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[ [ "Mouthpiece" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mouthpiece''' may refer to:* The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder** Mouthpiece (telephone handset)** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a woodwind instrument** Mouthpiece (brass), a component of a brass instrument** Mouthpiece (scuba), a component of a scuba diving or industrial breathing set** Mouthpiece, a device attached to demand end of swimmer's or diver's breathing tube** Mouthguard, a device protecting the teeth from injury, also known as mouth piece" ], [ "Other", "* ''The Mouthpiece'', a 1932 crime drama film directed by James Flood and Elliott Nugent* ''Mouthpiece'' (play), a 2015 Canadian play by Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken*''Mouthpiece'' (film), a 2018 Canadian drama film inspired by the 2015 play* Mouthpiece (comics), a DC comics character* Mouthpiece (band), a hardcore punk band* Figuratively and with negative connotations to indicate the role of a spokesperson or mass media venue that is used to perpetuate the views or agenda of another, as in \"the newspaper became a ''mouthpiece'' for its owner's political views\"" ], [ "See also", "* *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mr. T" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mr.", "T''' (born '''Laurence Tureaud''', May 21, 1952) is an American actor.", "He is known for his roles as B.", "A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''.", "He is also known for his distinctive hairstyle inspired by Mandinka warriors in West Africa, his copious gold jewelry, his tough-guy persona and his catchphrase \"I pity the fool!", "\", first uttered as Clubber Lang in ''Rocky III'', then turned into a trademark used in slogans or titles, like the reality show ''I Pity the Fool'' in 2006." ], [ "Early life", "Tureaud was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest son in a family with twelve children.", "He and his four sisters and seven brothers grew up in a three-room apartment in the Robert Taylor Homes.", "His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, was a minister.", "After his father left when he was five, he shortened his name to Lawrence Tero.", "In 1970, he legally changed his last name to T. His new name, Mr. T., was based upon his childhood impressions regarding the lack of respect from white people for his family:Tureaud as a senior in high school (1970)Tureaud attended Dunbar Vocational High School, where he played football, wrestled, and studied martial arts.", "While at Dunbar he became the citywide wrestling champion two years in a row.", "He won a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, where he majored in mathematics, but was expelled after his first year.After Tureaud left Prairie View A&M, he worked as a gym instructor for a government program in Chicago.", "He later said it was here that he discovered a gift for helping children.He then enlisted in the United States Army in 1975 and served in the Military Police Corps.", "After his discharge in the late 1970s, he tried out for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but failed to make the team due to a knee injury.Tureaud next worked as a bouncer at the Rush Street club Dingbats Discotheque.", "It was at this time that he created the persona of Mr. T. His wearing of gold neck chains and other jewelry was the result of customers losing the items or leaving them behind at the night club after a fight.", "A banned customer, or one reluctant to risk a confrontation by going back inside, could return to claim his property from Mr. T wearing it conspicuously right out front.", "Along with controlling the violence as a doorman, Tureaud was mainly hired to keep out drug dealers and users.", "Tureaud says that as a bouncer, he was in over 200 fights and was sued a number of times, but won each case.He eventually parlayed his job as a bouncer into a career as a bodyguard that lasted almost ten years.", "As his reputation grew, he was contracted to guard, among others, clothes designers, models, judges, politicians, athletes and millionaires.", "His clients included celebrities Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, LeVar Burton, and Diana Ross, and boxers Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Leon Spinks.", "With his reputation as \"Mr. T\", Tureaud attracted strange offers and was frequently approached with odd commissions, including tracking runaway teenagers, locating missing persons, debt collection, and assassination requests.While he was in his late twenties, Tureaud won two tough-man competitions consecutively.", "The first aired as \"Sunday Games\" on NBC-TV under the contest of \"America's Toughest Bouncer\" which included throwing a stuntman, and breaking through a wooden door.", "For the first event, Tureaud came in third place.", "For the end, two finalists squared off in a boxing ring for a two-minute round to declare the champion.", "Making it to the ring as a finalist, he had as his opponent a Honolulu bouncer named Tutefano Tufi.", "Within twenty seconds \"Mr. T\" gave the six foot five competitor a bloody nose, and later a bloody mouth.", "He won the match and thus the competition.", "The second competition was aired under the new name \"Games People Play\" on NBC-TV.", "When interviewed by Bryant Gumbel before the final boxing match, Mr T. said, \"I just feel sorry for the guy who I have to box.", "I just feel real sorry for him.\"", "This fight was scheduled to last three rounds, but Mr. T finished it in less than 54 seconds.", "The line, \"I don't hate him but...", "I pity the fool\" in the movie ''Rocky III'' was written by Sylvester Stallone, who is reputed to have been inspired by the interview." ], [ "Acting roles and other work", "While reading ''National Geographic'', Mr. T first noticed the unusual hairstyle for which he is now famous, on a Mandinka warrior.", "He decided that adoption of the style would be a powerful statement about his African origin.", "It was a simpler, safer, and more permanent visual signature than his gold chains, rings, and bracelets.In 1980, Mr. T was spotted by Sylvester Stallone while taking part in NBC's \"America's Toughest Bouncer\" competition, a segment of NBC's ''Games People Play''.", "Although his role in ''Rocky III'' was originally intended as just a few lines, Mr. T was eventually cast as Clubber Lang, the primary antagonist.", "His catchphrase \"I pity the fool!\"", "comes from the film; when asked if he hates Rocky, Lang replies, \"No, I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool.\"", "He subsequently appeared in another boxing film, ''Penitentiary 2'', and on an episode of the Canadian sketch comedy series ''Bizarre'', where he fights and eats Super Dave Osborne, before accepting a television series role on ''The A-Team''.", "He also appeared in an episode of ''Silver Spoons'', reprising his old role as bodyguard to the character Ricky Stratton (played by Ricky Schroder).In ''The A-Team'', he played Sergeant Bosco \"B.", "A.\"", "Baracus, an ex-Army commando on the run with three other members from the United States government \"for a crime they didn't commit.\"", "As well as the team's tough guy, B.", "A. was a mechanical genius, but afraid of flying.", "When asked at a press conference whether he was as stupid as B.", "A. Baracus, Mr. T observed quietly, \"It takes a smart guy to play dumb.\"", "The series was a major hit, and B.", "A. Baracus in particular quickly became a cult character and the de facto star of the show, reportedly sparking tensions with seasoned actor George Peppard, although Mr. T always maintained that these were unfounded rumors.", "Mr. T was reported to be earning $80,000 a week for his role in ''The A-Team''.His role in ''The A-Team'' led to him making an appearance in the long-running sit-com ''Diff'rent Strokes'' in the sixth season opener \"Mr. T and Mr. t\" (1983), in which an episode of ''The A-Team'' is supposedly filmed in the family's penthouse apartment.Mr.", "T portraying Santa Claus at the White House with First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983Also in 1983, a Ruby-Spears-produced cartoon called ''Mister T'' premiered on NBC.", "The ''Mister T'' cartoon starred Mr. T as his alter ego, the owner of a gym where a group of gymnasts trained.", "He helped them with their training but they also helped him solve mysteries and fight crime in ''Scooby-Doo''-style scenarios; thirty episodes were produced.", "Each episode was bookended by Mr. T himself, presenting the theme of the episode, and then a closing statement on a lesson for children, based on the events of the episode.The year 1983 also marked the release of the only film that can be called a Mr. T vehicle, ''DC Cab''.", "The movie featured an ensemble cast, many of whom were publicized figures from other areas of show business – comics Paul Rodriguez, Marsha Warfield, singer Irene Cara, bodybuilders David and Peter Paul (the \"Barbarian Brothers\") – but who had only modest acting experience.", "Despite the wide range of performers, and more seasoned actors such as Adam Baldwin as the protagonist Albert, as well as Gary Busey and Max Gail, Mr. T was top billed and the central figure in the film's publicity, with him literally towering over the other characters on the film's poster.", "While the film, featuring the ensemble as a ragtag taxi company trying to hustle their way to solvency and respectability, performed modestly at the box office, its $16 million take exceeded its $12 million budget, it received mixed reviews critically.", "Janet Maslin, writing for ''The New York Times'', described it as \"a musical mob scene, a raucous, crowded movie that's fun as long as it stays wildly busy, and a lot less interesting when it wastes time on plot or conversation.\"", "Roger Ebert praised the movie's \"mindless, likable confusion\" and criticized its \"fresh off the assembly line\" plot.", "It was the second feature in a prolific career for director Joel Schumacher.Mr.", "T on Zandvoort racing track in 1984In 1984, he made a motivational video called ''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!''.", "He gives helpful advice to children throughout the video; for example, he teaches them how to understand and appreciate their origins, how to dress fashionably without buying designer labels, how to make tripping up look like breakdancing, how to control their anger, and how to deal with peer pressure.", "The video is roughly one hour long, but contains 30 minutes of singing, either by the group of children accompanying him, or by Mr. T himself.", "He sings \"Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right)\", and also raps a song about growing up in the ghetto and praising God.", "The raps in this video were written by Ice-T. Due to its unintentionally comic nature, many clips have been made from this video and shared as Internet memes.", "Also in 1984, he played the protagonist of the TV movie ''The Toughest Man in the World'', as Bruise Brubaker, a bouncer also leading a sports center for teenagers, who takes part in a strong man championship to get funds for the center.", "He also released a rap mini-album titled ''Mr.", "T's Commandments'' (Columbia/CBS Records) the same year, featuring seven songs, including the title theme for the aforementioned TV film.", "In much the same tone as his motivational video, it instructed children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs.", "He followed it up the same year with a second album, titled ''Mr.", "T's Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!''", "(MCA), featuring music from the eponymous film.During those busy years, he made numerous appearances in television shows, most notably hosting the 15th episode of the 10th season of ''Saturday Night Live'', along with Hulk Hogan.", "He had previously appeared on Saturday Night Live (season 8) in October 1982, fresh from his role in ''Rocky III'', in a recurring skit by Eddie Murphy called \"Mr. Robinson Neighborhood\" (making a reference to one of his lines in the movie : \"Hello boys and girls.", "The new word for today... is PAIN.", "\").On January 19, 1985, he introduced Rich Little at the nationally televised 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala, the day before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan.In 1988, after the cancellation of ''The A-Team'', Mr. T starred in the syndicated Canadian television series ''T.", "and T''.", "Earning $15,000 for personal appearances, by the end of the 1990s, he was appearing only in the occasional commercial, largely because of health problems.Some time during the 90's, Mr. T would be in Eric \"Butterbean\" Esch's corner in the boxing matches during one of the Toughman Contests.He frequently appears on the TBN Christian television network.In 2002, Mr. T appeared as a bartender in the video for \"Pass the Courvoisier, Part II\" by Busta Rhymes featuring Sean Combs and Pharrell Williams.In the 2009 animated movie ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'', Mr. T provided the voice for Officer Earl Devereaux, the town's athletic cop who loves his son very much.", "Mr. T was offered a cameo appearance in the film adaptation of ''The A-Team'', but decided to turn it down, whereas Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict both made cameos in the film.", "These scenes were shown after the credits, but were reinserted during the film in the Extended Cut.", "Although he wasn't disturbed at the mere prospect of an \"A-Team\" movie being made without him, he vehemently criticized the concept of having another actor copy his own very distinct appearance and style (including his haircut and gold chains) in the hope of attracting his nostalgic fanbase, and considered that asking him to do a cameo appearance in those conditions was disrespectful.Starting in 2011, Mr. T presented a clip show on BBC Three named ''World's Craziest Fools''.", "The show featured stories such as botched bank robberies and inept insurance fraudsters alongside fail videos.", "In 2015, it was announced that Mr. T would star in a do it yourself home improvement TV show, with interior designer Tiffany Brooks, on the DIY Network.", "The show, due sometime in 2015, was to be titled, \"I Pity the Tool\", another variation on his famous catchphrase, but only one episode was aired, for reasons unknown.On March 1, 2017, Mr. T was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 24 of ''Dancing with the Stars''.", "He was paired with professional dancer Kym Herjavec.", "On April 10, 2017, Mr. T and Herjavec were the third couple to be eliminated from the competition, finishing in 10th place.", "He vowed to donate the money received from this participation to the Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Shriners Hospitals for Children.=== Commercials ===Mr.", "T has been involved in numerous commercials, including for Snickers, Atari, ''World of Warcraft'', MCI, Comcast and RadioShack.", "''Forbes'' has described him as \"one of the most enduring pitchmen in the business.\"", "Mr. T has described himself as \"not really an actor, I'm a reactor; I'm a pitchman.\"", "At his peak, he was earning $5 million per year.Mr.", "T did a video campaign for Hitachi's Data Systems that was created and posted on consumer video sites including YouTube and Yahoo!", "Video.", "According to Steven Zivanic, senior director and corporate communications of HDS, \"this campaign has not only helped the firm in its own area, but it has given the data storage firm a broader audience.\"", "In November 2007, Mr. T appeared in a television commercial for the online role playing game ''World of Warcraft'' with the phrase ''\"I'm Mr. T and I'm a Night Elf Mohawk\"''.", "A follow-up to this commercial appeared in November 2009 where he appeared promoting the \"mohawk grenade\" item, which appears in game and turns other players into Mr. T's likeness.In 2008, Mr. T appeared on the American channel ''Shopping TV'' selling his \"Mr. T Flavorwave Oven\".", "In 2009, ZootFly announced they had acquired the rights to the Mr. T Graphic Novel and were planning several video games based upon the work.", "The first (and only) game, \"Mr. T: The Videogame\", was to have Mr. T battle Nazis in various locations and guest star Wil Wright.", "It was planned to be available on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PC platforms, however the game was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.The same year, he appeared on commercials in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand advertising the chocolate bar Snickers with the slogan \"Get Some Nuts!\"", "One of these commercials featured Mr. T on an army jeep calling a speed walker wearing yellow shorts \"a disgrace to the man race\" (a pun on the double meaning of the word \"race\") and firing Snickers bars at the man with a custom-made machine gun so that he starts \"running like a real man\".", "This commercial was pulled by Mars following a complaint by the U.S.-based group Human Rights Campaign, although the advert had never been shown in the United States.", "The group alleged that the commercial promoted the idea that violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people \"is not only acceptable, but humorous.\"", "Mr. T distanced himself from these accusations, insisting that he would never lend his name to such beliefs, and that he did not think the commercial was offensive to anyone, as all the commercials he appeared in had a similarly silly, over-the-top nature and were never intended to be taken seriously.In 2010, Mr. T signed up as the spokesman for Gold Promise, a gold-buying company.", "According to an appraiser hired by Bloomberg Television's ''Taking Stock'', his trademark gold jewelry was worth around $43,000 in 1983, although some sources claim the gold jewelry was worth up to $300,000.In 2015, he starred in a series of Fuze Iced Tea advertisements, stating, \"The only thing bolder than Fuze Iced Tea is ME!\"", "The brand, owned by Coca-Cola, also briefly centered its social profiles and website around Mr. T." ], [ "Professional wrestling", "Mr. T hoists Roddy Piper up onto his shoulders as Hulk Hogan cheers in the background during the main event of the first-ever WrestlemaniaMr.", "T entered the world of professional wrestling in 1985.He was Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) ''WrestleMania I'' which he won.", "Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that Mr. T saved the main event of WrestleMania I between them and \"Rowdy\" Roddy Piper and \"Mr.", "Wonderful\" Paul Orndorff because when he arrived, security would not let his entourage into the building.", "Mr. T was ready to skip the show until Hogan personally talked him out of leaving.", "Piper has said that he and other fellow wrestlers disliked Mr. T because he was an actor and had never paid his dues as a professional wrestler.", "Remaining with the WWF, Mr. T became a special \"WWF boxer\" in light of his character in ''Rocky III''.", "He took on \"Cowboy\" Bob Orton on the March 1, 1986 ''Saturday Night's Main Event V,'' on NBC.", "This boxing stunt culminated in another boxing match against Roddy Piper at ''WrestleMania 2''.", "As part of the build-up for the match, Piper attacked Mr. T's friend, dwarf wrestler the Haiti Kid on his ''Piper's Pit'' interview slot, shaving his head into a mohican style similar to that of Mr. T. Then Mr. T won the boxing match in Round 4 by Disqualification after Piper attacked the referee and bodyslammed Mr. T. He returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987 as well as a special referee enforcer confronting such stars as The Honky Tonk Man.On July 21, 1989, Mr. T. made an appearance in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), seconding Kerry Von Erich.", "Five years later, Mr. T reappeared in WCW, first appearing in Hulk Hogan's corner for his WCW world title match against Ric Flair at ''Bash at the Beach 1994''.", "He would next appear as a special referee for the HoganFlair rematch in October 1994 at ''Halloween Havoc'', and then went on to wrestle again, defeating Kevin Sullivan at that year's ''Starrcade''.", "Another seven years later Mr. T appeared in the front row of the November 19, 2001, episode of ''WWF Raw''.", "On April 5, 2014, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Mr. T was inducted by Gene Okerlund into the WWE Hall of Fame's celebrity wing.", "His acceptance speech, largely a tribute to his mother and motherhood rather than wrestling, ran long and was eventually interrupted by Kane." ], [ "Personal life", "Mr. T during an interview in London in 2009Mr.", "T is a born-again Christian.", "Mr. T has three children with his wife: two daughters, one of whom is a comedian, and a son.", "He also has another son from outside his marriage.In 1987, he angered the residents of Lake Forest, Illinois, by cutting down more than a hundred oak trees on his estate.", "The local newspaper referred to the incident as \"the Lake Forest Chain Saw Massacre\".In 1995, he was diagnosed with a cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, or mycosis fungoides.", "Once in remission, he joked about the coincidence: \"Can you imagine that?", "Cancer with my name on it – personalized cancer!\"", "He wrote an as-yet-unpublished book on this experience, called ''Cancer Saved My Life (Cancer Ain't For No Wimps)''.", "He made a direct reference to it as he performed a waltz to the song \"Amazing Grace\" in ''Dancing with the Stars''.He stopped wearing virtually all his gold, one of his identifying marks, after helping with the clean-up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.He said, \"As a Christian, when I saw other people lose their lives and lose their land and property ...", "I felt that it would be a sin before God for me to continue wearing my gold.", "I felt it would be insensitive and disrespectful to the people who lost everything, so I stopped wearing my gold.\"Mr.", "T often refers to himself in the third person.", "He also frequently talks in rhymes.", "He cites Muhammad Ali as his \"childhood hero\" and his main inspiration with regard to style and mannerisms." ], [ "In popular culture", " The pop punk band The Mr. T Experience is named after him.Mr.", "T was featured in the ''Epic Rap Battles of History'' episode \"Mr. T vs. Mr. Rogers\" in which he was portrayed by DeStorm Power." ], [ "Filmography", "===Film===+ Year Title Role Notes1980 ''The Blues Brothers'' Guy on the Street Uncredited1982 ''Penitentiary II'' Himself ''Rocky III'' Clubber Lang 1983 ''D.C.", "Cab'' Samson 1984 ''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!", "''HimselfVideo 1985 ''WrestleMania'' 1986 ''WrestleMania 2''1993 ''Freaked'' The Bearded Lady1994 ''Magic of the Golden Bear: Goldy III'' Freedom ''Bash at the Beach''HimselfVideo ''Halloween Havoc'' ''Starrcade'' 1995 ''Battlecade Extreme Fighting'' 1996 ''Spy Hard'' Helicopter Pilot 1999 ''Inspector Gadget'' Himself 2001 ''Not Another Teen Movie'' The Wise Janitor 2001 ''Judgment'' J. T. Quincy 2009 ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' Earl Devereaux Voice role 2014 ''WrestleMania XXX'' Himself Video===Television===+ Year Title Role Notes 1981 ''Games People Play''Himself Episode: \"America's Best Bouncer\"1982 ''Twilight Theater'' ''Silver Spoons'' Episode: \"Me and Mr. T\"1982–1984 ''Saturday Night Live'' 2 episodes 1983–1987 '''' B.", "A. Baracus 97 episodes1983 ''Diff'rent Strokes''Himself Episode: \"Mr. T and Mr. t\" ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'' Episode: \"The C Team\" 1983–1985 ''Mister T'' 30 episodes1984 ''The Toughest Man in the World'' Bruise Brubaker TV movie ''Dean Martin Celebrity Roast''Himself Special 1984–1988 ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling''1984 ''A Christmas Dream'' Benny / Santa Claus TV movie1985 ''Back to Next Saturday'' Himself TV movie 1986 ''Saturday Night's Main Event V''TV special 1987 ''Alice Through the Looking Glass'' Jabberwock TV movie 1988–1990 ''T.", "and T.''T.", "S. Turner 65 episodes 1989 ''World Class Championship Wrestling'' Himself Episode: July 21, 1989 1990 ''Straight Line'' T.S.", "Turner 1991 ''Out of This World''Himself Episode: \"New Kid on the Block\" 1994 ''Blossom'' Episode: \"A Little Help from My Friends\" 1994–1995 ''Eek!", "The Cat'' Mr. T-Rex 3 episodes 1995 ''Kids Against Crime'' Himself TBN 1996 ''Martin'' Mr. Jenkins Episode: \"Boo's in the House\" 1996–1997 ''Suddenly Susan'' Arnie 2 episodes 1999 ''Malcolm & Eddie'' Calvin Episode: \"The Wrongest Yard\" 1999 ''Sabrina: The Animated Series'' Alien 3 episodes 2001–2003 ''Pecola'' Bongo2001 ''WWF Raw''Himself Episode: November 19, 2001 2003 ''House of Mouse'' Episode: \"House Ghosts\"\"2004 ''Johnny Bravo'' Episode: \"T is for Trouble\" '''' Episode: \"Today I Am a Clown\" 2006 ''I Pity the Fool'' 6 episodes 2010 ''Finders Keepers'' Gambler Episode: \"Casino Night\" 2011–2013 ''World's Craziest Fools''Himself BBC Three 2014 ''The Comeback Kids'' Episode: \"Gary‘s Big Break\" 2017 ''Dancing with the Stars'' Season 24===Other===+ Year Title Role Notes 2003 ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' Himself Video Game2011 ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The 4D Experience''Earl DevereauxTheme park ride 2022 ''WWE 2K22'' Himself Video Game" ], [ "Discography", "===Albums===* ''Mr.", "T's Commandments'' (1984), Columbia* ''Be Somebody (Or Be Somebody's Fool)'' (1984), MCA===Singles===* \"Mr. T's Commandment\" (1984)* \"Don't Talk to Strangers\" (1984)* \"Treat Your Mother Right\" (1984)" ], [ "See also", "* Mr. T Cereal" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "*" ], [ "External links", "* *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Morphology" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Morphology''', from the Greek and meaning \"study of shape\", may refer to:" ], [ "Disciplines", "*Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts*Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, or other extended objects*Morphology (biology), the study of the form or shape of an organism or part thereof*Morphology (folkloristics), the structure of narratives such as folk tales*Morphology (linguistics), the study of the structure and content of word forms*Mathematical morphology, a theoretical model based on lattice theory, used for digital image processing*River morphology, the field of science dealing with changes of river platform*Urban morphology, study of the form, structure, formation and transformation of human settlements*Geomorphology, the study of landforms*Morphology (architecture and engineering), research which is based on theories of two-dimensional and three-dimensional symmetries, and then uses these geometries for planning buildings and structures* In chemistry and materials science, the study of allotropes, isomers, or material polymorphs" ], [ "Other", "*''Journal of Morphology'', peer-reviewed scientific journal of anatomy and morphology *''Morphology'' (journal), peer-reviewed academic journal in linguistic morphology*''Morphology'', 1994 album by Finnish band Neuroactive" ], [ "See also", "*Morphological analysis (disambiguation)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malmö" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Malmö''' (, , ; ) is the largest city in the Swedish county () of Scania (Skåne).", "It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal population of 357,377 in 2022.The Malmö Metropolitan Region is home to over 700,000 people, and the Öresund Region, which includes Malmö and Copenhagen, is home to four million people.Malmö was one of the earliest-industrialised and most-industrialised cities in Scandinavia, and it struggled to adapt to post-industrialism.", "It has undergone a major transformation since the 2000 completion of the Öresund Bridge, producing new architectural developments, supporting new biotech and IT companies, and attracting students through Malmö University and other higher education facilities.", "Over time, Malmö's demographics have changed and by the turn of the 2020s almost half the municipal population had a foreign background.", "The city contains many historic buildings and parks, and is also a commercial centre for the western part of Skåne County.", "It is also home to Malmö FF, the Swedish football club with the most national championships and the only Nordic club to have reached the European Cup final.Malmö has a mild climate for the latitude and, normally, average high temperatures remain above freezing in winter, with prolonged snow cover being rare.Malmö was Sweden's fastest growing city in 2020 and the population increased by 3,800 inhabitants during 2021.Malmö is expected to have a population of 500,000 by 2050." ], [ "History", "Malmö's 1437 grant of armsMalmö was for centuries Denmark's second-biggest city.", "The earliest written mention of Malmö as a city dates from 1275.It is thought to have been founded shortly before that date, as a fortified quay or ferry berth of the Archbishop of Lund, to the north-east.", "Its original name was ''Malmhaug'' (with alternate spellings), meaning \"Gravel pile\" or \"Ore Hill\".", "An alternate and more gruesome story, stemming from the likeness of modern spelling \"Malmö\" to Swedish words \"mal mö\" (lit.", "\"grind maiden\"), suggests that a maiden was once ground up in a mill on what is now the town square.", "A millstone that was placed on the town square in 1538 has at times been connected to this pun.In the 15th century, Malmö became one of Denmark's largest and most visited cities, reaching a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.", "It became the most important city around the Øresund, with the German Hanseatic League frequenting it as a marketplace, and was notable for its flourishing herring fishery.", "In 1437, King Eric of Pomerania (King of Denmark from 1396 to 1439) granted the city's arms: argent with a griffin gules, based on Eric's arms from Pomerania.", "The griffin's head as a symbol of Malmö extended to the entire province of Skåne from 1660.In 1434, a new citadel was constructed at the beach south of the town.", "This fortress, known today as ''Malmöhus'', did not take its current form until the mid-16th century.", "Several other fortifications were constructed, making Malmö Sweden's most fortified city, but only Malmöhus remains.Malmö in 1594: Malmö Castle can be seen at far left, Sankt Petri Church's tower at centreLutheran teachings spread during the 16th century Protestant Reformation, and Malmö became one of the first cities in Scandinavia to fully convert (1527–1529) to this Protestant denomination.In the 17th century, Malmö and the Skåneland region came under control of Sweden following the Treaty of Roskilde with Denmark, signed in 1658.Fighting continued, however; in June 1677, 14,000 Danish troops laid siege to Malmö for a month, but were unable to defeat the Swedish troops holding it.By the dawn of the 18th century, Malmö had about 3,000 inhabitants.", "However, owing to the wars of Charles XII of Sweden (reigned 1697–1718) and to bubonic plague epidemics, the population dropped to 1,800 by 1727.The population did not grow much until the modern harbour was constructed in 1775.The city started to expand and the population in 1800 was 4,000.15 years later, it had increased to 6,000.in 1913In 1840, Frans Henrik Kockum founded the workshop from which the Kockums shipyard eventually developed as one of the largest shipyards in the world.", "The Southern Main Line was built between 1856 and 1864; this enabled Malmö to become a centre of manufacture, with major textile and mechanical industries.", "In 1870, Malmö overtook Norrköping to become Sweden's third-most populous city, and by 1900 Malmö had strengthened this position with 60,000 inhabitants.", "Malmö continued to grow through the first half of the 20th century.", "The population had swiftly increased to 100,000 by 1915 and to 200,000 by 1952.===1900–1969===Malmö, 18 December 1914.All three Scandinavian Kings on the same balcony.In 1914 (15 May to 4 October), Malmö hosted the Baltic Exhibition.", "The large park Pildammsparken was arranged and planted for this large event.", "The Russian part of the exhibition was never taken down, owing to the outbreak of World War I.On 18 and 19 December 1914, the ''Three Kings Meeting'' was held in Malmö.", "After a somewhat disturbed period (1905–1914), which included the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Union, King Oscar II was replaced with King Håkon VII in Norway, who was the younger brother of the Danish King Christian X.", "As Oscar died in 1907, and his son Gustav V became the new King of Sweden, the tensions within Scandinavia were still unresolved, but during this historical meeting, the Scandinavian Kings found internal understanding, as well as a common line about remaining neutral in the ongoing war.Within sports, Malmö has mostly been associated with football.", "IFK Malmö participated in the first ever edition of Allsvenskan 1924/25, but from the mid-1940s Malmö FF started to rise, and ever since it has been one of the most prominent clubs within Swedish football.", "They have won Allsvenskan 23 times in all (as of February 2018) between 1943/44 and 2017.===1970–1999===By 1971, Malmö's population reached 265,000 inhabitants, but this was the peak which would stand for more than 30 years.", "(Svedala was, for a few years in the early 1970s, a part of Malmö municipality.", ")By the mid-1970s Sweden experienced a recession that hit the industrial sector especially hard; shipyards and manufacturing industries suffered, which led to high unemployment in many cities of Skåne.", "Kockums shipyard had become a symbol of Malmö as its largest employer and, when shipbuilding ceased in 1986, confidence in the future of Malmö plummeted among politicians and the public.", "In addition, many middle-class families moved into one-family houses in surrounding municipalities such as Vellinge Municipality, Lomma Municipality and Staffanstorp Municipality, which profiled themselves as the suburbs of the upper-middle class.", "By 1985, Malmö had lost 35,000 inhabitants and the population was down to 229,000.The Swedish financial crises of the early 1990s exacerbated Malmö's decline as an industrial city; between 1990 and 1995 Malmö lost about 27,000 jobs and its economy was seriously strained.", "However, from 1994 under the leadership of the then mayor Ilmar Reepalu, the city of Malmö started to create a new economy as a centre of culture and knowledge.", "Malmö reached bottom in 1995, but that same year marked the commencement of the massive Öresund Bridge road, railway and tunnel project, connecting it to Copenhagen and to the rail lines of Europe.", "The new Malmö University opened in 1998 on Kockums' former dockside.===2000s and later===Further redevelopment of the now disused south-western harbour followed; a city architecture exposition (Bo01) was held in the area in 2001, and its buildings and villas form the core of a new city district.", "Designed with attractive waterfront vistas, it was intended to attract, and has been successful in attracting, the urban middle-class.Since 1974, the Kockums Crane had been a landmark in Malmö and a symbol of the city's manufacturing industry, but in 2002 it was disassembled and moved to South Korea.", "In 2005, Malmö gained a new landmark with completion of Turning Torso, the tallest skyscraper in Scandinavia.", "Although the transformation from a city with its economic base in manufacturing has returned growth to Malmö, the new types of jobs have largely benefited the middle and upper classes.In its 2015 and 2017 reports, Police in Sweden placed the Rosengård and the Södra Sofielund/Seved district in the most severe category of urban areas with high crime rates.", "In 2023, however, the situation in Södra Sofielund/Seved was deemed as improving, and it was re-categorised to a risk area, the less severe category.Malmö is currently growing fast and detailed work is being planned near the Malmö Central Station, in a district called Nyhamnen.", "Nyhamnen will provide 9,000 new housings, two larger buildings for offices and courts.", "It is expected to be complete around 2040–2050." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite image of Malmö by ESA Sentinel-2Malmö is located at 13°00' east and 55°35' north, near the southwestern tip of Sweden, in Skåne County.The city is part of the transnational Öresund Region and, since 2000, has been linked by the Öresund Bridge across the Öresund to Copenhagen, Denmark.", "The bridge opened on 1 July 2000, and measures (the whole link totalling 16 km), with pylons reaching vertically.", "Apart from the Helsingborg-Helsingør ferry links further north, most ferry connections have been discontinued.===Climate===A view of Malmö from a plane window, August 2015Pildammsparken with the old water towerMalmö, like the rest of southern Sweden, has an oceanic climate (Cfb).", "Despite its northern location, the climate is mild compared to other locations at similar latitudes, mainly because of the influence of the Gulf Stream and also its westerly position on the Eurasian landmass.", "Owing to its northern latitude, daylight lasts 17 hours 31 minutes in midsummer, but only around seven hours in midwinter.", "According to data from 2002 to 2014 Falsterbo, to the south of the city, received an annual average of 1,895 hours of sunshine while Lund, to the north, received 1,803 hours.", "The sunshine data in the weather box is based on the data for Falsterbo.Summers are mild with average high temperatures of and lows of around .", "Heat waves during the summer arise occasionally.", "Winters are fairly cold and windy, with temperatures steady between , but it rarely drops below .Rainfall is light to moderate throughout the year with 169 wet days.", "Snowfall occurs mainly in December through March, but snow covers do not remain for a long time, and some winters are virtually free of snow." ], [ "Transport", "The Öresund Bridge, connecting Malmö to Copenhagen and the Scandinavian peninsula with Central and Western Europe through Denmark.Öresund Line trains cross the Öresund Bridge every 15 minutes (hourly during night) connecting Malmö to Copenhagen, and Copenhagen Airport.", "The trip takes around 40 minutes.", "Additionally, some of the X 2000 and Intercity trains to Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Kalmar cross the bridge, stopping at Copenhagen Airport.", "In March 2005, excavation began on a new railway connection called the City Tunnel, which opened for traffic on 4 December 2010.The tunnel runs south from Malmö Central Station through an underground station at the Triangeln railway station to Hyllievång (Hyllie Meadow).", "Then, the line comes to the surface to enter Hyllie Station, also created as part of the tunnel project.", "From Hyllie Station, the line connects to the existing Öresund line in either direction, with the Öresund Bridge lying due west.Besides the Copenhagen airport, Malmö has an airport of its own, Malmö Airport, today chiefly used for domestic Swedish destinations, charter flights and low-cost carriers.The motorway system has been incorporated with the Öresund Bridge; the European route E20 goes over the bridge and then, together with the European route E6 follows the Swedish west coast from Malmö–Helsingborg to Gothenburg.", "E6 goes further north along the west coast and through Norway to the Norwegian town Kirkenes at Barents Sea.", "The European route to Jönköping–Stockholm (E4) starts at Helsingborg.", "Main roads in the directions of Växjö–Kalmar, Kristianstad–Karlskrona, Ystad (E65), and Trelleborg start as freeways.Malmö has of bike paths; approximately 40% of all commuting is done by bicycle.===Buses===City bus at Malmö Central StationMalmö has an extensive network of buses within the city, and is also the destination of many regional bus lines from the rest of Skåne.", "The bus network replaced the tram network that existed from 1887 to 1973.=== Ports ===The city has two industrial harbours; one is still in active use and is the largest Nordic port for car imports.", "It also has two marinas: the publicly owned Limhamn Marina () and the private Lagunen (), both offering a limited number of guest docks.===Malmö S-Train===A local train line with circular traffic at seven stations was opened in December 2018.The stations are Malmö Central Station (underground platforms) – Triangeln station – Hyllie station – Malmö South/Svågertorp – Persborg – Rosengård – Östervärn – Malmö Central Station (main overground terminus).", "Some trains arrive from Kristianstad and finish with a lap around Malmö, whilst other trains at this circular line, never drive outside the city limits.", "There is at least a 30 minutes service between each departure, but far more between the Central Station and Hyllie.", "Extension plans of a minor network system exists.===Proposed metro===The Öresundsmetro is a proposed rapid transit network linking Malmö with the existing Copenhagen Metro through a 22 km tunnel under the Öresund.", "It is a project that has been proposed since 2012.A metro station can be placed in the Galeonen which is a sub-area located in the far north of Västra hamnen.", "The Galeon is the only larger area in Västra hamnen that is not planned yet and Malmö's general plan states that the expansion of the area is expected to take place 2032 to 2041.The connection between Malmö and Copenhagen will take approximately 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes by the Öresund Bridge.", "The construction cost is estimated at 4 billion euros with a construction period of 6–7 years." ], [ "Municipality", "Malmö's old city hall.Malmö Municipality is an administrative unit defined by geographical borders, consisting of the ''City of Malmö'' and its immediate surroundings.Malmö (''Malmö tätort'') consists of the urban part of the municipality together with the small town of Arlöv in Burlöv Municipality.", "Both municipalities also include smaller urban areas and rural areas, such as the suburbs of Oxie and Åkarp.", "''Malmö tätort'' is to be distinguished from ''Malmö stad'' (the city of Malmö), which is a semi-official name of Malmö Municipality.The leaders in Malmö created a commission for a socially sustainable Malmö in November 2010.The commissions were tasked with providing evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities and improve living conditions for all citizens of Malmö, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged and issued its final report in December 2013." ], [ "Demographics", "+ Immigrant population by country of birth (2021) Country PopulationForeign-born 123,290 (35%) 11,675 8,669 7,485 7,257 6,619 6,374 4,865 4,509 4,236 3,116 2,710 2,556 2,512 2,164 1,973 1,899 1,887 1,575 1,545 1,542 1,458 1,325 1,321 1,253 1,244 1,239 1,066Malmö Municipality population pyramid in 2022Malmö has a young population by Swedish standards, with almost half of the population under the age of 35 (48.2%).After 1971, Malmö had 265,000 inhabitants, but the population then dropped to 229,000 by 1985.The total population of the urban area was 280,415 in December 2010.It then began to rise again, and had passed the previous record by the 1 January 2003 census, when it had 265,481 inhabitants.", "On 27 April 2011, the population of Malmö reached the 300,000 mark.", "In 2017 the total population of the city was 316,588 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 338,230.Malmö is a diverse city with inhabitants from 179 different nationalities.", "In 2019, approximately 55.5% of the population of Malmö municipality (190,849 residents) had at least one parent born abroad.", "The statistics from 2020 show that 120,517 are foreign born, 43,740 are born in Sweden but have two foreign parents, 30,878 are born in Sweden with one Swedish parent and one foreign parent and 152,813 are born with two Swedish parents.", "The Middle East, Horn of Africa, former Yugoslavia and Denmark are the main sources of immigration.Greater Malmö is one of Sweden's three officially recognized metropolitan areas (''storstadsområden'') and since 2005 is defined as the municipality of Malmö and 11 other municipalities in the southwestern corner of Skåne County.", ", its population was recorded as 740,840.The region covers an area of .", "The municipalities included, apart from Malmö, are Burlöv, Eslöv, Höör, Kävlinge, Lomma, Lund, Skurup, Staffanstorp, Svedala, Trelleborg and Vellinge.", "Together with Lund, Malmö is the region's economic and education hub.===Religion===The largest religion in Malmö is Christianity and the Church of Sweden has the largest membership base, with a total of 125,697 in 2019, corresponding to 36% of its population.", "There exist several Catholic communities in Malmö, one being the Church of Our Saviour, Malmö with 7,500 members.Islam is the largest non-Christian religious group, with approximately 45,000 members, making up 12% of the population.", "There are about 100,000 Muslims in the region.", "Malmö Mosque was opened in 1984 and is managed by the Islamic Center.", "Mahmood Mosque opened in 2016, and serves the Ahmadiyya community.Malmö has one synagogue, Malmö Synagogue, and two congregations: one orthodox and one egalitarian.", "The Jewish community has a membership of 500." ], [ "Economy", "SCB Malmo taxable income per citizen as percentage of national average 1995 2016The economy of Malmö was traditionally based on shipbuilding (Kockums) and construction-related industries, such as concrete factories.", "The region's leading university, along with its associated hi-tech and pharmaceutical industries, is located in Lund about to the north-east.Malmö had a troubled economic situation following the mid-1970s.", "Between 1990 and 1995, 27,000 jobs were lost, and the budget deficit was more than one billion Swedish krona (SEK).", "In 1995, Malmö had Sweden's highest unemployment rate.However, during the last two decades, there has been a revival.", "One contributing factor has been the economic integration with Denmark brought about by the Öresund Bridge, which opened in July 2000.Also the university founded in 1998 and the effects of integration into the European Union have contributed.", "In 2017 the unemployment rate was still high.", "However, in the last 20 years Malmö has had one of the strongest employment growth rates in Sweden, although a high proportion of jobs created are taken by workers from outside Malmö.", "In 2021, Malmö had the highest unemployment rate of 11,3%., the largest private employers were:*Skanska – heavy construction*Nobina – transport*PostNord – postal services*Pågen – bakery*IKEA – furniture*Nordea – banking*Securitas – security servicesAlmost 30 companies have moved their headquarters to Malmö during the last seven years, generating around 2,300 jobs.", "Among them are IKEA which has most of its headquarter functions based in Malmö.The number of start-up companies is high in Malmö.", "Around 7 new companies are started every day in Malmö.", "In 2010, the renewal of the number of companies amounted to 13.9%, which exceeds both Stockholm and Gothenburg.", "Especially strong growth is in the gaming area with Massive entertainment and King being the flagship companies for the industry.", "Among the industries that continue to increase their share of companies in Malmö are transport, financial and business services, entertainment, leisure and construction." ], [ "Tall buildings", "* Turning Torso, 191 meters* The Point, part of Point Hyllie, 110 meters* St. Peter's Church, Malmö, 96 meters* Malmö Live, 87 meters* Kronprinsen, 82 meters* Hotel Triangeln, 69 meters===Under construction, announced and proposed=== Name Height (m) Floors Usage Location Estimated Completion Docks 79.0 26 Residential Västra Hamnen 2025" ], [ "Education", "Malmö has the country's ninth-largest school of higher education, Malmö University, established in 1998.It has 1,600 employees and 24,000 students (2014).In addition nearby Lund University (established in 1666) has some educational facilities located in Malmö:* Malmö Art Academy (''Konsthögskolan i Malmö'')* Malmö Academy of Music (''Musikhögskolan i Malmö'')* Malmö Theatre Academy (''Teaterhögskolan i Malmö'')* The Faculty of Medicine, which is located in both Malmö and Lund.The United Nations World Maritime University is also located in Malmö.", "The World Maritime University (WMU) operates under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.", "WMU thus enjoys the status, privileges and immunities of a UN institution in Sweden." ], [ "Culture", "===Film and television===A striking depiction of Malmö (in the 1930s) was made by Bo Widerberg in his debut film () (1963), largely shot in the shabby Korpen working-class district in Malmö.", "With humour and tenderness, it depicts the tensions between classes and generations.", "The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1965.In 2017, the film () was awarded the prize for best film by an African living abroad at the Africa Movie Academy Awards.", "It was filmed in Malmö and Gambia, and deals with identity, integration and everyday racism.The cities of Malmö and Copenhagen are, with the Öresund Bridge, the main locations in the television series ''The Bridge'' (, ).===Theatre===In 1944, Malmö Stadsteater (Malmö Municipal Theatre) was established with a repertoire comprising stage theatre, opera, musical, ballet, musical recitals and experimental theatre.", "In 1993 it was split into three units, Dramatiska Teater (Dramatical Theatre), Malmö Musikteater (Music Theatre) and Skånes Dansteater (Skåne Dance Theatre) and the name was abandoned.", "The ownership of the last two were transferred to Region Skåne in 2006 Dramatiska Teatern regained its old name.", "In the 1950s Ingmar Bergman was the Director and Chief Stage Director of Malmö Stadsteater and many of his actors, like Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin became known through his films.", "Later stage directors include Staffan Valdemar Holm and Göran Stangertz.", "Malmö Musikteater were renamed Malmö Operan and plays operas and musicals, classics as newly composed, on one of Scandinavia's large opera scenes with 1,511 seats.", "Skånes dansteater is active and plays contemporary dance repertory and present works by Swedish and international choreographers in their house in Malmö harbor.Since the 1970s the city has also been home to independent theatre groups and show or musical companies.", "It also hosts a rock–dance–dub culture; in the 1960s The Rolling Stones played the Klubb Bongo, and in recent years stars like Morrissey, Nick Cave, B.B.", "King and Pat Metheny have made repeated visits.The Cardigans debuted in Malmö and recorded their albums there.", "On 7 January 2009 CNN Travel broadcast a segment called \"MyCity_MyLife\" featuring Nina Persson taking the camera to some of the sites in Malmö that she enjoys.The Rooseum Centre for Contemporary Art, founded in 1988 by the Swedish art collector and financier Fredrik Roos and housed in a former power station which had been built in 1900, was one of the foremost centres for contemporary art in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s.", "By 2006, most of the collection had been sold off and the museum was on a time-out; by 2010 Rooseum had been dismantled and a subsidiary of the National Museum of Modern Art inaugurated in its place.=== Music ===In and , Malmö was the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest, and it will host the contest for a third time in .Big Slap is a music festival, held annually since 2013 at Pildammsparken.", "Big Slap will be held at Nyhamnen 2022 featuring Justin Bieber, which will be the biggest concert in Malmö's history.Malmö is the home of several bands, including CC & Lee, Fews, LeGrand, Nasty Idols, Spunsugar and Timeless Miracle.===Museums===Technology and Maritime MuseumModerna Museet Malmö was opened in December 2009 in the old Rooseum building.", "It is a part of the Moderna Museet, with independent exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.", "The collection of Moderna Museet holds key pieces of, among others, Marcel Duchamp, Louise Bourgeois, Pablo Picasso, Niki de Saint Phalle, Salvador Dalí, Carolee Schneemann, Henri Matisse and Robert RauschenbergMalmö Museum () is a municipal and regional museum.", "The museum features exhibitions on technology, shipping, natural history and history.", "Malmö Museum has an aquarium and an art museum.", "Malmöhus Castle is also operated as a part of the museum.Exhibitions are primarily shown at Slottsholmen and at the Technology and Maritime Museum ().Malmö Konsthall is one of the largest exhibition halls in Europe for contemporary art, opened in 1975.===Architecture===St.", "Peter's Church in MalmöArt Nouveau Malmö synagogueVästra hamnen skyview, MalmöMalmö's oldest building is St. Peter's Church ().", "It was built in the early 14th century in Baltic Brick Gothic probably after St Mary's Church in Lübeck.", "The church is built with a nave, two aisles, a transept and a tower.", "Its exterior is characterized above all by the flying buttresses spanning its airy arches over the aisles and ambulatory.", "The tower, which fell down twice during the 15th century, got its current look in 1890.Another major church of significance is the Church of Our Saviour, Malmö, which was founded in 1870.Another old building is Tunneln, to the west of Sankt Petri Church, which also dates back to around 1300.The oldest parts of Malmö were built between 1300 and 1600 during its first major period of expansion.", "The central city's layout, as well as some of its oldest buildings, are from this time.", "Many of the smaller buildings from this time are typical Scanian: two-story urban houses that show a strong Danish influence.Recession followed in the ensuing centuries.", "The next expansion period was in the mid 19th century and led to the modern stone and brick city.", "This expansion lasted into the 20th century and can be seen by a number of Art Nouveau buildings, among those in the Malmö synagogue.", "Malmö was relatively late to be influenced by modern ideas of functionalist tenement architecture in the 1930s.Around 1965, the government initiated the so-called Million Programme, intending to offer affordable apartments in the outskirts of major Swedish cities.", "But this period also saw the reconstruction (and razing) of much of the historical city centre.Since the late 1990s, Malmö has seen a more cosmopolitan architecture.", "(the Western Harbor), like most of the harbors to the north of the city centre, was industrial.", "In 2001 its reconstruction began as an urban residential neighbourhood, with 500 residential units, most were part of the exhibition Bo01.The exhibition had two main objectives: develop self-sufficient housing units in terms of energy and greatly diminish phosphorus emissions.", "Among the new building's towers were the Turning Torso, a skyscraper with a twisting design, tall, the majority of which is residential.", "It became Malmö's new landmark.", "The most recent addition (2015) is the new development of Malmö Live.", "This new building features a hotel, a concert hall, congress hall and a sky bar in the centre of Malmö.", "Point Hyllie is a new commercial tower that began construction in 2018.The Turning Torso in winter skylight, January 2024===Other sights===Stortorget, a large plaza in the centre of MalmöThe beach ''Ribersborg'', by locals usually called ''Ribban'', south-west of the harbor area, is a man-made shallow beach, stretching along Malmö's coastline.", "Despite Malmö's chilly climate, it is sometimes referred to as the \"Copacabana of Malmö\".", "It is the site of Ribersborgs open-air bath, opened in the 1890s.The long boardwalk at the Western Harbor, and , has become a favorite summer hang-out for the people of Malmö and is a popular place for bathing.", "The harbor is particularly popular with Malmö's vibrant student community and has been the scene of several impromptu outdoor parties and gatherings.===Annual events===Stortorget during Malmöfestivalen 2018.In the third week of August each year a festival, , fills the streets of Malmö with different kinds of cuisines and events.BUFF International Film Festival, an international children and young people's film festival, is held in Malmö every March.Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, a film festival for short and documentary films by filmmakers from the Nordic countries, is held every September.Malmö Arab Film Festival (MAFF), the largest Arabic film festival in Europe, is held in Malmö.The Conference is an international two-day gathering in Malmö with 1000 participants.", "Speakers from all over the world, representing a wide range of disciplines are invited.", "The first edition of The Conference was in 2011 and before that it was called Moving Images (started 2005).The Nordic Game conference takes place in Malmö every April/May.", "The event consists of conference itself, recruitment expo and game expo and attracts hundreds of \"gamedev\" (game development) professionals every year.Malmö also hosts other 3rd party events that cater to all communities that reside in Malmö, including religious and political celebrations.===Media===, founded in 1870, is Malmö's largest daily newspaper.", "It has an average circulation of 130,000.Its main competitor is the regional daily , which has a circulation of 34,000.The tabloid still has a minimal editorial staff but is today just a version of a Stockholm tabloid.", "The Social Democratic was edited and printed at Malmö between 1887 and 2000.In addition to these, a number of free-of-charge papers, generally dealing with entertainment, music and fashion have local editions (for instance ''City'', ''Rodeo'', ''Metro'' and ).", "Malmö is also home to the Egmont Group's Swedish magazine operations.", "A number of local and regional radio and TV broadcasters are based in the Greater Malmö area.===Sports=======Football====Eleda Stadion, the home of Malmö FFMalmö Arena, the home of Malmö RedhawksMalmö is home to several football teams.", "Malmö FF, who play in the top-level Allsvenskan league, had their most successful periods in the 1970s and 1980s, when they won the league several times.", "In 1979, they advanced to the final of the European Cup, defeating AS Monaco, Dynamo Kiev, Wisła Kraków and Austria Wien.", "In the final, played at the Munich Olympic Stadium against Nottingham Forest, they lost by a single goal scored by Trevor Francis just before half time.", "To date, they are the only Swedish football club to have reached the final of the competition.", "Bosse Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimović began their football careers at Malmö FF.", "A second football team, IFK Malmö, played in Sweden's top flight for about 20 years.", "The club's greatest achievement was reaching the quarterfinal in the European Cup.", "Today IFK Malmö club play in the third tier of the Swedish league system.FC Rosengård (former LdB Malmö) are playing in the top level in Damallsvenskan, women's football league.", "FC Rosengård girls have won the league 10 times and the national cup title 5 times.", "In 2014, they reached the semi-final in Champions League, which they ultimately went on to lose to the German side 1.FFC Frankfurt.", "Brazilian football player Marta, widely regarded the best female football player of all time, played in FC Rosengård between 2014 and 2017.Malmö Stadion was inaugurated for the opening match of the 1958 FIFA World Cup.", "The then world champions, West Germany, defeated Argentina 3–1 in front of a crowd of 31,156.A further two games in the cup were decided at the stadium.====Other sports====Malmö has athletes competing in a variety of sport.=====Ice hockey=====The most notable other sports team is the ice hockey team Malmö Redhawks.", "They were the creation of millionaire Percy Nilsson and quickly rose to the highest rank in the early to mid-1990s and won two Swedish championships, but for a number of years found themselves residing outside of the top flight.", "As of the 2015/2016 season they are once again competing in the top flight SHL league.=====Handball=====A first division handball team, HK Malmö, attracts a fair amount of attendance.=====Rugby=====Rugby union team, Malmö RC, founded in 1954, have won 6 national championships.", "The club has teams for men, women and juniors.=====Gaelic football=====Gaelic football has also been introduced to Malmö.", "The men of Malmö G.A.A.", "have won the Scandinavian Championships twice and the women once.=====Additional Team and Individual Sport=====Other notable team a sports are baseball, American football and Australian football.Among non-team sports, badminton and athletics are the most popular, together with east Asian martial arts and boxing.", "Basketball is also fairly a big sport in the city, including the clubs Malbas and SF Srbija among others.Women are permitted by the city council to swim topless in public swimming pools.", "Everyone must wear bathing attire, but covering of the breasts is not mandatory." ], [ "Twin towns and sister cities", "Malmö has relations with the following cities:* Port Adelaide Enfield, Australia* Stralsund, Germany* Szczecin, Poland* Tallinn, Estonia* Tangshan, China* Vaasa, Finland* Varna, Bulgaria" ], [ "Notable events", "VenueEvent Malmö Stadion FIFA World Cup 1958UEFA Euro 1992 Baltic Hall Table Tennis European Championships 1964IHF World Men's Handball Championships 1967Davis Cup 1996Men's World Floorball Championships 2006European Women's Handball Championships 2006 Malmö Isstadion Eurovision Song Contest 1992European Figure Skating Championships 2003World Junior Ice Hockey Championships 2014 Eleda Stadion UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships 2009 Malmö Arena World Men's Handball Championships 2011Eurovision Song Contest 2013Eurovision Song Contest 2024" ], [ "Notable people" ], [ "See also", "* Malmö Bulltofta Airport* ''Chronicle of the Expulsion of the Greyfriars'' § Chapter 4 Concerning the Friary in Malmø* List of governors of Malmöhus County* Ports of the Baltic Sea*''Thin Blue Line'' (Swedish TV series), a 2021 TV series set in Malmö* , ships named for the city" ], [ "References", "*  – in English.", "From the municipal webpage, PDF format.", "* ===Citations===" ], [ "Further reading", "* * Article ''Malmö'' from Nordisk familjebok, 1912" ], [ "External links", "* and English* Malmotown.com , Malmö official visitor site* Malmöfestivalen* Maps of Malmö" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Measurement" ], [ "Introduction", "Four measuring devices having metric calibrations'''Measurement''' is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events.In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared to a basic reference quantity of the same kind.The scope and application of measurement are dependent on the context and discipline.", "In natural sciences and engineering, measurements do not apply to nominal properties of objects or events, which is consistent with the guidelines of the ''International vocabulary of metrology'' published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.", "However, in other fields such as statistics as well as the social and behavioural sciences, measurements can have multiple levels, which would include nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales.Measurement is a cornerstone of trade, science, technology and quantitative research in many disciplines.", "Historically, many measurement systems existed for the varied fields of human existence to facilitate comparisons in these fields.", "Often these were achieved by local agreements between trading partners or collaborators.", "Since the 18th century, developments progressed towards unifying, widely accepted standards that resulted in the modern International System of Units (SI).", "This system reduces all physical measurements to a mathematical combination of seven base units.", "The science of measurement is pursued in the field of metrology.Measurement is defined as the process of comparison of an unknown quantity with a known or standard quantity." ], [ "History" ], [ "Methodology", "The measurement of a property may be categorized by the following criteria: type, magnitude, unit, and uncertainty.", "They enable unambiguous comparisons between measurements.", "* The ''level'' of measurement is a taxonomy for the methodological character of a comparison.", "For example, two states of a property may be compared by ratio, difference, or ordinal preference.", "The type is commonly not explicitly expressed, but implicit in the definition of a measurement procedure.", "* The ''magnitude'' is the numerical value of the characterization, usually obtained with a suitably chosen measuring instrument.", "* A ''unit'' assigns a mathematical weighting factor to the magnitude that is derived as a ratio to the property of an artifact used as standard or a natural physical quantity.", "* An ''uncertainty'' represents the random and systemic errors of the measurement procedure; it indicates a confidence level in the measurement.", "Errors are evaluated by methodically repeating measurements and considering the accuracy and precision of the measuring instrument." ], [ "Standardization of measurement units", "Measurements most commonly use the International System of Units (SI) as a comparison framework.", "The system defines seven fundamental units: kilogram, metre, candela, second, ampere, kelvin, and mole.", "All of these units are defined without reference to a particular physical object which serves as a standard.", "Artifact-free definitions fix measurements at an exact value related to a physical constant or other invariable phenomena in nature, in contrast to standard artifacts which are subject to deterioration or destruction.", "Instead, the measurement unit can only ever change through increased accuracy in determining the value of the constant it is tied to.The seven base units in the SI system.", "Arrows point from units to those that depend on them.The first proposal to tie an SI base unit to an experimental standard independent of fiat was by Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), who proposed to define the metre in terms of the wavelength of a spectral line.", "This directly influenced the Michelson–Morley experiment; Michelson and Morley cite Peirce, and improve on his method.===Standards===With the exception of a few fundamental quantum constants, units of measurement are derived from historical agreements.", "Nothing inherent in nature dictates that an inch has to be a certain length, nor that a mile is a better measure of distance than a kilometre.", "Over the course of human history, however, first for convenience and then for necessity, standards of measurement evolved so that communities would have certain common benchmarks.", "Laws regulating measurement were originally developed to prevent fraud in commerce.Units of measurement are generally defined on a scientific basis, overseen by governmental or independent agencies, and established in international treaties, pre-eminent of which is the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), established in 1875 by the Metre Convention, overseeing the International System of Units (SI).", "For example, the metre was redefined in 1983 by the CGPM in terms of the speed of light, the kilogram was redefined in 2019 in terms of the Planck constant and the international yard was defined in 1960 by the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa as being ''exactly'' 0.9144 metres.In the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a division of the United States Department of Commerce, regulates commercial measurements.", "In the United Kingdom, the role is performed by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), in Australia by the National Measurement Institute, in South Africa by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and in India the National Physical Laboratory of India." ], [ "Units and systems", "unit is known or standard quantity in terms of which other physical quantities are measured.A baby bottle that measures in three measurement systems—metric, imperial (UK), and US customary.===Imperial and US customary systems===Before SI units were widely adopted around the world, the British systems of English units and later imperial units were used in Britain, the Commonwealth and the United States.", "The system came to be known as U.S. customary units in the United States and is still in use there and in a few Caribbean countries.", "These various systems of measurement have at times been called ''foot-pound-second'' systems after the Imperial units for length, weight and time even though the tons, hundredweights, gallons, and nautical miles, for example, are different for the U.S. units.", "Many Imperial units remain in use in Britain, which has officially switched to the SI system—with a few exceptions such as road signs, which are still in miles.", "Draught beer and cider must be sold by the imperial pint, and milk in returnable bottles can be sold by the imperial pint.", "Many people measure their height in feet and inches and their weight in stone and pounds, to give just a few examples.", "Imperial units are used in many other places, for example, in many Commonwealth countries that are considered metricated, land area is measured in acres and floor space in square feet, particularly for commercial transactions (rather than government statistics).", "Similarly, gasoline is sold by the gallon in many countries that are considered metricated.===Metric system===The metric system is a decimal system of measurement based on its units for length, the metre and for mass, the kilogram.", "It exists in several variations, with different choices of base units, though these do not affect its day-to-day use.", "Since the 1960s, the International System of Units (SI) is the internationally recognised metric system.", "Metric units of mass, length, and electricity are widely used around the world for both everyday and scientific purposes.====International System of Units====The International System of Units (abbreviated as SI from the French language name ''Système International d'Unités'') is the modern revision of the metric system.", "It is the world's most widely used system of units, both in everyday commerce and in science.", "The SI was developed in 1960 from the metre–kilogram–second (MKS) system, rather than the centimetre–gram–second (CGS) system, which, in turn, had many variants.", "The SI units for the seven base physical quantities are: Base quantity Base unit Symbol Defining constant time Second s hyperfine splitting in caesium-133 length Metre m speed of light, ''c'' mass Kilogram kg Planck constant, ''h'' electric current Ampere A elementary charge, ''e'' temperature Kelvin K Boltzmann constant, ''k'' amount of substance Mol mol Avogadro constant ''N''A luminous intensity Candela cd luminous efficacy of a 540 THz source ''K''cdIn the SI, base units are the simple measurements for time, length, mass, temperature, amount of substance, electric current and light intensity.", "Derived units are constructed from the base units, for example, the watt, i.e.", "the unit for power, is defined from the base units as m2·kg·s−3.Other physical properties may be measured in compound units, such as material density, measured in kg/m3.=====Converting prefixes=====The SI allows easy multiplication when switching among units having the same base but different prefixes.", "To convert from metres to centimetres it is only necessary to multiply the number of metres by 100, since there are 100 centimetres in a metre.", "Inversely, to switch from centimetres to metres one multiplies the number of centimetres by 0.01 or divides the number of centimetres by 100.===Length===A 2-metre carpenter's rulerA ruler or rule is a tool used in, for example, geometry, technical drawing, engineering, and carpentry, to measure lengths or distances or to draw straight lines.", "Strictly speaking, the ''ruler'' is the instrument used to '''rule''' straight lines and the calibrated instrument used for determining length is called a ''measure'', however common usage calls both instruments ''rulers'' and the special name ''straightedge'' is used for an unmarked rule.", "The use of the word ''measure'', in the sense of a measuring instrument, only survives in the phrase ''tape measure'', an instrument that can be used to measure but cannot be used to draw straight lines.", "As can be seen in the photographs on this page, a two-metre carpenter's rule can be folded down to a length of only 20 centimetres, to easily fit in a pocket, and a five-metre-long tape measure easily retracts to fit within a small housing.===Time===Time is an abstract measurement of elemental changes over a non-spatial continuum.", "It is denoted by numbers and/or named periods such as hours, days, weeks, months and years.", "It is an apparently irreversible series of occurrences within this non spatial continuum.", "It is also used to denote an interval between two relative points on this continuum.===Mass===''Mass'' refers to the intrinsic property of all material objects to resist changes in their momentum.", "''Weight'', on the other hand, refers to the downward force produced when a mass is in a gravitational field.", "In free fall, (no net gravitational forces) objects lack weight but retain their mass.", "The Imperial units of mass include the ounce, pound, and ton.", "The metric units gram and kilogram are units of mass.One device for measuring weight or mass is called a weighing scale or, often, simply a ''scale''.", "A spring scale measures force but not mass, a balance compares weight, both require a gravitational field to operate.", "Some of the most accurate instruments for measuring weight or mass are based on load cells with a digital read-out, but require a gravitational field to function and would not work in free fall.===Economics===The measures used in economics are physical measures, nominal price value measures and real price measures.", "These measures differ from one another by the variables they measure and by the variables excluded from measurements.===Survey research===Measurement station C of EMMA experiment situated at the depth of 75 meters in the Pyhäsalmi Mine.In the field of survey research, measures are taken from individual attitudes, values, and behavior using questionnaires as a measurement instrument.", "As all other measurements, measurement in survey research is also vulnerable to measurement error, i.e.", "the departure from the true value of the measurement and the value provided using the measurement instrument.", "In substantive survey research, measurement error can lead to biased conclusions and wrongly estimated effects.", "In order to get accurate results, when measurement errors appear, the results need to be corrected for measurement errors.===Exactness designation===The following rules generally apply for displaying the exactness of measurements:* All non-0 digits and any 0s appearing between them are significant for the exactness of any number.", "For example, the number 12000 has two significant digits, and has implied limits of 11500 and 12500.", "* Additional 0s may be added after a decimal separator to denote a greater exactness, increasing the number of decimals.", "For example, 1 has implied limits of 0.5 and 1.5 whereas 1.0 has implied limits 0.95 and 1.05." ], [ "Difficulties", "Since accurate measurement is essential in many fields, and since all measurements are necessarily approximations, a great deal of effort must be taken to make measurements as accurate as possible.", "For example, consider the problem of measuring the time it takes an object to fall a distance of one metre (about 39 in).", "Using physics, it can be shown that, in the gravitational field of the Earth, it should take any object about 0.45 second to fall one metre.", "However, the following are just some of the sources of error that arise:* This computation used for the acceleration of gravity .", "But this measurement is not exact, but only precise to two significant digits.", "* The Earth's gravitational field varies slightly depending on height above sea level and other factors.", "* The computation of 0.45 seconds involved extracting a square root, a mathematical operation that required rounding off to some number of significant digits, in this case two significant digits.Additionally, other sources of experimental error include:* carelessness,* determining of the exact time at which the object is released and the exact time it hits the ground,* measurement of the height and the measurement of the time both involve some error,* Air resistance.", "* posture of human participantsScientific experiments must be carried out with great care to eliminate as much error as possible, and to keep error estimates realistic." ], [ "Definitions and theories", "===Classical definition===In the classical definition, which is standard throughout the physical sciences, ''measurement'' is the determination or estimation of ratios of quantities.", "Quantity and measurement are mutually defined: quantitative attributes are those possible to measure, at least in principle.", "The classical concept of quantity can be traced back to John Wallis and Isaac Newton, and was foreshadowed in Euclid's Elements.===Representational theory===In the representational theory, ''measurement'' is defined as \"the correlation of numbers with entities that are not numbers\".", "The most technically elaborated form of representational theory is also known as additive conjoint measurement.", "In this form of representational theory, numbers are assigned based on correspondences or similarities between the structure of number systems and the structure of qualitative systems.", "A property is quantitative if such structural similarities can be established.", "In weaker forms of representational theory, such as that implicit within the work of Stanley Smith Stevens, numbers need only be assigned according to a rule.The concept of measurement is often misunderstood as merely the assignment of a value, but it is possible to assign a value in a way that is not a measurement in terms of the requirements of additive conjoint measurement.", "One may assign a value to a person's height, but unless it can be established that there is a correlation between measurements of height and empirical relations, it is not a measurement according to additive conjoint measurement theory.", "Likewise, computing and assigning arbitrary values, like the \"book value\" of an asset in accounting, is not a measurement because it does not satisfy the necessary criteria.Three type of Representational theory'''1) Empirical relation'''In science, an '''empirical relationship''' is a '''relationship''' or correlation based solely on observation rather than theory.", "An '''empirical relationship''' requires only confirmatory data irrespective of theoretical basis'''2) The rule of mapping'''The real world is the Domain of mapping, and the mathematical world is the range.", "when we map the attribute to mathematical system, we have many choice for mapping and the range'''3) The representation condition of measurement'''===Information theory===Information theory recognises that all data are inexact and statistical in nature.", "Thus the definition of measurement is: \"A set of observations that reduce uncertainty where the result is expressed as a quantity.\"", "This definition is implied in what scientists actually do when they measure something and report both the mean and statistics of the measurements.", "In practical terms, one begins with an initial guess as to the expected value of a quantity, and then, using various methods and instruments, reduces the uncertainty in the value.", "In this view, unlike the positivist representational theory, all measurements are uncertain, so instead of assigning one value, a range of values is assigned to a measurement.", "This also implies that there is not a clear or neat distinction between estimation and measurement.===Quantum mechanics===In quantum mechanics, a measurement is an action that determines a particular property (position, momentum, energy, etc.)", "of a quantum system.", "Quantum measurements are always statistical samples from a probability distribution; the distribution for many quantum phenomena is discrete.", "Quantum measurements alter quantum states and yet repeated measurements on a quantum state are reproducible.", "The measurement appears to act as a filter, changing the quantum state into one with the single measured quantum value.", "The unambiguous meaning of the quantum measurement is an unresolved fundamental problem in quantum mechanics; the most common interpretation is that when a measurement is performed, the wavefunction of the quantum system \"collapses\" to a single, definite value.=== Biology ===In biology, there is generally no well established theory of measurement.", "However, the importance of the theoretical context is emphasized.", "Moreover, the theoretical context stemming from the theory of evolution leads to articulate the theory of measurement and historicity as a fundamental notion.Among the most developed fields of measurement in biology are the measurement of genetic diversity and species diversity." ], [ "See also", "* Conversion of units* Electrical measurements* History of measurement* ISO 10012, Measurement management systems* Levels of measurement* List of humorous units of measurement* List of unusual units of measurement* Measurement in quantum mechanics* Measurement uncertainty* NCSL International* Observable quantity* Orders of magnitude* Quantification (science)* Standard (metrology)* Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology* Timeline of time measurement technology* Weights and measures" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * Schlaudt, Oliver 2020: \"measurement\".", "In: Kirchhoff, Thomas (ed.", "): Online Encyclopedia Philosophy of Nature.", "Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, measurement.", "* Tal, Era 2020: \"Measurement in Science\".", "In: Zalta, Edward N.", "(ed.", "): The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), URL = .", "* * A Dictionary of Units of Measurement * 'Metrology – in short' 3rd edition, July 2008" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malden Island" ], [ "Introduction", "NASA orbital photo of Malden Island (north at top)Boat Landing on Malden Island with ruins of old settlement'''Malden Island''', sometimes called '''Independence Island''' in the 19th century, is a low, arid, uninhabited atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, about in area.", "It is one of the Line Islands belonging to the Republic of Kiribati.", "The lagoon is entirely enclosed by land, though it is connected to the sea by underground channels, and is quite salty.The island is chiefly notable for its ancient stone architecture, its once-extensive deposits of phosphatic guano (exploited by Australian interests from 1860–1927), its former use as the site of the first British H-bomb tests (Operation Grapple, 1957), and its current importance as a protected area for breeding seabirds.The island is designated as the ''Malden Island Wildlife Sanctuary''.", "In 2014 the Kiribati government established a fishing exclusion zone around each of the southern Line Islands (Caroline (commonly called Millennium), Flint, Vostok, Malden, and Starbuck)." ], [ "Geography", "Malden Island is located south of the equator, south of Honolulu, Hawaii, and more than west of the coast of South America.", "The nearest land is uninhabited Starbuck Island, to the southwest.", "The closest inhabited place is Tongareva (Penrhyn Island), to the southwest.", "The nearest airport is on Kiritimati (Christmas Island), to the northwest.", "Other nearby islands (all uninhabited) include Jarvis Island, to the northwest, Vostok Island, to the south-southeast, and Caroline (Millennium) Island, to the southeast.The island has roughly the shape of an equilateral triangle, with on a side, aligned with the southwest side running northwest to southeast.", "The west and south corners are slightly truncated, shortening the north, east and southwest coasts to about , and adding shorter west and south coasts about 1 to 2 km (½–1 mi) in length.", "A large, mostly shallow, irregularly shaped lagoon, containing a number of small islets, fills the east central part of the island.", "The lagoon is entirely enclosed by land, but only by relatively narrow strips along its north and east sides.", "It is connected to the sea by underground channels, and is quite salty.", "Most of the land area of the island lies to the south and west of the lagoon.", "The total area of the island is about .The island is very low, no more than above sea level at its highest point.", "The highest elevations are found along a rim that closely follows the coastline.", "The interior forms a depression that is only a few metres above sea level in the western part and is below sea level (filled by the lagoon) in the east central part.", "Because of this topography, the ocean cannot be seen from much of Malden's interior.There is no standing fresh water on Malden Island, though a fresh water lens may exist.A continuous heavy surf falls all along the coast, forming a narrow white to gray sandy beach.", "Except on the west coast, where the white sandy beach is more extensive than elsewhere, a strip of dark gray coral rubble, forming a series of low ridges parallel to the coast, lies within the narrow beach, extending inward to the island rim." ], [ "Flora and fauna", "A pair of masked boobies (''Sula dactylatra'') calling on Malden IslandGrey-backed terns flying over Malden Island with lagoon in backgroundBecause of Malden's isolation and aridity, its vegetation is extremely limited.", "Sixteen species of vascular plants have been recorded, of which nine are indigenous.The island is largely covered in stunted ''Sida fallax'' scrub, low herbs and grasses.", "Few, if any, of the clumps of stunted ''Pisonia grandis'' once found on the island still survive.", "Coconut palms planted by the guano diggers did not thrive, although a few dilapidated trees may still be seen.", "Introduced weeds, including the low-growing woody vine ''Tribulus cistoides'', now dominate extensive open areas, providing increased cover for young sooty terns.Malden is an important breeding island for about a dozen species including masked boobies (''Sula dactylatra''), red-footed booby (''Sula sula''), tropicbirds (''Phaethontidae''), great frigatebird (''Fregata minor''), lesser frigatebird (''Fregata ariel''), grey-backed tern (''Onychoprion lunata''), red-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon rubricauda'') and sooty terns (''sterna fuscata'').", "It is also an important winter-stop for the bristle-thighed curlew (''Numenius tahitiensis''), a migrant from Alaska, and other migratory seabirds (nineteen species in all).Two kinds of lizards, the mourning gecko (''Lepidodactylus lugubris'') and snake-eyed skink (''Cryptoblepharus boutonii''), are present on Malden, together with brown libellulid dragonfly.Cats, pigs, goats and house mice were introduced to Malden during the guano-digging period.", "While the goats and pigs have all died off, feral cats and house mice are still present.", "Small numbers of green turtles nest on the beaches, and hermit crabs abound." ], [ "History", "===Discovery===alt=The earliest documented sighting of Malden Island by Europeans was on 25 March 1825, by Captain Samuel Bunker (1796–1874) of the whaler ''Alexander'' of Nantucket.", "Bunker's journal for that day mentioned that \"it proved to be an island seen by the ''Sarah Ann'' of London and the ''Independence'' of Nantucket, Capt.", "Whippey\".", "They were also whaling vessels.", "That logbook extract may explain several things: why Malden Island was once known as \"Independence Island\", Sarah Ann Island (a phantom island), and that Bunker wasn't the first European to see the island.", "He couldn't land, and sailed on the next day.On 30 July 1825, the island was seen again by Captain The 7th Lord Byron (a cousin of the famous poet).", "Byron, commanding the British warship HMS ''Blonde'', was returning to London from a special mission to Honolulu to repatriate the remains of the young king and queen of Hawaii, who had died of measles during a visit to Britain.", "The island was named after Lieutenant Charles Robert Malden, navigator of the ''Blonde'', who sighted the island and briefly explored it.", "Andrew Bloxam, naturalist of the ''Blonde'', and James Macrae, a botanist travelling for the Royal Horticultural Society, joined in exploring the island and recorded their observations.", "Malden may have been the island sighted in 1823 by another captain, William Clark of the whaling vessel ''Winslow''.===Early history===Early Polynesian ruins on Malden IslandAt the time of its discovery by Europeans, Malden had no population.", "However, extensive archaeological sites on the island point to occupation by Polynesian people in the past.", "Sites on the island are consistent with pre-contact Polynesian architecture of the wider region and are noted to be especially similar in form to architectural forms in Tonga.These sites are clustered along the northwest and south beach ridges.", "A total of 21 archaeological sites have been catalogued on the island.", "The sites include temple platforms, called marae, house sites, and graves.", "Due to the nature of early archaeological classification of sites at the time of classification, these sites are composed of irregular groups of above ground architecture and should not be taken as representative given a lack of more intensive subterranean investigation.", "Comparisons with stone structures on Tuamotu atolls show that a population of between 100 and 200 people could have produced all of the Malden structures.", "Marae of a similar type are found on Raivavae, one of the Austral Islands.", "However, no studies have been conducted on the agricultural potential of the island to corroborate this.===Whalers and guano diggers===In the first half of the 19th century, during the heyday of American whaling in the central Pacific, Malden was visited on a number of occasions by American whalers.In 1918, schooner ''Annie Larsen'', infamous for her role in the Hindu–German Conspiracy, was stranded at Malden Island.Malden was claimed by the U.S.", "Guano Company under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized citizens to take possession of uninhabited islands under the authority of the United States for the purpose of removing guano, a valuable agricultural fertilizer.", "Before the American company could begin their operations, the island was occupied by an Australian company under British licence.", "This company and its successors exploited the island continuously from the 1860s through 1927.Writer Beatrice Grimshaw, a visitor to Malden in the guano-digging era, decried the \"glaring barrenness of the bit island\", declaring that \"...shade, coolness, refreshing fruit, pleasant sights and sounds: there are none.", "For those who live on the island, it is the scene of an exile which has to be endured somehow or other\".", "She described Malden as containing \"a little settlement fronted by a big wooden pier, and a desolate plain of low greyish-green herbage, relieved here and there by small bushes bearing insignificant yellow flowers\".", "Water for settlers was produced by large distillation plants, since no fresh-water wells could be successfully dug on the island.The five or six European supervisors on the island were given \"a row of little tin-roofed, one-storeyed houses above the beach\", while the native labourers from Niue Island and Aitutaki were housed in \"big, barn-like shelters\".", "Grimshaw described these edifices as being \"large, bare, shady buildings fitted with wide shelves, on which the men spread their mats and pillows to sleep\".", "Their food consisted of \"rice, biscuits, yams, tinned beef, and tea, with a few cocoanuts for those who may fall sick\".", "Food for the white supervisors consisted of \"tinned food of various kinds, also bread, rice, fowls, pork, goat, and goat's milk\", but vegetables were hard to come by.Indentured labourers on Malden were contracted for one year, paid ten shillings per week plus room and board, and repatriated to their home islands when their contracts expired.", "Salaries for the supervisors were described as \"quite high\".", "Work hours were 5 am to 5 pm, with one hour and 45 minutes given off for meals.The guano diggers constructed a unique railroad on Malden Island, with cars powered by large sails.", "Laborers pushed empty carts from the loading area up the tramway to the digging pits, where they were loaded with guano.", "At the end of the day, the sails were unfurled, and the train cars whisked back to the settlement by the prevailing southeastern winds.", "While cars were known to jump the tracks more than once during these excursions, the system seems to have worked fairly well.", "Railroad handcars were also used.", "This tramway remained in use on Malden as late as 1924, and its roadbed still exists on the island today.Although guano digging continued on Malden through the early 1920s, all human activity on the island had ceased by the early 1930s.", "No further human use seems to have been made of Malden until 1956.===British nuclear testing===A mushroom cloud rising over Malden Island after the first British hydrogen bomb test in May 1957Paisley remembering the people concerned in the testsIn 1956, the United Kingdom selected Malden as the \"instrumentation site\" for Operation Grapple its first series of thermonuclear (H-bomb) weapons tests, based at Kiritimati (Christmas Island).", "In 1957, between May 15 and June 19, three thermonuclear devices with yields ranging between 200–720 kt were detonated at high altitude a short distance offshore.", "British officials insisted that Malden should not be called a \"target island\".", "The airstrip constructed on the island by the Royal Engineers in 1956–57 remained usable in July 1979.Multiple people were invited to observe these tests including future governor general and president of Fiji Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau.===Malden Island today===Malden was incorporated in the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1972, and included in the portion of the colony which became the Republic of Kiribati in 1979.The U.S. continued to dispute British sovereignty, based on its nineteenth century ''Guano Act'' claims, until after Kiribati became independent.", "On 20 September 1979, representatives of the United States and Kiribati met on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilberts group of Kiribati, and signed a treaty of friendship between their two nations (commonly referred to as the Treaty of Tarawa of 1979) by which the United States recognized Kiribati's sovereignty over Malden and thirteen other islands in the Line and Phoenix Islands groups.", "This treaty entered into force on 23 September 1983.The main value of the island to Kiribati lies in the resources of the exclusive economic zone which surrounds it, particularly the rich tuna fisheries.", "Gypsum deposits on the island itself are extensive, but do not appear to be economically viable under foreseeable market conditions, mainly due to cost of transportation.", "Some revenue has been realized from ecotourism; the ''World Discoverer'', an adventure cruise ship operated by ''Society Expeditions'', visited the island once or twice annually for several years in the mid-1990s.Malden was reserved as a wildlife sanctuary and closed area, and was officially designated as the \"Malden Island Wildlife Sanctuary\", on 29 May 1975, under the 1975 Wildlife Conservation Ordinance.", "The principal purpose of this reservation was to protect the large breeding populations of seabirds.", "This sanctuary is administered by the Wildlife Conservation Unit of the Ministry of Line and Phoenix Islands Development, headquartered on Kiritimati.", "There is no resident staff at Malden, and occasional visits by foreign yachtsmen and fishermen cannot be monitored from Kiritimati.", "A fire in 1977, possibly caused by visitors, threatened breeding seabirds; this remains a potential threat, particularly during periods of drought.The island is now an important cultural and archaeological site including 21 archaeological sites, marae, and polynesian grave sites." ], [ "See also", "* Desert island* Lists of islands" ], [ "References" ], [ "Sources", "* Dunmore, John (1992); ''Who's Who in Pacific Navigation'', Australia:Melbourne University Press, * Quanchi, Max & Robson, John, (2005); ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', USA: Scarecrow Press, * Bloxam, Andrew (1925), ''Diary of Andrew Bloxam: naturalist of the \"Blonde\" on her trip from England to the Hawaiian islands, 1824–25'' Volume 10 of Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication" ], [ "External links", "* National Geographic – Southern Line Islands Expedition, 2014 * Malden Atoll viewed from space" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mater lectionis" ], [ "Introduction", " '''''Matres lectionis''''' (from Latin \"mothers of reading\", singular form: ''mater lectionis'', from ) are consonants that are used to indicate a vowel, primarily in the writing of Semitic languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac.", "The letters that do this in Hebrew are ''aleph'' , ''he'' , ''vav'' and ''yod'' , and in Arabic, the ''matres lectionis'' (though they are much less often referred to thus) are ''ʾalif'' , ''wāw'' and ''yāʾ'' .", "The '''yod'' and ''waw'' in particular are more often vowels than they are consonants.", "The original value of the ''matres lectionis'' corresponds closely to what is called in modern linguistics glides or semivowels." ], [ "Overview", "Because the scripts used to write some Semitic languages lack vowel letters, unambiguous reading of a text might be difficult.", "Therefore, to indicate vowels (mostly long), consonant letters are used.", "For example, in the Hebrew construct-state form ''bēt'', meaning \"the house of\", the middle letter in the spelling acts as a vowel, but in the corresponding absolute-state form ''bayit'' (\"house\"), which is spelled the same, the same letter represents a genuine consonant.", "''Matres lectionis'' are extensively employed only in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic, but the phenomenon is also found in the Ugaritic, Moabite, South Arabian and Phoenician alphabets." ], [ "Origins and development", "Historically, the practice of using ''matres lectionis'' seems to have originated when and diphthongs, written with the ''yod'' and the ''waw'' consonant letters respectively, monophthongized to simple long vowels and .", "This epiphenomenal association between consonant letters and vowel sounds was then seized upon and used in words without historic diphthongs.In general terms, it is observable that early Phoenician texts have very few ''matres lectionis'', and that during most of the 1st millennium BCE, Hebrew and Aramaic were quicker to develop ''matres lectionis'' than Phoenician.", "However, in its latest period of development in North Africa (referred to as \"Punic\"), Phoenician developed a very full use of ''matres lectionis'', including the use of the letter ''ayin'' , also used for this purpose much later in Yiddish orthography.In pre-exilic Hebrew, there was a significant development of the use of the letter ''he'' to indicate word final vowels other than ''ī'' and ''ū''.", "This was probably inspired by the phonological change of the third-person singular possessive suffix from > > in most environments.", "However, in later periods of Hebrew, the orthography was changed so word-final ''ō'' was no longer written with , except in a few archaically-spelled proper names, such as Solomon and Shiloh .", "The difference between the spelling of the third-person singular possessive suffix (as attached to singular nouns) with in early Hebrew versus with in later Hebrew has become an issue in the authentication of the Jehoash Inscription.According to Sass (5), already in the Middle Kingdom there were some cases of ''matres lectionis'', i.e.", "consonant graphemes which were used to transcribe vowels in foreign words, namely in Punic (Jensen 290, Naveh 62), Aramaic, and Hebrew (, , ; sometimes even ''aleph'' ; Naveh 62).", "Naveh (ibid.)", "notes that the earliest Aramaic and Hebrew documents already used ''matres lectionis''.", "Some scholars argue that the Greeks must therefore have borrowed their alphabet from the Arameans.", "However, the practice has older roots, as the Semitic cuneiform alphabet of Ugarit (13th century BC) already had ''matres lectionis'' (Naveh 138).===Hebrew===The earliest method of indicating some vowels in Hebrew writing was to use the consonant letters ''yod'' , ''waw'' , ''he'' ,and ''aleph'' of the Hebrew alphabet to also write long vowels in some cases.", "Originally, and were only used as matres lectiones at the end of words, and and were used mainly to write the original diphthongs and as well as original vowel+y+vowel sequences (which sometimes simplified to plain long vowels).", "Gradually, as it was found to be insufficient for differentiating between similar nouns, and were also inserted to mark some long vowels of non-diphthongal origin.If words can be written with or without ''matres lectionis'', spellings that include the letters are called ''malē'' (Hebrew) or ''plene'' (Latin), meaning \"full\", and spellings without them are called ''ḥaser'' or ''defective''.", "In some verb forms, ''matres lectionis'' are almost always used.", "Around the 9th century CE, it was decided that the system of ''matres lectionis'' did not suffice to indicate the vowels precisely enough for purposes of liturgical recitation of Biblical texts so a supplemental vowel pointing system (''niqqud'') (diacritic symbols indicating vowel pronunciation and other important phonological features not written by the traditional basic consonantal orthography) joined ''matres lectionis'' as part of the Hebrew writing system.In some words in Hebrew, there is a choice of whether to use a ''mater lectionis'' or not, and in modern printed texts ''matres lectionis'' are sometimes used even for short vowels, which is considered to be grammatically incorrect according to traditional norms, though instances are found as far back as Talmudic times.", "Such texts from Judaea and Galilee were noticeably more inclined to ''malē'' spellings than texts from Babylonia.", "Similarly, in the Middle Ages, Ashkenazi Jews tended to use ''malē'' spellings under the influence of European languages, but Sephardi Jews tended to use ''ḥaser'' spellings under the influence of Arabic.===Arabic===In Arabic there is no such choice, and the almost invariable rule is that a long vowel is written with a ''mater lectionis'' and a short vowel with a diacritic symbol, but the Uthmanic orthography, the one in which the Quran is traditionally written and printed, has some differences, which are not always consistent.", "Also, under influence from orthography of European languages, transliterating of vowels in borrowed words into Arabic is usually done using ''matres lectionis'' in place of diacritics, even when the vowel transliterated is short or when words from another Semitic language, such as Hebrew, are transliterated.", "That phenomenon is augmented by the neglect of diacritics in most printed forms since the beginning of mechanical printing.The name given to the three ''matres lectionis'' by traditional Arabic grammar is (حروف اللين والمدّ), 'consonants of softness and lengthening', or (حروف العلّة), 'causal consonants' or 'consonants of infirmity', because as in Greek grammar, words with 'accidents' were deemed to be afflicted, ill, in opposition to 'healthy' words without accidents.Informal orthographies of spoken varieties of Arabic also use ''ha'' to indicate a shorter version of ''alif'' , a usage augmented by the ambiguity of the use of and ''taa marbuta'' in formal Arabic orthography.", "It is a formal orthography in other languages that use Arabic script, such as Kurdish alphabets.===Syriac===Syriac-Aramaic vowels are classified into three groups: the ''alap'' (), the ''waw'' (), and the ''yod'' ().", "The ''mater lectionis'' was developed as early as the 6th century to represent long vowels, which were earlier denoted by a dot under the line.", "The most frequent ones are the ''yod'' and the ''waw'', while the ''alap'' is mostly restricted to some transliterated words.===Mandaic===In the Mandaic alphabet, vowels are usually written out in full.", "The first letter, ''a'' (corresponding to ''alaph''), is used to represent a range of open vowels.", "The sixth letter, ''wa'', is used for close back vowels (''u'' and ''o''), and the tenth letter, ''ya'' is used for close front vowels (''i'' and ''e'').", "These last two can also serve as the consonants ''w/v'' and ''y''.", "The eighth letter corresponds to the Semitic ''heth'', and is called ''eh''; it is pronounced as a long ''i''-vowel but is used only as a suffix for the third person singular.", "The sixteenth letter, ''e'' (Aramaic ''ayn''), usually represents ''e'' at the beginning of a word or, when followed by ''wa'' or ''ya'', represents initial ''u'' or ''i'' respectively." ], [ "Usage in Hebrew", "Most commonly, ''yod'' indicates ''i'' or ''e'', while ''waw'' indicates ''o'' or ''u''.", "''Aleph'' was not systematically developed as a ''mater lectionis'' in Hebrew (unlike in Aramaic and Arabic), but it is occasionally used to indicate an ''a'' vowel.", "(However, a silent , indicating an original glottal stop consonant sound that has become silent in Hebrew pronunciation, can occur after almost any vowel.)", "At the end of a word, ''he'' can also be used to indicate that a vowel ''a'' or ''e'' should be pronounced.Examples:: Symbol Name Vowel formation Vowel quality Example Biblical Modern Hebrew Transliteration Alef ê, ệ, ậ, â, ô mostly ā Paran He ê, ệ, ậ, â, ômostly ā or e Leah Moshe Waw Vav ô, û ō or ū Yo'el Baruch Yod Yud î, ê, ệ ī, ē or ǣ Amir" ], [ "Influence on other languages", "Later, in some adaptations of the Arabic alphabet (such those sometimes used for Kurdish and Uyghur) and of the Hebrew alphabet (such as those used for Judeo-Arabic, Yiddish and Judaeo-Spanish), ''matres lectionis'' were generally used for all or most vowels, thus in effect becoming vowel letters: see Yiddish orthography.", "This tendency was taken to its logical conclusion in fully alphabetic scripts such as Greek, Latin, and Cyrillic.", "Many of the vowel letters in such languages historically go back to ''matres lectionis'' in the Phoenician script.", "For example, the letter was originally derived from the consonant letter ''yod''.", "Similarly the vowel letters in the Avestan alphabet were adapted from ''matres lectionis'' in the version of the Aramaic alphabet adapted as the Pahlavi scripts." ], [ "See also", "* Hebrew spelling* Ktiv hasar niqqud* Mappiq* Niqqud* Tengwar* Tiberian vocalization" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * Canteins, Jean.", "1972.", "''Phonèmes et archétypes: contextes autour d'une structure trinitaire; AIU''.", "Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose.", "* Garr, W. Randall.", "1985.", "''Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E.''", "Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.", "* Jensen, Hans.", "1970.", "''Sign Symbol and Script''.", "London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. Transl.", "of ''Die Schrift in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart''.", "VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften.", "1958, as revised by the author.", "* Naveh, Joseph.", "1975.", "''Origins of the Alphabet''.", "London: Cassell; translated as ''Die Entstehung des Alphabets''.", "Zürich und Köln: Benziger, 1979.", "* Sass, Benjamin.", "1991.", "''Studia Alphabetica.", "On the origin and early history of the Northwest Semitic, South Semitic and Greek alphabets''.", "CH-Freiburg: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz.", "Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht." ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "My Fair Lady" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''My Fair Lady''''' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.", "The story, based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady.", "Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a notable critical and popular success, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.", "It set a record for the longest run of any musical on Broadway up to that time and was followed by a hit London production.", "Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in both productions.", "Many revivals have followed, and the 1964 film version won the Academy Award for Best Picture." ], [ "Plot", "===Act I===In Edwardian London, Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl with a thick Cockney accent.", "The noted phonetician Professor Henry Higgins encounters Eliza at Covent Garden and laments the vulgarity of her dialect (\"Why Can't the English?\").", "Higgins also meets Colonel Pickering, another linguist, and invites him to stay as his houseguest.", "Eliza and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable life (\"Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", "\").Eliza's dustman father, Alfred P. Doolittle, stops by the next morning searching for money for a drink (\"With a Little Bit of Luck\").", "Soon after, Eliza comes to Higgins's house, seeking elocution lessons so that she can get a job as an assistant in a florist's shop.", "Higgins wagers Pickering that, within six months, by teaching Eliza to speak properly, he will enable her to pass for a proper lady.Eliza becomes part of Higgins's household.", "Though Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted man who merely cannot get along with women (\"I'm an Ordinary Man\"), to others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic.", "Eliza endures Higgins's tyrannical speech tutoring.", "Frustrated, she dreams of different ways to kill him (\"Just You Wait\").", "Higgins's servants lament the stressful atmosphere (\"The Servants' Chorus\").Just as Higgins is about to give up on her, Eliza suddenly recites one of her diction exercises in perfect upper-class style (\"The Rain in Spain\").", "Though Mrs Pearce, the housekeeper, insists that Eliza go to bed, she declares she is too excited to sleep (\"I Could Have Danced All Night\").For her first public tryout, Higgins takes Eliza to his mother's box at Ascot Racecourse (\"Ascot Gavotte\").", "Though Eliza shocks everyone when she forgets herself while watching a race and reverts to foul language, she does capture the heart of Freddy Eynsford-Hill.", "Freddy calls on Eliza that evening, and he declares that he will wait for her in the street outside Higgins' house (\"On the Street Where You Live\").Eliza's final test requires her to pass as a lady at the Embassy Ball.", "After more weeks of preparation, she is ready.", "(\"Eliza's Entrance\").", "All the ladies and gentlemen at the ball admire her, and the Queen of Transylvania invites her to dance with the prince (\"Embassy Waltz\").", "A Hungarian phonetician, Zoltan Karpathy, attempts to discover Eliza's origins.", "Higgins allows Karpathy to dance with Eliza.===Act II===The ball is a success; Karpathy has declared Eliza to be a Hungarian princess.", "Pickering and Higgins revel in their triumph (\"You Did It\"), failing to pay attention to Eliza.", "Eliza is insulted at receiving no credit for her success, packing up and leaving the Higgins house.", "As she leaves she finds Freddy, who begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she tells him that she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he should show it (\"Show Me\").Eliza and Freddy return to Covent Garden but she finds she no longer feels at home there.", "Her father is there as well, and he tells her that he has received a surprise bequest from an American millionaire, which has raised him to middle-class respectability, and now must marry his lover.", "Doolittle and his friends have one last spree before the wedding (\"Get Me to the Church on Time\").Higgins awakens the next morning.", "He finds himself out of sorts without Eliza.", "He wonders why she left after the triumph at the ball and concludes that men (especially himself) are far superior to women (\"A Hymn to Him\").", "Col. Pickering is concerned about Eliza’s well-being, calling the police as well as contacting an old chum he believes will help them track her down.Higgins despondently visits his mother's house, where he finds Eliza.", "Eliza declares she no longer needs Higgins (\"Without You\").", "As Higgins walks home, he realizes he's grown attached to Eliza (\"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face\").", "At home, he sentimentally reviews the recording he made the day Eliza first came to him for lessons, hearing his own harsh words.", "Eliza suddenly appears in his home.", "In suppressed joy at their reunion, Professor Higgins scoffs and asks, \"Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?\"" ], [ "Characters and original Broadway cast", "The original cast of the Broadway stage production:* Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flowerseller – Julie Andrews * Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics – Rex Harrison* Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza's father, a dustman – Stanley Holloway* Colonel Hugh Pickering, Henry Higgins's friend and fellow phoneticist – Robert Coote* Mrs. Higgins, Henry's socialite mother – Cathleen Nesbitt* Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young socialite and Eliza's suitor – John Michael King* Mrs. Pearce, Higgins's housekeeper – Philippa Bevans* Zoltan Karpathy, Henry Higgins's former student and rival – Christopher Hewett" ], [ "Musical numbers", "'''Act I'''* \"Overture\" – The Orchestra* \"Busker Sequence\" – The Orchestra* \"Why Can't the English?\"", "– Professor Higgins* \"Wouldn't It Be Loverly?\"", "– Eliza and Male Quartet* \"With a Little Bit of Luck\" – Alfred Doolittle, Harry, Jamie and Company* \"I'm an Ordinary Man\" – Professor Higgins* \"With a Little Bit of Luck (Reprise)\" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble* \"Just You Wait\" – Eliza* \"The Servants' Chorus (Poor Professor Higgins)\" – Mrs. Pearce and Servants* \"The Rain in Spain\" – Professor Higgins, Eliza, and Colonel Pickering* \"I Could Have Danced All Night\" – Eliza, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants* \"Ascot Gavotte\" – Ensemble* \"On the Street Where You Live\" – Freddy* \"Eliza's Entrance/Embassy Waltz\" – The Orchestra'''Act II'''* \"You Did It\" – Colonel Pickering, Professor Higgins, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants* \"Just You Wait (Reprise)\" – Eliza* \"On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)\" – Freddy* \"Show Me\" – Eliza with Freddy* \"The Flower Market/Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", "(Reprise)\" – Eliza and Male Quartet* \"Get Me to the Church on Time\" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble* \"A Hymn to Him\" – Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering* \"Without You\" – Eliza and Professor Higgins* \"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face\" – Professor Higgins* \"I Could Have Danced All Night (Reprise) / Finale\" – The Orchestra" ], [ "Background", "In the mid-1930s, film producer Gabriel Pascal acquired the rights to produce film versions of several of George Bernard Shaw's plays, ''Pygmalion'' among them.", "However, Shaw, having had a bad experience with ''The Chocolate Soldier'', a Viennese operetta based on his play ''Arms and the Man'', refused permission for ''Pygmalion'' to be adapted into a musical.", "After Shaw died in 1950, Pascal asked lyricist Alan Jay Lerner to write the musical adaptation.", "Lerner agreed, and he and his partner Frederick Loewe began work.", "But they quickly realised that the play violated several key rules for constructing a musical: the main story was not a love story, there was no subplot or secondary love story, and there was no place for an ensemble.", "Many people, including Oscar Hammerstein II, who, with Richard Rodgers, had also tried his hand at adapting ''Pygmalion'' into a musical and had given up, told Lerner that converting the play to a musical was impossible, so he and Loewe abandoned the project for two years.During this time, the collaborators separated and Gabriel Pascal died.", "Lerner had been trying to musicalize ''Li'l Abner'' when he read Pascal's obituary and found himself thinking about ''Pygmalion'' again.", "When he and Loewe reunited, everything fell into place.", "All of the insurmountable obstacles that had stood in their way two years earlier disappeared when the team realised that the play needed few changes apart from (according to Lerner) \"adding the action that took place between the acts of the play\".", "They then excitedly began writing the show.", "However, Chase Manhattan Bank was in charge of Pascal's estate, and the musical rights to ''Pygmalion'' were sought both by Lerner and Loewe and by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose executives called Lerner to discourage him from challenging the studio.", "Loewe said, \"We will write the show without the rights, and when the time comes for them to decide who is to get them, we will be so far ahead of everyone else that they will be forced to give them to us.\"", "For five months Lerner and Loewe wrote, hired technical designers, and made casting decisions.", "The bank, in the end, granted them the musical rights.Various titles were suggested for the musical.", "Dominic McHugh wrote: \"During the autumn of 1955, the show was typically referred to as ''My Lady Liza'', and most of the contracts refer to this as the title.\"", "Lerner preferred ''My Fair Lady'', relating both to one of Shaw's provisional titles for ''Pygmalion'' and to the final line of every verse of the nursery rhyme \"London Bridge Is Falling Down\".", "Recalling that the Gershwins' 1925 musical ''Tell Me More'' had been titled ''My Fair Lady'' in its out-of-town tryout, and also had a musical number under that title, Lerner made a courtesy call to Ira Gershwin, alerting him to the use of the title for the Lerner and Loewe musical.Noël Coward was the first to be offered the role of Henry Higgins, but he turned it down, suggesting the producers cast Rex Harrison instead.", "After much deliberation, Harrison agreed to accept the part.", "Mary Martin was an early choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle, but declined the role.", "Young actress Julie Andrews was \"discovered\" and cast as Eliza after the show's creative team went to see her Broadway debut in ''The Boy Friend''.", "Moss Hart agreed to direct after hearing only two songs.", "The experienced orchestrators Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang were entrusted with the arrangements, and the show quickly went into rehearsal.The musical's script used several scenes that Shaw had written especially for the 1938 film version of ''Pygmalion'', including the Embassy Ball sequence and the final scene of the 1938 film rather than the ending for Shaw's original play.", "The montage showing Eliza's lessons was also expanded, combining both Lerner's and Shaw's dialogue.", "The artwork on the original Broadway poster (and the sleeve of the cast recording) is by Al Hirschfeld, who drew the playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppetmaster pulling the strings on the Henry Higgins character, while Higgins in turn attempts to control Eliza Doolittle." ], [ "Productions", "===Original Broadway production===Program from Mark Hellinger TheatreThe musical had its pre-Broadway tryout at New Haven's Shubert Theatre.", "At the first preview Rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, \"announced that under no circumstances would he go on that night...with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit\".", "He locked himself in his dressing room and came out little more than an hour before curtain time.", "The whole company had been dismissed but were recalled, and opening night was a success.", "''My Fair Lady'' then played for four weeks at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, beginning on February 15, 1956.The musical premiered on Broadway March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City.", "It transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre and then The Broadway Theatre, where it closed on September 29, 1962, after 2,717 performances, a record at the time.", "Moss Hart directed and Hanya Holm was choreographer.", "In addition to stars Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, the original cast included Robert Coote, Cathleen Nesbitt, John Michael King, and Reid Shelton.", "Harrison was replaced by Edward Mulhare in November 1957 and Sally Ann Howes replaced Andrews in February 1958.By the start of 1959, it was the biggest grossing Broadway show of all-time with a gross of $10 million.The ''Original Cast Recording'', released on April 2, 1956, was the best-selling album in the United States in 1956.===Original London production===The West End production, in which Harrison, Andrews, Coote, and Holloway reprised their roles, opened on April 30, 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for five and a half years (2,281 performances).", "Edwardian musical comedy star Zena Dare made her last appearance in the musical as Mrs. Higgins.", "Leonard Weir played Freddy.", "Harrison left the London cast in March 1959, followed by Andrews in August 1959 and Holloway in October 1959.===1970s revivals===The first Broadway revival opened at the St. James Theatre 20 years after the original, on March 25, 1976, and ran there until December 5, 1976; it then transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, running from December 9, 1976, until it closed on February 20, 1977, after a total of 377 performances and 7 previews.", "The director was Jerry Adler, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, based on the original choreography by Hanya Holm.", "Ian Richardson starred as Higgins, with Christine Andreas as Eliza, George Rose as Alfred P. Doolittle and Robert Coote recreating his role as Colonel Pickering.", "Both Richardson and Rose were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, with the award going to Rose.A Cameron MacKintosh revival opened at London's Adelphi Theatre in October 1979, following a national tour.", "Originated at the Haymarket Theatre Leicester, the production was created under a new agreement with The Arts Council to tour West End standard productions.", "It featured Tony Britton as Higgins, Liz Robertson as Eliza, Dame Anna Neagle as Higgins's mother, Peter Bayliss as Doolittle, Richard Caldicot as Pickering and Peter Land as Freddy.", "It was directed by Robin Midgley, with sets by Adrian Vaux, costumes by Tim Goodchild and choreography by Gillian Lynne.", "Britton and Robertson were both nominated for Olivier Awards.===1981 and 1993 Broadway revivals===The second Broadway revival of the original production opened at the Uris Theatre on August 18, 1981, and closed on November 29, 1981, after 119 performances and 5 previews.", "Rex Harrison recreated his role as Higgins, with Jack Gwillim as Pickering, Milo O'Shea as Doolittle, and Cathleen Nesbitt, at 93 years old reprising her role as Mrs. Higgins.", "The revival co-starred Nancy Ringham as Eliza.", "The director was Patrick Garland, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, recreating the original Hanya Holm dances.A new revival directed by Howard Davies opened at the Virginia Theatre on December 9, 1993, and closed on May 1, 1994, after 165 performances and 16 previews.", "The cast starred Richard Chamberlain as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza and Paxton Whitehead as Pickering.", "Julian Holloway, son of Stanley Holloway, recreated his father's role of Alfred P. Doolittle.", "Donald Saddler was the choreographer.===2001 London revival; 2003 Hollywood Bowl production===Cameron Mackintosh produced a new production on March 15, 2001, at the Royal National Theatre, which transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on July 21.Directed by Trevor Nunn, with choreography by Matthew Bourne, the musical starred Martine McCutcheon as Eliza and Jonathan Pryce as Higgins, with Dennis Waterman as Alfred P. Doolittle.", "This revival won three Olivier Awards: Outstanding Musical Production, Best Actress in a Musical (Martine McCutcheon) and Best Theatre Choreographer (Matthew Bourne), with Anthony Ward receiving a nomination for Set Design.", "In December 2001, Joanna Riding took over the role of Eliza, and in May 2002, Alex Jennings took over as Higgins, both winning Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical respectively in 2003.In March 2003, Anthony Andrews and Laura Michelle Kelly took over the roles until the show closed on August 30, 2003.A UK tour of this production began September 28, 2005.The production starred Amy Nuttall and Lisa O'Hare as Eliza, Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins, Russ Abbot and Gareth Hale as Doolittle, and Honor Blackman and Hannah Gordon as Mrs. Higgins.", "The tour ended August 12, 2006.In 2003 a production of the musical at the Hollywood Bowl starred John Lithgow as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza, Roger Daltrey as Doolittle, Kevin Earley as Freddy, Lauri Johnson as Mrs. Pearce, Caroline Blakiston as Mrs. Higgins, and Paxton Whitehead as Colonel Pickering.===2018 Broadway and 2022 London revival===London Coliseum, 2022A Broadway revival produced by Lincoln Center Theater and Nederlander Presentations Inc. began previews on March 15, 2018, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and officially opened on April 19, 2018.It was directed by Bartlett Sher with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Catherine Zuber and lighting design by Donald Holder.", "The cast included Lauren Ambrose as Eliza, Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins, Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Jordan Donica as Freddy, and Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce.", "Replacements included Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Higgins, Laura Benanti as Eliza, and Danny Burstein, then Alexander Gemignani, as Alfred P. Doolittle.", "The revival closed on July 7, 2019, after 39 previews and 509 regular performances.", "A North American tour of the production, starring Shereen Ahmed and Laird Mackintosh as Eliza and Higgins, opened in December 2019.Performances were suspended in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed in September 2021.It is scheduled to run through August 2022.The production was presented by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum with performances from May 7, 2022, and an official opening on May 18, for a 16-week run until August 27.It starred Amara Okereke as Eliza, with Hadden-Paton reprising the role of Higgins, Stephen K. Amos as Alfred P. Doolittle, Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs. Higgins, Malcolm Sinclair as Colonel Pickering, Maureen Beattie as Mrs. Pearce and Sharif Afifi as Freddy.", "Redgrave left the production early after contracting COVID-19.A UK and Ireland tour began in September 2022 starring Michael Xavier as Higgins, Charlotte Kennedy as Eliza, Adam Woodyatt as Alfred P. Doolittle, John Middleton as Colonel Pickering, Lesley Garrett as Mrs Pearce and Tom Liggins as Freddy.===Other major productions=======Berlin, 1961====Berlin, 1961A German translation of ''My Fair Lady'' opened on October 1, 1961, at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, starring Karin Hübner and Paul Hubschmid (and conducted, as was the Broadway opening, by Franz Allers).", "Coming at the height of Cold War tensions, just weeks after the closing of the East Berlin–West Berlin border and the erection of the Berlin Wall, this was the first staging of a Broadway musical in Berlin since World War II.", "As such it was seen as a symbol of West Berlin's cultural renaissance and resistance.", "Lost attendance from East Berlin (now no longer possible) was partly made up by a \"musical air bridge\" of flights bringing in patrons from West Germany, and the production was embraced by Berliners, running for two years.====2007 New York Philharmonic concert and US tour====In 2007 the New York Philharmonic held a full-costume concert presentation of the musical.", "The concert had a four-day engagement lasting from March 7–10 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.", "It starred Kelsey Grammer as Higgins, Kelli O'Hara as Eliza, Charles Kimbrough as Pickering, and Brian Dennehy as Alfred Doolittle.", "Marni Nixon played Mrs. Higgins; Nixon had provided the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the film version.A U.S. tour of Mackintosh's 2001 West End production ran from September 12, 2007, to June 22, 2008.The production starred Christopher Cazenove as Higgins, Lisa O'Hare as Eliza, Walter Charles as Pickering, Tim Jerome as Alfred Doolittle and Nixon as Mrs. Higgins, replacing Sally Ann Howes.====2008 Australian tour====An Australian tour produced by Opera Australia commenced in May 2008.The production starred Reg Livermore as Higgins, Taryn Fiebig as Eliza, Robert Grubb as Alfred Doolittle and Judi Connelli as Mrs Pearce.", "John Wood took the role of Alfred Doolittle in Queensland, and Richard E. Grant played the role of Henry Higgins at the Theatre Royal, Sydney.====2010 Paris revival====A new production was staged by Robert Carsen at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a limited 27-performance run, opening December 9, 2010, and closing January 2, 2011.It was presented in English.", "The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and the choreography was by Lynne Page.", "The cast was as follows: Sarah Gabriel / Christine Arand (Eliza Doolittle), Alex Jennings (Henry Higgins), Margaret Tyzack (Mrs. Higgins), Nicholas Le Prevost (Colonel Pickering), Donald Maxwell (Alfred Doolittle), and Jenny Galloway (Mrs. Pearce).====2012 Sheffield production====A new production of ''My Fair Lady'' opened at Sheffield Crucible on December 13, 2012.Dominic West played Henry Higgins, and Carly Bawden played Eliza Doolittle.", "Sheffield Theatres' Artistic Director Daniel Evans was the director.", "The production ran until January 26, 2013.====2016 Australian production====The Gordon Frost Organisation, together with Opera Australia, presented a production at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to November 5, 2016.It was directed by Julie Andrews and featured the set and costume designs of the original 1956 production by Smith and Beaton.", "The production sold more tickets than any other in the history of the Sydney Opera House.", "The show's opening run in Sydney was so successful that in November 2016, ticket pre-sales were released for a re-run in Sydney, with the extra shows scheduled between August 24 and September 10, 2017, at the Capitol Theatre.", "In 2017, the show toured to Brisbane from March 12 and Melbourne from May 11.The cast featured Alex Jennings as Higgins (Charles Edwards for Brisbane and Melbourne seasons), Anna O'Byrne as Eliza, Reg Livermore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Robyn Nevin as Mrs. Higgins (later Pamela Rabe), Mark Vincent as Freddy, Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Colonel Pickering, Deidre Rubenstein as Mrs. Pearce, and David Whitney as Karpathy." ], [ "Critical reception", "According to Geoffrey Block, \"Opening night critics immediately recognized that ''My Fair Lady'' fully measured up to the Rodgers and Hammerstein model of an integrated musical ... Robert Coleman ... wrote 'The Lerner-Loewe songs are not only delightful, they advance the action as well.", "They are ever so much more than interpolations, or interruptions.'\"", "The musical opened to \"unanimously glowing reviews, one of which said 'Don't bother reading this review now.", "You'd better sit right down and send for those tickets ...' Critics praised the thoughtful use of Shaw's original play, the brilliance of the lyrics, and Loewe's well-integrated score.", "\"A sampling of praise from critics, excerpted from a book form of the musical, published in 1956.", "* \"''My Fair Lady'' is wise, witty, and winning.", "In short, a miraculous musical.\"", "Walter Kerr, ''New York Herald Tribune''.", "* \"A felicitous blend of intellect, wit, rhythm and high spirits.", "A masterpiece of musical comedy ... a terrific show.\"", "Robert Coleman, ''New York Daily Mirror''.", "* \"Fine, handsome, melodious, witty and beautifully acted ... an exceptional show.