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1978
1978 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). Events January - January 1 - The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. - January 1 - Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay - 213 dead. - January 4 - Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet. - January 6 - The Hungarian Holy Crown (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) returned to Hungary from the United States where it was held after World War II. - January 7 - Emilio Palma is born in Antarctica, making his birth the southernmost in history. - January 10 - Assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, who had criticized the Nicaraguan government. Riots erupt against Somoza's government. - January 18 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. - January 19 - Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster appointed as Director of the FBI. - January 22 - Ethiopia announces the ambassador of West Germany as Persona non grata. - January 23 - Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays that are thought to damage earth's protective ozone layer. - January 24 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns in Earth atmosphere and its debris is scattered over Canadian Northwest Territories - January 28 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", is arrested - January 30 - Blizzards in the USA kill 90. February - February 1 - Film director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl. - February 8 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time. - February 11 - 16 Unification Church couples wed in New York City. - February 11 - Military mobilization in Somalia due to an apparent Ethiopian attack. - February 11 - The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. - February 13 - Hilton bombing: A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two garbagemen, a policeman and several others. Many believe that ASIO was responsible. - February 15 - Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and three black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule. - February 15 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is captured in Florida. - February 16 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois). - February 21 - Electrical workers in Mexico City find an Aztec monolith in the middle of the city. March - March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland but are recovered 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva. - March 1 - Broadway play Timbuktu opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. - March 3 - Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden. - March 3 - Rhodesia attacks Zambia. - March 3 - New York Post publishes an article about David Rorvik's book The Cloning of Man about a supposed cloning of a human being - March 6 - US porn publisher Larry Flynt is shot and paralysed - March 11 - Palestinian terrorists on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis. - March 15 - The United States Senate approves the Panama Canal neutrality treaty; votes to turn the canal over to Panama by the year 2000 on April 18. - March 16 - Israeli forces invade Lebanon. - March 16 - Former Italian premier Aldo Moro is kidnapped by Red Brigades, who kill five bodyguards; he is found dead on May 9. - March 17 - The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz runs aground on the coast of Brittany. - March 18 - Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the assassination of a political opponent. - March 22 - Karl Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico. - March 24 - The tanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two off Brittany spilling 50,000 metric tons of crude oil. - March 28 - The US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity. April - April 1 - Dick Smith of Dick Smith Foods tows a fake iceberg to Sydney Harbour. - April 8 - Regular broadcasts of proceedings in British Parliament start. - April 16 - In Cologne, 15,000 former members of the resistance movement demonstrate against National Socialism. - April 18 - The US Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31 1999. - April 27 - President of Afghanistan, Daud Khan is killed during a military coup - Mohammed Takain succeeds him. - April 30 - The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is proclamed, under pro-communist leader Nur Mohammed Taraki. May - May 4 - – Communist activist Henri Curiel is murdered in Paris. - May 5 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3000th major league hit. - May 8 - Norway opens a natural gas field in the Polar Sea. - May 9 - In Rome, the body of Aldo Moro, the Italian president of the Christian-Democrats, is found in a parked car. - May 12-May 13 - Group of mercenaries lead by Bob Denard oust Ali Soilih in the Comoros - 10 local soldiers killed. Denard forms a new government - May 12 - In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining centre of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaire asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order. - May 15 - Students of the University of Teheran riot in Tabriz - an army stops the riot. - May 17 - Charles Chaplin's coffin is found ten miles from the cemetery it was stolen from, near Lake Geneva. - May 18 - Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced for seven years hard labor for distributing counterrevolutionary material. - May 18-May 19 - Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire to aid the fight against the rebels. - May 20 - Mavis Hutchinson, 53, becames the first woman to run across the USA - trek took 69 days. - May 22 - Exiled leaders Ahmed Abdallah and Mohammed Ahmed return to the Comoros - May 25 - A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University - security guard is wounded. The first bomb of the Unabomber case. - May 26 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Resorts International, the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens. - May 29 - Ali Soilih is found dead, allegedly shot when trying to escape June - June 6 - Californians in referendum approve Proposition 13 for a nearly 60% slash in property tax revenues. - June 9 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extends the priesthood and temple blessings to "all worthy males," ending a general policy of excluding blacks from priesthood and temples since 1849 (see Blacks and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). - June 12 - Serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. - June 15 - King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby. - June 19 - Cricketer Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match. - June 19 - Comic Strip Garfield debuts in newspapers. - June 21 - An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead. - June 22 - Discovery of Charon, a satellite of Pluto, announced. - June 23 - Josip Broz Tito is named for Yugoslav president for life. - June 24 - President of Yemen Arab Republic Ahmad al-Ghashmi is killed. - June 25 - Argentina defeats Netherlands 3-1 after extra time to win the 1978 World Cup. - June 26 - The bombing of Breton nationalists causes destruction in Versailles. - June 28 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in the Bakke case, bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities. - June 30 - Ethiopia begin a massive offensive in Eritrea. July-August - July 7 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom. - July 25 - First human birth, girl Louise Brown, from in vitro fertilization (the test tube baby). - August 6 - Pope Paul VI dies at age of 80. - August 7 - United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal. - August 12 - Sino-Japanese relations: The Treaty of Peace and Friendship is signed between Japan and the People's Republic of China. - August 15 - Foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man in Europe, Italy. - August 17 - Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Preque Isle, Maine - August 19 - Fire in Rex Cinema in Tehran - 477 dead. - August 20 - Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al airline bus in London. - August 20 - In Abadan, Iran, nearly 400 are killed when Muslim extremist arsonists set fire to a crowded theater. - August 25 - The Shroud of Turin goes on public display for the first time in 45 years. - August 25 - US Army sergeant Walter Robinson "walks" across the English Channel in 11 hours 30 minutes using homemade water shoes - August 26 - Albino Cardinal Luciani succeeds Pope Paul VI as Pope John Paul I. September-October Pope John Paul I - September 1 - Dublin Institute of Technology is established. - September 5 - Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland. - September 8 - Riots in Teheran - Iranian army troops open fire - 122 dead, 4000 wounded. - September 11 - The tip of an umbrella poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov, probably on orders of Bulgarian intelligence. He dies four days later. - September 17 - Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt - September 19 - British Police launch a massive murder hunt when newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater is shot dead after disturbing a burglary. - September 25 - PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a small private airplane and crashes in San Diego, California resulting in the death of 144. - September 28 - Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy. - October 1 - Vietnam attacks Cambodia. - October 7 - Wranslide in NSW; the Wran government is re-elected with a increased majority. - October 8 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia. - October 10 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar. - October 14 - Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya. - October 16 - Karol Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II. - October 27 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord. November-December - November 3 - Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom. - November 5 - Riots and demonstrations in Teheran - the British embassy is sacked. - November 7 - Indira Gandhi re-elected to Indian parliament. - November 17 - The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. - November 18 - Jonestown mass suicide: In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his People's Temple in a mass murder-suicide; 913 die, including 276 children. - November 19 - The first US Take Back the Night march occurs in San Francisco. - November 20 - Military coup in Spain fails. - November 27 - In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White. - November 30 - Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems until November 13 1979. - December 4 - Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first woman mayor (she served until Friday, January 8, 1988). - December 11 - Lufthansa heist - Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City's Kennedy airport. - December 11 - Massive anti-Shah demonstration in Iran - 2 million demonstrators. - December 13 - First Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation. - December 15 - Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to go into default since the Great Depression, under the mayoral administration of Dennis Kucinich. - December 25 - Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia. - December 27 - The Spanish Constitution is approved in referendum officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship. Unknown dates - The Hillside Strangler, a stealthy serial killer, is on the prowl in Los Angeles. - The Usu volcano erupts in Japan. - Eagles' Hotel California was nominated for a Grammy award. - Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was nominated for a Grammy award. - Artificial insulin is invented. - David Rorvik claims he has participated in a creation of a human clone in his book In His Image. - Abortion legalized in Italy for first time. - Acorn Computers Ltd is founded. - The Honda Prelude, the car which introduced the world to the VTEC engine and 4-wheel steering, begins production. It would continue for many years before it would be discontinued and replaced with the S2000 and Acura RSX. - Remove Intoxicated Drivers established. - Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems established to promote temperance. Births January-May - January 1 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress - January 3 - Alex Leigh, British model - January 4 - Dwight Freeney, American football player - January 9 - Chad Johnson, American football player - January 14 - Shawn Crawford, American runner - January 28 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer - February 7 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor - February 14 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player - February 15 - Tuan Le, American poker player - February 20 - Jakki Degg, British model - February 20 - Julia Jentsch, German actress - February 23 - Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (d. 2003) - February 24 - Janine Machin, English radio presenter - March 1 - Jensen Ackles, American actor - March 14 - Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer - March 21 - Kevin Federline, American dancer - March 22 - Josh Heupel, American football player - March 23 - Nicholle Tom, American actress - April 5 - Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer - April 9 - Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer - April 9 - Rachel Stevens, English singer - April 16 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress - May 1 - Matt Lovato, American bassist (Mest) - May 9 - Marwan al-Shehhi, United Arab Emirates hijacker (d. 2001) - May 12 - Jason Biggs, American actor - May 13 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player - May 13 - Barry Zito, baseball player - May 21 - Briana Banks, German actress - May 22 - Jordan, English model June-September - June 1 - Danielle Harris, American voice actress - June 6 - Carl Barat, English singer and guitarist (The Libertines) - June 8 - Maria Menounos, American actress, journalist, and televison presenter - June 10 - Shane West, American actor - June 19 - Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player - June 22 - Champ Bailey, American football player - June 22 - Dan Wheldon, English race car driver - July 9 - Linda Park, Korean-born actress - July 18 - Ben Sheets, baseball player - July 21 - Francine Dee, import car model - July 25 - Gerard Warren, American football player - August 1 - Edgerrin James, American football player - August 9 - Audrey Tautou, French actress - August 19 - Callum Blue, English actor - August 21 - Reuben Droughns, American football player - August 23 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player - August 24 - Rafael Furcal, Dominican Major League Baseball player - August 27 - Mase, American rapper - September 7 - Nora Greenwald, American professional wrestler - September 11 - Ed Reed, American football player - September 12 - Ruben Studdard, American singer - September 20 - Jason Bay, Canadian Major League Baseball player - September 22 - Harry Kewell, Australian footballer - September 24 - Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer - September 25 - Jodie Kidd, English model - September 29 - Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer - September 30 - Candice Michelle, American professional wrestler and model October-December - October 2 - Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer - October 13 - Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball player - October 14 - Usher Raymond, American musician - October 20 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer - October 21 - Joey Harrington, American football player - October 25 - Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer - October 26 - Antonio Pierce, American football player - October 27 - Vanessa-Mae, Singaporean musician - October 29 - Travis Henry, American football player - November 1 - Manju Warriar, Indian actress - November 6 - Taryn Manning, American actress - November 9 - Sisqó, American actor and singer (Dru Hill) - November 10 - Eve, American rapper - November 17 - Reggie Wayne, American football player - November 24 - Katherine Heigl, American actress - November 25 - Shina Ringo, Japanese singer and musician - November 30 - Clay Aiken, American singer - December 1 - Brad Delson, American guitarist (Linkin Park) - December 2 - Nelly Furtado, Canadian-born singer and songwriter - December 8 - Ian Somerhalder, American actor - December 8 - Vernon Wells, baseball player - December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor - December 18 - Katie Holmes, American actress - December 23 - Andra Davis, American football player - December 23 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player - December 23 - Estella Warren, Canadian swimmer, model, and actress - December 29 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian actress, dancer, and model Unknown dates - Kris Roe, American guitarist and singer (The Ataris) - Princess Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon, Spanish athlete Deaths January-June - January 13 - Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S Vice President and Senator (b. 1911) - January 13 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager (b. 1887) - January 14 - Harold Abrahams, English athlete (b. 1899) - January 14 - Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born mathematician (b. 1906) - January 22 - Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894) - January 23 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago) (b. 1946) - January 23 - Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903) - February 11 - James B Conant, American chemist and headmaster of Harvard University (b. 1893) - February 11 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904) - February 27 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (b. 1912) - March 18 - Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915) - March 19 - Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893) - March 21 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, fifth President of Ireland (b. 1911) - March 31 - Charles Best, American-born medical scientist (b. 1899) - April 21 - Sandy Denny, English singer (b. 1947) - May 1 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903) - May 9 - Aldo Moro, former Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916) - May 14 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894) - May 22 - Joe Colombo, American gangster (b. 1914) - June 7 - Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897) July-December - July 30 - Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator (b. 1885) - August 2 - Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899) - August 6 - Pope Paul VI (heart attack) (b. 1897) - August 21 - Charles Eames, American architect and designer (b. 1907) - August 22 - Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman - August 26 - Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899) - September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (drug overdose) (b. 1947) - September 9 - Jack Warner, Canadian film studio founder (b. 1892) - September 10 - Ronnie Peterson, Swedish race car driver (racing accident) (b. 1944) - September 11 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident (assassinated) (b. 1929) - September 15 - Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft engineer (b. 1898) - September 23 - Lyman Bostock, baseball player (murdered) (b. 1950) - September 26 - Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886) - September 28 - Pope John Paul I (b. 1912) - October 6 - Johnny O'Keefe, Australian singer (b. 1935) - October 10 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910) - November 6 - Harry Bertoia, Italian artist and designer (b. 1915) - November 15 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901) - December 8 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898) - December 10 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (b. 1924) - December 11 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901) - December 27 - Houari Boumédiènne, President of Algeria (b. 1932) Unknown dates - Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884) - Pankaj Mullick, Bengali composer and singer (b. 1904) - Mark A. Shaw, American temperance movement leader and Prohibition Party candidate for vice-president in 1964 (b. ?) Nobel Prizes - Physics - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson - Chemistry - Peter D. Mitchell - Medicine - Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith - Literature -Isaac Bashevis Singer - Peace - Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin - Economics - Herbert Simon Fields Medalists - Pierre Deligne, Charles Fefferman, Grigory Margulis, Daniel Quillen Templeton Prize - Professor Thomas F. Torrance Category:1978 als:1978 ko:1978년 ja:1978年 simple:1978 th:พ.ศ. 2521 Common year starting on Sunday This is the calendar for any common year starting on Sunday (dominical letter A). e.g. 2006 (A common year is a year with 365 days -- in other words, not a leap year.) For other years, just shift the headers appropriately. Category:Weeks
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1809	1815	1826	1837	1843	1854	1865	1871	1882	1893	1899
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1905	1911	1922	1933	1939	1950	1961	1967	1978	1989	1995
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2006	2017	2023	2034	2045	2051	2062	2073	2079	2090
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2102	2113	2119	2130	2141	2147	2158	2169	2175	2186	2197

Category:Sunday ko:일요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันอาทิตย์

1976

1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-February

- January 12 - UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization
- January 15 - Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison
- January 16 - Trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction begins in Stuttgart, West Germany
- January 18 - The Scottish Labour Party is formed
- January 21 - The first commercial Concorde flight takes off.
- January 25 - 12 PIRA bombs explode in London's East End
- January 27 - The trial of SLA member Patty Hearst begins. She is found guilty of robbery on March 20
- February 4 - In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
- February 4 - 1976 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria
- February 11 - Clifford Alexander Jr is confirmed as 1st African-American Secretary of US Army.
- February 20 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands
- February 24 - Cuba's current constitution enacted.
- February 27 - Western Sahara declares independence
- February 28 - Spain gives up territories in Sahara but retains its enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta

March

- March 1 - Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland
- March 3 - Fleetwood Mac records Rumours, which will be a blockbuster album in 1977
- March 9-March 11 - Two coal mine explosions claim 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine, Letcher County, Ky
- March 17 - Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is retried
- March 18 - Harold Wilson resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- March 19 - Actor Nicholas Downs born in Des Moines, Iowa at 6:45am
- March 20 - Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank
- March 24 - Argentina military forces depose president Isabel Peron
- March 27 - The first 4.6 miles of the Washington, DC subway system opens
- March 29 - Military junta of general Jorge Videla comes to power in Argentina
- March 31 - New Jersey Supreme Court rules that coma patient Karen Ann Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. She remains comatose and dies in 1985

April-May

- April 1 - Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
- April 4 - Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest
- April 5 - Jim Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- April 5 - Large crowds lay wreaths at Beijing's Monument of the Martyrs in commemoration of the death of Premier Zhou Enlai. Poems against the Gang of Four are also displayed. This was followed by a police crackdown and became known as the Tiananmen Incident.
- April 13 - An explosion in an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland kills 40
- April 16 - In India the minimum age for marriage is raised to 21 years for men and 18 years for women; it is to curb population growth
- April 21 - Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne. Bandits steal A$1.4 Million in bookmakers settlements in Queen Street, Melbourne
- April 23 - Powerful punk rock group The Ramones release their first album which starts a new form of music
- April 25 - Portugal's new constitution enacted
- May 4 - Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 revolutionizes world of wine.
- May 9 - Ulrike Meinhof of RAF is found hanging in an apparent suicide in her cell in Stuttgart-Stannheim prison
- May 11 - President Gerald Ford signs Federal Election Campaign Act.
- May 24 - Washington, DC Concorde service begins

June

- June 1 - UK and Iceland end the Cod War
- June 5 - Teton Dam collapses in southeast Idaho in the U.S., killing 11 people.
- June 14 - the trial begins at Oxford Crown Court of Donald Neilson, the killer known as the Black Panther.
- June 16 - Soweto riots in South Africa mark the beginning of the end of apartheid
- June 20 - Hundreds of Western tourists are moved from Beirut and taken to safety in Syria by the US military, following the murder of the US ambassador.
- June 20 - Czechoslovakia beat West Germany 5-3 on penalties to win Euro 76, after the game had ended 2-2 after extra time.
- June 27 - Palestinian extremists hijack an Air France plane in Greece with 246 passengers and 12 crew. They take it to Entebbe, Uganda, where Israeli commandos storms it on July 4
- Sismik incident starts when the Turkish survey ship Sismik entered Greek waters.

July

- July 2 - North Vietnam and South Vietnam united to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - a Communist country
- July 3 - Supreme Court of the United States rules on Gregg v. Georgia and decides that death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment
- July 3 - The great heat wave in the United Kingdom, which is currently suffering from drought conditions, reaches its peak.
- July 4 - United States Bicentennial
- July 4 - Israeli airborne commandos free 103 hostages being held by Palestinian hijackers of an Air France plane at Uganda's Entebbe Airport; one Israeli and several Ugandan soldiers are killed in raid.
- July 7 - German left-wing terrorists Monika Berberich, Gabriella Rollnick, Juliane Plambeck and Inge Viett escape from Lehrterstrasse maximum security prison in West Berlin
- July 10 - Explosion in Seveso, Italy, kills a large number of people
- July 16-July 20 - Albert Spaggiari and his gang break into the vault of the Societe Generale Bank in Nice, France
- July 17 - The 1976 Summer Olympics begin in Montreal, Canada.
- July 17 - East Timor is declared the 27th province of Indonesia
- July 19 - Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
- July 20 - Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars
- July 21 - A bomb kills Christopher Ewart, British ambassador to the Irish Republic
- July 27 - United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Uganda
- July 28 - Tangshan earthquake flattens Tangshan,China, killing 242,769 people, and 164,851 people are heavily injured
- July 29 - In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag killing one and seriously wounding another in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year.
- July 30 - In Santiago, capital of Chile, Cruzeiro from Brazil wins River Plate from Argentina and are the Copa Libertadores de América champions.
- July 31 - NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, taken by Viking 1

August

- August 1 - the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago becomes a republic, replacing Queen Elizabeth II with an elected president as their Head of State.
- August 2 - A gunman murders Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr, and injures Priscilla Davis and Gus Gavrel in an incident at Priscilla's Mansion at Mockingbird Lane in Fort Worth, Texas. T. Cullen Davis, Priscilla's husband and one of the richest men in Texas, was tried and found innocent for Andrea's murder. He was later found innocent of a plot to kill several people, including Priscilla and a judge, and a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen went broke afterwards
- August 4 - First outbreak of Legionnaire's disease kills 29 at the American Legion convention in Philadelphia
- August 5 - Racing Champion Niki Lauda suffers serious burns in the German Grand prix; the Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months
- August 6 - Former UK Postmaster General John Stonehouse is sentenced for seven years for fraud
- August 7 - Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars
- August 14 - 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland
- August 14 - The Senegalese political partyPAI-Rénovation is legally recognized. PAI-Rénovation thus becomes the third legal party in the country.
- August 18 - In North Korea at Panmunjom, two US soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Demilitarized Zone which had obscured their view
- August 24 - Uruguayan army captures Marcelo Gelman and his pregnant wife. Marcelo is later killed and his wife and child disappears

September-October

- September 3 - Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars takes the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface
- September 6 - Cold War: Soviet air force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko lands a MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido in Japan and requests political asylum from the United States
- Military Junta in power in Argentina.
- September 17 - Space Shuttle Enterprise rolled out.
- September 21 - Seychelles joins the United Nations.
- September 21 - Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
- October - The Damned release New Rose - the first ever single released / marketed as "punk rock".
- October 6 - Cubana Flight 455 crashes due to a bomb placed by anti-Castrist militants, after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4535661.stm]
- October 6 - Students gathering at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand to protest the return of ex-dictator Thanom are massacred by a coalition of right-wing paramilitary and government forces, triggering the return of the military to government.
- October 12 - The People's Republic of China announces that Hua Guofeng is the successor to the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of Communist Party of China
- October 19 - Copyright Act of 1976 extends copyright duration for an additional 20 years in the United States
- October 22 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, fifth President of Ireland, resigns after being publicly insulted by the Minister for Defence.
- October 25 - Full pardon given to Clarence Norris, last known survivor of the Scottsboro Boys.

November-December

- November 2 - U.S. presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Rudolph Ford to become first candidate from deep south to win since the Civil War.
- November 15 - First Megamouth Shark is discovered off Oahu in Hawaii
- November 26 - Little known company Microsoft is officially registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.
- December 1 - Angola joins the United Nations
- December 3 - Patrick Hillery is elected unopposed as the sixth President of Ireland.
- December 15 - Samoa joins the United Nations
- December 23 - New volcano, Murara, began erupting in eastern Zaire.

Unknown dates

- Christopher Maier, American murder victim born, died 1997
- First laser printer introduced by IBM - the IBM 3800
- Cray-1, the first commercially developed supercomputer, invented by Seymour Cray
- California's sodomy law repealed.
- The term memetics first proposed by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene.
- Toronto Blue Jays created
- CN Tower built in Toronto - The tallest free standing land structure.
- Diffie-Hellman cryptography proposed
- Plans to move the Nigerian capital from Lagos to Abuja are approved.
- Ebola is first discovered in Zaire
- Women For Sobriety established.

Births

January-March

- January 2 - Paz Vega, Spanish actress
- January 7 - Éric Gagné, Canadian Major League Baseball player
- January 7 - Alfonso Soriano, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- January 11 - Amanda Peet, American actress (born really 1972?)
- January 20 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- January 21 - Emma Bunton, English musician (Spice Girls)
- January 28 - Mark Madsen, American basketball player
- January 31 - Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- February 2 - James Hickman, British swimmer
- February 4 - Cam'ron, Harlem, New York rapper
- February 9 - Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- February 10 - Lance Berkman, baseball player
- February 12 - Silvia Saint, Czech actress
- February 15 - Brandon Boyd, American musician (Incubus)
- February 20 - Ed Graham, British drummer (The Darkness)
- February 28 - Ja Rule, American rapper
- March 5 - Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
- March 8 - Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
- March 20 - Chester Bennington, American musician (Linkin Park)
- March 22 - Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
- March 22 - Reese Witherspoon, American actress
- March 23 - Keri Russell, American actress
- March 24 - Aaron Brooks, American football player
- March 24 - Peyton Manning, American football player
- March 25 - Juvenile, American rapper
- March 26 - Amy Smart, American actress

April-June

- April 6 - Candace Cameron, American actress
- April 13 - Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
- April 18 - Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
- April 25 - Tim Duncan, West Indian basketball player
- April 25 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
- May 3 - Beto, Portuguese footballer
- May 4 - Jason Michaels, baseball player
- May 15 - Tyler Walker, baseball player
- May 19 - Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
- May 20 - Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- May 25 - Miguel Tejada, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- May 31 - Colin Farrell, Irish actor
- June 8 - Lindsay Davenport, American tennis player
- June 10 - Freddy Garcia, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- June 13 - Jason 'J' Brown, English musician (5ive)
- June 23 - Brandon Stokley, American football player

July-September

- July 1 - Patrick Kluivert, Dutch footballer
- July 1 - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch footballer
- July 3 - Andrea Barber, American actress
- July 2 - Gabriel Mughadam, Bodybuilder
- July 4 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer
- July 8 - Ellen MacArthur, English yachtswoman
- July 9 - Shelton Benjamin, American professional wrestler
- July 9 - Fred Savage, American actor
- July 11 - Eduardo Najera, Mexican basketball player
- July 20 - Alex Yoong, Malaysian race car driver
- July 23 - Judit Polgar, Hungarian chess player
- July 31 - Annie Parisse, American actress
- August 6 - Melissa George, Australian actress
- August 9 - Jessica Capshaw, American actress
- August 9 - Rhona Mitra, English actress
- August 8 - JC Chasez, American singer
- August 12 - Antoine Walker, American basketball player
- August 14 - Alex Albrecht, American television personality
- August 15 - Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
- August 27 - Carlos Moyà, Spanish tennis player
- August 27 - Mark Webber, Australian race car driver
- September 7 - Stevie Case (Killcreek), American video game celebrity
- September 7 - Shannon Elizabeth, American actress
- September 8 - Abi Titmuss, British TV presenter and model
- September 8 - Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
- September 10 - Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis player
- September 16 - Tina Barrett, English singer (S Club 7)
- September 22 - Ronaldo, Brazilian footballer
- September 25 - Chauncey Billups, American basketball player
- September 26 - Michael Ballack, German footballer
- September 29 - Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian footballer

October-December

- October 1 - Blu Cantrell, American rapper
- October 4 - Alicia Silverstone, American actress
- October 10 - Bob Burnquist, Brazilian skateboarder
- October 19 - Michael Young, baseball player
- October 23 - Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor
- November 6 - Pat Tillman, American football player (d. 2004)
- November 7 - Mark Philippoussis, Australian tennis player
- November 19 - Jun Shibata, Japanese singer and songwriter
- November 24 - Chen Lu, Chinese figure skater
- November 29 - Anna Faris, American actress
- December 1 - Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (d. 1998)
- December 12 - Dan Hawkins, British guitarist (The Darkness)
- December 13 - Tom Delonge, American musician (Blink-182)
- December 15 - Baichung Bhutia, Indian footballer
- December 17 - Takeo Spikes, American football player
- December 18 - Koyuki, Japanese actress and model

Deaths

January-March

- January 8 - Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
- January 10 - Howlin' Wolf, American musician (b. 1910)
- January 12 - Agatha Christie, English writer (b. 1890)
- January 23 - Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, writer, and activist (b. 1898)
- January 30 - Mance Lipscomb, American singer (b. 1895)
- February 1 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- February 1 - George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)
- February 2 - Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, Bulgarian painter (b. 1903)
- February 6 - Vince Guaraldi, American musician (b. 1928)
- February 9 - Percy Faith, Canadian-born musician and composer (b. 1908)
- February 11 - Lee J Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
- February 11 - Alexander Lippisch, German aerodynamicist (b. 1894)
- February 11 - Charlie Naughton, Scottish actor (b. 1886)
- February 12 - Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
- February 13 - Lily Pons, American soprano (b. 1898)
- February 20 - René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1887)
- February 22 - Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (b. 1943)
- March 6 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, American boxer and actor (b. 1903)
- March 7 - Wright Patman, American politician (b. 1893)
- March 14 - Busby Berkeley, American choreographer and director (b. 1895)
- March 17 - Luchino Visconti, Italian theatre and film director (b. 1906)
- March 19 - Paul Kossoff, British guitarist (Free) (b. 1950)
- March 24 - Bernard Montgomery, British field marshal (b. 1897)

April-June

- April 1 - Max Ernst, German artist (b. 1891)
- April 5 - Howard Hughes, American aviation pioneer, film director, and eccentric (b. 1905)
- April 9 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer, pianist, one of The Nordstrom Sisters (b. 1903)
- April 18 - Henrik Dam, Dutch biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
- April 26 - Sid James, South African actor (b. 1913)
- May 9 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
- May 9 - Ulrike Meinhof, German terrorist (b. 1934)
- May 11 - Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
- May 14 - Keith Relf, British musician (The Yardbirds) (b. 1943)
- May 26 - Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (b. 1889)
- May 27 - Hilde Hildebrand, German actress, (b. 1897)
- May 31 - Jacques Monod, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1910)
- June 10 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-born film producer (b. 1893)
- June 15 - Jimmy Dykes, baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
- June 25 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (b. 1909)
- June 30 - Firpo Marberry, baseball player (b. 1898)

July-September

- July 1 - Zhang Mintian, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1900)
- July 4 - Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and writer (b. 1895)
- July 13 - Joachim Peiper, German military leader (b. 1915)
- August 6 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (b. 1903)
- August 22 - Juscelino Kubitschek, President of Brazil (b. 1902)
- August 25 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- August 26 - Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888)
- August 27 - Mukesh, Indian singer (b. 1923)
- September 2 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish writer (b. 1934)
- September 9 - Mao Zedong, Chinese leader (b. 1893)
- September 26 - Lavoslav Ružička, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

October-December

- October 5 - Lars Onsager, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- October 11 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (b. 1897)
- November 12 - Walter Piston, American composer (b. 1894)
- December 2 - Danny Murtaugh, baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
- December 4 - Benjamin Britten, English composer (b. 1913)
- December 6 - João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
- December 28 - Katharine Byron, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1903)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Burton Richter, Samuel Chao Chung Ting
- Chemistry - William Nunn Lipscomb, Jr
- Physiology or Medicine - Baruch S. Blumberg, D Carleton Gajdusek
- Literature - Saul Bellow
- Peace - Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan
- Economics - Milton Friedman

Templeton Prize

- Cardinal Suenens Category:1976 ko:1976년 ja:1976年 simple:1976 th:พ.ศ. 2519

United States copyright law

The power to enact United States copyright law is granted in Article One, section 8, of the United States Constitution, which states: :The Congress shall have Power... To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. Key laws regulating U.S. copyrights include:
- Copyright Act of 1790
- Copyright Act of 1976
- Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
- Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 Statutory provisions relating to copyright currently in effect are codified in Title 17 of the United States Code. Key international agreements affecting U.S. copyright law include:
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
- Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Copyrights currently last for seventy years after the death of an author, or seventy-five to ninety-five years in the case of works of corporate authorship and works first published before January 1, 1978. All works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain; however, works created before 1978 but not published until recently may be protected until 2047. [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000303----000-.html Sec. 303]. Some material from as recently as 1963 has entered the public domain but some as old as 1923 remains copyrighted if renewals were filed. Previously, a copyright renewal had to be filed in the work's 28th year with the Library of Congress Copyright Office to have the copyright extended. The need for renewal was eliminated in 1992, but works that had already entered the public domain by non-renewal did not regain copyright protection. Therefore, works published before 1964 that were not renewed are public domain. No additional material will enter the public domain until 2019 due to changes in the applicable laws.

