,457,000
| 1,271
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Rajshahi Division
| style="text-align:left" | Rajshahi
| 1 January 1829
| 18,153
| 21,607,000
| 1,190
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Rangpur Division
| style="text-align:left" | Rangpur
| 25 January 2010
| 16,185
| 18,868,000
| 1,166
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Sylhet Division
| style="text-align:left" | Sylhet
| 1 August 1995
| 12,635
| 12,463,000
| 986
|}
Foreign relations
Bangladesh is considered a middle power in global politics. It plays an important role in the geopolitical affairs of the Indo-Pacific, due to its strategic location between South and Southeast Asia. Bangladesh joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972 and the United Nations in 1974. It relies on multilateral diplomacy on issues like climate change, nuclear non-proliferation, trade policy and non-traditional security issues. Bangladesh pioneered the creation of SAARC, which has been the preeminent forum for regional diplomacy among the countries of the Indian subcontinent. It joined the OIC in 1974, and is a founding member of the Developing-8. In recent years, Bangladesh has focused on promoting regional trade and transport links with support from the World Bank. Dhaka hosts the headquarters of BIMSTEC, an organisation that brings together countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Relations with neighbouring Myanmar have been severely strained since 2016–2017, after over 700,000 Rohingya refugees illegally entered Bangladesh. The parliament, government, and civil society of Bangladesh have been at the forefront of international criticism against Myanmar for military operations against the Rohingya, and have demanded their right of return to Arakan.
Bangladesh shares an important bilateral and economic relationship with its largest neighbour India, which is often strained by water politics of the Ganges and the Teesta, and the border killings of Bangladeshi civilians. Post-independent Bangladesh has continued to have a problematic relationship with Pakistan, mainly due to its denial of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. It maintains a warm relationship with China, which is its largest trading partner, and the largest arms supplier. Japan is Bangladesh's largest economic aid provider, and the two maintain a strategic and economic partnership. Political relations with Middle Eastern countries are robust. Bangladesh receives 59% of its remittances from the Middle East, despite poor working conditions affecting over four million Bangladeshi workers. Bangladesh plays a major role in global climate diplomacy as a leader of the Climate Vulnerable Forum.
Military
The Bangladesh Armed Forces have inherited the institutional framework of the British military and the British Indian Army. In 2022, the active personnel strength of the Bangladesh Army was around 250,000, excluding the Air Force and the Navy (24,000). In addition to traditional defence roles, the military has supported civil authorities in disaster relief and provided internal security during periods of political unrest. For many years, Bangladesh has been the world's largest contributor to UN peacekeeping forces. The military budget of Bangladesh accounts for 1.3% of GDP, amounting to US$4.3 billion in 2021.
The Bangladesh Navy, one of the largest in the Bay of Bengal, includes a fleet of frigates, submarines, corvettes, and other vessels. The Bangladesh Air Force has a small fleet of multi-role combat aircraft. Most of Bangladesh's military equipment comes from China. In recent years, Bangladesh and India have increased joint military exercises, high-level visits of military leaders, counter-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing. Bangladesh is vital to ensuring stability and security in northeast India.
Bangladesh's strategic importance in the eastern subcontinent hinges on its proximity to China, its frontier with Burma, the separation of mainland and northeast India, and its maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal. In 2002, Bangladesh and China signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement. The United States has pursued negotiations with Bangladesh on a Status of Forces Agreement, an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement and a General Security of Military Information Agreement. In 2019, Bangladesh ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Civil society
Since the colonial period, Bangladesh has had a prominent civil society. There are various special interest groups, including non-governmental organisations, human rights organisations, professional associations, chambers of commerce, employers' associations, and trade unions. The National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh was set up in 2007. Notable human rights organisations and initiatives include the Centre for Law and Mediation, Odhikar, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee. The world's largest international NGO BRAC is based in Bangladesh. There have been concerns regarding the shrinking space for independent civil society in recent years.Human rights
(RAB) have been widely accused of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and human right abuses. The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned RAB in 2021.]]
Torture is banned by the Constitution of Bangladesh, but is rampantly used by Bangladesh's security forces. Bangladesh joined the Convention against Torture in 1998 and it enacted its first anti-torture law, the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, in 2013. The first conviction under this law was announced in 2020. Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience from Bangladesh have included Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Shahidul Alam. The widely criticized Digital Security Act was repealed and replaced by the Cyber Security Act in 2023. The repeal was welcomed by the International Press Institute.
On International Human Rights Day in December 2021, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions on commanders of the Rapid Action Battalion for extrajudicial killings, torture, and other human rights abuses. Freedom House has criticised the government for human rights abuses, the crackdown on the opposition, mass media, and civil society through politicized enforcement. Bangladesh is ranked "partly free" in Freedom House's Freedom in the World report, but its press freedom has deteriorated from "free" to "not free" in recent years due to increasing pressure from the government. According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, the country has a hybrid regime: the third of four rankings in its Democracy Index. Bangladesh was ranked 96th among 163 countries in the 2022 Global Peace Index. According to National Human Rights Commission, 70% of alleged human-rights violations are committed by law-enforcement agencies.
LGBT rights are frowned upon among social conservatives. Homosexuality is affected by Section 377 of the Penal Code of Bangladesh, which was originally enacted by the British colonial government. The government only recognises the transgender and intersex community known as the Hijra. According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 1.2 million people were enslaved in Bangladesh , which is among the highest in the world.
Corruption
Like many developing countries, institutional corruption is an issue of concern for Bangladesh. Bangladesh was ranked 146th among 180 countries on Transparency International's 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index. Land administration was the sector with the most bribery in 2015, followed by education, police and water supply. The Anti Corruption Commission was formed in 2004, and it was active during the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis, indicting many leading politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen for graft.Economy
Bangladesh's lower-middle income mixed-market economy is among the fastest growing economies in the world. A rapidly developing country, it has the world's 36th-largest economy by nominal terms, and the 24th-largest by PPP. Bangladesh has a labor force of 71.4 million, which is the world's seventh-largest; with an unemployment rate of 5.1% . Its foreign exchange reserves, although depleting, remain the second-highest in South Asia, after India. Bangladesh's large diaspora contributed roughly $27 billion in remittances in 2024. The Bangladeshi taka is the national currency.
, the large service sector accounts for about 51.5% of total GDP, followed by the industrial sector (34.6%), while the agriculture sector is by far the smallest, making up only 11% of total GDP; Over 84% of the export earnings come from the textile industry. Bangladesh is the second-leading garments exporter in the world, and plays a crucial role in the global fast fashion industry, exporting to various Western fashion brands. It is also a major producer of jute, rice, fish, tea, and flowers. Other major industries include shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, steel, electronics and leather goods. China is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, accounting for 15% of the total trade, followed by India; which accounts for 8% of the total trade.
The private sector accounts for 80% of GDP compared to the dwindling role of state-owned companies. Bangladesh's economy is dominated by family-owned conglomerates and small and medium-sized businesses. Some of the largest publicly traded companies in Bangladesh include BEXIMCO, BRAC Bank, BSRM, GPH Ispat, Grameenphone, Summit Group, and Square Pharmaceuticals. The Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges are the country's twin capital markets. Its telecommunications industry is one of the world's fastest growing, with 188.78 million cellphone subscribers at the end of November 2024. Political instability, high inflation, endemic corruption, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of reforms are major challenges to economic growth. It is gradually transitioning to a green economy and has the largest off-grid solar power programme in the world, benefiting 20 million people. An electric car called the Palki is being developed for production in the country. Biogas is being used to produce organic fertilizer. The under-construction Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, under-construction with assistance from the Russian company Rosatom, will be the first operational nuclear power plant in the country. Its first unit, out of the two total units, is expected to go into operation in 2025.
Bangladesh continues to have huge untapped reserves of natural gas, particularly in its maritime territory. A lack of exploration and decreasing proven reserves have forced Bangladesh to import LNG from abroad. Gas shortages were further exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bangladesh stopped buying spot price LNG temporarily in July 2022, despite constant load-shedding, due to a steep price hike in the global market. It restarted buying spot price LNG once again in February 2023 as prices eased.
While government-owned companies in Bangladesh generate nearly half of Bangladesh's electricity, privately owned companies like the Summit Group and Orion Group are playing an increasingly important role in both generating electricity, and supplying machinery, reactors, and equipment. Bangladesh increased electricity production from 5 gigawatts in 2009 to 25.5 gigawatts in 2022. It plans to produce 50 gigawatts by 2041. U.S. companies like Chevron and General Electric supply around 55% of Bangladesh's domestic natural gas production and are among the largest investors in power projects. 80% of Bangladesh's installed gas-fired power generation capacity comes from turbines manufactured in the United States.
Tourism
is the largest mangrove forest in the world]]
The tourism industry is expanding, contributing some 3.02% of total GDP. Bangladesh's international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $391 million. The country has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Mosque City, the Buddhist Vihara and the Sundarbans) and seven tentative-list sites. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported in 2019 that the travel and tourism industry in Bangladesh directly generated 1,180,500 jobs in 2018 or 1.9% of the country's total employment. According to the same report, Bangladesh experiences around 125,000 international tourist arrivals per year.
Demographics
According to the 2022 Census, Bangladesh has a population of 165.1 million, Its total fertility rate (TFR), once among the highest in the world, has experienced a dramatic decline, from 5.5 in 1985 to 3.7 in 1995, down to 1.9 in 2022, which is below the sub-replacement fertility of 2.1. The majority of Bangladeshis live in rural areas, with 40% of the population living in urban areas . It has a median age of roughly 28 years, with 26% of the total population aged 14 or younger, and merely 6% aged 65 and above .
Bangladesh is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous society, as Bengalis form 99% of the population. Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis were given citizenship by the Supreme Court in 2008. Bangladesh also hosts over 700,000 Rohingya refugees since 2017, giving it one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Bengali is described as a dialect continuum where there are various dialects spoken throughout the country. There is a diglossia in which much of the population can understand or speak in Standard Colloquial Bengali, and in their regional dialect or language. These include Chittagonian which is spoken in the southeastern region of Chittagong, Noakhali spoken in the southern district of Noakhali and Sylheti spoken in the northeastern region of Sylhet.
Tribal languages, although increasingly endangered, include the Chakma language, another native Eastern Indo-Aryan language, spoken by the Chakma people. Others are Garo, Meitei, Kokborok and Rakhine. Among the Austroasiatic languages, the most spoken is the Santali language, native to the Santal people. The stranded Pakistanis and some sections of the Old Dhakaites often use Urdu as their native tongue. Still, the usage of the latter remains highly reproached.
Religion
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Islam is the state religion of Bangladesh. However, the constitution also upholds secularism and ensures equal rights for all religions.
Bengali Hindus form the country's second-largest religious minority and the third-largest Hindu community in the world. According to the 2022 census Hindus form 7.95% of the total population.
Education
The constitution states that all children shall receive free and compulsory education. Education in Bangladesh is overseen by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education is responsible for implementing policy for primary education and state-funded schools at a local level. Primary and secondary education is compulsory, and is financed by the state and free of charge in public schools. Bangladesh has a literacy rate of 76% as of 2021: 79% for males and 71.9% for females. Its educational system is three-tiered and heavily subsidised, with the government operating many schools at the primary, secondary and higher secondary levels and subsidising many private schools. However, government expenditure in education remains among the lowest in the world, at only 1.8% of the total GDP.
The education system is divided into five levels: primary (first to fifth grade), junior secondary (sixth to eighth grade), secondary (ninth and tenth grade), higher secondary (11th and 12th grade), and tertiary which is university level. Primary level students have to pass the Primary Education Completion (PEC) exam to proceed to junior secondary. The junior secondary students then give the Junior School Certificate (JSC) exam to get enrolled in ninth grade, while tenth-grade students have to pass the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam to proceed to eleventh grade. Lastly, students have to pass the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam at grade twelve to apply for higher education or universities.
Universities are three general types: public (government-owned and funded by the University Grants Commission), private (privately owned universities) and international (operated and funded by international organisations). The country has 55 public, 115 private and 2 international universities. National University is the third-largest university in the world by enrolment. The University of Dhaka, established in 1921, is the oldest public university. BUET is the premiere university for engineering education. The University of Chittagong, established in 1966, has the largest campus. BUP is the largest public university affiliated with the armed forces. Dhaka College, established in 1841, is among the oldest educational institutes in the Indian subcontinent. Medical education is provided by 39 government, 6 armed force and 68 private medical colleges. All medical colleges are affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Health
Bangladesh, by the constitution, guarantees healthcare services as a fundamental right to all of its citizens. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the largest institutional healthcare provider in Bangladesh, and contains two divisions: Health Service Division and Medical Education And Family Welfare Division. However, healthcare facilities in Bangladesh are considered less than adequate, although they have improved as the economy has grown and poverty levels have decreased significantly. Significant deficiencies in the treatment practices of village doctors persist, with widespread harmful and inappropriate drug prescribing.
Bangladesh's poor healthcare system suffers from severe underfunding from the government. and domestic general government spending on healthcare was 16.88% of the total budget, while out-of-pocket expenditures made up the vast majority of the total budget, totalling roughly 73%. Domestic private health expenditure was about 75.48% of the total healthcare expenditure. There were only 5.3 doctors per 10,000 people, and about six physicians and six nurses per 1,000 people, while the number of hospital beds is 9 per 1,000. The specialist surgical workforce was only 3 per 100,000 people, and there were about 5 community health workers per 1,000 people.
Roughly 60% of the population had access to drinking water in 2022. In 2002, it was estimated that half of the drinking water was polluted with arsenic, exceeding levels of 10 micrograms per litre. Bangladesh is crippled with one of the worst air qualities in the world, mostly concentrated in the densely populated urban areas, especially the capital Dhaka and its metropolitan area. The World Bank estimated that roughly 80,000-90,000 deaths occurred in Bangladesh due to the drastic effects of air pollution in 2019. It was second-leading cause of death and disability, costing the country roughly 4-4.4% percent of its total GDP.
, the overall life expectancy in Bangladesh at birth was 74 years (72 years for males and 76 years for females). It has a comparably high infant mortality rate (24 per 1,000 live births) and child mortality rate (29 per 1,000 live births). , maternal mortality remains high, clocking at 123 per 100,000 live births. Bangladesh is a key source market for medical tourism for various countries, mainly India, due to its citizens dissatisfaction and distrust over their own healthcare system.
The main causes of death are coronary artery disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disease; comprising 62% and 60% of all adult male and female deaths, respectively. Malnutrition is a major and persistent problem in Bangladesh, mainly affecting the rural regions, more than half of the population suffers from it. Severe acute malnutrition affects 450,000 children, while nearly 2 million children have moderate acute malnutrition. For children under the age of five, 52% are affected by anaemia, 41% are stunted, 16% are wasted, and 36% are underweight. A quarter of women are underweight and around 15% have short stature, while over half also suffer from anaemia. Bangladesh was ranked 84th out of the 127 countries listed in the 2024 Global Hunger Index.
Culture
Holidays and festivals
Traditional festivals include Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New Year), which is the major festival of Bengali culture; with widespread festivities. Pohela Falgun coincides with Valentine's Day, and is celebrated with a display of music, dance and other cultural activities. Other festivals include Nabonno and Poush Parbon, which celebrate new harvests of crops. Shakrain is an annual celebration, observed by flying kites, occurring at the end of Poush, the ninth month of the Bengali calendar. The festival coincides with Makar Sankranti celebrated in India and Nepal.
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Among religious festivals, the two biggest festivals of the Muslim majority are Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan—and Eid al-Adha, which is the festival of sacrifice. Both Eids are celebrated with the longest streak of national holidays. Other Muslim festivals include Mawlid (Eid-e-Milad Un Nabi), Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram, Chaand Raat, and Shab-e-Barat. The most celebrated Hindu festival is Durga Puja. Other major Hindu festivals include Krishna Janmashtami and Ratha Yatra. The biggest festival of the Buddhists across the country is Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha. Among Christians, Christmas is the most widely celebrated.
Patriotic national festivals include the Language Movement Day, which is celebrated on 21 February in remembrance of the martyrs of the 1952 Bengali language movement. It was declared as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO in 1999. Independence Day is celebrated on 26 March to commemorate the proclamation of independence from Pakistan. Public gatherings are observed at the Shaheed Minar and National Martyrs' Memorial during the three latter festivals to pay homage to the fallen martyrs.
Literature
Bengali literature forms an important part of Bengali culture. The Charyapada poems dating back to the 10th to 12th centuries are the oldest extant examples of the Bengali language. During the Bengal Sultanate, medieval Bengali writers were influenced by Arabic and Persian literature. Milestones of the medieval age include the Mangal-Kāvyas. Other important works include Krittibas Ojha's translation of the Ramayana, Kashiram Das' translation of the Mahabharata, and Maladhar Basu's translation of the Bhagavata. Vijay Gupta, Shah Muhammad Sagir, Zainuddin and Abdul Hakim were important figures. Mir Mosharraf Hossain was the first prominent Bengali Muslim writer. Lalon, a fakir practising Sufism and sādhanā influenced the bauls. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote about the characteristics of the Bengali society.
Rabindranath Tagore was the first Asian and non-European laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kazi Nazrul Islam was a revolutionary poet who espoused political rebellion against colonialism and fascism. Jibanananda Das was the most recognized Bengali poet after Tagore and Nazrul. Begum Rokeya is regarded as the pioneer feminist writer of Bangladesh. Syed Mujtaba Ali is noted for his cosmopolitan views. Jasimuddin was a renowned pastoral poet, popularly called Palli Kabi (folk poet). Farrukh Ahmad is considered the poet of the "Islamic Renaissance". Syed Waliullah was a notable novelist. Sufia Kamal was a major feminist writer. Humayun Ahmed was the most popular author in post-Independence Bangladesh. Shahidul Zahir was widely acclaimed for his usage of magical realism. Other major writers include Akhteruzzaman Elias, Shawkat Osman and Syed Shamsul Haq. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal is a pioneer science fiction writer. Anisul Hoque is a popular contemporary literary figure. The annual Ekushey Book Fair and Dhaka Lit Fest, organised by the Bangla Academy, are among the largest literary festivals in South Asia.
Architecture
The architecture of Bangladesh is intertwined with that of the Bengal region and the broader Indian subcontinent. It is influenced by the country's culture, religion and history. Hindu and Buddhist architectural remnants have been found in Mahasthangarh, which dates back to the 3rd century BCE. Nandipada and Swastika symbols have been found on stone querns in the Wari-Bateshwar ruins, which indicate the presence of Hinduism in the area during the Iron Age—from 400 to 100 BCE. The Somapura Mahavihara built under the rule of the Buddhist Pala Empire in the 8th century is an outstanding example of the pre-Islamic era. Other Buddhist vihāras include Shalban Bihar in Mainamati and Bikrampur Vihara in Bikrampur.
Mughal Bengal saw the spread of Mughal architecture in the region. Examples in Dhaka include the Bara Katra and Choto Katra in Old Dhaka, the Sat Gambuj Mosque in Mohammadpur and the Musa Khan Mosque in Curzon Hall. Notable Mughal-era forts include the Lalbagh Fort in Old Dhaka, the Idrakpur Fort in Munshiganj—and the Hajiganj Fort and the Sonakanda Fort in Narayanganj, respectively. The Kantajew Temple and Dhakeshwari Temple are excellent examples of late medieval Hindu temple architecture.
Bengali vernacular architecture is noted for pioneering the bungalow. Panam Nagar in Sonargaon exhibits architectural influence from the Sultanate, Mughal, British and hybrid colonial traditions. Indo-Saracenic architecture flourished during the British Raj, examples include the Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka, the Chittagong Court Building, Rangpur Town Hall and Rajshahi College. The zamindar gentry built many palaces in the latter style, including the Ahsan Manzil, the Baliati Zamnidar Bari, the Tajhat Palace, the Rose Garden Palace, the Dighapatia Palace, the Puthia Rajbari, Natore Rajbari and the Mohera Zamindar Bari. Muzharul Islam is considered to be a pioneer of modernist movement in Bangladesh and South Asia. Louis Kahn is a notable foreign architect who designed the National Parliament Building in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
Visual arts, crafts and clothing
The recorded history of art in Bangladesh can be traced to the 3rd century BCE, when terracotta sculptures were made in the region. In classical antiquity, notable sculptural Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art developed in the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty. The Bengal Sultanate saw Islamic art evolve since the 14th century. During the Mughal rule, Jamdani, a unique design on fine muslin; was woven on Persian motifs in Dhaka. It was classified by UNESCO as an Intangible cultural heritage in 2013. Bangladesh also produces the Rajshahi silk, a fine silk renowned for its softness and ability to create sophisticated designs. Ivory, brass and pottery has deep roots in Bangladeshi culture. The Nakshi Kantha, a centuries-old embroidery tradition for quilts in Bengal, is made throughout Bangladesh.
The modern art movement in Bangladesh took shape in post-independence East Bengal, especially with the pioneering works of Zainul Abedin. Other leading painters include SM Sultan, Mohammad Kibria, Safiuddin Ahmed, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Qayyum Chowdhury, Rashid Choudhury, Quamrul Hassan, Rafiqun Nabi and Syed Jahangir. Other eminent sculptors include Nitun Kundu, Syed Abdullah Khalid, Hamiduzzaman Khan, Shamim Sikder, Ferdousi Priyabhashini and Abdur Razzaque. The annual Mangal Shobhajatra (Bengali New Year parade) organized by the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka on Pohela Boishakh was enlisted as an Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2016. Photography as a form of art has seen exponential growth in the 21st century. Chobi Mela, held biennially, is considered the largest photography festival in Asia.
Lungi is the most common informal clothing for men, while kurta (panjabi) and pajama are worn by men on festivals and holidays. Domestically tailored suits, neckties and pants are customarily worn by men at formal events, and the traditional sherwani and churidar are worn along with the turban in weddings. Some women follow Islamic clothing.Performing arts
Theatre in Bangladesh includes various forms with a history dating back to the 4th century CE. It includes narrative forms, song and dance forms, supra-personae forms, performances with scroll paintings, puppet theatre and processional forms. Apart from the various forms of Indian classical dances, including the Kathakali, Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Manipuri dances–native dance traditions have formed across the country. Native folk music features the baul mystical tradition, which was popularised by Lalon in the 18th century, and is listed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Bangladesh has a rich tradition of Indian classical music, which uses instruments like the sitar, tabla, sarod, and santoor. Musical organisations and schools such as the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Chhayanaut have played significant roles in preserving the traditions of Bengali folk music. Andrew Kishore, another leading playback singer, is considered the "King of Playback". Azam Khan, nicknamed the "Pop Samrat" and the "Rock Guru", is a founding figure of Bangladeshi rock. Musicians such as Ayub Bachchu and James have also gained nationwide popularity. Shayan Chowdhury Arnob has been an influential figure in indie rock. Popular pop singers in the 21st century include Habib Wahid and Tahsan Rahman Khan. Influential heavy metal include Artcell and Warfaze.Media and cinema
The history of press in Bangladesh dates back to 1860, when the first printing press was established in Dhaka. The media in Bangladesh is diverse, competitive, commercial and profitable. Prominent news agencies in Bangladesh include Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and Bdnews24.com. Television is the most popular form of media consumption. Private television networks include ATN Bangla, Channel I, NTV, RTV, Ekushey TV, Ekattor TV, Jamuna TV and Somoy TV.
The cinema of Bangladesh dates back to a screening of a bioscope in 1898. Picture House, the first permanent cinema in Dhaka, began its operation during the year between 1913 and 1914.Cuisine
Bangladeshi cuisine, formed by its geographic location and climate, is rich and diverse; sharing its culinary heritage with the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal. The staple dish is white rice, which along with fish, forms the culinary base. Varieties of leaf vegetables, potatoes, gourds and lentils (dal) also play an important role. Curries of beef, mutton, chicken and duck are commonly consumed, along with multiple types of bhortas (mashed vegetables), bhajis (stir fried vegetables) and tarkaris (curried vegetables). Lobsters, shrimps and dried fish (shutki) also play an important role, with the chingri malai curry being a famous shrimp dish. In Sylhet, the shatkora lemons are used to marinate dishes, a notable one is beef hatkora. Khulna is renowned for using chui jhal (piper chaba) in its meat-based dishes. Pithas are traditional boiled desserts made with rice or fruits. Halwa, shemai and falooda, the latter two being a variation of vermicelli; are popular desserts during religious festivities. Ruti, naan, paratha, luchi and bakarkhani are the main local breads. Borhani, mattha and lassi are popular traditionally consumed beverages. Kebabs are widely popular, particularly seekh kebab, chapli kebab, shami kebab, chicken tikka and shashlik, along with various types of chaaps. samosa and fuchka.Sports
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In rural Bangladesh, several traditional indigenous sports such as Kabaddi, Boli Khela, Lathi Khela and Nouka Baich remain fairly popular. While Kabaddi is the national sport, Cricket is the most popular sport in the country. The national cricket team participated in their first Cricket World Cup in 1999 and the following year was granted Test cricket status. Bangladesh reached the quarter-final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the semi-final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and they reached the final of the Asia Cup 3 times – in 2012, 2016, and 2018. Shakib Al Hasan is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the sport. In 2020, the Bangladesh national under-19 cricket team won the men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The Bangladesh national under-19 cricket team also won the U-19 Asia cup in 2023 and 2024 consecutively. In 2018, the Bangladesh women's national cricket team won the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup.
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Football is the second-most popular sport in Bangladesh, following cricket. The first instance of a national football team was the emergence of the Shadhin Bangla football team during the liberation war of 1971. On 25 July 1971, the team's captain, Zakaria Pintoo, became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign land before their match in neighboring India. Following independence, the national football team made its debut in 1973 and eventually achieved the feat of participating in the AFC Asian Cup (1980), becoming only the second South Asian team to do so. Bangladesh's most notable achievements in football include the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup and 1999 South Asian Games. The Bangladesh women's national football team won the SAFF Women's Championship consecutively in 2022 and 2024.
Bangladesh archers Ety Khatun and Roman Sana won several gold medals winning all the 10 archery events (both individual and team events) in the 2019 South Asian Games. The National Sports Council regulates 42 sporting federations. Chess is very popular in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has five grandmasters in chess. Among them, Niaz Murshed was the first grandmaster in South Asia. In 2010, mountain climber Musa Ibrahim became the first Bangladeshi climber to conquer Mount Everest. Wasfia Nazreen is the first Bangladeshi climber to climb the Seven Summits and the K2.See also
* Index of Bangladesh-related articles
* Outline of Bangladesh
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
* Ahmed, Nizam. The Parliament of Bangladesh (Routledge, 2018).
* |publisherColumbia University Press |isbn978-0-231-70143-3}}
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* Baxter, Craig. Bangladesh: From a nation to a state (Routledge, 2018).
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* Hasnat, GN Tanjina, Md Alamgir Kabir, and Md Akhter Hossain. "Major environmental issues and problems of South Asia, particularly Bangladesh." Handbook of environmental materials management (2018): 1-40. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/G_N_Hasnat/publication/323264078_Major_Environmental_Issues_and_Problems_of_South_Asia_Particularly_Bangladesh/links/5e7c678fa6fdcc139c04692f/Major-Environmental-Issues-and-Problems-of-South-Asia-Particularly-Bangladesh.pdf online]
* Iftekhar Iqbal (2010) The Bengal Delta: Ecology, State and Social Change, 1840–1943 (Palgrave Macmillan)
* Islam, Saiful, and Md Ziaur Rahman Khan. "A review of the energy sector of Bangladesh." Energy Procedia 110 (2017): 611–618. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217302230/pdf?md5762df35a45d6d280234429fc79ec79bd&pid1-s2.0-S1876610217302230-main.pdf online]
* Jannuzi, F. Tomasson, and James T. Peach. The agrarian structure of Bangladesh: An impediment to development (Routledge, 2019).
*
* |publisherDuke University Press |isbn978-0-8223-5949-4}}
* M. Mufakharul Islam (edited) (2004) Socio-Economic History of Bangladesh: essays in memory of Professor Shafiqur Rahman, 1st Edition, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh,
* M. Mufakharul Islam (2007) Bengal Agriculture 1920–1946: A Quantitative Study (Cambridge University Press),
* Prodhan, Mohit. "The educational system in Bangladesh and scope for improvement." Journal of International Social Issues 4.1 (2016): 11–23. [https://www.winona.edu/socialwork/Media/Prodhan%20The%20Educational%20System%20in%20Bangladesh%20and%20Scope%20for%20Improvement.pdf online]
*
*
* Riaz, Ali. Bangladesh: A political history since independence (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016).
*
*
*
* Shelley, Israt J., et al. "Rice cultivation in Bangladesh: present scenario, problems, and prospects." Journal of International Cooperation for Agricultural Development 14.4 (2016): 20–29. [http://icrea.agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp/jpn/journal/Vol14_20-29-Review-Shelley.pdf online]
* Sirajul Islam (edited) (1997) History of Bangladesh 1704–1971(Three Volumes: Vol 1: Political History, Vol 2: Economic History Vol 3: Social and Cultural History), 2nd Edition (Revised New Edition), The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh,
* Sirajul Islam (Chief Editor) (2003) Banglapedia: A National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.(10 Vols. Set), (written by 1300 scholars & 22 editors) The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh,
*
*
*
* Van Schendel, Willem. A history of Bangladesh (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
*
*
External links
Government
*
* [http://bida.portal.gov.bd/ Official Site of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority]
General information
*
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bangladesh/ Bangladesh]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12650940 Bangladesh] from the BBC News
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081026124922/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/bangladesh.htm Bangladesh] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
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* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BD Key Development Forecasts for Bangladesh] from International Futures
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Category:Bengal
Category:Countries in Asia
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Category:Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
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Category:Least developed countries
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Category:Member states of the BRICS Development Bank | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.050595 |
3455 | Barbados | }}
| ethnic_groups_year 2020
| population_estimate_rank = 174th
| population_estimate_year = 2023
| population_census 269,090
| population_census_rank = 174th
| population_census_year = 2021
| population_density_km2 = 660
| population_density_sq_mi = 1,704<!--Do not remove per WP:MOSNUM-->
| population_density_rank = 17th
| GDP_PPP $5.436 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2023
| GDP_PPP_rank = 175th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $18,738
| HDI_rank = 62nd
| currency = Barbadian dollar ($)
| currency_code = BBD
| time_zone = AST
| utc_offset = −04:00
| drives_on Left
| calling_code = +1 -246
| cctld = .bb
}}
Barbados ; ; }} is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles region of the West Indies. Despite not bordering the Caribbean Sea, it is considered to be part of the Caribbean region and is therefore the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. It lies on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown. It was colonized by the British and forms part of the Commonwealth.
Inhabited by Kalinago people since the 13th century, and prior to that by other Indigenous peoples, Barbados was claimed for the Crown of Castile by Spanish navigators in the late 15th century. It first appeared on a Spanish map in 1511. The Portuguese Empire claimed the island between 1532 and 1536, but abandoned it in 1620 with their only remnants being the introduction of wild boars to supply of meat whenever the island was visited. An English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados on 14 May 1625; its men took possession of the island in the name of King James I. In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and Barbados became an English and later British colony. During this period, the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying on the labour of African slaves who worked on the island's plantations. Slavery continued until it was phased out through most of the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
On 30 November 1966, Barbados moved toward political independence and assumed the status of a Commonwealth realm, becoming a separate jurisdiction with Elizabeth II as the Queen of Barbados. On 30 November 2021, Barbados transitioned to a republic within the Commonwealth, replacing its monarchy with a ceremonial president.
Barbados's population is predominantly of African ancestry. While it is technically an Atlantic island, Barbados is closely associated with the Caribbean and is ranked as one of its leading tourist destinations.
Etymology
The name "Barbados" is from either the Portuguese term or the Spanish equivalent, , both meaning "the bearded ones". It is unclear whether "bearded" refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (Ficus citrifolia), a species of banyan indigenous to the island, or to the allegedly bearded Kalinago (Island Caribs) who once inhabited the island, or, more fancifully, to a visual impression of a beard formed by the sea foam that sprays over the outlying coral reefs. In 1519, a map produced by the Genoese mapmaker Visconte Maggiolo showed and named Barbados in its correct position. Furthermore, the island of Barbuda in the Leewards is very similar in name and was once named "" by the Spanish.
The original name for Barbados in the Pre-Columbian era was , according to accounts by descendants of the Indigenous Arawakan-speaking tribes in other regional areas, with possible translations including "Red land with white teeth" or "Redstone island with teeth outside (reefs)" or simply "Teeth".
Colloquially, Barbadians refer to their home island as "Bim" or other nicknames associated with Barbados, including "Bimshire". The origin is uncertain, but several theories exist. The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados says that "Bim" was a word commonly used by slaves, and that it derives from the Igbo term from meaning "my home, kindred, kind"; the Igbo phoneme in the Igbo orthography is very close to . The name could have arisen due to the relatively large percentage of Igbo slaves from modern-day southeastern Nigeria arriving in Barbados in the 18th century. The words "Bim" and "Bimshire" are recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary and Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionaries. Another possible source for "Bim" is reported to be in the Agricultural Reporter of 25 April 1868, where the Rev. N. Greenidge (father of one of the island's most famous scholars, Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge) suggested that Bimshire was "introduced by an old planter listing it as a county of England". Expressly named were "Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Bimshire". Dozens of inland sea reefs still dominate coastal features within terraces and cliffs on the island. More permanent Amerindian settlement of Barbados dates to about the 4th to 7th centuries AD, by a group known as the Saladoid-Barrancoid. Settlements of Arawaks from South America appeared by around 800 AD and again in the 12th–13th century. European arrival It is uncertain which European nation arrived first in Barbados, which probably would have been at some point in the 15th century or 16th century. One lesser-known source points to earlier revealed works antedating contemporary sources, indicating it could have been the Spanish. were the first Europeans to come upon the island. The island was largely ignored by Europeans, though Spanish slave raiding is thought to have reduced the native population, with many fleeing to other islands.
English settlement in the 17th century
was visited by George Washington in 1751, in what is believed to have been his only trip outside the present-day United States.]]
The first English ship, which had arrived on 14 May 1625, was captained by John Powell. The first settlement began on 17 February 1627, near what is now Holetown (formerly Jamestown, after King James I of England), by a group led by John Powell's younger brother, Henry, consisting of 80 settlers and 10 English indentured labourers. Some sources state that some Africans were among these first settlers. Courten's title was later transferred to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, in what was called the "Great Barbados Robbery". Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Powell, who established the House of Assembly in 1639, in an effort to appease the planters, who might otherwise have opposed his controversial appointment.
In the period 1640–1660, the West Indies attracted more than two-thirds of the total number of English emigrants to the Americas. By 1650, there were 44,000 settlers in the West Indies, as compared to 12,000 on the Chesapeake and 23,000 in New England. Most English arrivals were indentured. After five years of labour, they were given "freedom dues" of about £10, usually in goods. Before the mid-1630s, they also received of land, but after that time the island filled and there was no more free land. During the Cromwellian era (1650s) this included a large number of prisoners-of-war, vagrants and people who were illicitly kidnapped, who were forcibly transported to the island and sold as servants. These last two groups were predominantly Irish, as several thousand were infamously rounded up by English merchants and sold into servitude in Barbados and other Caribbean islands during this period, a practice that came to be known as being Barbadosed. Cultivation of sugar was thus handled primarily by European indentured labour until it became difficult to bring more indentured servants from England.
Parish registers from the 1650s show that, for the white population, there were four times as many deaths as marriages. The mainstay of the infant colony's economy was the growth export of tobacco, but tobacco prices eventually fell in the 1630s as Chesapeake production expanded. The conditions of the surrender were incorporated into the Charter of Barbados (Treaty of Oistins), which was signed at the Mermaid's Inn, Oistins, on 17 January 1652. Irish people in Barbados
Starting with Cromwell, a large percentage of the white labourer population were indentured servants and involuntarily transported people from Ireland. Irish servants in Barbados were often treated poorly, and Barbadian planters gained a reputation for cruelty. The decreased appeal of an indenture on Barbados, combined with enormous demand for labour caused by sugar cultivation, led to the use of involuntary transportation to Barbados as a punishment for crimes, or for political prisoners, and also to the kidnapping of labourers who were deported to Barbados. According to historian Thomas Bartlett, it is "generally accepted" that approximately 10,000 Irish were deported to the West Indies and approximately 40,000 came as voluntary indentured servants, while many also travelled as voluntary, un-indentured emigrants. The sugar revolution The introduction of sugar cane from Dutch Brazil in 1640 completely transformed society, the economy and the physical landscape. Barbados eventually had one of the world's biggest sugar industries. One group instrumental in ensuring the early success of the industry was the Sephardic Jews, who had originally been expelled from the Iberian peninsula, to end up in Dutch Brazil. The law's text was influential in laws in other colonies.
By 1680 there were 20,000 free whites and 46,000 enslaved Africans; Growing opposition to slavery led to its abolition in the British Empire in 1833. In 1854, a cholera epidemic killed more than 20,000 inhabitants.
20th century before independence
Deep dissatisfaction with the situation on Barbados led many to emigrate. Things came to a head in the 1930s during the Great Depression, as Barbadians began demanding better conditions for workers, the legalisation of trade unions and a widening of the franchise, which at that point was limited to male property owners. He became the first Premier of Barbados in 1953, followed by fellow BLP-founder Hugh Gordon Cummins from 1958 to 1961. A group of left-leaning politicians who advocated swifter moves to independence broke off from the BLP and founded the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in 1955. The DLP subsequently won the 1961 Barbadian general election and their leader Errol Barrow became premier.
Full internal self-government was enacted in 1961. Post-independence era The Barrow government sought to diversify the economy away from agriculture, seeking to boost industry and the tourism sector. Barbados was also at the forefront of regional integration efforts, spearheading the creation of CARIFTA and CARICOM. Adams died in office in 1985 and was replaced by Harold Bernard St. John; however, St. John lost the 1986 Barbadian general election, which saw the return of the DLP under Errol Barrow, who had been highly critical of the US intervention in Grenada. Barrow, too, died in office, and was replaced by Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, who remained Prime Minister until 1994.
Owen Arthur of the BLP won the 1994 Barbadian general election, remaining prime minister until 2008. Arthur was a strong advocate of republicanism, though a planned referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth as Head of State in 2008 never took place. The DLP won the 2008 Barbadian general election, but the new Prime Minister David Thompson died in 2010 and was replaced by Freundel Stuart. The BLP returned to power in 2018 under Mia Mottley, who became Barbados's first female prime minister.
Transition to republic
The Government of Barbados announced on 15 September 2020 that it intended to become a republic by 30 November 2021, the 55th anniversary of its independence, resulting in the replacement of the Barbadian monarchy with a president elected through electoral college. Barbados would then cease to be a Commonwealth realm, but could maintain membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
On 20 September 2021, just over a full year after the announcement for the transition was made, the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 was introduced to the Parliament of Barbados. Passed on 6 October, the Bill made amendments to the Constitution of Barbados, introducing the office of the president of Barbados to replace the role of Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados. The following week, on 12 October 2021, incumbent Governor-General of Barbados Sandra Mason was jointly nominated by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition as candidate to be the first president of Barbados, and was subsequently elected on 20 October. Mason took office on 30 November 2021. Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the Barbadian Crown at the time, attended the swearing-in ceremony in Bridgetown at the invitation of the Government of Barbados.
Queen Elizabeth sent a message of congratulations to President Mason and the people of Barbados, saying: "As you celebrate this momentous day, I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future."
A survey that was conducted between 23 October 2021 and 10 November 2021, by the University of the West Indies showed 34% of respondents being in favour of transitioning to a republic, while 30% were indifferent. Notably, no overall majority was found in the survey; with 24% not indicating a preference and the remaining 12% being opposed to the removal of Queen Elizabeth.
On 20 June 2022, a Constitutional Review Commission was formed and sworn in by Jeffrey Gibson (who at the time was serving temporarily as Acting President of Barbados) to review the Constitution of Barbados.
The commission was given a 15-month timeline to complete its work, which included consulting the public about the new republic and drafting a constitution. Thus, the CRC engaged the public in a number of public meetings, lectures, and Twitter Spaces. The report was announced delayed by August 2023, with the final report submitted 30 June 2024. Geography and climate
Barbados is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the other West Indies Islands. Barbados is the easternmost island in the Lesser Antilles. It is long and up to wide, covering an area of . It lies about east of both the countries of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; south-east of Martinique and north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. It is flat in comparison to its island neighbours to the west, the Windward Islands. The island rises gently to the central highland region known as Scotland District, with the highest point being Mount Hillaby above sea level.
In the parish of Saint Michael lies Barbados's capital and main city, Bridgetown, containing one third of the country's population. The subduction of the South American Plate beneath the Caribbean Plate scrapes sediment from the South American Plate and deposits it above the subduction zone forming an accretionary prism. The rate of this depositing of material allows Barbados to rise at a rate of about per 1,000 years. This subduction means geologically the island is composed of coral roughly thick, where reefs formed above the sediment. The land slopes in a series of "terraces" in the west and goes into an incline in the east. A large proportion of the island is circled by coral reefs. or Pico de Tenerife, which is named after the fact that the island of Tenerife in Spain is the first land east of Barbados according to the belief of the locals. Climate
]]
The country generally experiences two seasons, one of which includes noticeably higher rainfall. Known as the "wet season", this period runs from June to December. By contrast, the "dry season" runs from December to May. Annual precipitation ranges between .
From December to May the average temperatures range from , while between June and November, they range from .
On the Köppen climate classification scale, much of Barbados is regarded as a tropical monsoon climate (Am). However, breezes of abound throughout the year and give Barbados a climate which is moderately tropical.
Infrequent natural hazards include earthquakes, landslips, and hurricanes. Barbados lies outside the Main Development Region for tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic, and is often spared the worst effects of the region's storms during the rainy season. On average, a major hurricane makes landfall in Barbados about once every 26 years. The last significant hit from a hurricane to cause severe damage to Barbados was Hurricane Janet in 1955; in 2010 the island was struck by Hurricane Tomas, but this caused only minor damage across the country as it was only at Tropical Storm strength at the time of impact.
Environmental issues
]]
Barbados is susceptible to environmental pressures. As one of the world's most densely populated isles, the government worked during the 1990s to aggressively integrate the growing south coast of the island into the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant to reduce contamination of offshore coral reefs. As of the first decade of the 21st century, a second treatment plant has been proposed along the island's west coast. Being so densely populated, Barbados has made great efforts to protect its underground aquifers.
As a coral-limestone island, Barbados is highly permeable to seepage of surface water into the earth. The government has placed great emphasis on protecting the catchment areas that lead directly into the huge network of underground aquifers and streams.
The government has placed a huge emphasis on keeping Barbados clean with the aim of protecting the environment and preserving offshore coral reefs which surround the island. Many initiatives to mitigate human pressures on the coastal regions of Barbados and seas come from the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU). Barbados has nearly of coral reefs just offshore and two protected marine parks have been established off the west coast. Overfishing is another threat which faces Barbados.
Although on the opposite side of the Atlantic, and some west of Africa, Barbados is one of many places in the American continent that experience heightened levels of mineral dust from the Sahara Desert. Some particularly intense dust episodes have been blamed partly for the impacts on the health of coral reefs surrounding Barbados or asthmatic episodes, but evidence has not wholly supported the former claim.
Access to biocapacity in Barbados is much lower than world average. In 2016, Barbados had 0.17 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Barbados used 0.84 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use approximately five times as much biocapacity as Barbados contains. As a result, Barbados is running a biocapacity deficit. The driving of vehicles on beaches can crush nests buried in the sand and such activity is discouraged in nesting areas.
Barbados is also the host to the green monkey. The green monkey is found in West Africa from Senegal to the Volta River. It has been introduced to the Cape Verde islands off north-western Africa, and the West Indian islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis, Saint Martin, and Barbados. It was introduced to the West Indies in the late 17th century when slave trade ships travelled to the Caribbean from West Africa. The green monkey is considered a very curious and mischievous/troublesome animal by locals. Demographics
The 2010 national census conducted by the Barbados Statistical Service reported a resident population of 277,821, of which 144,803 were female and 133,018 were male.
The life expectancy for Barbados residents is 80 years. The average life expectancy is 83 years for females and 79 years for males (2020).
The crude birth rate is 12.23 births per 1,000 people, and the crude death rate is 8.39 deaths per 1,000 people. The infant mortality rate was 11.057 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021, according to UNICEF.
Ethnicity
Close to 90% of all Barbadians (also known colloquially as "Bajan") are of Afro-Caribbean ancestry ("Afro-Bajans") and mixed ancestry. The remainder of the population includes groups of Europeans ("Anglo-Bajans" / "Euro-Bajans") mainly from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, and Italy. Other European groups consisted of the French, Austrians, Spaniards, and Russians. Asians, predominantly from Hong Kong and India (both Hindu and Muslim) make up less than 1% of the population.
Other groups in Barbados include people from the United States and Canada. Barbadians who return after years of residence in the United States and children born in America to Bajan parents are called "Bajan Yankees", a term considered derogatory by some. Generally, Bajans recognise and accept all "children of the island" as Bajans, and refer to each other as such.
The biggest communities outside the Afro-Caribbean community are:
# The Indo-Guyanese, an important part of the economy due to the increase of immigrants from partner country Guyana. There are reports of a growing Indo-Bajans diaspora originating from Guyana and India starting around 1990. Predominantly from southern India, they are growing in size but are smaller than the equivalent communities in Trinidad and Guyana.
# Euro-Bajans (5% of the population) have settled in Barbados since the 17th century, originating from England, Ireland, Portugal, and Scotland. In 1643, there were 37,200 whites in Barbados (86% of the population). More commonly they are known as "White Bajans". Euro-Bajans introduced folk music, such as Irish music and Highland music, and certain place names, such as "Scotland District", a hilly region in the parish of St. Andrew. Among White Barbadians there exists an underclass known as Redlegs comprising followers of the Duke of Monmouth after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor, as well as the descendants of Irish indentured labourers and prisoners imported to the island. Many additionally moved on to become the earliest settlers of modern-day North and South Carolina in the United States. Today the Redlegs number only around 400.
# Chinese-Barbadians are a small portion of Barbados's wider Asian population. Tombstones in the neighbouring cemetery date from the 1630s. Now under the care of the Barbados National Trust, the site was deserted in 1929 but was saved and restored by the Jewish community beginning in 1986.
# In the 17th century, Romani people were sent from the United Kingdom to work as slaves in the plantations in Barbados.
Languages
English is the official language of Barbados, and is used for communications, administration, and public services all over the island. In its capacity as the official language of the country, the standard of English tends to conform to vocabulary, pronunciations, spellings, and conventions akin to, but not exactly the same as, those of British English. For most people, however, Bajan Creole is the language of everyday life. It does not have a standardised written form, but it is used by over 90% of the population. Religion
, Bridgetown]]
Christianity is the largest religion in Barbados, with the largest denomination being Anglican (23.9% of the population in 2019). Other Christian denominations with significant followings in Barbados are the Catholic Church (administered by Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown), Pentecostals (19.5%), Jehovah's Witnesses, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Spiritual Baptists. As of 2019, 21% of Barbadians report having no religion, making the non-religious the second largest group after Anglicans. and Judaism.
Government and politics
in Bridgetown]]
Barbados has been an independent country since 30 November 1966. It functions as a parliamentary republic modelled on the British Westminster system. The head of state is the President of Barbados – presently Sandra Mason – elected by the Parliament of Barbados for a term of four years, and advised on matters of the Barbadian state by the Prime Minister of Barbados, who is head of government. There are 30 representatives within the House of Assembly, the lower chamber of Parliament. In the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament, there are 21 senators.
The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the country. Legislation is passed by the Parliament of Barbados but does not have the force of law unless the President grants her assent to that law. The right to withhold assent is absolute and cannot be overridden by Parliament. The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary.
During the 1990s, at the suggestion of Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, Barbados attempted a political union with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The project stalled after the then prime minister of Barbados, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, became ill and his Democratic Labour Party lost the next general election. Barbados continues to share close ties with Trinidad and Tobago and with Guyana, claiming the highest number of Guyanese immigrants after the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Barbados is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Political culture
Barbados functions as a two-party system. The dominant political parties are the Democratic Labour Party and the incumbent Barbados Labour Party. Since independence on 30 November 1966, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has governed from 1966 to 1976; 1986 to 1994; and from 2008 to 2018; and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has governed from 1976 to 1986; 1994 to 2008; and from 2018 to present.
Foreign relations
Barbados follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states. Barbados is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). In 2005, Barbados replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal.
Barbados has been a member of The Forum of Small States (FOSS) since the group's founding in 1992.
World Trade Organization, European Commission, CARIFORUM
Barbados is an original member (1995) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and participates actively in its work. It grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. European Union relations and cooperation with Barbados are carried out both on a bilateral and a regional basis. Barbados is party to the Cotonou Agreement, through which, , it is linked by an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Commission. The pact involves the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) subgroup of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). CARIFORUM is the only part of the wider ACP-bloc that has concluded the full regional trade-pact with the European Union. There are also ongoing EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and EU-CARIFORUM dialogues.
Trade policy has also sought to protect a small number of domestic activities, mostly food production, from foreign competition, while recognising that most domestic needs are best met by imports. Military and law enforcement The Barbados Defence Force has roughly 800 members. Within it, service members aged 14 to 18 years make up the Barbados Cadet Corps. The defence preparations of the island nation are closely tied to defence treaties with the United Kingdom, the United States, the People's Republic of China, and other eastern Caribbean countries.
The Barbados Police Service is the sole law enforcement agency on the island of Barbados. Administrative divisions
Barbados is divided into 11 parishes:
{|
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# Christ Church
# Saint Andrew
# Saint George
# Saint James
# Saint John
# Saint Joseph
# Saint Lucy
# Saint Michael
# Saint Peter
# Saint Philip
# Saint Thomas
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|}
Economy
Barbados is the 52nd richest country in the world in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, with a well-developed mixed economy and a moderately high standard of living. According to the World Bank, Barbados is one of 83 high income economies in the world. Despite this, a 2012 self-study in conjunction with the Caribbean Development Bank revealed that 20% of Barbadians live in poverty and nearly 10% cannot meet their basic daily food needs. Barbados was ranked 77th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.
Historically, the economy of Barbados was dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but since the late 1970s and early 1980s it has diversified into the manufacturing and tourism sectors.
Partly due to the staging of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the island saw a construction boom, with the development and redevelopment of hotels, office complexes, and homes. This slowed during the 2008 to 2012 world economic crisis and the recession.
The economy was strong between 1999 and 2000 but entered a recession in 2001 and 2002 due to decreases in tourism and consumer spending and the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States and the 7 July 2005 London bombings in the United Kingdom. The economy rebounded in 2003 and grew from 2004 to 2008. The economy went into recession again from 2008 to 2013 before growing from 2014 to 2017. Then it declined to another recession from 2017 to 2019 during the world economic crisis. There were 23 downgrades by both Standard & Poor's and Moody's in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The economy showed signs of recovery with 3 upgrades from Standard and Poor's and Moody's in 2019. From 1 January to 31 March 2020 the economy had started to grow, but then it experienced another decline due to the COVID-19 economic recession.
Traditional trading partners include Canada, the Caribbean Community (especially Trinidad and Tobago), the United Kingdom, and the United States. Recent government administrations have continued efforts to reduce unemployment, encourage foreign direct investment, and privatise remaining state-owned enterprises. Unemployment dropped to 10.7% in 2003.
The European Union is assisting Barbados with a program of modernisation of the country's International Business and Financial Services Sector.
Barbados maintains the third largest stock exchange in the Caribbean region. , officials at the stock exchange were investigating the possibility of augmenting the local exchange with an International Securities Market (ISM) venture. Sovereign default and restructuring By May 2018, Barbados's outstanding debt had climbed to , more than 1.7 times the country's GDP. In June 2018 the government defaulted on its sovereign debt when it failed to make a coupon on Eurobonds maturing in 2035. Outstanding bond debt of Barbados reached .
In October 2019, Barbados concluded restructuring negotiations with a creditor group including investments funds Eaton Vance Management, Greylock Capital Management, Teachers Advisors, and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry. Creditors will exchange existing bonds for a new debt series maturing in 2029. The new bonds involve a principal "haircut" of approximately 26% and include a clause allowing for deferment of principal and capitalisation of interest in the event of a natural disaster.
Health
The main hospital on the island is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital; however, Barbados has eight polyclinics across five parishes. There are also well-known medical care centres in Barbados such as Bayview Hospital, Sandy Crest Medical Centre and FMH Emergency Medical Clinic, and Urgent Care. Education
]]
The Barbados literacy rate is ranked close to 100%.
The largest carnival-like cultural event that takes place on the island is the Crop Over festival, which was established in 1974. As in many other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Crop Over is an important event for many people on the island, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to there to participate in the annual events. Crop Over gets under way at the beginning of July and ends with the costumed parade on Kadooment Day, held on the first Monday of August. New calypso/soca music is usually released and played more frequently from the beginning of May to coincide with the start of the festival. Art Barbadian art has evolved over the centuries, influenced by the island's complex history, which includes Indigenous cultures, colonial periods, and the subsequent emergence of a vibrant post-colonial identity. The interplay of African, European, and Caribbean influences has given rise to a unique artistic heritage that continues to inspire contemporary artists.
The latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st century witnessed a cultural renaissance in Barbadian art now documented by Raskal Magazine. Artists began to explore diverse mediums and techniques, blending traditional practices with contemporary expressions. This period of experimentation contributed to the dynamic and multifaceted nature of Barbadian art, reflecting the island's openness to cultural exchange and adaptation.
Barbadian artists, mindful of their place within the global art community, began to engage with international artistic trends. This global perspective led to a cross-pollination of ideas, as artists drew inspiration from diverse sources while simultaneously contributing to the broader discourse on Caribbean and diasporic art.
Media
* Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
Cuisine
visitors centre]]
Bajan cuisine is a mixture of African, Indian, Irish, Creole and British influences. A typical meal consists of a main dish of meat or fish, normally marinated with a mixture of herbs and spices, hot side dishes, and one or more salads. A common Bajan side dish could be pickled cucumber, fish cakes, bake, etc. The meal is usually served with one or more sauces. The national dish of Barbados is cou-cou and flying fish with spicy gravy. Another traditional meal is pudding and souse, a dish of pickled pork with spiced sweet potatoes. A wide variety of seafood and meats are also available.
The Mount Gay Rum visitor's centre in Barbados claims to be the world's oldest remaining rum company, with the earliest confirmed deed from 1703. Cockspur Rum and Malibu are also from the island. Barbados is home to the Banks Barbados Brewery, which brews Banks Beer, a pale lager, as well as Banks Amber Ale. Banks also brews Tiger Malt, a non-alcoholic malted beverage. 10 Saints beer is brewed in Speightstown, St. Peter in Barbados and aged for 90 days in Mount Gay 'Special Reserve' Rum casks. It was first brewed in 2009 and is available in certain Caricom nations.
Music
Rihanna, a native of Barbados, is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, selling over 200 million records worldwide.]]
In 2021, Rihanna was appointed as a National Hero of the country by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, during its presidential inauguration, which served to mark the country becoming a republic
Sports
As in other Caribbean countries of British colonial heritage, cricket is very popular on the island. The West Indies cricket team usually includes several Barbadian players. In addition to several warm-up, group stage and few "Super Eight" matches, the country hosted the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Barbados has produced many great cricketers including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Gordon Greenidge, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Joel Garner, Desmond Haynes and Malcolm Marshall.
In Track and Field, sprinter Obadele Thompson won a bronze medal in the 100m at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. As of August 2022, he was the first Olympics medalist in the Barbados.
Ryan Brathwaite won a gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.
Rugby is also popular in Barbados.
Horse racing takes place at the Historic Garrison Savannah close to Bridgetown. Spectators can pay for admission to the stands. Admission to the Grand Stand costs between US$2.50 and US$5.00.
Basketball is an increasingly popular sport, played at school or college. The Barbados men's national team has additionally shown some international success, including a fifth-place finish in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Polo is very popular among the rich elite on the island and the "High-Goal" Apes Hill team is based at the St James's Club.
in Bridgetown hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup final. Cricket is one of the most followed games in Barbados and Kensington Oval is often referred to as the "Mecca in Cricket" due to its significance and contributions to the sport.]]
In golf, the Barbados Open, played at Royal Westmoreland Golf Club, was an annual stop on the European Seniors Tour from 2000 to 2009. In December 2006 the WGC-World Cup took place at the country's Sandy Lane resort on the Country Club course, an 18-hole course designed by Tom Fazio. The Barbados Golf Club is another course on the island.
Volleyball is also popular and is mainly played indoors.
Tennis is gaining popularity and Barbados is home to Darian King, who has achieved a career-high ranking of 106 in May 2017 and has played in the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2017 US Open.
Motorsports also play a role, with Rally Barbados occurring each summer and being listed on the FIA NACAM calendar. Also, the Bushy Park Circuit hosted the Race of Champions in 2014.
The presence of the trade winds along with favourable swells make the southern tip of the island an ideal location for wave sailing (an extreme form of the sport of windsurfing).
Barbados also hosts several international surfing competitions.
Netball is also popular with women in Barbados.
Several players in the National Football League (NFL) are from Barbados, including Robert Bailey, Roger Farmer, Elvis Joseph, Ramon Harewood and Sam Seale.
Each March, the Barbados Surf Pro surfing contest is held in Bathsheba. It is the season-ending event for the World Surf League's North American qualifying series.
Transport
Although Barbados is about across at its widest point, a car journey from Six Cross Roads in St. Philip (south-east) to North Point in St. Lucy (north-central) can take one and a half hours or longer due to traffic. Barbados has half as many registered cars as citizens. In Barbados, drivers drive on the left side of the road.
Barbados is known for its many roundabouts. One famous roundabout is located east of Bridgetown and holds the Emancipation Statue of the slave Bussa.
Transport on the island is relatively convenient with "route taxis" called "ZRs" (pronounced "Zed-Rs") travelling to most points on the island. These small buses can at times be crowded, as passengers are generally never turned down regardless of the number. They will usually take the more scenic routes to destinations. They generally depart from the capital Bridgetown or from Speightstown in the northern part of the island.
Including the ZRs, there are three bus systems running seven days a week (though less frequently on Sundays). There are ZRs, the yellow minibuses and the blue Transport Board buses. A ride on any of them costs . The smaller buses from the two privately owned systems ("ZRs" and "minibuses") can give change; the larger blue buses from the government-operated Barbados Transport Board system cannot, but do give receipts. The Barbados Transport Board buses travel in regular bus routes and scheduled timetables across Barbados. Schoolchildren in school uniform including some Secondary schools ride for free on the government buses and for on the ZRs. Most routes require a connection in Bridgetown. Barbados Transport Board's headquarters are located at Kay's House, Roebuck Street, St. Michael, and the bus depots and terminals are located in the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal in Fairchild Street and the Princess Alice Bus Terminal (which was formerly the Lower Green Bus Terminal in Jubilee Gardens, Bridgetown, St. Michael) in Princess Alice Highway, Bridgetown, St. Michael; the Speightstown Bus Terminal in Speightstown, St. Peter; the Oistins Bus Depot in Oistins, Christ Church; and the Mangrove Bus Depot in Mangrove, St. Philip. In July 2020, the Barbados Transport Board received 33 BYD electric buses which were obtained not only to add to the ageing fleet of diesel buses but also to assist the Government in their goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
Some hotels also provide visitors with shuttles to points of interest on the island from outside the hotel lobby. There are several locally owned and operated vehicle rental agencies in Barbados but there are no multi-national companies.
The island's lone airport is the Grantley Adams International Airport. It receives daily flights by several major airlines from points around the globe, as well as several smaller regional commercial airlines and charters. The airport serves as a southern air-transportation hub for the Caribbean. It underwent a upgrade and expansion from 2003 to 2006. In 2023, it began conversion of its former Concorde terminal and museum to a new departure terminal, and in December 2023, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced the negotiations for a for additional airport development.
The Bridgetown seaport is the primary port of call for commercial container and cruise traffic. Maritime traffic is managed by the Barbados Port Inc., formally Barbados Port Authority.
Until 2009 when Bajan Helicopter closed their doors, they offered helicopter shuttle services. Air traffic is managed by the Barbados Civil Aviation Department.
See also
* Outline of Barbados
* Index of Barbados-related articles
* Barbadian people
* List of people from Barbados
* List of Barbadian Americans
* List of Barbadian Britons
Notes
References
Further reading
* Burns, Sir Alan, History of the British West Indies. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1965.
* Davis, David Brion. Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
* Frere, Samuel, [https://archive.org/download/shorthistoryofba00john/shorthistoryofba00john.pdf A Short History of Barbados: From its First Discovery and Settlement, to the End of the Year 1767.] London: J. Dodsley, 1768.
* Gragg, Larry Dale, Englishmen transplanted: The English Colonization of Barbados, 1627–1660. Oxford University Press, 2003.
* Hamshere, Cyril, The British in the Caribbean. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972.
* Newman, Simon P. A New World of Labor: The Development of Slavery in the British Atlantic. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
* Northrup, David, ed. The Atlantic Slave Trade, Second Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
* O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson, An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
* Rogozinski, January 1999. A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and Carib to the Present. Revised version, New York, USA.
* Scott, Caroline 1999. Insight Guide Barbados. Discovery Channel and Insight Guides; fourth edition, Singapore.
* External links
*
* [https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/ Government of Barbados Official Information Service]
* [https://www.royal.uk/barbados Official webpage of Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados]
* [https://www.barbadosparliament.com/ Parliament of Barbados official website]
* [https://www.visitbarbados.org/ Barbados Tourism Authority]—The Ministry of Tourism
* [http://www.centralbank.org.bb/ Central Bank of Barbados website]
* [https://www.barbadoschamberofcommerce.com/ Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry] (BCC&I)
* [https://exportbarbados.org/ Barbados Investment and Development Corporation]
* [https://barbadosmaritime.org/ Barbados Maritime Ship Registry]
* [http://www.barbmuse.org.bb/ Barbados Museum & Historical Society]
General information
*
*
Geographic locale
|list Lat. Long.
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Category:Countries in the Caribbean
Category:Leeward Islands (Caribbean)
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Category:British Leeward Islands
Category:Former Commonwealth realms
Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas
Category:Former English colonies
Category:Former Portuguese colonies
Category:Portuguese colonization of the Americas
Category:Islands of Barbados
Category:Member states of the Caribbean Community
Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:Small Island Developing States
Category:1620s establishments in the Caribbean
Category:1627 establishments in North America
Category:1627 establishments in the British Empire
Category:States and territories established in 1966
Category:1960s establishments in the Caribbean
Category:1966 establishments in North America
Category:Former monarchies of North America
Category:Countries in North America
Category:Island countries
Category:Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.118527 |
3456 | Bassas da India | |national_anthem = "La Marseillaise"
}}
|area_km2 |length_km
|width_km |width_mi
|coastline_km |country
|country_admin_divisions_title = Overseas territory
|country_admin_divisions = French Southern and Antarctic Lands
|country_admin_divisions_title_1 = District
|country_admin_divisions_1 = Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
|country1 =
|population |population_as_of
|timezone1 |utc_offset1
}}
Bassas da India (; ) is an uninhabited, roughly circular atoll located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar (about further east) and around northwest of Europa Island. It is administered by France as part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, though it is claimed by Madagascar. The rim of the atoll averages around in width and encloses a shallow lagoon of depth no greater than . Overall, the atoll is about in diameter, rising steeply from the seabed below to encircle an area (including lagoon) of . Its exclusive economic zone, in size, is contiguous with that of Europa Island.
The atoll consists of ten barren rocky islets, with no vegetation, totaling in area. Those on the north and east sides are high, while those on the west and south sides are high. The reef, whose coastline measures , is entirely covered by the sea from three hours before high tide to three hours afterward. The region is also subject to cyclones, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard and the site of numerous shipwrecks.
Jaguar Seamount and Hall Tablemount lie about further southwest.
History
The Bassas da India was first recorded by Portuguese explorers in the early sixteenth century as the "'''Baixo da Judia'" ("Jewess Shoals"). The Judia ("Jewess", for the ancestry of its owner Fernão de Loronha) was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506. The name became "Bassas da India" due to transcription errors by cartographers. The Santiago broke up on the shoal in 1585.
It was rediscovered by the Europa in 1774, whence the name "Europa Rocks". The Malay was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks.
In 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Réunion in 1968. Madagascar became independent in 1960 and has claimed sovereignty over the shoal since 1972.
Wildlife
The presence of Galapagos sharks was reported in 2003, which is a first in the Mozambique Channel.
Tourism
Mooring at Bassas da India requires a permit from the French Government. Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated. Several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the French Navy. Gallery
<gallery>
File:Bassas da India atoll map-fr.png|Detailed map.
File:Bassas da india.jpg|International Space Station (ISS) photograph.
File:Bassas da India.png|Landsat 7 image.
File:Bassas da India-CIA WFB Map.png|CIA World Factbook map.
File:Bassas da india 76.jpg|Central Intelligence Agency map.
File:Bassas da India in Sunglint.jpg|ISS image of Bassas da India with varying degrees of sunglint.
</gallery>
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
* [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub171/171sec09.pdf Sailing Directions: East Africa and the South Indian Ocean]
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/french-southern-and-antarctic-lands/ French Southern and Antarctic Lands]. The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency..
Category:Indian Ocean atolls of France
Category:Atolls of Madagascar
Category:Uninhabited islands of France
Category:Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Category:Territorial disputes of France
Category:Territorial disputes of Madagascar
Category:France–Madagascar relations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassas_da_India | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.129250 |
3457 | Belarus | |}}
| image_flag = Flag of Belarus.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Belarus (2020).svg
| symbol_type = Emblem
| national_anthem <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus"
| image_map
| map_caption
| capital = Minsk
| coordinates =
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages = }}
| languages2_type = Recognized minority languages
| languages2 =
| ethnic_groups =
| ethnic_groups_ref
| religion
* 91.0% Christianity
** 83.3% Eastern Orthodoxy
** 7.7% other Christian
|7.8% no religion
|1.2% other}}
| religion_year = 2020
| religion_ref
| demonym = Belarusian
| government_type Unitary semi-presidential republic under a dictatorship
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 Alexander Lukashenko
| leader_title2 = Prime Minister
| leader_name2 = Aleksandr Turchin
| legislature = National Assembly
| upper_house = Council of the Republic
| lower_house = House of Representatives
| sovereignty_type = Formation
| established_event1 = Kievan Rus'
| established_date1 = 882
<!--| established_event1 = Principality of Polotsk
| established_date1 = 987
| established_event2 = Grand Duchy of Lithuania
| established_date2 1236-->| established_event3 Belarusian Democratic Republic
| established_date3 = 25 March 1918
| established_event4 = Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia
| established_date4 = 1 January 1919
| established_event5 = Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
| established_date5 = 31 July 1920
| established_event6 = Declaration of State Sovereignty
| established_date6 = 27 July 1990
| established_event7 = Declaration of Independence
| established_date7 = 25 August 1991
| established_event8 = Republic of Belarus
| established_date8 = 19 September 1991
| established_event9 = Current constitution
| established_date9 = 15 March 1994
| established_event10 = Formation of the Union State
| established_date10 = 8 December 1999
| area_km2 = 207,595
| area_rank = 84th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area-->
| area_sq_mi = 80,155 <!--Do not remove WP:MOSNUM-->
| percent_water 1.4% ()
| population_estimate 9,109,280
| population_estimate_rank = 98th
| population_estimate_year = 2025
| population_density_km2 = 45.8
| population_density_sq_mi = 120.8 <!--Do not remove WP:MOSNUM-->
| GDP_PPP $221.186 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2023
| GDP_PPP_rank = 73rd
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $24,016
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.801 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = steady<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 69th
| currency = Belarusian ruble
| currency_code = BYN
| time_zone MSK
| utc_offset = +3
| date_format = dd.mm.yyyy
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +375
| cctld =
| footnote_a
| footnote_b
<!--
| Dependency Ratio_year = 2014
| Dependency Ratio = 20
| Dependency Ratio_ref -->| today | ethnic_groups_year 2019
}}
Belarus, , , ; , ; , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ), a name often proscribed within Belarus, although commonly used in Russia.}} officially the Republic of Belarus,, ; , .}} is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of with a population of . The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War (1918–1921), Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations and the Soviet Union. The republic was home to a widespread and diverse anti-Nazi insurgent movement which dominated politics until well into the 1970s, overseeing Belarus's transformation from an agrarian to an industrial economy.
The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus gained independence on 25 August 1991. Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first president in the country's first and only free election after independence, serving as president ever since. Lukashenko heads a highly centralized authoritarian government. Belarus ranks low in international measurements of freedom of the press and civil liberties. It has continued several Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy. Belarus is the only European country that continues to use capital punishment. In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State.
The country has been a member of the United Nations since its founding and has joined the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, the OSCE, and the Non-Aligned Movement. It has shown no aspirations of joining the European Union but maintains a bilateral relationship with the bloc, and also participates in the Baku Initiative.
Etymology
The name Belarus is closely related with the term ''Belaya Rus<nowiki>'</nowiki>, i.e., White Rus'. There are several claims to the origin of the name White Rus<nowiki>'</nowiki>. An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts. An alternative explanation for the name comments on the white clothing the local Slavic population wears.
by Lazar Bohsha from 1992]]
The name Rus<nowiki>'</nowiki> is often conflated with its Latin forms and , thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia. The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature; the chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at "" in 1381. The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey, who was known for his close contacts with the Russian royal court. During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used the term to describe the lands added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The term Belorussia (, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from , Russia) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White. This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people.
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term White Russia caused some confusion, as it was also the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks. During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of a national consciousness. In western Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and Grodno during the interwar period.
The term Byelorussia (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was used officially only until 1991. Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus (, , ). In Russia, the usage of Belorussia is still very common.
In Lithuanian, besides (White Russia), Belarus is also called . The etymology of the word is not clear. By one hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name , which, in turn, is related to the form Żudwa, which is a distorted version of Sudwa, Sudovia. Sudovia, in its turn, is one of the names of the Yotvingians. Another hypothesis connects the word with the Gothic Kingdom that occupied parts of the territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine in the 4th and 5th centuries. The self-naming of Goths was Gutans and Gytos'', which are close to Gudija. Yet another hypothesis is based on the idea that in Lithuanian means "the other" and may have been used historically by Lithuanians to refer to any people who did not speak Lithuanian.
History
Early history
From 5000 to 2000 BC, the Bandkeramik predominated in what now constitutes Belarus, and the Cimmerians as well as other pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC. The Zarubintsy culture later became widespread at the beginning of the 1st millennium. In addition, remains from the Dnieper–Donets culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine. The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century. Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by the Slavs. The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts, but their gradual assimilation into Slavic culture was peaceful. Invaders from Asia, among whom were the Huns and Avars, swept through c. 400–600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the Slavic presence.Kievan Rus'
in Eastern Europe before the Mongol and Lithuanian invasions]]
In the 9th century, the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus', a vast East Slavic state ruled by the Rurikids. Upon the death of its ruler Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the state split into independent principalities. The Battle on the Nemiga River in 1067 was one of the more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of Minsk.
Many early principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major Mongol invasion in the 13th century, but the lands of modern-day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There are no sources of military seizure, but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of Polotsk and Lithuania for decades.
Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political, and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands. Of the principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the Belarusians. During this time, the duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the joint victory allowed the duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe.
The Muscovites, led by Ivan III of Russia, began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate the former lands of Kievan Rus', including the territories of modern-day Belarus and Ukraine.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
in the 15th century prior to its union with the Kingdom of Poland. Belarus was fully within its borders.]]
On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland were joined in a personal union through a marriage of their rulers. This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin.
In the years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the Polish language and Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language, with Ruthenian being banned from administrative use. However, the Ruthenian peasants continued to speak their native language. Also, the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church was formed by the Poles to bring Orthodox Christians into the See of Rome. The Belarusian church entered into a full communion with the Latin Church through the Union of Brest in 1595, while keeping its Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language.
Russian Empire
and crossing the Berezina river (near Barysaw, Belarus)]]
The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The Belarusian territories acquired by the Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II were included into the Belarusian Governorate () in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire during World War I.
Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were repressed with policies of Polonization replaced by Russification which included the return to Orthodox Christianity of Belarusian Uniates. Belarusian language was banned in schools while in nearby Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed.
In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited the use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications, and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revolt, led by Konstanty Kalinowski (also known as Kastus). After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarusian in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905.
During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic. Immediately afterwards, the Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world's longest serving government in exile.
Early states and interwar period
, Jan Sierada, Jazep Varonka, Vasil Zacharka.<br />Standing, left to right:<br />Arkadź Smolič, Pyotra Krecheuski, Kastuś Jezavitaŭ, Anton Ausianik, Liavon Zayats.]]
The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under the name "Belarus". Despite significant efforts, the state ceased to exist, primarily because the territory was continually dominated by the Imperial German Army and the Imperial Russian Army in World War I, and then the Bolshevik Red Army. It existed from only 1918 to 1919 but created prerequisites for the formation of a Belarusian state. The choice of name was probably based on the fact that core members of the newly formed government were educated in tsarist universities, with corresponding emphasis on the ideology of West-Russianism.
The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania to the historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower). The republic was created in 1920 following the staged rebellion of soldiers of the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under Lucjan Żeligowski. Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilna (, ), for 18 months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland, upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area. After a variety of delays, a disputed election took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland. Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of the Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski's confederation plans by Polish ally.
woods, 1989, where between 1937 and 1941 from 30,000 to 250,000 people, including Belarusian intelligentsia members, were murdered by the NKVD during the Great Purge]]
In January 1919, a part of Belarus under Bolshevik Russian control was declared the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB) for just two months, but then merged with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) to form the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), which lost control of its territories by August.
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was created in July 1920.
The contested lands were divided between Poland and the Soviet Union after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and five-year plans for the national economy, led to famine and political repression.
The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second Polish Republic. After an early period of liberalization, tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to grow, and the Belarusian minority was no exception. The polonization drive was inspired and influenced by the Polish National Democracy, led by Roman Dmowski, who advocated refusing Belarusians and Ukrainians the right for a free national development. A Belarusian organization, the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union'', was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state repressions. Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska prison.World War II
, August 1941]]
Memorial; during World War II the German Nazis murdered civilians in 5,295 different localities in occupied Soviet Belarus.]]
In September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland, following the German invasion of Poland two weeks earlier which marked the beginning of World War II. The territories of Western Belorussia were annexed and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 1939 in Białystok. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The defense of Brest Fortress was the first major battle of Operation Barbarossa.
The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained under German occupation until 1944. The German called for the extermination, expulsion, or enslavement of most or all Belarusians to provide more living space in the East for Germans. Most of Western Belarus became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central Council.
During World War II, Belarus was home to a variety of guerrilla movements, including Jewish, Polish, and Soviet partisans. Belarusian partisan formations formed a large part of the Soviet partisans, and in the modern day these partisans have formed a core part of the Belarusian national identity, with Belarus continuing to refer to itself as the "partisan republic" since the 1970s. Following the war, many former Soviet partisans entered positions of government, among them Pyotr Masherov and Kirill Mazurov, both of whom were First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. Until the late 1970s, the Belarusian government was almost entirely composed of former partisans. Numerous pieces of media have been made about the Belarusian partisans, including the 1985 film Come and See and the works of authors Ales Adamovich and Vasil Bykaŭ.
The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the Eastern Front devastated Belarus. During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died, and of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign. This figure represented a staggering quarter of the prewar population. In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million. The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16 km beyond the border in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR.
By the late 1980s, political liberalization led to a national revival, with the Belarusian Popular Front becoming a major pro-independence force.
Independence
, dissolving the Soviet Union, 8 December 1991.]]
In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR took place. Though the opposition candidates, mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front, took only 10% of the seats, Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Wide-scale strikes erupted in April 1991. With the support of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991.
Lukashenko era
A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus. A two-round election for the presidency on 24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994
The 2000s saw some economic disputes between Belarus and its primary economic partner, Russia. The first one was the 2004 Russia–Belarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements. The 2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute centered on accusations by Gazprom that Belarus was siphoning oil from the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus. Two years later the so-called Milk War, a trade dispute, started when Russia wanted Belarus to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and through a series of events ended up banning the import of dairy products from Belarus.
In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's centralized control of the economy, with inflation reaching 108.7%. Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. Two suspects, who were arrested within two days, confessed to being the perpetrators and were executed by shooting in 2012. The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of the UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing.
has ruled Belarus since 1994.]]
Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office.<!-- Russian and EU leaders warned of any external interference in Belarus's internal affairs.--> Neighbouring countries Poland and Lithuania do not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus and the Lithuanian government has allotted a residence for main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition in Vilnius. Neither is Lukashenko recognized as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom or the United States. The European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all imposed sanctions against Belarus because of the rigged election and political oppression during the ongoing protests in the country. Further sanctions were imposed in 2022 following the country's role and complicity in the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Russian troops were allowed to stage part of the invasion from Belarusian territory. Sanctions were targeted towards not only corporate offices and individual officers of government, but also private individuals who work in the state-owned enterprise industrial sector. Norway and Japan have joined the sanctions regime which aims to isolate Belarus from the international supply chain. Most major Belarusian banks are also under restrictions. It is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests. The country lies within two ecoregions: Sarmatic mixed forests and Central European mixed forests.
Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus.
in the Vitebsk Region]]
The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at , and the lowest point is on the Neman River at . The climate features mild to cold winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from in southwest (Brest) to in northeast (Vitebsk), and cool and moist summers with an average temperature of . Belarus has an average annual rainfall of . The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137.
In Belarus forest cover is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,767,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 7,780,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forests covered 6,555,600 hectares (ha), and planted forests covered 2,212,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 2% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to the west, Russia to the north and the east, and Ukraine to the south. Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009. Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation documents in February 2007.
Government and politics
]]
Belarus, by the constitution, is a semi-presidential republic with separation of powers, governed by a president and the National Assembly. However, Belarus has been led by a highly centralized and authoritarian government, by some media outlets, politicians and authors. Belarus has been considered an autocracy where power is ultimately concentrated in the hands of the president, elections are not free and judicial independence is weak. The Council of Europe removed Belarus from its observer status since 1997 as a response for election irregularities in the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament . Readmission of the country into the council is dependent on the completion of benchmarks set by the council, including the improvement of human rights, rule of law, and democracy.
The term for each presidency is five years. Under the 1994 constitution, the president could serve for only two terms as president, but a change in the constitution in 2004 eliminated term limits. Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994. In 1996, Lukashenko called for a controversial vote to extend the presidential term from five to seven years, and as a result the election that was supposed to occur in 1999 was pushed back to 2001. The referendum on the extension was denounced as a "fantastic" fake by the chief electoral officer, Viktar Hanchar, who was removed from the office for official matters only during the campaign. The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council of the Republic (the upper house).
in Minsk]]
The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives. Each chamber can veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the Constitution.
The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister and five deputy prime ministers. The members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts such as the Constitutional Court, which deals with specific issues related to constitutional and business law. The judges of national courts are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic. For criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Belarusian Constitution forbids the use of special extrajudicial courts., used in 1918, then in 1943–44 and then between 1991 and 1995, is widely used as a symbol of opposition to the government of Alexander Lukashenko.]]
Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian Social Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice (RPTS), nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such as the BPF Party and the United Civic Party, won any seats in the 2004 elections. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ruled that the elections were unfair because opposition candidates were arbitrarily denied registration and the election process was designed to favor the ruling party.
in Minsk in 2006 after the 2006 Belarusian presidential election]]
In the 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by Alaksandar Milinkievič, who represented a coalition of opposition parties, and by Alyaksandr Kazulin of the Social Democrats. Kazulin was detained and beaten by police during protests surrounding the All Belarusian People's Assembly. Lukashenko won the election with 80% of the vote; the Russian Federation and the CIS deemed the vote open and fair while the OSCE and other organizations called the election unfair.
After the December completion of the 2010 presidential election, Lukashenko was elected to a fourth straight term with nearly 80% of the vote in elections. The runner-up opposition leader Andrei Sannikov received less than 3% of the vote; independent observers criticized the election as fraudulent. When opposition protesters took to the streets in Minsk, many people, including some presidential candidates, were beaten and arrested by the riot police. Many of the candidates, including Sannikov, were sentenced to prison or house arrest for terms which are mainly and typically over four years. Six months later amid an unprecedented economic crisis, activists utilized social networking to initiate a fresh round of protests characterized by wordless hand-clapping.
In the 2012 parliamentary election, 105 of the 110 members elected to the House of Representatives were not affiliated with any political party. The Communist Party of Belarus won 3 seats, and the Belarusian Agrarian Party and RPTS, one each. Most non-partisans represent a wide scope of social organizations such as workers' collectives, public associations, and civil society organizations, similar to the composition of the Soviet legislature.
In the 2020 presidential election, Lukashenko won again with official results giving him 80% of the vote, leading to mass protests. The European Union and the United Kingdom did not recognise the result and the EU imposed sanctions.
Foreign relations
shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2015]]
The Byelorussian SSR was one of the two Soviet republics that joined the United Nations along with the Ukrainian SSR as one of the original 51 members in 1945. Belarus and Russia have been close trading partners and diplomatic allies since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Belarus is dependent on Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market.
The Union State, a supranational confederation between Belarus and Russia, was established in a 1996–99 series of treaties that called for monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common foreign and defense policy. However, the future of the union has been placed in doubt because of Belarus's repeated delays of monetary union, the lack of a referendum date for the draft constitution, and a dispute over the petroleum trade. Belarus was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Belarus has trade agreements with several European Union member states (despite other member states' travel ban on Lukashenko and top officials), including neighboring Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Travel bans imposed by the European Union have been lifted in the past in order to allow Lukashenko to attend diplomatic meetings and also to engage his government and opposition groups in dialogue.
, 11–12 February 2015]]
Bilateral relations with the United States are strained; the United States has not had an ambassador in Minsk since 2007 and Belarus has not had an ambassador in Washington since 2008. Diplomatic relations remained tense, and in 2004, the United States passed the Belarus Democracy Act, which authorized funding for anti-government Belarusian NGOs, and prohibited loans to the Belarusian government, except for humanitarian purposes.
Relations between China and Belarus are close, with Lukashenko visiting China multiple times during his tenure. Belarus also has strong ties with Syria, considered a key partner in the Middle East. In addition to the CIS, Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (previously the Eurasian Economic Community), the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As an OSCE member state, Belarus's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Belarus is included in the European Union's Eastern Partnership program, part of the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which aims to bring the EU and its neighbours closer in economic and geopolitical terms. However, Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership program on 28 June 2021, after the EU imposed more sanctions against the country.Military
on the Belarusian border with Poland]]
Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin heads the Ministry of Defence, and Alexander Lukashenko (as president) serves as Commander-in-Chief.
Most of Belarus's service members are conscripts, who serve for 12 months if they have higher education or 18 months if they do not. Demographic decreases in the Belarusians of conscription age have increased the importance of contract soldiers, who numbered 12,000 in 2001. In 2005, about 1.4% of Belarus's gross domestic product was devoted to military expenditure.
Belarus has not expressed a desire to join NATO but has participated in the Individual Partnership Program since 1997, and Belarus provided refueling and airspace support for the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan. Belarus first began to cooperate with NATO upon signing documents to participate in their Partnership for Peace Program in 1995. However, Belarus cannot join NATO because it is a member of the CSTO. Tensions between NATO and Belarus peaked after the March 2006 presidential election in Belarus.
Human rights and corruption
depicting Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski]]
Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch as "repressed" in the Index of Economic Freedom, and in the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Belarus is ranked 153rd out of 180 countries for 2022. The Belarusian government is also criticized for human rights violations and its persecution of non-governmental organizations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. Lukashenko announced a new law in 2014 that will prohibit kolkhoz workers (around 9% of total work force) from leaving their jobs at will—a change of job and living location will require permission from governors. Lukashenko himself compared the law with serfdom. Similar regulations were introduced for the forestry industry in 2012. Belarus is the only European country still using capital punishment, having carried out executions in 2011. LGBT rights in the country are also ranked among the lowest in Europe. In March 2023, Lukashenko signed a law which allows using capital punishment against officials and soldiers convicted of high treason.
The judicial system in Belarus lacks independence and is subject to political interference. Corrupt practices such as bribery often took place during tender processes, and whistleblower protection and national ombudsman are lacking in Belarus's anti-corruption system.
On 1 September 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights declared that its experts received reports of 450 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of people who were arrested during the protests following the presidential election. The experts also received reports of violence against women and children, including sexual abuse and rape with rubber batons. At least three detainees suffered injuries indicative of sexual violence in Okrestino prison in Minsk or on the way there. The victims were hospitalized with intramuscular bleeding of the rectum, anal fissure and bleeding, and damage to the mucous membrane of the rectum. In an interview from September 2020 Lukashenko claimed that detainees faked their bruises, saying, "Some of the girls there had their butts painted in blue".
On 23 May 2021, Belarusian authorities forcibly diverted a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius in order to detain opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich along with his girlfriend; in response, the European Union imposed stricter sanctions on Belarus. In May 2021, Lukashenko threatened that he will flood the European Union with migrants and drugs as a response to the sanctions. In July 2021, Belarusian authorities launched a hybrid warfare by human trafficking of migrants to the European Union. Lithuanian authorities and top European officials Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell condemned the usage of migrants as a weapon and suggested that Belarus could be subject to further sanctions. In August 2021, Belarusian officials, wearing uniforms, riot shields and helmets, were recorded on camera near the Belarus–Lithuania border pushing and urging the migrants to cross the European Union border. Following the granting of humanitarian visas to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus for organizing a hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the Belarus–Poland border sharply increased multiple times when compared to the 2020 statistics. Illegal migrants numbers also exceeded the previous annual numbers in Latvia. On 2 December 2021, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed new sanctions on Belarus.Administrative divisions
Belarus is divided into six regions called oblasts (; ), which are named after the cities that serve as their administrative centers: Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev, Minsk, and Vitebsk. Each region has a provincial legislative authority, called a region council (; ), which is elected by its residents, and a provincial executive authority called a region administration (; ), whose chairman is appointed by the president. The regions are further subdivided into 118 raions, commonly translated as districts (; ). The city of Minsk is split into nine districts and enjoys special status as the nation's capital at the same administration level as the oblasts. It is run by an executive committee and has been granted a charter of self-rule.Local governmentLocal government in Belarus is administered by administrative-territorial units (; ), and occurs on two levels: basic and primary. At the basic level are 118 raions councils and 10 cities of oblast subordination councils, which are supervised by the governments of the oblasts. At the primary level are 14 cities of raion subordination councils, 8 urban-type settlements councils, and 1,151 village councils. The councils are elected by their residents, and have executive committees appointed by their executive committee chairs. The chairs of executive committees for raions and city of oblast subordinations are appointed by the regional executive committees at the level above; the chairs of executive committees for towns of raion subordination, settlements, and villages are appointed by their councils, but upon the recommendation of the raion executive committees. In October 1995, a presidential decree abolished the local governments of cities of raion subordination and urban-type settlements which served as the administrative center of raions, demoting them from administrative-territorial units to territorial units.
As for 2019, the administrative-territorial and territorial units include 115 cities, 85 urban-type settlements, and 23,075 rural settlements.
Economy
Belarus is a developing country, but at 60th place in the United Nations' Human Development Index, it has a "very high" human development. In 2019, the share of manufacturing in GDP was 31%, and over two-thirds of this amount fell on manufacturing industries. Manufacturing employed 34.7% of the workforce. Manufacturing growth is much smaller than for the economy as a whole—about 2.2% in 2021. Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat. and the EU countries, with 25% of exports and 20% of imports.
In April 2022, as a result of its facilitation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU imposed trade sanctions on Belarus. The sanctions were extended and expanded in August 2023. These sanctions are in addition to those imposed following the rigged 2020 "election" of Lukashenko.
At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world's most industrially developed states by proportion of GDP and the richest CIS member-state. In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% by private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% by foreign companies. In 1994, Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and energy products. Economically, Belarus involved itself in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eurasian Economic Community, and Union with Russia. In the 1990s, industrial production plunged due to decreases in imports, investment, and demand for Belarusian products from its trading partners. GDP only began to rise in 1996; the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet republic in the terms of its economy. In 2006, GDP amounted to US$83.1 billion in purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars (estimate), or about $8,100 per capita. In 2005, GDP increased by 9.9%; the inflation rate averaged 9.5%.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained government control of key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.
Belarus applied to become a member of the World Trade Organization in 1993. Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including passing laws forbidding unemployment or working outside state-controlled sectors, Belarus lost its EU Generalized System of Preferences status on 21 June 2007, which raised tariff rates to their prior most favored nation levels.EmploymentThe labor force consists of more than 4 million people, of whom women are slightly more than men. The ruble was reintroduced with new values in 2000 and has been in use ever since. In 2007, The National Bank of Belarus abandoned pegging the Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble. As part of the Union of Russia and Belarus, the two states have discussed using a single currency analogous to the Euro. This led to a proposal that the Belarusian ruble be discontinued in favor of the Russian ruble (RUB), starting as early as 1 January 2008.
On 23 May 2011, the ruble depreciated 56% against the United States dollar. The depreciation was even steeper on the black market and financial collapse seemed imminent as citizens rushed to exchange their rubles for dollars, euros, durable goods, and canned goods. On 1 June 2011, Belarus requested an economic rescue package from the International Monetary Fund. A new currency, the new Belarusian ruble (ISO 4217 code: BYN) was introduced in July 2016, replacing the Belarusian ruble in a rate of 1:10,000 (10,000 old ruble 1 new ruble). From 1 July until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation, and series 2000 notes and coins could be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021. On 6 October 2022, Lukashenko banned price increases, to combat food inflation. In January 2023, Belarus legalized copyright infringement of media and intellectual property created by "unfriendly" foreign nations.
The banking system of Belarus consists of two levels: the Central Bank (National Bank of the Republic of Belarus) and 25 commercial banks.
Free economic zones
Belarus has established six free economic zones to encourage investment and development. The zones are:
*FEZ Brest (1996)
*FEZ Gomel-Raton (1998)
*FEZ Grodnoinvest (2002)
*FEZ Minsk (1998)
*FEZ Mogilev (2002)
*FEZ Vitebsk (1999)
Demographics
According to the 2019 census the population was 9.41 million with ethnic Belarusians constituting 84.9% of Belarus's total population. Minsk, the nation's capital and largest city, was home to 1,937,900 residents . Gomel, with a population of 481,000, is the second-largest city and serves as the capital of the Gomel Region. Other large cities are Mogilev (365,100), Vitebsk (342,400), Grodno (314,800) and Brest (298,300).
Like many other Eastern European countries, Belarus has a negative population growth rate and a negative natural growth rate. In 2007, Belarus's population declined by 0.41% and its fertility rate was 1.22, There are about 0.87 males per female in Belarus. The average life expectancy is 72.15 (66.53 years for men and 78.1 years for women). Roman Catholicism is practiced mostly in the western regions, and there are also different denominations of Protestantism. Minorities also practice Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Islam and neo-paganism. Overall, 48.3% of the population is Orthodox Christian, 41.1% is not religious, 7.1% is Roman Catholic and 3.3% follows other religions. President Lukashenko has stated that Orthodox and Catholic believers are the "two main confessions in our country".
Belarus was once a major center of European Jews, with 10% of the population being Jewish. But since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by the Holocaust, deportation, and emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent. The Lipka Tatars, numbering over 15,000, are predominantly Muslims. According to Article 16 of the Constitution, Belarus has no official religion. While the freedom of worship is granted in the same article, religious organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited. According to data published by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the 2009 census recorded that 53% of the population described Belarusian as their "mother tongue" compared to 41% who described Russian in that way. In addition, 70% described Russian and 23% described Belarusian as the "language normally spoken at home". Minorities also speak Polish, Ukrainian and Eastern Yiddish. Following the election of Alexander Lukashenko, most schools in major cities began to teach in Russian rather than Belarusian. The annual circulation of Belarusian-language literature also significantly decreased from 1990 to 2020.
Culture
Arts and literature
in Minsk]]
The Belarusian government sponsors annual cultural festivals such as the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, which showcases Belarusian performers, artists, writers, musicians, and actors. Several state holidays, such as Independence Day and Victory Day, draw big crowds and often include displays such as fireworks and military parades, especially in Vitebsk and Minsk. The government's Ministry of Culture finances events promoting Belarusian arts and culture both inside and outside the country.
Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th-century religious scripture, such as the 12th-century poetry of Cyril of Turaw.
By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. It was published in Prague and Vilnius sometime between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe. The modern era of Belarusian literature began in the late 19th century; one prominent writer was Yanka Kupala. Many Belarusian writers of the time, such as Uładzimir Žyłka, Kazimir Svayak, Yakub Kolas, Źmitrok Biadula, and Maksim Haretski, wrote for Nasha Niva, a Belarusian-language paper published that was previously published in Vilnius but now is published in Minsk.
After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the Republic's cultural affairs. At first, a policy of "Belarusianization" was followed in the newly formed Byelorussian SSR. This policy was reversed in the 1930s, and the majority of prominent Belarusian intellectuals and nationalist advocates were either exiled or killed in Stalinist purges. The free development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus and would not return until the 1960s.
Music in Belarus largely comprises a rich tradition of folk and religious music. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 19th century, Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko composed operas and chamber music pieces while living in Minsk. During his stay, he worked with Belarusian poet Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich and created the opera Sialanka (Peasant Woman). At the end of the 19th century, major Belarusian cities formed their own opera and ballet companies. The ballet Nightingale by M. Kroshner was composed during the Soviet era and became the first Belarusian ballet showcased at the National Academic Vialiki Ballet Theatre in Minsk.
After the Second World War, music focused on the hardships of the Belarusian people or on those who took up arms in defense of the homeland. During this period, Anatoly Bogatyrev, creator of the opera In Polesye Virgin Forest, served as the "tutor" of Belarusian composers. The National Academic Theatre of Ballet in Minsk was awarded the Benois de la Dance Prize in 1996 as the top ballet company in the world.