\"", "George Jean Nathan, ''New York Journal American''.", "* \"Everything about ''My Fair Lady'' is distinctive and distinguished.\"", "John Chapman, ''New York Daily News''.", "* \"Wonderfully entertaining and extraordinarily welcomed ... meritorious in every department.\"", "Wolcott Gibbs, ''The New Yorker''.", "* \"One of the 'loverliest' shows imaginable ... a work of theatre magic.\"", "John Beaufort, ''The Christian Science Monitor''.", "* \"An irresistible hit.\"", "''Variety''.", "* \"One of the best musicals of the century.\"", "Brooks Atkinson, ''The New York Times''.The reception from Shavians was more mixed, however.", "Eric Bentley, for instance, called it \"a terrible treatment of Mr. Shaw's play, undermining the basic idea of the play\", even though he acknowledged it as \"a delightful show\".", "''My Fair Lady'' was later called \"the perfect musical\"." ], [ "Principal roles and casting history", " Character Broadway West End First Broadway Revival First West End Revival Second Broadway Revival Third Broadway Revival Second West End Revival Fourth Broadway Revival Third West End Revival195619581976197919811993200120182022 Eliza Doolittle Christine Andreas Liz Robertson Nancy Ringham Melissa Errico Martine McCutcheon Lauren Ambrose Amara Okereke Henry Higgins Ian Richardson Tony Britton Rex Harrison Richard Chamberlain Jonathan Pryce Alfred P. Doolittle George Rose Peter Bayliss Milo O'Shea Julian Holloway Dennis Waterman Norbert Leo Butz Stephen K. Amos Mrs. Higgins Cathleen Nesbitt Zena Dare Brenda Forbes Anna Neagle Cathleen Nesbitt Dolores Sutton Caroline Blakiston Diana Rigg Vanessa Redgrave Colonel Hugh Pickering Richard Caldicot Jack Gwillim Paxton Whitehead Nicholas Le Prevost Allan Corduner Malcolm Sinclair Freddy Eynsford-Hill John Michael King Leonard Weir Jerry Lanning Peter Land Nicholas Wyman Robert Sella Mark Umbers Jordan Donica Sharif Afifi Mrs. Pearce Philippa Bevans Betty Woolfe Sylvia O'Brien Betty Paul Marian Baer Glynis Bell Patsy Rowlands Linda Mugleston Maureen Beattie Zoltan Karpathy Christopher Hewett Max Oldaker John Clarkson Kalman Glass Jack Sevier James Young Sevan Stephan Manu Narayan Carl Patrick===Notable replacements===;Broadway (1956–1962)*'''Eliza:''' Sally Ann Howes*'''Higgins:''' Michael Allinson, Bramwell Fletcher, Tom Hellmore, Larry Keith, Edward Mulhare*'''Pickering:''' Melville Cooper, Reginald Denny;West End (1958–1963)*'''Eliza:''' Anne Rogers*'''Higgins:''' Alec Clunes, Charles Stapley*'''Alfred P. Doolittle:''' James Hayter;West End (2001–2003)*'''Eliza:''' Joanna Riding, Laura Michelle Kelly*'''Higgins:''' Alex Jennings, Anthony Andrews*'''Freddy:''' Michael Xavier;Broadway revival (2018–2019)*'''Eliza:''' Laura Benanti*'''Alfred P. Doolittle:''' Danny Burstein, Alexander Gemignani*'''Mrs.", "Higgins:''' Rosemary Harris" ], [ "Awards and nominations", "===Original Broadway production===Sources: BroadwayWorld TheatreWorldAwards Year Award Category Nominee Result 1956 Theatre World Award Outstanding New York City Stage Debut Performance John Michael King 1957 Tony Award Best Musical Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Rex Harrison Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Julie Andrews Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Robert Coote Stanley Holloway Best Direction of a Musical Moss Hart Best Choreography Hanya Holm Best Scenic Design Oliver Smith Best Costume Design Cecil Beaton Best Conductor and Musical Director Franz Allers ===1976 Broadway revival===Sources: BroadwayWorld Drama Desk Year Award Category Nominee Result 1976 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Ian Richardson George Rose Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Outstanding Actor in a Musical Ian Richardson Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical George Rose Outstanding Director of a Musical Jerry Adler ===1979 London revival===Source: Olivier Awards Year Award Category Nominee Result 1979 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actor in a Musical Tony Britton Best Actress in a Musical Liz Robertson ===1981 Broadway revival===Source: BroadwayWorld Year Award Category Nominee Result 1982 Tony Award Best Revival ===1993 Broadway revival===Source: Drama Desk Year Award Category Nominee Result 1993 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Outstanding Actress in a Musical Melissa Errico Outstanding Costume Design Patricia Zipprodt ===2001 London revival===Source: Olivier Awards Year Award Category Nominee Result 2002 Laurence Olivier Award Outstanding Musical Production Best Actor in a Musical Jonathan Pryce Best Actress in a Musical Martine McCutcheon Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Nicholas Le Prevost Best Theatre Choreographer Matthew Bourne Best Set Design Anthony Ward Best Costume Design Best Lighting Design David Hersey 2003 Best Actor in a Musical Alex Jennings Best Actress in a Musical Joanna Riding ===2018 Broadway revival=== Year Award Category Nominee Result2018Tony AwardBest Revival of a MusicalBest Actor in a MusicalHarry Hadden-PatonBest Actress in a MusicalLauren AmbroseBest Featured Actor in a MusicalNorbert Leo ButzBest Featured Actress in a MusicalDiana RiggBest Direction of a MusicalBartlett SherBest ChoreographyChristopher GattelliBest Scenic Design in a MusicalMichael YearganBest Lighting Design in a MusicalDonald HolderBest Costume Design in a MusicalCatherine ZuberDrama Desk AwardOutstanding Revival of a MusicalOutstanding Actor in a MusicalHarry Hadden-PatonOutstanding Featured Actress in a MusicalDiana RiggOutstanding Director of a MusicalBartlett SherOutstanding Costume Design for a MusicalCatherine ZuberDrama League AwardOutstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway MusicalDistinguished Performance AwardLauren AmbroseHarry Hadden-PatonOuter Critics Circle AwardOutstanding Revival of a MusicalOutstanding Actor in a MusicalHarry Hadden-PatonOutstanding Actress in a MusicalLauren AmbroseOutstanding Featured Actor in a MusicalNorbert Leo ButzOutstanding Director of a MusicalBartlett SherOutstanding ChoreographyChristopher GattelliOutstanding Set Design (Play or Musical)Michael YeaganOutstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)Catherine ZuberOutstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical)Marc Salzberg 2019 Grammy AwardsBest Musical Theater Album" ], [ "Adaptations", "===1964 film===George Cukor directed the 1964 film adaptation, with Harrison returning in the role of Higgins.", "The casting of Audrey Hepburn as Eliza created controversy among theatregoers, both because Andrews was regarded perfect in the part, and Hepburn's singing voice was dubbed (by Marni Nixon).", "Jack L. Warner, the head of Warner Bros., wanted \"a star with a great deal of name recognition\", but since Andrews did not have any film experience, he deemed success more likely with an established movie star.", "(Andrews went on to star in ''Mary Poppins'' that same year for which she won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress.)", "Lerner in particular disliked the film version of the musical, thinking it did not live up to the standards of Moss Hart's original direction.", "He was also unhappy with the casting of Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and that the film was shot in its entirety at the Warner Bros. studio rather than, as he would have preferred, in London.", "Despite the controversy, ''My Fair Lady'' was considered a major critical and box-office success, and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year, Best Actor for Rex Harrison, and Best Director for George Cukor.===Cancelled 2008 film ===Columbia Pictures planned a new adaptation in 2008.By 2011, John Madden had been signed to direct the film, and Emma Thompson had written a new screenplay, and by 2014 the studio had shelved it." ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "*Citron, David (1995).", "''The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner'', Oxford University Press.", "*Garebian, Keith (1998).", "''The Making of My Fair Lady'', Mosaic Press.", "*Green, Benny, Editor (1987).", "''A Hymn to Him : The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner'', Hal Leonard Corporation.", "*Jablonski, Edward (1996).", "''Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography'', Henry Holt & Co. *Lees, Gene (2005).", "''The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe'', Bison Books.", "*Lerner, Alan Jay (1985).", "''The Street Where I Live'', Da Capo Press.", "* McHugh, Dominic.", "''Loverly: The Life and Times of \"My Fair Lady\"'' (Oxford University Press; 2012) 265 pages; uses unpublished documents to study the five-year process of the original production.", "*Shapiro, Doris (1989).", "''We Danced All Night: My Life Behind the Scenes With Alan Jay Lerner'', Barricade Books." ], [ "External links", "* * Lincoln Center production* Ovrtur Page" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Martial arts film" ], [ "Introduction", "The first martial arts film ''The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple'' (1928), a Chinese film directed by Zhang Shichuan'''Martial arts films''' are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters.", "These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression and development.", "Martial arts are frequently featured in training scenes and other sequences in addition to fights.", "Martial arts films commonly include hand-to-hand combat along with other types of action, such as stuntwork, chases, and gunfights.", "Sub-genres of martial arts films include kung fu films, wuxia, karate films, and martial arts action comedy films, while related genres include gun fu, jidaigeki and samurai films.Notable actors who have contributed to the genre include Zhang Ziyi, Tony Jaa, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Toshiro Mifune, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Sammo Hung.", "Some of the most influential martial arts films include ''Kickboxer'' (1989), ''The Matrix'' (1999), ''Police Story'' (1985), ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000), ''Once Upon A Time in China'' (1991), ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), and ''Enter the Dragon'' (1973)." ], [ "History", "The first ever martial arts film was a Chinese film released in 1928, The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (also translated as \"The Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery\"), a silent film directed by Chinese film director Zhang Shichuan and produced by the Mingxing Film Company.", "The film pioneered the martial arts film genre, and was the first kung fu action film ever created.", "The film is based on the popular Chinese novel \"The Romance of the Red Lotus Temple\", which is set in the Qing Dynasty and tells the story of a group of martial artists who band together to defend their temple from raiders.", "The film is notable for its action sequences and fight scenes, which were groundbreaking for the time and helped establish the martial arts film genre.", "Asian films are known to have a more minimalist approach to film based on their culture.", "Some martial arts films have only a minimal plot and amount of character development and focus almost exclusively on the action, while others have more creative and complex plots and characters along with action scenes.", "Films of the latter type are generally considered to be artistically superior films, but many films of the former type are commercially successful and well received by fans of the genre.", "One of the earliest Hollywood movies to employ the use of martial arts was the 1955 film ''Bad Day at Black Rock'', though the scenes of Spencer Tracy performed barely any realistic fight sequences, but composed mostly of soft knifehand strikes.Martial arts films contain many characters who are martial artists and these roles are often played by actors who are real martial artists.", "If not, actors frequently train in preparation for their roles or the action director may rely more on stylized action or film making tricks like camera angles, editing, doubles, undercranking, wire work and computer-generated imagery.", "Trampolines and springboards used to be used to increase the height of jumps.", "The minimalist style employs smaller sets and little space for improvised but explosive fight scenes, as seen by Jackie Chan's films.", "These techniques are sometimes used by real martial artists as well, depending on the style of action in the film.During the 1970s and 1980s, the most visible presence of martial arts films was the hundreds of English-dubbed kung fu and ninja films produced by the Shaw Brothers, Godfrey Ho and other Hong Kong producers.", "These films were widely broadcast on North American television on weekend timeslots that were often colloquially known as ''Kung Fu Theater'', ''Black Belt Theater'' or variations thereof.", "Inclusive in this list of films are commercial classics like ''The Big Boss'', ''Drunken Master'' and ''One Armed Boxer''.Martial arts films have been produced all over the world, but the genre has been dominated by Hong Kong action cinema, peaking from 1971 with the rise of Bruce Lee until the mid-1990s with a general decline in the industry, till it was revived close to the 2000s.Notable actors who have contributed to the genre include Zhang Ziyi, Tony Jaa, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Toshiro Mifune, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Sammo Hung.Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, and Hiroyuki Sanada starred in numerous karate and jidaigeki films from Japan during the 1970s and early 1980s.", "Hollywood has also participated in the genre with actors such as Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee), Wesley Snipes, Gary Daniels, Mark Dacascos and Jason Statham.", "In the 2000s, Thailand's film industry became an international force in the genre with the films of Tony Jaa and the cinema of Vietnam followed suit with ''The Rebel'' and ''Clash''.", "In more recent years, the Indonesian film industry has offered ''Merantau'' (2009) and ''The Raid: Redemption'' (2011).Women have also played key roles in the genre, including such actresses as Michelle Yeoh, Angela Mao and Cynthia Rothrock.", "In addition, western animation has ventured into the genre with the most successful effort being the internationally hailed DreamWorks Animation film franchise, ''Kung Fu Panda'', starring Jack Black and Angelina Jolie.", "''The Matrix'' is considered revolutionary in American cinema for raising the standard of fight scenes in western cinema." ], [ "Subgenres", "In the Chinese-speaking world, martial arts films are commonly divided into two subcategories: the ''wuxia'' period films (武俠片), and the more modern kung fu films (功夫片, best epitomized in the films of Bruce Lee).", "However, according to Hong Kong film director, producer, and movie writer Ronny Yu, wuxia movies are not to be confused with martial arts movies.Kung fu films are a significant movie genre in themselves.", "Like westerns for Americans, they have become an identity of Chinese cinema.", "As the most prestigious movie type in Chinese film history, kung fu movies were among the first Chinese films produced and the ''wuxia'' period films (武俠片) are the original form of Chinese kung fu films.", "The wuxia period films came into vogue due to the thousands of years popularity of wuxia novels (武俠小說).", "For example, the wuxia novels of Jin Yong and Gu Long directly led to the prevalence of wuxia period films.", "Outside of the Chinese speaking world the most famous wuxia film made was the Ang Lee film ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', which was based on the Wang Dulu series of wuxia novels: it earned four Academy Awards, including one for Best Foreign Film.Martial arts westerns are usually American films inexpensively filmed in Southwestern United States locations, transposing martial arts themes into an \"old west\" setting; e.g., ''Red Sun'' with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune." ], [ "See also", "* List of martial arts films* List of mixed martial arts films* Combat in film* Orange Sky Golden Harvest* Samurai cinema* Professional Wrestling* Wuxia" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Martial Arts subgenre at Rotten Tomatoes* martial arts at IMDb* The 20 Greatest Fights Scenes Ever at Rotten Tomatoes* The 50 Greatest Fight Scenes of Film at Progressiveboink.com* The Five Best Fight Scenes Ever Filmed at Esquire.com" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Musical film" ], [ "Introduction", "''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952) film poster'''Musical film''' is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.", "The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate \"production numbers\".The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology.", "Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater.", "Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if a live audience were watching.", "In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it.With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, musicals gained popularity with the public and are exemplified by the films of Busby Berkeley, a choreographer known for his distinctive and elaborate set pieces featuring multiple showgirls.", "These lavish production numbers are typified by his choreographic work in ''42nd Street'', ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', ''Footlight Parade'' (all from 1933).", "During the 1930s, the musical films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers became massive cultural fixtures in the eyes of the American public.", "These films included, ''Top Hat'' (1935), ''Follow the Fleet'', ''Swing Time'' (both 1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937).", "Victor Fleming's ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) would become a landmark film for movie musical as it experimented with new technology such as Technicolor.During the 1940s and 1950s, musical films from MGM musicals regularly premiered.", "These works included: ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), ''Easter Parade'' (1948), ''On the Town'' (1949), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), ''The Band Wagon'' (1953), ''High Society'' (1956), and ''Gigi'' (1958).", "During this time, films outside the Arthur Freed unit at MGM included, ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), ''White Christmas'' (1954), and ''Funny Face'' (1957) as well as ''Oklahoma!''", "(1955), ''The King and I'' (1956), ''Carousel'', and ''South Pacific'' (1958).", "These films of the era typically relied on the star power of such film stars as Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Ann Miller, Kathryn Grayson, and Howard Keel.", "They also relied on film directors such as Stanley Donen and Vincente Minnelli as well as songwriters Comden and Green, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and the Gershwin Brothers.During the 1960s, films based on stage musicals continued to be critical and box-office successes.", "These films included, ''West Side Story'' (1961), ''Gypsy'' (1962), ''The Music Man'' (1962), ''Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963), ''My Fair Lady'', ''Mary Poppins'' (both 1964), ''The Sound of Music'' (1965), ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'', ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' (all 1967), ''Oliver!", "'', and ''Funny Girl'' (both 1968).", "In the 1970s, film culture and the changing demographics of filmgoers placed greater emphasis on gritty realism, while the pure entertainment and theatricality of classical-era Hollywood musicals was seen as old-fashioned.", "Despite this, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971), ''Fiddler on the Roof'' (1971), ''Cabaret'' (1972), ''1776'' (1972), Disney's ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' (1971), and ''Pete's Dragon'' (1977), as well as ''Grease'' and ''The Wiz'' (both 1978), were more traditional musicals closely adapted from stage shows and were strong successes with critics and audiences.", "Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, musicals tended to be mainly coming from the Disney animated films of the period, from composers and lyricists, Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, and Stephen Schwartz.", "The Disney Renaissance started with 1989's ''The Little Mermaid'', then followed by ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991), ''Aladdin'' (1992), ''The Lion King'' (1994), ''Pocahontas'' (1995), ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1996), ''Hercules'' (1997), and ''Mulan'' (1998).Since the 21st century, the musical genre was rejuvenated with darker musicals, musical biopics, musical remakes, epic drama musicals and comedy drama musicals such as ''Moulin Rouge!''", "(2001), ''Chicago'' (2002), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (2004), ''Rent'' (2005), ''Dreamgirls'', ''Idlewild'' (both 2006), ''Across the Universe'', ''Enchanted'', ''Hairspray'', ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (all 2007), ''Mamma Mia!''", "(2008), ''Nine'' (2009), ''The Muppets'' (2011), ''Les Misérables'' (2012), ''Into the Woods'', ''Muppets Most Wanted'' (both 2014), ''La La Land'' (2016), ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''The Greatest Showman'' (both 2017), ''Mamma Mia!", "Here We Go Again!", "'', ''A Star Is Born'', ''Mary Poppins Returns'', ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (all 2018), ''Aladdin'', ''Rocketman'', ''The Lion King'' (all 2019), ''In the Heights'', ''Dear Evan Hansen'', ''Cyrano'', ''Tick, Tick… Boom!", "'', ''West Side Story'' (all 2021), ''Elvis'', ''Spirited, Disenchanted'', ''Matilda the Musical'', ''Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody'' (all 2022), ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Dicks: The Musical'', ''Wonka'', and ''The Color Purple'' (all 2023)." ], [ "Hollywood musical films", "''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) is considered one of the greatest movies of all time.===1930-1950: The first classical sound era or First Musical Era===The 1930s through the early 1950s are considered to be the golden age of the musical film, when the genre's popularity was at its highest in the Western world.", "Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', the earliest Disney animated feature film, was a musical which won an honorary Oscar for Walt Disney at the 11th Academy Awards.====The first musicals====Musical short films were made by Lee de Forest in 1923–24.Beginning in 1926, thousands of Vitaphone shorts were made, many featuring bands, vocalists, and dancers.", "The earliest feature-length films with synchronized sound had only a soundtrack of music and occasional sound effects that played while the actors portrayed their characters just as they did in silent films: without audible dialogue.", "''The Jazz Singer'', released in 1927 by Warner Brothers, was the first to include an audio track including non-diegetic music and diegetic music, but it had only a short sequence of spoken dialogue.", "This feature-length film was also a musical, featuring Al Jolson singing \"Dirty Hands, Dirty Face\", \"Toot, Toot, Tootsie\", \"Blue Skies\", and \"My Mammy\".", "Historian Scott Eyman wrote, \"As the film ended and applause grew with the houselights, Sam Goldwyn's wife Frances looked around at the celebrities in the crowd.", "She saw 'terror in all their faces', she said, as if they knew that 'the game they had been playing for years was finally over'.\"", "Still, only isolated sequences featured \"live\" sound; most of the film had only a synchronous musical score.", "In 1928, Warner Brothers followed this up with another Jolson part-talkie, ''The Singing Fool'', which was a blockbuster hit.", "Theaters scrambled to install the new sound equipment and to hire Broadway composers to write musicals for the screen.", "The first all-talking feature, ''Lights of New York'', included a musical sequence in a night club.", "The enthusiasm of audiences was so great that in less than a year all the major studios were making sound pictures exclusively.", "''The Broadway Melody'' (1929) had a show-biz plot about two sisters competing for a charming song-and-dance man.", "Advertised by MGM as the first \"All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing\" feature film, it was a hit and won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1929.There was a rush by the studios to hire talent from the stage to star in lavishly filmed versions of Broadway hits.", "''The Love Parade'' (Paramount 1929) starred Maurice Chevalier and newcomer Jeanette MacDonald, written by Broadway veteran Guy Bolton.Warner Brothers produced the first screen operetta, ''The Desert Song'' in 1929.They spared no expense and photographed a large percentage of the film in Technicolor.", "This was followed by the first all-color, all-talking musical feature which was entitled ''On with the Show'' (1929).", "The most popular film of 1929 was the second all-color, all-talking feature which was entitled ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929).", "This film broke all box office records and remained the highest-grossing film ever produced until 1939.Suddenly, the market became flooded with musicals, revues, and operettas.", "The following all-color musicals were produced in 1929 and 1930 alone: ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929'' (1929), ''The Show of Shows'' (1929), ''Sally'' (1929), ''The Vagabond King'' (1930), ''Follow Thru'' (1930), ''Bright Lights'' (1930), ''Golden Dawn'' (1930), ''Hold Everything'' (1930), ''The Rogue Song'' (1930), ''Song of the Flame'' (1930), ''Song of the West'' (1930), ''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' (1930), ''Under a Texas Moon'' (1930), ''Bride of the Regiment'' (1930), ''Whoopee!''", "(1930), ''King of Jazz'' (1930), ''Viennese Nights'' (1930), and ''Kiss Me Again'' (1930).", "In addition, there were scores of musical features released with color sequences.Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931.By late 1930, audiences had been oversaturated with musicals and studios were forced to cut the music from films that were then being released.", "For example, ''Life of the Party'' (1930) was originally produced as an all-color, all-talking musical comedy.", "Before it was released, however, the songs were cut out.", "The same thing happened to ''Fifty Million Frenchmen'' (1931) and ''Manhattan Parade'' (1932) both of which had been filmed entirely in Technicolor.", "Marlene Dietrich sang songs successfully in her films, and Rodgers and Hart wrote a few well-received films, but even their popularity waned by 1932.The public had quickly come to associate color with musicals and thus the decline in their popularity also resulted in a decline in color productions.====Busby Berkeley====The taste in musicals revived again in 1933 when director Busby Berkeley began to enhance the traditional dance number with ideas drawn from the drill precision he had experienced as a soldier during World War I.", "In films such as ''42nd Street'' and ''Gold Diggers of 1933'' (1933), Berkeley choreographed a number of films in his unique style.", "Berkeley's numbers typically begin on a stage but gradually transcend the limitations of theatrical space: his ingenious routines, involving human bodies forming patterns like a kaleidoscope, could never fit onto a real stage and the intended perspective is viewing from straight above.====Musical stars====Musical stars such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were among the most popular and highly respected personalities in Hollywood during the classical era; the Fred and Ginger pairing was particularly successful, resulting in a number of classic films, such as ''Top Hat'' (1935), ''Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937).", "Many dramatic actors gladly participated in musicals as a way to break away from their typecasting.", "For instance, the multi-talented James Cagney had originally risen to fame as a stage singer and dancer, but his repeated casting in \"tough guy\" roles and mob films gave him few chances to display these talents.", "Cagney's Oscar-winning role in ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) allowed him to sing and dance, and he considered it to be one of his finest moments.Many comedies (and a few dramas) included their own musical numbers.", "The Marx Brothers' films included a musical number in nearly every film, allowing the Brothers to highlight their musical talents.", "Their final film, entitled ''Love Happy'' (1949), featured Vera-Ellen, considered to be the best dancer among her colleagues and professionals in the half century.Similarly, the vaudevillian comedian W. C. Fields joined forces with the comic actress Martha Raye and the young comedian Bob Hope in Paramount Pictures musical anthology ''The Big Broadcast of 1938''.", "The film also showcased the talents of several internationally recognized musical artists including: Kirsten Flagstad (Norwegian operatic soprano), Wilfred Pelletier (Canadian conductor of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Tito Guizar (Mexican tenor), Shep Fields conducting his Rippling Rhythm Jazz Orchestra and John Serry Sr. (Italian-American concert accordionist).", "In addition to the Academy Award for Best Original Song (1938), the film earned an ASCAP Film and Television Award (1989) for Bob Hope's signature song \"Thanks for the Memory\".====The Freed Unit====Rock, Rock, Rock'', a musical movie from 1956During the late 1940s and into the early 1950s, a production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer headed by Arthur Freed made the transition from old-fashioned musical films, whose formula had become repetitive, to something new.", "(However, they also produced Technicolor remakes of such musicals as ''Show Boat'', which had previously been filmed in the 1930s.)", "In 1939, Freed was hired as associate producer for the film ''Babes in Arms''.", "Starting in 1944 with ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', the Freed Unit worked somewhat independently of its own studio to produce some of the most popular and well-known examples of the genre.", "The products of this unit include ''Easter Parade'' (1948), ''On the Town'' (1949), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), ''The Band Wagon'' (1953) and ''Gigi'' (1958).", "Non-Freed musicals from the studio included ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' in 1954 and ''High Society'' in 1956, and the studio distributed Samuel Goldwyn's ''Guys and Dolls'' in 1955.This era saw musical stars become household names, including Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Mickey Rooney, Vera-Ellen, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson.", "Fred Astaire was also coaxed out of retirement for ''Easter Parade'' and made a permanent comeback.====Outside MGM====The other Hollywood studios proved themselves equally adept at tackling the genre at this time, particularly in the 1950s.", "Four adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein shows - ''Oklahoma!", "'', ''The King and I'', ''Carousel'', and ''South Pacific'' - were all successes, while Paramount Pictures released ''White Christmas'' and ''Funny Face'', two films which used previously written music by Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, respectively.", "Warner Bros. produced ''Calamity Jane'' and ''A Star Is Born''; the former film was a vehicle for Doris Day, while the latter provided a big-screen comeback for Judy Garland, who had been out of the spotlight since 1950.Meanwhile, director Otto Preminger, better known for \"message pictures\", made ''Carmen Jones'' and ''Porgy and Bess'', both starring Dorothy Dandridge, who is considered the first African American A-list film star.", "Celebrated director Howard Hawks also ventured into the genre with ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''.In the 1960s, 1970s, and continuing up to today, the musical film became less of a bankable genre that could be relied upon for sure-fire hits.", "Audiences for them lessened and fewer musical films were produced as the genre became less mainstream and more specialized.===The 1960s musical===In the 1960s, the critical and box-office success of the films ''West Side Story'', ''Gypsy'', ''The Music Man'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''Mary Poppins'', ''The Sound of Music'', ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'', ''The Jungle Book'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'', ''Oliver!", "'', and ''Funny Girl'' suggested that the traditional musical was in good health, while French filmmaker Jacques Demy's jazz musicals ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' and ''The Young Girls of Rochefort'' were popular with international critics.", "However popular musical tastes were being heavily affected by rock and roll and the freedom and youth associated with it, and indeed Elvis Presley made a few films that have been equated with the old musicals in terms of form.", "''A Hard Day's Night'' and ''Help!", "'', starring the Beatles, were audacious.", "Most of the musical films of the 1950s and 1960s such as ''Oklahoma!''", "and ''The Sound of Music'' were straightforward adaptations or restagings of successful stage productions.", "The most successful musicals of the 1960s created specifically for film were ''Mary Poppins'' and ''The Jungle Book'', two of Disney's biggest hits of all time.The phenomenal box-office performance of ''The Sound of Music'' gave the major Hollywood studios more confidence to produce lengthy, large-budget musicals.", "Despite the resounding success of some of these films, Hollywood also produced a large number of musical flops in the late 1960s and early 1970s which appeared to seriously misjudge public taste.", "The commercially and/or critically unsuccessful films included ''Camelot'', ''Finian's Rainbow'', ''Hello Dolly!", "'', ''Sweet Charity'', ''Doctor Dolittle'', ''Half a Sixpence'', ''The Happiest Millionaire'', ''Star!", "'', ''Darling Lili'', ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', ''Paint Your Wagon'', ''Song of Norway'', ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'', ''Man of La Mancha'', ''Lost Horizon'', and ''Mame''.", "Collectively and individually these failures affected the financial viability of several major studios.===1970s===In the 1970s, film culture and the changing demographics of filmgoers placed greater emphasis on gritty realism, while the pure entertainment and theatricality of classical-era Hollywood musicals was seen as old-fashioned.", "Despite this, ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and ''Cabaret'' were more traditional musicals closely adapted from stage shows and were strong successes with critics and audiences.", "Changing cultural mores and the abandonment of the Hays Code in 1968 also contributed to changing tastes in film audiences.", "The 1973 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' was met with some criticism by religious groups but was well received.", "By the mid-1970s, filmmakers avoided the genre in favor of using music by popular rock or pop bands as background music, partly in hope of selling a soundtrack album to fans.", "''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' was originally released in 1975 and was a critical failure until it started midnight screenings in the 1980s where it achieved cult status.", "That same year also saw the premiere of the R&B band Bloodstone's movie ''Train Ride to Hollywood'', but problems in distribution rendered it barely getting token theatrical release.", "The year 1976 saw the release of the low-budget comic musical, ''The First Nudie Musical'', released by Paramount.", "The 1978 film version of ''Grease'' was a smash hit; its songs were original compositions done in a 1950s pop style.", "However, the sequel ''Grease 2'' (released in 1982) bombed at the box-office.", "Films about performers which incorporated gritty drama and musical numbers interwoven as a diegetic part of the storyline were produced, such as ''Lady Sings the Blues'', ''All That Jazz'', and ''New York, New York''.", "Some musicals made in Britain experimented with the form, such as Richard Attenborough's ''Oh!", "What a Lovely War'' (released in 1969), Alan Parker's ''Bugsy Malone'' and Ken Russell's ''Tommy'' and ''Lisztomania''.A number of film musicals were still being made that were financially and/or critically less successful than in the musical's heyday.", "They include ''1776'', ''The Wiz'', ''At Long Last Love'', ''Mame'', ''Man of La Mancha'', ''Lost Horizon'','' Godspell'', ''Phantom of the Paradise'', ''Funny Lady'' (Barbra Streisand's sequel to ''Funny Girl''), ''A Little Night Music'', and ''Hair'' amongst others.", "The critical wrath against ''At Long Last Love'', in particular, was so strong that it was never released on home video.", "Fantasy musical films ''Scrooge'', ''The Blue Bird'', ''The Little Prince'', ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', ''Pete's Dragon'', and Disney's ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' were also released in the 1970s, the latter winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.===1980s to 1990s===By the 1980s, financiers grew increasingly confident in the musical genre, partly buoyed by the relative health of the musical on Broadway and London's West End.", "Productions of the 1980s and 1990s included ''The Apple'', ''Xanadu'', ''The Blues Brothers'', ''Annie'', ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'', ''Victor/Victoria'', ''Footloose'', ''Fast Forward'', ''A Chorus Line'', ''Little Shop of Horrors'', ''Forbidden Zone'', ''Absolute Beginners'', ''Labyrinth'', ''Evita'', and ''Everyone Says I Love You''.", "However, ''Can't Stop the Music'', starring the Village People, was a calamitous attempt to resurrect the old-style musical and was released to audience indifference in 1980.", "''Little Shop of Horrors'' was based on an off-Broadway musical adaptation of a 1960 Roger Corman film, a precursor of later film-to-stage-to-film adaptations, including ''The Producers''.Many animated films of the period – predominately from Disney – included traditional musical numbers.", "Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, and Stephen Schwartz had previous musical theater experience and wrote songs for animated films during this time, supplanting Disney workhorses the Sherman Brothers.", "Starting with 1989's ''The Little Mermaid'', the Disney Renaissance gave new life to the musical film.", "Other successful animated musicals included ''Aladdin'', ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', and ''Pocahontas'' from Disney proper, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' from Disney division Touchstone Pictures, ''The Prince of Egypt'' from DreamWorks, ''Anastasia'' from Fox and Don Bluth, and ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' from Paramount.", "''Beauty and the Beast'', ''The Lion King'', and others were adapted for the stage after their blockbuster success.=== 2000-now: The second-classical era or New Musical Era ======= 21st-century musicals or New Age ====In the 21st century, movie musicals were reborn with darker musicals, musical biopics, epic drama musicals and comedy drama musicals such as ''Moulin Rouge!", "'', ''Chicago'', ''Walk the Line'', ''Dreamgirls'', ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', ''Les Misérables'', ''La La Land'', and ''West Side Story''; all of which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in their respective years, while such films as ''The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Hairspray'', ''Mamma Mia!", "'', ''Nine'', ''Into the Woods'', ''The Greatest Showman'', ''Mary Poppins Returns'', ''Rocketman'', ''Cyrano'', and ''Tick, Tick...", "Boom!''", "were only nominated.", "''Chicago'' was also the first musical since ''Oliver!''", "to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.Joshua Oppenheimer's Academy Award-nominated documentary ''The Act of Killing'' may be considered a nonfiction musical.One specific musical trend was the rising number of jukebox musicals based on music from various pop/rock artists on the big screen, some of which based on Broadway shows.", "Examples of Broadway-based jukebox musical films included ''Mamma Mia!''", "(ABBA), ''Rock of Ages'', and ''Sunshine on Leith'' (The Proclaimers).", "Original ones included ''Across the Universe'' (The Beatles), ''Moulin Rouge!''", "(various pop hits), ''Idlewild'' (Outkast) and ''Yesterday'' (The Beatles).Disney also returned to musicals with ''Enchanted'', ''The Princess and the Frog'', ''Tangled'', ''Winnie the Pooh'', ''The Muppets'', ''Frozen'', ''Muppets Most Wanted'', ''Into the Woods'', ''Moana'', ''Mary Poppins Returns'', ''Frozen II'', ''Encanto'', ''Disenchanted'' and ''Wish''.", "Following a string of successes with live action fantasy adaptations of several of their animated features, Disney produced a live action version of ''Beauty and the Beast'', the first of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical, and features new songs as well as new lyrics to both the Gaston number and the reprise of the title song.", "The second film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was ''Aladdin'' and features new songs.", "The third film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was ''The Lion King'' and features new songs.", "The fourth film of this live action fantasy adaptation pack to be an all-out musical was ''The Little Mermaid'' and features new songs with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, replacing Ashman.", "Pixar also produced ''Coco'', the very first computer-animated musical film by the company.", "Other animated musical films include ''Rio'', ''Rio 2'', ''The Book of Life'', ''Trolls'', ''Sing'', ''Smallfoot'', ''UglyDolls'', ''Trolls World Tour'', ''Over the Moon'', ''Vivo'', ''Sing 2, Under the Boardwalk, Trolls Band Together,'' and ''Leo''.Biopics about music artists and showmen were also big in the 21st century.", "Examples include ''8 Mile'' (Eminem), ''Ray'' (Ray Charles), ''Walk the Line'' (Johnny Cash and June Carter), (Édith Piaf), ''Notorious'' (Biggie Smalls), ''Jersey Boys'' (The Four Seasons) ''Love & Mercy'' (Brian Wilson), ''CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story'' (TLC), ''Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B'' (Aaliyah), ''Get on Up'' (James Brown), ''Whitney'' and ''I Wanna Dance With Somebody'' (Whitney Houston), ''Straight Outta Compton'' (N.W.A), ''The Greatest Showman'' (P. T. Barnum), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (Freddie Mercury), ''The Dirt'' (Mötley Crüe), ''Judy'' (Judy Garland), ''Rocketman'' (Elton John), ''Respect'' (Aretha Franklin) and ''Elvis'' (Elvis Presley).", "Grossing over $900 million at the box office ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' is the most commercially successful musical biopic.Director Damien Chazelle created a musical film called ''La La Land'', starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.", "It was meant to reintroduce the traditional jazz style of song numbers with influences from the Golden Age of Hollywood and Jacques Demy's French musicals while incorporating a contemporary/modern take on the story and characters with balances in fantasy numbers and grounded reality.", "It received 14 nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, tying the record for most nominations with ''All About Eve'' (1950) and ''Titanic'' (1997), and won the awards for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Production Design.====Live!", "television events====In 2013, NBC produced ''The Sound of Music Live!''", "as part of their effort for expanded live entertainment events, which became an annual tradition of adaptations of stage musicals, created specifically as live television events.", "The following years featured ''Peter Pan Live!", "'', ''The Wiz Live!", "'', ''Hairspray Live!", "'', ''Jesus Christ Superstar Live!", "'', ''Dr.", "Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live!", "'', and ''Annie Live!''.", "ABC and Fox also produced similar events, including ''Grease Live!", "'', ''A Christmas Story Live!", "'', ''Rent: Live'', and ''The Little Mermaid Live!", "''." ], [ "Indian musical films", "Bollywood dances usually follow or are choreographed to ''filmi'' Bollywood songs.An exception to the decline of the musical film is Indian cinema, especially the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), where most of films have been, and still are, musicals.", "The majority of films produced in the Tamil industry, based in Chennai (formerly Madras), the Sandalwood industry, based in Bangalore, the Telugu industry, based in Hyderabad, and the Malayalam industry are also musicals.Despite this exception of almost every Indian movie being a musical and India producing the most movies in the world (formed in 1913), the first Bollywood film to be a complete musical, ''Dev D'' (directed by Anurag Kashyap), came in 2009.The second musical film to follow was ''Jagga Jasoos'' (directed by Anurag Basu), in 2017.===Early sound films (1930s–1940s)===Achhut Kanya'' (1936)Bollywood musicals have their roots in the traditional musical theatre of India, such as classical Indian musical theatre, Sanskrit drama, and Parsi theatre.", "Early Bombay filmmakers combined these Indian musical theatre traditions with the musical film format that emerged from early Hollywood sound films.", "Other early influences on Bombay filmmakers included Urdu literature and the ''Arabian Nights''.The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani's ''Alam Ara'' (1931), was a major commercial success.", "There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming.In 1937, Ardeshir Irani, of ''Alam Ara'' fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, ''Kisan Kanya''.", "The next year, he made another colour film, a version of ''Mother India''.", "However, colour did not become a popular feature until the late 1950s.", "At this time, lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema.===Golden Age (late 1940s–1960s)===Nargis, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in (1949).", "Kapoor and Kumar are among the greatest and most influential movie stars in the history of Indian cinema, while Nargis is one of its greatest actresses.Following India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is regarded by film historians as the \"Golden Age\" of Hindi cinema.", "Some of the most critically acclaimed Hindi films of all time were produced during this period.", "Examples include ''Pyaasa'' (1957) and ''Kaagaz Ke Phool'' (1959), directed by Guru Dutt and written by Abrar Alvi, ''Awaara'' (1951) and ''Shree 420'' (1955), directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and ''Aan'' (1952), directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Dilip Kumar.", "These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class life in India, particularly urban life in the former two examples; ''Awaara'' presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while ''Pyaasa'' critiqued the unreality of city life.Mehboob Khan's ''Mother India'' (1957), a remake of his earlier ''Aurat'' (1940), was the first Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which it lost by a single vote.", "''Mother India'' was also an important film that defined the conventions of Hindi cinema for decades.In the 1960s and early 1970s, the industry was dominated by musical romance films with \"romantic hero\" leads, the most popular being Rajesh Khanna.", "Other actors during this period include Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, and Shashi Kapoor, and actresses like Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Saira Banu, Helen and Asha Parekh.===Classic Bollywood (1970s–1980s)===By the start of the 1970s, Hindi cinema was experiencing thematic stagnation, dominated by musical romance films.", "The arrival of screenwriter duo Salim–Javed, consisting of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, marked a paradigm shift, revitalizing the industry.", "They began the genre of gritty, violent, Bombay underworld crime films in the early 1970s, with films such as ''Zanjeer'' (1973) and ''Deewaar'' (1975).The 1970s was also when the name \"Bollywood\" was coined, and when the quintessential conventions of commercial Bollywood films were established.", "Key to this was the emergence of the masala film genre, which combines elements of multiple genres (action, comedy, romance, drama, melodrama, musical).", "The masala film was pioneered in the early 1970s by filmmaker Nasir Hussain, along with screenwriter duo Salim-Javed, pioneering the Bollywood blockbuster format.", "''Yaadon Ki Baarat'' (1973), directed by Hussain and written by Salim-Javed, has been identified as the first masala film and the \"first\" quintessentially \"Bollywood\" film.", "Salim-Javed went on to write more successful masala films in the 1970s and 1980s.", "Masala films launched Amitabh Bachchan into the biggest Bollywood movie star of the 1970s and 1980s.", "A landmark for the masala film genre was ''Amar Akbar Anthony'' (1977), directed by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan.", "Manmohan Desai went on to successfully exploit the genre in the 1970s and 1980s.Along with Bachchan, other popular actors of this era included Feroz Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol.", "Actresses from this era included Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Raakhee, Shabana Azmi, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Rekha, Dimple Kapadia, Smita Patil, Jaya Prada and Padmini Kolhapure.===New Bollywood (1990s–present)===In the late 1980s, Hindi cinema experienced another period of stagnation, with a decline in box office turnout, due to increasing violence, decline in musical melodic quality, and rise in video piracy, leading to middle-class family audiences abandoning theaters.", "The turning point came with ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' (1988), directed by Mansoor Khan, written and produced by his father Nasir Hussain, and starring his cousin Aamir Khan with Juhi Chawla.", "Its blend of youthfulness, wholesome entertainment, emotional quotients and strong melodies lured family audiences back to the big screen.", "It set a new template for Bollywood musical romance films that defined Hindi cinema in the 1990s.The period of Hindi cinema from the 1990s onwards is referred to as \"New Bollywood\" cinema, linked to economic liberalisation in India during the early 1990s.", "By the early 1990s, the pendulum had swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals.", "''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' was followed by blockbusters such as ''Maine Pyar Kiya'' (1989), ''Chandni'' (1989), ''Hum Aapke Hain Kaun'' (1994), ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995), ''Raja Hindustani'' (1996), ''Dil To Pagal Hai'' (1997), ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'' (1998) and ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' (1998).", "A new generation of popular actors emerged, such as Aamir Khan, Aditya Pancholi, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan (Salim Khan's son), and Shahrukh Khan, and actresses such as Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla, Meenakshi Seshadri, Manisha Koirala, Kajol, and Karisma Kapoor.Since the 1990s, the three biggest Bollywood movie stars have been the \"Three Khans\": Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan.", "Combined, they have starred in most of the top ten highest-grossing Bollywood films.", "The three Khans have had successful careers since the late 1980s, and have dominated the Indian box office since the 1990s, across three decades.===Influence on Western films (2000s–present)===Baz Luhrmann stated that his successful musical film ''Moulin Rouge!''", "(2001) was directly inspired by Bollywood musicals.", "The film pays homage to India, incorporating an Indian-themed play and a Bollywood-style dance sequence with a song from the film ''China Gate''.", "The critical and financial success of ''Moulin Rouge!''", "renewed interest in the then-moribund Western live action musical genre, and subsequently films such as ''Chicago'', ''The Producers'', ''Rent'', ''Dreamgirls'', and ''Hairspray'' were produced, fueling a renaissance of the genre.", "''The Guru'' and ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' also feature Indian-style song-and-dance sequences; the Bollywood musical ''Lagaan'' (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; two other Bollywood films ''Devdas'' (2002) and ''Rang De Basanti'' (2006) were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language; and Danny Boyle's Academy Award winning ''Slumdog Millionaire'' (2008) also features a Bollywood-style song-and-dance number during the film's end credits, ''Tallika'' (2022) was the first movie with Maximum Genres of Music Composed by Maharaja and registered as a World Record Holder in Music," ], [ "Spanish musical films", "Spain has a history and tradition of musical films that were made independent of Hollywood influence.", "The first films arise during the Second Spanish Republic of the 1930s and the advent of sound films.", "A few zarzuelas (Spanish operetta) were even adapted as screenplays during the silent era.", "The beginnings of the Spanish musical were focused on romantic Spanish archetypes: Andalusian villages and landscapes, gypsies, \"bandoleros\", and copla and other popular folk songs included in story development.", "These films had even more box-office success than Hollywood premieres in Spain.", "The first Spanish film stars came from the musical genre: Imperio Argentina, Estrellita Castro, Florián Rey (director) and, later, Lola Flores, Sara Montiel and Carmen Sevilla.", "The Spanish musical started to expand and grow.", "Juvenile stars appear and top the box-office.", "Marisol, Joselito, Pili & Mili, and Rocío Dúrcal were the major figures of musical films from the 1960s to 1970s.", "Due to Spanish transition to democracy and the rise of \"Movida culture\", the musical genre fell in production and box-office, only saved by Carlos Saura and his flamenco musical films." ], [ "Soviet musical film under Stalin", "Unlike the musical films of Hollywood and Bollywood, popularly identified with escapism, the Soviet musical was first and foremost a form of propaganda.", "Vladimir Lenin said that cinema was \"the most important of the arts\".", "His successor, Joseph Stalin, also recognized the power of cinema in efficiently spreading Communist Party doctrine.", "Films were widely popular in the 1920s, but it was foreign cinema that dominated the Soviet filmgoing market.", "Films from Germany and the U.S. proved more entertaining than Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein's historical dramas.", "By the 1930s it was clear that if the Soviet cinema was to compete with its Western counterparts, it would have to give audiences what they wanted: the glamour and fantasy they got from Hollywood.", "The musical film, which emerged at that time, embodied the ideal combination of entertainment and official ideology.A struggle between laughter for laughter's sake and entertainment with a clear ideological message would define the golden age of the Soviet musical of the 1930s and 1940s.", "Then-head of the film industry Boris Shumyatsky sought to emulate Hollywood's conveyor belt method of production, going so far as to suggest the establishment of a Soviet Hollywood.===''The Jolly Fellows''===In 1930, the esteemed Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein went to the United States with fellow director Grigori Aleksandrov to study Hollywood's filmmaking process.", "The American films greatly impacted Aleksandrov, particularly the musicals.", "He returned in 1932, and in 1934 directed ''The Jolly Fellows'', the first Soviet musical.", "The film was light on plot and focused more on the comedy and musical numbers.", "Party officials at first met the film with great hostility.", "Aleksandrov defended his work by arguing the notion of laughter for laughter's sake.", "Finally, when Aleksandrov showed the film to Stalin, the leader decided that musicals were an effective means of spreading propaganda.", "Messages like the importance of collective labor and rags-to-riches stories would become the plots of most Soviet musicals.===\"Movies for the Millions\"===The success of ''The Jolly Fellows'' ensured a place in Soviet cinema for the musical format, but immediately Shumyatsky set strict guidelines to make sure the films promoted Communist values.", "Shumyatsky's decree \"Movies for the Millions\" demanded conventional plots, characters, and montage to successfully portray Socialist Realism (the glorification of industry and the working class) on film.The first successful blend of a social message and entertainment was Aleksandrov's ''Circus'' (1936).", "It starred his wife, Lyubov Orlova (an operatic singer who had also appeared in ''The Jolly Fellows'') as an American circus performer who has to immigrate to the USSR from the U.S. because she has a mixed-race child, whom she had with a black man.", "Amidst the backdrop of lavish musical productions, she finally finds love and acceptance in the USSR, providing the message that racial tolerance can only be found in the Soviet Union.The influence of Busby Berkeley's choreography on Aleksandrov's directing can be seen in the musical number leading up to the climax.", "Another, more obvious reference to Hollywood is the Charlie Chaplin impersonator who provides comic relief throughout the film.", "Four million people in Moscow and Leningrad went to see ''Circus'' during its first month in theaters.Another of Aleksandrov's more-popular films was ''The Bright Path'' (1940).", "This was a reworking of the fairytale ''Cinderella'' set in the contemporary Soviet Union.", "The Cinderella of the story was again Orlova, who by this time was the most popular star in the USSR.", "It was a fantasy tale, but the moral of the story was that a better life comes from hard work.", "Whereas in ''Circus'', the musical numbers involved dancing and spectacle, the only type of choreography in ''Bright Path'' is the movement of factory machines.", "The music was limited to Orlova's singing.", "Here, work provided the spectacle.===Ivan Pyryev===The other director of musical films was Ivan Pyryev.", "Unlike Aleksandrov, the focus of Pyryev's films was life on the collective farms.", "His films, ''Tractor Drivers'' (1939), ''The Swineherd and the Shepherd'' (1941), and his most famous, ''Cossacks of the Kuban'' (1949) all starred his wife, Marina Ladynina.", "Like in Aleksandrov's ''Bright Path'', the only choreography was the work the characters were doing on film.", "Even the songs were about the joys of working.Rather than having a specific message for any of his films, Pyryev promoted Stalin's slogan \"life has become better, life has become more joyous.\"", "Sometimes this message was in stark contrast with the reality of the time.", "During the filming of ''Cossacks of the Kuban'', the Soviet Union was going through a postwar famine.", "In reality, the actors who were singing about a time of prosperity were hungry and malnourished.", "The films did, however, provide escapism and optimism for the viewing public.===''Volga-Volga''===''Volga-Volga'', directed by Grigori AleksandrovThe most popular film of the brief era of Stalinist musicals was Alexandrov's 1938 film ''Volga-Volga''.", "The star, again, was Lyubov Orlova and the film featured singing and dancing, having nothing to do with work.", "It is the most unusual of its type.", "The plot surrounds a love story between two individuals who want to play music.", "They are unrepresentative of Soviet values in that their focus is more on their music than their jobs.", "The gags poke fun at the local authorities and bureaucracy.", "There is no glorification of industry since it takes place in a small rural village.", "Work is not glorified either, since the plot revolves around a group of villagers using their vacation time to go on a trip up the Volga and Moscow Canal to perform in Moscow.", "The film can be seen as a glorification of Moscow canal without any hint that the canal was built by Gulag prisoners.", "''Volga-Volga'' followed the aesthetic principles of Socialist Realism rather than the ideological tenets.", "It became Stalin's favorite film and he gave it as a gift to President Roosevelt during WWII.", "It is another example of one of the films that claimed life is better.", "Released at the height of Stalin's purges, it provided escapism and a comforting illusion for the public." ], [ "Lists of musical films", "* See List of musical films by year for a list of musical films in chronological order.", "* See List of Bollywood films for a list of Bollywood musical films.", "* See List of films based on stage plays or musicals for a list of musical films based on theatre productions.", "* See List of highest-grossing musicals for the highest-grossing musical films." ], [ "See also", "* AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals* Revolutionary opera* Lists of musicals" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* McGee, Mark Thomas.", "''The Rock and Roll Movie Encyclopedia of the 1950s''.", "Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1990.0-89950-500-7.", "* Padva, Gilad.", "Uses of Nostalgia in Musical Politicization of Homo/Phobic Myths in ''Were the World Mine,'' ''The Big Gay Musical'', and ''Zero Patience''.", "In Padva, Gilad, ''Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture'', pp.", "139–172.Basingstock, UK and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.." ] ]
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[ [ "Motala Municipality" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Motala Municipality''' (''Motala kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden.", "Its seat is located in the city of Motala.In 1971 Motala Municipality was formed by the amalgamation of the ''City of Motala'' with some of the adjacent rural municipalities.", "Three years later more entities were added, among them the former ''City of Vadstena''.", "In 1980 a new Vadstena Municipality was split off.Geographically, Motala is situated where Lake Vättern drains into the river system of Motala ström, which was of central importance to the massive industrialization of Sweden in the 19th century." ], [ "Sights and museums", "*Charlottenborg Castle*Godegård manorhouse with the Swedish Porcelain Museum*Göta Canal with locks*Medevi 17th century spa, the oldest in Sweden*Motala Church*Motala Motor Museum*The Museum of Motala Industrial History*Nubbekullen, birthplace of artist August Malmström*The Swedish Broadcasting Museum with the twin radio towers*Ulvåsa, manorhouse and medieval ruins of St Bridget's home*Varamon beach*Västra Stenby Church and rune stone*Övralid, manorhouse and home of author Verner von Heidenstam" ], [ "Localities", "Figures as of 2000, from Statistics Sweden.#Motala 30,136 (seat)#Borensberg 2,667#Tjällmo 562#Fornåsa 446#Nykyrka 434#Fågelsta 334#Österstad 329#Klockrike 275#Godegård 200The population decreased by approximately 2% in most of the localities between the earlier census 1995 and the one in 2000." ], [ "Demographics", "This is a demographic table based on Motala Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.In total there were 43,620 residents, including 33,347 Swedish citizens of voting age.", "46.4% voted for the left coalition and 52.6% for the right coalition.", "Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.Location % % Bergsätter 1,997 1,547 51.4 48.1 85 86 14 25,719 31Bispmotala 1,730 1,426 53.8 45.1 65 70 30 17,777 26Borensberg V 2,217 1,713 48.7 50.3 88 95 5 28,406 47Borensberg Ö 2,129 1,649 46.2 53.0 85 93 7 26,742 44Borenshult 2,148 1,687 43.4 55.9 86 91 9 28,130 36Brunnsvik 2,065 1,633 48.9 50.5 88 89 11 28,168 37Bråstorp 1,981 1,526 43.5 56.1 83 88 12 27,310 38Centrum 1,717 1,464 47.4 51.1 77 76 24 20,339 29Charlottenborg 2,026 1,392 57.9 41.4 70 56 44 20,422 23Ekenäs 1,623 1,138 54.1 44.1 70 64 36 20,932 26Ekön 2,173 1,145 68.1 29.3 52 34 66 14,212 16Fornåsa-Österstad 2,308 1,735 37.1 62.3 86 92 8 26,454 32Fågelsta 1,272 984 39.1 60.2 83 92 8 26,794 28Godegård 660 566 43.7 55.2 77 92 8 20,760 26Holm 2,007 1,614 42.8 56.5 84 85 15 26,620 31Hyddmarken 1,919 1,329 46.9 52.1 68 77 23 21,319 27Marieberg V 1,638 1,294 45.6 53.5 84 83 17 26,381 38Marieberg Ö 1,625 1,097 55.2 41.6 61 44 56 16,696 22Mossen 2,007 1,632 42.7 56.9 79 82 18 24,766 30Nykyrka 1,778 1,479 43.9 55.5 82 93 7 25,126 30Samuelsberg 1,795 1,431 42.2 57.0 75 79 21 24,065 31Söder 2,002 1,607 40.1 58.7 85 87 13 27,818 35Tjällmo 1,123 917 41.2 57.3 81 93 7 23,391 25Östermalm 1,680 1,342 45.4 53.7 81 89 11 26,144 37Source: SVT" ], [ "Industry", "The largest employer is the municipality itself, employing circa 3,400 people.", "The next is the county council with 1,775.Of the private employers, Electrolux and Dometic have a total of 1,400; Autoliv 425; Hycop 325; Saab-Bofors Dynamics circa 300; And Motala Verkstad some 180.", "(source )" ], [ "International relations", "===Twin towns — sister cities===Motala is twinned with:* Daugavpils, Latvia* Hyvinkää, Finland" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "** Motala Municipality - Official site* Article ''Motala'' From Nordisk familjebok, 1913" ] ]
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[ [ "Maltese language" ], [ "Introduction", "A Maltese speaker, recorded in Malta'''Maltese''' (, also ''L-Ilsien Malti'' or ''Il-Lingwa Maltija'') is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata spoken by the Maltese people.", "It is the national language of Malta and the only official Semitic and Afro-Asiatic language of the European Union.", "Maltese is a Latinized variety of spoken historical Arabic through its descent from Siculo-Arabic, which developed as a Maghrebi Arabic dialect in the Emirate of Sicily between 831 and 1091.As a result of the Norman invasion of Malta and the subsequent re-Christianization of the islands, Maltese evolved independently of Classical Arabic in a gradual process of latinization.", "It is therefore exceptional as a variety of historical Arabic that has no diglossic relationship with Classical or Modern Standard Arabic.", "Maltese is thus classified separately from the 30 varieties constituting the modern Arabic macrolanguage.", "Maltese is also distinguished from Arabic and other Semitic languages since its morphology has been deeply influenced by Romance languages, namely Italian and Sicilian.The original Arabic base comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary, especially words that denote basic ideas and the function words, but about half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian; and English words make up between 6% and 20% of the vocabulary.", "A 2016 study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand around a third of what is said to them in Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic, which are Maghrebi Arabic dialects related to Siculo-Arabic, whereas speakers of Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic are able to understand about 40% of what is said to them in Maltese.", "This reported level of asymmetric intelligibility is considerably lower than the mutual intelligibility found between other varieties of Arabic.Maltese has always been written in the Latin script, the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages.", "It is the only standardized Semitic language written exclusively in the Latin script." ], [ "History", "Oldest Maltese text: by Pietru Caxaro, 15th centuryThe origins of the Maltese language are attributed to the arrival, early in the 11th century, of settlers from neighboring Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic was spoken, reversing the Fatimid Caliphate's conquest of the island at the end of the 9th century.", "This claim has been corroborated by genetic studies, which show that contemporary Maltese people share common ancestry with Sicilians and Calabrians, with little genetic input from North Africa and the Levant.The Norman conquest in 1091, followed by the expulsion of the Muslims, complete by 1249, permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, creating the conditions for its evolution into a distinct language.", "In contrast to Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic became extinct and was replaced by Sicilian, the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934 , alongside English.", "The first written reference to the Maltese language is in a will of 1436, where it is called .", "The oldest known document in Maltese, () by Pietru Caxaro, dates from the 15th century.The earliest known Maltese dictionary was a 16th-century manuscript entitled \"Maltese-Italiano\"; it was included in the of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost.", "A list of Maltese words was included in both the (1603) and (1606) of Hieronymus Megiser, who had visited Malta in 1588–1589; Domenico Magri gave the etymologies of some Maltese words in his (1677).An early manuscript dictionary, , was discovered in the in Rome in the 1980s, together with a grammar, the , attributed to a French Knight named Thezan.", "The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, who also wrote the first systematic grammar of the language and proposed a standard orthography." ], [ "Demographics", "''Ethnologue'' reports a total of Maltese speakers: in Malta and in the diaspora.", "Most speakers also use English.The largest diaspora community of Maltese speakers is in Australia, with 36,000 speakers reported in 2006 (down from 45,000 in 1996, and expected to decline further).The Maltese linguistic community in Tunisia originated in the 18th century.", "Numbering several thousand in the 19th century, it was reported to be only 100 to 200 people as of 2017." ], [ "Classification", "Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family,David Dalby.", "2000.", "''The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities.''", "Linguasphere Observatory.Gordon, Raymond G., Jr., ed.", "2005.", "''Ethnologue: Languages of the World''.", "15th ed.", "Summer Institute of Linguistics.Alan S. Kaye & Judith Rosenhouse.", "1997.", "\"Arabic Dialects and Maltese\", ''The Semitic Languages''.", "Ed.", "Robert Hetzron.", "Routledge.", "Pages 263–311.that in the course of its history has been influenced by Sicilian and Italian, to a lesser extent French, and more recently English.", "Today, the core vocabulary (including both the most commonly used vocabulary and function words) is Semitic, with large numbers of loanwords.", "Because of the Sicilian influence on Siculo-Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and is most commonly described as a language with a large number of loanwords.The Maltese language has historically been classified in various ways, with some claiming that the ancient Punic language (another Semitic language) was its origin instead of Siculo-Arabic, while others believed the language to be one of the Berber languages (another family within Afroasiatic).", "The Fascist Kingdom of Italy classified it as regional Italian." ], [ "Dialects", "Urban varieties of Maltese are closer to Standard Maltese than rural varieties, which have some characteristics that distinguish them from Standard Maltese.They tend to show some archaic features such as the realisation of and and the imāla of Arabic ā into ē (or ī especially in Gozo), considered archaic because they are reminiscent of 15th-century transcriptions of this sound.", "Another archaic feature is the realisation of Standard Maltese ā as ō in rural dialects.There is also a tendency to diphthongise simple vowels, e.g., ū becomes eo or eu.Rural dialects also tend to employ more Semitic roots and broken plurals than Standard Maltese.", "In general, rural Maltese is less distant from its Siculo-Arabic ancestor than is Standard Maltese." ], [ "Phonology", "===Consonants===+ Consonant phonemes Labial Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Trill Approximant Vassalli's ''Storja tas-Sultân Ċiru'' (1831), is an example of Maltese orthography in the 19th century, before the later standardisation introduced in 1924.Note the similarities with the various varieties of romanized Arabic.Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced.", "Voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters; thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e.g.", "is realised \"we write\" (similar assimilation phenomena occur in languages like French or Czech).", "Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and word-final voiceless stops have no audible release, making voiceless–voiced pairs phonetically indistinguishable in word-final position.Gemination is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese.", "The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel.", "Stressed, word-final closed syllables with short vowels end in a long consonant, and those with a long vowel in a single consonant; the only exception is where historic and meant the compensatory lengthening of the succeeding vowel.", "Some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters.The two nasals and assimilate for place of articulation in clusters.", "and are usually dental, whereas are all alveolar.", "are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length (if not word-initial).", "and are only found in loanwords, e.g.", "\"newspaper\" and \"television\".", "The pharyngeal fricative is velar (), uvular (), or glottal () for some speakers.===Vowels===Maltese has five short vowels, , written ''a e i o u;'' six long vowels, , written ''a, e, ie, i, o, u,'' all of which (with the exception of ''ie'' ) can be known to represent long vowels in writing only if they are followed by an orthographic ''għ'' or ''h'' (otherwise, one needs to know the pronunciation; e.g.", "''nar'' (fire) is pronounced ); and seven diphthongs, , written ''aj'' or ''għi, aw'' or ''għu, ej'' or ''għi, ew, iw, oj,'' and ''ow'' or ''għu.", "''===Stress===Stress is generally on the penultimate syllable, unless some other syllable is heavy (has a long vowel or final consonant), or unless a stress-shifting suffix is added.", "(Suffixes marking gender, possession, and verbal plurals do not cause the stress to shift).", "Historically when vowel ''a'' and ''u'' were long or stressed they were written as ''â'' or ''û'', for example in the word ''baħħâr'' (sailor) to differentiate from ''baħħar'' (to sail), but nowadays these accents are mostly omitted.When two syllables are equally heavy, the penultimate takes the stress, but otherwise the heavier syllable does, e.g.", "''bajjad'' 'he painted' vs ''bajjad'' 'a painter'.===Historical phonology===The original Arabic consonant system has undergone partial collapse under European influence, with many Classical Arabic consonants having undergone mergers and modifications in Maltese: Classical Arabic Maltese" ], [ "Orthography", "===Alphabet===The modern system of Maltese orthography was introduced in 1924.Below is the Maltese alphabet, with IPA symbols and approximate English pronunciation:Letter Name IPA (Alphabet Name(s)) Maltese example IPA (orthographically representing) Approximate English pronunciation''' A a''' similar to 'u' in n'''u'''t in RP; similar to f'''a'''ther in Irish English; similar to cat in American English, in some dialects it may be in some locations as in wh'''a'''t in some American English Dialects''' B b ''' be '''b'''ar, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to .'''", "Ċ ċ ''''''ch'''urch (note: undotted 'c' has been replaced by 'k', so when 'c' does appear, it is to be spoken the same way as 'ċ')''' D d ''''''d'''ay, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to .'''", "E e ''' e envelopp (envelope) somewhat like f'''a'''ce in Northern England English '''e'''nd when short, it is often changed to when following and more often when followed by a ''w'', when at the end in an unstressed syllable it is pronounced as schwa comm'''a'''''' F f ''''''f'''ar''' Ġ ġ ''''''g'''em, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to .'''", "G g '''ge '''g'''ame, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to .'''", "GĦ għ '''ajn għasfur (bird), has the effect of lengthening and pharyngealising associated vowels ''(għi'' and ''għu'' are (may be transcribed as ) and ).", "When found at the end of a word or immediately before 'h' it has the sound of a double 'ħ' (see below).'''", "H h ''' akka hu (he) not pronounced unless it is at the end of a word, in which case it has the sound of 'ħ'.'''", "Ħ ħ '''no English equivalent; sounds similar to but is articulated with a lowered larynx.'''", "I i ''' b'''i'''te (the way commonly realized in Irish English or in other words as b'''ee'''t but more forward) and when short as b'''i'''t, occasionally 'i' is used to display il-vokali tal-leħen(the vowel of the voice) as in words like ''l-iskola'' or ''l-iMdina'' ,in this case it takes the schwa sound.'''", "IE ie ''' sounds similar to y'''ie'''ld or RP n'''ear''', or opened up slightly towards b'''e'''d or RP squ'''are'''''' J j ''''''y'''ard''' K k ''''''k'''ettle''' L l ''''''l'''ine''' M m ''' mara (woman) '''m'''arch''' N n ''''''n'''ext''' O o ''' ors (bear) as in somewhere between similar to Scottish English o in n'''o''' like 'aw' in RP l'''aw''', but short or as in w'''a'''ter in some American dialects.'''", "P p ''''''p'''art''' Q q '''glottal stop, found in the Cockney English pronunciation of \"bo'''tt'''le\" or the phrase \"uh-oh\" .'''", "R r '''erre or re (king) as in General American English bu'''tt'''er, or ɹ '''r'''oad (r realization changes depending on dialect or location in the word.)'''", "S s ''' sliem (peace)|'''s'''and''' T t ''''''t'''ired''' U u ''' uviera (egg cup) as in General American English b'''oo'''t or in some dialects it may be realized as as in some American English realizations of st'''u'''dent, short ''u'' is p'''u'''t''' V v ''''''v'''ast, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to may be said as in the word ''Iva''(yes) sometimes this is just written as ''Iwa''.'''", "W w ''''''w'''est''' X x '''xe '''sh'''ade, sometimes as mea'''s'''ure; when doubled the sound is elongated, as in \"Ca'''sh sh'''in\" vs. \"Ca'''sh''' in\".'''", "Ż ż '''ma'''z'''e, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to .'''", "Z z '''pi'''zz'''aFinal vowels with grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) are also found in some Maltese words of Italian origin, such as ''libertà'' (\"freedom\"), ''sigurtà'' (old Italian: ''sicurtà'', \"security\"), or ''soċjetà'' (Italian: ''società'', \"society\").The official rules governing the structure of the Maltese language are recorded in the official guidebook ''Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija'' (English: ''Knowledge on Writing in Maltese'') issued by the Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese language).", "The first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese government's printing press.", "The rules were further expanded in the 1984 book, ''iż-Żieda mat-Tagħrif'', which focused mainly on the increasing influence of Romance and English words.", "In 1992 the academy issued the ''Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija'', which updated the previous works.", "All these works were included in a revised and expanded guidebook published in 1996.The National Council for the Maltese Language (KNM) is the main regulator of the Maltese language (see Maltese Language Act, below).", "However, the academy's orthography rules are still valid and official.===Written Maltese===Since Maltese evolved after the Italo-Normans ended Arab rule of the islands, a written form of the language was not developed for a long time after the Arabs' expulsion in the middle of the thirteenth century.", "Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller, both French and Italian were used for official documents and correspondence.", "During the British colonial period, the use of English was encouraged through education, with Italian being regarded as the next-most important language.In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, philologists and academics such as Mikiel Anton Vassalli made a concerted effort to standardise written Maltese.", "Many examples of written Maltese exist from before this period, always in the Latin alphabet, ''Il-Kantilena'' from the 15th century being the earliest example of written Maltese.", "In 1934, Maltese was recognised as an official language.===Samples===The Maltese language has a tendency to have both Semitic vocabulary and also vocabulary derived from Romance languages, primarily Italian.", "Words such as ''tweġiba'' (Arab origin) and ''risposta'' (Italian origin) have the same meaning (''answer'') but can be and are both used in Maltese.", "Below are two versions of the same translations, one in vocabulary derived mostly from Semitic root words while the other uses Romance loanwords (from the '' Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe'', see p. 17):EnglishMaltese (Semitic vocabulary)Maltese (Romance vocabulary)The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.", "These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.Below is the Lord's Prayer in Maltese compared to other Semitic languages (Arabic and Syriac) which cognates highlighted:EnglishMalteseArabic (Romanised)Syriac (Romanised)Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.", "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as weforgive those who trespass against us;and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen''Missier'''na''', '''li''' inti '''fis-smewwiet''', '''jitqaddes ismek''', tiġi saltnatek, '''ikun''' li trid int, kif '''fis-sema''', hekkda f'''l-art'''.", "'''''''Ħobżna''' ta' kuljum '''agħtina''' '''llum'''.", "'''Aħfrilna''' '''dnubietna''', bħal'''ma''' '''naħfru''' lil min hu ħati '''għalina'''.", "'''''''U la ddaħħalniex fit-tiġrib''', iżda eħlisna mid-deni.", "'''''''Ammen'''''''Aba'''na''', '''alladhi''' '''fis-samawat''', li '''yataqaddas ismuka''', li '''ya’ati''' malakutuka, '''litakun''' mashi'atuka, kama '''fis-sama’''' kadhlika 'ala '''al ard'''.", "'''''''khubzana''' kafafana ''''atiina''' '''alyawm''', wa '''agfhir lana''' '''dhunubana''', ka'''ma''' '''naghfiru''' nahnu aidan lil mudnibin '''ilayna'''.", "'''''''Wa la tudkhilna fi tajariba''', lakin najjina min ashiriir.", "'''''''Amin'''''''Abun, '''d-bashmayo''', '''nithqadash''' '''shmokh''', '''tithe''' malkuthokh, nehwe sebyonokh aykano '''d-bashmayo''' oph bar`o.", "''''hab lan lahmo d-sunqonan '''yowmono''' washbuq lan hawbayn '''wahtohayn'''''''aykano doph hnan shbaqan l-hayobayn lo ta`lan l-nesyuno elo paso lan '''men''' bisho'''''''Amin'''''" ], [ "Vocabulary", "Although the original vocabulary of the language was Siculo-Arabic, it has incorporated a large number of borrowings from Romance sources of influence (Sicilian, Italian, and French) and, more recently, Germanic ones (from English).The historical source of modern Maltese vocabulary is 52% Italian/Sicilian, 32% Siculo-Arabic, and 6% English, with some of the remainder being French.", "Today, most function words are Semitic, so despite only making up about a third, they are the most used among Maltese people when conversing.", "In this way, it is similar to English, which is a Germanic language that had large influence from Norman French and Latin (58% of English vocabulary).", "As a result of this, Romance language-speakers may easily be able to comprehend more technical ideas expressed in Maltese, such as \"Ġeografikament, l-Ewropa hi parti tas-superkontinent ta' l-Ewrasja\" (''Geographically, Europe is part of the Supercontinent of Eurasia''), while not understanding a single word of a more basic sentence such as \"Ir-raġel qiegħed fid-dar\" (''The man is in the house''), which would be easily understood by any Arabic speaker.===Romance===An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's ''Maltese-English Dictionary'' shows that words of Romance origin make up 52% of the Maltese vocabulary, although other sources claim from as low as 40%, to as high as 55%.", "This vocabulary tends to deal with more complex concepts.", "They are mostly derived from Sicilian and thus exhibit Sicilian phonetic characteristics, such as in place of , and in place of (e.g.", "''tiatru'' not ''teatro'' and ''fidi'' not ''fede'').", "Also, as with Old Sicilian, (English 'sh') is written 'x' and this produces spellings such as: ''ambaxxata'' ('embassy'), ''xena'' ('scene' cf.", "Italian ''ambasciata, scena'').", "Maltese Sicilian Italian English skola scola scuola school gvern cuvernu governo government repubblika ripùbblica repubblica republic re re re king (Germanic) natura natura natura nature pulizija pulizzìa polizia police ċentru centru centro centre teatru tiatru teatro theatreA tendency in modern Maltese is to adopt further influences from English and Italian.Complex Latinate English words adopted into Maltese are often given Italianate or Sicilianate forms, even if the resulting words do not appear in either of those languages.", "For instance, the words \"''evaluation''\", \"''industrial action''\", and \"''chemical armaments''\" become \"''evalwazzjoni''\", \"''azzjoni industrjali''\", and \"''armamenti kimiċi''\" in Maltese, while the Italian terms are ''valutazione'', ''vertenza sindacale'', and ''armi chimiche'' respectively.", "(The origin of the terms may be narrowed even further to British English; the phrase \"industrial action\" is meaningless in the United States.)", "This is also comparable to the situation with English borrowings into the Italo-Australian dialect.", "English words of Germanic origin are generally preserved relatively unchanged.Some influences of African Romance on Arabic and Berber spoken in the Maghreb are theorised, which may then have passed into Maltese.", "For example, in calendar month names, the word ''furar'' \"February\" is only found in the Maghreb and in Maltese – proving the word's ancient origins.", "The region also has a form of another Latin named month in ''awi/ussu (in Sicilian) Arabic text English () snail () cistern () sesame seed () canal () oven () saffron (less common than , borrowed from Medieval Sicilian) () blossom () raisins (may be borrowed from Sicilian) () tree trunk () coffin found that 40% of a sample of 1,821 Quranic Arabic roots were found in Maltese, a lower percentage than found in Moroccan (58%) and Lebanese Arabic (72%).", "An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's ''Maltese-English Dictionary'' shows that 32% of the Maltese vocabulary is of Arabic origin, although another source claims 40%.", "Usually, words expressing basic concepts and ideas, such as (man), (woman), (boy), (house), (sun), (summer), are of Arabic origin.", "Moreover, in Maltese tend to aim mainly at diction belonging to this group.The Maltese language has merged many of the original Arabic consonants, in particular the emphatic consonants, with others that are common in European languages.", "Thus, original Arabic , , and all merged into Maltese .", "The vowels, however, separated from the three in Arabic () into five, as is more typical of other European languages ().", "Some unstressed short vowels have been elided.", "The common Arabic greeting is cognate with in Maltese (lit.", "''the peace for you'', peace be with you), as are similar greetings in other Semitic languages (e.g.", "in Hebrew).Since the attested vocabulary of Siculo-Arabic is limited, the following table compares cognates in Maltese and some other varieties of Arabic (all forms are written phonetically, as in the source): Maltese Cairene Damascene Iraqi Negev(bedouin) Yemenite(Sanaani) Moroccan Modern Standard Arabic English () heart () time () moon () dog=== Berber ===Like all Maghrebi Arabic dialects, Maltese has a significant vocabulary derived from Berber languages.", "Whether these words entered Maltese by being inherited from Siculo-Arabic or directly loaned Berber languages is not yet known.", "These include: Maltese Berber languages English ''gremxula'' ''azrem ašal'', lit.", "'land worm', (Kabyle) lizard''fekruna''''tifakrunin'' (Jerbi), ''ifekran'' (Tashelhiyt), ''ifkran'' (Kabyle)turtle ''geddum'' ''aqadum'', lit.", "'face, frown' (Kabyle) chin ''gendus'' ''gandūz'', lit.", "'young calf' (Jerbi) ox, bull''gerżuma''''ageržum'' (Mozabite, Tashelhiyt)throat''tfief''''tilfaf'' (Ouargli), ''tifāf, tilfāf, tiffāf'' (Tarifit)sow thistle (''Sonchus oleraceus'')''tengħud''''talaɣūda'' (Tunisian Arabic), ''telɣūda'' (Algerian Arabic)spurge (''Euphorbia'')''kosksu''''kuskesu, kuskus'' (Kabyle)couscous, small round pasta''fartas''''aferḍas'' (Ouargli, Kabyle)bald''għaffeġ''‘''affež'' (Algerian Arabic), ''effeẓ'' (Ouargli, Mozabite)to crush, to squash''żrinġ''''tažrant'' (Jerbi)frog''żrar''''zrar'' (Mozabite, Ouargli), ''azrar'' (Kabyle, Nafusi)gravel''werżieq''''wárẓag'' (Mrazig)cicada, lit.", "screamer, shrieker''buqexrem''''buqišrem'' (Kabyle)vervain (Verbena officinalis)''fidloqqom''''fudalɣem'' (Kabyle)borage (Borago officinalis)''żorr''''uzur'' (Kabyle), ''uzzur'' (Tarifit)rude, arrogant''lellex''''lelleš'' (Mozabite)to shine, to glitter''pespes''''bbesbes'' (Ouargli)to whisper''teptep''''ṭṭebṭeb'' (Ouargli)to blink, to twinkle''webbel''''webben'' (Mozabite)to induce, to tempt===English===It is estimated that English loanwords, which are becoming more commonplace, make up 20% of the Maltese vocabulary, although other sources claim amounts as low as 6%.", "This percentage discrepancy is due to the fact that a number of new English loanwords are sometimes not officially considered part of the Maltese vocabulary; hence, they are not included in certain dictionaries.", "Also, English loanwards of Latinate origin are very often Italianised, as discussed above.", "English loanwords are generally transliterated, although standard English pronunciation is virtually always retained.", "Below are a few examples: Maltese English futbol football baskitbol basketball klabb club friġġ fridge\"Fridge\" is a common shortening of \"refrigerator\".", "\"Refrigerator\" is a Latinate word which could be imported into Maltese as ''rifriġeratori'', whereas the Italian word is ''frigorifero'' or ''refrigeratore''.=== Calendar ===The days of the week (Maltese: ''jiem il-ġimgħa'') in Maltese are referred to by number, as is typical of other Semitic languages, especially Arabic.", "Days of the week are commonly preceded by the word ''nhar'' meaning 'day'.EnglishMalteseLiteralSunday''Il-Ħadd''first dayMonday''It-Tnejn''second dayTuesday''It-Tlieta''third dayWednesday''L-Erbgħa''fourth dayThursday''Il-Ħamis''fifth dayFriday''Il-Ġimgħa''gathering daySaturday''Is-Sibt''Sabbath dayThe months of the year (Maltese: ''xhur is-sena'') in Maltese are mostly derived from Sicilian, but ''Frar'' and ''Awwissu'' are possibly derived from African Romance through Siculo-Arabic.EnglishMalteseJanuary''Jannar''February''Frar''March''Marzu''April''April''May''Mejju''June''Ġunju''July''Lulju''August''Awwissu''September''Settembru''October''Ottubru''November''Novembru''December''Diċembru''=== Time ===EnglishMaltesetoday''illum''yesterday''ilbieraħ''tomorrow''għada''second''sekonda''minute''minuta'' (archaic: ''dqiqa'')hour''siegħa''day''jum'' or ''ġurnata''week''ġimgħa''month''xahar''year''sena''=== Question words ===EnglishMalteseExampleTranslationWhat (standalone)''Xiex''''Xiex?", "''What?What (preceding)X'''X' għamilt?", "''What did you do?Who''Min''''Min hu dak?", "''Who is he?How''Kif''''Kif inti llum?", "''How are you today?Where''Fejn''''Fejn sejjer?", "''Where are you going?Where (from)''Mnejn''''Mnejn ġie?", "''Where did he come from?Why''Għala, Għaliex, Għalxiex, Ilgħala''''Għala telaq?", "''Why did he leave?Which''Liem, Liema''''Liem wieħed hu tajjeb?", "''Which one is good?When''Meta''''Meta ħa titlaq?", "''When will you leave?How Much''Kemm''''Kemm jiswa dan?", "''How much does this cost?" ], [ "Grammar", "Maltese grammar is fundamentally derived from Siculo-Arabic, although Romance and English noun pluralisation patterns are also used on borrowed words.===Adjectives and adverbs===Adjectives follow nouns.", "There are no separately formed native adverbs, and word order is fairly flexible.", "Both nouns and adjectives of Semitic origin take the definite article (for example, ''It-tifel il-kbir'', lit.", "\"The boy the elder\"=\"The elder boy\").", "This rule does not apply to adjectives of Romance origin.===Nouns===Nouns are pluralised and also have a dual marker.", "Semitic plurals are complex; if they are regular, they are marked by ''-iet''/''-ijiet'', e.g., ''art'', ''artijiet'' \"lands (territorial possessions or property)\" (cf.", "Arabic ''-at'' and Hebrew ''-ot''/''-oth'') or ''-in'' (cf.", "Arabic ''-īn'' and Hebrew ''-im'').", "If irregular, they fall in the ''pluralis fractus'' (broken plural) category, in which a word is pluralised by internal vowel changes: ''ktieb'', ''kotba'' \" book\", \"books\"; ''raġel'', ''irġiel'' \"man\", \"men\".Words of Romance origin are usually pluralised in two manners: addition of ''-i'' or ''-jiet''.", "For example, ''lingwa'', ''lingwi'' \"languages\", from Sicilian ''lingua'', ''lingui''.Words of English origin are pluralised by adding either an \"-s\" or \"-jiet\", for example, ''friġġ'', ''friġis'' from the word ''fridge''.", "Some words can be pluralised with either of the suffixes to denote the plural.", "A few words borrowed from English can amalgamate both suffixes, like ''brikksa'' from the English ''brick'', which can adopt either collective form ''brikks'' or the plural form ''brikksiet''.====Derivation====As in Arabic, nouns are often derived by changing, adding or removing the vowels within a triliteral root.", "These are some of the patterns used for nouns:* CaCiC – ''xadin'' (monkey), ''sadid'' (rust)* CCiC – ''żbib'' (raisin)* CaCCa – ''baqra'' (cow), ''basla'' (onion)* CeCCa – ''werqa'' (leaf), ''xewqa'' (wish)* CoCCa – ''borka'' (wild duck), ''forka'' (gallows)* CaCC – ''qalb'' (heart), ''sajd'' (fishing)* CeCC – ''kelb'' (dog), ''xemx'' (sun)* CCuCija – ''tfulija'' (childhood), ''xbubija'' (maidenhood)* CCuCa – ''rtuba'' (softness), ''bjuda'' (whiteness)* CaCCaC – ''tallab'' (beggar), ''bajjad'' (whitewasher)The so-called mimated nouns use the prefix ''m-'' in addition to vowel changes.", "This pattern can be used to indicate place names, tools, abstractions, etc.", "These are some of the patterns used for mimated nouns:* ma-CCeC – ''marden'' (spindle)* mi-CCeC – ''minkeb'' (elbow), ''miżwed'' (pod)* mu-CCaC – ''musmar'' (nail), ''munqar'' (beak)===Article===The proclitic ''il-'' is the definite article, equivalent to \"the\" in English and \"al-\" in Arabic.The Maltese article becomes ''l-'' before or after a vowel.", "* ''l-omm'' (the mother)* ''rajna l-Papa'' (we saw the Pope)* ''il-missier'' (the father)The Maltese article assimilates to a following coronal consonant (called ''konsonanti xemxin'' \"sun consonants\"), namely:* Ċ ''iċ-ċikkulata'' (the chocolate)* D ''id-dar'' (the house)* N ''in-nar'' (the fire)* R ''ir-razzett'' (the farm)* S ''is-serrieq'' (the saw)* T ''it-tifel'' (the child)* X ''ix-xemx'' (the sun)* Ż ''iż-żarbuna'' (the shoe)* Z ''iz-zalzett'' (the sausage)Maltese ''il-'' is coincidentally identical in pronunciation to one of the Italian masculine articles, ''il''.", "Consequently, many nouns borrowed from Standard Italian did not change their original article when used in Maltese.", "Romance vocabulary taken from Sicilian did change where the Sicilian articles ''u'' and ''a'', before a consonant, are used.In spite of its Romance appearance, ''il-'' is related to the Arabic article ''al-''.===Verbs===Verbs show a triliteral Semitic pattern, in which a verb is conjugated with prefixes, suffixes, and infixes (for example ''ktibna'', Arabic ''katabna'', Hebrew ''kathabhnu'' (Modern Hebrew: katavnu) \"we wrote\").", "There are two tenses: present and perfect.", "The Maltese verb system incorporates Romance verbs and adds Maltese suffixes and prefixes to them, for example; ''iddeċidejna'' \"we decided\" ← ''(i)ddeċieda'' \"decide\", a Romance verb + ''-ejna'', a Maltese first person plural perfect marker.An example would be the Semitic root X-M-X, which has something related to the sun, example: ''xemx'' (sun), ''xmux'' (suns), ''xemxi'' (sunny), ''xemxata'' (sunstroke), ''nixxemmex'' (I sunbathe), ''ma xxemmixtx'' (I didn't sunbathe), ''tixmix'' (the act of sunbathing).", "Maltese also features the stringing of verb suffixes indicating direction of action, for example; ''agħmilhomli'' \"make them for me\"← ''agħmel'' \"make\" in the imperative + ''hom'' from ''huma'' \"them\" + ''li'' suffix indicating first person singular; ''ħasletielu'' \"she washed it for him\"←''ħaslet'' \"she washed\" from the verb ''ħasel'' \"to wash\" + ''ie'' the object + ''lu'' suffix indicating third person masculine singular." ], [ "Media", "With Malta being a multilingual country, the usage of Maltese in the mass media is shared with other European languages, namely English and Italian.", "The majority of television stations broadcast from Malta in English or Maltese, although broadcasts from Italy in Italian are also received on the islands.", "Similarly, there are more Maltese-language radio programs than English ones broadcast from Malta, but again, as with television, Italian broadcasts are also picked up.", "Maltese generally receives equal usage in newspaper periodicals to English.By the early 2000s, the use of the Maltese language on the Internet is uncommon, and the number of websites written in Maltese are few.", "In a survey of Maltese cultural websites conducted in 2004 on behalf of the Maltese Government, 12 of 13 were in English only, while the remaining one was multilingual but did not include Maltese.", "In 2011, only 6.5 percent of Maltese internet users reported employing Maltese online, which may be a consequence of the lack of online support for the language." ], [ "Code-switching", "The Maltese population, being fluent in both Maltese and English, displays code-switching (referred to as Maltenglish) in certain localities and between certain social groups." ], [ "See also", "* Languages of Malta* Maltese people" ], [ "Footnotes" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "* * * * * * Bugeja, Kaptan Pawlu, ''Kelmet il-Malti'' (Maltese—English, English—Maltese Dictionary).", "Associated News Group, Floriana.", "1999.", "* * * * * * *" ], [ "Further reading", "* (it) Giovan Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, '' Della lingua punica presentemente usata da maltesi'', per Generoso Salomoni alla Piazza di S. Ignazio.", "Si vendono in Malta, 1750* (it) Antonio Emanuele Caruana, '' Sull'origine della Lingua Maltese'', Malta, Tipografia C. Busuttil, 1896* (it) Giovanni Battista Falzon, '' Dizionario Maltese-Italiano-Inglese'', G. Muscat, 1845 (1 ed.", "), 1882 (2 ed.", ")* (it) Giuseppe Nicola Letard, '' Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese ad uso delle scuole'', Malta, 1866–75* (it) Fortunato Panzavecchia, '' Grammatica della Lingua Maltese'', M. Weiss, Malta, 1845 * (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, '' Grammatica della lingua Maltese'', 2 ed., Malta, 1827 * (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, '' Lexicon Melitense-Latino-Italum'', Roma, Fulgonius, 1796* (it) Francesco Vella, '' Osservazioni sull'alfabeto maltese'', 1840* (it) Francesca Morando, ''Il-lingwa Maltija.", "Origine, storia, comparazione linguistica e aspetti morfologici'', Prefazione di Joseph M. Brincat, Palermo, Edizioni La Zisa, 2017, ISBN 978-88-9911-339-1* (en) S. Mamo, '' English-Maltese Dictionary'', Malta, A. Aquilina, 1885 * (en) '' A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language'', Malta, 1845* (en) C. F. Schlienz, '' Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language'', Malta, 1838 * (en) Francesco Vella, '' Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English'', Glaucus Masi, Leghorn, 1831* (en) Francesco Vella, '' Dizionario portatile delle lingue Maltese Italiana, Inglese.", "pt.", "1'', Livorno, 1843* (en) Joseph Aquilina, ''Teach Yourself Maltese'', English University Press, 1965* (en) Geoffrey Hull, ''The Malta Language Question: A Case Study in Cultural Imperialism'', Said International, Valletta, 1993* (mt) Vicenzo Busuttil, '' Diziunariu mill Inglis ghall Malti'', 2 parts, N. C. Cortis & Sons, Malta, 1900" ], [ "External links", "** Maltese languages and literatures collection of L-Università ta' Malta" ] ]
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[ [ "Masaki Kobayashi" ], [ "Introduction", " was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964).", "''Senses of Cinema'' described him as \"one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s.\"" ], [ "Biography", "===Early life===Kobayashi was born in Otaru, then a small port on the island of Hokkaido, the son of a company employee.", "He was a second cousin of the actress and director Kinuyo Tanaka.", "In 1933 he entered Waseda University in Tokyo where he studied East Asian art and philosophy.", "He embarked on a career in film in 1941 as an apprentice director at Shochiku Studios, but was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in January 1942 and sent to Manchuria.Kobayashi regarded himself as a pacifist and a socialist, and resisted by refusing promotion to a rank higher than private.", "In 1944 he was transferred to Miyakojima in the Ryukyu Islands, and was taken prisoner near the end of the war.", "Then he spent a year in a detention camp in Okinawa.", "After his release, in 1946, he returned to Shochiku as assistant to the director Keisuke Kinoshita.===Films===Kobayashi's directorial debut was in 1952 with ''Musuko no Seishun'' (''My Son's Youth'').From 1959 to 1961, Kobayashi directed ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist.", "The total length of the films is almost ten hours, which makes it one of the longest fiction films ever made for theatrical release.In 1962 he directed ''Harakiri'', which won the Jury Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.In 1964, Kobayashi made ''Kwaidan'' (1964), his first color film, a collection of four ghost stories drawn from books by Lafcadio Hearn.", "Kwaidan won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.In 1968, Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Kon Ichikawa and Kobayashi founded the directors group, ''Shiki no kai''-''The Four Horsemen Club'', in an attempt to create movies for younger generations.In 1969, he was a member of the jury at the 19th Berlin International Film Festival.He was also a candidate for directing the Japanese sequences for ''Tora!", "Tora!", "Tora!''", "after Akira Kurosawa left the film.", "But instead Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda were chosen.One of his grand projects was a film on Yasushi Inoue's novel about Buddhist China, ''Tun Huang'', which never came to fruition." ], [ "Filmography" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*** Masaki Kobayashi movies at The Criterion Collection" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mormon (word)" ], [ "Introduction", "Book of Mormon as printed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2009)The word '''''Mormon''''' most colloquially denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism in restorationist Christianity.", "''Mormon'' also commonly refers, specifically, to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which is often colloquially, but imprecisely, referred to as the ''Mormon Church''.", "In addition, the term ''Mormon'' may refer to any of the relatively small sects of Mormon fundamentalism, and any branch of the Latter Day Saint movement that recognizes Brigham Young as the successor to founder Joseph Smith.", "The term ''Mormon'' applies to the religion of Mormonism, as well as its culture, texts, and art.The term derives from the Book of Mormon, a sacred text published in 1830 regarded by the faith as a supplemental testament to the Bible.", "Adherents believe that the book was translated from an ancient record by Smith by the gift and power of God.", "The text is said to be an ancient chronicle of a fallen and lost indigenous American nation, compiled by the prophet–historian and warrior Mormon and his son Moroni, the last of the Nephite people.", "The term ''Mormon'' was applied to members of the church Smith founded in the 1830s by those outside the faith due early believers only calling themselves \"the Church of Christ\" and \"saints\", which was the same terminology used by the Campbellites only a few miles away.", "Therefore, like the Campbellites, the term \"Mormonite\" was applied to the new religious movement by outsiders to distinguish it from other Christian sects.", "The term \"Mormon\" was later embraced by members of the faith.", "Different denominations have made efforts in the years since to embrace the term \"Mormon\" as their own or distance themselves from it." ], [ "Origin of the term", "The term ''Mormon'' is taken from the title of the Book of Mormon, a sacred text adherents believe to have been translated from golden plates which had their location revealed by an angel to Joseph Smith and published in 1830.According to the text of the Book of Mormon, the word Mormon stems from the Land of Mormon, where the prophet Alma preached the gospel and baptized converts.", "Mormon—who was named after the land—was a 4th-century prophet–historian who compiled and abridged many records of his ancestors into the Book of Mormon.", "The book is believed by Latter Day Saints to be a literal record of God's dealings with pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas from approximately 2600 BC through AD 420, written by prophets and followers of Jesus Christ.", "The book records the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people in the Americas as well as Christ's personal ministry among the people of Nephi after his resurrection.", "The LDS Church teaches that the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ, \"holy scripture comparable to the Bible\".The terms ''Mormonism''and ''Mormonite'' were originally descriptive terms invented in 1831 by newspaper editors or contributors in Ohio and New York to describe the growing movement of \"proselytes of the Golden Bible\".", "Historian Ardis Parshall quotes an 1831 news item, appearing within the first year of the LDS Church's founding, as reading, \"In the sixth number of your paper I saw a notice of a sect of people called Mormonites; and thinking that a fuller history of their founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., might be interesting to your community … I will take the trouble to make a few remarks on the character of that infamous imposter.\"", "The term ''Mormon'' developed as a shortened version of ''Mormonite'' a year or two later.", "By the 1840s the term was adopted by Mormon leaders to refer to themselves, though leaders occasionally used the term as early as 1833.The term also started to be used pejoratively sometime before 1844 with the coinage of the term Jack Mormon to describe non-Mormons sympathetic to the movement.", "Since that time the term ''Mormon'' has generally lost its pejorative status.", "According to LDS Church historian Matthew Bowman, and by the end of the 1800s it was broadly used." ], [ "Popular usage", "Several schisms in the Latter Day Saint movement have resulted in dozens of denominations, each with their own preferred terminology.", "Today, the term ''Mormon'' is often used to refer to members of the largest denomination, the LDS Church, which rejects “Mormon” as a reference term as of 2018.The second-largest sect, the Community of Christ, also rejects the term “Mormon” due to its association with the practice of polygamy among Brighamite sects.", "Smaller sects often adopted the term, including adherents of Mormon fundamentalism.", "Due to the size and influence of the LDS Church, it tends to dominate discussions of how ''Mormon'' is used.The term ''Mormon'' is frequently embraced by adherents of Mormon fundamentalism, who continue to believe in and practice plural marriage, and consider themselves to be the true successors of the LDS church or hide among the membership of the LDS church.", "Seeking to distance itself from polygamy and Mormon fundamentalism, prior to August 2018 the Church of Jesus Christ had taken the position that the term ''Mormon'' should only apply to itself and its members, and not other adherents who have adopted the term.", "It cited a now-obsolete ''AP Stylebook'' which stated, \"The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other Latter Day Saint churches that resulted from the split after Joseph Smith’s death.\"", "Despite the LDS Church requesting since August 2018 that all press and publications no longer refer to it as the Mormon Church or adherents as Mormons, the term is still in considerable use by journalists and non-journalists to refer to adherents of church and Mormon fundamentalists alike for brevity and due to their shared history of polygamy." ], [ "Usage preferred by the LDS Church", "The terminology preferred by the LDS Church has varied over time.", "At various points, the church has embraced the term ''Mormon'' and stated that other sects within the shared faith tradition should not be called Mormon.", "At other times, the church has rejected the term Mormon altogether except in extremely limited uses.", "The LDS Church has made efforts, including in 1982, in 2001 prior to the Salt Lake City Olympics, in 2011 after ''The Book of Mormon'' appeared on Broadway, and again in 2018, to encourage the use of the church's full name rather than the terms Mormon or LDS.Around 2010, the LDS Church and its members experienced a \"Mormon moment\" in which they were thrust into the national spotlight by Mitt Romney's 2008 and 2012 campaigns for President of the United States and the 2011 Broadway musical titled ''The Book of Mormon''.", "Facing media attention and abundant negative stereotypes, the church actively fostered its \"Mormon\" nickname with a multinational ''I'm a Mormon'' ad campaign (2010-2018), the film ''Meet the Mormons'' (2014), and websites like mormon.org and mormonandgay.org.In 2018, the church reversed course again after Russell M. Nelson became church president.", "In August 2018, Nelson announced a renewed effort to discourage the use of the word \"Mormon\" in reference to itself and its members, saying that terms like \"Mormon Church\" offended Jesus and were a \"major victory for Satan\".", "The church followed up with a major renaming, with its websites at lds.org and mormon.org merged to a new website at churchofjesuschrist.org; the Mormon Tabernacle Choir becoming the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, and the church-affiliated publishing house Deseret Book began phasing out book titles that used the word \"Mormon\".In 2018, the LDS Church published a style guide that encourages the use of the terms “the Church,” the “Church of Jesus Christ” or the “restored Church of Jesus Christ” as shortened versions after an initial use of the full name.", "According to church historian Bowman, 'the term “restored” refers to the idea that the original Christian religion is obsolete, and Mormons alone are practicing true Christianity.'", "The 2018 style guide rejects the term Mormons along with \"Mormon Church\", \"Mormonism\", and the abbreviation LDS.", "According to Patrick Mason, chair of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University and Richard Bennett, a professor of church history at Brigham Young University, this is because non-church members have historically been confused about whether it represents a Christian faith, which concerns church leaders, who want to emphasize that the church is a Christian church.", "The term Mormon also causes concern for church leaders because it has been used to include groups such as the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints who continued to practice polygamy after the Second Manifesto of 1904.Mason said \"For more than 100 years, the mainstream LDS church has gone to great pains to distance itself from those who practice polygamy.", "It doesn’t want to have any confusion there between those two groups.", "\"In some countries, ''Mormon'' and some phrases including the term are registered trademarks owned by Intellectual Reserve, a holding company for the LDS Church's intellectual property.", "In the United States, the LDS Church has applied for a trademark on ''Mormon'' as applied to religious services; however, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, stating that the term ''Mormon'' was too generic, and is popularly understood as referring to a particular kind of church, similar to ''Presbyterian'' or ''Methodist'', rather than a service mark.", "The application was abandoned as of August 22, 2007.In all, Intellectual Reserve owns more than 60 trademarks related to the term ''Mormon''.Despite the LDS Church's position, the terms Mormon and LDS in 2023 remain widely used both inside and outside the church to refer to members of the main church and \"Fundamentalist Mormon\" or \"Fundamentalist LDS\" to refer to members of fundamentalist splinter groups." ], [ "Scholarly usage", "J. Gordon Melton, in his ''Encyclopedia of American Religions'', subdivides the Mormons into ''Utah Mormons'', ''Missouri Mormons'', ''Polygamy-Practicing Mormons'', and ''Other Mormons''.", "In this scheme, the \"Utah Mormon\" group includes the non-polygamous organizations descending from those Mormons who followed Brigham Young to what is now Utah.", "The LDS Church is by far the largest of these groups, with a membership count totaling 16,805,400 worldwide and the only group to initially reside in Utah.", "The \"Missouri Mormon\" groups include those non-polygamous groups that chose not to travel to Utah and are currently headquartered in Missouri, which Joseph Smith designated as the future site of the New Jerusalem.", "These organizations include Community of Christ, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and others.", "\"Polygamy-Practicing Mormon\" groups are those that currently practice polygamy, regardless of location.", "Most notably, this category includes the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) and the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB).", "\"Other Mormon\" groups include those that are not headquartered in Utah or Missouri and do not practice polygamy, such as The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite).The terms ''Utah Mormon'' and ''Missouri Mormon'' cannot be interpreted to mean more than the location of the various groups' headquarters, as the majority of members of \"Utah Mormon\" groups and \"Missouri Mormon\" groups no longer live in either of these US states.", "Although a majority of Utahns are members of the LDS Church, it has a worldwide membership with the majority of its members outside the United States; and most \"Missouri Mormons\" do not live in Missouri." ], [ "Meaning of the word", "The May 15, 1843, issue of the official Latter Day Saint periodical ''Times and Seasons'' contains an article, purportedly written by Joseph Smith, deriving the etymology of the name ''Mormon'' from English \"more\" + Egyptian ''mon'', \"good\", and extolling the meaning as follows:It has been stated that this word mormon was derived from the Greek word ''mormo''.", "This is not the case.", "There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of God, translated the Book of Mormon.", "Let the language of that book speak for itself.", "On the 523d page, of the fourth edition, it reads: And now behold we have written this record according to our knowledge in the characters which are called among us the ''Reformed Egyptian'' ... none other people knoweth our language; therefore God hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.\"", "...", "The Bible in its widest sense, means ''good''; for the Savior says according to the gospel of John, \"I am the ''good'' shepherd;\" and it will not be beyond the common use of terms, to say that good is among the most important in use, and though known by various names in different languages, still its meaning is the same, and is ever in opposition to ''bad''.", "We say from the Saxon, ''good''; the Dane, ''god''; the Goth, ''goda''; the German, ''gut''; the Dutch, ''goed''; the Latin, ''bonus''; the Greek, ''kalos''; the Hebrew, ''tob''; and the Egyptian, ''mon''.", "Hence, with the addition of ''more'', or the contraction, ''mor'', we have the word MOR-MON; which means, literally, ''more good''.Whether Smith was the actual author of this passage is uncertain.", "Official LDS Church historian B. H. Roberts removed the quote from his ''History of the Church'' compilation, saying he found evidence that W. W. Phelps wrote that paragraph and that it was \"based on inaccurate premises and was offensively pedantic.\"", "LDS Church apostle Gordon B. Hinckley noted that the \"more good\" translation is incorrect but added that \"''Mormon'' means 'more good'\" is a positive motto for members of the LDS Church.===Meaning in the Book of Mormon===The Book of Mormon's title page begins, \"The Book of Mormon: An account written by the hand of Mormon\" ().", "According to the book, Mormon compiled nearly 1000 years of writings as well as chronicled events during his lifetime.", "Most of the text of the Book of Mormon consists of this compilation and his own writings.", "However, the name ''Mormon'' is also used in the Book of Mormon as a place name (e.g.", "Waters of Mormon).", ":5 states, \"And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (and my father’s name was Mormon)...\", whereas :12 states, \"And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression.\"", "Based on these verses, Latter-day Saint scholar David Lamb interprets the name of the Book of Mormon to mean \"Book of the Restoration of the Covenant\":The prophet Mormon was not named after his father; he was named after the land of Mormon.", "He had been taught about his heritage by his parents and understood the sacred significance associated with the name Mormon.", "No doubt his father also bore the name Mormon for the same reason.", "In 3 Nephi 5:12 he gives us a clear indication that the name Mormon is symbolically synonymous with the restoration of the covenant which took place in the land of Mormon by Alma and his people.A study of the Introduction of the Book of Mormon tells us its main purpose is to restore a knowledge of the covenants to the house of Israel.", "This adds weight to the understanding that the name Mormon was always associated with the place of the restoration of the covenant to the Nephites.", "In fact, the name Mormon became synonymous with the concept of restoring the covenants.In light of this understanding, the Book of Mormon is not named for a man.", "It is named for the place where the covenant was restored.", "Symbolically, the Book of Mormon bears the name 'Book of the Restoration of the Covenant.'\"" ], [ "See also", "*I'm a Mormon" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mariana Trench" ], [ "Introduction", "Location of the Mariana TrenchThe '''Mariana Trench''' is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth.", "It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width.", "The maximum known depth is at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep.", "The deepest point of the trench is more than farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest.At the bottom of the trench, the water column above exerts a pressure of , more than 1,071 times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level.", "At this pressure, the density of water is increased by 4.96%.", "The temperature at the bottom is .In 2009, the Mariana Trench was established as a US National Monument.", "One-celled organisms called monothalamea have been found in the trench at a record depth of below the sea surface by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.", "Data has also suggested that microbial life forms thrive within the trench." ], [ "Etymology", "The Mariana Trench is named after the nearby Mariana Islands, which are named Las Marianas in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria.", "The islands are part of the island arc that is formed on an over-riding plate, called the Mariana Plate (also named for the islands), on the western side of the trench." ], [ "Geology", "The Pacific plate is subducted beneath the Mariana Plate, creating the Mariana trench, and (further on) the arc of the Mariana Islands, as water trapped in the plate is released and explodes upward to form island volcanoes and earthquakes.The Mariana Trench is part of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana subduction system that forms the boundary between two tectonic plates.", "In this system, the western edge of one plate, the Pacific Plate, is subducted (i.e., thrust) beneath the smaller Mariana Plate that lies to the west.", "Crustal material at the western edge of the Pacific Plate is some of the oldest oceanic crust on Earth (up to 170 million years old), and is, therefore, cooler and denser; hence its great height difference relative to the higher-riding (and younger) Mariana Plate.", "The deepest area at the plate boundary is the Mariana Trench proper.The movement of the Pacific and Mariana plates is also indirectly responsible for the formation of the Mariana Islands.", "These volcanic islands are caused by flux melting of the upper mantle due to the release of water that is trapped in minerals of the subducted portion of the Pacific Plate." ], [ "Research history", "Ocean trenches in the western PacificThe trench was first sounded during the ''Challenger'' expedition in 1875 using a weighted rope, which recorded a depth of .", "In 1877, a map was published called ''Tiefenkarte des Grossen Ozeans'' (\"Depth map of the Great Ocean\") by Petermann, which showed a ''Challenger Tief'' (\"Challenger deep\") at the location of that sounding.", "In 1899, , a converted collier, recorded a depth of .In 1951, under Chief Scientist Thomas Gaskell, ''Challenger II'' surveyed the trench using echo sounding, a much more precise and vastly easier way to measure depth than the sounding equipment and drag lines used in the original expedition.", "During this survey, the deepest part of the trench was recorded when the ''Challenger II'' measured a depth of at , known as the Challenger Deep.In 1957, the Soviet vessel reported a depth of at a location dubbed the ''Mariana Hollow''.In 1962, the surface ship M.V.", "''Spencer F. Baird'' recorded a maximum depth of using precision depth gauges.In 1984, the Japanese survey vessel ''Takuyō'' (拓洋) collected data from the Mariana Trench using a narrow, multi-beam echo sounder; it reported a maximum depth of , also reported as .", "Remotely Operated Vehicle ''KAIKO'' reached the deepest area of the Mariana Trench and made the deepest diving record of on 24 March 1995.During surveys carried out between 1997 and 2001, a spot was found along the Mariana Trench that had a depth similar to the Challenger Deep, possibly even deeper.", "It was discovered while scientists from the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology were completing a survey around Guam; they used a sonar mapping system towed behind the research ship to conduct the survey.", "This new spot was named the HMRG (Hawaii Mapping Research Group) Deep, after the group of scientists who discovered it.On 1 June 2009, mapping aboard the (mothership of the Nereus vehicle), indicated a spot with a depth of .", "The sonar mapping of the Challenger Deep was possible by its Simrad EM120 sonar multibeam bathymetry system for deep water.", "The sonar system uses phase and amplitude bottom detection, with an accuracy of better than 0.2% of water depth across the entire swath (implying that the depth figure is accurate to ± ).In 2011, it was announced at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting that a US Navy hydrographic ship equipped with a multibeam echosounder conducted a survey which mapped the entire trench to resolution.", "The mapping revealed the existence of four rocky outcrops thought to be former seamounts.The Mariana Trench is a site chosen by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 2012 for a seismic survey to investigate the subsurface water cycle.", "Using both ocean-bottom seismometers and hydrophones, the scientists are able to map structures as deep as beneath the surface.===Descents===The bathyscaphe ''Trieste'' (designed by Auguste Piccard), the first crewed vehicle to reach the bottom of the Mariana TrenchAs of 2022, 22 crewed descents and seven uncrewed descents have been achieved.", "The first was the crewed descent by Swiss-designed, Italian-built, United States Navy-owned bathyscaphe ''Trieste'', which reached the bottom at 1:06 pm on 23 January 1960, with Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard on board.", "Iron shot was used for ballast, with gasoline for buoyancy.", "The onboard systems indicated a depth of , but this was later revised to .", "The depth was estimated from a conversion of pressure measured and calculations based on the water density from sea surface to seabed.This was followed by the uncrewed ROVs ''Kaikō'' in 1996 and ''Nereus'' in 2009.The first three expeditions directly measured very similar depths of .", "The fourth was made by Canadian film director James Cameron on 26 March 2012.He reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the submersible vessel ''Deepsea Challenger'', diving to a depth of .In July 2015, members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oregon State University, and the Coast Guard submerged a hydrophone into the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep, never having previously deployed one past a mile.", "The titanium-shelled hydrophone was designed to withstand the immense pressure under.", "Although researchers were unable to retrieve the hydrophone until November, the data capacity was full within the first 23 days.", "After months of analyzing the sounds, the experts were surprised to pick up natural sounds like earthquakes, typhoons, baleen whales, and machine-made sounds such as boats.", "Due to the mission's success, the researchers announced plans to deploy a second hydrophone in 2017 for an extended period of time.Victor Vescovo achieved a new record descent to on 28 April 2019 using the DSV ''Limiting Factor'', a Triton 36000/2 model manufactured by Florida-based Triton Submarines.", "He dived four times between 28 April and 5 May 2019, becoming the first person to dive into Challenger Deep more than once.On 8 May 2020, a joint project between the Russian shipbuilders, scientific teams of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects and the Pacific Fleet submerged the autonomous underwater vehicle ''Vityaz-D'' to the bottom of the Mariana Trench at a depth of .", "''Vityaz-D'' is the first underwater vehicle to operate autonomously at the extreme depths of the Mariana Trench.", "The duration of the mission, excluding diving and surfacing, was more than 3 hours.On 10 November 2020, the Chinese submersible ''Fendouzhe'' reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench at a depth of ." ], [ "Life", "The expedition conducted in 1960 claimed to have observed, with great surprise because of the high pressure, large creatures living at the bottom, such as a flatfish about long, and shrimp.", "According to Piccard, \"The bottom appeared light and clear, a waste of firm diatomaceous ooze\".", "Many marine biologists are now skeptical of the supposed sighting of the flatfish, and it is suggested that the creature may instead have been a sea cucumber.", "During the second expedition, the uncrewed vehicle ''Kaikō'' collected mud samples from the seabed.", "Tiny organisms were found to be living in those samples.In July 2011, a research expedition deployed untethered landers, called drop cams, equipped with digital video cameras and lights to explore this deep-sea region.", "Among many other living organisms, some gigantic single-celled foraminiferans with a size of more than , belonging to the class of monothalamea, were observed.", "Monothalamea are noteworthy for their size, their extreme abundance on the seafloor, and their role as hosts for a variety of organisms.In December 2014, a new species of snailfish was discovered at a depth of , breaking the previous record for the deepest living fish seen on video.During the 2014 expedition, several new species were filmed, including huge amphipods known as supergiants.", "Deep-sea gigantism is the process where species grow larger than their shallow-water relatives.In May 2017, an unidentified type of snailfish was filmed at a depth of .