History and details

The U.S. Congress first exercised its power to enact copyright legislation with the Copyright Act of 1790. The Act secured an author the exclusive right to publish and vend "maps, charts and books" for a term of 14 years, with the right of renewal for one additional 14 year term if the author was still alive. The act did not regulate other kinds of writings, such as musical compositions or newspapers and specifically noted that it did not prohibit copying the works of foreign authors. The vast majority of writings were never copyrighted - between 1790 and 1799, of 13,000 titles published in the United States, only 556 were copyrighted. Copyright law has been modified many times since to encompass new technologies such as music recording, to extend the duration of protection, and to make other changes. US courts have interpreted this clause of the Constitution to say that the ultimate purpose of copyrights is to encourage the production of creative works for the public benefit, and that therefore the interests of the public are primary over the interests of the author when the two conflict. These rulings have since been formalized into fair use laws and decisions. Certain attempts by copyright owners to restrict uses beyond the rights provided for by copyright law may also subject them to the copyright misuse doctrine, preventing enforcement against infringers. The distinction between "idea" and "expression" is a fundamental part of US law, but it is not always clear. A paper describing an industrial process is copyrightable; it may not be reproduced by anyone else without the author's permission. But the process itself (which is an idea rather than a specific expression) is not copyrightable, though it may be patentable. Another author is free to describe the same process in his own words without violating copyright law (though he might not be able to use the process if it is patented; the articles on Fractal transform and LZW are examples of this situation). Courts disagree on how much of the story and characters of a copyrighted novel or film should be considered copyrightable expression. From the 1976 Copyright Act (): :In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. Facts are considered synonymous to "ideas" or "discoveries" under this law and are not copyrightable. However, section of the Copyright Act allows for the protection of "compilations," where the "creative" or "original" act involves the selection (deciding which things to include or exclude), and arrangement (how they are shown and in what order). The protection is limited only to the selection and arrangement, not to the facts themselves, which may be freely copied. The Supreme Court decision in Feist v. Rural further made clear the requirements that a compilation be original in its composition, in denying protection to telephone "white pages". The Feist court rejected what was known as the "sweat of the brow" doctrine, in ruling that no matter how much work was necessary to create a compilation, a non-selective collection of facts ordered in a non-creative way is not subject to copyright protection. Sometimes the identification of a work's "author" is unclear, and there are many court rulings applying to those situations as well. For example, by , work done "for hire", that is, specifically at the direction of an employer who pays for the work, is, by default, the property of the employer. In other words, if a company hires a writer to write something specific, the company, not the writer, is considered the "author" of that work and owns the copyrights. Any other work done by that writer on his own without compensation and without using company resources usually is still owned by the writer (though employers often try to claim ownership of such work). Copyrights may be sold, given, or licensed. For example, an author might license the right to publish a translation of a book (considered a derivative work) to a foreign publisher, charging a fee for the license. However, US copyright allows an author (or certain heirs defined by law) to terminate a copyright transfer during the period from 35 to 40 years after the transfer (for transfers made 1978 or later) or 56 to 61 years after the onset of copyright (for transfers made prior to 1978). An agreement made by the author to contract away his right to terminate the transfer is not enforceable, and neither is an attempt by an author to do so on behalf of his heirs.

U.S. Government works

In the U.S., copyright law is administered by the United States Copyright Office, a part of the Library of Congress. More complete details of US copyright law can be retrieved from the [http://www.copyright.gov/ Library of Congress]. provides that: :Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise. The intent of the section is to place in the public domain all work of the United States Government, which is defined in as work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties. Contractors are not employees.

The United States government as a defendant in infringement actions

The U.S. government, its agencies and officials, and corporations owned or controlled by it, are subject to suit for copyright infringement. All infringement claims against the U.S. that did not arise in a foreign country must be filed with the United States Court of Federal Claims within three years of the infringing action. Claims filed in the wrong court are dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The government and its agencies are also authorized to settle the infringement claims out of court.

Treaties

The United States became a Berne Convention signatory in 1988, and the treaty entered into force with respect to the US on March 1, 1989. The U.S. is also a party to TRIPS, which itself requires compliance with Berne provisions, and is enforceable under the WTO dispute resolution process. To meet the treaty requirements, protections were extended to architecture (where previously only building plans were protected from copying, not buildings), and certain moral rights of visual artists. Some legal scholars question whether the U.S. is fully in compliance with TRIPS or Berne requirements, particularly given the far reach of the fair use defense.

Notes

28 U.S.C. § 1498(b)-(c).

External links

- [http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm Table of copyright status by age of material]
- [http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ U.S. Copyright Office] Registration and searching of copyrights
- [http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/timeline.html Copyright Timeline:]A History of Copyright in the U.S.
- [http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/chunter/copyright_and_culture.html Copyright and Culture] by Christopher D. Hunter __NOTOC__ Category:Copyright law Category:United States intellectual property law

Air India

Air India (Hindi: एअर इंडिया) is the national flag carrier airline of India with a network of passenger and cargo services worldwide. It is one of the two state-owned airlines in the country, the other being Indian Airlines. Its main base is Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, with hubs at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi and Chennai International Airport. The airline connects 44 destinations around the world, including 12 gateways in India.

History

India Air India traces its history back to October 15, 1932 when its founder, J. R. D. Tata flew a single engined De Havilland Puss Moth registered VT-ADN carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot Neville Vincent. That same year, the airline was formally established as Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group). Following the end of World War II, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946 under the name Air India. 1948 was a significant year in the history of the airline when 49% of it was acquired by the Government of India, with an option to purchase an additional 2% at any time. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International. On June 8, 1948 a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess and registered VT-CQP took off from Bombay bound for London via Cairo and Geneva. This marked the airline's first longhaul international flight, soon followed by service to Nairobi via Aden. On 1 August 1953, the Government of India exercised its option to purchase a majority stake in the carrier and Air India International Limited was born as one of the fruits of the Air Corporations Act that nationalised the air transportation industry. At the same time all domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines. In 1954, the airline took delivery of its first L-1049 Super Constellations and inaugurated services to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Air India International entered the jet age in 1960 when its first Boeing 707, named Nandadevi and registered VT-DJJ, was delivered. Jet services to New York via London were inaugurated that same year. On June 8, 1962 the airline's name was officially truncated to its current form of Air India. On June 11, 1962 Air India became the world's first all-jet airline. 1962 In 1970, Air India moved its offices into its own custom built skyscraper in downtown Bombay. The next year, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747-200 named Emperor Ashoka and registered VT-EBD. This coincided with the introduction of the 'Palace In The Sky' livery and branding. A distinctive feature of this livery is the paintwork around each aircraft window, in the cusped arch style of windows in Mughal palaces. In 1986 Air India took delivery of Airbus A310s. The airline is the largest operator of this type in passenger service. In 1988, Air India also took delivery of two Boeing 747-300s in mixed passenger-cargo configuration. Boeing 747-300 In 1989, to supplant its "Flying Palace" livery, Air India introduced a new livery that was mostly white but had a golden sun on a red tail. Only applied to around a half of Air India's fleet, the new livery failed to "take off" as the Indian flying public raised a hue and a cry about the phasing out of the classic colours. The new livery was dropped after two years and the old scheme was re-introduced. Since then, Air India has been hesitant to radically change the paint scheme, instead opting for minor updates and facelifts. In 1993, Air India took delivery of the new flagship of its fleet when the first Boeing 747-400 named Konark and registered VT-ESM made history by operating the first ever nonstop flight between New York and Delhi. In 1994 the airline was registered as Air India Ltd. In 1996, the airline inaugurated service to its second US gateway at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport. In 1999, the airline opened its dedicated Terminal 2-C at the newly renamed Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. The 21st century has seen Air India introduce new services to Shanghai in China, as well as two new US gateways at Newark Liberty International Airport and LAX. LAX]] Air-India has registered a profit of Rs 133.85 crores (Approx USD 30 million) in the financial year ending March 31, 2003, after taking into account the deferred tax benefit. In the year 2002, it recorded a net profit of Rs 15.44 crores. Air-India earned a total revenue of Rs 5658 crores (Approx USD 1.26 billion) in 2002-03 as against Rs 5017 crores (Approx USD 1.1 billion) in the previous year. The airline has ambitious plans to expand its network and acquire new aircraft. The newly elected Government of India has appointed Mr.Praful Patel, as the Minister for Civil Aviation who plans to make the airline "A Maharaja of the Skies ". In March 2004, Air India started non-stop flights from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to London, Heathrow, making it the 3rd station from India (after Mumbai and Delhi). In December 2004, Air India leased three Boeing 777-222ER aircraft from United Airlines. With these three new B777s, Air India was able to introduce three new routes: Delhi-Frankfurt-Los Angeles, Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto, and Delhi-Dhaka-Kolkata-London. Furthermore, in the course of 2005, Air India announced interest of commencing service linking Delhi and Mumbai to Houston, Washington, DC, and San Francisco. However, the authorities of Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport have attempted to lure the airline to form its first direct air link to India. The addition of any new U.S. services have yet to be announced.
Incidents and Accidents
Since 1970, Air India has suffered the following fatal events:
- Air India Flight 855 crashed into the Arabian Sea after takeoff from Sahar International Airport (now Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport) in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 1 January 1978, killing everyone on board (213 - 190 passengers, 23 crew).
- On 21 June 1982 a Boeing 707 crashed at Bombay airport while trying to land in a heavy rainstorm. 2 crew and 15 passengers were killed.
- Air India Flight 182 -Kanishka was blown up on 23 June 1985. The flight was on the first leg on its Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay (Mumbai) flight when it exploded off the coast of Ireland. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 307 passengers and 22 crew on board died. After this incident Air-India suspended all services to Canada,which resumed after 20 years in 2005.
Passenger Operations
Air India has 44 world-wide destinations. It also has code-sharing agreements with many international airlines to expand coverage. The airline carried 3.39 million passengers during the financial year ending March 2003 and achieved a load factor of 71.6 per cent, substantially higher than the 66 per cent load factor recorded in the preceding year. The airline has received a 4 star rating for cabin safety procedures from skytrax airline quality review. Three classes of seats are offered - First class, Executive class and Economy class. Flat bed seats are offered for first class passengers. The airline also offers a frequent flyer programme alone and in collaboration with many of its alliances. The airline also offers luxury lounges in its ground terminals for its First and Executive class travellers in select destinations within India. Air-India has duty free sale on board its flights effective June 1, 2003 named 'sky bazaar', meaning Market in the sky.
Cargo Operations
In 1954, Air-India started its freighter operations with a Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft, giving Air-India the distinction of being the first Asian airline to operate freighters. The airline operates regular cargo flights to many destinations of the world. The airline also has ground truck-transportation arrangements on select destinations. A member of IATA, Air-India carries all types of cargo including dangerous goods (hazardous materials) and live animals, provided such shipments are tendered according to IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and IATA Live Animals Regulations, respectively. At the warehouse in Mumbai, Air India has developed an indigenous system of inventory management for cargo handling of import/export functions. This takes care of the entire management of cargo, supports Electronic Data Interface (EDI) messages with Indian Customs and replaces to a great extent existing paper correspondence between Customs, Airlines, and the custodians. This also replaces manual handling and binning of cargo at the warehouse in Mumbai by Air India.
Fleet
At November 2005:
- 21 Airbus A310 - 300
- 2 Boeing 747 - 200
- 2 Boeing 747 - 300
- 13 Boeing 747 - 400
- 3 Boeing 777 - 200 Total fleet - 41 The Air India Board has recently approved an acquisition plan at its meeting held in Mumbai on April 26, 2005. The acquisition plan envisaged procurement of 68 aircraft:
- 18 B737-800 aircraft for Air India's subsidiary Air India Charters Ltd. under whose umbrella the low cost airline Air India Express would be run.
- 8 Boeing 777-200LR Medium Capacity Ultra Long Range aircraft in three-class configuration (including three options);
- 15 B777-300ER Medium Capacity Long Range-350 seater, in three-class configuration (including five options); and
- 27 B787 Medium Capacity Long Range-250 seater aircraft in two class configuration (including seven options). Total cost of this acquisition is estimated to be Rs. 35000 crores ($7.5 billion)
Logo and Mascot
left right As it symbolises movement and speed, the Centaur, a stylised version of Sagittarius, was selected as Air-India's logo. The choice of a constellation was also intended as an allusion to the airline's original long distance routes with Lockheed Constellation aircraft. Air India's mascot, the Maharaja, is a turban clad king with over-sized moustache and a royal dress. "He may look like royalty, but he isn't royal" - these are the words of Bobby Kooka, the man who conceived the Maharajah. This figure first made his appearance in Air-India in 1946, when Bobby Kooka as Air-India's Commercial Director and Umesh Rao, an artist with J.Walter Thompson Ltd., Mumbai, together created the Maharajah.
Women Pilots
There are 17 women pilots on Air India's rolls, including five trainee pilots. On the occasion of the World Women's Day, March 3rd 2004, the airline operated an "All women Flight" from Mumbai to Singapore. Capt. Rashmi Miranda, who became Air-India's first woman Commander in November 2003 and Capt. Kshmata Bajpai, piloted the flight, an Airbus A310 aircraft. The flight despatch activities relating to this flight was also coordinated by a woman Flight Despatcher, Ms Vasanti Kolnad. The Safety Audit on board was also conducted by another woman, Ms Harpreet D. Singh.
Awards and Recognition

- The Airline entered the Guinness Book of World Records - The largest evacuation by a civil airliner, involving evacuation of over 111,000 people from Amman to Mumbai - a distance of 4,117 km, by operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, during August 13 - October 11, 1990, lasting a total of 59 days.The operation was carried out during Persian Gulf War in 1990 to evacuate Indian expatriates from the region .
- The airline received The Mercury Award for the years 1994 and 2003, from the International Flight Catering Association, for finest in-flight catering services.
- Air India's security department became the first aviation security organisation in the world to acquire ISO 9002-1994 certification(January 31, 2001).
- The Department of Engineering, Air India, has obtained the ISO 9002 for its Engineering facilities for meeting international standards.
Trivia

- The Indian Prime Minister's flight operated by Air India is called [http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=115396 AI 001].
See also

- Air India destinations
- Air-India Express
External links

- [http://www.airindia.com/ AirIndia]
- [http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Air_India?show=all Air India Fleet Detail]
- [http://www.airwhiners.net/whine_cheez/20040726.htm Air India Fleet History]
- [http://airsafe.com/events/airlines/ain.htm Fatal Events Since 1970 for Air India]
- [http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/air_india.htm Air India Passenger Opinions]
- [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1073897.cms Air India Fleet acquisition] Category:Airlines of India

Bombay

Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई ) (pronounced in Marathi, and in English), formerly known as Bombay is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 18 million. Mumbai is located on Salsette Island off the west coast of India. Along with the neighbouring towns, it forms one of the world's most populous metropolitan areas, with an extended population of 20 million. The city, which has a deep natural harbour, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, and houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies. Because of the immense business opportunities available in Mumbai and the relatively high standard of living, it has attracted migrants from all over India and South Asia, making the city a potpourri of various communities and cultures. Bollywood, the epicentre of the country's Hindi film and television industry is located in Mumbai. Mumbai is also one of the rare cities to accommodate a national park, Borivali National Park within its city limits. The appellation Mumbai is an eponym, etymologically derived from Mumba — the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, and Aai — meaning mother in Marathi. In the 16th century, the Portuguese named the area Bom Bahia, which means Good Bay. This was later corrupted to Bomaím or Bombaim, by which name it is still known in Portuguese; and after the British gained possession, it was anglicised to Bombay. The name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, but the former name is still popularly used in the West and by many of the city's inhabitants and famous institutions.

History

Present-day Mumbai was originally made up of seven isles. Artefacts found near Kandivali in northern Mumbai indicate that these islands had been inhabited since the Stone Age. In the 3rd century BCE, they were part of the Maurya empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor Ashoka. The Hindu rulers of the Silhara dynasty later governed the islands until 1343, when it was annexed by the kingdom of Gujarat. Some of the oldest edifices of the archipelago–the Elephanta Caves and the Walkeshwar temple complex date to this era. In 1534, the Portuguese appropriated the islands from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. They were ceded to Charles II of England in 1661 as dowry or, more appropriately, wedding gifts of Catherine de Braganza. They in turn were leased to the British East India Company in 1668 for a sum of £10 per annum. The company found the deep harbour at Bombay eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East India Company transferred their headquarters from Surat to Bombay. From 1817 the city was reshaped, with large civil engineering projects aimed at merging the islands into a single amalgamated mass. This project, the Hornby Vellard, was completed by 1845 and resulted in the area swelling to 438 km². Eight years later, in 1853, India's first passenger railway line was established, connecting Bombay to Thana. During the American Civil War, (1861–1865) the city became the world's chief cotton market, resulting in a boom in the economy and subsequently in the city's stature. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 transformed Bombay into one of the largest Arabian Sea ports. 1869 The city grew into a major urban centre over the next thirty years, spurred by an improvement in the infrastructure and the construction of many of the city's institutions. The population of the city swelled to one million by 1906, making it the second largest in India, after Calcutta. It later became a major base for the Indian independence movement, with the Quit India Movement called by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 being its most rubric event. After independence, the city incorporated parts of the island of Salsette, expanding to its present day limits in 1957. It became the capital of the new linguistic state of Maharashtra in 1960. In the late 1970s Bombay witnessed a construction boom, with a significant increase in population owing to the influx of migrants. By 1986 it had overtaken Calcutta as the most populated Indian city. The city's secular fabric was torn in 1992, after large-scale Hindu-Muslim riots caused extensive losses to life and property. A few months later, on March 12, simultaneous bombings of the city's establishments by the underworld killed around three hundred. In 1995, the city was renamed Mumbai after the right wing Shiv Sena party came into power in Maharashtra, in keeping with their policy of renaming colonial institutions after historic local appellations.

Geography

Shiv Sena Mumbai is located on Salsette Island which lies at the mouth of Ulhas River off the western coast of India in the coastal region known as the Konkan. Most of Mumbai is at sea level and the average elevation ranges from 10 to 15 metres. The northern part of Mumbai is hilly and the highest point of the city is at 450 metres (1,450 feet). Mumbai spans a total area of 468 km² (169 square miles). Three lakes are located within the metropolitan limits — the Tulsi Lake, Vihar Lake and the Powai Lake. The first two are located within the Borivali National Park and supply part of the city's drinking water. Mumbai also has three small rivers within the city limits originating in the National Park. The coastline of the city is indented with numerous creeks and bays. On the eastern seaboard, large mangrove swamps rich in biodiversity occupy most of the region. Soil cover in the city region is predominantly sandy due to its proximity to the sea. In the suburbs the soil cover is largely alluvial and loamy. The underlying rock of the region is composed of black Deccan basalt flows and their acid and basic variants dating back to the late Cretaceous and early Eocene geological eras. Mumbai sits on a seismically active zone owing to the presence of three fault lines in the vicinity. The area is classified as a Zone III region, which means an earthquake of magnitude of up to 6.5 can be expected. Mumbai is classified as a metropolis of India, under the jurisdiction of the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation. It consists of two discrete regions — the City and the Suburbs, which also form two districts of Maharashtra. The city region is also commonly referred to as the Island City by most media publications.

Climate

media publications The city, being in the tropical zone and near the Arabian Sea, does not experience distinct seasons, but the climate can broadly be classified into two main seasons — the humid season and the dry season. The humid season, between March to October, is characterised by high humidity and temperatures of over 30 °C (86 °F). The monsoon rains lash the city during June to September and supply most of the city's annual rainfall of 2,200 mm (85 in). The maximum annual rainfall ever recorded was 3,452 mm (135.89 in) in 1954. The highest rainfall recorded in a single day was 944 mm (37.16 inches) on 2005-07-26. The dry season, between November and February, is characterised by moderate levels of humidity and warm to cool weather. Cold northerly winds are responsible for a high wind chill factor during January and February. The annual temperatures range from a high of 38 °C (100 °F) to a low of 11 °C (52 °F). The record high is 43 °C (108 °F) and record low is 7.4 °C (45 °F) on 1962-01-22.

Economy

1962-01-22.]] Mumbai contributes 10% of factory employment, 33% of income tax collections, 60% of customs duty collections, 20% of central excise tax collections, 40% of India's foreign trade and rupees 40,000 crore (US $9 billion) in corporate taxes. Headquarters of a number of Indian financial institutions such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, Reserve Bank of India, National Stock Exchange of India, the Mint, as well as numerous Indian conglomerates such as the Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance are located in Mumbai. Most of these offices are located in downtown South Mumbai which is the nerve centre of the Indian economy, leading its Dalal Street to become known as "the Indian Wall Street". Many foreign establishments also have their branches in this area. Mumbai has traditionally owed its prosperity largely to its textile mills and its seaport till the 1980s. This has now been replaced by industries employing more skilled labour such as engineering, diamond polishing, healthcare and information technology. As Mumbai is the state capital, government employees make up a large percentage of the city's workforce. Mumbai also has a large unskilled and semi-skilled labour population, who primarily earn their livelihood as hawkers, taxi drivers, mechanics and other such proletarian professions. The port and shipping industry too employs many residents directly and indirectly. The entertainment industry is the other major employer in Mumbai. Most of India's television and satellite networks are located in Mumbai, as well as the major publishing houses. The epicentre of the Hindi movie industry, Bollywood, is also located in Mumbai, along with the largest studios and production houses.

Civic administration

studio The city is administered by a municipal corporation (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)), whose titular head is the Mayor who has few executive powers. The real executive power of the corporation is vested in the Municipal Commissioner, an IAS officer appointed by the state government. The BMC is in charge of the civic needs and infrastructure of the metropolis. Mumbai is divided into twenty-three municipal wards, each overseen by an Assistant Municipal Commissioner for administrative purposes. The corporators of the administration are voted through a popular vote and almost all the state political parties field their candidates. The metropolis is composed of two districts in Maharashtra, and each district comes under the jurisprudence of the District Collector. The collectors are in charge of property records and revenue collection for the Central government. They also oversee the national elections held in the city. Like other metropolises in India, the Mumbai Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, an IPS officer. The Mumbai Police comes under the state Home Ministry. Mumbai is divided into seven police zones and seventeen traffic police zones, each headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Traffic Police is a semi-autonomous body under the Mumbai Police. Mumbai is the seat of the Bombay High Court, which has under its jurisdiction the states of Maharashtra, Goa and the Union Territory of Daman and Diu. Mumbai also has two lower courts, the Small Causes Court, for civil matters, and the Sessions Court for criminal cases. Mumbai contributes six seats to the Lok Sabha (India's Lower House of Parliament) and thirty-four seats to the Maharashtra state assembly.

Transport

Maharashtra state assembly Maharashtra state assembly Most of the city inhabitants rely on public transport to travel to and from their workplace, due to the paucity of parking spaces and traffic bottlenecks. The backbone of the city's transport, the Mumbai Suburban Railway, is composed of three rail networks and runs along the length of the city. The Western Railway runs along the western region of the city, while the Central Railway covers most of the central and northeast parts of the metropolis. Both these lines extend to the exurbs of the city, each covering a total one-way length of around 125 km. The Harbour Line is a sub-division of the Central Railway, covering a distance of 54 km along the extreme east areas of the city region near the docks and extending into New Bombay. Public buses run by the BEST (an autonomous body under the BMC) cover almost all parts of the metropolis as well as parts of New Bombay and Thane. Buses are used for short to medium distance commuting as train fares are more economical for long distances. The BEST fleet consists of single-decker, double-decker, air-conditioned and vestibule buses. The BEST also operates ferries across creeks in northern Mumbai. Black and yellow metered taxis, accommodating up to four passengers, cover most of the metropolis. Auto rickshaws, allowed to operate only in the suburban area, are the main form of hired transport there. These three-wheeled vehicles can accommodate up to three passengers. Auto rickshaw Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the busiest airport in India, and caters to cargo and international flights. Santacruz Airport caters to domestic flights. The nearby Juhu aerodrome was India's first airport and now hosts a flying club and a heliport. Mumbai is well connected by trains to all parts of India. The city is also the headquarters of two rail divisions, the Central Railway (CR) headquartered at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly known as Victoria Terminus) and the Western Railway (WR) headquartered at Mumbai Central. With its unique topography, Mumbai has one of the best natural harbours in the world handling 50% of the country's passenger traffic and much of India's cargo. It is also an important base of the Indian Navy.

Utility services

Indian Navy The BMC supplies potable water to the city most of which come the Tulsi and Vihar lakes, as well as a few lakes further north. The water is then filtered at Bhandup, which is also Asia's largest water filtration plant. The BMC is also responsible for the road maintenance and garbage collection in the city. Almost all the city daily refuse of 7,800 metric tonnes is transported to dumping grounds in Gorai in the northwest, Mulund in the northeast and Deonar in the east. Sewage treatment is carried out in Worli and Bandra. Electricity is provided by the BEST in the city and by Reliance Energy and MSEB in the suburbs. Most of the city's electricity is hydroelectric and nuclear based. The government owned MTNL is the largest telephone service provider in the city, ascribed to the fact that it was a monopoly till 2000. It provides fixed line services as well as mobile WLL services. Cell phone coverage is extensive and the main service providers are Hutch, Airtel, BPL group, Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom. Both GSM and CDMA services are available in the city. Broadband internet penetration is increasing in the city with MTNL and Tata being the leading service providers.