Marc Chagall was born in Liozna (near Vitebsk) in 1887. He spent the World War I years in Soviet Belarus, becoming one of the country's most distinguished artists and a member of the modernist avant-garde and was a founder of the Vitebsk Arts College.DressThe traditional Belarusian dress originates from the Kievan Rus' period. Due to the cool climate, clothes were designed to conserve body heat and were usually made from flax or wool. They were decorated with ornate patterns influenced by the neighboring cultures: Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Russians, and other European nations. Each region of Belarus has developed specific design patterns. One ornamental pattern common in early dresses currently decorates the hoist of the Belarusian national flag, adopted in a disputed referendum in 1995.Cuisine
, the national dish]]
Belarusian cuisine consists mainly of vegetables, meat (particularly pork), and bread. Foods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed. Typically, Belarusians eat a light breakfast and two hearty meals later in the day. Wheat and rye bread are consumed in Belarus, but rye is more plentiful because conditions are too harsh for growing wheat. To show hospitality, a host traditionally presents an offering of bread and salt when greeting a guest or visitor.
Sport
Belarus has competed in the Olympic Games since the 1994 Winter Olympics as an independent nation. Receiving heavy sponsorship from the government, ice hockey is the nation's second most popular sport after football. The national football team has never qualified for a major tournament; however, BATE Borisov has played in the Champions League. The national hockey team finished fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics following a memorable upset win over Sweden in the quarterfinals and regularly competes in the World Championships, often making the quarterfinals. Numerous Belarusian players are present in the Kontinental Hockey League in Eurasia, particularly for Belarusian club HC Dinamo Minsk, and several have also played in the National Hockey League in North America. The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted in Belarus and the 2021 IIHF World Championship was supposed to be co-hosted in Latvia and Belarus but it was cancelled due to widespread protests and security concerns. The 2021 UEC European Track Championships in cycling was also cancelled because Belarus was not considered a safe host.
, professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in singles]]
Darya Domracheva is a leading biathlete whose honours include three gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Tennis player Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2012. She also won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Max Mirnyi, who holds ten Grand Slam titles in doubles.
Other notable Belarusian sportspeople include cyclist Vasil Kiryienka, who won the 2015 Road World Time Trial Championship, and middle-distance runner Maryna Arzamasava, who won the gold medal in the 800m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.
Andrei Arlovski, who was born in Babruysk, Byelorussian SSR, is a current UFC fighter and the former UFC heavyweight champion of the world.
Belarus is also known for its strong rhythmic gymnasts. Noticeable gymnasts include Inna Zhukova, who earned silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liubov Charkashyna, who earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, and Melitina Staniouta, Bronze All-Around Medalist of the 2015 World Championships. The Belarusian senior group earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
Telecommunications
* Country code: .by
The state telecom monopoly, Beltelecom, holds the exclusive interconnection with Internet providers outside of Belarus. Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT, Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISPs. Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus.World Heritage SitesBelarus has four UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites: the Mir Castle Complex, the Nesvizh Castle, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with nine other countries).
See also
* List of Belarus-related topics
* Outline of Belarus
* Republican Scientific Medical Library
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Bennett, Brian M. The Last Dictatorship in Europe: Belarus under Lukashenko (Columbia University Press, 2011)
* Frear, Matthew. Belarus Under Lukashenka: Adaptive Authoritarianism (Routledge, 2015)
* Korosteleva, Elena A. (June 2016). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13510347.2015.1005009 "The European Union and Belarus: Democracy Promotion by Technocratic Means?"] Democratization 23: 4 pp. 678–698. .
*
*
* Marples, David. '''Our Glorious Past': Lukashenka's Belarus and the Great Patriotic War (Columbia University Press, 2014)
* Parker, Stewart. The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus (Trafford Publishing, 2007)
* Rudling, Pers Anders. The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906–1931 (University of Pittsburgh Press; 2014) 436 pages
*
*
* Snyder, Timothy (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpEynLxJ1MC The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999]
*
*
* Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich. Belorussia: The Making of a Nation: A Case Study (Harvard UP, 1956).
* Vakar, Nicholas Platonovich. A Bibliographical Guide to Belorussia (Harvard UP, 1956)
External links
* [http://www.belarus.by/en/ Website of the Republic of Belarus] by BelTA news agency
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belarus/ Belarus]. The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?langen&iso3BLR&subj1&paia FAO Country Profiles: Belarus]
}}
Category:Countries in Europe
Category:Landlocked countries
Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:Member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
Category:Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union
Category:Republics
Category:Countries and territories where Russian is an official language
Category:States and territories established in 1991
Category:States and territories established in the 980s | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.243131 |
3458 | Belize | (Belizean Creole)<br><small> (Spanish)<br> (K'iche' Mayan)<br> (Yucatec Mayan)</small>
| image_flag = Flag of Belize.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Belize.svg
| symbol_type = Coat of arms
| national_motto <br />"Under the shade I flourish"
| royal_anthem "God Save the King"<br/><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| national_anthem "Land of the Free"<br /> <div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map =
| map_caption | image_map2
| capital = Belmopan
| coordinates =
| largest_city Belize City<br />
| official_languages = English
| religion =
*61.9% Christianity
*31.8% no religion
*6.3% other
| religion_year = 2022
| religion_ref
| demonym = Belizean
| government_type = Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
| leader_title1 = Monarch
| leader_name1 = Charles III
| leader_title2 = Governor-General
| leader_name2 = Froyla Tzalam
| leader_title3 = Prime Minister
| leader_name3 = Johnny Briceño
| legislature = National Assembly
| upper_house = Senate
| lower_house = House of Representatives
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from the United Kingdom
| established_event1 = Self-governance
| established_date1 = January 1964
| established_event2 = Independence
| established_date2 = 21 September 1981
| area_km2 = 22966
| area_footnote
| population_census_year = 2022
| population_estimate | population_estimate_year
| population_estimate_rank = 170
| population_density_km2 = 17.31
| population_density_rank | GDP_PPP $6.414 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 180th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $15,363
| HDI = 0.700 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 118th
| currency = Belize dollar ($)
| currency_code = BZD
| calling_code = +501
| time_zone = CST
| utc_offset = −06:00
| drives_on = right
| date_format = // (AD)
| cctld = .bz
| footnote_a | footnote_b <!--Orphaned (see population_density_rank)-->
| languages_type = Vernacular language
| languages = Belizean Creole
| languages2_type = Regional and minority languages
| languages2 =
}}
Belize ( ; ) is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. Part of the Caribbean region, Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth Caribbean, the historical British West Indies.
The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC and AD 300 and flourished until about 1200. European exploration was begun by English settlers in 1638. Spain and Britain both laid claim to the land until Britain defeated the Spanish in the Battle of St. George's Caye (1798). It became a British colony in 1840, and a Crown colony in 1862. Belize achieved its independence from the United Kingdom on 21 September 1981. It is the only mainland Central American country which is a Commonwealth realm, with King Charles III as its monarch and head of state, represented by a governor-general.
Belize's abundance of terrestrial and marine plants and animals and its diversity of ecosystems, including extensive coral reefs, give it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. It is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the American and Caribbean regions.
It has an area of and a population of 397,483 (2022). Its mainland is about long and wide. It is the least populated and least densely populated country in Central America. Its population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2018 estimate) is the second-highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Its capital is Belmopan, and its largest city is the namesake city of Belize City. The country has a diverse society composed of many cultures and languages. It is the only Central American country where English is the official language. Belizean Creole and Spanish are widely spoken, followed by the Mayan languages and Garifuna. Over half the population is multilingual due to the diverse linguistic backgrounds of the population. It is known for its September Celebrations and punta music.EtymologyThe earliest known record of the name "Belize" appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three major rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast: Rio Soyte, Rio Kibum, and Rio Balis. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River, and Belize River, were provided to Delgado by his translator. More recently, it has been proposed that the name comes from the Mayan phrase "bel Itza", meaning "the way to Itza". There is no proof that buccaneers settled in this area and the very existence of Wallace is considered a myth.
Maya civilization
The Maya civilization spread across the territory of present-day Belize around 1500BC, and flourished until around 900 AD. The recorded history of the middle and southern regions focuses on Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai. In the late Classic Era of Maya Civilization (600–1000AD), an estimated 400,000 to 1,000,000 people inhabited the area of present-day Belize.
When Spanish explorers arrived in the 16th century, the area of present-day Belize included at least three distinct Maya territories:
* Chetumal province, which encompassed the area around Corozal Bay
* Dzuluinicob province, which encompassed the area between the lower New River and the Sibun River, west to Tipu
* a southern territory controlled by the Manche Ch'ol Maya, encompassing the area between the Monkey River and the Sarstoon River.
Early colonial period (1506–1862)
Spanish conquistadors explored the land and declared it part of the Spanish Empire, but they failed to settle the territory because of its lack of resources and the tribes of the Yucatán defending their land.
English pirates sporadically visited the coast of what is now Belize, seeking a sheltered region from which they could attack Spanish ships (see English settlement in Belize) and cut logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) trees. The first British permanent settlement was founded around 1716, in what became the Belize District, and was one of the first ways to achieve a fast black before the advent of artificial dyes. The Spanish granted the British settlers the right to occupy the area and cut logwood in exchange for their help suppressing piracy.
As part of the British Empire (1862–1981)
In the early 19th century, the British sought to reform the settlers, threatening to suspend the Public Meeting unless it observed the government's instructions to eliminate slavery outright. After a generation of wrangling, slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833. As a result of their enslaved Africans' abilities in the work of mahogany extraction, owners in British Honduras were compensated at £53.69 per enslaved African on average, the highest amount paid in any British territory. This was a form of reparation that was not given to the enslaved Africans at the time, nor since.
The end of slavery did little to change the formerly enslaved Africans' working conditions if they stayed at their trade. A series of institutions restricted the ability of emancipated African individuals to buy land, in a debt-peonage system. Former "extra special" mahogany or logwood cutters undergirded the early ascription of the capacities (and consequently the limitations) of people of African descent in the colony. Because a small elite controlled the settlement's land and commerce, formerly enslaved Africans had little choice but to continue to work in timber cutting. Since 1854, the richest inhabitants elected an assembly of notables by censal vote, which was replaced by a legislative council appointed by the British government.
As a colony, Belize began to attract British investors. Among the British firms that dominated the colony in the late 19th century was the Belize Estate and Produce Company, which eventually acquired half of all privately held land and eventually eliminated peonage. Belize Estate's influence accounts in part for the colony's reliance on the mahogany trade throughout the rest of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
The Great Depression of the 1930s caused a near-collapse of the colony's economy as British demand for timber plummeted. The effects of widespread unemployment were worsened by a devastating hurricane that struck the colony in 1931. Perceptions of the government's relief effort as inadequate were aggravated by its refusal to legalize labour unions or introduce a minimum wage. Economic conditions improved during World War II, as many Belizean men entered the armed forces or otherwise contributed to the war effort.
]]
Following the war, the colony's economy stagnated. Britain's decision to devalue the British Honduras dollar in 1949 worsened economic conditions and led to the creation of the People's Committee, which demanded independence. The People's Committee's successor, the People's United Party (PUP), sought constitutional reforms that expanded voting rights to all adults. The first election under universal suffrage was held in 1954 and was decisively won by the PUP, beginning a three-decade period in which the PUP dominated the country's politics. Pro-independence activist George Cadle Price became PUP's leader in 1956 and the effective head of government in 1961, a post he would hold under various titles until 1984.
Progress toward independence was hampered by a Guatemalan claim to sovereignty over Belizean territory. In 1964 Britain granted British Honduras self-government under a new constitution. On 1 June 1973, British Honduras was officially renamed Belize.Independent Belize (since 1981)
Belize was granted independence on 21 September 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation because of its longstanding territorial dispute, claiming that Belize belonged to Guatemala. After independence about 1,500 British troops remained in Belize to deter any possible Guatemalan incursions.
With George Cadle Price at the helm, the PUP won all national elections until 1984. In that election, the first national election after independence, the PUP was defeated by the United Democratic Party (UDP). UDP leader Manuel Esquivel replaced Price as prime minister, with Price himself unexpectedly losing his own House seat to a UDP challenger. The PUP under Price returned to power after elections in 1989. The following year the United Kingdom announced that it would end its military involvement in Belize, and the RAF Harrier detachment was withdrawn the same year, having remained stationed in the country continuously since its deployment had become permanent there in 1980. British soldiers were withdrawn in 1994, but the United Kingdom left behind a military training unit to assist with the newly created Belize Defence Force.
The UDP regained power in the 1993 national election, and Esquivel became prime minister for a second time. Soon afterwards, Esquivel announced the suspension of a pact reached with Guatemala during Price's tenure, claiming Price had made too many concessions to gain Guatemalan recognition. The pact may have curtailed the 130-year-old border dispute between the two countries. Border tensions continued into the early 2000s, although the two countries cooperated in other areas.
In 1996, the Belize Barrier Reef, one of the Western Hemisphere's most pristine ecosystems, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The PUP won a landslide victory in the 1998 national elections, and PUP leader Said Musa was sworn in as prime minister. In the 2003 elections the PUP maintained its majority, and Musa continued as prime minister. He pledged to improve conditions in the underdeveloped and largely inaccessible southern part of Belize.
In 2005, Belize was the site of unrest caused by discontent with the PUP government, including tax increases in the national budget. On 8 February 2008, Dean Barrow was sworn in as prime minister after his UDP won a landslide victory in general elections. Barrow and the UDP were re-elected in 2012 with a considerably smaller majority. Barrow led the UDP to a third consecutive general election victory in November 2015, increasing the party's number of seats from 17 to 19. He said the election would be his last as party leader and preparations are under way for the party to elect his successor.
On 11 November 2020, the People's United Party (PUP), led by Johnny Briceño, defeated the United Democratic Party (UDP) for the first time since 2003, having won 26 seats out of 31 to form the new government of Belize. Briceño took office as Prime Minister on 12 November.
In 2023, Belize became the second Central American country to be awarded certification for the elimination of malaria by the WHO.
Government and politics
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in Belmopan]]
Belize is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The structure of government is based on the British parliamentary system, and the legal system is modelled on the common law of England. The head of state is Charles III, who is the King of Belize. He lives in the United Kingdom, and is represented in Belize by the governor-general. Executive authority is exercised by the cabinet, which advises the governor-general and is led by the prime minister, who is head of government. Cabinet ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and usually hold elected seats within it concurrent with their cabinet positions.
The bicameral National Assembly of Belize comprises a House of Representatives and a Senate. The 31 members of the House are popularly elected to a maximum five-year term and introduce legislation affecting the development of Belize. The governor-general appoints the 12 members of the Senate, with a Senate president selected by the members. The Senate is responsible for debating and approving bills passed by the House.
Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Belize. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Members of the independent judiciary are appointed. The judicial system includes local magistrates grouped under the Magistrates' Court, which hears less serious cases. The Supreme Court (chief justice) hears murder and similarly serious cases, and the Court of Appeal hears appeals from convicted individuals seeking to have their sentences overturned. Defendants may, under certain circumstances, appeal their cases to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Political culture
In 1935, elections were reinstated, but only 1.8 percent of the population was eligible to vote. In 1954, women won the right to vote.
Belize is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The United States (U.S.) is a major diplomatic partner to Belize and has been since 1981, following their Independence. Over the past few decades, relations between the two states have consistently grown through mutual cooperation, forming a strong, long-lasting partnership. In Belize, areas such as the economy, international/national security, and education have greatly improved with the support of the U.S.
The U.S. frequently offers Belize financial support. Most recently in 2024, the development of the U.S. foreign assistance agency, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), was a big step in addressing further growth in the economy. The MCC is a U.S. government-funded foreign assistance agency that focuses on reducing poverty through economic growth. It provides grants as opposed to loans, ensuring the program is not profit-driven. In Belize, this has translated into a system that modernizes educational opportunities and enhances the energy sector. Historically, Belize and the U.S. have had good relations because of a shared commitment to democratic governance. Along with financial aid, the U.S. has continuously provided disaster relief after detrimental natural disasters that have been a threat to Belize’s overall stability.
The U.S. Peace Corps has also played a pivotal role in Belize. Since 1952, the U.S. Peace Corps has a public health and education program in Belize through the U.S. Embassy Regional Security Program in Central America. Volunteers work in rural and urban communities to address the improvement of education, economic development, public health, etc. These efforts have strengthened the relations between Belize and the U.S. on a more community-based level. In 2005, the maritime wing became part of the Belizean Coast Guard. In 2012, the Belizean government spent about $17 million on the military, constituting 1.08% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
After Belize achieved independence in 1981 the United Kingdom maintained a deterrent force (British Forces Belize) in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala (see Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory). During the 1980s this included a battalion and No. 1417 Flight RAF of Harriers. The main British force left in 1994, three years after Guatemala recognized Belizean independence, but the United Kingdom maintained a training presence via the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) and 25 Flight AAC until 2011 when the last British Forces left Ladyville Barracks, with the exception of seconded advisers.Guatemalan territorial dispute
Throughout Belize's history, Guatemala has claimed sovereignty over all or part of Belizean territory. This claim is occasionally reflected in maps drawn by Guatemala's government, showing Belize as Guatemala's twenty-third department.}}
The Guatemalan territorial claim involves approximately 53% of Belize's mainland, which includes significant portions of four districts: Belize, Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo. Roughly 43% of the country's population (≈154,949 Belizeans) reside in this region.
, the border dispute with Guatemala remains unresolved and contentious. Guatemala's claim to Belizean territory rests, in part, on Clause VII of the Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty of 1859, which obligated the British to build a road between Belize City and Guatemala. At various times, the issue has required mediation by the United Kingdom, Caribbean Community heads of government, the Organization of American States (OAS), Mexico, and the United States. On 15 April 2018, Guatemala's government held a referendum to determine if the country should take its territorial claim on Belize to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle the long-standing issue. Guatemalans voted 95% yes on the matter. A similar referendum was to be held in Belize on 10 April 2019, but a court ruling led to its postponement.<!-- cites previous 2 sentences --> The referendum was held on 8 May 2019, and 55.4% of voters opted to send the matter to the ICJ.
Both countries submitted requests to the ICJ (in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and the ICJ ordered Guatemala's initial brief be submitted by December 2020 and Belize's response by 2022. On 7 June 2023, the stage of written submissions ended, with the next step being oral arguments from each country's legal teams.Indigenous land claimsBelize backed the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, which established legal land rights to indigenous groups. Other court cases have affirmed these rights like the Supreme Court of Belize's 2013 decision to uphold its ruling in 2010 that acknowledges customary land titles as communal land for indigenous peoples. Another such case is the Caribbean Court of Justice's (CCJ) 2015 order on the Belizean government, which stipulated that the country develop a land registry to classify and exercise traditional governance over Mayan lands. Despite these rulings, Belize has made little progress to support the land rights of indigenous communities; for instance, in the two years after the CCJ's decision, Belize's government failed to launch the Mayan land registry, prompting the group to take action into its own hands.
The exact ramifications of these cases need to be examined. , Belize still struggles to recognize indigenous populations and their respective rights. According to the 50-page voluntary national report Belize created on its progress toward the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, indigenous groups are not factored into the country's indicators whatsoever. Belize's Maya population is only mentioned once in the entirety of the report. The area of the country totals , an area slightly larger than El Salvador, Israel, New Jersey, or Wales. The many lagoons along the coasts and in the northern interior reduces the actual land area to . It is the only Central American country with no Pacific coastline.
Belize is shaped roughly like a rhombus that extends about north-south and about east-west, with a total land boundary length of . The undulating courses of two rivers, the Hondo and the Sarstoon River, delineate much of the country's northern and southern boundaries. The western border follows no natural features and runs north–south through lowland forest and highland plateau.
The north of Belize consists mostly of flat, swampy coastal plains, in places heavily forested. The flora is highly diverse considering the small geographical area. The south contains the low mountain range of the Maya Mountains. The highest point in Belize is Doyle's Delight at .
Belize's rugged geography has also made the country's coastline and jungle attractive to drug smugglers, who use the country as a gateway into Mexico. In 2011, the United States added Belize to the list of nations considered major drug producers or transit countries for narcotics.
Environment preservation and biodiversity
Belize has a rich variety of wildlife because of its position between North and South America and a wide range of climates and habitats for plant and animal life. Belize's low human population and approximately of undistributed land make for an ideal home for the more than 5,000 species of plants and hundreds of species of animals, including armadillos, snakes, and monkeys.
The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve in south-central Belize established to protect the forests, fauna, and watersheds of an approximately area of the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains. The reserve was founded in 1990 as the first wilderness sanctuary for the jaguar and is regarded by one author as the premier site for jaguar preservation in the world.
Vegetation and flora
In Belize forest cover is around 56% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,277,050 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 1,600,030 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 1,274,670 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 2,390 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 59% of the forest area was found within protected areas.
Around 20% of the country's land is covered by cultivated land (agriculture) and human settlements. Belize had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.15/10, ranking it 85th globally out of 172 countries. Savanna, scrubland and wetland constitute the remainder of Belize's land cover. Important mangrove ecosystems are also represented across Belize's landscape. Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within the country's borders – the Petén–Veracruz moist forests, Belizian pine forests, Belizean Coast mangroves, and Belizean Reef mangroves. As a part of the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that stretches from southern Mexico to Panama, Belize's biodiversity – both marine and terrestrial – is rich, with abundant flora and fauna.
Belize is also a leader in protecting biodiversity and natural resources. According to the World Database on Protected Areas, 37% of Belize's land territory falls under some form of official protection, giving Belize one of the most extensive systems of terrestrial protected areas in the Americas. By contrast, Costa Rica only has 27% of its land territory protected.
Around 13.6% of Belize's territorial waters, which contain the Belize Barrier Reef, are also protected. The Belize Barrier Reef is a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site and is the second-largest barrier reef in the world, behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
A remote sensing study conducted by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and NASA, in collaboration with the Forest Department and the Land Information Centre (LIC) of the government of Belize's Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE), and published in August 2010 revealed that Belize's forest cover in early 2010 was approximately 62.7%, down from 75.9% in late 1980. A similar study by Belize Tropical Forest Studies and Conservation International revealed similar trends in terms of Belize's forest cover. Both studies indicate that each year, 0.6% of Belize's forest cover is lost, translating to the clearing of an average of each year. The USAID-supported SERVIR study by CATHALAC, NASA, and the MNRE also showed that Belize's protected areas have been extremely effective in protecting the country's forests. While only some 6.4% of forests inside of legally declared protected areas were cleared between 1980 and 2010, over a quarter of forests outside of protected areas were lost between 1980 and 2010.
As a country with a relatively high forest cover and a low deforestation rate, Belize has significant potential for participation in initiatives such as REDD. Significantly, the SERVIR study on Belize's deforestation
Natural resources and energy
Belize is known to have a number of economically important minerals, but none in quantities large enough to warrant mining. These minerals include dolomite, barite (source of barium), bauxite (source of aluminium), cassiterite (source of tin), and gold. In 1990 limestone, used in road construction, was the only mineral resource exploited for domestic or export use.
In 2006, the cultivation of newly discovered crude oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems for this developing nation.
Access to biocapacity in Belize is much higher than world average. In 2016, Belize had 3.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Belize used 5.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use more biocapacity than Belize contains. As a result, Belize is running a biocapacity deficit. In 1842 Charles Darwin described it as "the most remarkable reef in the West Indies".
The Belize Barrier Reef was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996 due to its vulnerability and the fact that it contains important natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biodiversity.Species
The Belize Barrier Reef is home to a large diversity of plants and animals, and is one of the most diverse ecosystems of the world:
* 70 hard coral species
* 36 soft coral species
* 500 species of fish
* hundreds of invertebrate species
With ~90% of the reef still yet to be researched, some estimate that only 10% of all species have been discovered.
Conservation
, a phenomenon of karst topography]]
Belize became the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in December 2010. In December 2015, Belize banned offshore oil drilling within of the Barrier Reef and all of its seven World Heritage Sites.
Despite these protective measures, the reef remains under threat from oceanic pollution as well as uncontrolled tourism, shipping, and fishing. Other threats include hurricanes, climate change and the resulting increase in ocean temperatures, which causes coral bleaching. It is claimed by scientists that over 40% of Belize's coral reef has been damaged since 1998. The storm moved inland towards Belmopan, causing estimated damage of BZ$33.8 million ($17.4 million 2010 USD), primarily from damage to crops and housing. The most recent hurricane to make landfall in Belize was Hurricane Lisa in 2022. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and floods, have become more frequent and intense due to climate change.
Climate change
Belize is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its low-lying coastal areas, diverse ecosystems, and economic reliance on tourism and agriculture. As a country, Belize's 2023 greenhouse gas emissions are relatively low (7.46 million tonnes), however, it ranks as the 13th highest country for per capita emissions, at 18.13 tonnes per person. Land use change and forestry together is the highest source of emissions in Belize. The government has committed to net zero emissions by 2050 and has developed climate resilience and adaptation plans. crude oil, and petroleum. , oil production was . In agriculture, sugar, like in colonial times, remains the chief crop, accounting for nearly half of exports, while the banana industry is the largest employer.
The government of Belize faces important challenges to economic stability. Rapid action to improve tax collection has been promised, but a lack of progress in reining in spending could bring the exchange rate under pressure. The tourist and construction sectors strengthened in early 1999, leading to a preliminary estimate of revived growth at four percent. Infrastructure remains a major economic development challenge; Belize has the region's most expensive electricity. Trade is important and the major trading partners are the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and CARICOM.
Because of its location on the coast of Central America, Belize is a popular destination for vacationers and for many North American drug traffickers. The Belize currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar and banks in Belize offer non-residents the ability to establish accounts, so drug traffickers and money launderers are attracted to banks in Belize. As a result, the United States Department of State has, since 2014, named Belize as one of the world's "major money laundering countries".
Industrial infrastructure
The largest integrated electric utility and the principal distributor in Belize is Belize Electricity Limited. BEL was approximately 70% owned by Fortis Inc., a Canadian investor-owned distribution utility. Fortis took over the management of BEL in 1999, at the invitation of the government of Belize in an attempt to mitigate prior financial problems with the locally managed utility. In addition to its regulated investment in BEL, Fortis owns Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL), a non-regulated hydroelectric generation business that operates three hydroelectric generating facilities on the Macal River.
On 14 June 2011, the government of Belize nationalized the ownership interest of Fortis Inc. in Belize Electricity Ltd. The utility encountered serious financial problems after the country's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in 2008 "disallowed the recovery of previously incurred fuel and purchased power costs in customer rates and set customer rates at a level that does not allow BEL to earn a fair and reasonable return", Fortis said in a June 2011 statement. BEL appealed this judgement to the Court of Appeal, with a hearing expected in 2012. In May 2011, the Supreme Court of Belize granted BEL's application to prevent the PUC from taking any enforcement actions pending the appeal. The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a statement saying the government had acted in haste and expressed concern over the message it sent to investors.
In August 2009, the government of Belize nationalized Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), which now competes directly with Speednet. As a result of the nationalization process, the interconnection agreements are again subject to negotiations. Both BTL and Speednet sell basic telephone services, national and international calls, prepaid services, cellular services via GSM 1900 megahertz (MHz) and 4G LTE respectively, international cellular roaming, fixed wireless, fibre-to-the-home internet service, and national and international data networks.
Tourism
A combination of natural factors – climate, the Belize Barrier Reef, over 450 offshore Cays (islands), excellent fishing, safe waters for boating, scuba diving, snorkelling and freediving, numerous rivers for rafting, and kayaking, various jungle and wildlife reserves of fauna and flora, for hiking, birdwatching, and helicopter touring, as well as many Maya sites – support the thriving tourism and ecotourism industry.
Development costs are high, but the government of Belize has made tourism its second development priority after agriculture. In 2012, tourist arrivals totalled 917,869 (with about 584,683 from the United States) and tourist receipts amounted to over $1.3 billion.
After COVID-19 struck tourism, Belize became the first country in the Caribbean to allow vaccinated travellers to visit without a COVID-19 test.
Demographics
According to the 2022 census, Belize's population is 397,483. Its birth rate was 17.8 births/1,000 population (2022), and the death rate was 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2022). A substantial ethnic-demographic shift has been occurring since 1980 when the Creole/Hispanic ratio shifted from 58/38 to 26/53 in 1991, due to many Creoles moving to the US and a rising Mestizo birth rate and migration from Latin America. Ethnic groups
Belize, despite its small population, is a melting pot of cultures. Although the colonial government encouraged the idea and passive application of racial segregation to keep the population divided, it never did have a strong impact on the small, diverse, and largely interconnected population. Like many other post-colonial countries, there are traces of racism, but it has been minimal: most Belizeans do not tolerate or justify it. Belize has a dozen or more active cultures and the different ethnic groups have all contributed in the making of the Belizean identity through food, music, loaned words, folklores, fashion and arts. They have blended together, creating the Belizean unity captured by the country's motto, "Sub umbra floreo," which means, "Under the shade I flourish."
|width109km}}The MayaThe Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BCE. Many died in conflicts or by catching disease from invading Europeans. Three Maya groups inhabit the country: The Yucatec (who came from Yucatán, Mexico, to escape the savage Caste War of the 1840s), the Mopan (indigenous to Belize but were forced out to Guatemala by the British for raiding settlements; they returned to Belize to evade enslavement by the Guatemalans in the 19th century), and Q'eqchi' (also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century). The latter groups are chiefly found in the Toledo District. The Maya speak their native languages and Spanish, and are also often fluent in English and Belizean Creole.Belizean Creoles
Belizean Creoles are primarily mixed-raced descendants of West and Central Africans who were brought to the British Honduras (modern Belize along the Bay of Honduras) as well as the English and Scottish log cutters, known as the Baymen. Over the years they have also intermarried with Miskito from Nicaragua, Jamaicans and other Caribbean people, Mestizos, Europeans, Garifunas, Maya etc. The majority of Creoles trace their ancestry to several of the aforementioned groups. The creole and African slaves came to British Honduras (modern day Belize) from Jamaica, as Jamaica was the closest British colony administering British Honduras at the time and it was the slave ships' final destination. It is also mentioned that many slaves brought to Belize were trouble makers and resisters from Jamaican sugar cane plantations.
Belize town was the epicentre of the colony and many slaves ended up in the logwood and timber industry. Women and children stayed doing domestic and farm work. Slaves in Belize were more free to travel and roam around the colony due to their work. This caused the rapid integration of African slaves from different tribes and parts of Africa to mingle with the free coloureds and sons and daughters of slave owners with slaves.
Some predominant coloured or light skinned creole communities were in the Belize river valley namely Crooked Tree, Isabela Bank, Bermudian Landings and Lemonal among others. Most of them have light or blue eyes and light skin. Unlike the fast integration and intermarriages of creoles with Africans and Hispanics in Belize City, the creoles in the Belize river valley area had a more lighter complexion and more visible European traits.
The Belizean Creole along with Africans and Garifuna make up the Afro-Belizean population; about 30% of the population. The Creoles have had a great impact in Belizean history and politics. They were active and part of the Battle of St George's Caye, Part of the British West Indies Battalion in world war one and world war two, and the Negro movement for equal rights. They were one of the first group of people to advocate for and get a higher education in Jamaica and the UK in which after returning to Belize, the educated scholars rallied and started the movement for adult suffrage, self-government and independence. All of the important historical events started in Belize City and most of the first people involved were of creole descent which were the upper and middle class of Belize at the time. Well known Creole Belizeans were Samuel Haynes, Philip Goldson, Dean Barrow, Dame Minita Gordon, Cleopatra White, Cordel Hyde and Patrick Faber among others.
The Creole were the biggest ethnic group in Belize until the 1980s due to mass migration of Afro Belizeans to the United States, United Kingdom and West Indies from the 1960s to 1970s and the mass immigration of Central American refugees to Belize. Due to the Central American War, and political instability, the country's demographics changed forever.
Belizean Creole language
For all intents and purposes, Creole is an ethnic and linguistic denomination. Some natives, even with blonde hair and blue eyes, may call themselves Creoles.
Belizean Creole or Kriol developed during the time of slavery, and historically was only spoken by former enslaved Africans. It became an integral part of the Belizean identity, spoken by about 45% of Belizeans.
Garinagu
, Belize]]
The Garinagu (singular Garifuna), at around 4.5% of the population, are a mix of West/Central African, Arawak, and Island Carib ancestry. Though they were captives removed from their homelands, these people were never documented as slaves. The two prevailing theories are that, in 1635, they were either the survivors of two recorded shipwrecks or somehow took over the ship they came on.
Throughout history they have been incorrectly labelled as Black Caribs. When the British took over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they were opposed by French settlers and their Garinagu allies. The Garinagu eventually surrendered to the British in 1796. The British separated the more African-looking Garifunas from the more indigenous-looking ones. 5,000 Garinagu were exiled from the Grenadine island of Baliceaux. About 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. The Garifuna language belongs to the Arawakan language family, but has a large number of loanwords from Carib languages and from English.
Because Roatán was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garinagu petitioned the Spanish authorities of Honduras to be allowed to settle on the mainland coast. The Spanish employed them as soldiers, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America. The Garinagu settled in Seine Bight, Punta Gorda and Punta Negra, Belize, by way of Honduras as early as 1802. In Belize, 19 November 1832 is the date officially recognized as "Garifuna Settlement Day" in Dangriga.
According to one genetic study, their ancestry is on average 76% Sub Saharan African, 20% Arawak/Island Carib and 4% European. The mixture of Yucatec Mestizo and Yucatec Maya foods like tamales, escabeche, chirmole, relleno, and empanadas came from their Mexican side and corn tortillas were handed down by their Mayan side. Music comes mainly from the marimba, but they also play and sing with the guitar. Dances performed at village fiestas include the Hog-Head, Zapateados, the Mestizada, Paso Doble and many more.
Just like Southern Mexico and Northern Belize the marimba and its music is an iconic and important traditional folklore instrument across Central America. Some typical Central American foods blended into the Belizean gastronomy are the famous Salvadorian pupusas, the famous Honduran baliadas, the gacho, tajadas, tostones and they have also influenced the form of the Spanish language in the South of Belize. In the short span of their mass migration to Belize, Central American immigrants have contributed significantly to Belize not only culturally but also economically.
The Yucatec Mestizo culture is unique and very different from the culture of those migrants and refugees coming form other Central American countries. Mestizos make up 37% of the population and Latin American Immigrants and refugees make up 15% of the population. Together the Mestizo and Hispanic population make up roughly 52% of the Belizean population.
White Belizeans
Whites or Caucasians in Belize are around 4.8% of the population, being people and descendants from Ireland and the United Kingdom, immigrants from the United States and Canada, Lebanese, Mennonites and many others brought to assist the country's development. Irish settlers and migrants and veterans from Louisiana and other Southern states established Confederate settlements in British Honduras and introduced commercial sugar cane production to the colony, establishing 11 settlements in the interior.
The biggest Caucasian group are the Mennonites: they divide themselves into traditional and conservative or orthodox Mennonites and modern or reformed Mennonites.
children selling peanuts near Lamanai in Belize.]]
Over 12,000 Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites live in Belize, farming the land and living according to their religious beliefs.
The majority of the Mennonite population comprises so-called Russian Mennonites of German descent who settled in the Russian Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Most Russian Mennonites live in Mennonite settlements like Spanish Lookout, Shipyard, Little Belize, and Blue Creek. These Mennonites speak Plautdietsch (a Low German dialect) in everyday life, but use mostly Standard German for reading (the Bible) and writing. The Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites came mostly from Mexico in the years after 1958 and they are trilingual with proficiency in Spanish. There are also some mainly Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking Old Order Mennonites who came from the United States and Canada in the late 1960s. They live primarily in Upper Barton Creek and associated settlements. These Mennonites attracted people from different Anabaptist backgrounds who formed a new community. They look quite similar to Old Order Amish, but are different from them.
East Indians
Indo-Belizeans, also known as East Indian Belizeans, are citizens of Belize of Indian ancestry. The community made up 3.9% of the population of Belize in 2010. and are a bit over 2% presently. They are part of the wider Indo-Caribbean community, which itself is a part of the global Indian diaspora.
East Indians began arriving in Belize after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, with the first ship with Indians arriving in 1858 as part of the Indian indenture system set up by the British government after slavery was abolished. Initially coming in as indentured, many of them stayed on to work the sugar plantations and were joined by other Indian immigrants. Indians have spread out over many villages and towns primarily in the Corozal and Toledo districts and live in reasonably compact rural communities. While there are few descendants of the original Indian indentured immigrants of full Indian descent, many of their descendants intermarried with other ethnic groups in Belize, notably the Creoles and Mestizos. However, they are still identifiable through their physiognomy and are known as 'Hindus' or 'East Indians'. 474 Chinese workers thus arrived in British Honduras in 1865. They were sent to the north of the colony, but were reassigned to central and southern areas beginning in 1866 due to the large numbers of deaths and abscondments. In response to the demand, the price rose from US$25,000 to US$50,000 in 1997. Hong Kong migrants, who lacked real British citizenship but only had British National (Overseas) status, sought to obtain Belizean passports as an insurance policy in case conditions in their homeland went downhill after the 1997 resumption of sovereignty by China.
The East Asian and Arab Belizeans are an overwhelmingly urban population, with five-sixths living in cities, the highest proportion out of all tabulated ethnic groups. This is a slightly higher proportion than the Garifuna people and Creoles, but contrasting sharply with East Indians, of whom roughly half live in rural areas. East Asian and Arab Belizeans have a significant presence in the retail industry and fast food restaurant chains in Belize. Belizean Arabs mostly reside in Belize City and the towns in the islands and cayes. Belizean Arabs, although a minority, have contributed significantly to politics and education throughout the history of Belize. Some influential Arab families are the Musas, Espat, Shoman, and Chebat among others. Their influence on the People's United Party has made Belize an advocate for Palestine's right to self-determination.
Emigration, immigration, and demographic shifts
Creoles and other ethnic groups are emigrating mostly to the United States, but also to the United Kingdom and other developed nations for better opportunities. Based on the latest U.S. Census, the number of Belizeans in the United States is approximately 160,000 (including 70,000 legal residents and naturalized citizens), consisting mainly of Creoles and Garinagu.
Because of conflicts in neighboring Central American nations, Hispanics or Latin American refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have fled to Belize in significant numbers during the 1980s, and have been significantly adding to Belize's Hispanic population. These two events have been changing the demographics of the nation for the last 30 years. In the 2020 U.S. Census Data, Belizeans made the top 5, ranking at number 4, of largest "Some Other Race Alone" or "Some Other Race Alone or in Any Combination" group. The number of Belizeans in the "Some Other Race Alone" was 11,311 people, and the number of Belizeans in the "Some Other Race Alone or in any Combination" was 48,618 people. However, the U.S. State Department estimates upwards 100,000 Belizeans are in the U.S., making it the largest Belizean diaspora outside of Belize.
Because of conflicts in neighbouring Central American nations, Hispanics or Latin American refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have fled to Belize in significant numbers during the 1980s, and have been significantly adding to Belize's Hispanic population. These two events have been changing the demographics of the nation for the last 30 years. $2.62 Billion U.S. dollars were given in aid to Belize from the U.S., between 2020 to 2023, to help with the uptick in violence with trafficking, including drug and human, narcotic smuggling, and the spread of organized gang violence. The aid was dedicated to reinforcing Belize's police enforcement system and tighter border regulations. Most migrants enter Belize with intentions to cross into the U.S., and as of 2018, migrants made up 15% of Belize's population. Belizeans have historically moved to the US and Canada mostly in search of better educational opportunities, family reunions, and economic prospects. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a key instrument that has made this trend possible in the US. TPS allows individuals from nations that are undergoing armed conflicts, natural disasters, or extraordinary situations to temporarily stay in the United States. This status has been especially important for Belizeans since Hurricane Hattie in 1961 forced major internal relocation.
Approximately 52.9% of Belizeans self-identify as Mestizo, Hispanic. When Belize was a British colony, Spanish was banned in schools, but since then it has become widely spoken. "Kitchen Spanish" is an intermediate form of Spanish mixed with Belize Creole, spoken in the northern districts. Some good examples are Corozal and San Pedro. Being a small, multiethnic state, surrounded by Spanish-speaking nations, the economic and social benefits from multilingualism are high.
Belize is also home to three Mayan languages: Q'eqchi', Mopan (an endangered language), and Yucatec Maya.
Approximately 16,100 people speak the Arawakan-based Garifuna language, and 6,900 Mennonites in Belize speak mainly Plautdietsch while a minority of Mennonites speak Pennsylvania Dutch.
Largest cities
San Ignacio
|div_2 = Cayo District
|pop_2 = 17,878
|img_2 = San Ignacio Laslovarga016.JPG
|city_3 = Belmopan
|div_3 = Cayo District
|pop_3 = 13,939
|img_3 = Belmopan Belize View.jpg
|city_4 = Orange Walk Town
|div_4 = Orange Walk District
|pop_4 = 13,708
|img_4 = OWtownBZE.JPG
|city_5 = San Pedro Town
|div_5 = Belize District
|pop_5 = 11,767
|city_6 = Corozal Town
|div_6 = Corozal District
|pop_6 = 10,287
|city_7 = Dangriga
|div_7 = Stann Creek District
|pop_7 = 9,593
|city_8 = Benque Viejo del Carmen
|div_8 = Cayo District
|pop_8 = 6,140
|city_9 = Ladyville
|div_9 = Belize District
|pop_9 = 5,458
|city_10 = Punta Gorda, BelizePunta Gorda
|div_10 = Toledo District
|pop_10 = 5,351
}}
Religion
According to the 2010 census, Until the late 1990s, Belize was a Catholic majority country. Catholics formed 57% of the population in 1991, and dropped to 49% in 2000. The percentage of Catholics in the population has been decreasing in the past few decades due to the growth of Protestant churches, other religions and non-religious people.
In addition to Catholics, there has always been a large accompanying Protestant minority. It was brought by British, German, and other settlers to the British colony of British Honduras. From the beginning, it was largely Anglican and Mennonite in nature. The Protestant community in Belize experienced a large Pentecostal and Seventh-Day Adventist influx tied to the recent spread of various Evangelical Protestant denominations throughout Latin America. Geographically speaking, German Mennonites live mostly in the rural districts of Cayo and Orange Walk.
The Greek Orthodox Church has a presence in Santa Elena.
The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates there were 7,776 Baháʼís in Belize in 2005, or 2.5% of the national population. Their estimates suggest this is the highest proportion of Baháʼís in any country. Their data also states that the Baháʼí Faith is the second most common religion in Belize, following Christianity. Hinduism is followed by most Indian immigrants. Sikhs were the first Indian immigrants to Belize (not counting indentured workers), and the former Chief Justice of Belize George Singh was the son of a Sikh immigrant, there was also a Sikh cabinet minister. Muslims claim that there have been Muslims in Belize since the 16th century having been brought over from Africa as slaves, but there are no sources for that claim. The modern Muslim population grew from the 1980s. Muslims numbered 243 in 2000 and 577 in 2010 according to the official statistics. and account for 0.16 percent of the population. A mosque is at the Islamic Mission of Belize (IMB), also known as the Muslim Community of Belize. Another mosque, Masjid Al-Falah, officially opened in 2008 in Belize City. Health
Belize has a high prevalence of communicable diseases such as respiratory diseases and intestinal illnesses.Education
A number of kindergartens, secondary, and tertiary schools in Belize provide education for students—mostly funded by the government. Belize has about a dozen tertiary level institutions, the most prominent of which is the University of Belize, which evolved out of the University College of Belize founded in 1986. Before that St. John's College, founded in 1877, dominated the tertiary education field. The Open Campus of the University of the West Indies has a site in Belize. It also has campuses in Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica. The government of Belize contributes financially to the UWI.
Education in Belize is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14 years. , the literacy rate in Belize was estimated at 79.7%,CrimeBelize has moderate rates of violent crime. The majority of violence in Belize stems from gang activity, which includes trafficking of drugs and persons, protecting drug smuggling routes, and securing territory for drug dealing.
In 2023, 87 murders were recorded in Belize, giving the country a homicide rate of 19.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, lower than the neighbouring countries of Mexico and Honduras, but higher than Guatemala and El Salvador. Belize District (containing Belize City) had the most murders by far compared to all the other districts. In 2023, 66% of the murders occurred in the Belize District.
Political and economic power remain vested in the hands of the local elite. The sizeable middle group is composed of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds. This middle group does not constitute a unified social class, but rather a number of middle-class and working-class groups, loosely oriented around shared dispositions toward education, cultural respectability, and possibilities for upward social mobility. These beliefs, and the social practices they engender, help distinguish the middle group from the grass roots majority of the Belizean people. In 2019, the UN gave Belize a Gender Inequality Index score of 0.415, ranking it 97th out of 162 countries.
, 49.9% of women in Belize participate in the workforce, compared to 80.6% of men. In addition, the month of September is considered a special time of national celebration called September Celebrations with a whole month of activities on a special events calendar. Besides Independence Day and St. George's Caye Day, Belizeans also celebrate Carnival during September, which typically includes several events spread across multiple days, with the main event being the Carnival Road March, usually held the Saturday before 10 September. In some areas of Belize, it is celebrated at the traditional time before Lent (in February).
Cuisine
Belizean cuisine is a vibrant blend that reflects the country's multicultural makeup, incorporating elements from Mestizo, Creole, Garifuna, Maya, and immigrant influences, including Chinese and Indian traditions. This unique combination makes Belizean food an amalgamation of flavours from Central America, the Caribbean, and even further afield, producing dishes that are at once familiar to these areas yet distinctly Belizean.
Breakfast is often hearty, featuring staples like bread, flour tortillas, or fry jacks (fried dough pieces), which are typically paired with cheese, refried beans, and eggs, along with coffee or tea. Street vendors frequently offer breakfast options such as tacos and meat pies, while a midday meal, known locally as "dinner," serves as the main meal of the day. Traditional midday dishes include rice and beans (with or without coconut milk), stewed chicken, tamales, escabeche (an onion soup), and panades (fried corn shells with beans or fish).
In rural areas, meals often centre around locally grown maize, beans, and squash, particularly in Maya communities, whereas Garifuna cuisine is known for its Afro-Caribbean roots and heavily features seafood and cassava-based dishes like ereba (cassava bread). These local ingredients and cooking methods provide a deep connection to the land and traditions. This culinary diversity is supported by Belize's abundant agriculture, which allows for a wide variety of fresh ingredients, from tropical fruits to seafood.
On Easter day, citizens of Dangriga participate in a yearly fishing tournament. First, second, and third prize are awarded based on a scoring combination of size, species, and number. The tournament is broadcast over local radio stations, and prize money is awarded to the winners.
The Belize national basketball team is the only national team that has achieved major victories internationally. The team won the 1998 CARICOM Men's Basketball Championship, held at the Civic Centre in Belize City, and subsequently participated in the 1999 Centrobasquet Tournament in Havana. The national team finished seventh of eight teams after winning only 1 game despite playing close all the way. In a return engagement at the 2000 CARICOM championship in Barbados, Belize placed fourth. Shortly thereafter, Belize moved to the Central American region and won the Central American Games championship in 2001.
The team has failed to duplicate this success, most recently finishing with a 2–4 record in the 2006 COCABA championship. The team finished second in the 2009 COCABA tournament in Cancun, Mexico where it went 3–0 in group play. Belize won its opening match in the Centrobasquet Tournament, 2010, defeating Trinidad and Tobago, but lost badly to Mexico in a rematch of the COCABA final. A tough win over Cuba set Belize in position to advance, but they fell to Puerto Rico in their final match and failed to qualify.
Simone Biles, the winner of four gold medals in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is a dual citizen of the United States and of Belize, which she considers her second home. Biles is of Belizean-American descent.National symbols
)]]
The national flower of Belize is the black orchid (Prosthechea cochleata, also known as Encyclia cochleata). The national tree is the mahogany tree (Swietenia macrophylla), which inspired the national motto Sub Umbra Floreo'', which means "Under the shade I flourish". The national ground-dwelling animal is the Baird's tapir and the national bird is the keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulphuratus).See also
* List of Belize-related topics
* Outline of Belize
Explanatory notes
References
External links
* – Government of Belize. .
* [http://www.royal.uk/belize Official webpage of Queen Elizabeth II] (as former Queen of Belize)
*
* [https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/belize.html Profile at U.S. Department of State]
* [http://www.nemo.org.bz Belize National Emergency Management Organization] – Official governmental site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130204023932/http://wildlifebelize.com/ Belize Wildlife Conservation Network] – Belize Wildlife Conservation Network (archived 4 February 2013)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120205214449/http://www.cathalac.org/ CATHALAC] – Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (archived 5 February 2012)
* [http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/belize/ LANIC Belize page]
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belize/ Belize]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130511095345/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/belize.htm Belize] at UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 11 May 2013)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1211472.stm Belize] from the BBC News
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BZ Key Development Forecasts for Belize] from International Futures
* [http://www.hydromet.gov.bz/ Hydromet.gov.bz] – Official website of the Belize National Meteorological Service
* [https://bzj.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page Bileez Kriol Wiki – A wiki in Belizean Creole about Belize]
Category:Countries in North America
Category:Countries in Central America
Category:States and territories established in 1981
Category:Former British colonies
Category:Former Spanish colonies
Category:Member states of the Caribbean Community
Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:Small Island Developing States
Category:Countries and territories where English is an official language
Category:Spanish-speaking countries and territories
Category:Yucatán Peninsula | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.344764 |
3459 | Benin | | common_name = Benin
| image_flag = Flag of Benin.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Benin.svg
| image_map
| map_caption | image_map2
| national_motto }}
| englishmotto = Fraternity, Justice, Labour
| national_anthem <br />"The Dawn of a New Day"<br /><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| official_languages French
| languages_type = National languages
| languages
|
| Arabic
| English
| Aguna
| Aja
| Alada
| Fon
| Gbe
| Gen
| Gun
| Pherá
| Phla
| Tofin
| Tɔli
| Waci
| Berba
| Kabye
| Lama
| Lukpa
| Mbelime
| Mossi
| Nateni
| Ngangam
| Tammari
| Tem
| Waama
| Yom
| Kwa
| Chakosi
| Foodo
| Ede
| Ifè
| Mokole
| Yoruba
| Yoruboid
| Bariba
| Dendi
| Fula
| Hausa}}
| demonym =
| ethnic_groups =
| ethnic_groups_year 2020
| religion
| religion_year = 2020
| religion_ref
| capital = Porto-Novo
| largest_city = Cotonou
| government_type = Unitary presidential republic
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Patrice Talon
| leader_title2 = Vice President
| leader_name2 = Mariam Chabi Talata
| legislature = National Assembly
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from France
| established_event1 = French protectorate
| established_date1 = 1894
| established_event2 = Republic of Dahomey established within the French Community
| established_date2 = 11 December 1958
| established_event3 = Independence
| established_date3 = 1 August 1960
| established_event4 | established_date4
| area_rank = 100th
| area_km2 = 114763
| area_sq_mi | area_footnote
| percent_water = 0.4%
| population_estimate 13,754,688
| population_estimate_rank = 77th
| population_estimate_year = 2022
| population_density_km2 = 94.8
| GDP_PPP $59.241 billion
| GDP_PPP_rank = 137th
| GDP_PPP_year = 2023
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $4,305
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.504 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 173rd
| currency = West African CFA franc
| currency_code = XOF
| country_code | time_zone WAT
| utc_offset = +1
| time_zone_DST | utc_offset_DST
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +229
| cctld = .bj
| footnote_a = Cotonou is the seat of government.
| today =
}}
Benin ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Benin (), is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of , and its population in was estimated to be approximately |,||}}/1e6 round 2}} million. It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.
From the 17th to the 19th century, political entities in the area included the Kingdom of Dahomey, the city-state of Porto Novo, and other states to the north. This region was referred to as the Slave Coast of West Africa from the early 17th century due to the high number of people who were sold and trafficked during the Atlantic slave trade to the New World. France took over the territory in 1894, incorporating it into French West Africa as French Dahomey. In 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France. As a sovereign state, Benin has had democratic governments, military coups, and military governments. A self-described Marxist–Leninist state called the People's Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990. In 1991, it was replaced by the multi-party Republic of Benin.
The official language of Benin is French, with indigenous languages such as Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi also spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Christianity (52.2%), followed by Islam (24.6%) and African Traditional Religions (17.9%). The bight takes its name from the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria.HistoryPre-colonial
, 1793]]
Prior to 1600, present-day Benin comprised a variety of areas with different political systems and ethnicities. These included city-states along the coast (primarily of the Aja ethnic group and also including Yoruba and Gbe peoples) and tribal regions inland (composed of Bariba, Mahi, Gedevi, and Kabye peoples). The Oyo Empire, located primarily to the east of Benin, was a military force in the region, conducting raids and exacting tribute from the coastal kingdoms and tribal regions. The situation changed in the 17th and 18th centuries as the Kingdom of Dahomey, consisting mostly of Fon people, was founded on the Abomey plateau and began taking over areas along the coast. By 1727, King Agaja of the Kingdom of Dahomey had conquered the coastal cities of Allada and Whydah. Dahomey had become a tributary of the Oyo Empire, and rivaled but did not directly attack the Oyo-allied city-state of Porto-Novo. The rise of Dahomey, its rivalry with Porto-Novo, and tribal politics in the northern region persisted into the colonial and post-colonial periods.
In the Dahomey, some younger people were apprenticed to older soldiers and taught the kingdom's military customs until they were old enough to join the army. Dahomey instituted an elite female soldier corps variously called Ahosi (the king's wives), Mino ("our mothers" in Fongbe) or the "Dahomean Amazons". This emphasis on military preparation and achievement earned Dahomey the nickname of "Black Sparta", from European observers and 19th-century explorers such as Sir Richard Burton.
was the longest European presence in Benin, beginning in 1680 and ending in 1961 when the last forces left Ajudá.]]
The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery or killed them ritually in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs. By about 1750, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling African captives to European slave-traders. The area was named the "Slave Coast" because of a flourishing slave trade. Court protocols which demanded that a portion of war captives from the kingdom's battles be decapitated, decreased the number of enslaved people exported from the area. The number went from 102,000 people per decade in the 1780s to 24,000 per decade by the 1860s. The decline was partly due to the Slave Trade Act 1807 banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Britain in 1808, followed by other countries.
Another major good sought by European settlers was palm oil. In 1856 approximately 2,500 tons of palm oil was exported by British companies which was valued at £112,500.Colonial
By the middle of the 19th century, Dahomey had "begun to weaken and lose its status as the regional power". The French took over the area in 1892. In 1899, the French included the land called French Dahomey within the larger French West Africa colonial region.
France sought to benefit from Dahomey and the region "appeared to lack the necessary agricultural or mineral resources for large-scale capitalist development". As a result, France treated Dahomey as a sort of preserve in case future discoveries revealed resources worth developing.
The French government outlawed the capture and sale of slaves. Previous slaveowners sought to redefine their control over slaves as control over land, tenants, and lineage members. This provoked a struggle among Dahomeans, "concentrated in the period from 1895 to 1920, for the redistribution of control over land and labor. Villages sought to redefine boundaries of lands and fishing preserves. Religious disputes scarcely veiled the factional struggles over control of land and commerce which underlay them. Factions struggled for the leadership of great families". The president who led the country to independence was Hubert Maga.Post-colonialAfter 1960, there were coups and regime changes, with the figures of Hubert Maga, Sourou Migan Apithy, Justin Ahomadégbé, and Émile Derlin Zinsou dominating; the first three each represented a different area and ethnicity of the country. These three agreed to form a Presidential Council after violence marred the 1970 elections.
On 7 May 1972, Maga ceded power to Ahomadégbé On 26 October 1972, Lt. Col. Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the ruling triumvirate, becoming president and stating that the country would not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology, and wants neither Capitalism, Communism, nor Socialism". On 30 November 1974, he announced that the country was officially Marxist, under control of the Military Council of the Revolution (CMR), which nationalized the petroleum industry and banks. On 30 November 1975, he renamed the country the People's Republic of Benin. The regime of the People's Republic of Benin underwent changes over the course of its existence: a nationalist period (1972–1974); a socialist phase (1974–1982); and a phase involving an opening to Western countries and economic liberalism (1982–1990).
In 1974, the government embarked on a program to nationalize strategic sectors of the economy, reform the education system, establish agricultural cooperatives and new local government structures, and a campaign to eradicate "feudal forces" including tribalism. The regime banned opposition activities. Mathieu Kérékou was elected president by the National Revolutionary Assembly in 1980, re-elected in 1984. Establishing relations with China, North Korea, and Libya, he put "nearly all" businesses and economic activities under state control, causing foreign investment in Benin to dry up. Kérékou attempted to reorganize education, pushing his own aphorisms such as "Poverty is not a fatality".
The country's name was officially changed to the Republic of Benin on 1 March 1990, after the newly formed government's constitution was completed.
Kérékou lost to Nicéphore Soglo in a 1991 election and became the first President on the African mainland to lose power through an election. Kérékou returned to power after winning the 1996 vote. In 2001, an election resulted in Kérékou winning another term, after which his opponents claimed election irregularities. In 1999, Kérékou issued a national apology for the substantial role that Africans had played in the Atlantic slave trade.
's 2006 presidential inauguration]]
Kérékou and former president Soglo did not run in the 2006 elections, as both were barred by the constitution's restrictions on age and total terms of candidates. The Beninese presidential election, 2006 resulted in a runoff between Thomas Boni Yayi and Adrien Houngbédji. The runoff election was held on 19 March and was won by Boni, who assumed office on 6 April. Boni was reelected in 2011, taking 53.18% of the vote in the first round—enough to avoid a runoff election. He was the first president to win an election without a runoff since the restoration of democracy in 1991.
In the March 2016 presidential elections in which Boni Yayi was barred by the constitution from running for a third term, businessman Patrice Talon won the second round with 65.37% of the vote, defeating investment banker and former Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou. Talon was sworn in on 6 April 2016. Speaking on the same day that the Constitutional Court confirmed the results, Talon said that he would "first and foremost tackle constitutional reform", discussing his plan to limit presidents to a single term of 5 years to combat "complacency". He said that he planned to slash the size of the government from 28 to 16 members. In April 2021, President Patrice Talon was re-elected, with more than 86.3% of the votes cast in the 2021 Beninese presidential election. The change in election laws resulted in total control of parliament by president Talon's supporters.
In February 2022, Benin saw its largest terrorist attack in history, the W National Park massacre.
On 20 February 2022, President Patrice Talon inaugurated an exhibition with 26 pieces of sacred art returned to Benin by France, 129 years after they were looted by colonial forces.
Politics
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Its politics take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic in which the President of Benin is both head of state and head of government, within a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the government and the legislature. The judiciary is officially independent of the executive and the legislature, while in practice its independence has been gradually hollowed out by Talon, and the Constitutional Court is headed by his former personal lawyer. The political system is derived from the 1990 Constitution of Benin and the subsequent transition to democracy in 1991.
It was ranked 18th out of 52 African countries and scored best in the categories of Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights. In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Benin 53rd out of 169 countries. That place had fallen to 78th by 2016, when Talon took office, and has fallen further to 113th.
Its democratic system "has eroded" since President Talon took office.
Military
Administrative divisions
<imagemap>
File:Benin departments named.png|thumb|right|Departments of Benin
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</imagemap>
Benin is divided into twelve departments (French: départements) which are subdivided into 77 communes. In 1999, the previous six departments were each split into two-halves, forming the later twelve.
Demographics
The majority of Benin's 11,485,000 inhabitants live in the south of the country. The life expectancy is 62 years.
| list_by_pop | div_name Department
| div_link | city_1 Cotonou
| div_1 = Littoral DepartmentLittoral
| pop_1 = 679,012
| img_1 = Vue panoramique quartier cadjéhoun-Cotonou au Bénin 1.jpg
| city_2 = Porto-Novo
| div_2 = Ouémé DepartmentOuémé
| pop_2 = 264,320
| img_2 = Porto-Novo vue.jpg
| city_3 = Parakou
| div_3 = Borgou DepartmentBorgou
| pop_3 = 255,478
| img_3 | city_4 Godomey
| div_4 = Atlantique DepartmentAtlantique
| pop_4 = 253,262
| img_4 | city_5 Abomey-Calavi
| div_5 = Atlantique DepartmentAtlantique
| pop_5 = 117,824
| city_6 = Djougou
| div_6 = Donga DepartmentDonga
| pop_6 = 94,773
| city_7 = Bohicon
| div_7 = Zou DepartmentZou
| pop_7 = 93,744
| city_8 = Ekpè
| div_8 = Ouémé DepartmentOuémé
| pop_8 = 75,313
| city_9 = Abomey
| div_9 = Zou DepartmentZou
| pop_9 = 67,885
| city_10 = Nikki, BeninNikki
| div_10 = Borgou DepartmentBorgou
| pop_10 = 66,109
}}
Religion
baptism in Cotonou. 5% of Benin's population belongs to this denomination, an African Initiated Church.]]
The two main religions in Benin are Christianity, followed mostly in the south and center, and Islam, brought by the Songhai Empire and Hausa merchants and followed in Alibori, Borgou, and Donga provinces, as well as among the Yoruba, who also practice Christianity. Some continue to hold Vodun and Orisha beliefs and have incorporated the pantheon of Vodun and Orisha into Christianity. Ahmadiyya, a sect of Islam originating in the 19th century, also has a presence in the country.
In the 2013 census, 48.5% of the population of Benin were Christian (25.5% Roman Catholic, 6.7% Celestial Church of Christ, 3.4% Methodist, and 12.9% other Christian denominations), 27.7% were Muslim, 11.6% practiced Vodun, 2.6% practiced other local traditional religions, 2.6% practiced other religions, and 5.8% claimed no religious affiliation. A government survey conducted by the Demographic and Health Surveys Program in 2011–2012 indicated that followers of Christianity comprised 57.5% of the population (with Catholics making up 33.9%, Methodists 3.0%, Celestials 6.2% and other Christians 14.5%), while Muslims were 22.8%.
According to the most recent (2020) estimate, the population of Benin was 52.2% Christian, 24.6% Muslim, 17.9% animist, and 5.3% followed other faiths or had no religion.
Traditional religions include local animistic religions in the Atakora region and Vodun and Orisha veneration among the Yoruba and Tado peoples in the center and south of the nation. The town of Ouidah on the central coast is the spiritual center of Beninese Vodun or Voodoo.Education
The literacy rate in 2015 was estimated to be 38.4% (49.9% for males and 27.3% for females). Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum. The government has devoted more than 4% of GDP to education since 2009. In 2015, public expenditure on education (all levels) amounted to 4.4% of GDP, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Within this expenditure, Benin devoted a share to tertiary education: 0.97% of GDP.
Between 2009 and 2011, the share of people enrolled at university rose from 10% to 12% of the 18–25-year age cohort. Student enrollment in tertiary education more than doubled between 2006 and 2011 from 50,225 to 110,181. These statistics encompass not only bachelor's, master's, and PhD programmes but also students enrolled in nondegree post-secondary diplomas. Malaria is a problem in Benin, being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children younger than 5 years.
During the 1980s, less than 30% of the country's population had access to primary healthcare services. Benin's infant mortality rate stood at 203 deaths for every live births. One in three mothers had access to child health care services. The Bamako Initiative changed that by introducing community-based healthcare reform, resulting in a "more efficient and equitable" provision of services. , Benin had the 26th highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. According to a 2013 UNICEF report, 13% of women had undergone female genital mutilation. An approach strategy was extended to all areas of healthcare, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost. Demographic and Health Surveys has surveyed the issue in Benin since 1996.
In the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Benin ranks 99th out of 127 countries. Geography
The north–south strip of land in West Africa lies between latitudes 6° and 13°N, and longitudes 0° and 4°E. It is bounded by Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, Nigeria to the east, and the Bight of Benin to the south. The distance from the Niger River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south is about . Although the coastline measures , the country measures about at its widest point. Four terrestrial ecoregions lie within Benin's borders: Eastern Guinean forests, Nigerian lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and West Sudanian savanna. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.86/10, ranking it 93rd globally out of 172 countries.
, 1 of Benin's 2 northernmost departments]]
Benin shows some variation in elevation and can be divided into four areas from the south to the north, starting with the lower-lying, sandy, coastal plain (highest elevation ) which is, at most, wide. It is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean. Behind the coast lies the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic-covered plateaus of southern Benin (altitude between ), which are split by valleys running north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and Ouémé Rivers.
This geography makes it vulnerable to climate change. With the majority of the country living near the coast in lower-lying areas sea level rise could have effects on the economy and population. Northern areas will see additional regions become deserts.
An area of flatter land dotted with rocky hills whose altitude reaches extends around Nikki and Save.
A range of mountains extends along the northwest border and into Togo; these are the Atacora. The highest point, Mont Sokbaro, is at . Benin has fields, mangroves and remnants of forests. In the rest of the country, the savanna is covered with thorny scrub and dotted with baobab trees. Some forests line the banks of rivers. In the north and the northwest of Benin, the Reserve du W du Niger and Pendjari National Park has African bush elephants, lions, antelopes, hippopotamus and monkeys. Pendjari National Park together with the bordering Parks Arli and W National Park in Burkina Faso and Niger are among the strongholds of the lion in West Africa; with an estimated 246–466 lions, W-Arli-Pendjari harbors the largest remaining lion population in West Africa. Historically Benin has served as habitat for the endangered African wild dog, Lycaon pictus; this canid is thought to have been locally extinct.
Annual rainfall in the coastal area averages 1300 mm or about 51 inches. Benin has two rainy and two dry seasons per year. The principal rainy season is from April to late July, with a shorter less intense rainy period from September to November. The main dry season is from December to April, with a cooler dry season from July to September. Temperatures and humidity are higher along the tropical coast. In Cotonou, the average maximum temperature is ; the minimum is .WildlifeEconomy
The economy is dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Cotton accounts for 40% of the GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts.
Real GDP growth was estimated at 5.1% and 5.7% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The main driver of growth is the agricultural sector, with cotton being the main export, while services continue to contribute the largest part of GDP mostly because of Benin's geographical location, enabling trade, transportation, transit and tourism activities with its neighboring states. Benin's overall macroeconomic conditions were "positive" in 2017, with a growth rate of around 5.6%. Economic growth was mostly driven by the cotton industry and other cash crops, the Port of Cotonou, and telecommunications. A source of revenue is the Port of Cotonou, and the government is seeking to expand its revenue base. In 2017, Benin imported about $2.8 billion in goods such as rice, meat and poultry, alcoholic beverages, fuel plastic materials, specialized mining and excavating machinery, telecommunications equipment, passenger vehicles, and toiletries and cosmetics. Principal exports are ginned cotton, cotton cake and cotton seeds, cashew, shea butter, cooking oil, and lumber.
Access to biocapacity is lower than world average. In 2016, Benin had 0.9 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Benin used 1.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use "slightly under double" as much biocapacity as Benin contains. As a result, Benin is running a biocapacity deficit.
The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. An "insufficient" electrical supply continues to "adversely affect" Benin's economic growth and the government has taken steps to increase domestic power production.
While trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labor, and the continuing issue of forced labor. Benin is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).
Cotonou has the country's only seaport and international airport. Benin is connected by 2-lane asphalted roads to its neighboring countries (Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria). Mobile telephone service is available across the country through operators. ADSL connections are available in some areas. Benin is connected to the Internet by way of satellite connections (since 1998) and a single submarine cable SAT-3/WASC (since 2001). Relief of "high price" is expected with the initiation of the Africa Coast to Europe cable in 2011.
With the GDP growth rate of 4%–5% remaining consistent over two decades, poverty has been increasing. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis in Benin, those living under the poverty line have increased from 36.2% in 2011 to 40.1% in 2015.
The growing Blaxit movement is starting to bring people of African heritage to Benin for cultural and economic growth reasons. With the Benin government currently working to grant citizenship to people of African descent.Science and technology National policy framework The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is responsible for implementing science policy. The National Directorate of Scientific and Technological Research handles planning and coordination, whereas the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and National Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters each play an advisory role. Financial support comes from Benin's National Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation. The Benin Agency for the Promotion of Research Results and Technological Innovation carries out technology transfer through the development and dissemination of research results.
The regulatory framework has evolved since 2006 when the science policy was prepared. This has been updated and complemented by new texts on science and innovation (the year of adoption is between brackets):
Research output
Benin has the third-highest publication intensity for scientific journals in West Africa, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded. There were 25.5 scientific articles per million inhabitants cataloged in this database in 2014. This compares with 65.0 for the Gambia, 49.6 for Cape Verde, 23.2 for Senegal, and 21.9 for Ghana. The volume of publications in this database tripled in Benin between 2005 and 2014 from 86 to 270. Between 2008 and 2014, Benin's "main scientific collaborators" were based in France (529 articles), the United States (261), United Kingdom (254), Belgium (198), and Germany (156). Félix Couchoro wrote the first Beninese novel, ''L'Esclave (The Slave), in 1929.
Post-independence, native folk music was combined with Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret, American rock, funk and soul, and Congolese rumba.
Biennale Benin, continuing the projects of some organizations and artists, started in the country in 2010 as a collaborative event called "Regard Benin". In 2012, the project became a biennial coordinated by a federation of local associations. The international exhibition and artistic program of the 2012 Biennale Benin were curated by Abdellah Karroum.Customary namesSome Beninese in the south of the country have Akan-based names indicating the day of the week on which they were born. This is due to influence of the Akan people such as the Akwamu and others.
Language
Local languages are used as the many languages of instruction in elementary schools, with French introduced in later years. At the secondary school level, French is the sole language of instruction. Beninese languages are "generally transcribed" with a separate letter for each speech sound (phoneme), rather than using diacritics as in French or digraphs as in English. This includes Beninese Yoruba, which in Nigeria is written with both diacritics and digraphs. For instance, the mid vowels written é, è, ô, o in French are written in Beninese languages, whereas the consonants that are written ng and sh or ch in English are written ŋ and c. Digraphs are used for nasal vowels and the labial-velar consonants kp and gb, as in the name of the Fon language Fon gbe'' , and diacritics are used as tone marks. In French-language publications, a mixture of French and Beninese orthographies may be seen.
Cuisine
is peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried.]]
The cuisine involves fresh meals served with a variety of key sauces. In southern Benin cuisine, an ingredient is corn which has been used to prepare dough which has been served with peanut- or tomato-based sauces. Fish and chicken, beef, goat, and bush rat are consumed. A staple in northern Benin is yams which has been served with sauces mentioned above. The population in the northern provinces use beef and pork meat which is fried in palm or peanut oil or cooked in sauces. Cheese is used in some dishes. Couscous, rice, and beans are eaten, along with fruits such as mangoes, oranges, avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, and pineapples.
Meals are said to be generally light on meat and generous on vegetable fat. Frying in palm or peanut oil is a meat preparation, and smoked fish is prepared in Benin. Grinders are used to prepare corn flour, which is made into a dough and served with sauces. "Chicken on the spit" is a recipe in which chicken is roasted over a fire on wooden sticks. Palm roots are sometimes soaked in a jar with salt water and sliced garlic to tenderize them, then used in dishes. Some people have outdoor mud stoves for cooking.
Sports
The major sports in Benin are association football, basketball, golf, cycling, baseball, softball, tennis and rugby union. In the early 21st century, baseball and teqball were introduced to the country.
Traditional authorities
Benin has numerous non-sovereign monarchies within the country, many of them derivative of pre-colonial kingdoms (such as Arda). Non-sovereign monarchs do not have an official, constitutional role, and are largely ceremonial and subservient to political and civil authorities. Despite this, they play an influential role in local political matters within their particular realms and are often courted by Beninese politicians for electoral support. Advocacy groups, such as the High Council of Kings of Benin, represent the monarchs nationally. See also
<!-- Bibliography of Benin -->
* Index of Benin-related articles
* Outline of Benin
* Telephone numbers in Benin
References
Further reading
* Butler, S., Benin (Bradt Travel Guides) (Bradt Travel Guides, 2019)
* Caulfield, Annie, Show Me the Magic: Travels Round Benin by Taxi (Penguin Books Ltd, 2003)
* Kraus, Erika and Reid, Felice, Benin (Other Places Travel Guide) (Other Places Publishing, 2010)
* Seely, Jennifer, The Legacies of Transition Governments in Africa: The Cases of Benin and Togo (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
External links
* , Government of Benin
General information
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1064527.stm Country Profile] from BBC News
* [https://ecowap.ecowas.int/country/Benin Benin] profile from ECOWAS
* [https://www.aljazeera.com/where/benin/ News headline links] from Al Jazeera.
* BBC, , 10 April 2018.
*
}}
Category:Countries in Africa
Category:Economic Community of West African States
Category:Former Portuguese colonies
Category:French-speaking countries and territories
Category:Least developed countries
Category:Member states of the African Union
Category:Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Category:Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Category:Member states of the United Nations
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Category:States and territories established in 1960
Category:West African countries
Category:1960 establishments in Africa | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.397062 |
3460 | Bermuda | <br />()
| anthem "God Save the King"<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| song_type = National song
| song "Hail to Bermuda"<br /><div style"display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map =
| map_caption | image_map2
| mapsize2 | map_caption2
| subdivision_type = Sovereign state
| subdivision_name =
| established_title2 = English settlement
| established_date2 = (officially becoming part of the Colony of Virginia in )
| official_languages = English
| demonym =
| capital = Hamilton
| coordinates =
| largest_city St. George's<br />
| ethnic_groups =
| ethnic_groups_year 2016
| government_type = Parliamentary dependency under a constitutional monarchy
| leader_title1 = Monarch
| leader_name1 = Charles III
| leader_title2 = Governor
| leader_name2 = Andrew Murdoch
| leader_title3 = Premier
| leader_name3 = Edward David Burt
| legislature = Parliament
| upper_house = Senate
| lower_house = House of Assembly
| national_representation = Government of the United Kingdom
| national_representation_type1 = Minister
| national_representation1 = Stephen Doughty
| area_km2 = 53.2
| area_sq_mi = 20.54
| area_rank = <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area:none -->
| percent_water = 27
| elevation_max_m = 79
| population_estimate 63,913
| population_estimate_year = 2019
| population_estimate_rank = 205th
| population_census = 63,779
| population_census_year = 2016
| population_density_km2 = 1,338
| population_density_sq_mi = 3,489
| population_density_rank = 10th
| GDP_nominal US$7.484 billion
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Bermuda (; historically known as the Bermudas or Somers Isles) is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an archipelago consisting of 181 islands, although the most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form one landmass. It has a land area of . Bermuda has a tropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Its climate also exhibits oceanic features similar to other coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere with warm, moist air from the ocean ensuring relatively high humidity and stabilising temperatures. Bermuda is prone to severe weather from recurving tropical cyclones; however, it receives some protection from a coral reef and its position north of the Main Development Region, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.
Bermuda is named after Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the archipelago in 1505. The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612 when an English settlement was established at St. George's, which is also the territory's largest settlement. Forming part of British America, Bermuda was governed under Royal charter by the Somers Isles Company until 1684, when it became a crown colony. The first enslaved Africans were taken to Bermuda in 1616. The Somers Isles Company ensured a steady flow of free but indentured servants until 1684, and most tobacco farms owned by overseas adventurers were sold to the tenants or other occupants after Bermuda-grown tobacco became steadily less profitable following the 1620s, becoming family farms that switched from growing tobacco for export to producing food (initially for local consumption). Consequently, a plantation economy did not develop and the slave trade largely ceased by the end of the 17th century. The economy instead became maritime-focused, with the colony serving as a base for merchants, privateers and the Royal Navy, giving its name to the Bermuda rig and Bermuda sloop. It became an imperial fortress, the most important British naval and military base in the western hemisphere with vast funds lavished on its Royal Naval Dockyard and military defences until the 1950s. Tourism has been a significant contributor to Bermuda's economy since the 19th century and after World War II, the territory became a prominent offshore financial centre and tax haven.
Divided into nine parishes, Bermuda is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament located in the capital Hamilton. The House of Assembly dates from 1620, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures. The premier is the head of government and is formally appointed by the governor, who is nominated by the British government as the representative of the King. The United Kingdom is responsible for foreign affairs and defence. An independence referendum was held in 1995 with a large majority voting against independence. As of 2019, Bermuda had a population of around 64,000 people, making it the second-most populous of the British Overseas Territories. Black Bermudians, a diverse population primarily of any mixture of African, European, and Native American ancestry, make up around 50% of the population, while White Bermudians, primarily of British, Irish and Portuguese descent, make up 30% of the population. There are smaller groups from other races or identifying as mixed race and about 30% of the population is not Bermudian by birth. The last remaining colony in the former British North America (following the 1867 Confederation of Canada and the Colony of Newfoundland becoming the Dominion of Newfoundland in 1907), Bermuda has a distinct dialect of English and has historically had strong ties with other English-speaking countries in the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and the Commonwealth Caribbean. It is an associate member of the Caribbean Community.EtymologyBermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the islands in 1505, Bermuda had no Indigenous population when it was discovered, nor during initial British settlement a century later. It was mentioned in Legatio Babylonica, published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, and was included on Spanish charts of that year. Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water. Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription on Portuguese Rock, previously called Spanish Rock. Legends arose of spirits and devils, now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel, or cahow) and loud nocturnal noises from introduced wild hogs. With its frequent storm-racked conditions and dangerous reefs, the archipelago became known as the "Isle of Devils". Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle it.
Settlement by the British
wrote one of the first histories of Bermuda in 1624 (combined with Virginia and New England).]]
For the next century, the island was frequently visited but not settled. The English began to focus on the New World, initially settling in Virginia, starting British colonization in North America, establishing a colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Two years later, a flotilla of seven ships left England with several hundred settlers, food, and supplies to relieve the Jamestown colony. However, the flotilla was broken up by a storm and the flagship, the Sea Venture, drove onto Bermuda's reef to prevent her sinking, resulting in the survival of all her passengers and crew.
In 1612, the English began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola, with arrival of the ship the Plough. New London (renamed St. George's Town) was settled that year and designated as the colony's first capital. The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the New World.Slavery in BermudaIn 1615, the colony, which had been renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers, was passed on to the Somers Isles Company. As Bermudians settled the Carolina Colony and contributed to establishing other English colonies in the Americas, several other locations were named after the archipelago. During this period the first slaves were held and trafficked to the islands. These were a mixture of native Africans who were trafficked to the Americas via the African slave trade and Native Americans who were enslaved from the new world colonies. There proved to be no pearls to dive for. More black slaves were later trafficked to the island in large numbers, originating from America and the Caribbean.
As the black population grew, so did the fear of insurrection among the white settlers. In 1623, a law to restrain the insolence of the Negroes was passed in Bermuda. It forbade blacks to buy or sell, barter or exchange tobacco or any other produce for goods without the consent of their master. Unrest among the slaves predictably erupted several times over the next decades. Major rebellions occurred in 1656, 1661, 1673, 1682, 1730 and 1761. In 1761 a conspiracy was discovered that involved the majority of the blacks on the island. Six slaves were executed and all black celebrations were prohibited.
Civil War
, 1 January 1692]]
In 1649, the English Civil War was taking place and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London. The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where most of the colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown. The royalists ousted the Somers Isles Company's Governor and elected John Trimingham as their leader (see Governor of Bermuda). Bermuda's civil war was ended by militias, and dissenters were pushed to settle The Bahamas under William Sayle.
The rebellious royalist colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Barbados and Antigua, were the subjects of an Act of the Rump Parliament of England. The royalist colonies were also threatened with invasion. The Government of Bermuda eventually reached an agreement with the Parliament of England which retained the status quo in Bermuda. In 1655 fifty-four Bermudians became the first English subjects to permanently settle on the Island of Jamaica, followed by a further (200) Bermudians in 1658, following Cromwell's Invasion of Jamaica.
Later 17th century
ing against Spain and its allies; it has advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels.]]
In the 17th century, the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermudians to farm to generate income from the land. The Virginia colony, however, far surpassed Bermuda in quality and quantity of tobacco produced. Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the 17th century, but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority to suppress turning away from agriculture. This interference led to islanders demanding, and receiving, revocation of the company's charter in 1684, and the company was dissolved.
Three American boats, operating from Charlestown, Philadelphia and Newport, sailed to Bermuda, and on 14 August 1775, 100 barrels of gunpowder were taken from the Bermudian magazine while Governor George James Bruere slept, and loaded onto these boats. As a consequence, on 2 October the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from their trade ban, and Bermuda acquired a reputation for disloyalty. Later that year, the British Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act to prohibit trade with the American rebelling colonies and sent HMS Scorpion to keep watch over the island. The island's forts were stripped of cannons. Yet, wartime trade of contraband continued along well-established family connections. With 120 boats by 1775, Bermuda continued to trade with St. Eustatius until 1781 and provided salt to North American ports. The editor, Joseph Stockdale, had been given financial incentive to move to Bermuda with his family and establish the newspaper. He also provided other printing services and operated Bermuda's first local postal service. The Bermuda Gazette was sold by subscription and delivered to subscribers, with Stockdale's employee also delivering mail for a fee.19th century
After the American Revolution, the Royal Navy began improving the harbours on the Bermudas. In 1811, work began on the large Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island, which was to serve as the islands' principal naval base guarding the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. To guard the dockyard, the British Army built the Bermuda Garrison, and heavily fortified the archipelago.
During the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, the British attacks on Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake were planned and launched from Bermuda, where the headquarters of the Royal Navy's North American Station had recently been moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
at St. George's, the original capital]] In 1816, James Arnold, the son of Benedict Arnold, fortified Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible US attacks. Today, the National Museum of Bermuda, which incorporates Bermuda's Maritime Museum, occupies the Keep of the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Due to its proximity to the southeastern US coast, Bermuda was frequently used during the American Civil War as a stopping point base for the Confederate States' blockade runners on their runs to and from the Southern states, and England, to evade Union naval vessels on blockade patrol.
The New York Times reported an attempted mutiny by Boer prisoners of war en route to Bermuda and that martial law was enacted on Darrell's Island.
The most famous escapee was the Boer prisoner of war Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, who was serving a life sentence for "conspiracy against the British government and on (the charge of) espionage". On the night of 25 June 1902, Duquesne slipped out of his tent, worked his way over a barbed-wire fence, swam past patrol boats and bright spotlights, through storm-swept waters, using the distant Gibbs Hill Lighthouse for navigation until he arrived ashore on the main island. He settled in the U.S. and later became a spy for Germany in both World Wars. In 1942, Col. Duquesne was arrested by the FBI for leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, which to this day remains the largest espionage case uncovered in the history of the United States.20th and 21st centuries
in the mid-1920s]]
In the early 20th century Bermuda became a popular destination for American, Canadian and British tourists arriving by sea. The US Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which enacted protectionist trade tariffs on goods imported into the US, led to the demise of Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade to America and encouraged development of tourism as an alternative source of income. The island was one of the centres for illegal alcohol smuggling during the era of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933). The right of way is now the Bermuda Railway Trail.
In 1930, after several failed attempts, a Stinson Detroiter seaplane flew to Bermuda from New York City: It was the first aeroplane ever to reach the islands. In 1936, Deutsche Luft Hansa began to experiment with seaplane flights from Berlin via the Azores with continuation flights to New York City.
In 1937, Imperial Airways and Pan American Airways began operating scheduled flying boat airline services from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda. In World War II, the Hamilton Princess Hotel became a censorship centre. All mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the US and the Far East was intercepted and analysed by 1,200 censors, of British Imperial Censorship, part of British Security Coordination (BSC), before being routed to their destination. With BSC working closely with the FBI, the censors were responsible for the discovery and arrest of a number of Axis spies operating in the US, including the Joe K ring.
In 1948, a regularly scheduled commercial airline service began to operate, using land-based aeroplanes landing at Kindley Field (now L.F. Wade International Airport), helping tourism to reach a peak in the 1960s and 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, however, international business had supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's economy.
The Royal Naval Dockyard and its attendant military garrison remained important to Bermuda's economy until the mid-20th century. In addition to considerable building work, the armed forces needed to source food and other materials from local vendors. Beginning in World War II, US military installations were also located in Bermuda, including a naval air station, and submarine base. The American military presence lasted until 1995.
Universal adult suffrage and development of a two-party political system took place in the 1960s.Geography
in July 2015]]
Bermuda is a group of low-forming volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean, in the west of the Sargasso Sea, roughly east-southeast of Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States which is the nearest landmass. Its next nearest neighbour is Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia Canada which is north of Bermuda. It is also located south-southwest of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France), north-northeast of Havana, Cuba, north of the British Virgin Islands, and north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The territory consists of 181 islands, with a total area of . The largest island is Main Island (also called Bermuda). Eight larger and populated islands are connected by bridges. The territory's coastline is .
Main sights
Bermuda's pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists. A number of Bermuda's hotels are located along the south shore of the island. In addition to its beaches, there are a number of sightseeing attractions. Historic St. George's is a designated World Heritage Site. Scuba divers can explore a number of wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water (typically in depth), with virtually unlimited visibility. A number of nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers, especially at Church Bay.
Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard, which includes the National Museum of Bermuda. Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools. Somerset Bridge is the world's smallest drawbridge, and Horseshoe Bay and Warwick Long Bay are among the beautiful beaches in Bermuda.
Non-residents are prohibited from driving cars on the island. Public transport and taxis are available or visitors can rent scooters for use as private transport. Initial uplift of this rise occurred in the Middle to Late Eocene and concluded by the Late Oligocene, when it subsided below sea level. The volcanic rocks associated with this rise are tholeiitic lavas and intrusive lamprophyre sheets, which form a volcanic basement, on average, below the island carbonate surface.
The limestones of Bermuda consist of biocalcarenites with minor conglomerates. The portion of Bermuda above sea level consists of rocks deposited by aeolian processes, with a karst terrain. These eolianites are actually the type locality, and formed during interglaciations (i.e., the upper levels of the limestone cap, formed primarily by calcium-secreting algae, was broken down into sand by wave action during interglaciation when the seamount was submerged, and during glaciation, when the top of the seamount was above sea level, that sand was blown into dunes and fused together into a limestone sandstone), and are laced by red paleosols, also referred to as geosols or terra rossas, indicative of Saharan atmospheric dust and forming during glacial stages. The stratigraphic column starts with the Walsingham Formation, overlain by the Castle Harbour Geosol, the Lower and Upper Town Hill Formations separated by the Harbour Road Geosol, the Ord Road Geosol, the Belmont Formation, the Shore Hills Geosol, the Rocky Bay Formation, and the Southampton Formation. There has never been snow, a frost or freeze on record in Bermuda. The hardiness zone is 11b/12a. In other words, the coldest that the annual minimum temperature may be expected to be is around . This is high for such a latitude and is a half-zone higher than the Florida Keys.
Summertime heat index in Bermuda can be high, although mid-August temperatures rarely exceed . The highest recorded temperature was in August 1989. The average annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is , from in February to in August.
Bermuda lies within the Main Development Region, and is often directly in the path of hurricanes of biocapacity per person within its territory, far lower than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Bermuda used 7.5 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use much more biocapacity than Bermuda contains. As a result, Bermuda runs a biocapacity deficit.
}}
Flora and fauna
]]
When discovered, Bermuda was uninhabited by humans and mostly dominated by forests of Bermuda cedar, with mangrove marshes along its shores. Forest cover is around 20% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, which was unchanged from 1990.
Only 165 of the island's current 1,000 vascular plant species are considered native; fifteen of those, including the eponymous cedar, are endemic. The tropical climate of Bermuda allowed settlers to introduce multiple non-native species of trees and plants to the island. Today, multiple types of palm trees, fruit trees, and bananas grow on Bermuda, though the cultivated coconut palms are considered non-native and may be removed. The country contains the Bermuda subtropical conifer forests terrestrial ecoregion.
The only indigenous mammals of Bermuda are five species of bat, all of which are also found in the eastern United States: the silver-haired bat Lasionycteris noctivagans, eastern red bat Lasiurus borealis, hoary bat Lasiurus cinereus, Seminole bat Lasiurus seminolus, and tricolored bat Perimyotis subflavus. Other commonly known fauna of Bermuda include its national bird, the Bermuda petrel or cahow, which was rediscovered in 1951 after having been thought extinct since the 1620s. The cahow is important as an example of a Lazarus species, hence the government has a programme to protect it, including restoration of its habitat areas. Another well-known species includes the white-tailed tropicbird, locally known as the longtail. These birds come inland to breed around February to March and are Bermudians' first sign of incoming spring.
The Bermuda rock lizard (or Bermuda rock skink) was long thought to have been the only indigenous non-bird land vertebrate of Bermuda, discounting the marine turtles that lay their eggs on its beaches. However, scientists have recently discovered through genetic DNA studies that a species of turtle, the diamondback terrapin, previously thought to have been introduced to the archipelago, actually pre-dated the arrival of humans.
Only three bee species have been recorded on Bermuda. The western honey bee Apis mellifera was introduced by English colonists around 1616, marking the beginning of beekeeping's cultural significance on the island. A second species, the sweat bee Lasioglossum semiviridie, was last recorded in 1922. Recent DNA analysis has revealed that the leafcutter bee Megachile pruina in Bermuda constitutes a unique evolutionary lineage, distinct from M. pruina populations in the United States.
Demographics
Christianity is the largest religion on Bermuda. There is also a deputy governor (currently Tom Oppenheim).
Defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom, which also retains responsibility to ensure good government and must approve any changes to the Constitution of Bermuda. Bermuda is Britain's oldest overseas territory. Although the UK Parliament retains ultimate legislative authority over the territory, in 1620, a Royal Proclamation granted Bermuda limited self-governance, delegating to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Bermuda the internal legislation of the colony. The Parliament of Bermuda is the fifth oldest legislature in the world, behind the Sejm of Poland, the Parliament of England, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, and the Althing of Iceland.
in St. George's, the home of Bermuda's parliament between 1620 and 1815]]
in Hamilton, current home of the House of Assembly and the Supreme Court]]
The Constitution of Bermuda came into force in 1968 and has been amended several times since then.
There are few accredited diplomats in Bermuda. The United States maintains the largest diplomatic mission in Bermuda, comprising both the United States Consulate and the US Customs and Border Protection Services at the L.F. Wade International Airport. The United States is Bermuda's largest trading partner (providing over 71% of total imports, 85% of tourist visitors, and an estimated $163 billion of US capital in the Bermuda insurance/re-insurance industry). According to the 2016 Bermuda census 5.6% of Bermuda residents were born in the US, representing over 18% of all foreign-born people.
Nationality and citizenship
]]
Historically, English (later British) colonials shared the same citizenship as those born within that part of the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of England (including the Principality of Wales) that lay within the Island of Britain (although Magna Carta had effectively created English citizenship, citizens were still termed 'subjects of the King of England' or 'English subjects'. With the 1707 union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, this was replaced with 'British Subject', which encompassed citizens throughout the sovereign territory of the British Government, including its colonies, though not the British protectorates). With no representation at the sovereign or national level of government, British colonials were therefore not consulted, or required to give their consent, to a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1968 and 1982, which were to limit their rights and ultimately change their citizenship.
When several colonies had been elevated before the Second World War to Dominion status, collectively forming the old British Commonwealth (as distinct from the United Kingdom and its dependent colonies), their citizens remained British Subjects, and in theory, any British Subject born anywhere in the World had the same basic right to enter, reside, and work in the United Kingdom as a British Subject born in the United Kingdom whose parents were also both British Subjects born in the United Kingdom (although a number of governmental policies and practices acted to thwart the free exercise of these rights by various groups of colonials, including Greek Cypriots).
When the Dominions and an increasing number of colonies began choosing complete independence from the United Kingdom after the Second World War, the Commonwealth was transformed into a community of independent nations, or Commonwealth realms, each recognising the British monarch as its own head of state (creating separate monarchies with the same person occupying all of the separate Thrones; the exception being republican India).
'British Subject' was replaced by the British Nationality Act 1948 with 'Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies' for the residents of the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as for the Crown Dependencies. However, as it was desired to retain free movement for all Commonwealth Citizens throughout the Commonwealth, 'British Subject' was retained as a blanket nationality shared by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (the 'British realm') as well as the citizens of the various other Commonwealth realms. The inflow of people of colour to the United Kingdom in the 1940s and 1950s from both the remaining colonies and newly independent Commonwealth nations was responded to with a backlash that led to the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, which restricted the rights of Commonwealth nationals to enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom. This Act also allowed certain colonials (primarily ethnic-Indians in African colonies) to retain Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies if their colonies became independent, which was intended as a measure to ensure these people did not become stateless if they were denied the citizenship of their newly independent nation.
Many ethnic-Indians from former African colonies (notably Kenya) subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, in response to which the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 was rapidly passed, stripping all British Subjects (including Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) who were not born in the United Kingdom, and who did not have a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies parent or grandparent born in the United Kingdom or some other qualification (such as existing residence status), of the rights to freely enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.
Although the 1968 Act was intended primarily to bar immigration of specific British passport holders from Commonwealth countries in Africa, it amended the wording of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 in such a way as to apply to all Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who were not specifically excepted, including most colonials.
This was followed by the Immigration Act 1971, which effectively divided Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies into two types, although their citizenship remained the same: Patrials, who were those from (or with a specified qualifying connection to) the United Kingdom itself, who retained the rights of free entry, abode, and work in the United Kingdom; and those born in the colonies (or in foreign countries to British Colonial parents), from whom those rights were denied.
The British Nationality Act 1981, which entered into force on 1 January 1983, abolished British Subject status, and stripped colonials of their full British Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, replacing it with British Dependent Territories Citizenship, which entailed no right of abode or to work anywhere. This left Bermudians and most other erstwhile British colonials as British nationals without the rights of British citizenship.
These rights were confirmed in the Royal Charter granted to the London Company's spin-off, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles, in 1615 on Bermuda being separated from Virginia:
Bermuda is not the only territory whose citizenship rights were laid down in a Royal Charter. In regards to St. Helena, Lord Beaumont of Whitley in the House of Lords debate on the British Overseas Territories Bill on 10 July 2001, stated:
Some Conservative Party backbenchers stated that it was the unpublished intention of the Conservative British Government to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and all of the remaining territories once Hong Kong had been handed over to China. Whether this was so will never be known as by 1997 the Labour Party was in Government. The Labour Party had declared prior to the election that the colonies had been ill-treated by the British Nationality Act 1981, and it had made a pledge to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and the remaining territories part of its election manifesto. Other matters took precedence, however, and this commitment was not acted upon during Labour's first term in Government. The House of Lords, in which multiple former colonial Governors sat (including former Governor of Bermuda Lord Waddington), lost patience and tabled and passed its own bill, then handed it down to the House of Commons to confirm in 2001. As a result, the British Dependent Territories were renamed the British Overseas Territories in 2002 (the term 'dependent territory' had caused much ire in the former colonies, especially well-heeled and self-reliant Bermuda, as it implied not only that British Dependent Territories Citizens were 'other than British', but that their relationship to Britain and to 'real British people' was both inferior and parasitic).