===Pollution===In 2016, a research expedition looked at the chemical makeup of crustacean scavengers collected from the range of within the trench.", "Within these organisms, the researchers found extremely elevated concentrations of PCBs, a chemical toxin banned in the 1970s for its environmental harm, concentrated at all depths within the sediment of the trench.", "Further research has found that amphipods also ingest microplastics, with 100% of amphipods having at least one piece of synthetic material in their stomachs.In 2019, Victor Vescovo reported finding a plastic bag and candy wrappers at the bottom of the trench.", "That year, ''Scientific American'' also reported that carbon-14 from nuclear bomb testing has been found in the bodies of aquatic animals found in the trench." ], [ "Possible nuclear waste disposal site", "Like other oceanic trenches, the Mariana Trench has been proposed as a site for nuclear waste disposal in the hope that tectonic plate subduction occurring at the site might eventually push the nuclear waste deep into the Earth's mantle, the second layer of the Earth.", "However, ocean dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international law.", "Furthermore, plate subduction zones are associated with very large megathrust earthquakes, the effects of which are unpredictable for the safety of long-term disposal of nuclear wastes within the hadopelagic ecosystem." ], [ "See also", "* Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, United States national monument at the trench.", "This National Monument protects of submerged lands and waters of the Mariana Archipelago.", "It includes some of the Mariana Trench, but not the deepest part, the Challenger Deep, which lies just outside the monument area.", "* Challenger Deep* List of people who descended to Challenger Deep* Litke Deep, closest point to Earth's center" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Mariana Trench Dive (25 March 2012) – Deepsea Challenger* Mariana Trench Dive (23 January 1960) – Trieste (Newsreel)* Mariana Trench Dive (50th Anniv) – Trieste – Capt Don Walsh* Mariana Trench – Maps (Google)* NOAA – Ocean Explorer (Ofc Ocean Exploration & Rsch)* NOAA – Ocean Explorer – Multimedia – Mariana Arc ( podcast)* NOAA – Ocean Explorer – Video Playlist – Ring of Fire (2004–2006)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Macedonian language" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Macedonian''' ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language.", "It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch.", "Spoken as a first language by around two million people, it serves as the official language of North Macedonia.", "Most speakers can be found in the country and its diaspora, with a smaller number of speakers throughout the transnational region of Macedonia.", "Macedonian is also a recognized minority language in parts of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Serbia and it is spoken by emigrant communities predominantly in Australia, Canada and the United States.Macedonian developed out of the western dialects of the East South Slavic dialect continuum, whose earliest recorded form is Old Church Slavonic.", "During much of its history, this dialect continuum was called \"Bulgarian\", although in the late 19th century, its western dialects came to be known separately as \"Macedonian\".", "Standard Macedonian was codified in 1945 and has developed modern literature since.", "As it is part of a dialect continuum with other South Slavic languages, Macedonian has a high degree of mutual intelligibility with Bulgarian and varieties of Serbo-Croatian.Linguists distinguish 29 dialects of Macedonian, with linguistic differences separating Western and Eastern groups of dialects.", "Some features of Macedonian grammar are the use of a dynamic stress that falls on the ante-penultimate syllable, three suffixed deictic articles that indicate noun position in reference to the speaker and the use of simple and complex verb tenses.", "Macedonian orthography is phonemic with a correspondence of one grapheme per phoneme.", "It is written using an adapted 31-letter version of the Cyrillic script with six original letters.", "Macedonian syntax is of the subject-verb-object (SVO) type and has flexible word order.Macedonian vocabulary has been historically influenced by Turkish and Russian.", "Somewhat less prominent vocabulary influences also came from neighboring and prestige languages.", "The international consensus outside of Bulgaria is that Macedonian is an autonomous language within the Eastern South Slavic dialect continuum, although since Macedonian and Bulgarian are mutually intelligible and are socio-historically related, a small minority of linguists are divided in their views of the two as separate languages or as a single pluricentric language.The fifth of May, the day when the government of Yugoslav Macedonia adopted the Macedonian alphabet as the official script of the republic, is marked as Macedonian Language Day.", "This is a working holiday, declared as such by the government of North Macedonia in 2019." ], [ "Classification and related languages", "Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language familyMacedonian belongs to the eastern group of the South Slavic branch of Slavic languages in the Indo-European language family, together with Bulgarian and the extinct Old Church Slavonic.", "Some authors also classify the Torlakian dialects in this group.", "Macedonian's closest relative is Bulgarian followed by Serbo-Croatian and Slovene, although the last is more distantly related.", "Together, South Slavic languages form a dialect continuum.Macedonian, like the other Eastern South Slavic idioms has characteristics that make it part of the Balkan sprachbund, a group of languages that share typological, grammatical and lexical features based on areal convergence, rather than genetic proximity.", "In that sense, Macedonian has experienced convergent evolution with other languages that belong to this group such as Greek, Aromanian, Albanian and Romani due to cultural and linguistic exchanges that occurred primarily through oral communication.Macedonian and Bulgarian are divergent from the remaining South Slavic languages in that they do not use noun cases (except for the vocative, and apart from some traces of once productive inflections still found scattered throughout these two) and have lost the infinitive.", "They are also the only Slavic languages with any definite articles (unlike standard Bulgarian, which uses only one article, standard Macedonian as well as some south-eastern Bulgarian dialects have a set of three deictic articles: unspecified, proximal and distal definite article).", "Macedonian and Bulgarian are the only Indo-European languages that make use of the narrative mood.According to Chambers and Trudgill, the question whether Bulgarian and Macedonian are distinct languages or dialects of a single language cannot be resolved on a purely linguistic basis, but should rather take into account sociolinguistic criteria, i.e., ethnic and linguistic identity.", "This view is supported by Jouko Lindstedt, who has suggested the reflex of the back yer as a potential boundary if the application of purely linguistic criteria were possible.As for the Slavic dialects of Greece, Trudgill classifies the dialects in the east Greek Macedonia as part of the Bulgarian language area and the rest as Macedonian dialects.", "According to Riki van Boeschoten, the dialects in eastern Greek Macedonia (around Serres and Drama) are closest to Bulgarian, those in western Greek Macedonia (around Florina and Kastoria) are closest to Macedonian, while those in the centre (Edessa and Salonica) are intermediate between the two." ], [ "History", "Krste Petkov Misirkov (''pictured'') was the first to outline the distinctiveness of the Macedonian language in his book ''Za makedonckite raboti'' (''On the Macedonian Matters''), published in 1903.The Slavic people who settled in the Balkans during the 6th century CE, spoke their own dialects and used different dialects or languages to communicate with other people.", "The \"canonical\" Old Church Slavonic period of the development of Macedonian started during the 9th century and lasted until the first half of the 11th century.", "It saw translation of Greek religious texts.", "The Macedonian recension of Old Church Slavonic also appeared around that period in the Bulgarian Empire and was referred to as such due to works of the Ohrid Literary School.", "Towards the end of the 13th century, the influence of Serbian increased as Serbia expanded its borders southward.", "During the five centuries of Ottoman rule, from the 15th to the 20th century, the vernacular spoken in the territory of current-day North Macedonia witnessed grammatical and linguistic changes that came to characterize Macedonian as a member of the Balkan sprachbund.", "This period saw the introduction of many Turkish loanwords into the language.The latter half of the 18th century saw the rise of modern literary Macedonian through the written use of Macedonian dialects referred to as \"Bulgarian\" by writers.", "The first half of the 19th century saw the rise of nationalism among the South Slavic people in the Ottoman Empire.", "This period saw proponents of creating a common church for Bulgarian and Macedonian Slavs which would use a common modern Macedo-Bulgarian literary standard.The period between 1840 and 1870, saw a struggle to define the dialectal base of the common language called simply \"Bulgarian\", with two opposing views emerging.", "One ideology was to create a Bulgarian literary language based on Macedonian dialects, but such proposals were rejected by the Bulgarian codifiers.", "That period saw poetry written in the Struga dialect with elements from Russian.", "Textbooks also used either spoken dialectal forms of the language or a mixed Macedo-Bulgarian language.", "Subsequently, proponents of the idea of using a separate Macedonian language emerged.Krste Petkov Misirkov's book ''Za makedonckite raboti'' (''On Macedonian Matters'') published in 1903, was the first attempt to formalize a separate literary language.", "With the book, the author proposed a Macedonian grammar and expressed the goal of codifying the language and using it in schools.", "The author postulated the principle that the Prilep-Bitola dialect be used as a dialectal basis for the formation of the Macedonian standard language; his idea however was not adopted until the 1940s.", "On 2 August 1944 at the first Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) meeting, Macedonian was declared an official language.", "With this, it became the last of the major Slavic languages to achieve a standard literary form.", "As such, Macedonian served as one of the three official languages of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1991." ], [ "Geographical distribution", "Although the precise number of native and second language speakers of Macedonian is unknown due to the policies of neighboring countries and emigration of the population, estimates ranging between 1.4 million and 3.5 million have been reported.", "According to the 2002 census, the total population of North Macedonia was 2,022,547, with 1,344,815 citizens declaring Macedonian their native language.", "Macedonian is also studied and spoken to various degrees as a second language by all ethnic minorities in the country.Outside North Macedonia, there are small ethnic Macedonian minorities that speak Macedonian in neighboring countries including 4.697 in Albania (1989 census), 1,609 in Bulgaria (2011 census) and 12,706 in Serbia (2011 census).", "The exact number of speakers of Macedonian in Greece is difficult to ascertain due to the country's policies.", "Estimates of Slavophones ranging anywhere between 50,000 and 300,000 in the last decade of the 20th century have been reported.", "Approximately 580,000 Macedonians live outside North Macedonia per 1964 estimates with Australia, Canada, and the United States being home to the largest emigrant communities.", "Consequently, the number of speakers of Macedonian in these countries include 66,020 (2016 census), 15,605 (2016 census) and 22,885 (2010 census), respectively.", "Macedonian also has more than 50,000 native speakers in countries of Western Europe, predominantly in Germany, Switzerland and Italy.The Macedonian language has the status of an official language only in North Macedonia, and is a recognized minority and official language in parts of Albania (Pustec), Romania, Serbia (Jabuka and Plandište) and Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "There are provisions to learn Macedonian in Romania as Macedonians are an officially recognized minority group.", "Macedonian is studied and taught at various universities across the world and research centers focusing on the language are found at universities across Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia) as well as Australia, Canada and the United States (Chicago and North Carolina)." ], [ "Dialects", "During the standardization process of the Macedonian language, the dialectal base selected was primarily based on the West-Central dialects, which spans the triangle of the communities Makedonski Brod, Kičevo, Demir Hisar, Bitola, Prilep, and Veles.", "These were considered the most widespread and most likely to be adopted by speakers from other regions.", "The initial idea to select this region as a base was first proposed in Krste Petkov Misirkov's works as he believed the Macedonian language should abstract on those dialects that are distinct from neighboring Slavic languages, such as Bulgarian and Serbian.400x400pxDialect divisions of Macedonian per Macedonian dialectology.", "; Northern ; Western/Northwestern ; Eastern ; Southeastern ; Southwestern Based on a large group of features, Macedonian dialects can be divided into Eastern, Western and Northern groups.", "The boundary between them geographically runs approximately from Skopje and Skopska Crna Gora along the rivers Vardar and Crna.", "There are numerous isoglosses between these dialectal variations, with structural differences in phonetics, prosody (accentuation), morphology and syntax.", "The Western group of dialects can be subdivided into smaller dialectal territories, the largest group of which includes the central dialects.", "The linguistic territory where Macedonian dialects were spoken also span outside the country and within the region of Macedonia, including Pirin Macedonia into Bulgaria and Aegean Macedonia into Greece.Variations in consonant pronunciation occur between the two groups, with most Western regions losing the /x/ and the /v/ in intervocalic position (''глава'' (head): /ɡlava/ = /ɡla/: ''глави'' (heads): /ɡlavi/ = /ɡlaj/) while Eastern dialects preserve it.", "Stress in the Western dialects is generally fixed and falls on the antepenultimate syllable while Eastern dialects have non-fixed stress systems that can fall on any syllable of the word, that is also reminiscent of Bulgarian dialects.", "Additionally, Eastern dialects are distinguishable by their fast tonality, elision of sounds and the suffixes for definiteness.", "The Northern dialectal group is close to South Serbian and Torlakian dialects and is characterized by 46–47 phonetic and grammatical isoglosses.In addition, a more detailed classification can be based on the modern reflexes of the Proto-Slavic reduced vowels (yers), vocalic sonorants, and the back nasal *ǫ.", "That classification distinguishes between the following 6 groups:* '''Macedonian'''** Western dialects*** '''Ohrid-Prespa Group''': Ohrid dialect, Struga dialect, Vevčani-Radožda dialect, Upper Prespa dialect and Lower Prespa dialect.", "*** '''Debar Group''': Debar dialect, Reka dialect, Drimkol-Golo Brdo dialect, Small Reka dialect (''Galičnik dialect''), Skopska Crna Gora dialect and Gora dialect*** '''Polog Group''': Upper Polog dialect (''Gostivar dialect''), Lower Polog dialect (''Tetovo dialect''), Prilep-Bitola dialect, Kičevo-Poreče dialect and Skopje-Veles dialect*** '''Kostur-Korča Group''': Korča dialect, Kostur dialect and Nestram-Kostenar dialect** Eastern dialects*** '''Northern Group''': Kumanovo dialect, Kratovo dialect, Kriva Palanka dialect and Ovče Pole dialect*** '''Eastern Group''': Štip - Kočani dialect, Strumica dialect, Tikveš-Mariovo dialect, Maleševo-Pirin dialect, Solun-Voden dialect and Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect." ], [ "Phonology", "The phonological system of Standard Macedonian is based on the Prilep-Bitola dialect.", "Macedonian possesses five vowels, one semivowel, three liquid consonants, three nasal stops, three pairs of fricatives, two pairs of affricates, a non-paired voiceless fricative, nine pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants and four pairs of stops.", "Out of all the Slavic languages, Macedonian has the most frequent occurrence of vowels relative to consonants with a typical Macedonian sentence having on average 1.18 consonants for every one vowel.===Vowels===The Macedonian language contains 5 vowels which are /a/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /o/, and /u/.", "For the pronunciation of the middle vowels /''е''/ and /''о''/ by native Macedonian speakers, various vowel sounds can be produced ranging from ɛ to ẹ and from o to ọ. Unstressed vowels are not reduced, although they are pronounced more weakly and shortly than stressed ones, especially if they are found in a stressed syllable.", "The five vowels and the letter ''р'' (/r/) which acts as a vowel when found between two consonants (e.g.", "''црква'', \"church\"), can be syllable-forming.The schwa is phonemic in many dialects (varying in closeness to or ) but its use in the standard language is marginal.", "When writing a dialectal word and keeping the schwa for aesthetic effect, an apostrophe is used; for example, , , etc.", "When spelling words letter-by-letters, each consonant is followed by the schwa sound.", "The individual letters of acronyms are pronounced with the schwa in the same way: ().", "The lexicalized acronyms () and () (a brand of cigarettes), are among the few exceptions.", "Vowel length is not phonemic.", "Vowels in stressed open syllables in disyllabic words with stress on the penultimate can be realized as long, e.g.", "'Veles'.", "The sequence is often realized phonetically as ; e.g.", "'''colloq.''", "hour', - snakes.", "In other words, two vowels appearing next to each other can also be pronounced twice separately (e.g.", "''пооди'' - to walk).+ Vowels Front Central Back Close Mid () Open ===Consonants===The consonant inventory of the Macedonian language consists of 26 letters and distinguishes three groups of consonants (''согласки''): voiced (''звучни''), voiceless (''безвучни'') and sonorant consonants (''сонорни'').", "Typical features and rules that apply to consonants in the Macedonian language include assimilation of voiced and voiceless consonants when next to each other, devoicing of vocal consonants when at the end of a word, double consonants and elision.", "At morpheme boundaries (represented in spelling) and at the end of a word (not represented in spelling), voicing opposition is neutralized.+ Consonants Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative x Approximant Trill The alveolar trill () is syllabic between two consonants; for example, 'finger'.", "The dental nasal () and dental lateral () are also syllabic in certain foreign words; e.g.", "'newton', 'Popocatépetl', etc.", "The labiodental nasal occurs as an allophone of before and (e.g.", "'tram').", "The velar nasal similarly occurs as an allophone of before and (e.g.", "'English').", "The latter realization is avoided by some speakers who strive for a clear, formal pronunciation.", "Inherited Slavic was lost in the Western dialects of Macedonian on which the standard is based, having become zero initially and mostly otherwise.", "became part of the standard language through the introduction of new foreign words (e.g.", "''хотел'', hotel), toponyms (''Пехчево'', Pehčevo), words originating from Old Church Slavonic (''дух'', ghost), newly formed words (''доход'', income) and as a means to disambiguate between two words (''храна'', food vs. ''рана'', wound).", "They exhibit different pronunciations depending on dialect.", "They are dorso-palatal stops in the standard language and are pronounced as such by some native speakers.===Stress===The word stress in Macedonian is and dynamic (expiratory).", "This means that it falls on the third from last syllable in words with three or more syllables, and on the first or only syllable in other words.", "This is sometimes disregarded when the word has entered the language more recently or from a foreign source.", "To note which syllable of the word should be accented, Macedonian uses an apostrophe over its vowels.", "Disyllabic words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: ''дéте'' (: child), ''мáјка'' (): mother) and ''тáтко'' (: father).", "Trisyllabic and polysyllabic words are stressed on the third-to-last syllable: ''плáнина'' (: mountain) ''планѝната'' (: the mountain) ''планинáрите'' (: the mountaineers).", "There are several exceptions to the rule and they include: verbal adverbs (i.e.", "words suffixed with ''-ќи''): e.g.", "''викáјќи'' (: shouting), ''одéјќи'' (: walking); adverbs of time: ''годинáва'' (: this year), ''летóво'' (: this summer); foreign loanwords: e.g.", "''клишé'' ( cliché), ''генéза'' ( genesis), ''литератýра'' (: literature), ''Алексáндар'' (, Alexander).Linking occurs when two or more words are pronounced with the same stress.", "Linking is a common feature of the Macedonian language.", "This linguistic phenomenon is called ''акцентска целост'' and is denoted with a spacing tie (‿) sign.", "Several words are taken as a single unit and thus follow the rules of the stress falling on the antepenultimate syllable.", "The rule applies when using clitics (either enclitics or proclitics) such as the negating particle ''не'' with verbs (''тој нé‿дојде'', he did not come) and with short pronoun forms.", "The future particle ''ќе'' can also be used in-between and falls under the same rules (''не‿му‿јá‿даде'', did not give it to him; ''не‿ќé‿дојде'', he will not come).", "Other uses include the imperative form accompanied by short pronoun forms (''дáј‿ми'': give me), the expression of possessives (''мáјка‿ми''), prepositions followed by a noun (''зáд‿врата''), question words followed by verbs (''когá‿дојде'') and some compound nouns (''сувó‿грозје'' - raisins, ''киселó‿млеко'' - yoghurt) among others." ], [ "Grammar", "Macedonian grammar is markedly analytic in comparison with other Slavic languages, having lost the common Slavic case system.", "The Macedonian language shows some special and, in some cases, unique characteristics due to its central position in the Balkans.", "Literary Macedonian is the only South Slavic literary language that has three forms of the definite article, based on the degree of proximity to the speaker, and a perfect tense formed by means of an auxiliary verb \"to have\", followed by a past participle in the neuter, also known as the verbal adjective.", "Other features that are only found in Macedonian and not in other Slavic languages include the antepenultimate accent and the use of the same vocal ending for all verbs in first person, present simple (''глед-'''a'''-м'', ''јад-'''а'''-м'', ''скок-'''а'''-м'').", "Macedonian distinguishes at least 12 major word classes, five of which are modifiable and include nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numbers and verbs and seven of which are invariant and include adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, particles and modal words.===Nouns===Macedonian nouns (''именки'') belong to one of three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and are inflected for number (singular and plural), and marginally for case.", "The gender opposition is not distinctively marked in the plural.", "Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant or a vowel (''-a'', ''-o'' or ''-e'') and neuter nouns end in a vowel (''-o'' or ''-e'').", "Virtually all feminine nouns end in the same vowel, ''-a''.The vocative of nouns is the only remaining case in the Macedonian language and is used to address a person directly.", "The vocative case always ends with a vowel, which can be either an -у (''јунаку'': hero vocative) or an -e (''човече'': man vocative) to the root of masculine nouns.", "For feminine nouns, the most common final vowel ending in the vocative is -o (''душо'', sweetheart vocative; ''жено'', wife vocative).", "The final suffix -e can be used in the following cases: three or polysyllabic words with the ending ''-ица'' (''мајчице'', mother vocative), female given names that end with ''-ка'': ''Ратка'' becomes ''Ратке'' and ''-ја'': ''Марија'' becomes ''Марије'' or ''Маријо''.", "There is no vocative case in neuter nouns.", "The role of the vocative is only facultative and there is a general tendency of vocative loss in the language since its use is considered impolite and dialectal.", "The vocative can also be expressed by changing the tone.There are three different types of plural: regular, counted and collective.", "The first plural type is most common and used to indicate regular plurality of nouns: ''маж - мажи'' (a man - men), ''маса - маси'' (a table - table), ''село - села'' (a village - villages).", "There are various suffixes that are used and they differ per gender; a linguistic feature not found in other Slavic languages is the use of the suffix ''-иња'' to form plural of neuter nouns ending in ''-е'': ''пиле - пилиња'' (a chick - chicks).", "Counted plural is used when a number or a quantifier precedes the noun; suffixes to express this type of plurality do not correspond with the regular plurality suffixes: ''два молива'' (two pencils), ''три листа'' (three leaves), ''неколку часа'' (several hours).", "The collective plural is used for nouns that can be viewed as a single unit: ''лисје'' (a pile of leaves), ''ридје'' (a unit of hills).", "Irregular plural forms also exist in the language: ''дете - деца'' (child - children).====Definiteness====+The definite articles Singular PluralMasculineFeminineNeuterMasculineFeminineNeuterUnspecified ''маж'''от''''' ''жена'''та''''' ''дете'''то''''' ''мажи'''те'''''/''жени'''те''''' ''деца'''та'''''Proximate ''маж'''ов''''' ''жена'''ва''''' ''дете'''вo''''' ''мажи'''ве'''''/''жени'''ве''''' ''деца'''ва'''''Distal ''маж'''он''''' ''жена'''на''''' ''дете'''нo''''' ''мажи'''не'''''/''жени'''не''''' ''деца'''на'''''A characteristic feature of the nominal system is the indication of definiteness.", "As with other Slavic languages, there is no indefinite article in Macedonian.", "The definite article in Macedonian is postpositive, i.e.", "it is added as a suffix to nouns.", "An individual feature of the Macedonian language is the use of three definite articles, inflected for gender and related to the position of the object, which can be unspecified, proximate or distal.", "*Definite articles ''-ов, -ва, -во, -ве'' are used for objects located close to the speaker (''човек'''ов''''': - this person here)*Definite articles ''-он, -на, -но, -не'' are used for objects located further away from the speaker that can still be perceived (''жена'''на''''': - that woman there)*Definite articles ''-от, -та, -то, -те'' are most commonly used as general indicators of definiteness regardless of the referred object's position (''дете'''то''''': the child).", "Additionally, these suffixes can be used to indicate objects referred to by the speaker that are in the proximity of the listener, e.g.", "''дај ми ја книгата што е до тебе'' - give me the book next to you.Proper nouns are per definition definite and are not usually used together with an article, although exceptions exist in the spoken and literary language such as ''Совче'''то''''', ''Маре'''то''''', ''Наде'''то''''' to demonstrate feelings of endearment to a person.===Adjectives===Adjectives accompany nouns and serve to provide additional information about their referents.", "Macedonian adjectives agree in form with the noun they modify and are thus inflected for gender, number and definiteness and ''убав'' changes to ''убава'' (''убава жена'', a beautiful woman) when used to describe a feminine noun, ''убаво'' when used to describe a neuter noun (''убаво дете'', a beautiful child) and ''убави'' when used to form the plural (''убави мажи, убави жени, убави деца'').Adjectives can be analytically inflected for degree of comparison with the prefix ''по-'' marking the comparative and the prefix ''нај-'' marking the superlative.", "Both prefixes cannot be written separately from the adjective: ''Марија е паметна девојка'' (Marija is a smart girl), ''Марија е попаметна од Сара'' (Marija is smarter than Sara), ''Марија е најпаметната девојка во нејзиниот клас'' (Marija is the smartest girl in her class).", "The only adjective with an irregular comparative and superlative form is ''многу'' which becomes ''повеќе'' in the comparative and ''најмногу'' in the superlative form.", "Another modification of adjectives is the use of the prefixes ''при-'' and ''пре-'' which can also be used as a form of comparison: ''престар човек'' (a very old man) or ''пристар човек'' (a somewhat old man).===Pronouns===Three types of pronouns can be distinguished in Macedonian: personal (''лични''), relative (''лично-предметни'') and demonstrative (''показни'').", "Case relations are marked in pronouns.", "Personal pronouns in Macedonian appear in three genders and both in singular and plural.", "They can also appear either as direct or indirect object in long or short forms.", "Depending on whether a definite direct or indirect object is used, a clitic pronoun will refer to the object with the verb: ''Јас не му ја дадов книгата на момчето'' (\"I did not give the book to the boy\").", "The direct object is a remnant of the accusative case and the indirect of the dative.", "Reflexive pronouns also have forms for both direct and indirect objects: ''себе се'', ''себе си''.", "Examples of personal pronouns are shown below:*Personal pronoun: '''''Јас''' читам книга''.", "(\"I am reading a book\")*Direct object pronoun: ''Таа '''мене ме''' виде во киното''.", "(\"She saw me at the cinema\") *Indirect object pronoun: ''Тој '''мене ми''' рече да дојдам''.", "(\"He told me to come\")Relative pronouns can refer to a person (''кој, која, кое'' - who), objects (''што'' - which) or serve as indicators of possession (''чиј, чија, чие'' - whose) in the function of a question or a relative word.", "These pronouns are inflected for gender and number and other word forms can be derived from them (''никој'' - nobody, ''нешто'' - something, ''сечиј'' - everybody's).", "There are three groups of demonstrative pronouns that can indicate proximate (''овој'' - this one (mas.", ")), distal (''онаа'' - the one there (fem.))", "and unspecific (''тоа'' - that one (neut.))", "objects.", "These pronouns have served as a basis for the definite article.+Macedonian personal pronounsPersonSingularDirect objectIndirect objectPluralDirect objectIndirect object1.", "''јас'' ''мене ме'' ''мене ми'' ''ние'' ''нас нѐ'' ''нам ни''2.", "''ти''''вие'' (formal) ''тебе те''''вас ве'' (formal) ''тебе ти''''вас ви'' (formal) ''вие'' ''вас ве'' ''вас ви''3.", "''тој'' (masculine)''таа'' (feminine)''тоа'' (neuter) ''него го'' (masc./neut.", ")''неа ја'' (fem.)", "''нему му'' (masc./neut.", ")''нејзе ѝ'' (fem.)", "''тие'' ''нив ги'' ''ним им''===Verbs===Macedonian verbs agree with the subject in person (first, second or third) and number (singular or plural).", "Some dependent verb constructions (''нелични глаголски форми'') such as verbal adjectives (''глаголска придавка'': ''плетен/плетена''), verbal l-form (''глаголска л-форма'': ''играл/играла'') and verbal noun (''глаголска именка'': ''плетење'') also demonstrate gender.", "There are several other grammatical categories typical of Macedonian verbs, namely type, transitiveness, mood, superordinate aspect (imperfective/perfective aspect).", "Verb forms can also be classified as simple, with eight possible verb constructions or complex with ten possible constructions.Macedonian has developed a grammatical category which specifies the opposition of witnessed and reported actions (also known as renarration).", "Per this grammatical category, one can distinguish between ''минато определено'' i.e.", "definite past, denoting events that the speaker witnessed at a given definite time point, and ''минато неопределено'' i.e.", "indefinite past denoting events that did not occur at a definite time point or events reported to the speaker, excluding the time component in the latter case.", "Examples: ''Но, потоа се случија работи за кои не знаев'' (\"But then things happened that I did not know about\") vs. ''Ми кажаа дека потоа се случиле работи за кои не знаев'' (\"They told me that after, things happened that I did not know about\").====Tense====+Conjugation of ''сум'' in present, aorist, present perfect and future tensePersonSingularPlural1.", "''сум'', ''бев'', ''сум бил'', ''ќе бидам'' ''сме'', ''бевме'', ''сме биле'', ''ќе бидеме''2.", "''си'', ''беше'', ''си бил'', ''ќе бидеш'' ''сте'', ''бевте'', ''сте биле'', ''ќе бидете''3.", "''е'', ''беше'', ''бил'', ''ќе биде'' ''се'', ''беа'', ''биле'', ''ќе бидат'' The present tense in Macedonian is formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem which is inflected per person, form and number of the subject.", "Macedonian verbs are conventionally divided into three main conjugations according to the thematic vowel used in the citation form (i.e.", ").", "These groups are: ''a''-group, ''e''-group and ''и''-group.", "Furthermore, the ''и''-subgroup is divided into three more subgroups: ''а-'', ''е-'' and ''и-''subgroups.", "The verb ''сум'' (to be) is the only exception to the rule as it ends with a consonant and is conjugated as an irregular verb.The perfect tense can be formed using both to be (''сум'') and to have (''има'') as auxiliary verbs.", "The first form inflects the verb for person and uses a past active participle: ''сум видел многу работи'' (\"I have seen a lot of things\").", "The latter form makes use of a clitic that agrees in number and gender with the object of the sentence and the passive participle of the verb in its uninflected form (''го имам гледано филмот'', \"I have seen that movie\").", "Another past form, the aorist is used to describe actions that have finished at a given moment in the past: ''одев'' (\"I walked\"), ''скокаа'' (\"they jumped\").Future forms of verbs are conjugated using the particle ''ќе'' followed by the verb conjugated in present tense, ''ќе одам'' (I will go).", "The construction used to express negation in the future can be formed by either adding the negation particle at the beginning ''не ќе одам'' (I will not go) or using the construction ''нема да'' (''нема да одам'').", "There is no difference in meaning, although the latter form is more commonly used in spoken language.", "Another future tense is future in the past which is formed using the clitic ''ќе'' and the past tense of the verb inflected for person, ''таа ќе заминеше'' (\"she would have left\").====Aspect, voice and mood====Similar to other Slavic languages, Macedonian verbs have a grammatical aspect (''глаголски вид'') that is a typical feature of Slavic languages.", "Verbs can be divided into imperfective (''несвршени'') and perfective (''свршени'') indicating actions whose time duration is unknown or occur repetitively or those that show an action that is finished in one moment.", "The former group of verbs can be subdivided into verbs which take place without interruption (e.g.", "''Тој спие цел ден'', \"He sleeps all day long) or those that signify repeated actions (e.g.", "''Ја бараше книгата но не можеше да ја најде'', \"He was looking for the book but he could not find it\").", "Perfective verbs are usually formed by adding prefixes to the stem of the verb, depending on which, they can express actions that took place in one moment (''чукна'', \"knocked\"), actions that have just begun (''запеа'', \"start to sing\"), actions that have ended (''прочита'', \"read\") or partial actions that last for short periods of time (''поработи'', \"worked\").The contrast between transitive and intransitive verbs can be expressed analytically or syntactically and virtually all verbs denoting actions performed by living beings can become transitive if a short personal pronoun is added: ''Тоj легна'' (\"He laid down\") vs. ''Тоj го легна детето'' (\"He laid the child down\").", "Additionally, verbs which are expressed with the reflexive pronoun ''се'' can become transitive by using any of the contracted pronoun forms for the direct object: ''Тој '''се''' смее'' - He is laughing, vs. ''Тој '''ме''' смее'' - \"He is making me laugh\").", "Some verbs such as sleep or die do not traditionally have the property of being transitive.Macedonian verbs have three grammatical moods (''глаголски начин''): indicative, imperative and conditional.", "The imperative mood can express both a wish or an order to finish a certain action.", "The imperative only has forms for the second person and is formed using the suffixes ''-ј'' (''пеј''; sing) or ''-и'' (''оди'', walk) for singular and ''-јте'' (''пејте'', sing) or ''-ете'' for plural (''одете'', walk).", "The first and third subject forms in singular and plural express indirect orders and are conjugated using ''да'' or ''нека'' and the verb in present tense (''да живееме долго'', may we live long).", "In addition to its primary functions, the imperative is used to indicate actions in the past, eternal truths as is the case in sayings and a condition.", "The Macedonian conditional is conjugated in the same way for all three persons using the particle ''би'' and the verbal l-form, ''би читал'' (I/you/he would read).===Syntax===Macedonian syntax has a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order which is nevertheless flexible and can be topicalized.", "For instance, the sentence ''Марија го сака Иван'' (Marija loves Ivan) can become of the object–verb–subject (OVS) form as well, ''Иван го сака Марија''.", "Topicalization can also be achieved using a combination of word order and intonation; as an example all of the following sentences give a different point of emphasis:*''Мачката ја каса кучето.''", "– The dog bites the cat (the focus is on the object)*''Кучето мачката ја каса.''", "– The dog bites the cat (the focus is on the object)*''Мачката кучето ја каса.''", "– The dog bites the cat (the focus is on the subject)*''Ја каса кучето мачката.''", "– The dog bites the cat (the focus is on both the subject and the verb)*''Ја каса мачката кучето.''", "– The dog bites the cat (the focus is on the verb and the object)Macedonian is a null-subject language which means that the subject pronoun can be omitted, for instance ''Што сакаш (ти)?''", "(what do you want?", "), ''(јас) читам книга'' (I am reading a book), ''(ние) го видовме'' (we saw him).", "Macedonian passive construction is formed using the short reflexive pronoun ''се'' (''девојчето се уплаши'', the girl got scared) or a combination of the verb \"to be\" with verbal adjectives (''Тој е миен'', he is washed).", "In the former case, the active-passive distinction is not very clear.", "Subordinate clauses in Macedonian are introduced using relativizers, which can be wh-question words or relative pronouns.", "A glossed example of this is:Due to the absence of a case system, Macedonian makes wide use of prepositions (''предлози'') to express relationships between words in a sentence.", "The most important Macedonian preposition is ''на'' which can have local ('on') or motional meanings ('to').", "As a replacement for the dative case, the preposition ''на'' is used in combination with a short indirect object form to denote an action that is related to the indirect object of a sentence, ''Му давам книга на Иван'' (I am giving a book to Ivan), ''Им велам нешто на децата'' (I am saying something to the children).", "Additionally, ''на'' can serve to replace the genitive case and express possession, ''таткото на другар ми'' (my friend's father)." ], [ "Vocabulary", "Macedonian police car, with the Macedonian word ''Полиција'' (Policija), for \"police\".Macedonian exhibits lexical similarities with all other Slavic languages, and numerous nouns are cognates, including those related to familial relations and numbers.", "Additionally, as a result of the close relationship with Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian shares a considerable amount of its lexicon with these languages.", "Other languages that have been in positions of power, such as Ottoman Turkish and, increasingly, English have also provided a significant proportion of the loanwords.", "Prestige languages, such as Old Church Slavonic—which occupies a relationship to modern Macedonian comparable to the relationship of medieval Latin to modern Romance languages—and Russian also provided a source for lexical items.", "Other loanwords and vocabulary also came from Greek and Albanian as well as prestige languages such as French and German.During the standardization process, there was deliberate care taken to try to purify the lexicon of the language.", "Words that were associated with the Serbian or Bulgarian standard languages, which had become common due to the influence of these languages in the region, were rejected in favor of words from native dialects and archaisms.", "This is not to say that there are no words associated with the Serbian, Bulgarian, or even Russian standard languages in the language, but rather that they were discouraged on a principle of \"seeking native material first\".The language of the writers at the turn of the 19th century abounded with Russian and, more specifically, Old Church Slavonic lexical and morphological elements that in the contemporary norm have been replaced by native words or calqued using productive morphemes.", "New words were coined according to internal logic and others calqued from related languages (especially Serbo-Croatian) to replace those taken from Russian, which include ''известие'' (Russ.", "''известие'') → ''извештај'' 'report', ''количество'' (Russ.", "''количество'') → ''количина'' 'amount, quantity', ''согласие'' (Russ.", "''согласие'') → ''слога'' 'concord, agreement', etc.", "This change was aimed at bringing written Macedonian closer to the spoken language, effectively distancing it from the more Russified Bulgarian language, representing a successful puristic attempt to abolish a lexicogenic tradition once common in written literature.", "The use of Ottoman Turkish loanwords is discouraged in the formal register when a native equivalent exists (e.g.", "''комшија'' (← Turk.", "''komşu'') vs. ''сосед'' (← PSl.", "*sǫsědъ) 'neighbor'), and these words are typically restricted to the archaic, colloquial, and ironic registers.+ Lexical comparison of 5 words among 11 Slavic languages English Macedonian Bulgarian Serbian Croatian Slovenian Russian Belarusian Ukrainian Polish Czech Slovak dream day arm flower night" ], [ "Writing system", "===Alphabet===The official Macedonian alphabet was codified on 5 May 1945 by the Presidium of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (abbreviated as ASNOM in Macedonian) headed by Blaže Koneski.", "There are several letters that are specific for the Macedonian Cyrillic script, namely ѓ, ќ, ѕ, џ, љ and њ, with the last three letters being borrowed from the Serbo-Croatian phonetic alphabet adapted by Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, while the grapheme ѕ has an equivalent in the Church Slavonic alphabet.", "Letters љ and њ were previously used by Macedonian writer Krste Petkov Misirkov written as л' and н'.", "The Macedonian alphabet also uses the apostrophe sign (') as a sound.", "It is used to mark the syllable forming /''р˳''/ , at the beginning of the word ( - rye, - spine) and to represent the phoneme schwa in some literary words or Turkish loanwords ( - fortune).", "А grave accent (`) diacritic is used over three vowels in orthography: - her, different from - and, - us, different from - no and - everything different from - short reflexive pronoun accompanying reflexive verbs.", "The standard Macedonian alphabet contains 31 letters.", "The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Macedonian alphabet, along with the IPA value for each letter:''Cyrillic''''IPA''А аБ бВ вГ гД дЃ ѓЕ еЖ жЗ зЅ ѕИ и''Cyrillic''''IPA''Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР рС с''Cyrillic''''IPA''Т тЌ ќУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чЏ џШ ш===Orthography===Similar to the Macedonian alphabet, Macedonian orthography was officially codified on 7 June 1945 at an ASNOM meeting.", "Rules about the orthography and orthoepy (correct pronunciation of words) were first collected and outlined in the book ''Правопис на македонскиот литературен јазик'' (''Orthography of the Macedonian standard language'') published in 1945.Updated versions have subsequently appeared with the most recent one published in 2016.Macedonian orthography is consistent and phonemic in practice, an approximation of the principle of one grapheme per phoneme.", "This one-to-one correspondence is often simply described by the principle, \"write as you speak and read as it is written\".", "There is only one exception to this rule with the letter /''л''/ which is pronounced as /l/ before front vowels (e.g.", "''лист'' (leaf); pronounced as list) and /j/ (e.g.", "''полјанка'' (meadow); pronounced as poljanka) but velar /ł/ elsewhere (e.g.", "''бела'' (white) pronounced as beła).", "Another sound that is not represented in the written form but is pronounced in words is the schwa." ], [ "Political views on the language", "Politicians and scholars from North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece have opposing views about the existence and distinctiveness of the Macedonian language.", "Through history Macedonian has been referred mainly to as a variant of Bulgarian, but especially during the first half of the 20th century also as Serbian, and as a distinct language of its own.", "Historically, after its codification, the use of the language has been a subject of different views and internal policies in Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece.", "Some international scholars also maintain Macedo-Bulgarian was a single pluricentric language until the 20th century and argue that the idea of linguistic separatism emerged in the late 19th century with the advent of Macedonian nationalism and the need for a separate Macedonian standard language subsequently appeared in the early 20th century.", "Different linguists have argued that during its codification, the Macedonian standard language was Serbianized with regards to its orthography and vocabulary.The government of Bulgaria, Bulgarian academics, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the general public have and continue to widely consider Macedonian part of the Bulgarian dialect area.", "During the Communist era, Macedonian was recognized as a minority language in Bulgaria and utilized in education from 1946 to 1948.Subsequently, it was described as a dialect of Bulgarian.", "In 1956 the Bulgarian government signed an agreement on mutual legal defense with Yugoslavia, where the Macedonian language is named as one of the languages to be used for legal purposes, together with Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian.", "The same year Bulgaria revoked its recognition of Macedonian nationhood and language and implicitly resumed its prewar position of their non-existence.", "In 1999 the government in Sofia signed a Joint Declaration in the official languages of the two countries, marking the first time it agreed to sign a bilateral agreement written in Macedonian.", "Dialect experts of the Bulgarian language refer to the Macedonian language as ''македонска езикова норма'' (Macedonian linguistic norm) of the Bulgarian language.", "As of 2019, disputes regarding the language and its origins are ongoing in academic and political circles in the two countries.The Greek scientific and local community opposed using the denomination Macedonian to refer to the language in light of the Greek-Macedonian naming dispute.", "Instead, the language is often called \"Slavic\", \"Slavomacedonian\" (translated to \"Macedonian Slavic\" in English), ''makedonski'', ''makedoniski'' (\"Macedonian\"), ''slaviká'' (Greek: \"Slavic\"), ''dópia'' or ''entópia'' (Greek: \"local/indigenous language\"), ''balgàrtzki'' (Bulgarian) or \"Macedonian\" in some parts of the region of Kastoria, ''bògartski'' (\"Bulgarian\") in some parts of Dolna Prespa along with ''naši'' (\"our own\") and ''stariski'' (\"old\").", "However, with the Prespa agreement signed in June 2018 and ratified by the Greek Parliament on 25 January 2019, Greece officially recognized the name \"Macedonian\" for the language.", "Additionally, on 27 July 2022, in a landmark ruling, the Centre for the Macedonian Language in Greece was officially registered as a non-governmental organization.", "This is the first time that a cultural organization promoting the Macedonian language has been legally approved in Greece and the first legal recognition of the Macedonian language in Greece since at least 1928." ], [ "Sample text", "The following is the Lord's Prayer in standard Macedonian.", ":'''Оче наш''' (Cyrillic alphabet):Оче наш, кој си на небесата,:да се свети името Твое,:да дојде царството Твое,:да биде волјата Твоја,:како на небото, така и на земјата;:лебот наш насушен дај ни го денес:и прости ни ги долговите наши:како и ние што им ги проштеваме на нашите должници;:и не нѐ воведувај во искушение,:но избави нѐ од лукавиот:Зашто Твое е Царството и Силата и Славата, во вечни векови.:Амин!", ":'''Oče naš''' (Romanized version):''Oče naš, koj si na nebesata'':''da se sveti imeto Tvoe,'':''da dojde carstvoto Tvoe,'':''da bide voljata Tvoja,'':''kako na neboto, taka i na zemjata;'':''lebot naš nasušen daj ni go denes'':''i prosti ni gi dolgovite naši'':''kako i nie što im gi proštevame na našite dolžnici'':''I ne nè voveduvaj vo iskušenie,'':''no izbavi nè od lukaviot.", "'':''Zašto Tvoe e Carstvoto i Silata i Slavata, vo večni vekovi.'':''Amin!''" ], [ "See also", "* Romanisation of Macedonian* Abstand and ausbau languages" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", ";Books* * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * ;Journal articles**** * * * * *" ], [ "External links", "* Институт за македонски јазик, \"Крсте Петков Мисирков\" – Institute for Macedonian language \"Krste Misirkov\", the main regulatory body of the Macedonian language (in Macedonian)* Дигитален речник на македонскиот јазик – Online dictionary of the Macedonian language* * ***" ] ]
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[ [ "Municipality" ], [ "Introduction", "The Ponce City Hall, in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, is the seat of the government for both the city and the surrounding ''barrios'' making up the municipality.city municipalities in SloveniaA '''municipality''' is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.The term ''municipality'' may also mean the governing body of a given municipality.", "A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district.The English word is derived from French , which in turn derives from the Latin , based on the word for social contract (), referring originally to the Latin communities that supplied Rome with troops in exchange for their own incorporation into the Roman state (granting Roman citizenship to the inhabitants) while permitting the communities to retain their own local governments (a limited autonomy).A municipality can be any political jurisdiction, from a sovereign state such as the Principality of Monaco, to a small village such as West Hampton Dunes, New York.The territory over which a municipality has jurisdiction may encompass:* only one populated place such as a city, town, or village* several such places (e.g., early jurisdictions in the U.S. state of New Jersey (1798–1899) as townships governing several villages, municipalities of Mexico, municipalities of Colombia)* only parts of such places, sometimes boroughs of a city, such as the 34 municipalities of Santiago, Chile." ], [ "Political powers", "Powers of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state.", "Municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state.", "In some European countries, such as Germany, municipalities have the constitutional right to supply public services through municipally-owned public utility companies." ], [ "Terms in various countries", "New York City as well as its composite five boroughs are all municipalities.alt=A map with five insular regions of different colors.A city or town municipalities (red-colored) with other non-town municipalities in Finland (2020)=== Municipality ===Terms cognate with \"municipality\", mostly referring to territory or political structure, are Spanish '''' (Spain) and '''' (Chile), Catalan '''', Portuguese .", "* In Brazil, a ''município'' is the local government, recognized by the Brazilian Federal Constitution and established through state constitutions.", "It is the smallest territorial division holding executive and legislative powers.", "Since the Constitution of 1988, all ''municípios'' are members of the federation.", "Colloquially, the local population uses the terms ''municipality'' and ''city'' interchangeably, although the constitution defines \"city\" as the seat of the municipality.=== Commune ===In many countries, terms cognate with \"commune\" are used, referring to the community living in the area and the common interest.", "These include terms:* in Romance languages, such as French '''' (France, French-speaking areas of Belgium and Switzerland, French-speaking countries of Africa, e.g.", "Benin), Italian '''' (Italy), Romanian '''' (Romania), and Spanish '''' (Chile);* in Germanic languages such as German '''' (in political parlance), Swedish '''' (Sweden), Faroese '''' (Faroe Islands), Norwegian, Danish '''' (Norway, Denmark);* the more remote cognates '''' in Dutch (Netherlands), '''' in Luxembourgish (Luxembourg) and '''' in German (the official term; Germany);* Finnish '''' (Finland).", "* Ukrainian ''''.", "* and Polish ''''.", "The same terms \"Gemeente\" (Dutch) or \"Gemeinde\" (German) may be used for church congregations or parishes, for example, in the German and Dutch Protestant churches.=== Other terms ===In Greece, the word () is used, also meaning 'community'; the word is known in English from the compound ''democracy'' (rule of the people).In some countries, the Spanish term '''', referring to a municipality's administration building, is extended via synecdoche to denote the municipality itself.", "In Moldova and Romania, both ''municipalities'' (''municipiu''; urban administrative units) and ''communes'' (; rural units) exist, and a commune may be part of a municipality.In many countries, comparable entities may exist with various names.=== English-speaking ===*In Australia, the term local government area (LGA) is used in place of the generic municipality.", "Here, the \"LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia.", "Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility.", "\"*In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, usually within general municipal statutes.", "Types of municipalities within Canada include cities, district municipalities, municipal districts, municipalities, parishes, rural municipalities, towns, townships, villages, and villes among others.", "The province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers.", "Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities.", "Nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units.", "*In India, a municipality or Nagar Palika is an urban local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more.", "However, there are exceptions to that, as previously municipalities were constituted in urban centers with population over 20,000, so all the urban bodies which were previously classified as municipality were reclassified as municipality even if their population was under 100,000.Under the Panchayati raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in.", "Generally, smaller district cities and bigger towns have a municipality.", "Municipalities are also a form of local self-government entrusted with some duties and responsibilities, as enshrined in the Constitutional (74th Amendment) Act,1992.", "*In the United Kingdom, the term was used until the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect in 1974 in England and Wales, and until 1975 in Scotland and 1976 in Northern Ireland, \"both for a city or town which is organized for self-government under a municipal corporation, and also for the governing body itself.", "Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, and of superior members, as aldermen and councillors\".", "Since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a ''district'', and in Scotland as a ''council area''.", "A ''district'' may be awarded ''borough'' or ''city'' status, or can retain its ''district'' title.", "*In Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided.", "This is the highest level of regional government in this jurisdiction.", "* In Trinidad and Tobago, \"municipality\" is usually understood as a city, town, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation.", "A town may be awarded borough status and, later on, may be upgraded to city status.", "Chaguanas, San Fernando, Port of Spain, Arima and Point Fortin are the 5 current municipalities in Trinidad and Tobago.", "*In the United States, \"municipality\" is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation.", "In a state law context, some U.S. state codes define \"municipality\" more widely, from the state itself to any political subdivisions given jurisdiction over an area that may include multiple populated places and unpopulated places (see also: Local government in the United States#Municipal governments).=== Chinese-speaking ===*In the People's Republic of China, a direct-administered municipality (直辖市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a province: Beijing Municipality, Chongqing Municipality, Shanghai Municipality, and Tianjin Municipality (see also: Direct-administered municipalities of China).", "*In the Republic of China (Taiwan), a special municipality (直轄市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a province: Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan (see also: Special municipality (Taiwan))." ], [ "Municipalities by country", " Country Term Example Subdivision of Quantity Notes Further readingBrazilBlumenau,Cuiabá,Maceió,Porto Alegrea state (''estado''), which is part of a region (''região'')5,570A municipality usually is divided in the urban part, the city (''cidade''), and the rural part.List of municipalities of BrazilIreland''bardas, contae'' or ''comhairle''Baile Átha Cliatha province (''cúige'') or a county (''contae'')31A municipality usually has authority of the whole county.", "In some cases however, authority is reduced to a subdivision of the county for highly populated regions, especially in Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)Local governments in the Republic of Ireland Italy ''comune''Montefiascone a province (''provincia'') which is part of a region (''regione'').", "7,982 Solely used for subdivisions of larger ''comuni'', especially in Rome; ''municipio'' indicates the city hall; in some case, they are joined in mountain communities (''comunità montane'') List of municipalities of ItalyIndiamunicipality, or ''nagar palika, or nagar parishad''Darjeeling Municipality, English Bazar MunicipalityIt is an administrative unit that governs a specific urban area, such as a town or city.", "Municipalities are established under state legislation and operate under the framework of the relevant state municipal acts.", "Municipalities have their own elected bodies, which typically include a mayor or chairperson and councilors representing different wards or constituencies within the urban area.", "Municipal governance in India Philippines ''bayan'', ''munisipyo'' or ''munisipalidad'' Janiuay a province (''lalawigan'' or ''probinsya'', except for Pateros) 1,488 A municipality is the official name for a town and is divided into barangays.", "Municipalities with a larger population and income may become a city through a city charter.", "Municipalities of the PhilippinesPortugal''município''Lisbon, Sintra, Vila Nova de Gaia18 districts and 2 autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira)308Usually a municipality is named after its largest or historically most important town or city.", "Municipalities are typically much larger than the city or town after which they are named.List of municipalities of Portugal Puerto Rico ''municipio'' Arecibo none 78 municipality consists of an urban area (termed a city or town) plus all of its surrounding ''barrios'' comprising the municipality.", "It has a popularly elected administration and a municipal mayor.", "The seat of the municipal government is located in such urban area and serves the entire municipal jurisdiction.", "Municipalities of Puerto Rico Sweden ''kommun''Stockholm MunicipalityGothenburg MunicipalityMalmö MunicipalityAle Municipalitya region (''region''), the 21 self-governing areas consisting of one or more municipalities)a county (''län''), subdivision of the national state into 21 areas administered by County administrative boards.Regions and counties often follow the same geographical borders.", "290 According to the Instrument of Government, Swedish democracy is realised through a parliamentary form of government and through local selfgovernment.", "Municipalities are independent of the regions and counties in which they are located.Before 1971, municipalities were incorporated as either cities (''stad''), market towns (''köping'') or rural municipalities (''landskommun'').", "The city-label is still used for marketing purposes, but lacks legal status and cannot be used in formal governing documents.", "For resident and land registration purposes, Sweden is also divided in 2 523 districts (''distrikt''), based on the historic Church of Sweden parishes of 1999.The districts lack authority, governing body and agency.", "Municipalities of Sweden*In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ.", "When referring to the territory, the word '''''concelho''''' is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word '''''município''''' is used.", "This differentiation is in use in Portugal and some of its former overseas provinces, but it is no longer in use in Brazil, where '''''município''''' refers to the territorial boundaries and '''''prefeitura''''' is its administrative organ." ], [ "See also", "*Council of European Municipalities and Regions*Council–manager government*Creature of statute*Lists of municipalities*Mayor–council government*Municipal corporation* ''''''''''" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]
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[ [ "Marley Marl" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Marlon Lu'Ree Williams''' (born September 30, 1962), better known by his stage name '''Marley Marl''', is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music.", "Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects located in Queens, New York.", "He performed in local talent shows during the early days of rap music, further fueling his interest.He was also featured on Eric B.", "& Rakim's \"Paid in Full\" from their debut album, which was also recorded in his studio.", "He is credited with influencing a number of hip hop icons such as Biggie Smalls, RZA, DJ Premier, Madlib, and Pete Rock.", "Producer Madlib stated in an interview that Marley was the first producer who inspired him to make beats.", "''Vibe'' magazine wrote that he, \"forever changed the sound of hip-hop with his unique beat barrages.\"" ], [ "Early career", "Marley's career started with an interest in electronica.", "As a young intern at Unique Recording Studios in the early 1980s, he had an opportunity to experiment with very expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI.", "One day during a studio session with an artist named Captain Rock he discovered sampling by accident.", "\"I was actually trying to get a riff off of a record.", "I made a mistake and got the snare in there before the sound came.", "I was truncating the vocal part but the snare was playing with the beat — we was truncating while the beat was playing.", "Thank God the beat was playing, because it probably wouldn't have happened if the beat wasn't playing.", "So I was playing it and the snare sounded better than the snare that I had from the drum machine when I was popping it.", "\"A short time later pioneering hip-hop radio DJ Mr. Magic heard Marley Marl's remix of Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals, leading to Marley becoming his DJ.", "They eventually started the hip-hop collective the Juice Crew together in 1983.1986 saw the foundation of Cold Chillin' Records, where Marley served as in-house producer for many projects.", "He earned $250,000 per year for his production work.", "The label was also home to many Juice Crew artists.Marley caught his big break in 1984, with artist Roxanne Shante's hit \"Roxanne's Revenge\".", "In a 2008 interview Shante noted how seriously he took recording despite his limited setup.", "\"We'd be recording in his living room on a reel-to-reel and four-tracks.", "I really just wanted to go to the mall after one take, but Marley always made me do it again.", "\"Another significant early record was 1985's \"Marley Marl Scratch\" featuring MC Shan.", "The song was recorded on a four-track cassette recorder and Shan used a mic with a missing ball to record his lyrics.Several of his early record feature inventive use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.", "On MC Shan's 1986 Pop Art single \"The Bridge', which later appeared on his 1987 album ''Down By Law'', Marley used the 808 pulse to trigger different samplers.", "According to Biz Markie, the button on Marley's 808 stuck during the recording of his hit \"Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz\", leading to sound heard on the record today.", "Juice Crew member Big Daddy Kane praised his ability to pair 808 drum sounds with sampled drums.", "\"Regardless of how clean or brand-new the record was that he was sampling, or light the production may have been, he always gave it a really gritty feel when he sampled it.", "He always put the 808 to it and gave it a heavy bottom and warm feel.", "\"In the late 1980s, the Juice Crew gained increased attention from mainstream publications.", "''Spin'' magazine wrote, \"they've produced some of the genre's toughest, most uncompromising music.\"", "At the time Marley began a streak of producing entire albums for several Juice Crew members.", "He produced all of the tracks on Craig G's ''The Kingpin'' (1989), Big Daddy Kane's ''Long Live The Kane'' (1988)'','' Biz Markie's ''Goin' Off'' (1988), Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's ''Road to the Riches'' (1989), MC Shan's ''Down By Law'' (1987) and ''Born to Be Wild'' (1988), and Roxanne Shante's ''Bad Sister'' (1989).In 1988, he produced the Juice Crew posse cut \"The Symphony\" by using a Hal Jackson record from the WBLS record library as a sample source." ], [ "Post-Juice Crew and Cold Chillin'", "In 1996, Marley filed a suit against Cold Chillin' for unpaid royalties.In 2007 he produced the entire ''Hip Hop Lives'' album for former rival KRS-One." ], [ "Discography", "=== Studio albums ===* ''In Control, Volume 1'' (1988)* ''In Control Volume II (For Your Steering Pleasure)'' (1991)* ''Hip-Hop Dictionary'' (2000)* ''Re-Entry'' (2001)=== Collaboration albums ===* ''Hip Hop Lives'' (with KRS-One) (2007)* ''Operation Take Back Hip-Hop'' (with Craig G) (2008)=== Compilations ===* ''House of Hits'' (1995)* ''Best of Cold Chillin'' (2001)* ''Marley Marl's House of Hits'' (released 2007)* ''Hip Hop's Hero w/ Nikal Fieldz'' (released 2010)" ], [ "Popular culture", "Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track \"Juicy\" as being one of Smalls' early influences." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* AllMusic biography* Facebook page* *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Metal" ], [ "Introduction", "Iron, shown here as fragments and a 1 cm3 cube, is an example of a chemical element that is a metal.A metal in the form of a gravy boat made from stainless steel, an alloy largely composed of iron, carbon, and chromiumA '''metal''' () is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well.", "Metals are typically ductile (can be drawn into wires) and malleable (they can be hammered into thin sheets).", "These properties are the result of the ''metallic bond'' between the atoms or molecules of the metal.A metal may be a chemical element such as iron; an alloy such as stainless steel; or a molecular compound such as polymeric sulfur nitride.In physics, a metal is generally regarded as any substance capable of conducting electricity at a temperature of absolute zero.", "Many elements and compounds that are not normally classified as metals become metallic under high pressures.", "For example, the nonmetal iodine gradually becomes a metal at a pressure of between 40 and 170 thousand times atmospheric pressure.", "Equally, some materials regarded as metals can become nonmetals.", "Sodium, for example, becomes a nonmetal at pressure of just under two million times atmospheric pressure, though at even higher pressures it is expected to become a metal again.In chemistry, two elements that would otherwise qualify (in physics) as brittle metals—arsenic and antimony—are commonly instead recognised as metalloids due to their chemistry (predominantly non-metallic for arsenic, and balanced between metallicity and nonmetallicity for antimony).", "Around 95 of the 118 elements in the periodic table are metals (or are likely to be such).", "The number is inexact as the boundaries between metals, nonmetals, and metalloids fluctuate slightly due to a lack of universally accepted definitions of the categories involved.In astrophysics the term \"metal\" is cast more widely to refer to all chemical elements in a star that are heavier than helium, and not just traditional metals.", "In this sense the first four \"metals\" collecting in stellar cores through nucleosynthesis are carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and neon, all of which are strictly non-metals in chemistry.", "A star fuses lighter atoms, mostly hydrogen and helium, into heavier atoms over its lifetime.", "Used in that sense, the metallicity of an astronomical object is the proportion of its matter made up of the heavier chemical elements.Metals, as chemical elements, comprise 25% of the Earth's crust and are present in many aspects of modern life.", "The strength and resilience of some metals has led to their frequent use in, for example, high-rise building and bridge construction, as well as most vehicles, many home appliances, tools, pipes, and railroad tracks.", "Precious metals were historically used as coinage, but in the modern era, coinage metals have extended to at least 23 of the chemical elements.The history of refined metals is thought to begin with the use of copper about 11,000 years ago.", "Gold, silver, iron (as meteoric iron), lead, and brass were likewise in use before the first known appearance of bronze in the fifth millennium BCE.", "Subsequent developments include the production of early forms of steel; the discovery of sodium—the first light metal—in 1809; the rise of modern alloy steels; and, since the end of World War II, the development of more sophisticated alloys." ], [ "Properties", "===Form and structure===alt=Gallium crystals on a tableMetals are shiny and lustrous, at least when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured.", "Sheets of metal thicker than a few micrometres appear opaque, but gold leaf transmits green light.The solid or liquid state of metals largely originates in the capacity of the metal atoms involved to readily lose their outer shell electrons.", "Broadly, the forces holding an individual atom's outer shell electrons in place are weaker than the attractive forces on the same electrons arising from interactions between the atoms in the solid or liquid metal.", "The electrons involved become delocalised and the atomic structure of a metal can effectively be visualised as a collection of atoms embedded in a cloud of relatively mobile electrons.", "This type of interaction is called a metallic bond.", "The strength of metallic bonds for different elemental metals reaches a maximum around the center of the transition metal series, as these elements have large numbers of delocalized electrons.Although most elemental metals have higher densities than most nonmetals, there is a wide variation in their densities, lithium being the least dense (0.534 g/cm3) and osmium (22.59 g/cm3) the most dense.", "(Some of the 6d transition metals are expected to be denser than osmium, but predictions on their densities vary widely in the literature, and in any case their known isotopes are too unstable for bulk production to be possible.)", "Magnesium, aluminium and titanium are light metals of significant commercial importance.", "Their respective densities of 1.7, 2.7, and 4.5 g/cm3 can be compared to those of the older structural metals, like iron at 7.9 and copper at 8.9 g/cm3.An iron ball would thus weigh about as much as three aluminum balls of equal volume.A metal rod with a hot-worked eyelet.", "alt=Multiple metal rods, one of which has a glowing hot eyeletMetals are typically malleable and ductile, deforming under stress without cleaving.", "The nondirectional nature of metallic bonding is thought to contribute significantly to the ductility of most metallic solids.", "In contrast, in an ionic compound like table salt, when the planes of an ionic bond slide past one another, the resultant change in location shifts ions of the same charge closer, resulting in the cleavage of the crystal.", "Such a shift is not observed in a covalently bonded crystal, such as a diamond, where fracture and crystal fragmentation occurs.", "Reversible elastic deformation in metals can be described by Hooke's Law for restoring forces, where the stress is linearly proportional to the strain.Heat or forces larger than a metal's elastic limit may cause a permanent (irreversible) deformation, known as plastic deformation or plasticity.", "An applied force may be a tensile (pulling) force, a compressive (pushing) force, or a shear, bending, or torsion (twisting) force.", "A temperature change may affect the movement or displacement of structural defects in the metal such as grain boundaries, point vacancies, line and screw dislocations, stacking faults and twins in both crystalline and non-crystalline metals.", "Internal slip, creep, and metal fatigue may ensue.The atoms of metallic substances are typically arranged in one of three common crystal structures, namely body-centered cubic (bcc), face-centered cubic (fcc), and hexagonal close-packed (hcp).", "In bcc, each atom is positioned at the center of a cube of eight others.", "In fcc and hcp, each atom is surrounded by twelve others, but the stacking of the layers differs.", "Some metals adopt different structures depending on the temperature.File:Cubic-body-centered.svg|Body-centered cubic crystal structure, with a 2-atom unit cell, as found in e.g.", "chromium, iron, and tungstenFile:Cubic-face-centered.svg|Face-centered cubic crystal structure, with a 4-atom unit cell, as found in e.g.", "aluminum, copper, and goldFile:Hexagonal close packed.svg|Hexagonal close-packed crystal structure, with a 6-atom unit cell, as found in e.g.", "titanium, cobalt, and zincThe unit cell for each crystal structure is the smallest group of atoms which has the overall symmetry of the crystal, and from which the entire crystalline lattice can be built up by repetition in three dimensions.", "In the case of the body-centered cubic crystal structure shown above, the unit cell is made up of the central atom plus one-eight of each of the eight corner atoms.===Electrical and thermal===The energy states available to electrons in different kinds of solids at thermodynamic equilibrium.", "Here, height is energy while width is the density of available states for a certain energy in the material listed.", "The shading follows the Fermi–Dirac distribution ('''black'''=all states filled, '''white'''=no state filled).", "The Fermi level ''E''F is the energy level at which the electrons are in a position to interact with energy levels above them.", "In metals and semimetals the Fermi level ''E''F lies inside at least one band of energy states.", "In insulators and semiconductors the Fermi level is inside a band gap; however, in semiconductors the bands are near enough to the Fermi level to be thermally populated with electrons or holes.The electronic structure of metals means they are relatively good conductors of electricity.", "Electrons in matter can only have fixed rather than variable energy levels, and in a metal the energy levels of the electrons in its electron cloud, at least to some degree, correspond to the energy levels at which electrical conduction can occur.", "In a semiconductor like silicon or a nonmetal like sulfur there is an energy gap between the electrons in the substance and the energy level at which electrical conduction can occur.", "Consequently, semiconductors and nonmetals are relatively poor conductors.The elemental metals have electrical conductivity values of from 6.9 × 103 S/cm for manganese to 6.3 × 105 S/cm for silver.", "In contrast, a semiconducting metalloid such as boron has an electrical conductivity 1.5 × 10−6 S/cm.", "With one exception, metallic elements reduce their electrical conductivity when heated.", "Plutonium increases its electrical conductivity when heated in the temperature range of around −175 to +125 °C.Metals are relatively good conductors of heat.", "The electrons in a metal's electron cloud are highly mobile and easily able to pass on heat-induced vibrational energy.The contribution of a metal's electrons to its heat capacity and thermal conductivity, and the electrical conductivity of the metal itself can be calculated from the free electron model.", "However, this does not take into account the detailed structure of the metal's ion lattice.", "Taking into account the positive potential caused by the arrangement of the ion cores enables consideration of the electronic band structure and binding energy of a metal.", "Various mathematical models are applicable, the simplest being the nearly free electron model.===Chemical===Metals are usually inclined to form cations through electron loss.", "Most will react with oxygen in the air to form oxides over various timescales (potassium burns in seconds while iron rusts over years).", "Some others, like palladium, platinum, and gold, do not react with the atmosphere at all; gold even forms compounds where it gains an electron (aurides, e.g.", "caesium auride).", "The oxides of metals are often basic, as opposed to those of nonmetals, which are acidic or neutral.", "Exceptions are largely oxides with very high oxidation states such as CrO3, Mn2O7, and OsO4, which have strictly acidic reactions; and oxides of the less electropositive metals such as BeO, Al2O3, and PbO, which can display both basic and acidic properties.", "These are termed amphoteric oxides.Painting, anodizing, or plating metals are good ways to prevent their corrosion.", "However, a more reactive metal in the electrochemical series must be chosen for coating, especially when chipping of the coating is expected.", "Water and the two metals form an electrochemical cell and, if the coating is less reactive than the underlying metal, the coating actually ''promotes'' corrosion." ], [ "Periodic table distribution", "The elements that form metallic structures under ordinary conditions are shown in yellow on the periodic table below.", "The remaining elements either form giant covalent structures (light blue), molecular covalent structures (dark blue), or remain as single atoms (violet).", "Astatine (At), francium (Fr), and the elements from fermium (Fm) onwards are shown in gray because they are extremely radioactive and have never been produced in bulk.", "Theoretical and experimental evidence suggests that almost all these uninvestigated elements should be metals, though there is some doubt for oganesson (Og).The situation changes with pressure: at extremely high pressures, all elements (and indeed all substances) are expected to metallize.", "Arsenic (As) has both a stable metallic allotrope and a metastable semiconducting allotrope at standard conditions.Elements near the border between metals and nonmetals often have intermediate chemical behavior.", "As such, a category of metalloids is often used for such in-between elements, but there is no consensus in the literature as to which elements should qualify." ], [ "Alloys", "babbitt metal, an alloy of tin, antimony, and copper, used in bearings to reduce friction|alt=Three bars of babbitt metalAn alloy is a substance having metallic properties and which is composed of two or more elements at least one of which is a metal.", "An alloy may have a variable or fixed composition.", "For example, gold and silver form an alloy in which the proportions of gold or silver can be freely adjusted; titanium and silicon form an alloy TiSi2 in which the ratio of the two components is fixed (also known as an intermetallic compound).A sculpture cast in alt=A metal sculptureMost pure metals are either too soft, brittle, or chemically reactive for practical use.", "Combining different ratios of metals as alloys modifies the properties of pure metals to produce desirable characteristics.", "The aim of making alloys is generally to make them less brittle, harder, resistant to corrosion, or have a more desirable color and luster.", "Of all the metallic alloys in use today, the alloys of iron (steel, stainless steel, cast iron, tool steel, alloy steel) make up the largest proportion both by quantity and commercial value.", "Iron alloyed with various proportions of carbon gives low-, mid-, and high-carbon steels, with increasing carbon levels reducing ductility and toughness.", "The addition of silicon will produce cast irons, while the addition of chromium, nickel, and molybdenum to carbon steels (more than 10%) results in stainless steels.Other significant metallic alloys are those of aluminum, titanium, copper, and magnesium.", "Copper alloys have been known since prehistory—bronze gave the Bronze Age its name—and have many applications today, most importantly in electrical wiring.", "The alloys of the other three metals have been developed relatively recently; due to their chemical reactivity they need electrolytic extraction processes.", "The alloys of aluminum, titanium, and magnesium are valued for their high strength-to-weight ratios; magnesium can also provide electromagnetic shielding.", "These materials are ideal for situations where high strength-to-weight ratio is more important than material cost, such as in aerospace and some automotive applications.Alloys specially designed for highly demanding applications, such as jet engines, may contain more than ten elements." ], [ "Categories", "Metals can be categorised according to their physical or chemical properties.", "Categories described in the subsections below include ferrous and non-ferrous metals; brittle metals and refractory metals; white metals; heavy and light metals; and base, noble, and precious metals.", "The ''Metallic elements'' table in this section categorises the elemental metals on the basis of their chemical properties into alkali and alkaline earth metals; transition and post-transition metals; and lanthanides and actinides.", "Other categories are possible, depending on the criteria for inclusion.", "For example, the ferromagnetic metals—those metals that are magnetic at room temperature—are iron, cobalt, and nickel.===Ferrous and non-ferrous metals===The term \"ferrous\" is derived from the Latin word meaning \"containing iron\".", "This can include pure iron, such as wrought iron, or an alloy such as steel.", "Ferrous metals are often magnetic, but not exclusively.", "Non-ferrous metals and alloys lack appreciable amounts of iron.===Brittle metal===While nearly all metals are malleable or ductile, a few—beryllium, chromium, manganese, gallium, and bismuth—are brittle.", "Arsenic and antimony, if admitted as metals, are brittle.", "Low values of the ratio of bulk elastic modulus to shear modulus (Pugh's criterion) are indicative of intrinsic brittleness.===Refractory metal===In materials science, metallurgy, and engineering, a refractory metal is a metal that is extraordinarily resistant to heat and wear.", "Which metals belong to this category varies; the most common definition includes niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten, and rhenium.", "They all have melting points above 2000 °C, and a high hardness at room temperature.File:Niobium crystals and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Niobium crystals and a 1 cm3 anodized niobium cube for comparisonFile:Molybdenum crystaline fragment and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Molybdenum crystals and a 1 cm3 molybdenum cube for comparisonFile:Tantalum single crystal and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Tantalum single crystal, some crystalline fragments, and a 1 cm3 tantalum cube for comparisonFile:Wolfram evaporated crystals and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Tungsten rods with evaporated crystals, partially oxidized with colorful tarnish, and a 1 cm3 tungsten cube for comparisonFile:Rhenium single crystal bar and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Rhenium single crystal, a remelted bar, and a 1 cm3 rhenium cube for comparison===White metal===A white metal is any of range of white-coloured metals (or their alloys) with relatively low melting points.", "Such metals include zinc, cadmium, tin, antimony (here counted as a metal), lead, and bismuth, some of which are quite toxic.", "In Britain, the fine art trade uses the term \"white metal\" in auction catalogues to describe foreign silver items which do not carry British Assay Office marks, but which are nonetheless understood to be silver and are priced accordingly.===Heavy and light metals===A heavy metal is any relatively dense metal or metalloid.", "More specific definitions have been proposed, but none have obtained widespread acceptance.", "Some heavy metals have niche uses, or are notably toxic; some are essential in trace amounts.", "All other metals are light metals.===Base, noble, and precious metals===In chemistry, the term ''base metal'' is used informally to refer to a metal that is easily oxidized or corroded, such as reacting easily with dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form a metal chloride and hydrogen.", "Examples include iron, nickel, lead, and zinc.", "Copper is considered a base metal as it is oxidized relatively easily, although it does not react with HCl.Rhodium, a noble metal, shown here as 1 g of powder, a 1 g pressed cylinder, and a 1 g pellet|alt=Rhodium powder, a rhodium cylinder, and a rhodium pellet in a rowThe term noble metal is commonly used in opposition to ''base metal''.", "Noble metals are resistant to corrosion or oxidation, unlike most base metals.", "They tend to be precious metals, often due to perceived rarity.", "Examples include gold, platinum, silver, rhodium, iridium, and palladium.In alchemy and numismatics, the term base metal is contrasted with precious metal, that is, those of high economic value.A longtime goal of the alchemists was the transmutation of base metals into precious metals including such coinage metals as silver and gold.", "Most coins today are made of base metals with low intrinsic value; in the past, coins frequently derived their value primarily from their precious metal content.Chemically, the precious metals (like the noble metals) are less reactive than most elements, have high luster and high electrical conductivity.", "Historically, precious metals were important as currency, but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities.", "Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an ISO 4217 currency code.", "The best-known precious metals are gold and silver.", "While both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewelry, and coinage.", "Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded.The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use, but also by their role as investments and a store of value.", "Palladium and platinum, as of fall 2018, were valued at about three quarters the price of gold.", "Silver is substantially less expensive than these metals, but is often traditionally considered a precious metal in light of its role in coinage and jewelry.===Valve metals===In electrochemistry, a valve metal is a metal which passes current in only one direction." ], [ "Lifecycle", "===Formation===:''This sub-section deals with the formation of periodic table elemental metals since these form the basis of metallic materials, as defined in this article.", "''Metals up to the vicinity of iron (in the periodic table) are largely made via stellar nucleosynthesis.", "In this process, lighter elements from hydrogen to silicon undergo successive fusion reactions inside stars, releasing light and heat and forming heavier elements with higher atomic numbers.Heavier metals are not usually formed this way since fusion reactions involving such nuclei would consume rather than release energy.", "Rather, they are largely synthesised (from elements with a lower atomic number) by neutron capture, with the two main modes of this repetitive capture being the s-process and the r-process.", "In the s-process (\"s\" stands for \"slow\"), singular captures are separated by years or decades, allowing the less stable nuclei to beta decay, while in the r-process (\"rapid\"), captures happen faster than nuclei can decay.", "Therefore, the s-process takes a more-or-less clear path: for example, stable cadmium-110 nuclei are successively bombarded by free neutrons inside a star until they form cadmium-115 nuclei which are unstable and decay to form indium-115 (which is nearly stable, with a half-life times the age of the universe).", "These nuclei capture neutrons and form indium-116, which is unstable, and decays to form tin-116, and so on.", "In contrast, there is no such path in the r-process.", "The s-process stops at bismuth due to the short half-lives of the next two elements, polonium and astatine, which decay to bismuth or lead.", "The r-process is so fast it can skip this zone of instability and go on to create heavier elements such as thorium and uranium.Metals condense in planets as a result of stellar evolution and destruction processes.", "Stars lose much of their mass when it is ejected late in their lifetimes, and sometimes thereafter as a result of a neutron star merger, thereby increasing the abundance of elements heavier than helium in the interstellar medium.", "When gravitational attraction causes this matter to coalesce and collapse new stars and planets are formed.===Abundance and occurrence===A sample of alt=A sample of diasporeThe Earth's crust is made of approximately 25% of metals by weight, of which 80% are light metals such as sodium, magnesium, and aluminium.", "Nonmetals (~75%) make up the rest of the crust.", "Despite the overall scarcity of some heavier metals such as copper, they can become concentrated in economically extractable quantities as a result of mountain building, erosion, or other geological processes.Metals are primarily found as lithophiles (rock-loving) or chalcophiles (ore-loving).", "Lithophile metals are mainly the s-block elements, the more reactive of the d-block elements, and the f-block elements.", "They have a strong affinity for oxygen and mostly exist as relatively low-density silicate minerals.", "Chalcophile metals are mainly the less reactive d-block elements, and the period 4–6 p-block metals.", "They are usually found in (insoluble) sulfide minerals.", "Being denser than the lithophiles, hence sinking lower into the crust at the time of its solidification, the chalcophiles tend to be less abundant than the lithophiles.On the other hand, gold is a siderophile, or iron-loving element.", "It does not readily form compounds with either oxygen or sulfur.", "At the time of the Earth's formation, and as the most noble (inert) of metals, gold sank into the core due to its tendency to form high-density metallic alloys.", "Consequently, it is a relatively rare metal.", "Some other (less) noble metals—molybdenum, rhenium, the platinum group metals (ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum), germanium, and tin—can be counted as siderophiles but only in terms of their primary occurrence in the Earth (core, mantle, and crust), rather the crust.", "These metals otherwise occur in the crust, in small quantities, chiefly as chalcophiles (less so in their native form).The rotating fluid outer core of the Earth's interior, which is composed mostly of iron, is thought to be the source of Earth's protective magnetic field.", "The core lies above Earth's solid inner core and below its mantle.", "If it could be rearranged into a column having a footprint it would have a height of nearly 700 light years.", "The magnetic field shields the Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind, and cosmic rays that would otherwise strip away the upper atmosphere (including the ozone layer that limits the transmission of ultraviolet radiation).===Extraction===Metals are often extracted from the Earth by means of mining ores that are rich sources of the requisite elements, such as bauxite.", "Ore is located by prospecting techniques, followed by the exploration and examination of deposits.", "Mineral sources are generally divided into surface mines, which are mined by excavation using heavy equipment, and subsurface mines.", "In some cases, the sale price of the metal(s) involved make it economically feasible to mine lower concentration sources.Once the ore is mined, the metals must be extracted, usually by chemical or electrolytic reduction.", "Pyrometallurgy uses high temperatures to convert ore into raw metals, while hydrometallurgy employs aqueous chemistry for the same purpose.", "The methods used depend on the metal and their contaminants.When a metal ore is an ionic compound of that metal and a non-metal, the ore must usually be smelted—heated with a reducing agent—to extract the pure metal.", "Many common metals, such as iron, are smelted using carbon as a reducing agent.", "Some metals, such as aluminum and sodium, have no commercially practical reducing agent, and are extracted using electrolysis instead.Sulfide ores are not reduced directly to the metal but are roasted in air to convert them to oxides.===Uses===A neodymium compound alloy magnet of composition Nd2Fe14B on a nickel-iron bracket from a computer hard drive|alt=A metal bracketMetals are present in nearly all aspects of modern life.", "Iron, a heavy metal, may be the most common as it accounts for 90% of all refined metals; aluminum, a light metal, is the next most commonly refined metal.", "Pure iron may be the cheapest metallic element of all at cost of about US$0.07 per gram.", "Its ores are widespread; it is easy to refine; and the technology involved has been developed over hundreds of years.", "Cast iron is even cheaper, at a fraction of US$0.01 per gram, because there is no need for subsequent purification.", "Platinum, at a cost of about $27 per gram, may be the most ubiquitous given its very high melting point, resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, and durability.", "It is said to be found in, or used to produce, 20% of all consumer goods.", "Polonium is likely to be the most expensive metal that is traded, at a notional cost of about $100,000,000 per gram, due to its scarcity and micro-scale production.Some metals and metal alloys possess high structural strength per unit mass, making them useful materials for carrying large loads or resisting impact damage.", "Metal alloys can be engineered to have high resistance to shear, torque, and deformation.", "However the same metal can also be vulnerable to fatigue damage through repeated use or from sudden stress failure when a load capacity is exceeded.", "The strength and resilience of metals has led to their frequent use in high-rise building and bridge construction, as well as most vehicles, many appliances, tools, pipes, and railroad tracks.Metals are good conductors, making them valuable in electrical appliances and for carrying an electric current over a distance with little energy lost.", "Electrical power grids rely on metal cables to distribute electricity.", "Home electrical systems, for the most part, are wired with copper wire for its good conducting properties.The thermal conductivity of metals is useful for containers to heat materials over a flame.", "Metals are also used for heat sinks to protect sensitive equipment from overheating.The high reflectivity of some metals enables their use in mirrors, including precision astronomical instruments, and adds to the aesthetics of metallic jewelry.Some metals have specialized uses; mercury is a liquid at room temperature and is used in switches to complete a circuit when it flows over the switch contacts.", "Radioactive metals such as uranium and plutonium are fuel for nuclear power plants, which produce energy via nuclear fission.", "Shape-memory alloys are used for applications such as pipes, fasteners, and vascular stents.Metals can be doped with foreign molecules—organic, inorganic, biological, and polymers.", "This doping entails the metal with new properties that are induced by the guest molecules.", "Applications in catalysis, medicine, electrochemical cells, corrosion and more have been developed.===Recycling===alt=A pile of compacted steel scrapsDemand for metals is closely linked to economic growth given their use in infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, and consumer goods.", "During the 20th century, the variety of metals used in society grew rapidly.", "Today, the development of major nations, such as China and India, and technological advances, are fuelling ever more demand.", "The result is that mining activities are expanding, and more and more of the world's metal stocks are above ground in use, rather than below ground as unused reserves.", "An example is the in-use stock of copper.", "Between 1932 and 1999, copper in use in the U.S. rose from 73 g to 238 g per person.Metals are inherently recyclable, so in principle, can be used over and over again, minimizing these negative environmental impacts and saving energy.", "For example, 95% of the energy used to make aluminum from bauxite ore is saved by using recycled material.Globally, metal recycling is generally low.", "In 2010, the International Resource Panel, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme published reports on metal stocks that exist within society and their recycling rates.", "The authors of the report observed that the metal stocks in society can serve as huge mines above ground.", "They warned that the recycling rates of some rare metals used in applications such as mobile phones, battery packs for hybrid cars and fuel cells are so low that unless future end-of-life recycling rates are dramatically stepped up these critical metals will become unavailable for use in modern technology." ], [ "Biological interactions", "The role of metallic elements in the evolution of cell biochemistry has been reviewed, including a detailed section on the role of calcium in redox enzymes.One or more of the elements iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc are essential to all higher forms of life.", "Cobalt is an essential component of vitamin B12.Compounds of all other transition elements and post-transition elements are toxic to a greater or lesser extent, with few exceptions such as certain compounds of antimony and tin.", "Potential sources of metal poisoning include mining, tailings, industrial wastes, agricultural runoff, occupational exposure, paints, and treated timber." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory===Copper, which occurs in native form, may have been the first metal discovered given its distinctive appearance, heaviness, and malleability compared to other stones or pebbles.", "Gold, silver, and iron (as meteoric iron), and lead were likewise discovered in prehistory.", "Forms of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc made by concurrently smelting the ores of these metals, originate from this period (although pure zinc was not isolated until the 13th century).", "The malleability of the solid metals led to the first attempts to craft metal ornaments, tools, and weapons.", "Meteoric iron containing nickel was discovered from time to time and, in some respects this was superior to any industrial steel manufactured up to the 1880s when alloy steels become prominent.File:NatCopper.jpg|Native copperFile:Gold-crystals.jpg|Gold crystalsFile:Silver crystal.jpg|Crystalline silverFile:Widmanstatten hand.jpg|A slice of meteoric ironFile:Lead electrolytic and 1cm3 cube.jpg|alt=Three, dark broccoli shaped clumps of oxidised lead with grossly distended buds, and a cube of lead which has a dull silvery appearance.|oxidised leadnodules and 1 cm3 cubeFile:Akan MHNT.AC.AF.29.jpg|A brass weight (35 g)===Antiquity===The Artemision Bronze showing either Poseidon or Zeus, c. 460 BCE, National Archaeological Museum, Athens.", "The figure is more than 2 m in height.|alt=Refer to captionThe discovery of bronze (an alloy of copper with arsenic or tin) enabled people to create metal objects which were harder and more durable than previously possible.", "Bronze tools, weapons, armor, and building materials such as decorative tiles were harder and more durable than their stone and copper (\"Chalcolithic\") predecessors.", "Initially, bronze was made of copper and arsenic (forming arsenic bronze) by smelting naturally or artificially mixed ores of copper and arsenic.", "The earliest artifacts so far known come from the Iranian plateau in the fifth millennium BCE.", "It was only later that tin was used, becoming the major non-copper ingredient of bronze in the late third millennium BCE.", "Pure tin itself was first isolated in 1800 BCE by Chinese and Japanese metalworkers.Mercury was known to ancient Chinese and Indians before 2000 BCE, and found in Egyptian tombs dating from 1500 BCE.The earliest known production of steel, an iron-carbon alloy, is seen in pieces of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehöyük) and are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BCE.From about 500 BCE sword-makers of Toledo, Spain, were making early forms of alloy steel by adding a mineral called wolframite, which contained tungsten and manganese, to iron ore (and carbon).", "The resulting Toledo steel came to the attention of Rome when used by Hannibal in the Punic Wars.", "It soon became the basis for the weaponry of Roman legions; such swords were, \"stronger in composition than any existing sword and, because… they would not break, provided a psychological advantage to the Roman soldier.", "\"In pre-Columbian America, objects made of tumbaga, an alloy of copper and gold, started being produced in Panama and Costa Rica between 300 and 500 CE.", "Small metal sculptures were common and an extensive range of tumbaga (and gold) ornaments comprised the usual regalia of persons of high status.At around the same time indigenous Ecuadorians were combining gold with a naturally-occurring platinum alloy containing small amounts of palladium, rhodium, and iridium, to produce miniatures and masks composed of a white gold-platinum alloy.", "The metal workers involved heated gold with grains of the platinum alloy until the gold melted at which point the platinum group metals became bound within the gold.", "After cooling, the resulting conglomeration was hammered and reheated repeatedly until it became as homogenous as if all of the metals concerned had been melted together (attaining the melting points of the platinum group metals concerned was beyond the technology of the day).File:Tin-2.jpg|A droplet of solidified molten tinFile:Pouring liquid mercury bionerd.jpg|alt=A silvery molasses-like liquid being poured into a circular container with a height equivalent to a smaller coin on its edge|Mercury beingpoured into a petri dishFile:25 litrai en électrum représentant un trépied delphien.jpg|Electrum, a natural alloy of silver and gold, was often used for making coins.", "Shown is the Roman god Apollo, and on the obverse, a Delphi tripod (–305 BCE).File:Passover Plate (4047010755).jpg|A plate made of pewter, an alloy of 85–99% tin and (usually) copper.", "Pewter was first used around the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Near East.File:Museo del Oro - Tolima pectoral.jpg|A pectoral (ornamental breastplate) made of tumbaga, an alloy of gold and copper===Middle Ages===Arabic and medieval alchemists believed that all metals and matter were composed of the principle of sulfur, the father of all metals and carrying the combustible property, and the principle of mercury, the mother of all metals and carrier of the liquidity, fusibility, and volatility properties.", "These principles were not necessarily the common substances sulfur and mercury found in most laboratories.", "This theory reinforced the belief that all metals were destined to become gold in the bowels of the earth through the proper combinations of heat, digestion, time, and elimination of contaminants, all of which could be developed and hastened through the knowledge and methods of alchemy.Arsenic, zinc, antimony, and bismuth became known, although these were at first called semimetals or bastard metals on account of their immalleability.", "All four may have been used incidentally in earlier times without recognising their nature.", "Albertus Magnus is believed to have been the first to isolate arsenic from a compound in 1250, by heating soap together with arsenic trisulfide.", "Metallic zinc, which is brittle if impure, was isolated in India by 1300 AD.", "The first description of a procedure for isolating antimony is in the 1540 book ''De la pirotechnia'' by Vannoccio Biringuccio.", "Bismuth was described by Agricola in ''De Natura Fossilium'' (c. 1546); it had been confused in early times with tin and lead because of its resemblance to those elements.File:Arsen 1a.jpg|Arsenic, sealed in a container to prevent tarnishingFile:Zinc fragment sublimed and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Zinc fragments and a 1 cm3 cubeFile:Antimony-4.jpg|Antimony, showing its brilliant lustreFile:Wismut Kristall und 1cm3 Wuerfel.jpg|Bismuth in crystalline form, with a very thin oxidation layer, and a 1 cm3 bismuth cube===The Renaissance===''alt=The title page of De re metallica, which is written in Latinalt=Refer to captionA disc of highly enriched uranium that was recovered from scrap processed at the Y-12 National Security Complex, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee|alt=A disc of uranium being held by gloved handsalt=Ultrapure cerium under argonThe first systematic text on the arts of mining and metallurgy was ''De la Pirotechnia'' (1540) by Vannoccio Biringuccio, which treats the examination, fusion, and working of metals.Sixteen years later, Georgius Agricola published ''De Re Metallica'' in 1556, a clear and complete account of the profession of mining, metallurgy, and the accessory arts and sciences, as well as qualifying as the greatest treatise on the chemical industry through the sixteenth century.He gave the following description of a metal in his ''De Natura Fossilium'' (1546):Metal is a mineral body, by nature either liquid or somewhat hard.", "The latter may be melted by the heat of the fire, but when it has cooled down again and lost all heat, it becomes hard again and resumes its proper form.", "In this respect it differs from the stone which melts in the fire, for although the latter regain its hardness, yet it loses its pristine form and properties.Traditionally there are six different kinds of metals, namely gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead.", "There are really others, for quicksilver is a metal, although the Alchemists disagree with us on this subject, and bismuth is also.", "The ancient Greek writers seem to have been ignorant of bismuth, wherefore Ammonius rightly states that there are many species of metals, animals, and plants which are unknown to us.", "Stibium when smelted in the crucible and refined has as much right to be regarded as a proper metal as is accorded to lead by writers.", "If when smelted, a certain portion be added to tin, a bookseller's alloy is produced from which the type is made that is used by those who print books on paper.Each metal has its own form which it preserves when separated from those metals which were mixed with it.", "Therefore neither electrum nor Stannum not meaning our tin is of itself a real metal, but rather an alloy of two metals.", "Electrum is an alloy of gold and silver, Stannum of lead and silver.", "And yet if silver be parted from the electrum, then gold remains and not electrum; if silver be taken away from Stannum, then lead remains and not Stannum.Whether brass, however, is found as a native metal or not, cannot be ascertained with any surety.", "We only know of the artificial brass, which consists of copper tinted with the colour of the mineral calamine.", "And yet if any should be dug up, it would be a proper metal.", "Black and white copper seem to be different from the red kind.Metal, therefore, is by nature either solid, as I have stated, or fluid, as in the unique case of quicksilver.But enough now concerning the simple kinds.Platinum, the third precious metal after gold and silver, was discovered in Ecuador during the period 1736 to 1744, by the Spanish astronomer Antonio de Ulloa and his colleague the mathematician Jorge Juan y Santacilia.", "Ulloa was the first person to write a scientific description of the metal, in 1748.In 1789, the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth isolated an oxide of uranium, which he thought was the metal itself.", "Klaproth was subsequently credited as the discoverer of uranium.", "It was not until 1841, that the French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot, prepared the first sample of uranium metal.", "Henri Becquerel subsequently discovered radioactivity in 1896 by using uranium.In the 1790s, Joseph Priestley and the Dutch chemist Martinus van Marum observed the transformative action of metal surfaces on the dehydrogenation of alcohol, a development which subsequently led, in 1831, to the industrial scale synthesis of sulphuric acid using a platinum catalyst.In 1803, cerium was the first of the lanthanide metals to be discovered, in Bastnäs, Sweden by Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger, and independently by Martin Heinrich Klaproth in Germany.", "The lanthanide metals were largely regarded as oddities until the 1960s when methods were developed to more efficiently separate them from one another.", "They have subsequently found uses in cell phones, magnets, lasers, lighting, batteries, catalytic converters, and in other applications enabling modern technologies.Other metals discovered and prepared during this time were cobalt, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, and chromium; and some of the platinum group metals, palladium, osmium, iridium, and rhodium.===Light metals===All metals discovered until 1809 had relatively high densities; their heaviness was regarded as a singularly distinguishing criterion.", "From 1809 onward, light metals such as sodium, potassium, and strontium were isolated.", "Their low densities challenged conventional wisdom as to the nature of metals.", "They behaved chemically as metals however, and were subsequently recognised as such.Aluminium was discovered in 1824 but it was not until 1886 that an industrial large-scale production method was developed.", "Prices of aluminium dropped and aluminium became widely used in jewelry, everyday items, eyeglass frames, optical instruments, tableware, and foil in the 1890s and early 20th century.", "Aluminium's ability to form hard yet light alloys with other metals provided the metal many uses at the time.", "During World War I, major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light strong airframes.", "The most common metal in use for electric power transmission today is aluminium-conductor steel-reinforced.", "Also seeing much use is all-aluminium-alloy conductor.", "Aluminium is used because it has about half the weight of a comparable resistance copper cable (though larger diameter due to lower specific conductivity), as well as being cheaper.", "Copper was more popular in the past and is still in use, especially at lower voltages and for grounding.While pure metallic titanium (99.9%) was first prepared in 1910 it was not used outside the laboratory until 1932.In the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union pioneered the use of titanium in military and submarine applications as part of programs related to the Cold War.", "Starting in the early 1950s, titanium came into use extensively in military aviation, particularly in high-performance jets, starting with aircraft such as the F-100 Super Sabre and Lockheed A-12 and SR-71.Metallic scandium was produced for the first time in 1937.The first pound of 99% pure scandium metal was produced in 1960.Production of aluminium-scandium alloys began in 1971 following a U.S. patent.", "Aluminium-scandium alloys were also developed in the USSR.File:Na (Sodium).jpg|Chunks of sodiumFile:Potassium-2.jpg|Potassium pearls under paraffin oil.", "Size of the largest pearl is 0.5 cm.File:Strontium destilled crystals.jpg|Strontium crystalsFile:Aluminium-4.jpg|Aluminium chunk,2.6 grams, File:Titan-crystal bar.JPG|A bar of titanium crystalsFile:Scandium sublimed dendritic and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Scandium, including a 1 cm3 cube===The age of steel===Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer's Bessemer process in 1855, the raw material for which was pig iron.", "His method let him produce steel in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel came to be used for most purposes for which wrought iron was formerly used.", "The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or ''basic Bessemer process'') was an improvement to the Bessemer process, made by lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus.Due to its high tensile strength and low cost, steel came to be a major component used in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons.In 1872, the Englishmen Clark and Woods patented an alloy that would today be considered a stainless steel.", "The corrosion resistance of iron-chromium alloys had been recognized in 1821 by French metallurgist Pierre Berthier.", "He noted their resistance against attack by some acids and suggested their use in cutlery.", "Metallurgists of the 19th century were unable to produce the combination of low carbon and high chromium found in most modern stainless steels, and the high-chromium alloys they could produce were too brittle to be practical.", "It was not until 1912 that the industrialisation of stainless steel alloys occurred in England, Germany, and the United States.===The last stable metallic elements===By 1900 three metals with atomic numbers less than lead (#82), the heaviest stable metal, remained to be discovered: elements 71, 72, 75.Von Welsbach, in 1906, proved that the old ytterbium also contained a new element (#71), which he named ''cassiopeium''.", "Urbain proved this simultaneously, but his samples were very impure and only contained trace quantities of the new element.", "Despite this, his chosen name ''lutetium'' was adopted.In 1908, Ogawa found element 75 in thorianite but assigned it as element 43 instead of 75 and named it ''nipponium''.", "In 1925 Walter Noddack, Ida Eva Tacke, and Otto Berg announced its separation from gadolinite and gave it the present name, ''rhenium''.Georges Urbain claimed to have found element 72 in rare-earth residues, while Vladimir Vernadsky independently found it in orthite.", "Neither claim was confirmed due to World War I, and neither could be confirmed later, as the chemistry they reported does not match that now known for ''hafnium''.", "After the war, in 1922, Coster and Hevesy found it by X-ray spectroscopic analysis in Norwegian zircon.", "Hafnium was thus the last stable element to be discovered, though rhenium was the last to be correctly recognized.File:Lutetium sublimed dendritic and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Lutetium, including a 1 cm3 cubeFile:Rhenium single crystal bar and 1cm3 cube.jpg|Rhenium, including a 1 cm3 cubeFile:Hf-crystal bar.jpg|Hafnium, in the form of a 1.7 kg barBy the end of World War II scientists had synthesized four post-uranium elements, all of which are radioactive (unstable) metals: neptunium (in 1940), plutonium (1940–41), and curium and americium (1944), representing elements 93 to 96.The first two of these were eventually found in nature as well.", "Curium and americium were by-products of the Manhattan project, which produced the world's first atomic bomb in 1945.The bomb was based on the nuclear fission of uranium, a metal first thought to have been discovered nearly 150 years earlier.===Post-World War II developments=======Superalloys====Superalloys composed of combinations of Fe, Ni, Co, and Cr, and lesser amounts of W, Mo, Ta, Nb, Ti, and Al were developed shortly after World War II for use in high performance engines, operating at elevated temperatures (above 650 °C (1,200 °F)).", "They retain most of their strength under these conditions, for prolonged periods, and combine good low-temperature ductility with resistance to corrosion or oxidation.", "Superalloys can now be found in a wide range of applications including land, maritime, and aerospace turbines, and chemical and petroleum plants.====Transcurium metals====The successful development of the atomic bomb at the end of World War II sparked further efforts to synthesize new elements, nearly all of which are, or are expected to be, metals, and all of which are radioactive.", "It was not until 1949 that element 97 (berkelium), next after element 96 (curium), was synthesized by firing alpha particles at an americium target.", "In 1952, element 100 (fermium) was found in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion; hydrogen, a nonmetal, had been identified as an element nearly 200 years earlier.", "Since 1952, elements 101 (mendelevium) to 118 (oganesson) have been synthesized.====Bulk metallic glasses====A metallic glass (also known as an amorphous or glassy metal) is a solid metallic material, usually an alloy, with a disordered atomic-scale structure.", "Most pure and alloyed metals, in their solid state, have atoms arranged in a highly ordered crystalline structure.", "Amorphous metals have a non-crystalline glass-like structure.", "But unlike common glasses, such as window glass, which are typically electrical insulators, amorphous metals have good electrical conductivity.", "Amorphous metals are produced in several ways, including extremely rapid cooling, physical vapor deposition, solid-state reaction, ion irradiation, and mechanical alloying.", "The first reported metallic glass was an alloy (Au75Si25) produced at Caltech in 1960.More recently, batches of amorphous steel with three times the strength of conventional steel alloys have been produced.", "Currently, the most important applications rely on the special magnetic properties of some ferromagnetic metallic glasses.", "The low magnetization loss is used in high-efficiency transformers.", "Theft control ID tags and other article surveillance schemes often use metallic glasses because of these magnetic properties.====Shape-memory alloys====A shape-memory alloy (SMA) is an alloy that \"remembers\" its original shape and when deformed returns to its pre-deformed shape when heated.", "While the shape memory effect had been first observed in 1932, in an Au-Cd alloy, it was not until 1962, with the accidental discovery of the effect in a Ni-Ti alloy that research began in earnest, and another ten years before commercial applications emerged.", "SMA's have applications in robotics and automotive, aerospace, and biomedical industries.", "There is another type of SMA, called a ferromagnetic shape-memory alloy (FSMA), that changes shape under strong magnetic fields.", "These materials are of particular interest as the magnetic response tends to be faster and more efficient than temperature-induced responses.====Quasicyrstalline alloys====A Ho-Mg-Zn icosahedral quasicrystal formed as a pentagonal dodecahedron, the dual of the icosahedron|alt=A metallic regular dodecahedronIn 1984, Israeli chemist Dan Shechtman found an aluminum-manganese alloy having five-fold symmetry, in breach of crystallographic convention at the time which said that crystalline structures could only have two-, three-, four-, or six-fold symmetry.", "Due to fear of the scientific community's reaction, it took him two years to publish the results for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011.Since this time, hundreds of quasicrystals have been reported and confirmed.", "They exist in many metallic alloys (and some polymers).", "Quasicrystals are found most often in aluminum alloys (Al-Li-Cu, Al-Mn-Si, Al-Ni-Co, Al-Pd-Mn, Al-Cu-Fe, Al-Cu-V, etc.", "), but numerous other compositions are also known (Cd-Yb, Ti-Zr-Ni, Zn-Mg-Ho, Zn-Mg-Sc, In-Ag-Yb, Pd-U-Si, etc.).", "Quasicrystals effectively have infinitely large unit cells.", "Icosahedrite Al63Cu24Fe13, the first quasicrystal found in nature, was discovered in 2009.Most quasicrystals have ceramic-like properties including low electrical conductivity (approaching values seen in insulators) and low thermal conductivity, high hardness, brittleness, and resistance to corrosion, and non-stick properties.", "Quasicrystals have been used to develop heat insulation, LEDs, diesel engines, and new materials that convert heat to electricity.", "New applications may take advantage of the low coefficient of friction and the hardness of some quasicrystalline materials, for example embedding particles in plastic to make strong, hard-wearing, low-friction plastic gears.", "Other potential applications include selective solar absorbers for power conversion, broad-wavelength reflectors, and bone repair and prostheses applications where biocompatibility, low friction, and corrosion resistance are required.====Complex metallic alloys====Complex metallic alloys (CMAs) are intermetallic compounds characterized by large unit cells comprising some tens up to thousands of atoms; the presence of well-defined clusters of atoms (frequently with icosahedral symmetry); and partial disorder within their crystalline lattices.", "They are composed of two or more metallic elements, sometimes with metalloids or chalcogenides added.", "They include, for example, NaCd2, with 348 sodium atoms and 768 cadmium atoms in the unit cell.", "Linus Pauling attempted to describe the structure of NaCd2 in 1923, but did not succeed until 1955.At first called \"giant unit cell crystals\", interest in CMAs, as they came to be called, did not pick up until 2002, with the publication of a paper called \"Structurally Complex Alloy Phases\", given at the ''8th International Conference on Quasicrystals.''", "Potential applications of CMAs include as heat insulation; solar heating; magnetic refrigerators; using waste heat to generate electricity; and coatings for turbine blades in military engines.====High-entropy alloys====High-entropy alloys (HEAs) such as AlLiMgScTi are composed of equal or nearly equal quantities of five or more metals.", "Compared to conventional alloys with only one or two base metals, HEAs have considerably better strength-to-weight ratios, higher tensile strength, and greater resistance to fracturing, corrosion, and oxidation.", "Although HEAs were described as early as 1981, significant interest did not develop until the 2010s; they continue to be the focus of research in materials science and engineering because of their potential for desirable properties.====MAX phase alloys====+ MAX phasealloy examples MAX M A X Hf2SnC Hf Sn C Ti4AlN3 Ti Al N Ti3SiC2 Ti Si C Ti2AlC Ti Al C Cr2AlC2 Cr Al C Ti3AlC2 Ti Al CIn a MAX phase alloy, '''M''' is an early transition metal, '''A''' is an A group element (mostly group IIIA and IVA, or groups 13 and 14), and '''X''' is either carbon or nitrogen.", "Examples are Hf2SnC and Ti4AlN3.Such alloys have some of the best properties of metals and ceramics.", "These properties include high electrical and thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, damage tolerance, machinability, high elastic stiffness, and low thermal expansion coefficients.", "They can be polished to a metallic luster because of their excellent electrical conductivities.", "During mechanical testing, it has been found that polycrystalline Ti3SiC2 cylinders can be repeatedly compressed at room temperature, up to stresses of 1 GPa, and fully recover upon the removal of the load.", "Some MAX phases are also highly resistant to chemical attack (e.g.", "Ti3SiC2) and high-temperature oxidation in air (Ti2AlC, Cr2AlC2, and Ti3AlC2).", "Potential applications for MAX phase alloys include: as tough, machinable, thermal shock-resistant refractories; high-temperature heating elements; coatings for electrical contacts; and neutron irradiation resistant parts for nuclear applications.", "While MAX phase alloys were discovered in the 1960s, the first paper on the subject was not published until 1996." ], [ "See also", "* Colored gold* Ductility* Ferrous metallurgy* Metal theft* Metallurgy* Metalworking* Polymetal* Properties of metals, metalloids, and nonmetals* Structural steel* Transition metal" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Choptuik M. W., Lehner L. & Pretorias F. 2015, \"Probing strong-field gravity through numerical simulation\", in A. Ashtekar, B. K. Berger, J. Isenberg & M. MacCallum (eds), ''General Relativity and Gravitation: A Centennial Perspective'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, .", "* * Crow J. M. 2016, \" Impossible alloys: How to make never-before-seen metals\", ''New Scientist,'' 12 October* Hadhazy A.", "2016, \" Galactic 'Gold Mine' Explains the Origin of Nature's Heaviest Elements\", ''Science Spotlights'', 10 May 2016, accessed 11 July 2016.", "* Hofmann S. 2002, ''On Beyond Uranium: Journey to the End of the Periodic Table'', Taylor & Francis, London, .", "* Padmanabhan T. 2001, ''Theoretical Astrophysics'', vol.", "2, Stars and Stellar Systems, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, .", "* Parish R. V. 1977, ''The metallic elements,'' Longman, London, * Podosek F. A.", "2011, \"Noble gases\", in H. D. Holland & K. K. Turekian (eds), ''Isotope Geochemistry: From the Treatise on Geochemistry'', Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp.", "467–492, .", "* Raymond R. 1984, ''Out of the fiery furnace: The impact of metals on the history of mankind,'' Macmillan Australia, Melbourne, * Rehder D. 2010, ''Chemistry in Space: From Interstellar Matter to the Origin of Life'', Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, .", "* Russell A. M. & Lee K. L. 2005, ''Structure–property relations in nonferrous metals,'' John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, * Street A.", "& Alexander W. 1998, ''Metals in the service of man,'' 11th ed., Penguin Books, London, * Wilson A. J.", "1994, ''The living rock: The story of metals since earliest times and their impact on developing civilization'', Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge," ], [ "External links", "* of ASM International (formerly the American Society for Metals)* of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "MIME" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions''' ('''MIME''') is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs.", "Message bodies may consist of multiple parts, and header information may be specified in non-ASCII character sets.", "Email messages with MIME formatting are typically transmitted with standard protocols, such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the Post Office Protocol (POP), and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).The MIME standard is specified in a series of requests for comments: ,,,, and .", "The integration with SMTP email is specified in and .Although the MIME formalism was designed mainly for SMTP, its content types are also important in other communication protocols.", "In the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for the World Wide Web, servers insert a MIME header field at the beginning of any Web transmission.", "Clients use the content type or media type header to select an appropriate viewer application for the type of data indicated." ], [ "History", "MIME originated from the Andrew Messaging System, which was part of Andrew Project developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), as a cross-platform alternative to the Andrew-specific data format." ], [ "MIME header fields", "===MIME-Version===The presence of this header field indicates the message is MIME-formatted.", "The value is typically \"1.0\".", "The field appears as follows: MIME-Version: 1.0According to MIME co-creator Nathaniel Borenstein, the version number was introduced to permit changes to the MIME protocol in subsequent versions.", "However, Borenstein admitted short-comings in the specification that hindered the implementation of this feature: ''\"We did not adequately specify how to handle a future MIME version.", "...", "So if you write something that knows 1.0, what should you do if you encounter 2.0 or 1.1?", "I sort of thought it was obvious but it turned out everyone implemented that in different ways.", "And the result is that it would be just about impossible for the Internet to ever define a 2.0 or a 1.1.", "\"''===Content-Type===This header field indicates the media type of the message content, consisting of a ''type'' and ''subtype'', for example Content-Type: text/plainThrough the use of the ''multipart'' type, MIME allows mail messages to have parts arranged in a tree structure where the leaf nodes are any non-multipart content type and the non-leaf nodes are any of a variety of multipart types.This mechanism supports:* '''simple text messages using ''text/plain''''' (the default value for \"Content-Type: \")* text plus attachments (''multipart/mixed'' with a ''text/plain'' part and other non-text parts).", "A MIME message including an attached file generally indicates the file's original name with the \"Content-Disposition\" header, so that the type of file is indicated both by the MIME content-type and the (usually OS-specific) filename extension* reply with original attached (''multipart/mixed'' with a ''text/plain'' part and the original message as a ''message/rfc822'' part)* alternative content, such as a message sent in both plain text and another format such as HTML (''multipart/alternative'' with the same content in ''text/plain'' and ''text/html'' forms)* image, audio, video and application (for example, ''image/jpeg'', ''audio/mp3'', ''video/mp4'', and ''application/msword'' and so on)* many other message constructs===Content-Disposition===The original MIME specifications only described the structure of mail messages.", "They did not address the issue of presentation styles.", "The content-disposition header field was added in RFC 2183 to specify the presentation style.", "A MIME part can have:* an ''inline'' content disposition, which means that it should be automatically displayed when the message is displayed, or* an ''attachment'' content disposition, in which case it is not displayed automatically and requires some form of action from the user to open it.In addition to the presentation style, the field ''Content-Disposition'' also provides parameters for specifying the name of the file, the creation date and modification date, which can be used by the reader's mail user agent to store the attachment.The following example is taken from RFC 2183, where the header field is defined: Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=genome.jpeg; modification-date=\"Wed, 12 Feb 1997 16:29:51 -0500\";The filename may be encoded as defined in RFC 2231.As of 2010, a majority of mail user agents did not follow this prescription fully.", "The widely used Mozilla Thunderbird mail client ignores the ''content-disposition'' fields in the messages and uses independent algorithms for selecting the MIME parts to display automatically.", "Thunderbird prior to version 3 also sends out newly composed messages with ''inline'' content disposition for all MIME parts.", "Most users are unaware of how to set the content disposition to ''attachment''.", "Many mail user agents also send messages with the file name in the ''name'' parameter of the ''content-type'' header instead of the ''filename'' parameter of the header field ''Content-Disposition''.", "This practice is discouraged, as the file name should be specified either with the parameter ''filename'', or with both the parameters ''filename'' and ''name''.In HTTP, the response header field ''Content-Disposition: attachment'' is usually used as a hint to the client to present the response body as a downloadable file.", "Typically, when receiving such a response, a Web browser prompts the user to save its content as a file, instead of displaying it as a page in a browser window, with ''filename'' suggesting the default file name.===Content-Transfer-Encoding===In June 1992, MIME (RFC 1341, since made obsolete by RFC 2045) defined a set of methods for representing binary data in formats other than ASCII text format.", "The ''content-transfer-encoding:'' MIME header field has 2-sided significance:* It indicates whether or not a binary-to-text encoding scheme has been used on top of the original encoding as specified within the Content-Type header:# If such a binary-to-text encoding method has been used, it states which one.# If not, it provides a descriptive label for the format of content, with respect to the presence of 8-bit or binary content.The RFC and the IANA's list of transfer encodings define the values shown below, which are not case sensitive.", "'7bit', '8bit', and 'binary' mean that no binary-to-text encoding on top of the original encoding was used.", "In these cases, the header field is actually redundant for the email client to decode the message body, but it may still be useful as an indicator of what type of object is being sent.", "Values 'quoted-printable' and 'base64' tell the email client that a binary-to-text encoding scheme was used and that appropriate initial decoding is necessary before the message can be read with its original encoding (e.g.", "UTF-8).", "* Suitable for use with normal SMTP:** '''7bit''' – up to 998 octets per line of the code range 1..127 with CR and LF (codes 13 and 10 respectively) only allowed to appear as part of a CRLF line ending.", "This is the default value.", "** '''quoted-printable''' – used to encode arbitrary octet sequences into a form that satisfies the rules of 7bit.", "Designed to be efficient and mostly human-readable when used for text data consisting primarily of US-ASCII characters but also containing a small proportion of bytes with values outside that range.", "** '''base64''' – used to encode arbitrary octet sequences into a form that satisfies the rules of 7bit.", "Designed to be efficient for non-text 8 bit and binary data.", "Sometimes used for text data that frequently uses non-US-ASCII characters.", "* Suitable for use with SMTP servers that support the 8BITMIME SMTP extension (RFC 6152):**'''8bit''' – up to 998 octets per line with CR and LF (codes 13 and 10 respectively) only allowed to appear as part of a CRLF line ending.", "* Suitable for use with SMTP servers that support the BINARYMIME SMTP extension (RFC 3030):** '''binary''' – any sequence of octets.There is no encoding defined which is explicitly designed for sending arbitrary binary data through SMTP transports with the 8BITMIME extension.", "Thus, if BINARYMIME isn't supported, base64 or quoted-printable (with their associated inefficiency) are sometimes still useful.", "This restriction does not apply to other uses of MIME such as Web Services with MIME attachments or MTOM.