Demographics

Tata The population of Mumbai is over 17 million residents at a density of 45,662 persons per square kilometre. There are 811 females to every 1,000 males. This relatively low ratio exists because many working males in the city leave their families in the rural areas where they hail from. The total literacy rate is 77%, which is higher than the national average. Out of this figure 82% of adult males and 71.6% of adult females are literate. Hindus comprise 68% of the population, Muslim 17%, Christian 4% and Buddhist 4%. The remaining are followers of Parsi, Jain, Sikh and Jewish religions and atheist ideology. For a city of its size, Mumbai has a moderate crime rate. Mumbai recorded 27,577 incidents of crime in 2004, which is down 11% from 30,991 in 2001. The city's main jail is the Arthur Road Jail. According to a report in the August 12 edition of BusinessWeek, around 45-48% of the population lives in shanty towns and slums. Mumbai has a large polyglot population but the most common language spoken on the city streets is a colloquial form of Hindi, known as Bambaiya Hindi, which is a blend of Hindi, Marathi, Indian English and a few invented colloquial words. Marathi is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. English is also extensively spoken and is the principal language used by the city's white collar workforce. Other languages spoken in Mumbai include Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Konkani, Nepali and Kannada. See also: Growth of Mumbai, Mumbai statistics

People and culture

Mumbai statistics A resident of Mumbai is called a Mumbaikar or Bombayite. Many residents prefer to stay close to major railway stations for easy access to their workplaces as a significant amount of time is spent on daily commuting. Thus many live a fast-paced life with very little time for other activities. Mumbai is known to be one of the most liberal and cosmopolitan cities of India, with the city embracing many concepts which would be taboo in other cities. Mumbai residents celebrate Western and Indian celebrations and festivals with great fanfare. Festivals and celebrations are observed by residents of all communities and religions. The metropolis has its own local roadside fast food consisting of vada pavs, paani puri, pav bhaji and bhelpuri. South Indian and Chinese food are also very popular in the city. A cosmopolitan city, residents have their unique tastes in cuisine, music, film and literature, both Indian and international. In 2004, Mumbai received three heritage conservation awards from the UNESCO. UNESCO Mumbai is the birthplace of Indian cinema, with the oldest film shot here in 1896. Mumbai also boasts of large number of cinemas, including Asia's largest IMAX dome theatre, which feature mainstream Bollywood and Hollywood films. Besides cinemas, the city also hosts various plays and cultural performances. There are also two art galleries: The Jehangir Art Gallery and The National Gallery of Modern Art and a museum, The Prince of Wales Museum in South Mumbai. Built in 1833, the Asiatic Society of Bombay is the oldest public library in the city. Mumbai has six sister cities, the maximum permitted by the Indian government. Its sister cities are London, Los Angeles, Yokohama, Berlin, Saint Petersburg and Stuttgart. See also:
- List of theatres in Mumbai
- List of tourist attractions in Mumbai

Media

Mumbai is served by numerous newspaper publications, television stations and radio. The Times of India, Midday, Afternoon, Asian Age, Economic Times, Mumbai Mirror, D N A - Daily News And Analysis, Hindustan Times and the Indian Express are the major English language newspapers sold in the city. Popular Marathi newspapers include Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Nava Kaal, and Saamana. In addition to these papers, newspapers are printed in Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Bengali, Urdu, Telugu and Tamil. Most of the households in Mumbai are served by one of the three main cable networks serving the city. Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster, has two free terrestrial channels on air. Direct To Home, though present, has yet to gain mass acceptance due to its higher costs. Mumbai receives over a hundred television channels and a majority of them are produced to cater to the city's polyglot populace. The metropolis is also the hub of many international media corporations with many news channels and print publications having a major presence. There are nine radio stations in Mumbai, with six broadcasting in the popular FM band and three All India Radio stations broadcasting in the AM band. ;FM
- Radio City — 91 MHz
- Go 92.5 FM — 92.5 MHz
- Red FM — 93.5 MHz (India Today Group)
- Radio Mirchi — 98.3 MHz (ENIL group)
- AIR FM Gold — 100.7 MHz
- AIR FM Rainbow — 107.1 MHz ;AM
- 558 kHz
- 1044 kHz
- 1188 kHz

Education

Schools in Mumbai are either run by the BMC, in which case they are called public schools, or privately by trusts and individuals. Private schools have been preferred by a majority of city residents because of better facilities and use of English as a medium of instruction. All private schools are affiliated either to the Maharashtra state SSC board or the all-India Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and CBSE boards. Demand is especially high for ICSE, CBSE affiliated schools and those run by convents or by the Jesuits. The government-run public schools lack many facilities, but are the only options for most of the poor who cannot afford the fees in private schools. After ten years of schooling, students enroll for two years in a Junior College where they choose from one of the four popular streams: Arts, Commerce, Science and Law. This is followed by a professional degree course in the corresponding stream. All professional colleges in Mumbai are affiliated to the University of Mumbai, one of the largest universities in the world in terms of matriculation. The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, one of world's premier engineering universities, and the SNDT Women's University, open to women only, are the other universities in Mumbai. See also:
- List of Mumbai Colleges
- Education in India

Sports

Education in India Cricket is the most popular sport in the city and is usually played in the maidans (grounds) around the city. Gully cricket, a modified form of cricket, is played in the narrow gullies in the city, especially on Sundays. International cricket is widely watched, and the city almost comes to a standstill on days when the Indian cricket team plays important matches. The city has two international cricket stadiums, the Wankhede Stadium and the Brabourne Stadium. The local Mumbai cricket team is among the strongest competitors in the Ranji Trophy, the nation's top domestic cricketing event. Football (soccer) is the second most popular sport. The city has its own clubs and the football season is played during the monsoons, when other outdoor sports cannot be played. The Football World Cup is one of the most widely watched television events in Mumbai. Hockey, India's national sport, has gone into a sharp decline in the recent years, losing out in terms of popularity to cricket, though many players who make up the national team are from Mumbai. Other sports are mostly played in the numerous clubs and gymkhanas and include tennis, squash, billiards, badminton, table tennis and golf. Mumbai also has a rugby club, the only one in the country. Every February, Mumbai holds the Derby equestrian races in the Mahalaxmi Racecourse. The event sees many of the city's glitterati attending, arrayed in the latest fashions. In recent times Formula 1 racing has also caught the public's attention. Other sports such as volleyball and basketball are mostly popular in schools and colleges.

Problems

basketball Like many fast growing larger cities in India and other developing countries, Mumbai suffers from major urbanization problems. Widespread poverty is also a problem, which leads to generalized health, employment and education handicaps for a large group among its huge population. In Mumbai, half the city population lives in under- or unserviced squalor in slums or is homeless, and social exclusion are at the root of the major problems faced by the city. With nowhere to expand, built as it is on a spit of land jutting out into the Arabian Sea, Mumbai confines its residents to often cramped, relatively expensive housing, usually far from workplaces and therefore requiring long commutes on crowded public transit or clogged roadways. There is, however, much wealth in the city and Mumbai's real estate prices in some areas are among the most expensive in the world.

External links

- [http://www.mcgm.gov.in/ Official site of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai]
- [http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/ The Mumbai Pages: The complete guide to the city of Mumbai (Bombay)]
- [http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pages/Mumbai/mumbaiplanShow.php Official city report]
- [http://www.mumbaispace.com/ Mumbaispace portal]
- [http://www.mumbaimart.com/ MumbaiMart Mumbai Online]
- [http://www.mid-day.com Mid Day Newspaper — Bombay news]
- [http://www.bombay-india.net A Complete Bombay Guide]
- [http://www.amitkulkarni.info/pics/ Places and Pictures around Mumbai]
- [http://www.mumbainet.com/cityinfo/cityinfo.htm Mumbainet]
- [http://thegreatindian.tripod.com/mumbai.htm Birds Eye View of Mumbai City(Rare Photo)]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.011154,72.833176&spn=0.332027,0.468361&t=k&hl=en Satellite picture by Google Maps]
-

References

# [http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1111518012&men=gpro&lng=en&gln=xx&dat=32&geo=392281282&srt=npan&col=aohdq&geo=-1048965 Mumbai], [http://www.world-gazetteer.com World Gazetteer] # [http://www.bhramanti.com/kanheri.html Kanheri, Lungs of Mumbai], Krishnadas Warrier, [http://www.bhramanti.com Bhramanti] # [http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/physical/fault.html The Seismic Environment of Mumbai], [http://theory.tifr.res.in TIFR - Theoretical Physics] # [http://www.mmrdamumbai.org/projects_muip.htm MMRDA Projects], [http://www.mmrdamumbai.org Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)] # [http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pages/Mumbai/mumbaiplanShow.php Mumbai Plan], [http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in Department of Relief and Rehabilitation (Maharashtra)] # Manorama Yearbook 2003, pg 678, ISBN 81-900461-8-7 # The Times of India, Mumbai edition (print), 2004-09-24, pg 1 # The Times of India, Mumbai edition (print), 2005-03-14, pg 5 # The Times of India, Mumbai edition (print), 2005-04-19, pg 2 # Dwivedi, Sharada & Mehrotra, Rahul; Bombay, The Cities Within (1995) — India Book House Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-85028-80-X # [http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pages/Mumbai/mumbaiplanShow.php BMC information on the city] — A complete reference on the city prepared by the BMC # [http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/ TIFR information] — a vast collection of information on the city # Our Greater Bombay (1990) — Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research # The Oxford School Atlas; 28th Revised Edition (1991) — Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-563316-4 # BusinessWeek; August 12, 2005; "China and India" special coverage
- Category:Indian state-capitals Category:Coastal cities ms:Mumbai ja:ムンバイ ko:뭄바이 simple:Mumbai

January 4

January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 361 days (362 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

- 871 - Battle of Reading - Ethelred of Wessex fights a Danish invasion army.
- 1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.
- 1642 - English Civil War: King Charles I of England attacks Parliament.
- 1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
- 1717 - The Netherlands, England and France sign the Triple Alliance.
- 1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples.
- 1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
- 1850 - The first American ice-skating club is formed (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
- 1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
- 1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London
- 1885 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.
- 1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
- 1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
- 1936 - Mickey's Polo Team, a short animated film featuring Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel and Harpo Marx in a polo match against various Disney characters, is first released.
- 1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its first pop music charts.
- 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
- 1948 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
- 1957 - After 69 years the last issue of Collier's Weekly magazine is published.
- 1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).
- 1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
- 1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
- 1965 - United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
- 1967 - Donald Campbell dies as his jet-powered Bluebird K7 crashes during an attempt to break the water speed record.
- 1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
- 1974 - United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
- 1987 - An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, DC collides with Conrail engines, killing 16 (Chase, Maryland rail wreck).
- 1989 - A pair of Lybian MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
- 1990 - A crowded passenger train collides with a standing freight train in Pakistan's Sindh province, killing 300 people.
- 1998 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria; over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
- 1999 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people injuring 25.
- 2004 - Dr. Mikhail Saakashvili is elected the President of Georgia.
- 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

Births

- 1077 - Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty in China (d. 1100)
- 1334 - Amadeus VI of Savoy (d. 1383)
- 1581 - James Ussher, Irish Catholic archbishop (d. 1656)
- 1643 - Isaac Newton, English scientist and philosopher (d. 1727)
- 1664 - Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
- 1672 - Hugh Boulter, Irish Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1742)
- 1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1720 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- 1785 - Jakob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1863)
- 1809 - Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind (d. 1852)
- 1832 - George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
- 1838 - Charles Stratton, American circus performer (d. 1883)
- 1848 - Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
- 1869 - Tommy Corcoran, baseball player (d. 1960)
- 1874 - Josef Suk, Czech composer and violinist (d. 1935)
- 1881 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
- 1883 - Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1894 - Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)
- 1896 - Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1896 - André Masson, French artist (d. 1987)
- 1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
- 1901 - C. L. R. James, writer and journalist (d. 1989)
- 1905 - Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Jane Wyman, American actress
- 1920 - William Colby, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1996)
- 1930 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1930 - Don Shula, American football coach
- 1931 - Adi Lady Lala Mara, First Lady of Fiji
- 1935 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer
- 1937 - Grace Bumbry, American singer
- 1937 - Dyan Cannon, American actress
- 1940 - Helmut Jahn, German architect
- 1940 - Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 - Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
- 1943 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer
- 1945 - Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1953 - Norberto Alonso, Argentine footballer
- 1953 - George Tenet, American Central Intelligence Agency director
- 1956 - Bernard Sumner, English musician (New Order)
- 1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer
- 1958 - Matt Frewer, American actor
- 1958 - Gary Jones, Welsh-born actor
- 1960 - Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)
- 1962 - Peter Steele, American singer and bassist (Type O Negative)
- 1962 - Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist
- 1963 - Dave Foley, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1963 - Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)
- 1965 - Julia Ormond, English actress
- 1966 - Deana Carter, American singer
- 1978 - Dwight Freeney, American football player
- 1978 - Dominik Hrbatý, Slovakian tennis player
- 1979 - Jeph Howard, American musician (The Used)
- 1986 - James Milner, English footballer

Deaths

- 1248 - King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1564 - Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
- 1695 - François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
- 1752 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)
- 1761 - Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (b. 1677)
- 1782 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)
- 1804 - Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet
- 1821 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 - King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1831 - James Monroe, President of the United States (b. 1758)
- 1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)
- 1896 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
- 1903 - Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)
- 1940 - Flora Finch, English-born comedienne and actress (b. 1869)
- 1941 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1859)
- 1960 - Albert Camus, Algerian-born French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (automobile accident) (b. 1913)
- 1961 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
- 1965 - T. S. Eliot, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- 1967 - Donald Campbell, English water speed record setter (b. 1921)
- 1969 - Violet and Daisy Hilton, English conjoined twin actresses (b. 1908)
- 1970 - Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
- 1985 - Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
- 1986 - Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (b. 1949)
- 1990 - Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
- 1998 - Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1999 - Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
- 2003 - Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)
- 2003 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
- 2004 - Brian Gibson, English film director (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jake Hess, American singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Jeff Nuttall, English writer, publisher, actor, artist, and jazz trumpeter (b. 1933)
- 2004 - John Toland, American author and historian (b. 1912)
- 2005 - Humphrey Carpenter, English author and biographer (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Ali al-Haidri, Iraqi governor of Baghdad (assassinated)
- 2005 - Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
- 2005 - Bud Poile, Canadian hockey player (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

- Feast day of St Elizabeth Ann Seton
- The tenth day and eleventh night of Christmas in Western Christianity

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 3 - January 5 - December 4 - February 4 — listing of all days ko:1월 4일 ja:1月4日 simple:January 4

Chile

The Republic of Chile is a country in South America occupying a long coastal strip between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north.

Origin of the name

There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory the Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the Araucanians, called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends" or "the deepest point of the Earth," or from the Aymara tchili meaning "snow"; another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the "men of Chilli."

History

About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's remoteness and the fierce opposition of the native population prevented extensive settlement. Inca In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth, the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the southern passage now named after him, the Straits of Magellan. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold but were turned back by the local population. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The first permanent European settlement, Santiago, was founded in 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Conquest of the land that is today called Chile took place only gradually, and the Europeans suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the local population. A massive Mapuche insurrection that began in 1553 resulted in Valdivia's death and the destruction of many of the colony's principal settlements. Subsequent major insurrections took place in 1598 and in 1655. Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. The abolition of slavery in 1683 defused tensions on the frontier between the colony and the Mapuche land to the south, and permitted increased trade between colonists and Mapuches. The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph, in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand—heir to the deposed king—was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the Reconquista led to a prolonged struggle. monarchy Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José de San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. The system of presidential absolutism eventually predominated, but wealthy landowners continued to control Chile. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians, finally completing the conquest begun more than three centuries earlier. In 1881, the government signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third, eliminating Bolivia's access to the Pacific, and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. The Chilean Civil War in 1891 brought about a redistribution of power between the President and Congress, and Chile established a parliamentary style democracy. However, the Civil War had also been a contest between those who favored the development of local industries and powerful Chilean banking interests, particularly the House of Edwards who had strong ties to foreign investors. Hence the Chilean economy partially degenerated into a system protecting the interests of a ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, Arturo Alessandri Palma, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. Alessandri Palma's reformist tendencies were partly tempered later by an admiration for some elements of Mussolini's Italian Corporate State. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose. A military coup led by General Luis Altamirano in 1924 set off a period of great political instability that lasted until 1932. The longest lasting of the ten governments between those years was that of General Carlos Ibáñez, who briefly held power in 1925 and then again between 1927 and 1931 in what was a de facto dictatorship, although not really comparable in harshness or corruption to the type of military dictatorship that has often bedeviled the rest of Latin America, and certainly not comparable to the violent and repressive regime of Augusto Pinochet decades later. By relinquishing power to a democratically elected successor, Ibáñez del Campo retained the respect of a large enough segment of the population to remain a viable politician for more than thirty years, in spite of the vague and shifting nature of his ideology. When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy. In 1952, voters returned Ibáñez, now reincarnated as a sort of Chilean Perón, to office for another 6 years. Jorge Alessandri succeeded Ibáñez in 1958, bringing Chilean conservatism back into power democratically for another term. The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende Gossens, a Marxist physician and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP or "Unidad Popular") coalition of the Socialist, Communist, Radical, and Social-Democratic Parties, along with dissident Christian Democrats, the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU), and the Independent Popular Action, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest. Despite pressure from the government of the United States, the Chilean Congress, keeping with tradition, conducted a runoff vote between the leading candidates, Allende and former president Jorge Alessandri and chose Allende by a vote of 153 to 35. Frei refused to form an alliance with Alessandri to oppose Allende, on the grounds that the Christian Democrats were a workers party and could not make common cause with the oligarchs. Allende's program included advancement of workers' interests; a thoroughgoing implementation of agrarian reform; the reorganization of the national economy into socialized, mixed, and private sectors; a foreign policy of "international solidarity" and national independence; and a new institutional order (the "people's state" or "poder popular"), including the institution of a unicameral congress. The Popular Unity platform also called for nationalization of foreign (U.S.) ownership of Chile's major copper mines. An economic depression that began in 1967 peaked in 1970, exacerbated by capital flight, plummeting private investment, and withdrawal of bank deposits by those opposed to Allende's socialist program. Production fell and unemployment rose. Allende adopted measures including price freezes, wage increases, and tax reforms, which had the effect of increasing consumer spending and redistributing income downward. Joint public-private public works projects helped reduce unemployment. Much of the banking sector was nationalized. Many enterprises within the copper, coal, iron, nitrate, and steel industries were expropriated, nationalized, or subjected to state intervention. Industrial output increased sharply and unemployment fell during the Allende administration's first year. Other reforms undertaken during the early Allende period included redistribution of millions of hectares of land to landless agricultural workers as part of the agrarian reform program, giving the armed forces an overdue pay increase, and providing free milk to children. The Indian Peoples Development Corporation and the Mapuche Vocational Institute were founded to address the needs of Chile's indigenous population. The nationalization of U.S. and other foreign-owned companies led to increased tensions with the United States. The Nixon administration brought international financial pressure to bear in order to restrict economic credit to Chile. Simultaneously, the CIA funded opposition media, politicians, and organizations, helping to accelerate a campaign of domestic destabilization. Interestingly, a CIA plan to buy the cooperation of Chilean members of Congress failed due to the shortage of sufficiently corruptible representatives. By 1972, the economic progress of Allende's first year had been reversed and the economy was in crisis. Political polarization increased, and large mobilizations of both pro- and anti-government groups became frequent, often leading to clashes. By early 1973, inflation was out of control. The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class. A military coup supported by the CIA overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by serious human rights violations. On October 1973, at least 70 persons were murdered by the Caravan of Death. At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the Valech Report. Some 30,000 were forced to flee the country. A new Constitution was approved by a highly irregular and undemocratic plebiscite characterized by the absence of registration lists, on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In the late 1980s, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union and limited political activity. The right-wing military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies. During its nearly 17 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment, although the copper industry and other important mineral resources were not returned to foreign ownership. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans elected a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress on December 14, 1989. Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 16 political parties called the Concertación, received an absolute majority of votes. President Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994. In December 1993, Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the son of previous president Eduardo Frei Montalva, led the Concertación coalition to victory with an absolute majority of votes. President Frei's administration was inaugurated in March 1994. A presidential election was held on December 12, 1999, but none of the six candidates obtained a majority, which led to an unprecedented runoff election on January 16, 2000. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party led the Concertación coalition to a narrow victory, with 51.31% of the votes. He was sworn in March 11, 2000, for a 6-year term.

Politics

Chile's Constitution was approved in a tightly controlled national plebiscite in September 1980, under the military government of Augusto Pinochet. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In 2005 over 50 reforms were approved, which eliminated the remaining undemocratic areas of the text, such as the existence of non-elected Senators (institutional senators, or senators for life) and the inability of the President to remove the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. These reforms led the President to controversially declare Chile's transition to democracy as complete. Chile's bicameral Congress has a 48-seat Senate—38 elected, 9 appointed, 1 for life—and a 120-member Chamber of Deputies. Deputies are elected every 4 years. Senators serve for 8 years with staggered terms. The current Senate is evenly split 24-24 between pro-government and opposition Senators. Nine institutional senators were appointed in 1999, and two "senators for life," former Presidents Pinochet (who resigned in 2002) and Frei. (Chile's Constitution provided that former presidents who have served at least 6 years shall be entitled to a lifetime senate seat.) The last congressional elections were held in December 2001. The current lower house—the Chamber of Deputies—contains 60 members of the governing center-left coalition and 56 from the center-right opposition. Currently 4 Deputies have their voting rights suspended on legal grounds. The Congress is located in the port city of Valparaíso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two lower chamber seats apportioned to each chamber's electoral districts. Typically, the two largest coalitions split the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. In the 2001 congressional elections, the conservative Independent Democratic Union surpassed the Christian Democrats for the first time to become the largest party in the lower house. The Communist Party again failed to gain any seats in the 2001 elections. The next presidential and congressional elections are set for December 2005. (See Chilean presidential election, 2005.) Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. Chile will complete in mid-2005 a multi-year overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

Regions

Chile is divided into 13 regions, each of which is headed by an intendente. Every region is further divided into provinces with a Gobernador Provincial. Finally each province is divided into various Comunas each with its own mayor. Intendentes and gobernadores are appointed by the president, mayors are elected by popular vote. Each region is designated by a name and a Roman numeral. Numbers are assigned from north to south. In general the Roman numeral is used, rather than the name. The only exception is the region where Santiago is situated, which is designated RM, that stands for Región Metropolitana, Metropolitan Region.

Geography

Roman numeral Roman numeral A long and narrow coastal region on the west side of the Andes Mountains, Chile stretches over 4,630 km (2,880 miles) north to south, but only 430 km (265 mi) at its widest point east to west. The northern Atacama desert contains great mineral wealth, primarily copper and nitrates. The relatively small Central Valley, which includes Santiago, dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the historical center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it integrated the northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. The Andes Mountains are located on the eastern border. Chile is the longest (N-S) country in the world (over 4,200km), and also claims a large section of Antarctica as part of its territory. Chile controls Easter Island, the easternmost island of Polynesia, which it incorporated to its territory in 1888, and Robinson Crusoe Island, more than 600 km from the mainland, in the Juan Fernández archipelago.

Economy

Juan Fernández After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile experienced a moderate downturn in 1999 brought on by the global economic slowdown. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Most experts expect GDP growth of around 6% in 2005. Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant Codelco and a few other enterprises. Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed Free Trade agreements (FTAs) with several important economies, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. High domestic savings and investment rates also helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP in 2003. Unemployment has hovered in the 8%-10% range in recent years, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment remained at 8.8% at the end of 2004 in spite of strong economic growth. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The share of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a person's minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% of the population in 1987 to 18.8% in 2003. Chile's independent Central bank pursues a policy of maintaining inflation between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered inflation of 2.4% in 2004 and is expected to see a 2.5% increase in 2005. Most wage settlements and spending decisions are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds. Total foreign direct investment rose to $7.1 billion in 2004, up from $2.5 billion in 2003. Both foreign and domestic investment in Chile had declined during the country’s period of slower economic growth from 1999-2003, but appear to be recovering strongly. The Chilean Government committed, in early 2002, to undertake a series of microeconomic reforms designed to create new incentives for private investment. The government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to invest in the region. Chile's welcoming attitude toward foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement offers a number of other investor protections.

Foreign Trade

Chile's economy is highly dependent on international trade. In 2004, exports accounted for about 34% of GDP. Chile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports; the state-owned firm Codelco is the world's largest copper-producing company. Nontraditional exports have grown faster than those of copper and other minerals. In 1975, non-mineral exports made up just over 30% of total exports, whereas now they account for about 60%. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine. The trade balance for 2004 showed a historic surplus $9 billion, considerably higher than 2003. Total exports in 2004 were $32 billion, a 52.1% increase from $20.4 billion in 2003. Chile's export markets are fairly balanced among Europe (25.1%), Asia (33.1%), Latin America (15.7%), and North America (19%). The U.S., the largest national market, takes in 17.3% of Chile's exports. Asia has been the fastest-growing export market in recent years. Chilean imports increased 30% in 2004, to $23 billion, reflecting a positive change in consumer demand and economic recovery. Capital goods made up about 66% of total imports. The United States represented 14.6% of Chilean imports in 2004. As a bloc, the European Union (EU) in 2004 supplied 16.3% of Chile's imports, while Argentina contributed 16%. Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's WTO obligations in 2002 and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Chile will have to phase out the price bands within 12 years under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA. Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued liberalizing trade agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Chile, a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003. The agreement will lead to completely duty free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S and Chilean congresses. Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Chile also has signed trade agreements with China, as well as a four -partite agreement with Singapore, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Brunei Darussalam (P4). Currently it is negotiating with India.

Finance

Chile's financial sector has grown faster than other areas of the economy over the last few years; a banking reform law approved in 1997 broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001. Chileans have enjoyed the recent introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has been accompanied by increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $54 billion in late 2004, has provided an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (Standard & Poor's A+) of countries in Latin America. There are three main ways Chilean firms raise funds abroad: bank loans, bond issue, and the selling of stock on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADR's). Nearly all of the funds raised go to finance investment. The government is paying off its foreign debt. The combined public and private foreign debt was roughly over 50% of GDP at the end of 2004—low by Latin American standards.

Defense

Standard & Poor's Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. Under the 1980 Constitution, the services enjoyed considerable autonomy, and the President could not remove service commanders on his own authority. However, reforms made in 2005 to the Constitution now give the President the right to remove the Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces.

Army

The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is Maj. Gen. Juan Emilio Cheyre. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional armies in the world and has one of the most technologically advanced armies in Latin America. It also operates Leopard I and AMX-30 main battle tanks.

Navy

Adm. Rodolfo Codina Díaz directs the 25,000-person Navy, including 5,000 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only six are operational major combatants (destroyers and frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaíso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates three submarines based in Talcahuano.

Air Force (FACH)

Gen. Osvaldo Sarabia heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, Antarctica. The FACH will begin taking delivery of 10 U.S. F-16 aircraft in 2006.

Carabineros

After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Alberto Cienfuegos is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

Foreign relations

Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile and has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade. The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations.

Demographics

War of the Pacific Unlike some of its South American neighbours, Chile is a relatively homogenous country. Around 95% of Chileans descend from early Spanish colonists, with the overwhelming part also possessing Native American ancestry in varying degrees - thus deeming the population majority as mestizo. During the colonial period, Spain found it necessary to maintain a continual influx of soldiers to protect its distant American colonies. Spaniards arrived from all regions of Spain, including: Andalucia, Extremadura and the Basque country, and many of them ended up settling in Chile. The combination of an economy based on temperate-zone agriculture, Amerindian resistance to Spanish occupation, and a continuous influx of Spaniards from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the colonial period defined the main body of Chile's mestizo majority population to one where the average Spanish input is greater than in neighbouring Andean mestizo populations. People of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry are not uncommon. Those of unmixed European ancestry are estimated between 5 to 10 percent. People that self-identify solely as members of any of the country's many indigenous groups number around 700,000 individuals, or 5% of the country's total population. Of that 700,000, around 80% are Mapuche that reside mainly in the south-central area of the country. Aymara and Quechua-speaking populations live along the northern border with Peru and Bolivia. There are also around 5,000 polynesian people who are indigenous to the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Rapanui) in the Pacific. Chileans descended from non-Spanish European nationalities are not very numerous, and they include a small but influential number of descendants of Irish immigrants which arrived in Chile during the Spanish colonial period, descendants of English immigrants (mainly merchants and sailors). A small scale government-sponsored immigration from Germany began in 1848, and in time, changed the cultural makeup of the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno, which still show a strong German influence. Other historically significant immigrant groups include people of Italian ancestry (Valparaíso Region) , Croatian (Antofagasta and Punta Arenas), French, Polish and peoples from Middle Eastern backgrounds (including the second largest Palestinian colony outside of the Middle East). In the last decade there has been an influx of Koreans who settled in small sections of Santiago. In recent years, the difficult economic situation in neighbouring Peru and Argentina has resulted in work-related trans-Andean migration to Chile.