At the same time, although Labour had promised a return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies, and all remaining territories, British Dependent Territories Citizenship, renamed British Overseas Territories Citizenship, remained the default citizenship for the territories, other than the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar (for which British Citizenship is still the default citizenship). The bars to residence and work in the United Kingdom that had been raised against holders of British Dependent Territories Citizenship by The British Nationality Act 1981 were, however, removed, and British Citizenship was made attainable by simply obtaining a second British passport with the citizenship recorded as British Citizen (requiring a change to passport legislation as prior to 2002, it had been illegal to possess two British Passports).
In March 2021, the government implemented a new visa policy towards foreigners, through which residency can be obtained by way of investing at least $2.5 million in "real estate, Bermuda government bonds, a contribution to the island's debt relief fund or the Bermuda Trust Fund, and charity", among other options. According to the Labour Minister, Jason Hayward, this step had to be taken to relieve some of the country's debt resulting from the Covid pandemic.Administrative divisions
Bermuda is divided into nine parishes and two incorporated municipalities. and Washington, D.C. Only the United States and Portugal have full-time diplomatic representation in Bermuda (the U.S. maintains a Consulate-General, and Portugal maintains a Consulate), while 17 countries maintain honorary consuls in Bermuda.
Bermuda's proximity to the US had made it attractive as the site for summit conferences between British prime ministers and US presidents. The first summit was held in December 1953, at the insistence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to discuss relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Participants included Churchill, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower and French premier Joseph Laniel.
In 1957 a second summit conference was held. The British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, arrived earlier than President Eisenhower, to demonstrate they were meeting on British territory, as tensions were still high regarding the previous year's conflict over the Suez Canal. Macmillan returned in 1961 for the third summit with President John F. Kennedy. The meeting was called to discuss Cold War tensions arising from construction of the Berlin Wall.
Direct meetings between the president of the United States and the premier of Bermuda have been rare. The most recent meeting was on 23 June 2008, between Premier Ewart Brown and President George W. Bush. Prior to this, the leaders of Bermuda and the United States had not met at the White House since a 1996 meeting between Premier David Saul and President Bill Clinton.
Bermuda has also joined several other jurisdictions in efforts to protect the Sargasso Sea.
In 2013 and 2017 Bermuda chaired the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association.
Asylum offer to four former Guantánamo detainees
On 11 June 2009, four Uyghurs who had been held in the United States Guantánamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, were transferred to Bermuda. The four men were among 22 Uyghurs who claimed to be refugees who were captured in 2001 in Pakistan after fleeing the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan. They were accused of training to assist the Taliban's military. They were cleared as safe for release from Guantánamo in 2005 or 2006, but US domestic law prohibited deporting them back to China, their country of citizenship, because the US government determined that China was likely to violate their human rights.
In September 2008, the men were cleared of all suspicion and Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington ordered their release. Congressional opposition to their admittance to the United States was strong}}
In August 2018, the four Uyghurs were granted limited citizenship in Bermuda. The men now have the same rights as Bermudians except the right to vote.
British North America, British West Indies and the Caribbean Community
The British Government originally grouped Bermuda with North America (given its proximity, and Bermuda having been established as an extension of the Colony of Virginia, and with Carolina Colony, the nearest landfall, having been settled from Bermuda). After the acknowledgement by the British Government of the independence of thirteen continental colonies (including Virginia and the Carolinas) in 1783, Bermuda was generally grouped regionally by the British Government with The Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador (and more widely, as part of British North America), substantially nearer to Bermuda than is the Caribbean.
From 1783 through 1801, the British Empire, including British North America, was administered by the Home Office and by the Home Secretary, then from 1801 to 1854 by the War Office (which became the War and Colonial Office) and Secretary of State for War and Colonies (as the Secretary of State for War was renamed). From 1824, the British Empire was divided by the War and Colonial Office into four administrative departments, including North America, the West Indies, Mediterranean and Africa, and Eastern Colonies, of which the North American department included Bermuda. The Colonial Office and War Office, the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Secretary of State for War, were all separated in 1854. The War Office, from then until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada, split the military administration of the British colonial and foreign stations into nine districts with North America and North Atlantic including the station of Bermuda. The Colonial Office, by 1862, oversaw eight Colonies in British North America, which included Bermuda separately. By 1867, administration of the South Atlantic Ocean archipelago of the Falkland Islands, which had been colonised in 1833, had been added to the remit of the North American Department of the Colonial Office. Fo llowing the 1867 confederation of most of the British North American colonies to form the Dominion of Canada, Bermuda and Newfoundland remained as the only British colonies in North America (although the Falkland Islands also continued to be administered by the North American Department of the Colonial Office). The reduction of the territory administered by the British Government would result in re-organisation of the Colonial Office. In 1901, the departments of the Colonial Office included the North American and Australasian department to which Bermuda was a part. In 1907, the Colony of Newfoundland became the Dominion of Newfoundland, leaving the Imperial fortress of Bermuda as the sole remaining British North American colony.
Bermuda, with a land mass totalling less than 21 square miles and a population of 17,535, could hardly constitute an Imperial administrative region on its own. By 1908, the Colonial Office included two departments (one overseeing dominion and protectorate business, the other colonial): The Crown Colonies Department was made up of a West Indian Division that included Bermuda, as well as Jamaica, Turks Islands, British Honduras, British Guiana, Bahamas, Bermuda, Trinidad, Barbados, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, Falkland Islands, and St. Helena.
Following Canadian confederation in 1867, the British political, naval and military hierarchy in Bermuda became increasingly separated from that of the Canadian Government (the Royal Navy headquarters for the North America and West Indies Station had spent summers at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and winters at Bermuda, but settled at Bermuda year round with the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax finally being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1907, and the Bermuda Garrison had been placed under the military Commander-in-Chief America in New York during the American War of Independence, and had been part of the Nova Scotia Command thereafter, but became the separate Bermuda Command from the 1860s with the Major-General or Lieutenant-General appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda also filling the civil role of Governor of Bermuda), and Bermuda was increasingly perceived by the British Government as in, or at least grouped for convenience with, the British West Indies (although the established Church of England in Bermuda, which from 1825 to 1839 had been attached to the See of Nova Scotia) remained part of the Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1879, when the Synod of the Church of England in Bermuda was formed and a Diocese of Bermuda became separate from the Diocese of Newfoundland, but continued to be grouped under the Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1919, when Newfoundland and Bermuda each received its own bishop. Newfoundland attained Dominion status in 1907, leaving the nearest other territories to Bermuda that were still within the British Realm (a term which replaced Dominion in 1952 as the dominions and a number of colonies moved towards full political independence) as the British colonies in the British West Indies.
Other denominations also at one time included Bermuda with Nova Scotia or Canada. Following the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic worship was outlawed in England (subsequently Britain) and its colonies, including Bermuda, until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, and operated thereafter under restrictions until the Twentieth Century. Once Roman Catholic worship was established, Bermuda formed part of the Archdiocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia until 1953, when it was separated to become the Apostolic Prefecture of Bermuda Islands. The congregation of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bermuda (St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1885 in Hamilton Parish) had previously been part of the British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada. In recent decades, West Indians also came to be associated in Bermuda with law enforcement. The difficulty faced by the Bermuda Police Service in obtaining recruits locally had long led to recruitment of constables from the British Isles, which resulted in criticism of the racial make up of the force not reflecting that of the wider community. Consequently, in 1966 the Bermuda Police Force (as it was then titled) began also recruiting constables from British West Indian police forces, starting with seven constables from Barbados. Although the practice of recruiting from the British West Indies would continue, it was not deemed entirely successful. As the "Bermuda Report for the year 1971" recorded:
Despite the traditional antipathy some Bermudians had for West Indians, and despite Bermuda not being in the Caribbean region, Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in July 2003.
CARICOM is a socio-economic bloc of nations in or near the Caribbean Sea established in 1973. Other outlying member states include the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname in South America, and Belize in Central America. The Turks and Caicos Islands, an associate member of CARICOM, and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, a full member of CARICOM, are in the Atlantic, but close to the Caribbean. Other nearby nations or territories, such as the United States, are not members (although the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has observer status, and the United States Virgin Islands announced in 2007 that they would seek ties with CARICOM). Bermuda has minimal trade with the Caribbean region, and little in common with it economically, being roughly from the Caribbean Sea; it joined CARICOM primarily to strengthen cultural links with the region.
Among some scholars, "the Caribbean" can be a socio-historical category, commonly referring to a cultural zone characterised by the legacy of slavery (a characteristic Bermuda shared with the Caribbean and the US) and the plantation system (which did not exist in Bermuda). It embraces the islands and parts of the neighbouring continent, and may be extended to include the Caribbean Diaspora overseas.
The PLP, which was the party in government when the decision was made to join CARICOM, has been dominated for decades by West Indians and their descendants. The prominent roles of West Indians among Bermuda's black politicians and labour activists predated party politics in Bermuda, as exemplified by E. F. Gordon. The late PLP leader, Dame Lois Browne-Evans (whose parents and grandparents emigrated to Bermuda from Nevis and St. Kitts in 1914), and her Trinidadian-born husband, John Evans (who co-founded the West Indian Association of Bermuda in 1976), were prominent members of this group. A generation later, PLP politicians included Premiers Dr. Ewart Brown (raised in Jamaica, with two Jamaican grandparents) and Edward David Burt (whose mother is Jamaican), Deputy Premier Walter Roban (son of Matthew Roban, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines), and Senator Rolfe Commissiong (son of Trinidadian musician Rudolph Patrick Commissiong). They have emphasised Bermuda's cultural connections with the West Indies. A number of Bermudians, both black and white, who lack family connections to the West Indies have objected to this emphasis.
The decision to join CARICOM stirred up a huge amount of debate and speculation among the Bermudian community and politicians. Opinion polls conducted by two Bermudian newspapers, The Royal Gazette and The Bermuda Sun, showed that clear majorities of Bermudians were opposed to joining CARICOM.
The UBP, which had been in government from 1968 to 1998, argued that joining CARICOM was detrimental to Bermuda's interests, in that:
* Bermuda's trade with the West Indies is negligible, its primary economic partners being the US, Canada, and UK (it has no direct air or shipping links to Caribbean islands);
* CARICOM is moving towards a single economy;
* the Caribbean islands are generally competitors to Bermuda's already ailing tourism industry; and
* participation in CARICOM would involve considerable investment of money and the time of government officials that could more profitably be spent elsewhere.
Police
Law enforcement in Bermuda is provided chiefly by the Bermuda Police Service and is also supported with the Customs Department and Immigration Department. During certain times the Royal Bermuda Regiment can be called in to assist law enforcement personnel.
Military and defence
Contingent, raised in 1914. By the war's end, the two BVRC contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength.]]
A former Imperial fortress colony once known as "the Gibraltar of the West" and "Fortress Bermuda", defence of Bermuda, as part of the British sovereign state, is the responsibility of the British Government.
For the first two centuries of settlement, the most potent armed force operating from Bermuda was its merchant shipping fleet, which turned to privateering at every opportunity. The Bermuda government maintained a local (infantry) militia and fortified coastal artillery batteries manned by volunteer artillerymen. Bermuda tended toward the Royalist side during the English Civil War, being the first of six colonies to recognise Charles II as King on the execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649, and was one of those targeted by the Rump Parliament in An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego, which was passed on 30 October 1650. With control of the "army" (the militia and coastal artillery), the colony's Royalists deposed the Governor, Captain Thomas Turner, elected John Trimingham to replace him, and exiled a number of its Parliamentary leaning Independents to settle the Bahamas under William Sayle as the Eleutheran Adventurers. Bermuda's barrier reef, coastal artillery batteries and militia provided a defence too powerful for the fleet sent in 1651 by Parliament under the command of Admiral Sir George Ayscue to capture the Royalist colonies. The Parliamentary Navy was consequently forced to blockade Bermuda for several months 'til the Bermudians negotiated a peace.
After the American Revolutionary War, Bermuda was established as the Western Atlantic headquarters of the North America Station (later called the North America and West Indies Station, and later still the America and West Indies Station as it absorbed other stations) of the Royal Navy. Once the Royal Navy established a base and dockyard defended by regular soldiers, however, the militias were disbanded following the War of 1812. At the end of the 19th century, the colony raised volunteer units to form a reserve for the military garrison.
Due to its isolated location in the North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda was vital to the Allies' war effort during both world wars of the 20th century, serving as a marshalling point for trans-Atlantic convoys, as well as a naval air base. By the Second World War, both the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force were operating Seaplane bases on Bermuda.
In May 1940, the US requested base rights in Bermuda from the United Kingdom, but British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was initially unwilling to accede to the American request without getting something in return. In September 1940, as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, the UK granted the US base rights in Bermuda. Bermuda and Newfoundland were not originally included in the agreement, but both were added to it, with no war material received by the UK in exchange. One of the terms of the agreement was that the airfield the US Army built would be used jointly by the US and the UK (which it was for the duration of the war, with RAF Transport Command relocating there from Darrell's Island in 1943). The US Army established the Bermuda Base Command in 1941 to co-ordinate its air, anti-aircraft, and coast artillery assets during the war. The US Navy operated a submarine base on Ordnance Island from 1942 through 1945.
In early 2020 the Royal Bermuda Regiment formed the Bermuda Coast Guard. Its 24-hour on-duty service includes search and rescue, counter-narcotics operations, border control, and protection of Bermuda's maritime interests. The Bermuda Coast Guard will interact with the rest of the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda Police Service.
Economy
Banking and other financial services now form the largest sector of the economy at about 85% of GDP, with tourism being the second largest industry at 5%. Still in his 20s at the time, Ogilvie was professionally honoured by an article in Nature magazine.
Currency
In 1970, the country switched its currency from the Bermudian pound to the Bermudian dollar, which is pegged and or capital at par with the US dollar. US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bermudian notes and coins within the islands for most practical purposes; however, banks levy an exchange rate fee for the purchase of US dollars with Bermudian dollars for those going out of the islands for external purposes. The Bermuda Monetary Authority is the issuing authority for all banknotes and coins and regulates financial institutions.
Finance
Bermuda is an offshore financial centre, which results from its minimal standards of business regulation/laws and direct taxation on personal or corporate income. It has one of the highest consumption taxes in the world and taxes all imports in lieu of an income tax system. Bermuda's consumption tax is equivalent to local income tax to local residents and funds government and infrastructure expenditures. The local tax system depends upon import duties, payroll taxes and consumption taxes. Foreign private individuals cannot easily open bank accounts or subscribe to mobile phone or internet services.
Having no corporate income tax, Bermuda is a popular tax avoidance location. Google, for example, is known to have shifted over $10 billion in revenue to its Bermuda subsidiary using the Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich tax avoidance strategies, reducing its 2011 tax liability by $2 billion. The Bermuda Black Hole is another tax avoidance method in which untaxed profits end up in Bermuda.
Large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda. Those internationally owned and operated businesses that are physically based in Bermuda (around four hundred) are represented by the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC). In total, over 15,000 exempted or international companies are currently registered with the Registrar of Companies in Bermuda, most of which hold no office space or employees.
The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) specialises in listing and trading of capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds (including hedge fund structures) and depository receipt programmes. The BSX is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and is located in an OECD member nation. It also has Approved Stock Exchange status under Australia's Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) taxation rules and Designated Investment Exchange status by the UK's Financial Services Authority.
Four banks operate in Bermuda, having consolidated total assets of $24.3 billion (March 2014).TourismTourism is Bermuda's second-largest industry, with the island attracting over half a million visitors annually, of whom more than 80% are from the United States. while real estate agencies have claimed that this figure had risen to between $1.6 million and $1.845 million by 2007, though such high figures have been disputed.Education
The Bermuda Education Act 1996 requires that only three categories of schools can operate in the Bermuda Education system:
* An aided school has all or a part of its property vested in a body of trustees or board of governors and is partially maintained by public funding or, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, has received a grant-in-aid out of public funds.
* A maintained school has the whole of its property belonging to the Government and is fully maintained by public funds.
* A private school, not maintained by public funds and which has not, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, received any capital grant-in-aid out of public funds. The private school sector consists of six traditional private schools, two of which are religious schools, and the remaining four are secular with one of these being a single-gender school and another a Montessori school. Also, within the private sector there are a number of home schools, which must be registered with the government and receive minimal government regulation. The only boys' school opened its doors to girls in the 1990s, and in 1996, one of the aided schools became a private school.
Prior to 1950, the Bermuda school system was racially segregated. When the desegregation of schools was enacted in 1965, two of the formerly maintained "white" schools and both single-sex schools opted to become private schools. The rest became part of the public school system and were either aided or maintained.
There are 38 schools in the Bermuda Public School System, including 10 preschools, 18 primary schools, 5 middle schools, 2 senior schools (The Berkeley Institute and Cedarbridge Academy), 1 school for students with physical and cognitive challenges, and 1 for students with behavioural problems. There is one aided primary school, two aided middle schools, and one aided senior school. Since 2010, Portuguese has been taught as an optional foreign language in the Bermudian school system.
For higher education, the Bermuda College offers various associate degrees and other certificate programmes. Bermuda does not have any Bachelor-level colleges or universities. Bermuda's graduates usually attend Bachelor-level universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
In May 2009, the Bermudian Government's application was approved to become a contributory member of the University of the West Indies (UWI). Bermuda's membership enabled Bermudian students to enter the university at an agreed-upon subsidised rate by 2010. UWI also agreed that its Open Campus (online degree courses) would become open to Bermudian students in the future, with Bermuda becoming the 13th country to have access to the Open Campus. In 2010, it was announced that Bermuda would be an "associate contributing country" due to local Bermudian laws.
Culture
sloop and a 19th-century Bermudian working boat in Bermuda]]
Bermuda's culture is a mixture of the various sources of its population: Native American, Spanish-Caribbean, English, Irish, and Scots cultures were evident in the 17th century, and became part of the dominant British culture. English is the primary and official language. Due to 160 years of immigration from Portuguese Atlantic islands (primarily the Azores, though also from Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands), a portion of the population also speaks Portuguese. There are strong British influences, together with Afro-Caribbean ones.
The first notable, and historically important, book credited to a Bermudian was The History of Mary Prince, a slave narrative by Mary Prince. The book was published in 1831 at the height of Great Britain's abolitionist movement. Ernest Graham Ingham, an expatriate author, published his books at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The novelist Brian Burland (1931– 2010) achieved a degree of success and acclaim internationally. More recently, Angela Barry has won critical recognition for her published fiction.
Arts
West Indian musicians introduced calypso music when Bermuda's tourist industry was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post-Second World War aviation. Local icons the Talbot Brothers performed calypso music for a number of decades both in Bermuda and the United States, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. While calypso appealed more to tourists than to the local residents, reggae has been embraced by a number of Bermudians since the 1970s with the influx of Jamaican immigrants.
in Washington, D.C.]]
Noted Bermudian musicians include operatic tenor Gary Burgess; jazz pianist Lance Hayward; singer-songwriter and poet, Heather Nova, and her brother Mishka, reggae musician; classical musician and conductor Kenneth Amis; and more recently, dancehall artist Collie Buddz.
The dances of the Gombey dancers, seen at multiple events, are strongly influenced by African, Caribbean and British cultural traditions.
Alfred Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented watercolourists, known for his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton, St George's, and the surrounding sailboats, homes, and bays of Bermuda. Hand-carved cedar sculptures are another speciality. In 2010, his sculpture We Arrive was unveiled in Barr's Bay Park, overlooking Hamilton Harbour, to commemorate the freeing of slaves in 1835 from the American brig Enterprise.
Local resident Tom Butterfield founded the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in 1986, initially featuring works about Bermuda by artists from other countries. He began with pieces by American artists, such as Winslow Homer, Charles Demuth, and Georgia O'Keeffe, who had lived and worked on Bermuda. In 2008, the museum opened its new building, constructed within the Botanical Gardens.
Bermuda hosts an annual international film festival, which shows multiple independent films. One of the founders is film producer and director Arthur Rankin Jr., co-founder of the Rankin/Bass production company.Sport
, victors in the 1917 Governor's Cup football match, pose with the cup. The cup was contested annually by teams from the various Royal Navy, British Army Bermuda Garrison, and Royal Air Force units stationed in Bermuda.]]
Many sports popular today were formalised by British public schools and universities in the 19th century. These schools produced the civil servants and military and naval officers required to build and maintain the British Empire, and team sports were considered a vital tool for training their students to think and act as part of a team. Former public schoolboys continued to pursue these activities, and founded organisations such as the Football Association (FA).
Bermuda's role as the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere ensured that the naval and military officers quickly introduced the newly formalised sports to Bermuda, including cricket, football, rugby football, and even tennis and rowing.
Bermuda's national cricket team participated in the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies but were knocked out of the World Cup. The Bermuda national football team managed to qualify to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the country's first ever major football competition. In 2007, Bermuda hosted the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf. This 36-hole event was held on 16–17 October 2007, at the Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town. This season-ending tournament is limited to four golfers: the winners of the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship. The event returned to Bermuda in 2008 and 2009. One-armed Bermudian golfer Quinn Talbot was both the United States National Amputee Golf Champion for five successive years and the British World One-Arm Golf Champion.
racer on a mooring in Hamilton Harbour]]
The Government announced in 2006 that it would provide substantial financial support to Bermuda's cricket and football teams. Football did not become popular with Bermudians until after the Second World War. Bermuda's most prominent footballers are Clyde Best, Shaun Goater, Kyle Lightbourne, Reggie Lambe, Sam Nusum and Nahki Wells. In 2006, the Bermuda Hogges were formed as the nation's first professional football team to raise the standard of play for the Bermuda national football team. The team played in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division but folded in 2013.
Sailing, fishing and equestrian sports are popular with both residents and visitors alike. The prestigious Newport–Bermuda Yacht Race is a more than 100-year-old tradition, with boats racing between Newport, Rhode Island, and Bermuda. In 2007, the 16th biennial Marion-Bermuda yacht race occurred. A sport unique to Bermuda is racing the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy. International One Design racing also originated in Bermuda.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Bermuda competed in sailing, athletics, swimming, diving, triathlon and equestrian events. In those Olympics, Bermuda's Katura Horton-Perinchief made history by becoming the first black female diver to compete in the Olympic Games. Bermuda has had two Olympic medallists, Clarence Hill – who won a bronze medal in boxing – and Flora Duffy, who won a gold medal in triathlon. It is tradition for Bermuda to march in the Opening Ceremony in Bermuda shorts, regardless of the summer or winter Olympic celebration. Bermuda also competes in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 2013.
In 1998, Bermuda established its own Basketball Association.HealthcareThe Bermuda Hospitals Board operates the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, located in Paget Parish, and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, located in Devonshire Parish. Boston's Lahey Medical Center has an established visiting specialists program on the island which provides Bermudians and expats with access to specialists regularly on the island. There were about 6,000 hospital admissions, 30,000 emergency department attendances and 6,300 outpatient procedures in 2017.
Unlike the other territories that still remain under British rule, Bermuda does not have national healthcare. Employers must provide a healthcare plan and pay for up to 50% of the cost for each employee. Healthcare is a mandatory requirement and is expensive, even with the help provided by employers. There are only a few approved healthcare providers that offer insurance to Bermudians.
There are no paramedics on the island. The Bermuda Hospitals Board said in 2018 that they were not vital in Bermuda because of its small size. Nurse practitioners on the island, of which there are not many, can be granted authority to write prescriptions "under the authority of a medical practitioner".
COVID-19 pandemic
The Minister for Health during the COVID-19 pandemic was Kim Wilson, who led the territory's approach with "an abundance of caution".See also
* Notable cultural people of Bermuda
* Economy of Bermuda
* Notable historical people of Bermuda
* Index of Bermuda-related articles
* Notable sporting people of Bermuda
* Outline of Bermuda
* Places of interest in Bermuda
* Notable political people of Bermuda
* Telecommunications in Bermuda
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General and cited references
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Anonymous, but probably written by John Smith (1580–1631): The Historye of the Bermudaes or Summer Islands. University of Cambridge Press, 2010. .
* Boultbee, Paul G., and David F. Raine. Bermuda. Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1998.
* Connell, John. (1994). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14662049408447675 "Britain's Caribbean colonies: The End of the Era of Decolonisation?"] The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 32(1), 87–106. .
* External links
* of the Government of Bermuda
* [http://www.gotobermuda.com/ Bermuda Tourism]
* [http://www.bermuda.com/ Bermuda Guide]
* [http://www.parliament.bm/ Bermuda Parliament]
* [https://www.bermudachamber.bm/ Bermuda Chamber of commerce]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060926195143/http://bermuda-online.org/forts.htm Bermuda's British Army forts from 1609] (archived 26 September 2006)
*
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Category:1612 establishments in North America
Category:1612 establishments in the British Empire
Category:Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Bermuda Triangle
Category:British North America
Category:British Overseas Territories
Category:Calderas of North America
Category:Dependent territories in North America
Category:English colonization of the Americas
Category:English-speaking countries and territories
Category:Island countries
Category:Islands of North America by dependent territory
Category:Islands of the North Atlantic Ocean
Category:Northern America
Category:Pre-Holocene volcanism
Category:States and territories established in 1612 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.513017 |
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| national_anthem <br />"National Anthem of Bolivia"<br /><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
| image_map = BOL orthographic.svg
| map_width = 220px
| alt_map | image_map2
| alt_map2 | map_caption
| capital Sucre
| admin_center La Paz
| largest_city = <br />
| official_languages =
| ethnic_groups | ethnic_groups_year
| religion_year = 2020
| religion_ref
| religion =
* 92.8% Christianity
** 81.4% Catholicism
** 11.4% other Christian
|6.5% no religion|0.7% other}}
| demonym = Bolivian
| government_type = Unitary presidential republic
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Luis Arce
| leader_title2 = Vice President
| leader_name2 = David Choquehuanca
| leader_title3 = President of the Senate
| leader_name3 = Andrónico Rodríguez
| leader_title4 = President of the Chamber of Deputies
| leader_name4 = Omar Yujra
| legislature = Plurinational Legislative Assembly
| upper_house = Chamber of Senators
| lower_house = Chamber of Deputies
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from Spain
| established_event1 = Declared
| established_date1 = 6 August 1825
| established_event2 = Recognized
| established_date2 = 21 July 1847
| established_event3 = Current constitution
| established_date3 = 7 February 2009
| area_km2 = 1,098,581
| area_footnote | area_rank 27th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area -->
| area_sq_mi = 424,163
| percent_water = 1.29
| population_census 12,311,974
| population_census_year = 2024
| population_census_rank = 84th
| population_density_km2 = 10.4
| population_density_sq_mi = 26,9
| population_density_rank = 224th
| FR_total_population_estimate_year 11,428,245 (2019)
| GDP_PPP $131.422 billion
| GDP_PPP_rank = 94th
| GDP_PPP_year = 2024
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $10,340
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.698<!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase <!--increase/decrease/steady/-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 120th
| currency = Boliviano
| currency_code = BOB
| time_zone = BOT
| utc_offset = −04:00
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +591
| iso3166code | cctld .bo
}}
Bolivia,; ; ; ; Quechua: Puliwya }} officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, }} is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, warm valleys, high-altitude Andean plateaus, and snow-capped peaks, encompassing a wide range of climates and biomes across its regions and cities. It includes part of the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world, along its eastern border. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to west. The seat of government is La Paz, which contains the executive, legislative, and electoral branches of government, while the constitutional capital is Sucre, the seat of the judiciary. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales (eastern tropical lowlands), a mostly flat region in the east of the country with a diverse non-Andean culture.
The sovereign state of Bolivia is a constitutionally unitary state divided into nine departments. Its geography varies as the elevation fluctuates, from the western snow-capped peaks of the Andes to the eastern lowlands, situated within the Amazon basin. One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range. With an area of , Bolivia is the fifth-largest country in South America after Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia, and, alongside Paraguay, is one of two landlocked countries in the Americas. It is the largest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere. The country's population, estimated at 12 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Asians, Arabs, Jews, and the descendants of Europeans and Africans. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guaraní, Aymara, and Quechua.
Well before Spanish colonization, the third part of the high region of Bolivia was largely part of the Tiwanaku Polity which collapsed about 1000 AD. The Colla–Inca War of the 1440s marked the beginning of Inca rule in western Bolivia. The eastern and northern lowlands of Bolivia were inhabited by independent non-Andean Amazonian and Guaraní tribes. Spanish conquistadores, arriving from Cusco, Peru, forcibly took control of the region in the 16th century.
During the subsequent Spanish colonial period, Bolivia was administered by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. Spain built its empire in large part upon the silver that was extracted from Cerro Rico in Potosí. Following an unsuccessful rebellion in Sucre on May 25, 1809, sixteen years of fighting would follow before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Bolivia lost control of several peripheral territories to neighboring countries, such as Brazil's of the Acre territory, and the War of the Pacific (1879), in which Chile seized the country's Pacific coastal region.
20th century Bolivia experienced a succession of military and civilian governments until Hugo Banzer led a US-backed coup d'état in 1971, replacing the socialist government of Juan José Torres with a military dictatorship. Banzer's regime cracked down on left-wing and socialist opposition parties, and other perceived forms of dissent, resulting in the torturing and murders of countless Bolivian citizens. Banzer was ousted in 1978 and, twenty years later, returned as the democratically elected President of Bolivia (1997–2001). Under the 2006–2019 presidency of Evo Morales, the country saw significant economic growth and political stability but was also accused of democratic backsliding, and was described as a competitive authoritarian regime. Freedom House classifies Bolivia as a partly-free democracy as of 2023, with a 66/100 score.
Modern Bolivia is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of American States (OAS), Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), Bank of the South, ALBA, the Union of South American Nations (USAN), and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur/Mercosul). Bolivia remains a developing country, and the second-poorest in South America, though it has slashed poverty rates and now has one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent (in terms of GDP). Its main economic resources include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and goods such as textiles and clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Bolivia is very geologically rich, with mines producing tin, silver, lithium, and copper. The country is also known for its production of coca plants and refined cocaine. In 2021, estimated coca cultivation and cocaine production was reported to be 39,700 hectares and 317 metric tons, respectively.
Etymology
Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. The leader of Venezuela, Antonio José de Sucre, had been given the option by Bolívar to either unify Charcas (present-day Bolivia) with the newly formed Republic of Peru, to unify with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, or to formally declare its independence from Spain as a wholly independent state. Sucre opted to create a brand new state and on 6 August 1825, with local support, named it in honor of Simón Bolívar.
The original name was Republic of Bolívar. Some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed: "If from Romulus, Rome, then from Bolívar, Bolivia" (). The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825. In 2009, a new constitution changed the country's official name to "Plurinational State of Bolivia" to reflect the multi-ethnic nature of the country and the strengthened rights of Bolivia's indigenous peoples under the new constitution.
History
Pre-colonial
at its largest territorial extent, AD 950 (present-day boundaries shown).|left]]
The region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived; however, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku Polity, which had its capital at Tiwanaku, in Western Bolivia. The capital city of Tiwanaku dates-back as early as 1500 BC, when it was a small, agriculturally-based village.
The Aymara community grew to urban proportions between AD 600 and AD 800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes from La Paz. According to early estimates, the city covered approximately at its peak, and had between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. However, in 1996, satellite imaging was used to map the extent of preserved suka kollus (flooded raised fields) across the three primary valleys of Tiwanaku, with the results suggesting a population-carrying capacity of anywhere between 285,000 and 1,482,000 people.}}
Around AD 400, Tiwanaku went from being a locally-dominant force to a 'predatory' state, aggressively expanding its reach into the Yungas and bringing its culture and ways to new peoples in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Nonetheless, Tiwanaku was not a violent or domineering culture; to expand its reach, the state exercised great political astuteness, created colonies, fostered local trade agreements (which made other cultures rather dependent), and instituted state cults.
As rainfall gradually decreased, the stores of food supplies decreased, and thus the elites lost power. Tiwanaku disappeared around AD 1000. The area remained uninhabited for centuries thereafter.}}
Between 1438 and 1527, Incan Empire expanded from its capital at Cusco, gaining control over much of what is now the Bolivian Andes, and extending its control into the fringes of the Amazon basin.
Colonial period
of Potosí.]]
The Spanish conquest of the Inca empire began in 1524 and was mostly completed by 1533. The territory now called Bolivia was known as Charcas, and was under the authority of Spain. Local government came from the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca (La Plata—modern Sucre). Founded in 1545 as a mining town, Potosí soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming the largest city in the New World with a population exceeding 150,000 people.
in Sucre, a UNESCO World Heritage city.]]
By the late 16th century, Bolivian silver was an important source of revenue for the Spanish Empire. A steady stream of natives served as labor force under the brutal, slave conditions of the Spanish version of the pre-Columbian draft system called the mita. Charcas was transferred to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 and the people from Buenos Aires, the capital of the Viceroyalty, coined the term "Upper Peru" () as a popular reference to the Royal Audiencia of Charcas. Túpac Katari led the indigenous rebellion that laid siege to La Paz in March 1781, during which 20,000 people died. As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic Wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew.
Independence and subsequent wars
The struggle for independence started in the city of Sucre on 25 May 1809 and the Chuquisaca Revolution (Chuquisaca was then the name of the city) is known as the first cry of Freedom in Latin America. That revolution was followed by the La Paz revolution on 16 July 1809. The La Paz revolution marked a complete split with the Spanish government, while the Chuquisaca Revolution established a local independent junta in the name of the Spanish King deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Both revolutions were short-lived and defeated by the Spanish authorities in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata, but the following year the Spanish American wars of independence raged across the continent.
Bolivia was captured and recaptured many times during the war by the royalists and patriots. Buenos Aires sent three military campaigns, all of which were defeated, and eventually limited itself to protecting the national borders at Salta. Bolivia was finally freed of Royalist dominion by Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, with a military campaign coming from the North in support of the campaign of Simón Bolívar. After 16 years of war the Republic was proclaimed on 6 August 1825.
]]
In 1836, Bolivia, under the rule of Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, invaded Peru to reinstall the deposed president, General Luis José de Orbegoso. Peru and Bolivia formed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with de Santa Cruz as the Supreme Protector. Following tension between the Confederation and Chile, Chile declared war on 28 December 1836. Argentina separately declared war on the Confederation on 9 May 1837. The Peruvian-Bolivian forces achieved several major victories during the War of the Confederation: the defeat of the Argentine expedition and the defeat of the first Chilean expedition on the fields of Paucarpata near the city of Arequipa. The Chilean army and its Peruvian rebel allies surrendered unconditionally and signed the Paucarpata Treaty. The treaty stipulated that Chile would withdraw from Peru-Bolivia, Chile would return captured Confederate ships, economic relations would be normalized, and the Confederation would pay Peruvian debt to Chile. However, the Chilean government and public rejected the peace treaty. Chile organized a second attack on the Confederation and defeated it in the Battle of Yungay. After this defeat, Santa Cruz resigned and went to exile in Ecuador and then Paris, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was dissolved.
in Sucre]]
Following the renewed independence of Peru, Peruvian president General Agustín Gamarra invaded Bolivia. On 18 November 1841, the battle de Ingavi took place, in which the Bolivian Army defeated the Peruvian troops of Gamarra (killed in the battle). After the victory, Bolivia invaded Peru on several fronts. The eviction of the Bolivian troops from the south of Peru would be achieved by the greater availability of material and human resources of Peru; the Bolivian Army did not have enough troops to maintain an occupation. In the district of Locumba – Tacna, a column of Peruvian soldiers and peasants defeated a Bolivian regiment in the so-called Battle of Los Altos de Chipe (Locumba). In the district of Sama and in Arica, the Peruvian colonel José María Lavayén organized a troop that managed to defeat the Bolivian forces of Colonel Rodríguez Magariños and threaten the port of Arica. In the battle of Tarapacá on 7 January 1842, Peruvian militias formed by the commander Juan Buendía defeated a detachment led by Bolivian colonel José María García, who died in the confrontation. Bolivian troops left Tacna, Arica and Tarapacá in February 1842, retreating towards Moquegua and Puno. The battles of Motoni and Orurillo forced the withdrawal of Bolivian forces occupying Peruvian territory and exposed Bolivia to the threat of counter-invasion. The Treaty of Puno was signed on 7 June 1842, ending the war. However, the climate of tension between Lima and La Paz would continue until 1847, when the signing of a Peace and Trade Treaty became effective.
A period of political and economic instability in the early-to-mid-19th century weakened Bolivia. In addition, during the War of the Pacific (1879–83), Chile occupied vast territories rich in natural resources south west of Bolivia, including the Bolivian coast. Chile took control of today's Chuquicamata area, the adjoining rich salitre (saltpeter) fields, and the port of Antofagasta among other Bolivian territories.
Since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries. Through diplomatic channels in 1909, it lost the basin of the Madre de Dios River and the territory of the Purus in the Amazon, yielding 250,000 km<sup>2</sup> to Peru. It also lost the state of Acre, in the Acre War, important because this region was known for its production of rubber. Peasants and the Bolivian army fought briefly but after a few victories, and facing the prospect of a total war against Brazil, it was forced to sign the Treaty of Petrópolis in 1903, in which Bolivia lost this rich territory. Popular myth has it that Bolivian president Mariano Melgarejo (1864–71) traded the land for what he called "a magnificent white horse" and Acre was subsequently flooded with Brazilians, which ultimately led to confrontation and fear of war with Brazil.
In the late 19th century, an increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia relative prosperity and political stability.
Early 20th century
During the early 20th century, tin replaced silver as the country's most important source of wealth. A succession of governments controlled by the economic and social elite followed laissez-faire capitalist policies through the first 30 years of the 20th century.
Living conditions of the native people, who constitute most of the population, remained deplorable. With work opportunities limited to primitive conditions in the mines and in large estates having nearly feudal status, they had no access to education, economic opportunity, and political participation. Bolivia's defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932–1935), where Bolivia lost a great part of the Gran Chaco region in dispute, marked a turning-point.
On 7 April 1943, Bolivia entered World War II, joining part of the Allies, which caused president Enrique Peñaranda to declare war on the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.
In 1945, Bolivia became a founding member of the United Nations.
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), the most historic political party, emerged as a broad-based party. Denied its victory in the 1951 presidential elections, the MNR led a successful revolution in 1952. Under President Víctor Paz Estenssoro, the MNR, having strong popular pressure, introduced universal suffrage into his political platform and carried out a sweeping land-reform promoting rural education and nationalization of the country's largest tin mines.
Late 20th century
, supported by the CIA, forcibly ousted President Torres in a coup.]]
Twelve years of tumultuous rule left the MNR divided. In 1964, a military junta overthrew President Paz Estenssoro at the outset of his third term. The 1969 death of President René Barrientos, a former member of the junta who was elected president in 1966, led to a succession of weak governments. Alarmed by the rising Popular Assembly and the increase in the popularity of President Juan José Torres, the military, the MNR, and others installed Hugo Banzer as president in 1971. He returned to the presidency in 1997 through 2001. Torres, who had fled Bolivia, was kidnapped and assassinated in 1976 as part of Operation Condor, the U.S.-supported campaign of political repression by South American right-wing dictators.
The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financed and trained the Bolivian military dictatorship in the 1960s. The revolutionary leader Che Guevara was killed by a team of CIA officers and members of the Bolivian Army on 9 October 1967, in Bolivia. Félix Rodríguez was a CIA officer on the team with the Bolivian Army that captured and shot Guevara. Rodriguez said that after he received a Bolivian presidential execution order, he told "the soldier who pulled the trigger to aim carefully, to remain consistent with the Bolivian government's story that Che had been killed in action during a clash with the Bolivian army." Rodriguez said the US government had wanted Che in Panama, and "I could have tried to falsify the command to the troops, and got Che to Panama as the US government said they had wanted", but that he had chosen to "let history run its course" as desired by Bolivia.
Elections in 1978 were marked by fraud and those in 1979 were inconclusive. There were coups d'état, counter-coups, and caretaker governments. Following the 1980 election, General Luis García Meza carried out a coup d'état. The Bolivian Workers' Center, which tried to resist the putsch, was violently repressed. More than a thousand people were killed in less than a year. Cousin of one of the most important narco-trafficker of the country, García Meza favored the production of cocaine. After a military rebellion forced out García Meza in 1981, three other military governments in fourteen months struggled with Bolivia's growing economic problems. Unrest forced the military to convoke the Congress elected in 1980, and allow it to choose a new president. In October 1982, Hernán Siles Zuazo again became president, twenty-two years after the end of his first term of office (1956–1960).
Democratic transition
In 1993, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was elected president in alliance with the Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement, which inspired indigenous-sensitive and multicultural-aware policies. Sánchez de Lozada pursued an aggressive economic and social reform agenda. The most dramatic reform was privatization under the "capitalization" program, under which investors, typically foreign, acquired 50% ownership and management control of public enterprises in return for agreed upon capital investments. In 1993, Sanchez de Lozada introduced the Plan de Todos, which led to the decentralization of government, introduction of intercultural bilingual education, implementation of agrarian legislation, and privatization of state owned businesses. The plan explicitly stated that Bolivian citizens would own a minimum of 51% of enterprises; under the plan, most state-owned enterprises (SOEs), though not mines, were sold. This privatization of SOEs led to a neoliberal structuring.<!--that acknowledged a diverse population within Bolivia. – Acknowledged how so?-->
The reforms and economic restructuring were strongly opposed by certain segments of society, which instigated frequent and sometimes violent protests, particularly in La Paz and the Chapare coca-growing region, from 1994 through 1996. The indigenous population of the Andean region was not able to benefit from government reforms. During this time, the umbrella labor-organization of Bolivia, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), became increasingly unable to effectively challenge government policy. A teachers' strike in 1995 was defeated because the COB could not marshal the support of many of its members, including construction and factory workers.
1997–2002 General Banzer presidency
In the 1997 elections, General Hugo Banzer, leader of the Nationalist Democratic Action party (ADN) and former dictator (1971–1978), won 22% of the vote, while the MNR candidate won 18%. At the outset of his government, President Banzer launched a policy of using special police-units to eradicate physically the illegal coca of the Chapare region. The Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) of Jaime Paz Zamora remained a coalition-partner throughout the Banzer government, supporting this policy (called the Dignity Plan). The Banzer government basically continued the free-market and privatization-policies of its predecessor. The relatively robust economic growth of the mid-1990s continued until about the third year of its term in office. After that, regional, global and domestic factors contributed to a decline in economic growth. Financial crises in Argentina and Brazil, lower world prices for export commodities, and reduced employment in the coca sector depressed the Bolivian economy. The public also perceived a significant amount of public sector corruption. These factors contributed to increasing social protests during the second half of Banzer's term.
Between January 1999 and April 2000, large-scale protests erupted in Cochabamba, Bolivia's third largest city at the time, in response to the privatization of water resources by foreign companies and a subsequent doubling of water prices. On 6 August 2001, Banzer resigned from office after being diagnosed with cancer. He died less than a year later. Vice President Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramírez completed the final year of his term.
2002–2005 Sánchez de Lozada / Mesa presidency
In the June 2002 national elections, former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (MNR) placed first with 22.5% of the vote, followed by coca-advocate and native peasant-leader Evo Morales (Movement Toward Socialism, MAS) with 20.9%. A July agreement between the MNR and the fourth-place MIR, which had again been led in the election by former President Jaime Paz Zamora, virtually ensured the election of Sánchez de Lozada in the congressional run-off, and on 6 August he was sworn in for the second time. The MNR platform featured three overarching objectives: economic reactivation (and job creation), anti-corruption, and social inclusion.
In 2003, the Bolivian gas conflict broke out. On 12 October 2003, the government imposed martial law in El Alto after 16 people were shot by the police and several dozen wounded in violent clashes. Faced with the option of resigning or more bloodshed, Sánchez de Lozada offered his resignation in a letter to an emergency session of Congress. After his resignation was accepted and his vice president, Carlos Mesa, invested, he left on a commercially scheduled flight for the United States.
The country's internal situation became unfavorable for such political action on the international stage. After a resurgence of gas protests in 2005, Carlos Mesa attempted to resign in January 2005, but his offer was refused by Congress. On 22 March 2005, after weeks of new street protests from organizations accusing Mesa of bowing to U.S. corporate interests, Mesa again offered his resignation to Congress, which was accepted on 10 June. The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodríguez, was sworn as interim president to succeed the outgoing Carlos Mesa.
2005–2019 Morales presidency
]]
Evo Morales won the 2005 presidential election with 53.7% of the votes. On 1 May 2006, Morales announced his intent to re-nationalize Bolivian hydrocarbon assets following protests which demanded this action. Fulfilling a campaign promise, on 6 August 2006, Morales opened the Bolivian Constituent Assembly to begin writing a new constitution aimed at giving more power to the indigenous majority.
2009 marked the creation of a new constitution and the renaming of the country to the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The previous constitution did not allow a consecutive reelection of a president, but the new constitution allowed for just one reelection, starting the dispute if Evo Morales was enabled to run for a second term arguing he was elected under the last constitution. This also triggered a new general election in which Evo Morales was re-elected with 61.36% of the vote. His party, Movement for Socialism, also won a two-thirds majority in both houses of the National Congress. By 2013, after being reelected under the new constitution, Evo Morales and his party attempted a third term as President of Bolivia. The opposition argued that a third term would be unconstitutional, but the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruled that Morales' first term under the previous constitution did not count towards his term limit. This allowed Evo Morales to run for a third term in 2014, and he was re-elected with 64.22% of the vote. During his third term, Evo Morales began to plan for a fourth, and the 2016 Bolivian constitutional referendum asked voters to override the constitution and allow Evo Morales to run for an additional term in office. Morales narrowly lost the referendum; however, in 2017 his party then petitioned the Bolivian Constitutional Court to override the constitution on the basis that the American Convention on Human Rights made term limits a human rights violation. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights determined that term limits are not a human rights violation in 2018; however, once again the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruled that Morales has permission to run for a fourth term in the 2019 elections, and this permission was not retracted. "[T]he country's highest court overruled the constitution, scrapping term limits altogether for every office. Morales can now run for a fourth term in 2019 – and for every election thereafter."
The revenues generated by the partial nationalization of hydrocarbons made it possible to finance several social measures: the Renta Dignidad (or old age minimum) for people over 60 years old; the Juana Azurduy voucher (named after the revolutionary Juana Azurduy de Padilla, 1780–1862), which ensures the complete coverage of medical expenses for pregnant women and their children in order to fight infant mortality; the Juancito Pinto voucher (named after a child hero of the Pacific War, 1879–1884), an aid paid until the end of secondary school to parents whose children are in school in order to combat school dropout, and the Single Health System, which since 2018 has offered all Bolivians free medical care.
The reforms adopted made the Bolivian economic system the most successful and stable in the region. Between 2006 and 2019, GDP grew from $9 billion to over $40 billion, real wages increased, GDP per capita tripled, foreign exchange reserves rose, inflation was essentially eliminated, and extreme poverty fell from 38% to 15%, a 23-point drop. Interim government 2019–2020
During the 2019 elections, the Transmisión de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (TREP) (a quick count process used in Latin America as a transparency measure in electoral processes) was interrupted; at the time, Morales had a lead of 46.86 percent to Mesa's 36.72, after 95.63 percent of tally sheets were counted. Two days after the interruption, the official count showed Morales fractionally clearing the 10-point margin he needed to avoid a runoff election, with the final official tally counted as 47.08 percent to Mesa's 36.51 percent, starting a wave of protests and tension in the country.
Amidst allegations of fraud perpetrated by the Morales government, widespread protests were organized to dispute the election. On 10 November, the Organization of American States (OAS) released a preliminary report concluding several irregularities in the election, though these findings were heavily disputed. The New York Times reported on 7 June 2020 that the OAS analysis immediately after the 20 October election was flawed yet fuelled "a chain of events that changed the South American nation's history".
, results by department]]
and David Choquehuanca on 8 November 2020]]
After weeks of protests, Morales resigned on national television shortly after the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces General Williams Kaliman had urged that he do so to restore "peace and stability". Opposition Senator Jeanine Áñez declared herself interim president, claiming constitutional succession after the president, vice president and both head of the legislature chambers. She was confirmed as interim president by the constitutional court who declared her succession to be constitutional and automatic. International politicians, scholars and journalists are divided between describing the event as a coup or a spontaneous social uprising against an unconstitutional fourth term. Protests to reinstate Morales as president continued becoming highly violent: burning public buses and private houses, destroying public infrastructure and harming pedestrians. The protests were met with more violence by security forces against Morales supporters after Áñez exempted police and military from criminal responsibility in operations for "the restoration of order and public stability".
In April 2020, the interim government took out a loan of more than $327 million from the International Monetary Fund to meet the country's needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. New elections were scheduled for 3 May 2020. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bolivian electoral body, the TSE, made an announcement postponing the election. MAS reluctantly agreed with the first delay only. A date for the new election was delayed twice more, in the face of massive protests and violence. The final proposed date for the elections was 18 October 2020. Observers from the OAS, UNIORE, and the UN all reported that they found no fraudulent actions in the 2020 elections.
The general election had a record voter turnout of 88.4% and ended in a landslide win for MAS which took 55.1% of the votes compared to 28.8% for centrist former president Carlos Mesa. Both Mesa and Áñez conceded defeat.
Government of Luis Arce: 2020 - present
On 8 November 2020, Luis Arce was sworn in as President of Bolivia alongside his Vice President David Choquehuanca. In February 2021, the Arce government returned an amount of around $351 million to the IMF. This comprised a loan of $327 million taken out by the interim government in April 2020 and interest of around $24 million. The government said it returned the loan to protect Bolivia's economic sovereignty and because the conditions attached to the loan were unacceptable. Geography
Bolivia is located in the central zone of South America, between 57°26'–69°38'W and 9°38'–22°53'S. With an area of , Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country, and the fifth largest country in South America, extending from the Central Andes through part of the Gran Chaco, Pantanal and as far as the Amazon. The geographic center of the country is the so-called Puerto Estrella ("Star Port") on the Río Grande, in Ñuflo de Chávez Province, Santa Cruz Department.
The geography of the country exhibits a great variety of terrain and climates. Bolivia has a high level of biodiversity, considered one of the greatest in the world, as well as several ecoregions with ecological sub-units such as the Altiplano, tropical rainforests (including Amazon rainforest), dry valleys, and the Chiquitania, which is a tropical savanna. These areas feature enormous variations in altitude, from an elevation of above sea level in Nevado Sajama to nearly along the Paraguay River. Although a country of great geographic diversity, Bolivia has remained a landlocked country since the War of the Pacific. Puerto Suárez, San Matías and Puerto Quijarro are located in the Bolivian Pantanal. In Bolivia forest cover is around 47% of the total land area, equivalent to 50,833,760 ha of forest in 2020, down from 57,804,720 ha in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 50,771,160 ha and planted forest covered 62,600 ha. Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 24% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
Bolivia can be divided into three physiographic regions:
(Morning Sun in Spanish), a geothermal field in Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, southwestern Bolivia. The area, characterized by intense volcanic activity, with sulfur spring fields and mud lakes, has indeed no geysers but rather holes that emit pressurized steam up to 50 meters high.]]
in the Puna de Lipez in Potosí]]
*The Andean region in the southwest spans 28% of the national territory, extending over . This area is located above altitude and is located between two big Andean chains, the Cordillera Occidental ("Western Range") and the Cordillera Central ("Central Range"), with some of the highest spots in the Americas such as the Nevado Sajama, with an altitude of , and the Illimani, at . Also located in the Cordillera Central is Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America; the lake is shared with Peru. Also in this region are the Altiplano and the Salar de Uyuni, which is the largest salt flat in the world and an important source of lithium.
*The Sub-Andean region in the center and south of the country is an intermediate region between the Altiplano and the eastern llanos (plain); this region comprises 13% of the territory of Bolivia, extending over , and encompassing the Bolivian valleys and the Yungas region. It is distinguished by its farming activities and its temperate climate.
*The Llanos region in the northeast comprises 59% of the territory, with . It is located to the north of the Cordillera Central and extends from the Andean foothills to the Paraguay River. It is a region of flat land and small plateaus, all covered by extensive rain forests containing enormous biodiversity. The region is below above sea level.
Geology
The geology of Bolivia comprises a variety of different lithologies as well as tectonic and sedimentary environments. On a synoptic scale, geological units coincide with topographical units. Most elementally, the country is divided into a mountainous western area affected by the subduction processes in the Pacific and an eastern lowlands of stable platforms and shields.
Climate
ski resort, La Paz Department]]
The climate of Bolivia varies drastically from one eco-region to the other, from the tropics in the eastern llanos to a polar climate in the western Andes. The summers are warm, humid in the east and dry in the west, with rains that often modify temperatures, humidity, winds, atmospheric pressure and evaporation, yielding very different climates in different areas. When the climatological phenomenon known as El Niño takes place, it causes great alterations in the weather. Winters are very cold in the west, and it snows in the mountain ranges, while in the western regions, windy days are more common. The autumn is dry in the non-tropical regions.
*Llanos. A humid tropical climate with an average temperature of . The wind coming from the Amazon rainforest causes significant rainfall. In May, there is low precipitation because of dry winds, and most days have clear skies. Even so, winds from the south, called surazos, can bring cooler temperatures lasting several days.
*Altiplano. Desert-Polar climates, with strong and cold winds. The average temperature ranges from 15 to 20 °C. At night, temperatures descend drastically to slightly above 0 °C, while during the day, the weather is dry and solar radiation is high. Ground frosts occur every month, and snow is frequent.
*Valleys and Yungas. Temperate climate. The humid northeastern winds are pushed to the mountains, making this region very humid and rainy. Temperatures are cooler at higher elevations. Snow occurs at altitudes of .
*Chaco. Subtropical semi-arid climate. Rainy and humid in January and the rest of the year, with warm days and cold nights.
Issues with climate change
Bolivia is especially vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change. Twenty percent of the world's tropical glaciers are located within the country, and are more sensitive to change in temperature due to the tropical climate they are located in. Temperatures in the Andes increased by 0.1 °C per decade from 1939 to 1998, and more recently the rate of increase has tripled (to 0.33 °C per decade from 1980 to 2005), causing glaciers to recede at an accelerated pace and create unforeseen water shortages in Andean agricultural towns. Farmers have taken to temporary city jobs when there is poor yield for their crops, while others have started permanently leaving the agricultural sector and are migrating to nearby towns for other forms of work; some view these migrants as the first generation of climate refugees. Cities that are neighbouring agricultural land, like El Alto, face the challenge of providing services to the influx of new migrants; because there is no alternative water source, the city's water source is now being constricted.
Bolivia's government and other agencies have acknowledged the need to instill new policies battling the effects of climate change. The World Bank has provided funding through the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and are using the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR II) to construct new irrigation systems, protect riverbanks and basins, and work on building water resources with the help of indigenous communities. Biodiversity
, at Laguna Colorada.]]
Bolivia, with an enormous variety of organisms and ecosystems, is part of the "Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries".
Bolivia's variable altitudes, ranging from above sea level, allow for a vast biologic diversity. The territory of Bolivia comprises four types of biomes, 32 ecological regions, and 199 ecosystems. Within this geographic area there are several natural parks and reserves such as the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, the Madidi National Park, the Tunari National Park, the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, and the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, among others.
Bolivia boasts over 17,000 species of seed plants, including over 1,200 species of fern, 1,500 species of marchantiophyta and moss, and at least 800 species of fungus. In addition, there are more than 3,000 species of medicinal plants. Bolivia is considered the place of origin for such species as peppers and chili peppers, peanuts, the common beans, yucca, and several species of palm. Bolivia also naturally produces over 4,000 kinds of potatoes. The country had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.47/10, ranking it 21st globally out of 172 countries.
Bolivia has more than 2,900 animal species, including 398 mammals, over 1,400 birds (about 14% of birds known in the world, being the sixth most diverse country in terms of bird species), 204 amphibians, 277 reptiles, and 635 fish, all fresh water fish as Bolivia is a landlocked country. In addition, there are more than 3,000 types of butterfly, and more than 60 domestic animals.
In 2020 a new species of snake, the mountain fer-de-lance viper, was discovered in Bolivia. Environmental policy A Ministry of Environment and Water was created in 2006 after the election of Evo Morales, who reversed the privatization of the water distribution sector in the 1990s by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. The new Constitution, approved by referendum in 2009, makes access to water a fundamental right. In July 2010, at the initiative of Bolivia, the United Nations passed a resolution recognizing as "fundamental" the "right to safe and clean drinking water".
In 2013, the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth was passed, which accords nature the same rights as humans.
Government and politics
in central La Paz]]
Bolivia has been governed by democratically elected governments since 1982; prior to that, it was governed by various dictatorships. Presidents Hernán Siles Zuazo (1982–1985) and Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1985–1989) began a tradition of ceding power peacefully which has continued, although three presidents have stepped down in the face of extraordinary circumstances: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in 2003, Carlos Mesa in 2005, and Evo Morales in 2019.
Bolivia's multiparty democracy has seen a wide variety of parties in the presidency and parliament, although the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement, Nationalist Democratic Action, and the Revolutionary Left Movement predominated from 1985 to 2005. On 11 November 2019, all senior governmental positions were vacated following the resignation of Evo Morales and his government. On 13 November 2019, Jeanine Áñez, a former senator representing Beni, declared herself acting President of Bolivia. Luis Arce was elected on 23 October 2020; he took office as president on 8 November 2020.
, the former residence and main office for the President of Bolivia]]
The constitution, drafted in 2006–07 and approved in 2009, provides for balanced executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral powers, as well as several levels of autonomy. The traditionally strong executive branch tends to overshadow the Congress, whose role is generally limited to debating and approving legislation initiated by the executive. The judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and departmental and lower courts, has long been riddled with corruption and inefficiency. Through revisions to the constitution in 1994, and subsequent laws, the government has initiated potentially far-reaching reforms in the judicial system as well as increasing decentralizing powers to departments, municipalities, and indigenous territories.
The executive branch is headed by a president and vice president, and consists of a variable number (currently, 20) of government ministries. The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote, and governs from the Presidential Palace (popularly called the Burnt Palace, ) in La Paz. In the case that no candidate receives an absolute majority of the popular vote or more than 40% of the vote with an advantage of more than 10% over the second-place finisher, a run-off is to be held among the two candidates most voted. Wilfredo Ovando presides over the seven-member Supreme Electoral Court. Its operations are mandated by the Constitution and regulated by the Electoral Regime Law (Law 026, passed 2010). The Organ's first elections were the country's first judicial election in October 2011, and five municipal special elections held in 2011.
Capital
is Bolivia's constitutional capital and retains the judicial branch of government.]]
Bolivia has its constitutionally recognized capital in Sucre, while La Paz is the seat of government. La Plata (now Sucre) was proclaimed the provisional capital of the newly independent Alto Peru (later, Bolivia) on 1 July 1826. On 12 July 1839, President José Miguel de Velasco proclaimed a law naming the city as the capital of Bolivia, and renaming it in honor of the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre. In addition to being the constitutional capital, the Supreme Court of Bolivia is located in Sucre, making it the judicial capital. Nonetheless, the Palacio Quemado (the Presidential Palace and seat of Bolivian executive power) is located in La Paz, as are the National Congress and Plurinational Electoral Organ. La Paz thus continues to be the seat of government. Foreign relations
at his second inauguration as Venezuela's president, in Caracas, on 10 January 2019]]
Despite losing its maritime coast, the so-called Litoral Department, after the War of the Pacific, Bolivia has historically maintained, as a state policy, a maritime claim to that part of Chile; the claim asks for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean and its maritime space. The issue has also been presented before the Organization of American States; in 1979, the OAS passed the 426 Resolution, which declared that the Bolivian problem is a hemispheric problem. On 4 April 1884, a truce was signed with Chile, whereby Chile gave facilities of access to Bolivian products through Antofagasta, and freed the payment of export rights in the port of Arica. In October 1904, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed, and Chile agreed to build a railway between Arica and La Paz, to improve access of Bolivian products to the ports.
The Special Economical Zone for Bolivia in Ilo (ZEEBI) is a special economic area of of maritime coast, and a total extension of , called Mar Bolivia ("Sea Bolivia"), where Bolivia may maintain a free port near Ilo, Peru under its administration and operation for a period of 99 years starting in 1992; once that time has passed, all the construction and territory revert to the Peruvian government. Since 1964, Bolivia has had its own port facilities in the Bolivian Free Port in Rosario, Argentina. This port is located on the Paraná River, which is directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2018, Bolivia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The dispute with Chile was taken to the International Court of Justice. The court ruled in support of the Chilean position, and declared that although Chile may have held talks about a Bolivian corridor to the sea, the country was not required to negotiate one or to surrender its territory.
Bolivia is the 68th most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.
Military
The Bolivian military comprises three branches: Ejército (Army), Naval (Navy) and Fuerza Aérea (Air Force).
The Bolivian army has around 31,500 men. There are six military regions (regiones militares—RMs) in the army. The army is organized into ten divisions. Although it is landlocked, Bolivia keeps a navy. The Bolivian Naval Force (Fuerza Naval Boliviana in Spanish) is a naval force about 5,000 strong in 2008. The Bolivian Air Force ('Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' or "FAB") has nine air bases, located at La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Puerto Suárez, Tarija, Villamontes, Cobija, Riberalta, and Roboré. Law and crime
There are 54 prisons in Bolivia, which incarcerate around 8,700 people . The prisons are managed by the Penitentiary Regime Directorate (). There are 17 prisons in departmental capital cities and 36 provincial prisons. Administrative divisions
overlooking La Paz, the capital city of the La Paz Department and the seat of government of Bolivia]]
Bolivia has nine departments—Pando, La Paz, Beni, Oruro, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Tarija.
According to what is established by the Bolivian Political Constitution, the Law of Autonomies and Decentralization regulates the procedure for the elaboration of Statutes of Autonomy, the transfer and distribution of direct competences between the central government and the autonomous entities.
There are four levels of decentralization: 1) Departmental government is constituted by the Departmental Assembly, with rights over the legislation of the department. The department governor is chosen by universal suffrage. 2) Municipal government is constituted by a Municipal Council which is responsible for legislation of the municipality. The municipality's mayor is chosen by universal suffrage. 3) Regional government is formed by several provinces or municipalities of geographical continuity within a department. It is constituted by a Regional Assembly. 4) Original indigenous government is constituted by self-governance of original indigenous people on the ancient territories where they live.
{| border"0" cellpadding"3"
|-
! No. || Department || Capital ||
|-
| 1 || Pando || Cobija || rowspan="9" |
|-
| 2 || La Paz || La Paz
|-
| 3 || Beni || Trinidad
|-
| 4 || Oruro || Oruro
|-
| 5 || Cochabamba || Cochabamba
|-
| 6 || Santa Cruz || Santa Cruz de la Sierra
|-
| 7 || Potosí || Potosí
|-
| 8 || Chuquisaca || Sucre
|-
| 9 || Tarija || Tarija
|}
While Bolivia's administrative divisions have similar status under governmental jurisprudence, each department varies in quantitative and qualitative factors. Generally speaking, Departments can be grouped either by geography or by political-cultural orientation. For example, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando make up the low-lying "Camba" heartlands of the Amazon, Moxos and Chiquitanía. When considering political orientation, Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, Tarija are generally grouped for regionalist autonomy movements; this region is known as the "Media Luna". Conversely, La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba have been traditionally associated with Andean politics and culture. Today, Chuquisaca vacillates between the Andean cultural bloc and the Camba bloc.
Economy
Driven largely by its natural resources Bolivia has become a regional leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, Under Morales, per capita GDP doubled from US$1,182 in 2006 to US$2,238 in 2012. GDP growth under Morales averaged 5 percent a year, and in 2014 only Panama and the Dominican Republic performed better in all of Latin America.
Bolivia in 2014, before a strong decline, boasted the highest proportional rate of financial reserves of any nation in the world, with Bolivia's rainy day fund totaling some US$15 billion or nearly two-thirds of total annual GDP, up from a fifth of GDP in 2005.
, an important agricultural region for the cultivation of bananas, citrus fruits, pineapples and rice]]
Agriculture
Agriculture is less relevant in the country's GDP compared to the rest of Latin America. The country produces close to 10 million tons of sugarcane per year and is the 10th largest producer of soybean in the world. It also has considerable yields of maize, potato, sorghum, banana, rice, and wheat. The country's largest exports are based on soy (soybean meal and soybean oil). The culture of soy was brought by Brazilians to the country: in 2006, almost 50% of soy producers in Bolivia were people from Brazil, or descendants of Brazilians. The first Brazilian producers began to arrive in the country in the 1990s. Before that, there was a lot of land in the country that was not used, or where only subsistence agriculture was practiced.
Bolivia's most lucrative agricultural product continues to be coca, of which Bolivia is the world's third largest cultivator. Mineral resources
in Potosí, still an important mining site since the colonial times.]]
Bolivia, while historically renowned for its vast mineral wealth, is relatively under-explored in geological and mineralogical terms. The country is rich in various mineral and natural resources, sitting at the heart of South America in the Central Andes.
Mining is a major sector of the economy, with most of the country's exports being dependent on it. In 2023, the country was the seventh largest world producer of silver; fifth largest world producer of tin and antimony; seventh largest producer of zinc, eighth largest producer of lead, fourth largest world producer of boron; and the sixth largest world producer of tungsten. The country also has considerable gold production, which varies close to 25 tons/year, and also has amethyst extraction. The country's gold production in 2015 is 12 metric tons. mine in the Salar de Uyuni.]]Bolivia has the world's largest lithium reserves, second largest antimony reserves, third largest iron ore reserves, sixth largest tin reserves, ninth largest lead, silver, and copper reserves, tenth largest zinc reserves, and undisclosed but productive reserves of gold and tungsten. Additionally, there is believed to be considerable reserves of uranium and nickel present in the country's largely under-explored eastern regions. Diamond reserves may also be present in some formations of the Serranías Chiquitanas in Santa Cruz Department.
Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America. Its natural gas exports bring in millions of dollars per day, in royalties, rents, and taxes. From 2007 to 2017, what is referred to as the "government take" on gas totaled approximately $22 billion. The passage of the Hydrocarbon law in opposition to then-President Carlos Mesa can be understood as part of the Bolivian gas conflict which ultimately resulted in election of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The US Geological Service estimates that Bolivia has 21 million tonnes of lithium, which represent at least 25% of world reserves – the largest in the world. However, to mine for it would involve disturbing the country's salt flats (called Salar de Uyuni), an important natural feature which boosts tourism in the region. The government does not want to destroy this unique natural landscape to meet the rising world demand for lithium. On the other hand, sustainable extraction of lithium is attempted by the government. This project is carried out by the public company "Recursos Evaporíticos" subsidiary of COMIBOL.
is the most visited site in Bolivia]]
Tourism
The income from tourism has become increasingly important. Bolivia's tourist industry has placed an emphasis on attracting ethnic diversity. The most visited places include Nevado Sajama, Torotoro National Park, Madidi National Park, Tiwanaku and the city of La Paz.
The best known of the various festivals found in the country is the "Carnaval de Oruro", which was among the first 19 "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity", as proclaimed by UNESCO in May 2001. Transport RoadsBolivia's Yungas Road was called the "world's most dangerous road" by the Inter-American Development Bank, called () in Spanish. The northern portion of the road, much of it unpaved and without guardrails, was cut into the Cordillera Oriental Mountain in the 1930s. The fall from the narrow path is as much as in some places and due to the humid weather from the Amazon there are often poor conditions like mudslides and falling rocks. Each year over 25,000 bikers cycle along the road. In 2018, an Israeli woman was killed by a falling rock while cycling on the road.
The Apolo road goes deep into La Paz. Roads in this area were originally built to allow access to mines located near Charazani. Other noteworthy roads run to Coroico, Sorata, the Zongo Valley (Illimani mountain), and along the Cochabamba highway (). According to researchers with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bolivia's road network was still underdeveloped as of 2014. In lowland areas of Bolivia there is less than of paved road. There have been some recent investments; animal husbandry has expanded in Guayaramerín, which might be due to a new road connecting Guayaramerín with Trinidad. The country only opened its first duplicated highway in 2015: a 203 km stretch between the capital La Paz and Oruro.
Air
(BoA) is a state-owned company and the country's largest airline. Two BoA Boeing 737-300s parked at Jorge Wilstermann International Airport.]]
The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil—DGAC) formerly part of the FAB, administers a civil aeronautics school called the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (Instituto Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil—INAC), and two commercial air transport services TAM and TAB.
TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar (the Bolivian Military Airline) was an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia. It was the civilian wing of the 'Fuerza Aérea Boliviana' (the Bolivian Air Force), operating passenger services to remote towns and communities in the North and Northeast of Bolivia. TAM (a.k.a. TAM Group 71) has been a part of the FAB since 1945. The airline suspended its operations since September 2019.
Boliviana de Aviación, often referred to as simply BoA, is the flag carrier airline of Bolivia and is wholly owned by the country's government.
A private airline serving regional destinations is Línea Aérea Amaszonas, with services including some international destinations.
Although a civil transport airline, TAB – Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos, was created as a subsidiary company of the FAB in 1977. It is subordinate to the Air Transport Management (Gerencia de Transportes Aéreos) and is headed by an FAB general. TAB, a charter heavy cargo airline, links Bolivia with most countries of the Western Hemisphere; its inventory includes a fleet of Hercules C130 aircraft. TAB is headquartered adjacent to El Alto International Airport. TAB flies to Miami and Houston, with a stop in Panama.
The three largest, and main international airports in Bolivia are El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, and Jorge Wilstermann International Airport in Cochabamba. There are regional airports in other cities that connect to these three hubs. Technology Bolivia owns a communications satellite which was offshored/outsourced and launched by China, named Túpac Katari 1. In 2015, it was announced that electrical power advancements include a planned $300 million nuclear reactor developed by the Russian nuclear company Rosatom. Bolivia was ranked 100th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. Water supply and sanitation
Bolivia's drinking water and sanitation coverage has greatly improved since 1990 due to a considerable increase in sectoral investment. However, the country has the continent's lowest coverage levels and services are of low quality. Political and institutional instability have contributed to the weakening of the sector's institutions at the national and local levels.
Two concessions to foreign private companies in two of the three largest cities – Cochabamba and La Paz/El Alto – were prematurely ended in 2000 and 2006 respectively. The country's second largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, manages its own water and sanitation system relatively successfully by way of cooperatives. The government of Evo Morales intends to strengthen citizen participation within the sector. Increasing coverage requires a substantial increase of investment financing.
According to the government the main problems in the sector are low access to sanitation throughout the country; low access to water in rural areas; insufficient and ineffective investments; a low visibility of community service providers; a lack of respect of indigenous customs; "technical and institutional difficulties in the design and implementation of projects"; a lack of capacity to operate and maintain infrastructure; an institutional framework that is "not consistent with the political change in the country"; "ambiguities in the social participation schemes"; a reduction in the quantity and
quality of water due to climate change; pollution and a lack of integrated water resources management; and the lack of policies and programs for the reuse of wastewater.
Only 27% of the population has access to improved sanitation, 80 to 88% has access to improved water sources. Coverage in urban areas is bigger than in rural ones.Agriculture
field near Lake Titicaca. Bolivia is the world's second largest producer of the crop.]]
The agrarian reform promised by Evo Morales – and approved in a referendum by nearly 80 per cent of the population – has never been implemented. Intended to abolish latifundism by reducing the maximum size of properties that do not have an "economic and social function" to 5,000 hectares, with the remainder to be distributed among small agricultural workers and landless indigenous people, it was strongly opposed by the Bolivian oligarchy. In 2009, the government gave in to the agribusiness sector, which in return committed to end the pressure it was exerting and jeopardizing until the new constitution was in place.
However, a series of economic reforms and projects have improved the condition of modest peasant families. They received farm machinery, tractors, fertilizers, seeds and breeding stock, while the state built irrigation systems, roads and bridges to make it easier for them to sell their produce in the markets. The situation of many indigenous people and small farmers was regularized through the granting of land titles for the land they were using.
In the last fifty years the Bolivian population has tripled, reaching a population growth rate of 2.25%. The growth of the population in the inter-census periods (1950–1976 and 1976–1992) was approximately 2.05%, while between the last period, 1992–2001, it reached 2.74% annually.
Some 67.49% of Bolivians live in urban areas, while the remaining 32.51% in rural areas. The most part of the population (70%) is concentrated in the departments of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. In the Andean Altiplano region the departments of La Paz and Oruro hold the largest percentage of population, in the valley region the largest percentage is held by the departments of Cochabamba and Chuquisaca, while in the Llanos region by Santa Cruz and Beni. At national level, the population density is 8.49, with variations marked between 0.8 (Pando Department) and 26.2 (Cochabamba Department).
The largest population center is located in the so-called "central axis" and in the Llanos region. Bolivia has a young population. According to the 2011 census, 59% of the population is between 15 and 59 years old, 39% is less than 15 years old. Almost 60% of the population is younger than 25 years of age.
Ethnic groups
, Bolivia]]
The vast majority of Bolivians are mestizo (with the indigenous component higher than the European one), although the government has not included the cultural self-identification "mestizo" in the November 2012 census. There are approximately three dozen native groups totaling approximately half of the Bolivian population – the largest proportion of indigenous people in the Americas. A 2009 estimate of racial classification put mestizo (mixed White and Amerindian) at 68%, indigenous at 20%, white at 5%, cholo at 2%, black at 1%, other at 4%, while 2% were unspecified; 44% attributed themselves to some indigenous group, predominantly the linguistic categories of Quechuas or Aymaras. White Bolivians comprised about 14% of the population in 2006, and are usually concentrated in the largest cities: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, but as well in some minor cities like Tarija and Sucre. The ancestry of whites and the white ancestry of mestizos lies within Europe and the Middle East, most notably Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Lebanon and Syria. In the Santa Cruz Department, there are several dozen colonies of German-speaking Mennonites from Russia totaling around 40,000 inhabitants ().
Afro-Bolivians, descendants of African slaves who arrived in the time of the Spanish Empire, inhabit the department of La Paz, and are located mainly in the provinces of Nor Yungas and Sud Yungas. Slavery was abolished in Bolivia in 1831. There are also important communities of Japanese (14,000) and Lebanese (12,900).
Indigenous peoples, also called "originarios" ("native" or "original") and less frequently, Amerindians, could be categorized by geographic area, such as Andean, like the Aymaras and Quechuas (who formed the ancient Inca Empire), who are concentrated in the western departments of La Paz, Potosí, Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. There also are ethnic populations in the east, composed of the Chiquitano, Chané, Guaraní and Moxos, among others, who inhabit the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando.
There are small numbers of European citizens from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as from other countries of the Americas, as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela, among others. There are important Peruvian colonies in La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
There are around 140,000 Mennonites in Bolivia of Friesian, Flemish and German ethnic origins.
Language
Bolivia has great linguistic diversity as a result of its multiculturalism. The Constitution of Bolivia recognizes 36 official languages besides Spanish: Aymara, Araona, Baure, Bésiro, Canichana, Cavineño, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Chimán, Ese Ejja, Guaraní, Guarasu'we, Guarayu, Itonama, Leco, Machajuyai-Kallawaya, Machineri, Maropa, Mojeño-Ignaciano, Mojeño-Trinitario, Moré, Mosetén, Movima, Pacawara, Puquina, Quechua, Sirionó, Tacana, Tapieté, Toromona, Uru-Chipaya, Weenhayek, Yaminawa, Yuki, Yuracaré, and Zamuco.
Spanish is the most spoken official language in the country, according to the 2001 census; as it is spoken by two-thirds of the population. All legal and official documents issued by the State, including the Constitution, the main private and public institutions, the media, and commercial activities, are in Spanish.
The main indigenous languages are: Quechua (21.2% of the population in the 2001 census), Aymara (14.6%), Guarani (0.6%) and others (0.4%) including the Moxos in the department of Beni.
|label1 = Catholicism
|value1 = 77
|color1 = Purple
|label2 = Protestantism
|value2 = 16
|color2 = Blue
|label3 = Other
|value3 = 3
|color3 = grey
|label4 = No religion
|value4 = 4
|color4 = White
}}
in La Paz]]
Bolivia is a constitutionally secular state that guarantees the freedom of religion and the independence of government from religion.
According to the 2001 census conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia, 78% of the population is Roman Catholic, followed by 19% that are Protestant, as well as a small number of Bolivians that are Orthodox, and 3% non-religious.
The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on the World Christian Database) records that in 2010, 92.5% of Bolivians identified as Christian (of any denomination), 3.1% identified with indigenous religion, 2.2% identified as Baháʼí, 1.9% identified as agnostic, and all other groups constituted 0.1% or less.
Much of the indigenous population adheres to different traditional beliefs marked by inculturation or syncretism with Christianity. The cult of Pachamama, or "Mother Earth", is notable. The veneration of the Virgin of Copacabana, Virgin of Urkupiña and Virgin of Socavón, is also an important feature of Christian pilgrimage. There also are important Aymaran communities near Lake Titicaca that have a strong devotion to James the Apostle. Deities worshiped in Bolivia include Ekeko, the Aymaran god of abundance and prosperity, whose day is celebrated every 24 January, and Tupá, a god of the Guaraní people.
Largest cities and towns
Approximately 67% of Bolivians live in urban areas, among the lowest proportion in South America. Nevertheless, the rate of urbanization is growing steadily, at around 2.5% annually. According to the 2012 census, there are total of 3,158,691 households in Bolivia – an increase of 887,960 from 2001. Most of the country's largest cities are located in the highlands of the west and central regions.
Culture
, 500–950 CE, Tiwanaku]]
Bolivian culture has been heavily influenced by the Spanish, the Aymara, the Quechua, as well as the popular cultures of Latin America as a whole.
The cultural development is divided into three distinct periods: precolumbian, colonial, and republican. Important archaeological ruins, gold and silver ornaments, stone monuments, ceramics, and weavings remain from several important pre-Columbian cultures. Major ruins include Tiwanaku, El Fuerte de Samaipata, Inkallaqta and Iskanwaya. The country abounds in other sites that are difficult to reach and have seen little archaeological exploration.
, dance primeval, typical and main of Carnival of Oruro, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2001.]]
The Spanish brought their own tradition of religious art which, in the hands of local native, mestizo and some criollo builders and artisans, developed into a rich and distinctive style of architecture, painting, and sculpture known as Andean Baroque. The colonial period produced not only the paintings of Pérez de Holguín, Flores, Bitti, and others but also the works of skilled but unknown stonecutters, woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and silversmiths. An important body of Native Baroque religious music of the colonial period was recovered and has been performed internationally to wide acclaim since 1994.
Bolivia has public and private universities. Among them: Universidad Mayor, Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca USFX – Sucre, founded in 1624; Universidad Mayor de San Andrés UMSA – La Paz, founded in 1830; Universidad Mayor de San Simon UMSS – Cochabamba, founded in 1832; Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno UAGRM – Santa Cruz de la Sierra, founded in 1880; Universidad Técnica de Oruro UTO – Oruro, founded in 1892; Universidad Evangélica Boliviana UEB – Santa Cruz de la Sierra, founded in 1980; and Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías UATF – Potosi, founded in 1892.
Health
According to UNICEF under-five mortality rate in 2006 was 52.7 per 1000 and was reduced to 26 per 1000 by 2019. The infant mortality rate was 40.7 per 1000 in 2006 and was reduced to 21.2 per 1000 in 2019. Before Morales took office, nearly half of all infants were not vaccinated; now nearly all are vaccinated. Morales also put into place several supplemental nutrition programs, including an effort to supply free food in public health and social security offices, and his desnutrición cero (zero malnutrition) program provides free school lunches. In 2019 the Bolivian government created a universal healthcare system which has been cited as a model for all by the World Health Organization.Media Women's rights Bolivia has one of the highest rates of femicide and gender-based violence in Latin America. In 2013, the Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence was passed, which codified sixteen types of gender-based violence and implemented measures for prevention of violence, protection for victims, and the punishment of aggressors.
As of 2022, 46% of parliamentary seats are held by women. A 1997 law established quotas whereby candidates for public office fielded by political parties must be at least 30% women.
Sports
Football is popular. The national team is the Bolivia national football team.
Racquetball is the second most popular sport in Bolivia as for the results in the Odesur 2018 Games held in Cochabamba. Bolivia has won 18 medals at the Pan American Games and 15 of them came from racquetball events, including their only gold medals, won in the Men's Team event in 2019 and 2023, plus a Men's Singles Gold in 2023 by world champion Conrrado Moscoso.
Basketball is especially popular and influential in the Potosí Department.
See also
* Agriculture in Bolivia
* Bolivian cuisine
* Bolivian wine
* Outline of Bolivia
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Crabtree, John, and Laurence Whitehead, eds. Unresolved tensions: Bolivia past and present (2008) [https://www.amazon.com/Unresolved-Tensions-Bolivia-Present-American/dp/0822943557/ excerpt]
* Klein, Herbert S. A Concise History of Bolivia (Cambridge UP, 2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Bolivia-Cambridge-Histories-dp-1108844820/dp/1108844820/ excerpt]
* Morales, Waltraud Q. A brief history of Bolivia (Infobase Publishing, 2010).
* Rohan, Rebecca. Bolivia (Cavendish Square, 2021) 32pp; for middle schools.
* Thomson, Sinclair, et al., eds. The Bolivia Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Duke University Press, 2018).
* Young, Kevin A. Blood of the earth: resource nationalism, revolution, and empire in Bolivia (University of Texas Press, 2017).
*
*
*
*
*
Attribution:
*
External links
*
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bolivia/ Bolivia]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [http://countrystudies.us/bolivia/ Bolivia: A Country Study] (U.S. Library of Congress).
*BBC News: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1210487.stm Country Profile – Bolivia]
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*Bolivian Thoughts: Bolivian newspaper bilingual news [https://www.bolivianthoughts.com]
}}
Category:Andean Community
Category:Former Spanish colonies
Category:Landlocked countries
Category:Member states of the Union of South American Nations
Category:Republics
Category:Countries in South America
Category:Spanish-speaking countries and territories
Category:States and territories established in 1825
Category:Member states of the United Nations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.595723 |
3463 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | | image_flag = Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
| flag_size = 130
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
| coa_size = 65
| national_anthem <br /><br />"National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina" <div style"padding-top:0.5em;"class="centre"></div>
| image_map = Europe-Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
| map_caption
| capital Sarajevo
| religion | religion_year 2013 census
| religion_ref
| demonym
| government_type = Federal parliamentary directorial republic
| leader_title1 =
| leader_name1
| leader_title2 = Chairwoman of the Presidency
| leader_name2 =
| leader_title3 = Members of the Presidency
| leader_name3 =
| leader_title4 = Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers
| leader_name4 = Borjana Krišto
| legislature = Parliamentary Assembly
| upper_house = House of Peoples
| lower_house = House of Representatives
| sovereignty_type = Establishment history
| established_event1 = Bosnia (early medieval polity)
| established_date1 = 9th century
| established_event2 = Banate of Bosnia
| established_date2 = 1154
| established_event3 = Kingdom of Bosnia
| established_date3 = 1377
| established_event4 = Ottoman conquest
| established_date4 = 1463
| established_event5 = Austro-Hungarian conquest and 1908 annexation
| established_date5 = 1878
| established_event6 = Creation of Yugoslavia
| established_date6 = 1 December 1918
| established_event7 = ZAVNOBiH
| established_date7 = 25 November 1943
| established_event8 = SR Bosnia and Herzegovina within SFR Yugoslavia
| established_date8 = 29 November 1945
| established_event9 = Independence from Yugoslavia
| established_date9 = 3 March 1992
| established_event10 = Washington Agreement
| established_date10 = 18 March 1994
| established_event11 = Dayton Agreement
| established_date11 = 14 December 1995
| area_km2 51,209
| area_rank = 125th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area -->
| area_sq_mi = 19,741 <!--Do not remove per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers-->
| percent_water = 1.4%
| population_estimate 3,434,000
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 110th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $22,610
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 83rd
| GDP_nominal $29.86 billion
| GDP_nominal_year = 2025
| GDP_nominal_rank = 110th
| GDP_nominal_per_capita $8,670
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 88th
| Gini = 32.7 <!--number only-->
| Gini_year = 2015
| Gini_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini_ref
| HDI = 0.779
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 80th
| currency = Convertible mark
| currency_code = BAM
| time_zone = CET
| utc_offset = +01
| utc_offset_DST = +02
| time_zone_DST = CEST
| calling_code = +387
| cctld = .ba
| footnotes =
}}
Bosnia and Herzegovina or ., }}}} (Bosnian: Bosna i Hercegovina, Босна и Херцеговина; Croatian: Bosna i Hercegovina; Serbian: Bosna i Hercegovina, Босна и Херцеговина), sometimes known as Bosnia-<!--hyphen is appropriate since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a single entity; compare with Austria-Hungary-->Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a coast on the Adriatic Sea. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.
The area has been inhabited since at least the Upper Paleolithic, but evidence suggests that during the Neolithic age, permanent human settlements were established, including those that belonged to the Butmir, Kakanj, and Vučedol cultures. After the arrival of the first Indo-Europeans, the area was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. The ancestors of the South Slavic peoples that populate the area today arrived during the 6th through the 9th century. In the 12th century, the Banate of Bosnia was established; by the 14th century, this had evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia. In the mid-15th century, it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule it remained until the late 19th century; the Ottomans brought Islam to the region. From the late 19th century until World War I, the country was annexed into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In the interwar period, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1992, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republic proclaimed independence. This was followed by the Bosnian War, which lasted until late 1995 and ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement.
The country is home to three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks are the largest group, Serbs the second-largest, and Croats the third-largest. Minorities include Jews, Roma, Albanians, Montenegrins, Ukrainians and Turks. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a presidency made up of one member from each of the three major ethnic groups. However, the central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized. It comprises two autonomous entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska—and a third unit, the Brčko District, governed by its own local government.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a developing country. Its economy is dominated by industry and agriculture, followed by tourism and the service sector. Tourism has increased significantly in recent years. The country has a social security and universal healthcare system, and primary and secondary education is free. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country and has also been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010.EtymologyThe first preserved widely acknowledged mention of a form of the name "Bosnia" is in , a politico-geographical handbook written by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in the mid-10th century (between 948 and 952) describing the "small land" () in Greek of "Bosona"().
The name of the land is believed to derive from the name of the river Bosna that courses through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer, the name Bosna could derive from Illyrian *"Bass-an-as", which in turn could derive from the Proto-Indo-European root bʰegʷ-, meaning "the running water". According to the English medievalist William Miller, the Slavic settlers in Bosnia "adapted the Latin designation ... Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna and themselves Bosniaks".
The name Herzegovina means "herzog's [land]", and "herzog" derives from the German word for "duke". It originates from the title of a 15th-century Bosnian magnate, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who was "Herceg [Herzog] of Hum and the Coast" (1448). Hum (formerly called Zachlumia) was an early medieval principality that had been conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. When the Ottomans took over administration of the region, they called it the Sanjak of Herzegovina (Hersek). It was included within the Bosnia Eyalet until the formation of the short-lived Herzegovina Eyalet in the 1830s, which reemerged in the 1850s, after which the administrative region became commonly known as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On initial proclamation of independence in 1992, the country's official name was the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but following the 1995 Dayton Agreement and the new constitution that accompanied it, the official name was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History
]]
Early history
Bosnia has been inhabited by humans since at least the Paleolithic, as one of the oldest cave paintings was found in Badanj cave. Major Neolithic cultures such as the Butmir and Kakanj were present along the river Bosna dated from –. The bronze culture of the Illyrians, an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form, started to organize itself in today's Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.
From the 8th century BCE, Illyrian tribes evolved into kingdoms. The earliest recorded kingdom in Illyria was the Enchele in the 8th century BCE. The Autariatae under Pleurias (337 BCE) were considered to have been a kingdom. The Kingdom of the Ardiaei (originally a tribe from the Neretva valley region) began at 230 BCE and ended at 167 BCE. The most notable Illyrian kingdoms and dynasties were those of Bardylis of the Dardani and of Agron of the Ardiaei who created the last and best-known Illyrian kingdom. Agron ruled over the Ardiaei and had extended his rule to other tribes as well.
From the 7th century BCE, bronze was replaced by iron, after which only jewelry and art objects were still made out of bronze. Illyrian tribes, under the influence of Hallstatt cultures to the north, formed regional centers that were slightly different. Parts of Central Bosnia were inhabited by the Daesitiates tribe, most commonly associated with the Central Bosnian cultural group. The Iron Age Glasinac-Mati culture is associated with the Autariatae tribe.
A very important role in their life was the cult of the dead, which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of their burial sites. In northern parts, there was a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the south the dead were buried in large stone or earth tumuli (natively called gromile) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 m wide and 5 m high. Japodian tribes had an affinity to decoration (heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze foil).
In the 4th century BCE, the first invasion of Celts is recorded. They brought the technique of the pottery wheel, new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts. They only passed on their way to Greece, so their influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina is negligible. Celtic migrations displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed. Concrete historical evidence for this period is scarce, but overall it appears the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages.
, an ancient Roman suburban Villa Rustica from the 4th century, near Čapljina]]
In the Neretva Delta in the south, there were important Hellenistic influences of the Illyrian Daors tribe. Their capital was Daorson in Ošanići near Stolac. Daorson, in the 4th century BCE, was surrounded by megalithic, 5 m high stonewalls (as large as those of Mycenae in Greece), composed of large trapezoid stone blocks. Daors made unique bronze coins and sculptures.
Conflict between the Illyrians and Romans started in 229 BCE, but Rome did not complete its annexation of the region until AD 9. It was precisely in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina that Rome fought one of the most difficult battles in its history since the Punic Wars, as described by the Roman historian Suetonius. This was the Roman campaign against Illyricum, known as . The conflict arose after an attempt to recruit Illyrians, and a revolt spanned for four years (6–9 AD), after which they were subdued. In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from the entire Roman Empire settled among the Illyrians, and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region.
Following the split of the Empire between 337 and 395 AD, Dalmatia and Pannonia became parts of the Western Roman Empire. The region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455 AD. It subsequently changed hands between the Alans and the Huns. By the 6th century, Emperor Justinian I had reconquered the area for the Byzantine Empire. Slavs overwhelmed the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries. Illyrian cultural traits were adopted by the South Slavs, as evidenced in certain customs and traditions, placenames, etc.Middle Ages
, illustrated Slavic manuscript from medieval Bosnia]]
to Queen Catherine of Bosnia, the last queen of the House of Kosača.]]
The Early Slavs raided the Western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th and early 7th century (amid the Migration Period), and were composed of small tribal units drawn from a single Slavic confederation known to the Byzantines as the Sclaveni (whilst the related Antes, roughly speaking, colonized the eastern portions of the Balkans).
Tribes recorded by the ethnonyms of "Serb" and "Croat" are described as a second, later, migration of different people during the second quarter of the 7th century who could not have been particularly numerous; came to predominate over the Slavs in the neighbouring regions. According to Noel Malcolm, the tribal Croats "settled in an area roughly corresponding to modern Croatia, and probably also including most of Bosnia proper, apart from the eastern strip of the Drina valley" while the tribal Serbs settled an area "corresponding to modern south-western Serbia (later known as Raška), and gradually extended their rule into the territories of Duklja and Hum". John Van Antwerp Fine Jr., on the other hand, describes the settling of the tribal Croats to involve Croatia, Dalmatia and Western Bosnia, with the rest of Bosnia seemingly being a territory between early Serb and Croat rule.
Bosnia is also believed to be first mentioned as a land (horion Bosona) in Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus' De Administrando Imperio in the mid 10th century, at the end of a chapter entitled Of the Serbs and the country in which they now dwell. This has been scholarly interpreted in several ways and used especially by the Serb national ideologists to prove Bosnia as originally a "Serb" land. Other scholars have asserted the inclusion of Bosnia in the chapter to merely be the result of Serbian Grand Duke Časlav's temporary rule over Bosnia at the time, while also pointing out Porphyrogenitus does not say anywhere explicitly that Bosnia is a "Serb land". In fact, the very translation of the critical sentence where the word Bosona (Bosnia) appears is subject to varying interpretation. In time, Bosnia formed a unit under its own ruler, who called himself Bosnian. Bosnia, along with other territories, became part of Duklja in the 11th century, although it retained its own nobility and institutions.
and the succeeding Kingdom of Bosnia]]
In the High Middle Ages, political circumstance led to the area being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as the Banate of Bosnia (under the rule of local bans). The first Bosnian ban known by name was Ban Borić. The second was Ban Kulin, whose rule marked the start of a controversy involving the Bosnian Church – considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203. Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254. During this time, the population was called Dobri Bošnjani ("Good Bosnians"). The names Serb and Croat, though occasionally appearing in peripheral areas, were not used in Bosnia proper.
Bosnian history from then until the early 14th century was marked by a power struggle between the Šubić and Kotromanić families. This conflict came to an end in 1322, when Stephen II Kotromanić became Ban. By the time of his death in 1353, he was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia. He was succeeded by his ambitious nephew Tvrtko who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367. By the year 1377, Bosnia was elevated into a kingdom with the coronation of Tvrtko as the first Bosnian King in Mile near Visoko in the Bosnian heartland.
Following his death in 1391, however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The Ottoman Empire had started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the 15th century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability, the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463 after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire.
There was a general awareness in medieval Bosnia, at least amongst the nobles, that they shared a joint state with Serbia and that they belonged to the same ethnic group. That awareness diminished over time, due to differences in political and social development, but it was kept in Herzegovina and parts of Bosnia which were a part of Serbian state.
Ottoman Empire
in 1683]]
The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia marked a new era in the country's history and introduced drastic changes in the political and cultural landscape. The Ottomans incorporated Bosnia as an integral province of the Ottoman Empire with its historical name and territorial integrity. Within Bosnia, the Ottomans introduced a number of key changes in the territory's socio-political administration; including a new landholding system, a reorganization of administrative units, and a complex system of social differentiation by class and religious affiliation.