==Encoded-Word==Since RFC 2822, conforming message header field names and values use ASCII characters; values that contain non-ASCII data should use the MIME '''encoded-word''' syntax (RFC 2047) instead of a literal string.", "This syntax uses a string of ASCII characters indicating both the original character encoding (the \"''charset''\") and the content-transfer-encoding used to map the bytes of the charset into ASCII characters.The form is: \"=?''charset''?''encoding''?", "''encoded text''?=\".", "* ''charset'' may be any character set registered with IANA.", "Typically it would be the same charset as the message body.", "* ''encoding'' can be either \"Q\" denoting Q-encoding that is similar to the quoted-printable encoding, or \"B\" denoting base64 encoding.", "* ''encoded text'' is the Q-encoded or base64-encoded text.", "* An ''encoded-word'' may not be more than 75 characters long, including ''charset'', ''encoding'', ''encoded text'', and delimiters.", "If it is desirable to encode more text than will fit in an ''encoded-word'' of 75 characters, multiple ''encoded-word''s (separated by CRLF SPACE) may be used.===Difference between Q-encoding and quoted-printable===The ASCII codes for the question mark (\"?\")", "and equals sign (\"=\") may not be represented directly as they are used to delimit the encoded word.", "The ASCII code for space may not be represented directly because it could cause older parsers to split up the encoded word undesirably.", "To make the encoding smaller and easier to read the underscore is used to represent the ASCII code for space creating the side effect that underscore cannot be represented directly.", "The use of encoded words in certain parts of header fields imposes further restrictions on which characters may be represented directly.For example,Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=A1Hola,_se=F1or!", "?=is interpreted as \"Subject: ¡Hola, señor!", "\".The encoded-word format is not used for the names of the headers fields (for example ''Subject'').", "These names are usually English terms and always in ASCII in the raw message.", "When viewing a message with a non-English email client, the header field names might be translated by the client." ], [ "Multipart messages", "The MIME multipart message contains a boundary in the header field ; this boundary, which must not occur in any of the parts, is placed between the parts, and at the beginning and end of the body of the message, as follows:MIME-Version: 1.0Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=frontierThis is a message with multiple parts in MIME format.--frontierContent-Type: text/plainThis is the body of the message.--frontierContent-Type: application/octet-streamContent-Transfer-Encoding: base64PGh0bWw+CiAgPGhlYWQ+CiAgPC9oZWFkPgogIDxib2R5PgogICAgPHA+VGhpcyBpcyB0aGUgYm9keSBvZiB0aGUgbWVzc2FnZS48L3A+CiAgPC9ib2R5Pgo8L2h0bWw+Cg==--frontier--Each part consists of its own content header (zero or more header fields) and a body.", "Multipart content can be nested.", "The of a multipart type must always be \"7bit\", \"8bit\" or \"binary\" to avoid the complications that would be posed by multiple levels of decoding.", "The multipart block as a whole does not have a charset; non-ASCII characters in the part headers are handled by the Encoded-Word system, and the part bodies can have charsets specified if appropriate for their content-type.Notes:* Before the first boundary is an area that is ignored by MIME-compliant clients.", "This area is generally used to put a message to users of old non-MIME clients.", "* It is up to the sending mail client to choose a boundary string that doesn't clash with the body text.", "Typically this is done by inserting a long random string.", "* The last boundary must have two hyphens at the end.===Multipart subtypes===The MIME standard defines various multipart-message subtypes, which specify the nature of the message parts and their relationship to one another.", "The subtype is specified in the header field of the overall message.", "For example, a multipart MIME message using the digest subtype would have its set as \"multipart/digest\".The RFC initially defined four subtypes: mixed, digest, alternative and parallel.", "A minimally compliant application must support mixed and digest; other subtypes are optional.", "Applications must treat unrecognized subtypes as \"multipart/mixed\".", "Additional subtypes, such as signed and form-data, have since been separately defined in other RFCs.====mixed====multipart/mixed is used for sending files with different header fields inline (or as attachments).", "If sending pictures or other easily readable files, most mail clients will display them inline (unless explicitly specified with ''Content-Disposition: attachment'' in which case offered as attachments).", "The default content-type for each part is \"text/plain\".The type is defined in RFC 2046.====digest====multipart/digest is a simple way to send multiple text messages.", "The default content-type for each part is \"message/rfc822\".The MIME type is defined in RFC 2046.====alternative====The multipart/alternative subtype indicates that each part is an \"alternative\" version of the same (or similar) content, each in a different format denoted by its \"Content-Type\" header.", "The order of the parts is significant.", "RFC1341 states: ''In general, user agents that compose multipart/alternative entities should place the body parts in increasing order of preference, that is, with the preferred format last.", "''Systems can then choose the \"best\" representation they are capable of processing; in general, this will be the last part that the system can understand, although other factors may affect this.Since a client is unlikely to want to send a version that is less faithful than the plain text version, this structure places the plain text version (if present) first.", "This makes life easier for users of clients that do not understand multipart messages.Most commonly, multipart/alternative is used for email with two parts, one plain text (text/plain) and one HTML (text/html).", "The plain text part provides backwards compatibility while the HTML part allows use of formatting and hyperlinks.", "Most email clients offer a user option to prefer plain text over HTML; this is an example of how local factors may affect how an application chooses which \"best\" part of the message to display.While it is intended that each part of the message represent the same content, the standard does not require this to be enforced in any way.", "At one time, anti-spam filters would only examine the text/plain part of a message, because it is easier to parse than the text/html part.", "But spammers eventually took advantage of this, creating messages with an innocuous-looking text/plain part and advertising in the text/html part.", "Anti-spam software eventually caught up on this trick, penalizing messages with very different text in a multipart/alternative message.The type is defined in RFC 2046.====related====A multipart/related is used to indicate that each message part is a component of an aggregate whole.", "It is for compound objects consisting of several inter-related components proper display cannot be achieved by individually displaying the constituent parts.", "The message consists of a root part (by default, the first) which reference other parts inline, which may in turn reference other parts.", "Message parts are commonly referenced by ''Content-ID''.", "The syntax of a reference is unspecified and is instead dictated by the encoding or protocol used in the part.One common usage of this subtype is to send a web page complete with images in a single message.", "The root part would contain the HTML document, and use image tags to reference images stored in the latter parts.The type is defined in RFC 2387.====report====''multipart/report'' is a message type that contains data formatted for a mail server to read.", "It is split between a text/plain (or some other content/type easily readable) and a message/delivery-status, which contains the data formatted for the mail server to read.The type is defined in RFC 6522.====signed====A multipart/signed message is used to attach a digital signature to a message.", "It has exactly two body parts, a body part and a signature part.", "The whole of the body part, including mime fields, is used to create the signature part.", "Many signature types are possible, like \"application/pgp-signature\" (RFC 3156) and \"application/pkcs7-signature\" (S/MIME).The type is defined in RFC 1847.====encrypted====A multipart/encrypted message has two parts.", "The first part has control information that is needed to decrypt the application/octet-stream second part.", "Similar to signed messages, there are different implementations which are identified by their separate content types for the control part.", "The most common types are \"application/pgp-encrypted\" (RFC 3156) and \"application/pkcs7-mime\" (S/MIME).The MIME type defined in RFC 1847.====form-data====The MIME type ''multipart/form-data'' is used to express values submitted through a form.", "Originally defined as part of HTML 4.0, it is most commonly used for submitting files with HTTP.", "It is specified in RFC 7578, superseding RFC 2388.example====x-mixed-replace====The content type multipart/x-mixed-replace was developed as part of a technology to emulate server push and streaming over HTTP.All parts of a mixed-replace message have the same semantic meaning.", "However, each part invalidates \"replaces\" the previous parts as soon as it is received completely.", "Clients should process the individual parts as soon as they arrive and should not wait for the whole message to finish.Originally developed by Netscape, it is still supported by Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.", "It is commonly used in IP cameras as the MIME type for MJPEG streams.", "It was supported by Chrome for main resources until 2013 (images can still be displayed using this content type).====byterange====The multipart/byterange is used to represent noncontiguous byte ranges of a single message, it is used by HTTP when a server returns multiple byte ranges and is defined in RFC 2616.===RFC documentation===* , ''SMTP Service Extension for 8bit-MIMEtransport''.", "J. Klensin, N. Freed, M. Rose, E. Stefferud, D. Crocker.", "February 1993.", "* , ''Security Multiparts for MIME: Multipart/Signed and Multipart/Encrypted''* , ''MIME Security with OpenPGP''* , ''MIME Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies''* , ''MIME Part Two: Media Types''.", "N. Freed, Nathaniel Borenstein.", "November 1996.", "* , ''MIME Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text''.", "Keith Moore.", "November 1996.", "* , ''MIME Part Four: Media Type Specifications and Registration Procedures''.", "* , ''MIME Part Four: Registration Procedures''.", "N. Freed, J. Klensin.", "December 2005.", "* , ''MIME Part Five: Conformance Criteria and Examples''.", "N. Freed, N. Borenstein.", "November 1996.", "* , ''Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages: The Content-Disposition Header Field''.", "Troost, R., Dorner, S. and K. Moore.", "August 1997.", "* , ''MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions: Character Sets, Languages, and Continuations''.", "N. Freed, K. Moore.", "November 1997.", "* , ''The MIME Multipart/Related Content-type''* , ''Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies''* , ''Returning Values from Forms: multipart/form-data''" ], [ "See also", "* 8BITMIME* Binary-to-text encoding* Direct Internet Message Encapsulation (DIME) a now superseded Microsoft-proposed protocol intended as a streamlined MIME, primarily for use in web services.", "* Mailcap* mime.types* Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)* S/MIME* Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)* SOAP with Attachments* Unicode and email* Uuencoding* VPIM" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* * * * *" ], [ "External links", "* MIME Media Types comprising a list of directories of content types and subtypes, maintained by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.", "* List of Character Sets* Properly Configuring Server MIME Types* An easy to follow description of multipart messages from MH & nmh* * Free Online PHP MIME checker* Free Online MIME Email Validator" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mehmed II" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mehmed II''' (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as '''Mehmed the Conqueror''' (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.In Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by John Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce per the Treaties of Edirne and Szeged.", "When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he strengthened the Ottoman Navy and made preparations to attack Constantinople.", "At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire.", "After the conquest, Mehmed claimed the title caesar of Rome (), based on the fact that Constantinople had been the seat and capital of the surviving Eastern Roman Empire since its consecration in 330 AD by Emperor Constantine I.", "The claim was soon recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, albeit not by most European monarchs.", "Mehmed II viewed the Ottoman state as a continuation of the Roman Empire for the remainder of his life, seeing himself as \"continuing\" the Empire rather than \"replacing\" it.Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as Bosnia.", "At home, he made many political and social reforms.", "He encouraged the arts and sciences, and by the end of his reign, his rebuilding program had changed Constantinople into a thriving imperial capital.", "He is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world.", "Among other things, Istanbul's Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque are named after him." ], [ "Early life and first reign", "Accession of Mehmed II in Edirne, 1451Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432, in Edirne, then the capital city of the Ottoman state.", "His father was Sultan Murad II (1404–1451) and his mother Hüma Hatun, a slave of uncertain origin.When Mehmed II was eleven years old he was sent to Amasya with his two ''lalas'' (advisors) to govern and thus gain experience, per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time.", "Sultan Murad II also sent a number of teachers for him to study under.", "This Islamic education had a great impact in molding Mehmed's mindset and reinforcing his Muslim beliefs.", "He was influenced in his practice of Islamic epistemology by practitioners of science, particularly by his mentor, Molla Gürani, and he followed their approach.", "The influence of Akshamsaddin in Mehmed's life became predominant from a young age, especially in the imperative of fulfilling his Islamic duty to overthrow the Byzantine Empire by conquering Constantinople.After Murad II made peace with Hungary on 12 June 1444, he abdicated the throne in favour of his 12-year-old son Mehmed II in July/August 1444.During Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by John Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce per the Treaties of Edirne and Szeged in September 1444.Cardinal Julian Cesarini, the representative of the Pope, had convinced the king of Hungary that breaking the truce with Muslims was not a betrayal.", "At this time Mehmed II asked his father Murad II to reclaim the throne, but Murad II refused.", "According to the 17th-century chronicles, Mehmed II wrote, \"If you are the sultan, come and lead your armies.", "If I am the sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies.\"", "Then, Murad II led the Ottoman army and won the Battle of Varna on 10 November 1444.Halil Inalcik states that Mehmed II did not ask for his father.", "Instead, it was Çandarlı Halil Pasha's effort to bring Murad II back to the throne.In 1446, while Murad II returned to the throne, Mehmed retained the title of sultan but only acted as a governor of Manisa.", "Following the death of Murad II in 1451, Mehmed II became sultan for the second time.", "Ibrahim II of Karaman invaded the disputed area and instigated various revolts against Ottoman rule.", "Mehmed II conducted his first campaign against İbrahim of Karaman; Byzantines threatened to release Ottoman claimant Orhan." ], [ "Conquests", "=== Conquest of Constantinople ===The Ottoman Empire at the beginning of Mehmed II's second reignRoumeli Hissar Castle, built by Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before the Fall of ConstantinopleWhen Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he devoted himself to strengthening the Ottoman navy and made preparations for an attack on Constantinople.", "In the narrow Bosphorus Straits, the fortress Anadoluhisarı had been built by his great-grandfather Bayezid I on the Asian side; Mehmed erected an even stronger fortress called Rumelihisarı on the European side, and thus gained complete control of the strait.", "Having completed his fortresses, Mehmed proceeded to levy a toll on ships passing within reach of their cannon.", "A Venetian vessel ignoring signals to stop was sunk with a single shot and all the surviving sailors beheaded, except for the captain, who was impaled and mounted as a human scarecrow as a warning to further sailors on the strait.Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the companion and standard bearer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, had died during the first Siege of Constantinople (674–678).", "As Mehmed II's army approached Constantinople, Mehmed's sheikh Akshamsaddin discovered the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.", "After the conquest, Mehmed built Eyüp Sultan Mosque at the site to emphasize the importance of the conquest to the Islamic world and highlight his role as ghazi.In 1453, Mehmed commenced the siege of Constantinople with an army between 80,000 and 200,000 troops, an artillery train of over seventy large field pieces, and a navy of 320 vessels, the bulk of them transports and storeships.", "The city was surrounded by sea and land; the fleet at the entrance of the Bosphorus stretched from shore to shore in the form of a crescent, to intercept or repel any assistance for Constantinople from the sea.", "In early April, the Siege of Constantinople began.", "At first, the city's walls held off the Turks, even though Mehmed's army used the new bombard designed by Orban, a giant cannon similar to the Dardanelles Gun.", "The harbor of the Golden Horn was blocked by a boom chain and defended by twenty-eight warships.On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the Genoese colony of Galata, and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood.", "Thus, the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls.", "About a month later, Constantinople fell, on 29 May, following a fifty-seven-day siege.", "After this conquest, Mehmed moved the Ottoman capital from Adrianople to Constantinople.When Sultan Mehmed II stepped into the ruins of the Boukoleon, known to the Ottomans and Persians as the Palace of the Caesars, probably built over a thousand years before by Theodosius II, he uttered the famous lines of Saadi:Some Muslim scholars claimed that a hadith in Musnad Ahmad referred specifically to Mehmed's conquest of Constantinople, seeing it as the fulfillment of a prophecy and a sign of the approaching apocalypse.The entry of Sultan Mehmed II into Constantinople, painting by Fausto Zonaro (1854–1929)After the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed claimed the title of caesar of the Roman Empire (''Qayser-i Rûm''), based on the assertion that Constantinople had been the seat and capital of the Roman Empire since 330 AD and whoever possessed the Imperial capital was the ruler of the empire.", "The contemporary scholar George of Trebizond supported his claim.", "The claim was not recognized by the Catholic Church and most of, if not all, Western Europe, but was recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church.", "Mehmed had installed Gennadius Scholarius, a staunch antagonist of the West, as the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople with all the ceremonial elements, ethnarch (or ''milletbashi'') status, and rights of property that made him the second largest landlord in the empire after the sultan himself in 1454, and in turn, Gennadius II recognized Mehmed the Conqueror as the successor to the throne.Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos died without producing an heir, and had Constantinople not fallen to the Ottomans, he likely would have been succeeded by the sons of his deceased elder brother.", "Those children were taken into the palace service of Mehmed after the fall of Constantinople.", "The oldest boy, renamed Has Murad, became a personal favorite of Mehmed and served as beylerbey of the Balkans.", "The younger son, renamed Mesih Pasha, became admiral of the Ottoman fleet and sanjak-bey of the Gallipoli.", "He eventually served twice as Grand Vizier under Mehmed's son, Bayezid II.After the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed would also go on to conquer the Despotate of Morea in the Peloponnese in two campaigns in 1458 and 1460 and the Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia in 1461.The last two vestiges of Byzantine rule were thus absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.", "The conquest of Constantinople bestowed immense glory and prestige on the country.", "There is some historical evidence that, 10 years after the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed II visited the site of Troy and boasted that he had avenged the Trojans by conquering the Greeks (Byzantines).=== Conquest of Serbia (1454–1459) ===Ottoman miniature of the Siege of Belgrade, 1456Mehmed II's first campaigns after Constantinople were in the direction of Serbia, which had been an Ottoman vassal state since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.The Ottoman ruler had a connection with the Serbian Despotate – one of Murad II's wives was Mara Branković – and he used that fact to claim some Serbian islands.", "That Đurađ Branković had recently made an alliance with the Hungarians, and had paid the tribute irregularly, may have been important considerations.", "When Serbia refused these demands, the Ottoman army set out from Edirne towards Serbia in 1454.Smederevo was besieged, as was Novo Brdo, the most important Serbian metal mining and smelting center.", "Ottomans and Hungarians fought during the years till 1456.The Ottoman army advanced as far as Belgrade, where it attempted but failed to conquer the city from John Hunyadi at the Siege of Belgrade, on 14 July 1456.A period of relative peace ensued in the region until the Fall of Belgrade in 1521, during the reign of Mehmed's great-grandson, known as Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.", "The sultan retreated to Edirne, and Đurađ Branković regained possession of some parts of Serbia.", "Before the end of the year, however, the 79-year-old Branković died.", "Serbian independence survived him for only two years, when the Ottoman Empire formally annexed his lands following dissension among his widow and three remaining sons.", "Lazar, the youngest, poisoned his mother and exiled his brothers, but he died soon afterwards.", "In the continuing turmoil the oldest brother Stefan Branković gained the throne but was ousted in March 1459.After that the Serbian throne was offered to Stephen Tomašević, the future king of Bosnia, which infuriated Sultan Mehmed.", "He sent his army, which captured Smederevo in June 1459, ending the existence of the Serbian Despotate.=== Conquest of the Morea (1458–1460) ===15th century portrait of Mehmed II (1432–1481), showing Italian influenceThe Despotate of the Morea bordered the southern Ottoman Balkans.", "The Ottomans had already invaded the region under Murad II, destroying the Byzantine defenses – the Hexamilion wall – at the Isthmus of Corinth in 1446.Before the final siege of Constantinople, Mehmed ordered Ottoman troops to attack the Morea.", "The despots, Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, brothers of the last emperor, failed to send any aid.", "The chronic instability and the tribute payment to the Turks, after the peace treaty of 1446 with Mehmed II, resulted in an Albanian-Greek revolt against them, during which the brothers invited Ottoman troops to help put down the revolt.", "At this time, a number of influential Moreote Greeks and Albanians made private peace with Mehmed.", "After more years of incompetent rule by the despots, their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan, and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule, Mehmed entered the Morea in May 1460.The capital Mistra fell exactly seven years after Constantinople, on 29 May 1460.Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled.", "By the end of the summer, the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities possessed by the Greeks.A few holdouts remained for a time.", "The island of Monemvasia refused to surrender, and it was ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair.", "When the population drove him out they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Pope's protection before the end of 1460.The Mani Peninsula, on the Morea's south end, resisted under a loose coalition of local clans, and the area then came under the rule of Venice.", "The last holdout was Salmeniko, in the Morea's northwest.", "Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there, stationed at Salmeniko Castle (also known as Castle Orgia).", "While the town eventually surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461, when they escaped and reached Venetian territory.=== Conquest of Trebizond (1460–1461) ===Emperors of Trebizond formed alliances through royal marriages with various Muslim rulers.", "Emperor John IV of Trebizond married his daughter to the son of his brother-in-law, Uzun Hasan, sultan of the Aq Qoyunlu (also known as White Sheep Turkomans), in return for his promise to defend Trebizond.", "He also secured promises of support from the Turkish beys of Sinope and Karamania, and from the king and princes of Georgia.", "The Ottomans were motivated to capture Trebizond or to get an annual tribute.", "In the time of Murad II, they first attempted to take the capital by sea in 1442, but bad weather made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed.", "While Mehmed II was away laying siege to Belgrade in 1456, the Ottoman governor of Amasya attacked Trebizond, and although he was defeated, he took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute.After John's death in 1459, his brother David came to power and intrigued with various European powers for help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the conquest of Jerusalem.", "Mehmed II eventually heard of these intrigues and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Mehmed remit the tribute imposed on his brother.Mehmed the Conqueror's response came in the summer of 1461.He led a sizable army from Bursa by land and the Ottoman navy by sea, first to Sinope, joining forces with Ismail's brother Ahmed (the Red).", "He captured Sinope and ended the official reign of the Jandarid dynasty, although he appointed Ahmed as the governor of Kastamonu and Sinope, only to revoke the appointment the same year.", "Various other members of the Jandarid dynasty were offered important functions throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire.", "During the march to Trebizond, Uzun Hasan sent his mother Sara Khatun as an ambassador; while they were climbing the steep heights of Zigana on foot, she asked Sultan Mehmed why he was undergoing such hardship for the sake of Trebizond.", "Mehmed replied:Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed quickly swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and he placed it under siege.", "The city held out for a month before the emperor David surrendered on 15 August 1461.=== Submission of Wallachia (1459–1462) ===Vlad (Dracula) the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, 1460The Night Attack of Târgovişte, which resulted in a failed assassination attempt of MehmedThe Ottomans since the early 15th century tried to bring Wallachia () under their control by putting their own candidate on the throne, but each attempt ended in failure.", "The Ottomans regarded Wallachia as a buffer zone between them and the Kingdom of Hungary and for a yearly tribute did not meddle in their internal affairs.", "The two primary Balkan powers, Hungary and the Ottomans, maintained an enduring struggle to make Wallachia their own vassal.", "To prevent Wallachia from falling into the Hungarian fold, the Ottomans freed young Vlad III (Dracula), who had spent four years as a prisoner of Murad, together with his brother Radu, so that Vlad could claim the throne of Wallachia.", "His rule was short-lived, however, as Hunyadi invaded Wallachia and restored his ally Vladislav II, of the Dănești clan, to the throne.Vlad III Dracula fled to Moldavia, where he lived under the protection of his uncle, Bogdan II.", "In October 1451, Bogdan was assassinated and Vlad fled to Hungary.", "Impressed by Vlad's vast knowledge of the mindset and inner workings of the Ottoman Empire, as well as his hatred towards the Turks and new Sultan Mehmed II, Hunyadi reconciled with his former enemy and tried to make Vlad III his own advisor, but Vlad refused.In 1456, three years after the Ottomans had conquered Constantinople, they threatened Hungary by besieging Belgrade.", "Hunyadi began a concerted counterattack in Serbia: While he himself moved into Serbia and relieved the siege (before dying of the plague), Vlad III Dracula led his own contingent into Wallachia, reconquered his native land, and killed Vladislav II.In 1459, Mehmed II sent envoys to Vlad to urge him to pay a delayed tribute of 10,000 ducats and 500 recruits into the Ottoman forces.", "Vlad III Dracula refused and had the Ottoman envoys killed by nailing their turbans to their heads, on the pretext that they had refused to raise their \"hats\" to him, as they only removed their headgear before Allah.Meanwhile, the Sultan sent the Bey of Nicopolis, Hamza Pasha, to make peace and, if necessary, eliminate Vlad III.", "Vlad III set an ambush; the Ottomans were surrounded and almost all of them caught and impaled, with Hamza Pasha impaled on the highest stake, as befit his rank.In the winter of 1462, Vlad III crossed the Danube and scorched the entire Bulgarian land in the area between Serbia and the Black Sea.", "Allegedly disguising himself as a Turkish Sipahi and utilizing his command of the Turkish language and customs, Vlad III infiltrated Ottoman camps, ambushed, massacred or captured several Ottoman forces.", "In a letter to Corvinus dated 2 February, he wrote:Mehmed II abandoned his siege of Corinth to launch a punitive attack against Vlad III in Wallachia but suffered many casualties in a surprise night attack led by Vlad III Dracula, who was apparently bent on personally killing the Sultan.", "However, Vlad's policy of staunch resistance against the Ottomans was not a popular one, and he was betrayed by the boyars's (local aristocracy) appeasing faction, most of them also pro-Dăneşti (a rival princely branch).", "His best friend and ally Stephen III of Moldavia, who had promised to help him, seized the chance and instead attacked him trying to take back the Fortress of Chilia.", "Vlad III had to retreat to the mountains.", "After this, the Ottomans captured the Wallachian capital Târgoviște and Mehmed II withdrew, having left Radu as ruler of Wallachia.", "Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey, who served with distinction and wiped out a force of 6,000 Wallachians and deposited 2,000 of their heads at the feet of Mehmed II, was also reinstated, as a reward, in his old gubernatorial post in Thessaly.", "Vlad eventually escaped to Hungary, where he was imprisoned on a false accusation of treason against his overlord, Matthias Corvinus.=== Conquest of Bosnia (1463) ===Mehmed II's ahidnâme to the Catholic monks of the recently conquered Bosnia issued in 1463, granting them full religious freedom and protectionThe despot of Serbia, Lazar Branković, died in 1458, and a civil war broke out among his heirs that resulted in the Ottoman conquest of Serbia in 1459/1460.Stephen Tomašević, son of the king of Bosnia, tried to bring Serbia under his control, but Ottoman expeditions forced him to give up his plan and Stephen fled to Bosnia, seeking refuge at the court of his father.", "After some battles, Bosnia became tributary kingdom to the Ottomans.On 10 July 1461, Stephen Thomas died, and Stephen Tomašević succeeded him as King of Bosnia.", "In 1461, Stephen Tomašević made an alliance with the Hungarians and asked Pope Pius II for help in the face of an impending Ottoman invasion.", "In 1463, after a dispute over the tribute paid annually by the Bosnian Kingdom to the Ottomans, he sent for help from the Venetians.", "However, none ever reached Bosnia.", "In 1463, Sultan Mehmed II led an army into the country.", "The royal city of Bobovac soon fell, leaving Stephen Tomašević to retreat to Jajce and later to Ključ.", "Mehmed invaded Bosnia and conquered it very quickly, executing Stephen Tomašević and his uncle Radivoj.", "Bosnia officially fell in 1463 and became the westernmost province of the Ottoman Empire.===Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479)===Scene depicts the fifth and greatest assault upon the Shkodra Castle by Ottoman forces in the Siege of Shkodra, 1478–79According to the Byzantine historian Michael Critobulus, hostilities broke out after an Albanian slave of the Ottoman commander of Athens fled to the Venetian fortress of Coron (Koroni) with 100,000 silver aspers from his master's treasure.", "The fugitive then converted to Christianity, so Ottoman demands for his rendition were refused by the Venetian authorities.", "Using this as a pretext in November 1462, the Ottoman commander in central Greece, Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey, attacked and nearly succeeded in taking the strategically important Venetian fortress of Lepanto (Nafpaktos).", "On 3 April 1463, however, the governor of the Morea, Isa Beg, took the Venetian-held town of Argos by treason.The new alliance launched a two-pronged offensive against the Ottomans: a Venetian army, under the Captain General of the Sea Alvise Loredan, landed in the Morea, while Matthias Corvinus invaded Bosnia.", "At the same time, Pius II began assembling an army at Ancona, hoping to lead it in person.", "Negotiations were also begun with other rivals of the Ottomans, such as Karamanids, Uzun Hassan and the Crimean Khanate.In early August, the Venetians retook Argos and refortified the Isthmus of Corinth, restoring the Hexamilion wall and equipping it with many cannons.", "They then proceeded to besiege the fortress of the Acrocorinth, which controlled the northwestern Peloponnese.", "The Venetians engaged in repeated clashes with the defenders and with Ömer Bey's forces, until they suffered a major defeat on 20 October and were then forced to lift the siege and retreat to the Hexamilion and to Nauplia (Nafplion).", "In Bosnia, Matthias Corvinus seized over sixty fortified places and succeeded in taking its capital, Jajce, after a 3-month siege, on 16 December.Ottoman reaction was swift and decisive: Mehmed II dispatched his Grand Vizier, Mahmud Pasha Angelović, with an army against the Venetians.", "To confront the Venetian fleet, which had taken station outside the entrance of the Dardanelles Straits, the Sultan further ordered the creation of the new shipyard of Kadirga Limani in the Golden Horn (named after the \"kadirga\" type of galley), and of two forts to guard the Straits, Kilidulbahr and Sultaniye.", "The Morean campaign was swiftly victorious for the Ottomans; they razed the Hexamilion, and advanced into the Morea.", "Argos fell, and several forts and localities that had recognized Venetian authority reverted to their Ottoman allegiance.Sultan Mehmed II, who was following Mahmud Pasha with another army to reinforce him, had reached Zeitounion (Lamia) before being apprised of his Vizier's success.", "Immediately, he turned his men north, towards Bosnia.", "However, the Sultan's attempt to retake Jajce in July and August 1464 failed, with the Ottomans retreating hastily in the face of Corvinus' approaching army.", "A new Ottoman army under Mahmud Pasha then forced Corvinus to withdraw, but Jajce was not retaken for many years after.", "However, the death of Pope Pius II on 15 August in Ancona spelled the end of the Crusade.In the meantime, the Venetian Republic had appointed Sigismondo Malatesta for the upcoming campaign of 1464.He launched attacks against Ottoman forts and engaged in a failed siege of Mistra in August through October.", "Small-scale warfare continued on both sides, with raids and counter-raids, but a shortage of manpower and money meant that the Venetians remained largely confined to their fortified bases, while Ömer Bey's army roamed the countryside.In the Aegean, the Venetians tried to take Lesbos in the spring of 1464, and besieged the capital Mytilene for six weeks, until the arrival of an Ottoman fleet under Mahmud Pasha on 18 May forced them to withdraw.", "Another attempt to capture the island shortly after also failed.", "The Venetian navy spent the remainder of the year in ultimately fruitless demonstrations of force before the Dardanelles.", "In early 1465, Mehmed II sent peace feelers to the Venetian Senate; distrusting the Sultan's motives, these were rejected.In April 1466, the Venetian war effort was reinvigorated under Vettore Cappello: the fleet took the northern Aegean islands of Imbros, Thasos, and Samothrace, and then sailed into the Saronic Gulf.", "On 12 July, Cappello landed at Piraeus and marched against Athens, the Ottomans' major regional base.", "He failed to take the Acropolis and was forced to retreat to Patras, the capital of Peloponnese and the seat of the Ottoman bey, which was being besieged by a joint force of Venetians and Greeks.", "Before Cappello could arrive, and as the city seemed on the verge of falling, Ömer Bey suddenly appeared with 12,000 cavalry and drove the outnumbered besiegers off.", "Six hundred Venetians and a hundred Greeks were taken prisoner out of a force of 2,000, while Barbarigo himself was killed.", "Cappello, who arrived some days later, attacked the Ottomans but was heavily defeated.", "Demoralized, he returned to Negroponte with the remains of his army.", "There Cappello fell ill and died on 13 March 1467.In 1470 Mehmed personally led an Ottoman army to besiege Negroponte.", "The Venetian relief navy was defeated, and Negroponte was captured.In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against the Albanians.", "Under their leader, Skanderbeg, they had long resisted the Ottomans, and had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy.", "Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania but was unsuccessful.", "The winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.", "Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus (Lezhë), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.", "After Skanderbeg died, some Venetian-controlled northern Albanian garrisons continued to hold territories coveted by the Ottomans, such as Žabljak Crnojevića, Drisht, Lezhë, and Shkodra – the most significant.", "Mehmed II sent his armies to take Shkodra in 1474 but failed.", "Then he went personally to lead the siege of Shkodra of 1478–79.The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Constantinople as a condition of ending the war.The agreement was established as a result of the Ottomans having reached the outskirts of Venice.", "Based on the terms of the treaty, the Venetians were allowed to keep Ulcinj, Antivan, and Durrës.", "However, they ceded Shkodra, which had been under Ottoman siege for many months, as well as other territories on the Dalmatian coastline, and they relinquished control of the Greek islands of Negroponte (Euboea) and Lemnos.", "Moreover, the Venetians were forced to pay 100,000 ducat indemnity and agreed to a tribute of around 10,000 ducats per year in order to acquire trading privileges in the Black Sea.", "As a result of this treaty, Venice acquired a weakened position in the Levant.=== Anatolian conquests (1464–1473) ===Mehmed's ''Fetihname'' (Declaration of conquest) after the 150pxDuring the post-Seljuks era in the second half of the middle ages, numerous Turkmen principalities collectively known as Anatolian beyliks emerged in Anatolia.", "Karamanids initially centred around the modern provinces of Karaman and Konya, the most important power in Anatolia.", "But towards the end of the 14th century, Ottomans began to dominate on most of Anatolia, reducing the Karaman influence and prestige.İbrahim II of Karaman was the ruler of Karaman, and during his last years, his sons began struggling for the throne.", "His heir apparent was İshak of Karaman, the governor of Silifke.", "But Pir Ahmet, a younger son, declared himself as the bey of Karaman in Konya.", "İbrahim escaped to a small city in western territories where he died in 1464.The competing claims to the throne resulted in an interregnum in the ''beylik''.", "Nevertheless, with the help of Uzun Hasan, İshak was able to ascend to the throne.", "His reign was short, however, as Pir Ahmet appealed to Sultan Mehmed II for help, offering Mehmed some territory that İshak refused to cede.", "With Ottoman help, Pir Ahmet defeated İshak in the battle of Dağpazarı.", "İshak had to be content with Silifke up to an unknown date.", "Pir Ahmet kept his promise and ceded a part of the ''beylik'' to the Ottomans, but he was uneasy about the loss.", "So, during the Ottoman campaign in the West, he recaptured his former territory.", "Mehmed returned, however, and captured both Karaman (Larende) and Konya in 1466.Pir Ahmet barely escaped to the East.", "A few years later, Ottoman vizier (later grand vizier) Gedik Ahmet Pasha captured the coastal region of the ''beylik''.Pir Ahmet as well as his brother Kasım escaped to Uzun Hasan's territory.", "This gave Uzun Hasan a chance to interfere.", "In 1472, the Akkoyunlu army invaded and raided most of Anatolia (this was the reason behind the Battle of Otlukbeli in 1473).", "But then Mehmed led a successful campaign against Uzun Hasan in 1473 that resulted in the decisive victory of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Otlukbeli.", "Before that, Pir Ahmet with Akkoyunlu help had captured Karaman.", "However, Pir Ahmet could not enjoy another term.", "Because immediately after the capture of Karaman, the Akkoyunlu army was defeated by the Ottomans near Beyşehir and Pir Ahmet had to escape once more.", "Although he tried to continue his struggle, he learned that his family members had been transferred to Istanbul by Gedik Ahmet Pasha, so he finally gave up.", "Demoralized, he escaped to Akkoyunlu territory where he was given a ''tımar'' (fief) in Bayburt.", "He died in 1474.Uniting the Anatolian ''beylik''s was first accomplished by Sultan Bayezid I, more than fifty years before Mehmed II but after the destructive Battle of Ankara in 1402, the newly formed unification was gone.", "Mehmed II recovered Ottoman power over the other Turkish states, and these conquests allowed him to push further into Europe.Another important political entity that shaped the Eastern policy of Mehmed II were the Aq Qoyunlu.", "Under the leadership of Uzun Hasan, this kingdom gained power in the East, but because of its strong relations with Christian powers like the Empire of Trebizond and the Republic of Venice and the alliance between the Turcomans and the Karamanid tribe, Mehmed saw them as a threat to his own power.=== War with Moldavia (1475–1476) ===Mehmed the Second, portrait by Paolo VeroneseIn 1456, Peter III Aaron agreed to pay the Ottomans an annual tribute of 2,000 gold ducats to ensure his southern borders, thus becoming the first Moldavian ruler to accept the Turkish demands.", "His successor Stephen the Great rejected Ottoman suzerainty and a series of fierce wars ensued.", "Stephen tried to bring Wallachia under his sphere of influence and so supported his own choice for the Wallachian throne.", "This resulted in an enduring struggle between different Wallachian rulers backed by Hungarians, Ottomans, and Stephen.", "An Ottoman army under Hadim Pasha (governor of Rumelia) was sent in 1475 to punish Stephen for his meddling in Wallachia; however, the Ottomans suffered a great defeat at the Battle of Vaslui.", "Stephen inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans, described as \"the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam,\" with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side.", "Mara Brankovic (Mara Hatun), the former younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been worst ever defeat for the Ottomans.", "Stephen was later awarded the title \"Athleta Christi\" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV, who referred to him as \"verus christianae fidei athleta\" (\"the true defender of the Christian faith\").", "Mehmed II assembled a large army and entered Moldavia in June 1476.Meanwhile, groups of Tartars from the Crimean Khanate (the Ottomans' recent ally) were sent to attack Moldavia.", "Romanian sources may state that they were repelled.", "Other sources state that joint Ottoman and Crimean Tartar forces \"occupied Bessarabia and took Akkerman, gaining control of the southern mouth of the Danube.", "Stephan tried to avoid open battle with the Ottomans by following a scorched-earth policy\".Finally, Stephen faced the Ottomans in battle.", "The Moldavians luring the main Ottoman forces into a forest that was set on fire, causing some casualties.", "According to another battle description, the defending Moldavian forces repelled several Ottoman attacks with steady fire from hand-guns.", "The attacking Turkish Janissaries were forced to crouch on their stomachs instead of charging headlong into the defenders positions.", "Seeing the imminent defeat of his forces, Mehmed charged with his personal guard against the Moldavians, managing to rally the Janissaries, and turning the tide of the battle.", "Turkish Janissaries penetrated inside the forest and engaged the defenders in man-to-man fighting.The Moldavian army was utterly defeated (casualties were very high on both sides), and the chronicles say that the entire battlefield was covered with the bones of the dead, a probable source for the toponym (''Valea Albă'' is Romanian and ''Akdere'' Turkish for \"The White Valley\").Stephen the Great retreated into the north-western part of Moldavia or even into the Polish Kingdom and began forming another army.The Ottomans were unable to conquer any of the major Moldavian strongholds (Suceava, Neamț, and Hotin) and were constantly harassed by small-scale Moldavian attacks.", "Soon they were also confronted with starvation, a situation made worse by an outbreak of the plague, and the Ottoman army returned to Ottoman lands.", "The threat of Stephen to Wallachia continued for decades.", "That very same year Stephen helped his cousin Vlad the Impaler return to the throne of Wallachia for the third and final time.", "Even after Vlad's untimely death several months later Stephen continued to support, with force of arms, a variety of contenders to the Wallachian throne succeeding after Mehmet's death to instate Vlad Călugărul, half brother to Vlad the Impaler, for a period of 13 years from 1482 to 1495.===Conquest of Albania (1466–1478)===Portrait of Skanderbeg, prince of League of LezhëSkanderbeg, a member of the Albanian nobility and a former member of the Ottoman ruling elite, led a rebellion against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.", "Skanderbeg, son of Gjon Kastrioti (who had joined the unsuccessful Albanian revolt of 1432–1436), united the Albanian principalities in a military and diplomatic alliance, the League of Lezhë, in 1444.Mehmed II was never successful in his efforts to subjugate Albania while Skanderbeg was alive, even though he twice (1466 and 1467) led the Ottoman armies himself against Krujë.", "After Skanderbeg died in 1468, the Albanians could not find a leader to replace him, and Mehmed II eventually conquered Krujë and Albania in 1478.In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against Skanderbeg and the Albanians.", "Skanderbeg had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy, and believed that the ongoing Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) offered a golden opportunity to reassert Albanian independence; for the Venetians, the Albanians provided a useful cover to the Venetian coastal holdings of Durrës () and Shkodër ().", "The major result of this campaign was the construction of the fortress of Elbasan, allegedly within just 25 days.", "This strategically sited fortress, at the lowlands near the end of the old ''Via Egnatia'', cut Albania effectively in half, isolating Skanderbeg's base in the northern highlands from the Venetian holdings in the south.", "However, following the Sultan's withdrawal Skanderbeg himself spent the winter in Italy, seeking aid.", "On his return in early 1467, his forces sallied from the highlands, defeated Ballaban Pasha, and lifted the siege of the fortress of Croia (Krujë); they also attacked Elbasan but failed to capture it.", "Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania.", "He energetically pursued the attacks against the Albanian strongholds, while sending detachments to raid the Venetian possessions to keep them isolated.", "The Ottomans failed again to take Croia, and they failed to subjugate the country.", "However, the winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.", "Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus (Lezhë), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.", "The Albanians were left to their own devices and were gradually subdued over the next decade.After Skanderbeg died, Mehmed II personally led the siege of Shkodra in 1478–79, of which early Ottoman chronicler Aşıkpaşazade (1400–81) wrote, \"All the conquests of Sultan Mehmed were fulfilled with the seizure of Shkodra.\"", "The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Constantinople as a condition of ending the war.===Crimean policy (1475)===A number of Turkic peoples, collectively known as the Crimean Tatars, had been inhabiting the peninsula since the early Middle Ages.", "After the destruction of the Golden Horde by Timur earlier in the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars founded an independent Crimean Khanate under Hacı I Giray, a descendant of Genghis Khan.The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from the Kuban to the Dniester River, but they were unable to take control over the commercial Genoese towns called Gazaria (Genoese colonies), which had been under Genoese control since 1357.After the conquest of Constantinople, Genoese communications were disrupted, and when the Crimean Tatars asked for help from the Ottomans, they responded with an invasion of the Genoese towns, led by Gedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475, bringing Kaffa and the other trading towns under their control.", "After the capture of the Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held Meñli I Giray captive, later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman suzerainty over the Crimean Khans and allowing them to rule as tributary princes of the Ottoman Empire.", "However, the Crimean khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, while the Ottomans directly controlled the southern coast.=== Expedition to Italy (1480) ===A bronze medal of Mehmed II the Conqueror by Bertoldo di Giovanni, 1480|alt=A bronze medal of Mehmed II the ConquerorPortrait of Mehmed II with a young man on the left.", "It is assumed that Bellini himself did not create the two portraits in Istanbul, but only after his return to Venice.", "The young man is sometimes interpreted as Mehmed's son Cem, but there is no proof of this.An Ottoman army under Gedik Ahmed Pasha invaded Italy in 1480, capturing Otranto.", "Because of lack of food, Gedik Ahmed Pasha returned with most of his troops to Albania, leaving a garrison of 800 infantry and 500 cavalry behind to defend Otranto in Italy.", "It was assumed he would return after the winter.", "Since it was only 28 years after the fall of Constantinople, there was some fear that Rome would suffer the same fate.", "Plans were made for the Pope and citizens of Rome to evacuate the city.", "Pope Sixtus IV repeated his 1481 call for a crusade.", "Several Italian city-states, Hungary, and France responded positively to the appeal.", "The Republic of Venice did not, however, as it had signed an expensive peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1479.In 1481 king Ferdinand I of Naples raised an army to be led by his son Alphonso II of Naples.", "A contingent of troops was provided by king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.", "The city was besieged starting 1 May 1481.After the death of Mehmed on 3 May, ensuing quarrels about his succession possibly prevented the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Otranto.", "So, the Turkish occupation of Otranto ended by negotiation with the Christian forces, permitting the Turks to withdraw to Albania, and Otranto was retaken by Papal forces in 1481.===Return to Constantinople (1453–1478)===Fatih Mosque, built by order of Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople, the first imperial mosque built in the city after the Ottoman conquestAfter conquering Constantinople, when Mehmed II finally entered the city through what is now known as the Topkapi Gate, he immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia, where he ordered the building to be protected.", "He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the Muslim Creed: \"I testify that there is no god but Allah.", "I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.\"", "The Orthodox cathedral was transformed into a Muslim mosque through a charitable trust, solidifying Islamic rule in Constantinople.Mehmed's main concern with Constantinople was with rebuilding the city's defenses and repopulation.", "Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, a remarkable hospital with students and medical staff, a large cultural complex, two sets of barracks for the janissaries, a ''tophane'' gun foundry outside Galata, and a new palace.", "To encourage the return of the Greeks and the Genoese who had fled from Galata, the trading quarter of the city, he returned their houses and provided them with guarantees of safety.", "Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle in the city, demanding that five thousand households needed to be transferred to Constantinople by September.", "From all over the Islamic empire, prisoners of war and deported people were sent to the city; these people were called \"Sürgün\" in Turkish ( ''sourgounides''; \"immigrants\").Mehmed restored the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate (6 January 1454), monk Gennadios being appointed as the first Orthodox Patriarch, and established a Jewish Grand Rabbinate (Ḥakham Bashi) and the prestigious Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in the capital, as part of the millet system.", "In addition, he founded, and encouraged his viziers to found, a number of Muslim institutions and commercial installations in the main districts of Constantinople, such as the Rum Mehmed Pasha Mosque built by the Grand Vizier Rum Mehmed Pasha.", "From these nuclei, the metropolis developed rapidly.", "According to a survey carried out in 1478, there were then in Constantinople and neighboring Galata 16,324 households, 3,927 shops, and an estimated population of 80,000.The population was about 60% Muslim, 20% Christian, and 10% Jewish.By the end of his reign, Mehmed's ambitious rebuilding program had changed the city into a thriving imperial capital.", "According to the contemporary Ottoman historian Neşri, \"Sultan Mehmed created all of Istanbul\".", "Fifty years later, Constantinople had again become the largest city in Europe.Two centuries later, the well-known Ottoman itinerant Evliya Çelebi gave a list of groups introduced into the city with their respective origins.", "Even today, many quarters of Istanbul, such as Aksaray and Çarşamba, bear the names of the places of origin of their inhabitants.", "However, many people escaped again from the city, and there were several outbreaks of plague, so that in 1459 Mehmed allowed the deported Greeks to come back to the city.", "This measure apparently had no great success, since French voyager Pierre Gilles wrote in the middle of the 16th century that the Greek population of Constantinople was unable to name any of the ancient Byzantine churches that had been transformed into mosques or abandoned.", "This shows that the population substitution had been total." ], [ "Administration and culture", "Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror with patriarch Gennadius II depicted on an 18th-century mosaicMehmed II introduced the word Politics into Arabic \"Siyasah\" from a book he published and claimed to be the collection of Politics doctrines of the Byzantine Caesars before him.", "He gathered Italian artists, humanists and Greek scholars at his court, allowed the Byzantine Church to continue functioning, ordered the patriarch Gennadius to translate Christian doctrine into Turkish, and called Gentile Bellini from Venice to paint his portrait as well as Venetian frescoes that are vanished today.", "He collected in his palace a library that included works in Greek, Persian, and Latin.", "Mehmed invited Muslim scientists and astronomers such as Ali Qushji and artists to his court in Constantinople, started a university, and built mosques (for example, the Fatih Mosque), waterways, and Istanbul's Topkapı Palace and the Tiled Kiosk.Around the grand mosque that he constructed, he erected eight madrasas, which, for nearly a century, kept their rank as the highest teaching institutions of the Islamic sciences in the empire.Mehmed II allowed his subjects a considerable degree of religious freedom, provided they were obedient to his rule.", "After his conquest of Bosnia in 1463, he issued the Ahdname of Milodraž to the Bosnian Franciscans, granting them the freedom to move freely within the Empire, offer worship in their churches and monasteries, and practice their religion free from official and unofficial persecution, insult, or disturbance.", "However, his standing army was recruited from the ''Devshirme'', a group that took Christian subjects at a young age (8–20 yrs): they were converted to Islam, then schooled for administration or the military Janissaries.", "This was a meritocracy which \"produced from among their alumni four out of five Grand Viziers from this time on\".Within Constantinople, Mehmed established a ''millet'', or an autonomous religious community, and appointed the former Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius as religious leader for the Orthodox Christians of the city.", "His authority extended to all Ottoman Orthodox Christians, and this excluded the Genoese and Venetian settlements in the suburbs, and excluded Muslim and Jewish settlers entirely.", "This method allowed for an indirect rule of the Christian Byzantines and allowed the occupants to feel relatively autonomous even as Mehmed II began the Turkish remodeling of the city, turning it into the Turkish capital, which it remained until the 1920s.===Centralization of government===Medal of Mehmet II, with mention \"Emperor of Byzantium\" (\"Byzantii Imperatoris 1481\"), made by Costanzo da Ferrara (1450-1524).Mehmed the Conqueror consolidated power by building his imperial court, the divan, with officials who would be solely loyal to him and allow him greater autonomy and authority.", "Under previous sultans the divan had been filled with members of aristocratic families that sometimes had other interests and loyalties than that of the sultan.", "Mehmed the Conqueror transitioned the empire away from the Ghazi mentality that emphasizes ancient traditions and ceremonies in governance and moved it towards a centralized bureaucracy largely made of officials of devşirme background.", "Additionally, Mehmed the Conqueror took the step of converting the religious scholars who were part of the Ottoman madrasas into salaried employees of the Ottoman bureaucracy who were loyal to him.", "This centralization was possible and formalized through a kanunname, issued during 1477–1481, which for the first time listed the chief officials in the Ottoman government, their roles and responsibilities, salaries, protocol and punishments, as well as how they related to each other and the sultan.Once Mehmed had created an Ottoman bureaucracy and transformed the empire from a frontier society to a centralized government, he took care to appoint officials who would help him implement his agenda.", "His first grand vizier was Zaganos Pasha, who was of devşirme background as opposed to an aristocrat, and Zaganos Pasha's successor, Mahmud Pasha Angelović, was also of devşirme background.", "Mehmed was the first sultan who was able to codify and implement kanunname solely based on his own independent authority.", "Additionally, Mehmed was able to later implement kanunname that went against previous tradition or precedent.", "This was monumental in an empire that was so steeped in tradition and could be slow to change or adapt.", "Having viziers and other officials who were loyal to Mehmed was an essential part of this government because he transferred more power to the viziers than previous sultans had.", "He delegated significant powers and functions of government to his viziers as part of his new policy of imperial seclusions.", "A wall was built around the palace as an element of the more closed era, and unlike previous sultans Mehmed was no longer accessible to the public or even lower officials.", "His viziers directed the military and met foreign ambassadors, two essential parts of governing especially with his numerous military campaigns.", "One such notable ambassador was Kinsman Karabœcu Pasha (Turkish: \"Karaböcü Kuzen Paşa\"), who came from a rooted family of spies, which enabled him to play a notable role in Mehmed's campaign of conquering Constantinople.=== Patronage of Renaissance artists ===Portrait of Mehmed, by Nakkaş Sinan Bey (Topkapı Palace albums)Aside from his efforts to expand Ottoman dominion throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Mehmed II also cultivated a large collection of Western art and literature, many of which were produced by Renaissance artists.", "From a young age, Mehmed had shown interest in Renaissance art and Classical literature and histories, with his school books having caricaturistic illustrations of ancient coins and portraiture sketched in distinctly European styles.", "Furthermore, he reportedly had two tutors, one trained in Greek and another in Latin, who read him Classical histories, including those of Laertius, Livy, and Herodotus, in the days leading up to the fall of Constantinople.From early on in his reign, Mehmed invested in the patronage of Italian Renaissance artists.", "His first documented request in 1461 was a commission from artist Matteo de' Pasti, who resided in the court of the lord of Rimini, Sigismondo Malatesta.", "This first attempt was unsuccessful, though, as Pasti was arrested in Crete by Venetian authorities accusing him of being an Ottoman spy.", "Later attempts would prove more fruitful, with some notable artists including Costanzo da Ferrara and Gentile Bellini both being invited to the Ottoman court.Aside from his patronage of Renaissance artists, Mehmed was also an avid scholar of contemporary and Classical literature and history.", "This interest culminated in Mehmed's work on building a massive multilingual library that contained over 8000 manuscripts in Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Latin, and Greek, among other languages.", "Of note in this large collection was Mehmed's Greek scriptorium, which included copies of Arrians' ''Anabasis of Alexander the Great'' and Homer's ''Iliad''.", "His interest in Classical works extended in many directions, including the patronage of the Greek writer Kritiboulos of Imbros, who produced the Greek manuscript ''History of Mehmed the Conqueror'', alongside his efforts to salvage and rebind Greek manuscripts acquired after his conquest of Constantinople.Historians believe that Mehmed's widespread cultural and artistic tastes, especially those aimed towards the West, served various important diplomatic and administrative functions.", "His patronage of Renaissance artists have been interpreted as a method of diplomacy with other influential Mediterranean states, significantly many Italian states including the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence.", "Furthermore, historians speculate that his Greek scriptorium was used to educate Greek chancellery officials in an attempt to reintegrate former Byzantine diplomatic channels with several Italian states that conducted their correspondences in Greek.", "Importantly, historians also assert that Mehmed's vast collection of art and literature worked towards promoting his imperial authority and legitimacy, especially in his newly conquered lands.", "This was accomplished through various means, including the invocation of Mehmed's image as an Oriental neo-Alexandrian figure, which is seen through shared helmet ornaments in depictions of Mehmed and Alexander on medallion portraits produced during Mehmed's reign, as well as being a leitmotiv in Kritiboulous' work.", "Additionally, his commissioning of Renaissance artwork was, itself, possibly an attempt to break down Western-Oriental cultural binaries in order for Mehmed to present himself as a Western-oriented ruler, among the ranks of contemporary European Christian monarchs.Mehmed's affinity towards the Renaissance arts, and his strong initiative in its creation and collection, did not have a large base of support within his own court.", "One of the many opponents to Mehmed's collection was his own son and future Sultan, Bayezid II, who was backed by powerful religious and Turkish factions in his opposition.", "Upon his accession, Bayezid II sold Mehmed's collection of portraits and disposed of his statuary." ], [ "Family", "Mehmed II had at least eight known consorts, at least one of whom was his legal wife.=== Consorts ===Mehmed II was the last sultan to legally marry until 1533/1534, when Suleiman the Magnificent married his favorite concubine Hürrem SultanMehmed II's eight known consorts are:*Gülbahar Hatun Mother of Bayezid II.", "*Gülşah Hatun.", "Mother of Şehzade Mustafa.", "*Sittişah Mukrime Hatun.", "Sometimes mistakenly believed to be the mother of Bayezid II.", "Called also Sitti Hatun.", "Daughter of Dulkadiroğlu Süleyman Bey, sixth ruler of Dulkadir, she was his legal wife, but the marriage was unhappy and it remained childless.", "Her niece Ayşe Hatun, daughter of her brother, became a consort of Bayezid II.", "*Çiçek Hatun.", "Mother of Şehzade Cem.", "*Anna Hatun.", "Daughter of the Greek emperor of Trebizond David II Komnenos and his wife Helena Kantakuzenos.", "The marriage was initially proposed by her father, but Mehmed refused.", "However, after the conquest of Trebizond in 1461, Anna entered Mehmed's harem as a \"noble tribute\" or guest and stayed there for two years, after which Mehmed married her to Zaganos Mehmed Pasha.", "In exchange, Mehmed had the Zaganos's daughter as his consort.", "*Helena Hatun (1442 - 1469).", "Daughter of the despot of Morea Demetrios Palaiologos, Mehmed asked her for himself after the Morea campaign, having heard of her beauty.", "However, the union was never consummated because Mehmed feared that she might poison him.", "*Maria Hatun.", "Born Maria Gattilusio, she was widow of Alexander Komnenos Asen (brother of Anna Hatun's father.", "By him she had a son, Alexios, executed by Mehmed II).", "She was judicated as the most beautiful woman of her age.", "*Hatice Hatun.", "Daughter of Zaganos Mehmed Pasha by his first wife Sitti Nefise Hatun.", "She entered the harem in 1463.In return, her father was able to marry Anna Hatun, Mehmed's consort or \"noble guest\".", "After Mehmed's death she remarried with a statesman.===Sons===Mehmed II had at least four sons:*Bayezid II (3 December 1447 - 10 June 1512) - son of Gülbahar Hatun.", "He succeeded his father as the Ottoman Sultan.", "*Şehzade Mustafa (1450, Manisa - 25 December 1474, Konya) - son of Gülşah Hatun.", "Governor of Konya until his death.", "He had a son, Şehzade Ali, and a daughter, Nergiszade Ferahşad Hatun (who married his cousin Şehzade Abdullah, son of Bayezid II).", "He was the favorite son of his father.", "*Şehzade Cem (22 December 1459, Constantinople - 25 February 1495; Capua, Kingdom of Naples, Italy) - son of Çiçek Hatun.", "Governor of Konya after the death of his brother Mustafa, he fought for the throne against his half-brother Bayezid.", "He died in exile.", "*Şehzade Nureddin.", "Probably died as an infant.===Daughters===Mehmed II had at least four daughters:*Gevherhan Hatun (1446 - Constantinople, 1514) - daughter of Gülbahar Hatun.", "She was the mother of Sultan Ahmad Beg.", "*Ayşe Hatun.", "*Kamerhan Hatun.", "She married Hasan Bey, son of Candaroğlu İsmail Bey.", "They had a daughter, Hanzade Hatun.", "*''Fülane'' Hatun." ], [ "Personal life", "The territorial extent of the Ottoman Empire upon the death of Mehmed IIMehmed had a strong interest in ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine civilization.", "His heroes were Achilles and Alexander the Great and he could discuss Christian religion with some authority.", "He was reputed to be fluent in several languages, including Turkish, Serbian, Arabic, Persian, Greek and Latin.At times, he assembled the Ulama, or learned Muslim teachers, and caused them to discuss theological problems in his presence.", "During his reign, mathematics, astronomy, and theology reached their highest level among the Ottomans.", "His social circle included a number of humanists and sages such as Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli of Ancona, Benedetto Dei of Florence and Michael Critobulus of Imbros, who mentions Mehmed as a Philhellene thanks to his interest in Grecian antiquities and relics.", "It was on his orders that the Parthenon and other Athenian monuments were spared destruction.", "Besides, Mehmed II himself was a poet writing under the name \"Avni\" (the helper, the helpful one) and he left a classical diwan poetry collection.Some sources claim that Mehmed had a passion for his hostage and favourite, Radu the Fair.", "Young men condemned to death were spared and added to Mehmed's seraglio if he found them attractive, and the Porte went to great lengths to procure young noblemen for him." ], [ "Death and legacy", "tomb of Mehmed II (d. 1481) in Fatih, IstanbulMehmed II on the backside of 1,000 Turkish lira dated 1986.In 1481 Mehmed marched with the Ottoman army, but upon reaching Maltepe, Istanbul he became ill.", "He was just beginning new campaigns to capture Rhodes and southern Italy, however according to some historians his next voyage was planned to overthrow the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and to capture Egypt and claim the caliphate.", "But after some days he died, on 3 May 1481, at the age of forty-nine, and was buried in his ''türbe'' near the Fatih Mosque complex.", "According to the historian Colin Heywood, \"there is substantial circumstantial evidence that Mehmed was poisoned, possibly at the behest of his eldest son and successor, Bayezid.", "\"The news of Mehmed's death caused great rejoicing in Europe; church bells were rung, and celebrations held.", "The news was proclaimed in Venice thus: \"La Grande Aquila è morta!\"", "('The Great Eagle is dead!", "')Mehmed II is recognized as the first sultan to codify criminal and constitutional law, long before Suleiman the Magnificent; he thus established the classical image of the autocratic Ottoman sultan.", "Mehmed's thirty-year rule and numerous wars expanded the Ottoman Empire to include Constantinople, the Turkish kingdoms and territories of Asia Minor, Bosnia, Serbia, and Albania.", "Mehmed left behind an imposing reputation in both the Islamic and Christian worlds.", "According to historian Franz Babinger, Mehmed was regarded as a bloodthirsty tyrant by the Christian world and by a part of his subjects.Istanbul's Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (completed 1988), which crosses the Bosporus Straits, is named after him, and his name and picture appeared on the Turkish 1000 lira note from 1986 to 1992." ], [ "Portrayal in popular culture", "* Mehmed is the eponymous subject of Rossini's 1820 opera, ''Maometto II''.", "Rossini and librettist Cesare della Valle offer a nuanced picture of Mehmed, portraying him as a fearless and magnanimous leader, even on the verge of conquering Negroponte.", "* Portrayed by Sami Ayanoğlu in the Turkish film ''The Conquest of Constantinople'' (1951)* Portrayed by Devrim Evin the Turkish film (2012).", "His childhood is portrayed by Ege Uslu.", "* Portrayed by Mehmet Akif Alakurt in the Turkish television series ''Fatih'' (2013).", "* Portrayed by Dominic Cooper in ''Dracula Untold''.", "* Portrayed by Kenan İmirzalıoğlu in the Turkish television series '':tr:Mehmed Bir Cihan Fatihi'' (2018).", "* Portrayed by Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu in the docuseries ''Rise of Empires: Ottoman'' (2020)* His childhood is portrayed by Miraç Sözer in web series :tr:Kızılelma: Bir Fetih Öyküsü (2023)." ], [ "See also", "* Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire* Decline of the Byzantine Empire* Kashifi (author of the ''Ḡazā-nāma-ye Rum'')" ], [ "References", "===Citations======Sources===* * * * * * Dyer, T. H., & Hassall, A.", "(1901).", "''A history of modern Europe From the fall of Constantinople''.", "London: G. Bell and Sons.", "* * Fredet, Peter (1888).", "''Modern History; From the Coming of Christ and Change of the Roman Republic into an Empire, to the Year of Our Lord 1888''.", "Baltimore: J. Murphy & Co. 383 pp* Harris, Jonathan, ''The End of Byzantium''.", "New Haven CT and London: Yale University Press, 2010.", "* İnalcık; Halil, Review of ''Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time''* Imber, Colin, ''The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power''.", "2nd Edition.", "New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.", "* * * * Philippides, Marios, ''Emperors, Patriarchs, and Sultans of Constantinople, 1373–1513: An Anonymous Greek Chronicle of the Sixteenth Century''.", "Brookline MA: Hellenic College Press, 1990.", "* * Silburn, P. A.", "B.", "(1912).", "''The evolution of sea-power''.", "London: Longmans, Green and Co.*" ], [ "External links", "* Contemporary portraits* Chapter LXVIII: \"Reign of Mahomet the Second, Extinction of Eastern Empire\" by Edward Gibbon* Constantinople Siege & Fall, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Roger Crowley, Judith Herrin & Colin Imber (''In Our Time'', 28 December 2006)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Martina Hingis" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Martina Hingis''' (, ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player.", "Hingis was the first Swiss player, male or female, to have won a major title and attain the world No.", "1 ranking.", "She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No.", "1 and 90 weeks as doubles world No.", "1, holding both No.", "1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks.", "She won five major singles titles, 13 major women's doubles titles (including the Grand Slam in 1998), and seven major mixed doubles titles, for a combined total of 25 major titles.", "In addition, she won the season-ending WTA Finals two times in singles and three in doubles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles, and a record 17 Tier I singles titles.Hingis set a series of \"youngest-ever\" records during the 1990s, including youngest-ever Grand Slam champion and youngest-ever world No.", "1.Before ligament injuries in both ankles forced her to withdraw temporarily from professional tennis in early 2003, at the age of 22, she had won 40 singles titles and 36 doubles titles and, according to ''Forbes'', was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for five consecutive years, 1997 to 2001.After several surgeries and long recoveries, Hingis returned to the WTA Tour in 2006, climbing to world No.", "6, winning two Tier I tournaments, and receiving the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year.", "She retired in November 2007 after being hampered by a hip injury for several months.", "In January 2008, the International Tennis Federation suspended Hingis for two years following a positive test for a metabolite of cocaine in 2007.In July 2013, Hingis again returned from retirement to play the doubles events of the North American hardcourt season.", "During her doubles-only comeback, she won four major women's doubles tournaments, six major mixed doubles tournaments (completing the career Grand Slam in mixed doubles), 27 WTA Tour titles, and the silver medal in women's doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.", "Hingis retired for the third and final time after the 2017 WTA Finals, while ranked as the world No.", "1.Widely considered an all-time tennis great, Hingis was ranked by ''Tennis'' magazine in 2005 as the eighth-greatest female player of the preceding 40 years.", "She was named one of the \"30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future\" by ''TIME'' in June 2011.In 2013, Hingis was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and was appointed two years later the organization's first ever Global Ambassador." ], [ "Personal life", "Hingis was born in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia) as Martina Hingisová, to Melanie Molitorová and Karol Hingis, both of whom were tennis players.", "Molitorová was a professional tennis player who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy.", "Her father was ranked as high as 19th in the Czechoslovak tennis rankings.", "Martina Hingis spent her early childhood growing up in the town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (now in the Czech Republic).", "Hingis's parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother defected from Czechoslovakia in 1987 and emigrated to Trübbach (Wartau) in Switzerland when she was seven.", "Her mother remarried to a Swiss man, Andreas Zogg, a computer technician.", "Hingis acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization.Hingis speaks four languages: German, Czech, English and French.Hingis became engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek in November 2006, but the couple broke off the engagement in August 2007.In December 2009, Hingis became engaged to then-38-year-old Andreas Bieri, a Swiss attorney she had been living with since the summer of 2009, but the couple broke off the engagement in April 2010.On 10 December 2010, in Paris, Hingis married then-24-year-old Thibault Hutin, a French equestrian show jumper she had met at a competition in April of that year.", "On 8 July 2013, Hingis told the Swiss newspaper ''Schweizer Illustrierte'' the pair had been separated since the beginning of the year.On 20 July 2018, Hingis married sports physician Harald Leemann in Switzerland in a secret ceremony at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz.", "Hingis and Leemann had been in a relationship for almost a year before they got married.", "They were both 37.On 30 September 2018 (her 38th birthday) Hingis announced, via social media, her first pregnancy.", "She gave birth to a daughter, Lia, on 26 February 2019." ], [ "Tennis career", "Hingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four.", "In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title: the girls' singles at the French Open.", "In 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open.She made her WTA debut at the Zurich Open in October 1994, two weeks after turning 14, and ended 1994 ranked world No.", "87.===Grand Slam success and period of dominance (1996–2000)=======1996====In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time, when she teamed with Helena Suková at Wimbledon to win the women's doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months.", "She also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany.", "She reached the singles quarterfinals of the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open.", "Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion and co-top ranked (with Steffi Graf) Monica Seles in the final in Oakland, but lost to Graf in the year-end WTA Tour Championships final in five sets.====1997====In 1997, Hingis became the World No.", "1 women's tennis player.", "She started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney.", "She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months (beating former champion Mary Pierce in the final).", "She also won the Australian Open women's doubles with Natasha Zvereva.", "In March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history.", "In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final.", "She then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open.", "The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open, where she lost in the final to Iva Majoli.====1998: Doubles Grand Slam====In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women's doubles titles, only the fourth in women's tennis history to do so, (the Australian Open with Mirjana Lučić and the other three events with Novotná), and she became only the third woman to hold the No.", "1 ranking in both singles and doubles simultaneously.", "She also retained her Australian Open singles title by beating Conchita Martínez in straight sets in the final.", "Hingis, however, lost in the final of the US Open to Lindsay Davenport.", "Davenport ended an 80-week stretch Hingis had enjoyed as the No.", "1 singles player in October 1998, but Hingis finished the year by beating Davenport in the final of the WTA Tour Championships.====1999====Martina Hingis (right) with doubles partner Anna Kournikova at the Sydney WTA tournament, 20021999 saw Hingis win her third successive Australian Open singles crown as well as the doubles title (with Anna Kournikova).", "She had dropped her former doubles partner Jana Novotná.She then reached the French Open final and was three points away from victory in the second set before losing to Steffi Graf about whom she had said before: \"Steffi had some results in the past, but it's a faster, more athletic game now... She is old now.", "Her time has passed.\"", "She broke into tears after a game in which the crowd had booed her for using underhand serves and crossing the line in a discussion about an umpire decision.", "After a shock first-round, straight set, loss to Jelena Dokić at Wimbledon, Hingis bounced back to reach her third consecutive US Open final, where she lost to 17-year-old Serena Williams.", "Hingis won a total of seven singles titles that year and reclaimed the No.", "1 singles ranking.", "She also reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.====2000====In 2000, Hingis again found herself in both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open.", "This time, however, she lost both.", "Her three-year hold on the singles championship ended when she lost to Davenport.", "Later, Hingis and Mary Pierce, her new doubles partner, lost to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.", "Hingis captured the French Open women's doubles title with Pierce and produced consistent results in singles tournaments throughout the year.", "She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams.", "Although she did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament, the first time this had happened since 1996, she kept the year end No.", "1 ranking because of nine tournament championships, including the WTA Tour Championships where she won the singles and doubles titles.=== Injuries and first retirement from tennis (2001–2003) =======2001====In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup.", "Hingis didn't drop a set in any of her singles matches during the event, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nicole Pratt, Amanda Coetzer, and Monica Seles.", "In 2018, after his second Hopman Cup victory, Federer was quoted as saying: \"I learned a lot from her, especially the two years I was here – once as a hitting partner and once as a partner with Martina.", "Definitely she helped me to become the player I am today.", "\"Hingis reached her fifth consecutive Australian Open final in 2001, defeating both of the Williams sisters en route, before losing to Jennifer Capriati.", "She briefly ended her coaching relationship with her mother Melanie early in the year but had a change of heart two months later just before the French Open.", "2001 was her least successful year in several seasons, with only three tournament victories in total.", "She lost her No.", "1 ranking for the last time (to Jennifer Capriati) on 14 October 2001.In that same month, Hingis underwent surgery on her right ankle.====2002====Coming back from injury, Hingis won the Australian Open doubles final at the start of 2002 (again teaming with Anna Kournikova) and reached a sixth straight Australian Open final in singles, again facing Capriati.", "Hingis led by a set and 4–0 and had four match points but lost in three sets.", "In May 2002, she needed another ankle ligament operation, this time on her left ankle.", "After that, she continued to struggle with injuries and was not able to recapture her best form.====2003====In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain.", "\"I want to play tennis only for fun and concentrate more on horse riding and finish my studies.\"", "In several interviews, she indicated that she wished to return to her home country and coach full-time.During this segment of her tennis career (until what would become her first retirement), Hingis won a total of 40 singles titles and 36 doubles.", "She held the world No.", "1 singles ranking for a total of 209 weeks (fifth most following Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Serena Williams).", "In 2005, ''Tennis'' magazine put her in 22nd place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era.=== Return to the game (2005–2007) ===Martina Hingis at the Australian Open, 2006====2005====In February 2005, Hingis came out of retirement and made an unsuccessful return to competition.", "This took place at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany's Marlene Weingärtner in the first round.", "After the loss, she claimed that she had no further plans to continue further and make a full-fledged comeback.Hingis, however, resurfaced in July, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in World Team Tennis and notching up singles victories over two top 100 players and shutting out Martina Navratilova in singles on 7 July.", "With these promising results behind her, Hingis announced on 29 November her return to the next season's WTA Tour.====2006====At the Australian Open, Hingis lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Kim Clijsters.", "However, Hingis won the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi of India.", "This was her first career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and fifteenth overall (5 singles, 9 women's doubles, 1 mixed doubles).The week after the Australian Open, Hingis defeated world No.", "4, Maria Sharapova, in the semifinals of the Tier I Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, before losing in the final to world No.", "9, Elena Dementieva.", "Hingis competed in Dubai then, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to Sharapova.", "At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Hingis defeated world No.", "4, Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round, before again losing to Sharapova in the semifinals.Martina Hingis at the Zurich Open, 2006At the Tier I Italian Open in Rome, Hingis posted her 500th career singles match victory in the quarterfinals, beating world No.", "18 Flavia Pennetta, and subsequently won the tournament with wins over Venus Williams in the semifinals and Dinara Safina in the final.", "This was her 41st WTA Tour singles title and first in more than four years.", "Hingis then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before losing to Kim Clijsters.At Wimbledon, Hingis lost in the third round to Ai Sugiyama.Hingis's return to the US Open was short lived, as she was upset in the second round by world No.", "112, Virginie Razzano of France.In her first tournament after the US Open, Hingis won the second title of her comeback at the Tier III Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India.", "She defeated unseeded Russian Olga Puchkova in the final.", "The following week in Seoul, Hingis notched her 50th match win of the year before losing in the second round to Sania Mirza.Hingis qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid as the 8th seed.", "In her round robin matches, she lost in three sets to both Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo but defeated Nadia Petrova.Hingis ended the year ranked world No.", "7.She also finished eighth in prize money earnings (US$1,159,537).", "Hingis also ranked as No.", "7 on the Annual Top Google News Searches in 2006.====2007====Martina Hingis in Miami, Florida, 2007At the Australian Open, Hingis won her first three rounds without losing a set before defeating China's Li Na in the fourth round.", "Hingis then lost a quarterfinal match to Kim Clijsters.", "This was the second consecutive year that Hingis had lost to Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments that Clijsters had eliminated Hingis in the quarterfinals.Hingis won her next tournament, the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final.", "This was Hingis's record fifth singles title at this event.A hip injury that troubled her at the German Open caused her to withdraw from the Rome Masters, where she was the defending champion, and the French Open, the only important singles title that eluded her.In her first round match at Wimbledon, Hingis saved two match points to defeat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday, apparently not having fully recovered from the hip injury that prevented her from playing the French Open.", "In the third round, Hingis lost to Laura Granville of the United States, and stated afterwards she should not have entered the tournament.Hingis's next tournament was the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, in which Hingis lost in the third round to Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka.", "Hingis did not play any tournaments after the China Open, as she was beset by injuries for the rest of the year.=== ITF suspension and second retirement (2007–2012) ===In November 2007, Hingis called a press conference to announce that she was under investigation for testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during a urine test taken by players at Wimbledon.", "Hingis's urine sample contained an estimated 42 nanograms per millilitre of benzoylecgonine.", "The International Tennis Federation's report on the matter states that \"the very low estimated concentration of benzoylecgonine (42 ng/ml) was such that it would go unreported in many drug testing programmes such as that of the US military, which uses a screening threshold of 150 ng/ml.\"", "As the amount was so low, Hingis appealed, arguing the likely cause was contamination rather than intentional ingestion.", "In January 2008, the ITF's tribunal suspended Hingis from the sport for two years, effective from October 2007.At the time of Hingis's suspension, the ITF required an automatic two-year suspension for any players who tested positive for banned substances, regardless of extenuating circumstances such as contamination or extremely low detection levels.", "The ITF subsequently altered the suspension rules as a result of the Hingis case, allowing for future flexibility in cases of unintentional or unexplained ingestion.====2008–09====Having retired for the second time in 2007, Hingis played an exhibition match at the Liverpool International tournament on 13 June 2008.Although this event was a warm-up for Wimbledon, it was not part of the WTA Tour.", "In a rematch of their 1997 Wimbledon final, Hingis defeated Jana Novotná.In 2009, Hingis took part in the British television dancing competition ''Strictly Come Dancing''.", "She was the bookies' favourite for the competition, but went out in the first week after performing a waltz and a rumba.====2010====At the start of 2010, Hingis defeated former world No.", "1 Lindsay Davenport, and hinted at a possible return to tennis.", "In February, she announced having committed to a full season with the World TeamTennis tour in 2010.She had previously played for World TeamTennis in 2005 to assist her first comeback.", "Sparking thoughts that she was trying to come back to the WTA Tour, she committed to playing at the Nottingham Masters.", "On 5 May 2010, it was announced that Hingis would reunite with her doubles partner Anna Kournikova.", "Kournikova was participating in competitive tennis for the first time in seven years, in the Invitational Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon.", "Hingis also confirmed that she would play at the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International championship in June 2010, preceding Wimbledon, before playing in the Manchester Masters after Wimbledon.", "Liverpool like the Nottingham and Manchester Masters are organised by her management company Northern Vision.", "At the Nottingham Masters, Hingis faced Michaëlla Krajicek (twice), Olga Savchuk and Monika Wejnert.", "Hingis won just once in the event, against Wejnert.", "After the Nottingham event, Billie Jean King stated that she believed that Hingis might return to the WTA Tour on the doubles circuit, after competing in the WTT.====2011====Martina Hingis with the New York Sportimes, 2011On 5 June 2011, Hingis, paired with Lindsay Davenport, won the Roland Garros Women's Legends title, defeating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná in the final.", "Before facing Navratilova/Novotná, Hingis and Davenport won two round-robin matches in the tournament: first against Gigi Fernández/Natasha Zvereva, and then in the next match they prevailed over Andrea Temesvári/Sandrine Testud and 10:0 in the super tie-break.On 3 July, Hingis partnering Lindsay Davenport won the Wimbledon Ladies' Invitation Doubles title, defeating Navratilova and Novotná in the final.She also played for the New York Sportimes of the World TeamTennis Pro League in July 2011.She finished the season with the top winning percentage of any player competing in women's singles.====2012====Hingis and Davenport successfully defended their Wimbledon Ladies' Invitation Doubles title in 2012, again beating Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotná in the final.=== Second return and doubles success (2013–2017) =======2013: Coming out of retirement====Hingis practicing at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, August 2013In April 2013, Hingis agreed to coach Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; however, after a disagreement about how to prepare for tournaments they parted ways in June.Hingis won the Ladies' Invitation Doubles for a third year in a row at Wimbledon, again with Davenport.", "They beat Jana Novotná and Barbara Schett in the final.", "Hingis was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, and in the same month, announced that she was coming out of retirement to play a doubles tournament, with Daniela Hantuchová as her partner, in Carlsbad, California.", "She was accepted as a wildcard entry.", "She also played doubles in Toronto, Cincinnati, New Haven, and the US Open.====2014: US Open doubles finalist====Hingis helped Sabine Lisicki during the Australian Open.", "She participated in Champions Tennis League India to boost tennis in the country.Hingis at Aegon International Tennis, June 2014Hingis returned to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells, partnering Lisicki in the doubles.", "They lost in the first round to three-time Grand Slam finalists Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.", "At the Sony Open in Miami, Hingis and Lisicki reached the finals of the tournament and then defeated Makarova and Vesnina in straight sets, marking Hingis's first title since she won the Qatar Ladies Open in 2007 and her first Premier Mandatory doubles title since winning the 2001 title in Moscow.", "This was also her third win in Miami, having won her last title there in 1999.Hingis reached the final at Eastbourne with Pennetta where they lost to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan.", "At the Wimbledon Championships, she reached the quarterfinals with partner Bruno Soares in mixed doubles, where they lost to Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.Entering as an unseeded team at the US Open, Hingis and Pennetta reached the final, without losing a set in any of their matches.", "In the final they lost to Makarova and Vesnina in three sets.At the latter end of the season, Hingis and Flavia Pennetta won two titles.", "At the tournament in Wuhan, they beat Cara Black and Caroline Garcia to take the title; in Moscow they beat Caroline Garcia and Arantxa Parra Santonja.====2015: Five major doubles titles====Hingis and Mirza after winning the 2015 Wimbledon doubles titleIn her first tournament of the year in Brisbane, Hingis and partner Sabine Lisicki didn't drop a set en route to the title, beating Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets in the final.", "Hingis played at the Australian Open with Flavia Pennetta, as the 4th seeds, but lost in the third round.", "However, Hingis paired with Leander Paes in the mixed doubles to win the title.", "The win was her first in a Grand Slam event since capturing the mixed-doubles crown at the 2006 Australian Open.After early exits with Pennetta at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Ladies Open, Hingis then partnered with Indian player Sania Mirza; they won the first 20 sets they contested, subsequently winning back-to-back titles in two WTA Premier Mandatory events: the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open, also winning afterwise the Family Circle Cup.", "They were defeated in the first round in Stuttgart.", "At the Madrid Open they lost in the quarterfinals to Australian Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová 11–9 in the super tie-break.", "They reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing again to Mattek-Sands and Šafářová, this time in straight sets.Hingis made a comeback in Fed Cup after a 17-year absence.", "She was scheduled to play doubles only, but then decided to try another comeback in singles by playing in the Fed Cup tie for Switzerland.", "She drew Agnieszka Radwańska in the first rubber and was defeated in two sets in her first official tour match since 2007.She lost her second singles rubber too, defeated by Urszula Radwańska in three sets, having been a set and a double break up.On 11 July 2015, Hingis and Mirza beat Makarova and Vesnina in three tight sets, recovering from 5–2 down in the third to win the women's doubles tournament at Wimbledon.", "The win gave Hingis her first Grand Slam in women's doubles since the 2002 Australian Open.", "The following day, Hingis then won the mixed doubles final, partnering with Leander Paes, to defeat Alexander Peya and Tímea Babos in straight sets.After two semifinal losses in Toronto and Cincinnati, Hingis won the mixed doubles title at the US Open on 12 September, partnering Paes, defeating Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets.", "The following day, Hingis and Mirza beat Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets to win the doubles tournament.", "At the WTA Finals, they won all their group matches, including against Kops-Jones/Spears, Hlaváčková/Hradecká and Babos/Mladenovic.", "In the semifinals they beat the Chan sisters, and then they beat the Spanish team Muguruza/Suárez Navarro to win the title.", "That month Hingis participated at the Champions Tennis League in India, playing for the Hyderabad Aces team.====2016: Mixed-doubles career Grand Slam====In January, Hingis and Mirza won at Brisbane and Sydney.", "They then won the doubles tournament at the Australian Open, defeating Hlaváčková and Hradecká in the final, for their third consecutive Grand Slam title.", "Afterwards, Hingis said of their partnership: \"There's not that many people who can match her in the forehand rallies and me on the backhand side and at the net.", "That's what we try to do every match.\"", "In mixed doubles, Hingis and Paes lost in the quarterfinals to Mirza and Ivan Dodig.In February, Hingis represented Switzerland in the Fed Cup tie against Germany alongside Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky.", "Switzerland beat Germany 3–2, with Hingis and Bencic clinching the doubles rubber.", "Switzerland advanced to the semifinals, where the team lost to the defending champions of the Czech Republic.The Hingis-Mirza winning-streak record of 41 matches ended in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Ladies Open, where they lost to Kasatkina/Vesnina.", "Hingis and Mirza then proceeded to the Indian Wells Open to defend their title.", "However, they suffered a shock as the unseeded Vania King/Alla Kudryavtseva defeated them in straight sets.At the Miami Open, Mirza and Hingis lost in the second round to Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu.Hingis and Mirza started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Madrid Open, where they lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments.", "However, they won the Italian Open, defeating Makarova and Vesnina.", "At the French Open, they were upset by Czech pair Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the third round, which ended their 20 match winning streak in Grand Slam doubles tournaments.Hingis won the French Open mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes.", "It is her first mixed doubles title at Roland Garros, and she completed the mixed-doubles career Grand Slam, becoming only the fourth woman ever to complete a career Grand Slam in both women's doubles and mixed doubles.Hingis qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after her last Olympic appearance.", "She played doubles with Timea Bacsinszky and won the silver medal, losing to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets in the final.", "Hingis then played at the US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe, where they made the semifinals and lost to top seeds Garcia and Mladenovic.", "At the WTA Finals, Hingis reunited with Sania Mirza in what would be the partnership's last tournament together; they defeated the Chan sisters in the quarterfinals but then lost to Makarova and Vesnina.====2017: Three Major doubles titles, back to world No.", "1, final retirement====Hingis continued to partner CoCo Vandeweghe in women's doubles competition at the start of the season.", "Together they reached the quarterfinals of the Sydney International, losing to eventual champions Tímea Babos and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and the second round of the Australian Open, losing to the Australian duo of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.", "This capped a run of poor form, having gone 5–5 in tournaments since they made the semifinals at the US Open the previous season.", "As a result, Hingis split with Vandeweghe and entered a new partnership with Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan, who herself had just split with her sister Chan Hao-ching.", "In the mixed doubles competition at the Australian Open, Hingis reached the quarterfinals with Leander Paes before losing to another Australian duo, Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth in straight sets.In preparation for the upcoming Fed Cup quarterfinal match between Switzerland and France, Hingis partnered with Belinda Bencic to defend her St. Petersburg title.", "The pair lost in the first round to Gabriela Dabrowski and Michaëlla Krajicek.", "In the Fed Cup quarterfinal match, Hingis instead paired up with Timea Bacsinszky and won their doubles match against Amandine Hesse and Kristina Mladenovic, helping the team to a 4–1 victory to advance to the semifinals.In the first two tournaments of their new partnership, Hingis and Chan suffered some \"tough\" losses.", "They fell to Olga Savchuk and Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals of the Qatar Open and to Andrea Hlaváčková and Peng Shuai in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.", "However, they immediately rebounded by winning their first title together at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Hingis's old partner Sania Mirza with Barbora Strýcová in the quarterfinals, top seeded Mattek-Sands and Šafářová in the semifinals, and Czech pair Lucie Hradecká and Kateřina Siniaková in the final.", "They then reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, before losing to Mirza and Strýcová.Hingis again sought to practice with a Swiss partner before the Fed Cup semifinal clash of Switzerland versus Belarus, and this time paired up with Bacsinszky to enter the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne.", "Hingis and Bacsinszky reached the final, succumbing there to Hsieh Su-wei and Monica Niculescu.", "Despite winning her doubles rubber with Bacsinszky in the Fed Cup semifinal tie, Switzerland would ultimately lose 2–3.Switzerland had been seeking to reach its first final since Hingis had spearheaded the team to a narrow defeat to Spain in 1998.In the clay-court season, Hingis and Chan continued their good form to win back-to-back titles at the Madrid and Italian Opens, defeating Tímea Babos and Andrea Hlaváčková and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina respectively, in the finals of each event.", "Hingis's victory in Madrid was her 100th WTA career title.", "This success marked the pair as one of the pre-tournament favorites to win the French Open.", "Hingis and Chan reached the semifinals, where their 12 match winning streak was ended by eventual champions Mattek-Sands and Šafářová.", "Hingis and Paes lost in the opening round of the mixed doubles competition to Katarina Srebotnik and Raven Klaasen in a super tiebreak.Hingis and Chan again won back-to-back titles, this time at the Mallorca Open and the Eastbourne International.", "At Mallorca, they won the title by walkover after Jelena Janković and Anastasija Sevastova withdrew from the title match owing to an injury sustained by Sevastova in the singles competition.", "At Eastbourne, they won after defeating Barty and Dellacqua in the final.", "However, like the French Open two months previous, Hingis and Chan could not replicate the success at Grand Slam level: losing at the quarterfinal stage to Grönefeld and Peschke at Wimbledon.", "In the mixed doubles competition, Hingis paired up with new partner Great Britain's Jamie Murray after splitting from Leander Paes.", "As top seeds they reached the final without losing a set, before defeating defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen in the championship match.Hingis and Chan next played at the Canadian Open, where the German-Czech pair of Grönefeld and Peschke defeated them for the second tournament in a row in the quarterfinals.", "However, not to be deterred, a week later at the Cincinnati Open they produced another winning run and defeated Hsieh and Niculescu in the final to capture their next title together.", "On 14 August, Hingis and Chan became one of the first teams to qualify for the doubles competition at the year-end WTA Finals.At the US Open, Hingis emerged victorious from both the women's and the mixed doubles competition.", "Jamie Murray and she defeated Chan Hao-ching and Michael Venus in the final to capture their second consecutive title together and remain undefeated as a pair.", "Then, less than 24 hours later with Chan, they defeated Hradecká and Siniaková in the final to win their first major title together.", "In total, this was Hingis's 25th Grand Slam title across all disciplines.Hingis and Chan extended their winning run to 18 matches in China by winning their third and fourth straight titles: the Wuhan and China Opens.", "In Wuhan, they defeated Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan in the final.", "With this win, Hingis ascended to the No.", "1 ranking on 2 October for the 67th week in her career.", "In Beijing, they defeated Babos and Hlaváčková.Hingis announced her retirement at the WTA Finals in Singapore in October, 2017." ], [ "Playing style", "Hingis was an all-court player who possessed an intelligent, crafty game.", "Hingis compensated for her lack of power with superior movement, anticipation, finesse, point construction, shot selection, and knowledge of the geometry of the court.", "Hingis used a semi-western grip for her forehand, allowing her to create sharp angles and dictate play.", "Her two-handed backhand was her most effective groundstroke, and was used to redirect power down the line.", "She could also hit her backhand one-handed with slice, and would use this shot to break up the pace of rallies.", "Her serve was not particularly powerful, and she rarely served aces, but was reliable, and she was proficient at defending her serve.", "Although her serve had been recorded as high as , her first serve was typically delivered at , and her second serve speed averaged .", "She was one of the most effective returners on the WTA tour, positioning herself on the baseline to return first serves, and her superior sense of anticipation allowed her to read serves effectively.", "Due to her doubles experience, Hingis was one of the most effective players at the net on the WTA tour, possessing an almost complete repertoire of shots at the net, and she would frequently choose to finish points off at the net." ], [ "Career statistics", "===Singles performance timeline=== Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 SR W–L A 2R QF '''W''' '''W''' '''W''' F F F A A A QF QF 3 / 10 52–7 French Open A 3R 3R F SF F SF SF A A A A QF A 0 / 8 35–8 Wimbledon A 1R 4R '''W''' SF 1R QF 1R A A A A 3R 3R 1 / 9 23–8 US Open A 4R SF '''W''' F F SF SF 4R A A A 2R 3R 1 / 10 43–9 Grand Slam W–L 0–0 6–4 14–4 27–1 23–3 19–3 20–4 16–4 9–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 11–4 8–3 5 / 37 WTA Tour Championships DNQ DNQ F QF '''W''' F '''W''' A A A A A RR A 2 / 6 16–5* 2If ITF Women's Circuit (hardcourt: 12–2; carpet: 6–1) and Fed Cup (10–0) participations are included, overall win–loss record: '''548–133'''.====Grand Slam singles finals: 12 (5–7)====ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1997 Australian Open Hard Mary Pierce 6–2, 6–2Loss 1997 French Open Clay Iva Majoli 4–6, 2–6Win 1997 Wimbledon Grass Jana Novotná 2–6, 6–3, 6–3Win 1997 US Open Hard Venus Williams 6–0, 6–4Win 1998 Australian Open (2) Hard Conchita Martínez 6–3, 6–3Loss 1998 US Open Hard Lindsay Davenport 3–6, 5–7Win 1999 Australian Open (3) Hard Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–3Loss 1999 French Open Clay Steffi Graf 6–4, 5–7, 2–6Loss 1999 US Open Hard Serena Williams 3–6, 6–7(4–7)Loss 2000 Australian Open Hard Lindsay Davenport 1–6, 5–7Loss 2001 Australian Open Hard Jennifer Capriati 4–6, 3–6Loss 2002 Australian Open Hard Jennifer Capriati 6–4, 6–7(7–9), 2–6===Doubles=== Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003–06 2007 2008–12 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L A 1R 1R '''W''' '''W''' '''W''' F SF '''W''' A 2R A A A 3R '''W''' 2R 5 / 12 43–7 French Open A A QF SF '''W''' F '''W''' A A A A A A A QF 3R SF 2 / 8 33–6 Wimbledon A 2R '''W''' QF '''W''' A 2R A A A A A A 1R '''W''' QF QF 3 / 9 29–6 US Open A 3R SF SF '''W''' A 3R QF QF A 3R A 1R F '''W''' SF '''W''' 3 / 13 47–9 Grand Slam Win–Loss 0–0 3–3 13–3 17–3 24–0 11–1 14–2 7–2 9–1 0–0 3–2 0–0 0–1 5–2 17–2 15–3 14–3 Tour Championships A A QF QF QF '''W''' '''W''' A A A A A A A '''W''' SF SF 3 / 8 13–5====Grand Slam doubles finals: 16 (13–3)====By winning the 1998 US Open title, Hingis completed the doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming the 17th female player in history to achieve this, as well as the youngest.", "It also meant she completed the Calendar Year Grand Slam, becoming the fourth woman in history to achieve the feat in doubles.ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1996 Wimbledon Grass Helena Suková Meredith McGrath Larisa Savchenko Neiland 5–7, 7–5, 6–1Win 1997 Australian Open Hard Natasha Zvereva Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond 6–2, 6–2 Win 1998 Australian Open (2) Hard Mirjana Lučić Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 2–6, 6–3Win 1998 French Open Clay Jana Novotná Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva 6–1, 7–6(7–4) Win 1998 Wimbledon (2) Grass Jana Novotná Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva 6–3, 3–6, 8–6 Win 1998 US Open Hard Jana Novotná Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva 6–3, 6–3Win 1999 Australian Open (3) Hard Anna Kournikova Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva 7–5, 6–3Loss 1999 French Open Clay Anna Kournikova Serena Williams Venus Williams 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–8Loss 2000 Australian Open Hard Mary Pierce Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 4–6, 7–5, 4–6Win 2000 French Open (2) Clay Mary Pierce Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez 6–2, 6–4Win 2002 Australian Open (4) Hard Anna Kournikova Daniela Hantuchová Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 6–1Loss 2014 US Open Hard Flavia Pennetta Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina 6–2, 3–6, 2–6Win 2015 Wimbledon (3) Grass Sania Mirza Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina 5–7, 7–6(7–4), 7–5Win 2015 US Open (2) Hard Sania Mirza Casey Dellacqua Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 6–3Win 2016 Australian Open (5) Hard Sania Mirza Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká 7–6(7–1), 6–3Win 2017 US Open (3) Hard Chan Yung-jan Lucie Hradecká Kateřina Siniaková 6–3, 6–2===Mixed doubles=== Tournament 1996 1997 1998–99 2000 2001–05 2006 2007–12 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–LAustralian Open A A A A A '''W''' A A A '''W''' QF QF 2 / 4 14–2French Open QF A A A A 2R A A A 2R '''W''' 1R 1 / 5 9–3Wimbledon 2R QF A A A A A A QF '''W''' 3R '''W''' 2 / 6 17–4US Open SF A A QF A A A 1R A '''W''' 2R '''W''' 2 / 6 14–3Win–loss 6–3 3–1 0–0 2–0 0–0 6–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 14–1 9–3 12–2 7 / 21 54–12====Mixed doubles finals: 7 (7–0)====By winning the 2016 French Open title, Hingis completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam.", "She became the 7th female player in history to achieve this.ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 2006 Australian Open Hard Mahesh Bhupathi Elena Likhovtseva Daniel Nestor 6–3, 6–3Win 2015 Australian Open (2) Hard Leander Paes Kristina Mladenovic Daniel Nestor 6–4, 6–3Win 2015 Wimbledon Grass Leander Paes Tímea Babos Alexander Peya 6–1, 6–1Win 2015 US Open Hard Leander Paes Bethanie Mattek-Sands Sam Querrey 6–4, 3–6, 10–7Win 2016 French Open Clay Leander Paes Sania Mirza Ivan Dodig 4–6, 6–4, 10–8Win 2017 Wimbledon (2) Grass Jamie Murray Heather Watson Henri Kontinen 6–4, 6–4Win 2017 US Open (2) Hard Jamie Murray Chan Hao-ching Michael Venus 6–1, 4–6, 10–8" ], [ "Records", "* These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.", "Grand Slam Years Record accomplished Player tied Australian Open 1997–99 3 consecutive titles Margaret Court Evonne Goolagong Cawley Steffi Graf Monica Seles Australian Open 1997–2002 6 consecutive finals Evonne Goolagong Cawley Grand Slam 1997 2 wins without losing a set in the same calendar year Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Serena Williams Justine Henin Grand Slam 1997 Reached all four Grand Slam finals in a calendar year Margaret Court Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Monica Seles Justine Henin Grand Slam 1998 Calendar Year Women's Doubles Grand Slam Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver* By winning Wimbledon doubles title in 1996 with Helena Suková became youngest doubles winner at 15 years, 282 days and youngest ever Grand Slam winner.", "* By winning Australian singles title in 1997, became youngest winner there in tennis history at 16 years and 3 months.", "* By defeating Monica Seles 6–2, 6–1 in 1997 at Key Biscayne, ascended the no.", "1 spot as the youngest ever in tennis history.", "* Became the youngest ever year-end No.1 in 1997 in tennis history.", "* By winning the US Open against Venus Williams in 1997, Hingis contended all Grand Slam tournament finals that year; second youngest winner in the US Open at 16 years, 11 months and 8 days.", "* Won the Australian and US Open in 1997 without losing a set.", "* In 1997, from Sydney to the final of Roland Garros had a 37-match winning streak, best from 1995 until present.", "* By winning the US Open doubles title in 1998 with Jana Novotná, completed a doubles Grand Slam, third player in the Open Era.", "* Held simultaneously the no.", "1 position for singles and doubles in 1998.", "* Most successful player to play the Toray Pan-Pacific Tournament with 5 wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, and reached 8 finals in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.", "* Compiled 103 top-10 wins (behind Serena Williams 164, Lindsay Davenport 129, and Venus Williams 127), 43 singles titles, 64 doubles titles, 7 mixed doubles titles, and 209 weeks at no.1 (5th behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Serena Williams).", "* In 2015, won three Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title with Leander Paes, an accomplishment last achieved in 1969 by Margaret Court and Marty Riessen* Most Mixed Doubles titles (2) won by a woman player in Open Era in Australian Open* Only player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open singles and doubles titles three consecutive years.", "** 1997 (S) d. Pierce, (D) w/Zvereva d. Davenport/Raymond** 1998 (S) d. Martinez, (D) w/Lučić d. Davenport/Zvereva** 1999 (S) d. Mauresmo, (D) w/Kournikova d. Davenport/Zvereva" ], [ "Awards", "* 1992: Swiss Champion together with the tennisclub ''TC Schützenwiese'' (from Winterthur) in the Interclub-Championships.", "* 1994: ITF Junior Girls Singles World Champion.", "* 1995: WTA Newcomer of the Year.", "* 1995: Named \"Female Rookie of the Year\" by ''Tennis'' magazine.", "* 1996: WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.", "* 1997: Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.", "* 1997: WTA Player of the Year.", "* 1997: ITF World Champion – Women's singles.", "* 1997: BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.", "* 1998: First female athlete to be on the cover of the American men's magazine GQ in June 1998.", "* 1998: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Jana Novotná).", "* 1999: WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Anna Kournikova).", "* 1999: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.", "* 1999: ITF World Champion – Women's doubles (with Anna Kournikova).", "* 2000: ITF World Champion – Women's Singles.", "* 2000: One of five female tennis players named to the 2000 ''Forbes'' magazine Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list at No.", "51.", "* 2000: WTA Diamond Aces Award.", "* 2002: Elected to Tour Players' Council.", "* 2006: Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year.", "* 2007: Surpassed US$20 million in career earnings at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the fourth female player to do so (after Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Lindsay Davenport).", "She was fourth in the all-time money list at $20,033,600 after the tournament.", "* 2007: Meredith Inspiration Award for inspiring women around the world – Family Circle Cup/''Family Circle'' magazine* 2013: Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013* 2015: First Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.", "* 2015: WTA Doubles Team of the Year with Sania Mirza.", "* 2015: ITF World Champion – Women's Doubles (with Sania Mirza).", "* 2017: WTA Doubles Team of the Year with Chan Yung-jan.* 2017: ITF World Champion – Women's Doubles (with Chan Yung-jan).=== Notable accolades ===* Except for the French Open, she won every major WTA Tour singles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).", "* Except for Berlin, she won every major WTA Tour doubles title at least once during her career (Grand Slam tournaments, WTA Tour Championships, and Tier I tournaments).", "* By reaching the 2016 French Open mixed doubles finals, Hingis joined an elite group of players who have reached the finals in all 4 Grand Slams across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles." ], [ "Equipment endorsements", "Hingis's current on-court apparel is manufactured by ''Tonic Lifestyle Apparel''; having her own clothing line: ''Tonic by Martina Hingis''.", "She is sponsored by Yonex for racquets and shoes.In the 1990s, Hingis was sponsored by Sergio Tacchini.", "In 1998 she suffered a foot injury, and she withdrew from the Wimbledon doubles competition in 1999.She sued the company in 2001 for making allegedly defective shoes that injured her feet.", "Hingis and Tacchini settled in 2005 for an undisclosed amount of money.", "She was sponsored by Adidas from 1999 until 2008." ], [ "See also", "* WTA Tour records* List of WTA number 1 ranked singles players* List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles players* List of female tennis players* List of tennis rivalries* List of Grand Slam women's singles champions* List of Grand Slam women's doubles champions* Open Era tennis records – women's singles* All-time tennis records – women's singles" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * * * * * * * ITF Press release: Decision in the case of Martina Hingis* Representation Agency for Martina Hingis" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mass" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mass''' is an intrinsic property of a body.", "It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics.", "It was found that different atoms and different elementary particles, theoretically with the same amount of matter, have nonetheless different masses.", "Mass in modern physics has multiple definitions which are conceptually distinct, but physically equivalent.", "Mass can be experimentally defined as a measure of the body's inertia, meaning the resistance to acceleration (change of velocity) when a net force is applied.", "The object's mass also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies.The SI base unit of mass is the kilogram (kg).", "In physics, mass is not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by measuring the object's weight using a spring scale, rather than balance scale comparing it directly with known masses.", "An object on the Moon would weigh less than it does on Earth because of the lower gravity, but it would still have the same mass.", "This is because weight is a force, while mass is the property that (along with gravity) determines the strength of this force." ], [ "Phenomena", "There are several distinct phenomena that can be used to measure mass.", "Although some theorists have speculated that some of these phenomena could be independent of each other, current experiments have found no difference in results regardless of how it is measured:* ''Inertial mass'' measures an object's resistance to being accelerated by a force (represented by the relationship ).", "* ''Active gravitational mass'' determines the strength of the gravitational field generated by an object.", "* ''Passive gravitational mass'' measures the gravitational force exerted on an object in a known gravitational field.The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force.", "The inertia and the inertial mass describe this property of physical bodies at the qualitative and quantitative level respectively.", "According to Newton's second law of motion, if a body of fixed mass ''m'' is subjected to a single force ''F'', its acceleration ''a'' is given by ''F''/''m''.", "A body's mass also determines the degree to which it generates and is affected by a gravitational field.", "If a first body of mass ''m''A is placed at a distance ''r'' (center of mass to center of mass) from a second body of mass ''m''B, each body is subject to an attractive force , where is the \"universal gravitational constant\".", "This is sometimes referred to as gravitational mass.", "Repeated experiments since the 17th century have demonstrated that inertial and gravitational mass are identical; since 1915, this observation has been incorporated ''a priori'' in the equivalence principle of general relativity." ], [ "Units of mass", "The kilogram is one of the seven SI base units.The International System of Units (SI) unit of mass is the kilogram (kg).", "The kilogram is 1000 grams (g), and was first defined in 1795 as the mass of one cubic decimetre of water at the melting point of ice.", "However, because precise measurement of a cubic decimetre of water at the specified temperature and pressure was difficult, in 1889 the kilogram was redefined as the mass of a metal object, and thus became independent of the metre and the properties of water, this being a copper prototype of the grave in 1793, the platinum Kilogramme des Archives in 1799, and the platinum-iridium International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK) in 1889.However, the mass of the IPK and its national copies have been found to drift over time.", "The re-definition of the kilogram and several other units came into effect on 20 May 2019, following a final vote by the CGPM in November 2018.The new definition uses only invariant quantities of nature: the speed of light, the caesium hyperfine frequency, the Planck constant and the elementary charge.Non-SI units accepted for use with SI units include:* the tonne (t) (or \"metric ton\"), equal to 1000 kg* the electronvolt (eV), a unit of energy, used to express mass in units of eV/''c''2 through mass–energy equivalence* the dalton (Da), equal to 1/12 of the mass of a free carbon-12 atom, approximately .Outside the SI system, other units of mass include:* the slug (sl), an Imperial unit of mass (about 14.6 kg)* the pound (lb), a unit of mass (about 0.45 kg), which is used alongside the similarly named pound (force) (about 4.5 N), a unit of force* the Planck mass (about ), a quantity derived from fundamental constants* the solar mass (), defined as the mass of the Sun, primarily used in astronomy to compare large masses such as stars or galaxies (≈ )* the mass of a particle, as identified with its inverse Compton wavelength ()* the mass of a star or black hole, as identified with its Schwarzschild radius ()." ], [ "Definitions", "In physical science, one may distinguish conceptually between at least seven different aspects of ''mass'', or seven physical notions that involve the concept of ''mass''.", "Every experiment to date has shown these seven values to be proportional, and in some cases equal, and this proportionality gives rise to the abstract concept of mass.", "There are a number of ways mass can be measured or operationally defined:* Inertial mass is a measure of an object's resistance to acceleration when a force is applied.", "It is determined by applying a force to an object and measuring the acceleration that results from that force.", "An object with small inertial mass will accelerate more than an object with large inertial mass when acted upon by the same force.", "One says the body of greater mass has greater inertia.", "* Active gravitational mass is a measure of the strength of an object's gravitational flux (gravitational flux is equal to the surface integral of gravitational field over an enclosing surface).", "Gravitational field can be measured by allowing a small \"test object\" to fall freely and measuring its free-fall acceleration.", "For example, an object in free-fall near the Moon is subject to a smaller gravitational field, and hence accelerates more slowly, than the same object would if it were in free-fall near the Earth.", "The gravitational field near the Moon is weaker because the Moon has less active gravitational mass.", "* Passive gravitational mass is a measure of the strength of an object's interaction with a gravitational field.", "Passive gravitational mass is determined by dividing an object's weight by its free-fall acceleration.", "Two objects within the same gravitational field will experience the same acceleration; however, the object with a smaller passive gravitational mass will experience a smaller force (less weight) than the object with a larger passive gravitational mass.", "* According to relativity, mass is nothing else than the rest energy of a system of particles, meaning the energy of that system in a reference frame where it has zero momentum.", "Mass can be converted into other forms of energy according to the principle of mass–energy equivalence.", "This equivalence is exemplified in a large number of physical processes including pair production, beta decay and nuclear fusion.", "Pair production and nuclear fusion are processes in which measurable amounts of mass are converted to kinetic energy or vice versa.", "* Curvature of spacetime is a relativistic manifestation of the existence of mass.", "Such curvature is extremely weak and difficult to measure.", "For this reason, curvature was not discovered until after it was predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.", "Extremely precise atomic clocks on the surface of the Earth, for example, are found to measure less time (run slower) when compared to similar clocks in space.", "This difference in elapsed time is a form of curvature called gravitational time dilation.", "Other forms of curvature have been measured using the Gravity Probe B satellite.", "* Quantum mass manifests itself as a difference between an object's quantum frequency and its wave number.", "The quantum mass of a particle is proportional to the inverse Compton wavelength and can be determined through various forms of spectroscopy.", "In relativistic quantum mechanics, mass is one of the irreducible representation labels of the Poincaré group.=== Weight vs. mass ===In everyday usage, mass and \"weight\" are often used interchangeably.", "For instance, a person's weight may be stated as 75 kg.", "In a constant gravitational field, the weight of an object is proportional to its mass, and it is unproblematic to use the same unit for both concepts.", "But because of slight differences in the strength of the Earth's gravitational field at different places, the distinction becomes important for measurements with a precision better than a few percent, and for places far from the surface of the Earth, such as in space or on other planets.", "Conceptually, \"mass\" (measured in kilograms) refers to an intrinsic property of an object, whereas \"weight\" (measured in newtons) measures an object's resistance to deviating from its current course of free fall, which can be influenced by the nearby gravitational field.", "No matter how strong the gravitational field, objects in free fall are weightless, though they still have mass.The force known as \"weight\" is proportional to mass and acceleration in all situations where the mass is accelerated away from free fall.", "For example, when a body is at rest in a gravitational field (rather than in free fall), it must be accelerated by a force from a scale or the surface of a planetary body such as the Earth or the Moon.", "This force keeps the object from going into free fall.", "Weight is the opposing force in such circumstances and is thus determined by the acceleration of free fall.", "On the surface of the Earth, for example, an object with a mass of 50 kilograms weighs 491 newtons, which means that 491 newtons is being applied to keep the object from going into free fall.", "By contrast, on the surface of the Moon, the same object still has a mass of 50 kilograms but weighs only 81.5 newtons, because only 81.5 newtons is required to keep this object from going into a free fall on the moon.", "Restated in mathematical terms, on the surface of the Earth, the weight ''W'' of an object is related to its mass ''m'' by , where is the acceleration due to Earth's gravitational field, (expressed as the acceleration experienced by a free-falling object).For other situations, such as when objects are subjected to mechanical accelerations from forces other than the resistance of a planetary surface, the weight force is proportional to the mass of an object multiplied by the total acceleration away from free fall, which is called the proper acceleration.", "Through such mechanisms, objects in elevators, vehicles, centrifuges, and the like, may experience weight forces many times those caused by resistance to the effects of gravity on objects, resulting from planetary surfaces.", "In such cases, the generalized equation for weight ''W'' of an object is related to its mass ''m'' by the equation , where ''a'' is the proper acceleration of the object caused by all influences other than gravity.", "(Again, if gravity is the only influence, such as occurs when an object falls freely, its weight will be zero).