Culture

Northern Chile was an important center of culture in the medieval and early modern Inca empire. Afterwards, their culture was dominated by the Spanish during the Colonial and early Republican period. Other European influences, primarily English and French, began in the 19th century and have continued until today, as in other Western societies. The national dance is the cueca. Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the tonada. Arising from music imported by the Spanish colonists, it is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the Parra family with the Nueva Canción Chilena, which was associated with political activists and reformers. Chileans call their country País de Poetas which means land of poets.

National symbols

Nueva Canción Chilena The national flower is the copihue (Lapageria rosea, Chilean bellflower), which grows in the woods of southern Chile. copihue The coat of arms depicts the two national animals: the condor (Vultur gryphus, a very large bird that lives in the mountains) and the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus, an endangered white tail deer). It also has the legend Por la razón o la fuerza (By right or might or By reason or by force).

Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Chile
- Elections in Chile
- Foreign relations of Chile
- Holidays in Chile
- List of Chilean companies
- List of Chileans
- List of Chilean television channels
- Transportation in Chile
- U.S. intervention in Chile
- Chilean pharmaceutical policy

International rankings

Overall

- The Economist: [http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3372495&d=2005 The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005], ranked 31 out of 111 countries (first in Latin America)
- UNDP: Human Development Index [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/ 2005], ranked 37 out of 177 countries (second in Latin America after Argentina)

Economy

- Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal: [http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/ 2005] Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 11 out of 155 countries (first in Latin America)
- IMD International: [http://www01.imd.ch/wcy/ World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005], ranked 19 out of 60 economies (countries and regions) (first in Latin America)
- Fraser Institute: Economic Freedom of the World: [http://www.freetheworld.com/ 2005 Annual Report], ranked 20 out of 127 countries (tied with Belgium, Costa Rica and Hungary) (first in Latin America)
- World Economic Forum: [http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CGlobal+Competitiveness+Report Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index], ranked 23 out of 117 countries (first in Latin America)
- World Bank: [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20643669~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html Where is the Wealth of Nations? (2005) - Total wealth per capita], ranked 32 out of 118 countries (fourth in Latin America after Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil)

Other

- Freedom House: [http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/survey2005.htm Freedom in the World 2005], average score: 1 (Free) (Costa Rica and Uruguay are the only two other Latin American countries with the highest score)
- Brown University: [http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2005-06/05-024.html Fifth Annual Global E-Government Study (2005)], ranked 13 out of 198 countries (first in Latin America)
- Save the Children: [http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2005/ State of the World's Mothers 2005], ranked 17 out of 110 countries (tied with Argentina) (third in Latin America after Costa Rica and Cuba)
- Transparency International: [http://ww1.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005_infocus.html Corruption Perceptions Index 2005], ranked 21 out of 159 countries (tied with Japan) (first in Latin America)
- A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: [http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,4,1,116 Globalization Index 2005], ranked 34 out of 62 countries (second in Latin America after Panama)
- World Economic Forum: [http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report Global Information Technology Report 2004-2005 - Networked Readiness Index], ranked 35 out of 104 countries (first in Latin America)
- Yale University/Columbia University: [http://www.yale.edu/esi/ 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index], ranked 42 out of 146 countries (ninth in Latin America after Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Colombia and Panama)
- Reporters without borders: [http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554 Worldwide press freedom index 2005], ranked 50 out of 167 countries (fifth in Latin America after El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Uruguay)

References

- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs], United States Department of State, April 2005
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cltoc.html Library of Congress country profile]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html The (CIA) World Factbook: Chile]

External links

State-related resources

- [http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/ Gobierno] - Government ([http://www.chileangovernment.cl/ English version])
- [http://www.presidencia.cl/ Presidencia] - Presidency ([http://www.presidencyofchile.cl/ English version])
- [http://www.interior.cl/ Ministerio del Interior] - Interior Ministry
- [http://www.minrel.cl/ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores] - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- [http://www.congreso.cl/ Congreso Nacional] - National Congress
- [http://www.senado.cl/ Senado] - Senate
- [http://www.camara.cl/ Cámara de Diputados] - Chamber of Deputies
- [http://www.bcn.cl/ Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional] - Library of National Congress
- [http://www.poderjudicial.cl/ Poder Judicial] - Judiciary

General information

- [http://www.chilephoto.cl/cgi-bin/chilephoto/chilephoto.cgi Pictures]
- [http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/la/chile/ Several links compiled by LANIC]
-
- [http://www.chilebosque.cl Chilean native flora species] Category:South American countries zh-min-nan:Chile ko:칠레 ms:Chile ja:チリ simple:Chile th:ประเทศชิลี fiu-vro:Tsiili

January 6

January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 359 days (360 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

- 1066 - Harold Godwinson crowned King of England
- 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans
- 1540 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
- 1579 - The Union of Atrecht was signed
- 1661 - The fifth monarchy men unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
- 1690 - Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I becomes King of the Romans
- 1720 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings
- 1853 - American President-Elect Franklin Pierce, wife Jane, and son Ben are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts. Franklin and Jane survive but eleven-year-old Ben is killed.
- 1858 - Samuel Morse first successfully tested the electrical telegraph.
- 1887 - `Abd-allah II of Harar opens the Battle of Chelenqo with an attack on the camp of the Shewan army of Negus Menelik II early in the morning; prepared for the assault, the Negus orders a counter-attack which routs the enemy, resulting with the capture of Harar a few days later.
- 1893 - Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
- 1870 - The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).
- 1900 - It is reported that millions are starving in India.
- Boers attack Ladysmith, South Africa - over 1,000 people killed
- 1907 - Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.
- 1912 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
- 1929 - King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution (the so-called January 6th Dictatorship, Šestojanuarska diktatura.)
- 1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed (Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).
- 1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
- 1936 - Supreme Court of the United States rules the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional in the case United States v. Butler et al.; Porky Pig premieres
- 1940 - Actor William Powell marries his 3rd and final wife, actress Diana Lewis
- Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of Poznan, Warthegau.
- 1941 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address.
- 1942 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to have a flight go around the world.
- 1946 - William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) hanged for treason at the age of 39
- 1950 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
- 1961 - A fire at the Thomas Hotel in San Francisco kills 20 people.
- 1967 - United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
- 1973 - Schoolhouse Rock premieres on American television
- 1974 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
- 1975 - The American soap opera Another World becomes the first soap opera in the world to air hour-long regularly scheduled episodes.
- 1978 - The Hungarian Holy crown (also known as Stephen_I_of_Hungary crown) returned to Hungary from the United_States, where was held after the WW_II.
- 1982 - William Bonin convicted of being the "freeway killer".
- 1992 - The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously condemning Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
- 1994 - Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an assailant under orders from figure skating rival Tonya Harding.
- 1995 - A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
- 1996 - 1996 Gaithersburg Metrorail Accident on the Washington Metro system kills one in Montgomery County, Maryland, during the Blizzard of 1996.
- 1998 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched to survey the moon's surface.
- 1999 - Bob Newhart receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 2001 - Al Gore, as President of the U.S. Senate, tallies the electoral votes and certifies George W. Bush as the winner of U.S. presidential election, 2000.
- 2005 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.

Births

- 1367 - King Richard II of England (d. 1400)
- 1412 - Joan of Arc, French warrior and Catholic saint (d. 1431)
- 1418 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (d. 1448)
- 1486 - Martin Agricola, German composer (d. 1556)
- 1488 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
- 1525 - Caspar Peucer, German reformer (d. 1602)
- 1561 - Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
- 1587 - Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish statesman (d. 1645)
- 1595 - Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French man of letters (d. 1650)
- 1617 - Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (d. 1673)
- 1706 (O.S.) - Benjamin Franklin, American statesman (d. 1790)
- 1714 - Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (d. 1788)
- 1822 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (d. 1890)
- 1832 - Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
- 1838 - Max Bruch, German composer (d. 1920)
- 1872 - Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (d. 1915)
- 1878 - Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
- 1880 - Tom Mix, American actor (d. 1940)
- 1882 - Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet, and political figure (d. 1965)
- 1882 - Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
- 1883 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese writer and painter (d. 1931)
- 1898 - James Fitzmaurice, Irish aviation pioneer (d. 1965)
- 1899 - Phyllis Haver, American actress (d. 1960)
- 1903 - Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Morris Wright, American writer (d. 1998)
- 1910 - Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1913 - Edward Gierek, Polish politician (d. 2001)
- 1914 - Danny Thomas, American singer, actor, and comedian (d. 1991)
- 1915 - Alan Watts, English writer, philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1920 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist
- 1920 - John Maynard Smith, English bioligist (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Early Wynn, baseball player (d. 1999)
- 1923 - Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
- 1924 - Earl Scruggs, American musician
- 1925 - John De Lorean, American auto maker (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Ralph Branca, baseball player
- 1926 - Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (d. 2003)
- 1929 - Babrak Karmal, Afghani politician (d. 1996)
- 1930 - Vic Tayback, American actor
- 1931 - Capucine, French actress (d. 1990)
- 1931 - E. L. Doctorow, American author
- 1931 - Dickie Moore, Canadian hockey player
- 1932 - Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
- 1933 - Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut (d. 2003)
- 1933 - Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian
- 1936 - Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo, President of Uruguay
- 1940 - Penny Lernoux, American journalist and author (d. 1989)
- 1940 - Van McCoy, American musician (d. 1979)
- 1943 - Terry Venables, English football manager
- 1944 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
- 1944 - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1946 - Syd Barrett, English guitarist and singer
- 1947 - Sandy Denny, English vocalist (d. 1978)
- 1951 - Kim Wilson, American musician
- 1953 - Malcolm Young, Scottish guitarist (AC/DC)
- 1954 - Hans Robert Hiegel, German architect
- 1954 - Anthony Minghella, British director
- 1955 - Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor
- 1957 - Nancy Lopez, American golfer
- 1959 - Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
- 1959 - Kathy Sledge, American singer
- 1960 - Nigella Lawson, British chef and writer
- 1960 - Howie Long, American football star
- 1962 - Michael Houser, American musician (Widespread Panic) (d. 2002)
- 1964 - Henry Maske, German boxer
- 1964 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (d. 2005)
- 1966 - Fernando Carrillo, Venezuelan actor
- 1968 - John Singleton, American film director and writer
- 1970 - Julie Chen, American television presenter and newsreader
- 1970 - Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player and model
- 1974 - Nicole DeHuff. American actress (d. 2005)
- 1976 - Danny Pintauro, American actor
- 1980 - Steed Malbranque, French footballer
- 1981 - Mike Jones, American rapper

Deaths

- 1088 - Berengar of Tours, French theologian
- 1448 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1418)
- 1537 - Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
- 1537 - Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1481)
- 1616 - Philip Henslowe, English theatrical entrepreneur
- 1689 - Bishop Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1671)
- 1711 - Philipp van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
- 1718 - Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (b. 1664)
- 1718 - Richard Hoare, English goldsmith and banker (b. 1648)
- 1724 - Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese dramatist (b. 1653)
- 1731 - Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (b. 1672)
- 1734 - John Dennis, English critic and dramatist (b. 1657)
- 1840 - Fanny Burney, English novelist and diarist (b. 1752)
- 1852 - Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind (b. 1809)
- 1855 - Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer (b. 1779)
- 1884 - Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian geneticist (b. 1822)
- 1885 - Peter Christian Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer and scientist (b. 1812)
- 1918 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)
- 1919 - Max Heindel, Danish astrologer and mystic (b. 1865)
- 1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1858)
- 1928 - Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (b. 1876)
- 1937 - Brother Andre, Canadian religious figure (b. 1845)
- 1942 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (b. 1876)
- 1945 - Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (b. 1863)
- 1949 - Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883)
- 1981 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)
- 1990 - Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (b. 1949)
- 1990 - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1992 - Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1917)
- 1993 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1938)
- 1995 - Joe Slovo, South African politician (b. 1926)
- 1996 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian leader (b. 1966)
- 2000 - Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
- 2004 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
- 2004 - Charles Dumas, American athlete (b. 1937)
- 2004 - Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Lois Hole, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1933)
- 2005 - Louis Robichaud, Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

- Ancient Latvia - Zvaigznes Diena observed
- Christianity (except Eastern Orthodox who follow the Julian Calendar) - Epiphany of the Lord (a.k.a. "Twelfth Day of Christmas" and Three Kings Day in some areas).
- In the Irish Calendar- Little Christmas or "Women's Christmas" and/or Twelfth Day.
- Rastafari movement - Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie
- Armenian Christmas

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/6 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 5 - January 7 - December 6 - February 6 — listing of all days ko:1월 6일 ja:1月6日 simple:January 6 th:6 มกราคม

Stephen of Hungary

King Stephen the Great or St. Stephen of Hungary (Szent István király in Hungarian, Štefan in Slovak) (about 975 – August 15, 1038), was the first king of Hungary. His father was the Magyar chieftain Géza: his mother was Sarolt (Polish: Adelajda) from the Polish dynasty of the Piasts, and Stephen was given the name Vajk (meaning hero) at birth. Born a pagan in the town of Esztergom, Vajk was baptized, as a precondition of accepting the crown from Rome, at age 10 by Saint Adalbert of Prague, and given the baptismal name Stephen (in honor of the original early Christian Saint Stephen), protector of the church at Passau). He was married in 995 to Gizella of Bavaria (though some sources give other years for the marriage), the daughter of Henry II the Wrangler, and his wife Gisela of Burgundy. Stephen and Gizella had at least three children; we know the names of the sons Imre (Henry or Emeric) and Ottó (Otto) and the daughter Hedvig (Hedwig). All of Stephen's children apparently predeceased him and left no descendants to claim the throne upon his death, so that the crown had to be contended for by his nephews and cousins. Between 995 and 997, Stephen (under the name "Vajk") was the prince of Nitra (an ancient Slovak Christian city), the capital of the Nitrian principality (in present day south-western Slovakia) and was living in Nitra together with his wife. After battling and defeating the pagan nobles who opposed him (including his uncle, a powerful warlord named Koppány), Stephen became the Sovereign of Magyars in Transdanubia in 997 and till 1006 managed to successfully unite virtually all the Magyar clans. The victory over Koppány was achieved also thanks to the substantial material and military assistance from the Slovak Christian noblemen Poznan and Hunt. According to Hungarian tradition, Pope Silvester II sent a magnificent jeweled gold crown to Stephen (which became the symbol of Hungary under the name of the Holy Crown) along with an apostolic cross and a letter of blessing in the beginning of January, 1001 to officially recognize him as a Christian king of Europe. Stephen divided Hungary into 40-50 counties, and continued the work of his father Geza by applying the decimal organizational system of his ancestors and setting up ten dioceses in Hungary, ordering every ten villages to erect one church and maintain a priest. He founded the cathedrals of Székesfehérvár and Esztergom, the Nunnery of Veszprém, the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, and the Monastery of Saint Peter and Paul in Óbuda. Inside the abbeys and monasteries, schools were established and they became important centers of culture. Saint Astricus served as Stephen's advisor, and Stephen also had Saint Gerard Sagredo as the tutor for his son Saint Emeric (Imre). Stephen discouraged pagan customs and strengthened Christianity with various laws, including ending the use of the old Hun-Magyar runic alphabet and making Latin the official language of the royal court. Stephen gave generously to the churches, personally visited them often, and supervised their construction. He often disguised himself as a peasant whenever he traveled, and freely gave money to any poor people he met (in one account, Stephen was beaten and robbed by a group of beggars to whom he was giving alms, but he forgave them and spared their lives). He intended to retire to a life of holy contemplation and hand the kingdom over to his only surviving son Imre, but in 1031 Imre was wounded in a hunting accident and died. In Stephen's words of mourning:

By God's secret decision death took him, so that wickedness would not change his soul and false imaginations would not deceive his mind – as the Book of Wisdom teaches about early death.

Book of Wisdom Stephen mourned a very long time over the loss of his favorite son Imre, which took a great toll on his health. He eventually recovered, but he never regained his original vitality. Having no children left, he could not find anyone among his remaining relatives who was able to rule the country competently and willing to maintain the Christian faith of the nation. Unable to choose an heir, King Stephen died at Székesfehérvár (a city he built in central Hungary) on the Feast of the Assumption, and was buried there. Both his nobles and his subjects were said to have mourned for 3 straight years afterwards. Shortly after his death, healing miracles were said to have occurred at his tomb. Stephen was canonized by the Vatican as Saint Stephen of Hungary in 1083. Catholics venerate him as the patron saint of: Hungary, kings, the death of children, masons, stonecutters, and bricklayers. His feast is on September 2, but in Hungary his chief festival is observed on August 20, the day on which his sacred relics were transferred to the city of Buda; this day is a public holiday in Hungary. His crown, known as the Holy Crown, is currently (since 2000) enshrined in the Hungarian Parliament building, in Budapest. Excerpt from Saint Stephen's admonitions to his son Imre: :My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak. :Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down. Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death. :All these virtues I have noted above make up the royal crown, and without them no one is fit to rule here on earth or attain to the heavenly kingdom.

External link

- [http://english.mnb.hu/Engine.aspx?page=mnben_notes&ContentID=3325 His picture on the Hungarian 10,000 forint banknote] Category:975 births Category:1038 deaths Category:Saints Category:Hungarian monarchs Category:Hungarian nobility Category:History of Europe Category:History of Hungary Category:History of Slovakia ja:イシュトヴァーン1世

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

World War II

, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. From top going counterclockwise: Allied landing on D-Day 1944, the Nuremberg Rally 1936, the Nagasaki atom bomb 1945, the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin 1945 and the Gate of Auschwitz.]] World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th Century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest continuous war in human history. It was the first time that a number of newly developed technologies, including nuclear weapons, were used against either military or civilian targets. World War II resulted in the direct or indirect death of anywhere from 50 to 60 million or more people, over 3% of the world population at that time. It is estimated to have cost more money and resources than all other wars combined: about 1 trillion US dollars in 1945 (adjusted for inflation; roughly 10.5 trillion in 2005), not including subsequent reconstruction [http://www.historychannel.com/worldwartwo/?page=triumph5]. The outcomes of the war, including new technology and changes to the world's geopolitical, cultural and economic arrangement, were unprecedented. The conflict began by most Western accounts on September 1 1939 with the German invasion of Poland (the Pacific war is taken to have started on July 7 1937 with the Japanese attack on China) and lasted until mid-1945, involving many of the world's countries. Virtually all countries that participated in World War I were involved in World War II. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 and Canada followed on September 10, 1939. The United States entered the conflict in December of 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Summary

Attributed in varying degrees to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the rise in nationalism, racism, fascism, National socialism, Japanese imperialism, and militarism, the causes of the war are a matter of debate. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Axis initially consisted of an alliance between Germany and Italy, which later expanded to include Japan and Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Some of the nations that Germany conquered sent military forces, particularly to the Eastern front. Among the expeditionary forces that joined Germany were forces from Vichy France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain (though Spain was itself a neutral country) and armies of Russians and Ukrainians under the command of the general Andrey Vlasov. The Allies were initially the United Kingdom, including the Commonwealth, France and Poland, later joined by the USSR, the United States of America and China. Fighting occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the Middle East, in the Pacific and South East Asia, and it continued in China. In Europe, the war ended with the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 (V-E and Victory Days), but continued in Asia until Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (V-J Day). At least 50 million people died as a result of the war. This figure includes acts of genocide such as the Holocaust and General Ishii Shiro's Unit 731 experiments in Pingfan, incredibly bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific Ocean, and massive bombings of cities, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the firebombing of Dresden (and even worse but less known) of Pforzheim in Germany. Few areas of the world were unaffected; the war involved the "home front" and bombing of civilians to a new degree. Atomic weapons, jet aircraft, rockets and radar, the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", the massive use of tanks, submarines, torpedo bombers and destroyer/tanker formations, are only a few of many wartime inventions and new tactics that changed the face of the conflict. Post–World War II Europe was partitioned into Western and Soviet spheres of influence, the former undergoing economic reconstruction under the Marshall Plan and the latter becoming satellite states of the Soviet Union. This partition was, however, informal; rather than coming to terms about the spheres of influence, the relationship between the victors steadily deteriorated, and the military lines of demarcation finally became the de facto country boundaries. Western Europe largely aligned as NATO, and Eastern Europe largely as the Warsaw pact countries, alliances which were fundamental to the ensuing Cold War. In Asia, the United States' military occupation of Japan led to Japan's democratisation. China's civil war continued through and after the war, resulting eventually in the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The war sparked a wave of independence for colonies of European powers, who were exhausted from fighting the war. There was a fundamental shift in power from Western Europe to the new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, though there were few actual boundary changes. __TOC__

Causes

People's Republic of China]] Main articles: Causes of World War II, Events preceding World War II in Europe, Events preceding World War II in Asia The causes of World War II are naturally a debated subject, but a common view, particularly among the allies in the early post-war years, ties them to the expansionism of Germany and Japan: Germany had lost wealth, power and status following the First World War and the expansion was to make Germany great again.
- In Germany there was a strong desire to escape the bonds of the World War I Treaty of Versailles, and eventually, Hitler and the Nazis assumed control of the country. They led Germany through a chain of events: rearmament, reoccupation of the Rhineland, a merger with Austria (Anschluss), incorporation of Czechoslovakia and finally the invasion of Poland.
- In Asia, Japan's efforts to become a world power and the rise of militarist leadership (in the 1930s the government in Japan was undermined as militarists rose to power and de facto gained totalitarian control) led to conflicts with first China and later the United States. Japan also sought to secure additional natural resources, such as oil and iron ore, due in part to the lack of natural resources on Japan's own home islands.

Participants

iron ore and Joseph Stalin, during the Yalta Conference in 1945]] Main article: Participants in World War II The belligerents of the Second World War are usually considered to belong to either of the two blocs: the Axis and the Allies. A number of smaller countries participated in the war, though often under occupation or as proxies of one of the large powers. The Axis Powers consisted primarily of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which split the Earth into three spheres of influence under the Tripartite Pact of 1940, and vowed to defend one another against aggression. This replaced the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 that Italy had joined in 1937. Spain's fascist government led by Francisco Franco was a great asset in trade to the Axis powers during the war. A number of smaller countries were counted among the Axis powers. Among these were Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and arguably Finland. Among the Allied powers, the so-called Big Three were the United Kingdom (from September 3 1939), the Soviet Union (from June 1941) and the United States (from December 1941). China had been at war with Japan since 1937. 1937 On August 23, 1939, just before the war broke out, the USSR and Germany signed the non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which, among other things, divided Eastern Europe into regions of influence. But Germany violated the pact when it invaded the USSR in 1941. Similarly, the US had the (much older) unilateral Monroe Doctrine, which stated that Europe should not interfere in the Americas and in turn the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs (including wars). But the U.S. entered the war after first Japan and then Germany declared war on it and launched direct attacks on its navy, shipping and other interests. Many other countries, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand and Yugoslavia are also considered important Allies, although some of these were conquered and occupied by Axis forces or even officially joined the Axis as a result of coercion. Countries that attempted to remain neutral in the conflict were often viewed with suspicion by the participants, and often pressured to make contributions to the most influential power in their neighbourhood. Sovereignty was often difficult to maintain as many countries that did not directly participate in the conflict nevertheless held vested interests in seeing a particular side prevail. For example, neutral Switzerland was generally considered to be "Allied-friendly", while neutral Spain was considered "Axis-friendly", despite the fact that neither country openly proclaimed any alliances. Such situations allowed neutral countries to become hotbeds of espionage. It is important to note as well, that Sweden's participation in the war was negligable due to specific relations with the German state at the time.

A debated starting date

On which date World War II started is a debated subject; historians do not all agree on which event signified the start of the war. The most common date used is 1 September 1939, marking the German invasion of Poland which resulted in the British and French declarations of war two days later. Other candidates include the Japanese invasion of China on 7 July 1937 (the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War) or the entry of Hitler's armies to Prague in March 1939. Some historians argue that the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (The Second Italo-Abyssinian War) which lasted seven months in 1935-1936 was the actual start of World War II. There are some historians that argue the war started on the start of the Manchurian Incident on 18 September 1931.

Chronology 1937-45

Main articles: European Theatre of World War II, Mediterranean Theatre of World War II, Pacific War, End of World War II in Europe

1937: Second Sino-Japanese War

On 7 July 1937, Japan, after occupying northeastern China as Manchuria in 1931, launched another attack against China near Beijing (see Marco Polo Bridge Incident). Rather than retreating swiftly as in engagements with the Japanese before, the Chinese government declared war on Japan, marking the official start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which would soon become part of the World War. In December 1937, the capital, Nanking (now Nanjing), fell and the Chinese government moved its seat to Chongqing for the rest of the war. Surprised by the unanticipated level of resistance from China, the Japanese forces committed brutal atrocities against civilians and POWs when Nanking was occupied (see Nanjing Massacre), killing up to 200,000 civilians within a month. In Europe, the peace was uneasy, with Germany annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia, and taking apparent aim at Poland.

1939: War breaks out in Europe

Poland]] Main articles: Polish September Campaign, Phony War War broke out in Poland on 1 September 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. France and the United Kingdom honoured their defensive alliance of March 1939 by declaring war two days later on 3 September. Australia and New Zealand declared war the same day, although through the quirk of the international date line, New Zealand then Australia were the first to declare war on Germany. Canada followed a week later, on 10 September. Only partly mobilised and with troops inadequately equipped with largely outdated weapons (which included large numbers of horse-mounted cavalry), and without the anticipated support of French or British forces, Poland unsurprisingly fared poorly against the Wehrmacht's superior numbers and "blitzkrieg" tactics. In accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Red Army invaded Poland from the east on 17 September. Hours later, the Polish government escaped to Romania. The last Polish Army unit was defeated on 6 October. As Poland fell, the British and French were either caught unaware of German intentions or had not allowed themselves to believe that Germany would invade Poland. Germany paused to regroup during a period that would be termed "the Phony War", or the "Sitzkrieg", which lasted until May 1940. Polish forces continued to fight the Axis powers after their country fell. A prominent example was the assistance of Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain. The Soviet Union, due to its treaty relationship with Nazi Germany, did not fight the fascists: Stalin was happy to have those he felt were his natural and true enemies—the capitalist West and Nazi Germany—fight each other. Indeed, the Soviets had their partisans in the U.S., working alongside Nazi sympathisers, advocate that the U.S. remain neutral in the war, a position that the majority of Americans, reluctant to join in what they saw as "someone else's war," welcomed. Battle of Britain There were isolated engagements during the "Phony War" or "Sitzkrieg" period, including the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in the anchorage at Scapa Flow and Luftwaffe bombings of the naval bases at Rosyth and Scapa Flow. The Kriegsmarine pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was sunk in South America after the battle of the River Plate. The Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 September, 1940, formalising their alignment as the "Axis Powers". The Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, beginning the Winter War, which lasted until March 1940 with Finland ceding territory to the Soviet Union.