Following Ottoman occupation, there was a steady flow of people out of Bosnia and a large number of abandoned villages in Bosnia are mentioned in the Ottoman registers, while those who stayed eventually became Muslims. Many Catholics in Bosnia fled to neighboring Catholic lands in the early Ottoman occupation. The evidence indicates that the early Muslim conversions in Ottoman Bosnia in the 15th–16th century were among the locals who stayed rather than mass Muslim settlements from outside Bosnia. An Orthodox Christian population in Bosnia was introduced as a direct result of Ottoman policy. From the 15th century and onwards, Orthodox Christians (Orthodox Vlachs and non-Vlach Orthodox Serbs) from Serbia and other regions settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Favored by the Ottomans over the Catholics, many Orthodox churches were allowed to be built in Bosnia by the Ottomans.
in Čapljina, built by King Tvrtko I of Bosnia in 1383.]]
The four centuries of Ottoman rule also had a drastic impact on Bosnia's population make-up, which changed several times as a result of the empire's conquests, frequent wars with European powers, forced and economic migrations, and epidemics. A native Slavic-speaking Muslim community emerged and eventually became the largest of the ethno-religious groups due to a lack of strong Christian church organizations and continuous rivalry between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, while the indigenous Bosnian Church disappeared altogether (ostensibly by conversion of its members to Islam). The Ottomans referred to them as kristianlar while the Orthodox and Catholics were called gebir or kafir, meaning "unbeliever". The Bosnian Franciscans (and the Catholic population as a whole) were protected by official imperial decrees and in accordance and the full extent of Ottoman laws; however, in effect, these often merely affected arbitrary rule and behavior of powerful local elite.
As the Ottoman Empire continued its rule in the Balkans (Rumelia), Bosnia was somewhat relieved of the pressures of being a frontier province and experienced a period of general welfare. A number of cities, such as Sarajevo and Mostar, were established and grew into regional centers of trade and urban culture and were then visited by Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi in 1648. Within these cities, various Ottoman Sultans financed the construction of many works of Bosnian architecture such as the country's first library in Sarajevo, madrassas, a school of Sufi philosophy, and a clock tower (Sahat Kula), bridges such as the Stari Most, the Emperor's Mosque and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque.
was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557]]
Furthermore, several Bosnian Muslims played influential roles in the Ottoman Empire's cultural and political history during this time. Bosnian recruits formed a large component of the Ottoman ranks in the battles of Mohács and Krbava field, while numerous other Bosnians rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military to occupy the highest positions of power in the Empire, including admirals such as Matrakçı Nasuh; generals such as Isa-Beg Ishaković, Gazi Husrev-beg, Telli Hasan Pasha and Sarı Süleyman Pasha; administrators such as Ferhad Pasha Sokolović and Osman Gradaščević; and Grand Viziers such as the influential Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Damat Ibrahim Pasha. Some Bosnians emerged as Sufi mystics, scholars such as Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi, Ali Džabić; and poets in the Turkish, Albanian, Arabic, and Persian languages.
However, by the late 17th century the Empire's military misfortunes caught up with the country, and the end of the Great Turkish War with the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 again made Bosnia the Empire's westernmost province. The 18th century was marked by further military failures, numerous revolts within Bosnia, and several outbreaks of plague.
The Porte's efforts at modernizing the Ottoman state were met with distrust growing to hostility in Bosnia, where local aristocrats stood to lose much through the proposed Tanzimat reforms. This, combined with frustrations over territorial, political concessions in the north-east, and the plight of Slavic Muslim refugees arriving from the Sanjak of Smederevo into Bosnia Eyalet, culminated in a partially unsuccessful revolt by Husein Gradaščević, who endorsed a Bosnia Eyalet autonomous from the authoritarian rule of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, who persecuted, executed and abolished the Janissaries and reduced the role of autonomous Pashas in Rumelia. Mahmud II sent his Grand vizier to subdue Bosnia Eyalet and succeeded only with the reluctant assistance of Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović.
Agrarian unrest eventually sparked the Herzegovinian rebellion, a widespread peasant uprising, in 1875. The conflict rapidly spread and came to involve several Balkan states and Great Powers, a situation that led to the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
Austria-Hungary
, 1878]]
At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Andrássy obtained the occupation and administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he also obtained the right to station garrisons in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which would remain under Ottoman administration until 1908, when the Austro-Hungarian troops withdrew from the Sanjak.
Although Austro-Hungarian officials quickly came to an agreement with the Bosnians, tensions remained and a mass emigration of Bosnians occurred. However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms they intended would make Bosnia and Herzegovina into a "model" colony.
Habsburg rule had several key concerns in Bosnia. It tried to dissipate the South Slav nationalism by disputing the earlier Serb and Croat claims to Bosnia and encouraging identification of Bosnian or Bosniak identity. Habsburg rule also tried to provide for modernisation by codifying laws, introducing new political institutions, establishing and expanding industries.
Austria–Hungary began to plan the annexation of Bosnia, but due to international disputes the issue was not resolved until the annexation crisis of 1908. Several external matters affected the status of Bosnia and its relationship with Austria–Hungary. A bloody coup occurred in Serbia in 1903, which brought a radical anti-Austrian government into power in Belgrade. Then in 1908, the revolt in the Ottoman Empire raised concerns that the Istanbul government might seek the outright return of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These factors caused the Austro-Hungarian government to seek a permanent resolution of the Bosnian question sooner, rather than later.
Taking advantage of the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy tried to obtain provisional Russian approval for changes over the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina and published the annexation proclamation on 6 October 1908. Despite international objections to the Austro-Hungarian annexation, Russians and their client state, Serbia, were compelled to accept the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1909.
In 1910, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph proclaimed the first constitution in Bosnia, which led to relaxation of earlier laws, elections and formation of the Bosnian parliament and growth of new political life.
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914]]
On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb member of the revolutionary movement Young Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo—an event that was the spark that set off World War I. At the end of the war, the Bosnian Muslims had lost more men per capita than any other ethnic group in the Habsburg Empire whilst serving in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Nonetheless, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole managed to escape the conflict relatively unscathed. Schutzkorps, predominantly recruited among the Bosnian Muslim population, were tasked with hunting down rebel Serbs (the Chetniks and Komitadji) and became known for their persecution of Serbs particularly in Serb populated areas of eastern Bosnia, where they partly retaliated against Serbian Chetniks who in fall 1914 had carried out attacks against the Muslim population in the area. The proceedings of the Austro-Hungarian authorities led to around 5,500 citizens of Serb ethnicity in Bosnia and Herzegovina being arrested, and between 700 and 2,200 died in prison while 460 were executed. Around 5,200 Serb families were forcibly expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, in an illustration of Yugoslav peoples dancing the kolo]]
Following World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the South Slav Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (soon renamed Yugoslavia). Political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina at this time was marked by two major trends: social and economic unrest over property redistribution and the formation of several political parties that frequently changed coalitions and alliances with parties in other Yugoslav regions.
Although the initial split of the country into 33 oblasts erased the presence of traditional geographic entities from the map, the efforts of Bosnian politicians, such as Mehmed Spaho, ensured the six oblasts carved up from Bosnia and Herzegovina corresponded to the six sanjaks from Ottoman times and, thus, matched the country's traditional boundary as a whole.
The establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, however, brought the redrawing of administrative regions into banates or banovinas that purposely avoided all historical and ethnic lines, removing any trace of a Bosnian entity. Serbo-Croat tensions over the structuring of the Yugoslav state continued, with the concept of a separate Bosnian division receiving little or no consideration.
The Cvetković-Maček Agreement that created the Croatian banate in 1939 encouraged what was essentially a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croatia and Serbia. The regime systematically and brutally massacred Serbs in villages in the countryside, using a variety of tools. The scale of the violence meant that approximately every sixth Serb living in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the victim of a massacre and virtually every Serb had a family member that was killed in the war, mostly by the Ustaše. The experience had a profound impact in the collective memory of Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. An estimated 209,000 Serbs or 16.9% of its Bosnia population were killed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war.
The Ustaše recognized both Catholicism and Islam as the national religions, but held the position Eastern Orthodox Church, as a symbol of Serb identity, was their greatest foe. Although Croats were by far the largest ethnic group to constitute the Ustaše, the Vice President of the NDH and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization Džafer Kulenović was a Muslim, and Muslims in total constituted nearly 12% of the Ustaše military and civil service authority.
memorial to military and civilian World War II victims in Sarajevo]]
Many Serbs themselves took up arms and joined the Chetniks, a Serb nationalist movement with the aim of establishing an ethnically homogeneous 'Greater Serbian' state within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Chetniks, in turn, pursued a genocidal campaign against ethnic Muslims and Croats, as well as persecuting a large number of communist Serbs and other Communist sympathizers, with the Muslim populations of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Sandžak being a primary target. Once captured, Muslim villagers were systematically massacred by the Chetniks. Of the 75,000 Muslims who died in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, approximately 30,000 (mostly civilians) were killed by the Chetniks. Massacres against Croats were smaller in scale but similar in action. Between 64,000 and 79,000 Bosnian Croats were killed between April 1941 to May 1945. These units were responsible for massacres of Serbs in northwest and eastern Bosnia, most notably in Vlasenica. On 12 October 1941, a group of 108 prominent Sarajevan Muslims signed the Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims by which they condemned the persecution of Serbs organized by the Ustaše, made distinction between Muslims who participated in such persecutions and the Muslim population as a whole, presented information about the persecutions of Muslims by Serbs, and requested security for all citizens of the country, regardless of their identity.
Starting in 1941, Yugoslav communists under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito organized their own multi-ethnic resistance group, the Partisans, who fought against both Axis and Chetnik forces. On 29 November 1943, the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) with Tito at its helm held a founding conference in Jajce where Bosnia and Herzegovina was reestablished as a republic within the Yugoslav federation in its Habsburg borders. During the entire course of World War II in Yugoslavia, 64.1% of all Bosnian Partisans were Serbs, 23% were Muslims and 8.8% Croats.
Military success eventually prompted the Allies to support the Partisans, resulting in the successful Maclean Mission, but Tito declined their offer to help and relied on his own forces instead. All the major military offensives by the antifascist movement of Yugoslavia against Nazis and their local supporters were conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its peoples bore the brunt of the fighting. More than 300,000 people died in Bosnia and Herzegovina in World War II, or more than 10% of the population. At the end of the war, the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the constitution of 1946, officially made Bosnia and Herzegovina one of six constituent republics in the new state.Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)
]]
Due to its central geographic position within the Yugoslav federation, post-war Bosnia was selected as a base for the development of the military defense industry. This contributed to a large concentration of arms and military personnel in Bosnia; a significant factor in the war that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. However, Bosnia's existence within Yugoslavia, for the large part, was relatively peaceful and very prosperous, with high employment, a strong industrial and export oriented economy, a good education system and social and medical security for every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Several international corporations operated in Bosnia—Volkswagen as part of TAS (car factory in Sarajevo, from 1972), Coca-Cola (from 1975), SKF Sweden (from 1967), Marlboro (a tobacco factory in Sarajevo), and Holiday Inn hotels. Sarajevo was the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Bosnia was a political backwater of Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, a strong Bosnian political elite arose, fueled in part by Tito's leadership in the Non-Aligned Movement and Bosnians serving in Yugoslavia's diplomatic corps. While working within the Socialist system, politicians such as Džemal Bijedić, Branko Mikulić and Hamdija Pozderac reinforced and protected the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their efforts proved key during the turbulent period following Tito's death in 1980, and are today considered some of the early steps towards Bosnian independence. However, the republic did not escape the increasingly nationalistic climate of the time. With the fall of communism and the start of the breakup of Yugoslavia, doctrine of tolerance began to lose its potency, creating an opportunity for nationalist elements in the society to spread their influence.
Bosnian War (1992–1995)
]]
On 18 November 1990, multi-party parliamentary elections were held throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. A second round followed on 25 November, resulting in a national assembly where communist power was replaced by a coalition of three ethnically based parties. Following Slovenia and Croatia's declarations of independence from Yugoslavia, a significant split developed among the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the issue of whether to remain within Yugoslavia (overwhelmingly favored by Serbs) or seek independence (overwhelmingly favored by Muslims and Croats).
The Serb members of parliament, consisting mainly of the Serb Democratic Party members, abandoned the central parliament in Sarajevo, and formed the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 24 October 1991, which marked the end of the three-ethnic coalition that governed after the elections in 1990. This Assembly established the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992. It was renamed Republika Srpska in August 1992. On 18 November 1991, the party branch in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), proclaimed the existence of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia in a separate part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) as its military branch. It went unrecognized by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which declared it illegal.
troops in front of the Executive Council Building, burned after being struck by tank fire during the siege of Sarajevo, 1995]]
A declaration of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 October 1991 was followed by a referendum for independence on 29 February and 1 March 1992, which was boycotted by the great majority of Serbs. The turnout in the independence referendum was 63.4 per cent and 99.7 per cent of voters voted for independence. Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on 3 March 1992 and received international recognition the following month on 6 April 1992. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted as a member state of the United Nations on 22 May 1992. Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević and Croatian leader Franjo Tuđman are believed to have agreed on a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1991, with the aim of establishing Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia.
Following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence, Bosnian Serb militias mobilized in different parts of the country. Government forces were poorly equipped and unprepared for the war. International recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina increased diplomatic pressure for the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to withdraw from the republic's territory, which they officially did in June 1992. The Bosnian Serb members of the JNA simply changed insignia, formed the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), and continued fighting. Armed and equipped from JNA stockpiles in Bosnia, supported by volunteers and various paramilitary forces from Serbia, and receiving extensive humanitarian, logistical and financial support from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Republika Srpska's offensives in 1992 managed to place much of the country under its control. The Bosnian Serb advance was accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from VRS-controlled areas. Dozens of concentration camps were established in which inmates were subjected to violence and abuse, including rape. The ethnic cleansing culminated in the Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995, which was ruled to have been a genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Bosniak and Bosnian Croat forces also committed war crimes against civilians from different ethnic groups, though on a smaller scale. Most of the Bosniak and Croat atrocities were committed during the Croat–Bosniak War, a sub-conflict of the Bosnian War that pitted the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) against the HVO. The Bosniak-Croat conflict ended in March 1994, with the signing of the Washington Agreement, leading to the creation of a joint Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which amalgamated HVO-held territory with that held by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).
Recent history
government building burning after anti-government clashes on 7 February 2014]]
On 4 February 2014, the protests against the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the country's two entities, dubbed the Bosnian Spring, the name being taken from the Arab Spring, began in the northern town of Tuzla. Workers from several factories that had been privatised and gone bankrupt assembled to demand action over jobs, unpaid salaries and pensions. Soon protests spread to the rest of the Federation, with violent clashes reported in close to 20 towns, the biggest of which were Sarajevo, Zenica, Mostar, Bihać, Brčko and Tuzla. The Bosnian news media reported that hundreds of people had been injured during the protests, including dozens of police officers, with bursts of violence in Sarajevo, in the northern city of Tuzla, in Mostar in the south, and in Zenica in central Bosnia. The same level of unrest or activism did not occur in Republika Srpska, but hundreds of people also gathered in support of protests in the city of Banja Luka against its separate government.
The protests marked the largest outbreak of public anger over high unemployment and two decades of political inertia in the country since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. According to a report made by Christian Schmidt of the Office of High Representative in late 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been experiencing intensified political and ethnic tensions, which could potentially break the country apart and slide it back into war once again. The European Union fears this will lead to further Balkanization in the region.
On 15 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised by the European Union as a candidate country for accession following the decision of the European Council.
Geography
Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia () to the north and west, Serbia () to the east, and Montenegro () to the southeast. It has a coastline about long surrounding the town of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E.
The country's name comes from the two alleged regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose border was never defined. Historically, Bosnia's official name never included any of its many regions until the Austro-Hungarian occupation.
The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps. The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian Basin, while in the south it borders the Adriatic. The Dinaric Alps generally run in a southeast–northwest direction, and get higher towards the south. The highest point of the country is the peak of Maglić at , on the Montenegrin border. Other major mountains include Volujak, Zelengora, Lelija, Lebršnik, Orjen, Kozara, Grmeč, Čvrsnica, Prenj, Vran, Vranica, Velež, Vlašić, Cincar, Romanija, Jahorina, Bjelašnica, Treskavica and Trebević. The geological composition of the Dinaric chain of mountains in Bosnia consists primarily of limestone (including Mesozoic limestone), with deposits of iron, coal, zinc, manganese, bauxite, lead, and salt present in some areas, especially in central and northern Bosnia.
Overall, nearly 50% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is forested. Most forest areas are in the centre, east and west parts of Bosnia. Herzegovina has a drier Mediterranean climate, with dominant karst topography. Northern Bosnia (Posavina) contains very fertile agricultural land along the Sava river and the corresponding area is heavily farmed. This farmland is a part of the Pannonian Plain stretching into neighboring Croatia and Serbia. The country has only of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton. Although the city is surrounded by Croatian peninsulas, by international law, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a right of passage to the outer sea.
Sarajevo is the capital and largest city. Other major cities include Banja Luka and Prijedor in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla, Bijeljina, Doboj and Brčko in the northeast, Zenica in the central part of the country, and Mostar, the largest city in the southern region of Herzegovina.
There are seven major rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Government
(FBiH), Republika Srpska (RS) and Brčko District (BD)]]
As a result of the Dayton Agreement, the civilian peace implementation is supervised by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina selected by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC). The High Representative is the highest political authority in the country. The High Representative has many governmental and legislative powers, including the dismissal of elected and non-elected officials. Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy.
Politics take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation (PR) system.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a liberal democracy. It has several levels of political structuring, according to the Dayton Agreement. The most important of these levels is the division of the country into two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina covers 51% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's total area, while Republika Srpska covers 49%. The entities, based largely on the territories held by the two warring sides at the time, were formally established by the Dayton Agreement in 1995 because of the tremendous changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina's ethnic structure. At the national level, there exists only a finite set of exclusive or joint competencies, whereas the majority of authority rests within the entities. Sumantra Bose describes Bosnia and Herzegovina as a consociational confederation.
The Brčko District in the north of the country was created in 2000, out of land from both entities. It officially belongs to both, but is governed by neither, and functions under a decentralized system of local government. For election purposes, Brčko District voters can choose to participate in either the Federation or Republika Srpska elections. The Brčko District has been praised for maintaining a multiethnic population and a level of prosperity significantly above the national average.
The third level of Bosnia and Herzegovina's political subdivision is manifested in cantons. They are unique to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, which consists of ten of them. Each has a cantonal government, which is under the law of the Federation as a whole. Some cantons are ethnically mixed and have special laws to ensure the equality of all constituent people.
The fourth level of political division in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the municipalities. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into 79 municipalities, and Republika Srpska into 64. Municipalities also have their own local government, and are typically based on the most significant city or place in their territory. As such, many municipalities have a long tradition and history with their present boundaries. Some others, however, were only created following the recent war after traditional municipalities were split by the Inter-Entity Boundary Line. Each canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of several municipalities, which are divided into local communities.
Besides entities, cantons, and municipalities, Bosnia and Herzegovina also has four "official" cities. These are: Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo and East Sarajevo. The territory and government of the cities of Banja Luka and Mostar corresponds to the municipalities of the same name, while the cities of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo officially consist of several municipalities. Cities have their own city government whose power is in between that of the municipalities and cantons (or the entity, in the case of Republika Srpska).
More recently, several central institutions have been established (such as a defense ministry, security ministry, state court, indirect taxation service and so on) in the process of transferring part of the jurisdiction from the entities to the state. The representation of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is by elites who represent the country's three major groups, with each having a guaranteed share of power.
The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates among three members (Bosniak, Serb, Croat), each elected as the chair for an eight-month term within their four-year term as a member. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters voting for the Bosniak and the Croat and the Republika Srpska voters voting for the Serb.
The Chair of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the parliamentary House of Representatives. The Chair of the Council of Ministers is then responsible for appointing a Foreign Minister, Minister of Foreign Trade and others as appropriate.
The Parliamentary Assembly is the lawmaking body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two houses: the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives. The House of Peoples has 15 delegates chosen by parliaments of the entities, two-thirds of which come from the Federation (5 Bosniaks and 5 Croats) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs). The House of Representatives is composed of 42 Members elected by the people under a form of proportional representation, two-thirds elected from the Federation and one-third elected from Republika Srpska.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of legal matters. It is composed of nine members: four members are selected by the Federal House of Representatives, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and three by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the Presidency, who cannot be Bosnian citizens.
However, the highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country and is selected by the European Union. Since 1995, the High Representative has been able to bypass the elected parliamentary assembly, and since 1997 has been able to remove elected officials. The methods selected by the High Representative have been criticized as undemocratic. International supervision is to end when the country is deemed politically and democratically stable and self-sustaining.Military{| class"toccolours" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; border:1px #ddd solid;"
|+ Branches of the Bosnian-Herzegovian Armed Forces
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="width:200px;"|<br><small>Bosnian Ground Forces<br>Combined Resolve XV</small>
| style="width:200px;"|<br><small>Bosnian Air Force<br>TH-1H Huey main transport aircraft</small>
|}
The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSBiH) were unified into a single entity in 2005, with the merger of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Army of Republika Srpska, which had defended their respective regions. The Ministry of Defence was formed in 2004.
The Bosnian military consists of the Bosnian Ground Forces and Air Force and Air Defense. The Ground Forces number 7,200 active and 5,000 reserve personnel. They are armed with a mix of American, Yugoslav, Soviet, and European-made weaponry, vehicles, and military equipment. The Air Force and Air Defense Forces have 1,500 personnel and about 62 aircraft. The Air Defense Forces operate MANPADS hand-held missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries, anti-aircraft cannons, and radar. The Army has recently adopted remodeled MARPAT uniforms, used by Bosnian soldiers serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. A domestic production program is now underway to ensure that army units are equipped with the correct ammunition.
Beginning in 2007, the Ministry of Defence undertook the army's first ever international assistance mission, enlisting the military to serve with ISAF peace missions to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007. Five officers, acting as officers/advisors, served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 45 soldiers, mostly acting as base security and medical assistants, served in Afghanistan. 85 Bosnian soldiers served as base security in Iraq, occasionally conducting infantry patrols there as well. All three deployed groups have been commended by their respective international forces as well as the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The international assistance operations are still ongoing.
The Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed when elements of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Air Force were merged in 2006. The Air Force has seen improvements in the last few years with added funds for aircraft repairs and improved cooperation with the Ground Forces as well as to the citizens of the country. The Ministry of Defence is pursuing the acquisition of new aircraft including helicopters and perhaps even fighter jets.
Foreign relations
, Croat member of the Bosnian Presidency, and Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, 13 December 2011]]
European Union integration is one of the main political objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it initiated the Stabilisation and Association Process in 2007. Countries participating in the SAP have been offered the possibility to become, once they fulfill the necessary conditions, Member States of the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a candidate country for EU accession since December 2022.
The implementation of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 has focused the efforts of policymakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the international community, on regional stabilization in the countries-successors of the former Yugoslavia.
Within Bosnia and Herzegovina, relations with its neighbors of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro have been fairly stable since the signing of the Dayton Agreement. On 23 April 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina received the Membership Action Plan from NATO, which is the last step before full membership in the alliance. Full membership was initially expected in 2014 or 2015, depending on the progress of reforms. In December 2018, NATO approved a Bosnian Membership Action Plan.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 61st most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.
Demography
According to the 1991 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a population of 4,369,319, while the 1996 World Bank Group census showed a decrease to 3,764,425. Large population migrations during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s have caused demographic shifts in the country. Between 1991 and 2013, political disagreements made it impossible to organize a census. A census had been planned for 2011, and then for 2012, but was delayed until October 2013. The 2013 census found a total population of 3,531,159 people, The 2013 census figures include non-permanent Bosnian residents and for this reason are contested by Republika Srpska officials and Serb politicians (see Ethnic groups below). According to data from the 2013 census published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks constitute 50.1% of the population, Serbs 30.8%, Croats 15.5% and others 2.7%, with the remaining respondents not declaring their ethnicity or not answering. The dispute over the census concerns the inclusion of non-permanent Bosnian residents in the figures, which Republika Srpska officials oppose. The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, concluded in May 2016 that the census methodology used by the Bosnian statistical agency is in line with international recommendations.
Languages
Bosnia's constitution does not specify any official languages. However, academics Hilary Footitt and Michael Kelly note the Dayton Agreement states it is "done in Bosnian, Croatian, English and Serbian", and they describe this as the "de facto recognition of three official languages" at the state level. The equal status of Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian was verified by the Constitutional Court in 2000. Michael Kelly and Catherine Baker argue: "The three official languages of today's Bosnian state...represent the symbolic assertion of national identity over the pragmatism of mutual intelligibility".
According to the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes the following minority languages: Albanian, Montenegrin, Czech, Italian, Hungarian, Macedonian, German, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Rusyn, Slovak, Slovene, Turkish, Ukrainian and Jewish (Yiddish and Ladino). The German minority in Bosnia and Herzegovina are mostly remnants of Danube Swabians, who settled in the area after the Habsburg monarchy claimed the Balkans from the Ottoman Empire. Due to expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars, the number of ethnic Germans in Bosnia and Herzegovina was drastically diminished.
In the 2013 census, 52.86% of the population consider their mother tongue Bosnian, 30.76% Serbian, 14.6% Croatian and 1.57% another language, with 0.21% not giving an answer.
Urban areas
Sarajevo is home to 419,957 inhabitants in its urban area which comprises the City of Sarajevo as well as the municipalities of Ilidža, Vogošća, Istočna Ilidža, Istočno Novo Sarajevo and Istočni Stari Grad. The metro area has a population of 555,210 and includes Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and the municipalities of Breza, Kiseljak, Kreševo and Visoko. Healthcare According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Bosnia and Herzegovina has a low level of hunger, with a GHI score of less than 5.
Economy
During the Bosnian War, the economy suffered €200 billion in material damages, roughly €326.38 billion in 2022 (inflation adjusted). Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the dual-problem of rebuilding a war-torn country and introducing transitional liberal market reforms to its formerly mixed economy. One legacy of the previous era is a strong industry; under former republic president Džemal Bijedić and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, metal industries were promoted in the republic, resulting in the development of a large share of Yugoslavia's plants; SR Bosnia and Herzegovina had a very strong industrial export oriented economy in the 1970s and 1980s, with large scale exports worth millions of US$.
For most of Bosnia's history, agriculture has been conducted on privately owned farms; Fresh food has traditionally been exported from the republic.
The war in the 1990s, caused a dramatic change in the Bosnian economy. GDP fell by 60% and the destruction of physical infrastructure devastated the economy. With much of the production capacity unrestored, the Bosnian economy still faces considerable difficulties. Figures show GDP and per capita income increased 10% from 2003 to 2004; this and Bosnia's shrinking national debt being negative trends, and high unemployment 38.7% and a large trade deficit remain cause for concern.
The national currency is the (Euro-pegged) convertible mark (KM), controlled by the currency board. Annual inflation is the lowest relative to other countries in the region at 1.9% in 2004. The international debt was $5.1 billion (as of 31 December 2014). Real GDP growth rate was 5% for 2004 according to the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Statistical Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has displayed positive progress in the previous years, which decisively moved its place from the lowest income equality rank of income equality rankings fourteen out of 193 nations.
According to Eurostat data, Bosnia and Herzegovina's PPS GDP per capita stood at 29 per cent of the EU average in 2010.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a loan to Bosnia worth US$500 million to be delivered by Stand-By Arrangement. This was scheduled to be approved in September 2012.
The United States Embassy in Sarajevo produces the Country Commercial Guide – an annual report that delivers a comprehensive look at Bosnia and Herzegovina's commercial and economic environment, using economic, political, and market analysis.
By some estimates, grey economy is 25.5% of GDP.
In 2017, exports grew by 17% when compared to the previous year, totaling €5.65 billion. The total volume of foreign trade in 2017 amounted to €14.97 billion and increased by 14% compared to the previous year. Imports of goods increased by 12% and amounted to €9.32 billion. The coverage of imports by exports increased by 3% compared to the previous year and now it is 61 percent. In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina mostly exported car seats, electricity, processed wood, aluminium and furniture. In the same year, it mostly imported crude oil, automobiles, motor oil, coal and briquettes.
The unemployment rate in 2017 was 20.5%, but The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies is predicting falling unemployment rate for the next few years. In 2018, the unemployment should be 19.4% and it should further fall to 18.8% in 2019. In 2020, the unemployment rate should go down to 18.3%.
in Sarajevo, the tallest building in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
On 31 December 2017, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued the report on public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating the public debt was reduced by €389.97 million, or by more than 6% when compared to 31 December 2016. By the end of 2017, public debt was €5.92 billion, which amounted to 35.6 percent of GDP.
, there were 32,292 registered companies in the country, which together had revenues of €33.572 billion that same year.
In 2017, the country received €397.35 million in foreign direct investment, which equals to 2.5% of the GDP.
In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked third in the world in terms of the number of new jobs created by foreign investment, relative to the number of inhabitants.
In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina exported goods worth 11.9 billion KM (€6.07 billion), which is 7.43% higher than in the same period in 2017, while imports amounted to 19.27 billion KM (€9.83 billion), which is 5.47% higher.
The average price of new apartments sold in the country in the first six months of 2018 is 1,639 km (€886.31) per square metre. This represents a jump of 3.5% from the previous year.
On 30 June 2018, public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to about €6.04 billion, of which external debt is 70.56 percent, while the internal debt is 29.4 percent of total public indebtedness. The share of public debt in gross domestic product is 34.92 percent.
In the first 7 months of 2018, 811,660 tourists visited the country, a 12.2% jump when compared to the first 7 months of 2017. In the first 11 months of 2018, 1,378,542 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 12.6%, and had 2,871,004 overnight hotel stays, a 13.8% increase from the previous year. Also, 71.8% of the tourists came from foreign countries. In the first seven months of 2019, 906,788 tourists visited the country, an 11.7% jump from the previous year.
In 2018, the total value of mergers and acquisitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to €404.6 million.
In 2018, 99.5 percent of enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina used computers in their business, while 99.3 percent had internet connections, according to a survey conducted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Statistics Agency.
In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 783.4 million KM (€400.64 million) in direct foreign investment, which was equivalent to 2.3% of GDP.
in Sarajevo]]
In 2018, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a profit of 8,430,875 km (€4,306,347).
The World Bank predicted that the economy would grow 3.4% in 2019.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed 83rd on the Index of Economic Freedom for 2019. The total rating for Bosnia and Herzegovina is 61.9. This position represents some progress relative to the 91st place in 2018. This result is below the regional level, but still above the global average, making Bosnia and Herzegovina a "moderately free" country.
On 31 January 2019, total deposits in Bosnian banks were KM 21.9 billion (€11.20 billion), which represents 61.15% of nominal GDP.
In the second quarter of 2019, the average price of new apartments sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 1,606 km (€821.47) per square metre.
In the first six months of 2019, exports amounted to 5.829 billion KM (€2.98 billion), which is 0.1% less than in the same period of 2018, while imports amounted to 9.779 billion KM (€5.00 billion), which is by 4.5% more than in the same period of the previous year.
In the first six months of 2019, foreign direct investment amounted to 650.1 million KM (€332.34 million).
Bosnia and Herzegovina was ranked 80th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.
As of 30 November 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1.3 million registered motor vehicles.Tourism
According to projections by the World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina had the third highest tourism growth rate in the world between 1995 and 2020.
In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year. 71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries.
In 2018, 1.883.772 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 44,1%, and had 3.843.484 overnight hotel stays, a 43.5% increase from the previous year. Also, 71.2% of the tourists came from foreign countries.
In 2006, when ranking the best cities in the world, Lonely Planet placed Sarajevo, the national capital Tourism in Sarajevo is chiefly focused on historical, religious, and cultural aspects. In 2010, Lonely Planet's "Best in Travel" nominated it as one of the top ten cities to visit that year. Sarajevo also won travel blog Foxnomad's "Best City to Visit" competition in 2012, beating more than one hundred other cities around the entire world.
Međugorje has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Catholics from around the world and has turned into Europe's third most important religious place, where each year more than 1 million people visit. It has been estimated that 30 million pilgrims have come to Međugorje since the reputed apparitions began in 1981. Since 2019, pilgrimages to Međugorje have been officially authorized and organized by the Vatican.
Bosnia has also become an increasingly popular skiing and Ecotourism destination. The mountains that hosted the winter olympic games of Bjelašnica, Jahorina and Igman are the most visited skiing mountains in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of the last undiscovered natural regions of the southern area of the Alps, with vast tracts of wild and untouched nature attracting adventurers and nature lovers. National Geographic named Bosnia and Herzegovina as the best mountain biking adventure destination for 2012. The central Bosnian Dinaric Alps are favored by hikers and mountaineers, as they contain both Mediterranean and Alpine climates. Whitewater rafting has become somewhat of a national pastime in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The primary rivers used for whitewater rafting in the country include the Vrbas, Tara, Drina, Neretva and Una. Meanwhile, the most prominent rivers are the Vrbas and Tara, as they both hosted The 2009 World Rafting Championship. The reason the Tara river is immensely popular for whitewater rafting is because it contains the deepest river canyon in Europe, the Tara River Canyon.
Most recently, the Huffington Post named Bosnia and Herzegovina the "9th Greatest Adventure in the World for 2013", adding that the country boasts "the cleanest water and air in Europe; the greatest untouched forests; and the most wildlife. The best way to experience is the three rivers trip, which purls through the best the Balkans have to offer."
Infrastructure
Transport
]]
Sarajevo International Airport, also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southwest of the Sarajevo main railway station in the city of Sarajevo in the suburb of Butmir.
Railway operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina are successors of the Yugoslav Railways within the country boundaries following independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992. Today, they are operated by the Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ŽFBiH) in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and by Republika Srpska Railways (ŽRS) in Republika Srpska.
Telecommunications
The Bosnian communications market was fully liberalised in January 2006. The three landline telephone operators predominantly provide services in their operating areas but have nationwide licenses for domestic and international calls. Mobile data services are also available, including high-speed EDGE, 3G and 4G services.
Oslobođenje (Liberation), founded in 1943, is one of the country's longest running continuously circulating newspapers. There are many national publications, including the Dnevni avaz (Daily Voice), founded in 1995, and Jutarnje Novine (Morning News), to name but a few in circulation in Sarajevo. Other local periodicals include the Croatian Hrvatska riječ newspaper and Bosnian Start magazine, as well as Slobodna Bosna (Free Bosnia) and BH Dani (BH Days) weekly newspapers. Novi Plamen, a monthly magazine, was the most left-wing publication. International news station Al Jazeera maintains a sister channel catering to the Balkan region, Al Jazeera Balkans, broadcasting out of and based in Sarajevo. Since 2014, the N1 platform has broadcast as an affiliate of CNN International, with offices in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Belgrade.
As of 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked second highest in press freedom in the region, after Croatia, and is placed 58th internationally.
, there are 3,374,094 internet users in the country, or 95.55% of the entire population.
Education
's Faculty of Law]]
in Mostar ]]
Higher education has a long and rich tradition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first bespoke higher-education institution was a school of Sufi philosophy established by Gazi Husrev-beg in 1531. Numerous other religious schools then followed. In 1887, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Sharia law school began a five-year program. In the 1940s, the University of Sarajevo became the city's first secular higher education institute. In the 1950s, post-bachelaurate graduate degrees became available. Severely damaged during the war, it was recently rebuilt in partnership with more than 40 other universities. There are various other institutions of higher education, including: University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar, University of Banja Luka, University of Mostar, University of East Sarajevo, University of Tuzla, American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is held in high regard as one of the most prestigious creative arts academies in the region.
Also, Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to several private and international higher education institutions, some of which are:
*Sarajevo School of Science and Technology
*International University of Sarajevo
*American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Sarajevo Graduate School of Business
*International Burch University
*United World College in Mostar
Primary schooling lasts for nine years. Secondary education is provided by general and technical secondary schools (typically Gymnasiums) where studies typically last for four years. All forms of secondary schooling include an element of vocational training. Pupils graduating from general secondary schools obtain the Matura and can enroll in any tertiary educational institution or academy by passing a qualification examination prescribed by the governing body or institution. Students graduating technical subjects obtain a Diploma.Culture
in Sarajevo]]
Architecture
The architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely influenced by four major periods where political and social changes influenced the creation of distinct cultural and architectural habits of the population. Each period made its influence felt and contributed to a greater diversity of cultures and architectural language in this region.
Media
headquarters in Sarajevo]]
Some television, magazines, and newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are state-owned, and some are for-profit corporations funded by advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees freedom of speech.
As a country in transition with a post-war legacy and a complex domestic political structure, Bosnia and Herzegovina's media system is under transformation. In the early post-war period (1995–2005), media development was guided mainly by international donors and cooperation agencies, who invested to help reconstruct, diversify, democratize and professionalize media outlets.
Post-war developments included the establishment of an independent Communication Regulatory Agency, the adoption of a Press Code, the establishment of the Press Council, the decriminalization of libel and defamation, the introduction of a rather advanced Freedom of Access to Information Law, and the creation of a Public Service Broadcasting System from the formerly state-owned broadcaster.
Yet, internationally backed positive developments have been often obstructed by domestic elites, and the professionalisation of media and journalists has proceeded only slowly. High levels of partisanship and linkages between the media and the political systems hinder the adherence to professional code of conducts. However, only with the arrival of Austro-Hungarians did the painting renaissance in Bosnia really begin to flourish. The first educated artists from European academies appeared with the beginning of the 20th century. Among those are: Gabrijel Jurkić, Petar Šain, Roman Petrović and Lazar Drljača.
After World War II, artists like Mersad Berber and Safet Zec rose in popularity.
In 2007, Ars Aevi, a museum of contemporary art that includes works by renowned world artists, was founded in Sarajevo.
Music
dancing a traditional kolo]]
Typical Bosnian songs are ganga, rera, and the traditional Slavic music for the folk dances such as kolo, while from the Ottoman era the most popular is Sevdalinka. Pop and Rock music has a tradition here as well, with the more famous musicians including Dino Zonić, Goran Bregović, Davorin Popović, Kemal Monteno, Zdravko Čolić, Elvir Laković Laka, Edo Maajka, Hari Varešanović, Dino Merlin, Mladen Vojičić Tifa, Željko Bebek, etc. Other composers such as Đorđe Novković, Al' Dino, Haris Džinović, Kornelije Kovač, and many rock and pop bands, for example, Bijelo Dugme, Crvena jabuka, Divlje jagode, Indexi, Plavi orkestar, Zabranjeno Pušenje, Ambasadori, Dubioza kolektiv, who were among the leading ones in the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia is home to the composer Dušan Šestić, the creator of the National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina and father of singer Marija Šestić, to the jazz musician, educator and Bosnian jazz ambassador Sinan Alimanović, composer Saša Lošić and pianist Saša Toperić. In the villages, especially in Herzegovina, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats play the ancient gusle. The gusle is used mainly to recite epic poems in a usually dramatic tone.
Probably the most distinctive and identifiably "Bosnian" of music, Sevdalinka is a kind of emotional, melancholic folk song that often describes sad subjects such as love and loss, the death of a dear person or heartbreak. Sevdalinkas were traditionally performed with a saz, a Turkish string instrument, which was later replaced by the accordion. However the more modern arrangement is typically a vocalist accompanied by the accordion along with snare drums, upright bass, guitars, clarinets and violins.
from Bosanska Krajina in traditional clothing]]
Rural folk traditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina include the shouted, polyphonic ganga and "ravne pjesme" (flat song) styles, as well as instruments like a droneless bagpipe, wooden flute and šargija. The gusle, an instrument found throughout the Balkans, is also used to accompany ancient Slavic epic poems. There are also Bosnian folk songs in the Ladino language, derived from the area's Jewish population.
Bosnian roots music came from Central Bosnia, Posavina, the Drina valley and Kalesija. It is usually performed by singers with two violinists and a šargija player. These bands first appeared around World War I and became popular in the 1960s. This is the third oldest music after the Sevdalinka and ilahija. Self-taught people, mostly in two or three members of the different choices of old instruments, mostly in the violin, sacking, saz, drums, flutes () or wooden flute, as others have already called, the original performers of Bosnian music that can not be written notes, transmitted by ear from generation to generation, family is usually hereditary. It is thought to be brought from Persia-Kalesi tribe that settled in the area of the present Sprečanski valleys and hence probably the name Kalesija. In this part of Bosnia, it is the most common. This kind of music was enjoyed by all three peoples in Bosnia, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, and it contributed a lot to reconcile people socializing, entertainment and other organizations through festivals. In Kalesija, it is maintained each year with the Original Bosnian Festival music.
Cinema and theatre
Sarajevo is internationally renowned for its eclectic and diverse selection of festivals. The Sarajevo Film Festival was established in 1995, during the Bosnian War and has become the premier and largest film festival in the Balkans and Southeast Europe.
Bosnia has a rich cinematic and film heritage, dating back to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; many Bosnian filmmakers have achieved international prominence and some have won international awards ranging from the Academy Awards to multiple Palme d'Ors and Golden Bears. Some notable Bosnian screenwriters, directors and producers are Danis Tanović (known for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winning 2001 film ''No Man's Land and Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winning 2016 film Death in Sarajevo), Jasmila Žbanić (won Golden Bear, Academy Award and BAFTA nominated 2020 film Quo Vadis, Aida?''), Emir Kusturica (won two Palme d'Ors at Cannes), Zlatko Topčić, Ademir Kenović, Ahmed Imamović, Pjer Žalica, Aida Begić, etc.
Cuisine
, which is considered the national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
Bosnian cuisine uses many spices, in moderate quantities. Most dishes are light, as they are boiled; the sauces are fully natural, consisting of little more than the natural juices of the vegetables in the dish. Typical ingredients include tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, dried beans, fresh beans, plums, milk, paprika and cream called pavlaka. Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. As a result of the Ottoman administration for almost 500 years, Bosnian food is closely related to Turkish, Greek and other former Ottoman and Mediterranean cuisines. However, because of years of Austrian rule, there are many influences from Central Europe. Typical meat dishes include primarily beef and lamb. Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilav, goulash, ajvar and a whole range of Eastern sweets. Ćevapi is a grilled dish of minced meat, a type of kebab, popular in former Yugoslavia and considered a national dish in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Local wines come from Herzegovina where the climate is suitable for growing grapes. Herzegovinian loza (similar to Italian Grappa but less sweet) is very popular. Plum (rakija) or apple (jabukovača) alcohol beverages are produced in the north. In the south, distilleries used to produce vast quantities of brandy and supply all of ex-Yugoslav alcohol factories (brandy is the base of most alcoholic drinks).
Coffeehouses, where Bosnian coffee is served in džezva with rahat lokum and sugar cubes, are common in Sarajevo and every city in the country. Coffee drinking is a favorite Bosnian pastime and part of the culture. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the ninth country in the entire world by per capita coffee consumption.Sports
in Sarajevo hosted the opening ceremony of the 1984 Winter Olympics]]
, a 1984 Winter Olympics venue, is the biggest and most popular ski resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced many athletes. The most important international sporting event in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina were the 14th Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo from 7 to 19 February 1984.
The Borac handball club has won seven Yugoslav Handball Championships, as well as the European Cup in 1976 and the International Handball Federation Cup in 1991.
Amel Mekić, Bosnian judoka, became European champion in 2011. Track and field athlete Amel Tuka won bronze and silver medals in 800 metres at the 2015 and 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships and Hamza Alić won the silver medal in shot put at the 2013 European Indoor Championships.
The Bosna Royal basketball club from Sarajevo were European Champions in 1979. The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team, which won medals in every world championship from 1963 through 1990, included Bosnian players such as FIBA Hall of Famers Dražen Dalipagić and Mirza Delibašić. Bosnia and Herzegovina regularly qualifies for the European Championship in Basketball, with players including Mirza Teletović, Nihad Đedović and Jusuf Nurkić. The Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-16 team won two gold medals in 2015, winning both 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival as well as the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship.
Women's basketball club Jedinstvo Aida from Tuzla won the Women's European Club Championship in 1989 and Ronchetti Cup final in 1990, led by Razija Mujanović, three times best female European basketball player, and Mara Lakić
The Bosnian chess team was Champion of Yugoslavia seven times, in addition to club ŠK Bosna winning four European Chess Club Cups. Chess grandmaster Borki Predojević has also won two European Championships. The most impressive success of Bosnian Chess was a runner-up position at the 31st Chess Olympiad in 1994 in Moscow, featuring Grandmasters Predrag Nikolić, Ivan Sokolov and Bojan Kurajica.
Middle-weight boxer Marijan Beneš has won several Championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslav Championships and the European Championship. In 1978, he won the World Title against Elisha Obed from The Bahamas.
playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015]]
Association football is the most popular sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It dates from 1903, but its popularity grew significantly after World War I. Bosnian clubs FK Sarajevo and Željezničar won the Yugoslav Championship, while the Yugoslav national football team included Bosnian players of all ethnic backgrounds and generations, such as Safet Sušić, Zlatko Vujović, Mehmed Baždarević, Davor Jozić, Faruk Hadžibegić, Predrag Pašić, Blaž Slišković, Vahid Halilhodžić, Dušan Bajević, Ivica Osim, Josip Katalinski, Tomislav Knez, Velimir Sombolac and numerous others. The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, its first major tournament. Players on the team again includes notable players of all country's ethnic background, such as then and now captains Emir Spahić, Zvjezdan Misimović and Edin Džeko, defenders like Ognjen Vranješ, Sead Kolašinac and Toni Šunjić, midfielders like Miralem Pjanić and Senad Lulić, striker Vedad Ibišević, etc. Former Bosnian footballers include Hasan Salihamidžić, who became only the second Bosnian to ever win a UEFA Champions League trophy, after Elvir Baljić. He made 234 appearances and scored 31 goals for German club FC Bayern Munich. Sergej Barbarez, who played for several clubs in the German Bundesliga. including Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen was joint-top scorer in the 2000–01 Bundesliga season with 22 goals. Meho Kodro spent most of his career playing in Spain, most notably with Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona. Elvir Rahimić made 302 appearances for Russian club CSKA Moscow with whom he won the UEFA Cup in 2005.
Milena Nikolić, member of the women's national team, was the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League top scorer.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was the world champion of volleyball at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and volleyball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Many among those on the team lost their legs in the Bosnian War. Its national sitting volleyball team is one of the dominant forces in the sport worldwide, winning nine European Championships, three World Championships and two Paralympic gold medals.
Tennis is also gaining a lot of popularity after the recent successes of Damir Džumhur and Mirza Bašić at Grand Slam level. Other notable tennis players who have represented Bosnia and Herzegovina are Tomislav Brkić, Amer Delić and Mervana Jugić-Salkić.
See also
* Outline of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
* Allcock, John B., Marko Milivojevic, et al. Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedia (1998)
*
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* (Also at [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73712 Project Gutenberg])
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* Okey, Robin. ''Taming Balkan Nationalism: The Habsburg 'Civilizing' Mission in Bosnia, 1878–1914 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)
* Phillips, Douglas A. Bosnia and Herzegovina (Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004).
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703235430/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/bosniaherzegovina.htm Bosnia and Herzegovina] from UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived 3 July 2008)
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Category:Balkan countries
Category:Federal republics
Category:Member states of the Council of Europe
Category:Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:States and territories established in 1992
Category:Countries in Europe
Category:Observer states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.713977 |
3464 | Botswana | | image_flag = Flag of Botswana.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Botswana.svg
| coa_size = 90
| national_motto <br />"Rain"
| national_anthem <br />"Blessed Be This Noble Land"
| image_map
| map_caption | capital Gaborone
| coordinates
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages English
| languages_type = National language
| languages Setswana}}
| religion_year = 2021
| demonym
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Duma Boko
| leader_title2 = Vice-President
| leader_name2 = Ndaba Gaolathe
| leader_title3 = National Assembly Speaker
| leader_name3 = Dithapelo Keorapetse
| leader_title4 = Chief Justice
| leader_name4 = Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe
| legislature = Parliament<br />(National Assembly)
| sovereignty_type = Independence
| sovereignty_note = from the United Kingdom
| established_event1 = Bechuanaland Protectorate
| established_date1 = 31 March 1885
| established_event2 = Governed under High Commissioner for Southern Africa
| established_date2 = 9 May 1891
| established_event3 = Established (Constitution)
| established_date3 = 30 September 1966
| area_km2 = 581,730
| area_rank = 47th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area -->
| area_sq_mi = 224,610 <!--Do not remove per WP:MOSNUM-->
| area_footnote <!-- 58,173,000 hectares is 581,730 km2 -->
| percent_water = 2.7
| population_estimate 2,417,596
| population_census 2,359,609
| population_estimate_year = 2023
| population_estimate_rank = 145th
| population_census_year 2022
| population_density_km2 = 4.1
| population_density_sq_mi = 10.58
| population_density_rank = 231st
| GDP_PPP $54.647 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2025
| GDP_PPP_rank = 124th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $20,798
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.708<!--number only, between 0 and 1-->
| HDI_year = 2022<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = increase<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 114th
| currency = Pula
| currency_code = BWP
| time_zone Central Africa Time
| utc_offset = +2
| utc_offset_DST | time_zone_DST
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on = left
| calling_code = +267
| cctld = .bw
| official_website =
| footnote_a | today
}}
officially the Republic of Botswana, )}} is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. With a population of slightly over 2.4 million people and a comparable land area to France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute nearly 80 percent of the population.
The Tswana ethnic group are descended mainly from Bantu-speaking peoples who migrated into southern Africa, including modern Botswana, in several waves before AD 600. In 1885, the British colonised the area and declared a protectorate named Bechuanaland. As part of the decolonisation of Africa, Bechuanaland became an independent Commonwealth republic under its current name on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has been a parliamentary republic with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections, though dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party until 2024. , Botswana is the third-least corrupt country in Africa according to the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International.
The economy is dominated by mining and tourism. Botswana has a per capita GDP (purchasing power parity) of about $20,158 . Botswana is the world's biggest diamond-producing country. Its relatively high gross national income per capita (by some estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a relatively high standard of living and the second-highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa). Despite this, Botswana continues to grapple with high unemployment rates. Botswana is a member of the Southern African Customs Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations.EtymologyThe country's name means "Land of the Tswana", referring to the dominant ethnic group in Botswana. The Constitution of Botswana recognizes a homogeneous Tswana state. The demonym Batswana was originally applied to the Tswana, and has also come to be used generally as a term for all citizens of Botswana. In Setswana, Batswana is grammatically plural; its singular form, which can refer to a single member of the Tswana or to a single citizen of Botswana, is Motswana.
History
Pre-history
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site]]
It is estimated that hominids lived in Botswana during the Pleistocene. Stone tools and animal remains indicate that all areas of the country were inhabited at least 400,000 years ago.
It was claimed to have been the birthplace of all modern humans from around 200,000 years ago. Evidence left by modern humans, such as cave paintings, is about 73,000 years old. The earliest known inhabitants of southern Africa are thought to have been the forebears of present-day San ("Bushmen") and Khoi peoples. Both groups speak click languages from the small Khoe-Kwadi, Kx'a and Tuu language families whose members hunted, gathered and traded over long distances. When cattle were first introduced into southern Africa about 2,000 years ago, pastoralism became a major feature of the economy since the region had large grasslands free of tsetse flies.
It is unclear when Bantu-speaking peoples first moved into the country from the north, although AD 600 seems to be a consensus estimate. In that era, the ancestors of the modern-day Kalanga moved into what is now the north-eastern area of the country. These proto-Kalanga were closely connected to states in Zimbabwe as well as to the Mapungubwe state. One notable remanant of this period is Domboshaba ruins, a cultural and heritage site in Botswana initially occupied towards the end of the Great Zimbabwe period (1250–1450), with stone walls that have an average height of 1.8 metres. The site is a respected place for the people living in the region, and it is believed that the chief lived on the top of the hill with his helpers or assistants. These states, located outside of current Botswana's borders, appear to have kept massive herds of cattle—apparently at numbers approaching modern cattle density—in what is now the Central District. This massive cattle-raising complex prospered until around 1300 and seems to have regressed following the collapse of Mapungubwe. During this era, the first Tswana-speaking groups, the Bakgalagadi, moved into the southern areas of the Kalahari. These various peoples were connected to trade routes that ran via the Limpopo River to the Indian Ocean; trade goods from Asia such as beads made their way to Botswana, most likely in exchange for ivory, gold and rhinoceros horn.
The Toutswemogala Hill Iron Age settlement's radio-carbon dates range from the 7th to late 19th century, indicating it was occupied for more than 1,000 years. The hill was part of the formation of early states in southern Africa, with cattle as a major source of economy. Around 1000 AD, the Toutswe people moved into Botswana.
However, agriculture also played a vital role in the longevity of Toutswemogala Hill's extended occupation, as many grain storage structures have also been found on the site. Many different stratified layers of housing floors further signal continuous occupation over hundreds of years. The arrival of the Tswana speakers' ancestors who came to control the region has yet to be dated precisely. Members of the Bakwena, a chieftaincy under a leader named Kgabo II, made their way into the southern Kalahari by AD 1500, at the latest, and his people drove the Bakgalagadi inhabitants west into the desert. Over the years, several offshoots of the Bakwena moved into adjoining territories. The Bangwaketse occupied areas to the west, while the Bangwato moved northeast into former Kalanga areas. Not long afterwards, a Bangwato offshoot known as the Batawana migrated into the Okavango Delta, probably in the 1790s.Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars
area]]
The first written records relating to modern-day Botswana appear in 1824. These records show that the Bangwaketse had become the predominant power in the region. Under the rule of Makaba II, the Bangwaketse kept vast herds of cattle in well-protected desert areas, and used their military prowess to raid their neighbours. Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time, had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous. This equilibrium came to end during the Mfecane period, 1823–1843, when a succession of invading peoples from South Africa entered the country. Although the Bangwaketse were able to defeat the invading Bakololo in 1826, over time, all the major chiefdoms in Botswana were attacked, weakened and impoverished. The Bakololo and AmaNdebele raided repeatedly and took large numbers of cattle, women and children from the Batswana—most of whom were driven into the desert or sanctuary areas such as hilltops and caves. Only after 1843, when the Amandebele moved into western Zimbabwe, did this threat subside.
, who led a Batswana Merafe Coalition against Boers in 1852]]
During the 1840s and 1850s, trade with Cape Colony-based merchants opened up and enabled the Batswana chiefdoms to rebuild. The Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana cooperated to control the lucrative ivory trade and used the proceeds to import horses and guns, which in turn enabled them to establish control over what is now Botswana. This process was largely complete by 1880, and the Batswana subjugated thus the Bushmen, Kalanga, Bakgalagadi and other current minorities.
Following the Great Trek, Afrikaners from the Cape Colony established themselves on the borders of Botswana in the Transvaal. In 1852, a coalition of Tswana chiefdoms led by Sechele I defeated Afrikaner incursions at the Battle of Dimawe and, after about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities, eventually came to a peace agreement in Potchefstroom in 1860. From that point on, the modern-day border between South Africa and Botswana was agreed on, and the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked together comparatively peacefully.
In 1884, Batawana, a northern-based Tswana clan's cavalry under the command of Kgosi Moremi, fought and defeated the Ndebele's invasion of northern Botswana at the Battle of Khutiyabasadi. This is the start of the collapse of the Ndebele Kingdom in Zimbabwe and it helped the Tswana speaking authority.
Due to newly peaceful conditions, trade thrived between 1860 and 1880. Christian missionaries were able to take advantage of this. The Lutherans and the London Missionary Society both became established in the country by 1856. By 1880, every major village had a resident missionary, and their influence slowly grew. Khama III (reigned 1875–1923) was the first of the Tswana chiefs to make Christianity a state religion, and a great deal of Tswana customary law changed as a result. Christianity became the de facto official religion in all the chiefdoms by World War I.
Colonialism
During the Scramble for Africa, both the German Empire and Britain coveted the territory of Botswana. During the Berlin Conference, Britain decided to annex Botswana to safeguard the Road to the North and thus connect the Cape Colony to its territories further north. It unilaterally annexed Tswana territories in January 1885 and then sent the Warren Expedition north to consolidate control over the area and convince the chiefs to accept British overrule. Despite their misgivings, they eventually acquiesced to this fait accompli.
In 1890, areas north of 22 degrees were added to the new Bechuanaland Protectorate. During the 1890s, the new territory was divided into eight different reserves, with fairly small amounts of land being left as freehold for white settlers. During the early 1890s, the British government decided to hand over the Bechuanaland Protectorate to the British South Africa Company. This plan, which was well on its way to fruition despite the entreaties of Tswana leaders who toured England in protest, was eventually foiled by the failure of the Jameson Raid in January 1896.
from 1960]]
When the Union of South Africa was formed from the main British colonies in the region in 1910, the High Commission Territories—the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Swaziland (now Eswatini)—were not included, but provision was made for their later incorporation. However, the UK began to consult with their inhabitants as to their wishes. Although successive South African governments sought to have the territories transferred to their jurisdiction, the UK kept delaying; consequently, it never occurred. The election of the Nationalist government in 1948, which instituted apartheid, and South Africa's withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961, ended any prospect of the UK or these territories agreeing to incorporation into South Africa.
An expansion of British central authority and the evolution of native government resulted in the 1920 establishment of two advisory councils to represent both Africans and Europeans. The African Council consisted of the eight heads of the Tswana tribes and some elected members. (right) and Quett Masire (left) at independence talks in London, 1965]]IndependenceIn June 1964, the United Kingdom accepted proposals for a democratic self-government in Botswana. An independence conference was held in London in February 1966. The seat of government was moved in 1965 from Mahikeng in South Africa, to the newly established Gaborone, located near Botswana's border with South Africa. Based on the 1965 constitution, the country held its first general elections under universal suffrage and gained independence on 30 September 1966. Seretse Khama, a leader in the independence movement, was elected as the first president, and subsequently re-elected twice.
Khama died in office in 1980. The presidency passed to the sitting vice-president, Quett Masire, who was elected in his own right in 1984 and re-elected in 1989 and 1994. Masire retired from office in 1998. He was succeeded by Festus Mogae, who was elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2004. The presidency passed in 2008 to Ian Khama (son of the first president), who had been serving as Mogae's vice-president since resigning his position as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force in 1998 to take up this civilian role. On 1 April 2018, Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi was sworn in as the fifth president of Botswana, succeeding Ian Khama. A long-running dispute over the northern border with Namibia's Caprivi Strip was the subject of a ruling by the International Court of Justice in December 1999. It ruled that Kasikili Island belongs to Botswana.
The Botswana Democratic Party consistently held power until the 2024 Botswana general election, which was won by the Umbrella for Democratic Change. On 1 November 2024, Duma Boko, the leader of the UDC, was sworn in as president of Botswana, becaming the first president not to represent the BDP.Geography
]]
At , Botswana is the world's 48th-largest country. It also has a mean altitude of roughly above sea level. Botswana is predominantly flat, tending towards gently rolling tableland. Botswana is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of its land surface. ]]The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins of its tributaries, the Notwane, Bonwapitse, Mahalapye, Lotsane, Motloutse and the Shashe, located in the eastern part of the country. The Notwane provides water to the capital through the Gaborone Dam. The Chobe River meets with the Zambezi River at a place called Kazungula.Biodiversity and conservation
Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat. In addition to the delta and desert areas, there are grasslands and savannas. Chobe National Park in the Chobe District has the world's largest concentration of African elephants. The park covers about and supports about 350 species of birds. In Botswana forest cover is around 27% of the total land area, equivalent to 15,254,700 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 18,803,700 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 15,254,700 hectares, of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 11% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 24% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 76% private ownership.
The Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve (in the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations. Other reserves include the Central Kalahari Game Reserve located in the Kalahari Desert in Ghanzi District; Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and Nxai Pan National Park are in the Central District in the Makgadikgadi Pan.
Botswana faces two major environmental problems, drought and desertification, which are heavily linked. Three-quarters of the country's human and animal populations depend on groundwater due to drought. Groundwater use through deep borehole drilling has somewhat eased the effects of drought. Surface water is scarce in Botswana, and less than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable by rainfall. In the remaining 95% of the country, raising livestock is the primary source of rural income. Approximately 71% of the country's land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause of the desertification and the accelerating soil erosion in the country.
Since raising livestock has been profitable for the people of Botswana, they continue to exploit the land with dramatically increasing numbers of animals. From 1966 to 1991, the livestock population grew from 1.7million to 5.5million. Environmentalists report that the Okavango Delta is drying up due to increased livestock grazing. The Okavango Delta is one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; the ecosystem is crucial to the survival of many animals. Reintroduction of indigenous vegetation will help reduce the degradation of the land. The United States Government has also entered into an agreement with Botswana, giving them US$7 million to reduce Botswana's debt by US$8.3 million. The US stipulated that Botswana will focus on more extensive conservation of the land.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) claims that poverty is a major problem behind the overexploitation of resources, including land, in Botswana. The UNDP joined in with a project started in the southern community of Struizendam in Botswana. The project's purpose is to draw from "indigenous knowledge and traditional land management systems". The leaders of this movement are supposed to be the people in the community to draw indigenous people in, which in turn increases their opportunities to earn an income, thus decreasing poverty. The UNDP also stated that the government has to effectively implement policies to allow people to manage their own local resources and the programme is giving the government information to help with policy development.
Government and politics
has been the President of Botswana since 2024.]]Botswana is a parliamentary republic governed by the Constitution of Botswana. It is the longest uninterrupted democracy in Africa. Its seat of government is in Gaborone. Botswana's governing institutions were established after it became an independent nation in 1966. Botswana's governmental structure is based on both the United Kingdom's Westminster system and the Tswana people's tribal governments. Local laws are developed by local councils and district councils. They are heavily influenced by tribal governments, which are led by the tribe's chief. Botswana's executive branch is led by the President of Botswana, who serves as both the head of state and head of government. and the president then appoints the vice-president and cabinet members. The president has significant power in Botswana, and the legislature has little power to check the president once appointed. The judiciary includes the High Court of Botswana, the Court of Appeal and Magistrates' Courts. Cases are often settled by customary courts with tribal chiefs presiding. Botswana operates a multi-party system in which many political parties compete in elections. The nation's elections are recognized as free and fair, but the ruling party has institutional advantages that other parties do not. Factionalism is common within Botswana's political parties, and several groups have formed new parties by splitting from established ones. The most recent election was held in 2024, with the Botswana Democratic Party losing its majority for the first time in history, ending its 58 year rule over the country. The election saw Duma Boko being elected as president.
In Botswana's early years, its politics were managed by President Seretse Khama and vice-president (later president) Quett Masire. Since the Kgabo Commission in 1991, factionalism and political rivalries have dominated Botswana politics. The Barata-Phathi faction was led by Peter Mmusi, Daniel Kwelagobe and Ponatshego Kedikilwe, while the A Team faction was led by Mompati Merafhe and Jacob Nkate. When Festus Mogae and Ian Khama became president and vice-president, respectively, they aligned with the A Team. Khama effectively expelled the A Team from the party in 2010 after he became president.
Botswana was ranked as a "flawed democracy" and 33rd out of 167 states in the 2023 Democracy Index (The Economist), which was the second-highest rating in Africa, and the highest ranking in continental Africa (only the offshore island nation of Mauritius bested its ranking). However, according to the 2024 V-Dem Democracy Indices, Botswana has been experiencing an episode of democratic backsliding over the past 10 years, recording its lowest ever score on the indices. The indices classify Botswana as an electoral democracy in a 'grey zone' between electoral democracy and electoral autocracy. Furthermore, they show that Botswana lost its status as a "liberal democracy" in 2021, with its liberal, participatory and deliberative components decreasing "at a statistically significant level", with the latter component being noted as becoming "significantly worse".
The 2023 Transparency International Corruption Index ranks Botswana is the third-least corrupt country in Africa, just below Cape Verde and the Seychelles. Botswana is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Foreign relations and military
plane to Mozambique in July 2021.]]
At the time of independence, Botswana had no armed forces. It was only after the Rhodesian and South African armies attacked the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe bases respectively that the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was formed in 1977. The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and appoints a defence council. In 2019, Botswana signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Following political changes in South Africa and the region, the BDF's missions have increasingly focused on preventing poaching, preparing for disasters, and supporting foreign peacekeeping. The United States has been the largest single foreign contributor to the development of the BDF, and a large segment of its officer corps have received U.S. training. The Botswana government gave the United States permission to explore the possibility of establishing an Africa Command (AFRICOM) base in the country.
Botswana is the 50th most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.
Human rights
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo, was established in 1993. Until June 2019, homosexual acts were illegal in Botswana. A Botswana High Court decision of 11 June of that year struck down provisions in the Criminal Code that punished "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" and "acts of gross indecency", making Botswana one of 22 African countries that have either decriminalised or legalised homosexual acts. Capital punishment is a legal penalty for murder in Botswana, and executions are carried out by hanging. San and other indigenous tribes Many of the indigenous San people have been forcibly relocated from their land to reservations. To make them relocate, they were denied access to water on their land and faced arrest if they hunted, which was their primary source of food. Their lands lie in the middle of the world's richest diamond field. Officially, the government denies that there is any link to mining, claiming the relocation is to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem, even though the San people have lived sustainably on the land for millennia.
Administrative divisions
Botswana is divided into 10 administrative districts, 2 city districts, 4 towns, They are:
* Central
* Chobe
* Francistown
* Gaborone
* Ghanzi
* Jwaneng
* Kgalagadi
* Kgatleng
* Kweneng
* Lobatse
* North East
* North West
* South East
* Southern
* Selibe Phikwe
* Sowa Town
In 1977, Botswana's administrative divisions were Ngamiland, Chobe, Francistown, Ngwato, Tuli, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Ngwaketse, Kweneng, Gaborone and Lobatse. In 2006, Chobe was removed from being an administrative division, and Ngamiland's name was changed to North West district. Chobe was readded on 31 March 2014. That same day, the administrative divisions Francistown, Gaborone, Jwaneng, Lobatse, Selibe Phikwe, and Sowa Town were also added. Formerly one of the world's poorest countries—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—Botswana has transformed itself into an upper middle-income country. GDP per capita grew from $439 in 1950 to $15,842 in 2018. Although Botswana was resource-abundant, a good institutional framework allowed the country to reinvest resource-income to generate stable future income. By one estimate, it has the fourth-highest gross national income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a relatively high standard of living in Africa, around that of Mexico. As of 2022, the unemployment rate stood at 25.4%, while youth unemployment reached 45.41% in 2023. The latest available data from 2015/2016 estimate that 17.2% of Botswana's population is multidimensionally poor, with an additional 19.7% at risk.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Botswana is responsible for promoting business development throughout the country. According to the International Monetary Fund, economic growth averaged over 9% per year from 1966 to 1999. Botswana has a high level of economic freedom compared to other African countries. The government has maintained a sound fiscal policy, despite consecutive budget deficits in 2002 and 2003, and a negligible level of foreign debt. It earned the highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and has stockpiled foreign exchange reserves (over $7 billion in 2005/2006) amounting to almost two and a half years of current imports.
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the government respects this in practice. The legal system is sufficient to conduct secure commercial dealings, although a growing backlog of cases prevents timely trials. Botswana is ranked second only to South Africa among sub-Saharan African countries in the 2014 International Property Rights Index. Gemstones and precious metals
, richest in the world]]
In Botswana, the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security maintains data regarding mining throughout the country. Debswana, the largest diamond mining company operating in Botswana, is a joint venture, 50% owned by the government.
The mineral industry provides about 40% of all government revenues. Botswana has not begun mining uranium; however, the Letlhakane Uranium Project in Africa is one of the largest undeveloped uranium projects. The government announced in early 2009 that they would try to diversify their economy and avoid overreliance on diamonds.TourismThe Botswana Tourism Organisation is the country's official tourism group. Other destinations in Botswana include the Gaborone Yacht Club and the Kalahari Fishing Club. The country has natural attractions such as the Gaborone Dam and Mokolodi Nature Reserve. There are golf courses that the Botswana Golf Union (BGU) maintains. In 2014, the Okavango Delta of Botswana, the largest inland delta in the world, was inscribed as the 1,000th World Heritage Site.Infrastructure
Botswana has of railway lines, of roads, and 92 airports, of which 12 have paved runways. Of these roads, are paved, while the other are unpaved. The national airline is Air Botswana, which flies domestically and to other countries in Africa. Botswana Railways is the national railway company, operating primarily in the Southern African regional railway system. Botswana Railways offers rail-based transport facilities for moving a range of commodities for the mining sector and primary materials industries, as well as passenger train services and dry ports.
In terms of power infrastructure in Botswana, the country produces coal for electricity and imports oil. Recently, the country has taken a large interest in renewable energy sources and has designed a comprehensive strategy to attract investors in the wind, solar and biomass renewable energy industries. Botswana's power stations include Morupule B Power Station (600 MW), Morupule A Power Station (132 MW), Orapa Power Station (90 MW), Phakalane Power Station (1.3 MW) and Mmamabula Power Station (300 MW), which is expected to be online in the near future. A 200-MW solar power plant is in the planning and design stage at the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security.
Demographics
As of 2024, the Tswana are the majority ethnic group in Botswana, making up approximately 79% of the population, followed by Kalanga at 11% and the San (Basarwa) at 3%. The remaining 7% consists of White Batswana/European Batswana, Indians, and a number of other smaller Southern African ethnic groups.
Native groups include the Bayei, Bambukushu, Basubia, Baherero and Bakgalagadi. The Indian minority is made up of both recent migrants and descendants of Indian migrants who arrived from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and South Africa.
Since 2000, because of deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabweans in Botswana has risen into the tens of thousands. Fewer than 10,000 San people are still living their traditional hunter-gatherer way of life. Since the mid-1990s, the central government of Botswana has been trying to move the San out of their historic lands, likely because they live on a diamond-rich region.
In 2010, James Anaya, as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people for the United Nations, described loss of land as a major contributor to many of the problems facing Botswana's indigenous people, citing the San's eviction from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) as a special example.
South-East
| pop_1 = 246,325
| img_1 = Gaborone, Botswana - 51207616203.jpg
| city_2 Francistown| div_2 North-East District (Botswana)North-East| pop_2 103,417| img_2 The main square in Francistown (3297095166).jpg
| city_3 Mogoditshane| div_3 Kweneng DistrictKweneng | pop_3 = 88,006
| city_4 Maun, BotswanaMaun| div_4 North-West District (Botswana)North-West| pop_4 84,993| img_4 MaunAirport.jpg
| city_5 Molepolole| div_5 Kweneng DistrictKweneng| pop_5 74,674| img_5
| city_6 Serowe| div_6 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_6 = 55,676
| city_7 Tlokweng| div_7 South-East District (Botswana)South-East | pop_7 = 55,508
| city_8 Palapye| div_8 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_8 = 52,636
| city_9 Mochudi| div_9 Kgatleng DistrictKgatleng| pop_9 = 50,317
| city_10 Mahalapye| div_10 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_10 = 48,431
| city_11 Kanye, BotswanaKanye| div_11 Southern District (Botswana)Southern| pop_11 = 48,028
| city_12 Selebi-PhikweSelibe Phikwe| div_12 Central District (Botswana)Central| pop_12 = 42,488
| city_13 Letlhakane| div_13 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_13 = 36,338
| city_14 Ramotswa| div_14 South-East District (Botswana)South-East | pop_14 = 33,271
| city_15 Lobatse| div_15 South-East District (Botswana)South-East | pop_15 = 29,772
| city_16 Mmopane | div_16 Kweneng DistrictKweneng | pop_16 = 25,345
| city_17 Thamaga| div_17 Kweneng DistrictKweneng | pop_17 = 25,297
| city_18 Moshupa| div_18 Southern District (Botswana)Southern | pop_18 = 23,858
| city_19 Tonota| div_19 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_19 = 23,296
| city_20 Bobonong| div_20 Central District (Botswana)Central | pop_20 = 21,216
}}
Languages
The official language of Botswana is English, while Setswana is widely spoken across the country.
Other languages spoken in Botswana include Kalanga (Sekalanga), Sarwa (Sesarwa), Ndebele, Kgalagadi, Tswapong, !Xóõ, Yeyi, and, in some parts, Afrikaans.Religion
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An estimated 77% of the country's citizens identify as Christians. Anglicans, Methodists, and the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa make up the majority of Christian denominations. The country also has congregations of:
* Lutherans
* Baptists
* Roman Catholics
* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* The Dutch Reformed Church
* Mennonites
* Seventh-day Adventists
* Jehovah's Witnesses
* Serbian Orthodox
According to the 2001 census, the nation has around 5,000 Muslims (mainly from South Asia), 3,000 Hindus, and 700 of the Baháʼí Faith. Approximately 20% of citizens identify with no religion. Specifically, infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are steadily declining. Eighty-five percent of the population live within a five-kilometre (3.1 mi) radius of a health facility. Seventy-three percent of pregnant women access antenatal care services at least four times. Almost 100 percent of births in Botswana take place in hospitals. in Botswana is responsible for overseeing the quality and distribution of healthcare throughout the country. Life expectancy at birth was 55 in 2009 according to the World Bank, having previously fallen from a peak of 64.1 in 1990 to a low of 49 in 2002. Since Botswana's 2011 census, current life expectancy is estimated at 54.06 years. Botswana's 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI) score is 20.7.HIV/AIDS epidemic
has caused a decline in life expectancy.]]
Like elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, the economic impact of AIDS is considerable. Economic development spending was cut by 10% in 2002–2003 as a result of recurring budget deficits and rising expenditures on healthcare services. Botswana has been hit very hard by the AIDS pandemic; in 2006, it was estimated that life expectancy at birth had dropped from 65 to 35 years. The life expectancy is 66.4 years as of 2024. In the 15–19 age group, prevalence was estimated at 6% for females and 3.5% for males in 2013, Despite the launch of programmes to make treatment available and to educate the populace about the epidemic, the number of people with AIDS rose from 290,000 in 2005 to 320,000 in 2013.
With a nationwide Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programme, Botswana has reduced HIV transmission from infected mothers to their children from about 40% in 2003 to 4% in 2010. Under the leadership of Festus Mogae, the government of Botswana solicited outside help in curing people with HIV/AIDS and received early support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Merck Foundation, which together formed the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP). Other early partners include the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Botswana–UPenn Partnership of the University of Pennsylvania. According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, universal access to treatment—defined as 80% coverage or greater—has been achieved in Botswana.
Culture
Botswana's music is mostly vocal and performed, sometimes without drums depending on the occasion; it also makes heavy use of string instruments. Botswana folk music has instruments such as setinkane (a sort of miniature piano), segankure/segaba (a Motswana version of the Chinese instrument erhu), moropa (meropa for plural) and phala (a whistle used mostly during celebrations). The hands are sometimes used as musical instruments too, by either clapping them together or against (goat skin turned inside out wrapped around the calf area, only used by men) to create music and rhythm. The national anthem is "Fatshe leno la rona", which was written and composed by Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete; it was adopted upon independence in 1966.
In the northern part of Botswana, women in the villages of Etsha and Gumare are noted for their skill at crafting baskets from mokola palm and local dyes. The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage; large, open baskets for carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain; and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain. These baskets steadily use colour.
The oldest paintings from both Botswana and South Africa depict hunting, animal and human figures, and were made by the Khoisan (Kung San/Bushmen) over 20,000 years ago within the Kalahari Desert.
Cuisine
The national dish is seswaa, pounded meat made from goat meat or beef, or Segwapa dried, cured meat ranging from beef to game meats, either fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain. Botswana's cuisine shares some characteristics with other cuisine of southern Africa.
Examples of Botswana food are: bogobe, pap (maize porridge), boerewors, samp, Magwinya and mopane worms. Bogobe is made by putting sorghum, maize or millet flour into boiling water, stirring it into a soft paste, and cooking it slowly. A dish called ting is made when milk and sugar is added to fermented sorghum or maize. Ting without the milk and sugar is sometimes eaten with meat or vegetables for lunch or dinner. Another way of making bogobe is to add sour milk and a cooking melon (lerotse). The Kalanga tribe calls this dish tophi. Madila is a traditional fermented milk product similar to yogurt or sour cream.
Sports
]]
Football is the most popular sport in Botswana. Qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is the national team's highest achievement to date. Other popular sports are softball, cricket, tennis, rugby, badminton, handball, golf and track and field. Botswana is an associate member of the International Cricket Council. Botswana became a member of the International Badminton Federation and Africa Badminton Federation in 1991. The Botswana Golf Union has an amateur golf league in which golfers compete in tournaments and championships. Runner Nijel Amos won Botswana its first Olympic medal in 2012, taking silver in the 800 metres.
In 2011, Amantle Montsho became world champion in the 400 metres and won Botswana's first athletics medal at the world level. High jumper Kabelo Kgosiemang is a three-time African champion. Isaac Makwala is a sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres who was the gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Baboloki Thebe was a silver medalist in the 200 metres at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. Ross Branch Ross, a motor-biker, holds the number one place in the South African Cross Country Championship and has competed at the Dakar Rally. Letsile Tebogo set the world junior record in the 100 metres with a time of 9.94 at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, and, as of 2024, holds the 100 metre and 200 metre world's third-best time of 30.69 seconds. On 7 August 2021, Botswana won the bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the Olympics in Tokyo. Botswana was the first African nation to host the Netball World Youth Cup. On 8 August 2024, Letsile Tebogo won Botswana's first-ever Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing in first place in the men's 200m final, finishing with a time of 19.46 seconds.
The card game bridge has a strong following; it was first played in Botswana around 40 years ago, and it grew in popularity during the 1980s. Many British expatriate school teachers informally taught the game in Botswana's secondary schools. The Botswana Bridge Federation (BBF) was founded in 1988. Bridge has remained popular and the BBF has over 800 members. In 2007, the BBF invited the English Bridge Union to host a week-long teaching programme in May 2008.Education
Botswana has made educational progress since independence in 1966 when there were only 22 graduates in the country and only a very small percentage of the population attended secondary school. Botswana increased its adult literacy rate from 69% in 1991 to 83% in 2008. Among sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates. As of 2024, 88.5% of the population aged 15 and over could read and write and were respectively literate. is working to establish libraries in primary schools in partnership with the African Library Project. The Government of Botswana hopes that investing a large part of national income in education will make the country less dependent on diamonds for its economic survival, and less dependent on expatriates for its skilled workers. NPVET (National Policy on Vocational Education and Training) introduced policies in favour of vocational education. though the government still provides full scholarships with living expenses to any Botswana citizen in university, either at the University of Botswana or, if the student wishes to pursue an education in any field not offered locally, they are provided with a full scholarship to study abroad.Science and technology
]]
In 2015, Botswana planned to use science and technology to diversify its economy and thereby reduce its dependence on diamond mining. Botswana counts one of the highest researcher densities in sub-Saharan Africa: 344 per million inhabitants (in head counts), compared to an average of 91 per million inhabitants for the subcontinent in 2013.
In 2009, Botswana-based company Deaftronics launched a solar-powered hearing aid after six years of prototype development. Since then, Deaftronics has sold over 10,000 of the hearing aids. Priced at $200 per unit, each hearing aid includes four rechargeable batteries (lasting up to three years) and a solar charger for them. The product is inexpensive compared to many similar devices, which can start at around $600. In 2011, Botswana's Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) unveiled Musi cattle, designed to optimise beef production. As a hybrid of the Tswana, Bonsmara, Brahman, Tuli and Simmental breeds, it is hoped that the composite will lead to increased beef production. In 2016, the Botswana Institute of Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) developed a rapid testing kit for foot-and-mouth disease in collaboration with the Botswana Vaccine Institute and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The kit developed in Botswana allows for on-site diagnosis.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) (MeerKAT) consists of thousands of dishes and antennas spread over large distances linked together to form one giant telescope. Additional dishes will be located in eight other African countries, Botswana among them. Botswana was selected to participate because of its ideal location in the southern hemisphere and environment, which could enable easier data collection from the universe. The Botswana government has built the SKA precursor telescope at Kgale View, which is the African Very Long Base Line Interferometry Network (AVN). It sent students on astronomy scholarships.
Botswana launched its own three-year programme to build and launch a Micro Satellite (CubeSat) Botswana Satellite Technology (Sat-1 Project) in Gaborone on 18 December 2020. Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) will lead satellite development, with technical support from the University of Oulu in Finland and Loon, a giant leap forward in the realisation of Botswana's ambition to become a technologically driven economy. The satellite, which will be used for earth observation, will generate data for farm planning and real-time virtual tourism. It can also help predict and forecast harvest time. In 2016, for the IT sector, Almaz opened a first-of-its-kind computer assembly company. Ditec, a Botswana company, also customises, designs and manufactures mobile phones. Ditec specialises in customising Microsoft-powered devices.
On 19 November 2021, scientists at the Botswana Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory (BHHRL) first discovered the COVID-19 Omicron variant, subsequently designated B.1.1.529, and then named "Omicron," becoming the first country in the world to discover the variant. Since early 2021, they have genome-sequenced some 2,300 positive SARS-CoV-2 virus samples. According to Dr. Gaseitsiwe, Botswana's genome sequence submissions to GISAID are among the highest in the African region on a per capita basis, on a par with its well-resourced neighbour South Africa. Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) was built in 2003, two years after the umbrella organisation opened the BHHRL, its purpose-built HIV research lab which was one of the first on the continent.
See also
* Outline of Botswana
* List of Botswana-related topics
Notes
References
Citations
Works cited
*
*
*
* General sources
Further reading
* Charles, Thalefang (2016). ''Botswana's Top50 Ultimate Experiences. Mmegi Publishing House. .
*
*
* Colclough, Christopher and Stephen McCarthy. The Political Economy of Botswana: A Study of Growth and Income Distribution (Oxford University Press, 1980)
*
*
* Edge, Wayne A. and Mogopodi H. Lekorwe eds. Botswana: Politics and Society (Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik, 1998)
*
*
* LaRocco, Annette A. Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana (Ohio University Press, 2024) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=60890 Online review of this book.]
* Tlou, Thomas, and Alec C. Campbell. History of Botswana (Macmillan Botswana, 1984)
External links
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/botswana/ Botswana]. The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081026035549/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/botswana.htm Botswana] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13040376 Botswana] from the BBC News
*
*
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BW Key Development Forecasts for Botswana] from International Futures
* [http://www.government.co.bw Government Directory for Botswana]
}}
Category:Southern African countries
Category:Countries and territories where English is an official language
Category:Landlocked countries
Category:Member states of the African Union
Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:States and territories established in 1966
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:1966 establishments in Botswana
Category:Countries in Africa
Category:Former least developed countries | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.806142 |
3466 | Brunei | | image_flag = Flag of Brunei.svg
| image_flag2 | image_coat Emblem of Brunei.svg
| symbol_type = Emblem
| national_motto = }}|Ad-dāʾimūna al-muḥsinūna bi-l-hudā|()|Always in service with Allah's guidance}}
| national_anthem = }}|God Bless the Sultan}}
| image_map
| map_caption | capital Bandar Seri Begawan
| coordinates
| largest_city = Bandar Seri Begawan
| languages_type = Official language
| languages Malay
| languages2_type Other languages<br/>and dialects
| languages2
}}<!--end hack-->
| ethnic_groups =
| ethnic_groups_year = 2023
| ethnic_groups_ref
| religion =
| religion_year = 2021
| religion_ref As its role is only consultative it is not considered to be a legislature.
}}
| sovereignty_type = Formation
| established_event1 = Sultanate established
| established_date1 =
| established_event2 = British protected state
| established_date2 = 17 September 1888
| established_event3 = Independence from the United Kingdom
| established_date3 = 1 January 1984
| area_km2 5,765
| area_rank = 164th <!-- Area rank should match List of countries and dependencies by area -->
| area_sq_mi = 2,226 <!--Do not remove per WP:MOSNUM-->
| percent_water = 8.6
| population_estimate 460,345
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| population_estimate_rank = 169th
| population_density_km2 = 72.11
| population_density_sq_mi = 186.75 <!--Do not remove per WP:MOSNUM-->
| population_density_rank = 134th
| GDP_PPP $33.875 billion
| GDP_PPP_year = 2024
| GDP_PPP_rank = 145th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $76,864
| HDI_rank = 55th
| currency = Brunei dollar
| currency_code = BND
| time_zone = Brunei Standard Time
| utc_offset = +8
| drives_on = left
| calling_code = +673
| cctld .bn
| footnote_a = Also 080 from East Malaysia.
| population_census = 417,256
| population_census_year = 2016
}}
Brunei, ; }} officially Brunei Darussalam,, Jawi: }}, }} is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with its territory bifurcated by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo; the remainder of the island is divided between its multi-landmass neighbours of Malaysia and Indonesia. , the country had a population of 455,858, or Serudong River in eastern Sabah. The maritime state of Brunei was visited by the surviving crew of the Magellan Expedition in 1521, and in 1578 it fought against Spain in the Castilian War.
During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, a new constitution was written in 1959. In 1962, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy which was indirectly related to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation was ended with British assistance and led to the ban of the pro-independent Brunei People's Party. The revolt had also influenced the Sultan's decision not to join the Malaysian Federation while it was being formed. Britain's protectorate over Brunei would eventually end on 1 January 1984, becoming a fully sovereign state.
Brunei has been led by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah since 1967, and the country's unicameral legislature, the Legislative Council, is simply consultative and are all appointed by the Sultan. The country's wealth derives from its extensive petroleum and natural gas fields. Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s has transformed Brunei into an industrialised country, with its GDP increasing 56% between 1999 and 2008. Political stability is maintained by the House of Bolkiah by providing a welfare state for its citizens, with free or significant subsidies in regards to housing, healthcare and education. It ranks "very high" on the Human Development Index (HDI)—the second-highest among Southeast Asian states after Singapore, which it maintains close relations with including a Currency Interchangeability Agreement. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked ninth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. Brunei is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the East Asia Summit, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth of Nations, and ASEAN.
Etymology
According to local historiography, Brunei was founded by Awang Alak Betatar, later to be Sultan Muhammad Shah, reigning around AD 1400. He moved from Garang in the Temburong District to the Brunei River estuary, discovering Brunei. According to legend, upon landing he exclaimed, Baru nah (loosely translated as "that's it!" or "there"), from which the name "Brunei" was derived. He was the first Muslim ruler of Brunei. Before the rise of the Bruneian Empire under the Muslim Bolkiah dynasty, Brunei is believed to have been under Buddhist rulers.
It was renamed "Barunai" in the 14th century, possibly influenced by the Sanskrit word "" (), meaning "seafarers". The word "Borneo" is of the same origin. In the country's full name, , () means "abode of peace", while means "country" in Malay. A shortened version of the Malay official name, "Brunei Darussalam", has also entered common usage, particularly in official contexts, and is present in the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names geographical database, as well as the official ASEAN and Commonwealth listings.
The earliest recorded documentation by the West about Brunei is by an Italian known as Ludovico di Varthema. On his documentation back to 1550;
, and we found that it was somewhat larger than the aforesaid and much lower. The people are pagans and are men of goodwill. Their colour is whiter than that of the other sort ... in this island justice is well administered ...}}
History
Early history
Areas comprising what is now Brunei participated in the Maritime Jade Road, as ascertained by archeological research. The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BC to 1000 AD. The settlement known as Vijayapura was a vassal-state to the Buddhist Srivijaya empire and was thought to be located in Borneo's Northwest which flourished in the 7th Century. Vijayapura itself upon earlier in its history, was a rump state of the fallen multi-ethnic: Austronesian, Austroasiatic and Indian, Funan Civilization; previously located in what is now Cambodia. This alternative Srivijaya known as Vijayapura referring to Brunei, was known to Arabic sources as "Sribuza".
One of the earliest Chinese records of an independent kingdom in Borneo is the 977 AD letter to the Chinese emperor from the ruler of Boni, which some scholars believe to refer to Borneo. The Bruneians regained their independence from Srivijaya due to the onset of a Javanese-Sumatran war. In 1225, the Chinese official Zhao Rukuo reported that Boni had 100 warships to protect its trade, and that there was great wealth in the kingdom. Marco Polo suggested in his memoirs that the Great Khan or the ruler of the Mongol Empire, attempted and failed many times in invading "Great Java" which was the European name for Bruneian controlled Borneo.
According to Wang Zhenping, in the 1300s, the Yuan Dade nanhai zhi or "Yuan dynasty Dade period southern sea records" reported that Brunei conquered or administered Sarawak and Sabah as well as the Philippine kingdoms of Butuan, Sulu, Ma-i (Mindoro), Malilu 麻裏蘆 (Manila), Shahuchong 沙胡重 (Siocon or Zamboanga), Yachen 啞陳 Oton, and 文杜陵 Wenduling (Mindanao), which would regain their independence at a later date.
In the 14th century, the Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama, written by Prapanca in 1365, mentioned Barune as the constituent state of Hindu Majapahit, which had to make an annual tribute of 40 katis of camphor. In 1369, Sulu which was also formerly part of Majapahit, had successfully rebelled and then attacked Boni, and had invaded the Northeast Coast of Borneo and afterwards had looted the capital of its treasure and gold including sacking two sacred pearls. A fleet from Majapahit succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but Boni was left weaker after the attack. A Chinese report from 1371 described Boni as poor and totally controlled by Majapahit. When the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited the Brunei in the early 15th century, he founded a major trading port which included Chinese people who were actively trading with China.
During the 15th century, Boni had seceded from Majapahit and then converted to Islam. Thus transforming into the independent Sultanate of Brunei. Brunei became a Hashemite state when she allowed the Arab Emir of Mecca, Sharif Ali, to become her third sultan.
As customary for close affiliation and alliances in Southeast Asia, the royal family of Luzon intermarried with the ruling houses of the Sultanate of Brunei. Intermarriage was a common strategy for Southeast Asian states to extend their influence. However, Islamic Brunei's power was not uncontested in Borneo since it had a Hindu rival in a state founded by Indians called Kutai in the south which they overpowered but didn't destroy.
Nevertheless, by the 16th century, Islam was firmly rooted in Brunei, and the country had built one of its biggest mosques. In 1578, Alonso Beltrán, a Spanish traveller, described it as being five stories tall and built on the water. War with Spain and decline
Brunei briefly rose to prominence in Southeast Asia when the Portuguese occupied Malacca and thereby forced the wealthy and powerful but displaced Muslim refugees there to relocate to nearby Sultanates such as Brunei. The Bruneian Sultan then intervened in a territorial conflict between Hindu Tondo and Muslim Manila in the Philippines by appointing the Bruneian descended Rajah Ache of Manila as admiral of the Bruneian navy in a rivalry against Tondo and as the enforcer of Bruneian interests in the Philippines. He subsequently encountered the Magellan expedition wherein Antonio Pigafetta noted that under orders from his grandfather the Sultan of Brunei, Ache had previously sacked the Buddhist city of Loue in Southwest Borneo for being faithful to the old religion and rebelling against the authority of Sultanate. However, European influence gradually brought an end to Brunei's regional power, as Brunei entered a period of decline compounded by internal strife over royal succession. In the face of these invasions by European Christian powers, the Ottoman Caliphate aided the beleaguered Southeast Asian Sultanates by making Aceh a protectorate and sending expeditions to reinforce, train and equip the local mujahideen. Turks were routinely migrating to Brunei as evidenced by the complaints of Manila Oidor Melchor Davalos who in his 1585 report, say that Turks were coming to Sumatra, Borneo and Ternate every year, including defeated veterans from the Battle of Lepanto.
Spain declared war in 1578, planning to attack and capture Kota Batu, Brunei's capital at the time. This was based in part on the assistance of two Bruneian noblemen, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. The former had travelled to Manila, then the centre of the Spanish colony. Manila itself was captured from Brunei, Christianised and made a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which was centered in Mexico City. Pengiran Seri Lela came to offer Brunei as a tributary to Spain for help to recover the throne usurped by his brother, Saiful Rijal. The Spanish agreed that if they succeeded in conquering Brunei, Pengiran Seri Lela would be appointed as the sultan, while Pengiran Seri Ratna would be the new Bendahara.
, China, in 1761. 萬國來朝圖]]
In March 1578, a fresh Spanish fleet had arrived from Mexico and settled at the Philippines. They were led by De Sande, acting as Capitán-General. He organized an expedition from Manila for Brunei, consisting of 400 Spaniards and Mexicans, 1,500 Filipino natives, and 300 Borneans. The campaign was one of many, which also included action in Mindanao and Sulu. The racial make-up of the Christian side was diverse since it were usually made up of Mestizos, Mulattoes and Amerindians (Aztecs, Mayans and Incans) who were gathered and sent from Mexico and were led by Spanish officers who had worked together with native Filipinos in military campaigns across the Southeast Asia. The Muslim side was also equally racially diverse. In addition to the native Malay warriors, the Ottomans had repeatedly sent military expeditions to nearby Aceh. The expeditions were composed mainly of Turks, Egyptians, Swahilis, Somalis, Sindhis, Gujaratis and Malabars. These expeditionary forces had also spread to other nearby Sultanates such as Brunei and had taught new fighting tactics and techniques on how to forge cannons.
Eventually, the Spanish captured the capital on 16 April 1578, with the help of Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. The Sultan Saiful Rijal and Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Abdul Kahar were forced to flee to Meragang then to Jerudong. In Jerudong, they made plans to chase the conquering army away from Brunei. Suffering high fatalities due to a cholera or dysentery outbreak, the Spanish decided to abandon Brunei and returned to Manila on 26 June 1578, after 72 days.
Pengiran Seri Lela died in August or September 1578, probably from the same illness suffered by his Spanish allies. There was suspicion that the legitimist sultan could have been poisoned by the ruling sultan. Seri Lela's daughter, a Bruneian princess, "Putri", had left with the Spanish, she abandoned her claim to the crown and then she married a Christian Tagalog, named Agustín de Legazpi de Tondo. Agustin de Legaspi along with his family and associates were soon implicated in the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, an attempt by Filipinos to link up with the Brunei Sultanate and Japanese Shogunate to expel the Spaniards from the Philippines. However, upon the Spanish suppression of the conspiracy, the Bruneian descended aristocracy of precolonial Manila were exiled to Guerrero, Mexico which consequently later became a center of the Mexican war of independence against Spain.