=== Inertial vs. gravitational mass ===Although inertial mass, passive gravitational mass and active gravitational mass are conceptually distinct, no experiment has ever unambiguously demonstrated any difference between them.", "In classical mechanics, Newton's third law implies that active and passive gravitational mass must always be identical (or at least proportional), but the classical theory offers no compelling reason why the gravitational mass has to equal the inertial mass.", "That it does is merely an empirical fact.Albert Einstein developed his general theory of relativity starting with the assumption that the inertial and passive gravitational masses are the same.", "This is known as the equivalence principle.The particular equivalence often referred to as the \"Galilean equivalence principle\" or the \"weak equivalence principle\" has the most important consequence for freely falling objects.", "Suppose an object has inertial and gravitational masses ''m'' and ''M'', respectively.", "If the only force acting on the object comes from a gravitational field ''g'', the force on the object is:: Given this force, the acceleration of the object can be determined by Newton's second law:: Putting these together, the gravitational acceleration is given by:: This says that the ratio of gravitational to inertial mass of any object is equal to some constant ''K'' if and only if all objects fall at the same rate in a given gravitational field.", "This phenomenon is referred to as the \"universality of free-fall\".", "In addition, the constant ''K'' can be taken as 1 by defining our units appropriately.The first experiments demonstrating the universality of free-fall were—according to scientific 'folklore'—conducted by Galileo obtained by dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.", "This is most likely apocryphal: he is more likely to have performed his experiments with balls rolling down nearly frictionless inclined planes to slow the motion and increase the timing accuracy.", "Increasingly precise experiments have been performed, such as those performed by Loránd Eötvös, using the torsion balance pendulum, in 1889., no deviation from universality, and thus from Galilean equivalence, has ever been found, at least to the precision 10−6.More precise experimental efforts are still being carried out.Astronaut David Scott performs the feather and hammer drop experiment on the Moon.The universality of free-fall only applies to systems in which gravity is the only acting force.", "All other forces, especially friction and air resistance, must be absent or at least negligible.", "For example, if a hammer and a feather are dropped from the same height through the air on Earth, the feather will take much longer to reach the ground; the feather is not really in ''free''-fall because the force of air resistance upwards against the feather is comparable to the downward force of gravity.", "On the other hand, if the experiment is performed in a vacuum, in which there is no air resistance, the hammer and the feather should hit the ground at exactly the same time (assuming the acceleration of both objects towards each other, and of the ground towards both objects, for its own part, is negligible).", "This can easily be done in a high school laboratory by dropping the objects in transparent tubes that have the air removed with a vacuum pump.", "It is even more dramatic when done in an environment that naturally has a vacuum, as David Scott did on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 15.A stronger version of the equivalence principle, known as the ''Einstein equivalence principle'' or the ''strong equivalence principle'', lies at the heart of the general theory of relativity.", "Einstein's equivalence principle states that within sufficiently small regions of space-time, it is impossible to distinguish between a uniform acceleration and a uniform gravitational field.", "Thus, the theory postulates that the force acting on a massive object caused by a gravitational field is a result of the object's tendency to move in a straight line (in other words its inertia) and should therefore be a function of its inertial mass and the strength of the gravitational field.=== Origin ===In theoretical physics, a mass generation mechanism is a theory which attempts to explain the origin of mass from the most fundamental laws of physics.", "To date, a number of different models have been proposed which advocate different views of the origin of mass.", "The problem is complicated by the fact that the notion of mass is strongly related to the gravitational interaction but a theory of the latter has not been yet reconciled with the currently popular model of particle physics, known as the Standard Model." ], [ "Pre-Newtonian concepts", "===Weight as an amount===Depiction of early balance scales in the Papyrus of Hunefer (dated to the 19th dynasty, ).", "The scene shows Anubis weighing the heart of Hunefer.The concept of amount is very old and predates recorded history.", "The concept of \"weight\" would incorporate \"amount\" and acquire a double meaning that was not clearly recognized as such.Humans, at some early era, realized that the weight of a collection of similar objects was directly proportional to the number of objects in the collection:: where ''W'' is the weight of the collection of similar objects and ''n'' is the number of objects in the collection.", "Proportionality, by definition, implies that two values have a constant ratio:: , or equivalently An early use of this relationship is a balance scale, which balances the force of one object's weight against the force of another object's weight.", "The two sides of a balance scale are close enough that the objects experience similar gravitational fields.", "Hence, if they have similar masses then their weights will also be similar.", "This allows the scale, by comparing weights, to also compare masses.Consequently, historical weight standards were often defined in terms of amounts.", "The Romans, for example, used the carob seed (carat or siliqua) as a measurement standard.", "If an object's weight was equivalent to 1728 carob seeds, then the object was said to weigh one Roman pound.", "If, on the other hand, the object's weight was equivalent to 144 carob seeds then the object was said to weigh one Roman ounce (uncia).", "The Roman pound and ounce were both defined in terms of different sized collections of the same common mass standard, the carob seed.", "The ratio of a Roman ounce (144 carob seeds) to a Roman pound (1728 carob seeds) was:: ===Planetary motion===In 1600 AD, Johannes Kepler sought employment with Tycho Brahe, who had some of the most precise astronomical data available.", "Using Brahe's precise observations of the planet Mars, Kepler spent the next five years developing his own method for characterizing planetary motion.", "In 1609, Johannes Kepler published his three laws of planetary motion, explaining how the planets orbit the Sun.", "In Kepler's final planetary model, he described planetary orbits as following elliptical paths with the Sun at a focal point of the ellipse.", "Kepler discovered that the square of the orbital period of each planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit, or equivalently, that the ratio of these two values is constant for all planets in the Solar System.On 25 August 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to a group of Venetian merchants, and in early January 1610, Galileo observed four dim objects near Jupiter, which he mistook for stars.", "However, after a few days of observation, Galileo realized that these \"stars\" were in fact orbiting Jupiter.", "These four objects (later named the Galilean moons in honor of their discoverer) were the first celestial bodies observed to orbit something other than the Earth or Sun.", "Galileo continued to observe these moons over the next eighteen months, and by the middle of 1611, he had obtained remarkably accurate estimates for their periods.===Galilean free fall===Galileo Galilei (1636)Distance traveled by a freely falling ball is proportional to the square of the elapsed time.Sometime prior to 1638, Galileo turned his attention to the phenomenon of objects in free fall, attempting to characterize these motions.", "Galileo was not the first to investigate Earth's gravitational field, nor was he the first to accurately describe its fundamental characteristics.", "However, Galileo's reliance on scientific experimentation to establish physical principles would have a profound effect on future generations of scientists.", "It is unclear if these were just hypothetical experiments used to illustrate a concept, or if they were real experiments performed by Galileo, but the results obtained from these experiments were both realistic and compelling.", "A biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani stated that Galileo had dropped balls of the same material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent was independent of their mass.", "In support of this conclusion, Galileo had advanced the following theoretical argument: He asked if two bodies of different masses and different rates of fall are tied by a string, does the combined system fall faster because it is now more massive, or does the lighter body in its slower fall hold back the heavier body?", "The only convincing resolution to this question is that all bodies must fall at the same rate.A later experiment was described in Galileo's ''Two New Sciences'' published in 1638.One of Galileo's fictional characters, Salviati, describes an experiment using a bronze ball and a wooden ramp.", "The wooden ramp was \"12 cubits long, half a cubit wide and three finger-breadths thick\" with a straight, smooth, polished groove.", "The groove was lined with \"parchment, also smooth and polished as possible\".", "And into this groove was placed \"a hard, smooth and very round bronze ball\".", "The ramp was inclined at various angles to slow the acceleration enough so that the elapsed time could be measured.", "The ball was allowed to roll a known distance down the ramp, and the time taken for the ball to move the known distance was measured.", "The time was measured using a water clock described as follows::a large vessel of water placed in an elevated position; to the bottom of this vessel was soldered a pipe of small diameter giving a thin jet of water, which we collected in a small glass during the time of each descent, whether for the whole length of the channel or for a part of its length; the water thus collected was weighed, after each descent, on a very accurate balance; the differences and ratios of these weights gave us the differences and ratios of the times, and this with such accuracy that although the operation was repeated many, many times, there was no appreciable discrepancy in the results.Galileo found that for an object in free fall, the distance that the object has fallen is always proportional to the square of the elapsed time:: Galileo had shown that objects in free fall under the influence of the Earth's gravitational field have a constant acceleration, and Galileo's contemporary, Johannes Kepler, had shown that the planets follow elliptical paths under the influence of the Sun's gravitational mass.", "However, Galileo's free fall motions and Kepler's planetary motions remained distinct during Galileo's lifetime.=== Mass as distinct from weight ===According to K. M. Browne: \"Kepler formed a distinct concept of mass ('amount of matter' (''copia materiae'')), but called it 'weight' as did everyone at that time.\"", "Finally, in 1686, Newton gave this distinct concept its own name.", "In the first paragraph of ''Principia'', Newton defined quantity of matter as “density and bulk conjunctly”, and mass as quantity of matter." ], [ "Newtonian mass", " Earth's Moon Mass of Earth Semi-major axis Sidereal orbital period0.002 569 AU0.074 802 sidereal year Earth's gravity Earth's radius9.806 65 m/s26 375 kmthumbRobert Hooke had published his concept of gravitational forces in 1674, stating that all celestial bodies have an attraction or gravitating power towards their own centers, and also attract all the other celestial bodies that are within the sphere of their activity.", "He further stated that gravitational attraction increases by how much nearer the body wrought upon is to its own center.", "In correspondence with Isaac Newton from 1679 and 1680, Hooke conjectured that gravitational forces might decrease according to the double of the distance between the two bodies.", "Hooke urged Newton, who was a pioneer in the development of calculus, to work through the mathematical details of Keplerian orbits to determine if Hooke's hypothesis was correct.", "Newton's own investigations verified that Hooke was correct, but due to personal differences between the two men, Newton chose not to reveal this to Hooke.", "Isaac Newton kept quiet about his discoveries until 1684, at which time he told a friend, Edmond Halley, that he had solved the problem of gravitational orbits, but had misplaced the solution in his office.", "After being encouraged by Halley, Newton decided to develop his ideas about gravity and publish all of his findings.", "In November 1684, Isaac Newton sent a document to Edmund Halley, now lost but presumed to have been titled ''De motu corporum in gyrum'' (Latin for \"On the motion of bodies in an orbit\").", "Halley presented Newton's findings to the Royal Society of London, with a promise that a fuller presentation would follow.", "Newton later recorded his ideas in a three-book set, entitled ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' (English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'').", "The first was received by the Royal Society on 28 April 1685–86; the second on 2 March 1686–87; and the third on 6 April 1686–87.The Royal Society published Newton's entire collection at their own expense in May 1686–87.Isaac Newton had bridged the gap between Kepler's gravitational mass and Galileo's gravitational acceleration, resulting in the discovery of the following relationship which governed both of these:: where '''g''' is the apparent acceleration of a body as it passes through a region of space where gravitational fields exist, ''μ'' is the gravitational mass (standard gravitational parameter) of the body causing gravitational fields, and '''R''' is the radial coordinate (the distance between the centers of the two bodies).By finding the exact relationship between a body's gravitational mass and its gravitational field, Newton provided a second method for measuring gravitational mass.", "The mass of the Earth can be determined using Kepler's method (from the orbit of Earth's Moon), or it can be determined by measuring the gravitational acceleration on the Earth's surface, and multiplying that by the square of the Earth's radius.", "The mass of the Earth is approximately three-millionths of the mass of the Sun.", "To date, no other accurate method for measuring gravitational mass has been discovered.===Newton's cannonball===intermediate speeds, it will revolve around Earth along an elliptical orbit (C, D).", "Beyond the escape velocity, it will leave the Earth without returning (E).Newton's cannonball was a thought experiment used to bridge the gap between Galileo's gravitational acceleration and Kepler's elliptical orbits.", "It appeared in Newton's 1728 book ''A Treatise of the System of the World''.", "According to Galileo's concept of gravitation, a dropped stone falls with constant acceleration down towards the Earth.", "However, Newton explains that when a stone is thrown horizontally (meaning sideways or perpendicular to Earth's gravity) it follows a curved path.", "\"For a stone projected is by the pressure of its own weight forced out of the rectilinear path, which by the projection alone it should have pursued, and made to describe a curve line in the air; and through that crooked way is at last brought down to the ground.", "And the greater the velocity is with which it is projected, the farther it goes before it falls to the Earth.\"", "Newton further reasons that if an object were \"projected in an horizontal direction from the top of a high mountain\" with sufficient velocity, \"it would reach at last quite beyond the circumference of the Earth, and return to the mountain from which it was projected.", "\"===Universal gravitational mass===thumbIn contrast to earlier theories (e.g.", "celestial spheres) which stated that the heavens were made of entirely different material, Newton's theory of mass was groundbreaking partly because it introduced universal gravitational mass: every object has gravitational mass, and therefore, every object generates a gravitational field.", "Newton further assumed that the strength of each object's gravitational field would decrease according to the square of the distance to that object.", "If a large collection of small objects were formed into a giant spherical body such as the Earth or Sun, Newton calculated the collection would create a gravitational field proportional to the total mass of the body, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance to the body's center.For example, according to Newton's theory of universal gravitation, each carob seed produces a gravitational field.", "Therefore, if one were to gather an immense number of carob seeds and form them into an enormous sphere, then the gravitational field of the sphere would be proportional to the number of carob seeds in the sphere.", "Hence, it should be theoretically possible to determine the exact number of carob seeds that would be required to produce a gravitational field similar to that of the Earth or Sun.", "In fact, by unit conversion it is a simple matter of abstraction to realize that any traditional mass unit can theoretically be used to measure gravitational mass.Vertical section drawing of Cavendish's torsion balance instrument including the building in which it was housed.", "The large balls were hung from a frame so they could be rotated into position next to the small balls by a pulley from outside.", "Figure 1 of Cavendish's paper.Measuring gravitational mass in terms of traditional mass units is simple in principle, but extremely difficult in practice.", "According to Newton's theory, all objects produce gravitational fields and it is theoretically possible to collect an immense number of small objects and form them into an enormous gravitating sphere.", "However, from a practical standpoint, the gravitational fields of small objects are extremely weak and difficult to measure.", "Newton's books on universal gravitation were published in the 1680s, but the first successful measurement of the Earth's mass in terms of traditional mass units, the Cavendish experiment, did not occur until 1797, over a hundred years later.", "Henry Cavendish found that the Earth's density was 5.448 ± 0.033 times that of water.", "As of 2009, the Earth's mass in kilograms is only known to around five digits of accuracy, whereas its gravitational mass is known to over nine significant figures.Given two objects A and B, of masses ''M''A and ''M''B, separated by a displacement '''R'''AB, Newton's law of gravitation states that each object exerts a gravitational force on the other, of magnitude: ,where ''G'' is the universal gravitational constant.", "The above statement may be reformulated in the following way: if ''g'' is the magnitude at a given location in a gravitational field, then the gravitational force on an object with gravitational mass ''M'' is: .This is the basis by which masses are determined by weighing.", "In simple spring scales, for example, the force ''F'' is proportional to the displacement of the spring beneath the weighing pan, as per Hooke's law, and the scales are calibrated to take ''g'' into account, allowing the mass ''M'' to be read off.", "Assuming the gravitational field is equivalent on both sides of the balance, a balance measures relative weight, giving the relative gravitation mass of each object.===Inertial mass===Mass was traditionally believed to be a measure of the quantity of matter in a physical body, equal to the \"amount of matter\" in an object.", "For example, Barre´ de Saint-Venant argued in 1851 that every object contains a number of \"points\" (basically, interchangeable elementary particles), and that mass is proportional to the number of points the object contains.", "(In practice, this \"amount of matter\" definition is adequate for most of classical mechanics, and sometimes remains in use in basic education, if the priority is to teach the difference between mass from weight.)", "This traditional \"amount of matter\" belief was contradicted by the fact that different atoms (and, later, different elementary particles) can have different masses, and was further contradicted by Einstein's theory of relativity (1905), which showed that the measurable mass of an object increases when energy is added to it (for example, by increasing its temperature or forcing it near an object that electrically repels it.)", "This motivates a search for a different definition of mass that is more accurate than the traditional definition of \"the amount of matter in an object\".Massmeter, a device for measuring the inertial mass of an astronaut in weightlessness.", "The mass is calculated via the oscillation period for a spring with the astronaut attached (Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics).", "''Inertial mass'' is the mass of an object measured by its resistance to acceleration.", "This definition has been championed by Ernst Mach and has since been developed into the notion of operationalism by Percy W. Bridgman.", "The simple classical mechanics definition of mass differs slightly from the definition in the theory of special relativity, but the essential meaning is the same.In classical mechanics, according to Newton's second law, we say that a body has a mass ''m'' if, at any instant of time, it obeys the equation of motion: where '''F''' is the resultant force acting on the body and '''a''' is the acceleration of the body's centre of mass.", "For the moment, we will put aside the question of what \"force acting on the body\" actually means.This equation illustrates how mass relates to the inertia of a body.", "Consider two objects with different masses.", "If we apply an identical force to each, the object with a bigger mass will experience a smaller acceleration, and the object with a smaller mass will experience a bigger acceleration.", "We might say that the larger mass exerts a greater \"resistance\" to changing its state of motion in response to the force.However, this notion of applying \"identical\" forces to different objects brings us back to the fact that we have not really defined what a force is.", "We can sidestep this difficulty with the help of Newton's third law, which states that if one object exerts a force on a second object, it will experience an equal and opposite force.", "To be precise, suppose we have two objects of constant inertial masses ''m''1 and ''m''2.We isolate the two objects from all other physical influences, so that the only forces present are the force exerted on ''m''1 by ''m''2, which we denote '''F'''12, and the force exerted on ''m''2 by ''m''1, which we denote '''F'''21.Newton's second law states that: where '''a'''1 and '''a'''2 are the accelerations of ''m''1 and ''m''2, respectively.", "Suppose that these accelerations are non-zero, so that the forces between the two objects are non-zero.", "This occurs, for example, if the two objects are in the process of colliding with one another.", "Newton's third law then states that: and thus: If is non-zero, the fraction is well-defined, which allows us to measure the inertial mass of ''m''1.In this case, ''m''2 is our \"reference\" object, and we can define its mass ''m'' as (say) 1 kilogram.", "Then we can measure the mass of any other object in the universe by colliding it with the reference object and measuring the accelerations.Additionally, mass relates a body's momentum '''p''' to its linear velocity '''v''':: ,and the body's kinetic energy ''K'' to its velocity:: .The primary difficulty with Mach's definition of mass is that it fails to take into account the potential energy (or binding energy) needed to bring two masses sufficiently close to one another to perform the measurement of mass.", "This is most vividly demonstrated by comparing the mass of the proton in the nucleus of deuterium, to the mass of the proton in free space (which is greater by about 0.239%—this is due to the binding energy of deuterium).", "Thus, for example, if the reference weight ''m''2 is taken to be the mass of the neutron in free space, and the relative accelerations for the proton and neutron in deuterium are computed, then the above formula over-estimates the mass ''m''1 (by 0.239%) for the proton in deuterium.", "At best, Mach's formula can only be used to obtain ratios of masses, that is, as ''m''1 / ''m''2 =  / .", "An additional difficulty was pointed out by Henri Poincaré, which is that the measurement of instantaneous acceleration is impossible: unlike the measurement of time or distance, there is no way to measure acceleration with a single measurement; one must make multiple measurements (of position, time, etc.)", "and perform a computation to obtain the acceleration.", "Poincaré termed this to be an \"insurmountable flaw\" in the Mach definition of mass." ], [ "Atomic masses", "Typically, the mass of objects is measured in terms of the kilogram, which since 2019 is defined in terms of fundamental constants of nature.", "The mass of an atom or other particle can be compared more precisely and more conveniently to that of another atom, and thus scientists developed the dalton (also known as the unified atomic mass unit).", "By definition, 1 Da (one dalton) is exactly one-twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, and thus, a carbon-12 atom has a mass of exactly 12 Da." ], [ "In relativity", "===Special relativity===In some frameworks of special relativity, physicists have used different definitions of the term.", "In these frameworks, two kinds of mass are defined: rest mass (invariant mass), and relativistic mass (which increases with velocity).", "Rest mass is the Newtonian mass as measured by an observer moving along with the object.", "''Relativistic mass'' is the total quantity of energy in a body or system divided by ''c''2.The two are related by the following equation:: where is the Lorentz factor:: The invariant mass of systems is the same for observers in all inertial frames, while the relativistic mass depends on the observer's frame of reference.", "In order to formulate the equations of physics such that mass values do not change between observers, it is convenient to use rest mass.", "The rest mass of a body is also related to its energy ''E'' and the magnitude of its momentum '''p''' by the relativistic energy-momentum equation:: So long as the system is closed with respect to mass and energy, both kinds of mass are conserved in any given frame of reference.", "The conservation of mass holds even as some types of particles are converted to others.", "Matter particles (such as atoms) may be converted to non-matter particles (such as photons of light), but this does not affect the total amount of mass or energy.", "Although things like heat may not be matter, all types of energy still continue to exhibit mass.", "Thus, mass and energy do not change into one another in relativity; rather, both are names for the same thing, and neither mass nor energy ''appear'' without the other.Both rest and relativistic mass can be expressed as an energy by applying the well-known relationship ''E'' = ''mc''2, yielding rest energy and \"relativistic energy\" (total system energy) respectively:: : The \"relativistic\" mass and energy concepts are related to their \"rest\" counterparts, but they do not have the same value as their rest counterparts in systems where there is a net momentum.", "Because the relativistic mass is proportional to the energy, it has gradually fallen into disuse among physicists.", "There is disagreement over whether the concept remains useful pedagogically.In bound systems, the binding energy must often be subtracted from the mass of the unbound system, because binding energy commonly leaves the system at the time it is bound.", "The mass of the system changes in this process merely because the system was not closed during the binding process, so the energy escaped.", "For example, the binding energy of atomic nuclei is often lost in the form of gamma rays when the nuclei are formed, leaving nuclides which have less mass than the free particles (nucleons) of which they are composed.Mass–energy equivalence also holds in macroscopic systems.", "For example, if one takes exactly one kilogram of ice, and applies heat, the mass of the resulting melt-water will be more than a kilogram: it will include the mass from the thermal energy (latent heat) used to melt the ice; this follows from the conservation of energy.", "This number is small but not negligible: about 3.7 nanograms.", "It is given by the latent heat of melting ice (334 kJ/kg) divided by the speed of light squared (''c''2 ≈ ).=== General relativity ===In general relativity, the equivalence principle is the equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass.", "At the core of this assertion is Albert Einstein's idea that the gravitational force as experienced locally while standing on a massive body (such as the Earth) is the same as the ''pseudo-force'' experienced by an observer in a non-inertial (i.e.", "accelerated) frame of reference.However, it turns out that it is impossible to find an objective general definition for the concept of invariant mass in general relativity.", "At the core of the problem is the non-linearity of the Einstein field equations, making it impossible to write the gravitational field energy as part of the stress–energy tensor in a way that is invariant for all observers.", "For a given observer, this can be achieved by the stress–energy–momentum pseudotensor." ], [ "In quantum physics", "In classical mechanics, the inert mass of a particle appears in the Euler–Lagrange equation as a parameter ''m'':: After quantization, replacing the position vector ''x'' with a wave function, the parameter ''m'' appears in the kinetic energy operator:: In the ostensibly covariant (relativistically invariant) Dirac equation, and in natural units, this becomes:: where the \"mass\" parameter ''m'' is now simply a constant associated with the quantum described by the wave function ψ.In the Standard Model of particle physics as developed in the 1960s, this term arises from the coupling of the field ψ to an additional field Φ, the Higgs field.", "In the case of fermions, the Higgs mechanism results in the replacement of the term ''m''ψ in the Lagrangian with .", "This shifts the explanandum of the value for the mass of each elementary particle to the value of the unknown coupling constant ''G''ψ.=== Tachyonic particles and imaginary (complex) mass ===A tachyonic field, or simply tachyon, is a quantum field with an imaginary mass.", "Although tachyons (particles that move faster than light) are a purely hypothetical concept not generally believed to exist, fields with imaginary mass have come to play an important role in modern physics and are discussed in popular books on physics.", "Under no circumstances do any excitations ever propagate faster than light in such theories—the presence or absence of a tachyonic mass has no effect whatsoever on the maximum velocity of signals (there is no violation of causality).", "While the ''field'' may have imaginary mass, any physical particles do not; the \"imaginary mass\" shows that the system becomes unstable, and sheds the instability by undergoing a type of phase transition called tachyon condensation (closely related to second order phase transitions) that results in symmetry breaking in current models of particle physics.The term \"tachyon\" was coined by Gerald Feinberg in a 1967 paper, but it was soon realized that Feinberg's model in fact did not allow for superluminal speeds.", "Instead, the imaginary mass creates an instability in the configuration:- any configuration in which one or more field excitations are tachyonic will spontaneously decay, and the resulting configuration contains no physical tachyons.", "This process is known as tachyon condensation.", "Well known examples include the condensation of the Higgs boson in particle physics, and ferromagnetism in condensed matter physics.Although the notion of a tachyonic imaginary mass might seem troubling because there is no classical interpretation of an imaginary mass, the mass is not quantized.", "Rather, the scalar field is; even for tachyonic quantum fields, the field operators at spacelike separated points still commute (or anticommute), thus preserving causality.", "Therefore, information still does not propagate faster than light, and solutions grow exponentially, but not superluminally (there is no violation of causality).", "Tachyon condensation drives a physical system that has reached a local limit and might naively be expected to produce physical tachyons, to an alternate stable state where no physical tachyons exist.", "Once the tachyonic field reaches the minimum of the potential, its quanta are not tachyons any more but rather are ordinary particles with a positive mass-squared.This is a special case of the general rule, where unstable massive particles are formally described as having a complex mass, with the real part being their mass in the usual sense, and the imaginary part being the decay rate in natural units.", "However, in quantum field theory, a particle (a \"one-particle state\") is roughly defined as a state which is constant over time; i.e., an eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian.", "An unstable particle is a state which is only approximately constant over time; If it exists long enough to be measured, it can be formally described as having a complex mass, with the real part of the mass greater than its imaginary part.", "If both parts are of the same magnitude, this is interpreted as a resonance appearing in a scattering process rather than a particle, as it is considered not to exist long enough to be measured independently of the scattering process.", "In the case of a tachyon, the real part of the mass is zero, and hence no concept of a particle can be attributed to it.In a Lorentz invariant theory, the same formulas that apply to ordinary slower-than-light particles (sometimes called \"bradyons\" in discussions of tachyons) must also apply to tachyons.", "In particular the energy–momentum relation::(where '''p''' is the relativistic momentum of the bradyon and '''m''' is its rest mass) should still apply, along with the formula for the total energy of a particle::This equation shows that the total energy of a particle (bradyon or tachyon) contains a contribution from its rest mass (the \"rest mass–energy\") and a contribution from its motion, the kinetic energy.When ''v'' is larger than ''c'', the denominator in the equation for the energy is \"imaginary\", as the value under the radical is negative.", "Because the total energy must be real, the numerator must ''also'' be imaginary: i.e.", "the rest mass '''m''' must be imaginary, as a pure imaginary number divided by another pure imaginary number is a real number." ], [ "See also", "* Mass versus weight* Effective mass (spring–mass system)* Effective mass (solid-state physics)* Extension (metaphysics)* International System of Quantities* 2019 redefinition of SI base units" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * * * * * * Jim Baggott (27 September 2017).", "The Concept of Mass (video) published by the Royal Institution on YouTube." ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mark" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mark''' may refer to:" ], [ "Bible-New Testament", "* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark* Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels" ], [ "Currency", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927* Finnish markka (), the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002* Mark (currency), a currency or unit of account in many nations* Polish mark (), the currency of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924===German===* Deutsche Mark, the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until 2002* German gold mark, the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914* German Papiermark, the German currency from 4 August 1914* German rentenmark, a currency issued on 15 November 1923 to stop the hyperinflation of 1922 and 1923 in Weimar Germany* Lodz Ghetto mark, a special currency for Lodz Ghetto.", "* Reichsmark, the currency in Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany" ], [ "People", "* John Mark (died 1st century), assistant accompanying Paul and Barnabas in the Acts of the Apostles, identified as Mark the Evangelist* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark* Mark of Cornwall (), king of Kernow* Pope Mark (died 336), Pope of the Catholic Church from 18 January to 7 October 336* Mark (given name), a male given name, includes a list of notable people with the name* Mark (surname), includes a list of notable people with the name" ], [ "Places", "* Mereg (also Mark), a village in Sarkal Rural District, in the Central District of Marivan County, Kurdistan Province, Iran===Europe===* Amt Dahme/Mark a collective municipality in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, Germany* Amt Lindow (Mark), a collective municipality in the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin in Brandenburg, Germany* Baruth/Mark, a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany* County of Mark, a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle* Friesack/Mark, a town in the Havelland district in Brandenburg, Germany* Mark (Dender), a river in Belgium* Mark (Dintel), a river in Belgium and the Netherlands* Mark Hundred, a Västergötland hundred in Sweden* Mark Municipality, a municipality in Västra Götaland County in southwest Sweden* Mark, Somerset, an English village and civil parish* Mark Lane, a road in London===United States===* Mark, Illinois, a village in Putnam County, Illinois* Mark, Missouri, an extinct town in Marion County, in the U.S. state of Missouri" ], [ "Sports", "* Mark, a term used in professional wrestling with multiple meanings* Mark (Australian rules football), where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it * Mark (rugby), a play in which a player may catch the ball and take a free-kick at the position of the mark" ], [ "Other", "* March (territory) (also mark), a medieval European term for any kind of borderland* , an HTML element used for highlighting relevant text in a quotation* Mark, the victim of a confidence trick* Mark (designation), a method of designating a version of a product* Mark (sign), written or imprinted symbol used to indicate some trait of an item, for example, its ownership or maker* Mark (dinghy), a single-hander class of small sailing dinghy* Mark (unit), a medieval weight or mass unit that supplanted the pound weight as a precious metals and coinage weight from the 11th century* , a vessel of the US Army and the US and Taiwanese navies* Mark and space, terms used in telecommunications to describe two different signal states of a signal* Glyph, a purposeful mark in typography* Watermark, an identifying image in paper that is visible when viewed in transmitted light* High water mark, a line that represents the maximum rise of a body of water over land" ], [ "See also", "* * * Marked (disambiguation)* Marc (disambiguation)* The Mark (disambiguation)* Marker (disambiguation)* Marking (disambiguation)* Marks (disambiguation)* Marque (disambiguation)* St. Mark's (disambiguation)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Finnish markka" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''markka''' (alternatively '''mark''' or '''Finnmark'''; ; ; sign: '''Mk'''; ISO code: '''FIM''') was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender.", "The markka was divided into 100 pennies (; ), abbreviated as \"p\".", "At the point of conversion, the rate was fixed at €1 = 5.94573 Mk.The markka was replaced by the euro (€), which had been introduced, in cash form, on 1 March 2002.This was after a transitional period of three years, when the euro was the official currency but only existed as \"book money\" outside of the monetary base.", "The dual circulation period, when both the markka and the euro had legal tender status, ended on 28 February 2002." ], [ "Etymology", "The name \"markka\" was based on a medieval unit of weight.", "Both \"markka\" and \"penni\" are similar to words used in Germany for that country's former currency, based on the same etymological roots as the Deutsche Mark and pfennig.Although the word \"markka\" predates the currency by several centuries, the currency was established before being named \"markka\".", "A competition was held for its name, and some of the other entries included \"\" (meaning \"having a hundred parts\"), \"\" (apple) and \"\" (from \"\", the Finnish name for Finland).With numbered amounts of markkaa, the Finnish language does not use plurals but partitive singular forms: ''\"10 markkaa\"'' and ''\"10 penniä\"'' (the nominative is ''penni'').", "In Swedish, the singular and plural forms of \"mark\" and \"penni\" are the same.===Nicknames===When the euro replaced the markka, (, sometimes shortened to just ) became a new colloquial term for the old currency.", "The sometimes used \"old markka\" can be misleading, since it can also be used to refer to the pre-1963 markka.", "In Helsinki slang, the sum of a hundred markkaa was traditionally called a hu.ge (from Swedish for \"hundred\").", "After the 1963 reform, this name was used for one new markka." ], [ "History", "20 Mk banknote issued in 1862 for the Grand Duchy of Finland.", "The banknote's obverse depicts the coat of arms of Finland on a Russian double-headed eagle, and was personally signed by the director and the cashier of the Bank of Finland.", "The text on the obverse is in Swedish, whereas the reverse is primarily in Russian and Finnish.The markka was introduced in 1860 by the Bank of Finland, replacing the Russian ruble at a rate of four markkaa to one ruble.", "Senator Fabian Langenskiöld is called \"father of the markka\".", "In 1865, the markka was separated from the ruble and tied to the value of silver.", "From 1878 to 1915, Finland adopted the gold standard of the Latin Monetary Union.", "Before the markka, both the Swedish riksdaler and ruble were used side-by-side for a time.Up until World War I, the value of the markka fluctuated within +23%/−16% of its initial value, but with no trend.", "The markka suffered heavy inflation (91%) during 1914–18.Gaining independence in 1917, Finland returned to the gold standard from 1926 to 1931.While prices remained stable until 1940, the markka suffered heavy inflation (17% annually on average) during World War II and again in 1956–57 (11%).", "In 1963, in order to reset the inflation, the markka was redenominated and replaced by a ''new markka'' worth 100 old markkaa.Finland joined the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1948.The value of the markka was pegged to the dollar at 320 Mk = US$1, which became New 3.20 Mk = US$1 in 1963 and devalued to 4.20 Mk = US$1 in 1967.After the breakdown of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1971, a basket of currencies became the new reference.", "Inflation was high (over 5%) during 1971–85.Occasionally, devaluation was used, 60% in total between 1975 and 1990, allowing the currency to more closely follow the depreciating US dollar than the rising German mark.", "The paper industry, which mainly traded in US dollars, was often blamed for demanding these devaluations to boost their exports.", "Various economic controls were removed and the market was gradually liberalized throughout the 1980s and the 1990s.The monetary policy called \"strong markka policy\" (''vahvan markan politiikka'') was a characteristic feature of the 1980s and early 1990s.", "The main architect of this policy was President Mauno Koivisto, who opposed floating the currency and devaluations.", "As a result, the nominal value of the markka was extremely high, and in the year 1990, Finland was nominally the most expensive country in the world according to OECD's Purchasing Power Parities report.Koivisto's policy was maintained only briefly after Esko Aho was elected Prime Minister.", "In 1991, the markka was pegged to the currency basket ECU, but the peg had to be withdrawn after two months with a devaluation of 12%.", "In 1992, Finland was hit by a severe recession, the early 1990s depression in Finland.", "It was caused by several factors, the most severe being the incurring of debt, as the 1980s economic boom was based on debt.", "Also, the Soviet Union had collapsed, which brought an end to bilateral trade, and existing trade connections were severed.", "The most important source of export revenue, Western markets, were also depressed during the same time, in part due to the war in Kuwait.", "As a result, by some opinions years overdue, the artificial fixed exchange rate was abandoned and the markka was floated.", "Its value immediately decreased 13% and the inflated nominal prices converged towards German levels.", "In total, the value of the markka had decreased 40% as a result of the recession.", "Also, as a result, several entrepreneurs who had borrowed money denominated in foreign currency suddenly faced insurmountable debt.Inflation was low during the markka's independent existence as a floating currency (1992–1999): 1.3% annually on average.", "The markka was added into the ERM system in 1996 and then became a fraction of the euro in 1999, with physical euro money arriving later in 2002.It has been speculated that if Finland had not joined the euro, market fluctuations such as the dot-com bubble would have reflected as wild fluctuations in the price of the markka.", "Nokia, formerly traded in markka, was in 2000 the European company with the highest market capitalization." ], [ "Coins", "5-penny coin to be issued by the Finnish People's Delegation during the 1918 Finnish Civil War, seen in the Tampere Lenin Museum=== First markka ===When the markka was introduced, coins were minted in copper (1, 5 and 10 penniä), silver (25p and 50p, 1 Mk and 2 Mk) and gold (10 Mk and 20 Mk).", "After the First World War, silver and gold issues were ceased and cupro-nickel 25p and 50p and 1 Mk coins were introduced in 1921, followed by aluminium-bronze 5 Mk, 10 Mk and 20 Mk between 1928 and 1931.During the Second World War, copper replaced cupro-nickel in the 25p and 50p and 1 Mk, followed by an issue of iron 10p, 25p and 50p and 1 Mk.", "This period also saw the issue of holed 5p and 10p coins.+Markka coins 1918–52DenominationYearsImageMaterialSizeObverseReverseDesigner'''1 Mk'''1 Mk reverse1 Mk obverseCupro-nickel24 mmRampant lion and dateDenomination flanked by branchesIsak Sundell1928–40Cupro-nickel21 mm1940–51Copper21 mm1943–44Iron21 mm'''5 Mk'''1928–465 Mk reverse5 Mk obverseAluminum-bronze23 mmWreath and denominationShielded arms within wreath and dateIsak Sundell1946–52Brass23 mm'''10 Mk'''1928–3910 Mk reverse10 Mk obverseAluminum-bronze27 mmWreath and denominationShielded arms within wreath and dateIsak Sundell'''20 Mk'''1928–3920 Mk reverse20 Mk obverseAluminum-bronze31 mmWreath and denominationShielded arms within wreath and dateIsak SundellAll coins below 1 markka had ceased to be produced by 1948.In 1952, a new coinage was introduced, with smaller iron (later nickel-plated) 1 Mk and 5 Mk coins alongside aluminium-bronze 10 Mk, 20 Mk and 50 Mk coins and (from 1956) silver 100 Mk and 200 Mk denominations.", "This coinage continued to be issued until the introduction of the new markka in 1963.=== Second markka ===The old coins and banknotes were exchanged to new ones at 100:1 rate.==== First series ====The new markka coinage consisted initially of six denominations: 1 (bronze, later aluminium), 5 (bronze, later aluminium), 10 (aluminium-bronze, later aluminium), 20 and 50 penniä (aluminium-bronze) and 1 markka (silver, later cupro-nickel).", "The design of new coins (1963) was identical to those of the last issue of the old markka but with new denominations (i.e.", "1 penni instead of 1 markka, etc.", ").From 1972, aluminium-bronze 5 Mk were also issued.==== Second series ====The last series of Finnish markka coins included five coins (listed with final euro values, rounded to the nearest cent):* 10p (silver-coloured) – a honeycomb on the reverse and a lily of the valley flower on the obverse = €0.02* 50p (silver-coloured) – haircap moss on the reverse and a bear on the obverse = €0.08* 1 Mk (copper-coloured) – the Finnish coat of arms on the reverse = €0.17* 5 Mk (copper-coloured) – a lily pad leaf and a dragonfly on the reverse and a Saimaa seal on the obverse = €0.84* 10 Mk (two-metal coin, copper-coloured centre and silver-coloured edge) – rowan tree branches and berries on the reverse and a wood grouse on the obverse = €1.68" ], [ "Banknotes", "This section covers the last design series of the Finnish markka, designed in the 1980s by and Finnish designer Erik Bruun and issued in 1986.DenominationValue in euros (€)ImageMain colourObverseReverseRemark10 Mk€1.68 10 markkaa reverseBluePaavo Nurmi (1897–1973), athlete and Olympic winnerHelsinki Olympic StadiumDiscontinued upon the introduction of the 20 Mk note in 1993.20 Mk€3.36 20 Mk reverseAquaVäinö Linna (1920–1992), author and novelistTammerkoskiIntroduced in 1993 to replace the 10 Mk note.50 Mk€8.41 50 Mk reverseBrownAlvar Aalto (1898–1976), architectFinlandia Hall100 Mk€16.82 100 Mk reverseGreenJean Sibelius (1865–1957), composerSwans500 Mk€84.09 500 Mk reverseRedElias Lönnrot (1802–1884), compiler of KalevalaForest hiking trail1,000 Mk€168.19 1,000 Mk reversePurpleAnders Chydenius (1729–1803), priest and statesmanKuninkaanportti gate in Suomenlinna5,000 Mk€840.94PinkMikael Agricola (1510–1557), priest and linguist (based on the statue by in front of Turku Cathedral)Turku CathedralThe note was never introduced.", "It was only a backup plan for inflation.In this final banknote series, the Bank of Finland used a photograph of Väinö Linna on the 20 Mk note without permission from copyright holders.", "This was only revealed after several million notes were in use.", "The Bank paid 100,000 Mk (€17,000) compensation to the rights holders.The second-to-last banknote design series, designed by Tapio Wirkkala, was introduced in 1955 and revised in the reform of 1963.It was the first series to depict actual specific persons rather than allegorical figures.", "These included Juho Kusti Paasikivi on the 10 Mk, K. J. Ståhlberg on the 50 Mk, J. V. Snellman on the 100 Mk and, controversially, Urho Kekkonen on the 500 Mk, added in 1975 to commemorate the president's 75th birthday.", "Unlike Erik Bruun's series, this series did not depict any other real-life subjects, but only abstract ornaments in addition to the depictions of people.", "A popular joke at the time was to cover Paasikivi's face except for his ear and back of the head on the 10 Mk note, ending up with something resembling a mouse, said to be the only animal illustration in the entire series.Finnish 5,000 Mk banknotes (1940), seen in OP Financial Group's museum in Vallila, HelsinkiThe still-older notes, designed by Eliel Saarinen, were introduced in 1922.They also depicted people, but these were generic men and women, and did not represent any specific individuals.", "The fact that these men and women were depicted nude caused a minor controversy at the time." ], [ "Euro banknotes", "By the end of 2001, Finland was a relatively cashless society.", "Most transactions were paid either using the 100 Mk banknote or by debit card.", "There were 4 million banknotes apiece of the 500 Mk and 1,000 Mk denomination banknotes for a country with a population of over 5 million people.", "There were about 19 banknotes per individual of the smaller denomination, adding up to €241 per inhabitant.", "For the introduction of the euro, ECB produced €8,020 million in banknotes before the changeover.During the first weeks of 2002, Finland's replacement of previous national banknotes with euro banknotes was among the fastest in the euro area.", "Of the cash payments, three-fourths were paid in euro already at the end of the first changeover week.", "Coins and banknotes that were legal tender at the time of the markka's retirement could be exchanged for euros until 29 February 2012.Today, the only value that markka coins and banknotes have is their value as collectibles." ], [ "See also", "* Bank of Finland* ''Scandinavian Monetary Union''* Finnish euro coins* Economy of Finland" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Overview of markka from the BBC* Historical Finnish banknotes and coins at the Bank of Finland* Main outlines of Finnish history – thisisFINLAND* History of the Finnish Markka (1860–2002)* Historical banknotes from Finland" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Manganese" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Manganese''' is a chemical element; it has symbol '''Mn''' and atomic number 25.It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron.", "Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s.", "Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels.", "It improves strength, workability, and resistance to wear.", "Manganese oxide is used as an oxidising agent; as a rubber additive; and in glass making, fertilisers, and ceramics.", "Manganese sulfate can be used as a fungicide.Manganese is also an essential human dietary element, important in macronutrient metabolism, bone formation, and free radical defense systems.", "It is a critical component in dozens of proteins and enzymes.", "It is found mostly in the bones, but also the liver, kidneys, and brain.", "In the human brain, the manganese is bound to manganese metalloproteins, most notably glutamine synthetase in astrocytes.It is familiar in the laboratory in the form of the deep violet salt potassium permanganate.", "It occurs at the active sites in some enzymes.", "Of particular interest is the use of a Mn-O cluster, the oxygen-evolving complex, in the production of oxygen by plants." ], [ "Characteristics", "===Physical properties===Manganese is a silvery-gray metal that resembles iron.", "It is hard and very brittle, difficult to fuse, but easy to oxidize.", "Manganese metal and its common ions are paramagnetic.", "Manganese tarnishes slowly in air and oxidizes (\"rusts\") like iron in water containing dissolved oxygen.===Isotopes===Naturally occurring manganese is composed of one stable isotope, 55Mn.", "Several radioisotopes have been isolated and described, ranging in atomic weight from 46 u (46Mn) to 72 u (72Mn).", "The most stable are 53Mn with a half-life of 3.7 million years, 54Mn with a half-life of 312.2 days, and 52Mn with a half-life of 5.591 days.", "All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than three hours, and the majority of less than one minute.", "The primary decay mode in isotopes lighter than the most abundant stable isotope, 55Mn, is electron capture and the primary mode in heavier isotopes is beta decay.", "Manganese also has three meta states.Manganese is part of the iron group of elements, which are thought to be synthesized in large stars shortly before the supernova explosion.", "53Mn decays to 53Cr with a half-life of 3.7 million years.", "Because of its relatively short half-life, 53Mn is relatively rare, produced by cosmic rays impact on iron.", "Manganese isotopic contents are typically combined with chromium isotopic contents and have found application in isotope geology and radiometric dating.", "Mn–Cr isotopic ratios reinforce the evidence from 26Al and 107Pd for the early history of the Solar System.", "Variations in 53Cr/52Cr and Mn/Cr ratios from several meteorites suggest an initial 53Mn/55Mn ratio, which indicate that Mn–Cr isotopic composition must result from ''in situ'' decay of 53Mn in differentiated planetary bodies.", "Hence, 53Mn provides additional evidence for nucleosynthetic processes immediately before coalescence of the Solar System.===Allotropes=== Unit cell of an α-Mn crystal Unit cell of a β-Mn crystalFour allotropes (structural forms) of solid manganese are known, labeled α, β, γ and δ, and occurring at successively higher temperatures.", "All are metallic, stable at standard pressure, and have a cubic crystal lattice, but they vary widely in their atomic structures.", "'''Alpha manganese''' (α-Mn) is the equilibrium phase at room temperature.", "It has a body-centered cubic lattice and is unusual among elemental metals in having a very complex unit cell, with 58 atoms per cell (29 atoms per primitive unit cell) in four different types of site.", "It is paramagnetic at room temperature and antiferromagnetic at temperatures below .Phase diagram of manganese'''Beta manganese''' (β-Mn) forms when heated above the transition temperature of .", "It has a primitive cubic structure with 20 atoms per unit cell at two types of sites, which is as complex as that of any other elemental metal.", "It is easily obtained as a metastable phase at room temperature by rapid quenching.", "It does not show magnetic ordering, remaining paramagnetic down to the lowest temperature measured (1.1 K).", "'''Gamma manganese''' (γ-Mn) forms when heated above .", "It has a simple face-centered cubic structure (four atoms per unit cell).", "When quenched to room temperature it converts to β-Mn, but it can be stabilized at room temperature by alloying it with at least 5 percent of other elements (such as C, Fe, Ni, Cu, Pd or Au), and these solute-stabilized alloys distort into a face-centered tetragonal structure.", "'''Delta manganese''' (δ-Mn) forms when heated above and is stable up to the manganese melting point of .", "It has a body-centered cubic structure (two atoms per cubic unit cell)." ], [ "Chemical compounds", "Manganese(II) chloride crystals – the pale pink color of Mn(II) salts is due to a spin-forbidden 3d transition.Common oxidation states of manganese are +2, +3, +4, +6, and +7, although all oxidation states from −3 to +7 except –2 have been observed.", "Manganese in oxidation state +7 is represented by salts of the intensely purple permanganate anion MnO4−.", "Potassium permanganate is a commonly used laboratory reagent because of its oxidizing properties; it is used as a topical medicine (for example, in the treatment of fish diseases).", "Solutions of potassium permanganate were among the first stains and fixatives to be used in the preparation of biological cells and tissues for electron microscopy.Aside from various permanganate salts, Mn(VII) is represented by the unstable, volatile derivative Mn2O7.Oxyhalides (MnO3F and MnO3Cl) are powerful oxidizing agents.", "The most prominent example of Mn in the +6 oxidation state is the green anion manganate, MnO42-.", "Manganate salts are intermediates in the extraction of manganese from its ores.", "Compounds with oxidation states +5 are somewhat elusive, one example is the blue anion hypomanganate MnO43-.Compounds with Mn in oxidation state +5 are rarely encountered and often found associated with an oxide (O2-) or nitride (N3-) ligand.Mn(IV) is somewhat enigmatic because it is common in nature but far rarer in synthetic chemistry.", "The most common Mn ore, pyrolusite, is MnO2.It is the dark brown pigment of many cave drawings but is also a common ingredient in dry cell batteries.", "Complexes of Mn(IV) are well known, but they require elaborate ligands.", "Mn(IV)-OH complexes are an intermediate in some enzymes, including the oxygen evolving center (OEC) in plants.Simple derivatives Mn+3 are rarely encountered but can be stabilized by suitably basic ligands.", "Manganese(III) acetate is an oxidant useful in organic synthesis.", "Solid compounds of manganese(III) are characterized by its strong purple-red color and a preference for distorted octahedral coordination resulting from the Jahn-Teller effect.Aqueous solution of KMnO4 illustrating the deep purple of Mn(VII) as it occurs in permanganateA particularly common oxidation state for manganese in aqueous solution is +2, which has a pale pink color.", "Many manganese(II) compounds are known, such as the aquo complexes derived from manganese(II) sulfate (MnSO4) and manganese(II) chloride (MnCl2).", "This oxidation state is also seen in the mineral rhodochrosite (manganese(II) carbonate).", "Manganese(II) commonly exists with a high spin, S = 5/2 ground state because of the high pairing energy for manganese(II).", "There are no spin-allowed d–d transitions in manganese(II), which explain its faint color.Oxidation states of manganese −3 −1 0 +1 '''+2''' , , '''+3''' , , '''+4''' +5 '''+6''' '''+7''' , Common oxidation states are in bold.===Organomanganese compounds===Manganese forms a large variety of organometallic derivatives, i.e., compounds with Mn-C bonds.", "The organometallic derivatives include numerous examples of Mn in its lower oxidation states, i.e.", "Mn(-III) up through Mn(I).", "This area of organometallic chemistry is attractive because Mn is inexpensive and of relatively low toxicity.Of greatest commercial interest is \"MMT\", methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, which is used as an anti-knock compound added to gasoline (petrol) in some countries.", "It features Mn(I).", "Consistent with other aspects of Mn(II) chemistry, manganocene () is high-spin.", "In contrast, its neighboring metal iron forms an air-stable, low-spin derivative in the form of ferrocene ().", "When conducted under an atmosphere of carbon monoxide, reduction of Mn(II) salts gives dimanganese decacarbonyl , an orange and volatile solid.", "The air-stability of this Mn(0) compound (and its many derivatives) reflects the powerful electron-acceptor properties of carbon monoxide.", "Many alkene complexes and alkyne complexes are derived from .In Mn(CH3)2(dmpe)2, Mn(II) is low spin, which contrasts with the high spin character of its precursor, MnBr2(dmpe)2 (dmpe = (CH3)2PCH2CH2P(CH3)2).", "Polyalkyl and polyaryl derivatives of manganese often exist in higher oxidation states, reflecting the electron-releasing properties of alkyl and aryl ligands.", "One example is Mn(CH3)62-." ], [ "History", "The origin of the name manganese is complex.", "In ancient times, two black minerals were identified from the regions of the Magnetes (either Magnesia, located within modern Greece, or Magnesia ad Sipylum, located within modern Turkey).", "They were both called ''magnes'' from their place of origin, but were considered to differ in sex.", "The male ''magnes'' attracted iron, and was the iron ore now known as lodestone or magnetite, and which probably gave us the term magnet.", "The female ''magnes'' ore did not attract iron, but was used to decolorize glass.", "This female ''magnes'' was later called ''magnesia'', known now in modern times as pyrolusite or manganese dioxide.", "Neither this mineral nor elemental manganese is magnetic.", "In the 16th century, manganese dioxide was called ''manganesum'' (note the two Ns instead of one) by glassmakers, possibly as a corruption and concatenation of two words, since alchemists and glassmakers eventually had to differentiate a ''magnesia nigra'' (the black ore) from ''magnesia alba'' (a white ore, also from Magnesia, also useful in glassmaking).", "Michele Mercati called magnesia nigra ''manganesa'', and finally the metal isolated from it became known as ''manganese'' ().", "The name ''magnesia'' eventually was then used to refer only to the white magnesia alba (magnesium oxide), which provided the name magnesium for the free element when it was isolated much later.Some of the cave paintings in Lascaux, France, use manganese-based pigments.Manganese dioxide, which is abundant in nature, has long been used as a pigment.", "The cave paintings in Gargas that are 30,000 to 24,000 years old are made from the mineral form of MnO2 pigments.Manganese compounds were used by Egyptian and Roman glassmakers, either to add to, or remove, color from glass.", "Use as \"glassmakers soap\" continued through the Middle Ages until modern times and is evident in 14th-century glass from Venice.Credit for first isolating manganese is usually given to Johan Gottlieb Gahn.Because it was used in glassmaking, manganese dioxide was available for experiments by alchemists, the first chemists.", "Ignatius Gottfried Kaim (1770) and Johann Glauber (17th century) discovered that manganese dioxide could be converted to permanganate, a useful laboratory reagent.", "Kaim also may have reduced manganese dioxide to isolate the metal, but that is uncertain.", "By the mid-18th century, the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele used manganese dioxide to produce chlorine.", "First, hydrochloric acid, or a mixture of dilute sulfuric acid and sodium chloride was made to react with manganese dioxide, and later hydrochloric acid from the Leblanc process was used and the manganese dioxide was recycled by the Weldon process.", "The production of chlorine and hypochlorite bleaching agents was a large consumer of manganese ores.Scheele and others were aware that pyrolusite (mineral form of manganese dioxide) contained a new element.", "Johan Gottlieb Gahn isolated an impure sample of manganese metal in 1774, which he did by reducing the dioxide with carbon.The manganese content of some iron ores used in Greece led to speculations that steel produced from that ore contains additional manganese, making the Spartan steel exceptionally hard.", "Around the beginning of the 19th century, manganese was used in steelmaking and several patents were granted.", "In 1816, it was documented that iron alloyed with manganese was harder but not more brittle.", "In 1837, British academic James Couper noted an association between miners' heavy exposure to manganese and a form of Parkinson's disease.", "In 1912, United States patents were granted for protecting firearms against rust and corrosion with manganese phosphate electrochemical conversion coatings, and the process has seen widespread use ever since.The invention of the Leclanché cell in 1866 and the subsequent improvement of batteries containing manganese dioxide as cathodic depolarizer increased the demand for manganese dioxide.", "Until the development of batteries with nickel–cadmium and lithium, most batteries contained manganese.", "The zinc–carbon battery and the alkaline battery normally use industrially produced manganese dioxide because naturally occurring manganese dioxide contains impurities.", "In the 20th century, manganese dioxide was widely used as the cathodic for commercial disposable dry batteries of both the standard (zinc–carbon) and alkaline types.Manganese is essential to iron and steel production by virtue of its sulfur-fixing, deoxidizing, and alloying properties.", "This application was first recognized by the British metallurgist Robert Forester Mushet (1811–1891) who, in 1856, introduced the element, in the form of Spiegeleisen." ], [ "Occurrence", "Manganese comprises about 1000 ppm (0.1%) of the Earth's crust, the 12th most abundant of the crust's elements.", "Soil contains 7–9000 ppm of manganese with an average of 440 ppm.", "The atmosphere contains 0.01 μg/m3.Manganese occurs principally as pyrolusite (MnO2), braunite (Mn2+Mn3+6)SiO12), psilomelane , and to a lesser extent as rhodochrosite (MnCO3).120px140px150px130px140pxManganese orePsilomelane (manganese ore)Spiegeleisen is an iron alloy with a manganese content of approximately 15%.Manganese oxide dendrites on limestone from Solnhofen, Germany – a kind of pseudofossil.", "Scale is in mmMineral rhodochrosite (manganese(II) carbonate)Percentage of manganese output in 2006 by countriesThe most important manganese ore is pyrolusite (MnO2).", "Other economically important manganese ores usually show a close spatial relation to the iron ores, such as sphalerite.", "Land-based resources are large but irregularly distributed.", "About 80% of the known world manganese resources are in South Africa; other important manganese deposits are in Ukraine, Australia, India, China, Gabon and Brazil.", "According to 1978 estimate, the ocean floor has 500 billion tons of manganese nodules.", "Attempts to find economically viable methods of harvesting manganese nodules were abandoned in the 1970s.In South Africa, most identified deposits are located near Hotazel in the Northern Cape Province, (Kalahari manganese fields), with a 2011 estimate of 15 billion tons.", "In 2011 South Africa produced 3.4 million tons, topping all other nations.Manganese is mainly mined in South Africa, Australia, China, Gabon, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Ukraine and Malaysia." ], [ "Production", "For the production of ferromanganese, the manganese ore is mixed with iron ore and carbon, and then reduced either in a blast furnace or in an electric arc furnace.", "The resulting ferromanganese has a manganese content of 30–80%.", "Pure manganese used for the production of iron-free alloys is produced by leaching manganese ore with sulfuric acid and a subsequent electrowinning process.Process flow diagram for a manganese refining circuitA more progressive extraction process involves directly reducing (a low grade) manganese ore by heap leaching.", "This is done by percolating natural gas through the bottom of the heap; the natural gas provides the heat (needs to be at least 850 °C) and the reducing agent (carbon monoxide).", "This reduces all of the manganese ore to manganese oxide (MnO), which is a leachable form.", "The ore then travels through a grinding circuit to reduce the particle size of the ore to between 150 and 250 μm, increasing the surface area to aid leaching.", "The ore is then added to a leach tank of sulfuric acid and ferrous iron (Fe2+) in a 1.6:1 ratio.", "The iron reacts with the manganese dioxide (MnO2) to form iron hydroxide (FeO(OH)) and elemental manganese (Mn).This process yields approximately 92% recovery of the manganese.", "For further purification, the manganese can then be sent to an electrowinning facility.===Oceanic environment===In 1972 the CIA's Project Azorian, through billionaire Howard Hughes, commissioned the ship ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' with the cover story of harvesting manganese nodules from the sea floor.", "That triggered a rush of activity to collect manganese nodules, which was not actually practical.", "The real mission of ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' was to raise a sunken Soviet submarine, the K-129, with the goal of retrieving Soviet code books.An abundant resource of manganese in the form of manganese nodules found on the ocean floor.", "These nodules, which are composed of 29% manganese, are located along the ocean floor.", "environmental impacts of nodule collection are of interest.", "Dissolved manganese (dMn) is found throughout the world's oceans, 90% of which originates from hydrothermal vents.", "Particulate Mn develops in buoyant plumes over an active vent source, while the dMn behaves conservatively.", "Mn concentrations vary between the water columns of the ocean.", "At the surface, dMn is elevated due to input from external sources such as rivers, dust, and shelf sediments.", "Coastal sediments normally have lower Mn concentrations, but can increase due to anthropogenic discharges from industries such as mining and steel manufacturing, which enter the ocean from river inputs.", "Surface dMn concentrations can also be elevated biologically through photosynthesis and physically from coastal upwelling and wind-driven surface currents.", "Internal cycling such as photo-reduction from UV radiation can also elevate levels by speeding up the dissolution of Mn-oxides and oxidative scavenging, preventing Mn from sinking to deeper waters.", "Elevated levels at mid-depths can occur near mid-ocean ridges and hydrothermal vents.", "The hydrothermal vents release dMn enriched fluid into the water.", "The dMn can then travel up to 4,000 km due to the microbial capsules present, preventing exchange with particles, lowing the sinking rates.", "Dissolved Mn concentrations are even higher when oxygen levels are low.", "Overall, dMn concentrations are normally higher in coastal regions and decrease when moving offshore.=== Soils ===Manganese occurs in soils in three oxidation states: the divalent cation, Mn2+ and as brownish-black oxides and hydroxides containing Mn (III,IV), such as MnOOH and MnO2.Soil pH and oxidation-reduction conditions affect which of these three forms of Mn is dominant in a given soil.", "At pH values less than 6 or under anaerobic conditions, Mn(II) dominates, while under more alkaline and aerobic conditions, Mn(III,IV) oxides and hydroxides predominate.", "These effects of soil acidity and aeration state on the form of Mn can be modified or controlled by microbial activity.", "Microbial respiration can cause both the oxidation of Mn2+ to the oxides, and it can cause reduction of the oxides to the divalent cation.The Mn(III,IV) oxides exist as brownish-black stains and small nodules on sand, silt, and clay particles.", "These surface coatings on other soil particles have high surface area and carry negative charge.", "The charged sites can adsorb and retain various cations, especially heavy metals (e.g., Cr3+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+).", "In addition, the oxides can adsorb organic acids and other compounds.", "The adsorption of the metals and organic compounds can then cause them to be oxidized while the Mn(III,IV) oxides are reduced to Mn2+ (e.g., Cr3+ to Cr(VI) and colorless hydroquinone to tea-colored quinone polymers)." ], [ "Applications", "===Steel===U.S.", "M1917 combat helmet, a variant of Brodie helmet, made from Hadfield steel manganese alloyManganese is essential to iron and steel production by virtue of its sulfur-fixing, deoxidizing, and alloying properties.", "Manganese has no satisfactory substitute in these applications in metallurgy.", "Steelmaking, including its ironmaking component, has accounted for most manganese demand, presently in the range of 85% to 90% of the total demand.", "Manganese is a key component of low-cost stainless steel.", "Often ferromanganese (usually about 80% manganese) is the intermediate in modern processes.Small amounts of manganese improve the workability of steel at high temperatures by forming a high-melting sulfide and preventing the formation of a liquid iron sulfide at the grain boundaries.", "If the manganese content reaches 4%, the embrittlement of the steel becomes a dominant feature.", "The embrittlement decreases at higher manganese concentrations and reaches an acceptable level at 8%.", "Steel containing 8 to 15% of manganese has a high tensile strength of up to 863 MPa.", "Steel with 12% manganese was discovered in 1882 by Robert Hadfield and is still known as Hadfield steel (mangalloy).", "It was used for British military steel helmets and later by the U.S. military.===Aluminium alloys===Manganese is used in production of alloys with aluminium.", "Aluminium with roughly 1.5% manganese has increased resistance to corrosion through grains that absorb impurities which would lead to galvanic corrosion.", "The corrosion-resistant aluminium alloys 3004 and 3104 (0.8 to 1.5% manganese) are used for most beverage cans.", "Before 2000, more than 1.6 million tonnes of those alloys were used; at 1% manganese, this consumed 16,000 tonnes of manganese.====Batteries====Manganese(IV) oxide was used in the original type of dry cell battery as an electron acceptor from zinc, and is the blackish material in carbon–zinc type flashlight cells.", "The manganese dioxide is reduced to the manganese oxide-hydroxide MnO(OH) during discharging, preventing the formation of hydrogen at the anode of the battery.", ":MnO2 + H2O + e− → MnO(OH) + The same material also functions in newer alkaline batteries (usually battery cells), which use the same basic reaction, but a different electrolyte mixture.", "In 2002, more than 230,000 tons of manganese dioxide was used for this purpose.World-War-II-era 5-cent coin (1942-5 identified by mint mark P, D or S above dome) made from a 56% copper-35% silver-9% manganese alloy====Resistors====Copper alloys of manganese, such as Manganin, are commonly found in metal element shunt resistors used for measuring relatively large amounts of current.", "These alloys have very low temperature coefficient of resistance and are resistant to sulfur.", "This makes the alloys particularly useful in harsh automotive and industrial environments.====Fertilizers and feed additive====Manganese oxide and sulfate are components of fertilizers.", "In the year 2000, an estimated 20,000 tons of these compounds were used in fertilizers in the US alone.", "A comparable amount of Mn compounds was also used in animal feeds.", "====Niche====Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl is an additive in some unleaded gasoline to boost octane rating and reduce engine knocking.", "Manganese(IV) oxide (manganese dioxide, MnO2) is used as a reagent in organic chemistry for the oxidation of benzylic alcohols (where the hydroxyl group is adjacent to an aromatic ring).", "Manganese dioxide has been used since antiquity to oxidize and neutralize the greenish tinge in glass from trace amounts of iron contamination.", "MnO2 is also used in the manufacture of oxygen and chlorine and in drying black paints.", "In some preparations, it is a brown pigment for paint and is a constituent of natural umber.Tetravalent manganese is used as an activator in red-emitting phosphors.", "While many compounds are known which show luminescence, the majority are not used in commercial application due to low efficiency or deep red emission.", "However, several Mn4+ activated fluorides were reported as potential red-emitting phosphors for warm-white LEDs.", "But to this day, only K2SiF6:Mn4+ is commercially available for use in warm-white LEDs.The metal is occasionally used in coins; until 2000, the only United States coin to use manganese was the \"wartime\" nickel from 1942 to 1945.An alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel was traditionally used for the production of nickel coins.", "However, because of shortage of nickel metal during the war, it was substituted by more available silver and manganese, thus resulting in an alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese.", "Since 2000, dollar coins, for example the Sacagawea dollar and the Presidential $1 coins, are made from a brass containing 7% of manganese with a pure copper core.", "In both cases of nickel and dollar, the use of manganese in the coin was to duplicate the electromagnetic properties of a previous identically sized and valued coin in the mechanisms of vending machines.", "In the case of the later U.S. dollar coins, the manganese alloy was intended to duplicate the properties of the copper/nickel alloy used in the previous Susan B. Anthony dollar.Manganese compounds have been used as pigments and for the coloring of ceramics and glass.", "The brown color of ceramic is sometimes the result of manganese compounds.", "In the glass industry, manganese compounds are used for two effects.", "Manganese(III) reacts with iron(II) to reduce strong green color in glass by forming less-colored iron(III) and slightly pink manganese(II), compensating for the residual color of the iron(III).", "Larger quantities of manganese are used to produce pink colored glass.", "In 2009, Professor Mas Subramanian and associates at Oregon State University discovered that manganese can be combined with yttrium and indium to form an intensely blue, non-toxic, inert, fade-resistant pigment, YInMn blue, the first new blue pigment discovered in 200 years." ], [ "Biochemistry", "inhibitor – the manganese atoms are shown in yellow.Many classes of enzymes contain manganese cofactors including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases and ligases.", "Other enzymes containing manganese are arginase and a Mn-containing superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD).", "Some reverse transcriptases of many retroviruses (although not lentiviruses such as HIV) contain manganese.", "Manganese-containing polypeptides are the diphtheria toxin, lectins, and integrins.The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), containing four atoms of manganese, is a part of photosystem II contained in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts.", "The OEC is responsible for the terminal photooxidation of water during the light reactions of photosynthesis, i.e., it is the catalyst that makes the O2 produced by plants." ], [ "Human health and nutrition", "Manganese is an essential human dietary element.", "It is present as a coenzyme in several biological processes, which include macronutrient metabolism, bone formation, and free radical defense systems.", "It is a critical component in dozens of proteins and enzymes.", "The human body contains about 12 mg of manganese, mostly in the bones.", "The soft tissue remainder is concentrated in the liver and kidneys.", "In the human brain, the manganese is bound to manganese metalloproteins, most notably glutamine synthetase in astrocytes.+Current AIs of Mn by age group and sexMalesFemalesAgeAI (mg/day)AgeAI (mg/day)1–31.21–31.24–81.54–81.59–131.99–131.614–182.214–181.619+2.319+1.8pregnant: 2lactating: 2.6===Regulation===The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) updated Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for minerals in 2001.For manganese there was not sufficient information to set EARs and RDAs, so needs are described as estimates for Adequate Intakes (AIs).", "As for safety, the IOM sets Tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for vitamins and minerals when evidence is sufficient.", "In the case of manganese the adult UL is set at 11 mg/day.", "Collectively the EARs, RDAs, AIs and ULs are referred to as Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).", "Manganese deficiency is rare.The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) refers to the collective set of information as Dietary Reference Values, with Population Reference Intake (PRI) instead of RDA, and Average Requirement instead of EAR.", "AI and UL defined the same as in United States.", "For people ages 15 and older the AI is set at 3.0 mg/day.", "AIs for pregnancy and lactation is 3.0 mg/day.", "For children ages 1–14 years the AIs increase with age from 0.5 to 2.0 mg/day.", "The adult AIs are higher than the U.S. RDAs.", "The EFSA reviewed the same safety question and decided that there was insufficient information to set a UL.For U.S. food and dietary supplement labeling purposes the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV).", "For manganese labeling purposes 100% of the Daily Value was 2.0 mg, but as of 27 May 2016 it was revised to 2.3 mg to bring it into agreement with the RDA.", "A table of the old and new adult daily values is provided at Reference Daily Intake.Excessive exposure or intake may lead to a condition known as manganism, a neurodegenerative disorder that causes dopaminergic neuronal death and symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.=== Deficiency ===Manganese deficiency in humans, which is rare, results in a number of medical problems.", "A deficiency of manganese causes skeletal deformation in animals and inhibits the production of collagen in wound healing." ], [ "Exposure", "===In water===Waterborne manganese has a greater bioavailability than dietary manganese.", "According to results from a 2010 study, higher levels of exposure to manganese in drinking water are associated with increased intellectual impairment and reduced intelligence quotients in school-age children.", "It is hypothesized that long-term exposure due to inhaling the naturally occurring manganese in shower water puts up to 8.7 million Americans at risk.", "However, data indicates that the human body can recover from certain adverse effects of overexposure to manganese if the exposure is stopped and the body can clear the excess.Mn levels can increase in seawater is when hypoxic periods occur.", "Since 1990 there have been reports of Mn accumulation in marine organisms including fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and echinoderms.", "Specific tissues are targets in different species, including the gills, brain, blood, kidney, and liver/hepatopancreas.", "Physiological effects have been reported in these species.", "Mn can affect the renewal of immunocytes and their functionality, such as phagocytosis and activation of pro-phenoloxidase, suppressing the organisms' immune systems.", "This causes the organisms to be more susceptible to infections.", "As climate change occurs, pathogen distributions increase, and in order for organisms to survive and defend themselves against these pathogens, they need a healthy, strong immune system.", "If their systems are compromised from high Mn levels, they will not be able to fight off these pathogens and die.===Gasoline===Molecular model of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT)Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) is an additive developed to replace lead compounds for gasolines to improve the octane rating.", "MMT is used only in a few countries.", "Fuels containing manganese tend to form manganese carbides, which damage exhaust valves.", "===Air===Compared to 1953, levels of manganese in air have dropped.", "Generally, exposure to ambient Mn air concentrations in excess of 5 μg Mn/m3 can lead to Mn-induced symptoms.", "Increased ferroportin protein expression in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells is associated with decreased intracellular Mn concentration and attenuated cytotoxicity, characterized by the reversal of Mn-reduced glutamate uptake and diminished lactate dehydrogenase leakage.===Regulation===Manganese exposure in United States is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).", "People can be exposed to manganese in the workplace by breathing it in or swallowing it.", "OSHA has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for manganese exposure in the workplace as 5 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday.", "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday and a short term limit of 3 mg/m3.At levels of 500 mg/m3, manganese is immediately dangerous to life and health." ], [ "Health and safety", "Manganese is essential for human health, albeit in milligram amounts.The current maximum safe concentration under U.S. EPA rules is 50 μg Mn/L.===Manganism===Manganese overexposure is most frequently associated with manganism, a rare neurological disorder associated with excessive manganese ingestion or inhalation.", "Historically, persons employed in the production or processing of manganese alloys have been at risk for developing manganism; however, health and safety regulations protect workers in developed nations.", "The disorder was first described in 1837 by British academic John Couper, who studied two patients who were manganese grinders.Manganism is a biphasic disorder.", "In its early stages, an intoxicated person may experience depression, mood swings, compulsive behaviors, and psychosis.", "Early neurological symptoms give way to late-stage manganism, which resembles Parkinson's disease.", "Symptoms include weakness, monotone and slowed speech, an expressionless face, tremor, forward-leaning gait, inability to walk backwards without falling, rigidity, and general problems with dexterity, gait and balance.", "Unlike Parkinson's disease, manganism is not associated with loss of the sense of smell and patients are typically unresponsive to treatment with L-DOPA.", "Symptoms of late-stage manganism become more severe over time even if the source of exposure is removed and brain manganese levels return to normal.Chronic manganese exposure has been shown to produce a parkinsonism-like illness characterized by movement abnormalities.", "This condition is not responsive to typical therapies used in the treatment of PD, suggesting an alternative pathway than the typical dopaminergic loss within the substantia nigra.", "Manganese may accumulate in the basal ganglia, leading to the abnormal movements.", "A mutation of the SLC30A10 gene, a manganese efflux transporter necessary for decreasing intracellular Mn, has been linked with the development of this Parkinsonism-like disease.", "The Lewy bodies typical to PD are not seen in Mn-induced parkinsonism.Animal experiments have given the opportunity to examine the consequences of manganese overexposure under controlled conditions.", "In (non-aggressive) rats, manganese induces mouse-killing behavior.===Toxicity===Manganese compounds are less toxic than those of other widespread metals, such as nickel and copper.", "However, exposure to manganese dusts and fumes should not exceed the ceiling value of 5 mg/m3 even for short periods because of its toxicity level.", "Manganese poisoning has been linked to impaired motor skills and cognitive disorders.===Neurodegenerative diseases===A protein called DMT1 is the major transporter in manganese absorption from the intestine and may be the major transporter of manganese across the blood–brain barrier.", "DMT1 also transports inhaled manganese across the nasal epithelium.", "The proposed mechanism for manganese toxicity is that dysregulation leads to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity, and aggregation of proteins." ], [ "See also", "* Manganese exporter, membrane transport protein* List of countries by manganese production* Parkerizing" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* National Pollutant Inventory – Manganese and compounds Fact Sheet* International Manganese Institute* NIOSH Manganese Topic Page* Manganese at ''The Periodic Table of Videos'' (University of Nottingham)* All about Manganese Dendrites* Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Slag" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Molybdenum" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Molybdenum''' is a chemical element; it has symbol '''Mo''' (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42.The name derived from Ancient Greek '''', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores.", "Molybdenum minerals have been known throughout history, but the element was discovered (in the sense of differentiating it as a new entity from the mineral salts of other metals) in 1778 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele.", "The metal was first isolated in 1781 by Peter Jacob Hjelm.Molybdenum does not occur naturally as a free metal on Earth; it is found only in various oxidation states in minerals.", "The free element, a silvery metal with a grey cast, has the sixth-highest melting point of any element.", "It readily forms hard, stable carbides in alloys, and for this reason most of the world production of the element (about 80%) is used in steel alloys, including high-strength alloys and superalloys.Most molybdenum compounds have low solubility in water, but when molybdenum-bearing minerals contact oxygen and water, the resulting molybdate ion is quite soluble.", "Industrially, molybdenum compounds (about 14% of world production of the element) are used in high-pressure and high-temperature applications as pigments and catalysts.", "are by far the most common bacterial catalysts for breaking the chemical bond in atmospheric molecular nitrogen in the process of biological nitrogen fixation.", "At least 50 molybdenum enzymes are now known in bacteria, plants, and animals, although only bacterial and cyanobacterial enzymes are involved in nitrogen fixation.", "These nitrogenases contain an iron–molybdenum cofactor FeMoco, which is believed to contain either Mo(III) or Mo(IV).", "This is distinct from the fully oxidized Mo(VI) found complexed with molybdopterin in all other molybdenum-bearing enzymes, which perform a variety of crucial functions.", "The variety of crucial reactions catalyzed by these latter enzymes means that molybdenum is an essential element for all higher eukaryote organisms, including humans." ], [ "Characteristics", "===Physical properties===In its pure form, molybdenum is a silvery-grey metal with a Mohs hardness of 5.5 and a standard atomic weight of 95.95 g/mol.", "It has a melting point of , sixth highest of the naturally occurring elements; only tantalum, osmium, rhenium, tungsten, and carbon have higher melting points.", "It has one of the lowest coefficients of thermal expansion among commercially used metals.===Chemical properties===Molybdenum is a transition metal with an electronegativity of 2.16 on the Pauling scale.", "It does not visibly react with oxygen or water at room temperature, but is attacked by halogens and hydrogen peroxide.", "Weak oxidation of molybdenum starts at ; bulk oxidation occurs at temperatures above 600 °C, resulting in molybdenum trioxide.", "Like many heavier transition metals, molybdenum shows little inclination to form a cation in aqueous solution, although the Mo3+ cation is known to form under carefully controlled conditions.Gaseous molybdenum consists of the diatomic species Mo2.That molecule is a singlet, with two unpaired electrons in bonding orbitals, in addition to 5 conventional bonds.", "The result is a sextuple bond.===Isotopes===There are 39 known isotopes of molybdenum, ranging in atomic mass from 81 to 119, as well as 13 metastable nuclear isomers.", "Seven isotopes occur naturally, with atomic masses of 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, and 100.Of these naturally occurring isotopes, only molybdenum-100 is unstable.Molybdenum-98 is the most abundant isotope, comprising 24.14% of all molybdenum.", "Molybdenum-100 has a half-life of about 1019 y and undergoes double beta decay into ruthenium-100.All unstable isotopes of molybdenum decay into isotopes of niobium, technetium, and ruthenium.", "Of the synthetic radioisotopes, the most stable is 93Mo, with a half-life of 4,839 years.The most common isotopic molybdenum application involves molybdenum-99, which is a fission product.", "It is a parent radioisotope to the short-lived gamma-emitting daughter radioisotope technetium-99m, a nuclear isomer used in various imaging applications in medicine.In 2008, the Delft University of Technology applied for a patent on the molybdenum-98-based production of molybdenum-99." ], [ "Compounds", "Molybdenum forms chemical compounds in oxidation states −4 and from −2 to +6.Higher oxidation states are more relevant to its terrestrial occurrence and its biological roles, mid-level oxidation states are often associated with metal clusters, and very low oxidation states are typically associated with organomolybdenum compounds.", "Mo and W chemistry shows strong similarities.", "The relative rarity of molybdenum(III), for example, contrasts with the pervasiveness of the chromium(III) compounds.", "The highest oxidation state is seen in molybdenum(VI) oxide (MoO3), whereas the normal sulfur compound is molybdenum disulfide MoS2.Oxidation stateExample −4 −2 −1 0 +1 +2 +3 '''+4''' +5 '''+6'''Keggin structure of the phosphomolybdate anion (PMo12O403−), an example of a polyoxometalateFrom the perspective of commerce, the most important compounds are molybdenum disulfide () and molybdenum trioxide ().", "The black disulfide is the main mineral.", "It is roasted in air to give the trioxide::2 + 7 → 2 + 4 The trioxide, which is volatile at high temperatures, is the precursor to virtually all other Mo compounds as well as alloys.", "Molybdenum has several oxidation states, the most stable being +4 and +6 (bolded in the table at left).Molybdenum(VI) oxide is soluble in strong alkaline water, forming molybdates (MoO42−).", "Molybdates are weaker oxidants than chromates.", "They tend to form structurally complex oxyanions by condensation at lower pH values, such as Mo7O246− and Mo8O264−.", "Polymolybdates can incorporate other ions, forming polyoxometalates.", "The dark-blue phosphorus-containing heteropolymolybdate PMo12O403− is used for the spectroscopic detection of phosphorus.", "The broad range of oxidation states of molybdenum is reflected in various molybdenum chlorides:* Molybdenum(II) chloride MoCl2, which exists as the hexamer Mo6Cl12 and the related dianion Mo6Cl142-.", "* Molybdenum(III) chloride MoCl3, a dark red solid, which converts to the anion trianionic complex MoCl63-.", "* Molybdenum(IV) chloride MoCl4, a black solid, which adopts a polymeric structure.", "* Molybdenum(V) chloride MoCl5 dark green solid, which adopts a dimeric structure.", "* Molybdenum(VI) chloride MoCl6 is a black solid, which is monomeric and slowly decomposes to MoCl5 and Cl2 at room temperature.Like chromium and some other transition metals, molybdenum forms quadruple bonds, such as in Mo2(CH3COO)4 and Mo2Cl84−.", "The Lewis acid properties of the butyrate and perfluorobutyrate dimers, Mo2(O2CR)4 and Rh2(O2CR) 4, have been reported.The oxidation state 0 and lower are possible with carbon monoxide as ligand, such as in molybdenum hexacarbonyl, Mo(CO)6." ], [ "History", "Molybdenite—the principal ore from which molybdenum is now extracted—was previously known as molybdena.", "Molybdena was confused with and often utilized as though it were graphite.", "Like graphite, molybdenite can be used to blacken a surface or as a solid lubricant.", "Even when molybdena was distinguishable from graphite, it was still confused with the common lead ore PbS (now called galena); the name comes from Ancient Greek '''', meaning ''lead''.", "(The Greek word itself has been proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages).Although (reportedly) molybdenum was deliberately alloyed with steel in one 14th-century Japanese sword (mfd.", "), that art was never employed widely and was later lost.", "In the West in 1754, Bengt Andersson Qvist examined a sample of molybdenite and determined that it did not contain lead and thus was not galena.By 1778 Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele stated firmly that molybdena was (indeed) neither galena nor graphite.", "Instead, Scheele correctly proposed that molybdena was an ore of a distinct new element, named ''molybdenum'' for the mineral in which it resided, and from which it might be isolated.", "Peter Jacob Hjelm successfully isolated molybdenum using carbon and linseed oil in 1781.For the next century, molybdenum had no industrial use.", "It was relatively scarce, the pure metal was difficult to extract, and the necessary techniques of metallurgy were immature.", "Early molybdenum steel alloys showed great promise of increased hardness, but efforts to manufacture the alloys on a large scale were hampered with inconsistent results, a tendency toward brittleness, and recrystallization.", "In 1906, William D. Coolidge filed a patent for rendering molybdenum ductile, leading to applications as a heating element for high-temperature furnaces and as a support for tungsten-filament light bulbs; oxide formation and degradation require that molybdenum be physically sealed or held in an inert gas.", "In 1913, Frank E. Elmore developed a froth flotation process to recover molybdenite from ores; flotation remains the primary isolation process.During World War I, demand for molybdenum spiked; it was used both in armor plating and as a substitute for tungsten in high-speed steels.", "Some British tanks were protected by 75 mm (3 in) manganese steel plating, but this proved to be ineffective.", "The manganese steel plates were replaced with much lighter molybdenum steel plates allowing for higher speed, greater maneuverability, and better protection.", "The Germans also used molybdenum-doped steel for heavy artillery, like in the super-heavy howitzer Big Bertha, because traditional steel melts at the temperatures produced by the propellant of the one ton shell.", "After the war, demand plummeted until metallurgical advances allowed extensive development of peacetime applications.", "In World War II, molybdenum again saw strategic importance as a substitute for tungsten in steel alloys." ], [ "Occurrence and production", "Molybdenite on quartzMolybdenum is the 58th most abundant element in the Earth's crust with an average of 1.5 parts per million and the 25th most abundant element in its oceans, with an average of 10 parts per billion; it is the 42nd most abundant element in the Universe.", "The Soviet Luna 24 mission discovered a molybdenum-bearing grain (1 × 0.6 µm) in a pyroxene fragment taken from Mare Crisium on the Moon.", "The comparative rarity of molybdenum in the Earth's crust is offset by its concentration in a number of water-insoluble ores, often combined with sulfur in the same way as copper, with which it is often found.", "Though molybdenum is found in such minerals as wulfenite (PbMoO4) and powellite (CaMoO4), the main commercial source is molybdenite (MoS2).", "Molybdenum is mined as a principal ore and is also recovered as a byproduct of copper and tungsten mining.The world's production of molybdenum was 250,000 tonnes in 2011, the largest producers being China (94,000 t), the United States (64,000 t), Chile (38,000 t), Peru (18,000 t) and Mexico (12,000 t).", "The total reserves are estimated at 10 million tonnes, and are mostly concentrated in China (4.3 Mt), the US (2.7 Mt) and Chile (1.2 Mt).", "By continent, 93% of world molybdenum production is about evenly shared between North America, South America (mainly in Chile), and China.", "Europe and the rest of Asia (mostly Armenia, Russia, Iran and Mongolia) produce the remainder.World production trendIn molybdenite processing, the ore is first roasted in air at a temperature of .", "The process gives gaseous sulfur dioxide and the molybdenum(VI) oxide::2MoS2 + 7O2 -> 2MoO3 + 4SO2The resulting oxide is then usually extracted with aqueous ammonia to give ammonium molybdate::MoO3 + 2NH3 + H2O -> (NH4)2(MoO4)Copper, an impurity in molybdenite, is separated at this stage by treatment with hydrogen sulfide.", "Ammonium molybdate converts to ammonium dimolybdate, which is isolated as a solid.", "Heating this solid gives molybdenum trioxide:: (NH4)2Mo2O7 -> 2MoO3 + 2NH3 + H2OCrude trioxide can be further purified by sublimation at .Metallic molybdenum is produced by reduction of the oxide with hydrogen::MoO3 + 3H2 -> Mo + 3H2OThe molybdenum for steel production is reduced by the aluminothermic reaction with addition of iron to produce ferromolybdenum.", "A common form of ferromolybdenum contains 60% molybdenum.Molybdenum had a value of approximately $30,000 per tonne as of August 2009.It maintained a price at or near $10,000 per tonne from 1997 through 2003, and reached a peak of $103,000 per tonne in June 2005.In 2008, the London Metal Exchange announced that molybdenum would be traded as a commodity.===Mining===The Knaben mine in southern Norway, opened in 1885, was the first dedicated molybdenum mine.", "Closed in 1973 but reopened in 2007, it now produces of molybdenum disulfide per year.", "Large mines in Colorado (such as the Henderson mine and the Climax mine) and in British Columbia yield molybdenite as their primary product, while many porphyry copper deposits such as the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah and the Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile produce molybdenum as a byproduct of copper-mining." ], [ "Applications", "===Alloys===A plate of molybdenum copper alloyAbout 86% of molybdenum produced is used in metallurgy, with the rest used in chemical applications.", "The estimated global use is structural steel 35%, stainless steel 25%, chemicals 14%, tool & high-speed steels 9%, cast iron 6%, molybdenum elemental metal 6%, and superalloys 5%.Molybdenum can withstand extreme temperatures without significantly expanding or softening, making it useful in environments of intense heat, including military armor, aircraft parts, electrical contacts, industrial motors, and supports for filaments in light bulbs.Most high-strength steel alloys (for example, 41xx steels) contain 0.25% to 8% molybdenum.", "Even in these small portions, more than 43,000 tonnes of molybdenum are used each year in stainless steels, tool steels, cast irons, and high-temperature superalloys.Molybdenum is also used in steel alloys for its high corrosion resistance and weldability.", "Molybdenum contributes corrosion resistance to type-300 stainless steels (specifically type-316) and especially so in the so-called superaustenitic stainless steels (such as alloy AL-6XN, 254SMO and 1925hMo).", "Molybdenum increases lattice strain, thus increasing the energy required to dissolve iron atoms from the surface.", "Molybdenum is also used to enhance the corrosion resistance of ferritic (for example grade 444) and martensitic (for example 1.4122 and 1.4418) stainless steels.Because of its lower density and more stable price, molybdenum is sometimes used in place of tungsten.", "An example is the 'M' series of high-speed steels such as M2, M4 and M42 as substitution for the 'T' steel series, which contain tungsten.", "Molybdenum can also be used as a flame-resistant coating for other metals.", "Although its melting point is , molybdenum rapidly oxidizes at temperatures above making it better-suited for use in vacuum environments.TZM (Mo (~99%), Ti (~0.5%), Zr (~0.08%) and some C) is a corrosion-resisting molybdenum superalloy that resists molten fluoride salts at temperatures above .", "It has about twice the strength of pure Mo, and is more ductile and more weldable, yet in tests it resisted corrosion of a standard eutectic salt (FLiBe) and salt vapors used in molten salt reactors for 1100 hours with so little corrosion that it was difficult to measure.Other molybdenum-based alloys that do not contain iron have only limited applications.", "For example, because of its resistance to molten zinc, both pure molybdenum and molybdenum-tungsten alloys (70%/30%) are used for piping, stirrers and pump impellers that come into contact with molten zinc.===Other applications as a pure element===* Molybdenum powder is used as a fertilizer for some plants, such as cauliflower.", "* Elemental molybdenum is used in NO, NO2, NOx analyzers in power plants for pollution controls.", "At , the element acts as a catalyst for NO2/NOx to form NO molecules for detection by infrared light.", "* Molybdenum anodes replace tungsten in certain low voltage X-ray sources for specialized uses such as mammography.", "* The radioactive isotope molybdenum-99 is used to generate technetium-99m, used for medical imaging The isotope is handled and stored as the molybdate.====Compounds====* Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is used as a solid lubricant and a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) anti-wear agent.", "It forms strong films on metallic surfaces and is a common additive to HPHT greases — in the event of a catastrophic grease failure, a thin layer of molybdenum prevents contact of the lubricated parts.", "* When combined with small amounts of cobalt, MoS2 is also used as a catalyst in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of petroleum.", "In the presence of hydrogen, this catalyst facilitates the removal of nitrogen and especially sulfur from the feedstock, which otherwise would poison downstream catalysts.", "HDS is one of the largest scale applications of catalysis in industry.", "* Molybdenum oxides are important catalysts for selective oxidation of organic compounds.", "The production of the commodity chemicals acrylonitrile and formaldehyde relies on MoOx-based catalysts.", "* Molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2) is an electrically conducting ceramic with primary use in heating elements operating at temperatures above 1500 °C in air.", "* Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is used as an adhesive between enamels and metals.", "* Lead molybdate (wulfenite) co-precipitated with lead chromate and lead sulfate is a bright-orange pigment used with ceramics and plastics.", "* The molybdenum-based mixed oxides are versatile catalysts in the chemical industry.", "Some examples are the catalysts for the oxidation of carbon monoxide, propylene to acrolein and acrylic acid, the ammoxidation of propylene to acrylonitrile.", "* Molybdenum carbides, nitride and phosphides can be used for hydrotreatment of rapeseed oil.", "* Ammonium heptamolybdate is used in biological staining.", "* Molybdenum coated soda lime glass is used in CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) solar cells, called CIGS solar cells.", "* Phosphomolybdic acid is a stain used in thin-layer chromatography." ], [ "Biological role", "===Mo-containing enzymes===Molybdenum is an essential element in most organisms; a 2008 research paper speculated that a scarcity of molybdenum in the Earth's early oceans may have strongly influenced the evolution of eukaryotic life (which includes all plants and animals).At least 50 molybdenum-containing enzymes have been identified, mostly in bacteria.", "Those enzymes include aldehyde oxidase, sulfite oxidase and xanthine oxidase.", "With one exception, Mo in proteins is bound by molybdopterin to give the molybdenum cofactor.", "The only known exception is nitrogenase, which uses the FeMoco cofactor, which has the formula Fe7MoS9C.In terms of function, molybdoenzymes catalyze the oxidation and sometimes reduction of certain small molecules in the process of regulating nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon.", "In some animals, and in humans, the oxidation of xanthine to uric acid, a process of purine catabolism, is catalyzed by xanthine oxidase, a molybdenum-containing enzyme.", "The activity of xanthine oxidase is directly proportional to the amount of molybdenum in the body.", "An extremely high concentration of molybdenum reverses the trend and can inhibit purine catabolism and other processes.", "Molybdenum concentration also affects protein synthesis, metabolism, and growth.Mo is a component in most nitrogenases.", "Among molybdoenzymes, nitrogenases are unique in lacking the molybdopterin.", "Nitrogenases catalyze the production of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen::The biosynthesis of the FeMoco active site is highly complex.Structure of the FeMoco active site of nitrogenaseThe molybdenum cofactor (pictured) is composed of a molybdenum-free organic complex called molybdopterin, which has bound an oxidized molybdenum(VI) atom through adjacent sulfur (or occasionally selenium) atoms.", "Except for the ancient nitrogenases, all known Mo-using enzymes use this cofactor.Molybdate is transported in the body as MoO42−.===Human metabolism and deficiency===Molybdenum is an essential trace dietary element.", "Four mammalian Mo-dependent enzymes are known, all of them harboring a pterin-based molybdenum cofactor (Moco) in their active site: sulfite oxidase, xanthine oxidoreductase, aldehyde oxidase, and mitochondrial amidoxime reductase.", "People severely deficient in molybdenum have poorly functioning sulfite oxidase and are prone to toxic reactions to sulfites in foods.", "The human body contains about 0.07 mg of molybdenum per kilogram of body weight, with higher concentrations in the liver and kidneys and lower in the vertebrae.", "Molybdenum is also present within human tooth enamel and may help prevent its decay.Acute toxicity has not been seen in humans, and the toxicity depends strongly on the chemical state.", "Studies on rats show a median lethal dose (LD50) as low as 180 mg/kg for some Mo compounds.", "Although human toxicity data is unavailable, animal studies have shown that chronic ingestion of more than 10 mg/day of molybdenum can cause diarrhea, growth retardation, infertility, low birth weight, and gout; it can also affect the lungs, kidneys, and liver.", "Sodium tungstate is a competitive inhibitor of molybdenum.", "Dietary tungsten reduces the concentration of molybdenum in tissues.Low soil concentration of molybdenum in a geographical band from northern China to Iran results in a general dietary molybdenum deficiency and is associated with increased rates of esophageal cancer.", "Compared to the United States, which has a greater supply of molybdenum in the soil, people living in those areas have about 16 times greater risk for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Molybdenum deficiency has also been reported as a consequence of non-molybdenum supplemented total parenteral nutrition (complete intravenous feeding) for long periods of time.", "It results in high blood levels of sulfite and urate, in much the same way as molybdenum cofactor deficiency.", "Since pure molybdenum deficiency from this cause occurs primarily in adults, the neurological consequences are not as marked as in cases of congenital cofactor deficiency.A congenital molybdenum cofactor deficiency disease, seen in infants, is an inability to synthesize molybdenum cofactor, the heterocyclic molecule discussed above that binds molybdenum at the active site in all known human enzymes that use molybdenum.", "The resulting deficiency results in high levels of sulfite and urate, and neurological damage.=== Excretion ===Most molybdenum is excreted from the human body as molybdate in the urine.", "Furthermore, urinary excretion of molybdenum increases as dietary molybdenum intake increases.", "Small amounts of molybdenum are excreted from the body in the feces by way of the bile; small amounts also can be lost in sweat and in hair.===Excess and copper antagonism===High levels of molybdenum can interfere with the body's uptake of copper, producing copper deficiency.", "Molybdenum prevents plasma proteins from binding to copper, and it also increases the amount of copper that is excreted in urine.", "Ruminants that consume high levels of molybdenum suffer from diarrhea, stunted growth, anemia, and achromotrichia (loss of fur pigment).", "These symptoms can be alleviated by copper supplements, either dietary and injection.", "The effective copper deficiency can be aggravated by excess sulfur.Copper reduction or deficiency can also be deliberately induced for therapeutic purposes by the compound ammonium tetrathiomolybdate, in which the bright red anion '''tetrathiomolybdate''' is the copper-chelating agent.", "Tetrathiomolybdate was first used therapeutically in the treatment of copper toxicosis in animals.", "It was then introduced as a treatment in Wilson's disease, a hereditary copper metabolism disorder in humans; it acts both by competing with copper absorption in the bowel and by increasing excretion.", "It has also been found to have an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis, potentially by inhibiting the membrane translocation process that is dependent on copper ions.", "This is a promising avenue for investigation of treatments for cancer, age-related macular degeneration, and other diseases that involve a pathologic proliferation of blood vessels.In some grazing livestock, most strongly in cattle, molybdenum excess in the soil of pasturage can produce scours (diarrhea) if the pH of the soil is neutral to alkaline; see teartness." ], [ "Dietary recommendations", "In 2000, the then U.S. Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine, NAM) updated its Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for molybdenum.", "If there is not sufficient information to establish EARs and RDAs, an estimate designated Adequate Intake (AI) is used instead.An AI of 2 micrograms (μg) of molybdenum per day was established for infants up to 6 months of age, and 3 μg/day from 7 to 12 months of age, both for males and females.", "For older children and adults, the following daily RDAs have been established for molybdenum: 17 μg from 1 to 3 years of age, 22 μg from 4 to 8 years, 34 μg from 9 to 13 years, 43 μg from 14 to 18 years, and 45 μg for persons 19 years old and older.", "All these RDAs are valid for both sexes.", "Pregnant or lactating females from 14 to 50 years of age have a higher daily RDA of 50 μg of molybdenum.As for safety, the NAM sets tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for vitamins and minerals when evidence is sufficient.", "In the case of molybdenum, the UL is 2000 μg/day.", "Collectively the EARs, RDAs, AIs and ULs are referred to as Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) refers to the collective set of information as Dietary Reference Values, with Population Reference Intake (PRI) instead of RDA, and Average Requirement instead of EAR.", "AI and UL defined the same as in United States.", "For women and men ages 15 and older the AI is set at 65 μg/day.", "Pregnant and lactating women have the same AI.", "For children aged 1–14 years, the AIs increase with age from 15 to 45 μg/day.", "The adult AIs are higher than the U.S. RDAs, but on the other hand, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the same safety question and set its UL at 600 μg/day, which is much lower than the U.S. value.===Labeling===For U.S. food and dietary supplement labeling purposes, the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV).", "For molybdenum labeling purposes 100% of the Daily Value was 75 μg, but as of May 27, 2016 it was revised to 45 μg.", "A table of the old and new adult daily values is provided at Reference Daily Intake." ], [ "Food sources", "Average daily intake varies between 120 and 240 μg/day, which is higher than dietary recommendations.", "Pork, lamb, and beef liver each have approximately 1.5 parts per million of molybdenum.", "Other significant dietary sources include green beans, eggs, sunflower seeds, wheat flour, lentils, cucumbers, and cereal grain." ], [ "Precautions", "Molybdenum dusts and fumes, generated by mining or metalworking, can be toxic, especially if ingested (including dust trapped in the sinuses and later swallowed).", "Low levels of prolonged exposure can cause irritation to the eyes and skin.", "Direct inhalation or ingestion of molybdenum and its oxides should be avoided.", "OSHA regulations specify the maximum permissible molybdenum exposure in an 8-hour day as 5 mg/m3.Chronic exposure to 60 to 600 mg/m3 can cause symptoms including fatigue, headaches and joint pains.", "At levels of 5000 mg/m3, molybdenum is immediately dangerous to life and health." ], [ "See also", "* List of molybdenum mines* Molybdenum mining in the United States" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "*" ], [ "External links", "* Molybdenum at ''The Periodic Table of Videos'' (University of Nottingham)* Mineral & Exploration – Map of World Molybdenum Producers 2009* \"Mining A Mountain\" ''Popular Mechanics'', July 1935 pp.", "63–64* Site for global molybdenum info* CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mineral" ], [ "Introduction", "Crystals of serandite, natrolite, analcime, and aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, CanadaIn geology and mineralogy, a '''mineral''' or '''mineral species''' is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living organisms.", "However, some minerals are often biogenic (such as calcite) or organic compounds in the sense of chemistry (such as mellite).", "Moreover, living organisms often synthesize inorganic minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that also occur in rocks.The concept of mineral is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large enough scale.", "A rock may consist of one type of mineral or may be an aggregate of two or more different types of minerals, spacially segregated into distinct phases.Some natural solid substances without a definite crystalline structure, such as opal or obsidian, are more properly called mineraloids.", "If a chemical compound occurs naturally with different crystal structures, each structure is considered a different mineral species.", "Thus, for example, quartz and stishovite are two different minerals consisting of the same compound, silicon dioxide.The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is the generally recognized standard body for the definition and nomenclature of mineral species.", ", the IMA recognizes 5,955 official mineral species.The chemical composition of a named mineral species may vary somewhat due to the inclusion of small amounts of impurities.", "Specific varieties of a species sometimes have conventional or official names of their own.", "For example, amethyst is a purple variety of the mineral species quartz.", "Some mineral species can have variable proportions of two or more chemical elements that occupy equivalent positions in the mineral's structure; for example, the formula of mackinawite is given as , meaning , where ''x'' is a variable number between 0 and 9.Sometimes a mineral with variable composition is split into separate species, more or less arbitrarily, forming a mineral group; that is the case of the silicates , the olivine group.Besides the essential chemical composition and crystal structure, the description of a mineral species usually includes its common physical properties such as habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, parting, specific gravity, magnetism, fluorescence, radioactivity, as well as its taste or smell and its reaction to acid.Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents; the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification.", "Silicate minerals comprise approximately 90% of the Earth's crust.", "Other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates." ], [ "Definitions", "===International Mineralogical Association===The International Mineralogical Association has established the following requirements for a substance to be considered a distinct mineral:# ''It must be a naturally occurring substance formed by natural geological processes'', on Earth or other extraterrestrial bodies.", "This excludes compounds directly and exclusively generated by human activities (anthropogenic) or in living beings (biogenic), such as tungsten carbide, urinary calculi, calcium oxalate crystals in plant tissues, and seashells.", "However, substances with such origins may qualify if geological processes were involved in their genesis (as is the case of evenkite, derived from plant material; or taranakite, from bat guano; or alpersite, from mine tailings).", "Hypothetical substances are also excluded, even if they are predicted to occur in inaccessible natural environments like the Earth's core or other planets.# ''It must be a solid substance in its natural occurrence.''", "A major exception to this rule is native mercury: it is still classified as a mineral by the IMA, even though crystallizes only below −39 °C, because it was included before the current rules were established.", "Water and carbon dioxide are not considered minerals, even though they are often found as inclusions in other minerals; but water ice is considered a mineral.# ''It must have a well-defined crystallographic structure''; or, more generally, an ordered atomic arrangement.", "This property implies several macroscopic physical properties, such as crystal form, hardness, and cleavage.", "It excludes ozokerite, limonite, obsidian and many other amorphous (non-crystalline) materials that occur in geologic contexts.# ''It must have a fairly well defined chemical composition''.", "However, certain crystalline substances with a fixed structure but variable composition may be considered single mineral species.", "A common class of examples are solid solutions such as mackinawite, (Fe, Ni)9S8, which is mostly a ferrous sulfide with a significant fraction of iron atoms replaced by nickel atoms.", "Other examples include layered crystals with variable layer stacking, or crystals that differ only in the regular arrangement of vacancies and substitutions.", "On the other hand, some substances that have a continuous series of compositions, may be arbitrarily split into several minerals.", "The typical example is the olivine group (Mg, Fe)2SiO4, whose magnesium-rich and iron-rich end-members are considered separate minerals (forsterite and fayalite).The details of these rules are somewhat controversial.", "For instance, there have been several recent proposals to classify amorphous substances as minerals, but they have not been accepted by the IMA.The IMA is also reluctant to accept minerals that occur naturally only in the form of nanoparticles a few hundred atoms across, but has not defined a minimum crystal size.Some authors require the material to be a stable or metastable solid at room temperature (25 °C).", "However, the IMA only requires that the substance be stable enough for its structure and composition to be well-determined.", "For example, it has recently recognized meridianiite (a naturally occurring hydrate of magnesium sulfate) as a mineral, even though it is formed and stable only below 2 °C., 5,955 mineral species are approved by the IMA.", "They are most commonly named after a person, followed by discovery location; names based on chemical composition or physical properties are the two other major groups of mineral name etymologies.", "Most names end in \"-ite\"; the exceptions are usually names that were well-established before the organization of mineralogy as a discipline, for example galena and diamond.