1940: The war spreads

Winter War Main Articles: Norwegian Campaign, Battle of France, Battle of Britain, North African Campaign, Balkans Campaign Europe: Germany invaded Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940, in Operation Weserübung, ostensibly to counter the threat of an Allied invasion from the region. Heavy fighting ensued on land and at sea in Norway. British, French and Polish forces landed to support the Norwegians at Namsos, Åndalsnes and Narvik, with most success at the latter. By late June, all Allied forces had been evacuated, and the Norwegian Army surrendered. France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were invaded on 10 May, ending the Phony War and beginning the Battle of France. The Allies had hoped to establish a static continuous front and were ill-prepared for the German Blitzkrieg tactics. In the first phase of the invasion, Operation Yellow, the Wehrmacht's Panzergruppe von Kleist bypassed the Maginot Line and split the Allies in two by driving to the English Channel. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands fell quickly against the attack of Army Group B, and the British Expeditionary Force, trapped in the north, was evacuated at Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. German forces then invaded France itself, in Operation Red, advancing behind the Maginot Line and near the coast. While some units from the French army were still fighting, a number of top politicians and military leaders decided that it would be better to surrender given the situation; France signed an armistice with Germany on June 22 1940, leading to the establishment of the Vichy France puppet government in the unoccupied part of France. In June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania. Not having secured a rapid peace with the United Kingdom, Germany began preparations to invade with the Battle of Britain. Fighter aircraft fought overhead for months as the Luftwaffe and Royal Air Force fought for control of Britain's skies. The Luftwaffe initially targeted RAF Fighter Command but turned to terror bombing London. The Luftwaffe was not successful, and Operation Sealion, the proposed invasion of the British Isles, was abandoned. Similar efforts were made, though at sea, in the Battle of the Atlantic. In a long-running campaign, German U-Boats attempted to deprive the British Isles of necessary Lend Lease cargo from the United States. The U-Boats reduced shipments considerably; however, the United Kingdom refused to seek peace, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill stating that "We shall never surrender". President Roosevelt announced a shift in the American stance from neutrality to "non-belligerency". The Mediterranean: Italy invaded Greece on 28 October 1940, from bases in Albania. Although outnumbered, Greek forces successfully repelled the Italian attacks and launched a full-scale counter-attack deep into Albania. By mid-December they had liberated one-fourth of Albania. The North African Campaign began in 1940; Italian forces in Libya attacked British forces in Egypt. The aim was to make Egypt an Italian possession, especially the vital Suez Canal. British, Indian and Australian forces counter-attacked (see Operation Compass), but this offensive stopped in 1941 when much of the Commonwealth forces were transferred to Greece to defend it from German attack. However, German forces (known later as the Afrika Korps) under General Erwin Rommel landed in Libya and renewed the assault on Egypt. Italian troops invaded and captured British Somaliland in August 1940. On the other hand, the Italian declaration of war challenged the British supremacy of this sea, a supremacy hinged on Gibraltar, Malta and Alexandria. While Gibraltar was never under direct attack, Alexandria and to a deadlier degree Malta were hit repetitively by Axis attacks, the thrusts towards the Suez Canal for the former, and the 1940/42 Blitz for the latter, which made the island of Malta the most heavily bombed place on earth. Asia: In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the Vichy Government, despite local Free French, and joined Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and the United Kingdom, which reacted with an oil boycott.

1941: The war becomes global

Main articles: Eastern Front, Continuation War, Attack on Pearl Harbor Europe: Attack on Pearl Harbor Yugoslavia's government succumbed to the pressure of Italy and Germany and signed the Tripartite Treaty on 25 March 1941. This was followed by anti-Axis demonstrations in the country and a coup which overthrew the government and replaced it with a pro-Allied one on 27 March 1941. Hitler's forces then invaded Greece and Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. Hitler reluctantly sent forces to assist Mussolini's forces in their attempt to capture Greece, principally to prevent a British build-up on Germany's strategic southern flank. With these new troops the Axis succeeded in driving the Greek forces back. British troops were diverted from North Africa to assist with the defence but failed to prevent Greece's capture. On 20 May 1941, the Battle of Crete began when elite German paratroopers and glider-borne mountain troops and some 1300 aeroplanes launched a massive airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete. Crete was defended by an group of about 43,000 Greek, New Zealand, Australian and British troops, not all of them fully equipped. The Germans attacked the island simultaneously on the three airfields. Their invasion on two of the airfields failed, but they successfully captured one, which allowed them to reinforce their position by landing reinforcements. After a week it was decided that so many German troops had been flown in that there was no way to defeat them, and about 17,000 Commonwealth soldiers were evacuated. However, over 10,000 Greek and 500 Commonwealth troops remained at large and caused problems for the German occupiers. The Germans may have suffered well over 15,000 casualties. So heavy were the losses that Hiler decided never to launch an airborne invasion again. General Kurt Student would later say, "Crete was the grave of the German parachutists". The Allies, on the other hand, came to the conclusion that every major invasion should be supported by paratroopers. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the largest invasion in history, commenced on 22 June 1941. The "Great Patriotic War" (Russian: Великая Отечественная Война, Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voyna) had begun with surprise attacks by German panzer armies, which encircled and destroyed much of the Soviet's western military, capturing or killing hundreds of thousands of men. Soviet forces came to fight a war of scorched earth, withdrawing into the steppe of Russia to acquire time and stretch the German army. Industries were dismantled and withdrawn to the Ural mountains for reassembly. German armies pursued a three-pronged advance against Leningrad (modern-day St Petersburg), Moscow, and the Caucasus. Having pushed to occupy Moscow before winter, German forces were delayed into the Soviet Winter. Soviet counter-attacks defeated them within sight of Moscow's spires, and a rout was only narrowly avoided. Some historians identify this as the "turning point" in the Allies' war against Germany; others identify the capitulation of the German Sixth Army outside Stalingrad (modern-day Volgograd) in 1943. The Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union began with Soviet air attacks shortly after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, on 25 June, and ended with an armistice in 1944. The Soviet Union was joined in the war by the United Kingdom but not by the United States. The Mediterranean again: In June 1941, Allied forces invaded Syria and Lebanon, capturing Damascus on 17 June (see Syria-Lebanon campaign). Meanwhile, Rommel's forces advanced rapidly eastward, laying siege to the vital seaport of Tobruk. Australian and other Allied troops in the city resisted all until relieved, but a renewed Axis offensive captured the city and drove the Eighth Army back to a line at El Alamein. Asia: The Sino-Japanese War El Alamein Main article: Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) A war had begun in Asia years before World War II started in Europe. Japan had invaded China in 1931. By 1937, war had broken out as the Japanese sought control of China. Roosevelt signed an unpublished (secret) executive order in May 1940 allowing U.S. military personnel to resign from the service so that they could participate in a covert operation in China: the American Volunteer Group, also known as Chennault's Flying Tigers. Over a seven-month period, Chennault's Flying Tigers destroyed an estimated 600 Japanese aircraft, sunk numerous Japanese ships, and stalled the Japanese invasion of Burma. With the United States and other countries cutting exports to Japan, particularly fuel oil, Japan planned a strike on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 December 1941, to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet while consolidating oil fields in Southeast Asia. It is hard to determine whether the Japanese intended to release an advance declaration of war, however, as means of coordinating secret directives with public communication, particularly during a weekend in the U.S., were limited. Despite what warning signs remained, the attack on Pearl Harbor achieved military surprise and dealt severe damage to the American Fleet's battleships, though the primary targets, aircraft carriers, remained safely at sea. The next day, Japanese forces arrived at Hong Kong, which later led to the surrender of the British colony on Christmas Day (known to locals as 'Black Christmas'), as well as launching numerous attacks on British and American outposts across the Pacific. Asia: The United States enters the war
Main article: Attack on Pearl Harbor Attack on Pearl Harbor On 7 December 1941, Japanese warplanes commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo carried out a surprise air raid on Pearl Harbor, the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific. The Japanese forces met little resistance and devastated the harbour. This attack resulted in 8 battleships either sunk or damaged, 3 light cruisers and 3 destroyers sunk as well as damage to some auxiliaries and 343 aircraft either damaged or destroyed. However the attack failed to strike targets that could have been crippling losses to the US Pacific Fleet such as the aircraft carriers which were out at sea at the time of the attack or the base's ship fuel storage and repair facilities. The survival of these assets have led many to consider this attack a catastrophic long term strategic blunder for Japan. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan. Simultaneously to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan also attacked U.S. air bases in the Philippines. Immediately following these attacks, Japan invaded the Philippines and also the British Colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya, Borneo and Burma with the intention of seizing the oilfields of the Dutch East Indies. In a matter of months, all these territories and more fell to the Japanese onslaught. The British island fortress of Singapore was captured in what Churchill considered one of the most humiliating British defeats of all time. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941, even though it was not obliged to do so under the Tripartite Pact of 1940. Hitler made the declaration in the hopes that Japan would support him by attacking the Soviet Union. Japan did not oblige him, and this diplomatic move proved a catastrophic blunder which gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt the pretext needed for the United States joining the fight in Europe with full commitment and with no meaningful opposition from Congress. Some historians mark this moment as another major turning point of the war with Hitler provoking a grand alliance of powerful nations, most prominently the UK, the USA and the USSR, who could wage powerful offensives on both East and West simultaneously.

1942: Deadlock

Franklin D. Roosevelt] Main articles: Battle of Stalingrad, Operation Torch Europe: In 1942, an aborted German offensive was launched towards the Caucasus to secure oil fields, and German armies reached Stalingrad. The siege of Stalingrad continued for many months, with vicious urban warfare leading to high casualties on both sides. At night, the Soviet forces were resupplied from the east bank of the Volga, and the Wehrmacht forces were eventually ground down; especially after Hitler diverted the armour of the Sixth Army to the Caucasus. In November a Soviet offensive encircled Sixth Army. By early February 1943, it was clear that the Sixth Army would have to surrender. Hitler promoted General Friedrich Paulus, who was in charge of the German forces, to Field Marshal in the vain hope it would deter him from surrendering. It did not, and he surrendered completely on 2 February. The results were the destruction of the city, millions of casualties, and the collapse of Germany's Sixth Army as a viable fighting force. Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels responded with his Sportpalast speech to the German people. Some historians cite this as the European war's "turning point". The Mediterranean: Sportpalast speech Sportpalast speech (432nd Squadron) damaged by flak somewhere over Algeria during the North African Campaign in 1942.]] The First Battle of El Alamein took place between 1 July and 27 July 1942. German forces had advanced to the last defensible point before Alexandria and the Suez Canal. However, they had outrun their supplies, and a Commonwealth defence stopped their thrusts. The Second Battle of El Alamein occurred between October 23 and November 3, 1942, after Bernard Montgomery had replaced Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Commonwealth forces, now known as the Eighth Army. Erwin Rommel, German commander of the Afrika Corps, known as the "Desert Fox", was absent for this battle because he was recovering from jaundice back in Europe. Commonwealth forces took the offensive, and although they lost more tanks than the Germans began the battle with, Montgomery was ultimately triumphant. The western Allies had the advantage of being close to their supplies during the battle. In addition, Rommel was getting little or no help by this time from the struggling Luftwaffe, which was now more tasked with defending Western European air space, and fighting the Soviet Union, than providing Rommel with support in North Africa. After the German defeat at El Alamein, Rommel made a successful strategic withdrawal to Tunisia. During the Arcadia Conference from December 1941 to January 1942, the Allied leaders concluded that it was essential to keep Russia in the war. This consideration led to the overall strategy "Germany First"; i.e. giving priority of knocking out Germany before Japan. This decision resulted in a long debate as to where and when to open a Second Front against Germany. The American Chiefs of Staff favoured a cross-channel (France) amphibious operation in the summer. The British opposed this because of insufficient landing craft and logistical problems. It was also thought that American forces were in a process of expansion, organisation and exercise, not capable yet of fighting an experienced German army. Only if Russia collapsed would they approve a main landing in France. Churchill put forward the idea of a small invasion in Norway or landings in French North Africa. The plan for landings in Africa was approved in July 1942. Operation Torch was headed by General Dwight Eisenhower. The aim of Torch was to gain control of Morocco and Algiers through simultaneous landings at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, followed a few days later with a landing at Bône, the gateway to Tunisia. The operation was launched on 8 November 1942. The first wave was almost entirely American troops, because it was thought that the French would react more favourably to Americans than British. It was hoped that the local forces of Vichy France would put up no resistance and submit to the authority of Free French General Henri Giraud. In fact, resistance was stronger than expected but still sporadic. In Algiers, 400 members of the French resistance captured much of the city, though it was retaken before Allied forces could arrive. The Vichy commander, Admiral Darlan, negotiated an end to hostilities, against orders from the Vichy government. He was allowed to retain local control by the Allies, to the annoyance of Free French leaders. Hitler invaded and occupied Vichy France in response. Rommel's Afrika Corps was not being supplied adequately because of the loss of transport shipments caused by Allied—mostly British—navies and air forces in the Mediterranean. This lack of supplies and air support destroyed any chance of a large German offensive in Africa. Ultimately, German and Italian forces were caught in the pincers of a twin advance from Algeria and Libya. The withdrawing Germans continued to put up stiff defence, and Rommel defeated the American forces decisively at the Battle of Kasserine Pass before finishing his strategic withdrawal back to the meagre German supply chain. Inevitably, advancing from both the east and west, the Allies finally defeated the German Afrika Corps on May 13 1943. Some 250,000 Axis soldiers were taken prisoner. Asia: 1943]] In May 1942, a naval attack on Port Moresby, New Guinea, was thwarted by Allied navies in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Had the capture of Port Moresby succeeded, the Japanese Navy would have been within striking range of Australia. This was both the first successful opposition to Japanese plans and the first naval battle fought only between aircraft carriers. The two sides suffered roughly equal losses. A month later the invasion of Midway Island was prevented by decoding secret Japanese messages, and hence alerted U.S. naval leaders that Midway was the Japanese target. American pilots sunk four Japanese carriers, which the Japanese industry could not replace swiftly. The loss of many planes and skilled pilots (many of them took part in Pearl Harbor) was also difficult to redress. The Americans lost one carrier and fewer planes. It was a complete victory for the Americans, and the Japanese Navy was now on the defensive. However, in July an overland attack on Port Moresby was led along the rugged Kokoda Track. This was met with Australian militia, many of them very young and undertrained, fighting a stubborn rearguard action until the arrival of Australian regulars returning from action in North Africa, Greece and the Middle East. But amazingly, the outnumbered and untrained Australian 39th battalion defeated the 5,000-strong Japanese army. This was one of the most significant victories in Australian military history. Even prior to the American entry to the war, the Allied leaders had agreed that priority should be given to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Nonetheless, U.S. forces began to attack captured territories, beginning with Guadalcanal Island, against a bitter and determined Japanese defence. On 7 August 1942, the United States assaulted the island. In late August and early September, while battle raged on Guadalcanal, an amphibious Japanese attack on the eastern tip of New Guinea was met by Australian forces at Milne Bay, and the Japanese land forces suffered their first conclusive defeat. On Guadalcanal, the Japanese resistance failed in February 1943. A substantial element of the Asian campaign was played out, starting in 1942, in the Aleutian Islands. For detailed information, see World War II: Aleutian Islands.

1943: The war turns

World War II: Aleutian Islands Main articles: Battle of Kursk, Italian Campaign Europe: Russia: After the victory at Stalingrad, the Red Army launched a series of eight offensives during the winter, many concentrated along the Don basin near Stalingrad, which resulted in initial gains until German forces were able to take advantage of the weakened condition of the Red Army and regain the territory it lost. In July, the Wehrmacht launched a much-delayed offensive against the Soviet Union at Kursk. Their intentions were known by the Soviets, and the Battle of Kursk ended in a Soviet counteroffensive that threw the German Army back. Italy is invaded: Newly captured North Africa was used as a springboard for the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. On 25 July Mussolini was fired from office by the King of Italy, allowing a new government to take power. Having captured Sicily, the Allies invaded mainland Italy on 3 September 1943. Italy surrendered on 8 September, but German forces continued to fight. Allied forces advanced north but were stalled for the winter at the Gustav Line, until they broke through in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Rome was captured on 5 June 1944. Mid-1943 brought the fifth and final German Sutjeska offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans before the invasion and subsequent capitulation of Italy, the other major occupying force in Yugoslavia. Partisans, Louisville (CA-28), Portland (CA-33) and Columbia (CL-56) into Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, January 1945.]] Asia: (1943–45) Australian and U.S. forces then undertook the prolonged campaign to retake the occupied parts of the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, experiencing some of the toughest resistance of the war. The rest of the Solomon Islands were retaken in 1943, New Britain and New Ireland in 1944. As the Philippines were being retaken in late 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf raged, arguably the largest naval battle in history. The last major offensive in the south-west Pacific Area was the Borneo campaign of mid-1945, which was aimed at further isolating the remaining Japanese forces in South East Asia and securing the release of Allied POWs. Allied submarines and aircraft also attacked Japanese merchant shipping, depriving Japan's industry of the raw materials it had gone to war to obtain. The effectiveness of this stranglehold increased as U.S. Marines captured islands closer to the Japanese mainland. The Nationalist Kuomintang Army, under Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Chinese Army, under Mao Zedong, both opposed the Japanese occupation of China but never truly allied against the Japanese. Conflict between Nationalist and Communist forces emerged long before the war; it continued after and, to an extent, even during the war, though more implicitly. The Japanese had captured most of Burma, severing the Burma Road by which the Western Allies had been supplying the Chinese Nationalists. This forced the Allies to create a large sustained airlift, known as "flying the Hump". U.S. led and trained Chinese divisions, a British division and a few thousand U.S. ground troops cleared the Japanese forces from northern Burma so that the Ledo Road could be built to replace the Burma Road. Further south the main Japanese army in the theatre were fought to a standstill on the Burma-India frontier by the British Fourteenth Army (the "Forgotten Army"), which then counter-attacked, and having recaptured all of Burma was planning attacks towards Malaya when the war ended.

1944: The beginning of the end

British Fourteenth Army, 6 June 1944]] Main articles: Battle of Normandy, Operation Bagration, Operation Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge On "D-Day" (6 June 1944) the western Allies invaded German-held Normandy in a pre-dawn amphibious assault spearheaded by American (82nd and 101st), British (6th) and Canadian paratroops, opening the "second front" against Germany. The allies suffered large casualties during the beach assault. German artillery batteries pounded the beaches. But the airborne divisions took out the guns from the rear, enabling the seaborne troops to break inland. Hedgerows aided the defending German units, and for months the Allies measured progress in hundreds of yards and bloody rifle fights. An Allied breakout was effected at St.-Lô, and the most powerful German force in France, the Seventh Army, was almost completely destroyed in the Falaise pocket while counter-attacking. Allied forces stationed in Italy invaded the French Riviera on 15 August and linked up with forces from Normandy. The clandestine French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on 19 August, and a French division under General Jacques Leclerc, pressing forward from Normandy, received the surrender of the German forces there and liberated the city on August 25. By early 1944, the Red Army had reached the border of Poland and lifted the Siege of Leningrad. Shortly after Allied landings at Normandy, on 9 June, the Soviet Union began an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus that after three months would force Nazi Germany's co-belligerent Finland to an armistice. Operation Bagration, a Soviet offensive involving 2.5 million men and 6,000 tanks, was launched on 22 June, destroying the German Army Group Centre and taking 350,000 prisoners. Finland's defence had been dependent on active, or in periods passive, support from the German Wehrmacht that also provided defence for the chiefly uninhabited northern half of Finland. After the Wehrmacht retreated from the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland, Finland's defence was untenable. The Allies' armistice conditions included further territori

January 7

January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 358 days remaining (359 in leap years). The day is 人日 (Jinjitsu), 七草の節句 in Japan.

Events

- 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
- 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.
- 1566 - Pius V becomes Pope.
- 1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia.
- 1601 - Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth
- 1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown,Virginia.
- 1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
- 1782 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America).
- 1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a gas balloon, becoming the first togreen-white-red tricolour as official flag. It is the birthday of the flag of Italy.
- 1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
- 1894 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
- 1896 - Fannie Farmer publishes her first cookbook.
- 1901 - Alferd Packer is released from prison after serving 18 years for cannibalism.
- 1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS."
- 1911 - Mary Pickford marries Owen Moore.
- 1922 - Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes.
- 1924 - George Gershwin completes Rhapsody in Blue.
- The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is founded in Paris by seven member states: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switserland.
- 1926 - George Burns marries Gracie Allen.
- 1927 - First international telephone call - New York City to London.
- The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game.
- 1935 - World War II: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Italo-French agreements.
- 1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
- 1945 - British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
- 1950 - A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa kills 41 people.
- 1953 - President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
- 1954 - The first public demonstration of a machine translation system was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
- 1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
- 1975 - OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%.
- 1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, so driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
- 1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
- 1984 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- 1989 - Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan.
- 1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- 1996 - One of the worst blizzards in American history hits eastern states killing more than 100.
- 1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.

Births

- 1355 - Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III of England (d. 1397)
- 1502 - Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
- 1528 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (d. 1572)
- 1647 - Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
- 1685 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (d. 1761)
- 1706 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
- 1718 - Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1790)
- 1768 - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (d. 1844)
- 1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
- 1831 - Heinrich von Stephan, German labor organizer (d. 1897)
- 1834 - Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and inventor (d. 1874)
- 1844 - Bernadette Soubirous, French saint (d. 1879)
- 1860 - Emanuil Manolov, Bulgarian composer (d. 1902)
- 1871 - Felix Édouard Justin Émile Borel, French mathematician, politician, and resistance fighter (d. 1956)
- 1873 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian producer (d. 1976)
- 1875 - Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1963)
- 1891 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (d. 1960)
- 1896 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (d. 1984)
- 1899 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)
- 1903 - Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1903 - Alan Napier, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1908 - Red Allen, American musician (d. 1967)
- 1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet (d. (1984)
- 1910 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
- 1911 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1912 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
- 1913 - Johnny Mize, baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1916 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)
- 1922 - Vincent Gardenia, Italian-born actor (d. 1992)
- 1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)
- 1925 - Gerald Durrell British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (d. 1995)
- 1928 - William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter
- 1929 - Terry Moore, American actress
- 1934 - Charlie Jenkins, American runner
- 1935 - Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist
- 1935 - Valeri Kubasov, cosmonaut
- 1941 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1941 - John E. Walker, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 - Vasily Alexeev, Russian weightlifter
- 1945 - Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1946 - Jann Wenner, American publisher
- 1948 - Kenny Loggins, American singer
- 1949 - Steven Williams, American actor
- 1950 - Erin Gray, American actress
- 1956 - David Caruso, American actor
- 1957 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist
- 1957 - Katie Couric, American television host
- 1957 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer
- 1964 - Nicolas Cage, American actor
- 1966 - Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American publicist (d. 1999)
- 1967 - Mark Lamarr, British comedian
- 1971 - David Yost, American actor
- 1976 - Eric Gagné, Canadian baseball player
- 1976 - Alfonso Soriano, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1977 - Dustin Diamond, American actor
- 1979 - Bipasha Basu, Indian model and actress
- 1980 - Mariangel Ruiz, Venezuelan hostees, actress, and model
- 1990 - Liam Aiken, American Actor

Deaths

- 1400 - Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, English politician (executed) (b. 1374)
- 1536 - Catherine of Aragon, queen of Henry VIII of England (b. 1485)
- 1566 - Louis de Blois, Flemish mystic (b. 1506)
- 1619 - Nicholas Hilliard, English painter
- 1625 - Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer
- 1658 - Theophilus Eaton, Connecticut colonist (b. 1590)
- 1694 - Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English royalist general
- 1700 - Raphael Fabretti, Italian antiquarian (b. 1618)
- 1758 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet (b. 1686)
- 1767 - Thomas Clap, first president of Yale University (b. 1703)
- 1770 - Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician (b. 1695)
- 1783 - William Tans'ur, English hymnist (b. 1700)
- 1786 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1830 - Thomas Lawrence, English painter (b. 1769)
- 1864 - Caleb Blood Smith, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
- 1872 - James Fisk, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
- 1878 - François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist (b. 1794)
- 1893 - Jožef Stefan, Slovenian physicist, mathematician, and poet (b. 1835)
- 1920 - Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
- 1943 - Nikola Tesla, Serbian-born inventor and electrical engineer (b. 1856)
- 1951 - René Guénon, French-Egyptian author (b. 1886)
- 1964 - Cyril Davies, American musician (b. 1932)
- 1972 - John Berryman, American poet (b. 1914)
- 1984 - Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902))
- 1986 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (b. 1917)
- 1988 - Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
- 1989 - Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
- 1990 - Bronko Nagurski, American football player(b. 1908)
- 1995 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (b. 1926)
- 1996 - Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician (b. 1930)
- 1998 - Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b.1906)
- 2000 - Don Martin, American illustrator (b. 1931)
- 2002 - Gyula Várady, Hungarian footballer (b. 1919)
- 2002 - Jon Lee, Welsh drummer (Feeder) (suicide) (b. 1968)
- 2002 - Avery Schreiber, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2005 - Pierre Daninos, French novelist (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Eileen Desmond, Irish politician (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

- Catholicism - Feast day of St. Raymond of Penafort.
- Christmas Day in the Julian calendar. This is the day on which Christmas is celebrated in most Orthodox churches, e.g. the Coptic Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Anthiochian Orthodox as well as the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens & Egypt.
- European traditional - Distaff day: women's traditional work begins again after Epiphany.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/7 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 6 - January 8 - December 7 - February 7 — listing of all days ko:1월 7일 ms:7 Januari ja:1月7日 simple:January 7 th:7 มกราคม

Emilio Palma

Emilio Marcos Palma (born January 7, 1978) was the first known person to be born on the continent of Antarctica. He was also born farther south than any other human being in history. The son of Argentine parents, Emilio's birth took place in Fortín Sargento Cabral at the Esperanza Base near the tip of the Antarctic peninsula. Since his parents were Argentine citizens, and he was born at an Argentine base, he was immediately granted citizenship of Argentina. He is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the only person in history known to be the first born on a continent. Palma, Emilio Palma, Emilio Category:Antarctica

January 10

January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 355 days remaining (356 in leap years).

Events

- 49 BC -- Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
- 1072 - Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo.
- 1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.
- 1806 - Dutch in Cape Town surrender to the British.
- 1810 - Marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Florida secedes from the United States.
- 1863 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens, between Paddington and Farringdon Street.
- 1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.
- 1901 - The first great Texas gusher, oil discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
- 1920 - League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.
- 1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Irish Free State.
- 1923 - Lithuania seizes and annexes Memel.
- 1927 - The film Metropolis by Fritz Lang premiers.
- 1929 - Tintin, a comic book character created by Hergé, makes his debut. He went on to be published in over 200 million comic books in 40 languages.
- 1941 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the U.S. Congress.
- 1946 - First General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.
- 1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1969 - After 147 years, the last issue of the Saturday Evening Post is published.
- 1971 - Masterpiece Theatre debuts on PBS.
- 1982 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This equalled the record set in the same place on February 11, 1895.
- 1984 - The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1989 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.
- 1990 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
- 2000 - America Online announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion, the largest corporate merger in history.
- 2001 - Wikipedia starts as part of Nupedia. It becomes a separate site five days later.