The local Brunei accounts of the Castilian War differ greatly from the generally accepted view of events. What was called the Castilian War was seen as a heroic episode, with the Spaniards being driven out by Bendahara Sakam, purportedly a brother of the ruling sultan, and a thousand native warriors. Most historians consider this to be a folk-hero account, which probably developed decades or centuries after.
Brunei eventually descended into anarchy. The country suffered a civil war from 1660 to 1673.
British intervention
<!--Linked from Template:History of Brunei-->
negotiating with the Sultan of Brunei, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Labuan, 1846]]
The British have intervened in the affairs of Brunei on several occasions. Britain attacked Brunei in July 1846 due to internal conflicts over who was the rightful Sultan.
In the 1880s, the decline of the Bruneian Empire continued. The sultan granted land (now Sarawak) to James Brooke, who had helped him quell a rebellion, and allowed him to establish the Raj of Sarawak. Over time, Brooke and his nephews (who succeeded him) leased or annexed more land. Brunei lost much of its territory to him and his dynasty, known as the White Rajahs.
Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin appealed to the British to stop further encroachment by the Brookes. The Protectorate Agreement was negotiated by Sir Hugh Low and signed into effect on 17 September 1888. The treaty said that the sultan "could not cede or lease any territory to foreign powers without British consent"; it provided Britain effective control over Brunei's external affairs, making it a British protected state (which continued until 1984). But, when the Raj of Sarawak annexed Brunei's Pandaruan District in 1890, the British did not take any action to stop it. They did not regard either Brunei or the Raj of Sarawak as 'foreign' (per the Treaty of Protection). This final annexation by Sarawak left Brunei with its current small land mass and separation into two parts.
The British Foreign Office sent Consul Malcolm Stewart Hannibal McArthur to assess Brunei and make recommendations on future British foreign policy in the region. McArthur produced his Report On Brunei in 1904 where he recommended the implementation of the Malayan British Residency system and the continued protection of Brunei. British residents were introduced in Brunei under the Supplementary Protectorate Agreement in 1906. The residents were to advise the sultan on all matters of administration. Over time, the resident assumed more executive control than the sultan. The residential system ended in 1959.
Discovery of oil
Petroleum was discovered in 1929 after several fruitless attempts. Two men, F. F. Marriot and T. G. Cochrane, smelled oil near the Seria river in late 1926. They informed a geophysicist, who conducted a survey there. In 1927, gas seepages were reported in the area. Seria Well Number One (S-1) was drilled on 12 July 1928. Oil was struck at on 5 April 1929. Seria Well Number 2 was drilled on 19 August 1929, and, , continues to produce oil. Oil production was increased considerably in the 1930s with the development of more oil fields. In 1940, oil production was at more than six million barrels. The British Malayan Petroleum Company (now Brunei Shell Petroleum Company) was formed on 22 July 1922. The first offshore well was drilled in 1957. Oil and natural gas have been the basis of Brunei's development and wealth since the late 20th century. Japanese occupation
, the 27th Sultan of Brunei, with members of his court in April 1941, eight months before the Japanese invaded Brunei]]
The Japanese invaded Brunei on 16 December 1941, eight days after their attack on Pearl Harbor on the United States Navy. They landed 10,000 troops of the Kawaguchi Detachment from Cam Ranh Bay at Kuala Belait. After six days' fighting, they occupied the entire country. The only Allied troops in the area were the 2nd Battalion of the 15th Punjab Regiment based at Kuching, Sarawak.
Once the Japanese occupied Brunei, they made an agreement with Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin over governing the country. Inche Ibrahim (known later as Pehin Datu Perdana Menteri Dato Laila Utama Awang Haji Ibrahim), a former Secretary to the British Resident, Ernest Edgar Pengilly, was appointed chief administrative officer under the Japanese Governor. The Japanese had proposed that Pengilly retain his position under their administration, but he declined. Both he and other British nationals still in Brunei were interned by the Japanese at Batu Lintang camp in Sarawak. While the British officials were under Japanese guard, Ibrahim made a point of personally shaking each one by the hand and wishing him well.
The Sultan retained his throne and was given a pension and honours by the Japanese. During the later part of the occupation, he resided at Tantuya, Limbang and had little to do with the Japanese. Most of the Malay government officers were retained by the Japanese. Brunei's administration was reorganised into five prefectures, which included British North Borneo. The Prefectures included Baram, Labuan, Lawas, and Limbang. Ibrahim hid numerous significant government documents from the Japanese during the occupation. Pengiran Yusuf (later YAM Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusuf), along with other Bruneians, was sent to Japan for training. Although in the area the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Yusuf survived.
The British had anticipated a Japanese attack, but lacked the resources to defend the area because of their engagement in the war in Europe. The troops from the Punjab Regiment filled in the Seria oilfield oilwells with concrete in September 1941 to deny the Japanese their use. The remaining equipment and installations were destroyed when the Japanese invaded Malaya. By the end of the war, 16 wells at Miri and Seria had been restarted, with production reaching about half the pre-war level. Coal production at Muara was also recommenced, but with little success.
of the Australian 9th Division with Lieutenant-General Masao Baba (signing) of the Japanese 37th Division at the surrender ceremony at Labuan on 10 September 1945]]
On 10 June 1945, the Australian 9th Division landed at Muara under Operation Oboe Six to recapture Borneo from the Japanese. They were supported by American air and naval units. Brunei town was bombed extensively and recaptured after three days of heavy fighting. Many buildings were destroyed, including the Mosque. The Japanese forces in Brunei, Borneo, and Sarawak, under Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, formally surrendered at Labuan on 10 September 1945. The British Military Administration took over from the Japanese and remained until July 1946. Post-World War II After World War II, a new government was formed in Brunei under the British Military Administration (BMA). It consisted mainly of Australian officers and servicemen. The administration of Brunei was passed to the Civil Administration on 6 July 1945. The Brunei State Council was also revived that year. The BMA was tasked to revive the Bruneian economy, which was extensively damaged by the Japanese during their occupation. They also had to put out the fires on the wells of Seria, which had been set by the Japanese prior to their defeat.
Before 1941, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, based in Singapore, was responsible for the duties of British High Commissioner for Brunei, Sarawak, and North Borneo (now Sabah). The first British High Commissioner for Brunei was the Governor of Sarawak, Sir Charles Ardon Clarke. The Barisan Pemuda ("Youth Front"; abbreviated as BARIP) was the first political party to be formed in Brunei, on 12 April 1946. The party intended to "preserve the sovereignty of the Sultan and the country, and to defend the rights of the Malays". BARIP also contributed to the composition of the country's national anthem. The party was dissolved in 1948 due to inactivity.
In 1959, a new constitution was written declaring Brunei a self-governing state, while its foreign affairs, security, and defence remained the responsibility of the United Kingdom. Known as the Brunei Revolt, the rebellion contributed to the Sultan's decision to opt out of joining the emerging state now called Malaysia under the umbrella of North Borneo Federation. Writing of the Constitution
]]
In July 1953, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III formed a seven-member committee named Tujuh Serangkai, to determine the citizens' views regarding a written constitution for Brunei. In May 1954, the Sultan, Resident and High Commissioner met to discuss the findings of the committee. They agreed to authorise the drafting of a constitution. In March 1959, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III led a delegation to London to discuss the proposed Constitution. The British delegation was led by Sir Alan Lennox-Boyd, Secretary of State for the Colonies. The British Government later accepted the draft constitution.
On 29 September 1959, the Constitution Agreement was signed in Brunei Town. The agreement was signed by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Sir Robert Scott, the Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia.
It included the following provisions:
* The Sultan was made the Supreme Head of State.
* Brunei was responsible for its internal administration.
* The British Government was responsible for foreign and defence affairs only.
* The post of Resident was abolished and replaced by a British High Commissioner.
Five councils were established:
* The Executive Council
* The Legislative Council of Brunei
* The Privy Council
* The Council of Succession
* The State Religious Council
National development plans
A series of National Development Plans was initiated by the 28th Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddien III.
The first was introduced in 1953. A total sum of B$100 million was approved by the Brunei State Council for the plan. E.R. Bevington, from the Colonial Office in Fiji, was appointed to implement it. A US$14 million Gas Plant was built under the plan. In 1954, survey and exploration work were undertaken by the Brunei Shell Petroleum on both offshore and onshore fields. By 1956, production reached 114,700 bpd.
of Brunei on guard in the Seria oilfield, January 1963]]
The plan also aided the development of public education. By 1958, expenditure on education totalled at $4 million. Communications were improved, as new roads were built and reconstruction at Berakas Airport was completed in 1954.
The second National Development Plan was launched in 1962. A major oil and gas field was discovered in 1963. Developments in the oil and gas sector have continued, and oil production has steadily increased since then. The plan also promoted the production of meat and eggs for consumption by citizens. The fishing industry increased its output by 25% throughout the course of the plan. The deepwater port at Muara was also constructed during this period. Power requirements were met, and studies were made to provide electricity to rural areas. Efforts were made to eradicate malaria, an endemic disease in the region, with the help of the World Health Organization. Malaria cases were reduced from 300 cases in 1953 to only 66 cases in 1959. The death rate was reduced from 20 per thousand in 1947 to 11.3 per thousand in 1953.
Under this agreement, the following terms were agreed upon:
* Brunei was granted full internal self-government
* The UK would still be responsible for external affairs and defence.
* Brunei and the UK agreed to share the responsibility for security and defence.
This agreement also caused Gurkha units to be deployed in Brunei, where they remain up to this day.
(right), handing his credentials to ambassador Janin Erih in 2004]]
On 7 January 1979, another treaty was signed between Brunei and the United Kingdom. It was signed with Lord Goronwy-Roberts being the representative of the UK. This agreement granted Brunei to take over international responsibilities as an independent nation. Britain agreed to assist Brunei in diplomatic matters. In May 1983, it was announced by the UK that the date of independence of Brunei would be 1 January 1984.
On 31 December 1983, a mass gathering was held on main mosques on all four of the districts of the country and at midnight, on 1 January 1984, the Proclamation of Independence was read by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The sultan subsequently assumed the title "His Majesty", rather than the previous "His Royal Highness". Brunei was admitted to the United Nations on 22 September 1984, becoming the organisation's 159th member.
21st century
In October 2013, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced his intention to impose Penal Code from Sharia on the country's Muslims, which make up roughly two thirds of the country's population. This would be implemented in three phases, culminating in 2016, and making Brunei the first and only country in East Asia to introduce Sharia into its penal code, excluding the subnational Indonesian special territory of Aceh. The move attracted international criticism, the United Nations expressing "deep concern".
Geography
Brunei is a southeast Asian country consisting of two unconnected parts with a total area of on the island of Borneo. It has of coastline next to the South China Sea, and it shares a border with Malaysia. It has of territorial waters, and a exclusive economic zone. Other major towns are the port town of Muara, the oil-producing town of Seria and its neighbouring town, Kuala Belait. In Belait District, the Panaga area is home to large numbers of Europeans expatriates, due to Royal Dutch Shell and British Army housing, and several recreational facilities are located there.
Most of Brunei is within the Borneo lowland rain forests ecoregion, which covers most of the island. Areas of mountain rain forests are located inland. In Brunei forest cover is around 72% of the total land area, equivalent to 380,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 413,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 374,740 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 5,260 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 69% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 5% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
The climate of Brunei is tropical equatorial that is a tropical rainforest climate
Politics and government
, Sultan of Brunei]]
Brunei's political system is governed by the constitution and the national tradition of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (Melayu Islam Beraja; MIB). The three components of MIB cover Malay culture, Islamic religion, and the political framework under the monarchy.
Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, the Sultan, currently Hassanal Bolkiah, is the head of state with full executive authority. Following the Brunei Revolt of 1962, this authority has included emergency powers, which are renewed every two years, meaning that Brunei has technically been under martial law since then.
Foreign relations
meets with U.S. President Barack Obama, 18 November 2015]]
, 6 October 2017]]
Until 1979, Brunei's foreign relations were managed by the UK government. After that, they were handled by the Brunei Diplomatic Service. After independence in 1984, this Service was upgraded to ministerial level and is now known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Officially, Brunei's foreign policy is as follows:
* Mutual respect of others' territorial sovereignty, integrity and independence;
* The maintenance of friendly relations among nations;
* Non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries; and
* The maintenance and the promotion of peace, security and stability in the region.
With its traditional ties with the United Kingdom, Brunei became the 49th member of the Commonwealth immediately on the day of its independence on 1 January 1984. As one of its first initiatives toward improved regional relations, Brunei joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, becoming the sixth member. To achieve recognition of its sovereignty and independence, it joined the United Nations as a full member on 21 September of that same year.
As an Islamic country, Brunei became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) in January 1984 at the Fourth Islamic Summit held in Morocco.
After its accession to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in 1989, Brunei hosted the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2000 and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July 2002. Brunei became a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, and is a major player in BIMP-EAGA, which was formed during the Inaugural Ministers' Meeting in Davao, Philippines, on 24 March 1994.
Brunei shares a close relationship with Singapore and the Philippines. In April 2009, Brunei and the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that seeks to strengthen the bilateral cooperation of the two countries in the fields of agriculture and farm-related trade and investments.
Brunei is one of many nations to lay claim to some of the disputed Spratly Islands. The issue was reportedly settled in 2009, with Brunei agreeing to accept the border in exchange for Malaysia giving up claims to oil fields in Bruneian waters. The Brunei government denies this and says that their claim on Limbang was never dropped.
Brunei was the chair for ASEAN in 2013. It also hosted the ASEAN summit on that same year. Military
Brunei maintains three infantry battalions stationed around the country. The crash is the worst aviation incident in the history of Brunei.
The Army is currently acquiring new equipment, including UAVs and S-70i Black Hawks.
Brunei's Legislative Council proposed an increase of the defence budget for the 2016–17 fiscal year of about five per cent to 564 million Brunei dollars ($408 million). This amounts to about ten per cent of the state's total national yearly expenditure and represents around 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Administrative divisions
Brunei is divided into four districts (), namely Brunei-Muara, Belait, Tutong and Temburong. Brunei-Muara District is the smallest yet the most populous and home to the country's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Belait is the birthplace and centre of the country's oil and gas industry. Temburong is an exclave and is separated from the rest of the country by the Brunei Bay and Malaysian state of Sarawak. Tutong is home to Tasek Merimbun, the country's largest natural lake.
Each district is divided into several mukims. Altogether, there are 39 mukims in Brunei. Each mukim encompasses several villages ( or ).
Bandar Seri Begawan and towns in the country (except Muara and Bangar) are administered as Municipal Board areas (). Each municipal area may constitute villages or mukims, partially or as a whole. Bandar Seri Begawan and a few of the towns also function as the capitals of the districts where they are located.
A district and its constituent mukims and villages are administered by a District Office (). Meanwhile, municipal areas are governed by Municipal Departments (). Both District Offices and Municipal Departments are government departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Legal system
Brunei has numerous courts in its judicial branch. The highest court, though subject in civil cases to the appellate jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, is the Supreme Court, which consists of the Court of Appeal and High Court. Both of these have a chief justice and two judges. The law prohibits sexual harassment and stipulates that whoever assaults or uses criminal force, intending thereby to outrage or knowing it is likely to outrage the modesty of a person, shall be punished with imprisonment for as much as five years and caning. The law stipulates imprisonment of up to 30 years, and caning with not fewer than 12 strokes for rape. The law does not criminalise spousal rape; it explicitly states that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, as long as she is not under 13 years of age, is not rape. Protections against sexual assault by a spouse are provided under the amended Islamic Family Law Order 2010 and Married Women Act Order 2010. The penalty for breaching a protection order is a fine not exceeding BN$2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months. By law, sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age constitutes rape and is punishable by imprisonment for not less than eight years and not more than 30 years and not less than 12 strokes of the cane. The intent of the law is to protect girls from exploitation through prostitution and "other immoral purposes", including pornography.
In 2019, Brunei announced that it would no longer be implementing the second phase of its controversial sharia penal code. The code, which was first introduced in 2014, included a range of punishments for crimes such as theft, drug offences, and same-sex relationships, including amputation and death by stoning.
The decision to halt the implementation of the second phase of the code came after significant international backlash and pressure from countries and human rights organizations, who criticized the harsh punishments as inhumane and a violation of human rights.
The government of Brunei stated that the decision was made in order to maintain peace and stability in the country, and to avoid any negative impact on the economy and reputation of the country. The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, also issued a statement saying that the country would continue to "strengthen and improve" its legal system in line with international norms and best practices.
It is worth mentioning that the first phase of the sharia penal code, which includes fines and imprisonment for offenses such as failure to attend Friday prayers and consuming alcohol, remains in place.
Religious rights
In The Laws of Brunei, the right of non-Muslims to practice their faith is guaranteed by the 1959 Constitution. However, celebrations and prayers must be confined to places of worship and private residences.
On 25 December 2015, 4,000 out of 18,000 estimated local Catholics attended the mass of Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. In 2015, the then-head of the Catholic Church in Brunei told The Brunei Times, "To be quite honest there has been no change for us this year; no new restrictions have been laid down, although we fully respect and adhere to the existing regulations that our celebrations and worship be [confined] to the compounds of the church and private residences". The complete code, due for final implementation later, stipulated the death penalty for numerous offenses (both violent and non-violent), such as insult or defamation of Muhammad, insulting any verses of the Quran and Hadith, blasphemy, declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim, robbery, rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, and murder. Stoning to death was the specified "method of execution for crimes of a sexual nature". Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) declared that, "Application of the death penalty for such a broad range of offences contravenes international law." Animal rights Brunei is the first country in Asia to have banned shark finning nationwide.
Brunei has retained most of its forests, compared to its neighbours that share Borneo island. There is a public campaign calling to protect pangolins which are considered a threatened treasure in Brunei. Economy
meeting in the office of Brunei Prime Minister on 25 April 2013. From left: Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malaysian Representative and Filipino President Benigno Aquino III. Brunei is part of the BIMP-EAGA, a subregional economic co-operation initiative in Southeast Asia.]]
Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore. Crude oil and natural gas production account for about 90% of its GDP. Brunei was ranked 88th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.
Substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. Most of these investments are made by the Brunei Investment Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Finance. and subsidises rice and housing.
The national air carrier, Royal Brunei Airlines, is trying to develop Brunei as a hub for international travel between Europe and Australia/New Zealand. Central to this strategy is the position that the airline maintains at London Heathrow Airport. It holds a daily slot at the highly capacity-controlled airport, which it serves from Bandar Seri Begawan via Dubai. The airline also has services to major Asian destinations including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Manila.
Brunei depends heavily on imports such as agricultural products (e.g. rice, food products, livestock, etc.), vehicles and electrical products from other countries. Brunei imports 60% of its food; of that amount, around 75% come from other ASEAN countries. strengthen the banking and tourism sectors, and, in general, broaden the economic base. A long-term development plan aims to diversify growth.
The government of Brunei has also promoted food self-sufficiency, especially in rice. Brunei renamed its Brunei Darussalam Rice 1 as Laila Rice during the launch of the "Padi Planting Towards Achieving Self-Sufficiency of Rice Production in Brunei Darussalam" ceremony at the Wasan padi fields in April 2009. In August 2009, the Royal Family reaped the first few Laila padi stalks, after years of attempts to boost local rice production, a goal first articulated about half a century ago. In July 2009 Brunei launched its national halal branding scheme, Brunei Halal, with a goal to export to foreign markets.
In 2020, Brunei's electricity production was largely based on fossil fuels; renewable energy accounted for less than 1% of produced electricity in the country.
Infrastructure
at London Heathrow Airport.]]
As of 2019, the country's road network constituted a total length of , out of which were paved. The highway from Muara Town to Kuala Belait is a dual carriageway. is the national carrier. There is another airfield, the Anduki Airfield, located in Seria. The ferry terminal at Muara services regular connections to Labuan (Malaysia). Speedboats provide passenger and goods transportation to the Temburong district. The main highway running across Brunei is the Tutong-Muara Highway. The country's road network is well developed. Brunei has one main sea port located at Muara. Changi Airport International is the consultant working on this modernisation, which planned cost is currently $150 million. This project is slated to add of new floorspace and includes a new terminal and arrival hall. With the completion of this project, the annual passenger capacity of the airport is expected to double from 1.5 to 3 million. of this roadway would be crossing the Brunei Bay. The bridge cost is $1.6 billion.
Banking
Bank of China received permission to open a branch in Brunei in April 2016. Citibank, which entered in 1972, closed its operations in Brunei in 2014. HSBC, which had entered in 1947, closed its operation in Brunei in November 2017. Maybank of Malaysia, RHB Bank of Malaysia, Standard Chartered Bank of United Kingdom, United Overseas Bank of Singapore and Bank of China are currently operating in Brunei. Demographics
at night.]]
Ethnicities indigenous to Brunei include the Belait, Brunei Bisaya (not to be confused with the Bisaya/Visaya of the nearby Philippines), indigenous Bruneian Malay, Dusun, Kedayan, Lun Bawang, Murut and Tutong.
The population of Brunei in was , of which 76% live in urban areas. The rate of urbanisation is estimated at 2.13% per year from 2010 to 2015. The average life expectancy is 77.7 years. In 2014, 65.7% of the population were Malay, 10.3% are Chinese, 3.4% are indigenous, with 20.6% smaller groups making up the rest. There is a relatively large expatriate community.
Most expats come from non-Muslim countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and India.
Religion
The official language of Brunei is Standard Malay, for which both the Latin alphabet (Rumi) and the Arabic alphabet (Jawi) are used. Initially, Malay was written in the Jawi script before it switched to the Latin alphabet around 1941.
The principal spoken language is Melayu Brunei (Brunei Malay). Brunei Malay is rather divergent from standard Malay and the rest of the Malay dialects, being about 84% cognate with standard Malay, and is mostly mutually intelligible with it.
English is widely used as a business and official language and it is spoken by a majority of the population in Brunei. English is used in business as a working language and as the language of instruction from primary to tertiary education.
Chinese languages are also widely spoken, and the Chinese minority in Brunei speaks a number of varieties of Chinese.
Arabic is the religious language of Muslims and is taught in schools, particularly religious schools, and also in institutes of higher learning. As of 2004, there are six Arabic schools and one religious teachers' college in Brunei. A majority of Brunei's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language as part of their religious education.
Other languages and dialects spoken include Kedayan Malay dialect, Tutong Malay dialect, Murut, and Dusun. Influences to Bruneian culture come from the Malay cultures of the Malay Archipelago. Four periods of cultural influence have occurred: animist, Hindu, Islamic, and Western. Islam had a very strong influence, and was adopted as Brunei's ideology and philosophy.
As a Sharia country, the sale and public consumption of alcohol is banned. Non-Muslims are allowed to bring in a limited amount of alcohol from their point of embarkation overseas for their own private consumption. Nonetheless, the press is not overtly hostile toward alternative viewpoints and is not restricted to publishing only articles regarding the government. The government allowed a printing and publishing company, Brunei Press PLC, to form in 1953. The company continues to print the English daily Borneo Bulletin. This paper began as a weekly community paper and became a daily in 1990 Apart from The Borneo Bulletin, there is also the Media Permata and Pelita Brunei, the local Malay newspapers which are circulated daily. The Brunei Times is another English independent newspaper published in Brunei since 2006.
The Brunei government, through state broadcaster Radio Television Brunei (RTB), owns and operates three television channels with the introduction of digital TV using DVB-T (RTB Perdana, RTB Aneka and RTB Sukmaindera) and five radio stations (National FM, Pilihan FM, Nur Islam FM, Harmony FM and Pelangi FM). A private company has made cable television available (Astro-Kristal) as well as one private radio station, Kristal FM.Sport
The most popular sport in Brunei is association football. The Brunei national football team joined FIFA in 1969, but has not had much success. Brunei's top football league is the Brunei Super League, which is managed by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD). The nation has its own martial arts called "Silat Suffian Bela Diri".
Brunei debuted at the Olympics in 1996 and has competed at all subsequent Summer Olympics except the 2008 edition. The country has competed in badminton, shooting, swimming, and track-and-field, but has yet to win any medals. The Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council is the National Olympic Committee for Brunei.
Brunei has had slightly more success at the Asian Games, winning four bronze medals. The first major international sporting event to be hosted in Brunei was the 1999 Southeast Asian Games. According to the all-time Southeast Asian Games medal table, Bruneian athletes have won a total of 14 gold, 55 silver and 163 bronze medals at the games.
See also
* List of Brunei-related topics
* Outline of Brunei
Notes
References
Sources
*
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External links
Government
* [http://www.pmo.gov.bn/Theme/Home.aspx Prime Minister's Office of Brunei Darussalam] website
* [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/world-leaders-1/BX.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members]
General information
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brunei/ Brunei]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12990058 Brunei profile] from the BBC News
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82119/Brunei Brunei] at Encyclopædia Britannica
*
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=BN Key Development Forecasts for Brunei] from International Futures
Travel
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509180534/http://www.tourismbrunei.com/ Brunei Tourism] website (archived 9 May 2007)
}}
Category:Countries in Asia
Category:Islamic states
Category:Countries and territories where Malay is an official language
Category:Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Category:Member states of ASEAN
Category:Member states of the United Nations
*
Category:Borneo
Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in Asia
Category:1888 establishments in the British Empire
Category:Commonwealth monarchies
Category:Island countries
Category:English-speaking countries and territories
Category:Maritime Southeast Asia
Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:Southeast Asian countries
Category:States and territories established in 1984
Category:Sultanates
Category:CPTPP | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.864513 |
3469 | British Virgin Islands | | mapsize = 290px
| image_map2 = British Virgin Islands locator.svg
| mapsize2 = 250px
| subdivision_type = Sovereign state
| subdivision_name =
| established_title =
| established_date = Dutch West Indies
| established_title2 = British capture
| established_date2 = 1672
| established_title3 = Cooper Island sold to UK
| established_date3 | established_title4 Separate colony
| established_date4 = 1960
| established_title5 = Autonomy
| established_date5 = 1967
| official_languages = English
| demonym =
| capital = Road Town
| coordinates =
| largest_city = capital
| ethnic_groups = 76.9% Black<br />5.6% Hispanic<br />5.4% White<br />5.4% Mixed<br />2.1% Indian<br />4.6% other
| ethnic_groups_year 2010
| population_estimate_year = 2019
| population_estimate_rank = 222nd
| population_census_year = 2010
| population_density_km2 = 260
| population_density_sq_mi = 673 <!-- Do not remove as per WP:MOSNUM -->
| population_density_rank = 68th
| GDP_PPP $500 million
| GDP_PPP_year = 2017
| GDP_PPP_rank | GDP_PPP_per_capita $34,200
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank | GDP_nominal
| GDP_nominal_year = 2017
| GDP_nominal_rank | GDP_nominal_per_capita
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank | Gini
| Gini_year | Gini_change <!-- increase/decrease/steady -->
| Gini_ref | HDI <!-- 0.981 -->
| HDI_year = <2019-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = <!-- increase/decrease/steady -->
| HDI_ref | HDI_rank
| currency = United States dollar (US$)
| currency_code = USD
| timezone = AST
| utc_offset = -4:00
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on = left
| calling_code = +1-284
| postal_code_type = UK postcode
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|website=https://gov.vg/}}
The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.
The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with more than 50 other smaller islands and cays. About 16 of the islands are inhabited.
British Virgin Islanders are British Overseas Territories citizens and, since 2002, also British citizens.
Etymology
The islands were named "Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes" by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the legend of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. British Virgin Islands government publications continue to begin with the name "The territory of the Virgin Islands", and the territory's passports simply refer to the "Virgin Islands", and all laws begin with the words "Virgin Islands". Moreover, the territory's Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that "every effort should be made" to encourage the use of the name "Virgin Islands". But various public and quasi-public bodies continue to use the name "British Virgin Islands" or "BVI", including BVI Finance, BVI Electricity Corporation, BVI Tourist Board, BVI Athletic Association, BVI Bar Association and others.
In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the postage stamps in the territory should say "British Virgin Islands" (whereas previously they had simply stated "Virgin Islands"), a practice which is still followed today. The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the Kalinago (Island Caribs), a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands.
The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas, who gave the islands their modern name. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix (i.e. the modern US Virgin Islands).
, one of the most important historical ruins in the territory]]
The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession. The British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and large numbers of slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. significantly reduced sugar cane production and led to a period of economic decline.Geography
The British Virgin Islands comprise around 60 tropical Caribbean islands, ranging in size from the largest, Tortola, being long and wide, to tiny uninhabited islets, altogether about in extent. They are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands, and about from the Puerto Rican mainland. About east south-east lies Anguilla. The North Atlantic Ocean lies to the east of the islands, and the Caribbean Sea lies to the west. Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and have a hilly, rugged terrain. In the British Virgin Islands forest cover is around 24% of the total land area, equivalent to 3,620 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 3,710 hectares (ha) in 1990.
Climate
The British Virgin Islands have a tropical rainforest climate, moderated by trade winds.
}}
Hurricanes
Hurricanes occasionally hit the islands, with the Atlantic hurricane season running from June to November.
Hurricane Irma
On 6 September 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the islands, causing extensive damage, especially on Tortola, and killing four people. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency declared a state of emergency. Visiting Tortola on 13 September 2017, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that he was reminded of photos of Hiroshima after it had been hit by the atom bomb.
struck a week after Hurricane Irma]]
By 8 September, the UK government sent troops with medical supplies and other aid. More troops were expected to arrive a day or two later, but
, carrying more extensive assistance, was not expected to reach the islands for another two weeks.
Entrepreneur Richard Branson, a resident of Necker Island, called on the UK government to develop a massive disaster recovery plan to include "both through short-term aid and long-term infrastructure spending". Premier Orlando Smith also called for a comprehensive aid package to rebuild the territory. On 10 September UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged £32 million to the Caribbean for a hurricane relief fund and promised that the UK government would match donations from the public to the British Red Cross appeal. Specifics were not provided to the news media as to the amount that would be allocated to the Virgin Islands. Boris Johnson's visit to Tortola on 13 September 2017 during his Caribbean tour was intended to confirm the UK's commitment to helping restore British islands but he provided no additional comments on the aid package. He did confirm that HMS Ocean had departed for the BVI carrying items like timber, buckets, bottled water, food, baby milk, bedding and clothing, as well as ten pickup trucks, building materials and hardware.
The UK offered to underwrite rebuilding loans up to US$400m as long as there was accountability as to how the monies were spent. Successive NDP and VIP governments declined, despite there having been created a Recovery & Development Authority led by highly-skilled infrastructure personnel, many of whom were ex-military with decades of infrastructure rebuilding expertise from war zones and natural disaster sites. Many wealthy residents also proposed a large rebuilding plan, starting with key infrastructure, such as the high school. Nearly five years later, there was no sign of any such rebuilding of the high school or certain other key infrastructure.
Politics
. The High Court sits upstairs.]]
The territory operates as a parliamentary democracy. and came into force when the Legislative Council was dissolved for the 2007 general election. The head of government under the constitution is the Premier (before the new constitution the office was referred to as Chief Minister), who is elected in a general election along with the other members of the ruling government as well as the members of the opposition. Elections are held roughly every four years. A cabinet is nominated by the Premier and appointed and chaired by the Governor. The Legislature consists of the King (represented by the Governor) and a unicameral House of Assembly made up of 13 elected members plus the Speaker and the Attorney General. However, the British Government decided on that date not to implement direct rule.
Subdivisions
The British Virgin Islands is a unitary territory. The territory is divided into nine electoral districts, and each voter is registered in one of those districts. Eight of the nine districts are partly or wholly on Tortola, and encompass nearby neighbouring islands. Only the ninth district (Virgin Gorda and Anegada) does not include any part of Tortola. At elections, in addition to voting their local representative, voters also cast votes for four candidates who are elected upon an at-large territory-wide basis.
Law and criminal justice
Crime in the British Virgin Islands is comparatively low by Caribbean standards. While statistics and hard data are relatively rare, and are not regularly published by governmental sources in the British Virgin Islands, the then-Premier did announce that in 2013 there was a 14% decline in recorded crime compared to 2012. Homicides are rare, with just one incident recorded in 2013.
The Virgin Islands Prison Service operates a single facility, His Majesty's Prison in East End, Tortola.
The British and US Virgin Islands sit at the axis of a major drugs transshipment point between Latin America and the continental United States.
Military
As a British Overseas territory, defence of the islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
Economically however, financial services associated with the territory's status as an offshore financial centre are by far the more important. According to Transparency International, the British Virgin Islands is one of the top incorporation hubs for anonymous companies used to conceal assets and stolen funds.
Although it is common to hear criticism in the British Virgin Islands' press about income inequality, no serious attempt has been made by economists to calculate a Gini coefficient or similar measure of income equality for the territory. A report from 2000 suggested that, despite the popular perception, income inequality was actually lower in the British Virgin Islands than in any other OECS state, although in global terms income equality is higher in the Caribbean than in many other regions.
Tourism
, Virgin Gorda]]
Tourism accounts for approximately 45% of national income. the BVI hosts the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival. A substantial number of the tourists who visit the BVI are cruise ship passengers, and although they produce far lower revenue per head than charter boat tourists and hotel based tourists, they are nonetheless important to the substantial – and politically important – taxi driving community.
Financial services
Financial services account for over half of the income of the territory. The majority of this revenue is generated by the licensing of offshore companies and related services. The British Virgin Islands is a significant global player in the offshore financial services industry. Since 2001, financial services in the British Virgin Islands have been regulated by the independent Financial Services Commission.
The BVI is relied upon for its sophisticated Commercial Court division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, as well as the more recent BVI Arbitration Centre. Caribbean KCs and British KCs preside over the majority of important cases and the laws of the Virgin Islands are based on English laws, meaning the jurisdiction provides clarity and consistency should parties require commercial disputes to be resolved. Owing to the international nature of BVI companies' operations and asset holdings, the BVI Commercial Court routinely hears highly sophisticated matters at the cutting edge of cross-border litigation and enforcement, where billions of dollars are at issue.
Citco, also known as the Citco Group of Companies and the Curaçao International Trust Co., is a privately owned global hedge fund administrator headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, founded in 1948. It is the world's largest hedge fund administrator, managing over $1 trillion in assets under administration.
In May 2022, the banking sector of the British Virgin Islands comprised only seven commercial banks and one restricted bank, 12 authorised custodians, two licensed money services businesses and one licensed financing service provider.
The British Virgin Islands is frequently referred to as a "tax haven" by campaigners and NGOs, including Oxfam. Successive governments in the British Virgin Islands have implemented tax exchange agreements and verified beneficial ownership information of companies following the 2013 G8 summit putting their governance and regulatory regimes far ahead of many "onshore" jurisdictions.
On 10 September 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron said "I do not think it is fair any longer to refer to any of the Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies as tax havens. They have taken action to make sure that they have fair and open tax systems. It is very important that our focus should now shift to those territories and countries that really are tax havens." Yet journalist and author for The Economist, Nicholas Shaxson, writes in his 2016 Treasure Islands, tax havens and the men who stole the world: "...Britain sits, spider-like, at the centre of a vast international web of tax havens, which hoover up trillions of dollars' worth of business and capital from around the globe and funnel it up to the City of London. The British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories – ...the British Virgin Islands... are some of the biggest players in the offshore world."(pp. vii-viii) Shaxson points out that despite BVI having fewer than 25000 inhabitants, hosts over 800,000 companies.
In the April 2016 Panama Papers leak, while all of the wrongdoing by Mossack Fonseca personnel occurred in Panama and the US, the British Virgin Islands was by far the most commonly-used jurisdiction by clients of Mossack Fonseca.
In 2022, the verified nature of beneficial ownership registers of the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies were a crucial tool in giving effect to sanctions against Russia and Belarus, enabling the efficient identification and seizure of yachts, real estate and businesses.
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
On 30 June 2014, The British Virgin Islands was deemed to have an Inter- Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States of America with respect to the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" of the United States of America.
The Model 1 Agreement (14 Pages) recognizes that: The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland provided a copy of the Letter of Entrustment which was sent to the Government of the British Virgin Islands, to the Government of the United States of America "via diplomatic note of 28 May 2014".
The Letter of Entrustment dated 14 July 2010 was originally provided to the Government of the British Virgin Islands and authorised the Government of the BVI "to negotiate and conclude Agreements relating to taxation that provide for exchange of information on tax matters to the OECD standard" (Paragraph 2 of the FATCA Agreement). Via an "Entrustment Letter" dated 24 March 2014, The Government of the United Kingdom, authorised the Government of the BVI to sign an agreement on information exchange to facilitate the Implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The Government of the British Virgin Islands has not yet formally challenged this law, yet has criticised it, noting that it violates the Constitutional sovereignty granted to the islands, and would in practice be relatively ineffective in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, while raising serious privacy and human rights issues. Further, this would put the British Virgin Islands in a position where it would be at a severe disadvantage because other International Finance Centres do not have this in place, and in the case of the US and the UK, there is very little near-term prospect of the same. In a judgment dated 22 November 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has at last decided that open public access to the beneficial owner registers of EU member state companies is no longer valid, as it is in contravention of articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter). The US appears to have come to a similar conclusion regarding balancing confidentiality and legitimate privacy with the Anti-Money Laundering advantages of having verified beneficial ownerships registers. The resultant goal appears to be to bring the US in line with the current Cayman and BVI regimes. The UK's Crown Dependencies have already stated that they will not implement public registers without beforehand having received fresh legal advice on the matter and it is thought that the Overseas Territories would logically take a similar position. The UK is yet to come out in support of the BOTs and CDs and their current gold standard regulatory positions.
Agriculture and industry
Agriculture and industry account for only a small proportion of the islands' GDP.
In recognition of the CARICOM (Free Movement) Skilled Persons Act which came into effect in July 1997 in some of the CARICOM countries such as Jamaica and which has been adopted in other CARICOM countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, it is possible that CARICOM nationals who hold the "A Certificate of Recognition of Caribbean Community Skilled Person" may be allowed to work in the BVI under normal working conditions.
Transport
There are of roads. The main airport, Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, also known as Beef Island Airport, is located on Beef Island, which lies off the eastern tip of Tortola and is accessible by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Cape Air, and Air Sunshine are among the airlines offering scheduled service. Virgin Gorda and Anegada have their own smaller airports. Private air charter services operated by Island Birds Air Charter fly directly to all three islands from any major airport in the Caribbean. Helicopters are used to get to islands with no runway facilities; Antilles Helicopter Services is the only helicopter service based in the country.
The main harbour is in Road Town. There are also ferries that operate within the British Virgin Islands and to the neighbouring United States Virgin Islands. Cars in the British Virgin Islands drive on the left just as they do in the United Kingdom and the United States Virgin Islands. However, most cars are left hand drive, because they are from the United States. The roads are often quite steep, narrow and winding, and ruts, mudslides and rockfall can be a problem when it rains.Demographics
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the territory was 28,054.
*7.2% Guyana
*7.0% St. Vincent and the Grenadines
*6.0% Jamaica
*5.5% United States
*5.4% Dominican Republic
*5.3% United States Virgin Islands
The islands are heavily dependent upon migrant labour. In 2004, migrant workers accounted for 50% of the total population. 32% of workers employed in the British Virgin Islands work for the government. In the late 2000s the first Overseas Filipino Worker came to the British Virgin Islands, by 2020 total British Filipino population was about 800.
Unusually, the territory has one of the highest drowning mortality rates in the world, being higher than other high-risk countries such as China and India. 20% of deaths in the British Virgin Islands during 2012 were recorded as drownings, all of them being tourists. Despite this, the territory's most popular beach still has no lifeguard presence.
Religion
Over 90% of the population who indicated a religious affiliation at the 2010 Census were Christian with the largest individual Christian denominations being Methodist (17.6%),
The Constitution of the British Virgin Islands commences with a professed national belief in God.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religion by % of population<br />(National Census 2010) There remains segregation in the school system; while BVIslander and Belonger children make up a significant proportion of pupils in private schools, Non-Belongers are prohibited from attending government schools. It is extremely common for students from the British Virgin Islands to travel overseas for secondary and tertiary education, either to the University of the West Indies, or to colleges and universities in either the United Kingdom, United States or Canada. Coaching in certain sports, such as athletics, squash and football is of a high level.
The literacy rate in the British Virgin Islands is high at 98%.CultureLanguage
The primary language is English, although there is a local dialect.
Sport
Because of its location and climate, the British Virgin Islands has long been a haven for sailing enthusiasts. Sailing is regarded as one of the foremost sports in all of the BVI. Calm waters and steady breezes provide some of the best sailing conditions in the Caribbean.
Many sailing events are held in the waters of this country, the largest of which is a week-long series of races called the Spring Regatta, the premier sailing event of the Caribbean, with several races hosted each day. Boats include everything from full-size mono-hull yachts to dinghies. Captains and their crews come from all around the world to attend these races. The Spring Regatta is part race, part party, part festival. The Spring Regatta is normally held during the first week of April.
Since 2009, the BVI have made a name for themselves as a host of international basketball events. The BVI hosted three of the last four events of the Caribbean Basketball Championship (FIBA CBC Championship).
See also
*List of British Virgin Islanders
*Outline of the British Virgin Islands
References
<references />
External links
; Directories
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080703234346/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/britishvirginisles.htm British Virgin Islands] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
; NGO sources
*
; Official websites and overviews
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101126111940/http://www.bvi.gov.vg/ Government of the British Virgin Islands official website]
*[http://www.bvi.org.uk/ British Virgin Islands – London Office]
*[http://www.oghm.org/ Old Government House Museum, British Virgin Islands]
*[http://www.bvitourism.com/ British Virgin Islands Tourist Board]
*[http://bvifinance.vg/language/en-GB/Home Home]
*[http://www.bvinationalparkstrust.org/ National Parks Trust of the British Virgin Islands]—Official site
*[http://www.bvifsc.vg/ British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission]—Official site
*[http://www.bviports.org/ The British Virgin Islands Ports Authority]—Official site
*[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/british-virgin-islands/ British Virgin Islands]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
; Wikimedia content
*
Geographic locale
|list Lat. <small>and</small> Long. <span style="color:darkblue;">(Road Town)</span>
}}
}}
}}
Category:Dependent territories in the Caribbean
.British Virgin
Category:Virgin Islands
Category:British Leeward Islands
Category:British West Indies
Category:English-speaking countries and territories
Category:Former Dutch colonies
Category:Member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Category:Small Island Developing States
Category:States and territories established in 1672
Category:1672 establishments in the British Empire
Category:1672 establishments in North America
Category:1670s establishments in the Caribbean | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.919608 |
3470 | Burkina Faso | ||||}}
| common_name = Burkina Faso
| image_flag = Flag of Burkina Faso.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Burkina Faso.svg
| national_motto = <br />"Homeland or Death, we will overcome"
| national_anthem = Ditanyè
| image_map =
| map_caption | image_map2
| capital = Ouagadougou
| coordinates =
| largest_city = capital
| official_languages =
| languages_type = Working languages
| languages =
| ethnic_groups =
| ethnic_groups_year = 2010 est.
| ethnic_groups_ref
| religion =
*26.3% Christianity
**20.1% Catholicism
**6.2% Protestantism
|9% Animism
|0.7% Irreligion}}
| religion_year = 2019 Census
| religion_ref
| demonym =
| government_type Unitary republic under a military junta
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Ibrahim Traoré
| leader_title2 = Prime Minister
| leader_name2 = Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo
| legislature = Transitional Legislative Assembly
| sovereignty_type = History
| established_event1 = Republic of Upper Volta proclaimed
| established_date1 = 11 December 1958
| established_event2 = Independence from France
| established_date2 = 5 August 1960
| established_event3 = 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état
| established_date3 = 3 January 1966
| established_event4 = 2014 Burkina Faso uprising
| established_date4 = 28 October – 3 November 2014
| established_event5 = Jan 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état
| established_date5 = 23–24 January 2022
| established_event6 = Sep 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état
| established_date6 = 30 September 2022
| area_km2 274,223
| area_rank = 74th
| area_sq_mi = 105,869 <!--Do not remove per WP:MOSNUM-->
| percent_water = 0.146%
| population_estimate 22,489,126
| GDP_PPP_year = 2023
| GDP_PPP_rank = 114th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita $2,682
| Gini_rank | HDI 0.438 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022 <!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year -->
| HDI_change = decrease <!-- increase/decrease/steady -->
| HDI_ref
| HDI_rank = 185th
| currency West African CFA franc
| currency_code = XOF
| utc_offset | time_zone UTC+00:00
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +226
| iso3166code = BF
| cctld = .bf
| footnotes | today
}}
Burkina Faso , ; ; ; }} is a landlocked country in West Africa, Previously called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by former president Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, }} and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries. They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga. In 1896, it was colonized by the French as part of French West Africa; in 1958, Upper Volta became a self-governing colony within the French Community. In 1960, it gained full independence with Maurice Yaméogo as president. Since it gained its independence, the country has been subject to instability, droughts, famines and corruption. There have also been various coups, in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and twice in 2022 (January and September). There were also unsuccessful coup attempts in 1989, 2015, and 2023.
Thomas Sankara came to power following a successful coup in 1983. As president, Sankara embarked on a series of ambitious socioeconomic reforms which included a nationwide literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, vaccinations for over 2 million children, railway and road construction, equalized access to education, and the outlawing of female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy. He served as the country's president until 1987 when he was deposed and assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré, who became president and ruled the country until his removal on 31 October 2014.
Since the mid-2010s, Burkina Faso has been severely affected by the rise of insurgencies in the Sahel. Several militias, partly allied with the Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda, operate in Burkina Faso and across the border in Mali and Niger. More than one million of the country's 23 million inhabitants are internally displaced persons. Burkina Faso's military seized power in a coup d'état on 23 and 24 January 2022, overthrowing President Roch Marc Kaboré. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba as interim president, but he was himself overthrown in a second coup on 30 September and replaced by military captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Burkina Faso remains one of the least developed countries in the world, with a GDP of $16.226 billion in 2022. Approximately 63.8% of its population practices Islam, while 26.3% practices Christianity. The country's four official languages are Mooré, Bissa, Dyula and Fula, with the first one being spoken by over half the population; the Burkinabè government also officially recognizes 60 indigenous languages.
The country's territory is geographically biodiverse, and includes plentiful reserves of gold, manganese, copper and limestone. Due to its multicultural make-up, Burkinabè art has a rich and long history, and is globally renowned for its orthodox style. The country is governed as a semi-presidential republic, with executive, legislative and judicial powers. It is a member of the United Nations, La Francophonie and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. On 18 January 2024, Burkina Faso announced its exit from ECOWAS and the African Union.EtymologyFormerly the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. The words "Burkina" and "Faso" stem from different languages spoken in the country: "Burkina" comes from Mooré and means "upright", showing how the people are proud of their integrity, while "Faso" comes from the Dyula language (as written in N'Ko: faso) and means "fatherland" (literally, "father's house"). The "-bé" suffix added onto "Burkina" to form the demonym "Burkinabé" comes from the Fula language and means "women or men". The US Central Intelligence Agency’s World Fact Book gives the translation as "Land of the Honest (Incorruptible) Men"
The French Colony of Upper Volta was named for its location on the upper courses of the Volta River (the Black, Red and White Volta).HistoryEarly historyThe northwestern part of present-day Burkina Faso was populated by hunter-gatherers from 14,000 BCE to 5,000 BCE. Their tools, including scrapers, chisels and arrowheads, were discovered in 1973 through archaeological excavations. Agricultural settlements were established between 3600 and 2600 BCE. Iron industry, in smelting and forging for tools and weapons, had developed in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BCE. To date, the oldest evidence of iron smelting found in Burkina Faso dates from 800 to 700 BCE and forms part of the Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy World Heritage Site. From the 3rd to the 13th centuries CE, the Iron Age Bura culture existed in the territory of present-day southeastern Burkina Faso and southwestern Niger. Various ethnic groups of present-day Burkina Faso, such as the Mossi, Fula and Dioula, arrived in successive waves between the 8th and 15th centuries. From the 11th century, the Mossi people established several separate kingdoms.
8th to 18th centuries
There is debate about the exact dates when Burkina Faso's many ethnic groups arrived to the area. The proto-Mossi arrived in the far eastern part of what is today Burkina Faso sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, and accepted Islam as their religion in the 11th century. The Samo arrived around the 15th century. The Dogon lived in Burkina Faso's north and northwest regions until sometime in the 15th or 16th centuries, and many of the other ethnic groups that make up the country's population arrived in the region during this time.
were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.]]
from entering Sia (Bobo-Dioulasso) during his stay in April 1892.]]
During the Middle Ages, the Mossi established several separate kingdoms including those of Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma, and Ouagadougou. Sometime between 1328 and 1338, Mossi warriors raided Timbuktu but the Mossi were defeated by Sonni Ali of Songhai at the Battle of Kobi in Mali in 1483.
During the early 16th century, the Songhai conducted many slave raids into what is today Burkina Faso.From colony to independence (1890s–1958)
Starting in the early 1890s during the European Scramble for Africa, a series of European military officers made attempts to claim parts of what is today Burkina Faso. At times these colonialists and their armies fought the local peoples; at times they forged alliances with them and made treaties. The colonialist officers and their home governments also made treaties among themselves. The territory of Burkina Faso was invaded by France, becoming a French protectorate in 1896.
c. 1913]]
The eastern and western regions, where a standoff against the forces of the powerful ruler Samori Ture complicated the situation, came under French occupation in 1897. By 1898, the majority of the territory corresponding to Burkina Faso was nominally conquered; however, French control of many parts remained uncertain.
Draftees from the territory participated in the European fronts of World War I in the battalions of the Senegalese Rifles. Between 1915 and 1916, the districts in the western part of what is now Burkina Faso and the bordering eastern fringe of Mali became the stage of one of the most important armed oppositions to colonial government: the Volta-Bani War.
The French government finally suppressed the movement but only after suffering defeats. It also had to organize its largest expeditionary force of its colonial history to send into the country to suppress the insurrection. Armed opposition wracked the Sahelian north when the Tuareg and allied groups of the Dori region ended their truce with the government.
, in 1930]]
French Upper Volta was established on 1 March 1919. The French feared a recurrence of armed uprising and had related economic considerations. To bolster its administration, the colonial government separated the present territory of Burkina Faso from Upper Senegal and Niger.
The new colony was named Haute Volta for its location on the upper courses of the Volta River (the Black, Red and White Volta), and François Charles Alexis Édouard Hesling became its first governor. Hesling initiated an ambitious road-making program to improve infrastructure and promoted the growth of cotton for export. The cotton policy – based on coercion – failed, and revenue generated by the colony stagnated. The colony was dismantled on 5 September 1932, being split between the French colonies of Ivory Coast, French Sudan and Niger. Ivory Coast received the largest share, which contained most of the population as well as the cities of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.
France reversed this change during the period of intense anti-colonial agitation that followed the end of World War II. On 4 September 1947, it revived the colony of Upper Volta, with its previous boundaries, as a part of the French Union. The French designated its colonies as departments of metropolitan France on the European continent.
On 11 December 1958 the colony achieved self-government as the Republic of Upper Volta; it joined the Franco-African Community. A revision in the organization of French Overseas Territories had begun with the passage of the Basic Law (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956. This act was followed by reorganization measures approved by the French parliament early in 1957 to ensure a large degree of self-government for individual territories. Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French community on 11 December 1958. Full independence from France was received in 1960.Upper Volta (1958–1984)
, the first president of Upper Volta, examines documents pertaining to the ratification of the country's independence in 1960]]
The Republic of Upper Volta () was established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community. The name Upper Volta related to the nation's location along the upper reaches of the Volta River. The river's three tributaries are called the Black, White and Red Volta. These were expressed in the three colors of the former national flag.
Before attaining autonomy, it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On 5 August 1960, it attained full independence from France. The first president, Maurice Yaméogo, was the leader of the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV). The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of a president and a national assembly for five-year terms. Soon after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV. The government lasted until 1966. After much unrest, including mass demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servants, the military intervened.
Lamizana's rule and multiple coups
The 1966 military coup deposed Yaméogo, suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and placed Lt. Col. Sangoulé Lamizana at the head of a government of senior army officers. The army remained in power for four years. On 14 June 1976, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that established a four-year transition period toward complete civilian rule. Lamizana remained in power throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments. Lamizana's rule coincided with the beginning of the Sahel drought and famine which had a devastating impact on Upper Volta and neighboring countries. After conflict over the 1976 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977. Lamizana was re-elected by open elections in 1978.
Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions, and on 25 November 1980, Col. Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup. Colonel Zerbo established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.
Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later by Maj. Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP) in the 1982 Upper Voltan coup d'état. The CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a new constitution.1983 coup d'état
Infighting developed between the right and left factions of the CSP. The leader of the leftists, Capt. Thomas Sankara, was appointed prime minister in January 1983, but was subsequently arrested. Efforts to free him, directed by Capt. Blaise Compaoré, resulted in a military coup d'état on 4 August 1983.
The coup brought Sankara to power and his government began to implement a series of revolutionary programs which included mass-vaccinations, infrastructure improvements, the expansion of women's rights, encouragement of domestic agricultural consumption, and anti-desertification projects. Burkina Faso (since 1984)
On 2 August 1984, on Sankara's initiative, the country's name changed from "Upper Volta" to "Burkina Faso", or land of the honest men; (the literal translation is land of the upright men). The presidential decree was confirmed by the National Assembly on 4 August 1984.
Sankara's government comprised the National Council for the Revolution (CNR – ), with Sankara as its president, and established popular Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs). The Pioneers of the Revolution youth programme was also established.
Sankara launched an ambitious socioeconomic programme for change, one of the largest ever undertaken on the African continent.
Sankara pushed for agrarian self-sufficiency and promoted public health by vaccinating 2,500,000 children against meningitis, yellow fever, and measles.
In the 1980s, when ecological awareness was still very low, Sankara was one of the few African leaders to consider environmental protection a priority. He engaged in three major battles: against bush fires "which will be considered as crimes and will be punished as such"; against cattle roaming "which infringes on the rights of peoples because unattended animals destroy nature"; and against the illegitimate cutting of firewood "whose profession will have to be organized and regulated". As part of a development program involving a large part of the population, ten million trees were planted in Burkina Faso in fifteen months during the revolution. To face the advancing desert and recurrent droughts, Sankara also proposed the planting of wooded strips about fifty kilometers wide, crossing the country from east to west. Cereal production, close to 1.1 billion tons before 1983, was predicted to rise to 1.6 billion tons in 1987. Jean Ziegler, former UN special rapporteur for the right to food, said that the country "had become food self-sufficient."
Compaoré presidency
(left), President 1987–2014, shaking hands with George W. Bush]]
On 15 October 1987, Sankara and twelve other government officials were assassinated in a coup d'état organized by Blaise Compaoré, Sankara's former colleague, who took over as Burkina Faso's president. He held the position until October 2014. After the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs mounted an armed resistance to the army for several days. A majority of Burkinabè citizens hold that France's foreign ministry, the Quai d'Orsay, was behind Compaoré in organizing the coup. There is some evidence for France's support of the coup.
Compaoré gave the deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries as one of the reasons for the coup. He argued that Sankara had jeopardised foreign relations with the former colonial power (France) and with neighbouring Ivory Coast. Following the coup, Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, returned the country back into the IMF fold, and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy. Following an alleged coup-attempt in 1989, Compaoré introduced limited democratic reforms in 1990. Under the new (1991) constitution, Compaoré was re-elected without opposition in December 1991. In 1998 Compaoré won election in a landslide. In 2004, 13 people were tried for plotting a coup against President Compaoré and the coup's alleged mastermind was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election. The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections. If passed beforehand, it would have prevented Compaoré from being reelected. Other presidential candidates challenged the election results. But in October 2005, the constitutional council ruled that, because Compaoré was the sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply to him until the end of his second term in office. This cleared the way for his candidacy in the 2005 election. On 13 November 2005, he was reelected in a landslide, because of a divided political opposition.
In the 2010 presidential election, Compaoré was re-elected. Only 1.6 million Burkinabè voted, out of a total population 10 times that size. In February 2011, the death of a schoolboy provoked the 2011 Burkinabè protests, a series of popular protests, coupled with a military mutiny and a magistrates' strike, that called for Compaoré's resignation, democratic reforms, higher wages for troops and public servants and economic freedom. As a result, governors were replaced and wages for public servants were raised. In April 2011, there was an army mutiny; the president named new chiefs of staff, and a curfew was imposed in Ouagadougou.
Compaoré's government played the role of negotiator in several West-African disputes, including the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis, the Inter-Togolese Dialogue (2007), and the 2012 Malian Crisis. , Burkina Faso remained one of the least-developed countries in the world. Kafando presidency
Starting on 28 October 2014 protesters began to march and demonstrate in Ouagadougou against President Compaoré, who appeared ready to amend the constitution and extend his 27-year rule. On 30 October some protesters set fire to the parliament building and took over the national TV headquarters. Ouagadougou International Airport closed and MPs suspended the vote on changing the constitution (the change would have allowed Compaoré to stand for re-election in 2015). Later in the day, the military dissolved all government institutions and imposed a curfew.
On 31 October 2014, Compaoré resigned. Lt. Col. Isaac Zida said that he would lead the country during its transitional period before the planned 2015 presidential election, but there were concerns over his close ties to the former president. In November 2014 opposition parties, civil-society groups and religious leaders adopted a plan for a transitional authority to guide Burkina Faso to elections. Under the plan Michel Kafando became the transitional president and Lt. Col. Zida became the acting Prime Minister and Defense Minister.
On 16 September 2015, the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) carried out a coup d'état, seizing the president and prime minister and then declaring the National Council for Democracy the new national government. However, on 22 September 2015, the coup leader, Gilbert Diendéré, apologized and promised to restore civilian government. On 23 September 2015 the prime minister and interim president were restored to power.
Kaboré presidency and Jihadist insurgency (2015–2023)
General elections took place on 29 November 2015. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré won the election in the first round with 53.5% of the vote, defeating businessman Zéphirin Diabré, who took 29.7%. Kaboré was sworn in as president on 29 December 2015. Kaboré was re-elected in the general election of 22 November 2020, but his party Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès (MPP), failed to reach absolute parliamentary majority. It secured 56 seats out of a total of 127. The Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), the party of former President Blaise Compaoré, was distant second with 20 seats.
.]]
A Jihadist insurgency began in August 2015, part of the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. Between August 2015 and October 2016, seven different posts were attacked across the country. On 15 January 2016, terrorists attacked the capital city of Ouagadougou, killing 30 people. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Mourabitoune, which until then had mostly operated in neighbouring Mali, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In 2016, attacks increased after a new group Ansarul Islam, led by imam Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was founded. Its attacks focused particularly on Soum province and it killed dozens of people in the attack on Nassoumbou on 16 December.
Between 27 March – 10 April 2017, the governments of Mali, France, and Burkina Faso launched a joint operation named "Operation Panga", which involved 1,300 soldiers from the three countries, in the Fhero Forest, near the Burkina Faso-Mali border, considered a sanctuary for Ansarul Islam. The head of Ansarul Islam, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was killed in June 2017 and Jafar Dicko became leader.
On 2 March 2018, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou as well as the general staff of the Burkinabè army. Eight soldiers and eight attackers were killed, and a further 61 soldiers and 24 civilians were injured. The insurgency expanded to the east of the country and, in early October, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso launched a major military operation in the country's East, supported by French forces. According to Human Rights Watch, between mid-2018 to February 2019, at least 42 people were murdered by jihadists and a minimum of 116 mostly Fulani civilians were killed by military forces without trial. The attacks increased significantly in 2019. According to the ACLED, armed violence in Burkina Faso jumped by 174% in 2019, with nearly 1,300 civilians dead and 860,000 displaced. Jihadist groups also began to specifically target Christians.
.]]
On 8 July 2020, the United States raised concerns after a Human Rights Watch report revealed mass graves with at least 180 bodies, which were found in northern Burkina Faso where soldiers were fighting jihadists. On 4 June 2021, the Associated Press reported that according to the government of Burkina Faso, gunmen killed at least 100 people in Solhan village in northern Burkina Faso near the Niger border. A local market and several homes were also burned down. A government spokesman blamed jihadists. Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said it was the deadliest attack recorded in Burkina Faso since the beginning of the jihadist insurgency.
From 4–5 June 2021, unknown militants massacred over 170 people in the villages of Solhan and Tadaryat. Jihadists killed 80 people in Gorgadji on 20 August. On 14 November, the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a gendarmerie in Inata, killing 53 soldiers, the heaviest loss of life by the Burkinabe military during the insurgency, and a major morale loss in the country. In December Islamists killed 41 people in an ambush, including the popular vigilante leader Ladji Yoro. Yoro was a central figure in the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) a pro-government militia that had taken a leading role in the struggle against Islamists.
In 2023, shortly after the murder of a Catholic priest at the hands of insurgents, the bishop of Dori, Laurent Dabiré, claimed in an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that around 50% of the country was in the hands of Islamists.
2022 coups d'état
In a successful coup on 24 January 2022, mutinying soldiers arrested and deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré following gunfire. The Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) supported by the military declared itself to be in power, led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Damiba interim president. In the aftermath of the coup, ECOWAS and the African Union suspended Burkina Faso's membership. On 10 February, the Constitutional Council declared Damiba president. He was sworn in as president on 16 February. On 1 March 2022, the junta approved a charter allowing a military-led transition of 3 years. The charter provides for the transition process to be followed by the holding of elections. President Kaboré, who had been detained since the military junta took power, was released on 6 April 2022.
The insurgency continued following the coup, with about 60% of the country under government control. The Siege of Djibo began in February 2022 and continued as of June 2023. Between 100 and 165 people were killed in Seytenga Department, Séno Province on 12–13 June and around 16,000 people fled their homes. In June 2022, the Government announced the creation of "military zones", which civilians were required to vacate so that the country's Armed and Security Forces could fight insurgents without any "hindrances".
On 30 September 2022, Damiba was ousted in a military coup led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré. This came eight months after Damiba seized power. The rationale given by Traoré for the coup d'état was the purported inability of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba to deal with an Islamist insurgency. Damiba resigned and left the country. On 6 October 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré was officially appointed as president. Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla was appointed interim Prime Minister on 21 October 2022.
On 13 April 2023, authorities in Burkina Faso declared a mobilisation in order to give the nation all means necessary to combat terrorism and create a "legal framework for all the actions to be taken" against the insurgents in recapturing 40% of the national territory from Islamist insurgents. On 20 April, the Rapid Intervention Brigade committed the Karma massacre, rounding up and executing civilians en masse. Between 60 and 156 civilians were killed.
On 25 August 2024, JNIM again launched a major attack in the region of Barsalogho, killing at least 400 people.Geography
Burkina Faso lies mostly between latitudes 9° and 15° N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6° W and 3° E.
It is made up of two major types of countryside. The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, which forms a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif. The southwest of the country, on the other hand, forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of . The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to high. The average altitude of Burkina Faso is and the difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than . Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country.
The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon). The Black Volta is one of the country's only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest. The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country's surface.
The Niger's tributaries – the Béli, Gorouol, Goudébo, and Dargol – are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year. They still can flood and overflow, however. The country also contains numerous lakes – the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam, and Dem. The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli, and Markoye. Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the country.
h near the Gbomblora Department, on the road from Gaoua to Batié]]
Burkina Faso lies within two terrestrial ecoregions: Sahelian Acacia savanna and West Sudanian savanna.
In Burkina Faso forest cover is around 23% of the total land area, equivalent to 6,216,400 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 7,716,600 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 6,039,300 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 177,100 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.Climate
]]
Burkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons. In the rainy season, the country receives between of rainfall; in the dry season, the harmattan – a hot dry wind from the Sahara – blows. The rainy season lasts around four months, May/June to September, but is shorter in the north of the country. Three climatic zones can be defined: the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, and the Sudan-Guinea. The Sahel in the north typically receives less than of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, .
A relatively dry tropical savanna, the Sahel extends beyond the borders of Burkina Faso, from the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the Sahara to its north and the fertile region of the Sudan to the south. Situated between 11° 3′ and 13° 5′ north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a transitional zone with regard to rainfall and temperature. Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than As the country is situated in the Sahel region, it has some of the most radical climatic variation in the world, ranging from severe flooding to extreme drought. The unpredictable climatic shocks can make it very difficult for Burkina Faso citizens to rely on and prosper from agriculture.
Burkina Faso's climate also renders its crops vulnerable to insect attacks, including attacks from locusts and crickets, which destroy crops and further inhibit food production. Not only is most of the population of Burkina Faso dependent on agriculture as a source of income, but they also rely on the agricultural sector for food that will directly feed the household. and often have to travel outside of their regional zone to find work. Natural resources Burkina Faso's natural resources include gold, manganese, limestone, marble, phosphates, pumice, and salt.Wildlife
Burkina Faso has a larger number of elephants than many countries in West Africa. Lions, leopards and buffalo can also be found here, including the dwarf or red buffalo, a smaller reddish-brown animal which looks like a fierce kind of short-legged cow. Other large predators live in Burkina Faso, such as the cheetah, the caracal or African lynx, the spotted hyena and the African painted dog, one of the continent's most endangered species.
Burkina Faso's fauna and flora are protected in four national parks:
* The W National Park in the east which passes Burkina Faso, Benin, and Niger
* The Arly Wildlife Reserve (Arly National Park in the east)
* The Léraba-Comoé Classified Forest and Partial Reserve of Wildlife in the west
* The Mare aux Hippopotames in the west
and several reserves: see List of national parks in Africa and List of protected areas of Burkina Faso.
Government and politics
building in downtown Ouagadougou]]
The constitution of 2 June 1991 established a semi-presidential government: its parliament could be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who was to be elected for a term of seven years. In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election. The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections.
The parliament consisted of one chamber known as the National Assembly, which had 111 seats with members elected to serve five-year terms. There was also a constitutional chamber, composed of ten members, and an economic and social council whose roles were purely consultative. The 1991 constitution created a bicameral parliament, but the upper house (Chamber of Representatives) was abolished in 2002.
The Compaoré administration had worked to decentralize power by devolving some of its powers to regions and municipal authorities. The widespread distrust of politicians and lack of political involvement by many residents complicated this process. Critics described this as a hybrid decentralisation.
Political freedoms are severely restricted in Burkina Faso. Human rights organizations had criticised the Compaoré administration for numerous acts of state-sponsored violence against journalists and other politically active members of society.
The prime minister is head of government and is appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly. He is responsible for recommending a cabinet for appointment by the president.
Constitution
In 2015, Kaboré promised to revise the 1991 constitution. The revision was completed in 2018. One condition prevents any individual from serving as president for more than ten years either consecutively or intermittently and provides a method for impeaching a president. A referendum on the constitution for the Fifth Republic was scheduled for 24 March 2019.
Certain rights are also enshrined in the revised wording: access to drinking water, access to decent housing and a recognition of the right to civil disobedience, for example. The referendum was required because the opposition parties in Parliament refused to sanction the proposed text.
Following the January 2022 coup d'état, the military dissolved the parliament, government and constitution. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution, but it was suspended again following the September 2022 coup d'état.
Administrative divisions
The country is divided into 13 administrative regions. These regions encompass 45 provinces and 301 departments. Each region is administered by a governor.
Foreign relations
Burkina Faso is a member of the Community of Sahel–Saharan States, La Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and United Nations. It is currently suspended from ECOWAS and the African Union. Until December 2023 Burkina Faso was a member of G5 Sahel, a small group formed in 2014 to co-operate with development and security matters. However, in December 2023 the country withdrew from the organisation due to concerns of "serving foreign interests to the detriments of our people" along with Niger and Mali.
Military
The army consists of some 6,000 men in voluntary service, augmented by a part-time national People's Militia composed of civilians between 25 and 35 years of age who are trained in both military and civil duties. According to ''Jane's Sentinel Country Risk Assessment'', Burkina Faso's Army is undermanned for its force structure and poorly equipped, but has wheeled light-armour vehicles, and may have developed useful combat expertise through interventions in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa.
In terms of training and equipment, the regular Army is believed to be neglected in relation to the élite Regiment of Presidential Security ( – RSP). Reports have emerged in recent years of disputes over pay and conditions. There is an air force with some 19 operational aircraft, but no navy, as the country is landlocked. Military expenses constitute approximately 1.2% of the nation's GDP.Law enforcement
Burkina Faso employs numerous police and security forces, generally modeled after organizations used by French police. France continues to provide significant support and training to police forces. The Gendarmerie Nationale is organized along military lines, with most police services delivered at the brigade level. The Gendarmerie operates under the authority of the Minister of Defence, and its members are employed chiefly in the rural areas and along borders.
There is a municipal police force controlled by the Ministry of Territorial Administration; a national police force controlled by the Ministry of Security; and an autonomous Regiment of Presidential Security (Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle, or RSP), a 'palace guard' devoted to the protection of the President of the Republic. Both the gendarmerie and the national police are subdivided into both administrative and judicial police functions; the former are detailed to protect public order and provide security, the latter are charged with criminal investigations.Economy
The value of Burkina Faso's exports fell from $2.77 billion in 2011 to $754 million in 2012. Agriculture represents 32% of its gross domestic product and occupies 80% of the working population. It consists mostly of rearing livestock. Especially in the south and southwest, the people grow crops of sorghum, pearl millet, maize (corn), peanuts, rice and cotton, with surpluses to be sold. A large part of the economic activity of the country is funded by international aid, despite having gold ores in abundance.
The top five export commodities in 2017 were, in order of importance: gems and precious metals, US$1.9 billion (78.5% of total exports), cotton, $198.7 million (8.3%), ores, slag, ash, $137.6 million (5.8%), fruits, nuts: $76.6 million (3.2%) and oil seeds: $59.5 million (2.5%).
A December 2018 report from the World Bank indicates that in 2017, economic growth increased to 6.4% in 2017 (vs. 5.9% in 2016) primarily due to gold production and increased investment in infrastructure. The increase in consumption linked to growth of the wage bill also supported economic growth. Inflation remained low, 0.4% that year but the public deficit grew to 7.7% of GDP (vs. 3.5% in 2016). The government was continuing to get financial aid and loans to finance the debt. To finance the public deficit, the Government combined concessional aid and borrowing on the regional market. The World Bank said that the economic outlook remained favorable in the short and medium term, although that could be negatively impacted. Risks included high oil prices (imports), lower prices of gold and cotton (exports) as well as terrorist threat and labour strikes.
Burkina Faso is part of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UMEOA) and has adopted the CFA franc. This is issued by the Central Bank of the West African States (BCEAO), situated in Dakar, Senegal. The BCEAO manages the monetary and reserve policy of the member states, and provides regulation and oversight of financial sector and banking activity. A legal framework regarding licensing, bank activities, organizational and capital requirements, inspections and sanctions (all applicable to all countries of the Union) is in place, having been reformed significantly in 1999. Microfinance institutions are governed by a separate law, which regulates microfinance activities in all WAEMU countries. The insurance sector is regulated through the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA).
In 2018, tourism was almost non-existent in large parts of the country. The U.S. government (and others) warn their citizens not to travel into large parts of Burkina Faso: "The northern Sahel border region shared with Mali and Niger due to crime and terrorism. The provinces of Kmoandjari, Tapoa, Kompienga, and Gourma in East Region due to crime and terrorism".
The 2018 CIA World Factbook provides this updated summary. "Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country that depends on adequate rainfall. Irregular patterns of rainfall, poor soil, and the lack of adequate communications and other infrastructure contribute to the economy's vulnerability to external shocks. About 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and cotton is the main cash crop. The country has few natural resources and a weak industrial base. Cotton and gold are Burkina Faso's key exports ...The country has seen an upswing in gold exploration, production, and exports.
While the end of the political crisis has allowed Burkina Faso's economy to resume positive growth, the country's fragile security situation could put these gains at risk. Political insecurity in neighboring Mali, unreliable energy supplies, and poor transportation links pose long-term challenges." The report also highlights the 2018–2020 International Monetary Fund program, including the government's plan to "reduce the budget deficit and preserve critical spending on social services and priority public investments".
Burkina Faso is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). The country also belongs to the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.
Mining
There is mining of copper, iron, manganese, gold, cassiterite (tin ore), and phosphates. These operations provide employment and generate international aid. Gold production increased 32% in 2011 at six gold mine sites, making Burkina Faso the fourth-largest gold producer in Africa, after South Africa, Mali and Ghana. Gold production of Burkina Faso's in 2015 is 36 metric tonnes.
A 2018 report indicated that the country expected record 55 tonnes of gold in that year, a two-thirds increase over 2013. According to Oumarou Idani, there is a more important issue. "We have to diversify production. We mostly only produce gold, but we have huge potential in manganese, zinc, lead, copper, nickel and limestone".Infrastructure Water
, Burkina Faso]]
While services remain underdeveloped, the National Office for Water and Sanitation (ONEA), a state-owned utility company run along commercial lines, is emerging as one of the best-performing utility companies in Africa. High levels of autonomy and a skilled and dedicated management have driven ONEA's ability to improve production of and access to clean water.
Electricity
A 33-megawatt solar power plant in Zagtouli, near Ouagadougou, came online in late November 2017. At the time of its construction, it was the largest solar power facility in West Africa.
Other
The growth rate in Burkina Faso is high although it continues to be plagued by corruption and incursions from terrorist groups from Mali and Niger.Transport
was built during the colonial era and remains in operation.]]
Transport in Burkina Faso is limited by relatively underdeveloped infrastructure.
As of June 2014 the main international airport, Ouagadougou Airport, had regularly scheduled flights to many destinations in West Africa as well as Paris, Brussels and Istanbul. The other international airport, Bobo Dioulasso Airport, has flights to Ouagadougou and Abidjan.
Rail transport in Burkina Faso consists of a single line which runs from Kaya to Abidjan in Ivory Coast via Ouagadougou, Koudougou, Bobo Dioulasso and Banfora. Sitarail operates a passenger train three times a week along the route.
There are 15,000 kilometres of roads in Burkina Faso, of which 2,500 kilometres are paved.Science and technology
In 2009, Burkina Faso spent 0.20% of GDP on research and development (R&D), one of the lowest ratios in West Africa. There were 48 researchers (in full-time equivalents) per million inhabitants in 2010, which is more than twice the average for sub-Saharan Africa (20 per million population in 2013) and higher than the ratio for Ghana and Nigeria (39). It is, however, much lower than the ratio for Senegal (361 per million inhabitants). In Burkina Faso in 2010, 46% of researchers were working in the health sector, 16% in engineering, 13% in natural sciences, 9% in agricultural sciences, 7% in the humanities and 4% in social sciences.
In January 2011, the government created the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation. Up until then, management of science, technology and innovation had fallen under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research. Within this ministry, the Directorate General for Research and Sector Statistics is responsible for planning. A separate body, the Directorate General of Scientific Research, Technology and Innovation, coordinates research. This is a departure from the pattern in many other West African countries where a single body fulfills both functions. The move signals the government's intention to make science and technology a development priority.
In 2012, Burkina Faso adopted a National Policy for Scientific and Technical Research, the strategic objectives of which are to develop R&D and the application and commercialization of research results. The policy also makes provisions for strengthening the ministry's strategic and operational capacities. One of the key priorities is to improve food security and self-sufficiency by boosting capacity in agricultural and environmental sciences. The creation of a centre of excellence in 2014 at the International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering in Ouagadougou within the World Bank project provides essential funding for capacity-building in these priority areas. Slavery in the Sahel states in general, is an entrenched institution with a long history that dates back to the trans-Saharan slave trade. In 2018, an estimated 82,000 people in the country were living under "modern slavery" according to the Global Slavery Index.
Centre
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| img_1 = LAICO QUAGA 2000 HOTEL.2 - panoramio.jpg
| city_2 = Bobo-Dioulasso
| div_2 = Hauts-Bassins
| pop_2 = 904,920
| img_2 = Bobo-Dioulasso Mosque.jpg
| city_3 = Koudougou
| div_3 = Centre-Ouest
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| img_3 = Marché de koudougou.jpg
| city_4 = Saaba
| div_4 = Centre Region (Burkina Faso)Centre
| pop_4 = 136,011
| img_4 | city_5 Ouahigouya
| div_5 = Nord Region (Burkina Faso)Nord
| pop_5 = 124,587
| city_6 = Kaya, Burkina FasoKaya
| div_6 = Centre-Nord
| pop_6 = 121,970
| city_7 = Banfora
| div_7 = Cascades RegionCascades
| pop_7 = 117,452
| city_8 = Pouytenga
| div_8 = Centre-Est RegionCentre-Est
| pop_8 = 96,469
| city_9 = Houndé
| div_9 = Hauts-Bassins
| pop_9 = 87,151
| city_10 = Fada N'gourma
| div_10 = Est Region (Burkina Faso)Est
| pop_10 = 73,200
}}
Ethnic groups
Burkina Faso's 23 million people belong to two major West African ethnic cultural groups: the Voltaic and the Mandé (whose common language is Dioula). The Voltaic Mossi make up about one-half of the population. The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso from northern Ghana around 1100 AD. They established an empire that lasted more than 800 years. Predominantly farmers, the Mossi kingdom is led by the Mogho Naba, whose court is in Ouagadougou.
Languages
}}
Burkina Faso is a multilingual country. The working languages are French, which was introduced during the colonial period, and English. Altogether, an estimated 69 languages are spoken in the country, of which about 60 languages are indigenous. The Mooré language is the most spoken language in Burkina Faso, spoken by about half the population, mainly in the central region around the capital, Ouagadougou.
According to the 2006 census, the languages spoken natively in Burkina Faso were Mooré by 40.5% of the population, Fula by 9.3%, Gourmanché by 6.1%, Bambara by 4.9%, Bissa by 3.2%, Bwamu by 2.1%, Dagara by 2%, San by 1.9%, Lobiri with 1.8%, Lyélé with 1.7%, Bobo and Sénoufo with 1.4% each, Nuni by 1.2%, Dafing by 1.1%, Tamasheq by 1%, Kassem by 0.7%, Gouin by 0.4%, Dogon, Songhai, and Gourounsi by 0.3% each, Ko, Koussassé, Sembla, and Siamou by 0.1% each, other national languages by 5%, other African languages by 0.2%, French (the official language) by 1.3%, and other non-indigenous languages by 0.1%.
In the west, Mandé languages are widely spoken, the most predominant being Dyula (also known as Jula or Dioula), others including Bobo, Samo, and Marka. Fula is widespread, particularly in the north. Gourmanché is spoken in the east, while Bissa is spoken in the south.
Religion
]]
The government of Burkina Faso's 2019 census reported that 63.8% of the population practiced Islam, and that the majority of this group belong to the Sunni branch, while a small minority adheres to Shia Islam. A significant number of Sunni Muslims identify with the Tijaniyah Sufi order.
The 2019 census also found that 26.3% of the population were Christians (20.1% being Roman Catholics and 6.2% members of Protestant denominations) and 9.0% followed traditional indigenous beliefs such as the Dogon religion, 0.2% followed other religions, and 0.7% were non-religious. In 2014, the median age of its inhabitants was 17 and the estimated population growth rate was 3.05%.
In 2011, health expenditures was 6.5% of GDP; the maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 300 deaths per 100000 live births and the physician density at 0.05 per 1000 population in 2010. In 2012, it was estimated that the adult HIV prevalence rate (ages 15–49) was 1.0%. According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, HIV prevalence is declining among pregnant women who attend antenatal clinics. According to a 2005 World Health Organization report, an estimated 72.5% of Burkina Faso's girls and women have had female genital mutilation, administered according to traditional rituals.
Central government spending on health was 3% in 2001. , studies estimated there were as few as 10 physicians per 100,000 people. In addition, there were 41 nurses and 13 midwives per 100,000 people.
A Dengue fever outbreak in 2016 killed 20 patients. Cases of the disease were reported from all 12 districts of Ouagadougou.
In the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Burkina Faso ranks 98th out of 127 countries and has a serious level of hunger with a score of 24.6Education
primary school. Its architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004.]]
Education in Burkina Faso is divided into primary, secondary and higher education. High school costs approximately CFA 25,000 (US$50) per year, which is far above the means of most Burkinabè families. Boys receive preference in schooling; as such, girls' education and literacy rates are far lower than their male counterparts. An increase in girls' schooling has been observed because of the government's policy of making school cheaper for girls and granting them more scholarships.
To proceed from primary to middle school, middle to high school or high school to college, national exams must be passed. Institutions of higher education include the University of Ouagadougou, The Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso, and the University of Koudougou, which is also a teacher training institution. There are some small private colleges in the capital city of Ouagadougou but these are affordable to only a small portion of the population.
There is also the International School of Ouagadougou (ISO), an American-based private school located in Ouagadougou.
The 2008 UN Development Program Report ranked Burkina Faso as the country with the lowest level of literacy in the world, despite a concerted effort to double its literacy rate from 12.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2008.Food insecurity <span class"anchor" id"Food insecurity in Burkina Faso"></span>According to the Global Hunger Index, a multidimensional tool used to measure and track a country's hunger levels, Burkina Faso ranked 65 out of 78 countries in 2013. It is estimated that there are currently over 1.5 million children who are at risk of food insecurity in Burkina Faso, with around 350,000 children who are in need of emergency medical assistance. Only 11.4 percent of children under the age of two receive the daily recommended number of meals. Additionally, stunted children, on average, tend to complete less school than children with normal growth development,
The European Commission expects that approximately 500,000 children under age 5 in Burkina Faso will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2015, including around 149,000 who will suffer from its most life-threatening form. Rates of micronutrient deficiencies are also high. Forty percent of infant deaths can be attributed to malnutrition, and in turn, these infant mortality rates have decreased Burkina Faso's total work force by 13.6 percent, demonstrating how food security affects more aspects of life beyond health.
An October 2018 report by USAid stated that droughts and floods remained problematic, and that "violence and insecurity are disrupting markets, trade and livelihoods activities in some parts of Burkina Faso's northern and eastern areas". The report estimated that over 954,300 people needed food security support, and that, according to UNICEF, an "estimated 187,200 children under 5 years of age will experience severe acute malnutrition". Agencies providing assistance at the time included USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP) working with the UN World Food Programme, the NGO Oxfam Intermón and ACDI/VOCA.Approaches to improving food securityWorld Food Programme
The United Nations' World Food Programme has worked on programs that are geared towards increasing food security in Burkina Faso.
The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation 200509 (PRRO) was formed to respond to the high levels of malnutrition in Burkina Faso, following the food and nutrition crisis in 2012. The efforts of this project are mostly geared towards the treatment and prevention of malnutrition and include take home rations for the caretakers of those children who are being treated for malnutrition. The HIV/AIDS nutrition program aims to better the nutritional recovery of those who are living with HIV/AIDS and to protect at-risk children and orphans from malnutrition and food security.World BankThe World Bank was established in 1944, and comprises five institutions whose shared goals are to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to promote shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the lower forty percent of every country. One of the main projects the World Bank is working on to reduce food insecurity in Burkina Faso is the Agricultural Productivity and Food Security Project. According to the World Bank, the objective of this project is to "improve the capacity of poor producers to increase food production and to ensure improved availability of food products in rural markets."Culture
Literature in Burkina Faso is based on the oral tradition, which remains important. In 1934, during French occupation, Dim-Dolobsom Ouedraogo published his Maximes, pensées et devinettes mossi (Maxims, Thoughts and Riddles of the Mossi), a record of the oral history of the Mossi people.
The oral tradition continued to have an influence on Burkinabè writers in the post-independence Burkina Faso of the 1960s, such as Nazi Boni and Roger Nikiema. The 1960s saw a growth in the number of playwrights being published.
The theatre of Burkina Faso combines traditional Burkinabè performance with the colonial influences and post-colonial efforts to educate rural people to produce a distinctive national theatre. Traditional ritual ceremonies of the many ethnic groups in Burkina Faso have long involved dancing with masks. Western-style theatre became common during colonial times, heavily influenced by French theatre. With independence came a new style of theatre inspired by forum theatre aimed at educating and entertaining Burkina Faso's rural people.
Slam poetry is increasing in popularity in the country, in part due to the efforts of slam poet Malika Outtara. She uses her skills to raise awareness around issues such as blood donation, albinism and the impact of COVID-19.
Arts and crafts
s in Ouagadougou]]
In addition to several rich traditional artistic heritages among the peoples, there is a large artist community in Burkina Faso, especially in Ouagadougou. Much of the crafts produced are for the country's growing tourist industry.
Burkina Faso also hosts the International Art and Craft Fair, Ouagadougou. It is better known by its French name as SIAO, ''Le Salon International de l' Artisanat de Ouagadougou'', and is one of the most important African handicraft fairs.
Music
The music of Burkina Faso includes the folk music of 60 different ethnic groups. The Mossi people, centrally located around the capital, Ouagadougou, account for 40% of the population while, to the south, Gurunsi, Gurma, Dagaaba and Lobi populations, speaking Gur languages closely related to the Mossi language, extend into the coastal states. In the north and east the Fulani of the Sahel preponderate, while in the south and west the Mande languages are common; Samo, Bissa, Bobo, Senufo and Marka. Burkinabé traditional music has continued to thrive and musical output remains quite diverse. Popular music is mostly in French: Burkina Faso has yet to produce a major pan-African success.
Media
, Burkina Faso in 2010]]
The nation's principal media outlet is its state-sponsored combined television and radio service, Radio Télévision du Burkina (RTB). RTB broadcasts on two medium-wave (AM) and several FM frequencies. Besides RTB, there are privately owned sports, cultural, music, and religious FM radio stations. RTB maintains a worldwide short-wave news broadcast (Radio Nationale Burkina) in the French language from the capital at Ouagadougou using a 100 kW transmitter on 4.815 and 5.030 MHz.
Attempts to develop an independent press and media in Burkina Faso have been intermittent. In 1998, investigative journalist Norbert Zongo, his brother Ernest, his driver, and another man were assassinated by unknown assailants, and the bodies burned. The crime was never solved. However, an independent Commission of Inquiry later concluded that Norbert Zongo was killed for political reasons because of his investigative work into the death of David Ouedraogo, a chauffeur who worked for François Compaoré, President Blaise Compaoré's brother.
In January 1999, François Compaoré was charged with the murder of David Ouedraogo, who had died as a result of torture in January 1998. The charges were later dropped by a military tribunal after an appeal. In August 2000, five members of the President's personal security guard detail (Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle, or RSP) were charged with the murder of Ouedraogo. RSP members Marcel Kafando, Edmond Koama, and Ousseini Yaro, investigated as suspects in the Norbert Zongo assassination, were convicted in the Ouedraogo case and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. His extradition to Burkina Faso was annulled by the ECHR, following an appeal lodged by his lawyer François-Henri Briard.
Since the death of Norbert Zongo, several protests regarding the Zongo investigation and treatment of journalists have been prevented or dispersed by government police and security forces. In April 2007, popular radio reggae host Karim Sama, whose programs feature reggae songs interspersed with critical commentary on alleged government injustice and corruption, received several death threats.
Sama's personal car was later burned outside the private radio station Ouaga FM by unknown vandals. In response, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to President Compaoré to request his government investigate the sending of e-mailed death threats to journalists and radio commentators in Burkina Faso who were critical of the government.Cinema
The cinema of Burkina Faso is an important part of the West African film industry and African film as a whole. Burkina's contribution to African cinema started with the establishment of the film festival FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou), which was launched as a film week in 1969. Many of the nation's filmmakers are known internationally and have won international prizes.
For many years the headquarters of the Federation of Panafrican Filmmakers (FEPACI) was in Ouagadougou, rescued in 1983 from a period of moribund inactivity by the enthusiastic support and funding of President Sankara. (In 2006 the Secretariat of FEPACI moved to South Africa, but the headquarters of the organization is still in Ouagadougou.) Among the best known directors from Burkina Faso are Gaston Kaboré, Idrissa Ouedraogo and Dani Kouyate. Burkina produces popular television series such as Les Bobodiouf. Internationally known filmmakers such as Ouedraogo, Kabore, Yameogo, and Kouyate make popular television series.
Cuisine
(right) accompanied with peanut soup]]
Typical of West African cuisine, Burkina Faso's cuisine is based on staple foods of sorghum, millet, rice, maize, peanuts, potatoes, beans, yams and okra. The most common sources of animal protein are chicken, chicken eggs and freshwater fish. A typical Burkinabè beverage is Banji or Palm Wine, which is fermented palm sap; and Zoom-kom, or "grain water" purportedly the national drink of Burkina Faso. Zoom-kom is milky-looking and whitish, having a water and cereal base, best drunk with ice cubes. In the more rural regions, in the outskirts of Burkina, you would find Dolo, which is drink made from fermented millet. In times of crisis, one legume native to Burkina, Zamnè, can be served as a main dish or in a sauce.
Cultural festivals and events
Every two years, Ouagadougou hosts the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the largest African cinema festival on the continent (February, odd years).
Held every two years since 1988, the International Art and Craft Fair, Ouagadougou (SIAO), is one of Africa's most important trade shows for art and handicrafts (late October-early November, even years).
Also every two years, the Symposium de sculpture sur granit de Laongo takes place on a site located about from Ouagadougou, in the province of Oubritenga.
The National Culture Week of Burkina Faso, better known by its French name La Semaine Nationale de la culture (SNC), is one of the most important cultural activities of Burkina Faso. It is a biennial event which takes place every two years in Bobo Dioulasso, the second-largest city in the country.
The Festival International des Masques et des Arts (FESTIMA), celebrating traditional masks, is held every two years in Dédougou.
Sports
in white during a match]]
Sport in Burkina Faso is widespread and includes football, basketball, cycling, rugby union, handball, tennis, boxing and martial arts. Football is the most popular sport in Burkina Faso, played both professionally, and informally in towns and villages across the country. The national team is nicknamed "Les Etalons" ("the Stallions") in reference to the legendary horse of Princess Yennenga.
In 1998, Burkina Faso hosted the Africa Cup of Nations for which the Omnisport Stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso was built. Burkina Faso qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa and reached the final, but then lost to Nigeria 0–1. The country has never qualified for a FIFA World Cup.
Basketball is another sport which enjoys much popularity for both men and women. The country's men's national team had its most successful year in 2013 when it qualified for the AfroBasket, the continent's prime basketball event.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, the athlete Hugues Fabrice Zango won Burkina Faso's first Olympic medal, winning bronze in the men's triple jump. Cricket is also picking up in Burkina Faso with Cricket Burkina Faso running a 10 club league.See also
* Index of Burkina Faso-related articles
* Outline of Burkina Faso
* 2023 in Burkina Faso
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* Engberg-Perderson, Lars, Endangering Development: Politics, Projects, and Environment in Burkina Faso (Praeger Publishers, 2003).
* Englebert, Pierre, Burkina Faso: Unsteady Statehood in West Africa (Perseus, 1999).
* Howorth, Chris, Rebuilding the Local Landscape: Environmental Management in Burkina Faso (Ashgate, 1999).
* McFarland, Daniel Miles and Rupley, Lawrence A, Historical Dictionary of Burkina Faso (Scarecrow Press, 1998).
* Manson, Katrina and Knight, James, Burkina Faso (Bradt Travel Guides, 2011).
* Roy, Christopher D and Wheelock, Thomas G B, Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso: The Thomas G.B. Wheelock Collection (Prestel Publishing, 2007).
* Sankara, Thomas, Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–1987 (Pathfinder Press, 2007).
* Sankara, Thomas, ''We are the Heirs of the World's Revolutions: Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–1987'' (Pathfinder Press, 2007).
External links
* , official government portal.
* [http://www.lefaso.net/ LeFaso.net], a news information site
* [https://ecowap.ecowas.int/country/Burkina-Faso Burkina Faso] profile from ECOWAS
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13072774 Burkina Faso profile] from the BBC News.
*
* [https://www.aljazeera.com/where/burkina-faso/ News headline links] from Al Jazeera.
* [https://www.democracynow.org/topics/burkina_faso Burkina Faso], Democracy Now!
* [https://newint.org/regions/burkina-faso Country profile] at New Internationalist.
* [https://bizpages.org/countries--BF--Burkina-Faso Burkina Faso Business Facts] from [https://bizpages.org Bizpages]
}}
<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->
Category:Former French colonies
Category:French-speaking countries and territories
Category:Economic Community of West African States
Category:French West Africa
Category:Landlocked countries
Category:Least developed countries
Category:Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Category:Member states of the African Union
Category:Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Category:Member states of the United Nations
Category:States and territories established in 1960
Category:States and territories established in 1958
Category:States and territories established in 1984
Category:West African countries
Category:1960 establishments in Africa
Category:1958 establishments in Africa
Category:1984 establishments in Africa
Category:Countries in Africa
Category:Republics | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso | 2025-04-05T18:26:24.994176 |
3477 | Economy of the Bahamas | $14.425 billion (nominal, 2018)
* $12.357 billion (PPP, 2018) (60th)
*N/A IHDI (2018)}}
| labor = 184,000 (2009)
| occupations = agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.)
| unemployment = 14.2% (2009 est.)
| edbr 119th (medium, 2020)
| industries = tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe
| exports $1.316 billion (2017 est.)
| export-goods = mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables
| export-partners = 49.3%
* 20.3%
* 9%
* 6.54% (2022)}}
| imports = $9.097 billion (2017 est.)
| import-goods = machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals
| import-partners = 58.6%
* 6.29% (2022)}}
| debt = $342.6 million (2004 est.)
| revenue = $1.5 billion (2012)
| expenses = $1.8 billion (2012)
| credit BBB+ (Domestic)<br />BBB+ (Foreign)<br />A- (T&C Assessment)<br />(Standard & Poor's)
| aid = recipient: $5 million (2004)
| cianame = bahamas-the
}}
The economy of the Bahamas is dependent upon tourism and offshore banking. The Bahamas is the richest country in the West Indies. It is a stable, developing nation in the Lucayan Archipelago, with a population of 391,232 (2016). Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth for many years. The slowdown in the Economy of the United States and the September 11 attacks held back growth in these sectors from 2001 to 2003.
Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for about 15% of GDP. However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left the Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately 10% of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives for those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector, which depends on growth in the United States, the source of more than 80% of the visitors. In addition to tourism and banking, the government supports the development of a "2nd-pillar", e-commerce.