===Biogenic minerals===A topic of contention among geologists and mineralogists has been the IMA's decision to exclude biogenic crystalline substances.", "For example, Lowenstam (1981) stated that \"organisms are capable of forming a diverse array of minerals, some of which cannot be formed inorganically in the biosphere.", "\"Skinner (2005) views all solids as potential minerals and includes biominerals in the mineral kingdom, which are those that are created by the metabolic activities of organisms.", "Skinner expanded the previous definition of a mineral to classify \"element or compound, amorphous or crystalline, formed through ''biogeochemical '' processes,\" as a mineral.Recent advances in high-resolution genetics and X-ray absorption spectroscopy are providing revelations on the biogeochemical relations between microorganisms and minerals that may shed new light on this question.", "For example, the IMA-commissioned \"Working Group on Environmental Mineralogy and Geochemistry \" deals with minerals in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.", "The group's scope includes mineral-forming microorganisms, which exist on nearly every rock, soil, and particle surface spanning the globe to depths of at least 1600 metres below the sea floor and 70 kilometres into the stratosphere (possibly entering the mesosphere).Biogeochemical cycles have contributed to the formation of minerals for billions of years.", "Microorganisms can precipitate metals from solution, contributing to the formation of ore deposits.", "They can also catalyze the dissolution of minerals.Prior to the International Mineralogical Association's listing, over 60 biominerals had been discovered, named, and published.", "These minerals (a sub-set tabulated in Lowenstam (1981)) are considered minerals proper according to Skinner's (2005) definition.", "These biominerals are not listed in the International Mineral Association official list of mineral names; however, many of these biomineral representatives are distributed amongst the 78 mineral classes listed in the Dana classification scheme.Skinner's (2005) definition of a mineral takes this matter into account by stating that a mineral can be crystalline or amorphous.", "Although biominerals are not the most common form of minerals, they help to define the limits of what constitutes a mineral proper.", "Nickel's (1995) formal definition explicitly mentioned crystallinity as a key to defining a substance as a mineral.", "A 2011 article defined icosahedrite, an aluminium-iron-copper alloy, as a mineral; named for its unique natural icosahedral symmetry, it is a quasicrystal.", "Unlike a true crystal, quasicrystals are ordered but not periodic." ], [ "Rocks, ores, and gems", "Schist is a metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals.", "In this example, the rock has prominent sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as .A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids.", "Some rocks, such as limestone or quartzite, are composed primarily of one mineral – calcite or aragonite in the case of limestone, and quartz in the latter case.", "Other rocks can be defined by relative abundances of key (essential) minerals; a granite is defined by proportions of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase feldspar.", "The other minerals in the rock are termed accessory minerals, and do not greatly affect the bulk composition of the rock.", "Rocks can also be composed entirely of non-mineral material; coal is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of organically derived carbon.In rocks, some mineral species and groups are much more abundant than others; these are termed the rock-forming minerals.", "The major examples of these are quartz, the feldspars, the micas, the amphiboles, the pyroxenes, the olivines, and calcite; except for the last one, all of these minerals are silicates.", "Overall, around 150 minerals are considered particularly important, whether in terms of their abundance or aesthetic value in terms of collecting.Commercially valuable minerals and rocks, other than gemstones, metal ores, or mineral fuels, are referred to as industrial minerals.", "For example, muscovite, a white mica, can be used for windows (sometimes referred to as isinglass), as a filler, or as an insulator.Ores are minerals that have a high concentration of a certain element, typically a metal.", "Examples are cinnabar (HgS), an ore of mercury; sphalerite (ZnS), an ore of zinc; cassiterite (SnO2), an ore of tin; and colemanite, an ore of boron.Gems are minerals with an ornamental value, and are distinguished from non-gems by their beauty, durability, and usually, rarity.", "There are about 20 mineral species that qualify as gem minerals, which constitute about 35 of the most common gemstones.", "Gem minerals are often present in several varieties, and so one mineral can account for several different gemstones; for example, ruby and sapphire are both corundum, Al2O3." ], [ "Etymology", "The first known use of the word \"mineral\" in the English language (Middle English) was the 15th century.", "The word came from , from , mine, ore.The word \"species\" comes from the Latin ''species'', \"a particular sort, kind, or type with distinct look, or appearance\"." ], [ "Chemistry", "Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the wolframite series, with minor quartz in the backgroundThe abundance and diversity of minerals is controlled directly by their chemistry, in turn dependent on elemental abundances in the Earth.", "The majority of minerals observed are derived from the Earth's crust.", "Eight elements account for most of the key components of minerals, due to their abundance in the crust.", "These eight elements, summing to over 98% of the crust by weight, are, in order of decreasing abundance: oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium.", "Oxygen and silicon are by far the two most important – oxygen composes 47% of the crust by weight, and silicon accounts for 28%.The minerals that form are those that are most stable at the temperature and pressure of formation, within the limits imposed by the bulk chemistry of the parent body.", "For example, in most igneous rocks, the aluminium and alkali metals (sodium and potassium) that are present are primarily found in combination with oxygen, silicon, and calcium as feldspar minerals.", "However, if the rock is unusually rich in alkali metals, there will not be enough aluminium to combine with all the sodium as feldspar, and the excess sodium will form sodic amphiboles such as riebeckite.", "If the aluminium abundance is unusually high, the excess aluminium will form muscovite or other aluminium-rich minerals.", "If silicon is deficient, part of the feldspar will be replaced by feldspathoid minerals.", "Precise predictions of which minerals will be present in a rock of a particular composition formed at a particular temperature and pressure requires complex thermodynamic calculations.", "However, approximate estimates may be made using relatively simple rules of thumb, such as the CIPW norm, which gives reasonable estimates for volcanic rock formed from dry magma.The chemical composition may vary between end member species of a solid solution series.", "For example, the plagioclase feldspars comprise a continuous series from sodium-rich end member albite (NaAlSi3O8) to calcium-rich anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) with four recognized intermediate varieties between them (given in order from sodium- to calcium-rich): oligoclase, andesine, labradorite, and bytownite.", "Other examples of series include the olivine series of magnesium-rich forsterite and iron-rich fayalite, and the wolframite series of manganese-rich hübnerite and iron-rich ferberite.Chemical substitution and coordination polyhedra explain this common feature of minerals.", "In nature, minerals are not pure substances, and are contaminated by whatever other elements are present in the given chemical system.", "As a result, it is possible for one element to be substituted for another.", "Chemical substitution will occur between ions of a similar size and charge; for example, K+ will not substitute for Si4+ because of chemical and structural incompatibilities caused by a big difference in size and charge.", "A common example of chemical substitution is that of Si4+ by Al3+, which are close in charge, size, and abundance in the crust.", "In the example of plagioclase, there are three cases of substitution.", "Feldspars are all framework silicates, which have a silicon-oxygen ratio of 2:1, and the space for other elements is given by the substitution of Si4+ by Al3+ to give a base unit of AlSi3O8−; without the substitution, the formula would be charge-balanced as SiO2, giving quartz.", "The significance of this structural property will be explained further by coordination polyhedra.", "The second substitution occurs between Na+ and Ca2+; however, the difference in charge has to accounted for by making a second substitution of Si4+ by Al3+.Coordination polyhedra are geometric representations of how a cation is surrounded by an anion.", "In mineralogy, coordination polyhedra are usually considered in terms of oxygen, due its abundance in the crust.", "The base unit of silicate minerals is the silica tetrahedron – one Si4+ surrounded by four O2−.", "An alternate way of describing the coordination of the silicate is by a number: in the case of the silica tetrahedron, the silicon is said to have a coordination number of 4.Various cations have a specific range of possible coordination numbers; for silicon, it is almost always 4, except for very high-pressure minerals where the compound is compressed such that silicon is in six-fold (octahedral) coordination with oxygen.", "Bigger cations have a bigger coordination numbers because of the increase in relative size as compared to oxygen (the last orbital subshell of heavier atoms is different too).", "Changes in coordination numbers leads to physical and mineralogical differences; for example, at high pressure, such as in the mantle, many minerals, especially silicates such as olivine and garnet, will change to a perovskite structure, where silicon is in octahedral coordination.", "Other examples are the aluminosilicates kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite (polymorphs, since they share the formula Al2SiO5), which differ by the coordination number of the Al3+; these minerals transition from one another as a response to changes in pressure and temperature.", "In the case of silicate materials, the substitution of Si4+ by Al3+ allows for a variety of minerals because of the need to balance charges.Because the eight most common elements make up over 98% of the Earth's crust, the small quantities of the other elements that are typically present are substituted into the common rock-forming minerals.", "The distinctive minerals of most elements are quite rare, being found only where these elements have been concentrated by geological processes, such as hydrothermal circulation, to the point where they can no longer be accommodated in common minerals.When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent.", "Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of kaolinite after orthoclase.", "Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad twinning common in orthoclase.Changes in temperature and pressure and composition alter the mineralogy of a rock sample.", "Changes in composition can be caused by processes such as weathering or metasomatism (hydrothermal alteration).", "Changes in temperature and pressure occur when the host rock undergoes tectonic or magmatic movement into differing physical regimes.", "Changes in thermodynamic conditions make it favourable for mineral assemblages to react with each other to produce new minerals; as such, it is possible for two rocks to have an identical or a very similar bulk rock chemistry without having a similar mineralogy.", "This process of mineralogical alteration is related to the rock cycle.", "An example of a series of mineral reactions is illustrated as follows.Orthoclase feldspar (KAlSi3O8) is a mineral commonly found in granite, a plutonic igneous rock.", "When exposed to weathering, it reacts to form kaolinite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4, a sedimentary mineral, and silicic acid)::2 KAlSi3O8 + 5 H2O + 2 H+ → Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + 4 H2SiO3 + 2 K+Under low-grade metamorphic conditions, kaolinite reacts with quartz to form pyrophyllite (Al2Si4O10(OH)2)::Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + SiO2 → Al2Si4O10(OH)2 + H2OAs metamorphic grade increases, the pyrophyllite reacts to form kyanite and quartz::Al2Si4O10(OH)2 → Al2SiO5 + 3 SiO2 + H2OAlternatively, a mineral may change its crystal structure as a consequence of changes in temperature and pressure without reacting.", "For example, quartz will change into a variety of its SiO2 polymorphs, such as tridymite and cristobalite at high temperatures, and coesite at high pressures." ], [ "Physical properties", "Classifying minerals ranges from simple to difficult.", "A mineral can be identified by several physical properties, some of them being sufficient for full identification without equivocation.", "In other cases, minerals can only be classified by more complex optical, chemical or X-ray diffraction analysis; these methods, however, can be costly and time-consuming.", "Physical properties applied for classification include crystal structure and habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, cleavage and fracture, and specific gravity.", "Other less general tests include fluorescence, phosphorescence, magnetism, radioactivity, tenacity (response to mechanical induced changes of shape or form), piezoelectricity and reactivity to dilute acids.===Crystal structure and habit===Topaz has a characteristic orthorhombic elongated crystal shape.Crystal structure results from the orderly geometric spatial arrangement of atoms in the internal structure of a mineral.", "This crystal structure is based on regular internal atomic or ionic arrangement that is often expressed in the geometric form that the crystal takes.", "Even when the mineral grains are too small to see or are irregularly shaped, the underlying crystal structure is always periodic and can be determined by X-ray diffraction.", "Minerals are typically described by their symmetry content.", "Crystals are restricted to 32 point groups, which differ by their symmetry.", "These groups are classified in turn into more broad categories, the most encompassing of these being the six crystal families.These families can be described by the relative lengths of the three crystallographic axes, and the angles between them; these relationships correspond to the symmetry operations that define the narrower point groups.", "They are summarized below; a, b, and c represent the axes, and α, β, γ represent the angle opposite the respective crystallographic axis (e.g.", "α is the angle opposite the a-axis, viz.", "the angle between the b and c axes):Crystal familyLengthsAnglesCommon examplesIsometrica = b = cα = β = γ = 90°Garnet, halite, pyriteTetragonala = b ≠ cα = β = γ = 90°Rutile, zircon, andalusiteOrthorhombica ≠ b ≠ cα = β = γ = 90°Olivine, aragonite, orthopyroxenesHexagonala = b ≠ cα = β = 90°, γ = 120°Quartz, calcite, tourmalineMonoclinica ≠ b ≠ cα = γ = 90°, β ≠ 90°Clinopyroxenes, orthoclase, gypsumTriclinica ≠ b ≠ cα ≠ β ≠ γ ≠ 90°Anorthite, albite, kyaniteThe hexagonal crystal family is also split into two crystal ''systems'' – the trigonal, which has a three-fold axis of symmetry, and the hexagonal, which has a six-fold axis of symmetry.Chemistry and crystal structure together define a mineral.", "With a restriction to 32 point groups, minerals of different chemistry may have identical crystal structure.", "For example, halite (NaCl), galena (PbS), and periclase (MgO) all belong to the hexaoctahedral point group (isometric family), as they have a similar stoichiometry between their different constituent elements.", "In contrast, polymorphs are groupings of minerals that share a chemical formula but have a different structure.", "For example, pyrite and marcasite, both iron sulfides, have the formula FeS2; however, the former is isometric while the latter is orthorhombic.", "This polymorphism extends to other sulfides with the generic AX2 formula; these two groups are collectively known as the pyrite and marcasite groups.Polymorphism can extend beyond pure symmetry content.", "The aluminosilicates are a group of three minerals – kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite – which share the chemical formula Al2SiO5.Kyanite is triclinic, while andalusite and sillimanite are both orthorhombic and belong to the dipyramidal point group.", "These differences arise corresponding to how aluminium is coordinated within the crystal structure.", "In all minerals, one aluminium ion is always in six-fold coordination with oxygen.", "Silicon, as a general rule, is in four-fold coordination in all minerals; an exception is a case like stishovite (SiO2, an ultra-high pressure quartz polymorph with rutile structure).", "In kyanite, the second aluminium is in six-fold coordination; its chemical formula can be expressed as Al6Al6SiO5, to reflect its crystal structure.", "Andalusite has the second aluminium in five-fold coordination (Al6Al5SiO5) and sillimanite has it in four-fold coordination (Al6Al4SiO5).Differences in crystal structure and chemistry greatly influence other physical properties of the mineral.", "The carbon allotropes diamond and graphite have vastly different properties; diamond is the hardest natural substance, has an adamantine lustre, and belongs to the isometric crystal family, whereas graphite is very soft, has a greasy lustre, and crystallises in the hexagonal family.", "This difference is accounted for by differences in bonding.", "In diamond, the carbons are in sp3 hybrid orbitals, which means they form a framework where each carbon is covalently bonded to four neighbours in a tetrahedral fashion; on the other hand, graphite is composed of sheets of carbons in sp2 hybrid orbitals, where each carbon is bonded covalently to only three others.", "These sheets are held together by much weaker van der Waals forces, and this discrepancy translates to large macroscopic differences.Contact twins, as seen in thumbTwinning is the intergrowth of two or more crystals of a single mineral species.", "The geometry of the twinning is controlled by the mineral's symmetry.", "As a result, there are several types of twins, including contact twins, reticulated twins, geniculated twins, penetration twins, cyclic twins, and polysynthetic twins.", "Contact, or simple twins, consist of two crystals joined at a plane; this type of twinning is common in spinel.", "Reticulated twins, common in rutile, are interlocking crystals resembling netting.", "Geniculated twins have a bend in the middle that is caused by start of the twin.", "Penetration twins consist of two single crystals that have grown into each other; examples of this twinning include cross-shaped staurolite twins and Carlsbad twinning in orthoclase.", "Cyclic twins are caused by repeated twinning around a rotation axis.", "This type of twinning occurs around three, four, five, six, or eight-fold axes, and the corresponding patterns are called threelings, fourlings, fivelings, sixlings, and eightlings.", "Sixlings are common in aragonite.", "Polysynthetic twins are similar to cyclic twins through the presence of repetitive twinning; however, instead of occurring around a rotational axis, polysynthetic twinning occurs along parallel planes, usually on a microscopic scale.Crystal habit refers to the overall shape of crystal.", "Several terms are used to describe this property.", "Common habits include acicular, which describes needlelike crystals as in natrolite, bladed, dendritic (tree-pattern, common in native copper), equant, which is typical of garnet, prismatic (elongated in one direction), and tabular, which differs from bladed habit in that the former is platy whereas the latter has a defined elongation.", "Related to crystal form, the quality of crystal faces is diagnostic of some minerals, especially with a petrographic microscope.", "Euhedral crystals have a defined external shape, while anhedral crystals do not; those intermediate forms are termed subhedral.===Hardness===Diamond is the hardest natural material, and has a Mohs hardness of 10.The hardness of a mineral defines how much it can resist scratching.", "This physical property is controlled by the chemical composition and crystalline structure of a mineral.", "A mineral's hardness is not necessarily constant for all sides, which is a function of its structure; crystallographic weakness renders some directions softer than others.", "An example of this property exists in kyanite, which has a Mohs hardness of 5 parallel to 001 but 7 parallel to 100.The most common scale of measurement is the ordinal Mohs hardness scale.", "Defined by ten indicators, a mineral with a higher index scratches those below it.", "The scale ranges from talc, a phyllosilicate, to diamond, a carbon polymorph that is the hardest natural material.", "The scale is provided below:Mohs hardnessMineralChemical formula1TalcMg3Si4O10(OH)22GypsumCaSO4·2H2O3CalciteCaCO34FluoriteCaF25ApatiteCa5(PO4)3(OH,Cl,F)6OrthoclaseKAlSi3O87QuartzSiO28TopazAl2SiO4(OH,F)29CorundumAl2O310DiamondCOther scales include these;*Shore's hardness test, which measures the endurance of a mineral based on the indentation of a spring-loaded contraption.", "*The Rockwell scale*The Vickers hardness test*The Brinell scale===Lustre and diaphaneity===Pyrite has a metallic lustre.Lustre indicates how light reflects from the mineral's surface, with regards to its quality and intensity.", "There are numerous qualitative terms used to describe this property, which are split into metallic and non-metallic categories.", "Metallic and sub-metallic minerals have high reflectivity like metal; examples of minerals with this lustre are galena and pyrite.", "Non-metallic lustres include: adamantine, such as in diamond; vitreous, which is a glassy lustre very common in silicate minerals; pearly, such as in talc and apophyllite; resinous, such as members of the garnet group; silky which is common in fibrous minerals such as asbestiform chrysotile.The diaphaneity of a mineral describes the ability of light to pass through it.", "Transparent minerals do not diminish the intensity of light passing through them.", "An example of a transparent mineral is muscovite (potassium mica); some varieties are sufficiently clear to have been used for windows.", "Translucent minerals allow some light to pass, but less than those that are transparent.", "Jadeite and nephrite (mineral forms of jade are examples of minerals with this property).", "Minerals that do not allow light to pass are called opaque.The diaphaneity of a mineral depends on the thickness of the sample.", "When a mineral is sufficiently thin (e.g., in a thin section for petrography), it may become transparent even if that property is not seen in a hand sample.", "In contrast, some minerals, such as hematite or pyrite, are opaque even in thin-section.===Colour and streak===Colour is the most obvious property of a mineral, but it is often non-diagnostic.", "It is caused by electromagnetic radiation interacting with electrons (except in the case of incandescence, which does not apply to minerals).", "Two broad classes of elements (idiochromatic and allochromatic) are defined with regards to their contribution to a mineral's colour: Idiochromatic elements are essential to a mineral's composition; their contribution to a mineral's colour is diagnostic.", "Examples of such minerals are malachite (green) and azurite (blue).", "In contrast, allochromatic elements in minerals are present in trace amounts as impurities.", "An example of such a mineral would be the ruby and sapphire varieties of the mineral corundum.The colours of pseudochromatic minerals are the result of interference of light waves.", "Examples include labradorite and bornite.In addition to simple body colour, minerals can have various other distinctive optical properties, such as play of colours, asterism, chatoyancy, iridescence, tarnish, and pleochroism.", "Several of these properties involve variability in colour.", "Play of colour, such as in opal, results in the sample reflecting different colours as it is turned, while pleochroism describes the change in colour as light passes through a mineral in a different orientation.", "Iridescence is a variety of the play of colours where light scatters off a coating on the surface of crystal, cleavage planes, or off layers having minor gradations in chemistry.", "In contrast, the play of colours in opal is caused by light refracting from ordered microscopic silica spheres within its physical structure.", "Chatoyancy (\"cat's eye\") is the wavy banding of colour that is observed as the sample is rotated; asterism, a variety of chatoyancy, gives the appearance of a star on the mineral grain.", "The latter property is particularly common in gem-quality corundum.The streak of a mineral refers to the colour of a mineral in powdered form, which may or may not be identical to its body colour.", "The most common way of testing this property is done with a streak plate, which is made out of porcelain and coloured either white or black.", "The streak of a mineral is independent of trace elements or any weathering surface.", "A common example of this property is illustrated with hematite, which is coloured black, silver, or red in hand sample, but has a cherry-red to reddish-brown streak.", "Streak is more often distinctive for metallic minerals, in contrast to non-metallic minerals whose body colour is created by allochromatic elements.", "Streak testing is constrained by the hardness of the mineral, as those harder than 7 powder the ''streak plate'' instead.===Cleavage, parting, fracture, and tenacity===Perfect basal cleavage as seen in biotite (black), and good cleavage seen in the matrix (pink orthoclase).By definition, minerals have a characteristic atomic arrangement.", "Weakness in this crystalline structure causes planes of weakness, and the breakage of a mineral along such planes is termed cleavage.", "The quality of cleavage can be described based on how cleanly and easily the mineral breaks; common descriptors, in order of decreasing quality, are \"perfect\", \"good\", \"distinct\", and \"poor\".", "In particularly transparent minerals, or in thin-section, cleavage can be seen as a series of parallel lines marking the planar surfaces when viewed from the side.", "Cleavage is not a universal property among minerals; for example, quartz, consisting of extensively interconnected silica tetrahedra, does not have a crystallographic weakness which would allow it to cleave.", "In contrast, micas, which have perfect basal cleavage, consist of sheets of silica tetrahedra which are very weakly held together.As cleavage is a function of crystallography, there are a variety of cleavage types.", "Cleavage occurs typically in either one, two, three, four, or six directions.", "Basal cleavage in one direction is a distinctive property of the micas.", "Two-directional cleavage is described as prismatic, and occurs in minerals such as the amphiboles and pyroxenes.", "Minerals such as galena or halite have cubic (or isometric) cleavage in three directions, at 90°; when three directions of cleavage are present, but not at 90°, such as in calcite or rhodochrosite, it is termed rhombohedral cleavage.", "Octahedral cleavage (four directions) is present in fluorite and diamond, and sphalerite has six-directional dodecahedral cleavage.Minerals with many cleavages might not break equally well in all of the directions; for example, calcite has good cleavage in three directions, but gypsum has perfect cleavage in one direction, and poor cleavage in two other directions.", "Angles between cleavage planes vary between minerals.", "For example, as the amphiboles are double-chain silicates and the pyroxenes are single-chain silicates, the angle between their cleavage planes is different.", "The pyroxenes cleave in two directions at approximately 90°, whereas the amphiboles distinctively cleave in two directions separated by approximately 120° and 60°.", "The cleavage angles can be measured with a contact goniometer, which is similar to a protractor.Parting, sometimes called \"false cleavage\", is similar in appearance to cleavage but is instead produced by structural defects in the mineral, as opposed to systematic weakness.", "Parting varies from crystal to crystal of a mineral, whereas all crystals of a given mineral will cleave if the atomic structure allows for that property.", "In general, parting is caused by some stress applied to a crystal.", "The sources of the stresses include deformation (e.g.", "an increase in pressure), exsolution, or twinning.", "Minerals that often display parting include the pyroxenes, hematite, magnetite, and corundum.When a mineral is broken in a direction that does not correspond to a plane of cleavage, it is termed to have been fractured.", "There are several types of uneven fracture.", "The classic example is conchoidal fracture, like that of quartz; rounded surfaces are created, which are marked by smooth curved lines.", "This type of fracture occurs only in very homogeneous minerals.", "Other types of fracture are fibrous, splintery, and hackly.", "The latter describes a break along a rough, jagged surface; an example of this property is found in native copper.Tenacity is related to both cleavage and fracture.", "Whereas fracture and cleavage describes the surfaces that are created when a mineral is broken, tenacity describes how resistant a mineral is to such breaking.", "Minerals can be described as brittle, ductile, malleable, sectile, flexible, or elastic.===Specific gravity===Galena, PbS, is a mineral with a high specific gravity.Specific gravity numerically describes the density of a mineral.", "The dimensions of density are mass divided by volume with units: kg/m3 or g/cm3.Specific gravity is defined as the density of the mineral divided by the density of water at 4 °C and thus is a dimensionless quantity, identical in all unit systems.", "It can be measured as the quotient of the mass of the sample and difference between the weight of the sample in air and its corresponding weight in water.", "Among most minerals, this property is not diagnostic.", "Rock forming minerals – typically silicates or occasionally carbonates – have a specific gravity of 2.5–3.5.High specific gravity is a diagnostic property of a mineral.", "A variation in chemistry (and consequently, mineral class) correlates to a change in specific gravity.", "Among more common minerals, oxides and sulfides tend to have a higher specific gravity as they include elements with higher atomic mass.", "A generalization is that minerals with metallic or adamantine lustre tend to have higher specific gravities than those having a non-metallic to dull lustre.", "For example, hematite, Fe2O3, has a specific gravity of 5.26 while galena, PbS, has a specific gravity of 7.2–7.6, which is a result of their high iron and lead content, respectively.", "A very high specific gravity is characteristic of native metals; for example, kamacite, an iron-nickel alloy common in iron meteorites has a specific gravity of 7.9, and gold has an observed specific gravity between 15 and 19.3.===Other properties===Carnotite (yellow) is a radioactive uranium-bearing mineral.Other properties can be used to diagnose minerals.", "These are less general, and apply to specific minerals.Dropping dilute acid (often 10% HCl) onto a mineral aids in distinguishing carbonates from other mineral classes.", "The acid reacts with the carbonate (CO32−) group, which causes the affected area to effervesce, giving off carbon dioxide gas.", "This test can be further expanded to test the mineral in its original crystal form or powdered form.", "An example of this test is done when distinguishing calcite from dolomite, especially within the rocks (limestone and dolomite respectively).", "Calcite immediately effervesces in acid, whereas acid must be applied to powdered dolomite (often to a scratched surface in a rock), for it to effervesce.", "Zeolite minerals will not effervesce in acid; instead, they become frosted after 5–10 minutes, and if left in acid for a day, they dissolve or become a silica gel.Magnetism is a very conspicuous property of a few minerals.", "Among common minerals, magnetite exhibits this property strongly, and magnetism is also present, albeit not as strongly, in pyrrhotite and ilmenite.", "Some minerals exhibit electrical properties – for example, quartz is piezoelectric – but electrical properties are rarely used as diagnostic criteria for minerals because of incomplete data and natural variation.Minerals can also be tested for taste or smell.", "Halite, NaCl, is table salt; its potassium-bearing counterpart, sylvite, has a pronounced bitter taste.", "Sulfides have a characteristic smell, especially as samples are fractured, reacting, or powdered.Radioactivity is a rare property found in minerals containing radioactive elements.", "The radioactive elements could be a defining constituent, such as uranium in uraninite, autunite, and carnotite, or present as trace impurities, as in zircon.", "The decay of a radioactive element damages the mineral crystal structure rendering it locally amorphous (metamict state); the optical result, termed a ''radioactive halo'' or ''pleochroic halo'', is observable with various techniques, such as thin-section petrography." ], [ "Classification", "===Earliest classifications===In 315 BCE, Theophrastus presented his classification of minerals in his treatise ''On Stones''.", "His classification was influenced by the ideas of his teachers Plato and Aristotle.", "Theophrastus classified minerals as stones, earths or metals.Georgius Agricola's classification of minerals in his book ''De Natura Fossilium'', published in 1546, divided minerals into three types of substance: simple (stones, earths, metals, and congealed juices), compound (intimately mixed) and composite (separable).===Linnaeus===An early classification of minerals was given by Carl Linnaeus in his seminal 1735 book ''Systema Naturae''.", "He divided the natural world into three kingdoms – plants, animals, and minerals – and classified each with the same hierarchy.", "In descending order, these were Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Tribe, Genus, and Species.However, while his system was justified by Charles Darwin's theory of species formation and has been largely adopted and expanded by biologists in the following centuries (who still use his Greek- and Latin-based binomial naming scheme), it had little success among mineralogists (although each distinct mineral is still formally referred to as a mineral ''species'').===Modern classification===Minerals are classified by variety, species, series and group, in order of increasing generality.", "The basic level of definition is that of mineral species, each of which is distinguished from the others by unique chemical and physical properties.", "For example, quartz is defined by its formula, SiO2, and a specific crystalline structure that distinguishes it from other minerals with the same chemical formula (termed polymorphs).", "When there exists a range of composition between two minerals species, a mineral series is defined.", "For example, the biotite series is represented by variable amounts of the endmembers phlogopite, siderophyllite, annite, and eastonite.", "In contrast, a mineral group is a grouping of mineral species with some common chemical properties that share a crystal structure.", "The pyroxene group has a common formula of XY(Si,Al)2O6, where X and Y are both cations, with X typically bigger than Y; the pyroxenes are single-chain silicates that crystallize in either the orthorhombic or monoclinic crystal systems.", "Finally, a mineral variety is a specific type of mineral species that differs by some physical characteristic, such as colour or crystal habit.", "An example is amethyst, which is a purple variety of quartz.Two common classifications, Dana and Strunz, are used for minerals; both rely on composition, specifically with regards to important chemical groups, and structure.", "James Dwight Dana, a leading geologist of his time, first published his ''System of Mineralogy'' in 1837; as of 1997, it is in its eighth edition.", "The Dana classification assigns a four-part number to a mineral species.", "Its class number is based on important compositional groups; the type gives the ratio of cations to anions in the mineral, and the last two numbers group minerals by structural similarity within a given type or class.", "The less commonly used Strunz classification, named for German mineralogist Karl Hugo Strunz, is based on the Dana system, but combines both chemical and structural criteria, the latter with regards to distribution of chemical bonds.As the composition of the Earth's crust is dominated by silicon and oxygen, silicates are by far the most important class of minerals in terms of rock formation and diversity.", "However, non-silicate minerals are of great economic importance, especially as ores.", "Non-silicate minerals are subdivided into several other classes by their dominant chemistry, which includes native elements, sulfides, halides, oxides and hydroxides, carbonates and nitrates, borates, sulfates, phosphates, and organic compounds.", "Most non-silicate mineral species are rare (constituting in total 8% of the Earth's crust), although some are relatively common, such as calcite, pyrite, magnetite, and hematite.", "There are two major structural styles observed in non-silicates: close-packing and silicate-like linked tetrahedra.", "Close-packed structures are a way to densely pack atoms while minimizing interstitial space.", "Hexagonal close-packing involves stacking layers where every other layer is the same (\"ababab\"), whereas cubic close-packing involves stacking groups of three layers (\"abcabcabc\").", "Analogues to linked silica tetrahedra include (sulfate), (phosphate), (arsenate), and (vanadate) structures.", "The non-silicates have great economic importance, as they concentrate elements more than the silicate minerals do.The largest grouping of minerals by far are the silicates; most rocks are composed of greater than 95% silicate minerals, and over 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of these minerals.", "The two main constituents of silicates are silicon and oxygen, which are the two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust.", "Other common elements in silicate minerals correspond to other common elements in the Earth's crust, such as aluminium, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium, and potassium.", "Some important rock-forming silicates include the feldspars, quartz, olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, garnets, and micas.===Silicates===Aegirine, an iron-sodium clinopyroxene, is part of the inosilicate subclass.The base unit of a silicate mineral is the SiO44− tetrahedron.", "In the vast majority of cases, silicon is in four-fold or tetrahedral coordination with oxygen.", "In very high-pressure situations, silicon will be in six-fold or octahedral coordination, such as in the perovskite structure or the quartz polymorph stishovite (SiO2).", "In the latter case, the mineral no longer has a silicate structure, but that of rutile (TiO2), and its associated group, which are simple oxides.", "These silica tetrahedra are then polymerized to some degree to create various structures, such as one-dimensional chains, two-dimensional sheets, and three-dimensional frameworks.", "The basic silicate mineral where no polymerization of the tetrahedra has occurred requires other elements to balance out the base 4- charge.", "In other silicate structures, different combinations of elements are required to balance out the resultant negative charge.", "It is common for the Si4+ to be substituted by Al3+ because of similarity in ionic radius and charge; in those cases, the AlO45− tetrahedra form the same structures as do the unsubstituted tetrahedra, but their charge-balancing requirements are different.The degree of polymerization can be described by both the structure formed and how many tetrahedral corners (or coordinating oxygens) are shared (for aluminium and silicon in tetrahedral sites):;Orthosilicates (or nesosilicates): Have no linking of polyhedra, thus tetrahedra share no corners.", ";Disilicates (or sorosilicates): Have two tetrahedra sharing one oxygen atom.", ";Inosilicates are chain silicates: Single-chain silicates have two shared corners, whereas double-chain silicates have two or three shared corners.", ";Phyllosilicates: Have a sheet structure which requires three shared oxygens; in the case of double-chain silicates, some tetrahedra must share two corners instead of three as otherwise a sheet structure would result.", ";Framework silicates (or tectosilicates): Have tetrahedra that share all four corners.", ";Ring silicates (or cyclosilicates): Only need tetrahedra to share two corners to form the cyclical structure.The silicate subclasses are described below in order of decreasing polymerization.====Tectosilicates====Natrolite is a mineral series in the zeolite group; this sample has a very prominent acicular crystal habit.Tectosilicates, also known as framework silicates, have the highest degree of polymerization.", "With all corners of a tetrahedra shared, the silicon:oxygen ratio becomes 1:2.Examples are quartz, the feldspars, feldspathoids, and the zeolites.", "Framework silicates tend to be particularly chemically stable as a result of strong covalent bonds.Forming 12% of the Earth's crust, quartz (SiO2) is the most abundant mineral species.", "It is characterized by its high chemical and physical resistivity.", "Quartz has several polymorphs, including tridymite and cristobalite at high temperatures, high-pressure coesite, and ultra-high pressure stishovite.", "The latter mineral can only be formed on Earth by meteorite impacts, and its structure has been compressed so much that it has changed from a silicate structure to that of rutile (TiO2).", "The silica polymorph that is most stable at the Earth's surface is α-quartz.", "Its counterpart, β-quartz, is present only at high temperatures and pressures (changes to α-quartz below 573 °C at 1 bar).", "These two polymorphs differ by a \"kinking\" of bonds; this change in structure gives β-quartz greater symmetry than α-quartz, and they are thus also called high quartz (β) and low quartz (α).Feldspars are the most abundant group in the Earth's crust, at about 50%.", "In the feldspars, Al3+ substitutes for Si4+, which creates a charge imbalance that must be accounted for by the addition of cations.", "The base structure becomes either AlSi3O8− or Al2Si2O82− There are 22 mineral species of feldspars, subdivided into two major subgroups – alkali and plagioclase – and two less common groups – celsian and banalsite.", "The alkali feldspars are most commonly in a series between potassium-rich orthoclase and sodium-rich albite; in the case of plagioclase, the most common series ranges from albite to calcium-rich anorthite.", "Crystal twinning is common in feldspars, especially polysynthetic twins in plagioclase and Carlsbad twins in alkali feldspars.", "If the latter subgroup cools slowly from a melt, it forms exsolution lamellae because the two components – orthoclase and albite – are unstable in solid solution.", "Exsolution can be on a scale from microscopic to readily observable in hand-sample; perthitic texture forms when Na-rich feldspar exsolve in a K-rich host.", "The opposite texture (antiperthitic), where K-rich feldspar exsolves in a Na-rich host, is very rare.Feldspathoids are structurally similar to feldspar, but differ in that they form in Si-deficient conditions, which allows for further substitution by Al3+.", "As a result, feldspathoids are almost never found in association with quartz.", "A common example of a feldspathoid is nepheline ((Na, K)AlSiO4); compared to alkali feldspar, nepheline has an Al2O3:SiO2 ratio of 1:2, as opposed to 1:6 in alkali feldspar.", "Zeolites often have distinctive crystal habits, occurring in needles, plates, or blocky masses.", "They form in the presence of water at low temperatures and pressures, and have channels and voids in their structure.", "Zeolites have several industrial applications, especially in waste water treatment.====Phyllosilicates====Muscovite, a mineral species in the mica group, within the phyllosilicate subclassPhyllosilicates consist of sheets of polymerized tetrahedra.", "They are bound at three oxygen sites, which gives a characteristic silicon:oxygen ratio of 2:5.Important examples include the mica, chlorite, and the kaolinite-serpentine groups.", "In addition to the tetrahedra, phyllosilicates have a sheet of octahedra (elements in six-fold coordination by oxygen) that balance out the basic tetrahedra, which have a negative charge (e.g.", "Si4O104−) These tetrahedra (T) and octahedra (O) sheets are stacked in a variety of combinations to create phyllosilicate layers.", "Within an octahedral sheet, there are three octahedral sites in a unit structure; however, not all of the sites may be occupied.", "In that case, the mineral is termed dioctahedral, whereas in other case it is termed trioctahedral.", "The layers are weakly bound by van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds, or sparse ionic bonds, which causes a crystallographic weakness, in turn leading to a prominent basal cleavage among the phyllosilicates.The kaolinite-serpentine group consists of T-O stacks (the 1:1 clay minerals); their hardness ranges from 2 to 4, as the sheets are held by hydrogen bonds.", "The 2:1 clay minerals (pyrophyllite-talc) consist of T-O-T stacks, but they are softer (hardness from 1 to 2), as they are instead held together by van der Waals forces.", "These two groups of minerals are subgrouped by octahedral occupation; specifically, kaolinite and pyrophyllite are dioctahedral whereas serpentine and talc trioctahedral.Micas are also T-O-T-stacked phyllosilicates, but differ from the other T-O-T and T-O-stacked subclass members in that they incorporate aluminium into the tetrahedral sheets (clay minerals have Al3+ in octahedral sites).", "Common examples of micas are muscovite, and the biotite series.", "Mica T-O-T layers are bonded together by metal ions, giving them a greater hardness than other phyllosilicate minerals, though they retain perfect basal cleavage.", "The chlorite group is related to mica group, but a brucite-like (Mg(OH)2) layer between the T-O-T stacks.Because of their chemical structure, phyllosilicates typically have flexible, elastic, transparent layers that are electrical insulators and can be split into very thin flakes.", "Micas can be used in electronics as insulators, in construction, as optical filler, or even cosmetics.", "Chrysotile, a species of serpentine, is the most common mineral species in industrial asbestos, as it is less dangerous in terms of health than the amphibole asbestos.====Inosilicates====Asbestiform tremolite, part of the amphibole group in the inosilicate subclassInosilicates consist of tetrahedra repeatedly bonded in chains.", "These chains can be single, where a tetrahedron is bound to two others to form a continuous chain; alternatively, two chains can be merged to create double-chain silicates.", "Single-chain silicates have a silicon:oxygen ratio of 1:3 (e.g.", "Si2O64−), whereas the double-chain variety has a ratio of 4:11, e.g.", "Si8O2212−.", "Inosilicates contain two important rock-forming mineral groups; single-chain silicates are most commonly pyroxenes, while double-chain silicates are often amphiboles.", "Higher-order chains exist (e.g.", "three-member, four-member, five-member chains, etc.)", "but they are rare.The pyroxene group consists of 21 mineral species.", "Pyroxenes have a general structure formula of XY(Si2O6), where X is an octahedral site, while Y can vary in coordination number from six to eight.", "Most varieties of pyroxene consist of permutations of Ca2+, Fe2+ and Mg2+ to balance the negative charge on the backbone.", "Pyroxenes are common in the Earth's crust (about 10%) and are a key constituent of mafic igneous rocks.Amphiboles have great variability in chemistry, described variously as a \"mineralogical garbage can\" or a \"mineralogical shark swimming a sea of elements\".", "The backbone of the amphiboles is the Si8O2212−; it is balanced by cations in three possible positions, although the third position is not always used, and one element can occupy both remaining ones.", "Finally, the amphiboles are usually hydrated, that is, they have a hydroxyl group (OH−), although it can be replaced by a fluoride, a chloride, or an oxide ion.", "Because of the variable chemistry, there are over 80 species of amphibole, although variations, as in the pyroxenes, most commonly involve mixtures of Ca2+, Fe2+ and Mg2+.", "Several amphibole mineral species can have an asbestiform crystal habit.", "These asbestos minerals form long, thin, flexible, and strong fibres, which are electrical insulators, chemically inert and heat-resistant; as such, they have several applications, especially in construction materials.", "However, asbestos are known carcinogens, and cause various other illnesses, such as asbestosis; amphibole asbestos (anthophyllite, tremolite, actinolite, grunerite, and riebeckite) are considered more dangerous than chrysotile serpentine asbestos.====Cyclosilicates====An example of elbaite, a species of tourmaline, with distinctive colour banding.Cyclosilicates, or ring silicates, have a ratio of silicon to oxygen of 1:3.Six-member rings are most common, with a base structure of Si6O1812−; examples include the tourmaline group and beryl.", "Other ring structures exist, with 3, 4, 8, 9, 12 having been described.", "Cyclosilicates tend to be strong, with elongated, striated crystals.Tourmalines have a very complex chemistry that can be described by a general formula XY3Z6(BO3)3T6O18V3W.", "The T6O18 is the basic ring structure, where T is usually Si4+, but substitutable by Al3+ or B3+.", "Tourmalines can be subgrouped by the occupancy of the X site, and from there further subdivided by the chemistry of the W site.", "The Y and Z sites can accommodate a variety of cations, especially various transition metals; this variability in structural transition metal content gives the tourmaline group greater variability in colour.", "Other cyclosilicates include beryl, Al2Be3Si6O18, whose varieties include the gemstones emerald (green) and aquamarine (bluish).", "Cordierite is structurally similar to beryl, and is a common metamorphic mineral.====Sorosilicates====Epidote often has a distinctive pistachio-green colour.Sorosilicates, also termed disilicates, have tetrahedron-tetrahedron bonding at one oxygen, which results in a 2:7 ratio of silicon to oxygen.", "The resultant common structural element is the Si2O76− group.", "The most common disilicates by far are members of the epidote group.", "Epidotes are found in variety of geologic settings, ranging from mid-ocean ridge to granites to metapelites.", "Epidotes are built around the structure (SiO4)(Si2O7)10− structure; for example, the mineral ''species'' epidote has calcium, aluminium, and ferric iron to charge balance: Ca2Al2(Fe3+, Al)(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH).", "The presence of iron as Fe3+ and Fe2+ helps buffer oxygen fugacity, which in turn is a significant factor in petrogenesis.Other examples of sorosilicates include lawsonite, a metamorphic mineral forming in the blueschist facies (subduction zone setting with low temperature and high pressure), vesuvianite, which takes up a significant amount of calcium in its chemical structure.====Orthosilicates====Black andradite, an end-member of the orthosilicate garnet group.Orthosilicates consist of isolated tetrahedra that are charge-balanced by other cations.", "Also termed nesosilicates, this type of silicate has a silicon:oxygen ratio of 1:4 (e.g.", "SiO4).", "Typical orthosilicates tend to form blocky equant crystals, and are fairly hard.", "Several rock-forming minerals are part of this subclass, such as the aluminosilicates, the olivine group, and the garnet group.The aluminosilicates –bkyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite, all Al2SiO5 – are structurally composed of one SiO44− tetrahedron, and one Al3+ in octahedral coordination.", "The remaining Al3+ can be in six-fold coordination (kyanite), five-fold (andalusite) or four-fold (sillimanite); which mineral forms in a given environment is depend on pressure and temperature conditions.", "In the olivine structure, the main olivine series of (Mg, Fe)2SiO4 consist of magnesium-rich forsterite and iron-rich fayalite.", "Both iron and magnesium are in octahedral by oxygen.", "Other mineral species having this structure exist, such as tephroite, Mn2SiO4.The garnet group has a general formula of X3Y2(SiO4)3, where X is a large eight-fold coordinated cation, and Y is a smaller six-fold coordinated cation.", "There are six ideal endmembers of garnet, split into two group.", "The pyralspite garnets have Al3+ in the Y position: pyrope (Mg3Al2(SiO4)3), almandine (Fe3Al2(SiO4)3), and spessartine (Mn3Al2(SiO4)3).", "The ugrandite garnets have Ca2+ in the X position: uvarovite (Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3), grossular (Ca3Al2(SiO4)3) and andradite (Ca3Fe2(SiO4)3).", "While there are two subgroups of garnet, solid solutions exist between all six end-members.Other orthosilicates include zircon, staurolite, and topaz.", "Zircon (ZrSiO4) is useful in geochronology as U6+ can substitute for Zr4+; furthermore, because of its very resistant structure, it is difficult to reset it as a chronometer.", "Staurolite is a common metamorphic intermediate-grade index mineral.", "It has a particularly complicated crystal structure that was only fully described in 1986.Topaz (Al2SiO4(F, OH)2, often found in granitic pegmatites associated with tourmaline, is a common gemstone mineral.===Non-silicates=======Native elements====Native gold.", "Rare specimen of stout crystals growing off of a central stalk, size 3.7 x 1.1 x 0.4 cm, from Venezuela.Native elements are those that are not chemically bonded to other elements.", "This mineral group includes native metals, semi-metals, and non-metals, and various alloys and solid solutions.", "The metals are held together by metallic bonding, which confers distinctive physical properties such as their shiny metallic lustre, ductility and malleability, and electrical conductivity.", "Native elements are subdivided into groups by their structure or chemical attributes.The gold group, with a cubic close-packed structure, includes metals such as gold, silver, and copper.", "The platinum group is similar in structure to the gold group.", "The iron-nickel group is characterized by several iron-nickel alloy species.", "Two examples are kamacite and taenite, which are found in iron meteorites; these species differ by the amount of Ni in the alloy; kamacite has less than 5–7% nickel and is a variety of native iron, whereas the nickel content of taenite ranges from 7–37%.", "Arsenic group minerals consist of semi-metals, which have only some metallic traits; for example, they lack the malleability of metals.", "Native carbon occurs in two allotropes, graphite and diamond; the latter forms at very high pressure in the mantle, which gives it a much stronger structure than graphite.====Sulfides====Red cinnabar (HgS), a mercury ore, on dolomite.Sphalerite crystal partially encased in calcite from the Devonian Milwaukee Formation of WisconsinThe sulfide minerals are chemical compounds of one or more metals or semimetals with a chalcogen or pnictogen, of which sulfur is most common.", "Tellurium, arsenic, or selenium can substitute for the sulfur.", "Sulfides tend to be soft, brittle minerals with a high specific gravity.", "Many powdered sulfides, such as pyrite, have a sulfurous smell when powdered.", "Sulfides are susceptible to weathering, and many readily dissolve in water; these dissolved minerals can be later redeposited, which creates enriched secondary ore deposits.", "Sulfides are classified by the ratio of the metal or semimetal to the sulfur, such as M:S equal to 2:1, or 1:1.Many sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores; examples include sphalerite (ZnS), an ore of zinc, galena (PbS), an ore of lead, cinnabar (HgS), an ore of mercury, and molybdenite (MoS2, an ore of molybdenum.", "Pyrite (FeS2), is the most commonly occurring sulfide, and can be found in most geological environments.", "It is not, however, an ore of iron, but can be instead oxidized to produce sulfuric acid.", "Related to the sulfides are the rare sulfosalts, in which a metallic element is bonded to sulfur and a semimetal such as antimony, arsenic, or bismuth.", "Like the sulfides, sulfosalts are typically soft, heavy, and brittle minerals.====Oxides====Oxide minerals are divided into three categories: simple oxides, hydroxides, and multiple oxides.", "Simple oxides are characterized by O2− as the main anion and primarily ionic bonding.", "They can be further subdivided by the ratio of oxygen to the cations.", "The periclase group consists of minerals with a 1:1 ratio.", "Oxides with a 2:1 ratio include cuprite (Cu2O) and water ice.", "Corundum group minerals have a 2:3 ratio, and includes minerals such as corundum (Al2O3), and hematite (Fe2O3).", "Rutile group minerals have a ratio of 1:2; the eponymous species, rutile (TiO2) is the chief ore of titanium; other examples include cassiterite (SnO2; ore of tin), and pyrolusite (MnO2; ore of manganese).", "In hydroxides, the dominant anion is the hydroxyl ion, OH−.", "Bauxites are the chief aluminium ore, and are a heterogeneous mixture of the hydroxide minerals diaspore, gibbsite, and bohmite; they form in areas with a very high rate of chemical weathering (mainly tropical conditions).", "Finally, multiple oxides are compounds of two metals with oxygen.", "A major group within this class are the spinels, with a general formula of X2+Y3+2O4.Examples of species include spinel (MgAl2O4), chromite (FeCr2O4), and magnetite (Fe3O4).", "The latter is readily distinguishable by its strong magnetism, which occurs as it has iron in two oxidation states (Fe2+Fe3+2O4), which makes it a multiple oxide instead of a single oxide.====Halides====Pink cubic halite (NaCl; halide class) crystals on a nahcolite matrix (NaHCO3; a carbonate, and mineral form of sodium bicarbonate, used as baking soda).The halide minerals are compounds in which a halogen (fluorine, chlorine, iodine, or bromine) is the main anion.", "These minerals tend to be soft, weak, brittle, and water-soluble.", "Common examples of halides include halite (NaCl, table salt), sylvite (KCl), and fluorite (CaF2).", "Halite and sylvite commonly form as evaporites, and can be dominant minerals in chemical sedimentary rocks.", "Cryolite, Na3AlF6, is a key mineral in the extraction of aluminium from bauxites; however, as the only significant occurrence at Ivittuut, Greenland, in a granitic pegmatite, was depleted, synthetic cryolite can be made from fluorite.====Carbonates====The carbonate minerals are those in which the main anionic group is carbonate, CO32−.", "Carbonates tend to be brittle, many have rhombohedral cleavage, and all react with acid.", "Due to the last characteristic, field geologists often carry dilute hydrochloric acid to distinguish carbonates from non-carbonates.", "The reaction of acid with carbonates, most commonly found as the polymorph calcite and aragonite (CaCO3), relates to the dissolution and precipitation of the mineral, which is a key in the formation of limestone caves, features within them such as stalactite and stalagmites, and karst landforms.", "Carbonates are most often formed as biogenic or chemical sediments in marine environments.", "The carbonate group is structurally a triangle, where a central C4+ cation is surrounded by three O2− anions; different groups of minerals form from different arrangements of these triangles.", "The most common carbonate mineral is calcite, which is the primary constituent of sedimentary limestone and metamorphic marble.", "Calcite, CaCO3, can have a significant percentage of magnesium substituting for calcium.", "Under high-Mg conditions, its polymorph aragonite will form instead; the marine geochemistry in this regard can be described as an aragonite or calcite sea, depending on which mineral preferentially forms.", "Dolomite is a double carbonate, with the formula CaMg(CO3)2.Secondary dolomitization of limestone is common, in which calcite or aragonite are converted to dolomite; this reaction increases pore space (the unit cell volume of dolomite is 88% that of calcite), which can create a reservoir for oil and gas.", "These two mineral species are members of eponymous mineral groups: the calcite group includes carbonates with the general formula XCO3, and the dolomite group constitutes minerals with the general formula XY(CO3)2.====Sulfates====Gypsum desert roseThe sulfate minerals all contain the sulfate anion, SO42−.", "They tend to be transparent to translucent, soft, and many are fragile.", "Sulfate minerals commonly form as evaporites, where they precipitate out of evaporating saline waters.", "Sulfates can also be found in hydrothermal vein systems associated with sulfides, or as oxidation products of sulfides.", "Sulfates can be subdivided into anhydrous and hydrous minerals.", "The most common hydrous sulfate by far is gypsum, CaSO4⋅2H2O.", "It forms as an evaporite, and is associated with other evaporites such as calcite and halite; if it incorporates sand grains as it crystallizes, gypsum can form desert roses.", "Gypsum has very low thermal conductivity and maintains a low temperature when heated as it loses that heat by dehydrating; as such, gypsum is used as an insulator in materials such as plaster and drywall.", "The anhydrous equivalent of gypsum is anhydrite; it can form directly from seawater in highly arid conditions.", "The barite group has the general formula XSO4, where the X is a large 12-coordinated cation.", "Examples include barite (BaSO4), celestine (SrSO4), and anglesite (PbSO4); anhydrite is not part of the barite group, as the smaller Ca2+ is only in eight-fold coordination.====Phosphates====The phosphate minerals are characterized by the tetrahedral PO43− unit, although the structure can be generalized, and phosphorus is replaced by antimony, arsenic, or vanadium.", "The most common phosphate is the apatite group; common species within this group are fluorapatite (Ca5(PO4)3F), chlorapatite (Ca5(PO4)3Cl) and hydroxylapatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH)).", "Minerals in this group are the main crystalline constituents of teeth and bones in vertebrates.", "The relatively abundant monazite group has a general structure of ATO4, where T is phosphorus or arsenic, and A is often a rare-earth element (REE).", "Monazite is important in two ways: first, as a REE \"sink\", it can sufficiently concentrate these elements to become an ore; secondly, monazite group elements can incorporate relatively large amounts of uranium and thorium, which can be used in monazite geochronology to date the rock based on the decay of the U and Th to lead.====Organic minerals====The Strunz classification includes a class for organic minerals.", "These rare compounds contain organic carbon, but can be formed by a geologic process.", "For example, whewellite, CaC2O4⋅H2O is an oxalate that can be deposited in hydrothermal ore veins.", "While hydrated calcium oxalate can be found in coal seams and other sedimentary deposits involving organic matter, the hydrothermal occurrence is not considered to be related to biological activity.===Recent advances===Mineral classification schemes and their definitions are evolving to match recent advances in mineral science.", "Recent changes have included the addition of an organic class, in both the new Dana and the Strunz classification schemes.", "The organic class includes a very rare group of minerals with hydrocarbons.", "The IMA Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names adopted in 2009 a hierarchical scheme for the naming and classification of mineral groups and group names and established seven commissions and four working groups to review and classify minerals into an official listing of their published names.", "According to these new rules, \"mineral species can be grouped in a number of different ways, on the basis of chemistry, crystal structure, occurrence, association, genetic history, or resource, for example, depending on the purpose to be served by the classification.\"" ], [ "Astrobiology", "It has been suggested that biominerals could be important indicators of extraterrestrial life and thus could play an important role in the search for past or present life on Mars.", "Furthermore, organic components (biosignatures) that are often associated with biominerals are believed to play crucial roles in both pre-biotic and biotic reactions.In January 2014, NASA reported that studies by the ''Curiosity'' and ''Opportunity'' rovers on Mars would search for evidence of ancient life, including a biosphere based on autotrophic, chemotrophic and/or chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, as well as ancient water, including fluvio-lacustrine environments (plains related to ancient rivers or lakes) that may have been habitable.", "The search for evidence of habitability, taphonomy (related to fossils), and organic carbon on the planet Mars became a primary NASA objective." ], [ "See also", "* * * * * * * * *" ], [ "References" ], [ "General references", "* * *" ], [ "Further reading", "* On the creation of new minerals by human activity." ], [ "External links", "* Mindat mineralogical database, largest mineral database on the Internet* \"Mineralogy Database\" by David Barthelmy (2009)* \"Mineral Identification Key II\" Mineralogical Society of America* \"American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database\"* Minerals and the Origins of Life (Robert Hazen, NASA) (video, 60m, April 2014).", "* The private lives of minerals: Insights from big-data mineralogy (Robert Hazen, 15 February 2017)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Marble" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Marble''' is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2)) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure.", "It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions.", "In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed limestone, but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone.", "Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material." ], [ "Etymology", "lakeside pavilion in the Summer Palace in Beijing, ChinaThe word \"marble\" derives from the Ancient Greek (), from (), \"crystalline rock, shining stone\", perhaps from the verb (), \"to flash, sparkle, gleam\"; R. S. P. Beekes has suggested that a \"Pre-Greek origin is probable\".This stem is also the ancestor of the English word \"marmoreal\", meaning \"marble-like.\"", "While the English term \"marble\" resembles the French , most other European languages (with words like \"marmoreal\") more closely resemble the original Ancient Greek.The Taj Mahal is clad entirely in marble." ], [ "Geology", "Folded and weathered marble at General Carrera Lake, Chile|210x210pxMarble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite.", "Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the original carbonate mineral grains.", "The resulting marble rock is typically composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals.", "Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the original carbonate rock (protolith) have typically been modified or destroyed.Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure (silicate-poor) limestone or dolomite protolith.", "The characteristic swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties, sometimes called striations, are usually due to various mineral impurities such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone.", "Green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally magnesium-rich limestone or dolomite with silica impurities.", "These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure and heat of the metamorphism." ], [ "Chemistry", "=== Degradation by acids ===Acids react with the calcium carbonate in marble, producing carbonic acid (which decomposes quickly to CO2 and H2O) and other soluble salts ::CaCO3(s) + 2H+(aq) → Ca2+(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O (l)Outdoor marble statues, gravestones, or other marble structures are damaged by acid rain whether by carbonation, sulfation or the formation of \"black-crust\" (accumulation of calcium sulphate, nitrates and carbon particles).", "Vinegar and other acidic solutions should be avoided in the cleaning of marble products.=== Crystallization ===Crystallization refers to a method of imparting a glossy, more durable finish on to a marble floor (CaCO3).", "It involves polishing the surface with an acidic solution and a steel wool pad on a flooring machine.", "The chemical reaction below shows a typical process using magnesium fluorosilicate (MgSiF6) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) taking place.", ":CaCO3(s) + MgSiF6(l) + 2HCl (l) → MgCl2(s) + CaSiF6(s) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)The resulting calcium hexafluorosilicate (CaSiF6) is bonded to the surface of the marble.", "This is harder, more glossy and stain resistant compared to the original surface.The other often used method of finishing marble is to polish with oxalic acid (H2C2O4), an organic acid.", "The resulting reaction is as follows::CaCO3(s) + H2C2O4(l) → CaC2O4(s) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)In this case the calcium oxalate (CaC2O4) formed in the reaction is washed away with the slurry, leaving a surface that has not been chemically changed.=== Microbial degradation ===The haloalkaliphilic methylotrophic bacterium ''Methylophaga murata'' was isolated from deteriorating marble in the Kremlin.", "Bacterial and fungal degradation was detected in four samples of marble from Milan Cathedral; black ''Cladosporium'' attacked dried acrylic resin using melanin." ], [ "Types and features", "The Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey.", "Turkey is the largest marble exporter in the world.Marble wall of Ruskeala, Republic of Karelia, Russiacalcite marble from the Precambrian period in New York State, United States=== Examples of notable marble varieties and locations === Marble Color Location Country Bianco Sivec white near Prilep (Прилеп), Pelagonia (Пелагониски) North Macedonia Carrara marble white or blue-gray Carrara, Tuscany Italy Statuario marble white, golden, black Carrara, Apuan Alps Italy Creole marble white and blue/black Pickens County, Georgia United States Etowah marble pink, salmon, rose Pickens County, Georgia United States Hanbaiyu marble white Quyang County, Hebei China Makrana marble white Makrana, Nagaur district, Rajasthan India Murphy marble white Pickens and Gilmer Counties, Georgia United States Nero Marquina marble black Markina-Xemein, Bizkaia, Basque County Spain Parian marble pure-white, fine-grained Island of Paros (Πάρος), South Aegean (Νοτίου Αιγαίου) Greece Pentelic marble pure-white, fine-grained semitranslucent Mount Pentelicus (Πεντελικό όρος), Attica (Ἀττική) Greece Prokonnesos marble white Marmara Island, Sea of Marmara Turkey Ruskeala marble white near Ruskeala (Рускеала), Karelia (Карелия) Russia Rușchița marble white, pinkish, reddish Poiana Ruscă Mountains, Caraș-Severin County Romania Swedish green marble green near Kolmården, Södermanland Sweden Sylacauga marble white Talladega County, Alabama United States Venčac marble white Venčac mountain near Aranđelovac Serbia Vermont marble white Proctor, Vermont United States Wunsiedel marble white Wunsiedel, Bavaria Germany Yule marble uniform pure white near Marble, Colorado United States=== Features ===Marble is a rock composed of calcium and magnesium carbonate, mostly white and pink.", "Common marble varieties are granular limestone or dolomite.", "The hardness of marble is very high, because the internal structure of the rock is very uniform after long-term natural aging, and the internal stress disappears, so the marble will not be deformed due to temperature, and has strong wear resistance.", "It is a very popular building material.The following table is a summary of the features of Marble.+ColourWhite, Pink, Black etcTexturegranularGrain sizemedium grainedMineralogycalciteHardnesshardOther featuresgenerally gritty to touchUsesbuilding stone" ], [ "Uses", "Romblon, PhilippinesStatue of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial) sculpted by Daniel Chester French from Georgia Marble in 1920===Sculpture===White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times.", "This preference has to do with its softness, which made it easier to carve, relative isotropy and homogeneity, and a relative resistance to shattering.", "Also, the low index of refraction of calcite allows light to penetrate 12.7 to 38 millimeters into the stone before being scattered out, resulting in the characteristic waxy look which brings a lifelike luster to marble sculptures of any kind, which is why many sculptors preferred and still prefer marble for sculpting the human form.===Construction===Construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine that is capable of taking a polish.", "More generally in construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the term ''marble'' is used for any crystalline calcitic rock (and some non-calcitic rocks) useful as building stone.", "For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone, that geologists call the Holston Formation.Ashgabat, the capital city of Turkmenistan, was recorded in the 2013 ''Guinness Book of Records'' as having the world's highest concentration of white marble buildings." ], [ "Production", "Mining of Karibib Marble (2018)Marble quarry in Jaipur, IndiaThe extraction of marble is performed by quarrying.", "Blocks are favoured for most purposes, and can be created through various techniques, including drilling and blasting, water jet and wedge methods.", "Limestones are often commercially and historically referred to as marble, which differs from the geological definition.=== Locations ===In 1998, marble production was dominated by 4 countries that accounted for almost half of world production of marble and decorative stone.", "Italy and China were the world leaders, each representing 16% of world production, while Spain and India produced 9% and 8%, respectively.In 2018 Turkey was the world leader in marble export, with 42% share in global marble trade, followed by Italy with 18% and Greece with 10%.", "The largest importer of marble in 2018 was China with a 64% market share, followed by India with 11% and Italy with 5%.==== Ancient times ====White marbles throughout the Mediterranean basin were widely utilized during the Roman period.", "Extraction centers were unevenly distributed across the Italian Peninsula, mainland Greece, the Aegean Islands, Asia Minor, and smaller hubs like those in the Iberian Peninsula.", "The need for extensive trade arose due to this imbalance, leading to the widespread exchange of marble objects, including building elements, sculptures, and sarcophagi.", "There was a significant increase in the distribution of white marble from the late 1st century BC to the end of the 2nd century AD.", "A gradual decline in distribution started in the third century AD.==== United States ====According to the United States Geological Survey, U.S. domestic marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at about $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005.Crushed marble production (for aggregate and industrial uses) in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate.", "For comparison, 2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate.", "U.S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons.", "The DSAN World Demand for (finished) Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, compared to 10.5% annually for the 2000–2005 period.", "The largest dimension marble application is tile.==== Palestine ====The stone and marble industry is one of the largest industries in Palestine, contributing 20-25% of its total industrial revenues, generating USD $400–$450 million in revenue annually.", "The industry employs 15,000–20,000 workers across the West Bank across 1200–1700 facilities, and amounts to 4.5% of the nation's GDP.", "The vast majority of the industry's exports are to Israel.Marble in the geologic sense does not naturally outcrop in Palestine, and that the vast majority of commercially labeled marble produced in Palestine produced would be geologically considered limestone.===Occupational safety===Particulate air pollution exposure has been found to be elevated in the marble production industry.", "Exposure to the dust produced by cutting marble could impair lung function or cause lung disease in workers, such as silicosis.", "Skin and eye problems are also a potential hazard.", "Mitigations such as dust filters, or dust suppression are suggested, but more research needs to be carried out on the efficacy of safety measures.In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for marble exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday.", "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 10 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday.Dust, debris and temperature fluctuations from working marble can endanger the eye health of employees.", "For the staff involved in marble processing, it is necessary to provide eye protection equipment, and it is recommended to improve the education of all workers on occupational health risks and strengthen preventive measures." ], [ "Cultural associations", "Jadwiga of Poland's sarcophagus by Antoni Madeyski, Wawel Cathedral, KrakówAs the favorite medium for Greek and Roman sculptors and architects (see classical sculpture), marble has become a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste.", "Its extremely varied and colorful patterns make it a favorite decorative material.Places named after the stone include Marblehead, Massachusetts; Marblehead, Ohio; Marble Arch, London; the Sea of Marmara; India's Marble Rocks; and the towns of Marble, Minnesota; Marble, Colorado; Marble Falls, Texas, and Marble Hill, Manhattan, New York.", "The Elgin Marbles are marble sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens that are on display in the British Museum." ], [ "Impact on the environment", "This is a pile of marble waste in Aliveri.Total world quarrying production in 2019 was approximately 316 million tonnes; however, quarrying waste accounted for 53% of this total production.", "In the process of marble mining and processing, there will be a large amount of non-degradable waste, which will cause serious damage to the environment and threaten the life of animals and plants.", "For example, the poor management of mining activities has resulted in a large amount of waste rocks, and the waste is thrown by the river, polluting the surrounding water sources, causing groundwater pollution, and endangering human health.", "According to the research of water samples around the marble mine, it was found that the number of cations and anions in the water increased." ], [ "Sustainability", "Marble sludge waste can be used as a mineral filler in water-based paints.", "Using ground calcium carbonate as a filler in paint production can improve the brightness, hiding power and application performance of paint, and can also replace expensive pigments such as titanium dioxide.", "Recycling of marble waste leads to a large amount of waste not being landfilled, reducing environmental pollution, thereby realizing the sustainability of marble.", "Converting waste to generate economic income and restore degraded soil can improve the environment." ], [ "Cleaning and preservation", "The nature of marble is soft and porous, so it is easily stained by colored liquids and scratches easily.", "Maintenance and cleaning is particularly important.=== Preservation ===* Prevent sand and dust from contacting the marble surface.", "* Avoid corroding marble surfaces with alcohol, color and acidic liquids.=== Cleaning ===* As a floor material, marble is easy to scratch.", "You can first use a vacuum cleaner to suck away the grit and dust on the marble floor, and then use a steam cleaner to remove other dirt.", "* A mild, pH-neutral, non-abrasive soap should be used for cleaning marble surfaces.", "Wipe with a soft foam cotton or rag." ], [ "Gallery", "File:Nike of Samothrake Louvre Ma2369 n4.jpg|The Nike of Samothrace is made of Parian marble ()File:Laocoon and His Sons.jpg|''Laocoön and His Sons'' in the VaticanFile:Treasury Gate, Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, Turkey 001.jpg|Dolmabahçe Palace in IstanbulFile:Lens - Inauguration du Louvre-Lens le 4 décembre 2012, la Galerie du Temps, n° 058.JPG|The Praetorians Relief, made from grey veined marble, ADFile:Imgp7544.jpg|Ancient marble columns in the prayer hall of the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, TunisiaFile:Cleopatra by William Wetmore Story 03.jpg|''Cleopatra'' by William Wetmore Story was described and admired in Nathaniel Hawthorne's romance ''The Marble Faun'', and is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.File:Per Hasselberg Näckrosen Rottneros Park.jpg|''Näckrosen'' (''Water Lily''), Stockholm 1892, by Swedish sculptor Per Hasselberg (1850–1894).", "Here a copy from 1953 in marble by Giovanni Ardini (Italy) placed in Rottneros Park near Sunne in Värmland/Sweden.File:Pažaislis Monastery interior 1, Kaunas, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|Pažaislis Monastery complex has the most marble-decorated Baroque church of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaFile:Petropolis-Cathedral1.jpg|The tombs of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and other members of the Brazilian imperial family, made from Carrara marble in the Cathedral of Petrópolis, BrazilFile:Flickr - USCapitol - Car of History Clock (1).jpg|Carlo Franzoni's life-size sculptural marble chariot clock, the ''Car of History'', depicting Clio, the Greek muse of history (National Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol Building)." ], [ "See also", "* Grand Antique marble* Marble sculpture* Marmorino* Naxian marble* Paper marbling* Pietra dura, inlaying with marble and other stones* Ruin marble, marble that contains light and dark patterns, giving the impression of a ruined cityscape* Scagliola, imitating marble with plasterwork* Verd antique, sometimes (erroneously) called \"serpentine marble\", and often confused with Connemara marble" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Dimension Stone Statistics and Information – United States Geological Survey minerals information for dimension stone* USGS 2005 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Crushed* USGS 2005 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Dimension* USGS 2006 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Crushed* USGS 2006 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Dimension* Marble Institute of America" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Manufacturing Consent (film)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''''Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media''''' is a 1992 documentary film that explores the political life and ideas of linguist, intellectual, and political activist Noam Chomsky.", "Canadian filmmakers Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick expand the analysis of political economy and mass media presented in ''Manufacturing Consent'', a 1988 book Chomsky wrote with Edward S. Herman." ], [ "Overview", "The film presents and illustrates Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model thesis that corporate media, as profit-driven institutions, tend to serve and further the agendas and interests of dominant, elite groups in the society.", "A centerpiece of the film is a long examination of the history of ''The New York Times''' coverage of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, which Chomsky says exemplifies the media's unwillingness to criticize an ally of the elite.Until the release of ''The Corporation'' (2003), made by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan, it was the most successful feature documentary in Canadian history playing theatrically in over 300 cities around the world.", "It appeared in more than 50 international film festivals where it received 22 awards.", "It was broadcast on television in over 30 markets and translated into a dozen languages.Chomsky confessed in an on-stage interview at the 2013 New York City Documentary festival that he has never actually seen the documentary because \"I can't stand watching myself...but I'm told it was a pretty impressive film.\"", "In a published conversation with Achbar and several activists, he stated that \"the positive impact of it has been astonishing to me\" but people mistakenly get the impression that he is the leader of a movement that they should join.", "He also criticizes ''The New York Times'' review of the film, which mistakes his message for being a call for voter organizing rather than for engaging in media critique and political action." ], [ "Companion book", "Mark Achbar edited a companion book of the same name.", "It features a transcript of the film annotated with excerpts from referenced and relevant materials as well as several comments from Noam Chomsky interspersed throughout.", "Eighteen \"Philosopher All-Stars\" baseball cards (as seen in the film) are also included.", "On the back of each card is a short summary of the person, titles of their major works, and a series of quotations attributed to the individual.", "Chomsky is featured as a card in the set, as are René Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Mary Wollstonecraft, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Sojourner Truth, Karl Marx, Sitting Bull, Rosa Luxemburg, Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Bertrand Russell, and Michel Foucault.", "The book made ''The Globe and Mail''s national bestseller list in Canada.The first half of the book, hyperlinked to the relevant portions of the film's audio, is available online from ''Z Magazine''.", "The entire book is available as a PDF document on the Region 2 DVD of the film." ], [ "See also", "* Concentration of media ownership* Propaganda model" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * * * NFB Web page* The Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model Twenty Years On ''Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture'' 6(2), 2009===Multimedia===*" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Munich" ], [ "Introduction", "Mariensäule at MarienplatzAerial view of the old townLion sculptures by Wilhelm von Rümann at the FeldherrnhalleAlps behind the skyline'''Munich''' ( ; ; ) is the capital and most populous city of the Free State of Bavaria.", "With a population of 1,578,132 inhabitants as of 31 May 2022, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, and thus the largest which does not constitute its own state, as well as the 11th-largest city in the European Union.", "The city's metropolitan region is home to about six million people and the third biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union.Straddling the banks of the river Isar north of the Alps, Munich is the seat of the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Bavaria, while being the most densely populated municipality in Germany with 4,500 people per km2.Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area, after the Austrian capital of Vienna.The city was first mentioned in 1158.Catholic Munich strongly resisted the Reformation and was a political point of divergence during the resulting Thirty Years' War, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant Swedes.", "Once Bavaria was established as the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806, Munich became a major European centre of arts, architecture, culture and science.", "In 1918, during the German Revolution of 1918–19, the ruling House of Wittelsbach, which had governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich and a short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic was declared.", "In the 1920s, Munich became home to several political factions, among them the Nazi Party.", "After the Nazis' rise to power, Munich was declared their \"Capital of the Movement\".", "The city was heavily bombed during World War II, but has restored most of its old town.", "After the end of postwar American occupation in 1949, there was a great increase in population and economic power during the years of Wirtschaftswunder.", "The city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics.Today, Munich is a global centre of science, technology, finance, innovation, business, and tourism.", "Munich enjoys a very high standard and quality of living, reaching first in Germany and third worldwide according to the 2018 Mercer survey, and being rated the world's most liveable city by the Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2018.Munich is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive cities in Germany in terms of real estate prices and rental costs.In 2021, 28.8 percent of Munich's residents were foreigners, and another 17.7 percent were German citizens with a migration background from a foreign country.", "Munich's economy is based on high tech, automobiles, and the service sector, as well as IT, biotechnology, engineering, and electronics.", "It has one of the strongest economies of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of all cities in Germany with more than one million inhabitants.", "The city houses many multinational companies, such as BMW, Siemens, Allianz SE and Munich Re.", "In addition, Munich is home to two research universities, and a multitude of scientific institutions.", "Munich's numerous architectural and cultural attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest, attract considerable tourism." ], [ "History", "Coat of arms of MunichThe unofficial city anthem of Munich, recorded in 1929===Etymology===Munich was a tiny 8th-century friar settlement, which was named ''zu den Munichen'' (\"to the Monks\").", "The Old High German ''Muniche'' served as basis for the modern German city name ''München''.===Prehistory===The river Isar was a prehistoric trade route and in the Bronze Age Munich was among the largest raft ports in Europe.", "Bronze Age settlements up to four millennia old have been discovered.", "Evidence of Celt settlements from the Iron Age have been discovered in areas around Ramersdorf-Perlach.===Roman period===The ancient Roman road Via Julia, which connected Augsburg and Salzburg, crossed over the Isar south of Munich, at the towns of Baierbrunn and Gauting.", "A Roman settlement north-east of Munich was excavated in the neighborhood of Denning.===Post-Roman settlements===Starting in the 6th century, the Baiuvarii populated the area around what is now modern Munich, such as in Johanneskirchen, Feldmoching, Bogenhausen and Pasing.", "The first known Christian church was built ca.", "815 in Fröttmanning.===Origin of medieval town===Munich in the 16th centuryPlan of Munich in 1642The first medieval bridges across the river Isar were located in current city areas of Munich and Landshut.", "The Duke of Saxony and Bavaria Henry the Lion founded the town of Munich in his territory to control the salt trade, after having burned down the town of Föhring and its bridges over the Isar.", "Historians date this event at about 1158.The layout of Munich city, with five city gates and market place, resembled that of Höxter.Henry built a new toll bridge, customs house and a coin market closer to his home somewhat upstream at a settlement around the area of modern old town Munich.", "This new toll bridge most likely crossed the Isar where the Museuminsel and the modern Ludwigsbrücke is now located.Otto of Freising protested to his nephew, Emperor Frederick Barbarosa (d. 1190).", "However, on 14 June 1158, in Augsburg, the conflict was settled in favor of Duke Henry.", "The ''Augsburg Arbitration'' mentions the name of the location in dispute as ''forum apud Munichen''.", "Although Bishop Otto had lost his bridge, the arbiters ordered Duke Henry to pay a third of his income to the Bishop in Freising as compensation.The 14.June 1158 is considered the official founding day of the city of Munich.", "Archaeological excavations at Marienhof Square (near Marienplatz) in advance of the expansion of the S-Bahn (subway) in 2012 discovered shards of vessels from the 11th century, which prove again that the settlement of Munich must be older than the Augsburg Arbitration of 1158.The old St. Peter's Church near Marienplatz is also believed to predate the founding date of the town.In 1175, Munich received city status and fortification.", "In 1180, after Henry the Lion's fall from grace with Emperor Frederick Barbarosa, including his trial and exile, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria, and Munich was handed to the Bishop of Freising.", "In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split in two, Munich became the ducal residence of Upper Bavaria.Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328.He strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt monopoly, thus assuring it of additional income.On 13 February 1327, a large fire broke out in Munich that lasted two days and destroyed about a third of the town.In 1349, the Black Death ravaged Munich and Bavaria.In the 15th century, Munich underwent a revival of Gothic arts: the Old Town Hall was enlarged, and Munich's largest Gothic church – the Frauenkirche – now a cathedral, was constructed in only 20 years, starting in 1468.===Capital of reunited Bavaria===The Renaissance ''Antiquarium'' of the ResidenzWhen Bavaria was reunited in 1506 after a brief war against the Duchy of Landshut, Munich became its capital.", "The arts and politics became increasingly influenced by the court.", "The Renaissance movement beset Munich and the Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach under the Duke of Bavaria Albrecht V bolstered their prestige by conjuring up a lineage that reached back to Classical antiquity.", "In 1568 Albrecht V built the Antiquarium to house the Wittelsbach collection of Greek and Roman antiquities in the Munich Residenz.", "Albrecht V appointed the composer Orlando di Lasso as director of the court orchestra and tempted numerous Italian musicians to work at the Munich court, establishing Munich as a hub for late Renaissance music.", "During the rule of Duke William V Munich began to be called the \"German Rome\" and William V began presenting Emperor Charlemagne as ancestor of the Wittelsbach dynasty.Duke William V further cemented the Wittelsbach rule by commissioning the Jesuit Michaelskirche.", "He had the sermons of his Jesuit court preacher Jeremias Drexel translated from Latin into German and published them to a greater audience.", "William V was addressed with the epithet \"the Pious\" and like his contemporary Wittelsbach dukes promoted himself as \"father of the land\" (''Landesvater''), encouraged pilgrimages and Marian devotions.", "William V had the Hofbräuhaus built in 1589.It would become the prototype for beer halls across Munich.", "After World War II the Residenze, the Hofbräuhaus, the Frauenkirche, and the Peterskirche were reconstructed to look exactly as they did before the Nazi Party seized power in 1933.Marienplatz, Munich, about 1650Frauenkirche in the backgroundThe Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609.In 1623, during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Munich became an electoral residence when Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria was invested with the electoral dignity, but in 1632 the city was occupied by Gustav II Adolph of Sweden.In 1634 Swedish and Spanish troops advanced on Munich.", "Maximilian I published a plague ordinance to halt an epidemic escalation.", "The bubonic plague nevertheless ravaged Munich and the surrounding countryside in 1634 and 1635.During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) troops again converged on Munich in 1647 and precautions were taken, so as to avoid another epidemic.Under the regency of the Bavarian electors, Munich was an important centre of Baroque life, but also had to suffer under Habsburg occupations in 1704 and 1742.When Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria died in 1745, the succession empowered the Palatinate branch within the House of Wittelsbach.In 1777 Bavarian lands were inherited to Charles Theodore.", "The new Duke was disliked by the citizens of Munich for his supposedly enlightened ideas.", "In 1785 Karl Theodor invited Count Rumford Benjamin Thompson to take up residency in Munich and implement stringent social reforms.", "The poor were forced to live in newly built workhouses.", "The Bavarian army was restructured, with common soldiers receiving better food and reassurances that they would be treated humanely by officers.", "Munich was the largest German city to lose fortification in the 1790s.", "In 1791 Karl Theodor and Count Rumford started to demolish Munich's fortifications.", "After 1793 Munich's citizens, including house servants, carpenters, butchers, merchants, and court officials, seized the opportunity, building new houses, stalls, and sheds outside the city walls.After making an alliance with Napoleonic France, the city became the capital of the new Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806 with Elector Maximillian Joseph becoming its first King.", "The state parliament (the ''Landtag'') and the new archdiocese of Munich and Freising were also located in the city.The establishment of Bavarian state sovereignty profoundly affected Munich.", "Munich became the center of a modernizing kingdom, and one of the king's first acts was the secularization of Bavaria.", "He had dissolved all monasteries in 1802 and once crowned, Max Joseph I generated state revenues by selling off church lands.", "While many monasteries were reestablished, Max Joseph I succeeded in controlling the right to brew beer (''Brauchrecht'').", "The king handed the brewing monopoly to Munich's wealthiest brewers, who in turn paid substantial taxs on their beer production.", "In 1807 the king abolished all ordinances that limited the number of apprentices and journeymen a brewery could employ.", "Munich's population had swelled and Munich brewers were now free to employ as many workers as they needed to meet the demand.", "In October 1810 a beer festival was held on the meadows just outside Munich to commemorate the wedding of the crown price and princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.", "The parades in regional dress (''Tracht'') represented the diversity of the kingdom.", "The fields are now part of the Theresienwiese and the celebrations developed into Munich's annual Oktoberfest.The Bavarian state proceeded to take control over the beer market, by regulating all taxes on beer in 1806 and 1811.Brewers and the beer taverns (''Wirtshäuser'') were taxed, and the state also controlled the quality of beer while limiting the competition among breweries.", "In 1831 the king's government introduced a cost-of-living allowance on beer for lower-ranking civil servants and soldiers.", "Soldiers stationed in Munich were granted a daily allowance for beer in the early 1840s.", "By the 1850s beer had become essential staple food for Munich's working and lower classes.", "Since the Middle Ages beer had been regarded as nutritious ''liquid bread'' (''fließendes Brot'') in Bavaria.", "But Munich suffered from poor water sanitation and as early as the 1700s beer came to be regarded as the ''fifth element''.", "Beer was essential in maintaining public health in Munich and in the mid-1840s Munich police estimated that at least 40,000 residents relied primarily on beer for their nutrition.Palace of Justice in Baroque Revival styleIn 1832 Peter von Hess painted the Greek War of Independence at the order of Ludwig I of Bavaria.", "Ludwig I had the Königsplatz built in neoclassicism as a matter of ideological choice.", "Leo von Klenze supervised the construction of a Propylaia between 1854 and 1862.During the early to mid-19th century, the old fortified city walls of Munich were largely demolished due to population expansion.", "The first Munich railway station was built in 1839, with a line going to Augsburg in the west.", "By 1849 a newer Munich Central Train Station (München Hauptbahnhof) was completed, with a line going to Landshut and Regensburg in the north.", "In 1825 Ludwig I had ascended to the throne and commissioned leading architects such as Leo von Klenze to design a series of public museums in neoclassical style.", "The grand building projects of Ludwig I got Munich the endearment \"Isar-Athen\" and \"Monaco di Bavaria\".", "Between 1856 and 1861 the court gardener Carl von Effner landscaped the banks of river Isar and established the ''Maximilian Gardens''.", "Since 1848 the Münchner Neueste Nachrichten were published as a regional newspaper in Munich.", "In 1857 the construction of the Maximilianeum was started.By the time Ludwig II became king in 1864, he remained mostly aloof from his capital and focused more on his fanciful castles in the Bavarian countryside, which is why he is known the world over as the 'fairytale king'.", "Ludwig II tried to lure Richard Wagner to Munich, but his plans for an opera house were declined by the city council.", "Ludwig II nevertheless generated a windfall for Munich's craft and construction industries.", "In 1876 Munich hosted the first German Art and Industry Exhibition, which showcased the northern Neo-Renaissance fashion that came to be the German Empire's predominant style.", "Munich based artists put on the German National Applied Arts Exhibition in 1888, showcasing Baroque Revival architecture and Rococo Revival designs.Jugendstil style house at Leopoldstr.", "77, Münchner FreiheitIn 1900 Wilhelm Röntgen moved to Munich, he was appointed as professor of Physics.", "In 1901 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.The Prince Regent Luitpold's reign from 1886 till 1912 was marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Munich.", "At the dawn of the 20th century Munich was an epicenter for the Jugendstil movement, combining a liberal magazine culture with progressive industrial design and architecture.", "The German art movement took its name from the Munich magazine ''Die Jugend'' (''The Youth'').", "Prominent Munich Jugendstil artists include Hans Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas, Otto Eckmann, Margarethe von Brauchitsch, August Endell, Hermann Obrist, Wilhelm von Debschitz, and Richard Riemerschmid.", "In 1905 two large department stores opened in Munich, the Kaufhaus Oberpollinger and the Warenhaus Hermann Tietz, both had been designed by the architect Max Littmann.", "In 1911 the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter was established in Munich.", "Its founding members include Gabriele Münter.===World War I to World War II===Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, life in Munich became very difficult, as the Allied blockade of Germany led to food and fuel shortages.", "During French air raids in 1916, three bombs fell on Munich.In 1916, the 'Bayerische Motoren Werke' (BMW) produced its first aircraft engine in Munich.", "The stock cooperation BMW AG was founded in 1918, with Camillo Castiglioni owning one third of the share capital.", "In 1922 BMW relocated its headquarters to a factory in Munich.After World War I, the city was at the centre of substantial political unrest.", "In November 1918, on the eve of the German revolution, Ludwig III of Bavaria and his family fled the city.", "After the murder of the first republican premier of Bavaria Kurt Eisner in February 1919 by Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley, the Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed.", "The November 1918 revolution ended the reign of the Wittelsbach in Bavaria.", "In ''Mein Kampf'' Adolf Hitler described his political activism in Munich after November 1918 as the \"Beginning of My Political Activity\".", "Hitler called the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic \"the rule of the Jews\".", "In 1919 Bavaria Film was founded and in the 1920s Munich offered film makers an alternative to Germany's largest film studio in Babelsberg.Unrest during the Beer Hall PutschIn 1923 Gustav von Kahr was appointed Bavarian prime minister and immediately planned for the expulsion of all Jews that did not hold German citizenship.", "Chief of Police Ernst Pöhner and Wilhelm Frick openly indulged in antisemitism, while Bavarian judges praised people on the political right as patriotic for their crimes and handed down mild sentences.", "In 1923, Adolf Hitler and his supporters, who were concentrated in Munich, staged the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and seize power.", "The revolt failed, resulting in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the Nazi Party (NSDAP).Munich was chosen as capital for the Free State of Bavaria and acquired increased responsibility for administering the city itself and the surrounding districts.", "Offices needed to be built for bureaucracy, so a 12-story office building was erected in the southern part of the historic city centre in the late 1920s.Munich again became important to the Nazis when they took power in Germany in 1933.The party created its first concentration camp at Dachau, north-west of the city.", "Because of its importance to the rise of National Socialism, Munich was referred to as the ''Hauptstadt der Bewegung'' (\"Capital of the Movement\").The NSDAP headquarters and the documentation apparatus for controlling all aspects of life were located in Munich.", "Nazi organizations, such as the National Socialist Women's League and the Gestapo, had their offices along Brienner Straße and around the Königsplatz.", "The party acquired 68 buildings in the area and many ''Führerbauten'' (\"''Führer'' buildings\") were built to reflect a new aesthetic of power.", "Construction work for the Führerbau and the party headquarters (known as the Brown House) started in September 1933.The ''Haus der Kunst'' (House of German Art) was the first building to be commissioned by Hitler.", "The architect Paul Troost was asked to start work shortly after the Nazis had seized power because \"the most German of all German cities\" was left with no exhibition building when in 1931 the Glass Palace was destroyed in an arson.", "The ''Red Terror'' that supposedly preceded Nazi control in Munich, was detailed in Nazi publications, seminal accounts are that of Rudolf Schricker ''Rotmord über München'' published in 1934, and ''Die Blutchronik des Marxismus in Deutschland'' by Adolf Ehrt and Hans Roden.In 1930 ''Feinkost Käfer'' was founded in Munich, the ''Käfer'' catering business is now a world leading party service.The city was the site where the 1938 Munich Agreement signed between the United Kingdom and the Third French Republic with Nazi Germany as part of the Franco-British policy of appeasement.", "The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain assented to the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland in the hopes of satisfying Hitler's territorial expansion.The Munich-Riem Airport was completed in October 1939.On 8 November 1939, shortly after the Second World War had begun, Georg Elser planted a bomb in the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, who held a political party speech.", "Hitler, however, had left the building minutes before the bomb went off.", "By mid 1942 the majority of Jews living in Munich and the suburbs had been deported.Liberated survivors of the Munich-Allach concentration camp greet arriving U.S. troops, 30 April 1945During the war, Munich was the location of multiple forced labour camps, including two ''Polenlager'' camps for Polish youth, and 40 subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp, in which men and women of various nationalities were held.", "With up to 17,000 prisoners in 1945, the largest subcamp of Dachau was the Munich-Allach concentration camp.Munich was the base of the White Rose, a student resistance movement.", "The group had distributed leaflets in several cities and following the 1943 Battle of Stalingrad members of the group stenciled slogans such as \"Down with Hitler\" and \"Hitler the Mass Murderer\" on public buildings in Munich.", "The core members were arrested and executed after Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans Scholl were caught distributing leaflets on Munich University campus calling upon the youth to rise against Hitler.The city was heavily damaged by the bombing of Munich in World War II, with 71 air raids over five years.", "US troops liberated Munich on 30 April 1945.===Postwar===In the aftermath of World War II, Germany and Japan were subject to US Military occupation.", "Due to Polish annexation of the Former eastern territories of Germany and expulsion of Germans from all over Eastern Europe, Munich operated over a thousand refugee camps for 151,113 people in October 1946.After US occupation Munich was completely rebuilt following a meticulous plan, which preserved its pre-war street grid, bar a few exceptions owing to then modern traffic concepts.", "In 1957, Munich's population surpassed one million.", "The city continued to play a highly significant role in the German economy, politics and culture, giving rise to its nickname ''Heimliche Hauptstadt'' (\"secret capital\") in the decades after World War II.", "In Munich, the Bayerischer Rundfunk began its first television broadcast in 1954.The Free State of Bavaria used the arms industry as kernel for its high tech development policy.", "Since 1963, Munich has been hosting the Munich Security Conference, held annually in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.", "Munich also became known on the political level due to the strong influence of Bavarian politician Franz Josef Strauss from the 1960s to the 1980s.", "The Munich Airport, which commenced operations in 1992, was named in his honor.In the early 1960s Dieter Kunzelmann was expelled from the Situationist International and founded an influential group called ''Subversive Aktion'' in Munich.", "Kunzelmann was also active in West Berlin, and became known for using situationist avant-garde as a cover for political violence.A view from the Olympic Tower (Olympiaturm) of the adjacent Olympic VillageMunich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics.", "After winning the bid in 1966 the Mayor of Munich Hans-Jochen Vogel accelerated the construction of the U-Bahn subway and the S-Bahn metropolitan commuter railway.", "In May 1967 the construction work began for a new U-Bahn line connecting the city with the Olympic Park.", "The Olympic Park subway station was built near the BMW Headquarters and the line was completed May 1972, three months before the opening of the 1972 Summer Olympics.", "Shortly before the opening ceremony, Munich also inaugurated a sizable pedestrian priority zone between Karlsplatz and Marienplatz.", "In 1970 the Munich city council released funds so that the iconic gothic facade and Glockenspiel of the ''New City Hall'' (Neues Rathaus) could be restored.During 1972 Summer Olympics 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich massacre, when gunmen from the Palestinian \"Black September\" group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team.The most deadly militant attack the Federal Republic of Germany has ever witnessed, was the Oktoberfest bombing.", "The attack was eventually blamed on militant Neo-Nazism.The Nockherberg beer gardenMunich and its urban sprawl emerged as leading German high tech region during the 1980s and 1990s.", "The urban economy of Munich became characterized by a dynamic labour market, low unemployment, a growing service economy and high per capita income.", "Munich is home of the famous Nockherberg Strong Beer Festival during the Lenten fasting period (usually in March).", "Its origins go back to the 17th/18th century, but has become popular when the festivities were first televised in the 1980s.", "The fest includes comical speeches and a mini-musical in which numerous German politicians are parodied by look-alike actors.In 2007 the ecological restoration of the river Isar in the urban area of Munich was awarded the Water Development Prize by the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (known as DWA in German).", "The renaturation of the Isar allows for the near natural development of the river bed and is part of Munich's flood protection.", "About 20 percent of buildings in Munich now have a green roof, the Munich city council has been encouraging better stormwater management since the 1990s with regulations and subsidies.On the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Norway attacks an active shooter perpetrated a hate crime.", "The 2016 Munich shooting targeted people of Turkish and Arab descent.Munich was one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2020, which was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, and is planned to be a host city for UEFA Euro 2024." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite photo by ESA Sentinel-2===Topography===Munich lies on the elevated plains of Upper Bavaria, about north of the northern edge of the Alps, at an altitude of about ASL.", "The local rivers are the Isar and the Würm.", "Munich is situated in the Northern Alpine Foreland.", "The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile flint area which is no longer affected by the folding processes found in the Alps, while the southern part is covered with morainic hills.", "Between these are fields of fluvio-glacial out-wash, such as around Munich.", "Wherever these deposits get thinner, the ground water can permeate the gravel surface and flood the area, leading to marshes as in the north of Munich.===Climate===Munich is located in close proximity of the Alps.", "Munich has an oceanic climate (''Cfb'') under the Köppen climate classification.", "Annual variation in temperature can be significant, as there are no substantial bodies of water nearby.", "The winter in Munich is generally cold and overcast, while some Munich winters can be marked by significant snow.", "January is the coldest month.", "While winter averages remain only moderately cold, and relatively mild for an elevated inland location of its latitude, inversion from the nearby Alps cause cold air to sink and result temperatures below .", "In Munich the summer is usually pleasantly warm, with daytime temperatures averaging Munich is subject to active convective seasons and on occasion damaging events.", "The Alpine thunderstorm system moves along the mountain range, or detaches, heading east-north-east over the foothills of the Alps.At Munich's official weather stations, the highest and lowest temperatures ever measured are , on 27 July 1983 in Trudering-Riem, and , on 12 February 1929 in the Botanic Garden of the city.====Climate change====In Munich, the general trend of global warming with a rise of medium yearly temperatures of about 1 °C in Germany over the last 120 years can be observed as well.", "In November 2016 the city council concluded officially that a further rise in medium temperature, a higher number of heat extremes, a rise in the number of hot days and nights with temperatures higher than 20 °C (tropical nights), a change in precipitation patterns, as well as a rise in the number of local instances of heavy rain, is to be expected as part of the ongoing climate change.", "The city administration decided to support a joint study from its own Referat für Gesundheit und Umwelt (department for health and environmental issues) and the German Meteorological Service that will gather data on local weather.", "The data is supposed to be used to create a plan for action for adapting the city to better deal with climate change as well as an integrated action program for climate protection in Munich.", "With the help of those programs issues regarding spatial planning and settlement density, the development of buildings and green spaces as well as plans for functioning ventilation in a cityscape can be monitored and managed." ], [ "Demographics", "From only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the city population doubled about every 30 years.", "It was 100,000 in 1852, 250,000 in 1883 and 500,000 in 1901.Since then, Munich has become Germany's third-largest city.", "In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted, and in 1957 over 1 million.", "Munich has reached 1.5 million in 2022.===Immigration===In July 2017, Munich had 1.42 million inhabitants; 421,832 foreign nationals resided in the city as of 31 December 2017 with 50.7% of these residents being citizens of EU member states, and 25.2% citizens in European states not in the EU (including Russia and Turkey).", "Along with the Turks, the Croats are one of the two largest foreign minorities in the city, which is why some Croats refer to Munich as their \"second capital.\"", "The largest groups of foreign nationals were Turks (39,204), Croats (33,177), Italians (27,340), Greeks (27,117), Poles (27,945), Austrians (21,944), and Romanians (18,085).+ Foreign residents by citizenship, 2020 Country Population39,74537,20728,49626,61321,55920,74118,84518,63917,83314,28313,63612,35411,22811,09310,6509,5269,4149,2408,7697,4466,7055,2894,6144,297===Religion===About 45% of Munich's residents are not affiliated with any religious group; this ratio represents the fastest growing segment of the population.", "As in the rest of Germany, the Catholic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous decline in membership.", "As of 31 December 2017, 31.8% of the city's inhabitants were Catholic, 11.4% Protestant, 0.3% Jewish, and 3.6% were members of an Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox).", "About 1% adhere to other Christian denominations.", "There is also a small Old Catholic parish and an English-speaking parish of the Episcopal Church in the city.", "According to Munich Statistical Office, in 2013 about 8.6% of Munich's population was Muslim.Munich has the largest Uyghur population with about 800 (whole Germany about 1,600) people with Uyghur diaspora.", "Many of them fled to Munich due to the Chinese government and are exiled in Munich.", "Munich is also home to World Uyghur Congress, which is an international organisation of exiled Uyghurs." ], [ "Government and politics", "Bavarian State ChancelleryAs the capital of Bavaria, Munich is an important political centre for both the state and country as a whole.", "It is the seat of the Landtag of Bavaria, the State Chancellery, and all state departments.", "Several national and international authorities are located in Munich, including the Federal Finance Court of Germany, the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office.===Mayor===The current mayor of Munich is Dieter Reiter, he is Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).", "He was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020.Bavaria has been dominated by the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) on a federal, state, and local level since the establishment of the Federal Republic in 1949.The Munich city council is called the Stadtrat.The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 March 2020, with a runoff held on 29 March, and the results were as follows:CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round Votes % Votes %Dieter ReiterSocial Democratic Party259,92847.9401,85671.7Kristina FrankChristian Social Union115,79521.3158,77328.3Katrin HabenschadenAlliance 90/The Greens112,12120.7Wolfgang WiehleAlternative for Germany14,9882.8Tobias RuffEcological Democratic Party8,4641.6Jörg HoffmannFree Democratic Party8,2011.5Thomas LechnerThe Left7,2321.3Hans-Peter MehlingFree Voters of Bavaria5,0030.9Moritz WeixlerDie PARTEI3,5080.6Dirk HöpnerMunich List1,9660.4Richard ProglBavaria Party1,9580.4Ender Beyhan-BilginFAIR1,4830.3Stephanie Dilbamut1,2670.2Cetin OranerTogether Bavaria8190.2Valid votes 542,733 99.6 560,629 99.7Invalid votes 1,997 0.4 1,616 0.3Total 544,730 100.0 562,245 100.0Electorate/voter turnout 1,110,571 49.0 1,109,032 50.7Source: Wahlen München (1st round, 2nd round)===City council===Left/PARTEI: 4 seats SPD/Volt: 19 seats Greens/Pink List: 24 seats ÖDP/FW: 6 seats FDP/BP: 4 seats CSU: 20 seats AfD: 3 seatsThe Munich city council (''Stadtrat'') governs the city alongside the Mayor.", "The most recent city council election was held on 15 March 2020, and the results were as follows:Party Lead candidate Votes % +/- Seats +/-Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)Katrin Habenschaden11,762,51629.1 12.523 10Christian Social Union (CSU)Kristina Frank9,986,01424.7 7.820 6Social Democratic Party (SPD)Dieter Reiter8,884,56222.0 8.818 7Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)Tobias Ruff1,598,5394.0 1.43 1Alternative for Germany (AfD)Iris Wassill1,559,4763.9 1.43 1Free Democratic Party (FDP)Jörg Hoffmann1,420,1943.5 0.13±0The Left (Die Linke)Stefan Jagel1,319,4643.3 0.83 1Free Voters of Bavaria (FW)Hans-Peter Mehling1,008,4002.5 0.22±0Volt Germany (Volt)Felix Sproll732,8531.8New1NewDie PARTEI (PARTEI)Marie Burneleit528,9491.3New1NewPink List (Rosa Liste)Thomas Niederbühl396,3241.0 0.91±0Munich ListDirk Höpner339,7050.8New1NewBavaria Party (BP)Richard Progl273,7370.7 0.21±0mutStephanie Dilba247,6790.6New0NewFAIRKemal Orak142,4550.4New0NewTogether Bavaria (ZuBa)Cetin Oraner120,9750.3New0NewBIAKarl Richter86,3580.2 0.50±0Valid votes 531,527 97.6 Invalid votes 12,937 2.4 Total 544,464 100.0 80 ±0Electorate/voter turnout 1,110,571 49.0 7.0 Source: Wahlen München===State Landtag===In the Landtag of Bavaria, Munich is divided between nine constituencies.", "After the 2018 Bavarian state election, the composition and representation of each was as follows: Constituency Area Party Member 101 München-Hadern *Sendling-Westpark, Hadern*Parts of Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln and Laim CSU Georg Eisenreich 102 München-Bogenhausen *Bogenhausen, Berg am Laim*Parts of Au-Haidhausen CSU Robert Brannekämper 103 München-Giesing *Sendling, Obergiesing-Fasangarten*Parts of Untergiesing-Harlaching and Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln GRÜNE Gülseren Demirel 104 München-Milbertshofen *Milbertshofen-Am Hart, Schwabing-West*Parts of Neuhausen-Nymphenburg GRÜNE Katharina Schulze 105 München-Moosach *Moosach, Feldmoching-Hasenbergl*Parts of Neuhausen-Nymphenburg GRÜNE Benjamin Adjei 106 München-Pasing *Pasing-Obermenzing, Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied, Allach-Untermenzing*Parts of Laim CSU Josef Schmid 107 München-Ramersdorf *Ramersdorf-Perlach, Trudering-Riem CSU Markus Blume 108 München-Schwabing *Schwabing-Freimann, Maxvorstadt, Altstadt-Lehe GRÜNE Christian Hierneis 109 München-Mitte *Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Schwanthalerhöhe*Parts of Au-Haidhausen and Untergiesing-Harlaching GRÜNE Ludwig Hartmann=== Federal parliament ===In the Bundestag, Munich is divided between four constituencies.", "In the 20th Bundestag, the composition and representation of each was as follows: Constituency Area Party Member 217 Munich North *Maxvorstadt, Schwabing-West, Moosach, Milbertshofen-Am Hart, Schwabing-Freimann, Feldmoching-Hasenbergl CSU Bernhard Loos 218 Munich East *Altstadt-Lehel, Au-Haidhausen, Bogenhausen, Berg am Laim, Trudering-Riem, Ramersdorf-Perlach CSU Wolfgang Stefinger 219 Munich South *Sendling, Sendling-Westpark, Obergiesing, Untergiesing-Harlaching, Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln, Hadern GRÜNE Jamila Schäfer 220 Munich West/Centre *Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Schwanthalerhöhe, Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, Pasing-Obermenzing, Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied, Allach-Untermenzing, Laim CSU Stephan Pilsinger===Subdivisions===leftSince the reform of 1992, Munich is divided into 25 administrative boroughs (''Stadtbezirke'').", "They are subdivided into 105 statistical areas.Allach-Untermenzing (23), Altstadt-Lehel (1), Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied (22), Au-Haidhausen (5), Berg am Laim (14), Bogenhausen (13), Feldmoching-Hasenbergl (24), Hadern (20), Laim (25), Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt (2), Maxvorstadt (3), Milbertshofen-Am Hart (11), Moosach (10), Neuhausen-Nymphenburg (9), Obergiesing (17), Pasing-Obermenzing (21), Ramersdorf-Perlach (16), Schwabing-Freimann (12), Schwabing-West (4), Schwanthalerhöhe (8), Sendling (6), Sendling-Westpark (7), Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln (19), Trudering-Riem (15), and Untergiesing-Harlaching (18).There is no official division into districts.", "The number of districts is about 50, and if smaller units are counted as well, there are about 90 to 100 (see map).", "The three largest districts are Schwabing in the north (about 110,000 inhabitants), Sendling in the southwest (about 100,000 inhabitants), and Giesing in the south (about 80,000 inhabitants)." ], [ "Architecture", "New Town Hall and MarienplatzFrauenkircheOld Town Hall and Heiliggeistkirche seen from Viktualienmarkt |thumb===Old Town===The Ruffinihaus at RindermarktAt the centre of the old town is the Marienplatz with the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall.", "Its tower contains the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.", "The Peterskirche is the oldest church of the inner city.", "Nearby St. Peter the Gothic hall-church Heiliggeistkirche was converted to baroque style from 1724 onwards and looks down upon the Viktualienmarkt.", "Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification survive, these are the Isartor, the Sendlinger Tor, and the Karlstor.", "The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a square dominated by the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice).The Frauenkirche serves as the cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.", "The nearby Michaelskirche is the largest renaissance church north of the Alps, while the Theatinerkirche is a basilica in Italianate high baroque, which had a major influence on southern German baroque architecture.", "Its dome dominates the Odeonsplatz.===Palaces and castles===The Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Palace) and the smaller Schloss Fürstenried (Fürstenried Palace) were erected around the same time in Munich.", "Northwest of Nymphenburg Palace is Schloss Blutenburg (Blutenburg Castle).The large Munich Residenz complex on the edge of Munich's Old Town now ranks among Europe's most significant museums of interior decoration.", "Within the is the splendid Cuvilliés Theatre and next door is the National Theatre Munich.", "Among the mansions that still exist in Munich are the Palais Porcia, the Palais Preysing, the Palais Holnstein and the Prinz-Carl-Palais.", "All mansions are situated close to the , so is the Alter Hof, the first residence of the House of Wittelsbach.===Modernist architecture===Despite Munich being the breeding ground for German Jugendstil, starting with the architect Martin Dülfer, Munich Jugendstil style was quickly submerged in historic trash.", "While the modernist architect Theodor Fischer was based in Munich, his influence on Munich underwhelmed.", "Prior to 1914 the city of Munich was under-industrialized.", "During the Weimar Republic, the Munich establishment was hostile to modernism.", "The TUM professor German Bestelmeyer favored a conservative style, and Jacobus Oud was rejected for the post of city building chief.", "Modernist exceptions include a series of post offices by Robert Vorhoelzer built in the late 1920s and early 1930s.", "Examples of avant-garde temporary constructions include the ''Wohnmaschine'' (''Housing Machine'') by Robert Vorhoelzer, as well as the ''Flachdachhaus'' (''Flat Roof House'') by Fritz Norkauer.", "Paul Schultze-Naumburg, and the Kampfbund enjoyed particular popularity.===High rise buildings===HVB Tower at ArabellaparkSeveral high-rise buildings are clustered at the northern edge of Munich in the skyline, like the HVB Tower, the Arabella High-Rise Building, the Highlight Towers, Uptown Munich, Münchner Tor and the BMW Headquarters next to the Olympic Park.", "Further high-rise buildings are located in the in Berg am Laim.===Long-term residential development ===Munich is subject to a long-term residential development plan that is established by the city administration of Munich.", "The LaSie (\"Langfristige Siedlungsentwicklung\") was passed in 2011 in response to the acute housing crisis.", "LaSie is aligned with the strategic development plan passed for Munich in 1998 (\"Perspektive München\").", "LaSie defines three priorities for the construction of residential housing in Munich.", "Existing housing estates, post-war low-density developments, and the suburban area are subject to densification (\"Nachverdichtung\").", "Non-residential industrial areas are subject to conservation and will be turned into residential and mixed-use areas.", "On greenfield sites in the Munich periphery medium and large-scale housing estates are to be built so as to extend Munich's urban center." ], [ "Parks", "Olympiapark, public viewing during FIFA World Cup 2006Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell became famous for designing the Englischer Garten between 1789 and 1807.Besides planning the first public garden in Europe, Sckell also redesigned Baroque gardens as landscape gardens, including the parks of Nymphenburg Palace and the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg.Other large green spaces are the Olympiapark, the Westpark and the Ostpark.", "The city's oldest park is the Hofgarten, near the Residenz, dating back to the 16th century.", "The site of the largest beer garden in town, the former royal Hirschgarten, was founded in 1780." ], [ "Sports", "===Football===Allianz Arena, also the home stadium of FC Bayern MunichOlympiasee in Olympiapark, MunichMunich is home to several professional Association football teams including the FC Bayern Munich.", "Other notable clubs include 1860 Munich, who currently play in the 3.Liga, and former Bundesliga club SpVgg Unterhaching, who currently play in the 3.Liga.===Basketball===FC Bayern Munich Basketball is currently playing in the Beko Basket Bundesliga.", "The city hosted the final stages of the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, where the German national basketball team won the gold medal.===Ice hockey===The city's ice hockey club is EHC Red Bull München who play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.", "The team has won four DEL Championships, in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2023.===Olympics===Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics; the Munich massacre took place in the Olympic village.", "It was one of the host cities for the 2006 Football World Cup, which was not held in Munich's Olympic Stadium, but in a new football specific stadium, the Allianz Arena.", "Munich bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but lost to Pyeongchang.", "In September 2011 the DOSB President Thomas Bach confirmed that Munich would bid again for the Winter Olympics in the future.", "These plans were abandoned some time later.===Road running===Regular annual road running events in Munich are the Munich Marathon in October, the Stadtlauf end of June, the company run B2Run in July, the New Year's Run on 31 December, the Spartan Race Sprint, the Olympia Alm Crosslauf and the Bestzeitenmarathon.===Swimming===Olympia SchwimmhallePublic sporting facilities in Munich include ten indoor swimming pools and eight outdoor swimming pools, which are operated by the Munich City Utilities (SWM) communal company.", "Popular indoor swimming pools include the Olympia Schwimmhalle of the 1972 Summer Olympics, the wave pool Cosimawellenbad, as well as the Müllersches Volksbad which was built in 1901.Further, swimming within Munich's city limits is also possible in several artificial lakes such as for example the Riemer See or the Langwieder lake district.===River surfing===Surfer on the Eisbach river waveRiver surfing is a popular sport in Munich.", "The Flosskanal wave in the south of Munich is less challenging.", "A well visited surfing spot for experienced surfers is the Eisbach standing wave, where the annual Munich Surf Open is celebrated on the last Saturday of July." ], [ "Culture", "===Language===German is spoken and understood in and around Munich.", "While the German language has many dialects, so-called \"Standard German\" or \"High German\" is learned in schools and spoken among Germans, Austrians and in some parts of Switzerland.", "A speaker of a Low German dialect in Hamburg may find it difficult to understand the dialect of a Bavarian mountaineer.", "The Bavarian dialects are recognized as regional language and continues to be spoken alongside Standard German.===Museums===Deutsches MuseumThe GlyptothekThe gothic Morris dancers of Erasmus Grasser are exhibited in the Munich City Museum in the old gothic arsenal building in the inner city.In 1903 Oskar von Miller assembled a group of engineers and industrialists, who chartered the Deutsches Museum.", "The Museum was built with the financial support of the German business and imperial nobility community, as well as the blessing of Wilhelm II, German Emperor.", "The Deutsches Museum had its grand opening in 1925, but has undergone a reinvention recently.", "The Deutsches Museum now operates three locations.", "The original site in central Munich continues to expand its exhibits.Bavarian National MuseumThe city has several important art galleries, most of which can be found in the Kunstareal.", "The Lenbachhaus displays works of the movement Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a Munich-based modernist art.Starting in 1970s, German municipalities started to respond to cultural tourism and invested in public museums.", "The Neue Pinakothek, like other German museums, was wholly reconstructed from 1974 until 1981.The Pinakothek der Moderne lets the public see an eclectic mix of contemporary art and the principle attention of the permanent collection is Classical Moderns.", "But the displays are enhanced continuously with spectacular gifts from private collections.City guides published in the early 1860s directed tourists to Munich's architecture and art collections, which at the time were unique in Germany and are a legacy mainly of Ludwig I of Bavaria, with contributions from Maximilian II of Bavaria.", "The Alte Pinakothek contains works of European masters between the 14th and 18th centuries.", "Major displays include Albrecht Dürer's ''Self-Portrait'' (1500), his ''Four Apostles'', Raphael's paintings ''The Canigiani Holy Family'' and ''Madonna Tempi'' as well as Peter Paul Rubens large ''Judgment Day''.", "BMW WeltAn extensive collection of Greek and Roman art is held in the Glyptothek and the Staatliche Antikensammlungen (the State Antiquities Collections).", "Works on display include the Medusa Rondanini, the Barberini Faun and figures from the Temple of Aphaea on Aegina for the Glyptothek.", "Another interesting museum is the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst (the State Collection of Egyptian Art).Several public collections of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich are still housed in the Kunstareal.", "The expanded state collections are housed in the Paläontologisches Museum München, and the Zoologische Staatssammlung München.", "After the first German art exhibition in the Glaspalast for an international audience in 1869, Munich emerged as a focal point for the arts.", "Men of distinction from around the world visited the Academy of Fine Arts under the directorship of Karl von Piloty and later Wilhelm von Kaulbach.The Museum Five Continents is the second largest collection in Germany of artefacts and objects from outside Europe, while the Bavarian National Museum and the adjoining Bavarian State Archaeological Collection display regional art and cultural history.", "The Schackgalerie is an important gallery of German 19th-century paintings.The memorial museum of the former Dachau concentration camp is just outside the city.===Music===National TheatreMunich is a major international musical centre and has played host to many prominent composers including Orlande de Lassus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Max Reger and Carl Orff.", "Some of classical music's best-known compositions have been created in and around Munich by composers born in the area, for example, Richard Strauss's tone poem ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' or Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana''.===Opera===GasteigRichard Wagner was a supporter of William I, German Emperor, but Wagner only found a generous patron in Ludwig II of Bavaria.", "1870 til 1871 Wagner premiered Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg'') in Munich, a popular success for Wagner and King Ludwig II.", "Wagner premiered at the Hoftheater, now the National Theatre Munich, with Angelo Quaglio the Younger designing the premiere production.The National Theatre Munich is now the home of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra.", "Next door, the modern Residenz Theatre was erected in the building that also houses the Cuvilliés Theatre.", "The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz is a state theater while another opera house, the Prinzregententheater, has become the home of the Bavarian Theater Academy and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.===Orchestra===The modern Gasteig centre houses the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.", "The third orchestra in Munich with international importance is the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.", "Its primary concert venue is the Herkulessaal in the former city royal residence, the Munich Residenz.", "Many important conductors have been attracted by the city's orchestras, including Felix Weingartner, Hans Pfitzner, Hans Rosbaud, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sergiu Celibidache, James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Rafael Kubelík, Eugen Jochum, Sir Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Bruno Walter, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano.", "A stage for shows, big events and musicals is the Deutsche Theater.", "It is Germany's largest theatre for guest performances.The Golden Friedensengel===Pop and electronica===Munich was the centre of Krautrock in southern Germany, with many important bands such as Amon Düül II, Embryo or Popol Vuh hailing from the city.", "In the 1970s, the Musicland Studios developed into one of the most prominent recording studios in the world, with bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen recording albums there.", "Munich also played a significant role in the development of electronic music, with genre pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who invented synth disco and electronic dance music, and Donna Summer, one of disco music's most important performers, both living and working in the city.", "In the late 1990s, Electroclash was substantially co-invented if not even invented in Munich, when DJ Hell introduced and assembled international pioneers of this musical genre through his International DeeJay Gigolo Records label here.Other notable musicians and bands from Munich include Konstantin Wecker, Willy Astor, Spider Murphy Gang, Münchener Freiheit, Lou Bega, Megaherz, FSK, Colour Haze and Sportfreunde Stiller.Munich hosted several ''Love Parades'' and ''Mayday Party'' rave events throughout the 1990s.", "Munich continues to rave, the local youth scenes are active.