Births

1480 to 1899

- 1480 - Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (d. 1530)
- 1538 - Louis of Nassau, Dutch general (d. 1574)
- 1573 - Simon Marius, German astronomer (d. 1624)
- 1607 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1646)
- 1628 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1687)
- 1644 - Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (d. 1711)
- 1654 - Joshua Barnes, English scholar (d. 1712)
- 1715 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1775)
- 1721 - Johann Philipp Baratier, German scholar (d. 1740)
- 1729 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (d. 1799)
- 1738 - Ethan Allen, American Revolution military leader (d. 1789)
- 1769 - Michel Ney, French marshal (d. 1815)
- 1797 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (d. 1848)
- 1828 - Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (d. 1892)
- 1843 - Frank James, American outlaw (d. 1915)
- 1849 - Francisco Ferrer Guardia, Spanish free-thinker (d. 1909)
- 1858 - Heinrich Zille, German illustrator and photographer (d. 1929)
- 1869 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (d. 1916)
- 1873 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (d. 1958)
- 1883 - Francis X. Bushman, American actor (d. 1966)
- 1883 - Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi, Russian writer (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet (d. 1962)

1900 to 1999

- 1904 - Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, dancer (d. 1987)
- 1908 - Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
- 1908 - Bernard Lee, British actor (d. 1981)
- 1913 - Gustáv Husák, President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1991)
- 1913 - Mehmet Shehu, Albanian politician (d. 1981)
- 1916 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- 1917 - Jerry Wexler, American record producer
- 1918 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana
- 1920 - Max Patkin, baseball player (d. 1999)
- 1921 - Rodger Ward, American race car driver (d. 2004)
- 1925 - Max Roach, American drummer and composer
- 1927 - Gisele MacKenzie, Canadian singer (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Johnnie Ray, American singer (d. 1990)
- 1927 - Otto Stich, Swiss politician
- 1930 - Roy Edward Disney, American film executive
- 1931 - Peter Barnes, English writer (d. 2004)
- 1934 - Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian politician
- 1935 - Ronnie Hawkins, American musician
- 1935 - Sherrill Milnes, American baritone
- 1936 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian (d. 2002)
- 1936 - Robert Wilson, American physicist and radio astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - Thomas Penfield Jackson, American judge
- 1938 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist
- 1938 - Willie McCovey, baseball player
- 1939 - William Levy, Dutch writer
- 1939 - Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1939 - Bill Toomey, American athlete
- 1943 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973)
- 1944 - Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer
- 1945 - Rod Stewart, English singer
- 1946 - Aynsley Dunbar, British drummer
- 1948 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist
- 1948 - Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (d. 2002)
- 1948 - Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
- 1948 - William Sanderson, American actor
- 1949 - George Foreman, American boxer
- 1949 - James Lapine, American stage director
- 1949 - Linda Lovelace, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1953 - Pat Benatar, American singer
- 1953 - Bobby Rahal, American race car driver
- 1955 - Michael Schenker, German guitarist (UFO)
- 1956 - Shawn Colvin, American singer
- 1956 - Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish writer
- 1961 - Evan Handler, American actor
- 1964 - Brad Roberts, Canadian singer (Crash Test Dummies)
- 1973 - Ryan Drummond, American voice actor and comedian
- 1975 - Jake Delhomme, American football player
- 1978 - Gavin McCann, English footballer
- 1980 - Janelle Pierzina, American reality tevision star (Big Brother 6)
- 1982 - Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (d. 2004)

Deaths

681 to 1899

- 681 - Pope Agatho
- 1094 - Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo (b. 1029)
- 1276 - Pope Gregory X
- 1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1573)
- 1698 - Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (b. 1637)
- 1707 - Philibert, comte de Gramont, French writer (b. 1621)
- 1754 - Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (b. 1691)
- 1761 - Edward Boscawen, British admiral (b. 1711)
- 1777 - Spranger Barry, Irish actor (b. 1719)
- 1778 - Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist (b. 1707)
- 1811 - Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet (b. 1764)
- 1833 - Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician (b. 1752)
- 1851 - Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (b. 1775)
- 1862 - Samuel Colt, American inventor (b. 1814)
- 1866 - Pyotr Pletnyov, Russian poet (b. 1792)
- 1895 - Benjamin Godard, French composer (b. 1849)

1900 to 1999

- 1917 - William F. Cody, American frontiersman (b. 1846)
- 1934 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting the Reichstag fire (b. 1909)
- 1941 - Frank Bridge, English composer (b. 1879)
- 1941 - Joe Penner, Hungarian-born comedian and actor (b. 1904)
- 1951 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
- 1957 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- 1961 - Dashiell Hammett, American writer (b. 1894)
- 1970 - Pavel Belyayev, cosmonaut (b. 1925)
- 1971 - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883)
- 1976 - Howlin' Wolf, American musician (b. 1910)
- 1978 - Pedro Chamorro, Nicaraguan journalist (b. 1924)
- 1980 - George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)
- 1981 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1981 - Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1981 - Fawn M. Brodie, American historian (b. 1915)
- 1982 - Paul Lynde, American comedian (b. 1926)
- 1986 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- 1987 - Sir David Robinson, British philanthropist and entrepreneur (b. 1904)
- 1997 - Elspeth Huxley, British journalist and writer (b. 1907)
- 1997 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, and director (b. 1907)
- 1997 - Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)

2000 onwards

- 2000 - Sam Jaffe, American producer (b. 1901)
- 2004 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- 2004 - Alexandra Ripley, American author (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Gene Baylos, American comedian (b. 1906)
- 2005 - Margherita Carosio, Italian soprano (b. 1908)
- 2005 - James Forman, American civil rights leader (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Erwin Hillier, British cinematographer (b. 1911)
- 2005 - Gordon John "Jack" Horner, American sports journalist
- 2005 - Joséphine-Charlotte, Grandduchess of Luxembourg (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/10 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 9 - January 11 - December 10 - February 10 — listing of all days ko:1월 10일 ms:10 Januari ja:1月10日 simple:January 10 th:10 มกราคม

Pedro Joaquín Chamorro

Pedro Joaquín Chamorro was President of Nicaragua 1875-1879. Chamorro, Pedro Joaquín Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, crusading publisher and editor of the independent daily La Prensa and the leader of an opposition alliance campaigning for the removal of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle, was gunned down on his way to work in Managua on Jan. 10, 1978. His murder provoked violent demonstrations and demands for Somoza’s resignation, touching off a civil war in Nicaragua and marking the beginning of the end of the authoritarian Somoza family regime. Born in Granada, Nicaragua, on Sept. 23, 1924, Chamorro had long been a chief opponent of the Somoza dynasty. While still a law student, he began taking part in demonstrations against the dictator General Anastasio Somoza García and was briefly jailed in 1944 after making an anti-Somoza speech at a rally. That same year, his family’s newspaper, La Prensa, was shut down by the regime, and the Chamorro family fled to Mexico, where he began studying journalism. He returned to Nicaragua in 1948, becoming editor of La Prensa after his father’s death in 1952. Concerned about the plight of his country, where Somoza had crushed all political opposition and amassed a considerable personal fortune, Chamorro remained involved in politics. In 1954, he was jailed, tortured and sentenced to imprisonment on charges of rebellion, but the sentence was commuted to house arrest in 1955. Chamorro was arrested again in 1956 during a bloody government clampdown following Somoza’s assassination. He was accused of complicity in the assassination but later charged with rebellion and banished to San Carlos, a distant town in northern Nicaragua, in 1957. He fled to Costa Rica with his wife Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, and organized an expedition in 1959 to overthrow the government of Somoza’s elder son, Luis Somoza Debayle. However, the expedition’s members were captured and Chamorro brought for a third time before a military court, which sentenced him to nine years in prison for treason. Upon his release in 1969, he resumed the editorship of La Prensa, which continued attacking the Somoza regime, now headed by Anastasio Somoza Debayle, younger son of the former dictator. Violeta Chamorro was elected president of Nicaragua in 1990. During a 32-month suspension of constitutional rights, imposed by the government in 1975 after an attack by Cuban-backed rebels, Chamorro headed the opposition Democratic Union of Liberation (UDEL) and campaigned for human rights and the restoration of democracy. His paper became the main opposition platform, bringing the corruption of the Somoza regime into the spotlight of world opinion. During this period, Chamorro and La Prensa were repeatedly censored. The regular procedure was that on the afternoon prior to the day of its publication, all but the first and last pages of the paper had to be submitted for review by a board of censorship composed of three officers of the National Guard. The first and the last pages were submitted on the day of publication. As if foreseeing his untimely death, Chamorro wrote a letter in 1975 to President Somoza: “I am waiting, with a clear conscience, and a soul at peace, for the blow you are to deliver.” Three years later, in January 1978, Chamorro was killed by unknown gunmen who pulled up beside him in a car and opened fire with machine guns. “His blood has spattered all over Nicaragua,” an editorial in La Prensa mourned. At his funeral, thousands of people followed the coffin from Managua’s Oriental Hospital to the Chamorro family home, taking turns carrying it. Following Chamorro’s murder, an estimated 30,000 people rioted in the streets of Managua. Cars were set on fire and several buildings belonging to the Somoza family were attacked. A general strike was called. Outside the capital, unrest flared in a number of cities and towns, particularly in areas where National Guardsmen had massacred peasant farmers during the 2.5 year counterinsurgency effort. The government responded with further violence and reintroduced martial law censorship. During 1978, there were seven machine gun attacks and attempted bombings of La Prensa, now under the management of Chamorro’s widow, Violeta. Speaking about her husband to the participants of the 1998 IPI World Congress in Moscow, Violeta said: “During his whole life, Pedro Joaquín was a tireless fighter for democracy in Nicaragua and against the dictatorship of Somoza. This cost him incarceration, torture, exile and finally death. He was warned many times that plans existed to assassinate him, yet no threat detained him from fulfilling his mission to impart the truth and preach democracy.” It is interesting to note that while many at the time believed that Chamorro was killed by Somoza's "henchmen", President Violeta Chamorro was unable to find any conclusive evidence that would imply that Somoza had ordered his death during her presidency or before. In fact, it is now popular belief in Nicaragua that the Sandinistas themselves mudered Chamorro in an attempt to make him a hero and bring the people of Nicaragua together against Somoza. Neither theory has ever been proved.

Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Anastasio Somoza Debayle (December 5, 1925–September 17, 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1967 to 1972 and then from 1974 to 1979. As head of the National Guard, he also effectively held power in the intervening years. He was the last member of the Somoza family to be President, after a string of them had held power from 1936. He was the second son of Anastasio Somoza García, who became President of Nicaragua in 1937, effectively becoming dictator. The younger Somoza was initially educated in Florida (at Saint Leo Preparatory College, today known as Saint Leo University) and Long Island before graduating from West Point United States Military Academy on June 6, 1946. The following year, he was appointed head of the National Guard by his father, who had previously given many important posts to family members and close personal friends. On December 10, 1950, he married Hope Portocarrero, with whom he had five children: Anastasio, Julio, Carolina, Carla, and Roberto. Following his father's assassination in 1956, Somoza's elder brother, Luis Somoza Debayle, took over the presidency. In 1967, shortly before the death of his brother, Anastasio Somoza was himself elected President for the first time. He stood down from the Presidency in 1972, owing to a law which disallowed immediate re-election. In December of that year, an earthquake hit the nation's capital Managua, killing around ten thousand people, and virtually destroying the city. Martial law was declared, effectively making Somoza, as head of the National Guard, the country's leader once again. The Somoza family was widely accused of profiting from international aid. Despite this, Somoza was reelected President in the 1974 election, although the Catholic church had begun to speak against the government. (Indeed, one of his fiercest critics was Ernesto Cardenal, a Nicaraguan priest and poet who preached liberation theology and would become the Sandinista government's Minister of Culture.) By the late 1970s, human rights groups were condemning the record of the Somoza government, while the support for the Sandinistas was growing in the country. The Sandinista Front, named after Augusto Cesar Sandino, began its guerrilla war against the Somozas in 1963. After gaining popular support, and military and political victories, the Sandinistas overthrew Somoza on July 17, 1979. The Somozas fled to Miami, Florida. Anastasio Somoza Debayle was assassinated in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 54, by a commando team presided by the Argentinian Enrique Gorriaran Merlo. A few months before his death, his memoirs, Nicaragua Betrayed was published, in which he blamed the Carter Administration for his demise. His son, Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero, went into exile in Guatemala.

Trivia

He attended the presidential inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.

European Court of Human Rights

:For the institution of the European Union resolving disputes under EU law, see European Court of Justice European Court of Justice The European Court of Human Rights, often referred to informally as the "Strasbourg Court", was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints from Council of Europe member states. The court's mission is to enforce the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, ratified in 1953.

History and structure

The current incarnation of the court was instituted on November 1, 1998, replacing the then existing enforcement mechanisms, which included the European Commission of Human Rights (created in 1954) and the previous, limited Court of Human Rights, which was created in 1959. The new court was the result of the ratification of Protocol 11, an amendment to the Convention, which was ratified in October 1997. Judges were subsequently elected by the Council of Europe, and the court was opened approximately one year later. The court consists of a number of judges equal to the number of Council of Europe member states, which currently stand at forty-six. Despite this correspondence, however, there are no requirements that each state be represented on the court, nor are there limits to the number of judges belonging to any nationality. Judges are assumed to be impartial arbiters, rather than representatives of any nation. The court is divided into four "Sections", each of which consists of a geographic and gender-balanced selection of justices. The entire court elects a President and four Section Presidents, two of whom also serve as Vice-Presidents of the court. All terms last for three years. Each section selects a Chamber, which consists of the Section President and a rotating selection of six other justices. The court also maintains a 17-member Grand Chamber, which consists of the President, Vice-Presidents, and Section Presidents, in addition to a rotating selection of justices from one of two balanced groups. The selection of judges alternates between the groups every nine months. Complaints of violations by member states are filed in Strasbourg, and are assigned to a Section. Each complaint is first heard by a committee of three judges, which may unanimously vote to strike any complaint without further examination. Once past committee, the complaint is heard and decided by a full Chamber. Decisions of great importance may be appealed to the Grand Chamber. Any decisions of the court are binding on the member states. It is the role of the Committee of Ministers to supervise the execution of court judgements, though they have no formal means of forcing member countries to comply. However, the ultimate sanction of non-compliance is expulsion from the Council of Europe and thus becoming a 'pariah' state within Europe. Furthermore, the European Union takes a keen interest in the Convention and Court (and its jurisprudence) so would not look kindly upon any EU member state that did not fulfill its Convention obligations.

Reform

Due to the increase in awareness of European citizens of their rights under the Convention, the Court was becoming a victim of its own success. Some cases were taking up to five years before being heard and there was a significant backlog. For example, according to the [http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_rights/hribe.asp Human Rights Information Bulletin] (issued by the Council of Europe), between 1st November 2003 and 29 February 2004 the Court dealt with 7315 cases, of which 6255 were declared inadmissible. Working on the principle that 'justice delayed is justice denied', the Council of Europe set up a working party to consider ways of improving the efficiency of the Court. This resulted in an amendment to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Protocol 14. This new protocol, which requires universal ratification by all Council of Europe member states to come into force, makes a number of changes:
- A single judge can decide on a case's admissibility. Before, three judges decided.
- Where cases are broadly similar to ones brought previously before the Court, and are essentially due to a member state failing to change their domestic law to correct a failing highlighted by that previous judgement, admissibility can be decided by three judges rather than the seven-judge Chamber.
- A case may not be admissible if it is considered that the applicant has not suffered 'significant disadvantage'. However, this is not a 'hard and fast' rule.
- A member state can be brought before the court by the Committee of Ministers if that state refuses to enforce a judgment against it.
- The Committee of Ministers can ask the Court for an 'interpretation' of a judgement to help determine the best way for a member state to comply with it. Amnesty International has expressed concern that these changes to the admissibility criteria will mean individuals may lose the ability to 'gain redress for human rights violations'

Notable cases

For the first time since the Russian military invaded Chechnya in 1999, the court has agreed to hear cases of human rights abuse brought forward by Chechen civilians against Russia. In 1980, the court ruled out the fetal right to sue the mother carrying the fetus. In Paton v. United Kingdom, it was discovered that the life of foetus is "intimately connected with, and cannot be regarded in isolation from, the life of the pregnant woman". In December 1977, the court ruled that the government of the United Kingdom was guilty of "inhuman and degrading treatment", of men interned without trial, by the court, following a case brought by the Republic of Ireland(Case No. 5310/71). The court found that while their internment was a violation of the convention rights, it was justifiable in the circumstances; it however ruled that the practice of the five techniques and the practice of beating prisoners constituted inhumane and degrading punishment in violation of the convention, although not torture. Legally, Ireland v. United Kingdom is notable since the British government had already publicly admitted and promised to refrain from all the violations the court found it guilty of. The UK tried to argue that having done so, the Irish litigation was pointless, relying on principles of international law accepted by the ICJ; however, the ECHR held that even though the UK had already made these admissions and undertakings, the case could still be considered, since ruling on it would serve the purposes of the development of Convention law.

Other cases

- Dudgeon v. United Kingdom: sodomy and the right to privacy
- McLibel case: legal aid in libel cases
- Murray v. United Kingdom: anti-terrorism laws
- John Murray v. United Kingdom: right to silence

Architecture

The building, which houses the court chambers and registry (administration), was designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership and completed in 1995. The design is meant to reflect, amongst other things, the two distinct components of the Commission and Court (as it then was). Wide scale use of glass emphasises the 'openness' of the court to European citizens.

Notes

#[http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGIOR300132004 European Court on Human Rights: Imminent reforms must not obstruct individuals' redress for human rights violations] by Amnesty International News Service No: 120 11 May 2004 # [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/search.asp?skin=hudoc-en Search ECHR data base] "In the case of Ireland v. the United Kingdom" (No. 5310/71)

External links

- [http://www.echr.coe.int/ European Court of Human Rights web pages] on the [http://www.coe.int official Council of Europe website]
- [http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/ Court judgements, decisions and case law website]
- [http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/94F95200-874C-4E83-9E76-689344E8A3C8/0/RulesOfCourtMarch2005.pdf Rules of the Court (PDF)]
- [http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/194.htm Text of Protocol 14]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3741718.stm "Chechens taking Russia to court" - BBC News]
- [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/59008/ European Court of Human Rights condemns Russia in media case] - IFEX Category:International courts Category:Human rights bodies Category:European politics Court of Human Rights Category:Strasbourg ja:欧州人権裁判所

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.
Terminology

- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.
History
Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.
Government and politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.
Subdivisions
The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
Military
The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.
Geography
Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.
Economy
artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.
Society

Demographics
At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.
Culture
Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.
Sport
A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.
Miscellaneous topics

External links

- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

Northern Ireland

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). Northern Ireland is one of four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. It is situated on the island of Ireland and shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, and is the only part of the United Kingdom with an external land border. It was created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. It covers 14,139 km² (5,459 mi²) in the northeast of the island of Ireland, about a sixth of the total area of the island, and has a population of 1,685,000 (April 2001) — between a quarter and a third of the island's total population.

Demographics and politics

:Main article: Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland A majority of the present-day population (59%, according to a [http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2004/Political_Attitudes/NIRELAND.html 2004 survey]) wish to remain part of the United Kingdom, but a significant minority (22%) want to see a united Ireland. It is common to refer to the majority "community" as Unionists and the the minority "community" as Nationalists, though there are many who hold a position on the border that is at odds with the label of their "community" or reject these labels completely. The make-up of the Northern Ireland Assembly reflects these divisions within the population. Of the 108 members, 59 are Unionists and 42 are Nationalist (the remaining seven are classified as "other"). Although Protestants are still in the majority, the plurality by religious denomination are Roman Catholics, followed by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland, with the Methodist Church of Ireland coming fourth. The two opposing views of British unionism and Irish nationalism are linked to deeper cultural divisions. Unionists are predominantly Protestant and often descendants of mainly Scottish but also English settlement in previous centuries, while nationalists are predominantly Catholic and usually descend from the population predating such settlement. Discrimination against nationalists under the Stormont government (1921–1972) gave rise to the nationalist civil rights movement in the 1960s. Many unionists argue that any discrimination was not just because of religious or political bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic, socio-political and geographical factors. This eventually led to a long-running conflict known as The Troubles and the political unrest has gone through its most violent phase in recent times between 1968–1994. The main actors have been the Provisional IRA and other republican groups determined to end the British presence, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, British army and various loyalist paramilitary groups who were defending it. As a consequence of the worsening security situation, self-government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Since the mid 1990s, the main paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA, has observed an uneasy ceasefire. Following negotiations, the Belfast Agreement of 1998 provides for an elected Northern Ireland Assembly, and a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive comprising representatives of all the main parties. These institutions have been suspended since 2002 because of unionist impatience at the pace of Sinn Fein's movement away from its associations with the Provisional IRA, which reached breaking point after PSNI allegations of spying by people working for Sinn Fein at the Assembly, although nobody was convicted after a high-profile police operation. On 28 July, 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign and have since decommissioned what is thought to be all of their arsenal. This act was performed in accordance with the Belfast Agreement 1998, and under the watch of the International Decommissioning Body and two external church witnesses. Many unionists remain skeptical, however.

Symbols

Today, Northern Ireland comprises a diverse patchwork of community rivalries, represented in some areas by whole communities where lamp posts and some homes fly the flags of the countries to which they hold allegience. The Union Flag and former Flag of Northern Ireland therefore appear in some loyalist areas, with the Irish national flag, the tricolour appearing in some republican areas. Even the kerbstones in less affluent areas get painted red-white-blue or green-white-orange, depending on whether a local community expresses nationalist/republican or unionist/loyalist sympathies. As a constituent part of the United Kingdom, the only "official" flag of Northern Ireland is the Union Flag. The Northern Ireland Flag (also known as the 'Ulster Banner' or 'Red Hand Flag') is no longer official, due to the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972. Unionists tend to use the Union flag, the 'Ulster Banner' or paramilitary flags, while nationalists typically use the Irish Tricolour. Some unionists also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organizations they belong to. The 'Ulster Banner' is based on the flag of Ulster. Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union have used the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks the same nationalist or unionist connotations, but even this is felt by some to be a loyalist flag, as it was used to represent Ireland during British rule and is used by some British army regiments. No universally acceptable symbol has yet been found. Foreign flags are also found, such as the Palestinian flags in some Nationalist areas and Israeli flags in some Unionist areas. The official national anthem of Northern Ireland remains God Save The Queen. At some cross-community events, however, the Londonderry Air, also known as the tune of Danny Boy, may be played as a neutral, though unofficial, substitute.

Geography and climate

Danny Boy :Main article: Geography of Ireland, Geography of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age and on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in the extensive coverage of drumlins in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down. The centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh, at 392 km² the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. A second extensive lake system is centred on Lower and Upper Lough Erne in Fermanagh. There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian fold mountains) with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in South Armagh and along the Fermanagh–Tyrone border. None of the hills are especially high, with Slieve Donard in the dramatic Mournes reaching 848 metres, Northern Ireland's highest point. The volcanic activity which created the Antrim Plateau also formed the eerily geometric pillars of the Giant's Causeway. The Lower and Upper River Bann, River Foyle and River Blackwater form extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land also found in North and East Down, although much of the hill country is marginal and suitable largely for animal husbandry. The valley of the River Lagan is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and both shores of Belfast Lough. The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5°C (43.7°F) in January and 17.5°C (63.5°F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16^th and 17^th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland. Highest maximum temperature: 30.8°C (87.4°F) at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983. Lowest minimum temperature: -17.5°C (0.5°F) at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/nireland/#temperature]

The Counties in Northern Ireland

1979 Northern Ireland consists of six counties:
- County Antrim
- County Armagh
- County Down
- County Fermanagh
- County Londonderry (Political, Geographical Term) \ County Derry (Nationalist & Irish geographic usage)
- County Tyrone These counties are no longer used for local government purposes; instead there are twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland which have different geographical extents, even in the case of those named after the counties from which they derive their name. Fermanagh District Council most closely follows the borders of the county it takes its name from. Though Coleraine borough council for example derives its name from the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry.

Towns and villages

Main articles: Towns in Northern Ireland and Villages in Northern Ireland See also the list of places in Northern Ireland for all villages, towns and cities
- Ahoghill, Armagh, Antrim
- Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Bangor, Belfast, Bushmills
- Carnmoney, Carrickfergus, Castlerock, Comber, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon
- Derry/Londonderry, Donaghadee, Downpatrick,Dromore, Dundonald, Dungannon, Dungiven
- Enniskillen
- Glengormley
- Hillsborough, Holywood
- Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Lurgan
- Magherafelt
- Newcastle, Newry, Newtownards, Newtownstewart
- Omagh
- Portrush, Portstewart, Portadown, Portaferry, Poyntzpass
- Strabane
- Warrenpoint

Places of interest

Warrenpoint
- The Mountains of Mourne
- Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in the British Isles, 153 square miles
- Lough Erne
- Strangford Lough
- Carlingford Lough
- The Giant's Causeway
- The Glens of Antrim
- Fermanagh Lakeland
- The Sperrin Mountains
- National parks of Northern Ireland
- National Trust Properties in Northern Ireland
- Dromore, County Down

Variations in Geographic nomenclature

Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for the entity, as part of a linguistic agenda to define the nature of the state from their historic, cultural or political viewpoint. The most common names used are

Unionist/Loyalist

- Ulster - to suggest that Northern Ireland has an older ancestry that predates its founding in 1921, dating back both to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century and to the millennium-old province of Ulster, one of four provinces on the island of Ireland. The province of Ulster covers a greater landmass than Northern Ireland: 6 of its counties are in Northern Ireland, 3 in the Republic of Ireland.
- The Province - to again link to the historic Irish province of Ulster, with its mythology.
- Northern Ireland - Many more liberal-minded Protestants who reject the extreme form of Unionism prefer to use the official name of the state. Ulster is both inaccurate and, in their view, has very orangist overtones.

Nationalist/Republican

- North of Ireland - to link Northern Ireland to the rest of island, by describing the state as being in the 'north of Ireland' and so by implication playing down Northern Ireland's links with Britain. (The northernmost point in Ireland, in County Donegal, is in fact in the Republic.)
- The Six Counties - language which avoids using the name given to the state by the British-enacted Government of Ireland Act, 1920. (The Republic is similarly described as the Twenty-Six Counties.) Some of the users of these terms contend that using the official name of the region would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of Ireland Act.
- The Occupied Six Counties. The Republic, whose legitimacy is not recognised by republicans who oppose the Belfast Agreement, is described as being "The Free State", referring to the Irish Free State, the Republic's old name.

The use of language for Northern Ireland geography

Disagreement on nomenclature, and the reading of political symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches to some urban centres. The most famous example is whether Northern Ireland's second city should be called Derry or Londonderry. Choice of language and nomenclature in Northern Ireland often reveals the cultural, ethnic and religious identity of the speaker. The first Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Seamus Mallon was criticised by unionist politicians for calling the region the "North of Ireland" while Sinn Féin has been criticised in some newspapers in the Republic for referring to the "Six Counties". Those who do not belong to any group but lean towards one side often tend to use the language of that group. Supporters of unionism in the British media (notably the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express) regularly call Northern Ireland "Ulster" while nationalist and republican-leaning media outlets in Ireland (such as Daily Ireland) almost always use "North of Ireland" or the "Six Counties". State institutions and cultural organisations in Northern Ireland, particularly those pre-dating the 1980s, often used the word "Ulster" in their title; for example, the University of Ulster the Ulster Orchestra, and BBC Radio Ulster. Many news bulletins since the 1990s have opted avoid all contentious terms and use either the official name, Northern Ireland, or the shorter term, "the North". For Northern Ireland's second largest city, broadcasting outlets which are unaligned to either community and broadcast to both use both names interchangeably, often starting a report with "Londonderry" and then using "Derry" in the rest of the report. However within Northern Ireland, print media which are aligned to either community (the Belfast Newsletter is aligned to the unionist community while the Irish News is aligned to the nationalist community) generally use their community's preferred term. British newspapers with unionist leanings, such as the Daily Telegraph[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F06%2F16%2Fnblud16.xml], usually use the language of the unionist community, while others, such as The Guardian use the terms interchangeably [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,184915,00.html] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,1394346,00.html] The media in the Republic of Ireland use the nomenclature preferred by nationalists, eg [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0609/northviolence.html RTÉ News]. The division in nomenclature is seen particularly in sports and religions associated with one of the communities. Gaelic games and football (soccer) use Derry in club names for example. Nor is there clear agreement on how to decide on a name. When the nationalist-controlled local council voted to re-name the city "Derry" unionists objected, stating that as it owed its city status to a Royal Charter, only a charter issued by Queen Elizabeth II could change the name. Queen Elizabeth refused to intervene on the matter and thus the council is now called "Derry City Council" while the city is still officially "Londonderry". Nevertheless, the council has printed two sets of stationery - one for each term - and their policy is to reply to correspondence using whichever term the original sender used. At times of high communal tension, each side regularly complains of the use of the nomenclature associated with the other community by a third party such as a media organisation, claiming such usage indicates evident "bias" against their community.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies making up the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of Northern Ireland; for events before 1900 see History of Ireland. The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history. From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the plantations of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it became itself the subject of major planting of Scottish and English settlers after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 (when the native Gaelic aristocracy left en masse for Catholic Europe). The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were in the majority in the four counties of Armagh, Antrim, Down, and Londonderry, thereby forming a narrow majority in the northern province of Ulster. The clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords of the controversial budget of Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, produced the Parliament Act 1911 which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. Given that the Lords had been the unionists' main guarantee that a Home Rule Act would be enacted, because of the majority of pro-unionist peers in the House, the Parliament Act made Home Rule a likely prospect in Ireland. Opponents to Home Rule, from Conservative Party leaders like Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Randolph Churchill to militant unionists in Ireland threatened the use of voilence, producing the Larne Gun Running in 1912, when they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for the Ulster Volunteer Force. Churchill famously told a unionist audience in Ulster that "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." The prospect of civil war on Ireland was seen by some as likely. In 1914 the Third Home Rule Act, which contained provision for a temporary partition, received the Royal Assent. However its implementation was suspended for the duration of the intervening First World War, which was only expected to a few weeks but lasted four years. But the time it concluded, the Act was seen as dead in the water, with public opinion in the majority nationalist community having moved from a demand for home rule to something more substantial, independence. Lloyd George proposed in 1919 a new bill which would divide Ireland into two Home Rule areas, twenty-six counties being ruled from Dublin, six being ruled from Belfast, with a shared Lord Lieutenant of Ireland appointing both executives and a Council of Ireland, which Lloyd George believed would evolve into an all-island parliament.