Features of the Bahamian economy
The Bahamian economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism and financial services to generate foreign exchange earnings. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Bahamas is approximately $5.7 billion with tourism accounting for 50%, financial services nearly 20% and the balance spread among retail and wholesale trade, fishing, light manufacturing and agriculture. The European Union lists the Bahamas as one of several Caribbean "uncooperative jurisdictions" because it fails to meet tax fairness and transparency benchmarks.
Tourism
Tourism alone provides an estimated 51% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about half the Bahamian workforce. In 2016, over 3 million tourists visited the Bahamas, most of whom are from the United States and Canada.
A major contribution to the recent growth in the overall Bahamian economy is Kerzner International's Atlantis Resort and Casino, which took over the former Paradise Island Resort and has provided a much needed boost to the economy. In addition, the opening of Breezes Super Club and Sandals Resort also aided this turnaround. The Bahamian Government also has adopted a proactive approach to courting foreign investors and has conducted major investment missions to the Far East, Europe, Latin America, and Canada. The primary purpose of the trips was to restore the reputation of the Bahamas in these markets.
Offshore financial services
Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for up to 17% of GDP, due to the country's status as an offshore financial center. As of December 1998, 418 banks and trust companies have been licensed in the Bahamas. The Bahamas promulgated the International Business Companies (IBC) Act in January 1990 to enhance the country's status as a leading financial center. The Act simplified and reduced the cost of incorporating offshore companies in the Bahamas. Within 9 years, more than 100,000 IBC-type companies had been established. In February 1991, the government also legalized the establishment of Asset Protection Trusts in the Bahamas. In December 2000, partly as a response to appearing the plenary FATF Blacklist, the government enacted a legislative package to better regulate the financial sector, including creation of a Financial Intelligence Unit and enforcement of "know-your-customer" rules. Other initiatives include the enactment of the Foundations Act in 2004 and the planned introduction of legislation to regulate Private Trust Companies. After being later off the blacklist, in December 2020 Bahamas also was taken off the FATF greylist.
Agriculture
Agriculture and fisheries industry together account for 5% of GDP. The Bahamas exports lobster and some fish but does not raise these items commercially. There is no large scale agriculture, and most agricultural products are consumed domestically. The Bahamas imports more than $250 million in foodstuffs per year, representing about 80% of its food consumption. The government aims to expand food production to reduce imports and generate foreign exchange. It actively seeks foreign investment aimed at increasing agricultural exports, particularly specialty food items. The government officially lists beef and pork production and processing, fruits and nuts, dairy production, winter vegetables, and mariculture (shrimp farming) as the areas in which it wishes to encourage foreign investment.
Trade
The Bahamian Government maintains the value of the Bahamian dollar on a par with the U.S. dollar. The Bahamas is a beneficiary of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), Canada's CARIBCAN program, and the European Union's Lome IV Agreement. Although the Bahamas participates in the political aspects of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it has not entered into joint economic initiatives with other Caribbean states.
Industry
The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PharmaChem Technologies (GrandBahama) Ltd. (formerly Syntex); the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U.S. and European markets. Other industries include sun-dried sea salt in Great Inagua, a wet dock facility in Freeport for repair of cruise ships, and mining of aragonite—a type of limestone with several industrial uses—from the sea floor at Ocean Cay. Other smaller but more nimble players in the banking industry include Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. (FBB) and Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (RFMBT). FBB offers a wide range of innovative banking products including loan products with built-in savings plans. RFMBT is the only merchant bank in the Bahamas and is a joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada. It provides investment products and services and attracts the majority of the corporate business deals in the Bahamas, most recently acting as financial advisor and placement agent for the largest initial public offering (IPO) ever in the Bahamas with the IPO of Commonwealth Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary.
The Hawksbill Creek Agreement established a duty-free zone in Freeport, the Bahamas' second-largest city, with a nearby industrial park to encourage foreign industrial investment. The Hong Kong-based firm, Hutchison Whampoa, has opened a container port in Freeport. The Bahamian Parliament approved legislation in 1993 that extended most Freeport tax and duty exemptions through 2054.
Taxation
The Bahamas has no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax. Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer. In 2010, overall tax revenue was 17.2% of GDP. A value-added tax (VAT) of 7.5% has been levied 1 January 2015. It then increased from 7.5% to 12% effective from 1 July 2018.
Statistics
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;"
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! Year
! GDP<br />(in bil. US$ PPP)
! GDP per capita<br />(in US$ PPP)
!GDP
(in bil. US$ nominal)
! GDP growth<br />(real)
! Inflation<br />(in Percent)
! Unemployment rate<br />(in Percent)
! Government debt<br />(Percentage of GDP)
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 1980
| 2.51
| 11,877
|2.60
| 7.1 %
| 12.2 %
| ...
| ...
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 1985
| 3.81
| 16,296
|3.92
| 4.1 %
| 4.6 %
| ...
| ...
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 1990
| 4.99
| 19,575
|5.22
| 1.1 %
| 4.6 %
| 12.0 %
| 13 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 1995
| 5.61
| 20,103
|5.65
| 4.4 %
| 2.0 %
| 10.9 %
| 21, %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2000
| 7.79
| 25,722
|8.08
| 5.0 %
| 1.7 %
| 7.0 %
| 19 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2005
| 9.50
| 29,231
|9.84
| 3.4 %
| 1.8 %
| 10.2 %
| 23 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2006
| 10.03
| 30,512
|10.17
| 2.5 %
| 2.0 %
| 7.6 %
| 23 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2007
| 10.45
| 31,398
|10.62
| 1.4 %
| 2.4 %
| 7.9 %
| 23 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2008
| 10.41
| 30,906
|10.53
| −2.3 %
| 4.4 %
| 8.7 %
| 25 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2009
| 10.05
| 29,501
|9.98
| −4.2 %
| 1.7 %
| 14.2 %
| 30 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2010
| 10.33
| 29,986
|10.10
| 1.5 %
| 1.6 %
| 15.1 %
| 34 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2011
| 10.61
| 30,452
|10.07
| 0.6 %
| 3.1 %
| 15.9 %
| 35 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2012
| 11.14
| 31,618
|10.72
| 3.1 %
| 1.9 %
| 14.4 %
| 38 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2013
| 11.25
| 31,593
|10.40
| −0.6 %
| 0.4 %
| 15.8 %
| 44 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2014
| 11.31
| 31,410
|11.00
| −1.2 %
| 1.2 %
| 14.6 %
| 48 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2015
| 11.09
| 30,435
|11.67
| −3.1 %
| 1.9 %
| 13.4 %
| 51 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2016
| 11.25
| 30,534
|11.75
| 0.2 %
| −0.3 %
| 12.2 %
| 53 %
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | 2017
| 11.60
| 31,139
|12.25
| 1.3 %
| 1.4 %
| 10.1 %
| 57 %
|}
* Household income or consumption by percentage share—highest 10%: 27% (2000)
* Agriculture - products—citrus, vegetables, poultry
* Electricity - production—2,505 GWh (2007 est.) - Rank 133
* Electricity - consumption—1,793 GWh (2007) - Rank 133
* Oil - consumption— (2006 est.) - Rank 115
* Oil - exports—transhipments of (2003)
* Exchange rate—Bahamian dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a one-to-one basis
The Bahamas has the 47th freest economy in the world according to The Heritage Foundation 2010 Index of Economic Freedom. The Bahamas is ranked 7th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is higher than the regional and world averages. Total government spending, including consumption and transfer payments, is relatively low. In the most recent year, government spending was 23.4% of GDP. See also
* List of Commonwealth of Nations countries by GDP
* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP growth
* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (nominal)
* List of Latin American and Caribbean countries by GDP (PPP)
References
* Some of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2009.
External links
* [http://statistics.bahamas.gov.bs/key.php?cmdview&id164 Bahamian Government Statistics] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Bahamas | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.009258 |
3514 | Government of Barbados | }}
| date_end | document_type Founding document
| document = Constitution of Barbados
| country = Barbados
| url =
| branch1 = Office of the President
| branch1_label1 = Head of State
| branch1_data1 = President of Barbados
| branch1_label3 = Seat
| branch1_data3 = State House
| legislature = Parliament
| meeting_place = Parliament Buildings
| branch3 = Executive branch
| leader_type = Head of Government
| leader_title = Prime Minister of Barbados
| main_body | leader_type2
| leader_title2 = <!-- title of 2nd head of govt -->
| appointed = President of Barbados
| headquarters = Ilaro Court
| main_organ = Cabinet of Barbados
| departments = 19 Ministries
| branch4 = Judicial branch
| court = Supreme Court of Barbados
| seat = Supreme Court of Barbados Complex
}}
The Government of Barbados (GoB) is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the president of Barbados is the head of state and the prime minister of Barbados is the head of government.
Structure
The country has a bicameral legislature and a political party system, based on universal adult suffrage and fair elections. The Senate has 21 members, appointed by the President, 12 on the advice of the Prime Minister, two on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, and seven at the President's sole discretion. The House of Assembly has 30 members, all elected. Both houses debate all legislation. However, the House of Assembly may override Senate's rejection of money bills and other bills except bills amending the Constitution.
Officers of each house (President and Deputy President of the Senate; Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Chairman of Committees of the Assembly) are elected from the members of the respective houses.
In keeping with the Westminster system of governance, Barbados has evolved into an independent parliamentary democracy, meaning that all political power rests with the Parliament under a non-political President as head of state. Executive authority is vested in the President, who normally acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, who are collectively responsible to Parliament.}} Barbadian law is rooted in English common law, and the Constitution of Barbados implemented in 1966, is the supreme law of the land.
Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual are set out in the Constitution and are protected by a strict legal code.
The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who must be an elected member of Parliament, and other ministers are appointed from either chamber by the President, as advised by the Prime Minister.
The President appoints as Leader of the Opposition the member of House of Assembly who commands the support of the largest number of members of that House in opposition to the ruling party's government.
The maximum duration of a Parliament is five years from the first sitting. There is a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses of Parliament by the President, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.
There is an established non-political civil service. Also, there are separate constitutional commissions for the Judicial and Legal Service, the Public Service, and the Police Service.
History
The government has been chosen by elections since 1961 elections, when Barbados achieved full self-governance. Before then, the government was a Crown colony consisting of either colonial administration solely (such as the Executive Council), or a mixture of colonial rule and a partially elected assembly, such as the Legislative Council.
Between 1966 and 2021, the head of state of Barbados was the Monarchy of Barbados represented by the Governor-General of Barbados as its representative. After decades of republicanism, the monarchy was abolished and replaced with a new head of state office, the President of Barbados, on 30 November 2021.
Since independence the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) held office 1966 to 1976, from 1986 to 1994, and from January 2008 to 2018. The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) governed from 1976 to 1986, from September 1994–2008 and has formed the government from 2018–Present.
Executive branch
| President
| <br>
<div style="text-align: center;">Sandra Mason</div>
| Independent
| 30 November 2021
|-
|Prime Minister
| <br>
<div style="text-align: center;">Mia Mottley</div>
|Barbados Labour Party
|25 May 2018
|}
The Executive Branch of government conducts the ordinary business of government. These functions are called out by the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers. The prime minister chooses the ministers of government they wish to have in the cabinet but they are actually appointed by the President.
*Heads of State
** President
*Head of Government
** Prime Minister
** Attorney General's
** Ministers
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Office
!Office Holder
!Constituency
!Political Party
|-
|Prime Minister<br />Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, with responsibility for Culture, Security, Public Service, Caricom and Development Commissions
|Mia Mottley
|St. Michael North East
| rowspan21 style"background:;"|Barbados Labour Party
|-
|Deputy Prime Minister<br />Senior Minister<br />Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources
|Sanita Bradshaw
|St. Michael South East
|-
|Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs<br />Senior Minister Governance
|Dale Marshall
|St. Joseph
|-
|Minister of Energy and Business Development<br />Senior Minister
|Kerrie Symmonds
|St. James Central
|-
|Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade<br />Senior Minister, Social and Environmental Policy
|Jerome Walcott
|N/A (Senator)
|-
|Senior Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, with responsibility for Infrastructure and Town Planning Matters
|William Duguid
|Christ Church West
|-
|Minister of Homes Affairs and Information
|Wilfred Abrahams
|Christ Church East
|-
|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security
|Indar Weir
|St. Philip South
|-
|Minister of Tourism and International Transport
|Ian Gooding Edghill
|St. Michael West Central
|-
|Minister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs
|Lisa Cummings
|N/A (Senator)
|-
|Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training
|Kay McConney
|St. Philip West
|-
|Minister of Housing, lands and Maintenance
|Dwight Sutherland
|St. George South
|-
|Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs
|Kirk Humphrey
|St. Michael South
|-
|Minister of the Environment and National Beautification and Blue Economy
|Adrian Forde
|Christ Church West Central
|-
|Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector
|Colin Jordan
|St. Peter
|-
|Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology
|Davidson Ishmael
|St. Michael North
|-
|Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment
|Charles Griffith
|St. John
|-
|Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
|Ryan Straughn
|Christ Church East Central
|-
|Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister
|Chantal Munroe Knight
|N/A (Senator)
|-
|Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness
|Sonia Browne
|St. Philip North
|-
|Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Ministry of Business Development
|Sandra Husbands
|St. James South
|}
Source: [https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/ St.Lucia Times]
{| class="wikitable"
|+Parliamentary Secretaries
!Office
!Office Holder
!Constituency
!Political party
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, with responsibility for Water Resources
|Rommel Springer
|St. Andrew
|rowspan"2"style"background:;"|Barbados Labour Party
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs
|Corey Layne
|City of Bridgetown
|}
Source: [https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/ St.Lucia Times]
{| class="wikitable"
|+Permanent Secretaries
!Ministerial Office
!Position
!Office Holder
|-
|Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
|HEAD OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FOREIGN TRADE
|Louis Woodroffe
|-
|Prime Minister's Office
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Alies Jordan
|-
|Ministry of the Public Service
|DIRECTOR GENERAL (HUMAN RESOURCES)
|Ms. Gail Atkins
|-
|Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Nancy Headley
|-
|Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Simone Rudder
|-
|Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Yvette Goddard
|-
|Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Betty Alleyne Headley
|-
|Ministry of Home Affairs
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Deborah Payne
|-
|Ministry of Health & Wellness
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Janet Philips
|-
|Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Mr. Terry Bascombe
|-
|Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Dr. Karen Best
|-
|Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural Development
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Mr. Timothy Maynard
|-
|Ministry of International Business and Industry
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. June Chandler
|-
|National Insurance Department
|DIRECTOR
|Ms. Jennifer Hunte
|-
|Ministry of Tourism and International Transport
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Donna Cadogan
|-
|Ministry of Youth and Community Empowerment
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Yolande Howard
|-
|Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Gabrielle Springer
|-
|Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|PERMANENT SECRETARY (SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS)
|Mr. Andrew Gittens
|-
|Ministry of Environment and National Beautification
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Daphne Kellman
|-
|-
|Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|PERMANENT SECRETARY (SMALL
BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP)
|Ms. Francine Blackman
|-
|Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Mr. Mark Cummins
|-
|Prime Minister's Office
|PERMANENT SECRETARY (CULTURE)
|Mr. Jehu Wiltshire
|-
|Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Sonia Foster
|-
|Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Mr. Charley Browne
|-
|Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs
|PERMANENT SECRETARY
|Ms. Sandra Phillips
|-
|Cabinet Office
|CABINET SECRETARY
|Mrs. Cecile Humphrey
|-
| Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|PERMANENT SECRETARY (Small Business and Entrepreneurship)
|Mr. Esworth Reid
|}
Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20201128014149/https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/download/list-of-permanent-secretaries-october-28-2020/ BGIS]
Legislative Branch
Under Barbados' version of the Westminster system of government, the executive and legislative branches are partly intertwined.
The only official Cabinet office (other than Prime Minister) expressly mentioned in the Constitution of Barbados is Office of the Attorney-General.
* President
* Chief Secretaries (Abolished)
* Auditors-General
* Senators
** Presidents of the Senate
* Members of the House ( a/k/a Members of Parliament)
** Speakers of the House of Assembly
* Clerks of Parliament
Law
The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the nation. The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary. Historically, Barbadian law was based entirely on English common law with a few local adaptations. At the time of independence, the Parliament of the United Kingdom lost its ability to legislate for Barbados, but the existing English and British common law and statutes in force at that time, together with other measures already adopted by the Barbadian Parliament, became the basis of the new country's legal system.
Legislation may be shaped or influenced by such organisations as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, or other international bodies to which Barbados has obligatory commitments by treaty. Additionally, through international co-operation, other institutions may supply the Barbados Parliament with key sample legislation to be adapted to meet local circumstances before enacting it as local law.
New acts are passed by the Barbadian Parliament and require approval by the President to become law. The President, has the power to "withhold assent" from laws by vetoing the proposed law without parliamentary override.
Judicial branch
The judiciary is the legal system through which punishments are handed out to individuals who break the law. The functions of the judiciary are to enforce laws; to interpret laws; to conduct court hearings; to hear court appeals.
The local court system of Barbados is made up of:
*Magistrates' Courts: Covering Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Domestic Violence, and Juvenile matters. But can also take up matters dealing with Coroner's Inquests, Liquor Licences, and civil marriages. Further, the Magistrates' Courts deal with Contract and Tort law where claims do not exceed $10,000.00.
*The Supreme Court: is made up of High Court and Court of Appeals. See also
* Politics of Barbados
* Monarchy of Barbados
* Parliament of Barbados
* Prime Minister of Barbados
* Cabinet of Barbados
* List of government budgets by country
* List of countries by tax revenue as percentage of GDP
References
Further reading
*Gallery
<gallery>
File:Barbadian Prime Minister's Office.jpg|Office of the Prime Minister
File:Government Headquarters2 (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg|The Cabinet Office in the Government Headquarters complex
File:Government Headquarters (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg|Main entrance to the Government Headquarters complex, with a statue of Sir Grantley Adams in the foreground
</gallery>
External links
* [http://www.gov.bb/ Barbadian Government Website]
* [http://www.photius.com/countries/barbados/government/system.html The Barbados Governmental System], Photius Coutsoukis
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706132317/http://www.gov.bb/portal/page/portal/GISMEDIA%20CENTRENEWS%20MANAGEMENT/News%20Archive/Correct%20Forms%20Of%20Address%20Of%20Officials Barbados Government statement on the proper titles for members of Government]
*[http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2002-2003/americas/barbados.html Social Security provided by the Government of Barbados]
*[http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwebar.htm Laws of Barbados], The World Law Guide
*[http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/profile.jsp?code=BB Laws of Barbados], The World Intellectual Property Organization
Barbados
Category:Barbados politics-related lists | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Barbados | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.031417 |
3533 | Government of Belarus | The Government of the Republic of Belarus (), which consists of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus (), is the executive branch of state power in Belarus, and is appointed by the President of Belarus. The head of the Government is the President of Belarus, who manages the main agenda of the government and direct the ministers. The National Assembly of Belarus is the continuation of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR and acts as the functioning parliament for Belarus.
Council of Ministers
Below are the 30 members of the Council of Ministers as of 19 August 2020, as well as the head of the presidential administration and the chairmen of the State Committees, who are not technically ministers but are included in the Council of Ministers. Offices which are not technically counted as ministerial posts are italicized. The prime minister, the first deputy prime minister(s), the deputy prime minister(s), the ministers of economy, finance, and foreign affairs, the head of the presidential administration, and the chairman of the State Control Committee together form the Presidium of the Council of Ministers. These officials are highlighted in yellow. The incumbent government resigned en masse on 17 August 2020. A new government was formed on 19 August 2020, consisting of mostly the same people.<ref name"eng_belta_by" />
Composition
As of 2023:
{| class="wikitable"
| Prime Minister
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Roman Golovchenko
|-
| Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus|First Deputy Prime Minister
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Nikolai Snopkov
|-
| Deputy Prime Minister
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Vladimir Karanik
|-
| Agriculture Minister of Belarus|Minister of Agriculture and Food||Igor Brylo
|-
| Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade||Alexei Bogdanov
|-
| Construction Minister of Belarus|Minister of Architecture and Construction||Ruslan Parkhamovich
|-
| Culture Minister of Belarus|Minister of Culture||Anatoly Markevich
|-
| Minister of Defence||Victor Khrenin
|-
| Minister of Economy
|style="background: #ffffaa;"|Alexander Chervyakov
|-
| Minister of Education||Andrei Ivanets
|-
| Minister of Emergency Situations||Vadim Sinyavsky
|-
| Energy Minister of Belarus|Minister of Energy||Victor Karankevich
|-
| Finance Minister of Belarus|Minister of Finance
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Yury Seliverstov
|-
| Minister of Foreign Affairs
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Sergei Aleinik
|-
| Minister of Forestry||Alexander Kulik
|-
| Minister of Health Care||Aleksandr Khodzhayev
|-
| Minister of Housing-Communal Services||vacant
|-
| Minister of Industry||Alexander Rogozhnik
|-
| Minister of Information||Vladimir Pertsov
|-
| Minister of Internal Affairs||Ivan Kubrakov
|-
| Justice Minister of Belarus|Minister of Justice||Sergei Khomenko
|-
| Minister of Labour and Social Protection||Irina Kostevich
|-
| Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation||Andrei Khudyk
|-
| Minister of Sport and Tourism||Sergei Kovalchuk
|-
| Minister of Taxes and Duties||Sergei Nalivaiko
|-
| Telecommunications Minister of Belarus|Minister of Telecommunications and Informatisation||Konstantin Shulgan
|-
| Minister of Transport and Communications||vacant
|-
| Chairman of the State Security Committee||Ivan Tertel
|-
| Chairman of the State Control Committee
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Vasily Gerasimov
|-
| Chairman of the State Military-Industrial Committee||Dmitry Pantus
|-
| Chairman of the State Committee on Property||Dmitry Matusevich
|-
| Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology||Sergei Shlychkov
|-
| Chairman of the State Committee on Standardisation||Valentin Tataritsky
|-
| Chairman of the State Border Committee||Konstantin Molostov
|-
| Chairman of the State Customs Committee||Vladimir Orlovsky
|-
| Chief of the Staff to the President of Belarus|Head of the Presidential Administration
|style="background: #ffffaa;" |Igor Sergeenko
|-
| Chairman of the National Bank||Pavel Kallaur
|-
| Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Science||Vladimir Gusakov
|-
| Chairman of the Board of the Republican Union of Consumer Societies||Oleg Matskevich
|}
See also
*Supreme Soviet of Belarus, the preceding supreme state power in Belarus
*National Assembly of Belarus, the current supreme state power in Belarus
References
Belarus | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.063165 |
3535 | Telecommunications in Belarus | Telecommunications in Belarus involves the availability and use of electronic devices and services, such as the telephone, television, radio or computer, for the purpose of communication.
Telephone system
Telephone lines in use: 3,9741 million (2011).
Mobile/cellular: 11,559,473 subscribers (Q1 2019).
The phone calling code for Belarus is +375.
The Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications originating within the country through its carrier unitary enterprise, Beltelecom.
thumb|right|200px|Telephone booths in Minsk, September 2007 Minsk has a digital metropolitan network; waiting lists for telephones are long; fixed line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; intercity – Belarus has developed a fibre-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998). Belarus's fibre optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems.
International connection
Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe Fibre-Optic Line (TAE) and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fibre-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations.
In 2006 it was announced that Belarus and Russia completed the second broadband link between the two countries, the Yartsevo-Vitebsk cable. The capacity of this high speed terrestrial link which based on DWDM and STM technology is 400 Gbit/s with the ability to upgrade in the future.
Cellular communications
Belarus has 3 GSM/UMTS operators – A1, MTS, life:). For 4G data operators use the infrastructure managed by state operator beCloud, VoLTE service currently is offered only with A1.
Radio and television
thumb|"Mass Media in Belarus" exhibition. "Mass Media for Diaspora" booth. 5 May 2005
Television broadcast stations: 100 of which 59 are privately owned.
Belarus has switched from an analog to digital broadcast television. The process finished in May 2015. Belarus broadcasts according to the DVB-T2 standard with MPEG-4 compression.
Radio broadcast stations: 173 with 24 privately owned, including 30 FM stations.
Until 2005–2006 broadband access (mostly using ADSL) was available only in a few major cities in Belarus. In Minsk there were a dozen privately owned ISP's and in some larger cities Beltelecom's broadband was available. Outside these cities the only options for Internet access were dial-up from Beltelecom or GPRS/cdma2000 from mobile operators. In 2006 Beltelecom introduced a new trademark, Byfly, for its ADSL access. As of 2008 Byfly was available in all administrative centres of Belarus. Other ISPs are expanding their broadband networks beyond Minsk as well.
Internet use:
According to a 2006 survey of 1,500 adults by Satio, a third of Belarusians use the Internet—38% of the urban population and 16% of the rural population.
A 2006 study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indicates 56.5% of Belarus' population were internet-users.
The International Telecommunication Union showed Internet penetration (Internet users per 100 population) in 2009 at 27% for Belarus, 42% for Serbia, 37% for Romania, 29% for Russia, and 17% for Ukraine.
According to Internet World Stats, Internet penetration in June 2010 was 47.5%. For comparison, Internet penetration in Ukraine was 33.7%, in Romania 35.5%, Russia 42.8%, and Serbia 55.9%.
The most active Internet users in Belarus belong to the 17–22 age group (38 percent), followed by users in the 23–29 age group. Internet access in Belarus is predominantly urban, with 60 percent of users living in the capital Minsk. The profile of the average Internet user is male, university educated, living in the capital, and working in a state enterprise. The Ministry for Statistics and Analysis estimates that one in four families in Belarus owns a computer at home. The popularity of Internet cafés has fallen in recent years, as most users prefer to access the Internet from home or work. Russian is the most widely used language by Belarusians on the Internet, followed by Belarusian, English, and Polish.
2 ISPs in the Brest region, 4 in the Gomel region, 1 in the Grodno region, 26 in the Minsk region, 1 in the Mogilev region, and 1 in the Vitebsk region
4 ADSL providers
3 technology parks
2 educational networks
more than 30 Internet cafes and Wi-Fi Hotspots
Censorship and media freedom
Many western human rights groups state that civil rights and free expression are severely limited in Belarus, though there are some individuals and groups that refuse to be controlled and some journalists have disappeared.
Because the Belarus government limits freedom of expression, several opposition media outlets are broadcast from nearby countries to help provide Belarusians an alternative points of view. This includes the Polish state-owned Belsat TV station and European Radio for Belarus (Eŭrapéjskaje Rádyjo dla Biełarúsi)
Reporters Without Borders ranked Belarus 157th out of 178 countries in its 2014 Press Freedom Index. By comparison, the same index ranked neighbor Ukraine, 126th and Russia, 148th.
In the 2011 Freedom House Freedom of the Press report, Belarus scored 92 on a scale from 10 (most free) to 99 (least free), because the government allegedly systematically curtails press freedom. This score placed Belarus 9th from the bottom of the 196 countries included in the report and earned the country a "Not Free" status.
References
External links
The Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian)
The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian)
Media in Belarus, e-Belarus.org
Mass media in Belarus on the official website of the Republic of Belarus
Major telecommunications operators in Belarus (in Belarusian):
Beltelecom
MTS (GSM)
A1 (GSM)
Life (GSM)
Category:Internet in Belarus
ru:Интернет в Белоруссии | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.070141 |
3536 | Transport in Belarus | thumb|right|250px|M1 highway at Orsha
thumb|250px|Rail transport map of Belarus
thumb|250px|Major gas (red) and oil (green) pipelines in Belarus
thumb|right|250px|A Trolleybus in Brest
thumb|right|250px|A ferry crossing the Daugava river in Vitebsk
thumb|right|250px|The autobus station of Gomel
This article is about transport in Belarus.
Railways
Rail transport in Belarus is operated by Belarusskaya Chyhunka
total:
country comparison to the world: 32
broad gauge:
of gauge ( electrified) (2006)
City with underground railway system: Minsk, see Minsk Metro
For tramway systems: see List of town tramway systems in Belarus
Highways
The owners of highways may be the Republic of Belarus, its political subdivisions, legal and natural persons, who own roads, as well as legal entities, which roads are fixed on the basis of economic or operational management.
Republican state administration in the field of roads and road activity is the Department Belavtodor under the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Belarus.
In total, in Belarus there are more than of roads and of departmental thousand (agriculture, industry, forestry, etc.), including in cities and towns. The density of paved roads has been relatively low – 337 km per 1,000 km2 territory – for comparison, in European countries with well-developed road network, the figure is an average of .
total:
paved:
(2003)
Waterways
(use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003)
country comparison to the world: 37
Belarus' inland waterways are managed by Dneprobugvodput, Belvodput, and the Dnieper-Berezinsky Enterprise.
Pipelines
gas ; oil ; refined products (2008)
Ports and harbors
Mazyr - on the river Pripyat
Airports
65 (2008):
country comparison to the world: 76
Minsk International Airport
Minsk-1
Gomel Airport
Airports - with paved runways
total:
35
over :
2
:
22
:
4
:
1
under :
6 (2008)
Airports - with unpaved runways
total:
30
:
1
:
1
:
2
under :
26 (2008)
Heliports
1 (2007)Heliports is where helicopter land.
National air-carrier
Belavia
See also
Transport in the Soviet Union
Vehicle registration plates of Belarus
References
External links
Automobiles, Trains And Buses - Getting Around Belarus | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.078390 |
3537 | Armed Forces of Belarus | <br />
| image = Emblem_of_the_Armed_Forces_of_Belarus.svg
| alt | caption Emblem of the Belarusian defense ministry
| image2 = Flag of the Armed Forces of Belarus.svgborder
| alt2 | caption2 Flag
| motto | founded 1992
| branches = || Special Operations Forces|Belarusian Transport Troops|Belarusian Territorial Troops}}
| headquarters = Defense Ministry, Minsk, Belarus
| flying_hours | website
<!-- Leadership -->
| commander-in-chief Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lukashenko
| commander-in-chief_title = President
| chief minister | chief minister_title
| minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin
| minister_title = Minister of Defense
| commander Major General Pavel Muraveiko
| commander_title = Chief of the General Staff
<!-- Manpower -->
| age | conscriptionYes
| manpower_data | manpower_age 18 years
| available | available_f
| fit | fit_f
| reaching | reaching_f
| active 63,000
| ranked | reserve 365,400(2021)
| deployed | amount US$876.4 million (2022)
| percent_GDP = 1.2% (2022)
<!-- Industrial -->
| domestic_suppliers = Belarusian Plant of Precision Electromechanic<br />Kalashnikov
| foreign_suppliers = <br /><br />
| imports | exports
<!-- Related articles -->
| history | ranks Military ranks of Belarus
}}
}}]]
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus; }} are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy, however the Belarusian military does have control over some small Soviet inherited naval vessels in its rivers and lakes.
In 2017, IISS estimated that personnel in the armed forces numbered 49,000, and nearly 350,000 reserves. Most soldiers are conscripts serving for a period of 18 months, although there is an alternative service option. The Belarusian military still holds many Soviet military laws and holds high numbers of reserve personnels as a high priority.
Belarus conducted military reforms in the early 2000s which reshaped its armed forces as a relatively effective force for a small state in somewhat difficult economic conditions. Since the 2010s the Belarusian military has been more closely integrated with the Russian Armed Forces, with strategic and operational level exercises placing the ground and special forces of Belarus under Russia's 1st Guards Tank Army, and the air and air defense forces under the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army.
History
1919]]
The Belarusian People's Republic of March 1918 to 1919 did not have time to create armed forces in its brief existence, although attempts to create a military have been documented.
Until 1991, the Soviet Belorussian Military District comprised the 5th Guards Tank Army (HQ Bobruisk), the 7th Tank Army (HQ Borisov), the 28th Army (HQ Grodno), the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, the 72nd Guards District Training Center and logistical units and formations. Additionally, the Belorussian SSR hosted the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 38th Guards Airborne Brigade, the 11th Air Defence Corps of the 2nd Air Defence Army, and the 26th Air Army, as well as units and formations of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Long Range Aviation, the Navy, and special forces.
In late 1991 the 5th Guards Tank Army comprised the 30th Guards Motor Rifle Division, newly arrived from Czechoslovakia, and the 193rd Tank Division, plus two armament and equipment storage bases (the former 8th Guards and 29th Tank Divisions), and army troops. The 7th Tank Army comprised the 3rd Guards Tank Division, 34th, and 37th Guards Tank Divisions, plus army troops. The 28th Army comprised two divisions, the 6th Guards Tank and 50th Guards Motor Rifle, the 6314th Equipment Storage Base at Slonim, and the 5356th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, formerly a low-status mobilisation division. Also arriving from the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary was the 19th Guards Tank Division.
On September 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus passed resolution "On the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" and on January 11, 1992, resolution "On the Armed Forces deployed in the territory of the Republic of Belarus." On March 18, 1992, the parliament passed resolution "On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" that bound the government "to start the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus as of March 20, 1992" and "to submit to the Supreme Soviet for approval the suggested structure of the Armed Forces, their size and order of their material and technical supplies".
On May 6, 1992, the Belorussian Military District was abolished. The Belarusian Ministry of Defence and the Main Staff were formed from its resources. The former first deputy commander and military district Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Pavel Kozlovskiy, was appointed Minister of Defence on 22 April 1992, taking over from acting Minister of Defence Colonel-General Petr Chaus. On 8 September 1992, the Minsk Higher Military Engineering School and the Minsk Higher Military Command School (now the unified Military Academy of Belarus) were the first to take the military oath of allegiance to the armed forces, with their induction ceremony being held on Independence Square in the presence of defense minister Kozlovskii. This was done to commemorate anniversary of the Lithuanian-Polish victory at the Battle of Orsha, which was considered to be a Day of Belarusian Military Glory.
On August 17, 1992, personnel from the United States Department of Defense made a Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty inspection of an installation in Urechye (near Minsk). The 969th Central Base for Reserve Tanks, and two elements of the 30th Guards Motor Rifle Division: the 30th Guards Tank Regiment and the 20th independent Reconnaissance Battalion were the three units at the site.
On November 3, 1992, Belarus passed the law "On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" defining the status, structure and guiding principles of the Armed Forces. After the introduction of presidency the law was amended twice: on September 4, 1996, and on November 9, 1999, but on the whole the law retains its initial contents.
On January 1, 1993, all service personnel on Belarusian soil were required to either take an oath of loyalty to Belarus, or leave. This oath however did not alleviate concerns regarding loyalty to Russia in time of crisis, especially since nearly 50% of all military personnel were ethnically Russian in the end of 1992.
In June 1995, President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree on the Mobile Forces. By June 1996, they comprised a headquarters in Vitebsk, two brigades drawn from the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 38th Independent Mobile Brigade (Brest, Belarus), an air transport regiment, and communications, logistics, and engineer units.
Membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as the 1996 treaty on the Union of Russia and Belarus and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State in 1999, confirmed a close partnership with Russia. Much of the air defence system was integrated into the Russian air defence network, and in 2006 the two nations signed an agreement on the creation of a unified air defence system.
Structure
Belarus government websites say that the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus is supported by Central Command Support Elements and the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Combat Support Elements of the Armed Forces included Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare, Signals, Engineer, NBC Defence, Navigation and Topography, and Maintenance organisations. Logistic Elements of the Armed Forces provided Material Support, Logistic Support, Medical Support, Veterinarian Support, and Military Construction.
In 1995 the Military Academy of Belarus was set up on the basis of two military educational institutions – the Minsk Air Defence and Rocket School of the Soviet Air Defence Forces and the Minsk Higher Military Command School. Its 10 departments train officers of 38 specialties for practically all arms of service. Also in 1995 it was given the status of a government institution of secondary special military education for young men.
Branches
Ground Forces
| label = <small>6th Mech Bde</small>
| marksize = 8
| pos = right
| bg = white
| lat_deg 53 | lat_min 40
| lon_deg 23 | lon_min 50
| label2 = <small>11th Mech Bde</small>
| mark2size = 8
| pos2 = right
| bg2 = white
| lat2_deg 53 | lat2_min 05
| lon2_deg 25 | lon2_min 19
| label3 = <small>120th Mech Bde</small>
| mark3size = 8
| pos3 = left
| bg3 = white
| lat3_deg 53 | lat3_min 54
| lon3_deg 27 | lon3_min 34
| label4 = <small>103rd Mobile Bde</small>
| mark4 = Blue pog.svg
| mark4size = 8
| pos4 = left
| bg4 = white
| lat4_deg 55 | lat4_min 29
| lon4_deg 28 | lon4_min 48
| label5 = <small>38th Mobile Bde</small>
| mark5size = 8
| mark5 = Blue pog.svg
| pos5 = right
| bg5 = white
| lat5_deg 52 | lat5_min 08
| lon5_deg 23 | lon5_min 40
| label6 = <small>5th Spetsnaz Bde</small>
| mark6size = 8
| mark6 = Black pog.svg
| pos6 = right
| bg6 = white
| lat6_deg 53 | lat6_min 30
| lon6_deg 28 | lon6_min 09}}
A Library of Congress study of national ground forces said that in 1994 Belarus had ground forces of 52,500. They were organized into three corps headquarters, two motor divisions, one airborne division, the 51st Guards Artillery Division at Osipovichi, three mechanized divisions, one airborne brigade, three surface-to-surface missile brigades, two antitank brigades, one special duties brigade, and seven anti-aircraft missile brigades. Equipment included 3,108 main battle tanks (seventy-nine T-54, 639 T-55, 291 T-62, 299 T-64, eight T-80, and 1,800 T-72), 419 medium-range launchers, sixty surface to-surface missiles, and 350 surface-to-air missiles.
In 1993 the 7th Tank Army was reorganised as the 7th Army Corps. In 1994 the 7th Army Corps was redesignated as the 65th Army Corps, still located at Borisov.
By January 1, 1995, the composition of the Belarusian ground forces had changed.
On 21 December 2001, a major reorganisation of the Ground Forces produced two operational-territorial commands, formed from two former corps headquarters. All Belarus ground forces were now grouped within these two commands, the Western Operational Command at Grodno, former from the previous 28th Army Corps, the former Soviet 28th Army, and the North Western Operational Command, the former 65th Army Corps, at Barysaw (Borisov).
Since about 2001, territorial defence forces, which as of 2002 number around 150,000, have been forming, organised into battalions, companies, and platoons spread across Belarus.
In 2007, the Land Forces consisted of 29,600 soldiers (6th Guards Mechanised Brigade (Grodno), 11th Guards Mechanized Brigade at Slonim, the 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade (Minsk), 38th and 103rd Mobile Brigades (organized similarly to Soviet airborne regiments, not all of them are equipped with BMD-1)), 5th Spetsnaz Brigade (Maryina Horka), five artillery brigades and four regiments, two MRL regiments, 15th, 29th, 115th, 120th and 302nd SAM Brigades, two SSM brigades, two brigades and one regiment of engineers, 8th independent NBC Brigade, two signals brigades, 40th independent NBC battalion. Army equipment includes 1800 main battle tanks (MBT) and 2600 AFV/APC. The weapons and equipment storage bases include the 50th (Brest), 19th, 34th & 37th (former tank divisions), 3rd, and 28th (Baranovichi). Weapons storage bases that have been disbanded include the 29th, 30th, 193rd, and the storage base that used to be the 8th Guards Tank Division at Marina Gorka.
In 2012 it was reported that there were six mechanised brigades in the Ground Forces: three full-strength, the 6th (Grodno), 11th (Slonim), and 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade at Minsk. The others were at reduced strength, where there was one battalion, the 19th (Zaslonova), 37th, and 50th (Baranovichi). By 2017, the number of mechanised brigades had been further reduced to four, with two at full strength and two at reduced strength.
In 2007 the Air Force and Air Defence Force of Belarus (AF & ADF) consisted of 18,170 personnel (two fighter/interceptor bases, four FGA/reconnaissance squadrons, one transport air base, training aircraft, and attack and support helicopters, SAM units). Air Force equipment included in 2004 260 fighter-ground attack/training aircraft and 80 attack helicopters. According to Belarus government websites, the Air Forces now have two commands, the Western Operational-Tactical Command and the North-Western Operational-Tactical Command.
The 61st and 927th Air Bases have now merged into the 61st (fighter) Air Base at Baranovichi, flying MiG-29s, and the 206th Air Base (Ross) has merged into the 116th Guards Assault Air Base at Lida, flying Su-25s.
Independent forces
Special Forces
]]
The Special Forces of Belarus is the airmobile and strategic deterrence force. It has been a participant in conflicts such as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the Libyan Civil War (2011). During an address by President Alexander Lukashenko on 18 February 2016, he announced the allocation of arms and to the territorial forces and the minimum and maximum amount of district troops ranging from one company and a battalion. Personnel of these units are recruited from residents of their respective administrative-territorial regions.
Specialized forces
Special troops are designed to support the combat activities of the Ground Forces and solve their inherent tasks. They include formations and military units of intelligence, communications, engineering, radiation, chemical and biological defense, electronic warfare, navigation and topographic.
*Electronic Warfare Troops
*Signal Corps
*Engineer troops
*NBC Protection Troops
*Topographic Navigation Service
Security forces
Internal Troops
The Internal Troops of Belarus were formed from the former Soviet Internal Troops after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They consist of three independent brigades and seven independent battalions (consecutively numbered).
Border Guard Service
The Border Guard Service is the paramilitary force of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus. It covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.Manpower
, July 2019.]]
The Government Directive of 20 March 1992 'On the Establishment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus' founded the Belarusian army. The Soviet troops of the BMD were smoothly converted into Belarusian military units. Yet one of the first tasks of the Belarusian government was a reduction in its numbers. 240,000 soldiers and officers were serving in the Belarusian Military District. By early 2013 the numbers of military personnel had been scaled down nearly fourfold since 1991. In February 2014, Belorusskaya Voyennaya Gazeta, the official publication of the Ministry of Defense revealed that the Belarusian Armed Forces contains about 59,500 personnel, including 46,000 soldiers and 13,000 civilians.
Personnel
Military commandants
The military commandants of the Armed Forces of Belarus are regional administrations tasked with overseeing Belarusian regiments in the commandant's territory. Units are assigned to a specific commandant based on their location. There are 6 military commandants in the Belarusian Armed Forces.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!| Commandant Name
!| Commander
!| Region
|-
| Belarus Supreme Commander
| Supreme Commander Alexander Lukashenko
| All Regions
|-
| Baranavichy Military Commandant
| Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pivovar
| Brest Region
|-
| Babruysk Military Commandant
| Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Gritsuk
| Mogilev Region
|-
| Barysaw Military Commandant
| Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Kislyi
| Minsk Region
|-
| Brest Military Commandant
| Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Ivanyuk
| Brest Region
|-
| Grodno Military Commandant
| Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Lupyrev
| Grodno Region
|-
| Minsk Military Commandant
| Colonel Nikolai Kurash
| Minsk Region
|-
|}
Units under the command of commandants include military police, honour guards and military bands.
Military education
*Military Academy of Belarus
*Ministry of the Interior Academy of Belarus
*Border Guard Service Institute of Belarus
*Military Institute of the Belarusian State Medical University
*Military Faculty of the Belarusian State University – The faculty was established on 4 November 1926, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council. In 1941, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, military training classes were interrupted only to be resumed in 1943. In the post-war and subsequent years, the military department continued to train reserve officers from among the students in the required military accounting specialties. In 2003, the military department was reorganized into the modern military faculty of Belarusian State University.
*Military Faculty of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics
*Military Faculty of the Belarusian National Technical University
*Military Faculty of the Grodno State University
*Military Faculty of the Belarusian State University of Transport
*Military Faculty of the Belarusian State Academy of Aviation
Equipment
]]
The military forces of Belarus are almost exclusively armed with Soviet-era equipment inherited from the Soviet Union. Although large in numbers, some Western experts consider some of it outdated.
"The Belarusian armed forces receive around 100 brand-new and upgraded systems a year", said in late July 2018, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defence for Armament and Chief of Armament Major General Sergei Simonenko. The MBTs are of Russian type T-72, T-62, and T-55, the APCs and IFVs are of Russian type MT-LB, BMP-2, BMP-1, and the BMD-1, and Russian type trucks are the GAZ-66 and the KAMAZ-6560.
While the IISS Military Balance 2016 listed 69 T-80s in service, by 2018 the listing had been removed, and the only MBTs listed were 527 T-72 as well as 5 T-72B3.
The Air Force is equipped with MiG-29 fighters, Su-25 attack aircraft, as well as Mi-8, Mi-24, and some old, Polish built Mi-2 helicopters. In December 2005, Belarus bought 10 L-39C jet trainer aircraft from Ukraine, and in 2017 a contract have been signed to buy 12 Su-30SM fighters. In 2006, four batteries (divizions in Russian terminology; about six systems each) of S-300 anti-aircraft systems were acquired from Russia to reinforce the Joint CIS Air Defense System. The Military Balance 2018 listed a brigade with the S-300P and a brigade with the S-300V (SA-12A Gladiator/SA-12B Giant). Moscow and Minsk signed contracts in 2021 for the supply of fighters, helicopters, air defense systems and other weapons to Belarus. S-400 air defense systems and 9K720 Iskander tactical ballistic missiles were delivered in 2022. It was also reported that almost every company was equipped with quadcopters. Kamikaze and surveillance UAVs of domestic development and production were reportedly entered service in 2024.
Military cooperation
CSTO
The armed forces took part in a joint CSTO military intervention in Kazakhstan during the 2022 Kazakh unrest.
Military advisors
The armed forces have sent their military specialists to countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Venezuela, Libya, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acting both officially and secretly. In Belarus, they have previously trained military personnel from the Nigerian Army. In 2014 and 2015, the special forces of the Nigerian Army were trained on the territory of Belarus, with the Belarusians training the Nigerians in counterterrorism.
In 2007, an agreement was signed in Caracas with Venezuela, according to which Belarusian military specialists for the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela were developing a unified air defense and electronic warfare system. The following year, the first ten servicemen went to the country, with Lieutenant-General Oleg Paferov being appointed as the officer responsible for the activities of the advisers. A contingent of about 500 military advisers was also present in Libya during the First Libyan Civil War, supporting the government of Muammar Gaddafi. As of autumn 2013, there were at least two Belarusian advisers in Yemen at the Ministry of Defense. On November 26 of the same year, during an attack on a hotel in Sana'a, a Belarusian was killed and another was wounded. In February 2020, a dozen Belarusian military instructors arrived in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), where they were stationed at the Agban military base, which is occupied by one of the country's national gendarmerie units. Institutions and special units of the armed forces Museum of Military History of Belarus The Museum of Military History of Belarus () is located in the Pyershamayski District of Minsk. It was established as the Museum of the History of the Belarusian Military District, opened in Minsk on February 21, 1978. In July 1993, it was converted into a museum on the military history of Belarus. The exhibits are the same as before the collapse of the USSR, with a small section on the medieval history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania having since been added. Its collection numbers over 18 thousand exhibits. The most ancient of them date back to the 6th century.
Drama Theatre of the Belarusian Army
Belarusian Union of Officers
The Public Association "Belarusian Union of Officers" (hereinafter referred to as BSO) is a public association of officers and warrant officers who are on active duty and in retirement. It was established on 20 September 1992 at its founding congress. On September 18, 1993, Deputy of the Supreme Soviet Alexander Lukashenko took part in the 2nd Congress. From October 2005 to January 2015, the Republican Council of the BSO was headed by retired Lieutenant General E. Mikulchik, and until November 2017 was led by retired Major General V. Bamburov. Other
*Military Band Service of the Armed Forces
*Belarusian Armed Forces Academic Song and Dance Ensemble
*Central House of Officers (Minsk)
*Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of Belarus
*Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum
*Belaya Rus demonstration team
Military holidays
*In Belarus, the holiday annual Defender of the Fatherland Day (known as Дзень абаронцы Айчыны in the Belarusian language) celebrations on 23 February also coincide with the Day of the Armed Forces (Дзень Узброеных Сіл). It commemorates that day 1918 when the first unified military in the country was established as part of the Red Army. Officially declared a public holiday by President Lukashenko on 25 March 2004, it has traditionally been honoured with a wreath laying ceremony by the President of Belarus on Victory Square. Joint festive events with soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces soldiers are also hold on 23 February in connection with their professional holiday. During the centennial of the armed forces in 2018, events were held throughout the year, including a military parade in Gomel and celebrations in Vitebsk.
*Although a national holiday, Independence Day is primarily an armed forces celebration which honours those who took part in the Red Army's 1944 Minsk Offensive. The Minsk Independence Day Parade is the main military event done on this day.
Combat Banners and military marches
The Battle Banner of a military unit is a symbol of the unit, retained throughout its lineage. Changes in the name and numbering of a military unit are entered in the Certificate of the President of the Republic of Belarus, issued upon presentation of the Battle Banner. The Battle Banner is awarded to formations, brigades/regiments, battalions, divisions, air squadrons, training units, and military educational institutions. Guards units are awarded with a black-and-orange guards ribbon attached to its shaft. Upon presentation of the Battle Banner to a military unit, a Diploma of the President of the Republic of Belarus is issued. In the event of the loss of the Battle Banner, the commander of a military unit and its servicemen are subject to legal consequences and the military unit is disbanded.
The following is a list of notable Belarusian military pieces:
*Motherland My Dear (Радзіма мая дарагая)
*Victory March (Марш Перамогi)
*Anthem of the Military Academy (Гимн Военной академии)
*Grenadier March (Марш Грэнадыі)
*Our Fatherland's Flag (Айчыны нашай сцяг)
*Song from 45 (Письмо из 45-го)
Notes
References
* , Conflict Studies Research Centre, RMA Sandhurst.External links* [https://www.mil.by/en/ Official website of the Belarusian defense ministry]
Category:Military units and formations established in 1992 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.102075 |
3538 | Foreign relations of Belarus | <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see WP:SDNONE -->
The Byelorussian SSR was one of only two Soviet republics to be separate members of the United Nations (the other being the Ukrainian SSR). Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded in 1945.
Prior to 2001
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at which time Belarus gained its independence, Belarus became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The adoption by Supreme Council of the BSSR of the declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus in 1990 was a turning point on the development of the state. It has also been in a supranational union with Russia since 2 April 1996, although this has had little practical effect. Belarus-Council of Europe relations are based on cooperation and it is not a member (like Russia).
Belarus–Russia relations
The introduction of free trade between Russia and Belarus in mid-1995 led to a spectacular growth in bilateral trade, which was only temporarily reversed in the wake of the financial crisis of 1998. President Alexander Lukashenko sought to develop a closer relationship with Russia. The framework for the Union of Russia and Belarus was set out in the Treaty on the Formation of a Community of Russia and Belarus (1996), the Treaty on Russia-Belarus Union, the Union Charter (1997), and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State (1999). The integration treaties contained commitments to monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common defence and foreign policy.
Belarus–European Union relations
Following the recognition of Belarus as an independent state in December 1991 by the European Community, EC/EU-Belarus relations initially experienced a steady progress. The signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1995 signaled a commitment to political, economic and trade cooperation. Some assistance was provided to Belarus within the framework of the TACIS programme and also through various aid programs and loans. However, progress in EU-Belarus relations stalled in 1996 after serious setbacks to the development of democracy, and the Drazdy conflict.
The EU did not recognize the 1996 constitution, which replaced the 1994 constitution. The Council of the European Union decided against Belarus in 1997: The PCA was not concluded, nor was its trade-related part; Belarusian membership in the Council of Europe was not supported; bilateral relations at the ministerial level were suspended and EU technical assistance programs were frozen.
Acknowledging the lack of progress in relation to bilateral relations and the internal situation following the position adopted in 1997, the EU adopted a step-by-step approach in 1999, whereby sanctions would be gradually lifted upon fulfillment of the four benchmarks set by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. In 2000, some moderately positive developments toward the implementation of recommendations made by the OSCE AMG were observed but were not sufficient in the realm of access to fair and free elections.
Belarus–United Kingdom relations
Belarus established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 27 January 1992.
* Belarus maintains an embassy in London.
* The United Kingdom is accredited to Belarus through its embassy in Minsk.
Both countries share common membership of the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have a Double Taxation Agreement, and an Investment Agreement.
Belarus–United States relations
The United States has encouraged Belarus to conclude and adhere to agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the program of macroeconomic stabilization and related reform measures, as well as to undertake increased privatization and to create a favorable climate for business and investment. Although there has been some American direct private investment in Belarus, its development has been relatively slow given the uncertain pace of reform. An Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement was signed in June 1992 but has been suspended since 1995 because Belarus did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement.
Belarus is eligible for Export-Import Bank short-term financing insurance for U.S. investments, but because of the adverse business climate, no projects have been initiated. The IMF granted standby credit in September 1995, but Belarus has fallen off the program and did not receive the second tranche of funding, which had been scheduled for regular intervals throughout 1996.
The United States - along with the European Union - has restricted the travel of President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his inner circle, as well as imposing economic sanctions.
Belarus–Baltic relations
, ,
Present situation (2001 onwards)
Relations with the European Union
The structure of Belarus trade reflects the low competitiveness and output decline of manufacturing industry in the country over the past decade, leading to the predominance of primary production, work-intensive goods as exports. Belarusian exports to the EU consist mainly of agricultural and textile products, while imports from the EU are primarily machinery.
Belarus is a beneficiary of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The European Commission decided in 2003 to initiate an investigation into violations of freedom of association in Belarus as the first step towards a possible temporary withdrawal of the GSP from Belarus.
In December 2004, the EU adopted a position aimed at imposing travel restrictions on officials from Belarus responsible for the fraudulent parliamentary elections and referendum on 17 October 2004, and for human rights violations during subsequent peaceful political demonstrations in Minsk.
The European Parliament released a statement in March 2005 in which it denounced the Belarusian government as a dictatorship. The European parliamentarians were primarily concerned about the suppression of independent media outlets in the country and the fraudulent referendum. A resolution of the European Parliament declared that the personal bank accounts of President Lukashenko and other high-ranking Belarusian officials should be tracked and frozen.
In 2005, Amnesty International reported a pattern of deliberate obstruction, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in Belarus. Reporters Without Borders accused the Belarusian authorities of hounding and arresting journalists from the country's Polish minority. Lukashenko has closed the country's main Polish newspaper, printing a bogus paper instead with the same name and size that praises his incumbent government. Several foreign, mainly Polish, journalists have been arrested or expelled from the country. Lukashenko accused Poland of an attempt to overthrow his government by stirring up a peaceful revolution in Belarus comparable to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004.
Later in 2005 the Belarusian riot police seized the headquarters of the Union of Poles in Belarus, an association representing the 400,000 ethnic minority Polish living in western areas the country that were part of Poland until World War II. The dispute between Poland and Belarus escalated further as Poland responded by recalling its ambassador from Belarus for indefinite consultations, and called on the European Union to impose sanctions on the Belarusian leadership in order to curtail the human rights abuses in Belarus. Belarusian papers described this as a 'dirty political game', and part of a 'cold war' waged on president Lukashenko. Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said a clampdown was under way, aimed at destroying "all elements of political pluralism and independence" in Belarus.
In August 2005 the EU's executive commission called for human rights to be respected in Belarus. The commission said it was considering offering support to independent media in the country and had set aside more than eight million euros from its budget to offer support for human rights activities. France expressed her solidarity with Poland on the issue of human rights in Belarus a day after the EU declared it was worried about the situation in that country. Several former Soviet Republics, including neighbouring Ukraine, also expressed their concerns about the development of the situation in Belarus.
In May 2009 Belarus and the EU agree on cooperation in the Eastern Partnership (EaP). However, it is contended by some scholars that the (EaP) is unable to create a workable partnership. This proved to be correct when Belarus withdrew from the Partnership on 30 September 2011.
In August 2012, Belarus expelled all Swedish diplomats, including the Swedish Ambassador to Belarus, Stefan Eriksson, and closed its embassy in Stockholm, after a Swedish public relations firm released teddy bears carrying pro-democracy flyers in parachutes from an airplane over Minsk on 4 July 2012. Lukashenko also fired his air defence chief and the head of the border guards over the incident. Their replacements have been told not to hesitate to use force to stop future intrusions from abroad.Relations with Russia
Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields. After protracted disputes and setbacks, the two countries' customs duties were unified in March 2001 but the customs controls were soon restored. In terms of trade, almost half of Belarusian export goes to Russia. Due to the structure of Belarusian industry, Belarus relies heavily on Russia both for export markets and for the supply of raw materials and components.
After initial negotiation with the Russian Central Bank on monetary union, the Russian ruble was set to be introduced in Belarus in 2004, but this was postponed first until 2005, then until 2006, and now seems to have been suspended indefinitely.
Relations with the United States
Belarus has had an ongoing discussion to relaunch IMF-backed reforms, concluding an arrangement for an IMF Staff-monitored program (SMP) in 2001. However, the authorities did not follow through with reforms as hoped, leaving an uncertain future for IMF-backed cooperation. Belarus authorities have said on several occasions that they find IMF intervention and recommendations in Belarus counter-productive to the economic development of those countries.
The relationships with the United States have been further strained, after Congress of the United States unanimously passed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004.
On 7 March 2008 the government of Belarus ejected US Ambassador Karen B. Stewart from the country, following a row over travel restrictions placed on President Lukashenko and sanctions against state-owned chemical company Belneftekhim. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced at the same time that it was recalling its own ambassador to the US. This was followed by the expulsion of ten other U.S. embassy staff from Minsk in late April. At the same time the government of Belarus ordered the U.S. Embassy in Minsk to cut its staff by half. A White House spokesman described the expulsion as "deeply disappointing".
Relations with other countries
Due to strained relations with the United States and the European Union, as well as occasional high-level disputes with Russia over prices on core imported natural resources such as oil and gas, Belarus aims to develop better relations with countries in other regions, like the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
Hong Kong national security law
Belarus was one of 53 countries that in June 2020 supported the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Nuclear weapons offer
In May 2023, the President of Belarus offered nuclear weapons to other countries who join Belarus and Russia.
Diplomatic relations
List of countries which Belarus maintains diplomatic relations with:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|37
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|39
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|40
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|44
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|48
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|49
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|52
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|54
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Bilateral relations
Multilateral
{| class"wikitable sortable" border"1" style="width:100%; margin:auto;"
!width="15%"| Organization
!width="12%"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Start date-->
|See Belarus–European Union relations
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Start date-->
| See Belarus–NATO relations
|}
Africa
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|- valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1995-04-24
|Bilateral relations were established on 24 April 1995.
* Angola is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Russia.
* Belarus had an embassy in Addis Ababa, which opened in 2013 and closed in 2018.
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1993-11-17
|Bilateral relations were established on 17 November 1993
* Belarus has an embassy in Nairobi.
* Kenya is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1992
|See Belarus–Libya relations.
* Belarus operated an embassy in Tripoli between 2000 and 2014, but suspended operations due to escalation of the military conflict.
* Libya closed its embassy in Belarus in 2015.
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->2000-02-29
|Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Mozambique on 29 February 2000.
* Belarus is represented in Mozambique through its embassy in South Africa.
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->2000-12-21
|The two countries established bilateral relations on 21 December 2000.
* Belarus is represented in Namibia through its embassy in South Africa.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> March 1993
|
*Belarus has an embassy in Pretoria
*South Africa is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia
* Belarus opened an embassy in Harare in July 2022.
|}
Americas
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||
* Argentina is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
* Belarus has an embassy in Buenos Aires.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||
* Belarus has an embassy in Brasília.
* Brazil has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-04-15
|Belarus and Canada established diplomatic relations on 15 April 1992.
* Belarus had an embassy in Ottawa, which was closed on September 1, 2021, as a result of Canada's condemnation of the forced grounding of Ryanair Flight 4978
* Canada is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw (Poland).
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1992-04
|Bilateral relations between Cuba and Belarus began in April 1992.
* Belarus opened an embassy in Havana, Cuba, in November 1998, its first in Latin America and the Caribbean.
* Cuba upgraded its representation in Havana [Minsk?], Belarus, to an embassy in May 1997.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->2004||
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 July 2004.
|-- valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->
|
* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Santo Domingo, operated though the embassy in Cuba.
* Dominican Republic has an honorary consulate in Minsk.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||
The governments of Belarus and Ecuador concluded an agreement about mutual visa-free travel. It was signed in Quito on 20 June 2014, ratified by Belarus law on 29 December 2014.
* Belarus is accredited to Ecuador from its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.
* Ecuador is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->2000||
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 February 2000.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->January 1992||See Belarus–Mexico relations
Belarus and Mexico established diplomatic relations in January 1992.
* Belarus is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba, and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.
* Mexico is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and maintains an honorary consulate in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1998-10-22||
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 October 1998.
* Panama is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1991||See Belarus–United States relations
]]
Diplomatic relations between the United States and Belarus began in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, of which Belarus had been a part. However, the relations have turned sour due to accusations by the United States that Belarus has been undemocratic. Belarus, in turn, has accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs.
* Belarus has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and a consulate-general in New York.
* United States closed its embassy in Minsk in February 2022 for allowing Russian soldiers to use Belarus as a staging for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992||
* Belarus is accredited to Uruguay from its embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and maintains an honorary consulate in Montevideo.
* Uruguay is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992||
* Belarus has an embassy in Caracas.
* Venezuela has an embassy in Minsk.
|}
Asia
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1992
|See Armenia–Belarus relations
* Before 1991, both countries were part of the USSR, and before then part of the Russian Empire.
* Armenia has an embassy in Minsk.
* Belarus has an embassy in Yerevan.
* There are around 25,000 people of Armenian descent living in Belarus.
* Armenia and Belarus withdrew their respective Ambassadors to one another in June 2024, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan saying that no official representative of Armenia would visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko remained Belarusian President, following Belarusian support for Azerbaijan in the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1992
| See Azerbaijan–Belarus relations
* Before 1918, they were part of the Russian Empire and before 1991, they were part of the Soviet Union.
* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Minsk.
* Belarus has an embassy in Baku.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
* Azerbaijan is a full member of the Council of Europe, Belarus is a candidate
* Both Belarus and Azerbaijan are full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1992-02-21
|Bilateral relations were established on 21 February 1992.
* Belarus is primarily represented in Bangladesh through its embassy in India, but also has an honorary consulate in Dhaka.
* Bangladesh has represented in Belarus by its ambassador in Moscow, Russia since June 2010.
* China has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|See Belarus–Georgia relations
* Belarus has an embassy in Tbilisi, which opened on 20 December 2016.
* Georgia has an embassy in Minsk.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120604191247/http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?sec_id345&lang_idENG Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus]
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-04-17
|
* Belarus has had an embassy in New Delhi since June 1998.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1993-03-18||See Belarus–Iran relations. Bilateral relations were established on 18 March 1993.
* Belarus has had an embassy in Tehran since 6 March 1998.
* Iran opened an embassy in Minsk in February 2001.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|
*See Israel-Belarus relations
Belarus and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992. During the 1990s, around 130,000 Belarusian citizens immigrated to Israel, forming one of the largest Belarusian expatriate communities in the world. In August 2015, an agreement was signed on visa-free entry,
* Israel and Belarus have signed multiple agreements, including for visa-free travel.
* Belarus has an embassy in Tel Aviv.
* Israel has an embassy in Minsk. This was closed for 2 years from 2002 and a decision to close it again in 2016 was reversed after two months.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-01-26
|The two countries established bilateral relations on 26 January 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Tokyo, opened in June 1995.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-09-16
|Bilateral relations began on 16 September 1992.
* Since 13 July 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Astana, an embassy division in Almaty opened in July 2002. Relations were disrupted between August 2012 and October 2015 after Kyrgyzstan recalled their ambassador.
* Belarus has an embassy in Bishkek.
* Kyrgyzstan has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->22 September 2000
| See Belarus-Myanmar relations
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1993-07-19
|Belarus and Nepal established diplomatic relations on 19 July 1993.
* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Kathmandu, operated by the embassy in India.
* Minsk and Kathmandu have established twin city relations.
* Belarus has a consulate in Hamgyong-namdo
* North Korea operates an embassy in Minsk, opened in 2016, although Belarus recognises this only as a trade mission, with other representation through the embassy in Moscow (Russia).
* North Korean President Kim Il Sung visited the Belarusian SSR in 1984. During the visit, he visited the Minsk Tractor Works and the Brest Fortress.
|--valign="top"
||| ||See Pakistan–Belarus relations
Diplomatic relations were established on 3 February 1994.
* Belarus has an embassy in Islamabad.
*Pakistan and Belarus maintain very close relations with each other, Pakistan was one of the first countries to accept Belarus after its independence. President of Belarus and PM of Pak have visited each other's countries on state visits. Pakistan and Belarus have a huge trade partnership. Pakistan also provides Belarus with Military expertise.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-02-10
|See Belarus–South Korea relations
The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Belarus started on 10 February 1992.
* Belarusian embassy in Seoul.
* South Korean embassy in Minsk.
* The Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has visited Seoul on 9 February 2015.
* Foreign relations of South Korea#Europe.
* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Colombo and is mainly represented through its embassy in India.
* Syria has an embassy in Minsk.
See Belarus-Syria relations
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Dushanbe.
* Tajikistan has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-05-25
|See Belarus–Turkey relations
* Turkey was the first country to recognize Belarus on 16 December 1991 after the declaration of its independence on 25 August 1991.
* Belarus has an embassy in Ankara.
* Turkey has an embassy in Minsk.
* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Ashgabat.
* Turkmenistan has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Tashkent.
* Uzbekistan is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
* Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 27 December 1991
|
* Since 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Hanoi.
* Since November 2003, Vietnam has an embassy in Minsk.
|}
Europe
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1992
|
* Austria recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in February 1992.
* Austria is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
* Since March 1993, Belarus has an embassy in Vienna.
|--valign="top"
|
|<!--Date Started-->1993-11-22
|Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina established bilateral relations on 22 November 1993.
* Belarus has been represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the ambassador to Hungary since March 2014.
* Bulgaria has an embassy in Minsk.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1992-09-25
|See Belarus–Croatia relations
* Croatia is primarily represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, although an honorary consulate opened in Minsk in 2011.
* Belarus is represented in Croatia through its embassy in Vienna, Austria, and an honorary consulate in Rijeka, Croatia.
* Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula on 24 June 2000 attended a summit of the Central European Initiative in Szeged, Hungary, and held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Belarus.
*At least three bilateral agreements have been signed between the two counties.
**2001 Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments
**2004 Avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital
**2005 International Road Transport
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 1991
|
* Belarus has an honorary consulate in Nicosia.
* Cyprus is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and through an honorary consulate in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1993
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Prague.
* The Czech Republic has an embassy in Minsk and an honorary consulate in Brest.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||See Belarus–Denmark relations
* Belarus is accredited to Denmark from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.
* Denmark is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-04-06
|Bilateral relations began on 6 April 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Tallinn.
* Estonia opened its embassy in Minsk on 20 October 2009.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-02-26
|
* Finland recognised the independence of Belarus on 30 December 1991.
* Finland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, which also operates a liaison office in Minsk.
* Belarus opened an embassy in Helsinki on 5 December 2011.
|-- valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-01
|Belarus and France established diplomatic relations in January 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Paris and honorary consulates in Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille
* France has an embassy in Minsk.
* The late French director Roger Vadim was of partial Belarusian descent.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1923
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Berlin. It also has a consulate general in Munich and honorary consulates in Hamburg and Cottbus. The embassy branch office in Bonn closed on 22 December 2013.
* Germany has an embassy in Minsk.
* [http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Belarus.html German Federal Foreign Office about relations with Belarus]
* In 2018, for the first time a German head of state visited Belarus.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||See Belarus–Greece relations
* Belarus is accredited to Greece from its embassy in Paris, France.
* Greece is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-02-12
|Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Hungary on 12 February 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Budapest which opened in January 2000.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-03-27
|Belarus and Ireland established bilateral relations on 27 March 1992.
* Belarus is represented in Ireland through its embassy in London, United Kingdom, and also has an honorary consulate in Rathdrum, County Wicklow.
* Ireland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Lithuania.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-04-13
|Bilateral relations were established on 13 April 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Rome and five honorary consulates (in Cagliari, Florence, Naples, Reggio Emilia and Turin). The embassy was opened as a consulate general in November 1993 and was upgraded to an embassy on 20 March 1996.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-04-07
|See Belarus–Latvia relations
The two countries signed a "Declaration on the Principles of Good-Neighborly Relations" on 16 December 1991 and established full bilateral relations on 7 April 1992. Embassies were opened in both countries in 1993 and consulates general the following year.
* The countries share 161 km of common border.
*Belarusian and Latvian regions have signed about 60 twin city and partner agreements.
* Belarus has an embassy in Vilnius and an honorary consulate in Klaipėda.
* Lithuania has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Hrodna.
* Both countries share of common border.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1993-02-16
|Diplomatic relations were established on 16 February 1993.
* Belarus is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome, Italy.
* Malta is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-11-19
|Bilateral relations were established on 19 November 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Chisinau, opened in May 1995. September 2014, April 2018)
* List of Ambassadors of Belarus in Moldova: Vasily Sakovich (1999–2009), Vyacheslav Osipenko (2009–2015), Sergei Chichuk (2015–2020), Anatoly Kalinin( 2020–present)
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1994-03-24||See Belarus–Netherlands relations
Bilateral relations began on 24 March 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in The Hague and honorary consulates in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Hoogeveen.
* Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence.
* Belarus has an embassy in Warsaw, consulates general in Gdańsk and Białystok, and a consulate in Biała Podlaska.
* Poland has an embassy in Minsk and consulates general in Brest and Grodno.
|- valign="top"
|||<!--Date started-->||
* Belarus is accredited to Portugal from its embassy in Paris, France.
* Portugal is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992-02-14||See Belarus–Romania relations
Romania recognised the independence of Belarus on 20 December 1991 and bilateral relations were established on 14 February 1992.
* Belarus has an embassy in Bucharest.
* Belarus has an embassy in Moscow with departments in Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosbirsk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Ufa and Khabarovsk. It also has honorary consuls based in Karsnodar, Moscow, Murmansk and the Republic of Tatarstan.
* Russia has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Brest.
* Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields.
|--valign="top"
|||1994-11-15||See Belarus–Serbia relations
*Serbia (then Yugoslavia) recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in November 1994 and at the ambassadorial level in 1996.
*Belarus has an embassy in Belgrade.
*Serbia has an embassy in Minsk.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1993
|
* Belarus has an embassy in Bratislava.
* Since 1995, Slovakia has an embassy in Minsk.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
|-
|
|<!--Date Started-->1992-07-23
|Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 23 July 1992.
* Belarus is represented in Slovenia through its embassy in Hungary.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1992
|
* In August 2012 Belarus announced that their embassy in Stockholm would be shut down.
* Sweden has an embassy in Minsk, however, no accredited diplomats are stationed there and the embassy has been closed to the public since 30 August 2012.
* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->
|
* Switzerland recognised Belarus on 23 December 1991.
* Since 1992, the Swiss ambassador in Poland has also been accredited in Minsk. Switzerland has a consulate in Minsk.
* Belarus has an embassy in Bern.
* [http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/eur/vblr/bilblr.html Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus]
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->||See Belarus–Ukraine relations
* The two countries share 891 km of border.
* Belarus has an embassy in Kyiv and an honorary consulate in Lviv.
* Ukraine has an embassy in Minsk and a general consulate in Brest.
* Both countries are members of the Baku Initiative and Central European Initiative.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->1991|| See Belarus–United Kingdom relations
Belarus established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 27 January 1992.
* Belarus maintains an embassy in London.
* The United Kingdom is accredited to Belarus through its embassy in Minsk.
Both countries share common membership of the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have a Double Taxation Agreement, and an Investment Agreement.
|}
Oceania
{| class"wikitable sortable" style"width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started--> 9 January 1992
|
*Australia is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
* Belarus is accredited to Australia from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
|--valign="top"
|||<!--Date Started-->9 April 1992
|
* Belarus is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
* New Zealand is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.
|}
See also
* Belarus–European Union relations
* Belarus–NATO relations
* List of diplomatic missions in Belarus
* List of diplomatic missions of Belarus
* Visa requirements for Belarusian citizens
References | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Belarus | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.817817 |
3545 | Telecommunications in Belgium | thumb|3G mobile data network speed test in downtown Brussels, September 2012. After 2 years of bans on new mobile basestations, the mobile network download speed is down at 0.25 Mbit/s.
Communications in Belgium are extensive and advanced. Belgium possesses the infrastructure for both mobile and land-based telecom, as well as having significant television, radio and internet infrastructure. The country code for Belgium is BE.
Services
Mail
Mail regulation is a national competency. Postal service in Belgium is in many cases performed by Belgian Post Group, a semi-private public company. Competitors include DHL and UPS.
Postal codes in Belgium consist of four digits which indicate regional areas, e.g. "9000" is the postal code for Ghent.
Telephone
The telephone system itself is highly developed and technologically advanced, with full automation in facilities that handle domestic and international telecom. Domestically speaking, the county has a nationwide cellular telephone system and an extensive network of telephone cables. Telephone regulation is a national competency.
The country code for Belgium is 32 and the international call prefix is 00.
A telephone number in Belgium is a sequence of nine or ten numbers dialled on a telephone to make a call on the telephone network in Belgium. Belgium is under a closed telephone numbering plan, but retains the trunk code, "0", for all national dialling.
Fixed telephones
There were 4.668 million land telephone lines in use in Belgium in 2007, a slight decrease on the 4.769 million in use in 1997.
The majority state-owned public telephone company of Belgium is Proximus. Some other or private operators exist, as Scarlet (Proximus) and Base (Telenet).
Mobile telephones
Mobile telephone ownership has increased by nearly one thousand percent in the period 1997–2007, from 974,494 to 10.23 million.
There are three licensed mobile network operators (MNO) in Belgium, Proximus (Belgacom), Orange Belgium (Orange S.A.) and Telenet/Base and numerous mobile virtual network operators (MVNO).
A fourth license will be auctioned off by the government in January 2010.
Internet
There were 61 (2003) internet service providers in Belgium, serving 8.113 million internet users in 2009. The country code for Belgian websites is .be.
In September 2009 in Flanders there were 3,048,260 broadband internet customers (DSL and cable), of which 2,520,481 were residential users and 527,779 business users. Only 65,175 dial-up internet access accounts remained in the residential market and 9,580 in the business market.
Internet providers
xDSL Internet Providers
Belgium has numerous copper cable internet providers:
Altercom *End service 2011
Base
Proximus
Destiny
Digiweb
EDPnet
Evonet
Full Telecom
Interxion
iPFix
LCL
Mobistar (Orange S.A.) *End service : 2013
Numericable (France Numericable)
Perceval
Portima
Proximedia Group
Scarlet (Belgacom)
Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
Ergatel
Only Belgacom and Numericable currently offers fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula. All other companies offer also fixed telephony in a duo play formula.
Cable Internet Providers
Belgium has three major fiberglass cable internet providers:
Numéricable for the Brussels region (Ypso Holding)
Telenet for the Flanders and Brussels regions (Liberty Global)
VOO for the Walloon and Brussels regions (TECTEO)
Orange Belgium use Telenet and VOO network combined
These companies all offer fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula.
Interoute Managed Services
Interxion
LCL
Nucleus
Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
These companies all offer specialised services.
Terrestrial Internet Providers
Clearwire in Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Aalst, Halle and Vilvoorde (Sprint Nextel)
Perceval
Satellite Internet Providers
Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
ISP for public services
The Brussels Regional Informatics Center (BRIC, Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise in French) offers Internet access to public administrations in the Brussels-Capital Region, relying directly on the national Belnet network and the IRISnet network.
Not categorized
Other ISP are Chat.be, Connexeon, HostIT, Microsoft Belgium, Netlog, Ulysse, Ven Brussels, Rack66 (EUSIP bvba), WSD Hosting.
Other
The microwave relay network is, however, more limited. For international communications, Belgium has 5 submarine cables and a number of satellite earth stations, two of which are Intelsat, and one Eutelsat.
References
External links
BIPT - Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications
ISPA - Internet Service Providers Association of Belgium
DNS - Domain Name System Belgium
MAVISE - Belgian TV market
Agoria - Federation of Belgian IT Employers
Beltug - Federation of Belgian ICT Professionals
UPP - Union of Belgian Periodical Press Publishers
Febelma - Belgian Federation of Magazines
VRM - Flemish Media Regulator (Dutch community)
CSA - High Council for the Audiovisual Media (French community)
MDGB - Germanic Media Council of Belgium (Germanic community) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Belgium | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.827277 |
3546 | Transport in Belgium | thumb|280px|Eurostar trains in Brussel Zuid-Bruxelles Midi station.
Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has of electrified tracks. There are of roads, among which there are of motorways, of main roads and of other paved roads. There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi. The ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge are two of the biggest seaports in Europe. Brussels Airport is Belgium its biggest airport.
Railways
thumb|280px|A common Belgian train.
thumb|280px|High-speed trains in the Brussels-South railway station.
Rail transport in Belgium was historically managed by the National Railway Company of Belgium, known as SNCB in French and NMBS in Dutch. In 2005, the public company was split into 2 companies: Infrabel, which manages the rail network and SNCB/NMBS itself, which manages the freight and passenger services. There is a total of , ( double track (as of 1998)), of which are electrified, mainly at 3,000 volts DC but with at 25 kV 50 Hz AC (2004) and all on standard gauge of . In 2004 the National Railway Company of Belgium, carried 178.4 million passengers a total of 8,676 million passenger-kilometres. Due to the high population density, operations are relatively profitable, so tickets are cheap and the frequency of services is high. The SNCB/NMBS is continually updating its rolling stock.
The network currently includes four high speed lines, three operating up to , and one up to . HSL 1 runs from just south of Brussels to the French border, where it continues to Lille, and from there to Paris or London. HSL 2 runs from Leuven to Liège. HSL 3 continues this route from Liège to the German border near Aachen. HSL 4 runs from Antwerp to Rotterdam by meeting HSL-Zuid at the border with Netherlands.
Electrification is at 3 kV DC, with the exception of the new high-speed lines, and of two recently electrified lines in the south of the country which are at 25 kV AC. Trains, contrary to tram and road traffic, run on the left.
Rail links with adjacent countries
France — voltage change 3 kV DC – 25 kV AC
LGV 1 — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
via France to the UK on HSL 1, LGV 1, Channel Tunnel and CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link) — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
Germany — voltage change 3 kV DC – 15 kV AC
HSL 3 — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
Netherlands — voltage change 3 kV DC – 1500 V DC
HSL-Zuid — voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
Luxembourg — no voltage change at the border (the line Hatrival (Libramont)-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC and the line Gouvy-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC)
Urban rail
An urban commuter rail network, Brussels RER (, ), is operational in the Brussels-Capital Region and surrounding areas.
Metros and light rail
In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called vicinal or buurtspoor lines crossed the country in the first half of the 20th century, and had a greater route length than the main-line railway system. The only survivors of the vicinal/buurtspoor system are the Kusttram (covering almost the entire coast from France to the Netherlands, being the longest tram line in the world) and some sections of the Charleroi lightrail system. Urban tram networks exist in Antwerp (the Antwerp Pre-metro), Ghent and Brussels (the Brussels trams), and are gradually being extended. The only rapid transit system in Belgium is the Brussels Metro. Some heavy metro infrastructures were built in Brussels, Antwerp and the Charleroi area, but these are currently used by light rail vehicles, and their conversion to full metro is not envisaged at present due to lack of funds.
Regional transport in Belgium is operated by regional companies: De Lijn in Flanders operates the Kusttram and the Antwerp pre-metro and tram, and the tram in Gent, as well as a bus network both urban and interurban, TEC in Wallonia operates the Charleroi lightrail system as well as a bus network and MIVB/STIB in the Brussels Capital-Region operates the Brussels metro as well as the Brussels tram and bus network. Despite this regional organization, some bus and tram routes operated by STIB/MIVB go beyond the regional border, and some bus routes operated by TEC or De Lijn transport passengers from the Flemish or Walloon regions to the capital city or in the other regions.
Road transport
Road network
thumb|280px|The A12 with a railway in the centre.
The road network in Belgium is managed by regional authorities, meaning that a road section in Flanders is managed by the Flemish Government, a road section in Brussels by the Brussels government and a road section in Wallonia by the Walloon Government. This explains that road signs in Flanders are written in Dutch, even when referring to a Walloon region, and conversely, which can be confusing for foreigners who do not know the different translations of Flemish or Walloon cities in the other language. The road network in Belgium is made of highways, national (or regional) roads (the secondary network) and communal roads (or streets). Communal roads are managed at the municipal level. There are also a number of orbital roads in Belgium around major cities.
total: 152,256 km (2006)
country comparison to the world: 35
paved: 119,079 km (including 1,763 km of expressways)
unpaved: 33,177 km
Belgian road numbering evolved during the middle decades of the twentieth century, in a relatively inconsistent way. Road number allocations became less systematic during the surge in road building that took place in the 1960s and 70s. Frequently downgraded and deteriorating older national roads retained two digit numbers while newer major roads were identified with less instantly memorable three digit numbers, if only because the shorter numbers were already taken. 1985 saw a comprehensive renumbering of the "N" (National) roads which now followed the scheme described below.
Highways
The highways in Belgium are marked with a letter A and a number. Most often however the European numbering system for the international E-road network is used. There is however not always a one-on-one relationship between the two numbering systems along the whole length of the highways.
A1 (E19): Brussels - Antwerp - Breda
A2 (E314): Leuven - Lummen - Genk
A3 (E40): Brussels - Leuven - Liège - Aachen
A4 (E411): Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg
A10 (E40): Brussels - Ghent - Bruges - Ostend
A12 (Brussels - Boom - Antwerp - Netherlands (Bergen op Zoom):(includes a section not yet fully upgraded to motorway standard)
A13 (E313): Antwerp - Beringen - Hasselt - Liège
A14 (E17): Lille - Kortrijk - Ghent - Antwerp
A15 (E42): Charleroi - Namur - Huy - Liège
A17 (E403): Bruges - Kortrijk - Tournai
A18 (E40): Bruges - Veurne - Dunkerque
Ringways
The ringways (or orbital roads) around bigger cities have their own series of numbers. The names start with a R then a first digit indicating the (old) province, and sometimes a second digit to further differentiate in between different ringways.
Some major examples are:
R0 is the outer ringway around Brussels. The R20 and R22 are (parts of) inner ringways around Brussels.
R1 is the southern half ringway and R2 is the northern half ringway around Antwerp.
R3 is the outer ringway and R9 is the inner ringway around Charleroi. The inner ring is counterclockwise-only.
R4 is the outer ringway and R40 is the inner ringway around Ghent.
R6 is the outer ringway and R12 is the inner ringway around Mechelen.
R8 is the outer ringway and R36 is the inner ringway around Kortrijk.
R23 is the ringway around Leuven.
R30 is the inner ringway around Bruges.
National roads
The national roads were renumbered in 1985 according to a national scheme and are identified with the letter N followed by a number.
The principal national roads fan out from Brussels, numbered in clockwise order:
N1: Brussels - Mechelen - Antwerp
N2: Brussels - Leuven - Diest - Hasselt - Maastricht
N3: Brussels - Leuven - Tienen - Sint-Truiden - Liège - Aachen
N4: Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Marche-en-Famenne - Bastogne - Arlon
N5: Brussels - Charleroi - Philippeville
N6: Brussels - Halle - Soignies - Mons
N7: Halle - Ath - Tournai
N8: Brussels - Ninove - Oudenaarde - Kortrijk - Ypres - Veurne - Koksijde
N9: Brussels - Aalst - Ghent - Eeklo - Bruges - Ostend
Secondary national roads intersect these.
National roads have an N plus 1, 2 or 3 digits. National roads numbered with 3 digits are provincial roads, their first number indicating the province in which the road begins:
N1xx Province of Antwerp
N2xx Provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant
N3xx Province of West Flanders
N4xx Province of East Flanders
N5xx Province of Hainaut
N6xx Province of Liège
N7xx Province of Limburg
N8xx Province of Luxembourg
N9xx Province of Namur
Cars
Changes
Between 1993 and 2012 the average age of the passengers cars registered as running in Belgium increased from just over 6 years and 4 months to 8 years and 17 days. 2012 data for other European countries are not yet available, but in 2010 the average age of car Belgium was 7.9 years against a European Union average of 8.3 years. Government policy provides an important clue as to one reason for the relative newness of the national car parc. Despite recent high-profile plant closures by Ford and Renault, Belgium remains an important centre for automobile component and passenger car production, with important plants operated by Volvo and Audi, and this is reflected in a relatively benign taxation environment whereby company cars are a still a popular and relatively tax efficient element in many remuneration packages.
Water
Ports and harbours
thumb|280px|The Port of Antwerp is one of the largest in Europe and the world
Sea ports
Antwerp - Port of Antwerp (one of the world's busiest ports)
Bruges (Zeebrugge) - Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge (one of the busiest in Europe)
Ghent - Port of Ghent
Ostend - Port of Ostend
Main inland ports
Brussels - Port of Brussels (also accessible for ocean-going ships)
Liège - Port of Liège (one of the busiest in Europe)
European portuary context
European Sea Ports Organisation ESPO
European Federation of Inland Ports FEPI
Inland Navigation Europe INE
2002 ranking of world ports by tonnage and by container volume (in TEU) Port ranking
Merchant marine
Waterways
The Belgian waterway network has 2,043 km, 1,532 km of which is in regular commercial use. The main waterways are:
the Albert Canal connecting Antwerp to Liège,
the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal through the port of Ghent connecting Ghent with the Westerschelde,
the Boudewijn Canal through the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge connecting Bruges with the North Sea,
the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal and Scheldt connecting Charleroi to Antwerp,
the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal and Scheldt connecting the Borinage to Antwerp,
the connection between the North Sea and Antwerp and the connection between Dunkerque and Liège via the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal,
the Canal du Centre, the lower Sambre and the Meuse.
Waterways are managed on a regional level in Belgium. The region of Brussels only managed 14 km of waterways from the Anderlecht lock to the Vilvoorde bridge. In Flanders, the management of waterways is outsourced to four companies: NV De Scheepvaart, Departement Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken, Agentschap voor Maritieme Dienstverlening en Kust and Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV.
Air transport
thumb|300px|Brussels Airport is the main airport in Belgium.
According to the 2009 CIA World Factbook, there are a total of 43 airports in Belgium, 27 of which have paved runways. Five airports have passenger flights; the largest of these is Brussels Airport. The other four are Ostend-Bruges International Airport, Brussels-South Charleroi Airport, Liège Airport and Antwerp International Airport. Other airports are military airports or small civil airports with no scheduled flights. Well-known military airports include the Melsbroek Air Base and the Beauvechain Air Base.
The Belgian national airline was Sabena from 1923 to 2001, until it went into bankruptcy. A new Belgian airline named SN Brussels Airlines was then founded by businessman Étienne Davignon. The company was then renamed as Brussels Airlines in 2006. In 2016, Air Belgium was founded by Nicky Terzakis, former CEO of TNT Airways, with the goal of connecting Belgium, offering long-haul flights. In 2019, Brussels Airlines became a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa.
See also
Transport in France
Transport in Germany
Transport in the Netherlands
List of tunnels in Belgium
Plug-in electric vehicles in Belgium
References
Further reading
External links
Transport at Belgium.be | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Belgium | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.850936 |
3565 | Economy of Benin | |population 11,485,048 (2018)
|gdp = $14.374 billion (nominal, 2019 est.)
* $40.717 billion (PPP, 2019 est.)}}
|per capita = $1,217 (nominal, 2019 est.)}}
|inflation 1.0% (2020 est.)}}
|gini 47.8 (2015)
|hdi = 0.520 (2018) (163rd)
*0.327 IHDI (2018)}}
|labor = 4,862,455 (2019)
* 70.0% employment rate (2011)}}
|occupations |unemployment 1% (2014 est.)
|industries = textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement
|exports $1.974 billion (2017 est.)
*B (Domestic)
*B (Foreign)
*BBB- (T&C Assessment)}}
|aid |cianame benin
|spelling =
}}
The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture and cotton. Cotton accounts for 40% of Benin's GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts. There is also production of textiles, palm products, and cocoa beans. Maize (corn), beans, rice, peanuts, cashews, pineapples, cassava, yams, and other various tubers are grown for local subsistence. Benin began producing a modest quantity of offshore oil in October 1982. Production ceased in recent years but exploration of new sites is ongoing.
A modest fishing fleet provides fish and shrimp for local subsistence and export to Europe. Formerly government-owned commercial activities are now privatized. A French brewer acquired the former state-run brewery. Smaller businesses are privately owned by Beninese citizens, but some firms are foreign owned, primarily French and Lebanese. The private commercial and agricultural sectors remain the principal contributors to growth.
Economic development
Since the transition to a democratic government in 1990, Benin has undergone an economic recovery. A large injection of external investment from both private and public sources has alleviated the economic difficulties of the early 1990s caused by global recession and persistently low commodity prices (although the latter continues to affect the economy). The manufacturing sector is confined to some light industry, which is mainly involved in processing primary products and the cow production of consumer goods. A planned joint hydroelectric project with neighboring Togo is intended to reduce Benin's dependence on imported energy mostly from Ghana, which currently accounts for a significant proportion of the country's imports.
The service sector has grown quickly, stimulated by economic liberalization and fiscal reform, and the use of modern technology such as automobiles and computers has grown considerably as a result. Membership of the CFA Franc Zone offers reasonable currency stability as well as access to French economic support. Benin sells its products mainly to France and, in smaller quantities, to the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and India. France is Benin's leading source for imports. Benin is also a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Despite its rapid growth, the economy of Benin still remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output averaged a sound 5% since 1996, but a rapid population rise offset much of this growth on a per capita basis. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. Commercial and transport activities, which make up a large part of GDP, are vulnerable to developments in Nigeria, particularly fuel shortages.
Although trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the large informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labour, and the continuing issue of forced labour.
In December 2014, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs issued a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in which the Republic of Benin was mentioned among 74 other countries where significant instances of child labor were observed. Two major products involved such working conditions in Benin: cotton and crushed granite.
Agriculture
Benin produced in 2018:
* 3.8 million tons of cassava (17th largest producer in the world);
* 2.7 million tons of yam (4th largest producer in the world, losing only to Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast);
* 1.5 million tons of maize;
* 758 thousand tons of cotton (12th largest producer in the world);
* 598 thousand tons of palm oil;
* 459 thousand tons of rice;
* 372 thousand tons of pineapple;
* 319 thousand tons of sorghum;
* 253 thousand tons of tomato;
* 225 thousand tons of peanut;
* 221 thousand tons of soy;
* 215 thousand tons of cashew nuts (5th largest producer in the world, losing only to Vietnam, India, Ivory Coast and Philippines);
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.
Financial Sector
Benin's financial sector is dominated by banks, and in general remains shallow. However, a series of reforms were undertaken in the 1990s, which resulted in the consolidation of the banking sector and in the privatization of all state banks.
A legal framework regarding licensing, bank activities, organizational and capital requirements, inspections and sanctions (all applicable to all countries of the Union) is in place and underwent significant reforms in 1999. There is no customer deposit insurance system.
Benin has a lively and diversified microfinance sector. Data from 2003 by the Central Bank stated a penetration rate of microfinance services of almost 60 percent. In 2006 the Ministry of Microfinance and Employment of Youth and Women counted 762 organizations with 1308 branches, including Cooperatives, NGOs, Savings/Credit Associations and government projects. Programmes for strengthening the sector are carried out on national and regional levels, such as the PRAFIDE (Programme Régional d’Appui à la finance Décentralisée). The microfinance sector is also subject to supervision through the Central Bank as well as the responsible Ministry for Microfinance and Employment of Youth and Women.
Benin is member of the Bourse Regionale des Valeures Mobilières (BRVM) located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Stocks were issued by a number of companies in the region. Listed bonds were partly issued by companies and partly by governments of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA).
The payment and settlement system and clearing mechanisms were reformed in 2004 through the BCEAO and offer RTGS and SWIFT access to banks, financial institutions, the stock exchange as well as the Central bank and special banks.
*Banque Internationale du Bénin (BI.BE)
*Bank of Africa Benin
*Continental Bank Benin
*Diamond Bank Benin (DBB)
*Ecobank
*Financial Bank
*Finadev
*Caisse Nationale d'Epargne
*Credit du Bénin
*Equibail
* United Bank of Africa
* Africa Bank for the Industry and the trade
* Sahelo-Saharian Bank of the Industry and Trade Development
Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2024.
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;"
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! Year
! GDP<br />(in billion US$ <br />PPP)
! GDP per capita<br />(in US$ PPP)
!GDP<br />(in billion US$ <br />nominal)
! GDP growth<br />(real)
! Inflation<br />(in Percent)
! Government debt<br />(Percentage of GDP)
|-
|1980
|3.75
|1,000
|2.30
|9.3%
|9.6%
|n/a
|-
|1985
|5.15
|1,170
|1.58
|4.3%
|1.2%
|n/a
|-
|1990
|6.62
|1,290
|2.89
|9.0%
|1.1%
|n/a
|-
|1995
|9.18
|1,519
|2.99
|6.0%
|14.5%
|n/a
|-
|2000
|12.64
|1,806
|3.52
|5.9%
|4.0%
|39.6%
|-
|2005
|17.16
|2,106
|6.57
|1.7%
|4.7%
|27.0%
|-
|2006
|18.39
|2,189
|7.03
|3.9%
|5.2%
|8.4%
|-
|2007
|20.02
|2,315
|8.17
|6.0%
|1.3%
|14.3%
|-
|2008
|21.40
|2,403
|9.79
|4.9%
|6.8%
|18.3%
|-
|2009
|22.04
|2,402
|9.73
|2.3%
|0.7%
|18.7%
|-
|2010
|22.78
|2,411
|9.54
|2.1%
|2.3%
|21.0%
|-
|2011
|23.93
|2,461
|10.69
|3.0%
|2.8%
|21.9%
|-
|2012
|25.55
|2,552
|11.15
|4.8%
|7.0%
|19.5%
|-
|2013
|27.86
|2,702
|12.52
|7.2%
|1.0%
|18.5%
|-
|2014
|30.14
|2,840
|13.29
|6.4%
| −1.1%
|22.3%
|-
|2015
|30.96
|2,832
|11.39
|1.8%
|0.2%
|30.9%
|-
|2016
|32.30
|2,869
|11.82
|3.3%
| −0.8%
|35.9%
|-
|2017
|34.75
|2,996
|12.70
|5.7%
|1.8%
|39.6%
|-
|2018
|36.69
|3,073
|14.26
|6.7%
|0.8%
|41.1%
|-
|2019
|40.08
|3,261
|14.39
|6.9%
| −0.9%
|41.2%
|-
|2020
|42.41
|3,354
|15.67
|3.8%
|3.0%
|46.1%
|-
|2021
|46.47
|3,575
|17.70
|7.2%
|1.7%
|50.3%
|-
|2022
|52.89
|3,961
|17.44
|6.3%
|1.4%
|54.2%
|-
|2023
|58.28
|4,244
|19.68
|6.4%
|2.8%
|54.5%
|-
|2024
|63.54
|4,501
|21.32
|6.5%
|2.0%
|54.0%
|}
See also
*Agriculture in Benin
*Fishing in Benin
* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
*Foreign trade of Benin
References
*
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234153/http://bankinginfo.org/central_bank/benin.htm Benin Banking Information]
* [http://www.resimao.org West African Agricultural Market Observer/Observatoire du Marché Agricole (RESIMAO)], a project of the West-African Market Information Network (WAMIS-NET), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria. Sixty commodities are tracked weekly. The project is run by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, and a number of European, African, and United Nations agencies.