===Theatre===The Munich Kammerspiele is one of the most important German-language theaters.", "Since Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's premieres in 1775 many important writers have staged their plays in Munich, they include Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Henrik Ibsen, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.===Schwabing===Wassily Kandinsky's ''Houses in Munich'' (1908)At the turn of the 20th century Schwabing was a preeminent cultural metropolis.", "Schwabing was an epicenter for both literature and the fine arts, with numerous German and non-German artists living there.Vladimir Lenin authored ''What Is to Be Done?''", "while living in Schwabing.", "Central to Schwabing's bohemian scene were ''Künstlerlokale'' (''Artist's Cafés'') like Café Stefanie or Kabarett Simpl, whose liberal ways differed fundamentally from Munich's more traditional localities.", "The Simpl, which survives to this day, was named after Munich's anti-authoritarian satirical magazine ''Simplicissimus'', founded in 1896 by Albert Langen and Thomas Theodor Heine, which quickly became an important organ of the ''Schwabinger Bohème''.", "Its caricatures and biting satirical attacks on Wilhelmine German society were the result of countless of collaborative efforts by many of the best visual artists and writers from Munich and elsewhere.In 1971 Eckart Witzigmann teamed up with a Munich building contractor to finance and open the ''Tantris'' restaurant in Schwabing.", "Witzigmann is credited for starting the German ''Küchenwunder'' (''kitchen wonder'').===Biedermeier===The Biedermeier era was named after a character that regularly appeared in the satire magazine ''Münchner Fliegende Blätter'' (''Loose Munich Pages''), which was published by Adolf Kussmaul and Ludwig Eichrodt in Munich between 1855 and 1857.Biedermeier was a synonym for arts, furniture, and the lifestyle of the nonheroic middle class.", "The Biedermeier era painters Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Moritz von Schwind, and Carl Spitzweg are shown in the Neue Pinakothek.===Prinzregentenzeit===Celebrity literary figures worked in Munich especially during the final decades of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the so-called ''Prinzregentenzeit'' (literally ''prince regent's time'') under the reign of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria.", "This includes Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ludwig Thoma, Fanny zu Reventlow, Oskar Panizza, Gustav Meyrink, Max Halbe, Erich Mühsam and Frank Wedekind.===Weimar Republic===Portrait of Oskar Maria Graf by Georg Schrimpf (1927)The period immediately before World War I saw continued economic and cultural prominence for the city.", "Thomas Mann wrote in his novella ''Gladius Dei'' about this period: \"München leuchtete\" (literally \"Munich shone\").", "Munich remained a centre of cultural life during the Weimar Republic, with figures such as Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertolt Brecht, Peter Paul Althaus, Stefan George, Ricarda Huch, Joachim Ringelnatz, Oskar Maria Graf, Annette Kolb, Ernst Toller, Hugo Ball, and Klaus Mann adding to the already established big names.Karl Valentin, the cabaret performer and comedian, is to this day remembered and beloved as a cultural icon of his hometown.", "Between 1910 and 1940, he wrote and performed in many absurdist sketches and short films that were highly influential, earning him the nickname of \"Charlie Chaplin of Germany\".Liesl Karlstadt, before working together with Valentin, cross-dressed and performed cabaret with yodeling on stage and in Munich's Cafe-Theatres.", "The cabaret scene was crushed when the Nazis seized power in 1933 and Karlstadt was saved from Nazi sterilization by a doctor.", "Contemporary Munich cabaret still reverences 1920s cabaret, the Munich alternative rock band F.S.K.", "absorbs yodels.===Post-war literature===After World War II, Munich soon again became a focal point of the German literary scene and remains so to this day, with writers as diverse as Wolfgang Koeppen, Erich Kästner, Eugen Roth, Alfred Andersch, Elfriede Jelinek, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Michael Ende, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Gerhard Polt and Patrick Süskind calling the city their home.===Fine arts===From the Gothic to the Baroque era, the fine arts were represented in Munich by artists like Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Johann Baptist Straub, Ignaz Günther, Hans Krumpper, Ludwig von Schwanthaler, Cosmas Damian Asam, Egid Quirin Asam, Johann Baptist Zimmermann, Johann Michael Fischer and François de Cuvilliés.", "Munich had already become an important place for painters like Carl Rottmann, Lovis Corinth, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Carl Spitzweg, Franz von Lenbach, Franz Stuck, Karl Piloty and Wilhelm Leibl.===Cinema===Munich was (and in some cases, still is) home to many of the most important authors of the New German Cinema movement, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Edgar Reitz and Herbert Achternbusch.", "In 1971, the Filmverlag der Autoren was founded, cementing the city's role in the movement's history.", "Munich served as the location for many of Fassbinder's films, among them ''Ali: Fear Eats the Soul''.", "The Hotel Deutsche Eiche near Gärtnerplatz was somewhat like a centre of operations for Fassbinder and his \"clan\" of actors.", "New German Cinema is considered by far the most important artistic movement in German cinema history since the era of German Expressionism in the 1920s.Logo of Bavaria FilmIn 1919, the Bavaria Film Studios were founded, which developed into one of Europe's largest film studios.", "Directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, John Huston, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Claude Chabrol, Fritz Umgelter, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wolfgang Petersen and Wim Wenders made films there.", "Among the internationally well-known films produced at the studios are ''The Pleasure Garden'' (1925) by Alfred Hitchcock, ''The Great Escape'' (1963) by John Sturges, ''Paths of Glory'' (1957) by Stanley Kubrick, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971) by Mel Stuart and both (1981) and ''The Neverending Story'' (1984) by Wolfgang Petersen.", "Munich remains one of the centres of the German film and entertainment industry.===Festivals===Oktoberfest====Coopers' Dance====Neuhausen, 2012The Coopers' Dance () is a guild dance of coopers originally started in Munich.", "Since early 1800s the custom spread via journeymen in it is now a common tradition over the Old Bavaria region.", "The dance was supposed to be held every seven years.====Starkbierfest====March and April, for three weeks during Lent, celebrating Munich's \"strong beer\".", "Starkbier was created in 1651 by the local Paulinerkirche, Leipzig monks who drank this 'Flüssiges Brot', or 'liquid bread'.", "It became a public festival in 1751 and is now the second largest beer festival in Munich.", "A Starkbierfest may be celebrated in beer halls and pubs.====Frühlingsfest====Held for two weeks at the Theresienwiese from the end of April to the beginning of May, the new local spring beers are served.====Auer Dult====A regular event combining a market and a German style folk festival on the Mariahilfplatz.", "The Auer Dult can be up to 300 stalls, selling handmade crafts, household goods, and local foods.====Kocherlball====Munich's Kocherlball (''Cooks' Ball'') is an annual event, to commemorate all servants, ranging from kitchenhands to cooks.", "The tradition started in the 19th century.====Tollwood====Tollwood WinterfestivalUsually held annually in July and December, Olympia Park.", "The Tollwood Festival showcases fine and performing arts with live music, and several lanes of booths selling handmade crafts, as well as Organic food, mostly Fusion cuisine.====Oktoberfest====At the Theresienwiese, the largest beer festival in the world, Munich's Oktoberfest runs for 16–18 days from the end of September through early October.", "In the last 200 years the festival has grown to span 85 acres and now welcomes over six million visitors every year.", "Beer is served from the six major Munich breweries.", "These are Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Löwenbräu Brewery, Paulaner Brewery, Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu, and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München.", "Food must be bought in each tent.====Christkindlmarkt====The Munich Christkindlmarkt started to evolve in the 14th century.", "The German Christkindlmarkt reached the desired accomplishment in the 17th century in Nuremberg.===Cuisine and culinary specialities===Weisswurst with sweet mustard and a pretzelThe Munich cuisine contributes to the Bavarian cuisine.", "Munich Weisswurst (\"white sausage\", ''German: Münchner Weißwurst'') was invented here in 1857.It is a Munich speciality.", "Traditionally Weisswurst is served in pubs before noon and is served with sweet mustard and freshly baked pretzels.Munich has 11 restaurants that have been awarded one or more Michelin Guide stars in 2021.===Beers and breweries===Helles beerAugustiner breweryBeer garden in MunichMunich is known for its breweries and Weissbier (''wheat beer'').", "Helles, a pale lager with a translucent gold color, is the most popular contemporary Munich beer.", "Helles has largely replaced Munich's dark beer, known as Dunkel, which gets its color from roasted malt.", "It was the typical beer in Munich in the 19th century.", "Starkbier is the strongest Munich beer, with a high alcohol content of 6%–9%.", "It is dark amber in color and has a heavy malty taste.", "The beer served at Oktoberfest is a special type of beer with a higher alcohol content.Wirtshäuser are traditional Bavarian pubs, many of which also have small outside areas.", "Biergärten (''beer gardens'') are a popular fixture in Munich's gastronomic landscape.", "They are central to the city's culture, and are an overt melting pot for members of all walks of life, regardless of social class.", "There are many smaller beer gardens, but some beer gardens have thousands of seats.", "Large beer gardens can be found in the Englischer Garten, on the Nockherberg, and in the Hirschgarten.There are six main breweries in Munich are Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu.", "Smaller breweries are becoming more prevalent in Munich.===Circus===The Circus Krone based in Munich is one of the largest circuses in Europe.", "It was the first and still is one of only a few in Western Europe to also occupy a building of its own.===Nightlife===The party ship Alte UttingNightlife in Munich is located mostly in the boroughs Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Maxvorstadt, Au-Haidhausen, Berg am Laim and Sendling.", "Between Sendlinger Tor and Maximiliansplatz, on the edge of the central Altstadt-Lehel district, there is also the so-called Feierbanane (party banana), a roughly banana-shaped unofficial party zone spanning along Sonnenstraße, characterized by a high concentration of clubs, bars and restaurants, which became the center of Munich's nightlife in the mid-2000s.Bahnwärter ThielIn the 1960s and 1970s, Schwabing was considered a center of nightlife in Germany, with internationally known clubs such as Big Apple, ''PN hit-house'', ''Domicile'', ''Hot Club'', ''Piper Club'', ''Tiffany'', Germany's first large-scale discotheque Blow Up and the underwater nightclub Yellow Submarine, and Munich has been called \"New York's big disco sister\" in this context.", "Bars in the Schwabing district of this era include, among many others, Schwabinger 7 and ''Schwabinger Podium''.", "Since the 1980s, however, Schwabing has lost much of its nightlife activity due to gentrification and the resulting high rents, and the formerly wild artists' and students' quarter developed into one of the city's most coveted and expensive residential districts, attracting affluent citizens with little interest in partying.Since the 1960s, the ''Rosa Viertel'' (pink quarter) developed in the Glockenbachviertel and around ''Gärtnerplatz'', which in the 1980s made Munich \"one of the four gayest metropolises in the world\" along with San Francisco, New York City and Amsterdam.", "In particular, the area around Müllerstraße and ''Hans-Sachs-Straße'' was characterized by numerous gay bars and nightclubs.", "One of them was the travesty nightclub ''Old Mrs. Henderson'', where Freddie Mercury, who lived in Munich from 1979 to 1985, filmed the music video for the song ''Living on My Own'' at his 39th birthday party.Since the mid-1990s, the ''Kunstpark Ost'' and its successor ''Kultfabrik'', a former industrial complex that was converted to a large party area near München Ostbahnhof in Berg am Laim, hosted more than 30 clubs and was especially popular among younger people from the metropolitan area surrounding Munich and tourists.", "The Kultfabrik was closed at the end of the year 2015 to convert the area into a residential and office area.", "Apart from the Kultfarbik and the smaller ''Optimolwerke'', there is a wide variety of establishments in the urban parts of nearby Haidhausen.", "Before the Kunstpark Ost, there had already been an accumulation of internationally known nightclubs in the remains of the abandoned former Munich-Riem Airport.Blitz Club on MuseumsinselMunich nightlife tends to change dramatically and quickly.", "Establishments open and close every year, and due to gentrification and the overheated housing market many survive only a few years, while others last longer.", "Beyond the already mentioned venues of the 1960s and 1970s, nightclubs with international recognition in recent history included ''Tanzlokal Größenwahn'', The Atomic Café and the techno clubs Babalu Club, Ultraschall, , , , ''Die Registratur'' and ''Bob Beaman''.", "From 1995 to 2001, Munich was also home to the Union Move, one of the largest technoparades in Germany.Munich has the highest density of music venues of any German city, followed by Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin.", "Within the city's limits are more than 100 nightclubs and thousands of bars and restaurants.Some notable nightclubs are: popular techno clubs are Blitz Club, ''Harry Klein'', ''Rote Sonne'', Bahnwärter Thiel, ''Pimpernel'', ''Charlie'', ''Palais'' and ''Pathos''.", "Popular mixed music clubs are ''Call me Drella'', ''Wannda Circus'', ''Tonhalle'', ''Backstage'', ''Muffathalle'', ''Ampere'', ''Pacha'', ''P1'', Zenith, ''Minna Thiel'' and the party ship Alte Utting.", "Some notable bars (pubs are located all over the city) are ''Schumann's Bar'', ''Havana Club'', ''Sehnsucht'', ''Bar Centrale'', ''Holy Home'', ''Negroni'', ''Die Goldene Bar'' and ''Bei Otto''." ], [ "Education", "===Colleges and universities===LMUTechnical UniversityUniversity of Applied Sciences (HM)Academy of Fine Arts MunichMunich is a leading location for science and research with a long list of Nobel Prize laureates from Wilhelm Röntgen in 1901 to Theodor W. Hänsch in 2005.The Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) and the Technische Universität München (TUM), were two of the first three German universities to be awarded the title ''elite university'' by a selection committee composed of academics and members of the Ministries of Education and Research of the Federation and the German states (Länder).", "*Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), founded in 1472 in Ingolstadt, moved to Munich in 1826*Technical University of Munich (TUM), founded in 1868*Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, founded in 1808*Bundeswehr University Munich, founded in 1973 (located in Neubiberg)*Deutsche Journalistenschule, founded in 1959*Bayerische Akademie für Außenwirtschaft, founded in 1989*Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, founded in 1830*International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, founded in 2005*International School of Management, Germany, founded in 1990*Katholische Stiftungsfachhochschule München, founded in 1971*Munich Business School (MBS), founded in 1991*Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), founded in 2003*Munich School of Philosophy, founded in 1925 in Pullach, moved to Munich in 1971*Munich School of Political Science, founded in 1950*Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM), founded in 1971*New European College, founded in 2014*Ukrainian Free University, founded in 1921 (from 1945 – in Munich)*University of Television and Film Munich (''Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film''), founded in 1966===Primary and secondary schools===Notable Gymnasien in Munich include the Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium, the Luitpold Gymnasium, the Wilhelmsgymnasium, as well as the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium.", "Munich has several notable international schools, including Lycée Jean Renoir, the Japanische Internationale Schule München, the Bavarian International School, the Munich International School, and the European School, Munich.===Scientific research institutions===Fraunhofer headquarters in Munich===Max Planck Society===The Max Planck Society, a government funded non-profit research organization, has its administrative headquarters in Munich.===Fraunhofer Society===The Fraunhofer Society, the German government funded research organization for applied research, has its headquarters in Munich.===Other research institutes===European Southern Observatory's headquarters in Garching*Botanische Staatssammlung München, a notable herbarium*Ifo Institute for Economic Research, theoretical and applied research in economics and finance*Doerner Institute*European Southern Observatory*Helmholtz Zentrum München*Zoologische Staatssammlung München*German Aerospace Center (GSOC), Oberpfaffenhofen bei München" ], [ "International relations", "===Twin towns and sister cities===Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) showing Munich's twin towns and sister citiesMunich is twinned with:*Edinburgh, United Kingdom (1954)*Verona, Italy (1960)*Bordeaux, France (1964)*Sapporo, Japan (1972)*Cincinnati, United States (1989)*Kyiv, Ukraine (1989)*Harare, Zimbabwe (1996)*Beersheba, Israel (2021)" ], [ "Economy", "BMW Headquarters building (one of the few buildings that has been built from the top to the bottom) and the bowl-shaped BMW MuseumBMW Museum EntranceSiemens-Forum in MunichThe HypoVereinsbank towerMunich has the strongest economy of any German city according to a study and the lowest unemployment rate (5.4% in July 2020) of any German city of more than a million people (the others being Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne).", "Munich ranks third on the list of German cities by gross domestic product (GDP).", "In addition, it is one of the most attractive business locations in Germany.", "The city is also the economic centre of southern Germany.", "Munich topped the ranking of the magazine ''Capital'' in February 2005 for the economic prospects between 2002 and 2011 in 60 German cities.Munich is a financial center and global city that holds the headquarters of many companies.", "This includes more companies listed by the DAX than any other German city, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as McDonald's and Microsoft.", "One of the best-known newly established Munich companies is Flixbus.===Manufacturing===Munich holds the headquarters of Siemens AG (electronics), BMW (car), MAN AG (truck manufacturer, engineering), MTU Aero Engines (aircraft engine manufacturer), Linde (gases) and Rohde & Schwarz (electronics).", "Among German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, purchasing power is highest in Munich (€26,648 per inhabitant) .", "In 2006, Munich blue-collar workers enjoyed an average hourly wage of €18.62 (ca.", "$20).The breakdown by cities proper (not metropolitan areas) of Global 500 cities listed Munich in 8th position in 2009.Munich is also a centre for biotechnology, software and other service industries.", "Furthermore, Munich is the home of the headquarters of many other large companies such as the injection moulding machine manufacturer Krauss-Maffei, the camera and lighting manufacturer Arri, the semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies (headquartered in the suburban town of Neubiberg), lighting giant Osram, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as Microsoft.===Finance===Munich has significance as a financial centre (second only to Frankfurt), being home of HypoVereinsbank and the Bayerische Landesbank.", "It outranks Frankfurt though as home of insurance companies such as Allianz (insurance) and Munich Re (re-insurance).===Media===Munich is the largest publishing city in Europe and home to the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', one of Germany's biggest daily newspapers.", "The city is also the location of the programming headquarters of Germany's largest public broadcasting network, ARD, while the largest commercial network, Pro7-Sat1 Media AG, is headquartered in the suburb of Unterföhring.", "The headquarters of the German branch of Random House, the world's largest publishing house, and of Burda publishing group are also in Munich.The Bavaria Film Studios are located in the suburb of Grünwald.", "They are one of Europe's biggest film production studios." ], [ "Quality of life", "Most Munich residents enjoy a high quality of life.", "Mercer HR Consulting consistently rates the city among the top 10 cities with the highest quality of life worldwide – a 2011 survey ranked Munich as 4th.", "In 2007 the same company also ranked Munich as the 39th most expensive in the world and most expensive major city in Germany.", "Munich enjoys a thriving economy, driven by the information technology, biotechnology, and publishing sectors.", "Environmental pollution is low, although the city council is concerned about levels of particulate matter (PM), especially along the city's major thoroughfares.", "Since the enactment of EU legislation concerning the concentration of particulate in the air, environmental groups such as Greenpeace have staged large protest rallies to urge the city council and the state government to take a harder stance on pollution.", "Due to the high standard of living in and the thriving economy of the city and the region, there was an influx of people and Munich's population surpassed 1.5 million by June 2015, an increase of more than 20% in 10 years." ], [ "Transport", "Munich has an extensive public transport system consisting of an underground metro, trams, buses and high-speed rail.", "In 2015, the transport modal share in Munich was 38 percent public transport, 25 percent car, 23 percent walking, and 15 percent bicycle.", "Its public transport system delivered 566 million passenger trips that year.Munich is the hub of a developed regional transportation system, including the second-largest airport in Germany and the Berlin–Munich high-speed railway, which connects Munich to the German capital city with a journey time of about 4 hours.", "Flixmobility which offers intercity coach service is headquartered in Munich.The trade fair Transport Logistic is held every two years at the ''Neue Messe München'' (Messe München International).===Public transport===Public transport networkA class R2 ''Straßenbahn'' (''Tram'') on route 19 at OstbahnhofMunich's S-Bahn at the Marienplatz stationFor its urban population of 2.6 million people, Munich and its closest suburbs have a comprehensive network of public transport incorporating the Munich U-Bahn, the Munich S-Bahn, trams and buses.", "The system is supervised by the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (''Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund'').", "The Munich tramway is the oldest existing public transportation system in the city, which has been in operation since 1876.Munich also has an extensive network of bus lines.", "The average amount of time people spend commuting to and from work with public transit in Munich on a weekday is 56 min.The extensive network of subway and tram lines assists and complement pedestrian movement in the city centre.", "The 700m-long Kaufinger Straße, which starts near the Main train station, forms a pedestrian east–west spine that traverses almost the entire centre.", "Major spines and many smaller streets cover an extensive area of the centre that can be enjoyed on foot and bike.", "These attributes result from applying the principle of filtered permeability.", "Pedestrian and bike paths, which permeate the entire Munich city centre, go through public squares and open spaces for enjoyment.", "Munich city centre was subject to urban planning and has a comprehensive model for laying out neighborhoods and districts according to grid plan.===Cycling===Map of Munich's cycling networkCycling has a strong presence in the city and is recognized as a good alternative.", "The growing number of bicycle lanes are widely used throughout the year.", "Cycle paths can be found alongside the majority of sidewalks and streets, although the newer or renovated ones are much easier to tell apart from pavements than older ones.", "A modern bike hire system is available within the area bounded by the ''Mittlerer Ring''.===Cultural history trails and bicycle routes===Since 2001, historically interesting places in Munich can be explored via the List of cultural history trails in Munich (''KulturGeschichtsPfade'').", "Sign-posted cycle routes are the Outer ''Äußere Radlring'' (outer cycle route) and the ''RadlRing München''.===Munich Central Train Station===München Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station located in the city centre and is the long-distance station in Munich.Munich Central Train Station serves about 450,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in Germany.", "Munich Central Train Station alongside München Ost railway station are two of the 21 stations in Germany classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 station.The central mainline station is a terminal station with 32 platforms.", "The subterranean S-Bahn with 2 platforms and U-Bahn stations with 6 platforms are through stations.The Intercity-Express (ICE) stop at Munich Central Train Station.", "InterCity and EuroCity trains to destinations east of Munich also stop at the München Ost railway station.", "Munich is connected to Nuremberg via Ingolstadt by the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway and Berlin–Munich high-speed railway.The old air raid shelter next to platform 11 of Munich Central Train Station was an important distribution point for guest workers (''Gastarbeiter'') between 1960 and 1973.At peak more than 1,000 guest workers arrived per day, in total 1.8 million guest workers passed through Munich Central Train Station.===Autobahns===motorway networkMunich is an integral part of the Autobahn network of southern Germany.", "Motorways from Stuttgart (W), Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Berlin (N), Deggendorf and Passau (E), Salzburg and Innsbruck (SE), Garmisch Partenkirchen (S) and Lindau (SW) terminate at Munich, allowing direct access to the different parts of Germany, Austria and Italy.Traffic is often very heavy in and around Munich.", "Traffic congestion are commonplace at the beginning and end of major Bavarian holidays.", "There are few \"green waves\" or roundabouts, and an abundance of construction sites.Munich has introduced an environmental zone and was among the first German cities to require a green sticker for vehicles, these are an requirement when entering the city or driving in the wider surrounding area.=== Air =======Munich International Airport====Munich International Airport (MUC)Franz Josef Strauss International Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM) is the second-largest airport in Germany and seventh-largest in Europe after London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid and Istanbul Atatürk.", "It is used by about 46 million passengers a year, and lies some north east of the city centre.", "It replaced the smaller Munich-Riem Airport in 1992.The airport can be reached by suburban train lines from the city.", "From the main railway station the journey takes 40–45 minutes.", "An express train will be added that will cut down travel time to 20–25 minutes with limited stops on dedicated tracks.", "A magnetic levitation train (called Transrapid), which was to have run at speeds of up to from the central station to the airport in a travel time of 10 minutes, had been approved, but was cancelled in March 2008 because of cost escalation and after heavy protests.", "Lufthansa opened its second hub at the airport when Terminal 2 was opened in 2003.====Other airports====In 2008, the Bavarian state government granted a licence to expand Oberpfaffenhofen Air Station located west of Munich, for commercial use.", "These plans were opposed by many residents in the Oberpfaffenhofen area as well as other branches of local government, including the city of Munich, which took the case to court.", "However, in October 2009, the permit allowing up to 9725 business flights per year to depart from or land at Oberpfaffenhofen was confirmed by a regional judge.Despite being from Munich, Memmingen Airport has been advertised as Airport Munich West.", "After 2005, passenger traffic of nearby Augsburg Airport was relocated to Munich Airport, leaving the Augsburg region of Bavaria without an air passenger airport within close reach." ], [ "Around Munich", "===Nearby towns===The Munich agglomeration sprawls across the plain of the Alpine foothills comprising about 2.6 million inhabitants.", "Several smaller traditional Bavarian towns and cities like Dachau, Freising, Erding, Starnberg, Landshut and Moosburg are today part of the Greater Munich Region, formed by Munich and the surrounding districts, making up the Munich Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about 6 million people.===Recreation===South of Munich, there are numerous nearby freshwater lakes such as Lake Starnberg, Ammersee, Chiemsee, Walchensee, Kochelsee, Tegernsee, Schliersee, Simssee, Staffelsee, Wörthsee, Kirchsee and the Osterseen (Easter Lakes), which are popular among Munich residents for recreation, swimming and watersports and can be quickly reached by car and a few also by Munich's S-Bahn.File:Starnberger See, HB-03.jpg|Lake StarnbergFile:Ammersee.JPG|AmmerseeFile:Chiemsee010.jpg|ChiemseeFile:Walchensee-Teilausschnitt.jpg|WalchenseeFile:Gmund Kaltenbrunn Südausblick.JPG|TegernseeFile:Osterseen Gewitterabend Grosser Ostersee 02.jpg|Großer OsterseeFile:Kirchsee in der Abendsonne.jpg|KirchseeFile:Simssee Suedufer Wendelstein Beuerberg Riedering-1.jpg|SimsseeFile:Wörthsee +.jpg|Wörthsee" ], [ "Notable people", "===Born in Munich=======Entertainment====*Herbert Achternbusch (1938–2022), film director*Percy Adlon (born 1935), film director*Briana Banks, born in 1978, porn actress*Moritz Bleibtreu (born 1971), actor*Harry Buckwitz (1904–1987), actor, theatre director and theatre manager*Gedeon Burkhard (born 1969), actor*Andy Fetscher (born 1980), film director, cinematographer and screenplay writer*Maria Furtwängler (born 1966), actress*Therese Giehse (1898–1975), actress*Michael Haneke (born 1942), filmmaker and writer*Michael Herbig (born 1968), comedian, actor and filmmaker*Werner Herzog (born 1942), film director*Curd Jürgens (1915–1982), actor*Rick Kavanian (born 1971), actor and comedian*Renate Müller (1906–1937), actress*Max Neal (1865–1941), dramatist*Christine Neubauer (born 1962), actress*Uschi Obermaier (born 1946), sex symbol of the late sixties*Lola Randl (born 1980), film director and screenwriter*Wolfgang Reitherman (1909–1985), animator and director of Disney movies*Helmut Ringelmann (1926–2011), film producer and film director*Jeri Ryan (born 1968), actress*Till Schmerbeck (born 1969), film producer *Julia Stegner (born 1984), top model*Christian Tramitz (born 1955), actor and comedian*Karl Valentin (1882–1948), comedian, author and film producer*Fritz Wepper (born 1941), actor*Nico Liersch (born 2000), actor====Fashion designers====*Willy Bogner (born 1942), fashion designer and director of photography*Rudolph Moshammer (1940–2005), fashion designer====Musicians====*Lou Bega (born 1975), singer-songwriter*Harold Faltermeyer (born 1952), composer and record producer*Julia Fischer (born 1983), classical violinist and pianist*Max Greger (1926–2015), musician, saxophonist, big band bandleader and conductor*Joey Heindle (born 1993), DSDS participant in season 9.", "*Franzl Lang (1930–2015), Bavarian yodeller*Lubomyr Melnyk (born 1948), composer and pianist*Nick Menza (1964–2016), Megadeth drummer*Robert Merwald (born 1971), operatic baritone *Brent Mydland (1952–1990), Grateful Dead keyboardist*Charles Oberthür (1819–1895), composer*Carl Orff (1895–1982), composer*Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923–2013), conductor and pianist*Ralph Siegel (born 1945), composer*Richard Strauss (1864–1949), composer====Journalists and Writers====*Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958), writer*Bettina Gaus (1956–2021), journalist*Golo Mann (1909–1994), writer*Klaus Mann (1906–1949), writer*Eugen Roth (1895–1976), writer*Dieter Kronzucker (born 1936), journalist*Maria von Welser (born 1946), journalist*Steffen Seibert (born 1960), journalist*Sandra Maischberger (born 1966), journalist*Simran Sethi (born 1970), environmental journalist*Angie Westhoff (born 1965), children's author*Marcel Mettelsiefen (born 1978), journalist====Nobel Prize laureates====*Eduard Buchner (1860–1917), chemist and Nobel Prize winner*Ernst Otto Fischer (1918–2007), chemist and Nobel Prize winner*Robert Huber (born 1937), chemist and Nobel Prize winner*Wassily Leontief (1905–1999), economist and Nobel Prize winner*Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen (1911–1979), biochemist and Nobel Prize winner*Rudolf Mössbauer (1929–2011), physicist and Nobel Prize winner*Arno Allan Penzias (1933–2024), physicist and Nobel Prize winner====Nobility====*Elisabeth of Bavaria (1837–1898), Empress \"Sisi\" of Austria*Isabeau of Bavaria (1371–1435), queen-consort of France*Jeannette, Hereditary Princess of Fürstenberg (b.", "1982)*Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846–1930), German field marshal*Ludwig II the Dream King, at Nymphenburg*Ludwig III of Bavaria (1845–1921), last king of Bavaria*Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (1573–1651), Elector of Bavaria*Maximilian II of Bavaria (1811–1864), king of Bavaria*Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (1662–1726), Elector of Bavaria*Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (1727–1777), Elector of Bavaria*Otto of Bavaria (1848–1916), king of Bavaria*Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, (1869–1955) Crown Prince of Bavaria*Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein (born 1967)====Painters====*Hubert Haider (1879–1971) *Franz Marc (1880–1916), painter*Heinrich Spiess (1832–1875), painter*Karl von Piloty (1826–1886), painter====Photographers====*Yaakov Rosner (1902–1950), photographer====Politicians====*Carl Amery (1922–2005), writer, President of the German PEN Center and founding member of the German Green Party*Leon Feuchtwanger (1884–1958), writer*Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (born 1971), politician (CSU)*Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945), leading member of the Nazi Party, main perpetrator of the Holocaust*Wilhelm Hoegner, (1887–1980), politician*Carljörg Lacherbauer (1902–1967), co-founder of Christian Social Union (CSU), Post-war mayor and secretary of the Department of Justice*Heinrich Müller (1900–1945), chief of the Gestapo*Fritz Schäffer (1888–1967), politician*Franz Josef Strauss (1915–1988), Minister-President of the Free State of Bavaria====Professional athletes====*Franz Beckenbauer (1945–2024), former footballer and honorary president of Bayern Munich*Korbinian Holzer (born 1988), professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Adler Mannheim of the DEL*Fabian Johnson (born 1987), German-born soccer player who plays for Borussia Monchengladbach and the United States National Team*Philipp Lahm (born 1983), footballer who played for Bayern Munich*Marcel Nguyen (born 1987), artistic gymnast*JJ Peterka (born 2002), ice hockey player*Christoph Schubert (born 1982), Former ice hockey player who played in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets*Frank Shorter (born 1947), champion distance runner====Others====*Andreas Baader (1943–1977), Red Army Faction leader*Eva Braun, 1912–1945, Adolf Hitler's mistress and later wife*Friedrich Brugger (1815–1870), sculptor*Abraham Fraenkel (1891–1965), mathematician* Uta Fritze-von Alvensleben — Astrophysicist*Franz Xaver Gabelsberger (1789–1849), inventor of the Gabelsberger shorthand writing system*Jean Baptiste Holzmayer (1839–1890), teacher, archaeologist and folklorist*Traudl Humps (1920–2002), Adolf Hitler's personal secretary during the Second World War*Wolfgang Franz von Kobell (1803–1882), mineralogist and writer*Carl Alexander von Martius (1838–1920), chemist, company founder and entrepreneur*Theo Rauch (born 1945), economist, consultant and professor at FU-Berlin*E. Lee Spence (born 1947), pioneer underwater archaeologist and shipwreck historian*Andrea Wolf (1965–1998), activist and militant===Notable residents===*Max Emanuel Ainmiller, painter*Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, former Archbishop of Munich-Freising*Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Heinrich Himmler*Carmela Corren, (1938–2022), Israeli singer and actress*Manfred Eicher, record producer and founder of ECM Records*Albert Einstein (1879–1955), Nobel Prize-winning physicist, grew up in Munich*Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929–2022), author*Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945–1982), film director*Roger C. Field, inventor, industrial designer*Joseph von Fraunhofer, optician*Asger Hamerik, composer*Werner Heisenberg, Nobel Prize-winning physicist*Adolf Hitler, German politician and leader of the Nazi Party*Brigitte Horney, actress (Münchhausen)*Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan's poet, who received his PhD from Munich in 1907*Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), painter*Erich Kästner, author *Erich Kästner (camera designer), movie camera designer, chief designer at ARRI*Blake R. Van Leer, United States Army officer, civil rights leader and president of Georgia Institute of Technology*Orlande de Lassus, composer*Franz von Lenbach, painter*Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary*Justus von Liebig, chemist*Ernst Mach, physicist and philosopher*Sepp Maier (born 1944), football goalkeeper*Thomas Mann (1875–1955), Nobel Prize-winning author*Franz M. Matschinsky (1931–2022), physician, pharmacologist and biochemist*Helene Mayer, fencer*Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen*Wilhelm Emil \"Willy\" Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer and manufacturer*Lola Montez, courtesan to King Ludwig I*Giorgio Moroder, composer, songwriter, and record producer*Gerd Müller (1945–2021), footballer*Amalie Nacken (1855–1940), philanthropist*David Dalhoff Neal, painter*William of Ockham, English medieval philosopher*Georg Ohm, physicist*Marsilius of Padua, Italian medieval scholar*Max Planck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist*Lucia Popp, Slovak-born opera singer*Ludwig Prandtl, father of modern aerodynamics*Robert Hermann Raudner (1854–1915), landscape and genre painter, and etcher, lived and died at Schleißheim, and trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts*Max Reger, composer, organist, pianist and conductor*Wilhelm Röntgen, Nobel Prize–winning physicist*Hannes Rosenow, painter*Christopher Ross (1931–2023), sculptor, designer and collector *Willibald Sauerländer, art historian*Max Schreck, actor*Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California, bodybuilder and actor, resided at Christophstr.", "1 and worked at Rolf Putziger's gym at Schillerstr.", "36 from 1966 to 1968*Bastian Schweinsteiger, footballer*Joseph Karl Stieler (1781–1858), royal court painter *Alexander Strähuber or Straehuber (1814–1882), Austrian-born German history painter and book illustrator.", "*Franz von Stuck, painter and sculptor*Donna Summer (1948–2012), singer, known as the \"Queen of Disco\", she was the most successful musical artist of the Disco era in the late 1970s and early 1980s*Vardges Sureniants, Armenian painter*Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian Romantic poet*Richard Wagner (1813–1883), composer*Franz Widnmann (1846–1910), painter and graphic artist, was a professor at the Royal School of Applied Arts in Munich.", "*Heinrich Otto Wieland, Nobel Prize-winning chemist who successfully protected Jewish people*Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist, assassinated in October 1959" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Official website" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Millsaps College" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Millsaps College''' is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi.", "It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church." ], [ "History", "The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps, who donated the land for the college and $50,000.William Belton Murrah was the college's first president, and Bishop Charles Betts Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church South organized the college's early fund-raising efforts.", "Both men were honored with halls named in their honor.", "Major Millsaps and his wife are interred in a tomb near the center of campus.", "The current United Methodist Church continues to affiliate with the college.===Navy V-12 program===Millsaps was chosen as one of 131 sites for the training of Navy and Marine officers in the V-12 Navy College Training Program.", "In April 1943, 380 students arrived for the Navy V-12 program offering engineering, pre-medical and pre-dental training.", "Thereafter Millsaps began accepting students year-round for the program.", "A total of 873 officer candidates went through Millsaps between 1943 and 1945.===Civil rights era===Millsaps College students protested the shooting of Jackson State University student and civil rights worker Benjamin Brown, who was killed by police at a protest.", "The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission photographed the Millsaps protesters and identified them.", "The Sovereignty Commission spied on and conspired against civil rights activists and organized pressure and economic oppression of those who supported the civil rights movement in Mississippi.===Important dates in Millsaps history===Mausoleum on the campus of Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, containing the graves of Major Reuben Webster Millsaps and his wife.", "* 1890: Major Reuben Webster Millsaps founds the college with a personal gift of $50,000.", "* 1901: Millsaps builds the first golf course in Mississippi.", "* 1902: Mary Letitia Holloman becomes the first female graduate of Millsaps.", "* 1908: Sing-Ung Zung of Suzhou, China, becomes the first international student to graduate from Millsaps.", "* 1914: Old Main, one of the first buildings on campus, burns and is replaced by Murrah Hall.", "* 1916: Major Millsaps dies and is interred on campus.", "* 1931: The first night football game in Mississippi is played on the Millsaps campus between the Majors and Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State University).", "* 1936: Millsaps College absorbs bankrupt Grenada College during the Great Depression.", "* 1943: Johnny Carson attends Millsaps for V-12 naval officer training, entertaining his comrades with a magic and humor act.", "* 1944: Louis H. Wilson, who graduated from the college in 1941, received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guam during World War II.", "Wilson became a General and the 26th Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1975.He was the first Marine Corps Commandant to serve full-time on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.", "* 1953: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis judge a Millsaps beauty contest.", "* 1965: Millsaps becomes the first all-white college in Mississippi to voluntarily desegregate.", "* 1967: Robert F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign speaks at the college about the obligations of young Americans to give back to their country.", "* 1975: Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter speaks to Millsaps students about the crisis in the Middle East.", "* 1988: Millsaps initiates the first campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi.", "* 1989: Millsaps becomes the first school in Mississippi to have a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.===Presidents===* William Belton Murrah, 1890–1910* David Carlisle Hull, 1910–1912* Alexander Farrar Watkins, 1912–1923* David Martin Key, 1923–1938* Marion Lofton Smith, 1938–1952* Homer Ellis Finger, Jr., 1952–1964* Benjamin Barnes Graves, 1965–1970* Edward McDaniel Collins, Jr., 1970–1978* George Marion Harmon (1978–2000) – After 22 years of leading Millsaps College, Harmon announced his resignation in the spring of 1999.His last day as president of Millsaps College was June 30, 2000.", "* Frances Lucas (2000–2010) – Lucas was the first woman to hold the post at Millsaps.", "Lucas resigned on April 23, 2009.Lucas cited disagreements with faculty as the reason for her resignation.", "* Howard McMillan, Dean of Millsaps' Else School of Management took over as Interim President in August 2009.", "* Robert Pearigen, Vice President of University Relations at The University of the South, was selected to serve as the eleventh president of the college.", "He began his term in office on July 1, 2010.", "* Frank Neville, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff at Georgia Institute of Technology, was selected to serve as the twelfth president of the college.", "He began his term in office on January 17, 2024." ], [ "Rankings and distinctions", "Millsaps College professors were ranked among the best in the nation, according to ''The Princeton Review'''s The Best 377 Colleges – 2013 Edition.", "The Millsaps faculty won praise in ''The Princeton Review'''s special Top 20 category: Professors Get High Marks, where Millsaps was ranked twelfth in the country.Millsaps is one of 40 schools in Loren Pope's ''Colleges That Change Lives''." ], [ "Athletics", "The school's sports teams are known as the Majors and their colors are purple and white.", "They participate in the NCAA Division III and the Southern Athletic Association." ], [ "Notable faculty and alumni", "* Rodney J. Bartlett, quantum chemist* Michael Beck, actor* Jim C. Barnett, surgeon and politician* Gary Burghoff, actor* Johnny Carson, longtime host of ''The Tonight Show''* Turner Cassity, poet* Roy Clyde Clark, Bishop of the United Methodist Church* Lisa D'Amour, playwright* David Herbert Donald, historian* Nancy Plummer Faxon, organist and composer* Ellen Gilchrist, author* James E. Graves Jr., judge, Supreme Court of Mississippi* Winifred Green, activist from Mississippi during the civil rights movement* Scott Tracy Griffin, author*Ben M. Hall, author* William Hester (1933), president of the United States Tennis Association from 1977 to 1978* Alan Hunter, MTV VJ* James Kimbrell, poet* Clay Foster Lee Jr., Bishop of the United Methodist Church* Robert William Lowry (pastor) LGBTQIA+ activist, pastor* Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor during the Carter administration* Robert S. McElvaine history professor* Greg Miller, poet* Lewis Nordan, author* Kiese Laymon, professor* Christopher Lee Nutter, author* Claude Passeau, baseball player* Rubel Phillips, Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1963 and 1967* Paul Ramsey, ethicist* Tate Reeves, Governor of Mississippi * Stokes Robertson Jr., Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1966 to 1982* Vic Roby, former NBC staff announcer*Myron S. McNeil, Mississippi state legislator* Kevin Sessums, author* Otis Singletary, historian and 8th President of the University of Kentucky* Donald Triplett, first person to be diagnosed with autism* Eudora Welty, author* Cassandra Wilson, jazz musician* Louis H. Wilson Jr., Medal of Honor recipient" ], [ "See also" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "** Millsaps Athletics website" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mälaren" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mälaren''' ( , , or ), historically referred to as '''Lake Malar''' in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern).", "Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west.", "The lake drains, from south-west to north-east, into the Baltic Sea through its natural outlets Norrström and Söderström (as it flows around Stadsholmen island) and through the artificial Södertälje Canal and Hammarbyleden waterway.", "The easternmost bay of Mälaren, in central Stockholm, is called Riddarfjärden.", "The lake is located in Svealand and bounded by the provinces of Uppland, Södermanland and Västmanland.", "The two largest islands in Mälaren are Selaön (91 km2) and Svartsjölandet (79 km2).", "Mälaren is low-lying and mostly relatively shallow.Being a quite narrow and shallow lake, Mälaren has bridge crossings between Eskilstuna and Västerås with two crossings on the western end at Kvicksund and three separate bridges between Strängnäs and Enköping in the central part of the lake.", "On the eastern end, the entirety of Ekerö Municipality is set on islands within Mälaren.", "That urban area also has a bridge connection to the mainland in Stockholm along with bridges between various islands in the municipality.The Viking Age settlements Birka on the island of Björkö and Hovgården on the neighbouring island Adelsö have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, as has Drottningholm Palace on the island of Lovön.The barrow of Björn Ironside is on the island of Munsö, within the lake.The barrow of Björn Ironside (''Björn Järnsidas hög'') on the island of Munsö, in lake Mälaren, Sweden.", "The barrow is crowned by a stone containing the fragmented Uppland Runic Inscription 13." ], [ "Etymology", "The etymological origin of the name stems from the Old Norse word appearing in historical records in the 1320s and meaning gravel.", "The lake was previously known as , which is Old Norse for \"The Lake\"." ], [ "Geology", "Mälaren details, with Stockholm urban area to the right in pink.By the end of the last ice age about 11,000 years ago, much of northern Europe and North America was covered by ice sheets up to 3 km thick.", "At the end of the ice age when the glaciers retreated, the removal of the weight from the depressed land led to a post-glacial rebound.", "Initially the rebound was rapid, proceeding at about 7.5 cm/year.", "This phase lasted for about 2,000 years, and took place as the ice was being unloaded.", "Once deglaciation was complete, uplift slowed to about 2.5 cm/year, and decreased exponentially after that.", "Today, typical uplift rates are of the order of 1 cm/year or less, and studies suggest that rebound will continue for about another 10,000 years.", "The total uplift from the end of deglaciation can be up to 400 m.In the Viking Age Mälaren was still a bay of the Baltic Sea, and seagoing vessels could sail up it far into the interior of Sweden.", "Birka was conveniently near the trade routes through the Södertälje Canal.", "Due to the post-glacial rebound, Södertälje canal and the mouth of Riddarfjärden bay had become so shallow by about the year 1200 that ships had to unload their cargoes near the entrances, and progressively the bay became a lake.", "The decline of Birka and the subsequent foundation of Stockholm at the choke point of Riddarfjärden were in part due to the post-glacial rebound changing the topography of the Mälaren basin.", "The lake's surface currently averages 0.7 meters above sea level." ], [ "Mythology", "According to Norse mythology as contained in the thirteenth-century Icelandic work ''Prose Edda'', the lake was created by the goddess Gefjon when she tricked Gylfi, the Swedish king of Gylfaginning.", "Gylfi promised Gefjon as much land as four oxen could plough in a day and a night, but she used oxen from the land of the giants, and moreover uprooted the land and dragged it into the sea, where it became the island of Zealand.", "''Snorra Edda'' says that 'the inlets in the lake correspond to the headlands in Zealand'; since modern maps show this to be more true of Lake Vänern, the myth has been suggested to have been originally about Vänern, not Mälaren." ], [ "Geography", "A selection, in alphabetical order: Major islands Major sections from west to east Major cities and municipalities bordering the lake* Adelsö* Aspön* Björkö* Ekerön* Helgö* Kungsholmen (Stockholm)* Kurön* Lilla Essingen (Stockholm)* Lovön* Munsön* Ridön (Västmanland)* Ridön (Södermanland)* Selaön* Stora Essingen (Stockholm)* Svartsjölandet* Tosterön* Galten* Blacken* Långtarmen* Freden* Västeråsfjärden* Granfjärden* Oknöfjärden* Gripsholmsfjärden* Prästfjärden* Björkfjärden* Ekoln* Gorran & Skarven* Östra Mälaren* Bålsta* Köping* Kungsängen* Kungsör* Mariefred* Stockholm* Strängnäs* Södertälje* Torshälla* Uppsala* Västerås" ], [ "Ecology", "The most common nesting birds on the skerries of Mälaren are also the most common in the Baltic Sea.", "After a survey in 2005, the ten most common species were found to be common tern, herring gull, black-headed gull, common gull, mallard, tufted duck, Canada goose, common goldeneye, lesser black-backed gull and common sandpiper.", "White-tailed eagle, greylag goose, barnacle goose, black-throated diver, red-breasted merganser and gadwall are less common, and some of these latter are endangered in the Mälaren area.", "Since 1994 a subspecies of great cormorant ''Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis'', has nested there as well.", "A 2005 survey tallied 23 breeding colonies with 2178 nests, of which the largest colony had 235 nests.", "Most experts believe the great cormorant population has peaked and will stabilize at around 2000 nests.One of the characteristic species is the osprey which has one of its strongest presences in Lake Mälaren.", "The osprey nests in almost all bays of the lake.The Zebra mussel is considered an invasive species and is causing some problems in Lake Mälaren.Lake Mälaren has 33 species of naturally occurring fish species, which makes it Sweden’s most diverse lake in regard to fish.", "Other species have been introduced to the environment, including the common carp and the rainbow trout.", "The rainbow trout in particular is known to compete with indigenous fish for habitat and food, as they have a faster growth rate and predate on local species.", "However, they are not considered to have made a significant impact.=== Crayfish ===Crayfish are of large cultural and economic importance in Sweden, with crayfish parties being a longtime annual tradition for many Swedes.Lake Mälaren was the first lake in Sweden to be affected by the crayfish plague (''A.", "astaci'' Schicora'')'' when infected crayfish imported from Finland were introduced to the lake with the intention of human consumption.", "The plague spread quickly through the lake, exacerbated by boat traffic, which decimated the indigenous noble crayfish (''A.", "astacus'') population and caused severe economic losses to the local fishing industry.", "From Mälaren, the plague spread rapidly to all freshwater bodies in Sweden.After multiple recurrent outbreaks and failed attempts to restore populations of the noble crayfish, Swedish authorities introduced the North American signal crayfish (''P.", "leniusculus)'' to L. Mälaren, a species that is resistant to the plague.", "Since 1969, Mälaren has been continuously stocked with signal crayfish.", "However, it was later discovered that signal crayfish were often carriers of crayfish plague.", "In addition, while populations of noble crayfish and signal crayfish have been known coexist, their larger size, faster growth rate, and aggressiveness often allows them to dominate populations of noble crayfish.", "This, in addition to habitat degradation, has led to a significant decrease in noble crayfish populations in L. Mälaren.Signal crayfish have been largely successful in Sweden and rapidly expanded as a replacement population to noble crayfish.", "Stocking this species is now prohibited within multiple lakes in Sweden in order to protect noble crayfish population.", "In the Stockholm municipality, which includes L. Mälaren, signal crayfish are now illegal to import, move, or farm.", "There have been efforts to encourage farming of noble crayfish populations instead.", "However, illegal farming of signal crayfish continues to be a problem due to greater public demand for the larger signal crayfish." ], [ "Mapping", "From the mid 17th century onwards, multiple expeditions to measure and map L. Mälaren were undertaken.", "The lake was strategically and economically important, and there was a lack of a reliable map to navigate it.", "However, L. Mälaren’s many islands and bays made it an extensive and laborious task to measure.In 1687, King Charles XI of Sweden commissioned cartographer Carl Gripenhielm to map Lake Mälaren and its surrounding provinces.", "From 2 August 1688 to 17 September 1688 Gripenhielm conducted the bulk of his expedition, and he would complete the map in 1689, known in Swedish as Gripenhielm's ''Mälarkarta''.", "The Mälarkarta is unique in that it is surrounded by a frame of 96 small, realistic gouache paintings of cities, castles, mansions, and fairways around Lake Mälaren.", "The map is hand drawn on regal paper, and measures 3.46 x 2.14 meters.", "It has been kept in the National Library of Sweden since 1884.Due to its larger size, it was initially hung in the large viewing room, however in 1931 it was moved to a more secluded wall in a corridor to the map department.", "Heavy handed preservation techniques have led to some degradation on the illustrations.", "Since 1961, the map hangs in an area that the public does not have access to.Gripenheim’s Mälarkarta was valid until 1739 when a new, more accurate map of L. Mälaren was completed by the then surveyor and cartographer Jacob Nordencreutz." ], [ "Trivia", "* ''Mälardrottningen'' (Lake Mälar Queen) is a poetic name for Stockholm well known in Swedish literature.", "* Utter Inn, an underwater hotel designed by the artist Mikael Genberg, is in the lake.", "* The area around the lake hosted the cycling events at the 1912 Summer Olympics." ], [ "See also", "* Mälaren Valley ''(Mälardalen)''* List of lakes of Sweden* Geography of Stockholm* Almarestäket* Kanaanbadet" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Mälarguiden - Guide to Mälaren (mostly in Swedish but a lot of maps and some English text)* Castles around Mälaren" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Macau''' or '''Macao''' (; ; , ), officially the '''Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China''' ('''MSAR'''), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea.", "With a population of about 680,000 and an area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world.Formerly a Portuguese colony, the territory of Portuguese Macau was first leased by the Ming dynasty to Portugal as a trading post in 1557.Portugal paid an annual rent and administered the territory under Chinese sovereignty until 1887.Portugal later gained perpetual colonial rights in the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking.", "The colony remained under Portuguese rule until 1999, when it was transferred to China.", "Macau is a special administrative region of China, which maintains separate governing and economic systems from those of mainland China under the principle of \"one country, two systems\".", "The unique blend of Portuguese and Chinese architecture in the city's historic centre has resulted in its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005.Originally a sparsely populated collection of coastal islands, Macau, often referred to as the \"Las Vegas of the East\", since the late 20th century has become a major resort city and a top destination for gambling tourism.", "Its gambling industry is seven times larger than that of Las Vegas.", "The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, US$43,770 in 2021, and its GDP per capita by purchasing power parity is one of the highest in the world.", "It has a very high Human Development Index, as calculated by the Macau government, and the fourth-highest life expectancy in the world.", "The territory is highly urbanised; two-thirds of the total land area is built on land reclaimed from the sea." ], [ "Etymology", "The first known written record of the name \"Macau\", rendered as \"A Ma Gang\" (), is found in a letter dated 20 November 1555.The local inhabitants believed that the sea goddess Matsu (alternatively called A-Ma) had blessed and protected the harbour and referred to the waters around A-Ma Temple by her name.", "When Portuguese explorers first arrived in the area and asked for the place name, the locals thought they were asking about the temple and told them it was \"Ma Kok\" ().", "The earliest Portuguese spelling for this was ''Amaquão''.", "Multiple variations were used until ''Amacão / Amacao'' and ''Macão / Macao'' became common during the 17th century.", "The 1911 reform of Portuguese orthography standardised the spelling as ''Macau''; however, the use of ''Macao'' persisted in English and other European languages.The Macau Peninsula had many names in Chinese, including ''Jing'ao'' (), ''Haojing'' (), and ''Haojing'ao'' ().", "The islands Taipa, Coloane, and Hengqin were collectively called ''Shizimen'' ().", "These names would later become ''Ou mún'' (), ''Aomen'' in Mandarin and translating as \"bay gate\" or \"port gate\", to refer to the whole territory." ], [ "History", "During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the region was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, Nanhai Prefecture of the province of Guangdong.", "The region is first known to have been settled during the Han dynasty.", "It was administratively part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD), and alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan in later dynasties.", "In 1152, during the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), it was under the jurisdiction of the new Xiangshan County.", "In 1277, approximately 50,000 refugees fleeing the Mongol conquest of China settled in the coastal area.The first European visitor to reach China by sea was the explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513.Merchants first established a trading post in Hong Kong waters at Tamão, present-day Tuen Mun, beginning regular trade with nearby settlements in southern China.", "Military clashes between the Ming and Portuguese navies followed the expulsion of the Tamão traders in 1521.Despite the trade ban, Portuguese merchants continued to attempt to settle on other parts of the Pearl River estuary, finally settling on Macau.", "In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the Battle of Tunmen in Tamão (or Tuen Mun) in 1521, where the Portuguese lost two ships.", "They were also defeated at the Battle of Sincouwaan around Lantau Island, where the Portuguese lost two more ships.", "Other defeats include Shuangyu in 1548, where several Portuguese were captured, and near Dongshan County in 1549, where two Portuguese junks and Galeote Pereira were captured.", "During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they reverse engineered and mass-produced in China.", "These included the matchlock musket arquebuses, which they named bird guns, and breech-loading swivel guns, which they named as Folangji (Frankish) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time.", "The Portuguese later returned to China peacefully and presented themselves under the name Portuguese instead of Franks in the Luso-Chinese agreement (1554).", "They rented Macau as a trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silver taels to Ming China.", "Luso-Canton trade relations were formally reestablished in 1554, and Portugal soon after acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557, agreeing to pay 500 taels of silver as annual land rent.Macau became a stopover on the sea lane that connected Japan with the wider world.", "The Portuguese could avoid the Pearl River and inched towards Quanzhou and Ningbo.", "But as they failed to establish trading relationships with the Chinese, the Portuguese focused on trade with Japan.", "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau was created in 1576, and by 1583 the Municipal Council of Macau had been established to handle municipal affairs for the growing settlement.", "Macau was at the peak of its prosperity as a major warehouse during the late 16th century, providing a crucial connection in exporting Chinese silk to Japan during the Nanban trade period.Dutch ships firing their cannons in the waters of Macau, drawn in 1665Although the Portuguese were initially prohibited from fortifying Macau or stockpiling weapons, the Fortaleza do Monte was constructed in response to frequent Dutch naval incursions.", "The Dutch attempted to take the city in the 1622 Battle of Macau, but were repelled successfully by the Portuguese.", "Macau entered a period of decline in the 1640s following a series of catastrophic events for the burgeoning colony: Portuguese access to trade routes was irreparably severed when Japan halted trade in 1639, and after the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, Portuguese Malacca fell to the Dutch in 1641.Maritime trade with China was banned in 1644 following the Qing conquest under the ''Haijin'' policies.", "It was limited only to Macau on a lesser scale while the new dynasty focused on eliminating surviving Ming loyalists.", "While the Kangxi Emperor lifted the prohibition in 1684, China again restricted trade decades later under the Canton System in 1757.Foreign ships were required to stop first at Macau before further proceeding to Canton.", "Qing authorities exercised a much greater role in governing the territory during this period; Chinese residents were subject to Qing courts and new construction had to be approved by the resident mandarin beginning in the 1740s.", "As the opium trade became more lucrative during the 18th century, Macau again became an important stopping point en route to China.Macau in the early 19th centuryFollowing the First Opium War and the establishment of Hong Kong by the British, Macau lost its role as a major port.", "Firecracker and incense production, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were vital industries in the colony during this time.", "Portugal was able to capitalise on China's postwar weakness and assert its sovereignty; the Governor of Macau began refusing to pay China annual land rent for the colony in the 1840s, and annexed Taipa and Coloane, in 1851 and 1864, respectively.", "Portugal also occupied nearby Lapa and Montanha.", "But these were returned to China by 1887, when perpetual occupation rights over Macau were formalised in the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking.", "This agreement also prohibited Portugal from ceding Macau without Chinese approval.", "Despite occasional conflict between Cantonese authorities and the colonial government, Macau's status remained unchanged through the republican revolutions of both Portugal in 1910 and China in 1911.The Kuomintang further affirmed Portuguese jurisdiction in Macau when the Treaty of Peking was renegotiated in 1928.During the Second World War, the Empire of Japan did not occupy the colony and generally respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau.", "However, after Japanese troops captured a British cargo ship in Macau waters in 1943, Japan installed a group of government \"advisors\" as an alternative to military occupation.", "The territory largely avoided military action during the war except in 1945, when the United States ordered air raids on Macau after learning that the colonial government was preparing to sell aviation fuel to Japan.", "In 1950 the US paid Portugal more than US$20 million in compensation for the damage during the war.", "Refugees from mainland China swelled the population as they fled from the Chinese Civil War.", "Access to a large workforce enabled Macau's economy to grow as the colony expanded its clothing and textiles manufacturing industry, developed its tourism industry, and legalised casino gaming.", "However, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, residents dissatisfied with the colonial administration rioted in the 1966 12-3 incident, in which 8 people were killed and more than 200 were injured.", "Portugal lost full control over the colony afterwards, and agreed to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for continued administration of Macau.Following the 1974 Carnation Revolution, Portugal formally relinquished Macau as an overseas province and acknowledged it as a \"Chinese territory under Portuguese administration\".", "After China first concluded arrangements on Hong Kong's future with the United Kingdom, it entered negotiations with Portugal over Macau in 1986.These concluded with the signing of the 1987 Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau, in which Portugal agreed to transfer the colony in 1999 and China guaranteed Macau's political and economic systems for 50 years after the transfer.", "In the waning years of colonial rule, Macau rapidly urbanised and constructed large-scale infrastructure projects, including the Macau International Airport and a new container port.", "Macau was transferred to China on 20 December 1999, after 442 years of Portuguese rule.Following the transfer, Macau liberalised its casino industry (which previously operated under a government-licensed monopoly) to allow foreign investors, starting a new period of economic development.", "The regional economy grew by a double-digit annual growth rate from 2002 to 2014, making Macau one of the richest economies in the world on a per capita basis.", "Political debates have centred on the region's jurisdictional independence and the central government's adherence of \"one country, two systems\".", "While issues such as national security legislation have been controversial, Macanese residents generally have high levels of trust in the government.Kwong and Wong explain this by comparing Macau to Hong Kong: \"The case of Macau shows that the very small size of a 'microstate' helps central authorities to exercise political control, stifle political pluralism, and monopolize opinions, all of which strengthen regime persistence.\"" ], [ "Government and politics", "Legislative Assembly Building in Sé.Macau is a special administrative region of China, with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government.", "The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration provided for economic and administrative continuity through the transfer of sovereignty, resulting in an executive-led governing system largely inherited from the territory's history as a Portuguese colony.", "Under these terms and the \"one country, two systems\" principle, the Basic Law of Macao is the regional constitution.", "Because negotiations for the Joint Declaration and Basic Law began after transitional arrangements for Hong Kong were made, Macau's structure of government is very similar to Hong Kong's.The regional government is composed of three branches:* ''Executive:'' The Chief Executive is responsible for enforcing regional law, can force reconsideration of legislation, and appoints Executive Council members, a portion of the legislature, and principal officials.", "Acting with the Executive Council, the Chief Executive can propose new bills, issue subordinate legislation, and has authority to dissolve the legislature.", "* ''Legislature:'' The unicameral Legislative Assembly enacts regional law, approves budgets, and has the power to impeach a sitting Chief Executive.", "* ''Judiciary:'' The Court of Final Appeal and lower courts, whose judges are appointed by the Chief Executive on the advice of a recommendation commission, interpret laws and overturn those inconsistent with the Basic Law.The Chief Executive is the head of government, and serves for a maximum of two five-year terms.", "The State Council (led by the Premier of China) appoints the Chief Executive after nomination by the Election Committee, which is composed of 400 business, community, and government leaders.The Legislative Assembly has 33 members, each serving a four-year term: 14 are directly elected, 12 indirectly elected, and 7 appointed by the Chief Executive.", "Indirectly elected assemblymen are selected from limited electorates representing sectors of the economy or special interest groups.", "All directly elected members are chosen with proportional representation.Twelve political parties had representatives elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2017 election.", "These parties have aligned themselves into two ideological groups: the pro-establishment (the current government) and pro-democracy camps.", "Macau is represented in the National People's Congress by 12 deputies chosen through an electoral college, and 29 delegates in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference appointed by the central government.Macau has generally congenial relations with China's central government.The Macau Government Headquarters is the official office of the Chief Executive.Chinese national law does not generally apply in the region, and Macau is treated as a separate jurisdiction.", "Its judicial system is based on Portuguese civil law, continuing the legal tradition established during colonial rule.", "Interpretative and amending power over the Basic Law and jurisdiction over acts of state lie with the central authority, however, making regional courts ultimately subordinate to the mainland's socialist civil law system.", "Decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress can also override territorial judicial processes.", "In 2021, after similar actions were taken in Hong Kong following the protests associated with the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, 21 candidates running for office in the territorial elections were disqualified as a result of allegedly failing to support the Basic Law, although no specific violations were noted by the territory's electoral commission.The territory's jurisdictional independence is most apparent in its immigration and taxation policies.", "The Identification Department issues passports for permanent residents which differ from those issued by the mainland or Hong Kong, and the region maintains a regulated border with the rest of the country.", "All travellers between Macau and China and Hong Kong must pass border controls, regardless of nationality.", "Chinese citizens resident in mainland China do not have the right of abode in Macau and are subject to immigration controls.", "Public finances are handled separately from the national government, and taxes levied in Macau do not fund the central authority.The Macao Garrison is responsible for the region's defence.", "Although the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is supreme commander of the armed forces, the regional government may request assistance from the garrison.", "Macau residents are not required to perform military service and the law also has no provision for local enlistment, so its defence force is composed entirely of nonresidents.The State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle diplomatic matters, but Macau retains the ability to maintain separate economic and cultural relations with foreign nations.", "The territory negotiates its own trade agreements and actively participates in supranational organisations, including agencies of the World Trade Organization and United Nations.", "The regional government maintains trade offices in Greater China and other nations.Public political demonstrations in Macau are generally rare.===Lusophonia membership===Macau is not a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, despite Portuguese being one of its official languages.", "This is due to it not being a sovereign nation, but a subnational division of China.", "In 2006, during the II Ministerial meeting between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries, the CPLP Executive Secretary and Deputy ambassador Tadeu Soares invited the Chief Executive of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Edmund Ho, to request the Associate Observer status for Macau.", "The Government of Macau has yet to make this request.", "In 2016, Murade Murargy, then executive secretary of CPLP said in an interview that Macau's membership is a complicated question, since like the Galicia region in Spain, it is not an independent country, but only a part of China.", "However, the ''Instituto Internacional de Macau'' () and the University of São José are Consultative Observers of the CPLP.=== Administrative divisions ===Administrative divisions of MacauThe territory is divided into seven parishes.", "Cotai, a major area developed on reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane, and areas of the Macau New Urban Zone do not have defined parishes.", "Historically, the parishes belonged to one of two municipalities (the Municipality of Macau or the Municipality of Ilhas) that were responsible for administering municipal services.", "The municipalities were abolished in 2001 and superseded by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau in providing local services.", "Parish/Area Chinese Area(km2) Parishes Nossa Senhora de Fátima 3.2 Santo António 1.1 São Lázaro 0.6 São Lourenço 1.0 Sé ''(including New District Zone B)'' 3.4 Nossa Senhora do Carmo ''(including New District Zone E)'' 7.9 São Francisco Xavier 7.6 Other areas Cotai 6.0 New District Zone A 1.4 HZMB Zhuhai-Macau Port 0.7 University of Macau (Hengqin campus) 1.0" ], [ "Geography", "Aerial view of Macau PeninsulaA 1954 map of the Zhongshan region.", "Macau is located at the bottom-right of the region.Map of MacauMacau is located on China's southern coast, west of Hong Kong, on the western side of the Pearl River estuary.", "It is surrounded by the South China Sea in the east and south, and neighbours the Guangdong city of Zhuhai to the west and north.", "The territory consists of Macau Peninsula, Taipa, and Coloane.", "A parcel of land in neighbouring Hengqin island that hosts the University of Macau also falls under the regional government's jurisdiction.", "The territory's highest point is Coloane Alto, above sea level.Urban development is concentrated on peninsular Macau, where most of the population lives.", "The peninsula was originally a separate island with hilly terrain, which gradually became a tombolo as a connecting sandbar formed over time.", "Both natural sedimentation and land reclamation expanded the area enough to support urban growth.", "Macau has tripled its land area in the last century, increasing from in the late 19th century to in 2018.Cotai, the area of reclaimed land connecting Taipa and Coloane, contains many of the newer casinos and resorts established after 1999.The region's jurisdiction over the surrounding sea was greatly expanded in 2015, when it was granted an additional of maritime territory by the State Council.", "Further reclamation is currently underway to develop parts of the Macau New Urban Zone.", "The territory also has control over part of an artificial island to maintain a border checkpoint for the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.=== Climate ===Despite being located south of the Tropic of Cancer, Macau has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cwa''), characteristic of southern China.", "The territory is dual season dominant – summer (May to September) and winter (November to February) are the longest seasons, while spring (March and April) and autumn (October) are relatively brief periods.", "The summer monsoon brings warm and humid air from the sea, with the most frequent rainfall occurring during the season.", "Typhoons also occur most often then, bringing significant spikes in rainfall.", "During the winter, northern winds from the continent bring dry air and much less rainfall.", "The highest and lowest temperatures recorded at the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau are on both 2 July 1930 and 6 July 1930 and on 26 January 1948." ], [ "Demographics", "2020 population pyramidThe Statistics and Census Service estimated Macau's population at 667,400 at the end of 2018.With a population density of 21,340 people per square kilometre, Macau is the most densely populated region in the world.", "The overwhelming majority (88.7 per cent) are Chinese, many of whom originate from Guangdong (31.9 per cent) or Fujian (5.9 per cent).", "The remaining 11.6 per cent are non ethnic Chinese minorities, primarily Filipinos (4.6 per cent), Vietnamese (2.4 per cent), and Portuguese (1.8 per cent).", "Several thousand residents are of Macanese heritage, native-born multiracial people with mixed Portuguese ancestry.", "Of the total population (excluding migrants), 49.4 per cent were born in Macau, followed by 43.1 per cent in mainland China.", "A large portion of the population are Portuguese citizens, a legacy of colonial rule; at the time of the transfer of sovereignty in 1999, 107,000 residents held Portuguese passports.The predominant language is Cantonese, a variety of Chinese originating in Guangdong.", "It is spoken by 87.5 per cent of the population, 80.1 per cent as a first language and 7.5 per cent as a second language.", "Only 2.3 per cent can speak Portuguese, the other official language; 0.7 per cent are native speakers, and 1.6 per cent use it as a second language.", "Increased immigration from mainland China in recent years has added to the number of Mandarin speakers, making up about half of the population (50.4 per cent); 5.5 per cent are native speakers and 44.9 per cent are second language speakers.", "Traditional Chinese characters are used in writing, rather than the simplified characters used on the mainland.", "English is considered an additional working language and is spoken by over a quarter of the population (27.5 per cent); 2.8 per cent are native speakers, and 24.7 per cent speak English as a second language.", "Macanese Patois, a local creole generally known as ''Patuá'', is now spoken only by a few in the older Macanese community.According to the Government Information Bureau, 80 per cent of the population practices Buddhism, 6.7 per cent follow Christianity and 13.7 per cent follow other religion.", "Folk practices are also common among the citizens.", "According to Pew Research Center, Chinese folk religions have the most adherents (58.9 per cent) and are followed by Buddhism (17.3 per cent) and Christianity (7.2 per cent), while 15.4 per cent of the population profess no religious affiliation at all.", "Small minorities adhering to other religions (less than 1 per cent), including Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam, are also resident in Macau.Life expectancy in Macau was 81.6 years for males and 87.7 years for females in 2018, the fourth highest in the world.", "Cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease are the territory's three leading causes of death.", "Most government-provided healthcare services are free of charge, though alternative treatment is also heavily subsidised.Migrant workers living in Macau account for over 25 per cent of the entire workforce.", "They largely work in lower wage sectors of the economy, including construction, hotels, and restaurants.", "As a growing proportion of local residents take up employment in the gaming industry, the disparity in income between local and migrant workers has been increasing.", "Rising living costs have also pushed a large portion of nonresident workers to live in Zhuhai." ], [ "Economy", "The Ruins of Saint Paul's, a religious complex built in the 17th century, are now a popular tourist attraction.Guia Lighthouse at Guia Fortress landmark, 19th centuryMacau has a capitalist service economy largely based on casino gaming and tourism.", "It is the world's 83rd-largest economy, with a nominal GDP of approximately MOP433 billion (US$53.9 billion).", "Although Macau has one of the highest per capita GDPs, the territory also has a high level of wealth disparity.", "Macau's gaming industry is the largest in the world, generating over MOP195 billion (US$24 billion) in revenue and about seven times larger than that of Las Vegas.", "Macau's gambling revenue was $37 billion in 2018.Taxes from gambling revenues fund a robust welfare system and an annual cash payment to Macau's citizens.The regional economy is heavily reliant on casino gaming.", "The vast majority of government funding (79.6 per cent of total tax revenue) comes from gaming.", "Local taxes on personal income, residential property, and retail sales range from non-existent to negligible.", "Gambling as a share of GDP peaked in 2013 at over 60 per cent, and continues to account for 49.1 per cent of total economic output.", "The vast majority of casino patrons are tourists from mainland China, making up 68 per cent of all visitors.", "Casino gaming is illegal in both the mainland and Hong Kong, giving Macau a legal monopoly on the industry in China.", "Revenue from Chinese high rollers has been falling and was forecast to fall as much as 10% more in 2019.Economic uncertainty may account for some of the drop, but alternate Asian gambling venues do as well.", "For example, Chinese visitors to the Philippines more than doubled between 2015 and 2018, since the City of Dreams casino opened in Manila.Casino gambling was legalised in 1962 and the gaming industry initially operated under a government-licensed monopoly granted to the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau.", "This licence was renegotiated and renewed several times before ending in 2002 after 40 years.", "The government then allowed open bidding for casino licences to attract foreign investors.", "Along with an easing of travel restrictions on mainland Chinese visitors, this triggered a period of rapid economic growth; from 1999 to 2016, Macau's gross domestic product multiplied by 7 and the unemployment rate dropped from 6.3 to 1.9 per cent.", "The Sands Macao, Wynn Macau, MGM Macau, and Venetian Macau were all opened during the first decade after liberalisation of casino concessions.", "Casinos employ about 24 per cent of the total workforce in the region.", "\"Increased competition from casinos popping up across Asia to lure away Chinese high rollers and tourists\" in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam and the Russian Far East led in 2019 to the lowest revenues in three years.Export-oriented manufacturing previously contributed to a much larger share of economic output, peaking at 36.9 per cent of GDP in 1985 and falling to less than 1 per cent in 2017.The bulk of these exports were cotton textiles and apparel, but also included toys and electronics.", "At the transfer of sovereignty in 1999, manufacturing, financial services, construction and real estate, and gaming were the four largest sectors of the economy.", "Macau's shift to an economic model entirely dependent on gaming caused concern over its overexposure to a single sector, prompting the regional government to attempt re-diversifying its economy.The government traditionally had a non-interventionist role in the economy and taxes corporations at very low rates.", "Post-handover administrations have generally been more involved in enhancing social welfare to counter the cyclical nature of the gaming industry.", "Economic growth has been attributed in large part to the high number of mainlander visits to Macau, and the central government exercises a role in guiding casino business growth through its control of the flow of tourists.", "The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement formalised a policy of free trade between Macau and mainland China, with each jurisdiction pledging to remove remaining obstacles to trade and cross-boundary investment.Due to a lack of available land for farming, agriculture is not significant in the economy.", "Food is exclusively imported to Macau and almost all foreign goods are transshipped through Hong Kong." ], [ "Infrastructure", "=== Transport ===Air Macau Airbus A321 taxiing at Macau International AirportMacau has a highly developed road system, with over of roads.", "Automobiles drive on the left (unlike in both mainland China and Portugal), due to historical influence of the British Empire.", "Vehicle traffic is extremely congested, especially in the oldest part of the city, where streets are the narrowest.", "Public bus services operate over 80 routes, supplemented by free hotel shuttle buses that also run routes to popular tourist attractions and downtown locations.", "About 1,500 black taxicabs are licensed in the territory.", "The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, opened in 2018, provides a direct link with the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary.", "Cross-boundary traffic to mainland China may also pass through border checkpoints at the Portas do Cerco, Lótus Bridge, and Qingmao Port.Macau International Airport serves over 8 million passengers each year and is the primary hub for local flag carrier Air Macau.", "Ferry services to Hong Kong and mainland China operate out of ferry terminals such as Taipa Ferry Terminal.", "Daily helicopter service is also available to Hong Kong and Shenzhen.", "Phase 1 of the territory's first rail network, the Macau Light Rapid Transit, began operations in December 2019.The Taipa line connects 11 metro stations throughout Taipa and Cotai.=== Healthcare ===Macau University of Science and Technology HospitalMacau is served by one major public hospital, the Hospital Conde S. Januário, and one major private hospital, the Kiang Wu Hospital, both located in Macau Peninsula, as well as a university associated hospital called Macau University of Science and Technology Hospital in Cotai.", "In addition to hospitals, Macau also has numerous health centres providing free basic medical care to residents.", "Consultation in traditional Chinese medicine is also available.None of the Macau hospitals are independently assessed through international healthcare accreditation.", "A Western-style medical school was opened in Macau in 2019 by the Macau University of Science and Technology, with an annual intake of 50 students.", "Local nurses are trained at the Macao Polytechnic University and the Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau.", "Currently there are no training courses in midwifery in Macau.", "A study by the University of Macau, commissioned by the Macau SAR government, concluded that Macau is too small to have its own medical specialist training centre.The Fire Services Bureau is responsible for ambulance service (Ambulância de Macau).", "The Macau Red Cross also operates ambulances (Toyota HiAce vans) for emergency and non-emergencies to local hospitals with volunteer staff.", "The organisation has a total of 739 uniformed firefighters and paramedics serving from 7 stations in Macau.The Health Bureau in Macau is mainly responsible for coordinating the activities between the public and private organisations in the area of public health, and assure the health of citizens through specialised and primary health care services, as well as disease prevention and health promotion.", "The Macau Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was established in 2001, which monitors the operation of hospitals, health centres, and the blood transfusion centre in Macau.", "It also handles the organisation of care and prevention of diseases affecting the population, sets guidelines for hospitals and private healthcare providers, and issues licenses.", "Macau healthcare authorities send patients to Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong in instances where the local Macau hospitals are not equipped to deal with their scenarios, and many Macau residents intentionally seek healthcare in Hong Kong because they place more trust in Hong Kong doctors than in Mainland-trained doctors operating in Macau." ], [ "Education", "The main campus of the University of Macau is located in neighbouring Hengqin.Education in Macau does not have a single centralised set of standards or curriculum.", "Individual schools follow different educational models, including Chinese, Portuguese, Hong Kong, and British systems.", "Children are required to attend school from the age of five until completion of lower secondary school, or at age 15.Of residents aged 3 and older, 69 per cent completed lower secondary education, 49 per cent graduated from an upper secondary school, 21 per cent earned a bachelor's degree or higher.", "Mandatory education has contributed to an adult literacy rate of 96.5 per cent.", "While lower than that of other developed economies, the rate is due to the influx of refugees from mainland China during the post-war colonial era.", "Much of the elderly population were not formally educated due to war and poverty.Most schools in the territory are private institutions.", "Out of the 77 non-tertiary schools, 10 are public and the other 67 are privately run.", "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau maintains an important position in territorial education, managing 27 primary and secondary schools.", "The government provides 15 years of free education for all residents enrolled in publicly run schools, and subsidises tuition for students in private schools.", "Students at the secondary school level studying in neighbouring areas of Guangdong are also eligible for tuition subsidies.The vast majority of schools use Cantonese as the medium of instruction, with written education in Chinese and compulsory classes in Mandarin.", "A minority of private schools use English or Portuguese as the primary teaching language.", "Portuguese-Chinese schools mainly use Chinese, but additionally require mandatory Portuguese-language classes as part of their curriculum.Macau has ten universities and tertiary education institutes.", "The University of Macau, founded in 1981, is the territory's only public comprehensive university.", "The Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau is the oldest higher institute, specialising in educating future nursing staff for the college's parent hospital.", "The University of Saint Joseph, Macau University of Science and Technology, and the City University of Macau were all established in subsequent years.", "Five other institutes specialise in specific vocations or provide continuing education." ], [ "Culture", "The mixing of Chinese and Portuguese culture and religious traditions for more than four centuries has left Macau with an inimitable collection of holidays, festivals and events.", "The biggest event of the year is the Macau Grand Prix each November, when the main streets of the Macau Peninsula are converted to a racetrack bearing similarities with the Monaco Grand Prix.", "Other annual events include Macau Arts festival in March, the International Fireworks Display Contest in September, the International Music festival in October and/or November, and the Macau International Marathon in December.The Lunar Chinese New Year is the most important traditional festival, and celebration normally takes place in late January or early February.", "The Pou Tai Un Temple in Taipa is the place for the Feast of Tou Tei, the Earth god, in February.", "The Procession of the Passion of Our Lord is a well-known Roman Catholic rite and journey, which travels from Saint Austin's Church to the cathedral, also taking place in February.The A-Ma Temple, which honours the Goddess Matsu, is in full swing in April with many worshipers celebrating the A-Ma festival.", "In May, it is common to see dancing dragons at the Feast of the Drunken Dragon and twinkling-clean Buddhas at the Feast of the Bathing of Lord Buddha.", "In Coloane Village, the Taoist god Tam Kong is also honoured on the same day.", "Dragon Boat Festival is brought into play on Nam Van Lake in June and Hungry Ghosts' festival, in late August and/or early September every year.", "All events and festivities of the year end with Winter Solstice in December.Macau preserves many historical properties in the urban area.", "Its historic centre, which includes some twenty-five historic locations, was officially listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 15 July 2005 during the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Durban, South Africa.However, the Macao government is criticised for ignoring the conservation of heritage in urban planning.", "In 2007, local residents of Macao wrote a letter to UNESCO complaining about construction projects around world heritage Guia Lighthouse (Focal height ), including the headquarter of the Liaison Office ().", "UNESCO then issued a warning to the Macau government, which led former Chief Executive Edmund Ho to sign a notice regulating height restrictions on buildings around the site.", "In 2015, the New Macau Association submitted a report to UNESCO claiming that the government had failed to protect Macao's cultural heritage against threats by urban development projects.", "One of the main examples of the report is that the headquarter of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, which is located on the Guia foothill and obstructs the view of the Guia Fortress (one of the world heritages symbols of Macao).", "One year later, Roni Amelan, a spokesman from UNESCO Press service, said that the UNESCO has asked China for information and is still waiting for a reply.", "In 2016, the Macau government approved an -tall construction limit for the residential project, which reportedly goes against the city's regulations on the height of buildings around world heritage site Guia Lighthouse.=== Cuisine ===Food in Macau is mainly based on both Cantonese and Portuguese cuisine, drawing influences from Indian and Malay dishes as well, reflecting a unique cultural and culinary blend after centuries of colonial rule.", "Portuguese recipes were adapted to use local ingredients, such as fresh seafood, turmeric, coconut milk, and adzuki beans.", "These adaptations produced Macanese variations of traditional Portuguese dishes including ''caldo verde'', minchee, and ''cozido à portuguesa''.", "While many restaurants claim to serve traditional Portuguese or Macanese dishes, most serve a mix of Cantonese-Portuguese fusion cuisine.", "''Galinha à portuguesa'' is an example of a Chinese dish that draws from Macanese influences, but is not part of Macanese cuisine.", "''Cha chaan teng'', a type of fast casual diner originating in Hong Kong that serves that region's interpretation of Western food, are also prevalent in Macau.", "''Pastel de nata'', pork chop buns, and almond biscuits are popular street food items.=== Sports ===Formula Three racers in the 2008 Macau Grand PrixDespite its small area, Macau is home to a variety of sports and recreational facilities that have hosted a number of major international sporting events, including the 2005 East Asian Games, the 2006 Lusophony Games, and the 2007 Asian Indoor Games.The territory regularly hosts the Macau Grand Prix, one of the most significant annual motorsport competitions that uses city streets as the racetrack.", "It is the only street circuit that hosts Formula Three, touring car, and motorcycle races in the same event.", "The Guia Circuit, with narrow corner clearance and a winding path, is considered an extremely challenging course and a serious milestone for prospective Formula One racers.Macau represents itself separately from mainland China with its own sports teams in international competitions.", "The territory maintains its own National Olympic Committee, but does not compete in the Olympic Games.", "International Olympic Committee rules specify that new NOCs can only be admitted if they represent sovereign states (Hong Kong has participated in the Olympics since before the regulation change in 1996)." ], [ "Twin towns and sister cities", "Macau has six sister cities, listed chronologically by year joined:* Lisbon, Portugal (1982)* Uwajima, Ehime, Japan (1987)* Monte Carlo, Monaco (1992)* Porto, Portugal (1997)* Linköping, Sweden (1997)* Coimbra, Portugal (1998)* São Paulo, Brazil (2000)* Praia, Cape Verde (2007)Additionally, Macau has other cultural agreements with the following cities:* Brussels, Belgium (1991)* San Francisco, United States (2001)* Da Nang, Vietnam (2006)* Phuket, Thailand (2018)=== Union of Luso-Afro-Americo-Asiatic Capital Cities ===Macau is part of the Union of Luso-Afro-Americo-Asiatic Capital Cities from 28 June 1985, establishing brotherly relations with the following cities:* Bissau, Guinea-Bissau* Dili, East Timor* Lisbon, Portugal* Luanda, Angola* Maputo, Mozambique* Panaji (Panjim), India* Praia, Cape Verde* Rio de Janeiro, Brazil* São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe" ], [ "See also", "* Foreign relations of Macau* Outline of Macau* Index of Macau-related articles* Cuiheng New Area" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== Sources ======= Government reports ====* * * * * * * * * * * ==== Academic publications ====* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ==== Legislation ====* * * * ==== Print ====* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ==== News articles ====* * * * * *" ], [ "External links", "* Macau.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Macau from BBC News'''Government'''* Gov.MO.", "Macau SAR Government Portal.", "* Macao Government Tourism Office* Macau SAR News'''Trade'''* World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Macao'''Maps'''* *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "History of Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "St. Paul's Cathedral in the 19th century by George Chinnery (1774–1852)Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.", "It was leased to Portugal in 1557 as a trading post in exchange for a symbolic annual rent of 500 tael.", "Despite remaining under Chinese sovereignty and authority, the Portuguese came to consider and administer Macau as a ''de facto'' colony.", "Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between China and Britain in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of \"the most favoured nation\" for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau.", "In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macau was Portuguese territory.", "In 1999 it was handed over to China.", "Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia." ], [ "Early history", "The human history of Macau stretches back up to 6,000 years, and includes many different and diverse civilisations and periods of existence.", "Evidence of human and culture dating back 3,500 to 4,000 years has been discovered on the Macau Peninsula on Coloane Island.During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the region was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, Nanhai Prefecture of the province of Guangdong.", "The region is first known to have been settled during the Han dynasty.", "It was administratively part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD), and alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan in later dynasties.Since the 5th century, merchant ships travelling between Southeast Asia and Guangzhou used the region as a port for refuge, fresh water, and food.", "In 1152, during the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), it was under the jurisdiction of the new Xiangshan County.", "In 1277, approximately 50,000 refugees fleeing the Mongol conquest of China settled in the coastal area.Mong Há has long been the centre of Chinese life in Macau and the site of what may be the region's oldest temple, a shrine devoted to the Buddhist Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy).", "Later in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), fishermen migrated to Macau from various parts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces and built the A-Ma Temple where they prayed for safety on the sea.", "The Hoklo Boat people were the first to show interest in Macau as a trading centre for the southern provinces.", "However, Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century." ], [ "Portuguese settlement", "Map of the Macau Peninsula, 1635.During the age of discovery Portuguese sailors explored the coasts of Africa and Asia.", "The sailors later established posts at Goa in 1510, and conquered Malacca in 1511, driving the Sultan to the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula from where he kept making raids on the Portuguese.", "The Portuguese under Jorge Álvares landed at Lintin Island in the Pearl River Delta of China in 1513 with a hired junk sailing from Portuguese Malacca.", "They erected a stone marker at Lintin Island claiming it for the King of Portugal, Manuel I.", "In the same year, the Indian Viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque commissioned Rafael Perestrello — a cousin of Christopher Columbus – to sail to China in order to open up trade relations.", "Rafael traded with the Chinese merchants in Guangzhou in that year and in 1516, but was not allowed to move further.Portugal's king Manuel I in 1517 commissioned a diplomatic and trade mission to Guangzhou headed by Tomé Pires and Fernão Pires de Andrade.", "The embassy lasted until the death of the Zhengde Emperor in Nanjing.", "The embassy was further rejected by the Chinese Ming court, which now became less interested in new foreign contacts.", "The Ming Court was also influenced by reports of misbehaviour of Portuguese elsewhere in China, and by the deposed Sultan of Malacca seeking Chinese assistance to drive the Portuguese out of Malacca.In 1521 and 1522 several more Portuguese ships reached the trading island Tamão off the coast near Guangzhou, but were driven away by the now-hostile Ming authorities.", "Pires was imprisoned and died in Canton.In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the Battle of Tunmen in Tamão or Tuen Mun in 1521 where the Portuguese lost two ships, and Battle of Sincouwaan in Lantau Island where the Portuguese also lost two ships, and Shuangyu in 1548 where several Portuguese were captured and near the Dongshan Peninsula in 1549, where two Portuguese junks and Galeote Pereira were captured.", "During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they then reverse engineered and mass-produced in China such as matchlock musket arquebuses which they named bird guns and Breech loading swivel guns which they named as Folangji (Frankish) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time.", "The Portuguese later returned to China peacefully and presented themselves under the name Portuguese instead of Franks in the Luso-Chinese agreement (1554) and rented Macau as a trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silver taels to Ming China.Good relations between the Portuguese and Chinese Ming dynasty resumed in the 1540s, when the Portuguese aided China in eliminating coastal pirates.", "The two later began annual trade missions to the offshore Shangchuan Island in 1549.A few years later, Lampacau Island, closer to the Pearl River Delta, became the main base of the Portuguese trade in the region.Diplomatic relations were further improved and salvaged by the Leonel de Sousa agreement with Cantonese authorities in 1554.In 1557, the Ming court finally gave consent for a permanent and official Portuguese trade base at Macau.", "In 1558, Leonel de Sousa became the second Portuguese governor of Macau.They later built some rudimentary stone-houses around the area now called Nam Van.", "But not until 1557 did the Portuguese establish a permanent settlement in Macau, at an annual rent of 500 taels (~) of silver.", "Later that year, the Portuguese established a walled village there.", "Ground rent payments began in 1573.China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese law, but the territory was under Portuguese administration.", "In 1582 a land lease was signed, and annual rent was paid to Xiangshan County.", "The Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau.A Chinese official and a woman from Macau, 1880.The Portuguese often married Tanka women since Han Chinese women would not have relations with them.", "Some of the Tanka's descendants became Macanese people.", "Some Tanka children were enslaved by Portuguese raiders.", "The Chinese poet Wu Li wrote a poem, which included a line about the Portuguese in Macau being supplied with fish by the Tanka." ], [ "Macau's golden age", "Macau and its position in Portuguese and Spanish global trade routesThe mission of the Jesuits used Macau as a point of departure & formation during the 16th century.After the Portuguese were allowed to permanently settle in Macau, both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau, although the Portuguese were never numerous (numbering just 900 in 1583 and 1200 out of 26,000 in 1640).", "It quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: Macau–Malacca–Goa–Lisbon, Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki and Macau–Manila–Mexico.", "The Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process.", "This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Chinese and Japanese nationals.In 1637, An English explorer John Weddell arrive at Macau.Macau's golden age coincided with the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640.King Philip II of Spain was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China.", "In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from \"Settlement or Port of the Name of God\" to \"City of the Name of God\" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the Eighty Years' War.", "After the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a full-scale invasion attempt in 1622, when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders and a large number of African slaves.", "One of the first actions of Macau's next governor, who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defences, which included the construction of the Guia Fortress.===Religious activity===As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan.", "Jesuits had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by Dominicans in the 1580s.", "Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit Cathedral of Saint Paul and the St. Dominic's Church built by the Dominicans.", "In 1576, Macau was established as an episcopal see by Pope Gregory XIII with Melchior Carneiro appointed as the first bishop." ], [ "1637–1844: Decline", "The full title awarded to Macau by King Joao IV is still displayed to this day inside the Leal Senado, though the building and emblem itself date from the 19th century.Macao harbour, 1787View of the Praia Grande, Macau, unknown artist, In 1637, increasing suspicion of the intentions of Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries in Japan finally led the ''shōgun'' to seal Japan off from foreign influence.", "Later named the sakoku period, this meant that no Japanese were allowed to leave the country (or return if they were living abroad), and no foreign ship was allowed to dock in a Japanese port.", "An exception was made for the Protestant Dutch, who were allowed to continue to trade with Japan from the confines of a small man-made island in Nagasaki, Deshima.", "Macau's most profitable trade route, that between Japan and China, had been severed.", "The crisis was compounded two years later by the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, damaging the link with Goa.The news that the Portuguese House of Braganza had regained control of the Crown from the Spanish Habsburgs took two years to reach Macau, arriving in 1642.A ten-week celebration ensued, and despite its new-found poverty, Macau sent gifts to the new King João IV along with expressions of loyalty.", "In return, the King rewarded Macau with the addition of the words \"There is none more Loyal\" to its existing title.", "Macau was now \"City of the Name of God, Macau, There is none more loyal\".", "(\"Cidade do Nome de Deus, Macau, Nao Ha Outra Mais Leal\" ).Macau, ''ca''.", "1870In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the Kangxi Emperor of China to allow trade with all foreign countries.", "Over the next century, Britain, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in Guangzhou and Macau.", "British trading dominance in the 1790s was unsuccessfully challenged by a combined French and Spanish naval squadron at the Macau Incident of 27 January 1799.Macau in the 19th century; ''Praia Grande,'' painted by W. H. CaponeUntil 20 April 1844 Macau was under the jurisdiction of Portugal's Indian colonies, the so-called \"Estado português da India\" (Portuguese State of India), but after this date, it, along with East Timor, was accorded recognition by Lisbon (but not by Beijing) as an overseas province of Portugal.The Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce between China and the United States was signed in a temple in Macau on 3 July 1844.The temple was used by a Chinese judicial administrator, who also oversaw matters concerning foreigners, and was located in the village of Mong Há.", "The Templo de Kun Iam was the site where, on 3 July 1844, the treaty of Wangxia (named after the village of Mong Ha where the temple was located) was signed by representatives of the United States and China.", "This marked the official beginning of Sino-US relations." ], [ "1844–1938: The Hong Kong effect", "Street scene in Macau in the 1840s, by George Chinnery.1888 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now Guangzhou)After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1842, Macau's position as a major regional trading centre declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep-water port of Victoria Harbour.", "In 1846, Portugal dispatched João Maria Ferreira do Amaral to serve as governor of Macau.", "He unilaterally declared Macau a Portuguese colony, stopped annual rent payments to China, occupied the nearby Island of Taipa (which had never been Portuguese territory), and imposed a new series of taxes on Macau residents.", "In 1846, there was a revolt of the boatmen that was put down.While supervising road construction, Amaral ordered the destruction of Chinese tombs in the area.", "In the Baishaling incident, Amaral was ambushed and killed by a group of Chinese villagers he encountered while riding outside the city gates.", "The Portuguese responded with a surprise attack on a nearby Chinese fort, forcing the Chinese to retreat.", "This was a milestone in the Portugal's assertion of sovereignty over Macau.", "Portugal gained control of the island of Wanzai (Lapa by the Portuguese and now as Wanzaizhen), to the northwest of Macau and which now is under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai (Xiangzhou District), in 1849 but relinquished it in 1887.Control over Taipa and Coloane, two islands south of Macau, was obtained between 1851 and 1864.Macau and East Timor were again combined as an overseas province of Portugal under control of Goa in 1883.The Protocol Respecting the Relations Between the Two Countries (signed in Lisbon 26 March 1887) and the Beijing Treaty (signed in Beijing on 1 December 1887) confirmed \"perpetual occupation and government\" of Macau by Portugal (with Portugal's promise \"never to alienate Macau and dependencies without agreement with China\" in the treaty).", "Taipa and Coloane were also ceded to Portugal, but the border with the mainland was not delimited.", "Ilha Verde () was incorporated into Macau's territory in 1890, and, once a kilometre offshore, by 1923 it had been absorbed into peninsula Macau through land reclamation.In 1871, the Hospital Kiang Wu was founded as a traditional Chinese medical hospital.", "It was in 1892 that doctor Sun Yat-sen brought Western medicine services to the hospital.In the 1930s, Macau's traditional income streams related to illegal opium sales dried up, as the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet suppressed piracy and smuggling in support of Hong Kong's growing commercial status.", "Traditional local industries of fishing, firecrackers and incense, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were all small scale, while Macau government income from 'Fan-Tan' gambling was only around US$5000 (about US$100,000 in modern money) per day.", "So the financially pressed Portuguese government urged the colony's administrators to develop greater economic self-sufficiency.", "One channel that bore fruit was as a transit point for the new trans-Pacific passenger and postal flights, for competing airlines from the US and Japan – which was at the time engaged in conflict with China.", "In 1935, Pan-Am secured sea-landing rights in Macau and immediately set about building related communications infrastructure in the enclave, allowing a service from San Francisco to begin in November that year.Macau harbour c1870 by W.P.", "Floyd.", "Different types of boat traffic visible.", "Some are small and local, others for long distance travel.Intertwined with this economic progress was an alleged and much discussed offer (never officially confirmed) in 1935 by Japan to buy Macau from Portugal, for US$100 million.", "Concerns were raised by the British, and others.", "In May, the Portuguese government twice denied that it would accept any such offer, and the matter was closed.===1848–1870s: Slave trade===From 1848 to about the early 1870s, Macau was the infamous transit port of a trade of coolies (or slave labourers) from southern China.", "Between 1851 and 1874 approximately 215,000 Chinese were shipped from Macau overseas, primarily to Cuba and Peru, with some being shipped to Guiana, Suriname, and Costa Rica.", "Coolies were obtained via variety of sources, including some who were entrapped by brokers in Macau through loans for gambling, and others who were kidnapped or coerced." ], [ "1938–1949: World War II", "Macau became a refugee centre during World War II, causing its population to climb from about 200,000 to about 700,000 people within a few years.", "Refugee operations were organised through the Santa Casa da Misericordia.Unlike in the case of Portuguese Timor, which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point.", "As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity, being the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong.", "In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer ''Sian'' in Macau and killed about 20 guards.", "The next month, they demanded the installation of Japanese \"advisors\" under the alternative of military occupation.", "The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate was created over Macau.On June 26, 1942, a Hawker Osprey III (6) of Aeronáutica Naval crashed into a residential area in Macau, killing both occupants as well as one person on the ground.", "This is the only fatal aircraft accident to have taken place in Macau.", "'Having been neutral during World War II, Portugal was not a signatory to the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement.", "Combined with its geographical location, this meant that Macau was an ideal hub for the illicit gold trade among those seeking to avoid the price controls on gold imposed by the Bretton Woods Agreement.", "Following the 1971 U.S. abandonment of the Bretton Woods System through the Nixon shock, Macau's significance to the gold trade declined, and its illicit gold trade ended in 1974.When it was discovered that neutral Macau was planning to sell aviation fuel to Japan, aircraft from the ''USS Enterprise'' bombed and strafed the hangar of the Naval Aviation Centre on 16 January 1945 to destroy the fuel.", "American air raids on targets in Macau were also made on 25 February and 11 June 1945.Following Portuguese government protest in 1950, the United States paid US$20,255,952 compensation to the government of Portugal." ], [ "1949–1999: Macau and the People's Republic of China", "When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power in 1949, the CCP declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an \"unequal treaty\" imposed by foreigners on China.", "However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, leaving the maintenance of \"the status quo\" until a more appropriate time.", "Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom.Following World War II, the United Nations expected its member states to relinquish any colonies.", "Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Salazar sought to resist UN pressure to relinquish Macau.", "In 1951, the Salazar regime eliminated the phrase \"colonial empire\" from its constitution and sought to re-characterize Macau not as a colony but as an overseas province of Portugal, which it viewed as part of a plural-continental but nonetheless unified and indivisible Portuguese state.During the Korean War, Macau was a major site for the smuggling of arms into China to avoid United Nations mandates.", "After the armistice, Macau became a semi-official gateway for North Korea's diplomatic and financial interests, with a Macau trading company serving as North Korea's de facto consulate in Macau.During the 1950s and 1960s Macau's border crossing to China Portas do Cerco was also referred to as ''Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie'' with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards.", "According to reports, the exchange lasted for one-and-three-quarter hours, leaving one dead and several dozens injured on the Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.In 1954, the Macau Grand Prix was established, first as a treasure hunt throughout the city, and in later years as a formal car racing event.In 1962, the gambling industry of Macau saw a major breakthrough when the government granted the ''Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau'' (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling.", "The STDM introduced western-style games and modernised the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year.Riots broke out in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution, when local Chinese and the Macau authority clashed, the most serious one being the 12-3 incident.", "This was prompted by government delays in approving a new wing for a Communist Party elementary school in Taipa.", "The school board illegally commenced construction.", "the colonial government sent police to stop the workers, and several people were injured in the conflict.", "On December 3, 1966, two days of rioting occurred in which hundreds were injured and six to eight people were killed, leading also to a total climbdown by the Portuguese government.", "The event set in motion de facto abdication of Portuguese control over Macau, putting it on the path to eventual decolonization.The Portuguese governor of Macau signing a statement of apology under a portrait of Mao Zedong.On 29 January 1967, the Portuguese governor, José Manuel de Sousa e Faro Nobre de Carvalho, with the endorsement of Portuguese prime minister Salazar, signed a statement of apology at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, under a portrait of Mao Zedong, with Ho Yin, the chamber's president, presiding.Two agreements were signed, one with Macau's Chinese community, and the other with mainland China.", "The latter committed the government to compensate local Chinese community leaders with as much as 2 million Macau patacas and to prohibit all Kuomintang activities in Macau.", "This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organisations remained largely peaceful.This success in Macau encouraged leftists in Hong Kong to \"do the same\", leading to riots by leftists in Hong Kong in 1967.After the 1974 Carnation Revolution overthrew the dictatorship of Marcelo Caetano, Portugal began a formal process of decolonization.", "Over the next several years, it made two offers to return the Macau and China rejected both.", "In 1979, Portugal and China established formal diplomatic relations and reached a secret agreement to characterize Macau as a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.In 1994, the Bridge of Friendship was completed, the second bridge connecting Macau and Taipa.In November 1995, the Macau International Airport was inaugurated.", "Before then the territory only had 2 temporary airports for small aeroplanes, in addition to several permanent heliports.In 1997, the Macau Stadium was completed in Taipa.Over a three year period in the late 1990s, as wave of gang violence referred to as the casino wars occurred in Macau.", "The casino wars were largely attributable to rival Triad groups who sought to gain control of Macau's illicit industries before Portugal transferred the territory back to China.", "The Portuguese authorities of Macau mostly failed to address the violence, which resulted in 122 deaths, or to catch those responsible." ], [ "1999: Handover to the People's Republic of China", "Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as \"Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.\"", "A year later, Gen. Melo Egidio became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing.The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status.", "A joint communique signed 20 May 1986 called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987.The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region on 20 December 1999.The Peoples Liberation Army enters Macau for the first timeAfter four rounds of talks, \"the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau\" was officially signed in April 1987.The two sides exchanged instruments of ratification on 15 January 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force.", "During the transitional period, between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and 19 December 1999, the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macau.The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.The PRC has promised that, under its \"one country, two systems\" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practised in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs until, at least, 2049, fifty years after the handover.Upon the handover of Macau European colonisation of Asia ended." ], [ "Recent history of Macau (1999–present)", "===1999–2007: The rise of Macau as the Las Vegas of Asia===In 2002, the Macau government ended the gambling monopoly system and 3 (later 6) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) were granted to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM, an 80% owned subsidiary of STDM), Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy Entertainment Group, the partnership of MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho Chiu-king, and the partnership of Melco and PBL, thus marking the begin of the rise of Macau as the new gambling hub in Asia.As one of the measures to develop the gambling industry, the Cotai reclamation was completed after the handover to China, with construction of the hotel and casino industry starting in 2004.In 2007, the first of many resorts opened, The Venetian Macao.", "Many other resorts followed, both in Cotai and on Macau island, providing for a major tax income stream to Macau government and a drop in overall unemployment over the years down to a mere 2% in 2013.In 2004, the Sai Van Bridge was completed, the third bridge between Macau island and Taipa island.In 2005, the Macau East Asian Games Dome, the principal venue for the 4th East Asian Games, was inaugurated.Also in 2005, the Macau government started a wave of social housing construction (lasting until 2013 at least), constructing over 8000 apartment units in the process.===2007–2008: The Financial Crisis hits Macau===Similar to other economies in the world, the financial crisis of 2007–08 hit Macau, leading to a stall in construction of major construction works (Sands Cotai Central) and a spike in unemployment.===2008–2013: Expansion into Hengqin and further Casino boom===With residential and development space being sparse, Macau government officially announced on 27 June 2009 that the University of Macau will build its new campus on Hengqin island, in a stretch directly facing the Cotai area, south of the current border post.", "Along with this development, several other residential and business development projects on Hengqin are in the planning.In 2011 to 2013, further major construction on several planned mega-resorts in Cotai commenced.===2014–present: Slowing down of the gambling industry and diversification of economy===2014 marked the first time that the gambling revenues in Macau declined on a year-to-year basis.", "Starting in June 2014, gambling revenues declined for the second half of the year on a month-to-month basis (compared with 2013) causing the Macau Daily Times to announce that the \"Decade of gambling expansion ended\".", "Some reasons for the slowdown are China's anti-corruption drive reaching Macau, China's economy slowing down and changes of Mainland Chinese tourists' preference of visiting other countries as a travel destination.This led the Macau government to attempt to reconstruct the economy, to depend less on gambling revenues and focus on building world-class non-gambling tourism and leisure centres, as well as developing itself as a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.In 2015, the borders of Macau were redrawn by the state council, shifting the land border north to the Canal dos Patos and expanding the maritime border significantly.", "The changes increased the size of Macau's maritime territory by 85 square kilometres.Typhoon Hato hit Southern China in August 2017, causing widespread damage to Macau, never before experienced – major flooding and property damages, with citywide power and water outages lasting for at least 24 hours after the passage of the storm.", "Overall, 10 deaths and at least 200 injuries were reported.", "This caused widespread anger against the Macau government, accused of being unprepared for the typhoon as well as the delay of raising the No.", "10 tropical cyclone signal; this caused the head of the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau to resign.", "At the request of the Macau government, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison (for the first time in Macau's history) deployed around 1,000 troops to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up.On 12 December 2019, Macau officially opened its first rail transit system: the Macau Light Rapid Transit.Overall, Macau was among the safest places in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, with relatively few infections and a large array of medical, social, and financial response measures.", "Macau's casino-reliant economy was greatly slowed by the pandemic." ], [ "See also", "* Anders Ljungstedt* Culture of Macau* Gambling in Macau* Lisbon-Macau Raid* Military of Macau under Portuguese rule* Jorge Álvares* Names of Macau* Religion in Macau* History of Hong Kong" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Collis, Maurice.", "\"Macao: The City of the Name of God.