Partition of Ireland, partition of Ulster

In United Kingdom law, Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six of the nine Ulster counties in the northeast formed Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland. Whilst the former came into being, the latter had only a momentary existence to ratify (in UK law) the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Anglo-Irish War. Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Northern Ireland was provisionally scheduled to be included in the Irish Free State, though it could opt-out should the Parliament of Northern Ireland elect to do. As expected it did so immediately. Once that happened, as provided for, an Irish Boundary Commission came into being, to decide on the territorial boundaries between the Irish state and the Northern Ireland home rule region. Though leaders in Dublin expected a substantial reduction in the territory of Northern Ireland, with nationalist areas like Derry, Armagh, Tyrone and urban territories like Derry and Newry moving to the Free State, it appears that the Boundary Commission decided against this. The British and Irish governments agreed to leave the boundaries as they were defined in the 1920 Act.

1925 to the present

In the mid 1940s, to encourage the Irish state to join with the Allies, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered Taoiseach Éamon de Valera Irish unity but, believing that Churchill could not deliver, de Valera declined the offer. The British did not inform the Northern Ireland government that they had made the offer to the Dublin government. The Ireland Act 1949 gave the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom without consent of the majority of its citizens, and this was most recently reaffirmed by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This status was echoed in the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, which was signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic, was amended in 1999 to remove a claim to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement of British rule in the northeast. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Bunreacht to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in Northern Ireland. An acknowledgement that a decision on whether to remain in the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland rests with the people of Northern Ireland was also central to the Belfast Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and ratified by plebiscites held simultanously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. However, many unionist leaders equivocate when asked if they would peacefully accept a reunited Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland sought it. A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or join the Republic, was held in 1973. The vote went heavily in favour of maintaining the status quo with approximately 57% of the total electorate voting in support, but most nationalists boycotted the poll. Though legal provision remains for holding another plebiscite, and former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble some years ago advocated the holding of such a vote, no plans for such a vote have been adopted as of 2005.

Culture

:See Culture of Northern Ireland, Culture of Ulster, Culture of Ireland, Culture of the United Kingdom With its improved international reputation, Northern Ireland has recently witnessed rising numbers of tourists who come to appreciate the area's unique heritage. Attractions include cultural festivals, musical and artistic traditions, countryside and geographical sites of interest, pubs, welcoming hospitality and sports (especially golf and fishing). In 1987, pubs were allowed to open on Sundays, despite vocal opposition.

Languages

The Mid Ulster dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from both the West Midlands and Scotland, thereby giving it a distinct accent compared to Hiberno-English, along with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and aye for 'yes'. Some jocularly call this dialect phonetically by the name Norn Iron. There are supposedly some minute differences in pronunciation between Protestants and Catholics, the best known of which is the name of the letter h, which Protestants tend to pronounce as "aitch", as in British English, and Catholics tend to pronounce as "haitch", as in Hiberno-English. However, geography is a much more important determinant of dialect than ethnic background. English is by far the most widely spoken language in Northern Ireland. Under the Good Friday Agreement, Irish and Scots have official recognition on a par with that of English. Often the use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland has met with the considerable suspicion of Unionists, who have associated it with the largely Catholic Republic of Ireland, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the Scots language spoken in Northern Ireland. Mac Póilin (1999: 116) states that "While most argue that Ulster-Scots is a dialect or variant of Scots, some have argued or implied that Ulster-Scots is a separate language from Scots. The case for Ulster-Scots being a distinct language, made at a time when the status of Scots itself was insecure, is so bizarre that it is unlikely to have been a linguistic argument." Chinese and Urdu are also spoken by Northern Ireland's Asian communities. According to the most recent census returns, Chinese is now the second most widely spoken language, though the 8000-strong Chinese community — while often referred to as the "third largest" community in Northern Ireland — is tiny by international standards.

External links

- [http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/ Discover Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Tourist Board]
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ University of Ulster: Northern Ireland Conflict Archive]
- [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections Elections in Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.onlineni.net Online NI]
- [http://www.whiteimage.com Art gallery featuring artists and scenes from Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of Ireland
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK
- [http://www.psa.ac.uk/cps/1996/payt.pdf Inconvenient Peripheries Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom Estate] The cases of “Protestant Ulster” and Cornwall’ by prof Philip Payton
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/ Sutton Index of Deaths]
- [http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/Geology%20files/Geol_index.html Geography in Action] The geology of Northern Ireland
- [http://www.victorsloan.co.uk/ Victor Sloan-Northern Ireland visual artist's works commenting on political, social and cultural concerns] Category:Disputed territories Ireland, Northern Category:History of Ireland Category:NUTS 1 Statistical Regions of Europe Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ko:북아일랜드 ja:北アイルランド simple:Northern Ireland

January 19

January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 346 days remaining (347 in leap years).

Events

- 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England which completed his conquest of Normandy.
- 1520 - Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund
- 1764 - John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
- 1795 - Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands. End of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
- 1806 - The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope.
- 1829 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust premieres.
- 1839 - British East India Company captures Aden.
- 1840 - Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what became known as Wilkes Land for the United States.
- 1853 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres in Rome.
- 1862 - The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the American Civil War at the Battle of Mill Springs.
- 1883 - The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service (Roselle, New Jersey) It was built by Thomas Edison.
- 1893 - Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder premieres in Berlin.
- 1899 - Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.
- 1915 - George Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
- 1915 - German zeppelins bomb the cities of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
- 1918 - Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
- 1920 - The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
- 1935 - Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs.
- 1937 - Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
- 1941 - World War II: British troops attack Italian-held Eritrea.
- 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Burma.
- 1945 - World War II: Soviet forces liberate ghetto of Lodz. Out of 230,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived Nazi occupation.
- 1946 - General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
- 1949 - Cuba recognises Israel.
- 1953 - 68% of all United States television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
- 1955 - The Scrabble board game debuts.
- 1966 - Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India.
- 1969 - Student Jan Palach died after setting himself on fire 3 days ago in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into another major protest.
- 1971 - Revival of No, No, Nanette premieres (46th Street Theatre, New York City).
- 1974 - The UCLA men's basketball team sees its 88-game winning streak end at the hands of Notre Dame.
- 1975 - Double Jay began broadcasting in Sydney, Australia.
- 1977 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").
- 1977 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snowfall has occurred.
- 1981 - Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
- 1983 - Klaus Barbie, Nazi war criminal, is arrested in Bolivia.
- 1983 - The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Computer, Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
- 1993 - IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992, the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history.
- 1997 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
- 2002 - Michael Jordan, formerly of the Washington Wizards, plays his first game in Chicago since rejoining the NBA.

Births

- 399 - Pulcheria, Byzantine empress (d. 453)
- 1544 - King Francis II of France (d. 1560)
- 1736 - James Watt, Scottish inventor (d. 1819)
- 1739 - Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect (d. 1808)
- 1807 - Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (d. 1870)
- 1808 - Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (d. 1887)
- 1809 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet(d. 1849)
- 1813 - Sir Henry Bessemer, English inventor (d. 1898)
- 1839 - Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
- 1848 - John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (d. 1904)
- 1851 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (d. 1922)
- 1863 - Werner Sombart, German sociologist (d. 1941)
- 1887 - Alexander Woollcott, American intellectual (d. 1943)
- 1909 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
- 1912 - Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1913 - Minnesota Fats, American billiards player (d. 1996)
- 1917 - John Raitt, American singer and actor (d. 2005)
- 1918 - John H. Johnson, American publisher (d. 2005)
- 1920 - Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian United Nations Secretary General
- 1921 - Patricia Highsmith, American author (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Guy Madison, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Jean Stapleton, American actress
- 1923 - Markus Wolf, German spy
- 1924 - Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1924 - Jean-Francois Revel, French author
- 1926 - Fritz Weaver, American actor
- 1931 - Tippi Hedren, American actress
- 1931 - Robert MacNeil, Canadian journalist
- 1932 - Richard Lester, British director
- 1939 - Phil Everly, American musician
- 1941 - Colin Gunton, British theologian (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Michael Crawford, British singer and actor
- 1943 - Janis Joplin, American singer (d. 1970)
- 1943 - Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
- 1944 - Shelley Fabares, American actress
- 1944 - Peter Lynch, American investor
- 1944 - Dan Reeves, American football coach
- 1946 - Julian Barnes, English author
- 1946 - Dolly Parton, American singer and actress
- 1948 - Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador
- 1949 - Robert Palmer, English singer and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1949 - Dennis Taylor, Irish snooker player
- 1952 - David Patrick Kelly, American actor
- 1953 - Desi Arnaz Jr., American actor
- 1955 - Simon Rattle, English conductor
- 1955 - Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-born actor and comedian
- 1956 - Katey Sagal, American actress, singer, and writer
- 1966 - Floris Jan Bovelander, Dutch field hockey player
- 1966 - Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player
- 1969 - Junior Seau, American football player
- 1971 - Shawn Wayans, American actor, writer, and producer
- 1971 - John Wozniak, American singer and songwriter (Marcy Playground)
- 1973 - Drea de Matteo, American actress
- 1973 - Karen Lancaume, French actress (d. 2005)
- 1974 - Jaime Moreno, Bolivian footballer
- 1977 - Lauren, Cameroon footballer
- 1979 - Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast
- 1981 - Asier Del Horno, Spanish footballer
- 1982 - Jodie Sweetin, American actress
- 1983 - Hikaru Utada, Japanese singer and songwriter
- 1985 - Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1992 - Logan Lerman, American actor
- 1993 - Elián González, Cuban refugee.

Deaths

- 639 - Dagobert I, King of the Franks
- 1526 - Isabella of Burgundy, queen of Christian II of Denmark (b. 1501)
- 1576 - Hans Sachs, German Meistersinger (b. 1494)
- 1729 - William Congreve, English playwright (b. 1670)
- 1757 - Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1674)
- 1766 - Jean-Nicolas Servan, French architect and painter (b. 1695)
- 1785 - Jonathan Toup, English classical scholar and critic (b. 1713)
- 1833 - Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold, French composer (b. 1791)
- 1847 - Charles Bent, New Mexico pioneer (assassinated)
- 1851 - Esteban Echeverría, Argentine writer (b. 1805)
- 1865 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and anarchist (b. 1809)
- 1869 - Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (b. 1788)
- 1874 - August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet (b. 1798)
- 1878 - Henri Victor Regnault French physicist and chemist (b. 1810)
- 1905 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1929 - Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (b. 1873)
- 1968 - Ray Harroun, American race car driver (b. 1879)
- 1969 - Jan Palach, Czech student and political activist (suicide) (b. 1948)
- 1971 - Harry Shields, American musician (b. 1899)
- 1972 - Michael Rabin, American violinist (b. 1936)
- 1975 - Thomas Hart Benton, American painter (b. 1889)
- 1980 - William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1898)
- 1990 - Rajneesh, Indian religious leader (b. 1931)
- 1990 - Herbert Wehner, German politician (b. 1906)
- 1991 - John Russell, American actor (b. 1921)
- 1996 - Don Simpson, American film producer (b. 1943)
- 1997 - James Dickey, American writer (b. 1923)
- 1998 - Carl Perkins, American guitarist (b. 1932)
- 2000 - Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
- 2000 - Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-born actress (b. 1913)
- 2004 - Harry E. Claiborne, American judge (suicide) (b. 1917)
- 2004 - David Hookes, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1955)
- 2005 - Bill Andersen, New Zealand communist and trade union leader (b. 1924)
- 2005 - K. Sello Duiker, South African novelist (b. 1974)

Holidays and observances

- Eastern Orthodoxy — Julian Calendar Theophany (Epiphany)
- Bahá'í Faith — Feast of Sultán (Sovereignty) — First day of the 17th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
- Confederate Heroes Day in Texas
- Dr. Martin Luther Jr. day

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/19 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 18 - January 20 - December 19 - February 19 — listing of all days ko:1월 19일 ms:19 Januari ja:1月19日 simple:January 19 th:19 มกราคม

FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force and intelligence agency which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Title 28, United States Code (U.S. Code), Section 533, which authorizes the Attorney General to "appoint officials to detect... crimes against the United States", and other federal statutes give the FBI the authority and responsibility to investigate specific crimes. At present, the FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes and thus has the broadest investigative authority of any federal law enforcement agency. The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list has been used since 1949 to notify the public of wanted fugitives.

Mission

The mission of the FBI is to uphold the law through the investigation of violations of federal criminal law; to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities; to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state, local, and international agencies; and to perform these responsibilities in a manner that is responsive to the needs of the public and is faithful to the United States Constitution. Information obtained through an FBI investigation is presented to the appropriate U.S. Attorney or DOJ official, who decides if prosecution or other action is warranted. Top priority has been assigned to five areas: counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, combating drugs/organized crime and investigating violent crimes and white-collar crimes. The FBI has had a mixed history, both in upholding the law and sometimes in breaking it.

Personnel

- Special Agents - The force of Special Agents has grown over the years, and now exceeds 11,000 out of a total workforce of 17,000. Some of these Special Agents are stationed in foreign countries and work in U.S. Embassies as "Legal Attaches", or as they are known in the FBI: LEGATS. Both new and veteran agents are routinely trained at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
- The FBI Police - The FBI also maintains a force of 1,000 uniformed Security police officers in the FBI Police for protecting the J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Academy at MCB Quantico and the New York Field Office.

Present mission of the FBI

MCB Quantico As of June 2002, the FBI's official top priority is counterterrorism. The USA PATRIOT Act granted the FBI increased powers, especially in wiretapping and monitoring of internet activity. One of the most controversial provisions of the act is the so-called "sneak and peek" provision, granting the FBI powers to search a house while the residents are away, and not requiring them to notify the residents for several weeks afterwards. Under the PATRIOT Act's provisions the FBI also resumed inquiring into the library records of those it suspected of terrorism, something it had supposedly not done since the 1970s. The bureau is also charged with the responsibility of enforcing compliance of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 and investigating violations of The Act in addition to prosecuting such violations with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The FBI also shares concurrent jurisdiction with the DEA in the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. As of July 2005, the FBI's counterterrorism duties are to be consolidated in the new National Security Service, remotely similar to the UK's MI5.

History of the FBI

The FBI originated from a force of Special Agents created on July 26, 1908, by Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. At first it was named the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and it did not become the FBI until 1935. Under J. Edgar Hoover, who became director of the Bureau on May 10, 1924, the agency spent much of its energy on investigating political activists who were not accused of any crime (e.g., Albert Einstein as a socialist). The FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opened on November 24, 1932. During the 1930s, the agency played a prominent role in apprehending a number of well-known criminals who had conducted kidnappings, robberies and murders throughout the nation. These included John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Kate "Ma" Barker, Alvin Karpis and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. It also played a decisive role in reducing the scope and influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Beginning with the 1940s and continuing into the 1970s, the agency investigated cases of espionage against the United States and its allies. Eight Nazi agents who had planned sabotage operations against American targets were arrested. Although Hoover initially doubted the existence of a close-knit organized crime network in the United States, the bureau later conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti. Hoover's investigation of Martin Luther King was also notorious. The FBI found no evidence of any crime, but attempted to use tapes of King involved in sexual activity for blackmail. Further, the FBI sent anonymous letters to King encouraging him to commit suicide. In the 1990s, it turned out that the FBI's crime lab had repeatedly done shoddy work. In some cases, the technicians, given evidence that actually cleared a suspect, reported instead that it proved the suspect guilty. Many cases had to be reopened when this pattern of errors was discovered.

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Directors (1908–35)

- Stanley Finch (1908–12)
- A. Bruce Bielaski (1912–19)
- Acting director: William E. Allen (1919)
- William J. Flynn (1919–21)
- William J. Burns (1921–24)
- J. Edgar Hoover (1924–72)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Directors (1936–present)

On July 1, 1932, the Bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. One year later on July 1, 1933, it was linked with the Bureau of Prohibition and became known as the Division of Investigation. Finally, in 1935, the bureau was renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After J. Edgar Hoover's death, the FBI imposed a policy limiting the tenure of future FBI directors to a maximum of ten years. The FBI Directors from this period on are:
- J. Edgar Hoover (1924–72)
- Acting director: Clyde Tolson (May 2–3, 1972)
- Acting director: L. Patrick Gray (1972–3)
- Acting director: William D. Ruckelshaus (1973)
- Clarence M. Kelley (1973–78)
- Acting director: James B. Adams (1978)
- William H. Webster (1978–87)
- Acting Director: John Otto (1987)
- William S. Sessions (1987–93)
- Acting Director: Floyd I. Clarke (1993)
- Louis J. Freeh (1993–2001)
- Acting Director: Thomas J. Pickard (2001)
- Robert S. Mueller III (2001–present)

Publications of the FBI

- Uniform Crime Reports

Flim is avaible

PBS - National Geographic Special: The FBI, does provide important footage of the FBI's headquaters exspecially of the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) [http://www.fbi.gov/hq/siocfs.htm]. There is information in this that is hard to get elsewhere. It does not have everything.

External links

- [http://www.fbi.gov Official FBI website]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm Official FBI ten most wanted list]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/tenfaq.htm Frequently asked questions] This has been used as a source.
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/topten.pdf History of the Top Ten List]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/fbihistory.htm The history of FBI]
- [http://foia.fbi.gov/ FBI Disclosures under Freedom of Information Act]
- [http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/index.html Federal Bureau of Investigation] at fas.org

	North:RCMP
West: N/A	FBI	East: Scotland Yard
	South: N/A

Category:U.S. intelligence agencies Category:United States Federal law enforcement agencies Category:United States Department of Justice Category:Anti-communism Category:Political repression zh-min-nan:Liân-pang Tiāu-châ-kio̍k ja:連邦捜査局

Ethiopia

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Amharic ኢትዮጵያ Ityopp'ya) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation on the continent, or indeed in the world. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia maintained independence during the Scramble for Africa, and continued to do so except for a 5 year period when it was under Italian occupation. Ethiopia was historically called Abyssinia. The English name "Ethiopia" is derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Æthiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Æthiops ‘an Ethiopian’ -- sometimes parsed by Westerners as a purely Greek term meaning "of burnt (αιθ-) visage (ὄψ)"; however, older Ethiopian sources state that the name is derived from "'Ityopp'is", a son of Cush, son of Ham who according to legend founded the city of Aksum.

History

The Kingdom of Aksum, the first verifiable kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia, rose during the first century AD. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. It was in the early 4th century that a Syro-Greek castaway, Frumentius, was taken to the court and eventually converted king Ezana to Christianity, thereby making it official. For this accomplishment, he received the title "Abba Selama". At various times, including a period in the 6th century, Axum controlled most of modern-day Yemen just across the Red Sea. The line of rulers descended from the Axumite kings was broken several times: first by the Jewish Queen Gudit around 950, then by the Zagwe dynasty. Around 1270, the Solomonid dynasty came to control Ethiopia, claiming descent from the kings of Axum. They called themselves Neguse Negest ("King of Kings," or Emperor), basing their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba. During the reign of Emperor Lebna Dengel, Ethiopia made its first successful diplomatic contact with a European country, Portugal. This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Somali General and Imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (called "Grany", or "the Left-handed"), Portugal responded to Lebna Dengel's plea for help with an army of 400 men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule. However, Jesuit missionaries eventually offended the Orthodox faith of the local Ethiopians, and in the mid-17th century Emperor Fasilidos expelled these missionaries. At the same time, the Oromo people began to question the Ethiopian Christian authorities in the Abyssinian territories, and demanded to keep their own religion. All of this contributed to Ethiopia's isolation during the 1700s. The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by warlords like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray. Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations; however, it was not until the reign of Tewodros II that Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again. Tewodros II The 1880s were marked by the European colonization of Africa and some modernisation, when the Italians began to vie with the British for influence in bordering regions. Assab, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, was bought from the local sultan in March 1870 by an Italian company, which by 1882 led to the Italian colony of Eritrea. Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, whereby the Ethiopians surprised the world by defeating the colonial power and remaining independent. Italy and Ethiopia signed a provisional treaty of peace on October 26, 1896. The early 20th century was marked by the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who undertook the rapid modernization of Ethiopia — interrupted only by the brief Italian occupation (1936–1941). British and patriot Ethiopian troops liberated the Ethiopian homeland in 1941, and Ethiopia's regained sovereignty was recognised by Britain upon the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in December 1944. Haile Selassie's reign came to an end in 1974, when a pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg", deposed him and established a one-party socialist state. The ensuing regime suffered several bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and a massive refugee problem. In 1977 Somalia attacked Ethiopia in the Ogaden War, but Ethiopia defeated them with Cuban military assistance the following year. The Derg regime was finally defeated in 1991 by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of rebel forces. In 1993, the Province of Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, following a referendum, ending more than 20 years of armed conflict. In 1994, a constitution was adopted, that led to Ethiopia's first multiparty elections in the following year. In May 1998, a dispute over the undemarcated border with Eritrea led to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War that lasted until June 2000. This has hurt the nation's economy, but strengthened the ruling coalition. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held another multiparty election, and resulted in the EPRDF's disputed return to power. In early June and again in November, police under the command of the EPRDF shot and killed demonstrators who were protesting the alleged election fraud.
- See also: Rulers and Heads of State of Ethiopia

Politics

The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly-chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections, ensuring a landslide victory for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so. The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President was Negasso Gidada. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Ethiopia today has 9 semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues. Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history, although some fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press, are, in practice, somewhat circumscribed. Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections. The incumbent President is Girma Wolde-Giorgis. Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and World Bank. In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/3640227.stm]. Ethiopia held another general election in May 2005, were deemed by one international observer team (EU) to fall substantially short of international standards for fair and free elections. The oppostion and some observers led by Ana Gomez charged that the ruling EPRDF engaged in wide spread vote rigging and intimidation. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of university students protested these alleged discrepancies despite a ban on protests imposed by the government. This led to the arrest of thousands of protesters. On June 8, police killed 42 people in Addis Ababa. On September 5, 2005, the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but opposition parties increased their share of parliamentary seats. When street protests broke out as a result of the ensuing political stalemate beginning November 1, government forces once again opened fire with live bullets, killing at least 42 people in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in the country. Tens of thousands were arrested in various detention centers across the country. See also: Foreign relations of Ethiopia

Regions

Main article: Subdivisions of Ethiopia Ethiopia has been divided by the EPRDF into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions (kililoch; singular: kilil):
- Afar
- Amhara
- Benishangul-Gumaz
- Gambela
- Harari
- Oromia
- Somali
- Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region
- Tigray Additionally, there are two chartered cities (astedader akababiwoch, singular: astedader akababi): Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Ethiopia

Map of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is 1,127,127 km² in size, and is the major portion of the Horn of Africa, which is the eastern-most part of the African landmass. Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semidesert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns. Elevation and geographic location produce three climatic zones: the cool zone above 2,400 meters where temperatures range from near freezing to 16°C; the temperate zone at elevations of 1,500 to 2,400 meters with temperatures from 16°C to 30°C; and the hot zone below 1,500 meters with both tropical and arid conditions and daytime temperatures ranging from 27°C to 50°C. The normal rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September (longer in the southern highlands) preceded by intermittent showers from February or March; the remainder of year generally dry. Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has a large number of endemic species, notably the Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex and the Ethiopian wolf (or Simien fox).

Economy

Ethiopian wolf Main article: Economy of Ethiopia Ethiopia remains one of Africa's poorest nations: many Ethiopians rely on food aid from abroad. After the 1974 revolution, the economy of Ethiopia was run as a socialist economy: strong state controls were implemented, and a large part of the economy was transferred to the public sector, including most modern industry and large-scale commercial agriculture, all agricultural land and urban rental property, and all financial institutions. Since mid-1991, the economy has evolved toward a decentralized, market-oriented economy, emphasizing individual initiative, designed to reverse a decade of economic decline. In 1993, gradual privatization of business, industry, banking, agriculture, trade, and commerce was underway. Agriculture accounts for almost 41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labor force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP.

Demographics

1987 Main article: Demographics of Ethiopia Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members. Semitic-speaking Ethiopians (as well as some Eritreans) collectively refer to themselves as Abesha or Habesha, though others reject these names on the basis that they refer only to certain ethnicities [http://www.abesha.com/abesha18/aboutus.php]. The name is said to have originally signified "mixture", i.e. of HAm with (BE) SHem, as applied to tribes of partly Cushitic and partly Semitic extraction. The Arabic form of this term is the etymological basis of "Abyssinia," the former name of Ethiopia in English and other European languages.[http://www.time.com/time/europe/timetrails/selassie/hs260809.html] The Axumite Kingdom was one of the first nations to officially adopt Christianity, when St. Frumentius of Tyre converted Ezana of Axum during the fourth century CE. Islam in Ethiopia dates back almost to the founding of the religion; in 616, a band of Muslims were counseled by the Prophet Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Abyssinia, which was ruled by, in the Prophet's estimation, a pious Christian king. Moreover, Islamic tradition states that Bilal, one of the foremost companions of the Prophet Muhammad, was from present-day Ethiopia. A small group of Jews, the Beta Israel, lived in Ethiopia for centuries, though most emigrated to Israel in the last decades of the 20th century. There are numerous indigenous African religions in Ethiopia. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit lowland regions.

Languages

Ethiopia has 84 indigenous languages. Some of these are: English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.