* [http://www.trademap.org/open_access/Index.aspx?proceedtrue&reporter204 Benin latest trade data on ITC Trade Map]
Benin
Benin | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Benin | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.869927 |
3583 | Economy of Bhutan | | population = 780,000 (2021)
| gdp = $3.110 billion(nominal, 2025)
* $13.062 billion(PPP, 2025)}}
| gdp rank =
| growth =
| per capita = $4,425 (nominal, 2025)
* $18,177 (PPP, 2025)}}
| per capita rank =
| sectors =
| inflation 7.35% (2021)
| poverty = 9.8% on less than $3.20/day (2020f)}}
| gini 37.4 (2017, World Bank)
| hdi = 0.666 (2021) (129th)
* 0.450 IHDI (2018)}}
| cpi = 68 out of 100 points (2023, 26th rank)
| labour = 381,742 (2019)
*major shortage of skilled labour}}
| occupations = $345 million (2021)
| export-goods = Iron and Steel, Salt Sulphur and Cement, Aircraft
| export-partners = 87.6%
* 4.72%
* 1.89%
* 1.17%
* 0.67% (2022)}}
| imports $1.12 billion (2021)}}
| current account −$547 million (2017 est.)
On 8 December 2023, Bhutan graduated from the UN's list of least developed countries (LDCs), making it only the 7th country to do so and the first in 3 years.Macro-economic trend
This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Bhutan at market prices [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/01/data/weorept.aspx?sy1980&ey2008&scsm1&ssd1&sortcountry&ds.&br1&pr1.x37&pr1.y8&c514&sNGDP_R%2CNGDP_RPCH%2CNGDP%2CNGDPD%2CNGDP_D%2CNGDPRPC%2CNGDPPC%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPWGT%2CPPPPC%2CPPPSH%2CPPPEX%2CPCPI%2CPCPIPCH%2CLP%2CBCA%2CBCA_NGDPD&grp0&a=|reported] by the International Monetary Fund:
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-text"
|-
! Year || GDP (millions of BTN) || GDP (millions of USD)
|-
| 1985 || 2,166|| 175
|-
| 1990 || 4,877 || 279
|-
| 1995 || 9,531 || 294
|-
| 2000 || 20,060 || 460
|-
| 2005 || 36,915 || 828
|-
| 2008 || 45,000 || 1280
|-
| 2011 || 84,950 || 1695
|-
| 2014 || 119,546||1784
|-
| 2017 || 159,572||2294
|-
|}
Bhutan's hydropower potential and its attraction for tourists are key resources. The Bhutanese Government has made some progress in expanding the nation's productive base and improving social welfare.
In 2010, Bhutan became the first country in the world to ban smoking and the selling of tobacco. In order to stamp out cross-border smuggling during the pandemic, a new Tobacco Control Rules and Regulations (TCRR) 2021 allowed the import, sales and consumption of tobacco products.
Membership of economic organizations and agreements
In terms of trade, Bhutan is a member of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC). Bhutan is also a member of the pan-Asian Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), and the Asian Development Bank.
Bhutan first applied to join the WTO in 1999 and as an applicant, was quickly granted observer status Beyond that, ascension proceedings at the WTO have been much delayed and periodically put on pause, largely stemming from concerns and considerations of the Bhutanese government itself. The Bhutanese government approved ascension to the WTO in April 2023, at least partly hastened by the country's upcoming graduation from the UN-defined 'least developed country (LDC) category. Under WTO rules and processes, ascent of a country with LDC status comes with some leniency in certain requirements, more relaxed timeframes for compliance, and additional support; so, whilst the loss of LDC status, as happened in December 2023, was a reflection of Bhutan's success and development progress, it also meant much further delay in WTO ascension (that is, ascent after the loss of LDC status) would make the journey through to full WTO member status even harder. GNH versus GDP In the 1970s the King placed Gross National Happiness over Gross Domestic Product. See also
* Agriculture in Bhutan
* Banking in Bhutan
* Mining in Bhutan
* Fishing in Bhutan
* Forestry in Bhutan
* Bhutanese ngultrum, currency
References
;Notes
;Public domain
*
*
;Citations
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*[http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21160796~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html Global Economic Prospects: Growth Prospects for South Asia] The World Bank, 13 December 2006 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Bhutan | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.883673 |
3589 | Lhop people | hazaras
}}
The Lhop or Doya people (Dzongkha: ལྷོབ་ ་ཡང་ན་ དྲོ་ཡ) are a little-known tribe of southwest Bhutan. The Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. The Lhop are found in the low valleys of Dorokha Gewog and near Phuntsholing in the Duars.
The dress of the Lhop resembles the Lepcha, but they bear little similarity with the Bhutia in the North and the Toto in the west. The Doya trace their descent matrilineally, marry their cross cousins, and embalm the deceased who are then placed in a foetal position in a circular sarcophagus above the ground. They follow a blend of Tibetan Buddhism mixed with animism.
See also
*Ethnic groups in Bhutan
*Sharchop
References
External links
* [http://www.raonline.ch/pages/bt/peop/btpeop_lhop01.html RAOnline Bhutan: The Lhop]
Category:Ethnic groups in Bhutan | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhop_people | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.887092 |
3604 | Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina | | km area =51209
| percent land= 99.8
| km coastline =20
| borders =Total land borders:<br/>1,538 km
| highest point= Maglić<br/>2,386 m
| lowest point= Adriatic Sea<br />0 m
| longest river= Drina
| largest lake=Hutovo Blato
}}
Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Southeastern Europe. Situated in the western Balkans, it has a border with Croatia to the north and southwest, a border with Serbia to the east, and a border with Montenegro to the southeast. It borders the Adriatic Sea along its coastline.
The most striking features of the local terrain are valleys and mountains which measure up to in height. The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps. The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian basin, while in the south it borders the Adriatic Sea.
The country's natural resources include coal, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, timber and hydropower.Regions
The country's name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them. Bosnia occupies the northern areas which are roughly four fifths of the entire country, while Herzegovina occupies the rest in the southern part of the country.
The major cities are the capital Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Bihać in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla in the northeast, Zenica in the central part of Bosnia and Mostar is the capital of Herzegovina.
The south part of Bosnia has Mediterranean climate and a great deal of agriculture. Central Bosnia is the most mountainous part of Bosnia featuring prominent mountains Vlašić, Čvrsnica, and Prenj. Eastern Bosnia also features mountains like Trebević, Jahorina, Igman, Bjelašnica and Treskavica. It was here that the 1984 Winter Olympics were held.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina forest cover is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 2,187,910 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 2,210,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. For the year 2015, 74% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 26% private ownership. Eastern Bosnia is heavily forested along the river Drina and most forest areas are in Central, Eastern and Western parts of Bosnia. Northern Bosnia contains very fertile agricultural land along the river Sava and the corresponding area is heavily farmed. This farmland is a part of the Parapannonian Plain stretching into neighbouring Croatia and Serbia. The river Sava and corresponding Posavina river basin hold the cities of Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, Bosanski Brod and Bosanska Gradiška.
The northwest part of Bosnia is called Bosanska Krajina and holds the cities of Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Jajce, Cazin, Velika Kladuša and Bihać. Kozara National Park and Mrakovica World War II monument is located in this region.
The country has only of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, although surrounded by Croatian peninsulas it is possible to get to the middle of the Adriatic from Neum. Through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Bosnia has a right of innocent passage to the outer sea. Neum has many hotels and is an important tourism destination.Rivers
<!-- -->
river, Ilidža]]
There are seven major rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
*The Una in the northwest part of Bosnia flows along the northern and western border of Bosnia and Croatia and through the Bosnian city of Bihać. It is popular for rafting and adventure sports.
*The Sana flows through the city of Sanski Most and Prijedor and is a tributary of the river Una in the north.
*The Vrbas flows through the cities of Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje, Bugojno, Jajce, Banja Luka, Srbac and reaches the river Sava in the north. The Vrbas flows through the central part of Bosnia and flows outwards to the North.
*The Bosna is the longest river in Bosnia and is fully contained within the country as it stretches from its source near Sarajevo to the river Sava in the north. It gave its name to the country.
*The Drina flows through the eastern part of Bosnia, at many places in the border between Bosnia and Serbia. The Drina flows through the cities of Foča, Goražde Višegrad and Zvornik.
*The Neretva is the longest river in Herzegovina, flowing from Jablanica south to the Adriatic Sea. The river is famous as it flows through the city of Mostar.
The Sava is the longest river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, within Bosnia and Herzegovina, it only runs along the border with Croatia. It then flows into Serbia. Towns like Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, and Bosanska Gradiška lie on the river.
Phytogeography
Phytogeographically, Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region and Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. According to the WWF, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be subdivided into three ecoregions: the Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.
Climate
Except for the easternmost provinces, the country experiences a wet Mediterranean climate.
The hills and mountains are drier, colder, windier, and cloudier.
|source 2 NOAA (sun, 1961–1990)
|date=August 2016
}}
The north region has a typical continental climate.|dateJanuary 2011}} Climate change Mining industry
Crystal found at Trebević mountain around Sarajevo; Bosnia and Herzegovina on display at National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.]]
Various archaeological artifacts including relicts of mining activities and tools belonging to similar age groups, provide an indication of the geographical distribution, scale and methods of mining activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Paleolithic to Roman era.
Most important of these is the so-called area of “central Bosnian mountains” located between the rivers Vrbas, Lašva, Neretva, Rama and their tributaries. The second one is the area of western Bosnia, bordered by the Vrbas and Una rivers, with its main orebearing formations found in the river-valleys of Sana and Japra, and their tributaries. The third area is eastern Bosnia, around the river Drina between the towns of Foča and Zvornik, the principal mining activity centered around Srebrenica.
Ores of various metals, including iron, are found in these areas and exploitation has been going on for more than 5000 years – from the period of prehistoric human settlers, through Illyrian, Roman, Slavic, Turkish and Austrian rulers, into the present.
Land use
*Arable land: 19.73%
*Permanent crops: 2.06%
*Other: 78.22% (2012 est.)
Irrigated land: (2003)
Total renewable water resources: (2011) Environment
Natural hazards:
*Destructive earthquakes
Current issues:
*Air pollution from metallurgical plants
*Sites for disposing of urban waste are limited
*Widespread casualties, water shortages, and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992–95 war
*Deforestation
International agreements:
*Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
*Signed, but not ratified: none
Gallery
<gallery class="center">
File:NP001 nacionalni park sutjeska perucica.jpg|Sutjeska National Park
File:NP002 - 14.jpg|Kozara National Park
File:Štrbački buk 1.jpg|Una National Park
File:Drina Canyon.JPG|Drina National Park
</gallery>
See also
*Environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Geography of Europe
*List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
Notes | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:25.902845 |
3605 | Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Demographic features of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Vital statistics
Source: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
{| class"wikitable sortable sort-under-center" style"text-align: right;"
! style="width:40pt;" |Year
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year population
! style="width:60pt;" |Live births
! style="width:60pt;" |Deaths
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change
! style="width:50pt;" |Crude birth rate (per 1000)
! style="width:50pt;" |Crude death rate (per 1000)
! style="width:50pt;" |Natural change (per 1000)
! style="width:50pt;" |Total fertility rate
! style="width:60pt;" |Female fertile population (15–49 years)
|-
|1947
| style="text-align:right;" |2,532,000
| 84,600
| 38,900
| style="color:green" | 45,700
| 33.4
| 15.4
| style="color:green" |18.0
| style="color:blue" |
|
|-
|1948
| style="text-align:right;" |2,581,987
| style="text-align:right;" |90,700
| style="text-align:right;" |41,600
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |49,100
| style="text-align:right;" |35.1
| style="text-align:right;" |16.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |19.0
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| 647,112
|-
|1949
| style="text-align:right;" |2,641,990
| style="text-align:right;" |98,200
| style="text-align:right;" |42,200
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 56,000
| style="text-align:right;" |37.2
| style="text-align:right;" |16.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |21.2
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |669,152
|-
|1950
| style="text-align:right;" |2,662,010
| style="text-align:right;" |102,680
| style="text-align:right;" |35,991
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 66,689
| style="text-align:right;" |38.6
| style="text-align:right;" |13.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |25.1
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |5.17
| style="text-align:right;" |691,192
|-
|1951
| style="text-align:right;" |2,721,009
| style="text-align:right;" |92,330
| style="text-align:right;" |46,358
| style="color:green" |45,972
| style="text-align:right;" |33.9
| 17.0
| style="color:green" |16.9
| style="color:blue" |4.51
| style="text-align:right;" |713,232
|-
|1952
| style="text-align:right;" |2,790,991
| style="text-align:right;" |112,216
| style="text-align:right;" |34,817
| style="color:green" |77,399
| 40.2
| style="text-align:right;" |12.5
| style="color:green" | 27.7
| style="color:blue" |5.33
| style="text-align:right;" |735,272
|-
|1953
| style="text-align:right;" |2,863,124
| style="text-align:right;" |110,373
| style="text-align:right;" |41,199
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |69,174
| style="text-align:right;" |38.5
| style="text-align:right;" |14.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |24.2
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.84
| style="text-align:right;" |757,312
|-
|1954
| style="text-align:right;" |2,916,007
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;"|115,854
| style="text-align:right;" |35,158
| style="color:green" |80,696
| style="text-align:right;" |39.7
| style="text-align:right;" |12.1
| style="color:green" |27.7
| style="color:blue" |4.93
| style="text-align:right;" |765,462
|-
|1955
| style="text-align:right;" |2,973,986
| style="text-align:right;" |110,866
| style="text-align:right;" |40,513
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |70,353
| style="text-align:right;" |37.3
| style="text-align:right;" |13.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |23.7
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.59
| style="text-align:right;" |773,612
|-
|1956
| style="text-align:right;" |3,025,000
| style="text-align:right;" |111,561
| style="text-align:right;" |38,320
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |73,241
| style="text-align:right;" |36.9
| style="text-align:right;" |12.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |24.2
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.48
| style="text-align:right;" |781,761
|-
|1957
| style="text-align:right;" |3,076,006
| style="text-align:right;" |102,649
| style="text-align:right;" |36,830
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |65,819
| style="text-align:right;" |33.4
| style="text-align:right;" |12.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |21.4
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.02
| style="text-align:right;" |789,911
|-
|1958
| style="text-align:right;" |3,126,012
| style="text-align:right;" |110,332
| style="text-align:right;" |30,123
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |80,209
| style="text-align:right;" |35.3
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |25.7
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.22
| style="text-align:right;" |798,061
|-
|1959
| style="text-align:right;" |3,185,005
| style="text-align:right;" |108,123
| style="text-align:right;" |32,507
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |75,616
| style="text-align:right;" |33.9
| style="text-align:right;" |10.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |23.7
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.06
| style="text-align:right;" |806,211
|-
|1960
| style="text-align:right;" |3,240,010
| style="text-align:right;" |110,499
| style="text-align:right;" |33,360
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |77,139
| style="text-align:right;" |34.1
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |23.8
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4.06
| style="text-align:right;" |814,360
|-
|1961
| style="text-align:right;" |3,291,684
| style="text-align:right;" |108,076
| style="text-align:right;" |29,413
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |78,663
| style="text-align:right;" |32.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |23.9
| style="text-align:right; color:blue; " |3.91
| style="text-align:right;" |822,510
|-
|1962
| style="text-align:right;" |3,338,505
| style="text-align:right;" |106,826
| style="text-align:right;" |31,087
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |75,739
| style="text-align:right;" |32.0
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |22.7
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.86
| style="text-align:right;" |838,877
|-
|1963
| style="text-align:right;" |3,385,326
| style="text-align:right;" |104,240
| style="text-align:right;" |29,161
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |75,079
| style="text-align:right;" |30.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |22.2
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.75
| style="text-align:right;" |855,245
|-
|1964
| style="text-align:right;" |3,432,147
| style="text-align:right;" |101,147
| style="text-align:right;" |29,846
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 71,301
| style="text-align:right;" |29.5
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |20.8
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.62
| style="text-align:right;" |871,612
|-
|1965
| style="text-align:right;" |3,478,968
| style="text-align:right;" |101,351
| style="text-align:right;" |27,814
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 73,537
| style="text-align:right;" |29.1
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |21.1
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.61
| style="text-align:right;" |887,979
|-
|1966
| style="text-align:right;" |3,525,789
| style="text-align:right;" |97,689
| style="text-align:right;" |25,138
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 72,551
| style="text-align:right;" |27.7
| style="text-align:right;" |7.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |20.6
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.46
| style="text-align:right;" |904,347
|-
|1967
| style="text-align:right;" |3,572,609
| style="text-align:right;" |92,972
| style="text-align:right;" |26,195
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 66,777
| style="text-align:right;" |26.0
| style="text-align:right;" |7.3
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |18.7
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.28
| style="text-align:right;" |920,714
|-
|1968
| style="text-align:right;" |3,619,430
| style="text-align:right;" |89,134
| style="text-align:right;" |26,031
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 63,103
| style="text-align:right;" |24.6
| style="text-align:right;" |7.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |17.4
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.14
| style="text-align:right;" |937,081
|-
|1969
| style="text-align:right;" |3,666,251
| style="text-align:right;" |87,687
| style="text-align:right;" |27,805
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 59,882
| style="text-align:right;" |23.9
| style="text-align:right;" |7.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |16.3
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |3.05
| style="text-align:right;" |953,448
|-
|1970
| style="text-align:right;" |3,713,072
| style="text-align:right;" |79,296
| style="text-align:right;" |26,355
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 52,941
| style="text-align:right;" |21.4
| style="text-align:right;" |7.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |14.3
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.74
| style="text-align:right;" |969,816
|-
|1971
| style="text-align:right;" |3,759,893
| style="text-align:right;" |82,694
| style="text-align:right;" |24,915
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 57,779
| style="text-align:right;" |22.0
| style="text-align:right;" |6.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |15.4
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.83
| style="text-align:right;" |986,183
|-
|1972
| style="text-align:right;" |3,797,523
| style="text-align:right;" |82,068
| style="text-align:right;" |26,844
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 55,224
| style="text-align:right;" |21.6
| style="text-align:right;" |7.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |14.5
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.76
| style="text-align:right;" |998,220
|-
|1973
| style="text-align:right;" |3,835,154
| style="text-align:right;" |77,896
| style="text-align:right;" |24,672
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 53,224
| style="text-align:right;" |20.3
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |13.9
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.57
| style="text-align:right;" |1,010,257
|-
|1974
| style="text-align:right;" |3,872,784
| style="text-align:right;" |77,833
| style="color:blue" |23,661
| style="color:green" | 54,172
| style="text-align:right;" |20.1
| 6.1
| style="color:green" |14.0
| style="color:blue" |2.52
| style="text-align:right;" |1,022,293
|-
|1975
| style="text-align:right;" |3,910,414
| style="text-align:right;" |78,844
| style="text-align:right;" |25,571
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 53,273
| style="text-align:right;" |20.2
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |13.6
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.51
| style="text-align:right;" |1,034,330
|-
|1976
| style="text-align:right;" |3,948,045
| style="text-align:right;" |79,061
| style="text-align:right;" |25,178
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 53,883
| style="text-align:right;" |20.0
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |13.6
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.47
| style="text-align:right;" |1,046,367
|-
|1977
| style="text-align:right;" |3,985,675
| style="text-align:right;" |75,669
| style="text-align:right;" |24,821
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 50,848
| style="text-align:right;" |19.0
| style="text-align:right;" |6.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |12.8
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.32
| style="text-align:right;" |1,058,404
|-
|1978
| style="text-align:right;" |4,023,305
| style="text-align:right;" |73,306
| style="text-align:right;" |26,016
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 47,290
| style="text-align:right;" |18.2
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |11.8
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.21
| style="text-align:right;" |1,070,441
|-
|1979
| style="text-align:right;" |4,060,935
| style="text-align:right;" |71,120
| style="text-align:right;" |25,370
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 45,750
| style="text-align:right;" |17.5
| style="text-align:right;" |6.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |11.3
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.10
| style="text-align:right;" |1,082,477
|-
|1980
| style="text-align:right;" |4,098,566
| style="text-align:right;" |70,928
| style="text-align:right;" |26,115
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 44,813
| style="text-align:right;" |17.3
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |2.06
| style="text-align:right;" |1,094,514
|-
|1981
| style="text-align:right;" |4,136,196
| style="text-align:right;" |71,031
| style="text-align:right;" |26,222
| style="color:green" | 44,809
| style="text-align:right;" |17.2
| style="text-align:right;" |6.3
| style="color:green" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |2.03
| style="color:blue" |1,106,551
|-
|1982
| style="text-align:right;" |4,160,280
| style="text-align:right;" |73,375
| style="text-align:right;" |26,775
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 46,600
| style="text-align:right;" |17.6
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right;" |2.09
| style="text-align:right;" |1,105,958
|-
|1983
| style="text-align:right;" |4,184,363
| style="text-align:right;" |74,296
| style="text-align:right;" |29,999
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 44,297
| style="text-align:right;" |17.8
| style="text-align:right;" |7.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |10.6
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.12
| style="text-align:right;" |1,105,366
|-
|1984
| style="text-align:right;" |4,208,447
| style="text-align:right;" |74,539
| style="text-align:right;" |29,046
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 45,493
| style="text-align:right;" |17.7
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |2.13
| style="text-align:right;" |1,104,773
|-
|1985
| style="text-align:right;" |4,232,531
| style="text-align:right;" |72,722
| style="text-align:right;" |28,966
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 43,756
| style="text-align:right;" |17.2
| style="text-align:right;" |6.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |2.08
| style="text-align:right;" |1,104,181
|-
|1986
| style="text-align:right;" |4,256,615
| style="text-align:right;" |71,203
| style="text-align:right;" |29,127
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 42,076
| style="text-align:right;" |16.7
| style="text-align:right;" |6.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right;" |2.04
| style="text-align:right;" |1,103,588
|-
|1987
| style="text-align:right;" |4,280,698
| style="text-align:right;" |70,898
| style="text-align:right;" |29,382
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 41,516
| style="text-align:right;" |16.6
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |2.03
| style="text-align:right;" |1,102,995
|-
|1988
| style="text-align:right;" |4,304,782
| style="text-align:right;" |70,711
| style="text-align:right;" |29,555
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 41,156
| style="text-align:right;" |16.4
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right;" |2.03
| style="text-align:right;" |1,102,403
|-
|1989
| style="text-align:right;" |4,328,866
| style="text-align:right;" |66,809
| style="text-align:right;" |30,383
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 36,426
| style="text-align:right;" |15.4
| style="text-align:right;" |7.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.92
| style="text-align:right;" |1,101,810
|-
|1990
| style="text-align:right;" |4,352,949
| style="text-align:right;" |66,952
| style="text-align:right;" |29,093
| style="color:green" | 37,859
| style="text-align:right;" |15.4
| style="text-align:right;" |6.7
| style="color:green" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.93
| style="text-align:right;" |1,101,218
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |4,377,033
| style="text-align:right;" |64,769
| style="text-align:right;" |30,680
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" | 34,089
| style="text-align:right;" |14.8
| style="text-align:right;" |7.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.87
| style="text-align:right;" |1,100,625
|-
|1992*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |3,368,597
| style="text-align:right;" |46,594
| style="text-align:right;" |25,152
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |21,442
| style="text-align:right;" |13.8
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.88
| style="text-align:right;" |862,840
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |3,398,264
| style="text-align:right;" |48,061
| style="text-align:right;" |27,875
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |20,186
| style="text-align:right;" |14.1
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.95
| style="text-align:right;" |866,251
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |3,423,921
| style="text-align:right;" |45,007
| style="text-align:right;" |28,679
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |16,328
| style="text-align:right;" |13.1
| style="text-align:right;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |4.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.83
| style="text-align:right;" |870,474
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |3,445,172
| style="text-align:right;" |42,464
| style="text-align:right;" |28,637
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |13,827
| style="text-align:right;" |12.3
| style="text-align:right;" |8.3
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |4.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.73
| style="text-align:right;" |874,188
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |3,462,336
| style="text-align:right;" |39,563
| style="text-align:right;" |30,482
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9,081
| style="text-align:right;" |11.4
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.61
| style="text-align:right;" |876,695
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |3,478,679
| style="text-align:right;" |37,717
| style="text-align:right;" |30,325
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |7,392
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.54
| style="text-align:right;" |879,484
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |3,493,146
| style="text-align:right;" |36,485
| style="text-align:right;" |30,831
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |5,654
| style="text-align:right;" |10.4
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.49
| style="text-align:right;" |881,166
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |3,498,291
| style="text-align:right;" |34,691
| style="text-align:right;" |32,018
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2,673
| style="text-align:right;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.42
| style="text-align:right;" |879,547
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |3,501,467
| style="text-align:right;" |33,862
| style="text-align:right;" |32,223
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1,639
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.38
| style="text-align:right;" |877,903
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |3,503,634
| style="text-align:right;" |33,233
| style="text-align:right;" |33,925
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -692
| style="text-align:right;" |9.5
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |875,167
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |3,500,212
| style="text-align:right;" |33,038
| style="text-align:right;" |32,652
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |386
| style="text-align:right;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |871,089
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |3,498,023
| style="text-align:right;" |32,801
| style="text-align:right;" |34,392
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1,591
| style="text-align:right;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right;" |9.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.35
| style="text-align:right;" |867,212
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |3,493,737
| style="text-align:right;" |34,023
| style="text-align:right;" |33,871
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |152
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.41
| style="text-align:right;" |859,217
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |3,491,327
| style="text-align:right;" |34,449
| style="text-align:right;" |34,709
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -260
| style="text-align:right;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.43
| style="text-align:right;" |851,596
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |3,488,441
| style="text-align:right;" |33,445
| style="text-align:right;" |34,905
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1,460
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.40
| style="text-align:right;" |847,365
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |3,484,154
| style="text-align:right;" |31,694
| style="text-align:right;" |34,820
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,126
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.33
| style="text-align:right;" |843,765
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |3,479,339
| style="text-align:right;" |32,414
| style="text-align:right;" |35,578
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,164
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right;" |10.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |839,698
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |3,473,826
| style="text-align:right;" |30,551
| style="text-align:right;" |35,379
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,828
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right;" |10.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.30
| style="text-align:right;" |832,872
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |3,466,507
| style="text-align:right;" |30,134
| style="text-align:right;" |35,692
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,558
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |825,060
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |3,456,500
| style="text-align:right;" |29,647
| style="text-align:right;" |37,876
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -8,229
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |11.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.28
| style="text-align:right;" |815,928
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |3,447,001
| style="text-align:right;" |29,985
| style="text-align:right;" |36,065
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -6,080
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.30
| style="text-align:right;" |806,794
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |3,437,453
| style="text-align:right;" |30,061
| style="text-align:right;" |37,453
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -7,392
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.31
| style="text-align:right;" |797,851
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |3,427,369
| style="text-align:right;" |29,328
| style="text-align:right;" |37,237
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -7,909
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |789,269
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |3,415,752
| style="text-align:right;" |28,192
| style="text-align:right;" |38,237
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -10,045
| style="text-align:right;" |8.3
| style="text-align:right;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.9
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.26
| style="text-align:right;" |781,299
|-
|2020
| style="text-align:right;" |3,403,638
| style="text-align:right;" |27,156
| style="text-align:right;" |43,808
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -16,652
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |12.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.9
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.23
| style="text-align:right;" |772,876
|-
|2021
| style="text-align:right;" |3,378,821
| style="text-align:right;" |26,993
| style="text-align:right; color:red" |49,682
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -22,689
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |14.7
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -6.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.24
| style="text-align:right;" |763,709
|-
|2022
| 3,358,496
|26,516
| 40,692
| style="color:red" | -14,176
|7.9
| 12.1
| style="color:red" | -4.2
| style="color:red;" |1.23
| 755,419
|-
|2023
| 3,345,818
| style="color:red" |26,294
| 34,983
| style="color:red" | -8,689
| 7.9
| 10.5
| style="color:red" | -2.6
|1.23
| 748,332
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>No data for the period 1992–1995
Current vital statistics
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center;"
|+
|-
! Period
! Live births
! Deaths
! Natural increase
|-
| January - September 2023
| 18,344
| 25,807
| -7,463
|-
| January - September 2024
| 18,000
| 26,373
| -8,373
|-
| Difference
| -344 (-1.87%)
| +566 (+2.19%)
| -910
|}
Structure of the population
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="80pt"|Age Group
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80pt"|Female
! width="80pt"|Total
! width="80pt"|%
|-
| align="right" | Total
| align="right" | 1 732 270
| align="right" | 1 798 889
| align="right" | 3 531 159
| align="right" | 100
|-
| align="right" | 0–4
| align="right" | 89 442
| align="right" | 84 622
| align="right" | 174 064
| align="right" | 4.93
|-
| align="right" | 5–9
| align="right" | 90 881
| align="right" | 86 099
| align="right" | 176 980
| align="right" | 5.01
|-
| align="right" | 10–14
| align="right" | 98 653
| align="right" | 94 022
| align="right" | 192 675
| align="right" | 5.46
|-
| align="right" | 15–19
| align="right" | 124 900
| align="right" | 117 842
| align="right" | 242 742
| align="right" | 6.87
|-
| align="right" | 20–24
| align="right" | 116 883
| align="right" | 111 173
| align="right" | 228 056
| align="right" | 6.46
|-
| align="right" | 25–29
| align="right" | 129 248
| align="right" | 123 070
| align="right" | 252 318
| align="right" | 7.15
|-
| align="right" | 30–34
| align="right" | 128 593
| align="right" | 124 040
| align="right" | 252 633
| align="right" | 7.15
|-
| align="right" | 35–39
| align="right" | 126 145
| align="right" | 123 121
| align="right" | 249 266
| align="right" | 7.06
|-
| align="right" | 40–44
| align="right" | 121 595
| align="right" | 119 543
| align="right" | 241 138
| align="right" | 6.83
|-
| align="right" | 45–49
| align="right" | 130 087
| align="right" | 130 841
| align="right" | 260 928
| align="right" | 7.39
|-
| align="right" | 50–54
| align="right" | 136 153
| align="right" | 140 422
| align="right" | 276 575
| align="right" | 7.83
|-
| align="right" | 55–59
| align="right" | 125 576
| align="right" | 132 961
| align="right" | 258 537
| align="right" | 7.32
|-
| align="right" | 60–64
| align="right" | 104 970
| align="right" | 118 281
| align="right" | 223 251
| align="right" | 6.32
|-
| align="right" | 65–69
| align="right" | 69 066
| align="right" | 84 503
| align="right" | 153 569
| align="right" | 4.35
|-
| align="right" | 70–74
| align="right" | 59 854
| align="right" | 80 601
| align="right" | 140 455
| align="right" | 3.98
|-
| align="right" | 75–79
| align="right" | 47 403
| align="right" | 69 864
| align="right" | 117 267
| align="right" | 3.32
|-
| align="right" | 80–84
| align="right" | 23 769
| align="right" | 38 867
| align="right" | 62 636
| align="right" | 1.77
|-
| align="right" | 85+
| align="right" | 9 052
| align="right" | 19 017
| align="right" | 28 069
| align="right" | 0.79
|-
! width="50"|Age group
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80"|Female
! width="80"|Total
! width="50"|Percent
|-
| align="right" | 0–14
| align="right" | 278 976
| align="right" | 264 743
| align="right" | 543 719
| align="right" | 15.40
|-
| align="right" | 15–64
| align="right" | 1 244 150
| align="right" | 1 241 294
| align="right" | 2 485 444
| align="right" | 70.39
|-
| align="right" | 65+
| align="right" | 209 144
| align="right" | 292 852
| align="right" | 501 996
| align="right" | 14.22
|-
|}
Vital statistics by entity
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Source: Institute for Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year population
! style="width:60pt;" |Live births
! style="width:60pt;" |Deaths
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude birth rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude death rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Total fertility rate
! style="width:60pt;" |Female fertile population (15–49 years)
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |2,720,074
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |42,426
| style="text-align:right;" |18,332
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |24,094
| style="text-align:right;" |15.6
| style="text-align:right;" |6.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.92
| style="text-align:right;" |696,784
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |2,141,341
| style="text-align:right;" |34,331
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |14,221
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |20,110
| style="text-align:right;" |16.0
| style="text-align:right;" |6.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right;" |2.05
| style="text-align:right;" |579,263
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |2,161,442
| style="text-align:right;" |34,304
| style="text-align:right;" |16,120
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |18,184
| style="text-align:right;" |15.9
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right;" |2.06
| style="text-align:right;" |581,215
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |2,176,885
| style="text-align:right;" |31,480
| style="text-align:right;" |16,210
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |15,270
| style="text-align:right;" |14.5
| style="text-align:right;" |7.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |7.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.90
| style="text-align:right;" |583,979
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |2,189,576
| style="text-align:right;" |27,964
| style="text-align:right;" |16,108
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |11,856
| style="text-align:right;" |12.8
| style="text-align:right;" |7.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |5.4
| style="text-align:right; " |1.70
| style="text-align:right;" |586,234
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |2,199,128
| style="text-align:right;" |25,372
| style="text-align:right;" |17,112
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |8,260
| style="text-align:right;" |11.5
| style="text-align:right;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |3.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.54
| style="text-align:right;" |587,282
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |2,208,263
| style="text-align:right;" |24,018
| style="text-align:right;" |16,891
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |7,127
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |7.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |3.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.47
| style="text-align:right;" |588,612
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |2,215,548
| style="text-align:right;" |23,251
| style="text-align:right;" |17,175
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |6,076
| style="text-align:right;" |10.5
| style="text-align:right;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.43
| style="text-align:right;" |588,834
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |2,222,079
| style="text-align:right;" |23,168
| style="text-align:right;" |18,259
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |4,909
| style="text-align:right;" |10.4
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.42
| style="text-align:right;" |588,042
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |2,227,181
| style="text-align:right;" |22,250
| style="text-align:right;" |18,350
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |3,900
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |587,226
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |2,231,764
| style="text-align:right;" |21,934
| style="text-align:right;" |19,293
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2,641
| style="text-align:right;" |9.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.35
| style="text-align:right;" |585,319
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |2,230,967
| style="text-align:right;" |21,602
| style="text-align:right;" |18,678
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2,924
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.33
| style="text-align:right;" |582,071
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |2,231,548
| style="text-align:right;" |21,715
| style="text-align:right;" |19,428
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2,287
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.35
| style="text-align:right;" |579,026
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |2,229,787
| style="text-align:right;" |22,920
| style="text-align:right;" |19,480
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |3,440
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.43
| style="text-align:right;" |571,863
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |2,229,072
| style="text-align:right;" |22,913
| style="text-align:right;" |20,022
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2,891
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.44
| style="text-align:right;" |565,074
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |2,228,027
| style="text-align:right;" |22,382
| style="text-align:right;" |20,482
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1,900
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.41
| style="text-align:right;" |561,677
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |2,226,011
| style="text-align:right;" |21,228
| style="text-align:right;" |20,208
| style="text-align:right; color:green;;" |1,020
| style="text-align:right;" |9.5
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.34
| style="text-align:right;" |558,911
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |2,222,587
| style="text-align:right;" |21,472
| style="text-align:right;" |20,859
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |613
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |555,678
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |2,219,131
| style="text-align:right;" |20,145
| style="text-align:right;" |20,465
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -320
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |551,251
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |2,215,997
| style="text-align:right;" |19,880
| style="text-align:right;" |20,283
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -403
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |546,324
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |2,210,994
| style="text-align:right;" |19,358
| style="text-align:right;" |21,703
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2,345
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right;" |9.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.26
| style="text-align:right;" |540,354
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |2,206,231
| style="text-align:right;" |19,655
| style="text-align:right;" |21,105
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1,450
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.28
| style="text-align:right;" |534,268
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |2,201,193
| style="text-align:right;" |19,824
| style="text-align:right;" |21,689
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1,865
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |528,096
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |2,196,233
| style="text-align:right;" |18,899
| style="text-align:right;" |21,442
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2,543
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |9.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.25
| style="text-align:right;" |522,242
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |2,190,098
| style="text-align:right;" |18,019
| style="text-align:right;" |22,024
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,005
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right;" |10.1
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.8
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.21
| style="text-align:right;" |516,595
|-
|2020
| style="text-align:right;" |2,184,680
| style="text-align:right;" |17,211
| style="text-align:right;" |26,026
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -8,815
| style="text-align:right;" |7.9
| style="text-align:right;" |11.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.16
| style="text-align:right;" |512,053
|-
|2021
| style="text-align:right;" |2,168,602
| style="text-align:right;" |16,873
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |29,086
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -12,213
| style="text-align:right;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right;" |13.4
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.15
| style="text-align:right;" |506,760
|-
|2022
| style="text-align:right;" |2,156,846
| style="text-align:right;" |16,538
| style="text-align:right;" |23,187
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -6,649
| style="text-align:right;" |7.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.14
| style="text-align:right;" |501,018
|-
|2023
| style="text-align:right;" |2,150,054
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |16,174
| style="text-align:right;" |20,361
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,187
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right;" |9.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |1.13
| style="text-align:right;" |496,545
|}
Current vital statistics
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center;"
|+
|-
! Period
! Live births
! Deaths
! Natural increase
|-
| January - September 2023
| 11,418
| 14,763
| -3,345
|-
| January - September 2024
| 11,228
| 14,739
| -3,511
|-
| Difference
| -190 (-1.66%)
| -24 (-0.16%)
| -166
|}
Republika Srpska
Source: Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year population
! style="width:60pt;" |Live births
! style="width:60pt;" |Deaths
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude birth rate (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude death rate (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Total fertility rate
! style="width:60pt;" |Female fertile population (15–49 years)
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |1,569,332
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |21,149
| style="text-align:right;" |11,735
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |9,414
| style="text-align:right;" |13.5
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right; |1.79
| style="text-align:right;" |381,699
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right; |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |1,193,656
| style="text-align:right;" |11,939
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |10,676
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1,263
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.1
| style="text-align:right; |1.54
| style="text-align:right;" |274,878
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |1,194,919
| style="text-align:right;" |13,374
| style="text-align:right;" |11,464
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1,910
| style="text-align:right;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.6
| style="text-align:right; |1.73
| style="text-align:right;" |274,188
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |1,196,829
| style="text-align:right;" |13,046
| style="text-align:right;" |12,123
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |923
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |10.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right; |1.69
| style="text-align:right;" |273,497
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |1,197,086
| style="text-align:right;" |13,995
| style="text-align:right;" |12,152
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1,843
| style="text-align:right;" |11.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.5
| style="text-align:right; |1.83
| style="text-align:right;" |272,806
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |1,196,395
| style="text-align:right;" |13,643
| style="text-align:right;" |12,960
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |683
| style="text-align:right;" |11.4
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right; |1.78
| style="text-align:right;" |272,116
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |1,195,299
| style="text-align:right;" |13,047
| style="text-align:right;" |12,932
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |115
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.1
| style="text-align:right; |1.72
| style="text-align:right;" |271,425
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |1,194,178
| style="text-align:right;" |12,336
| style="text-align:right;" |12,980
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -644
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.62
| style="text-align:right;" |270,735
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |1,192,622
| style="text-align:right;" |10,537
| style="text-align:right;" |12,988
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2,451
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.40
| style="text-align:right;" |270,044
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |1,190,526
| style="text-align:right;" |10,628
| style="text-align:right;" |13,082
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2,454
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |11.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.41
| style="text-align:right;" |269,354
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |1,187,940
| style="text-align:right;" |10,322
| style="text-align:right;" |13,802
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,480
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |11.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.37
| style="text-align:right;" |268,663
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |1,185,145
| style="text-align:right;" |10,524
| style="text-align:right;" |13,232
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2,708
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.40
| style="text-align:right;" |267,972
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |1,182,217
| style="text-align:right;" |10,110
| style="text-align:right;" |14,146
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,036
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |12.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.34
| style="text-align:right;" |267,282
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |1,179,717
| style="text-align:right;" |10,198
| style="text-align:right;" |13,501
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,303
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |11.4
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |266,591
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |1,177,995
| style="text-align:right;" |10,603
| style="text-align:right;" |13,775
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,172
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right;" |11.7
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.41
| style="text-align:right;" |265,901
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |1,176,419
| style="text-align:right;" |10,147
| style="text-align:right;" |13,517
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,370
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |11.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.35
| style="text-align:right;" |265,210
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |1,174,420
| style="text-align:right;" |9,561
| style="text-align:right;" |13,658
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,097
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |11.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.28
| style="text-align:right;" |264,520
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |1,173,131
| style="text-align:right;" |9,978
| style="text-align:right;" |13,796
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3,818
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |11.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.34
| style="text-align:right;" |263,829
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |1,171,179
| style="text-align:right;" |9,510
| style="text-align:right;" |13,978
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,468
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |11.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |261,574
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |1,167,082
| style="text-align:right;" |9,335
| style="text-align:right;" |14,409
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,074
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |12.3
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.3
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |1.28
| style="text-align:right;" |258,833
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |1,162,164
| style="text-align:right;" |9,357
| style="text-align:right;" |15,059
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,702
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |13.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.29
| style="text-align:right;" |255,815
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |1,157,516
| style="text-align:right;" |9,452
| style="text-align:right;" |13,970
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,518
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right;" |12.1
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.32
| style="text-align:right;" |252,911
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |1,153,017
| style="text-align:right;" |9,339
| style="text-align:right;" |14,663
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,324
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |12.7
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.31
| style="text-align:right;" |250,241
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |1,147,902
| style="text-align:right;" |9,568
| style="text-align:right;" |14,763
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,195
| style="text-align:right;" |8.3
| style="text-align:right;" |12.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.37
| style="text-align:right;" |247,599
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |1,142,495
| style="text-align:right;" |9,274
| style="text-align:right;" |15,081
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5,807
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |13.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.34
| style="text-align:right;" |245,368
|-
|2020
| style="text-align:right;" |1,136,274
| style="text-align:right;" |9,161
| style="text-align:right;" |16,582
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -7,421
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |14.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -6.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.36
| style="text-align:right;" |241,626
|-
|2021
| style="text-align:right;" |1,128,309
| style="text-align:right;" |9,274
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |19,002
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -9,728
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right;" |16.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.41
| style="text-align:right;" |237,927
|-
|2022
| style="text-align:right;" |1,120,236
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |9,118
| style="text-align:right;" |16,263
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -7,145
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |14.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -6.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.40
| style="text-align:right;" |235,589
|-
|2023
| style="text-align:right;" |1,114,819
| style="text-align:right;" |9,309
| style="text-align:right;" |13,508
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4,199
| style="text-align:right;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right;" |12.1
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.45
| style="text-align:right;" |233,233
|}
Current vital statistics
{| class"wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style"text-align:center;"
|+
|-
! Period
! Live births
! Deaths
! Natural increase
|-
| January - September 2023
| 6,330
| 10,229
| -3,899
|-
| January - September 2024
| 6,191
| 10,736
| -4,545
|-
| Difference
| -139 (-2.20%)
| +507 (+4.96%)
| -646
|}
Brčko District
Source: Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Statistics of the Brčko District BiH
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year population
! style="width:60pt;" |Live births
! style="width:60pt;" |Deaths
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude birth rate (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude death rate (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Natural change (per 1000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Total fertility rate
! style="width:60pt;" |Female fertile population (15–49 years)
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |87,627
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |1,194
| style="text-align:right;" |613
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |581
| style="text-align:right;" |13.6
| style="text-align:right;" |7.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |6.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.69
| style="text-align:right;" |22,142
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |33,600
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |324
| style="text-align:right; color:blue;" |255
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |69
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right;" |7.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.38
| style="text-align:right;" |8,699
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |41,903
| style="text-align:right;" |383
| style="text-align:right;" |291
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |92
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.31
| style="text-align:right;" |10,848
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |50,207
| style="text-align:right;" |481
| style="text-align:right;" |346
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |135
| style="text-align:right;" |9.6
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.38
| style="text-align:right;" |12,998
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |58,510
| style="text-align:right;" |505
| style="text-align:right;" |377
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |128
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.24
| style="text-align:right;" |15,148
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |66,813
| style="text-align:right;" |548
| style="text-align:right;" |410
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |138
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.1
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |1.17
| style="text-align:right;" |17,297
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |75,117
| style="text-align:right;" |652
| style="text-align:right;" |502
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |150
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |6.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.25
| style="text-align:right;" |19,447
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |83,420
| style="text-align:right;" |898
| style="text-align:right;" |676
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |222
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.58
| style="text-align:right;" |21,597
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |83,590
| style="text-align:right;" |986
| style="text-align:right;" |771
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |215
| style="text-align:right;" |11.8
| style="text-align:right;" |9.2
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.72
| style="text-align:right;" |21,461
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |83,760
| style="text-align:right;" |984
| style="text-align:right;" |791
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |193
| style="text-align:right;" |11.7
| style="text-align:right;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.73
| style="text-align:right;" |21,323
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |83,930
| style="text-align:right;" |977
| style="text-align:right;" |830
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |147
| style="text-align:right;" |11.6
| style="text-align:right;" |9.9
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.70
| style="text-align:right;" |21,185
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |84,100
| style="text-align:right;" |912
| style="text-align:right;" |742
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |170
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |2.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.59
| style="text-align:right;" |21,045
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |84,258
| style="text-align:right;" |976
| style="text-align:right;" |818
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |158
| style="text-align:right;" |11.6
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |1.9
| style="text-align:right;" |1.71
| style="text-align:right;" |20,905
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |84,233
| style="text-align:right;" |905
| style="text-align:right;" |890
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |15
| style="text-align:right;" |10.7
| style="text-align:right;" |10.6
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.58
| style="text-align:right;" |20,763
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |84,260
| style="text-align:right;" |933
| style="text-align:right;" |912
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |21
| style="text-align:right;" |11.1
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.63
| style="text-align:right;" |20,621
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |83,995
| style="text-align:right;" |916
| style="text-align:right;" |906
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |10
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.61
| style="text-align:right;" |20,478
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |83,723
| style="text-align:right;" |905
| style="text-align:right;" |954
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -49
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |11.4
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |1.61
| style="text-align:right;" |20,335
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |83,621
| style="text-align:right;" |964
| style="text-align:right;" |923
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |41
| style="text-align:right;" |11.5
| style="text-align:right;" |11.0
| style="text-align:right; color:green;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.71
| style="text-align:right;" |20,191
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |83,516
| style="text-align:right;" |896
| style="text-align:right;" |936
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -40
| style="text-align:right;" |10.7
| style="text-align:right;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.60
| style="text-align:right;" |20,047
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |83,428
| style="text-align:right;" |919
| style="text-align:right;" |1,000
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -81
| style="text-align:right;" |11.0
| style="text-align:right;" |12.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.65
| style="text-align:right;" |19,903
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |83,342
| style="text-align:right;" |932
| style="text-align:right;" |1,114
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -182
| style="text-align:right;" |11.2
| style="text-align:right;" |13.4
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |1.69
| style="text-align:right;" |19,759
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |83,254
| style="text-align:right;" |878
| style="text-align:right;" |990
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -112
| style="text-align:right;" |10.5
| style="text-align:right;" |11.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -1.3
| style="text-align:right;" |1.59
| style="text-align:right;" |19,615
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |83,243
| style="text-align:right;" |898
| style="text-align:right;" |1,101
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -203
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |13.2
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.63
| style="text-align:right;" |19,514
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |83,234
| style="text-align:right;" |861
| style="text-align:right;" |1,032
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -171
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |12.4
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.58
| style="text-align:right;" |19,428
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |83,159
| style="text-align:right;" |899
| style="text-align:right;" |1,132
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -233
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |13.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -2.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.66
| style="text-align:right;" |19,336
|-
|2020
| style="text-align:right;" |82,684
| style="text-align:right;" |784
| style="text-align:right;" |1,200
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -416
| style="text-align:right;" |9.5
| style="text-align:right;" |14.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -5.0
| style="text-align:right;|1.47
| style="text-align:right;" |19,197
|-
|2021
| style="text-align:right;" |81,910
| style="text-align:right;" |846
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |1,594
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -748
| style="text-align:right;" |10.3
| style="text-align:right;" |19.5
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.58
| style="text-align:right;" |19,022
|-
|2022
| style="text-align:right;" |81,414
| style="text-align:right;" |860
| style="text-align:right;" |1,242
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -382
| style="text-align:right;" |10.6
| style="text-align:right;" |15.3
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -4.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.63
| style="text-align:right;" |18,812
|-
|2023
| style="text-align:right;" |80,945
| style="text-align:right;" |811
| style="text-align:right;" |1,114
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -303
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right;" |13.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" | -3.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.56
| style="text-align:right;" |18,554
|}
Current vital statistics
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align:center;"
|+
|-
! Period
! Live births
! Deaths
! Natural increase
|-
| January - September 2023
| 596
| 815
| -219
|-
| January - June 2024
| 581
| 898
| -317
|-
| Difference
| -15 (-2.52%)
| +83 (+10.18%)
| -98
|}
Marriages and divorces
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year
! style="width:60pt;" |Marriages
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude marriage rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces per 1,000 marriages
|-
|1950
| style="text-align:right;" |2,662,010
| style="text-align:right;" |30,242
| style="text-align:right;" |2,447
| style="text-align:right;" |11.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |80.9
|-
|1951
| style="text-align:right;" |2,721,009
| style="text-align:right;" |30,638
| style="text-align:right;" |1,883
| style="text-align:right;" |11.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |61.5
|-
|1952
| style="text-align:right;" |2,790,991
| style="text-align:right;" |33,040
| style="text-align:right;" |1,313
| style="text-align:right;" |11.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |39.7
|-
|1953
| style="text-align:right;" |2,863,124
| style="text-align:right;" |31,069
| style="text-align:right;" |1,931
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |62.2
|-
|1954
| style="text-align:right;" |2,916,007
| style="text-align:right;" |31,658
| style="text-align:right;" |2,023
| style="text-align:right;" |10.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |63.9
|-
|1955
| style="text-align:right;" |2,973,986
| style="text-align:right;" |29,179
| style="text-align:right;" |2,331
| style="text-align:right;" |9.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |79.9
|-
|1956
| style="text-align:right;" |3,025,000
| style="text-align:right;" |27,361
| style="text-align:right;" |2,596
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |94.9
|-
|1957
| style="text-align:right;" |3,076,006
| style="text-align:right;" |27,928
| style="text-align:right;" |2,662
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |95.3
|-
|1958
| style="text-align:right;" |3,126,012
| style="text-align:right;" |33,901
| style="text-align:right;" |3,249
| style="text-align:right;" |10.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |95.8
|-
|1959
| style="text-align:right;" |3,185,005
| style="text-align:right;" |31,926
| style="text-align:right;" |2,788
| style="text-align:right;" |10.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |87.3
|-
|1960
| style="text-align:right;" |3,240,010
| style="text-align:right;" |32,855
| style="text-align:right;" |3,320
| style="text-align:right;" |10.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |101.1
|-
|1961
| style="text-align:right;" |3,291,684
| style="text-align:right;" |31,842
| style="text-align:right;" |3,126
| style="text-align:right;" |9.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |98.2
|-
|1962
| style="text-align:right;" |3,368,774
| style="text-align:right;" |30,620
| style="text-align:right;" |3,150
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |102.9
|-
|1963
| style="text-align:right;" |3,444,107
| style="text-align:right;" |29,749
| style="text-align:right;" |3,002
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |100.9
|-
|1964
| style="text-align:right;" |3,517,207
| style="text-align:right;" |31,424
| style="text-align:right;" |3,267
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |104.0
|-
|1965
| style="text-align:right;" |3,589,486
| style="text-align:right;" |33,214
| style="text-align:right;" |2,693
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |81.1
|-
|1966
| style="text-align:right;" |3,667,002
| style="text-align:right;" |31,842
| style="text-align:right;" |3,554
| style="text-align:right;" |8.7
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |111.6
|-
|1967
| style="text-align:right;" |3,735,394
| style="text-align:right;" |31,116
| style="text-align:right;" |3,181
| style="text-align:right;" |8.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |102.2
|-
|1968
| style="text-align:right;" |3,750,866
| style="text-align:right;" |30,814
| style="text-align:right;" |2,865
| style="text-align:right;" |8.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |93.0
|-
|1969
| style="text-align:right;" |3,710,120
| style="text-align:right;" |31,868
| style="text-align:right;" |2,960
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |92.9
|-
|1970
| style="text-align:right;" |3,708,455
| style="text-align:right;" |34,411
| style="text-align:right;" |3,074
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |89.3
|-
|1971
| style="text-align:right;" |3,759,893
| style="text-align:right;" |35,290
| style="text-align:right;" |3,114
| style="text-align:right;" |9.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |88.2
|-
|1972
| style="text-align:right;" |3,818,703
| style="text-align:right;" |34,660
| style="text-align:right;" |3,201
| style="text-align:right;" |9.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |92.4
|-
|1973
| style="text-align:right;" |3,871,815
| style="text-align:right;" |33,991
| style="text-align:right;" |3,429
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |100.9
|-
|1974
| style="text-align:right;" |3,924,760
| style="text-align:right;" |34,917
| style="text-align:right;" |3,579
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |102.5
|-
|1975
| style="text-align:right;" |3,976,913
| style="text-align:right;" |35,776
| style="text-align:right;" |4,512
| style="text-align:right;" |9.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.1
| style="text-align:right;" |126.1
|-
|1976
| style="text-align:right;" |4,033,031
| style="text-align:right;" |33,849
| style="text-align:right;" |3,696
| style="text-align:right;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |109.2
|-
|1977
| style="text-align:right;" |4,085,918
| style="text-align:right;" |34,951
| style="text-align:right;" |3,023
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |86.5
|-
|1978
| style="text-align:right;" |4,134,878
| style="text-align:right;" |34,970
| style="text-align:right;" |3,423
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |97.9
|-
|1979
| style="text-align:right;" |4,147,344
| style="text-align:right;" |35,111
| style="text-align:right;" |3,055
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |87.0
|-
|1980
| style="text-align:right;" |4,125,486
| style="text-align:right;" |35,012
| style="text-align:right;" |2,610
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |74.5
|-
|1981
| style="text-align:right;" |4,136,196
| style="text-align:right;" |36,631
| style="text-align:right;" |3,419
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |93.3
|-
|1982
| style="text-align:right;" |4,154,000
| style="text-align:right;" |36,422
| style="text-align:right;" |3,075
| style="text-align:right;" |8.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |84.4
|-
|1983
| style="text-align:right;" |4,178,000
| style="text-align:right;" |37,239
| style="text-align:right;" |3,149
| style="text-align:right;" |8.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |84.6
|-
|1984
| style="text-align:right;" |4,203,000
| style="text-align:right;" |35,767
| style="text-align:right;" |2,599
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |72.7
|-
|1985
| style="text-align:right;" |4,227,000
| style="text-align:right;" |35,015
| style="text-align:right;" |2,926
| style="text-align:right;" |8.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |83.6
|-
|1986
| style="text-align:right;" |4,251,000
| style="text-align:right;" |34,338
| style="text-align:right;" |2,228
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |64.9
|-
|1987
| style="text-align:right;" |4,275,000
| style="text-align:right;" |34,466
| style="text-align:right;" |2,118
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |61.5
|-
|1988
| style="text-align:right;" |4,299,000
| style="text-align:right;" |34,700
| style="text-align:right;" |2,089
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |60.2
|-
|1989
| style="text-align:right;" |4,323,000
| style="text-align:right;" |34,550
| style="text-align:right;" |2,098
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |60.7
|-
|1990
| style="text-align:right;" |4,347,000
| style="text-align:right;" |29,990
| style="text-align:right;" |1,756
| style="text-align:right;" |6.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |58.6
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |4,377,033
| style="text-align:right;" |28,238
| style="text-align:right;" |1,590
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |56.3
|-
|1992*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995*
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |3,530,799
| style="text-align:right;" |21,107
| style="text-align:right;" |1,115
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.3
| style="text-align:right;" |52.8
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |3,529,909
| style="text-align:right;" |23,181
| style="text-align:right;" |1,835
| style="text-align:right;" |6.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |79.2
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |3,529,573
| style="text-align:right;" |22,398
| style="text-align:right;" |1,964
| style="text-align:right;" |6.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |87.7
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |3,527,549
| style="text-align:right;" |22,472
| style="text-align:right;" |1,995
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |88.8
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |3,524,627
| style="text-align:right;" |21,897
| style="text-align:right;" |1,929
| style="text-align:right;" |6.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |88.1
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |3,521,310
| style="text-align:right;" |20,302
| style="text-align:right;" |2,126
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |104.7
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |3,517,955
| style="text-align:right;" |20,766
| style="text-align:right;" |2,330
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |112.2
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |3,514,019
| style="text-align:right;" |20,526
| style="text-align:right;" |1,998
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |97.3
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |3,509,542
| style="text-align:right;" |21,620
| style="text-align:right;" |1,524
| style="text-align:right;" |6.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |70.5
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |3,505,037
| style="text-align:right;" |21,099
| style="text-align:right;" |1,719
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |81.5
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |3,501,621
| style="text-align:right;" |20,545
| style="text-align:right;" |1,548
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |75.3
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |3,498,023
| style="text-align:right;" |22,613
| style="text-align:right;" |1,721
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |76.1
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |3,493,737
| style="text-align:right;" |21,990
| style="text-align:right;" |1,337
| style="text-align:right;" |6.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |60.8
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |3,491,327
| style="text-align:right;" |20,471
| style="text-align:right;" |1,399
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |68.3
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |3,488,441
| style="text-align:right;" |19,373
| style="text-align:right;" |1,665
| style="text-align:right;" |5.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |85.9
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |3,484,154
| style="text-align:right;" |19,004
| style="text-align:right;" |2,306
| style="text-align:right;" |5.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |121.3
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |3,479,234
| style="text-align:right;" |18,089
| style="text-align:right;" |2,290
| style="text-align:right;" |5.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |126.6
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |3,473,720
| style="text-align:right;" |17,470
| style="text-align:right;" |2,607
| style="text-align:right;" |5.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |149.2
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |3,466,388
| style="text-align:right;" |18,468
| style="text-align:right;" |2,678
| style="text-align:right;" |5.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |145.0
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |3,456,394
| style="text-align:right;" |19,537
| style="text-align:right;" |2,956
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |151.3
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |3,447,001
| style="text-align:right;" |19,006
| style="text-align:right;" |2,759
| style="text-align:right;" |5.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |145.2
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |3,437,453
| style="text-align:right;" |19,666
| style="text-align:right;" |3,005
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |152.8
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |3,427,369
| style="text-align:right;" |19,659
| style="text-align:right;" |3,084
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |156.9
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |3,415,752
| style="text-align:right;" |18,687
| style="text-align:right;" |2,775
| style="text-align:right;" |5.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |148.5
|-
|}
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year
! style="width:60pt;" |Marriages
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude marriage rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces per 1,000 marriages
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |2,720,074
| style="text-align:right;" |18,352
| style="text-align:right;" |813
| style="text-align:right;" |6.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.3
| style="text-align:right;" |44.3
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |2,283,335
| style="text-align:right;" |14,692
| style="text-align:right;" |378
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.2
| style="text-align:right;" |25.7
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |2,281,226
| style="text-align:right;" |16,061
| style="text-align:right;" |1,098
| style="text-align:right;" |7.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |68.4
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |2,279,083
| style="text-align:right;" |14,921
| style="text-align:right;" |1,163
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |77.9
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |2,276,927
| style="text-align:right;" |14,285
| style="text-align:right;" |1,201
| style="text-align:right;" |6.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |84.1
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |2,274,789
| style="text-align:right;" |13,894
| style="text-align:right;" |1,180
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |84.9
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |2,272,655
| style="text-align:right;" |12,758
| style="text-align:right;" |1,286
| style="text-align:right;" |5.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |100.8
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |2,239,417
| style="text-align:right;" |12,889
| style="text-align:right;" |1,424
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |110.5
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |2,237,334
| style="text-align:right;" |13,102
| style="text-align:right;" |1,174
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |89.6
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |2,235,250
| style="text-align:right;" |13,695
| style="text-align:right;" |857
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |62.6
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |2,233,167
| style="text-align:right;" |13,620
| style="text-align:right;" |966
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |70.9
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |2,232,376
| style="text-align:right;" |13,012
| style="text-align:right;" |933
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |71.7
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |2,231,548
| style="text-align:right;" |14,808
| style="text-align:right;" |1,031
| style="text-align:right;" |6.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |69.6
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |2,229,787
| style="text-align:right;" |14,909
| style="text-align:right;" |938
| style="text-align:right;" |6.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |62.9
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |2,229,072
| style="text-align:right;" |13,670
| style="text-align:right;" |805
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |58.9
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |2,228,027
| style="text-align:right;" |12,988
| style="text-align:right;" |994
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |76.5
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |2,226,011
| style="text-align:right;" |12,589
| style="text-align:right;" |1,221
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |97.0
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |2,222,587
| style="text-align:right;" |12,060
| style="text-align:right;" |1,176
| style="text-align:right;" |5.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |97.5
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |2,219,131
| style="text-align:right;" |11,381
| style="text-align:right;" |1,364
| style="text-align:right;" |5.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |119.8
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |2,215,997
| style="text-align:right;" |11,982
| style="text-align:right;" |1,321
| style="text-align:right;" |5.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |110.2
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |2,210,994
| style="text-align:right;" |12,972
| style="text-align:right;" |1,502
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |115.8
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |2,206,231
| style="text-align:right;" |12,790
| style="text-align:right;" |1,445
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |113.0
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |2,201,193
| style="text-align:right;" |12,994
| style="text-align:right;" |1,725
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |132.8
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |2,196,233
| style="text-align:right;" |13,061
| style="text-align:right;" |1,823
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |139.6
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |2,190,098
| style="text-align:right;" |12,266
| style="text-align:right;" |1,673
| style="text-align:right;" |5.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |136.4
|-
|}
Republika Srpska
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year
! style="width:60pt;" |Marriages
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude marriage rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces per 1,000 marriages
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |1,569,332
| style="text-align:right;" |9,232
| style="text-align:right;" |621
| style="text-align:right;" |5.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |67.3
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |1,247,464
| style="text-align:right;" |6,415
| style="text-align:right;" |737
| style="text-align:right;" |5.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |114.9
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |1,248,683
| style="text-align:right;" |7,120
| style="text-align:right;" |737
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |103.5
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |1,250,490
| style="text-align:right;" |7,477
| style="text-align:right;" |801
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |107.1
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |1,250,622
| style="text-align:right;" |8,187
| style="text-align:right;" |794
| style="text-align:right;" |6.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |97.0
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |1,249,838
| style="text-align:right;" |8,003
| style="text-align:right;" |749
| style="text-align:right;" |6.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |93.6
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |1,248,655
| style="text-align:right;" |7,544
| style="text-align:right;" |840
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |111.3
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |1,194,178
| style="text-align:right;" |7,233
| style="text-align:right;" |848
| style="text-align:right;" |6.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |117.2
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |1,192,622
| style="text-align:right;" |6,769
| style="text-align:right;" |744
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |109.9
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |1,190,526
| style="text-align:right;" |7,143
| style="text-align:right;" |637
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |89.2
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |1,187,940
| style="text-align:right;" |6,810
| style="text-align:right;" |721
| style="text-align:right;" |5.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.6
| style="text-align:right;" |105.9
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |1,185,145
| style="text-align:right;" |6,860
| style="text-align:right;" |526
| style="text-align:right;" |5.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |76.7
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |1,182,217
| style="text-align:right;" |7,093
| style="text-align:right;" |596
| style="text-align:right;" |6.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.5
| style="text-align:right;" |84.0
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |1,179,717
| style="text-align:right;" |6,401
| style="text-align:right;" |317
| style="text-align:right;" |5.4
| style="text-align:right;" |0.3
| style="text-align:right;" |49.5
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |1,177,995
| style="text-align:right;" |6,131
| style="text-align:right;" |455
| style="text-align:right;" |5.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |74.2
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |1,176,419
| style="text-align:right;" |5,767
| style="text-align:right;" |517
| style="text-align:right;" |4.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |89.6
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |1,174,420
| style="text-align:right;" |5,802
| style="text-align:right;" |886
| style="text-align:right;" |4.9
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |152.7
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |1,173,131
| style="text-align:right;" |5,326
| style="text-align:right;" |878
| style="text-align:right;" |4.5
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |164.9
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |1,171,179
| style="text-align:right;" |5,467
| style="text-align:right;" |1,052
| style="text-align:right;" |4.7
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |192.4
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |1,167,082
| style="text-align:right;" |5,823
| style="text-align:right;" |1,106
| style="text-align:right;" |5.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |189.9
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |1,162,164
| style="text-align:right;" |5,895
| style="text-align:right;" |1,143
| style="text-align:right;" |5.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |193.9
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |1,157,516
| style="text-align:right;" |5,563
| style="text-align:right;" |1,025
| style="text-align:right;" |4.8
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |184.3
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |1,153,017
| style="text-align:right;" |5,954
| style="text-align:right;" |985
| style="text-align:right;" |5.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.9
| style="text-align:right;" |165.4
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |1,147,902
| style="text-align:right;" |5,966
| style="text-align:right;" |963
| style="text-align:right;" |5.2
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |161.4
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |1,142,495
| style="text-align:right;" |5,822
| style="text-align:right;" |920
| style="text-align:right;" |5.1
| style="text-align:right;" |0.8
| style="text-align:right;" |158.0
|-
|}
Brčko District
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! style="width:40pt;" |
! style="width:60pt;" |Mid-year
! style="width:60pt;" |Marriages
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude marriage rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Crude divorce rate (per 1,000)
! style="width:60pt;" |Divorces per 1,000 marriages
|-
|1991
| style="text-align:right;" |87,627
| style="text-align:right;" |654
| style="text-align:right;" |156
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.8
| style="text-align:right;" |238.5
|-
|1992
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1993
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1994
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1995
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1996
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1997
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1998
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|1999
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|2000
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|2001
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
|2002
| style="text-align:right;" |84,360
| style="text-align:right;" |644
| style="text-align:right;" |58
| style="text-align:right;" |7.6
| style="text-align:right;" |0.7
| style="text-align:right;" |90.1
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:right;" |84,063
| style="text-align:right;" |655
| style="text-align:right;" |80
| style="text-align:right;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |122.1
|-
|2004
| style="text-align:right;" |83,766
| style="text-align:right;" |782
| style="text-align:right;" |30
| style="text-align:right;" |9.3
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |38.4
|-
|2005
| style="text-align:right;" |83,930
| style="text-align:right;" |669
| style="text-align:right;" |32
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |0.4
| style="text-align:right;" |47.8
|-
|2006
| style="text-align:right;" |84,100
| style="text-align:right;" |673
| style="text-align:right;" |89
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.1
| style="text-align:right;" |132.2
|-
|2007
| style="text-align:right;" |84,258
| style="text-align:right;" |712
| style="text-align:right;" |94
| style="text-align:right;" |8.5
| style="text-align:right;" |1.1
| style="text-align:right;" |132.0
|-
|2008
| style="text-align:right;" |84,233
| style="text-align:right;" |680
| style="text-align:right;" |82
| style="text-align:right;" |8.1
| style="text-align:right;" |1.0
| style="text-align:right;" |120.6
|-
|2009
| style="text-align:right;" |84,260
| style="text-align:right;" |670
| style="text-align:right;" |139
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |1.6
| style="text-align:right;" |207.5
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:right;" |83,995
| style="text-align:right;" |618
| style="text-align:right;" |154
| style="text-align:right;" |7.4
| style="text-align:right;" |1.8
| style="text-align:right;" |249.2
|-
|2011
| style="text-align:right;" |83,723
| style="text-align:right;" |613
| style="text-align:right;" |199
| style="text-align:right;" |7.3
| style="text-align:right;" |2.4
| style="text-align:right;" |324.6
|-
|2012
| style="text-align:right;" |83,516
| style="text-align:right;" |703
| style="text-align:right;" |236
| style="text-align:right;" |8.4
| style="text-align:right;" |2.8
| style="text-align:right;" |335.7
|-
|2013
| style="text-align:right;" |83,410
| style="text-align:right;" |622
| style="text-align:right;" |191
| style="text-align:right;" |7.5
| style="text-align:right;" |2.3
| style="text-align:right;" |307.1
|-
|2014
| style="text-align:right;" |83,309
| style="text-align:right;" |663
| style="text-align:right;" |251
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |3.0
| style="text-align:right;" |378.6
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:right;" |83,236
| style="text-align:right;" |670
| style="text-align:right;" |311
| style="text-align:right;" |8.0
| style="text-align:right;" |3.7
| style="text-align:right;" |464.2
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:right;" |83,254
| style="text-align:right;" |653
| style="text-align:right;" |289
| style="text-align:right;" |7.8
| style="text-align:right;" |3.5
| style="text-align:right;" |442.6
|-
|2017
| style="text-align:right;" |83,243
| style="text-align:right;" |718
| style="text-align:right;" |295
| style="text-align:right;" |8.6
| style="text-align:right;" |3.5
| style="text-align:right;" |410.9
|-
|2018
| style="text-align:right;" |83,234
| style="text-align:right;" |632
| style="text-align:right;" |298
| style="text-align:right;" |7.6
| style="text-align:right;" |3.6
| style="text-align:right; color:red;" |471.5
|-
|2019
| style="text-align:right;" |83,159
| style="text-align:right;" |599
| style="text-align:right;" |182
| style="text-align:right;" |7.2
| style="text-align:right;" |2.2
| style="text-align:right;" |303.8
|-
|}
Life expectancy at birth in Bosnia and Herzegovina
in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1950]]
{| class"wikitable" style"text-align: center;"
!Period
!Life expectancy in<br />Years
|-
|1950-1955
|53.67
|-
|1955-1960
| 58.46
|-
|1960-1965
| 61.93
|-
|1965-1970
| 64.73
|-
|1970-1975
| 67.57
|-
|1975-1980
| 69.87
|-
|1980-1985
| 70.72
|-
|1985-1990
| 71.95
|-
|1990-1995
| 70.13
|-
|1995-2000
| 73.61
|-
|2000-2005
| 74.81
|-
|2005-2010
| 75.53
|-
|2010-2015
| 76.53
|-
|2015-2020
| 77.18
|}
Ethnic groups
According to data from the 2013 census published by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks constitute 50.11% of the population, Bosnian Serbs 30.78%, Bosnian Croats 15.43%, and others form 2.73%, with the remaining respondents not declaring their ethnicity or not answering.
The census results are contested by the Republika Srpska statistical office and by Bosnian Serb politicians, who oppose the inclusion of non-permanent Bosnian residents in the figures.
The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, determined that the methodology used by the Bosnian statistical agency was in line with international recommendations.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is often linked to ethnicity, i.e. (with the exception of agnostics and atheists) most Bosniaks are Muslim, Serbs are Orthodox Christian, and Croats are Roman Catholic.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Population of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to ethnic group 1948-2013
! rowspan="2" | Ethnic<br />group
! colspan="2" | Census 1948
! colspan="2" | Census 1953
! colspan="2" | Census 1961
! colspan="2" | Census 1971
! colspan="2" | Census 1981
! colspan="2" | Census 1991
! colspan="2" | Census UNHCR 1996
! colspan"2" | Census 2013
! colspan="2" | Change 1991–2013
|-
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
|-
| Muslims/Bosniaks
| align="right" | 788,403
| align="right" | 30.7
| align="right" | 891,800
| align="right" | 31.3
| align="right" | 842,248
| align="right" | 25.7
| align="right" | 1,482,430
| align="right" | 39.6
| align="right" | 1,629,924
| align="right" | 39.5
| align="right" | 1,902,956
| align="right" | 43.48
| align="right" | 1,805,910
| align="right" | 46.1
| align="right" | 1,769,592
| align="right" | 50.11
| align="right" | -133,364
| align="right" | +6.63pp
|-
| Serbs
| align="right" | 1,136,116
| align="right" | 44.3
| align="right" | 1,264,372
| align="right" | 44.4
| align="right" | 1,406,057
| align="right" | 42.9
| align="right" | 1,393,148
| align="right" | 37.2
| align="right" | 1,320,644
| align="right" | 32.0
| align="right" | 1,366,104
| align="right" | 31.22
| align="right" | 1,484,530
| align="right" | 37.9
| align="right" | 1,086,733
| align="right" | 30.78
| align="right" | -279,371
| align="right" | -0.44pp
|-
| Croats
| align="right" | 614,123
| align="right" | 23.9
| align="right" | 654,229
| align="right" | 23.0
| align="right" | 711,665
| align="right" | 21.7
| align="right" | 772,491
| align="right" | 20.6
| align="right" | 758,136
| align="right" | 18.4
| align="right" | 760,852
| align="right" | 17.39
| align="right" | 571,317
| align="right" | 14.6
| align="right" | 544,780
| align="right" | 15.43
| align="right" | -216,072
| align="right" | -1.96pp
|-
| Yugoslavs
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" | 275,883
| align="right" | 8.4
| align="right" | 43,796
| align="right" | 1.2
| align="right" | 326,280
| align="right" | 7.9
| align="right" | 242,682
| align="right" | 5.55
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" | 2,570
| align="right" | 0.07
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
|-
| Montenegrins
| align="right" | 3,094
| align="right" | 0.1
| align="right" | 7,336
| align="right" | 0.3
| align="right" | 12,828
| align="right" | 0.4
| align="right" | 13,021
| align="right" | 0.3
| align="right" | 14,114
| align="right" | 0.3
| align="right" | 10,071
| align="right" | 0.23
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" | 1,883
| align="right" | 0.05
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
|-
| Roma
| align="right" | 442
| align="right" | 0.0
| align="right" | 2,297
| align="right" | 0.1
| align="right" | 588
| align="right" | 0.0
| align="right" | 1,456
| align="right" | 0.0
| align="right" | 7,251
| align="right" | 0.2
| align="right" | 8,864
| align="right" | 0.20
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |12,583
| align="right" | 0.36
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
|-
| Albanians
| align="right" |
| align="rigjt" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |3,642
| align="right" |0.1
| align="right" |3,764
| align="right" |0.1
| align="right" |4,396
| align="right" |0.1
| align="right" |4,925
| align="right" |0.11
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
| align="right" |2,569
| align="right" |0.07
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
|-
| Others/undeclared
| align="right" | 23,099
| align="right" | 0.9
| align="right" | 27,756
| align="right" | 1.0
| align="right" | 28,679
| align="right" | 0.8
| align="right" | 36,005
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 63,263
| align="right" | 1.5
| align="right" | 80,579
| align="right" | 1.84
| align="right" | 58,196
| align="right" | 1.5
| align="right" | 110,449
| align="right" | 3.13
| align="right" |
| align="right" |
|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! align="left" | Total
! colspan="2" | 2,565,277
! colspan="2" | 2,847,790
! colspan="2" | 3,277,948
! colspan="2" | 3,746,111
! colspan="2" | 4,124,008
! colspan="2" | 4,377,033
! colspan="2" | 3,919,953
! colspan="2" | 3,531,159
! colspan="2" |
|}
<gallery>
Image:BiH_-_Etnicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_1.gif|Ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH_-_Etnicki_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_2.gif|Ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo Bosnjaka po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo Srba po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo Hrvata po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
</gallery>
Languages
Bosnia's constitution does not specify any official languages; however, academics Hilary Footitt and Michael Kelly note that the Dayton Agreement states that it is "done in Bosnian, Croatian, English and Serbian", and they describe this as the "de facto recognition of three official languages" at the state level. The equal status of Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian was verified by the Constitutional Court in 2000. Michael Kelly and Catherine Baker argue: "The three official languages of today's Bosnian state...represent the symbolic assertion of national identity over the pragmatism of mutual intelligibility".
All standard varieties are based on the Ijekavian varieties of the Shtokavian dialect (non-standard spoken varieties including, beside Ijekavian, also Ikavian Shtokavian). Serbian and Bosnian are written in both Latin and Cyrillic (the latter predominantly using the Latin script), whereas Croatian is written only in Latin alphabet. There are also some speakers of Italian, German, Turkish and Ladino. Yugoslav Sign Language is used with Croatian and Serbian variants.
According to the results of the 2013 census, 52.86% of the population consider their mother tongue to be Bosnian, 30.76% Serbian, 14.6% Croatian and 1.57% another language, with 0.21% not giving an answer.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religion is strongly linked to ethnicity.
<gallery>
File:BosniaHerzegovina1879Census.tif|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1879
Image:BiH_-_Verski_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_1.gif|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH_-_Verski_sastav_po_opstinama_2013_2.gif|Religious structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo muslimana po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo pravoslavaca po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
Image:BiH - Udeo katolika po opstinama 2013.gif|Share of Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina by municipalities in 2013
</gallery>
Demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bosnia-and-herzegovina/ CIA World Factbook], unless otherwise indicated.
Population
:3,378,821<ref name"europa" />Age structure
:0-14 years: 13.18% (male 261,430/female 244,242)
:15-24 years: 10.83% (male 214,319/female 201,214)
:25-54 years: 44.52% (male 859,509/female 848,071)
:55-64 years: 15.24% (male 284,415/female 300,168)
:65 years and over: 16.22% (male 249,624/female 372,594) (2020 est.)
Median age
:Total: 43.3 years
:Male: 41.6 years
:Female: 44.8 years (2020 est.)
Sex ratio
:At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
:0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
:15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
:25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
:55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
:65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
:Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
:Total: 5.32 deaths/1,000 live births
:Male: 5.44 deaths/1,000 live births
:Female: 5.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
:Total population: 77.74 years
:Male: 74.76 years
:Female: 80.93 years (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS
:Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2018)
:People living with HIV/AIDS: Less than 500 (2018)
:Deaths: less than 100 (2018)
Literacy
:Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
:Total population: 98.5%
:Male: 99.5%
:Female: 97.5% (2015 est.)
See also
* Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
** Demographics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
** Demographics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
* Demographics of Croatia
* Demographics of Montenegro
* Demographics of Serbia
* Exodus of Muslims from Serbia
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Republika Srpska
* Brčko District
* List of Bosnians and Herzegovinians
Religion:
* Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Serbian Orthodox Church
* Roman Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Groups:
* Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
External links
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041204140553/http://www.fzs.ba/Eng/lsmse.htm Living standard measurement survey 2001]
<!--Categories-->
Category:Demographics of Yugoslavia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.181165 |
3606 | Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina | <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see WP:SDNONE -->
The politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic framework, where the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The system of government established by the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 is an example of consociationalism, as representation is by elites who represent the country's three major ethnic groups termed constituent peoples, with each having a guaranteed share of power.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two Entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, which are politically autonomous to an extent, as well as the Brčko District, which is jointly administered by both. The Entities have their own constitutions.
Dayton Agreement
Due to the Dayton Agreement, signed on 14 December 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina forms an undeclared protectorate, where highest power is given to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Peace Implementation Council. The intention of the Agreement was to retain Bosnia's exterior border, while creating a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government based on proportional representation, and charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy.
The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. About 250 international and 450 local staff members are employed by the OHR.
High Representative
in Sarajevo]]
The highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country. The High Representative has power to remove government officials, including court justices, local government members, members of parliament, etc. From its establishment, the Office of the High Representative has sacked 192 Bosnian officials. The mandate of the High Representatives derives from the Dayton Agreement, as confirmed by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a body with a Steering Board composed of representatives of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Peace Implementation Council has established several criteria for the OHR to be closed, two of which have been completed but must be sustained until all five are completed.
Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy.Executive branch
in central Sarajevo]]
The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates amongst three members (a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat) every 8 months within their 4-year term. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters electing both the Bosniak and the Croat member, and Republika Srpska voters electing the Serb member. The Presidency serves as a collective head of state. The Presidency is mainly responsible for the foreign policy and proposing the budget.
The Prime Minister, formally titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives. They appoint the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade and other ministers as may be appropriate (no more than two thirds of the ministers may be appointed from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives; also, the Chair appoints deputy ministers (who may not be from the same constituent people as their ministers), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives.
The Council is responsible for carrying out policies and decisions in the fields of diplomacy, economy, inter-entity relations and other matters as agreed by the entities.
The two Entities have Governments that deal with internal matters not dealt with by the Council of Ministers.
Legislative branch
The Parliamentary Assembly or Parliamentarna skupština is the main legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two chambers:
*the House of Peoples or Dom naroda
*the House of Representatives or Predstavnički dom/Zastupnički dom
]]
The Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for:
*enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under the Constitution.
*deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
*approving the budget for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
*deciding ratify treaties and agreements.
*other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties of as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Entities.
Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have a permanent election law until 2001, during which time a draft law specified four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures. The final election law was passed and publicized on 9 September 2001.
House of Peoples
The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates who serve two-year terms. Two-thirds of delegates come from the Federation (5 Croats and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs). Nine constitutes a quorum in the House of Peoples, provided that at least three delegates from each group are present. Federation representatives are selected by the House of Peoples of the Federation, which has 58 seats (17 Bosniaks, 17 Croats, 17 Serbs, 7 others), and whose members are delegated by cantonal assemblies to serve four-year terms. Republika Srpska representatives are selected by the 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples, which was established in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; each constituent people has eight delegates, while four delegates are representatives of "others".
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives comprises 42 members elected under a system of proportional representation (PR) for a four-year term. Two thirds of the members are elected from the Federation (14 Croats; 14 Bosniaks) and one third from the Republika Srpska (14 Serbs).
For the 2010 general election, voters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected twenty-one members in five multi-member constituencies by PR, while the remaining seven seats were allocated by compensatory PR. Voters in the Republika Srpska elected nine members in three multi-member constituencies by PR, while the five other seats were allocated by compensatory PR.
Political parties and elections
{| classwikitable styletext-align:right
!Candidate
!Party
!Votes
!%
|-
!colspan=4|Bosniak member
|-
|alignleft|Šefik Džaferović||alignleft|Party of Democratic Action||212,581||36.61
|-
|alignleft|Denis Bećirović||alignleft|Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina||194,688||33.53
|-
|alignleft|Fahrudin Radončić||alignleft|Union for a Better Future of BiH||75,210||12.95
|-
|alignleft|Mirsad Hadžikadić||alignleft|Independent||58,555||10.09
|-
|alignleft|Senad Šepić||alignleft|Independent Bloc||29,922||5.15
|-
|alignleft|Amer Jerlagić||alignleft|Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina||9,655||1.66
|-
!colspan=4|Croat member
|-
|alignleft|Željko Komšić||alignleft|Democratic Front||225,500||52.64
|-
|alignleft|Dragan Čović||alignleft|Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina||154,819||36.14
|-
|alignleft|Diana Zelenika||alignleft|Croatian Democratic Union 1990||25,890||6.04
|-
|alignleft|Boriša Falatar||alignleft|Our Party||16,036||3.74
|-
|alignleft|Jerko Ivanković Lijanović||alignleft|People's Party Work for Prosperity||6,099||1.42
|-
!colspan=4|Serb member
|-
|alignleft|Milorad Dodik||alignleft|Alliance of Independent Social Democrats||368,210||53.88
|-
|alignleft|Mladen Ivanić||alignleft|Serb Democratic Party||292,065||42.74
|-
|alignleft|Mirjana Popović||alignleft|Fair Policy Party||12,731||1.86
|-
|alignleft|Gojko Kličković||alignleft|Fair Policy Party||10,355||1.52
|-
|alignleft colspan2|Invalid/blank votes||120,259||–
|-
|alignleft colspan2|Total||1,812,575||100
|-
|alignleft colspan2|Registered voters/turnout|| ||
|-
|alignleft colspan4|Source: [http://www.izbori.ba/Utvrdjeni2014/Finalni/PredsjednistvoBiH/Default.aspx CEC]
|}
House of Representatives
{| classwikitable styletext-align:right
!rowspan=2|Party
!colspan=3|Federation
!colspan=3|Republika Srpska
!colspan=4|Total
|-
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/–
|-
|align=left|Party of Democratic Action||252,081||25.48||8||29,673||4.45||1||281,754||17.01||9||–1
|-
|align=left|Alliance of Independent Social Democrats||4,663||0.47||0||260,930||39.10||6||265,593||16.03||6||0
|-
|align=left|SDS–NDP–NS–SRS||–|||–||–||162,414||24.34||3||162,414||9.80||3||–2
|-
|align=left|Social Democratic Party||140,781||14.23||5||9.672|||1.45||0||150,453||9.08||5||+2
|-
|align=left|HDZ BiH–HSS–HSP-HNS–HKDU–HSP-AS BiH–HDU BiH||145,487||14.71||5||4.385|||0.66||0||149,872||9.05||5||+1
|-
|align=left|Democratic Front–Civic Alliance||96,180||9.72||3||–||–||–||96,180||5.81||3||–1
|-
|align=left|Social Democratic Party||92,906||9.45||3||15,736||2.43||–||108,642||6.66||3||–5
|-
|align=left|PDP–NDP||194||0.02||0||50,338||7.76||1||50,532||3.10||1||0
|-
|align=left|Croatian Democratic Union 1990||40,113||4.08||1||–|||–||–||40,113||2.46||1||–
|-
|align=left|Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović||35,866||3.65||1||2,452||0.38||0||38,318||2.35||1||+1
|-
|align=left|Democratic People's Alliance||–|||–||–||37,072||5.72||1||37,072||2.27||1||0
|-
|align=left|Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina||25,677||2.61||0||–|||–||–||25,677||1.57||0||–2
|-
|align=left|Party of Democratic Activity||22,088||2.25||1||–|||–||–||22,088||1.35||1||New
|-
|align=left|Socialist Party||–|||–||–||18,732||2.89||0||18,732||1.15||0||0
|-
|align=left|SPP–SDU–DNZ||12,885||1.31||0||3,429||0.53||0||16,314||1.00||0||–1
|-
|align=left|People's Party for Work and Betterment||12,927||1.31||0||–|||–||–||12,927||0.79||0||–1
|-
|align=left|Serbian Progressive Party||–|||–||–||11,421||1.76||0||11,421||0.70||0||0
|-
|align=left|Our Party||10,913||1.11||0||–|||–||–||10,913||0.67||0||0
|-
|align=left|Party of Justice and Trust||–|||–||–||9,763||1.51||0||9,763||0.60||0||New
|-
|align=left|Bosnian Party||7,518||0.76||0||–|||–||–||7,518||0.46||0||0
|-
|align=left|Social Democratic Union||5,881||0.6||0||853||0.13||0||6,734||0.41||0||0
|-
|align=left|Labour Party||5,731||0.58||0||–|||–||–||5,731||0.35||0||New
|-
|align=left|HSP–DSI||5,475||0.56||0||–|||–||–||5,475||0.34||0||–
|-
|align=left|Communist Party||3,075||0.31||0||1,976||0.30||0||5,051||0.31||0||New
|-
|align=left|HKDU||4,718||0.48||0||–|||–||–||4,718||0.29||0||New
|-
|align=left|Diaspora Party||3,371||0.34||0||–|||–||–||3,371||0.21||0||New
|-
|align=left|New Movement||1,830||0.19||0||–|||–||–||1,830||0.11||0||New
|-
|align=left|Tomo Vukić||–|||–||–||397||0.06||0||397||0.02||0||New
|-
|align=left|Invalid/blank votes||97,720||–||–||58,857||–||–||156,577||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|Total||1,081,025||100||28||701,156||100||14||1,782,181||100||42||–
|-
|align=left|Registered voters/turnout|| || ||–|| || ||–|| || ||–||–
|-
|alignleft colspan13|Source: [http://www.izbori.ba/Utvrdjeni2014/Finalni/ParlamentBIH/Default.aspx CEC]
|}
Election history
National House of Representatives:
*elections held 12–13 September 1998:
**seats by party/coalition – KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6, SDP-BiH 6, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1
*elections held 5 October 2002:
**percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%
**seats by party/coalition – SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7
House of Peoples:
*constituted 4 December 1998
*constituted in fall 2000
*constituted in January 2003
*next to be constituted in 2007
Federal House of Representatives:
*elections held fall 1998:
**seats by party/coalition – KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP-BiH 25, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2, BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1, HSS 1
*elections held 5 October 2002:
**seats by party/coalition – SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15, SBiH 15, other 20
Federal House of Peoples:
*constituted November 1998
*constituted December 2002
Republika Srpska National Assembly:
*elections held fall 1998
**seats by party/coalition – SDS 19, KCD 15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10, SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1, HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1
*elections held fall 2000
*elections held 5 October 2002
**seats by party/coalition – SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3, DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6
Judicial branch
Constitutional Court
]]
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of constitutional matters. The court is composed of nine members: four selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and three are foreign citizens appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after courtesy-consultation with the Presidency.
The initial term of appointee is 5 years, unless they resign or are removed by consensus of other judges. Appointed judges are not eligible for reappointment. Judges subsequently appointed will serve until the age of 70, unless they resign sooner or are removed. Appointments made 5 years into the initial appointments may be governed by a different regulation for selection, to be determined by the Parliamentary Assembly.
Proceedings of the Court are public, and decisions are published. Court rules are adopted by a majority in the Court. Court decisions are final and supposedly binding though this is not always the case, as noted.
The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction over deciding in constitutional disputes that arise between the Entities or amongst Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Entity or Entities. Such disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, the Chair of the Council of Ministers, the Chair or Deputy Chair of either of the chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly, or by one-fourth of the legislature of either Entity.
The Court also has appellate jurisdiction within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
State Court
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three divisions – Administrative, Appellate and Criminal – having jurisdiction over cases related to the state-level law and executive, as well as appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities.
A War Crimes Chamber was introduced in January 2005, and has adopted two cases transferred from the ICTY, as well as dozens of war crimes cases originally initiated in cantonal courts.
The State Court also deals with organized crime, and economic crime including corruption cases. For example, the former member of the Presidency Dragan Čović was on trial for alleged involvement in organized crime.
Human Rights Chamber
The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dom za ljudska prava za Bosnu i Hercegovinu) existed between March 1996 and 31 December 2003. It was a judicial body established under the Annex 6 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement).
Entities
The two Entities have Supreme Courts. Each entity also has a number of lower courts. There are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, along with a number of municipal courts. The Republika Srpska has seven district (okrug) courts.
High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (JHPC / VSTV) is the self-regulatory body of the judiciary in the country, tasked with guaranteeing its independence. It is based on the continental tradition of self-management of the judiciary. It was formed in 2004.See also*Constitution of Bosnia and HerzegovinaReferencesExternal links
*[http://www.ohr.int/ Office of the High Representative]
*[http://www.izbori.ba/ Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina]
*[http://www.vladars.net/ Government of the Republic of Srpska]
*[http://www.fbihvlada.gov.ba/ Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194522/http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2202 Bosnia: a single country or an apple of discord?], Bosnian Institute, 12 May 2006
*[https://archive.today/20141217142626/http://www.bti-project.org/reports/country-reports/ecse/bih/index.nc Bertelsmann Stiftung – Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Report]
*[http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/tag-group-topics/future-of-bosnia Balkaninsight – The future of Bosnia] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.226142 |
3607 | Economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina | | population 3,219,415 (1 January 2021, est.)
| gdp = $29.86 billion (nominal, 2025f)
* $77.900 billion (PPP, 2025f) (101st)
| sectors =
| inflation −0.6% (2020 est.)
| hdi = 0.779 maximum (2022, 74th)
* 0.667 real (2022, IHDI)}}
| labor = 1,583,000 (15 September 2022)
* 55.9% employment rate (2023)}}
| occupations | unemployment 33.8% youth unemployment (2019)}}
| average gross salary 2,206 BAM / €1,125.90 / $1,208.95 (May 2024)
| average net salary 1,415 BAM / €723.90 / $746.26 (October 2024)
| export-goods = electricity, car seats, iron structures, aluminium, furniture
| export-partners = 73.2%
* 12.7%
* 2.8%
* 2.5%
* 2.4%
(January, 2022)}}
| imports $11.37 billion (2021)
| FDI = $9.73 billion (31 December 2022 est.)
* Abroad: $0 (2014)
| debt 18.09% of GDP (30 June 2023)
*B+ (Domestic)
*B+ (Foreign)
*BB (T&C Assessment)}}
| reserves $9.24 billion (June 30, 2024)
| cianame = bosnia-and-herzegovina
| spelling =
}}
The economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a transitional, upper middle income economy.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small, open economy, dominated by services, which accounted for 55% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, with a moderately developed industrial and manufacturing sector (23% and 12%, respectively), and a limited agricultural base (about 6% of GDP).
The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM) - the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro, and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has increased. Implementation of privatization, however, has been slow, and local entities only reluctantly support national-level institutions. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all ; foreign banks, primarily from Western Europe, now control most of the banking sector. A sizable current account deficit and a very high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems. The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.
The United States Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina produces the Country Commercial Guide – an annual report that delivers a comprehensive look at Bosnia and Herzegovina's commercial and economic environment, using economic, political, and market analysis.
According to Serbian American economist, Branko Milanović, Bosnia and Herzegovina did the best job in the transition from socialism to capitalism when compared to the other republics of the former Yugoslavia. From 1985 until 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina performed the best on the annual average GDP growth per capita (1.6%), Slovenia (1.4%), Croatia (1%), Serbia without Kosovo (0.9%) and North Macedonia (0.5%).
At the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), Bosnia and Herzegovina was an important mineral processing centre and provided the other republics with basic mineral commodities in exchange for current consumption goods. While large amounts of public capital investments poured in during the 1970s, productivity levels remained low, often due to the limited capacity of public managers. and GDP (excluding services) reduced by 90% between 1990 and 1995. Today, most of the above-mentioned companies have been privatised. The economy remains fragile, primarily consumption driven and vulnerable to external fluctuations. This was seen with the global economic crisis, which pushed Bosnia and Herzegovina into recession in 2009 and 2012 (with GDP growth of -3% and -0.8%, respectively) and severe floods in 2014, which caused damage of approximately 15% of GDP. Since 2015, annual GDP growth has increased to more than 3%. Still, the country registered a current account deficit of 4.7% of GDP in 2017, decreasing from 5.3% in 2015, resulting from a reduction in its trade deficit, which nevertheless remains large (17.4% of GDP in 2017).
*1999: €166 million
*2000: €159 million
*2001: €133 million
*2002: €282 million
*2003: €338 million
*2004: €534 million
*2005: €421 million
*2006: €556 million
*2007: €1.628 billion
*2008: €1.083 billion
*2009: €434 million
*2010: €359 million
*2011: €313 million
*2022: €730 million
From 1994 to 2011, €6.4 billion were invested in the country.
The top investor countries (1994–2007):
Recent years
2017
In 2017, exports grew by 17% when compared to the previous year, totaling €5.65 billion. The total volume of foreign trade in 2017 amounted to €14.97 billion and increased by 14% compared to the previous year. Imports of goods increased by 12% and amounted to €9.32 billion. The coverage of imports by exports has increased by 3% compared to the previous year and now it is 61 percent. In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina mostly exported car seats, electricity, processed wood, aluminium and furniture. In the same year, it mostly imported crude oil, automobiles, motor oil, coal and briquettes.
The unemployment rate in 2017 was 20.5%, but The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies is predicting falling unemployment rate for the next few years. In 2018, the unemployment should be 19.4% and it should further fall to 18.8% in 2019. In 2020, the unemployment rate should go down to 18.3%.
On 31 December 2017, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued the report on public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that the public debt was reduced by €389.97 million, or by more than 6% when compared to December 31, 2016. By the end of 2017, public debt was €5.92 billion, which amounted to 35.6 percent of GDP.
As of 31 December 2017, there were 32,292 registered companies in the country, which together had revenues of €33.572 billion that same year.
In 2017, the country received €397.35 million in foreign direct investment, which equals to 2.5% of the GDP.
In 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked 3rd in the world in terms of the number of new jobs created by foreign investment, relative to the number of inhabitants.
In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year. Also, 71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries.2018In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina exported goods worth 11.9 billion KM (€6.07 billion), which is 7.43% higher than in the same period in 2017, while imports amounted to 19.27 billion KM (€9.83 billion), which is 5.47% higher.
The average price of new apartments sold in the country in the first six months of 2018 is 1,639 km (€886.31) per square meter. This represents a jump of 3.5% from the previous year.
On June 30, 2018, public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to about €6.04 billion, of which external debt is 70.56 percent, while the internal debt is 29.4 percent of total public indebtedness. The share of public debt in gross domestic product was 34.92 percent.
In 2018, 1,465,412 tourists visited Bosnia-Herzegovina, an increase of 12.1%, and had 3,040,190 overnight hotel stays, a 13.5% increase from the previous year. Also, 71.2% of the tourists came from foreign countries.
In 2018, the total value of mergers and acquisitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounted to €404.6 million.
In 2018, 99.5 percent of enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina used computers in their business, while 99.3 percent had internet connections, according to a survey conducted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Statistics Agency.
In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 783.4 million KM (€400.64 million) in direct foreign investment, which was equivalent to 2.3% of GDP.
In 2018, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a profit of 8,430,875 km (€4,306,347).
2019
The World Bank estimates that the economy grew by 2.8% in 2019.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed 83rd on the Index of Economic Freedom for 2019. The total rating for Bosnia and Herzegovina is 61.9. This position represents some progress relative to the 91st place in 2018. This result is below the regional level, but still above the global average, making Bosnia and Herzegovina a "moderately free" country.
On 31 January 2019, total deposits in Bosnian banks were KM 21.9 billion (€11.20 billion), which represents 61.15% of nominal GDP.
In the second quarter of 2019, the average price of new apartments sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 1,606 km (€821.47) per square meter.
In the first six months of 2019, exports amounted to 5.829 billion KM (€2.98 billion), which is 0.1% less than in the same period of 2018, while imports amounted to 9.779 billion KM (€5.00 billion), which is by 4.5% more than in the same period of the previous year.
In the first seven months of 2019, 906,788 tourists visited the country, an 11.7% jump from the previous year.
In the first six months of 2019, foreign direct investment amounted to 650.1 million KM (€332.34 million).2020–20222020 saw a contraction in the economy of around 4.7%, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increased costs by the government, before bouncing back in 2021. Employment rates have been climbing, however youth unemployment in 2022 was still over 33%.2023As of 30 November 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1.3 million registered motor vehicles.
Sarajevo
shopping and business center, also the headquarters of Al Jazeera Balkans]]
Sarajevo industries now include tobacco products, furniture, hosiery, automobiles, and communication equipment. Companies based in Sarajevo include BH Telecom, Bosnalijek, Energopetrol, FlyBosnia, Sarajevo Tobacco Factory, and Sarajevska Pivara (Sarajevo Brewery).
Sarajevo has a strong tourist industry and was named by Lonely Planet one of the top 50 "Best Cities in the World" in 2006. Sports-related tourism uses the legacy facilities of the 1984 Winter Olympics, especially the skiing facilities on the nearby mountains of Bjelašnica, Igman, Jahorina, Trebević, and Treskavica. Sarajevo's 600 years of history, influenced by both Western and Eastern empires, is also a strong tourist attraction. Sarajevo has hosted travellers for centuries, because it was an important trading center during the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian empires.
Today, Sarajevo is one of the fastest developing cities in the region. Various new modern buildings have been built, most significantly the Bosmal City Center, ARIA Centar and the Avaz Twist Tower, which is one of the tallest skyscraper in the Balkans. A new highway was recently (2006–2011) completed between Sarajevo and the city of Kakanj. Due to growth in population, tourism and airport traffic the service sector in the city is developing fast and welcoming new investors from various businesses.
Sarajevo has one of the most representable commercial infrastructures in South-East Europe. The Sarajevo City Center is one of the biggest shopping centres in South-East Europe, after its completion in 2014. Airport Center Sarajevo which will be connected directly to the new airport terminal will offer a great variety of brands, products and services.
In 1981, Sarajevo's GDP per capita was 133% of the Yugoslav average.
In 2011, Sarajevo's GDP was estimated to be 16.76 billion US$ by the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, comprising 37% of the total GDP of the country.
Mostar
– "Brodomerkur"]]
Mostar's economy relies heavily on tourism, aluminium and metal industry, banking services and telecommunication sector. The city is the seat of some of the country's largest corporations.
Along with Sarajevo, it is the largest financial center in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with two out of three largest banks in the country having their headquarters in Mostar. Bosnia-Herzegovina has three national electric, postal and telecommunication service corporations; These three companies banks and the aluminium factory make a vast portion of overall economic activity in the city.
Aluminij is one of the most influential companies in the city, region, but also country. In relation to the current manufacturing capacity it generates an annual export of more than €150 million. The partners with which the Aluminij does business are renowned global companies, from which the most important are: Venture Coke Company L.L.C. (Venco-Conoco joint Venture) from the US, Glencore International AG from Switzerland, Debis International trading GmbH, Daimler-Chrysler and VAW Aluminium Technologie GmbH from Germany, Hydro ASA from Norway, Fiat from Italy, and TLM-Šibenik from Croatia[5].
Mostar area alone receives an income of €40 million annually from Aluminij.
Prijedor
regional location.]]
Prijedor is the sixth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an economically prosperous municipality hosting a wide range of industries, services and educational institutions. The city's geographical location close to major European capitals has made it an important industrial and commercial hub nationally.
It has a developed financial sector, 11 international banks are represented, 5 microcredit organizations and a foundation for development.
The city's huge economic potential is in the strategic geographical location being close to Zagreb, Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna. Giving it one of the best climates for economic expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The agricultural land around the city, raw minerals in the municipality and growth of high educated population in the city proper gives it a unique combination of both being able to produce sophisticated industrial products, food and service branches.
; Companies
Zenica host today the Bosnian part of ArcelorMittal Steel Company, former RMK Zenica, which employ about 3000 workers, steel company from Luxembourg with over 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries. It also has companies specialized in the chemical industry such as Ferrox a.d., producing iron oxides-pigments. BosnaMontaza AD., one of Bosnias most specialized steel manufacturers, manufacturing: steel construction, pipelines, reservoirs, technological equipment, cranes and energy plants.
Other companies such as the Croatian food company Kraš has one of its biggest facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Prijedor, producing confectionery products under the brand names MIRA and Kraš.
Brand names such as "Prijedorčanka" is one of the leading producers of the alcoholic beverage Rakija in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prijedor is also a big enterprise producing cellulose and paper for export.
In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Services with 39,707 companies followed by Retail Trade and Wholesale Trade with 12,060 and 11,970 companies respectively.
; Agricultural sector
Among this Prijedor has a fruit growing production, gardening production, crop farming production, mill and bakery industries, stock farming production, processing industries and a milk industry.
Lake Saničani, near Prijedor, is one of the biggest commercial fish-farming lakes in the southern Europe.
Prijedor municipality takes up 8340.6 hectares (5845.0 private property and 2495.6 state property).
Plowed fields and gardens take up 340.26 hectares, orchards 23.86 hectares and vineyards 5 hectares.
All cultivated soil takes up 402.06 hectares.
; Service sector
The service sector in Prijedor is growing rapidly and this reflects in the growth of hotels, stores, roads, educational facilities and shoppings centers that are being built in the city. Making it a growing commercial hub in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Banja Luka
west transit]]
Although the city itself was not directly affected by the Bosnian War in the early 1990s, its economy was. For four years, Banja Luka fell behind the world in key areas such as technology, resulting in a rather stagnant economy. However, in recent years, the financial services sector has gained in importance in the city. In 2002, the trading began on the newly established Banja Luka Stock Exchange. The number of companies listed, the trading volume and the number of investors have increased significantly. A number of big companies such as Telekom Srpske, Rafinerija ulja Modriča, Banjalučka Pivara and Vitaminka are all listed on the exchange and are traded regularly. Investors, apart from those from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, now include a number of investment funds from the European Union, Norway, the United States, Japan and China.
A number of financial services regulators, such as the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska Securities Commission and the RS Banking Agency are headquartered in Banja Luka. This, along with the fact that some of the major banks in Bosnia, the Deposit Insurance Agency and the Value-added tax (VAT) Authority are all based in the city, has helped Banja Luka establish itself as a major financial centre of the country.
In 1981 Banja Luka's GDP per capita was 97% of the Yugoslav average.
|
{|class=wikitable
|+Production capacities for electricity<br />(billion kWh)
!Type!!Amount
|-
|Fossil fuel||26.27
|-
|Hydro||14.81
|-
|Wind power||0.62
|-
|Solar||0.12
|-
|Biomass||0.04
|-
!Total!!41.86
|}
|width=15em|
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
|+Electricity<br />(billion kWh)
!Category!!Amount
|-
|Consumption||11.66
|-
|Production||16.96
|-
|Import||3.27
|-
|Export||7.32
|}
|width=15em|
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
|+Natural Gas<br />(billion m<sup>3</sup>)
|Consumption||0.218
|-
|Import||0.218
|}
CO<sub>2</sub> emissions:<br />20.95 million tons
|}
Renewable power
; Wind and Solar
The first wind farm was built in 2018.
; Hydro power
In 2021 the country had around 2076 MW of installed hydropower capacity larger than 10 MW, with 180 MW of small hydropower units.
Tuzla Thermal Power Plant was supposed to close unit 4 in 2022 however the government has extended this lignite coal generators life. Kakanj Power Station was also supposed to have closed unit 5 in 2022 under the 2006 Energy Community Treaty.
In 2012, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 747,827 tourists an increase of 9% and 1,645,521 overnight stays which is a 9,4% increase from 2012.
58.6% of the tourists came from foreign countries.
According to an estimate of the World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the third highest tourism growth rate in the world between 1995 and 2020.
Of particular note is the diaspora population which often returns home during the summer months, bringing in an increase in retail sales and food service industry.
In 2017, 1,307,319 tourists visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, an increase of 13.7%, and had 2,677,125 overnight hotel stays, a 12.3% increase from the previous year. Also, 71.5% of the tourists came from foreign countries. and average gross salary being €891, but the overall process is still considered slow and tenuous by the populace and local as well as foreign economic analysts.
Infrastructure
between Sarajevo and Visoko]]
The Bosnian government has issued an international tender for the construction of the 350 km long Pan-European Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will passes along the route Budapest-Osijek-Sarajevo-Ploče. The highway along this corridor is the most significant roadway in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the shortest communication route between Central Europe and the Southern Adriatic. The routing of the road passes through the central part of the country in the north–south direction from Donji Svilaj to the border of B&H, north from the Croatian port of Ploče, following the rivers Bosna and Neretva. More than 50% of the total population and the economic activity of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies within the zone of influence along this route.
As of August 2018, 200 km of the motorway has been completed.
Due to annual growth of nearly 10% the Sarajevo International Airport extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron is planned to start in Fall 2012. The existing terminal will be expanded with 7.000 square metres.
The upgraded airport will also be directly connected to the commercial retail center Sarajevo Airport Center
making it easy for tourist and travellers to use the time before the flight for some last minute shopping.
*81st in Human Capital Index (2020)
*88th in Quality of Nationality Index (2018)
*72nd in Legatum Prosperity Index (2023)
*63rd in Social Progress Index (2022)
*90th in Ease of Doing Business (2020)
*39th in Economic Complexity Index (2021)
*92nd in Global Competitiveness Report (2019)
*68th in Index of Economic Freedom (2023)
*61st in Global Peace Index (2023)
*110th in Corruption Perceptions Index (2022)
See also
*Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*List of banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark
*Bosnia and Herzegovina
*2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
External links
*Tariffs applied by Bosnia and Herzegovina as provided by ITC's [http://www.macmap.org/QuickSearch/FindTariff/FindTariff.aspx?subsiteopen_access&country070&source1 ITCMarket Access Map] , an online database of customs tariffs and market requirements.
Bosnia And Herzegovina | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.258909 |
3609 | Transport in Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnia and Herzegovina has facilities for road, rail and air transport. There are five international road routes and 20 state highways, with bus connections to many countries. Railways total just over 1,000 km with links to Croatia and Serbia. There are 25 airports, seven of them with paved runways. The Sava River is navigable, but its use is limited.
Roadways
total: 21,846 km
paved: 11,425 km (4,686 km of interurban roads)
unpaved: 10,421 km (2006)
Roads
300px|thumb|alt=Roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina
International
E65
E73 (Pan-European corridor Vc), A1 highway
E661
E761
E762
State highways
M-1.8
M-2
M-4
M-4.2
M-5
M-6
M-6.1
M-8
M-11
M-14
M-14.1
M-14.2
M-15
M-16
M-16.1
M-16.2
M-16.3
M-16.4
M-17
M-17.2
M-17.3
M-18
M-19
M-19.2
M-19.3
M-20
National and international bus services
Bosnia & Herzegovina is well connected to other countries in Europe. The main bus station of Sarajevo has its own website. The main provider of international bus connection in Bosnia & Herzegovina is Eurolines. There are routes to Croatia, Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, Montenegro, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Serbia. Despite Bosnia & Herzegovina's geographical closeness to Serbia, there is only one bus a day, which takes more than 8 hours due to the lack of proper roads.
Railways
Total: 1,032 km standard gauge: (2006)
Rail links with adjacent countries
Same gauge:
Croatia - yes
Serbia - yes
Montenegro - no
Waterways
Sava River (northern border) open to shipping but use is limited (2008)
Ports and harbours
Gradiška, Brod, Šamac, and Brčko (all inland waterway ports on the Sava none of which are fully operational), Orašje, Bosnia
Merchant marine
none (1999 est.)
Airports
Air transport begin in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when the flag-carrier Aeroput inaugurated a regular flight linking the national capital Belgrade with Podgorica in 1930, with a stop in Sarajevo. A year later Aeroput inaugurated another regular flight starting in Belgrade and then stopping in Sarajevo and continuing towards Split, Sušak and Zagreb. By mid-1930s Aeroput inaugurated two routes linking Belgrade and Zagreb with Dubrovnik through Sarajevo, and, in 1938, it inaugurated an international route linking Dubrovnik, which was becoming a major holiday destination, through Sarajevo, to Zagreb, Vienna, Brno and Prague.
25 (2008)
Airports - with paved runways
total:
7
2,438 to 3,047 m:
4
1,524 to 2,437 m:
1
under 914 m:
2 (2008)
Airports - with unpaved runways
total:
18
1,524 to 2,437 m:
1
914 to 1,523 m:
7
under 914 m:
10 (2008)
Heliports
6 (2013)
See also
Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
External links | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.267004 |
3610 | Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina | | image = AFBIH Coat of Arms 021-001.png
| alt | caption Emblem of the Armed Forces
| image2 | alt2
| caption2 | motto ("Perspective")
| founded
| current_form | disbanded
| branches = Ground Forces<br />Air Force
| headquarters = Sarajevo
| website =
<!-- Leadership -->| commander-in-chief = The Presidency
| commander-in-chief_title | chief minister
| chief minister_title | minister Zukan Helez
| minister_title = Minister of Defence
| commander Gen. Gojko Knežević
| ranked | reserve 6,000
| deployed = 64
<!-- Financial -->| amount $220 million
| percent_GDP 0.20% (2023)
Defence law
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas: the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Government Institutions, Entity Jurisdictions and Structure, Budget and Financing, Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Declaration, natural disasters, conflict of interests and professionalism, Oath to Bosnia-Herzegovina, flags, anthem and military insignia, and transitional and end orders.
History
The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period: the Bosniak Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, and the Croat Defence Council.
The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was formally created, there existed Territorial Defence, an official military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and several paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic League, and civil defence groups, as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals. The army was formed under poor circumstances, with a very low number of tanks, APCs and no military aviation assets. The army was divided into Corps, each Corps was stationed in a territory. The first commander was Sefer Halilović.
The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992. Before the VRS was formally created, there were several paramilitary groups such as the Srpska dobrovoljačka garda, Beli Orlovi, as well as some Russian, Greek and other volunteers. The army was equipped with ex-JNA inventory. It had about 200 tanks, mostly T-55s and 85 M-84s, and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces. The Air Defense of VRS shot down several aircraft, like F-16, Mirage 2000, F-18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG-21. The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FR Yugoslavia.
The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War. It was the first organized military force to control the Croat-populated areas, created on 8 April 1992. They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defence tasks to organized, uniformed, and well-equipped brigade-sized formations that nevertheless employed part-time soldiers. As time went on, the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more "professional", but it was not until early 1994, that the HVO began to form guards brigades, mobile units manned by full-time professional soldiers.
In 1995–96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning on December 21, 1995, to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force or SFOR. The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12,000 and then to 7,000. SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller, European Union-led European Union Force, EUFOR Althea. , EUFOR Althea numbered around 7,000 troops.
The Bosnian Train and Equip Program
The program to train and equip the Bosnian Federation Army after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 was a key element of the U.S. strategy to bring stable peace to Bosnia. The Train and Equip Program also calmed the concerns of some Congressmen about committing U.S. troops to peacekeeping duty in Bosnia. Creating a stable and functioning Federation Army that could deter Serb aggression had the prospect of allowing NATO and U.S. troops to withdraw from Bosnia within the original 12-month mandate, which the administration assured Congress was all it would take to stabilize the country.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Train and Equip Program Donated Resources to the
Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as of January 1997. This force size and orientation was totally at odds with the international peacemakers' vision. Slow reductions did take place. By 2004, the two warring factions had reduced their forces to 12,000 regulars and 240,000 reserves but had made virtually no progress in integrating the two into one new force, though the basis of a state defence ministry had been put in place via the Standing Committee on Military Matters (SCMM). Conscription for periods of around four months continued, the costs of which were weighing down both entities.
The restructuring of the three armies into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina represents part of a wider process of 'thickening' the central state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To mitigate some of the potential controversy around restructuring, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) made use of evidence of malpractice in Republika Srpska military institutions. Firstly, from 2002 onwards, OHR utilised a scandal around the provision of parts and assistance to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo (the so-called Orao affair) to support the cause for bringing governance of the armies under the level of central institutions. Following this, in 2004, the process was accelerated, drawing its justification from new evidence of material and other forms of support flowing from Republika Srpska armed forces to ICTY indictee Ratko Mladić. OHR condemned the ‘systematic connivance of high-ranking members of the RS military’ and noted that measures to tackle such systematic deficiencies were under consideration. This was quickly followed by the expansion of the mandate for a Defence Reform Commission, which ultimately resulted in the consolidation of three armed forces into one, governed at the level of the central state.
As the joint AFBiH began to develop, troops began to be sent abroad. Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines, in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq. The unit was first deployed to Fallujah, then Talil Air Base, and is now located at Camp Echo. In December 2006, the Bosnian government formally extended its mandate through June 2007. Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008, their mission being to protect/guard Camp Victory in Baghdad. Structure
Bosnian-Herzegovinian troops display their national flag.]]
The Military units are commanded by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff in Sarajevo. There are two major commands under the Joint Staff: Operational Command and Support Command.
There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the war in BiH. These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each. Headquarters of regiments have no operational authority. On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the regimental headquarters have the following tasks: to manage the regimental museum, monitor financial fund, prepare, investigate and cherish the history of the regiment, the regiment publish newsletters, maintain cultural and historical heritage, give guidance on holding special ceremonies, give guidance on customs, dress and deportment Regiment, conduct officer, NCO and military clubs. Each regiments' three battalions are divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army.
Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!scope"col" style"width:150px"|Name !! Headquarters !! Information !! Chief
|-
|Operational Command
|Sarajevo
|The main command center of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
|Gojko Knežević
|}
Operational Command
| relief = 1
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AFB.]]
Overall the brigades are multinational with 45.9% Bosniaks, 33.6% Serbs, 19.8% Croats and about 0.7% of other ethnic groups (as for 2016).
* Operational Command, in Sarajevo
** 4th Infantry Brigade, in Čapljina
*** 1st Infantry Battalion, in Livno (Croat troops)
*** 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bileća (Serb troops)
*** 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Goražde (Bosniak troops)
*** Artillery Battalion, in Mostar
*** Reconnaissance Company, in Čapljina
*** Signals Platoon, in Čapljina
*** Military Police Platoon, in Čapljina
** 5th Infantry Brigade, in Tuzla
*** 1st Infantry Battalion, in Zenica (Bosniak troops)
*** 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Kiseljak (Croat troops)
*** 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Bijeljina (Serb troops)
*** Artillery Battalion, in Žepče
*** Reconnaissance Company, in Tuzla
*** Signals Platoon, in Tuzla
*** Military Police Platoon, in Tuzla
** 6th Infantry Brigade, in Banja Luka
*** 1st Infantry Battalion, in Banja Luka (Serb troops)
*** 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bihać (Bosniak troops)
*** 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Orašje (Croat troops)
*** Artillery Battalion, in Doboj
*** Reconnaissance Company, in Banja Luka
*** Signals Platoon, in Banja Luka
*** Military Police Platoon, in Banja Luka
** Tactical Support Brigade, in Sarajevo
*** Armored Battalion, in Tuzla
*** Engineer Battalion, in Derventa
*** Military Intelligence Battalion, in Sarajevo
*** Military Police Battalion, in Sarajevo
*** Demining Battalion, in Sarajevo
*** Signal Battalion, in Pale
*** CBRN Defense Company, in Tuzla
** Air Force and Air Defense Brigade, at Sarajevo Air Base and Banja Luka Air Base
*** 1st Helicopter Squadron, at Banja Luka Airport
*** 2nd Helicopter Squadron, at Sarajevo Airport
*** Air Defense Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport
*** Surveillance and Early Warning Battalion, at Banja Luka Airport
*** Flight Support Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport and Banja Luka Airport
Brigades under the Support Command control
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!scope"col" style"width:150px"|Name !! Headquarters !! Information
|-
|Personnel Command
|Banja Luka
|
** Training and Doctrine Command (Travnik)
*** Combat Training Center (Manjača)
**** Armored Mechanized Battalion
*** Combat Simulation Center (Manjača)
*** Professional Development Center (Hadžići)
**** Officers School
**** NCO School
**** Military Police School
**** Foreign Language Center
|-
|Logistics Command
|Travnik <br> Doboj
|
* Center for Movement Control
* Center for Material Management
* Main Logistics Base (Doboj and Sarajevo)
* 1st Logistics Support Battalion
* 2nd Logistics Support Battalion
* 3rd Logistics Support Battalion
* 4th Logistics Support Battalion
* 5th Logistics Support Battalion
|-
|}
Within the armed forces, there are a number of services. These include a Technical Service, Air Technology service, Military Police service, Communications service, Sanitary service, a Veterans service, Civilian service, Financial service, Information service, Legal service, Religious service, and a Musical service.
during Combined Resolve XV at Hohenfels Training Area.]]
Uniform and insignia
Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded Armed Forces. MARPAT was designated as the future camouflage pattern to be used on combat uniforms of the AFBiH.
Insignia is found on military hats or berets, on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all soldiers of the Armed Forces. All, except for generals, wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge. Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords. All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All members of the three regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder. There are other insignias, brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia. The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name "Armed Forces of BiH" is worn on the right part of the chest.
In 2023, members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina began to wear a new field uniform of high-quality cloth and original camouflage schemes with the characteristics of the Bosnian environment.
Equipment
40-round launchers.]]
References
Further reading
*Dorschner, Jim (18 April 2007), "Endgame in Bosnia", ''Jane's Defence Weekly'', pp. 24–29
External links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121201104307/http://www.mod.gov.ba/ Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101215024419/http://www.mfa.gov.ba/HTML/PDFDoc/Ekonomija/VOJNAINDUSTRIJA.pdf MILITARY INDUSTRY – Bosnia and Herzegovina]
* [http://www.euforbih.org/ European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina – EUFOR]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060219224837/http://www.oscebih.org/oscebih_eng.asp OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110215133/http://www.afsouth.nato.int/NHQSA/DSSR/Factsheets/DSSR.htm NATO Headquarters Sarajevo Security Sector Reform information]
* [http://os.mod.gov.ba/vijesti/default.aspx?id31539&pageIndex1&langTag=en-US/ U.S Donation of Specialized Vehicles To AFBiH]
* [http://os.mod.gov.ba/vijesti/default.aspx?id16372&pageIndex1&langTag=bs-BA/ Communication-intelligence Support Norway]
* [https://radiosarajevo.ba/vijesti/bosna-i-hercegovina/vrijedna-donacija-vlada-njemacke-dodjeljuje-750000-eura-za-objekte-oruzanih-snaga-bih/503432/ Financial Support From Germany]
* [https://jajce-online.com/vrijedna-donacija-eu-deminerskom-bataljonu-os-bih/ European Union Donations For Demining Activities] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.286812 |
3611 | Foreign relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina | The implementation of the Dayton Accords of 1995 has focused the efforts of policymakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the international community, on regional stabilization in the countries-successors of the former Yugoslavia. Relations with its neighbors of Croatia and Serbia have been fairly stable since the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995.
Diplomatic relations
List of countries which Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains diplomatic relations with:
frameless|425x425px#CountryDate12345678910–1112–131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108—109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176 Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Sofia. Both countries are full members of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Bosnia as an independent country.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Canada relations
Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented through the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Ottawa, while Canada is represented by the embassy of Canada in Budapest. Three Canadian organizations operate programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of National Defence (DND). Canada strongly supports the signing of the Dayton Agreement hoping it can help bring more stability to the region. Through the Canadian International Development Agency Canada has given more than CA$ 144 million in development assistance.
Exports of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Canada are worth about US$ 5.31 million per year, while exports of Canada to Bosnia and Herzegovina value about US$5.34 million per year.
Embassy of Canada to Bosnia and HerzegovinaSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia relations
Discussions continue with Croatia on several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinder final ratification of the 1999 border agreement.
Sections of the Una river and villages at the base of Mount Plješevica are in Croatia, while some are in Bosnia, which causes an excessive number of border crossings on a single route and impedes any serious development in the region. The Zagreb-Bihać-Split railway line is still closed for major traffic due to this issue. The road Karlovac-Plitvice Lakes-Knin, which is on the European route E71, is becoming increasingly unused because Croatia built a separate highway to the west of it.
The border on the Una river between Hrvatska Kostajnica on the northern, Croatian side of the river, and Bosanska Kostajnica on the southern, Bosnian side, is also being discussed. A river island between the two towns is under Croatian control, but is claimed by Bosnia. A shared border crossing point has been built and has been functioning since 2003, and is used without hindrance by either party.
The Herzegovinian municipality of Neum on the Adriatic coast makes the southernmost part of Croatia an exclave and the two countries are negotiating special transit rules through Neum to compensate for that. Recently Croatia has opted to build a bridge to the Pelješac peninsula to connect the Croatian mainland with the exclave but Bosnia and Herzegovina has protested that the bridge will close its access to international waters (although Croatian territory and territorial waters surround Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory and waters completely) and has suggested that the bridge must be higher than 55 meters for free passage of all types of ships. Negotiations are still being held.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Zagreb and consulate-general in Rijeka.
Croatia has an embassy in Sarajevo and consulates-general in Banja Luka, Livno, Mostar, and Tuzla.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate and Croatia is an EU member.Cyprus recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 7 February 2000, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same date. Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented in Cyprus through its embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Cyprus is represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina through its embassy in Budapest, Hungary. Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.The Czech Republic recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 8 February 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1993. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Prague. The Czech Republic has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.See Bosnia and Herzegovina – Denmark relations See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Finland relationsIn 2019, Bosnia's presidency summoned the French ambassador Guillaume Rousson to protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s comment in an interview with British weekly The Economist that the country is a “time bomb” due to returning Islamist fighters. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia established diplomatic relations in 1998. They share relations at the non-resident ambassadorial level. The first high-level visit was that paid by the BiH Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak to Tbilisi in August 2016. In January 2018, Georgia issued a protest note to BiH over the breakaway South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov's visit to the Republika Srpska. In a response, the BiH Foreign Ministry stated that Georgia and Bosnia had good relations and Bosnia would not interfere into the question of South Ossetia. Crnadak also said Bibilov's visit damaged an international standing of the Republika Srpska.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Germany relations
Germany is one of the most important partners of Bosnia and Herzegovina in foreign affairs. Bilateral relations have developed steadily since diplomatic ties were established in mid-1994. Germany was closely involved in efforts to bring about peace before and after the conclusion of the Dayton Agreement. There is also a long tradition of economic relations between Germany and Bosnia. When the country was still part of the former Yugoslavia, joint ventures and cooperation played a large role here (motor industry, metal processing, textile industry/contract processing work, steel and chemicals). After the war, Germany took on a spearheading role in investments in production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is undergoing a transitional phase from a centrally planned to a market economy. These investments are concentrated primarily in vehicle assembly and parts supply, the construction industry/cement, raw materials processing/ aluminum and regional dairy farming.Greece recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence in 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 November 1995. Since 1998, Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Athens. Since 1996, Greece has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. In 2006, Greece provided 80.4% of the funding for the reconstruction of the Greece–Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building.See Holy See–Bosnia and Herzegovina relations
Holy See recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 7 April 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1992.Hungary recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 9 April 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 April 1992. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Budapest. Hungary has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–India relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Indonesia relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Iran relations See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Malaysia relations
Malaysia, under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981–2003), had been one of the strongest supporters of the Bosnian cause during the war and the only Asian country that accepted Bosnian refugees. Malaysia sent UN Peacekeeping troops to the former Yugoslavia. Malaysia maintains a number of investments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of the most significant is the Bosmal Group. Bosmal is a joint venture set up between Malaysian and Bosnian interests. A number of Bosnian students are currently studying at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak. Malaysia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
Mexico is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–North Macedonia relations
The two countries first shared the same 90s objective of pursuing independence from Yugoslavia, and in the 21st century, the common objective of joining the EU.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Pakistan relations
Pakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy close and cordial relations. Pakistan recognised the independence of Bosnia from Yugoslavia in 1992. Pakistan sent in UN Peacekeeping forces to the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars. During the war, Pakistan supported Bosnia while providing technical and military support to Bosnia. Pakistan and Bosnia have a free trade agreement. During the War time, Pakistan had hosted thousands of Bosnians as refugees in Pakistan. Pakistan has also provided medium-tech to high Tech weapons to Bosnian Government in the past.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Warsaw.
Poland has an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Romania relations
Romania recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence on 1 March 1996, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same day. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Bucharest. Romania has an embassy in Sarajevo. Relations were described as "excellent" by the foreign ministers in 2006, ahead of the opening of the Bosnian embassy in Bucharest.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Russia relations
Bosnia is one of the countries where Russia has contributed troops for the NATO-led stabilization force. Others were sent to Kosovo and Serbia.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Saudi Arabia relations
Saudi Arabia has provided enormous financial assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina since its independence in 1992. Saudi interests also funded for the construction of the King Fahd Mosque, which is currently the largest mosque in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Serbia relations
Bosnia and Herzegovina filed a suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia and Montenegro) before the International Court of Justice for aggression and genocide during the Bosnian War which was dismissed. Serbia was found responsible for failure to prevent genocide in Srebrenica. Sections along the Drina River remain in dispute between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Ljubljana.
Slovenia has an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–South Korea relations
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 December 1995.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Spain relations
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Madrid.
Spain has an embassy in Sarajevo. See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Sweden relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–Turkey relations
Turkey provided both political and financial support to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. After the war, relations have improved even more, and today Turkey is one of BiH's top foreign investors and business partners. See Bosnia and Herzegovina–Ukraine relationsSee Bosnia and Herzegovina–United Kingdom relations
Bosnia and Herzegovina established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 13 April 1992.
Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains an embassy in London.
The United Kingdom is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina through its embassy in Sarajevo, and an embassy office in Banja Luka.
Both countries share common membership of the Council of Europe, the International Criminal Court, and the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have an Investment Agreement, and a Reciprocal Healthcare Agreement.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–United States relations
The 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ended with the crucial participation of the United States in brokering the 1995 Dayton Accords. After leading the diplomatic and military effort to secure the Dayton agreement, the United States has continued to lead the effort to ensure its implementation. The United States maintains command of the NATO headquarters in Sarajevo. The United States has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help with infrastructure, humanitarian aid, economic development, and military reconstruction in Herzegovina and Bosnia. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Support for Eastern European Democracies (SEED) has played a large role in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, including programs in economic development and reform, democratic reform (media & elections), infrastructure development, and training programs for Bosnian professionals, among others. Additionally, there are many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have likewise played significant roles in the reconstruction.
EU accession
The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is one of the main political objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) is the EU's policy framework. Countries participating in the SAP have been offered the possibility to become, once they fulfill the necessary conditions, member states of the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina is therefore a potential candidate country for EU accession.
International organizations
Bank for International Settlements, Council of Europe, Central European Initiative, EBRD,
Energy Community United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, FAO, Group of 77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, International Criminal Court, International Development Association, IFAD, International Finance Corporation, IFRCS, ILO, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Interpol, IOC, International Organization for Migration (observer), ISO, ITU, Non-Aligned Movement (guest), Organization of American States (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
See also
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Monetary Fund
List of diplomatic missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Visa requirements for Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens
Foreign relations of Yugoslavia
References
External links
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - policy priorities | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.625984 |
3612 | History of Botswana | The history of Botswana encompasses the region's ancient and tribal history, its colonisation as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the present-day Republic of Botswana. The first modern humans to inhabit Botswana were the San people, and agriculture first developed approximately 2,300 years ago. The first Bantu peoples arrived , and the first Tswana people arrived about 200 years later. The Tswana people split into various tribes over the following thousand years as migrations within the region continued, culminating in the Difaqane in the late 18th century. European contact first occurred in 1816, which led to the Christianization of the region.
Facing threats from German South West Africa and the Afrikaners, the most influential Tswana chiefs negotiated the creation of a protectorate under the United Kingdom in 1885. The British divided the territory into tribal reserves for each of the major chiefs to rule, giving the chiefs more power than they had previously, but it otherwise exercised only limited direct control over the protectorate. The British government took a more active role beginning in the 1930s. Botswana supported British involvement in World War II and many fought as part of the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps.
A power struggle took place in the 1950s between the Ngwato chief Seretse Khama and his regent Tshekedi Khama. Seretse's marriage to a white woman, Ruth Williams Khama, led the British to ban him from the protectorate. He returned in 1956 with popular support, and tribes moved toward elected government as an independence movement formed. A national legislature was created in 1961, and political parties were formed. Seretse became the leader of the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, which was endorsed by the British government to lead post-independence, and it saw overwhelming support in the first election in 1965. The Republic of Botswana was granted full independence in 1966.
With a strong mandate, Seretse and his party implemented liberal democracy and began developing infrastructure in what was one of the world's poorest nations. Extensive diamond deposits were discovered in 1969, causing a massive reorganisation of Botswana's economy. The Debswana mining company was created in 1978, and Botswana became the world's fastest growing economy. The HIV/AIDS pandemic became a crisis in Botswana in the 1980s, and the 1990s came with the introduction of political factionalism after the political scandal of the Kgabo Commission. Political conflict within the Botswana Democratic Party continued over the following decades with a split occurring in 2010 and the exile of former president Ian Khama at the behest of his protege Mokgweetsi Masisi in 2021.
Pre-colonial history
Prehistory
thumb|Prehistoric cave paintings at Tsodilo
Present-day Botswana was primarily forest ten million years ago and the rivers were much larger than they are in the present, flowing into the massive paleolake, Lake Makgadikgadi. Homo erectus lived in the region during the Early Stone Age. Stone tools in present-day Botswana, such as Acheulean axes, date back to two million years ago. Hominin migration to the Kalahari Desert is estimated to have happened prior to Marine Isotope Stage 6, 186,000 years ago. Lake Makgadikgadi began to shrink approximately 50,000 years ago.
The ancestors of the Khoe and San peoples—unrelated peoples who are referred to collectively as the Khoisan or Sarwa peoples—lived in present-day Botswana by approximately 40,000 to 30,000 years ago. They may have been the first humans to enter the Late Stone Age. They established themselves around rivers during drier periods of history but spread throughout the region during wetter periods. They are known to have inhabited the areas around Lake Makgadikgadi, as well as Tsodilo and ≠Gi. Other peoples such as the Nata, Shua, and Xani are believed to have arrived after the Khoe and San. Rock art dates back to approximately 30,000 years ago, and virtually all permanent water supplies were associated with early humans 20,000 years ago. More detailed study of southern Africa in the Stone Age has been limited.
The various peoples of the region were hunter-gatherers who remained in small groups and engaged in trade with one another. It is believed that each groups was a collection of related families holding a specific territory, led by the eldest man of its head family. Men hunted large animals, while women gathered plants and caught small animals. The groups intermarried and practiced a dowry system, xaro.
Ancient history
Approximately 2,000 years ago, the peoples of the region brought cattle and sheep to present-day Botswana and began making pottery. Agriculture developed during this time and the peoples began settling in villages, which rose and fell as the climate and cattle raids caused livestock access to fluctuate. Among the earliest crops were pearl millet, finger millet, sorghum, Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas, and cucurbits.
The first Bantu people arrived in the region between 2,000 and 1,500 years ago, and it was once believed that they had first introduced livestock to the area. The Kgalagadi people were the first of the Bantu peoples to settle in present-day Botswana, arriving . The first Tswana people (singular Motswana, plural Batswana) are estimated to have arrived c. 400 CE. These Bantu peoples brought iron and copper tools to the region and settled along permanent waterways.
Post-classical period
The Taukome people arrived in present-day Botswana by the 7th century, and their possession of glass beads indicates early connection to Indian Ocean trade. The number of livestock kept in the area increased significantly between the 8th century and the 10th century. The Tswana people organised themselves into a tribal government, called a morafe (plural merafe), each led by a chief called a kgosi (plural dikgosi). This system produced a more hierarchical government relative to others in the region. Cattle became a central part of society in the region, and ownership of cattle denoted one's status. The early history of the Tswana people remains largely unknown because little archaeological evidence has been left.
Trade routes connected tribes throughout the Kalahari Desert by 900 CE, and access to the Indian Ocean trade expanded in the region over the 10th century. The Toutswe people became the predominant group in present-day Botswana during the 11th and 12th centuries as they became wealthier through ownership of cattle. Specularite mining became widespread during this period. The value of products fluctuated during this period as expanding trade with foreign nations and the discovery of gold took interest away from specularite and animal products like ivory. One tribe in Tsodilo was particularly influential in the trade of specularite until it fell at the end of the 12th century. The tribes in southeastern Botswana were far removed from these developments and remained largely unaffected.
Neighbouring present-day Botswana during the 11th and 12th centuries were the people of Leopard's Kopje, who formed the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and projected influence throughout the region. Their influence declined by the 13th century, and they were replaced as the regional power by Great Zimbabwe as the gold trade became a driving factor in the region's economy. It controlled many of the tribes that existed in what is now northeastern Botswana. After the fall of Great Zimbabwe in the 15th century, several other states developed. The Kingdom of Butua, formed by the Kalanga peoples, was established on the present-day Botswana–Zimbabwe border.
Migration of Tswana peoples through present-day Botswana occurred over the following centuries as they were displaced by native and colonial populations from the south. Large migrations of Kalanga and Sotho–Tswana peoples into present-day Botswana occurred during the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Kalanga peoples controlled the land between the Motloutse River and the Makgadikgadi Pan until the 18th century. The Hurutshe, Kgatla, and Kwena peoples split from the Phofu dynasty in the Transvaal region amid drought and hereditary conflicts, eventually migrating north to present-day Botswana.
Early modern period
thumb|An illustration of a Tswana man and his wife in the early 1800s
The Tswana people had a presence throughout present-day Botswana by 1600. Some peoples of the region remained in the Late Stone Age until about this time. According to oral tradition, the pastoralist Herero and Mbanderu peoples split from the Mbunda people in the 17th century as Tswana cattle raids scattered the groups. Oral tradition also holds that the Yeyi people migrated from the upper Chobe River into the Okavango Delta in the 18th century, though contact between the Yeyi and the Khoe may have existed much longer. Different Tswana tribes were able to separate and form independently from one another as the region's primary asset, cattle, is easily transported. The western tribes were especially prone to separation because of the large distances between towns and farmlands. They were often the targets of raids by the Griqua people.
The first Tswana state was formed by the Ngwaketse people in the mid-18th century. Subsequent states were formed by the Kwena people, the Ngwato people, and the Tawana people over the following decades. With these came the development of the mophato (plural mephato), a militia regiment organised by age group, among the eastern Tswana peoples in the 1750s. Two Kgatla peoples, the Kgafela people and the Tlokwa people, joined together at this time and seized control over the area surrounding Pilanesberg in present-day South Africa. They subjugated several peoples in the region and twice won conflicts against the Fokeng people. The use of mephato spread to the western Tswana peoples by the end of the century. It was never widely adopted in the south.
The Difaqane
The Difaqane, a period of conflict and displacement in southern Africa, took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During this time, the Tswana people were subject to raids by many groups, including the Ndebele, the Kololo, the Ngoni, the Pedi, and the Voortrekkers. Most Tswana groups opted to retreat instead of fight. This triggered extensive migration across the region, causing the Tswana tribes to more thoroughly spread and establish a stronger presence throughout the territory of present-day Botswana. They settled primarily in the hardveld that makes up the eastern region of present-day Botswana. The Kwena and Ngwaketse peoples migrated from Transvaal to the sandveld. The first of the Kgatla peoples to settle in present-day Botswana, the Mmanaana people, migrated from South Africa in the early 19th century before settling in Moshupa and Thamaga. Only some of the northwestern Tswana peoples were spared displacement or interruption.
The Kololo people attacked the northwestern Tswana peoples in 1826, forcing the Kwena and Ngwaketse from their respective territories. Sebogo, the regent of the Ngwaketse tribe, raised 4,000 men in their mephato and surrounded Dithubaruba where the Kololo were residing. Killing the warriors and the civilians, they permanently expelled the Kololo from the region.
The tribes reestablished their states in the 1840s, founding several towns and villages of varying sizes. Governance was based around the kgotla, a deliberative forum in which the chief or a regional leader heard the concerns of most male citizens before making decisions.
European missionaries
European missionaries first arrived in present-day Botswana in 1816 through the London Missionary Society. This and other missionary groups worked to convert the chiefs to Christianity and to build missionary schools. The missionary Robert Moffat set his mission station on the border of present-day Botswana as a barrier against the Boers so they could not move further inward. Moffat published the first Setswana language text with a uniform orthography when he began translating Christian texts and wrote a Setswana dictionary. Both the Old and New Testaments could be read in Setswana by 1857.
The 19th century Tswana people used several economic ideas that were rare in southern Africa, including credit, service contracts, and the mafisa system of the rich loaning cattle to the poor in exchange for labour. They also had a conception of private property by the mid-19th century, and both married men and married women were entitled to land rights. The men typically herded cattle while the women grew crops. Sorghum was the region's most commonly grown crop in the 19th century. Land was widely available, but droughts meant that farming was inconsistent.
British traders arrived in the 1830s and engaged in transactions with the chiefs. The influx of European settlers nearby allowed the Tswana tribes to incorporate themselves into the global economy. Chief Sechele I of the Kwena people took advantage of the new trading routes, securing control of British trade for his tribe. The Scottish missionary David Livingstone arrived in Botswana in 1845, where he established the Kolobeng Mission. This was the beginning of heavier European involvement in the Tswana tribes as they established intercontinental trade routes. Westernised fashion was adopted in urban areas through the rest of the century and combined with traditional clothing. In another effort to thwart the Boers, Livingstone provided firearms to the Kwena people. Sechele was the first person who Livingstone converted to Christianity, and the chief subsequently offered to convert his head men using rhinoceros-hide whips.
The Tswana peoples faced conflict from other groups in the region, peaking in the 1850s. Many Batswana, particularly the Kwena and Ngwato tribes, fought against Afrikaners and Zulu tribes in the eastern Kalahari Desert. The Kwena and the Mmanaana fought against Boers from Transvaal in 1852, defending their territory and ending the nation's westward expansion. The Batswana saw missionary groups as a means of refuge from invaders, incentivising conversion to Christianity. Sechele requested a British protectorate in 1853 to end regional conflicts, but he was denied.
European visitors became more common in the mid-19th century as hunters, explorers, and traders sought profit and adventure in the region. Many wrote travel books about the area, which were some of the only non-academic publications about present-day Botswana at the time. By the 1860s, migration out of the region increased as Batswana men travelled to work in South African mines. The discovery of the Tati Goldfields triggered the first European gold rush of Southern Africa in 1868. An early mining camp established in the 1870s expanded greatly as it became a major railway hub between Cape Province and Bulawayo, becoming Botswana's first major city, Francistown. At this point in Botswana's history, the major chiefs were all Christian. A war between the Kwena and the Kgafela in 1875. By the end of the decade, chief Khama III of the Ngwato people seized control of British trade from the Kwena people.
Bechuanaland Protectorate
Formation of the protectorate
The United Kingdom feared increasing German influence in the region, and it agreed to form the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The British wished to preserve its influence over the Tswana tribes, as they provided a connection between southern and central Africa. Tswana chiefs feared encroachment by German South West Africa and the Afrikaners, and they believed that the alternative to British control was settler colonialism by Germany. They also wished to avoid falling under the control of South Africa or mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, though the protectorate still found itself dependent on South Africa economically.
The region was divided into tribal land ruled by the chiefs and crown land controlled by the United Kingdom. Eight tribes were recognised by the British upon the creation of the protectorate. The largest four were given tribal reserves: the Kwena, the Ngwaketse, the Ngwato, and the Tawana. Three smaller ones were also recognised: the Kgatla, the Tlokwa, and the Malete. The eighth, the Tshidi, were given a reserve crossing the border between the protectorate and South Africa. While members of non-Tswana minorities were allowed to participate in Tswana society and governance, they were given no tribal reserves of their own. The introduction of tribal reserves altered the nature of Tswana governance, as tribes had previously been less defined and subject to expansion or shifting. With territories divided into tribal jurisdictions, residents were no longer able to easily leave a tribe. The protectorate initially extended to the Ngwato, reaching from 22 degrees south to the Molopo River, but it was extended to 18 degrees south to reach the Chobe River in 1890. This provided the British more labourers under its jurisdiction and created a larger barrier to limit German colonisation. Other Tswana peoples lived to the south of the protectorate and were later absorbed into South Africa.
The Kgafela people settled in Mochudi in 1887. This Kgatla group quickly became influential in the region and its name became synonymous with Kgatla. British soldiers led by Charles Warren arrived in 1891 to formally establish the protectorate. Its government was defined, and a commissioner was appointed as its head. The commissioner was given broad powers over the protectorate, so long as he respected previously established tribal law. Its capital was the South African city of Vryburg, meaning that the colonial rulers did not reside in the protectorate and had little direct involvement in its affairs. Instead, the high commissioner operated through two assistant commissioners, and a district commissioner facilitated contact with the various tribes. The centralisation of British rule in South Africa meant that the Bechuanaland Protectorate was economically dependent on it.
The British government believed the Bechuanaland Protectorate to be only a temporary entity and expected that it would soon be absorbed by a British colony. In the meantime, it believed that a self-sufficient protectorate would cost less to maintain. For these reasons, the colonial administration imposed very little direct control of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The chiefs benefited from these affairs and were able to empower and enrich themselves; they retained broad autonomy, but colonial backing meant that they no longer needed the consent of the tribes to maintain rule. Tribal rule became autocratic, which led to human rights abuses and discrimination against women and ethnic minorities.
Early years of the protectorate
The British planned to eventually incorporate the Bechuanaland Protectorate into the Union of South Africa. In the years after the protectorate's creation, the United Kingdom entered talks with Cecil Rhodes to absorb it into the British South Africa Company. In response, three of the most influential chiefs—Khama III of the Ngwato, Sebele I of the Kwena, and Bathoen I of the Ngwaketse—made a diplomatic trip to the United Kingdom in 1895 and convinced the government not to complete the deal. This set a precedent of chiefs interacting with the British as a unified group and enshrined these three figures as early figures in Botswana's history as a single nation. Rhodes's handling of the failed Jameson Raid discouraged the British and negotiations were postponed indefinitely. The celebration of these chiefs resulted in the publication of Three Great African Chiefs: Khamé, Sebéle and Bathoeng by the London Missionary Society the same year. This text introduced a founding myth that their three respective tribes were created by three brothers.
Also in 1895, the capital was moved from Vryburg to another South African city, Mafeking, and the Ancient Ruins Company was registered to dig up prehistoric ruins in Bechuanaland and Rhodesia in search for gold. The protectorate was heavily affected by the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic, losing large portions of its livestock and wild game. The protectorate's railroad was built in 1897 as the main north–south transit line.
When the United Kingdom raised the Pioneer Column to go to war with the Ndebele people, Khama III of the Ngwato assisted by sending soldiers. Botswana became a staging ground for the Jameson Raid in 1896. The Kgatla tribe was later part of the Boer War, fighting alongside the British Army.
The early colonial economy of the Bechuanaland Protectorate remained much the same as the pre-colonial economy. The United Kingdom primarily used the protectorate as a supply of labour, offering high wages to Batswana who migrated south to work in mines. Taxes were also imposed, beginning with a hut tax in 1899, which was then replaced by a poll tax in 1909. A native tax was later imposed in 1919. Colonial taxes in the Bechuanaland Protectorate were higher than those in neighbouring colonies, causing mass exodus to the south, and the chiefs allowed more generous power sharing with citizens to incentivise them to stay. The United Kingdom considered integrating the protectorate into South Africa as it unified its southern African colonies, but it ultimately grouped them economically by creating the South African Customs Union, joining in 1910. Membership entitled the protectorate to only 2% of the union's revenue.
By 1910, all Tswana tribes had adopted Christianity. Bechuanaland sent several hundred soldiers to assist the British Army during World War I. The London Missionary Society found itself in decline at this time, and it gradually lost influence over the protectorate.
Sebele II became chief of the Kwena in 1918, succeeding his father, Sechele II. Sechele II had conflicted with the dominant London Missionary Society, permitting an Anglican presence and reinstating many traditional practices such as polygyny, rainmaking, and bogwera. Sebele II continued his father's challenge to the London Missionary Society, to the grievance of the British government.
The dual government of the chiefs and the colonial administration made administration difficult, so the administration created two advisory councils to standardise these authorities. The Native Advisory Council (later the African Advisory Council) was established in 1919. This annual meeting of the chiefs and other influential people in the protectorate allowed the British government to hear from and manage the tribes collectively instead of individually. Khama III of the Ngwato refused to participate, citing weak enforcement of alcohol prohibition in southern tribe. Khama III died in 1923 and was succeeded by Sekgoma II, who served until his own death in 1926. Sekgoma's son Seretse Khama was still an infant, so Tshekedi Khama became regent. Tshekedi came to be recognised as a representative for all of the Tswana tribes. As Seretse grew, Tshekedi insisted that he be given a liberal education rather than be sent to a Rhodesian industrial school.
Development and increased British influence
In the 1920s, chief Isang Pilane of the Kgatla people oversaw the Bechuanaland Protectorate's first major water development scheme, having sixteen boreholes drilled, seven of which became successful water supplies. These became more common over the following decades as the British government took interest in expanding the protectorate's economy. By the 1930s, Isang Pilane and the Native Advisory Council privatised the boreholes, as they were not maintained under collective ownership. A severe drought occurred in the early 1930s, killing over 60% of the protectorate's cattle.
The British government took a more active role in the protectorate's governance beginning in 1930. That year, it began providing direct funding to the protectorate. Charles Rey was appointed Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and he was responsible for reorganising the economy around cattle exports. An initiative to reform the protectorate toward mining and commercial agricultural development was attempted but saw push back from the chiefs.
Resident Commissioner Rey came into conflict with chief Sebele II, having him exiled in 1931. Sebele II was replaced by his younger brother, Kgari. Further initiatives were attempted by the British government in 1934 to constrain the unchecked power of the chiefs following the overthrow of Sebele II. These initiatives mandated advisory councils that chiefs had to consult and required that the British government be given access to court records. Chief Bathoen II of Ngwaketse and regent Tshekedi Khama of Ngwato issued a legal challenge to these initiatives. Although the British court ruled against the challenge, the new policies were never fully implemented. Other restrictions were adopted through colonial proclamation to limit the ability of the chiefs to levy taxes and seize stray cattle. A new resident commissioner, Charles Arden-Clarke, was appointed in 1936 and worked more closely with the chiefs.
Early years of World War II
Fears of German attack in Bechuanaland grew in the lead up to World War II due to its strategic position between Britain's central and southern colonies in Africa. 11 days before war was declared, the British government warned the protectorate to be on standby, and military forces were organised. Four days after Britain declared war on Germany, Resident Commissioner Arden-Clarke held a meeting with the chiefs where they pledged full support for the war effort. The next day, the high commission issued a proclamation of emergency powers that gave it total control over public activity in the protectorate, but the chiefs were informed that they would be responsible for most enforcement and peacekeeping.
The earliest years of World War II had almost no effect on the people of Bechuanaland, and many only had a vague idea that the war existed. The colonial administration shrank as large numbers of white residents enlisted in the British Army. Those who remained were focused on security planning in case southern Africa became another front in the war. Against the wishes of the chiefs, the colonial administration encouraged Batswana who wished to serve with the British Army to enlist with the South African Native Military Corps. About 700 Batswana men enlisted with the group.
Maintaining the Bechuanaland Protectorate became a low priority for the United Kingdom during the Great Depression and World War II, and the protectorate received no funding from the United Kingdom during the war. The British Empire had relatively little control over Bechuanaland compared to its other territories, and British efforts to control wartime production in the protectorate were unsuccessful. The war drastically altered the protectorate's economy as it went on, introducing shortages, rationing, and higher prices. Profiteering and price gouging were common, and the colonial administration, unable to enforce price controls, resorted to gentlemen's agreements with traders. Taxes were raised and Colonial Development Fund projects were curtailed at the onset of World War II to establish financial independence from the empire. The Control of Livestock Industry Proclamation No. 1 of 1940 was passed to tax cattle, the protectorate's main industry, but it met overwhelming resistance from Batswana and the European Advisory Council. A war fund operated in Bechuanaland, and although the United Kingdom expected that donations be voluntary, chiefs invoked their authority over their tribes to enforce donations. It was replaced by a levy in 1941, but this was less popular and proved difficult to enforce.
Batswana participation in World War II
thumb|Bechuanaland Boys cleaning Aa Guns in the Twilight after Action, Syracuse, Sicily, 1944 art piece by Leslie Cole
Military recruitment began in Bechuanaland in 1941. About 5,500 men were trained and sent to war within the first six months. Another 5,000 Batswana men joined the war in 1942. In total, approximately 11,000 soldiers from Bechuanaland fought alongside the British Army during the war. Over 10,000 of these served in the British Army's African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps. The chiefs traditionally had the right to conscript soldiers, and they ignored the colonial government's wishes that military service should be entirely voluntary. Regent Tshekedi Khama of Ngwato made himself unpopular by using military conscription as a tool for control, weaponising it to silence critics and political opponents. Men who wished to avoid conscription sometimes fled to South Africa or to remote areas like the Okavango Delta swamps and the Kgalagadi bush. Others used more immediate precautions, such as digging holes when recruiters visited.
The chiefs wished to leverage their participation in the war for additional rights within the British Empire, and they feared that British defeat would make them subjects of Germany or South Africa, a fate they wished to avoid. The war effort was also an opportunity to reclaim Tswana men who had migrated to South Africa for mining jobs; the chiefs wished to end this practice and felt they could do so by offering military jobs. Some military pay was deferred to the families of soldiers, and limitations on exports were lifted during the war, causing an influx of money into Bechuanaland.
Relative to other nations in the British Empire, the people of Beschuanaland approved of the war. Many Batswana held a sense of loyalty to the empire or felt that their interests were aligned. Some chiefs, such as Kgari Sechele II of the Kwena and Molefi Pilane of the Kgatla, personally enlisted. They served as regimental sergeant majors, the highest rank available to Batswana.
Toward the end of World War II, the colonial government allowed Batswana to have business licenses and operate within the protectorate. This had previously been restricted to whites and Indians.
The High Commissions Territories Corps was stationed in the Middle East from 1946 to 1949.
Independence movement
thumb|A 1960 stamp of the Bechuanaland Protectorate featuring images of Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II, the first and last British monarchs of the protectorate
The end of World War II came with drastic social change. The chiefs came to be seen as less essential to social structure, and many gave up their universal claims over tribal cattle. Other public resources, such as land and labour, were privatised and commodified. Access to education created a class of liberal intellectuals who opposed the rule of the chiefs and began forming their own centres of power in workers' associations and civic groups. By 1946, only 2% of the population had employment outside of agriculture and services. The protectorate saw a major increase in birth rates as part of the mid-20th century baby boom in the years after World War II, accompanied by an increase in life expectancy. The colonial administration began its first development project in the protectorate, a slaughterhouse, in the 1950s. The British, still expecting to merge the protectorate into South Africa, finally scrapped this plan after the beginning of Apartheid. As efforts began to develop a new path for the protectorate's future, the protectorate was placed in a state of limbo, and no path forward was clear. One proposal was to incorporate it into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which the United Kingdom formed under a policy of "multi-racial partnership".
When the Ngwato heir Seretse Khama came of age, regent Tshekedi Khama attempted to hold on to power. Seretse married a white woman, Ruth Williams, while studying in the United Kingdom, causing scandal in the Ngwato royal family. Though the public initially opposed the marriage, Tshekedi's unpopularity shifted opinion in Seretse's favour. The issue was raised in the kgotla in 1949, and Tshekedi's rule was overwhelmingly rejected by thousands in attendance. Tshekedi and his supporters fled to the Kwena in exile.
The British government was less tolerant of Seretse's marriage to a white woman. In an attempt to appease the Apartheid government of South Africa, it banished the couple from the protectorate in 1950. This provoked a burgeoning nationalist movement among Seretse's supporters in the protectorate, which fully emerged in 1952. During Seretse's absence, the United Kingdom placed the district commissioner in charge for four years before appointing Rasebolai Kgamane, a supporter of Tshekedi, as regent.
The Ngwato tribe rebelled against Seretse's banishment. His supporters petitioned for his return, and riots broke out when they were denied. Seretse was eventually allowed to return in 1956. By this time, the stricter racial segregation in Apartheid South Africa dissuaded the United Kingdom from appeasing it. Throughout the ordeal of Seretse's banishment, power shifted away from the chiefdomship and toward electoral bodies. Tshekedi and Seretse made peace upon Seretse's return, and Seretse became the de facto leader of the Ngwato, though the United Kingdom forbade him from being the official chief. With British support, the Ngwato tribe developed a tribal council, of which both Seretse and Tshekedi were members. Other tribes then established similar tribal councils, which served as checks on the power of the chiefs. Some animosity remained between the two men: Tshekedi wished to retain the tribal government and the power of the chiefs, while Seretse envisioned a representative democracy and weaker chiefs. The amount of power invested in the chiefs became the most contentious issue in the burgeoning independence movement, especially among the Ngwato people and the Khama family.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate Federal Party was the first political party formed in the protectorate when it was created by the Ngwato union leader Leetile Disang Raditladi in 1959. Composed primarily of elites and intellectuals, it advocated a unification of the Tswana tribes. The party failed to gain support and was short-lived. The following year, the Bechuanaland People's Party (BPP, later the Botswana People's Party) was created as a more radical party, objecting to traditional tribal government and gaining appeal among migrant workers. It was led by Motsamai Mpho, Philip Matante, and Kgalemang Morsete. The BPP, created as a Tswana counterpart to the African National Congress party of South Africa, supported immediate independence and the total abolition of chiefdom. Fearing that the BPP would undermine the existing government and ignite tensions with the Apartheid government of South Africa, the chiefs and the British government restricted its ability to meet.
The protectorate's tribes collectively formed a legislative council in 1961. The Kwena people found themselves under a regent, Neale Sechele, in 1963, meaning that they had little political influence as the independence movement developed. The Bechuanaland Protectorate Development Plan 1963/1968 was drafted through a deliberative process in 1963, creating an outline for the nation's independence.
As the population was politically inactive overall, the United Kingdom came to be one of the leading forces toward independence. Worrying that the BPP was too radical, the United Kingdom encouraged its preferred leader, Seretse Khama, to form a political party. Though Khama agreed with the BPP's antiracist and republican values, he opposed its dogmatic approach to politics and its acceptance of socialism. He agreed to give up his claim over the Ngwato people to serve as a politician, forming the Bechuanaland Democratic Party (BDP, later the Botswana Democratic Party) in 1962. The BDP established itself as the "party of chiefs", and it adopted ideas associated with pre-colonial tribal rule. The United Kingdom supported the BDP, understanding that it would maintain the colonial era livestock trade. By 1963, the Kgatla chief Linchwe was the only chief who opposed the BDP and had political influence, but the Kgatla people were in favour of the BDP, so he remained apolitical. A transition process began with BDP expected to rule an independent Botswana, and the colonial government worked with BDP leadership to prepare them for running a nation.
A conference was held in 1963 to oversee the creation of a new constitution. Internal strife within the BPP meant that the BDP had the most influence over the process. Tshekedi Khama had died by this time, so Bathoen II became the leader of the pro-federalisation faction, believing it would keep power in the hands of the chiefs. The United Kingdom and the Batswana politicians endorsed a unitary national government because Botswana was too poor to divide its resources and because a lack of centralisation would make it vulnerable to attacks from other nations. Federalisation proved politically unviable, so a compromise was made that the chiefs would form the House of Chiefs, an advisory body within the Parliament of Botswana. The chiefs still opposed this arrangement, and in a movement led by Bathoen, the House of Chiefs passed a vote of no confidence in the new government, but its lack of political power prevented it from leveraging meaningful reform. The District Council's Act was passed as another means of limiting chiefs power by creating councils to preside over each district and town, making these elected bodies the primary local authorities.
Gaborone was built in 1965 and declared the new capital. It was built on British crown land, which provided a neutral location not controlled by any one tribe. The constitution was implemented the same year. With this in effect, the United Kingdom granted the protectorate self-governance. 1965 also saw the passing of the District Councils Act that adapted the colonial role of district commissioner by tying it to newly created district councils, and it saw the establishment of the state-owned National Development Bank.
Mpho split from the BPP to create the Bechuanaland Independence Party (BIP) in 1965. Led by Seretse Khama and Quett Masire, the BDP campaigned in almost every village in the protectorate leading up to the first general election. Unlike other political figures in Bechuanaland, Seretse Khama had appeal across the different tribes. The BDP was subsequently elected to lead the first government. The BPP won only three seats in the legislature, and the BIP failed to win any. After the election, the Botswana National Front (BNF) was created as a unified opposition to the BDP. Founded by Kenneth Koma, the BNF became the BDP's largest rival.
The BDP chose Khama as the nation's prime minister. Unlike most inaugural political parties in Africa, the BDP was a moderate conservative party instead of a radical anti-colonial party. After its formation, the House of Chiefs delivered a vote of no confidence in the constitution in 1966, leading to a national campaign in support of the constitution that garnered enough support for the chiefs to end their efforts to challenge it. The protectorate was granted independence as the Republic of Botswana in 1966.
Republic of Botswana
Botswana in 1966
thumb|Seretse Khama signing the oath of office to become Botswana's first President in 1966
Independence for Botswana meant the implementation of liberal democracy, bringing about elections, human rights protections, and civil service. This allowed for a merit-based system of promotion and the creation of a technocratic bureaucracy. The nation formed a government adapted from the Westminster system, and Prime Minister Seretse Khama became President Seretse Khama. A national identity was crafted, bringing together disparate ethnic groups in a single Tswana label, with a culture based on that of the Tswana tribes.
Botswana retained much of its pre-colonial tribal institutions after independence. This was an effect of both the strong centralised government associated with the Tswana tribes and the relatively limited intervention of the British government in colonial times. The deliberative nature of the nation's politics before and after independence was an exception to many other African nations that became authoritarian after independence. Instead of abolishing the chiefdom, the new government incorporated it into the legal system, giving the chiefs judicial powers through the kgotla, subject to appellate courts. A tradition of subservience to leadership, once given to the chiefs, shifted to the presidency. The government reinforced its stability by staffing its civil service with foreign experts, as opposed to other new African countries that often expelled foreign experts. This preserved a Western-style bureaucratic government with an emphasis on development.
The United Kingdom continued funding Botswana for the first five years of its existence. Its peaceful, democratic status relative to other African nations meant that it received more aid from Western organisations. At the time of independence, Botswana was an extremely poor nation, more so than most others in Africa. It did not have an educated workforce, with only 40 citizens having university degrees, and there were no known natural resource supplies to support the nation. Botswana was dependent on the Apartheid regime in South Africa for access to the global community, and the majority of Botswana's labourers were migrant workers in South Africa. Botswana came into more direct conflict with Rhodesia, which caused military skirmishes until 1978.
Limited British involvement meant that little development had taken place since colonisation. Literacy was at 25%, and only 10 kilometres of paved road existed. Approximately 90% of the population was in abject poverty, and most of the population were cattle farmers or subsistence farmers. As the nation achieved independence, a severe drought eliminated 30–50% of the cattle population. Approximately half of Batswana were dependent on the World Food Programme to avoid starvation. Other nations had low expectations for Botswana, and throughout Africa it was seen as an Apartheid Bantustan. This relationship with Apartheid was also a factor in Botswana's success as an independent nation: the Batswana leadership wished to avoid the same fate as South Africa should the nation fail, and the diplomatic connections formed with the West to prevent subsumption by South Africa meant that Botswana was more trusting of Western powers and willing to accept their assistance.
The early leadership of Botswana was dominated by the ruling tribal families as well as a small number of highly educated public servants. Their economic and ideological similarities meant that the government remained stable without political infighting. Though Bathoen left his position as chief to pursue politics, most other chiefs accepted their reduced political power in the new government. Further activity of the chiefs was regulated by the Chieftainship Act of 1966.
A lack of corruption gave the state more legitimacy and won the favour of Western allies. Unlike most newly formed African nations, much of the leadership came from the agricultural community, meaning that their interests aligned with the majority. This encouraged the new government to retain colonial-era policies that benefited cattle farmers. The Botswana Meat Commission was created to regulate the beef industry. The BDP's pan-tribal appeal and the mutual interest in establishing independence further incentivised the new government to act in the interest of the majority. Small groups of white settlers remained in the country and objected to its independence. Though they would later be crucial in Botswana's development, mineral rights were given low priority upon independence, and the tribes transferred them to the central government in 1967.
Presidency of Seretse Khama
thumb|The Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, named after the first president of Botswana
Khama was widely popular and seen as the natural leader of all the Tswana peoples. His administration implemented policies geared toward the creation of infrastructure and public goods, particularly the paving of roads. He began the construction of schools, slaughterhouses, and boreholes that continued over the following decades. Inhabited land of both the Tswana and the San was used to construct the boreholes. Development came at the expense of commerce and production, which was limited to the funding of livestock. Considerable focus was placed on nourishing cattle and constructing slaughterhouses to stimulate the beef industry amid a draught. Public welfare programs were also established. The discovery of diamonds ensured that these programs received sufficient funding. These investments and a conservative approach to government spending prevented the Dutch disease scenario that crippled other resource-laden African countries. Education was expanded throughout the nation, and the Tswana language was standardised alongside English at the expense of other languages. Khama justified this as a means to achieve unity.
Quett Masire served as Vice-President under Seretse Khama as well as Minister of Finance. He exercised control over the nation's budgeting and spending by creating a series of National Development Plans, subject to the approval of the National Assembly and the Economic Committee of the Cabinet. Iterations of these plans remained a central facet of government policy well after Khama and Masire's successors took office.
In 1967, diamonds were discovered in Botswana by the South African diamond company De Beers, and operations began shortly after. Copper deposits were found in Selebi-Phikwe that year, further revealing the nation's mineral wealth. The government partnered with De Beers in 1969 to carry out larger diamond mining operations, and it was involved with a renegotiation of the Southern African Customs Union the same year to greatly improve its economic leverage in the region. A mine in Morupule began producing coal in 1973, providing the nation with a large share of its power supply. The Orapa diamond mine was opened in Orapa in 1971, and a revenue sharing agreement was finalised between the government and De Beers in 1974. Masire later confirmed that De Beers had funded his private ventures, causing speculation that the company may have received an advantageous deal in the matter.
The Water Act and the Tribal Land Act were enacted in 1968, creating the Water Apportionment Board and twelve land boards, respectively. These oversaw the apportionment of water and land rights by the state rather than through the ownership of each tribe. Through this, they effectively subsumed the traditional powers of the chiefs. The Tribal Grazing Lands Policy was implemented in 1975 to prevent overgrazing, but it proved unsuccessful. In effect, it allowed wealthy citizens to claim large plots of land for cattle at the expense of less wealthy citizens.
The first election after independence took place in 1969. The BDP did slightly worse relative to its 1965 performance, and Vice-President Masire lost his seat to Bathoen, requiring him to take a specially elected seat. The BPP faded in relevance as the politics of Botswana developed.
The state-owned Botswana Development Corporation was founded in 1970, and the Orapa diamond mine opened in 1971. By 1973, diamonds made up 10% of Botswana's GDP, and by the end of the 1970s, mining was the largest industry in the country. The government of Botswana renegotiated its mining agreement with De Beers between 1971 and 1975, shifting the majority of earnings to the nation. As the diamond economy developed and investments were made back into the country, Botswana escaped poverty and came to be seen as a success among the other nations in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa. These developments made Botswana the fastest growing economy in the world. The upper and middle classes saw the most benefit, increasing wealth inequality, but it also meant taxes could be lowered, which earned the support of peasants.
Botswana's development and its use of foreign civil service was successful enough that the government convinced the United States to send the Peace Corps without traditional limitations on what roles the organisation can perform. With the 1970s came an increase in young locally educated Batswana, who became more influential in government. As these newcomers received similar education and began working in the same administrative culture, there was no major operational difference between the foreigner-led civil service and that run by the Batswana.
The Ministry of Development Planning had briefly existed following a schism in the Ministry of Finance between traditional caretakers who had been associated with the protectorate against Masire's supporters who wished to see more aggressive development. The latter took control, and the ministries were reunified as the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in 1970. Because of the limited number of qualified people to manage the economy, this ministry took almost full control of the government's spending and initiated the Shashe Project that called for extensive development exceeding the country's GDP. This included the establishment of a copper and nickel mining complex, which became the government's highest priority.
In 1973, Seepapitso IV became the first chief to be suspended from his position in the post-colonial era. The BDP was again highly successful in the 1974 election. Minimum wages were introduced the same year.
Botswana began issuing its own currency, the Botswana pula, in 1976. Bank of Botswana governor Quill Hermans pushed for financial disentanglement from South Africa and its South African rand. Despite international concerns that Botswana might not be able to maintain its own currency, Khama felt that his economic advisors were capable and trusted their decision. Within a decade of independence, Botswana was one of the wealthiest nations in the Third World. The economic transformation is referred to as Botswana's "miracle".
Linchwe II, chief of the Kgatla people, reinstated the bogwera initiation rite for his tribe in 1975, aggravating the national government. Khama took a universalist approach in his administration, avoiding ethnic politics and rejecting the influence of tribal leaders in favour of civil servants. He at times asked individuals to resign if one ethnic group became too influential in the civil service. The Tswana peoples feared that dissent from the Kalanga minority could be destabilising. To addresses this, Khama incorporated educated members of the Kalanga tribe into the government, appointing many to high-ranking positions. The decision was controversial, and it spawned conspiracy theories about malevolent influence of the Kalanga. These sometimes centred on the Bakalanga Students Association, which became the Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language in 1980.
Fear of neighbouring white-led governments in Namibia, Rhodesia, and South Africa, as well as the danger of the Angolan Civil War, led Botswana to create a national military in 1977. Prior to this, the Botswana Police Service was responsible for national security. The lack of military meant that Botswana was not susceptible to leading causes of instability in other African nations: military coups and corruption through military spending. The military saw combat the following year when Rhodesian militants attacked Leshoma, killing fifteen soldiers.
In its partnership with De Beers, the government of Botswana formed the Debswana mining company in 1978, acquiring significant income for the state. Mining became the predominant industry of the nation's economy over the following decades, and Botswana became the world's fastest growing economy. Foreign involvement in the economy became a political issue at this time as outsiders collected on the nation's growth while domestic jobs developed slowly. Cattle farming, which had already been affected by a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 1977, lost the significance that it had previously held.
Presidency of Quett Masire
thumb|Quett Masire visiting the United States in 1984
After Seretse Khama's death in 1980, Vice-President Quett Masire became the president of Botswana. Despite concerns about Khama's succession, Masire maintained the government infrastructure he helped build and preserved faith in the government. To appease Khama's Ngwato tribe and the other northern tribes, Masire appointed Khama's cousin, Lenyeletse Seretse, as vice-president. Popular opinion among the Ngwato was that Khama's son, Ian Khama, was entitled to the presidency. Upon Lenyeletse's death in 1983, Masire selected Peter Mmusi to replace him. This time he selected someone from a southern tribe, so as not to set a precedent that the president and vice-president must always be from opposite regions.
Botswana was part of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference established in 1980 to create a southern African market. The nation was affected by the early 1980s recession. The Jwaneng diamond mine began operation 1982, becoming the most lucrative diamond mine in the world. The University of Botswana was created the same year when it split from the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Legal developments in 1982, the Financial Assistance Policy and the legalisation of commercial activity by civil servants, spurred the nation's economy but also loosened regulations that would prevent corruption. As democracy and economic growth proved to be long-term trends, Botswana garnered a reputation as an "African miracle".
Strong opposition to the BDP-controlled government first arose in the 1980s. Opposition parties began winning local elections, interest groups began forming, and five major anti-BDP newspapers began publication. Previously dependent on support by specific ethnic groups, the BNF gained support among the working class. By the 1984 general election, it was a competitive opposition party.
A severe drought affected Botswana from 1982 to 1987, necessitating government food assistance for about 65% of rural Batswana. Masire's critics associated him with this drought as it coincided with the beginning of his presidency, suggesting that Khama had a divine mandate that Masire did not. Mid-way through the 1980s, the diamond industry reached its peak at 53% of the national GDP. By this time, the nation's economy became strong enough that citizens were no longer incentivised to opt for subsistence agriculture or migration for work in South Africa. Entrepreneurship became more widespread, particularly among former government workers who moved from the public sector to the private sector. Free secondary education was established in 1989. Trade unions and other special interest groups developed in the 1980s to influence public policy, although the government was often unwilling to acknowledge them. It responded to the burgeoning labour movement by passing heavy restrictions on unions in 1983. The decade also introduced movements for the recognition of minority ethnicities, rejecting the national Tswana identity.
During the 1980s, South Africa began military incursions into Botswana to seek out South African rebels. In response to the civilian casualties, the government of Botswana increased military spending. It also tasked the military with wildlife protection and anti-poaching enforcement in response to the danger posed by armed poachers.
The first case of HIV/AIDS in Botswana was diagnosed in 1985, and over the following decade the country became the most severely affected in the world. Life expectancy in Botswana would drop from 67 to 50 by 1997. A dramatic shift in Botswana's health system followed through the 1980s and 1990s; Western medicine grew more widely respected alongside traditional healing, and private hospitals were established to coexist with the government-run facilities.
The early 1990s recession affected Botswana. A landmark constitutional court case brought by Unity Dow ended with a ruling in 1991 that children could inherit citizenship from their mothers as well as their fathers, which was adopted into law with the Citizenship Act of 1995.
The Kgabo Commission was held in 1991 to investigate governmental land boards, and it found that ethical violations had been committed by Vice-President Peter Mmusi and BDP Secretary General Daniel Kwelagobe, both of whom were also members of the Cabinet of Botswana. Facing outrage within the government and among the public, both resigned. The fallout created two polarised factions within the party, one led by the two former cabinet members (the Big Two), and one led by their opponents (the Big Five): Festus Mogae, Bihiti Temane, Chapson Butale, Gaositwe Chiepe, and their leader Mompati Merafhe. This built on tensions that had grown between the southern leadership of the BLP and the new generation of politicians from the north. Masire chose Mogae as the new vice-president.
Worried about the possibility of normalising corruption, Masire hired the deputy head of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong) to create a similar organisation in Botswana. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime was created in 1994, and a land board tribunal was created to hear appeals of land board decisions in 1995.
The BDP's position as the dominant party received its first serious challenge in light of the Kgabo Commission. The scandal and the resulting schism in the BDP allowed the BNF to become a more competitive opposition party after the 1994 general election. With the added complication of urbanisation reducing the BDP's rural base, opposition parties held a significant minority in the National Assembly. Following Mmusi's death, Kwelagobe aligned with Ponatshego Kedikilwe, and they formed the Barata-Phathi faction of the BDP. The Big Five developed into the A-Team faction.
Botswana benefited from the end of the South African Apartheid government in 1994, as the new African-led government did not restrict Botswana's growth or engage in military operations across the border. As the region stabilised, economic developments like shopping malls, property speculation, and citizen-owned tourism expanded.
The Ngwaketse tribe came into conflict with the government in April 1994, when minister of local government and lands Patrick Balope accused chief Seepapitso IV of failure to fulfil his duties and ordered the chief's suspension—the second suspension of Seepapitso's rule. Seepapitso's son Leema accepted an appointment to the role, against Seepapitso's wishes. The tribe wrestled with the issue of Leema's ambiguous legitimacy and the fear that tribal culture would not longer be recognised, and the removal became a national issue. Seepapitso filed a legal challenge, and the court ruled on 22 February 1995 that while Seepapitso's removal was legal, Leema's appointment was not. With the power of appointment returned to the tribe, they refused to choose a new leader as a form of protest. The government then relented and allowed Seepapitso to be reinstated.
The ritual murder of Segametsi Mogomotsi, a 14-year-old girl from Mochudi, took place in November 1994. Social unrest broke out when the suspects, who were wealthy businessmen and politicians, were released for lack of evidence. Over the following months, student-led protests and riots against the use of occult practices like ritual murder to gain wealth took place.
An outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in 1995 caused the deaths of 320,000 cattle. The Agriculture Act of 1995 expanded the process of privatising communal land.
Minority tribes increasingly pushed for recognition beginning in the 1990s. The government began the removal of San people from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1995. While it argued that the intention was to help integrate communities that were too remote, and it offered livestock to incentivise cooperation, international organisations accused the government of coercion and forced displacement to make room for mining. The first major legal effort to protect the rights of ethnic minorities came from a 1995 motion in parliament to define the constitution as tribally neutral, but it was tabled. The Kamanakao Association was formed the same year by the academic Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo to protect the rights of the Yeyi people.
A series of governmental and electoral reforms were implemented in the final years of Masire's presidency. Election supervision was transferred to an independent body, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, postal voting was implemented, and policies were enacted to protect labour rights and gender equality. Masire wished to create a stable order of succession and to ensure that his chosen successor Vice-President Mogae became president, so he worked with the lawyer Parks Tafa to draft a constitutional amendment. This implemented automatic succession and term limits for the presidency. He then forced the amendment through on his own initiative. Reforming the nation's economy, a tentative system of tripartism was implemented to bring together government, the private sector, and labour representatives. When the party was selecting its central committee membership in 1997, the risk of factionalism grew severe enough that Masire cancelled its internal election and had the factions give him lists of names.
Presidency of Festus Mogae
thumb|Festus Mogae alongside foreign presidents Joaquim Chissano, George W. Bush, and José Eduardo dos Santos in 2002
Masire stepped down as president on 1 April 1998, and he was succeeded by Vice-President Festus Mogae. Mogae made the controversial decision to appoint Ian Khama, commander of the army and the son of Seretse Khama, as the next vice-president, passing his choice through by threatening to dissolve parliament. Although they were officially neutral between the factions of the BDP, Mogae and Khama were both understood to be major figures among the A-Team.
1998 saw one of many splits within the BNF opposition party. It had divided into two factions: the conservatives who held socialist beliefs and the progressives who held social democratic beliefs. Violence at the party's congress saw progressives split off into their own party, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), which became the main opposition party until they lost most of their seats in the 1999 election. This division of the opposition, as well as the civil reforms of the previous years, allowed the BDP to regain some of the seats that it lost in 1994. Several southern members of the BCP's leadership returned to the BNF after all of the top positions were taken by northerners.
To raise themselves to the level of the Tswana tribes, the Yeyi people named a paramount chief in 1999, but this went unrecognised by the Chieftainship Act. They brought the issue to the Supreme Court, which struck the relevant provision of the law as discriminatory. Mogae established a commission in 2000 to review minority tribes' representation in the House of Chiefs, which in turn caused protest from those who felt Mogae sought to undermine the power of the chiefs. The commission determined that the House of Chiefs should be retained, and it was renamed to the Setswana Ntlo ya Dikgosi. Other proposed changes were not accepted following pushback from the major Tswana tribes, particularly the Ngwato. The following year, the Kgatla-baga-Mmanaana people saw their chief Gobuamang Gobuamang II formally recognised as a minor kgosi within the Kwena territory where they reside.
The Botswana–Namibia border came under dispute in 1999 when both countries claimed a territory in the Caprivi Strip. In the 2000s, Botswana invested heavily in the development of an air force. Botswana Television was established in 2000. The Tsodilo Hills became a World Heritage Site in 2001. The San people issued a legal challenge in 2002 to contest their expulsion from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but the case was dismissed. Mosadi Seboko of the Lete people became the first female leader of a tribe in 2003. Mogae had one of the government's most prominent critics, Kenneth Good, deported in February 2005. The Three Dikgosi Monument was unveiled in 2005.
Mogae considered the nation's HIV/AIDS pandemic to be the most important issue during his presidency. To combat it, he made antiretroviral treatments for HIV/AIDS freely available.
Presidency of Ian Khama
thumb|Ian Khama meeting with William Hague in London
Ian Khama succeeded to the presidency at the end of Mogae's term on 1 April 2008. His style of leadership was advertised as following the "four Ds": democracy, development, dignity, and discipline. After taking office, he restructured the nation's executive in a more hierarchical manner, centralising power around the presidency.
Khama placed emphasis on national security in his administration. During his tenure, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security came to be known for politically motivated espionage and arrests against his political opponents. He also appointed several former military figures in his government Botswana was less involved in the African Union during Khama's presidency, instead presenting a more Western-orientated foreign policy.
The global financial crisis placed pressure on Botswana's economy, which remained dependent on diamond mines despite the government's efforts. The diamond industry ended a steady decline when it stabilised at about 39% of the nation's GDP in 2009.
Regulation of chiefs was reformed in 2008 with the Bogosi Act. Khama supported devolving power to the chiefs in the name of restoring discipline and traditional morality. He issued a directive that increased the legal drinking age to 21, empowered minor tribal leaders to order floggings, created mephato groups to be vigilantes, and reintroduced corporal punishment in schools. Several newly installed chiefs endorsed this policy and implemented stricter punishments for wrongdoers. Among these was Kgafela II, chief of the Kgatla people. To enforce traditional morality among his people, he significantly increased the use of flogging for those who violated the law. Kgafela and others involved were criminally charged for misusing the punishment in 2010, and the court dismissed his claim of immunity, determining that chiefs lack sovereignty and are subject to the constitution.
As the BDP chose its party leadership in 2009, Khama appointed numerous A-Team figures to party sub-committees despite the victory of the Barata-Phathi during the party's congress. When the party's secretary general Gomolemo Motswaledi consulted with lawyers to question the legality of Khama's actions, Khama had him suspended from the committee. After taking the issue to court, it was found that the incumbent president is immune from legal prosecution, and Khama suspended Motswaledi from the BDP entirely. In early 2010, Khama suspended and then expelled several other members of the Barata-Phathi faction from the BDP. This led to the BDP's first major split in March when the Barata-Phathi faction left the party to form the Botswana Movement of Democracy.
The Public Service Act took effect in 2010, legalising strikes for civil servants under some circumstances. The following year, the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) led a two-month strike among the nation's civil service to demand a 16% pay, and the government responded by removing thousands of employees from their positions. The removals were overseen by Mokgweetsi Masisi, the Minister for Presidential Affairs. To oppose the government's position, BOFEPUSU facilitated a merger of major opposition parties into the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). This new group was led by Duma Boko, who had taken charge of the BNF in 2010 and moderated its rhetoric.
Khama implemented strong conservation reforms during his presidency, especially regarding hunting. While applauded internationally and forming the reputation of Botswana as a "green miracle", they were met with frustration domestically because of the unilateral top-down means they were implemented, especially from those living in the designated conservation areas. These policies included an escalation of military anti-poaching practices; anti-poaching units were equipped with automatic firearms to complement a shoot-to-kill policy against suspected poachers.
The BDP retained its majority in the legislature after the following election, but for the first time it did so with only a plurality of the popular vote. Ian Khama then appointed Masisi as his vice-president. The decision was controversial because of Masisi's inexperience relative to other possible choices. According to Mogae, Masisi was chosen with the understanding that he would appoint Tshekedi Khama II as vice-president after taking the presidency himself. Botsalo Ntuane was elected Secretary General of the BDP in 2015 on a platform of anti-corruption and electoral reform. This threatened the entrenched nature of the BDP, and Ntuane found a political rival in Masisi. Khama was hostile to the press, especially toward outlets that disagreed with his administration's actions. He had two journalists charged with sedition in 2017, but the chargers were later dropped.
Presidency of Mokgweetsi Masisi
thumb|Mokgweetsi Masisi speaking at a conference on the illegal wildlife trade in London in 2018
Masisi became president at the end of Khama's term on 1 April 2018. As the 2019 general election approached, Masisi developed an image to contrast himself from Khama, presenting himself as an anti-corruption figure while supporting the media and BOFEPUSU. His anti-corruption drive resulted in the arrest of Isaac Kgosi, who had led the Directorate of Intelligence and Security in Khama's administration.
Masisi proceeded to reverse many of Khama's policies. Among these were the repeal of conservation policies, including a controversial hunting ban that targeted the ivory trade. He also oversaw the decriminalisation of homosexuality. As this developed, Masisi and Khama became rivals instead of allies. Khama attempted to recruit Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi as an alternative BDP candidate against Masisi, and when that failed, he founded his own party, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).
The BDP reclaimed a majority of the popular vote in 2019, but the election was marred by government pressure and occasional raids against opposition figures. The UDC challenged the results, but they were unsuccessful. Regional trends shifted in 2019 as the BDP lost some of its support in the north while increasing its influence in the south. The election also saw the primary opposition party, the BNF, lose ground to the BCP.
Like most nations, Botswana saw major economic decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the country stayed in lockdown for much of 2020 and 2021. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was discovered in Botswana later in 2021. Anti-Indian sentiment became widespread as the Indian community in Botswana was relatively wealthy.
Khama fled to South Africa in exile in November 2021, and the government of Botswana charged him with illegal ownership of weapons soon after.
Presidency of Duma Boko
thumb|Duma Boko signing an agreement with the United States in 2025
The UDC became the first opposition party in Botswana to take power following its victory in the 2024 general election, ending 58 years of rule by the BDP. In his first State of the Nation Address in November 2024, Duma Boko said that his government would push for increased investment into solar energy, medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp. He also announced engagements with Elon Musk to extend affordable internet access nationwide through Starlink. In March 2025, Botswana launched its first satellite, the BOTSAT-1, into space. Boko attended the satellite's launch, which took place at SpaceX facilities in the United States.
See also
Bibliography of Botswana
Culture of Botswana
Demographics of Botswana
Economy of Botswana
Geography of Botswana
History of Africa
History of Southern Africa
History of Gaborone
List of Botswana-related topics
List of years in Botswana
Outline of Botswana
Timeline of Botswana
Timeline of Gaborone
Politics of Botswana
Footnotes
References
Books
Journals
Oxford Research Encyclopedia
Web
Further reading
Category:History of Southern Africa by country | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Botswana | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.975703 |
3613 | Geography of Botswana | <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see WP:SDNONE -->
| area ranking = 48th
| km area = 581730
| percent land = 97.42
| percent water = 2.58
| borders Total land borders: <br />Namibia: <br />South Africa: <br />Zambia: <br />Zimbabwe:
| highest point Tsodilo Hills
| lowest point Junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers
| longest river | largest lake
}}
Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, north of South Africa. Botswana occupies an area of , of which are land. Botswana has land boundaries of combined length , of which the constituent boundaries are shared with Namibia, for ; South Africa ; Zimbabwe, and Zambia, . Much of the population of Botswana is concentrated in the eastern part of the country.
Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.Area data
; Area:
:* Total: 581,730 km²
:**country rank in the world: 48th
:* Land: 566,730 km²
:* Water: 15,000 km²
; Area comparative
:* Australia comparative: approximately the size of New South Wales
:* Canada comparative: approximately smaller than Saskatchewan
:* United Kingdom comparative: approximately 2 times the size of the United Kingdom
:* United States comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona
:* EU comparative: slightly larger than Metropolitan France
Geography
The land is predominantly flat to gently undulating tableland, although there is some hilly country, where mining is carried out. The Kalahari Desert is in the central and the southwest. The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland deltas, is in the northwest and the Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt pan lies in the north-central area. The Makgadikgadi has been established as an early habitation area for primitive man; This large seasonal wetland is composed of several large component pans, the largest being Nwetwe Pan, Sua Pan and Nxai Pan. Botswana's lowest elevation point is at the junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers, at a height of . The highest point is Monalanong Hill, at .
The country is divided into four drainage regions, which are sometimes indistinct due to the arid nature of the climate:
* the Chobe River on the border with the Caprivi Strip of Namibia together with a small adjacent swampy area is part of the Zambezi basin;
* most of the north and central region of the country is part of the Okavango inland drainage basin;
* the easternmost part of the country falls into the Limpopo drainage basin;
* the southern and southwestern regions, which are the driest of all, are drained by the Molopo river along the South African border and the Nossob river through the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, and are technically part of the basin of the Orange River. None of these rivers normally flows as far as the Orange, however. (The last recorded confluence was in the 1880s.)
Except for the Chobe, Okavango, Boteti and Limpopo rivers, most of Botswana's rivers cease to flow during the dry and early rainy seasons.
In Botswana forest cover is around 27% of the total land area, equivalent to 15,254,700 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 18,803,700 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 15,254,700 hectares, of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 11% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 24% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 76% private ownership.
Climate
Botswana is semi-arid, due to the short rain season. However, the relatively high altitude of the country and its continental situation gives it a subtropical climate. The country is remote from moisture-laden air flows for most of the year. The dry season lasts from April to October in the south and to November in the north where rainfall totals are higher. The south of the country is most exposed to cold winds during the winter period (early May to late August) when average temperatures are around . The whole country has hot summers with average temperatures around . Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.
| source 2 Weatherbase (records)
| date = June 2012
}}
Natural hazards
Botswana is affected by periodic droughts, and seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust, which can obscure visibility.
Environment
January 2019]]Current environmental issues in Botswana are overgrazing, desertification and the existence of only limited fresh water resources.
Research from scientists has found that the common practice of overstocking cattle to cope with drought losses actually depletes scarce biomass, making ecosystems more vulnerable. The study of the district predicts that by 2050 the cycle of mild drought is likely to become shorter —18 months instead of two years—due to climate change.
International agreements
Botswana is a party to the following international agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Organization, Ozone Layer Protection and Wetlands.
Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Botswana, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
* Northernmost point – the border with Zambia upon the Zambezi River at Chobe District
* Easternmost point – the tripoint with South Africa and Zimbabwe, Central District
* Southernmost point – Bokspits, Kgalagadi District
* Westernmost point – the western section of the border with Namibia*
** note: Botswana does not have a westernmost point as the western section is formed by the 22nd meridian of longitude east of Greenwich.
References
Category:Climate change in Botswana | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Botswana | 2025-04-05T18:26:26.984638 |
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