Culture

Tigrinya and a drum.]] Main article: Culture of Ethiopia In April 2005, the Axum obelisk, one of Ethiopia's religious and historical treasures, was returned to Ethiopia by Italy [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4458105.stm]. Italian troops seized the obelisk in 1937 and took it to Rome. Italy agreed to return the obelisk in 1947 in a UN agreement. Ethiopia is the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, that believes Ethiopia is Zion. Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I as Jesus, the human incarnation of God.
- Cuisine of Ethiopia
- Music of Ethiopia
- Islam in Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Miscellaneous topics

- List of Ethiopian companies
- Military of Ethiopia
- Monarchies of Ethiopia
- National parks in Ethiopia
- Communications in Ethiopia
- Transportation in Ethiopia

External links

Relief Organizations
- [http://www.thedenanproject.com/ The Denan Project - Provides Qualified Medical Relief For The People Of Denan] Government
- [http://www.ethiopianembassy.org/index.shtml Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington DC] information about the Ethiopian government
- [http://www.mfa.gov.et/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia]
- [http://www.moinfo.gov.et/ Ministry of Information of Ethiopia]
- [http://www.ethiopiancrown.org/ The Crown Council of Ethiopia] official monarchy site
- [http://www.ethiopar.net/ The Parliament of Ethiopia] official site News
- [http://www.addistribune.com/ Addis Tribune] newspaper with a weekly online edition
- [http://allafrica.com/ethiopia/ allAfrica - Ethiopia] news
- [http://www.ena.gov.et/ Ethiopian News Agency (ENA)] government agency
- [http://www.nazret.com Nazret.com] Ethiopian news portal
- [http://ethiopianreview.homestead.com/ Ethiopian Review]
- [http://www.helmmagazine.com/ Helm Magazine] art, culture, fashion and talent from Ethiopia
- [http://www.waltainfo.com/ Walta Information Center] news Overviews
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1072164.stm BBC News - Country profile: Ethiopia]
- [http://www.ethiopiantreasures.toucansurf.com Ethiopian Treasures - History, Culture, Language, Religion - Ethiopia]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/et.html CIA - The World Factbook: Ethiopia]
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ethiopia2000/0,2759,181415,00.html Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Ethiopia 2000]
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ettoc.html Library of Congress - Country Study: Ethiopia] most data as of July 1991 Directories
- [http://www.ethiosearch.com Ethio Search ]Ethiopian on-line directory and search engine
- [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317916/us559898/us559899/us10065672/us559917/ LookSmart - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Ethiopia/ Open Directory Project - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/ethio.html Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www.afrika.no/index/Countries/Ethiopia/index.html The Index on Africa - Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Ethiopia.html University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Ethiopia] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/countries/ethiopia/ Yahoo! - Ethiopia] directory category Tourism
- [http://www.tourismethiopia.org Ethiopian Tourism Commission] government agency
- Portals
- [http://www.CyberEthiopia.com CyberEthiopia.com] (Ethiopic)
- [http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/ Ethiopian Reporter]
- [http://www.ethiosearch.com EthioSearch.com] (Amharic and English)
- [http://www.ethioindex.com/ EthioIndex.com] (News, Directory, Forums)
- [http://www.ethiozena.net/ EthioZena.net]
- [http://www.myethiopia.info/ myethiopia.info] Other
- [http://www.amharicsoftwares.com Amharic software store] download free Unicode standard Geez software
- [http://electionsinfo.com/election-information/viewforum.php?f=44 ElectionsInfo.com - Forum]
- [http://ethiopundit.blogspot.com/ Ethiopundit] blog of "Eclectic Ethiopian & Ethio-American Commentary"
- [http://www.rastafarian.nl/ethiopia/ethiopia.asp rastafarian.nl - Ethiopia]
- [http://tezeta.org/ Tezeta.org]
- [http://www.EthioNetworks.com Ethio Networks] website developers in Amharic

References

-
- Pankhurst, Dr. Richard.
- Category:African Union member states Category:Peace and Security Council Category:Landlocked countries zh-min-nan:Ityop'iya ko:에티오피아 ms:Habsyah ja:エチオピア th:ประเทศเอธิโอเปีย

Persona non grata

Persona non grata (Latin, plural: personae non gratae), literally meaning "an unwelcome person," is a term used in diplomacy with a specialized and legally defined meaning. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Article 9, a receiving State may "at any time and without having to explain its decision," declare any member of a diplomatic staff as persona non grata — that is not acceptable (while a persona grata is acceptable) — even before they arrive in the State. It is usual for a person so declared to be recalled to their home nation. If they are not recalled, the receiving State "may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the mission." While diplomatic immunity protects mission staff from civil and criminal laws, depending on rank, under Articles 41 and 42 of the Vienna Convention, they are bound to respect national laws and regulations (amongst other issues). Breaches of these articles can lead to persona non grata being used to 'punish' erring staff. It is also used to expel diplomats suspected of espionage ("activities incompatible with their status"), or as a symbolic indicator of displeasure (e.g. the Italian expulsion of the Egyptian First Secretary in 1984). So-called "tit-for-tat" exchanges have occurred, notably during the Cold War. In non-diplomatic usage, calling someone persona non grata is to say that he or she is ostracized, from a person or group, so as to be figuratively nonexistent.

External links

- [http://www.ediplomat.com/nd/glossary.htm eDiplomat.com: Glossary of Diplomatic Terms]
- [http://www.un.org/law/ilc/texts/diplomat.htm Text of the Vienna Convention] Category:Diplomacy Category:Legal terms Category:Latin legal phrases Category:International law ja:ペルソナ・ノン・グラータ

Sweden

The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: ) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak Strait and the Kattegat Strait on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia on the east. Sweden has a low population density except in its metropolitan areas, with most of the inland consisting of forests and mountainous wilderness. Following the decline of the Viking Age, Sweden spent a couple of centuries fighting with its neighbouring countries Denmark (from the 12th century 1710), and Norway (in the 16th and 17th century). In the 17th and 18th centuries Sweden extended its territory through warfare and became a Great Power, twice its current size. The extended territory was subsequently lost within a century. Since 1814, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a policy of keeping free of alliances. Sweden was one of the poorest countries in Europe in the 19th century, shaped by heavy alcohol consumption, until improved transportation and communication allowed it to utilize natural assets from different parts of the country, most notably timber and iron ore, which allowed the creation of a welfare state in the early 20th century. Today, the country is defined by liberal tendencies and a strong national quest for equality, and usually ranks among the top nations in the UN Human Development Index.

History

Pre-history

For details, see: Prehistoric Sweden Soon after the recession of the last ice age, Sweden became populated by hunters and gatherers, during the Stone Age (6000 BC – 4000 BC). The region developed rather slowly compared to southern Europe; while the Romans wrote poetry, Scandinavia had just entered the Iron Age. Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones tribe lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships. This referred to the inhabitants of eastern Sweden: Svealand, primarily around lake Mälaren; towns of Stockholm, Sigtuna, and Birka. From this tribe, Sweden derived its name. The southern parts, on the other hand, were inhabited by Geats (Götar) in the Götaland territory. Little is known for certain about that time, but chronicles based on Norse sagas and the Beowulf epos go back about 2,000 years. During the Viking Age of the 9th and 10th century, Swedish vikings travelled east setting its mark on the Baltic countries, Russia, the Black Sea, further through the rivers of Russia down south to Constantinople and southern Europe.

Middle Ages

For details, see: Early Swedish history and Foundation of Modern Sweden With Christianization in the 12th century, the country became consolidated, with its centre in the water-ways of the northern Baltic and the Gulf of Finland. In the 14th century Sweden, like the rest of Europe, was struck by the Black Death (the Plague), with all its effect. During the middle ages, the expansion of Sweden into the northern wilderness of Laplandia, the Scandinavian peninsula, and present-day Finland continued. Finland was a part of Sweden proper from 1362 until 1809. In 1389, Norway, Denmark and Sweden were united under a single monarch in a treaty known as the Kalmar Union. After several wars and disputes between these nations, King Gustav I of Sweden (House of Vasa) broke free in 1521 and established a nation state, considered the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden to the Protestant Reformation. Gustav I is considered to be Sweden's "Father of the Nation". He was the first monarch from the House of Vasa. The House of Vasa also ruled between 1587 and 1668 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1592 and 1599 Sweden and Poland were ruled in a personal union by Sigismund I Vasa.

A major power

Sigismund I Vasa (orange) overlayed by present day Sweden (red)]] For details, see: Rise of Sweden as a Great Power, Swedish Empire, Sweden and the Great Northern War, Absolute Monarchy in Sweden, Sweden-Finland and Union between Sweden and Norway The 17th century saw the rise of Sweden as one of the great powers in Europe, due to successful participation, initiated by King Gustav II Adolph, in the Thirty Years' War and by Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the The Deluge of Poland. Mighty as it was, it crumbled in the 18th century with Imperial Russia taking the reins of northern Europe in the Great Northern War, and finally in 1809 when the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland was created out of the eastern half of Sweden. After Denmark was defeated in the Napoleonic wars, Norway was ceded to Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel. This led to the Campaign against Norway, which was fought in 1814, and ended with the Convention of Moss, which forced Norway into a union with Sweden that was not dissolved until 1905. But the campaign also signified the last of the Swedish wars and its 200 years of peace are arguably unique in the world today.

Modern history

For details, see: Modernization of Sweden The 19th century saw a significant population increase, generally attributed to peace, vaccination, and potatoes, doubling the population from 1750 to 1850. Many people in the countryside, where most Swedes lived, found themselves unemployed. The result was poverty, alcoholism, and massive emigration; it is believed that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States alone. In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Sweden's second biggest city, Gothenburg. However, as the Industrial revolution progressed during the century, people gradually began moving into cities to work in factories, and became involved in Socialistic unions. A threatening Socialist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of Parliamentarism, and the country was democratized.

Recent history

For details, see: Industrialization of Sweden and Sweden during World War II
Sweden remained neutral during World War I and World War II, although its neutrality during World War II has been disputed. Sweden was part of the Marshall aid package but continued to stay non-aligned during the Cold War, and is still not a member of any military alliance. Following the second World War, Sweden made use of its natural resources and undemolished state, making it possible to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe, leading it to be one of the richest countries in the world by 1960. During most of the post-war era, the country was ruled by the Swedish Social Democratic Party that established a welfare state, striving for a "well being for all"-policy. As other economies were re-established, Sweden was surpassed in the 1970s, and had to adjust its politics in the 1990s, but still ranks among the top nations concerning well being of its inhabitants.

Politics

Sweden has been a monarchy for almost a millennium, with its taxation controlled by the Riksdag (parliament). It consisted of four chambers, made up by representatives from the 4 estates: clerics, nobility, townsmen and peasants, until 1866 when Sweden became a Constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. Its First Chamber was indirectly elected by local governments, and the Second Chamber directly elected in national elections every four years. local government Legislative power was (symbolically) shared between king and parliament until 1975. In 1971 the Riksdag became unicameral. Constitutionally, the 349-member Riksdag holds supreme authority in Sweden, and its acts are not subject to judicial review. Acts of the parliament must be made inapplicable at every level if they are obviously against constitutional laws. Legislation may be initiated by the Cabinet or by members of Parliament. Members are elected on the basis of proportional representation for a four-year term. The Constitution of Sweden can be altered by the Riksdag, which requires a supermajority and confirmation after the following general elections. Sweden has three other constitutional laws: the Act of Royal Succession, the Freedom of Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. Executive power was shared between the King and a noble Privy Council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the common estates of the Parliament. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, Parliamentarism was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of Constitutional Monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809, the latter granting several civil liberties. The monarch remains as the formal, but merely symbolic head of state with ceremonial duties. Social Democracy has played a dominant political role since 1917, after Reformists had confirmed their strength and the revolutionaries left the party. After 1956, the Cabinets have been dominated by the Social Democrats. Only three general elections have given the centre-right bloc enough seats in Parliament to form a government. It is considered the reason for the Swedish post-war welfare state, with a government expenditure of slightly more than 50% of the gross domestic product. Some Swedish political figures that have received worldwide recognition include Joe Hill, Raoul Wallenberg, Dag Hammarskjöld, Olof Palme and Hans Blix.

Energy politics

For details, see Nuclear power phase-out After the 1973 oil crisis, the energy politics were determined to become less dependent on the import of petroleum. Since then, energy has been generated mostly from hydropower and nuclear power. Accidents at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (USA) prompted the Swedish parliament in 1980 after a referendum to decide that no further nuclear power plants should be built and that a nuclear power phase-out should be completed by 2010. As of 2005, the use of renewables amounted to 26 per cent of the energy supply in Sweden, most important being hydropower and biomass. In 1998, electricity from hydropower accounted for 76 TWh and 48 per cent of the country's production of electricity. At the same time, the use of biofuels, peat etc. produced 92TWh. [http://www.scientific-alliance.org/pdf/essential_programme_to_underpin_government_policy_on_nuclear_power.pdf] (PDF file) In March 2005, an opinion poll with 1027 persons asked, showed 83 per cent support for maintaining or increasing nuclear power [http://www.uic.com.au/nip39.htm]. Since then however, reports about radioactive leakages at a nuclear waste store in Forsmark, Sweden, have been published [http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2005/06/29/afx2116521.html]. This doesn't seem to have changed the public support of continued use of nuclear power.

Economy

PDF] The standard of living has become enviably high under this social democratic system. It features a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labour force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. The engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. The public and the trade unions controlled pension funds, non-profit organizations and the reserve funds of the trade-unions owns more than 50% of Sweden capital. 80% of the workforce is organized through the trade-unions. The public sector accounts for 53% of the GDP. Trade unions have the right to elect two representatives to the board in all Swedish companies with more than 25 employees. Agriculture accounts for only 2% of GDP and 2% of the jobs. The government's commitment to fiscal discipline resulted in a substantial budgetary surplus in 2001, which was cut by more than half in 2002, due to the global economic slowdown, revenue declines, and spending increases. The Swedish Riksbank is focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. Growth is expected to reach 3.5% in 2004, assuming a continued moderate global recovery. However, open unemployment has steadily increased since 2001 and stood at 5.6% as of October 2005. Counting everyone who neither studies full-time or has employment, the percentage is around 14% (peaking at 20% in the summer months) . Sweden is known for having an uneven distribution of income, where the income in major towns are higher than in the countryside. Sweden's communication and transportation systems are important components of the infrastructure.

Welfare state

:For details, see Social welfare in Sweden What is known as [http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq28.html The Scandinavian Model], is usually described as a mean way between socialism and capitalism and has been labelled the most developed form of capitalism. The government provides for childcare, maternity and paternity leave, a ceiling on health care costs, free education (all levels), retirement pensions, free dental care up to 20 years of age and sick leave (partly payed by the employer). Parents are entitled to a total of 480 days partly paid leave between birth and the child's eighth birthday, with 60 days reserved specifically for each parent, in effect providing the father with a so called "daddy-month". In addition, the ceiling on health care costs makes it easier, relative to other nations, for Swedish workers to take time off for medical reasons. The Swedish welfare system remains generous, but a recession in the 1990s forced an introduction of a number of reforms, such as education vouchers in 1992 and decentralisation of some types of healthcare services to municipal control. [http://fcpp.org/main/publication_detail.php?PubID=814] The welfare state requires high taxes, but the population is generally affirmative of this. Sweden has a two step progressive tax scale with a municipal income tax of about 30% and a high income state tax of about 50% that kicks in when you earn more than about 300 000 SEK. The employing company pays an additional 32% of so called Employers fee. In addition, a national VAT of 25% is added to many things bought by private citizens except food (12% VAT), transports and books (6% VAT) with the exception of petrol/diesel which is under heavy taxation.
Education
As part of its social welfare system, Sweden provides an extensive childcare system that guarantees a place for all young children from 1-5 years old in a public day-care facility. Between ages 6-16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school. After completing the ninth grade, 90% continue with a three year upper secondary school leading sometimes to an exam in a technical profession and always to the qualifications for further studies at a university college (högskola) or university.
Geography
university college (högskola) or university] university college (högskola) or university university college (högskola) or university in northern Norrland]] Norrland in northern Götaland]] Götaland]] Götaland Götaland]] Sweden enjoys a mostly temperate climate despite its northern latitude, mainly due to the Gulf Stream. In the south of Sweden leaf-bearing trees are prolific, in the north pines and hardy birches dominate the landscape. In the mountains of northern Sweden a sub-Arctic climate predominates. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and in the winter, night is unending for a corresponding period. East of Sweden is the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, providing a long coastline, and mellowing the climate further yet. To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain, a range that separates Sweden from Norway. The southern part of the country is chiefly agricultural, with forests covering a larger percentage of the land the further north one goes. Population density is also higher in southern Sweden, with centres being in the valley of lake Mälaren and the Öresund region. Gotland and Öland are the two largest Islands of Sweden.
Counties
For details, see: Counties of Sweden Sweden is divided into 21 counties or län. They are Stockholm County, Uppsala County, Södermanland County, Östergötland County, Jönköping County, Kronoberg County, Kalmar County, Gotland County, Blekinge County, Skåne County, Halland County, Västra Götaland County, Värmland County, Örebro County, Västmanland County, Dalarna County, Gävleborg County, Västernorrland County, Jämtland County, Västerbotten County and Norrbotten County. Each has a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse which is appointed by the Government. In each county there is also a separate County Council or landsting, which is the municipal representation appointed by the county electorate. Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, making a total of 290 municipalities, in 2004. There are also older historical divisions of Sweden, primarily into provinces and lands.
Largest cities
Denotes inhabitants in the municipality (kommun) area. Area is in km². The figures are as of 2005. Detailed list at List of municipalities of Sweden by population.
Demographics
For details, see: Demographics of Sweden Sweden has one of the world's highest life expectancies. As of approximately 12 August 2004, the total population of Sweden for the first time exceeded 9,000,000, according to Statistics Sweden. The country's population includes some 17,000 indigenous Samis. Some 50,000 of the ethnic Finns of Sweden also constitute an indigenous minority, although many more of the Sweden Finns descend from 20th century immigrants. Sweden has been transformed from a nation of emigration ending after World War I to a nation of immigration from World War II onwards. Currently, almost 12% of the residents are born abroad, and about one fifth of Sweden's population are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. The largest immigrant groups are from Finland, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and then other Nordic Countries, in that order. This reflects the inter-Nordic migrations, earlier periods of labour immigration, and later decades of refugee and family immigration. Soviet intervention against the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the 1968 Czechoslovakian liberalization resulted in the first surges of intellectual political refugees. Some American deserters from the Vietnam War also found refuge among the Swedes, who in international politics took a clear stand against what they typically viewed as imperialism executed by both the Soviet Union and the United States of America. After the 1973 coup in Chile, and the following military dictatorships in Chile and other South American countries, political refugees came to dominate the image of immigration to Sweden, including refugees from Iran, Iraq and Palestine.
Language
:For details, see: Swedish language Swedish is a Germanic language, related to Danish and Norwegian, but differing in pronunciation and orthography. Like the U.S., Sweden has no official language, but the Swedish language has held a de facto status as such. The dominating language has always been Swedish and there has never been a political issue about making it an official language. However, with the recognition of five minority languages of Sweden (being Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Romani and Yiddish) on April 1, 2000, the issue of whether Swedish should be declared the official language was raised. On December 7, 2005, the parliament voted on this issue, and with the count 147 to 145 the earlier position was settled, i.e. swedish is not the official language according to law. It was, however, strengthen as the principal language in that same proposal. Most Swedes, especially those under 50, have no difficulty understanding and speaking English, thanks to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television programmes and films. English is usually taught from the fourth grade of school. Many students also take additional languages; often French, German or Spanish.
Culture
Spanish cottage in the rural countryside, painted in the traditional Swedish Falu red]] Swedish authors of worldwide recognition include Carolus Linnaeus, Emanuel Swedenborg, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg, Harry Martinson and Astrid Lindgren. Many well-known inventions and discoveries, historical and modern, were made by Swedes. Some notable figures are Alfred Nobel, Anders Celsius, Baltzar von Platen, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, John Ericsson, Anders Jonas Ångström, Lars Magnus Ericsson, Svante Arrhenius, Arvid Carlsson, Håkan Lans. Swedish 20th century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 1920s–1980s, the filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg received Academy Awards, and actresses Greta Garbo, Zarah Leander, Ingrid Bergman and Anita Ekberg made careers abroad. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson have received international recognition.
Music
:For details, see: Music of Sweden The best-known opera singers are the 19th century soprano Jenny Lind and the 20th century tenor Jussi Björling, who had great success abroad. Also sopranos Christina Nilsson Birgit Nilsson, and tenors Nicolai Gedda, baritone Håkan Hagegård and the contemporary mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter are worth mentioning. The most successful Swedish popular music artists are ABBA, Europe, Roxette, Ace of Base, Army of Lovers, The Cardigans, and guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. A number of bands with less emphasis on pop music have come out of the country in recent years, including Blindside, The Sounds, The Hives, Refused, Millencolin, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Sahara Hotnights, The Hellacopters, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Kent, Infinite Mass, A
- Teens, and Looptroop. In underground circles, Sweden is known for a large number of death metal and black metal acts such as Bathory, Meshuggah, The Haunted, Opeth, Naglfar and In Flames. Sweden is also responsible for the Swechno scene, offering a distinct house and techno sound.
Media
:For details, see: Media in Sweden Swedes are among the greatest consumers of newspapers in the world, and every town is served by a local paper. The country's main quality dailies are Dagens Nyheter (centrist), Svenska Dagbladet (right-wing) and Göteborgs-Posten (centrist), main popular dailies are the evening tabloids Aftonbladet (left-wing) and Expressen (centrist). The free international morning paper, Metro International, was originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden. The country's news is reported in English by The Local. The television industry consisted solely of the public service company Sveriges Television and its two channels until 1987, when the first commercial channel, TV3, was started. Today, there are three freely available channels, although most apartment complexes at a low fee provide additional 8-10 channels. It is for this reason that many Swedes pay for Satellite Television. It provides much greater selection, and there is no cable TV infrastructure.
Holidays
:For details, see: Holidays in Sweden Apart from traditional Protestant Christian holidays, Sweden also celebrates some unique holidays, some of a pre-christian tradition. They include Midsummer, celebrating the summer solstice; Walpurgis Night on April 30 lighting bonfires; Labour Day on May 1st is dedicated to Socialistic demonstrations; and December 13th, the day of Saint Lucia the lightgiver. June 6 is National Day of Sweden and as of 2005 a public holiday. Furthermore, there are official flag day observances and a Namesdays in Sweden calendar.
Cuisine
Swedish cuisine, like that the other Scandinavian countries (Denmark and Norway), is traditionally simple. Fish and meat play prominent roles and vegetarianism has historically been non-existent.
Sports
Sport activities are a national movement with half of the population actively participating. The two main spectator sports are soccer and ice hockey. Some notable soccer stars of Sweden include Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg, while some famous Swedish hockey players include Markus Näslund, Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, Niklas Lidström, Börje Salming and Pelle Lindbergh. Second to soccer, Horse sports have the highest number of practitioners, mostly women. Thereafter follow golf, track and field, and the team sports of handball, floorball, basketball and in northern parts bandy. American sports such as baseball and American football are also practised but have no widespread popularity. Successful tennis players include former world No. 1's Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg; in skiing sports, Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg and Anja Pärson have all had dominating periods in alpine skiing, as have Sixten Jernberg, Gunde Svan and Thomas Wassberg in cross country skiing. In ski jumping, Jan Boklöv revolutionised the sport with his new technique, the V-style. A number of Swedes have been internationally successful in athletics. In the 1940s runner Gunder Hägg dominated middle distance. In recent years, stars include high jumpers such as the European record holder Patrik Sjöberg, Kajsa Bergqvist, and Athens Olympic gold medallist Stefan Holm. Two other Swedish athletes won gold medals in the 2004 Olympic Games: heptathlete Carolina Klüft and triple jumper Christian Olsson. Other famous Swedish athletes include the heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johansson, golfer Annika Sörenstam, former five times World table tennis Champion Jan-Ove Waldner and the World Speedway Champion Tony Rickardsson. In schools, on meadows and in parks, the game brännboll, a sport similar to baseball, is commonly played for fun. Other leisure sports are the historical game of kubb and boules among the older generation.
Religion
Before the 11th century, people of Sweden adhered to Norse mythology, worshipping Æsir gods, with its centre at the Temple in Uppsala. With Christianisation in the 11th century, the laws of the country were changed, forbidding worship of other deities. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s the Church and State were united, abolishing the authority of the Roman Catholic bishops, and in the long run allowing only Lutheranism to prevail. This was not a process completed until the Uppsala Synod 1593. During the era following the Reformation period, usually known as the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, in the 17th century, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially Calvinist Dutchmen and Walloons who played a significant role in trade and industry, were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low religious profile. Not until liberalisation in the late 18th century, were believers of other faiths, including Judaism and Catholicism, allowed to openly live and work in Sweden, although it remained illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another religion. The 19th century saw other Christian denominations, such as the Episcopal Church; and towards the end of the century secularism began attracting attention, leading people to distance themselves from Church rituals such as baptism. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called dissenter law of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to stand outside any religious denomination was established in the Law on Freedom of Religion in 1951. Today about 78% of Swedes belong to the Church of Sweden, but the number is decreasing by about one percent every year, and church services are sparsely attended (hovering in the single digit percentages of the population) - despite this, a majority of Swedes claim to believe in a higher Deity. Also of significance are the approx 100,000 Muslims in Sweden.
Miscellaneous topics

- Allemansrätten (Right of public access to the wilderness)
- Catholic Church of Sweden
- Communications in Sweden
- Ethnic Swedes
- Government agencies in Sweden
- Foreign relations of Sweden
- List of Sweden-related topics
- Swedish Armed Forces
- List of Swedish regiments
- Non-governmental organizations in Sweden
- Postage stamps and postal history of Sweden
- Reporters without borders World-wide Press Freedom Index 2002: Rank 11 out of 139 countries
- Swedish Royal Academies
- Tourism in Sweden
International rankings

- [http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/swe-summary-eng Sweden Summary] Amnesty Report 2005
- [http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html CIA World Factbook - GDP] - PPP per capita
- 2004: 26th of 232 countries [http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html]
- Save the Children: [http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2004/images/pdf/SOWM_2004_final.pdf State of the World's Mothers (2004) Report] (PDF file)
- Mothers' index rank: 1st of 119 countries
- Women's index rank: 1st of 119 countries
- Children's index rank: 10th of 119 countries
- Infant mortality rate: lowest
- % women with seats in the national government: 50% (highest)
- UN Human Development Index (2004)
- 2nd of 177 countries
- World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report [http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Gcr/Growth_Competitiveness_Index_2003_Comparisons] (2004)
- 3rd of 104 countries
References

- CIA World Factbook - [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sw.html Sweden]
- United States Department of State - [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2880.htm Sweden]
Notes
# For instance expressed thus: As regards social evils generally, however, the low, though undoubtedly improving, standard of Sweden has had one of its chief reasons in the national intemperance. article Sweden in the Online 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. ([http://25.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SW/SWEDEN.htm] # The difference between "open unemployment" and "real unemployment" has been a politically disputed question for a long time in Sweden. Many unemployed are automatically enrolled in Work guidance projects, serving little purpose except keeping them busy, and officially discounting them as unemployed. Figures in the article are calculated based on information from the Moderate Party website [http://www.moderat.se/arbetsloshet.asp] (In Swedish ). # [http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/ Church of Sweden], [http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/statistik/pdf/medlemmar.pdf Members 1978-2004, PDF document] # [http://www.islamiska.org/s/sverige.htm Swedish Muslim Association]
External links

-
- [http://www.badley.info/history/Sweden.country.year.index.html World History Database Chronology of Sweden]
- [http://www.visitsweden.com/ Visit Sweden - The Official Travel and Tourism Site]
- [http://www.sweden.se/ SWEDEN.SE] - The Official Gateway to Sweden
- [http://www.thelocal.se/ The Local] - Sweden's news in English, commercial
- [http://www.radiosweden.org/ Radio Sweden (in English)] Public service
- [http://www.sweden.gov.se/ The Swedish Government] - Official site
- [http://www.studyinsweden.info/ Study in Sweden] - Prospective Students Guide to Sweden Category:European Union member states Category:Monarchies als:Schweden zh-min-nan:Sverige ko:스웨덴 ms:Sweden ja:スウェーデン simple:Sweden th:ประเทศสวีเดน fiu-vro:Roodsi

Francois de Lachaise

François de La Chaise (August 25, 1624 - January 20, 1709), father confessor of King Louis XIV of France, was born at the château of Aix (Aix-la-Fayette, Puy-de-Dôme), being the son of Georges d'Aix, seigneur de La Chaise, and of Renée de Rochefort. On his mother's side he was a grandnephew of Père Coton, the confessor of Henry IV. He became a novice of the Society of Jesus before completing his studies at Lyons, where, after taking the final vows, he lectured on philosophy to students attracted by his fame from all parts of France. Through the influence of Camille de Villeroy, archbishop of Lyons, Père de La Chaise was in 1674 nominated confessor of Louis XIV, who intrusted him during the lifetime of Harlay de Champvallon, archbishop of Paris, with the administration of the ecclesiastical patronage of the crown. The confessor united his influence with that of Madame de Maintenon to induce the king to abandon his liaison with Madame de Montespan. More than once at Easter he is said to have had a convenient illness which dispensed him from granting absolution to Louis XIV. With the fall of Madame de Montespan and the ascendancy of Madame de Maintenon his influence vastly increased. The marriage between Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon was celebrated in his presence at Versailles, but there is no reason for supposing that the subsequent coolness between him and Madame de Maintenon arose from his insistence on secrecy in this matter. During the long strife over the temporalities of the Gallican Church between Louis XIV and Innocent XI, Père de la Chaise supported the royal prerogative, though he used his influence at Rome to conciliate the papal authorities. He must be held largely responsible for the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but not for the brutal measures applied against the Protestants. He exercised a moderating influence on Louis XIV's zeal against the Jansenists, and Saint-Simon, who was opposed to him in most matters, does full justice to his humane and honorable character. Père de la Chaise had a lasting and unalterable affection for Fénelon, which remained unchanged by the papal condemnation of the Maximes. In spite of failing faculties he continued his duties as confessor to Louis XIV to the end of his long life. The cemetery of Père-la-Chaise in Paris stands on property acquired by the Jesuits in 1826, and not, as is often stated, on property personally granted to him. See R Chantelauze, Le Père de la Chaize. Etudes d'histoire religieuse (Paris and Lyons, 1859).

Reference

- This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. La Chaise, Francois de La Chaise, Francois de La Chaise, Francois de La Chaise, Francois de

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