\"", "''History Today'' (Apr 1951) 1#4 pp 42–49 online.", "* Gunn, Geoffrey C. ''Encountering Macau, A Portuguese City-State on the Periphery of China, 1557–1999'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996) In Portuguese (1998) ''Ao Encontro de Macau: Uma cidade-estado portuguesa a periferia da China, 1557–1999'' (Macau: Fundação Macau.", "In Chinese (2009) ''澳门史：1557～1999'' (中央编译出版社).", "* Gunn, Geoffrey C.", "(ed.)", "''Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow'' (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016).", "*Porter, Jonathan.", "\"'The Past Is Present': The Construction of Macau's Historical Legacy,\" ''History and Memory'' Volume 21, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2009 pp.", "63–100*Porter, Jonathan. ''", "Macau: The Imaginary City, Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996)* * Souza, George Bryan.", "''The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea, 1630–1754'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986)* Coates, Austin: ''A Macao Narrative''* Shipp, Steve: ''Macau, China: A Political History of the Portuguese Colony's Transition to Chinese Rule''*" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "__NOTOC__Macau is a Special Administrative Region on the southern coast of China.", "It is located at the south of Guangdong Province, on the tip of the peninsula formed by the Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary on the east and the Xijiang (West River) on the west.", "Macau is situated west of Hong Kong, and southwest of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province.", "It is situated immediately east and south of Zhuhai.The region comprises the Macau Peninsula and the islands of Taipa and Coloane.", "Macau was once an island but gradually a connecting sandbar turned into a narrow isthmus.", "Land reclamation in the 17th century made Macau into a peninsula, and a barrier gate was built to mark the separation between the peninsula and the mainland.", "Pre-colonial records show that Macau totalled only but began to increase as a result of Portuguese settlement.", "Land growth has accelerated since the last quarter of the 20th century, from in 1972 to in 1983 to in 1994.Macau's size has gradually increased as result of continued land reclamation, especially on Taipa and Coloane.", "In 2014, the total land area was approximately .There is a long border between Macau and mainland China and a forty-kilometre-long coastline.", "The main border crossing between Macau and China is the Portas do Cerco (Barrier Gate) Frontier Checkpoint on the Macau side, and the Gongbei checkpoint on the Chinese side." ], [ "Location, size, border, and coastline", "Macau borders the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province.", "The map also shows Macau's maritime boundaries, the western end of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, the leased territory in Zhuhai (the University of Macau) and Macau Light Rapid Transit.", "'''Geographic coordinates:''' ===Area===*''Total:'' 115.4 km2*''Land:'' 30.4 km2*''Water:'' 85 km2===Land boundaries===*''Total:'' 0.34 km*''Border city:'' Zhuhai, Guangdong Province 0.34 km===Coastline===*''Coastline:'' 50.63 km*''Maritime claims:'' not specified" ], [ "Topography", "The administrative divisions within Macau ( Click here for Satellite Image)View of the old cityView of the casinosView of Macao from air'''Location:''' Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China'''Terrain:''' generally flat'''Elevation extremes:'''''lowest point:'' South China Sea 0 m''highest point:'' Coloane Alto ===List of highest hills in Macau SAR===Name Location Notes Height PhotoAlto de ColoaneColoane172.4mUnnamed (Triangulation Pillar C6)Coloane170.3mUnnamed (Triangulation Pillar C4)Coloane163.8mTaipa GrandeTaipa160.4mUnnamed (Triangulation Pillar T16)Taipa152.9mPonto CentralColoane138.1mMonte de Ka HoColoane132mUnnamed (Triangulation Pillar C56)Coloane126mMorro de ArtilhariaColoane120mUnnamedColoane114.8mTaipa PequenaTaipa112mUnnamed (Triangulation Point C25)Coloane108.8mGuia HillMacau91.6mBarra HillMacau74.4mIlha Verde hillMacau54.5mMacau has generally flat terrain resulting from extensive land reclamation, but numerous steep hills mark the original natural land mass.", "The modern high-rise skyline of Macau obscures much of the hilly landscape.", "The Macau skyline both defines and obscures its topography.The Macau Peninsula is narrow in shape but varies in terrain." ], [ "Climate", "Although Macau is located in the tropics, it has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cwa''), because the Siberian pressure system in the winter pushes cool air further south than similar semipermanent permanent high pressure systems.", "Its average year-round temperature is .", "Summers are very hot and humid: the July average temperature is and the highest daytime temperature could reach .", "However, the heat is generally less intense than many places in mainland China due to the coastal location.", "Winters are short and mild: the January average is and the lowest temperature could drop to , but very rarely any lower.", "There is about of rainfall annually, with drier winters.Macau is exposed to tropical storms originating from the southern Pacific Ocean during the summer.", "Major destruction occurred in September 1874, when a devastating typhoon hit Macau and high seas swept across the low-lying area of the peninsula.", "There are always a few tropical storm occurrences in Macau each year (typically between May and October), although they vary in strengths.", "When they occur, they usually bring strong winds, rainfall and lower temperatures.Prevailing winds and weather types change follow the monsoon pattern.", "It is warm and moist when the southeast and southwest winds are coming from the Pacific Ocean, and typhoons are relatively common during summertime.", "It is dry and slightly cold when the north winds are coming from Siberia or the northern part of Mainland China.During the transition period from northeast monsoon to southwest monsoon (March and April), the weather is moist and foggy.", "It is Macau's spring season.", "Summer is from May to September, when the southeast and southwest monsoon prevailing.", "It is rather hot and rainy.", "The weather in autumn (the end of September and October) is sunny and warm, when the southwest monsoon withdrawing gradually and the northeast monsoon advancing south.", "It is generally regarded as the most comfortable season there.", "Winter is from November to February next year, when the northeast monsoon prevailing.", "It is mainly dry, with occasional cold fronts arriving.There are moderate to high levels of humidity year-round, with an annual average of 79.3%.", "Annual sunshine totals are moderate, at more than 1800 hours." ], [ "Natural resources", "Negligible.", "In the past, large amounts of granite were extracted from Macau's hills for use as building material.===Fresh water===Relying on water supply from the Xijiang River, in 2006 Macau suffered its worse crisis of salinity in freshwater during the dry season, which takes place in late winter and early spring.To address salinity issues, as of 2018 three water supply pipelines to Macau have been built and a fourth pipeline was planned for completion in 2019." ], [ "Land use and reclamation", "Macau Peninsula and Ilha Verde in 1889Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane in 1912Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane in 1986Land reclamation in Macau from 1555 to 2011Until early 20th century, the Macau peninsula was dotted with small farms on its northern area, beyond the walls protecting the city.", "Currently, in the Macau peninsula, no arable land, natural pastures or woodland exists and forests have been cleared and plant species have been subjected to profound changes.", "Coloane on the other hand, due to its later colonisation, still has its forests and is dotted with small farms, namely around the Coloane, Hac Sa and Ka Ho villages.", "''arable land:'' 0%''permanent crops:'' 0%''other:'' 100% (2011)In 2010 plans were announced for an additional 3.5 square kilometres of land reclamation in Macau, to be carried out over five years and divided into six phases.", "These areas cover an area east of the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, an area south of Avenida Sun Yat Sen, and the north side of Taipa Island.The change of total area of Macau (in km square) since the year of 1912:;Note: - not included in \"Total area of Macau\" Year Area of Macau Peninsula Area of Taipa Area of Coloane Area of Cotai Total area of Macau Area of UM Hengqin* 1912 3.4* 2.3 5.9 — 11.6 — 1936 5.2 2.6 6.0 — 13.8 — 1957 5.5 3.3 6.3 — 15.1 — 1986 5.8 3.7 7.1 — 16.6 — 1991 6.5 4.0 7.6 — 18.1 — 1996 7.7 5.8 7.6 — 21.3 — 1999 7.8 6.2 7.6 2.2 23.8 — 2000 8.5 6.2 7.6 3.1 25.4 — 2001 8.5 6.2 7.6 3.5 25.8 — 2002 8.5 6.2 7.6 4.5 26.8 — 2003 8.7 6.2 7.6 4.7 27.3 — 2004 8.8 6.4 7.6 4.7 27.5 — 2005 8.9 6.5 7.6 5.2 28.2 — 2006 9.3 6.5 7.6 5.2 28.6 — 2007-08 9.3 6.7 7.6 5.6 29.2 — 2009 9.3 6.8 7.6 5.8 29.5 — 2010 9.3 6.8 7.6 6.0* 29.7 — 2011-12 9.3 7.4 7.6 5.6 29.9 — 2013-14 9.3 7.6 7.6 5.8 30.3 1.0 2015 (Sept.) 9.3 7.6 7.6 5.9 30.4 1.0" ], [ "Environmental factors", "Dense urban environment.", "'''Geography – note:''' essentially urban; three bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland, and an isthmus connects Coloane and Taipa." ], [ "See also", "* Geography of China* Geography of Hong Kong" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Map of Macau in 1997 - University of Macau" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "Street scene in MacauDemographic features of the population of Macau include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Macau's population is 95% Chinese, primarily Cantonese and some Hakka, both from nearby Guangdong Province.", "The majority of the remainder are of Portuguese or mixed Chinese-Portuguese ancestry.", "Some Japanese, including descendants of Japanese Catholics who were expelled by shōguns, also live in Macau.The official languages are Portuguese and Cantonese Chinese.", "The residents commonly (85.7%) speak Cantonese, Mandarin is spoken by 3.2% at home, about 40% are able to communicate in standard Mandarin.", "English and Portuguese are spoken as a first language by 1.5% and 0.6% respectively, while English is widely taught as a second language.", "The other popular topolect is Hokkien (Min Nan), spoken by a small percentage of the population.", "The creole Macanese language (''Patuá'' or ''Macaista Chapado'') is almost extinct." ], [ "Vital statistics", "The following are data on vital statistics.Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)TFR 1970 248,6002,6761,5161,16011.65.56.02.167 1971 246,2002,6371,5431,09410.95.55.41.979 1972 243,9002,7501,5391,21110.35.44.91.818 1973 241,7002,6861,4101,27610.05.44.61.679 1974 239,4002,7811,5791,2029.75.44.31.562 1975 237,0002,5831,3981,1859.75.44.31.478 1976 234,2002,3691,51785210.25.44.71.437 1977 231,7002,5321,4241,10811.05.55.61.445 1978 233,1002,4071,3601,04712.45.56.91.499 1979 237,3003,0191,5041,51514.15.68.51.591 1980 242,0003,7841,5552,22916.05.610.41.709 1981 247,6004,2071,4652,74218.05.612.41.835 1982 261,7005,2621,4886,75019.85.614.21.953 1983 276,9006,1681,5144,65421.35.615.82.046 1984 288,8006,6661,4885,17822.45.516.92.104 1985 290,6007,5601,4666,09422.95.317.62.121 1986 301,5007,4771,3246,15322.95.217.72.094 1987 312,2007,5651,3216,24422.45.017.32.031 1988 319,8007,9131,4376,47621.54.916.61.944 1989 330,4007,5681,5166,05220.34.715.61.838 1990 339,5006,8721,4825,39019.04.514.51.722 1991 363,8006,8321,3355,49717.64.413.21.605 1992 378,0006,6761,4325,24416.24.312.01.494 1993 390,0006,2671,5314,73614.94.210.81.394 1994 403,6006,1151,3304,78513.84.19.71.308 1995 415,0005,8761,3514,52512.84.08.81.236 1996 415,2005,4681,4134,05512.04.08.01.174 1997 419,4005,0311,2933,73811.13.97.21.116 1998 425,2004,4341,3563,07810.33.96.41.059 1999 429,6004,1481,3742,7749.63.95.71.002 2000 431,5003,8491,3382,5118.83.95.00.95 2001 436,3003,2411,3271,9148.23.84.40.818 2002 440,5003,1621,4151,7477.73.83.90.813 2003 446,7003,2121,4741,7387.53.83.70.837 2004 462,6003,3081,5331,7757.43.83.60.855 2005 484,3003,6711,6152,0567.53.83.70.912 2006 509,9004,0581,5662,4927.83.84.00.954 2007 531,8004,5371,5452,9928.23.74.51.008 2008 543,1004,7171,7562,9618.73.75.00.979 2009 533,3004,7641,6443,1209.33.75.61.004 2010 540,6005,1141,7743,3409.93.76.21.070 2011 557,4005,8521,8454,00710.43.76.81.150 2012 582,0007,3151,8415,47410.93.77.31.357 2013 607,5006,5711,9204,65111.43.77.71.150 2014 636,2007,3601,9395,42111.73.78.01.224 2015 646,8007,0552,0025,05312.03.88.21.142 2016 644,9007,1462,2384,90812.13.88.31.138 2017 653,1006,5292,1204,40910.03.26.81.021 2018 667,4005,9252,0693,8569.03.15.90.915 2019 679,6005,9792,2823,6978.93.45.50.899 2020 683,1005,5452,2303,3158.13.34.80.841 2021 683,2005,0262,3202,7067.43.44.00.756 2022 672,8004,3443,0041,3406.54.52.00.680 20233,7122,981731 ===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - September 2022''' 3,203 2,400 +803 '''January - September 2023''' 2,751 2,356 +404 '''Difference''' -452 (-14.11%) -44 (-1.83%) -399=== Structure of the population ===Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020): Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 326 700 358 700 685 400 100 0–4 16 700 15 300 32 000 4.67 5–9 18 000 16 200 34 200 4.99 10–14 12 900 11 500 24 400 3.56 15–19 12 700 12 300 25 000 3.65 20–24 22 100 22 100 44 200 6.45 25–29 25 800 24 800 50 600 7.38 30–34 35 900 39 000 74 900 10.93 35–39 30 900 35 100 66 000 9.63 40–44 23 500 27 300 50 800 7.41 45–49 22 300 28 800 51 100 7.46 50–54 19 600 28 200 47 800 6.97 55–59 23 800 30 300 54 100 7.89 60–64 22 800 23 900 46 700 6.81 65-69 16 500 17 200 33 700 4.92 70-74 11 500 11 100 22 600 3.30 75-79 5 500 5 300 10 800 1.58 80-84 3 300 4 300 7 600 1.11 85+ 2 900 6 000 8 900 1.30Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 47 600 43 000 90 600 13.22 15–64 239 400 271 800 511 200 74.58 65+ 39 700 43 900 83 600 12.20=== Life expectancy at birth ===Macao is the territory with the world's second highest life expectancy behind Hong Kong.PeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195561.01985–199076.61955–196063.61990–199578.11960–196566.01995–200079.81965–197068.12000–200581.01970–197570.72005–201082.11975–198073.12010–201583.31980–198574.8Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "The following are information on ethnicity and nationalities based on data from the Statistics and Census Service.===Place of birth===Immigration is an essential component of the population.", "Results of the 2011 Population Census indicated that 326,376 (59.1% of the total population) were born outside Macau, an increase of 3.0 percentage points over the last ten years.", "Analysed by place of birth, 255,186 (46.2%) were born in Mainland China, down by 1.2 percentage points from 2001.226,127 (40.9%) were born in Macau, 19,355 (3.5%) in Hong Kong and 1,835 (0.3%) in Portugal.", "There were more persons born in other countries or territories as the number of non-resident workers increased.", "Among them, 14,544 were born in the Philippines, 7,199 in Vietnam and 6,269 in Indonesia, altogether taking up 5.1% of the total population.", "1,942 were born in Europe other than Portugal, 2,252 in Americas, 959 in Africa and 672 in Oceania.", "Analysed by age group, 85.2% of the youth population (aged 0–14) were born in Macau, and 62.9% of those aged 35 and above were born in Mainland China.", "35,578 people in Macau were originally from Fujian province in Mainland China, making up about 25% of the Mainland China-born people.", "The number of Fujianese in Macau increased after the 1999 handover.===Nationality===Analysed by nationality, 509,788 (92.3% of the total population) were of Chinese nationality, down by 2.9 percentage points from the 2001 Census; meanwhile, only 0.9% was of Portuguese nationality, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points.", "These figures can be misleading, because more than a 100,000 people in Macau are holders of a Portuguese passport, making them in effect Portuguese citizens.", "Over the last ten years, diversity of the various components of the population is enhanced as economic development has drawn people to invest, work or study in Macau; consequently, 37,695 (6.8%) were of other nationalities, up by 4.0 percentage points, with 2.7% being Filipinos.Macau is a Chinese community and those of Chinese ethnicity totaled 510,383, an increase of 94,030 over the past ten years; however, its proportion to the total population decreased by 3.3 percentage points to 92.4%.", "Those of wholly or partly Portuguese ethnicity totaled 8,106, up slightly by 333 compared with 2001; its proportion to the total decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 1.5%.+'''Population of Macau according to ethnic group 1991–2011''' Ethnicgroup 1991 census 2001 census 2011 census Number % Number % Number %Chinese 338,19195.1 416,353 95.7510,38392.4 Chinese & Portuguese 4,477 1.3 4,254 1.04,0190.7 Portuguese 4,221 1.2 2,810 0.63,4850.6 Chinese & non-Portuguese 1,771 0.41,6010.3 Others 7,804 2.2 10,047 2.3 33,0156.0 Portuguese & others 709 0.2 6020.1 Total 355,693 435,235 552,503" ], [ "CIA World Factbook demographic statistics", "Residents' usual language spoken at homeLanguage Percentage ofpopulationCantonese85.7%Mandarin3.2%OtherChinese dialects6.7%Portuguese0.6%English1.5%Others2.3%The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.===Ethnic group===: Chinese 92.4%, other 7.6% (includes Macanese – mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry) (2011 census)===Population===: 624,000 (2014 Qtr2 est.", ")===Male and female pattern===: ''Male:'' 307,200 (2014 Qtr2 est.", "): ''Female:'' 316,800 (2014 Qtr2 est.", ")===Age structure===* 0-14 years: 14.42% (male 47,202/female 45,056)* 15-64 years: 70.73% (male 211,278/female 241,366)* 65 years and over: 14.86% (male 44,657/female 50,412) (2023 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===: 4.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===: 0.68 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "The lowest fertility rate in the world alongside Hong Kong.===Nationality===: ''noun:'' Macau: ''adjective:'' Macanese===Religions===: 30% Shenism, 10% Buddhism or Taoism, 5% Christianity, 50% not declaring religious affiliation, 10% others (2009).", "Another survey conducted between 2005, 2007 and 2009 has found that 30% of the population follows folk faiths, 10% are adherents of Buddhism or Taoism, 5% are Christians, and the remaining part do not declare religious adherence.===Languages===Portuguese and Chinese, seen on this street sign, are official languages in Macau: Portuguese and Chinese are official languages.", "The Chinese standard (Cantonese or Mandarin) is not specified in the law.", "===Literacy===: ''definition:'' age 15 and over can read and write: ''total population:'' 94.5%: ''male:'' 97.2%: ''female:'' 92% (2003 est.", ")===Immigration and crime===: ''Persons authorized to reside in Macau:'' total: 50,159 (by the end of 2005): ''Non-resident workers authorized to enter Macau:'' total: 39,411 (by the end of 2005): ''Legal immigrants from Mainland China:'' 1,133 (Qtr1 2006) 947 (Qtr2 2006): ''No.", "of criminal cases:'' 2,634 (Qtr1 2006) 2,708 (Qtr2 2006)===Health===: ''No.", "of residents per doctor (excluding dentists):'' 473: ''No.", "of residents per nurse:'' 430: ''No.", "of residents per hospital bed:'' 496===Main causes of death===: ''Diseases of the circulatory system:'' 518 cases, 32.1%: ''Neoplasm:'' 455 cases, 28.2%: ''Diseases of the respiratory system:'' 267, cases 16.5%" ], [ "See also", "*Macau people" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Demographic Statistics – Statistics and Census Service" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics of Macau''' is a framework of a politically constrained multi-party presidential system, dominated by the People's Republic of China.", "It includes the legislature, the judiciary, the government, and a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government, led by the Chief Executive." ], [ "Constitutional role of Macau", "In accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Macau has Special Administrative Region status, which provides constitutional guarantees for implementing the policy of \"one country, two systems\" and the constitutional basis for enacting the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region.", "Although geographically part of Guangdong Province, the Macau Special Administrative Region is directly under the authority of the central government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, which controls the foreign affairs and defence of Macau but otherwise grants the region \"a high degree of authority.\"", "The Basic Law took force upon handover of sovereignty from Portugal on 20 December 1999, and is to remain in effect for fifty years (that is, until 2049).Macau's seven deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) are selected by an electoral conference; they attended their first session of the NPC in Beijing in March 2000.Previously, in December 1999, the NPC Standing Committee approved the membership of the NPC Committee for the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region, chaired by NPC Vice Chairman Qiao Xiaoyang, for a five-year term.", "Half of the ten members are from Macau, the others from mainland China.", "Macau also has representation on the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.Relations between the government of Macau and China's central government are typically congenial.The headquarters of Macau Government" ], [ "Head of Government", " ''General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (paramount leader)''''Xi Jinping''''Chinese Communist Party''''15 November 2012'' ''President of the PRC (head of state)''''Xi Jinping''''Chinese Communist Party''''14 March 2013''''Premier of the State Council (head of central government)''''Li Keqiang''''Chinese Communist Party''''15 March 2013''Chief Executive of the Macau SAR (head of region AND head of regional government)Ho Iat SengNon-partisan20 December 2019The Chief Executive of Macau is appointed by the People's Republic of China's central government after selection by an election committee, whose members are nominated by corporate bodies.", "The chief executive appears before a cabinet, the Executive Council, of between 7 and 11 members.", "The term of office of the chief executive is 5 years, and no individual may serve for more than two consecutive terms.", "The governor has strong policymaking and executive powers similar to those of a president.", "These powers are, however, limited from above by the central government in Beijing, to whom the governor reports directly, and from below (to a more limited extent) by the legislature.In May 1999, Edmund Ho, a community leader and banker, was the first PRC-appointed chief executive of the Macau SAR, having replaced General de Rocha Viera on 20 December 1999.He was elected by the 200-member Chief Executive Selection Committee.", "Ho, born in Macau in 1955, was the first Chinese person to govern the region since the 1550s.", "Prior to 20 December 1999, Ho nominated major officials in the new government and carried out other transfer tasks.", "Ho was re-elected for a second term in 2004 and was succeeded by Fernando Chui in 2009.The executive branch of the Macau government has the following cabinet departments, each headed by a secretary: Administration and Justice, Economic and Financial Affairs, Security, Social Affairs and Culture, and Transport and Public Works.", "There also are two commissions, Against Corruption and Audit, and a chief public prosecutor.", "Upon Macau's reversion to China, the executive offices were moved from Macau Government House temporarily to the Banco Tai Fung.The Legislative Assembly of Macau" ], [ "Executive", "The executive council decides on matters of policy, the introduction of bills to the Legislative Assembly of Macau and the drafting of subordinate legislation.", "The council consists of 11 members including the chief executive.===Cabinet===The cabinet consists of 5 secretariats of departments led by a chief:* Chief of Cabinet (Macau)* Secretariat for Transport and Public Works* Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture* Secretariat for Security* Secretariat for Economy and Finance* Secretariat for Administration and Justice===Principal officials===* Commissioner of the Macau Customs Service* Commissioner of the Unitary Police Service of Macau* Commissioner Against Corruption* Procurator General of Macau" ], [ "Legislative branch", "The legislative organ of the territory is the Legislative Assembly, a 33-member body comprising fourteen directly elected members, twelve indirectly elected members representing functional constituencies and seven members appointed by the chief executive.", "The Legislative Assembly is responsible for general lawmaking, including taxation, the passing of the budget and socioeconomic legislation.", "Terms are for four years, with annual sessions running from 15 October to 16 August.", "There are several standing committees in the assembly that perform the following functions: examination and issuance of reports and statements on projects and proposals of law, on resolutions and deliberations, and on proposals of alteration presented to the Legislative Assembly; examination of petitions submitted to the Legislative Assembly; voting on issues as approved in general by the Legislative Assembly General Meeting; and answering questions raised by the president or the General Meeting.The last election was held in 2017 and the current Legislative Assembly is chaired by its president, businessman Ho Iat Seng (賀一誠), who is assisted by the vice president, Chui Sai Cheong (崔世昌), the elder brother of Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On." ], [ "Elections" ], [ "Judiciary", "The Court of Final Appeal is the court of last resort in the Macau Special Administrative Region.The legal system is based largely on Portuguese law.", "The territory has its own independent judicial system, with a high court.", "Judges are selected by a committee and appointed by the chief executive.", "Foreign judges may serve on the courts.", "In July 1999 the chief executive appointed a seven-person committee to select judges for the SAR.", "Twenty-four judges were recommended by the committee and were then appointed by Mr. Ho.", "Included are three judges who serve on the Macau SAR's highest court, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA): 39-year-old Sam Hou Fai (who will be chief justice), 32-year-old Chu Kin, and the 46-year-old Viriato Manuel Pinhiero de Lima." ], [ "Political pressure groups and leaders", "Public political demonstration is rare in Macau.", "* Roman Catholic Church (José Lai, bishop)* Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM (Stanley Ho, managing director)* Union for Democracy Development (Antonio Ng Kuok cheong, leader)" ], [ "Foreign affairs", "Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao Special Administrative RegionThe central government in Beijing controls the foreign affairs of Macau.", "The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao Special Administrative Region opened its office in Macau on 20 December 1999.A central government agency, the commission interacts with the Macau government in matters of foreign policy.", "It also processes applications from foreign nations and international organisations wishing to establish consulates or representative offices in Macau.", "Macau is also authorised to handle some external affairs on its own.", "These affairs include economic and cultural relations and agreements it concludes with states, regions, and international organisations.", "In such matters, Macau functions under the name \"Macao, China.\"", "Macau displays the flag and national emblem of the People's Republic of China but is also authorised to display its own regional flag and emblem.", "Taiwanese organisations in Macau are allowed to continue operations and are required to abide by the Basic Law." ], [ "International organisation participation", "CCC, ESCAP (associate), International Maritime Organization (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO" ], [ "See also", "* Politics of the People's Republic of China" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Macau''' has remained one of the most open in the world since its handover to China in 1999.Apparel exports and gambling-related tourism are mainstays of the economy.", "Since Macau has little arable land and few natural resources, it depends on mainland China for most of its food, fresh water, and energy imports.", "Japan and Hong Kong are the main suppliers of raw materials and capital goods.", "Although Macau was hit hard by the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and the early 2000s recession, its economy grew approximately 13.1% annually on average between 2001 and 2006.Macau is a full Member of the World Trade Organization.", "Public security has greatly improved after handover to the People's Republic of China.", "With the tax revenue from the profitable gambling industry, the Macau government is able to introduce the social welfare program of 15 years of free education to all Macau citizens.", "In 2015, Macau's economy saw a sharp decrease (-26.4% year-on-year in Q2 2015) due to the reduced spending by visitors from Mainland China since the Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping.During the first three-quarters of 2007, Macau registered year-on-year GDP increases of 31.4%.", "A rapid rise in the number of mainland visitors due to China's easing of travel restrictions, increased public works expenditures, and significant investment inflows associated with the liberalisation of Macau's gaming industry drove the five-year recovery.", "The budget also returned to surplus after 2002 because of the surge in visitors from China and a hike in taxes on gambling profits, which generated about 70% of government revenue.", "The Hong Kong dollar is itself a reserve currency for the Macanese pataca, which is pegged at the official rate of around 1 Hong Kong dollar to 1.03 Macanese pataca." ], [ "History", "Macau was a barren fishing village with a population of about 400 before the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, during the Age of Discovery.", "In 1535, the Portuguese traders obtained by bribing the right to anchor ships in Macau harbours and engage in trading activities.", "Portuguese and Chinese merchants flocked to Macau, and it quickly became an important regional trading center in Portugal's lucrative trade along three major routes: Macau-Malacca-Goa-Lisbon, Guangzhou-Macau-Nagasaki and Macau-Manila-Mexico.", "However, with the decline of Portugal as a world power in the 17th and 18th centuries, the trading routes were challenged by other powers such as the Dutch and the British.", "After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1842, Macau's position as a major regional trading center declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of Victoria Harbour.", "In an attempt to reverse the decline, from 1848 to the early 1870s Macau engaged in the infamous trade of coolies (slave labourers) as a transit port, shipping locals from southern China to Cuba, Peru, and other South American ports to work on plantations or in mines.Fishing re-emerged as a dominant economic activity in Macau as it lost its position as a regional trading center.", "In the early 1920s, over 70% of Macau's 84,000 residents were engaged in fishing.", "Meanwhile, some other businesses started to develop, such as matches, firecrackers, incense and fishing-boat building.", "But the most notable was the gambling business.", "Gambling was first legalised in the 19th century in an attempt to generate revenues for the government.", "The first casino monopoly concession was granted to the Tai Xing Company in 1937.The company was, however, too conservative to fully exploit the economic potential of gambling.", "The industry saw a major breakthrough in 1962 when the government granted the ''Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau'' (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling.", "The STDM introduced western-style games and modernised the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year.In the 1970s Macau also saw a rapid development in its manufacturing sector.", "With Macau's low-cost operating environment and its surplus quotas under the Multi Fiber Arrangement (MFA), many Hong Kong industrialists established textile and garment manufacturing bases in Macau.", "At its golden age in the 1980s, the manufacturing sector accounted for about 40% of Macau's GDP; textiles and garments accounted for about 90% of Macau's total visible exports.", "However, the manufacturing sector has experienced a gradual decline since the early 1990s due to phasing out of the MFA quota system and the rising labour costs relative to mainland China and Southeast Asian countries." ], [ "Labor and employment", "Employed population by occupation 2007Occupation No.", "in thousandsSenior officials/managers 14.6Professionals 9.9Technicians 28.1Clerks 83.7Service & sale workers 63.2Workers in agriculture/fishery 0.8Craft & similar workers 33.7The work force in Macau is mainly composed of manufacturing; construction; wholesale and retail; hotels and restaurants; financial services, real estate, and other business activities; public administration and other personal and social services, including gaming; transport, storage and communications.", "Due to the double-digit economic growth in recent years, the unemployment rate dropped from the record high 6.8% in 2000 to 3.1% in Qtr 3, 2007.With the opening of several casino resorts and other major constructions underway, it is reported that many sectors, especially the construction sector, experience a shortage of labour.", "The government responds by importing labour from other neighbouring regions, including mainland China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and India.", "Currently the number of imported labours stands at a record high of 75,391 (Q2 2007), representing more than a quarter of the labour force in Macau.", "Some local workers complain about the lack of jobs due to the influx of cheap imported labour.", "Some also claim that the problem of illegal labour is severe.", "Another concern is the widening of income inequality in the region: Macau's Gini coefficient, a popular measure of income inequality where a low value indicates a more equal income distribution, rises from 0.43 in 1998 to 0.48 in 2006.It is higher than those of other neighbouring regions, such as mainland China (0.447), South Korea (0.316) and Singapore (0.425)." ], [ "The monetary system", "BNU Tower in Macau.Macau adopts the so-called currency board system under which the legal tender, pataca (MOP), is 100 percent backed by foreign exchange reserves, the Hong Kong dollar (HKD).", "Moreover, the currency board, Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM), has a statutory obligation to issue and redeem pataca on demand against Hong Kong dollar at a fixed exchange rate and without limit.", "The pataca is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at a rate of 1.03 MOP per HKD, which is maintained by the AMCM.Each pataca divides into 100 avos.", "Coins are issued in 10, 20, and 50 avos and 1, 2, 5, and 10 patacas (2 and 10 patacas coins are rarely used in the territory); notes are in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 pataca denominations.", "Hong Kong dollar is freely used and accounts for more than half of the total deposits in Macau's banks.", "In addition, Chinese yuan is also widely accepted.", "Two banks issue currency: the Banco Nacional Ultramarino and the Bank of China (starting from October 1995).The historical exchange rates between the pataca and the US dollar (USD) are given below.", "MOP per USD Period8.01 20007.99 19997.98 19987.99 19977.962 19968.034 1993–95" ], [ "Trade", "In 2003, China's Ministry of Commerce established Forum Macao in 2003.The Forum's objective is to increase economic ties between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.", "Its permanent secretariat is located in Macau.In 2011, Macau's market economy produced total exports of US$1.119 billion (MOP 8.94 billion) and consisted mainly of clothing, textiles, footwear, toys, electronics, machinery and parts.", "Total imports for the same period reached US$8.926 billion (MOP 71.32 billion), and consisted mostly of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, consumer goods (foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco), capital goods, mineral fuels and oils.", "Macau's primary export partner in 2011 was Hong Kong (44.6%).", "Other exports go to Mainland China (15.9%) and United States (7.9%).", "Macau import partners are Mainland China (30.4%), Hong Kong (12%), France (10.4%), Switzerland (7.5%), Italy (7.5%), Japan (6.2%), and United States (6.1%).In the second half of the 20th century, Macau's economy was diversified with the development of light industry, the influx of migrants from mainland China to serve as a labour force, and increased tourism.", "Portugal's efforts to develop economic and cultural links between Macau and Brazil and Portuguese holdings in Africa, however, were not successful.", "Economic ties to the European Union and Taiwan are considered important aspects of Macau's economic role as part of the People's Republic of China.", "Direct access to the neighbouring Zhuhai Special Economic Zone facilitates trade with mainland China.", "As a special administrative region, Macau functions as a free port and as a separate customs territory." ], [ "Sectors", "===Tourism and gambling===Macau Tower at night.Visitor arrivals by place of residence in 2006Place of residenceNo.", "of visitor arrivals (in thousands)Mainland China11,985.6Hong Kong6,940.7Taiwan (ROC)1,437.8Southeast Asia693.4'''Total''''''21,998.1'''Tourism is the backbone of Macau's economy, and much of it geared towards gambling, which was legalised in the 19th century and has since been the linchpin of the economy and an important source of revenue for the government.", "As of at least 2015, 90% of tourist revenues in Macau are derived from gambling.", "For the Macau government, taxes derived from the table game of baccarat are the largest single source of public funds.From 1962, the gambling industry operated under a government-issued monopoly licence by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), which replaced the Tai Heng Entertainment Corporation that had held a gaming monopoly for the previous 24 years.", "The monopoly ended in 2001 when the gaming industry was liberalised and several casino operators from Las Vegas entered the market.", "These new operators include Las Vegas Sands, which opened Sands Macao, the largest casino in the world as measured by total number of table games, in 2004 and Venetian Macau in 2007; Wynn Resorts, which opened Wynn Macau in 2006; and MGM Mirage, which opened MGM Grand Macau in 2007.In addition, other casino owners, including Australian Crown Casino and Hong Kong Galaxy Entertainment Group have also opened several hotel casinos in Macau.", "As a result of the surge in number of casinos and construction from other new casino entrants, Macau's economy has grown rapidly, and gambling revenues from Macau's casinos are now greater than those of Las Vegas Strip, making Macau the highest-volume gambling center in the world.", "Numerous other hotel casinos, including Galaxy Cotai Megaresort and Ponte 16, are also to be opened in near future.Casino LisboaThe interior of The Venetian MacaoDue to the opening of the new hotel casinos and China's easing of travel restrictions, there has been a rapid rise in the number of mainland visitors.", "From 9.1 million visitors in 2000, arrivals to Macau has grown to 18.7 million visitors in 2005 and 22 million visitors in 2006, with over 50% of the arrivals coming from mainland China and another 30% from Hong Kong.", "Macau is expected to receive between 24 and 25 million visitors in 2007.Macau also received the Future Award 2007, voted by 26,000 German travel trade members of GoAsia, for being regarded as the most promising future tourism destination in Asia.", "Macau is currently rated as one of the world's top tourism destinations by the World Tourism Organization.Because Macau benefits from favorable taxation rules, it is a favored location for tourists from elsewhere in China to purchase luxury goods like cosmetics, jewelry, and designer fashion goods.===Manufacturing===Macau's manufacturing industries emerged in the first few decades of the 20th century, which mainly consisted of junk building, factories for matches, firecrackers and incense.", "Modern industries, however, did not take off until the 1970s when the textiles and garments industry was rising rapidly, while other light industries such as plastics, electronics, toys, and artificial flowers also experienced respectable growth.", "Textiles and garments further increased its dominance in the manufacturing sector towards the end of the 1980s.Much of Macau's textile industry has moved to the mainland as the Multi-Fiber Agreement is phased out.", "The territory has relied more on gambling and tourism-related services to generate growth.===Banking===Macau is an offshore financial centre, a tax haven, and a free port with no foreign exchange control regimes.", "The offshore finance business is regulated and supervised by the Monetary Authority of Macao, while the regulation and supervision of the offshore non-finance business is mainly controlled by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.", "In 2007, Moody's Investors Service upgraded Macau's foreign and local currency government issuer ratings to 'Aa3' from 'A1', citing its government's solid finances as a large net creditor.", "The rating agency also upgraded Macau's foreign currency bank deposit ceiling to 'Aa3' from 'A1'.There are twenty other licensed banks, sixteen of which are foreign.", "Macau has five of the top 500 commercial banks in Asia, including Banco Tai Fung and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.===Construction===Ponte 16 under constructionIn 2014, the construction sectors in Macau engaged 45,368 people.", "The value of construction was MOP78.15 billion, in which MOP66.88 billion belong to the private sectors.", "The intermediate consumption was MOP61.03 billion and labor cost was MOP11.35 billion.===Transportation companies===Air Macau is Macau's Flag carrier and is based out of Macau International Airport.===Media===Macau has reportedly the highest \"media density\" in the world - nine Chinese-language dailies, three Portuguese-language dailies, two English-language dailies and about half a dozen Chinese-language weeklies and one Portuguese-language weekly.", "About two dozen newspapers from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan and the Philippines are shipped to Macau every early morning." ], [ "Economic diversification", "The large role of gambling and tourism underscores a degree of risk for Macau's economy.", "Because the economy is so reliant on tourism and gambling for its well-being, if the flow of tourists slows, it could come as a shock to the small market.", "The push for diversification came in the closing years of Portuguese administration, under Governor General Vasco Rocha Vieira, and has continued to the present, under Chief Executive Edmund Ho.", "The government is seeking foreign investment as a means of economic diversification as well.", "Much of the foreign investment into Macau, however, has gone into the gaming sector after the end of the monopoly in 2001.Otherwise, foreign companies have entered into the mobile phone market and internet services after telecommunications market liberalisation in 2001." ], [ "Political economy and social welfare", "Prior to the 1930s Macau had a Laissez-Faire type of welfare provision.", "Publicly funded schools available were taught in Portuguese.", "The first welfare program was created in the late 1930s – it was called the Public Charity Society.", "The main objective of the organization is to provide for the poor and orphans.", "The development of a welfare state was gradual and primitive.", "In 1947, a number of reforms were made.", "Most notably, the social relief card was established which was only given to those in need.", "In the 60s the Public Relief Society became the Public Relief Branch.", "Services broaden to cover other areas such as disaster relief.", "This is an important addition because Macau have high risks of frequent typhoons.", "In addition, many facilities were also built, including rehabilitation centers and center for blind and deaf assistance.", "Throughout the 60s and 70s, housing was provided to the poor, disabled and elderly.", "Financial aid for health care and education is also provided to poor.", "During this period the government have also started subsidizing private schools.", "Another restructuring of the system happened in 1980.The Department of Social Welfare was officially established.", "Further adjustments were made in the late 80s that separated the department into three branches, including the Macao Governor, Social Welfare Committee and the Department for Social Welfare.", "It established four principles \"equality, efficiency, mutual assistance and participation\".", "Four offices were also set up in Santo António e São Lázaro, São Lourenço e Sé, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, and Ilias.", "The purpose of these offices is to make it more convenient for people to make a visit and for the workers to also get closer to the locals in their region.", "In the 90s, an additional office was set up in llhas Verde due to high demand in the Northern region.", "The department also became increasingly involved in familial issues by offering counseling.The Social Welfare Bureau – which remained to this day - was established after the handover to China in 1999.Initially Macau faced challenges from a weak economy and high unemployment rate but in 2002, gaming was legalized and increased the government revenue.", "Due to the rapid economic growth driven by the gambling industry, foreign investments and tourism, the government is now able to provide more public services.", "Macau's social welfare programs have grown to be comparable to the most developed countries in the world.", "Free healthcare is universal and offered in public hospitals but private services is also subsidized by 30%, for pregnant women, students, civil servants and people 65 and above, it is completely subsidized.", "The government extend benefits for many of these citizens.", "Improvements in the rise of employment and income is also linked to higher satisfaction with quality of life.", "The government provide 15 years of free education, social insurance and social assistance to all citizens.", "Similar to a lot of East Asian countries, the social welfare model in Macau does not fit neatly in \"the three worlds of welfare capitalism\".", "It has been argued that it functions more like a regulatory welfare regime.Nevertheless, Macau's public sector appears to be quite small.", "Workers in the public sector is one of the highest paid occupation due to constitutional law that was set during the handover.", "Therefore, as a result the government often offer short-term or part-time contracts to make it more affordable although contracts usually get renew.", "It is reported that many workers in the police force have left to work in casinos for better pay.", "Economic growth also brings inequality, competition is getting higher as more foreigner and mainland workers are overtaking local poor in skills.", "This evidently produced an increase in citizen participation in elections and protests.", "The focus on the gambling and tourism industry also come at the expense of other sectors.", "As of 2009, 44.9% of labor work in the tourist industry.", "It is reported in 2006 that 44 times the population of Macau visited the city that year.", "Furthermore, all profitable big business like hotels and casinos are owned by foreign investors, which comes at the expense of local family businesses.", "This had led to a violent protest on Labor Day in 2007.No such civil unrest has ever been record in Macau history before or after the handover but it caught real attention because the city had a GDP growth of 17% the year prior." ], [ "Energy", "Coloane A Power Station'''Electricity – production:''' 1.893 billion kWh (2004)''fossil fuel:'' 100%''hydro:'' 0%''nuclear:'' 0%''other:'' 0% (1998)'''Electricity – consumption:''' 1.899 billion kWh (2004)'''Electricity – exports:''' 0 kWh (2004)'''Electricity – imports:''' 153.3 million kWh (2004)" ], [ "See also", "* Economy of China* Gambling in Macau* Tourism in Macau* Individual Visit Scheme* Shipyards in Macau" ], [ "References" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Further reading", "*** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T96VCSF" ] ]
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[ [ "Telecommunications in Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "With Macau's small population (about 680,000) and market, only a few local media options are available for the local people.", "Because radio signals, newspapers and magazines from Hong Kong are available in Macau, the local media are always a minority group in terms of sales and number of viewers." ], [ "Newspapers", "There are eighteen newspapers (twelve in Chinese, four in Portuguese and two in English).", "''O Mun Yat Po'' or ''Macau Daily News'') is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and has the largest circulation (4,000).", "Additionally, Chinese-language newspapers from Hong Kong are popular.Macau has eight Chinese-language, three Portuguese-language and two English-language dailies.", "The ''Macau Daily Times'' is Macau's only English-language newspaper edited seven days a week.", "''Macau Post Daily'' is published from Monday to Friday.", "It is owned by a local publishing company, Everbright Co. Ltd., which is locally owned." ], [ "Radio", "There are 250,000 radios; two twenty-hour FM radio stations, one Portuguese, one Chinese; and four AM stations.", "Hong Kong radio stations also are popular in Macau.", "* Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2005)* Radios: 160,000 (1997)" ], [ "Television", "There are 70,300 television sets (1997 estimate); two general television channels from TDM: one Portuguese and one Chinese.", "Hong Kong television networks TVB and ViuTV can be received and are widely watched by Macau residents.", "* Television broadcast stations: 3 (2006)* Televisions: 49,000 (1997)Macau government owns the television station called TDM.", "It has 16 digital television channels (6 channels are its own channel, 1 channel for transmitting TDM radio, 9 channels are transmitting television channels from mainland China)." ], [ "Telephone", "CTM telephone boothThe number of telephone lines has been increasing since the mid-1990s.", "In 1997 there were 222,456 telephones; by 1999, 300,066 lines were in use.", "In 1999 there were 686 telephone lines per 1,000 people.", "Cellular-telephone-use statistics were not available.", "International access is via Hong Kong and Mainland China and via Intelsat (Indian Ocean).", "Alcatel-Lucent was granted a contract in February 2007 to collocate a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Revision A) high-speed wireless network in Macau for China Unicom.", "Following the completion of the upgrades in related software and hardware, China Unicom will be equipped with the facilities needed to provide high-speed mobile data services for users in Macau, including broadcasting and video telephony.", "* Telephone main lines in use: 175,592 (July 2006)* Mobile cellular telephones: 325,016 (July 2006)Telephone system: fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services* domestic: N/A* international: HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and Mainland China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)* Users: 88,653 (2005)===Mobile phone operators===Brand Operator Status Bands (MHz) CTM C.T.M.", "Telemovel+ Operational UMTS 2100 (3G) / LTE FDD 900 (4G) / LTE FDD 1800 (4G) / LTE FDD 2100 (4G) / LTE FDD 2600 (4G) / NR FDD 700 (5G) / NR FDD 2100 (5G) / NR TDD 3500 (5G) / NR TDD 4900 (5G) 3 Macau Hutchison Telecom Operational UMTS 900 (3G) / UMTS 2100 (3G) / LTE FDD 1800 (4G) SmarTone MAC SmarTone Macau Operational UMTS 2100 (3G) / LTE FDD 1800 (4G) China Telecom (Macau) China Telecom Operational CDMA 800 (3G) / LTE FDD 850 (4G) / LTE FDD 1800 (4G) / LTE FDD 2100 (4G) / NR FDD 2100 (5G) / NR TDD 3500 (5G) / NR TDD 4900 (5G)===Decommissioning of GSM===GSM mobile phone networks for consumers in Macau were set to be decommissioned in July 2012.Networks will only be left in place for visitors to roam onto.", "The planned shutdown will make Macau be the first region in the world to phase out networks using the GSM standard, but it was postponed until 2019." ], [ "Internet", "Internet Service Providers (ISPs): CTM (Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau S.A.R.L.", "), MTelCountry code (Top level domain): .mo===Broadband Internet access===The Macao Telecommunications Company (CTM) in 2000 launched the first broadband Internet access in the territory, on a network built by Cisco Systems.MTel Telecommunications also provides broadband internet service and is CTM's main competitor, though much smaller market share." ], [ "See also", "* Media of Macau* Communications in Hong Kong* Communications in China* List of Chinese-language television channels* CTM (Macau)" ], [ "References and notes" ], [ "External links", "* CIA - The World Factbook - Macau" ] ]
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[ [ "Transport in Macau" ], [ "Introduction", "Taxi of Macau'''Transport in Macau''' includes road, sea, rail and air transport.", "Road transport is the primary mode of transport within Macau, although a new rail system opened in December 2019 serving the areas of Taipa and Cotai.", "The main forms of public transport are buses and taxis.Modes of transport out of Macau include ferries to Hong Kong and mainland China from two ferry terminals, as well as helicopter service to Hong Kong.", "International flights are available from Macau International Airport." ], [ "Internal", "===Road=== Taxi in Macau.Bus in Macau.Rickshaw in Macau.Rickshaw in Macau.Buses and taxis are the major modes of public transport in Macau.", "Bus services are frequent and inexpensive, linking the Macau peninsula, Taipa, Cotai and Coloane.", "Transmac and TCM are the only operators of Macau's bus services.", "Nova Era (zh), which took over the operations of Reolian, merged with TCM on 1 August, 2018.Most hotels (four-starred or above) and gaming venues operate their own fleet of shuttle bus service between the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, Taipa Ferry Terminal or Portas do Cerco (Macau's border to mainland China) and their premises.Taxis are plentiful near the airport/Taipa ferry terminal, the Hong Kong-Macau and Taipa ferry terminal, and major gaming venues/hotels in the city though it is harder to get one during rush hours on the streets.", "Most of Macau's taxis have a black body with cream color top livery.", "Radio taxis are available for the black cabs.In order to enhance the quality of taxi services, such as eliminate the language barrier between taxi drivers and passengers, the Tourist Office has provided most taxis with a destination guide which includes the names of the most requested destinations in Chinese, Portuguese and English.The trishaw, a hybrid of the tricycle and the rickshaw, is a unique mode of transport in Macau, though it is mainly for sightseeing purposes but they were a type of mainly used transportation system before the 1970s because of their cheap price.", "They can easily be found next to Hotel Lisboa and the Macau ferry terminal waiting for passengers.Panoramic view of the 4.7 km long Ponte de Amizade (Friendship Bridge) from the Macau Peninsula (left) to the Taipa Island (right), Macau===Railways===Macau Light Rapid Transit Taipa LineThere is one railway line open in Macau called the Macau Light Rail Transit system.", "Phase 1 of the Taipa line opened for operations in December 2019.Similar to the Singapore Light Rapid Transit system, the tracks will be a mix of elevated guideways and tunnels, ensuring a dedicated right-of-way separated from road traffic.", "When completed it will serve passengers on Macau Peninsula, Taipa island, the Cotai reclamation area, the Macau International Airport and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.Proposals have been put forward to link Macau to the Chinese railway network by extending the Guangzhou Railway (or, possibly, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit) to Cotai through Hengqin Island.", "However, no decisions have yet been made so far.Zhuhai Railway Station of the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway terminates adjacent to the northern border entrance into Macau at Portas do Cerco.Other systems include the Teleférico da Guia gondola lift system on Guia Hill, and the Elevador Inclinado da Colina da Taipa Grande, an inclined lift.===Others===The Macau Maritime Museum used to have two sailing vessels (which were based on the ancient \"junk\" form but were remodeled) serving for touring trips between the inner and outer harbours.", "Along the trip, the crew would introduce the general lifestyle and customs of the local boat dwellers.", "However, due to the land reclamation works in the harbour and the maintenance of the boats, all trips have been suspended." ], [ "External", "===Sea===Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, MacauTurboJET's Jetfoil (model Boeing 929)Over 150 sea-crossing services are scheduled daily between Macau and Hong Kong, and the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal serves as the major terminal for Macau's passenger traffic by sea.", "The route is served by high speed catamarans (with passenger capacity of about 400) and jetfoils (with passenger capacity of about 260) and the journey takes approximately one hour.", "There are also daily scheduled ferry services between Macau and Shenzhen.", "At present the services are operated by TurboJET from Sheung Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong International Airport.", "Cotai Water Jet also operates services between Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Sheung Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong International Airport.", "Apart from the sea routes there are also regular scheduled helicopter services between Hong Kong and Macau, which are operated by Sky Shuttle.", "The trip takes approximately 20 minutes.A sea-crossing service has been launched by TurboJET which travels between the Hong Kong International Airport and Macau.", "This differs from the above Macau-Hong Kong route since travelers who arrive in Hong Kong by air do not have to go through Hong Kong immigration's passport control and can board a direct ferry to Macau through a special transfer terminal within the airport.", "On the return trip, travelers can directly reach the Hong Kong International Airport by ferry (a dedicated check-in desk for the service is available at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal) and arrive at the airport without going through Hong Kong immigration's passport control, though airline check-in has to be done for some airlines within the airport prior to boarding a plane.", "Later on, the Cotai Water Jet launched the same service linking Hong Kong Airport and Macau but mostly embarked at Taipa Ferry Terminal.A new ferry terminal in Taipa, which is adjacent to the Macau International Airport, was opened in 2017 and some of the passenger traffic by sea will be diverted to the new facility.", "It is expected to act as a major hub for passenger transfer between the Hong Kong International Airport and the Macau International Airport.From the Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal (Terminal Marítimo de Passageiros do Porto Interior), ferry services were available between Macau and Wanzai, Zhuhai until January, 2016 due to safety issues at the Wanzai Ferry Terminal.", "On 31 December 2019, the Macau government announced that the Wanzai Port will officially reopen on January 23 with an hourly immigration capacity of 3,840 crossings.", "To transport passengers between Macau and Zhuhai, the mainland ferry company Yuet Tung will arrange one ferry every 15 minutes, amounting to four ferries every hour.", "Each ferry can take a maximum of 280 passengers.===Air===Macau International AirportAir service in Macau began in the 1930s with Pan American Airways operating seaplanes from Macau to Hong Kong and lasted until 1941.In 1948 Cathay Pacific Airways commenced Hong Kong to Macau seaplane service under their subsidiary Macau Air Transport Company (MATCO).", "MATCO operated from the Outer Harbour Terminal along Avenida da Amizade to Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong.", "The scheduled passenger service continued until 1961 when MATCO ceased operations.The Macau International Airport, located at Taipa, serves as the terminal for Macau's international air traffic.", "It was inaugurated on 9 November 1995 and has since established a number of regular flights between Macau and major cities in Northeast and Southeast Asia, such as Bangkok, Beijing, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Taipei.Passengers who would like to enter mainland China by land can use the \"Two Customs, One Checkpoint\" service (or the AIR-TO-LAND Flow Express Bus - Two Customs, One Checkpoint) provided by the Macau International Airport.", "Passengers can request the \"Express Link\" service at the check-in counter of their respective airlines.", "When arriving at the Macau International Airport, they can simply follow the \"Express Link\" signs and board the Air-to-Land transfer.", "Passengers do not have to go through Macau's immigration and customs checkpoint until they reach the border of mainland China.Owing to its relatively low landing fees and the business opportunities brought by the booming gaming industry in Macau, the airport has attracted several of Asia's low-cost carriers such as AirAsia, Tigerair, Cebu Pacific, etc.", "to establish regular flights between Macau and several major cities in Southeast Asia.", "As a result, it has been gradually developing into a major hub for low-cost air travel within the region.", "Other traditional carriers, such as the local flag carrier Air Macau, the Taiwanese carrier EVA Air, and even carriers which operate similar routes from Hong Kong, are facing potential challenges from these newcomers.Due to a lack of intercontinental flights from Macau, air passengers are also served by Hong Kong International Airport and Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport.", "Passengers can take ferries from the Outer Harbor and Taipa terminals to the Skypier in Hong Kong, or Fuyong Ferry Terminal in Shenzhen, without clearing customs or immigration at the other side.", "There is also a helicopter service to Shenzhen." ], [ "Roads, bridges and tunnels", "Macau Sai Van Bridge.Macau has 321 kilometres of public roads, three bridges (viaducts) linking the Macau Peninsula and Taipa, and a tunnel through the Guia Hill linking the Horta e Costa area and the New Port Area (NAPE).", "The three bridges are (from east to west) the Friendship Bridge (''Ponte de Amizade''); the Macau-Taipa Bridge (''Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho''); and the Sai Van Bridge (''Ponte de Sai Van'').The Lotus Bridge links Cotai with Hengqin New Area of Zhuhai.", "Unlike mainland China, where traffic drives on the right, traffic in Macau and Hong Kong drives on the left, therefore a special design has been used to build this bridge to facilitate the change in driving directions.Roads are generally narrow at the heart of the city and parked cars are always found on both sides of the road.", "Traffic congestion has been a major problem throughout the day owing to the lack of an efficient mass transit system and a relatively high car to population ratio.There are four land cross-border checkpoints, Portas do Cerco, Parque Industrial Transfronteiriço, located at Ilha Verde, Cotai (Lotus) Checkpoint, and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Checkpoint for connection Mainland China.", "Except for Portas do Cerco, which operates from 06:00 to 01:00, the other checkpoints are in 24-hour operation.The recent opening of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, opened in October 2018 has formed the first single road link between Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese mainland at Zhuhai.", "This 50 km link consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing the Lingdingyang channel, that connects these three major cities on the Pearl River Delta in China." ], [ "Ports", "* Macau Container Port, located at the Inner Harbour area on the west side of the Macau peninsula* Ká Hó Port, located on the Coloane Island" ], [ "Airports", "===Airports===There is only one airport located within Macau.", "Service began in 1995.Previously, seaplanes operated in Macau.", "Location   ICAO   IATA   Airport name Taipa Island (''Ilha da Taipa'') VMMC MFM Macau International Airport===Heliports and helipads===There are two heliports in Macau.", "Location   ICAO   IATA   Airport name Taipa Island (''Ilha da Taipa'') VMMH MFM Macau International Airport Macau Peninsula None XZM Macau Heliport at Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Macau Ferry Information* Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau of Macau* City Guide of Macau* Macau SAR Government Official Website* Macau International Airport Official Website" ] ]
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[ [ "Macao Garrison" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''People's Liberation Army Macao Garrison''' is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), responsible for defense duties in the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the sovereignty of Macau was transferred to China in 1999.The PLA stations between 500 and 600 troops in Macau, primarily as a symbolic presence to underscore Chinese sovereignty.", "The remainder of the 1,200-strong Macau garrison resides just across the Chinese border in Zhuhai.Although the Macao Basic Law states that the Macau SAR government may \"when necessary\" ask the central government to allow the garrison to assist in maintaining public order or disaster relief, Chief Executive Edmund Ho has said that, in keeping with the Basic Law the garrison will play no role in internal security.", "The garrison has maintained a low profile, with soldiers generally wearing civilian clothing when off base and not engaging in business activities." ], [ "Mission", "According to the Law on Stationing Troops in the Macau Special Administrative Region (or Macao Garrison Law, passed by the NPC Standing Committee on June 28, 1999), the mission of the PLA in Macau is to defend the special administrative region by \"preventing and resisting aggression; safe-guarding the security of Macau; undertaking defense services; managing military facilities; and handling related foreign military affairs.\"", "The PLA can also be called upon by the chief executive to help maintain public order and assist with disaster relief efforts.", "The members of the garrison are mainly ground force troops.===2017 Typhoon Hato===PLA Macau Garrison troops cleaning Macau streets after Typhoon Hato.At the request of Macau SAR Government, the PLA Macao Garrison was deployed to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato in August 2017, the first time for domestic affairs in Macau history.", "About 1,000 troops were called in to help remove debris and clear roads." ], [ "Organization", "People's Liberation Army Macao Garrison headquartersThe PLA Macao Garrison is under the command and control of the Central Military Commission and under the operational supervision of the Southern Theater Command, and its budget is administered by the central government in Beijing.", "A PLA major general heads the Macao Garrison.", "; Garrison Commanders* Maj. General Liu Yuejun 1999–2002* Maj. General Liu Lianhua 2002–2008* Maj. General Wang Yuren 2008–2010* Maj. General Zhu Qingsheng 2010–2014* Maj. General Wang Wen 2014–2018* Maj. General Liao Zhengrong 2018* Maj. General Xu Liangcai 2019–present; Political Commissars* Maj. General He Xianshu 1999–2001* Maj. General Liu Liangkai 2001–2003* Maj. General Yang Zhongmin 2003–2006* Maj. General Li Wenchao 2006–2007* Maj. General Zhao Cunsheng 2007–2008* Maj. General Xu Jinlin 2008–2013* Maj. General Ma Biqiang 2013–2014* Maj. General Zhang Zhimeng 2014–2017* Maj. General Zhou Wugang 2017–present" ], [ "Troops", "* 1 motorized infantry* 1 armoured company" ], [ "Equipment", "ModelTypeNumberDatesBuilderDetails ZFB91 6 wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (Internal Security/Anti-Riot Vehicle) 10 1980s Norinco with 12.7mm machine gun BJ2020S utility vehicle N/A N/A Beijing-Jeep variant of Soviet UAZ469B EQ2102 Troop/Cargo Carrier Truck N/A N/A Dongfeng Motor Corporation EQ2081/2100 Utility Truck N/A N/A Dongfeng Motor Corporation (formerly EQ240 and likely Chinese variants of the Zil 131) and other support vehicles Type 88 Sniper Rifle rifle N/A N/A Norinco QBZ-95 rifle N/A N/A" ], [ "Bases", "The garrison was temporarily stationed at the 11 storey '''Edificação Long Cheng/Long Cheng Mansion'''.", "It is now stationed on Taipa located amongst the new casinos in Cotai (Estrada da Baía de Nossa Sra.", "da Esperança across from Hotel Venetian and Galaxy Macau).There are more troops at the barracks in Zhuhai (Zhengling)." ], [ "See also", "* Military of Macau under Portuguese rule* Hong Kong Garrison" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]
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[ [ "Macedonia (region)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Macedonia''' ( ) is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe.", "Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid-19th century.", "Today the region is considered to include parts of six Balkan countries: all of North Macedonia, large parts of Greece and Bulgaria, and smaller parts of Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo.", "It covers approximately and has a population of around five million.", "Greek Macedonia comprises about half of Macedonia's area and population.Its oldest known settlements date back approximately to 7,000 BC.", "From the middle of the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedon became the dominant power on the Balkan Peninsula; since then Macedonia has had a diverse history." ], [ "Etymology", "Both proper nouns ''Makedṓn'' and ''Makednós'' are morphologically derived from the Ancient Greek adjective ''makednós'' meaning \"tall, slim\", and are related to the term Macedonia." ], [ "Boundaries and definitions", "===Ancient times===The kingdom of Macedon with its provincesBorders of Macedonia, based on the Roman province, according to different authors (1843–1927)The definition of Macedonia has changed several times throughout history.", "Prior to its expansion under Alexander the Great, the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, to which the modern region owes its name, lay entirely within the central and western parts of the current Greek province of Macedonia and consisted of 17 provinces/districts or eparchies (Ancient Greek: επαρχία).Expansion of Kingdom of Macedon:# Kingdom of Perdiccas I: Macedonian Kingdom of Emathia consisting of six provinces Emathia, Pieria, Bottiaea, Mygdonia, Eordaea and Almopia.# Kingdom of Alexander I: All the above provinces plus the eastern annexations Crestonia, Bisaltia and the western annexations Elimiotis, Orestis and Lynkestis.# Kingdom of Philip II: All the above provinces plus the appendages of Pelagonia and Macedonian Paeonia to the north, Sintike, Odomantis and Edonis to the east and the Chalkidike to the south.===Roman era===In the 2nd century, Macedonia covered approximately the area where it is considered to be today, but the northern regions of today Republic of North Macedonia were not identified as Macedonian lands.", "For reasons that are still unclear, over the next eleven centuries Macedonia's location was changed significantly.", "The Roman province of Macedonia consisted of what is today Northern and Central Greece, much of the geographical area of the Republic of North Macedonia and southeast Albania.", "Simply put, the Romans created a much larger administrative area under that name than the original ancient Macedon.", "In late Roman times, the provincial boundaries were reorganized to form the Diocese of Macedonia, consisting of most of modern mainland Greece right across the Aegean to include Crete, southern Albania, southwest Bulgaria, and most of Republic of North Macedonia.divided by the national boundaries of Greece (Greek Macedonia), the Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad Province), Albania (Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo), Serbia (Prohor Pčinjski), and Kosovo (Gora).===Byzantine era===In the Byzantine Empire, a province under the name of Macedonia was carved out of the original Theme of Thrace, which was well east of the Struma River.", "This ''thema'' variously included parts of Thrace and gave its name to the Macedonian dynasty.", "Hence, Byzantine documents of this era that mention Macedonia are most probably referring to the Macedonian thema.", "The region of Macedonia, on the other hand, which was ruled by the First Bulgarian Empire throughout the 9th and the 10th century, was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in 1018 as the Themе of Bulgaria.===Ottoman era===With the gradual conquest of southeastern Europe by the Ottomans in the late 14th century, the name of Macedonia disappeared as an administrative designation for several centuries and was rarely displayed on maps.", "The name was again revived to mean a distinct geographical region in the 19th century, defining the region bounded by Mount Olympus, the Pindus range, mounts Shar and Osogovo, the western Rhodopes, the lower course of the river Mesta (Greek Nestos) and the Aegean Sea, developing roughly the same borders that it has today." ], [ "Demographics", "During medieval and modern times, Macedonia has been known as a Balkan region inhabited by many ethnic groups.", "Today, as a frontier region where several very different cultures meet, Macedonia has an extremely diverse demographic profile.", "The current demographics of Macedonia include:*Macedonian Greeks self-identify culturally and regionally as \"Macedonians\" (Greek: Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'').", "They form the majority of the region's population (~51%).", "They number approximately 2,500,000 and, today, they live almost entirely in Greek Macedonia.", "The Greek Macedonian population is mixed, with other indigenous groups and with a large influx of Greek refugees descending from Asia Minor, Pontic Greeks, and East Thracian Greeks in the early 20th century.", "This is due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, during which over 1.2 million Orthodox Christian refugees from Turkey were settled in Greece, 638,000 of whom were settled in the Greek province of Macedonia.", "Smaller Greek minorities exist in Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, although their numbers are difficult to ascertain.", "In official census results, only 86 persons declared themselves Greeks in Bulgarian Macedonia (Blagoevgrad Province) in 2011, out of a total of 1,379 in all of Bulgaria; while only 294 persons described themselves as Greeks in the 2021 census in the Republic of North Macedonia.", "*Ethnic Macedonians self-identify as \"Macedonians\" (Macedonian: Македонци, ''Makedonci'') in an ethnic sense as well as in the regional sense.", "They are the second largest ethnic group in the region.", "Being a South Slavic ethnic group they are also known as \"Macedonian Slavs\" and \"Slav Macedonians\" (Greek: Σλαβομακεδόνες, \"Slavomakedones\") in Greece, though this term can be viewed as derogatory by ethnic Macedonians, including those in Greek Macedonia.", "They form the majority of the population in the Republic of North Macedonia where according to the 2021 census, approximately 1,100,000 people declared themselves as Macedonians.", "In 1999, the Greek Helsinki Monitor estimated a significant minority of ethnic Macedonians ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 that exist among the Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia.", "There has not been a census in Greece on the question of mother tongue since 1951, when the census recorded 41,017 Slavic-speakers, mostly in the West Macedonia periphery of Greece.", "The linguistic classification of the Slavic dialects spoken by these people are nowadays typically classified as Macedonian, with the exception of some eastern dialects which can also be classified as Bulgarian, although the people themselves call their native language a variety of terms, including ''makedonski'', ''makedoniski'' (\"Macedonian\"), ''slaviká'' (, \"Slavic\"), ''dópia'' or ''entópia'' (, \"local/indigenous language\"), ''balgàrtzki'', ''bògartski'' (\"Bulgarian\") along with ''naši'' (\"our own\") and ''stariski'' (\"old\").", "Most Slavic-speakers declare themselves as ethnic Greeks (Slavophone Greeks), although there are small groups espousing ethnic Macedonian and Bulgarian national identities, however some groups reject all these ethnic designations and prefer terms such as ''\"natives\"'' instead.", "The Macedonian minority in Albania are an officially recognised minority in Albania and are primarily concentrated around the Prespa region and Golo Brdo and are primarily Eastern Orthodox Christian with the exception of the later region where Macedonians are predominantly Muslim.", "In the 2011 Albanian census, 5,870 Albanian citizens declared themselves Macedonians.", "According to the latest Bulgarian census held in 2011, there are 561 people declaring themselves ethnic Macedonians in the Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria (Pirin Macedonia).", "The official number of ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria is 1,654.", "*Macedonian Bulgarians are ethnic Bulgarians who self-identify regionally as \"Macedonians\" (Bulgarian: Mакедонци, ''Makedontsi'').", "They represent the bulk of the population of Bulgarian Macedonia (also known as \"Pirin Macedonia\").", "They number approximately 250,000 in the Blagoevgrad Province where they are mainly situated.", "There are small Bulgarian-identifying groups in Albania, Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia.", "In the Republic of North Macedonia, 3,504 people claimed a Bulgarian ethnic identity in the 2021 census.", "*Albanians are another major ethnic group in the region.", "Ethnic Albanians make up the majority in certain northern and western parts of the Republic of North Macedonia, and account for 24.3% of the total population of the Republic of North Macedonia, according to the 2021 census.", "*Smaller numbers of Turks, Bosniaks, Roma, Serbs, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Egyptians, Armenians and Jews (Sephardim and Romaniotes) can also be found in Macedonia.File:Ethnographische Karte von Makedonien (1899).jpg|Distribution of ethnic groups in Macedonia in 1892 (''Deutsche Rundschau für Geographie und Statistik'' – ''German Bevieiofor Geography and Statistics'')File:Ethnographic map of the central Balkans, ca.", "1900.png|Ethnographic map of the vilayets of Kosovo, Saloniki, Scutari, Janina and Monastir, ca.", "1900 (''Institute and Museum of Military History'')File:Distribution of races in the Balkans c.1910.jpg|Distribution of ethnic groups in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor in 1910 (''Historical Atlas'' by William R. Shepherd, New York)File:Distribution Of Races 1918 National Geographic.jpg|Distribution of ethnic groups in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor in 1918 (''National Geographic'')===Religion===Saint Gregory Palamas Cathedral in ThessalonikiMonasteries of the Mount Athos in Macedonia (Greece)Most present-day inhabitants of the region are Eastern Orthodox Christians, principally of the Bulgarian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox Churches.", "Notable Muslim minorities are present among the Albanian, Bulgarian (Pomaks), Macedonian (Torbeš), Bosniak, and Turkish populations.During the period of classical antiquity, main religion in the region of Macedonia was the Ancient Greek religion.", "After the Roman conquest of Macedonia, the Ancient Roman religion was also introduced.", "Many ancient religious monuments, dedicated to Greek and Roman deities are preserved in this region.", "During the period of Early Christianity, ecclesiastical structure was established in the region of Macedonia, and the see of Thessaloniki became the metropolitan diocese of the Roman province of Macedonia.", "The archbishop of Thessaloniki also became the senior ecclesiastical primate of the entire Eastern Illyricum, and in 535 his jurisdiction was reduced to the administrative territory of the Diocese of Macedonia.", "Later it came under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.During the Middle Ages and up to 1767, western and northern regions of Macedonia were under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Ohrid.", "Northern fringes of the region (areas surrounding Skopje and Tetovo) had temporary jurisdiction under the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć.", "Both the Archbishopric of Ohrid and the Patriarchate of Peć became abolished and absorbed into the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in the middle of the 18th century.", "During the period of Ottoman rule, a partial islamization was also recorded.", "In spite of that, the Eastern Orthodox Christianity remained the dominant religion of local population.During the 19th century, religious life in the region was strongly influenced by rising national movements.", "Several major ethnoreligious disputes arose in the region of Macedonia, main of them being schisms between the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the newly created Bulgarian Exarchate (1872), and later between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the newly created Macedonian Orthodox Church (1967)." ], [ "History", "===Early Neolithic===While Macedonia shows signs of human habitation as old as the paleolithic period (among which is the Petralona cave with the oldest European humanoid), the earliest known settlements, such as Nea Nikomedeia in Imathia (today's Greek Macedonia), date back 9,000 years.", "The houses at Nea Nikomedeia were constructed—as were most structures throughout the Neolithic in northern Greece—of wattle and daub on a timber frame.", "The cultural assemblage includes well-made pottery in simple shapes with occasional decoration in white on a red background, clay female figurines of the 'rod-headed' type known from Thessaly to the Danube Valley, stone axes and adzes, chert blades, and ornaments of stone including curious 'nose plugs' of uncertain function.", "The assemblage of associated objects differs from one house to the next, suggesting some degree of craft specialisation had already been established from the beginning of the site's history.", "The farming economy was based on the cultivation of cereal crops such as wheat and barley and pulses and on the herding of sheep and goats, with some cattle and pigs.", "Hunting played a relatively minor role in the economy.", "Surviving from 7000 to 5500 BCE, this Early Neolithic settlement was occupied for over a thousand years.===Middle Neolithic===The Middle Neolithic period ( to 4500 BCE) is at present best represented at Servia in the Haliacmon Valley in western Macedonia, where the typical red-on-cream pottery in the Sesklo style emphasises the settlement's southern orientation.", "Pottery of this date has been found at a number of sites in Central and Eastern Macedonia but so far none has been extensively excavated.===Late Neolithic===The Late Neolithic period ( to 3500 BCE) is well represented by both excavated and unexcavated sites throughout the region (though in Eastern Macedonia levels of this period are still called Middle Neolithic according to the terminology used in the Balkans).", "Rapid changes in pottery styles, and the discovery of fragments of pottery showing trade with quite distant regions, indicate that society, economy and technology were all changing rapidly.", "Among the most important of these changes were the start of copper working, convincingly demonstrated by Renfrew to have been learnt from the cultural groups of Bulgaria and Roumania to the North.", "Principal excavated settlements of this period include Makryialos and Paliambela near the western shore of the Thermaic gulf, Thermi to the south of Thessaloniki and Sitagroi and Dikili Tas in the Drama plain.", "Some of these sites were densely occupied and formed large mounds (known to the local inhabitants of the region today as 'toumbas').", "Others were much less densely occupied and spread for as much as a kilometer (Makryialos).", "Both types are found at the same time in the same districts and it is presumed that differences in social organisation are reflected by these differences in settlement organisation.", "Some communities were clearly concerned to protect themselves with different kinds of defensive arrangements: ditches at Makryialos and concentric walls at Paliambela.", "The best preserved buildings were discovered at Dikili Tas, where long timber-framed structures had been organised in rows and some had been decorated with bulls' skulls fastened to the outside of the walls and plastered over with clay.Remarkable evidence for cult activity has been found at Promachonas-Topolnica, which straddles the Greek Bulgarian border to the north of Serres.", "Here a deep pit appeared to have been roofed to make a subterranean room; in it were successive layers of debris including large numbers of figurines, bulls' skulls, and pottery, including several rare and unusual shapes.The farming economy of this period continued the practices established at the beginning of the Neolithic, although sheep and goats were less dominant among the animals than they had previously been, and the cultivation of vines (''Vitis vinifera'') is well attested.Only a few burials have been discovered from the whole of the Neolithic period in northern Greece and no clear pattern can be deduced.", "Grave offerings, however, seem to have been very limited.===Ancient Macedonia (500 to 146 BCE)===Expansion of Macedon into a kingdomIn classical times, the region of Macedonia comprised parts of what at the time was known as Macedonia, Illyria and Thrace.", "Among others, in its lands were located the kingdoms of Paeonia, Dardania, Macedonia and Pelagonia, historical tribes like the Agrianes, and colonies of southern Greek city states.", "Prior to the Macedonian ascendancy, parts of southern Macedonia were populated by the Bryges, while western, (i. e., Upper) Macedonia, was inhabited by Macedonian and Illyrian tribes.", "Whilst numerous wars are later recorded between the Illyrian and Macedonian Kingdoms, the Bryges might have co-existed peacefully with the Macedonians.", "In the time of Classical Greece, Paionia, whose exact boundaries are obscure, originally included the whole Axius River valley and the surrounding areas, in what is now the northern part of the Greek region of Macedonia, most of the Republic of North Macedonia, and a small part of western Bulgaria.", "By 500 BCE, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was centered somewhere between the southern slopes of Lower Olympus and the lowest reach of the Haliakmon River.", "Since 512/511 BCE, the kingdom of Macedonia was subject to the Persians, but after the battle of Plataia it regained its independence.", "Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, the kingdom of Macedonia forcefully expanded, placing the whole of the region of Macedonia under their rule.Alexander's conquests produced a lasting extension of Hellenistic culture and thought across the ancient Near East, but his empire broke up on his death.", "His generals divided the empire between them, founding their own states and dynasties.", "The kingdom of Macedon was taken by Cassander, who ruled it until his death in 297 BC.", "At the time, Macedonian control over the Thracoillyrian states of the region slowly waned, although the kingdom of Macedonia remained the most potent regional power.", "This period also saw several Celtic invasions into Macedonia.", "However, the Celts were each time successfully repelled by Cassander, and later Antigonus, leaving little overall influence on the region.===Roman Macedonia===Roman provinces in the Balkans including Macedonia, The late Roman Diocese of Macedonia, including the provinces of Macedonia Prima, Macedonia Secunda or Salutaris (periodically abolished), Thessalia, Epirus vetus, Epirus nova, Achaea, and Crete.Macedonian sovereignty in the region was brought to an end at the hands of the rising power of Rome in the 2nd century BC.", "Philip V of Macedon took his kingdom to war against the Romans in two wars during his reign (221–179 BC).", "The First Macedonian War (215–205 BC) was fairly successful for the Macedonians but Philip was decisively defeated in the Second Macedonian War in (200–197 BC).", "Although he survived war with Rome, his successor Perseus of Macedon (reigned 179–168 BC) did not; having taken Macedon into the Third Macedonian War in (171–168 BC), he lost his kingdom when he was defeated.", "Macedonia was initially divided into four republics subject to Rome before finally being annexed in 146 BC as a Roman province.", "Around this time, vulgar Latin was introduced in the Balkans by Latin-speaking colonists and military personnel.With the division of the Roman Empire into west and east in 298 AD, Macedonia came under the rule of Rome's Byzantine successors.", "The population of the entire region was, however, depleted by destructive invasions of various Gothic and Hun tribes c. 300 – 5th century AD.", "Despite this, other parts of the Byzantine empire continued to flourish, in particular some coastal cities such as Thessaloniki became important trade and cultural centres.", "Despite the empire's power, from the beginning of the 6th century the Byzantine dominions were subject to frequent raids by various Slavic tribes which, in the course of centuries, eventually resulted in drastic demographic and cultural changes in the Empire's Balkan provinces.", "Although traditional scholarship attributes these changes to large-scale colonizations by Slavic-speaking groups, it has been proposed that a generalized dissipation of Roman identity might have commenced in the 3rd century, especially among rural provincials who were crippled by harsh taxation and famines.", "Given this background, penetrations carried by successive waves of relatively small numbers of Slavic warriors and their families might have been capable of assimilating large numbers of indigenes into their cultural model, which was sometimes seen as a more attractive alternative.", "In this way and in the course of time, great parts of Macedonia came to be controlled by Slavic-speaking communities.", "Despite numerous attacks on Thessaloniki, the city held out, and Byzantine-Roman culture continued to flourish, although Slavic cultural influence steadily increased.The Slavic settlements organized themselves along tribal and territorially based lines which were referred to by Byzantine Greek historians as \"Sklaviniai\".", "The Sklaviniai continued to intermittently assault the Byzantine Empire, either independently, or aided by Bulgar or Avar contingents.", "Around 680 AD a \"Bulgar\" group (which was largely composed of the descendants of former Roman Christians taken captive by the Avars), led by Khan Kuber (theorized to have belonged to the same clan as the Danubian Bulgarian khan Asparukh), settled in the Pelagonian plain, and launched campaigns to the region of Thessaloniki.", "When the Empire could spare imperial troops, it attempted to regain control of its lost Balkan territories.", "By the time of Constans II a significant number of the Slavs of Macedonia were captured and transferred to central Asia Minor where they were forced to recognize the authority of the Byzantine emperor and serve in his ranks.", "In the late 7th century, Justinian II again organized a massive expedition against the Sklaviniai and Bulgars of Macedonia.", "Launching from Constantinople, he subdued many Slavic tribes and established the ''Theme of Thrace'' in the hinterland of the Great City, and pushed on into Thessaloniki.", "However, on his return he was ambushed by the Slavo-Bulgars of Kuber, losing a great part of his army, booty, and subsequently his throne.", "Despite these temporary successes, rule in the region was far from stable since not all of the Sklaviniae were pacified, and those that were often rebelled.", "The emperors rather resorted to withdrawing their defensive line south along the Aegean coast, until the late 8th century.", "Although a new theme—that of \"Macedonia\"—was subsequently created, it did not correspond to today's geographic territory, but one farther east (centred on Adrianople), carved out of the already existing Thracian and Helladic themes.===Medieval Macedonia===There are no Byzantine records of \"Sklaviniai\" after 836/837 as they were absorbed into the expanding First Bulgarian Empire.", "Slavic influence in the region strengthened along with the rise of this state, which incorporated parts of the region to its domain in 837.In the early 860s Saints Cyril and Methodius, two Byzantine Greek brothers from Thessaloniki, created the first Slavic Glagolitic alphabet in which the Old Church Slavonic language was first transcribed, and are thus commonly referred to as the apostles of the Slavic world.", "Their cultural heritage was acquired and developed in medieval Bulgaria, where after 885 the region of Ohrid (present-day Republic of North Macedonia) became a significant ecclesiastical center with the nomination of the Saint Clement of Ohrid for \"first archbishop in Bulgarian language\" with residence in this region.", "In conjunction with another disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Naum, Clement created a flourishing Slavic cultural center around Ohrid, where pupils were taught theology in the Old Church Slavonic language and the Glagolitic and Cyrillic script at what is now called Ohrid Literary School.", "The Bulgarian-Byzantine boundary in the beginning of 10th century passed approximately north of Thessaloniki according to the inscription of Narash.", "According to the Byzantine author John Kaminiates, at that time the neighbouring settlements around Thessaloniki were inhabited by \"Scythians\" (Bulgarians) and the Slavic tribes of Drugubites and Sagudates, in addition to Greeks.At the end of the 10th century, what is now the Republic of North Macedonia became the political and cultural heartland of the First Bulgarian Empire, after Byzantine emperors John I Tzimiskes conquered the eastern part of the Bulgarian state during the Rus'–Byzantine War of 970–971.The Bulgarian capital Preslav and the Bulgarian Tsar Boris II were captured, and with the deposition of the Bulgarian regalia in the Hagia Sophia, Bulgaria was officially annexed to Byzantium.", "A new capital was established at Ohrid, which also became the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.", "A new dynasty, that of the Comitopuli under Tsar Samuil and his successors, continued resistance against the Byzantines for several more decades, before also succumbing in 1018.The western part of Bulgaria including Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as the province of Bulgaria (Theme of Bulgaria) and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced in rank to an Archbishopric.Intermittent Bulgarian uprisings continued to occur, often with the support of the Serbian princedoms to the north.", "Any temporary independence that might have been gained was usually crushed swiftly by the Byzantines.", "It was also marked by periods of war between the Normans and Byzantium.", "The Normans launched offensives from their lands acquired in southern Italy, and temporarily gained rule over small areas in the northwestern coast.At the end of the 12th century, some northern parts of Macedonia were temporarily conquered by Stefan Nemanja of Serbia.", "In the 13th century, following the Fourth Crusade, Macedonia was disputed among Byzantine Greeks, Latin crusaders of the short-lived Kingdom of Thessalonica, and the revived Bulgarian state.", "Most of southern Macedonia was secured by the Despotate of Epirus and then by the Empire of Nicaea, while the north was ruled by Bulgaria.", "After 1261 however, all of Macedonia returned to Byzantine rule, where it largely remained until the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347.Taking advantage of this conflict, the Serb ruler Stefan Dushan expanded his realm and founded the Serbian Empire, which included all of Macedonia, northern and central Greece – excluding Thessaloniki, Athens and the Peloponnese.", "Dushan's empire however broke up shortly after his death in 1355.After his death local rulers in the regions of Macedonia were despot Jovan Uglješa in eastern Macedonia, and kings Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his son Marko Mrnjavčević in western regions of Macedonia.===Ottoman Macedonia===Contemporary Ottoman map or the Salonica Vilayet Map of ''Part'' of Macedonia (Carte d'une partie de la Macedoine) by Piere Lapie (1826).", "Since the middle of the 14th century, the Ottoman threat was looming in the Balkans, as the Ottomans defeated the various Christian principalities, whether Serb, Bulgarian or Greek.", "After the Ottoman victory in the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, most of Macedonia accepted vassalage to the Ottomans and by the end of the 14th century the Ottoman Empire gradually annexed the region.", "The final Ottoman capture of Thessalonica (1430) was seen as the prelude to the fall of Constantinople itself.", "Macedonia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 years, during which time it gained a substantial Turkish minority.", "Thessaloniki later become the home of a large Sephardi Jewish population following the expulsions of Jews after 1492 from Spain.===Birth of nationalism and of Macedonian identities===Over the centuries Macedonia had become a multicultural region.", "The historical references mention Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks, Albanians, Gypsies, Jews, Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians.", "It is often claimed that macédoine, the fruit or vegetable salad, was named after the area's very mixed population, as it could be witnessed at the end of the 19th century.", "From the Middle Ages to the early 20th century the Slavic-speaking population in Macedonia was identified mostly as Bulgarian.During the period of Bulgarian National Revival many Bulgarians from these regions supported the struggle for creation of Bulgarian cultural educational and religious institutions, including Bulgarian Exarchate.", "Eventually, in the 20th century, 'Bulgarians' came to be understood as synonymous with 'Macedonian Slavs' and, eventually, 'ethnic Macedonians'.", "Krste Misirkov, a philologist and publicist, wrote his work \"On the Macedonian Matters\" (1903), for which he is heralded by Macedonians as one of the founders of the Macedonian nation.After the revival of Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian statehood in the 19th century, the Ottoman lands in Europe that became identified as \"Macedonia\", were contested by all three governments, leading to the creation in the 1890s and 1900s of rival armed groups who divided their efforts between fighting the Turks and one another.", "The most important of these was the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, which organized the so-called Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903, fighting for an autonomous or independent Macedonian state, and the Greek efforts from 1904 until 1908 (Greek Struggle for Macedonia).", "Diplomatic intervention by the European powers led to plans for an autonomous Macedonia under Ottoman rule.Evolution of the territory of Greece.", "The 'Macedonia' shown is the Greek province.The restricted borders of the modern Greek state at its inception in 1830 disappointed the inhabitants of northern Greece (Epirus and Macedonia).", "Addressing these concerns in 1844, the Greek Prime Minister Kolettis addressed the constitutional assembly in Athens that \"the Kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is only a part, the smallest and poorest, of Greece.", "The Greek is not only he who inhabits the kingdom, but also he who lives in Ioannina, or Thessaloniki, or Serres, or Odrin\" .", "He mentions cities and islands that were under Ottoman possession as composing the Great Idea (Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα, ''Megáli Idéa'') which meant the reconstruction of the classical Greek world or the revival of the Byzantine Empire.", "The important idea here is that for Greece, Macedonia was a region with large Greek populations expecting annexation to the new Greek state.Map of the region contested by Serbia and Bulgaria and subject to the arbitration of the Russian TsarThe 1878 Congress of Berlin changed the Balkan map again.", "The treaty restored Macedonia and Thrace to the Ottoman Empire.", "Serbia, Romania and Montenegro were granted full independence, and some territorial expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire.", "Russia would maintain military advisors in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia until May 1879.Austria-Hungary was permitted to occupy Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sanjak of Novi Pazar.", "The Congress of Berlin also forced Bulgaria, newly given autonomy by the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano, to return over half of its newly gained territory to the Ottoman Empire.", "This included Macedonia, a large part of which was given to Bulgaria, due to Russian pressure and the presence of significant numbers of Bulgarians and adherents to the Bulgarian Exarchate.", "The territorial losses dissatisfied Bulgaria; this fuelled the ambitions of many Bulgarian politicians for the following seventy years, who wanted to review the treaty – by peaceful or military means and to reunite all lands which they claimed had a Bulgarian majority.", "Besides, Serbia was now interested in the Macedonian lands, until then only Greece was Bulgaria's main contender, which after the addition of Thessaly to Greece in (1881) was bordering Macedonia.", "Thus, the Berlin Congress renewed the struggle for Turkey in Europe, including the so-called Macedonia region, rather than setting up a permanent regime.", "In the following years, all of the neighboring states struggled over Turkey in Europe; they were only kept at bay by their own restraints, the Ottoman Army and the territorial ambitions of the Great Powers in the region.Serbian policy had a distinct anti-Bulgarian flavor, attempting to prevent the Bulgarian influencing the inhabitants of Macedonia.", "On the other hand, Bulgaria was using the power of its religious institutions (Bulgarian Exarchate established in 1870) to promote its language and make more people identify with Bulgaria.", "Greece, in addition, was in an advantageous position for protecting its interests through the influence of Patriarchate of Constantinople which traditionally sponsored Greek-language and Greek-culture schools also in villages with few Greeks.", "This put the Patriarchate in dispute with the Exarchate, which established schools with Bulgarian education.", "Indeed, belonging to one or another institution could define a person's national identity.", "Simply, if a person supported the Patriarchate they were regarded as Greek, whereas if they supported the Exarchate they were regarded as Bulgarian.", "Locally, however, villagers were not always able to express freely their association with one or the other institution as there were numerous armed groups trying to defend and/or expand the territory of each.", "Some were locally recruited and self-organized while others were sent and armed by the protecting states.The aim of the adversaries, however, was not primarily to extend their influence over Macedonia but merely to prevent Macedonia succumbing to the influence of the other.", "This often violent attempt to persuade the people that they belonged to one ethnic group or another pushed some people to reject both.", "The severe pressure on the peaceful peasants of Macedonia worked against the plans of the Serbians and Bulgarians to make them adopt their ethnic idea and eventually a social divide became apparent.", "The British Ambassador in Belgrade in 1927 said: \"At present the unfortunate Macedonian peasant is between the hammer and the anvil.", "One day 'comitadjis' come to his house and demand under threat lodging, food and money and the next day the gendarm hales him off to prison for having given them; the Macedonian is really a peaceable, fairly industrious agriculturist and if the (Serbian) government give him adequate protection, education, freedom from malaria and decent communications, there seems no reason why he should not become just as Serbian in sentiment as he was Bulgarian 10 years ago\".", "As a result of this game of tug-of-war, the development of a distinct Macedonian national identity was impeded and delayed.", "Moreover, when the imperialistic plans of the surrounding states made possible the division of Macedonia, some Macedonian intellectuals such as Misirkov mentioned the necessity of creating a Macedonian national identity which would distinguish the Macedonian Slavs from Bulgarians, Serbians or Greeks.Ethnic composition of the Balkans according to ''Atlas Général Vidal-Lablanche'', Paris 1890–1894.Henry Robert Wilkinson stated that this ethnic map, as most ethnic maps of that time, contained a pro-Bulgarian ethnographic view of Macedonia.Baptizing Macedonian Slavs as Serbian or Bulgarian aimed therefore to justify these countries' territorial claims over Macedonia.", "The Greek side, with the assistance of the Patriarchate that was responsible for the schools, could more easily maintain control, because they were spreading Greek identity.", "For the very same reason the Bulgarians, when preparing the Exarchate's government (1871) included Macedonians in the assembly as \"brothers\" to prevent any ethnic diversification.", "On the other hand, the Serbs, unable to establish Serbian-speaking schools, used propaganda.", "Their main concern was to prevent the Slavic-speaking Macedonians from acquiring Bulgarian identity through concentrating on the myth of the ancient origins of the Macedonians and simultaneously by the classification of Bulgarians as Tatars and not as Slavs, emphasizing their 'Macedonian' characteristics as an intermediate stage between Serbs and Bulgarians.", "To sum up the Serbian propaganda attempted to inspire the Macedonians with a separate ethnic identity to diminish the Bulgarian influence.", "This choice was the 'Macedonian ethnicity'.", "The Bulgarians never accepted an ethnic diversity from the Slav Macedonians, giving geographic meaning to the term.", "In 1893 they established the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) aiming to confront the Serbian and Greek action in Macedonia.", "VMRO hoped to answer the Macedonian question through a revolutionary movement, and so they instigated the Ilinden Uprising (1903) to release some Ottoman territory.", "Bulgaria used this to internationalize the Macedonian question.", "Ilinden changed Greece's stance which decided to take Para-military action.", "In order to protect the Greek Macedonians and Greek interests, Greece sent officers to train guerrillas and organize militias (Macedonian Struggle), known as ''makedonomahi'' (Macedonian fighters), essentially to fight the Bulgarians.", "After that it was obvious that the Macedonian question could be answered only with a war.Boundaries on the Balkans after the First and the Second Balkan War (1912–1913)The rise of the Albanian and the Turkish nationalism after 1908, however, prompted Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to bury their differences with regard to Macedonia and to form a joint coalition against the Ottoman Empire in 1912.Disregarding public opinion in Bulgaria, which was in support of the establishment of an autonomous Macedonian province under a Christian governor, the Bulgarian government entered a pre-war treaty with Serbia which divided the region into two parts.", "The part of Macedonia west and north of the line of partition was contested by both Serbia and Bulgaria and was subject to the arbitration of the Russian Tsar after the war.", "Serbia formally renounced any claims to the part of Macedonia south and east of the line, which was declared to be within the Bulgarian sphere of interest.", "The pre-treaty between Greece and Bulgaria, however, did not include any agreement on the division of the conquered territories – evidently both countries hoped to occupy as much territory as possible having their sights primarily set on Thessaloniki.In the First Balkan War, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro occupied almost all Ottoman-held territories in Europe.", "Bulgaria bore the brunt of the war fighting on the Thracian front against the main Ottoman forces.", "Both her war expenditures and casualties in the First Balkan War were higher than those of Serbia, Greece and Montenegro combined.", "Macedonia itself was occupied by Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian forces.", "The Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of London in May 1913 assigned the whole of Macedonia to the Balkan League, without, specifying the division of the region, to promote problems between the allies.", "Dissatisfied with the creation of an autonomous Albanian state, which denied her access to the Adriatic, Serbia asked for the suspension of the pre-war division treaty and demanded from Bulgaria greater territorial concessions in Macedonia.", "Later in May the same year, Greece and Serbia signed a secret treaty in Thessaloniki stipulating the division of Macedonia according to the existing lines of control.", "Both Serbia and Greece, as well as Bulgaria, started to prepare for a final war of partition.Macedonia's division in 1913In June 1913, Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, without consulting the government, and without any declaration of war, ordered Bulgarian troops to attack the Greek and Serbian troops in Macedonia, initiating the Second Balkan War.", "The Bulgarian army was in full retreat in all fronts.", "The Serbian army chose to stop its operations when achieved all its territorial goals and only then the Bulgarian army took a breath.", "During the last two days the Bulgarians managed to achieve a defensive victory against the advancing Greek army in the Kresna Gorge.", "However at the same time the Romanian army crossed the undefended northern border and easily advanced towards Sofia.", "Romania interfered in the war, in order to satisfy its territorial claims against Bulgaria.", "The Ottoman Empire also interfered, easily reassuming control of Eastern Thrace with Edirne.", "The Second Balkan War, also known as Inter-Ally War, left Bulgaria only with the Struma valley and a small part of Thrace with minor ports at the Aegean sea.", "Vardar Macedonia was incorporated into Serbia and thereafter referred to as South Serbia.", "Southern (Aegean) Macedonia was incorporated into Greece and thereafter was referred to as northern Greece.", "The region suffered heavily during the Second Balkan War.", "During its advance at the end of June, the Greek army set fire to the Bulgarian quarter of the town of Kilkis and over 160 villages around Kilkis and Serres driving some 50,000 refugees into Bulgaria proper.", "The Bulgarian army retaliated by burning the Greek quarter of Serres and by arming Muslims from the region of Drama which led to a massacre of Greek civilians.In September 1915, the Greek government authorized the landing of the troops in Thessaloniki.", "In 1916 the pro-German King of Greece agreed with the Germans to allow military forces of the Central Powers to enter Greek Macedonia to attack Bulgarian forces in Thessaloniki.", "As a result, Bulgarian troops occupied the eastern part of Greek Macedonia, including the port of Kavala.", "The region was, however, restored to Greece following the victory of the Allies in 1918.After the destruction of the Greek Army in Asia Minor in 1922 Greece and Turkey exchanged most of Macedonia's Turkish minority and the Greek inhabitants of Thrace and Anatolia, as a result of which Aegean Macedonia experienced a large addition to its population and became overwhelmingly Greek in ethnic composition.", "Serbian-ruled Macedonia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1918.Yugoslav Macedonia was subsequently subjected to an intense process of \"Serbianization\" during the 1920s and 1930s.During World War II the boundaries of the region shifted yet again.", "When the German forces occupied the area, most of Yugoslav Macedonia and part of Aegean Macedonia were transferred for administration to Bulgaria.", "During the Bulgarian administration of Eastern Greek Macedonia, some 100,000 Bulgarian refugees from the region were resettled there and perhaps as many Greeks were deported or fled to other parts of Greece.", "Western Aegean Macedonia was occupied by Italy, with the western parts of Yugoslav Macedonia being annexed to Italian-occupied Albania.", "The remainder of Greek Macedonia (including all of the coast) was occupied by Nazi Germany.", "One of the worst episodes of the Holocaust happened here when 60,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were deported to extermination camps in occupied Poland.", "Only a few thousand survived.Macedonia was liberated in 1944, when the Red Army's advance in the Balkan Peninsula forced the German forces to retreat.", "The pre-war borders were restored under U.S. and British pressure because the Bulgarian government was insisting to keep its military units on Greek soil.", "The Bulgarian Macedonia returned fairly rapidly to normality, but the Bulgarian patriots in Yugoslav Macedonia underwent a process of ethnic cleansing by the Belgrade authorities, and Greek Macedonia was ravaged by the Greek Civil War, which broke out in December 1944 and did not end until October 1949.After this civil war, a large number of former ELAS fighters who took refuge in communist Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and described themselves as \"ethnic Macedonians\" were prohibited from reestablishing to their former estates by the Greek authorities.", "Most of them were accused in Greece for crimes committed during the period of the German occupation.===Macedonia in the Balkan Wars, World War I and II=======Balkan Wars====The imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire was welcomed by the Balkan states, as it promised to restore their European territory.", "The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 proved a nationalistic movement thwarting the peoples' expectations of the empire's modernization and hastened the end of the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans.", "To this end, an alliance was struck among the Balkan states in Spring 1913.The First Balkan War, which lasted six weeks, commenced in August 1912, when Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, whose forces ultimately engaged four different wars in Thrace, Macedonia, Northern and Southern Albania and Kosovo.", "The Macedonian campaign was fought in atrocious conditions.", "The retreat of the Ottoman army from Macedonia succeeded the desperate effort of the Greek and Bulgarian forces to reach the city of Thessalonica, the \"single prize of the first Balkan War\" for whose status no prior agreements were done.", "In this case possession would be equal to acquisition.", "The Greek forces entered the city first liberating officially, a progress only positive for them.", "Glenny says: \"for the Greeks it was a good war\".The first Balkan War managed to liberate Balkans from Turks and settled the major issues except Macedonia.", "In the spring 1913 the Serbs and Greeks begun the 'Serbianization' and the 'Hellenization' of the parts in Macedonia they already controlled, while Bulgarians faced some difficulties against the Jews and the Turkish populations.", "Moreover, the possession of Thessalonica was a living dream for the Bulgarians that were preparing for a new war.", "For this, the Bulgarian troops had a secret order in June 1913 to launch surprise attacks on the Serbs.", "Greece and Serbia signed a previous bilateral defensive agreement (May 1913).", "Consequently, Bulgaria decided to attack Greece and Serbia.", "After some initial gains the Bulgarians were forced to retreat back to Bulgaria proper and lose nearly all of the land they had conquered during the first war.The Treaty of Bucharest (August 1913) took off most of the Bulgarian conquests of the previous years.", "A large part of Macedonia became southern Serbia, including the territory of what today is the Republic of North Macedonia, and southern Macedonia became northern Greece.", "Greece almost doubled its territory and population size and its northern frontiers remain today, more or less the same since the Balkan Wars.", "However, when Serbia acquired 'Vardarska Banovina' (the present-day Republic of North Macedonia), it launched having expansionist views aiming to descend to the Aegean, with Thessalonica as the highest ambition.", "However, Greece after the population exchange with Bulgaria, soon after its victory in the Balkan wars, managed to give national homogeneity in the Aegean and any remaining Slavic-speakers were absorbed.Many volunteers from Macedonia joined Bulgarian army and participated in the battles against Bulgarian enemies in these wars—on the strength of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps and other units.====World War I====After World War I Macedonian Campaign the status quo of Macedonia remained the same.", "The establishment of the 'Kingdom of Serbians, Croats and Slovenes' in 1918, which in 1929 was renamed 'Yugoslavia' (South Slavia) predicted no special regime for Skopje neither recognized any Macedonian national identity.", "In fact, the claims to Macedonian identity remained silent at a propaganda level because, eventually, North Macedonia had been a Serbian conquest.The situation in Serbian Macedonia changed after the Communist Revolution in Russia (1918–1919).", "According to Sfetas, Comintern was handling Macedonia as a matter of tactics, depending on the political circumstances.", "In the early 1920s it supported the position for a single and independent Macedonia in a Balkan Soviet Democracy.", "Actually, the Soviets desired a common front of the Bulgarian communist agriculturists and the Bulgarian-Macedonian societies to destabilize the Balkan Peninsula.", "The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), under the protection of Comintern, promoted the idea of an independent Macedonia in a Federation of Balkan states, unifying all Macedonians.", "However, the possible participation of Bulgaria in a new war, on the Axis side, ended the Soviet support some years later.====World War II====Bulgaria joined the Axis powers in 1941, when German troops prepared to invade Greece from Romania reached the Bulgarian borders and demanded permission to pass through Bulgarian territory.", "Threatened by direct military confrontation, Tsar Boris III had no choice but to join the Tripartite pact, which officially happened on 1 March 1941.There was little popular opposition, since the Soviet Union was in a non-aggression pact with Germany.On 6 April 1941, despite having officially joined the Axis Powers, the Bulgarian government maintained a course of military passivity during the initial stages of the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece.", "As German, Italian, and Hungarian troops crushed Yugoslavia and Greece, the Bulgarians remained on the sidelines.", "The Yugoslav government surrendered on 17 April.", "The Greek government was to hold out until 30 April.", "On 20 April, the period of Bulgarian passivity ended.", "The Bulgarian Army entered the Aegean region.", "The goal was to gain an Aegean Sea outlet in Thrace and Eastern Macedonia and much of eastern Serbia.", "The so-called Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italians which occupied West Macedonia.", "The Bulgarian occupation of Macedonia was technically viewed as interim administration in anticipation of a conclusive internationally recognized settlement of the legal status of the so-called \"New Lands\" after the end of the Second World War.", "Bulgarian administration greatly contributed to economic rebirth of the region – the poorest one in the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia – through introducing measures such as allotment of arable lands to local landless peasantry and by establishing plenty of new elementary and secondary schools.", "Local population with Bulgarian ethnic origins was given full Bulgarian citizenship.", "In general, Bulgarians themselves regarded the incorporation of former Yugoslav Vardar Banovina as a way to achieve national unity.", "Two new oblasts (provinces) were formed and most public vacancies were filled up with representatives of the local population.During the German occupation of Greece (1941–1944) the Greek Communist Party-KKE was the main resistance factor with its military branch EAM-ELAS (National Liberation Front).", "Although many members of EAM were Slavic-speaking, they had either Bulgarian, Greek or distinct Macedonian conscience.", "To take advantage of the situation KKE established SNOF with the cooperation of the Yugoslav leader Tito, who was ambitious enough to make plans for Greek Macedonia.", "For this he established the Anti-Fascistic Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) giving an actual liberating character to the whole region of Macedonia.", "Besides, KKE was very positive to the option of a greater Macedonia, including the Greek region, since it realized that a victory in the Greek Civil War was utopic.", "Later EAM and SNOF disagreed in issues of policy and they finally crashed and the latter was expelled from Greece (1944).====Post–World War II====The end of the War did not bring peace to Greece and a strenuous civil war between the Government forces and EAM broke out with about 50,000 casualties for both sides.", "The defeat of the Communists in 1949 forced their Slav-speaking members to either leave Greece or fully adopt Greek language and surnames.", "The Slav minorities were discriminated against, and not even recognised as a minority.", "Since 1923 the only internationally recognized minority in Greece are the Muslims in Western Thrace.Yugoslav Macedonia was the only region where Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito had not developed a Partisan movement because of the Bulgarian occupation of a large part of that area.", "To improve the situation, in 1943 the Communist Party of Macedonia was established in Tetovo with the prospect that it would support the resistance against the Axis.", "In the meantime, the Bulgarians' violent repression led to loss of moral support from the civilian population.", "By the end of the war \"a Macedonian national consciousness hardly existed beyond a general conviction, gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that from Belgrade.", "But if there were no Macedonian nation there was a Communist Party of Macedonia, around which the People's Republic of Macedonia was built\".Tito thus separated Yugoslav Macedonia from Serbia after the war.", "It became a republic of the new federal Yugoslavia (as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia) in 1946, with its capital at Skopje.", "Tito also promoted the concept of a separate Macedonian nation, as a means of severing the ties of the Slav population of Yugoslav Macedonia with Bulgaria.", "A separate Macedonian Orthodox Church was established, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church.", "The Communist Party sought to deter pro-Bulgarian sentiment, which was punished severely.Across the border in Greece, Slavophones were seen as a potentially disloyal \"fifth column\" within the Greek state by both the US and Greece, and their existence as a minority was officially denied.", "Greeks were resettled in the region many of whom emigrated (especially to Australia) along with many Greek-speaking natives, because of the hard economic conditions after the Second World War and the Greek Civil War.", "Although there was some liberalization between 1959 and 1967, the Greek military dictatorship re-imposed harsh restrictions.", "The situation gradually eased after Greece's return to democracy, although even as recently as the 1990s Greece has been criticised by international human rights activists for \"harassing\" Macedonian Slav political activists, who, nonetheless, are free to maintain their own political party (Rainbow).", "Elsewhere in Greek Macedonia, economic development after the war was brisk and the area rapidly became the most prosperous part of the region.", "The coast was heavily developed for tourism, particularly on the Halkidiki peninsula.Under Georgi Dimitrov, Soviet loyalist and head of the Comintern, Bulgaria initially accepted the existence of a distinctive Macedonian identity.", "It had been agreed that Pirin Macedonia would join Yugoslav Macedonia and for this reason the population was forced to declare itself \"Macedonian\" in the 1946 census.", "This caused resentment and many people were imprisoned or interned in rural areas outside Pirin Macedonia.", "After Tito's split from the Soviet bloc this position was abandoned and the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity or language was denied." ], [ "See also", "* Macedonia (terminology)* Demographic history of Macedonia* Macedonia (Greece)* Republic of North Macedonia* Blagoevgrad Province* History of Albania* History of the Balkans* History of Bulgaria* History of Greece* History of Greek Macedonia* History of the Republic of North Macedonia* History of Serbia* Macedonian nationalism* Irredentism* List of homonymous states and regions" ], [ "References" ], [ "Sources", "* * * * ** * * * * * * * *" ], [ "External links", "* *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "History of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''history of North Macedonia''' encompasses the history of the territory of the modern state of North Macedonia." ], [ "Prehistory" ], [ "Ancient period", "Paeonia with the approximate dwelling of tribes before the conquest of Philip II of Macedon in the 4th century BCEThe Roman province of Macedonia in 125 CE=== Paeonians and other tribes ===In antiquity, most of the territory that is now North Macedonia was included in the kingdom of Paeonia, which was populated by the Paeonians, a people of Thracian origins, but also parts of ancient Illyria, Ancient Macedonians populated the area in the south, living among many other tribes and Dardania, inhabited by various Illyrian peoples, and Lyncestis and Pelagonia populated by the ancient Greek Molossian tribes.", "None of these had fixed boundaries; they were sometimes subject to the Kings of Macedon, and sometimes broke away.=== Persian rule ===In the late 6th century BC, the Achaemenid Persians under Darius the Great conquered the Paeonians, incorporating what is today North Macedonia within their vast territories.", "Following the loss in the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BC, the Persians eventually withdrew from their European territories, including from what is today North Macedonia.=== Macedon and Rome ===In 336 BC Philip II of Macedon fully annexed Upper Macedonia, including its northern part and southern Paeonia, which both now lie within North Macedonia.", "Philip's son Alexander the Great conquered most of the remainder of the region, incorporating it in his empire, with exclusion of Dardania.", "The Romans included most of the Republic in their province of Macedonia, but the northernmost parts (Dardania) lay in Moesia; by the time of Diocletian, they had been subdivided, and the Republic was split between Macedonia Salutaris and Moesia prima.", "Little is known about the Slavs before the 5th century CE." ], [ "Medieval period", "=== Migration Period ===At this period the area divided from the Jireček Line was populated from people of Thraco-Roman or Illyro-Roman origins, as well from Hellenized citizens of the Byzantine Empire and Byzantine Greeks.", "The ancient languages of the local Thraco-Illyrian people had already gone extinct before the arrival of the Slavs, and their cultural influence was highly reduced due to the repeated barbaric invasions on the Balkans during the early Middle Ages, accompanied by persistent hellenization, romanisation and later slavicisation.", "South Slavic tribes settled in the territory of present-day North Macedonia in the 6th century.", "The Slavic settlements were referred to by Byzantine Greek historians as \"Sclavenes\".", "The Sclavenes participated in several assaults against the Byzantine Empire – alone or aided by Bulgars or Avars.", "Around 680 AD the Bulgar group, led by khan Kuber (who belonged to the same Dulo clan as the Danubian Bulgarian Khan Asparukh), settled in the Pelagonian plain, and launched campaigns to the region of Thessaloniki.In the late 7th century Justinian II organized massive expeditions against the Sklaviniai of the Greek peninsula, in which he reportedly captured over 110,000 Slavs and transferred them to Cappadocia.", "By the time of Constans II (who also organized campaigns against the Slavs), the significant number of the Slavs of Macedonia were captured and transferred to central Asia Minor where they were forced to recognize the authority of the Byzantine emperor and serve in its ranks.=== Contested between various realms ===Archbishopric of Ohrid in 1020Use of the name \"Sklavines\" as a nation on its own was discontinued in Byzantine records after circa 836 as those Slavs in the Macedonia region became a population in the First Bulgarian Empire.", "Originally two distinct peoples, ''Sclavenes'' and ''Bulgars'', the Bulgars assimilated the Slavic language/identity whilst maintaining the Bulgarian demonym and name of the empire.", "Slavic influence in the region strengthened along with the rise of this state, which incorporated the entire region to its domain in AD 837.Saints Cyril and Methodius, Byzantine Greeks born in Thessaloniki, were the creators of the first Slavic Glagolitic alphabet and Old Church Slavonic language.", "They were also apostles-Christianizators of the Slavic world.", "Their cultural heritage was acquired and developed in medieval Bulgaria, where after 885 the region of Ohrid became a significant ecclesiastical center.", "In conjunction with another disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Naum, he created a flourishing Bulgarian cultural center around Ohrid, where over 3,000 pupils were taught in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic script in what is now called Ohrid Literary School.Prince MarkoRealm of Prince MarkoAt the end of the 10th century, much of what is now North Macedonia became the political and cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Samuel; while the Byzantine emperor Basil II came to rule the eastern part of the empire (what is now Bulgaria), including the then capital Preslav, in 972.A new capital was established at Ohrid, which also became the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.", "From then on, the Bulgarian model became an integral part of wider Slavic culture as a whole.", "After several decades of almost incessant fighting, Bulgaria came under Byzantine rule in 1018.The whole of North Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as ''Theme of Bulgaria'' and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced in rank to an archbishopric, the Archbishopric of Ohrid.Dobromir Chrysos rebelled against the emperor and after an unsuccessful imperial campaign in autumn 1197, the emperor sued for peace and recognized Dobromir-Chrysus' rights to lands between the Strymon and Vardar, including Strumica and the fortress of Prosek.In the 13th and 14th centuries, Byzantine control was punctuated by periods of Bulgarian and Serbian rule.", "For example, Konstantin Asen – a former nobleman from Skopje – ruled as tsar of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277.Later, Skopje became a capital of the Serbian Empire under Stefan Dušan.", "After the dissolution of the empire, the area became a domain of independent local Serbian rulers from the Mrnjavčević and Dragaš houses.", "The domain of the Mrnjavčević house included western parts of present-day North Macedonia and domains of the Dragaš house included eastern parts.", "The capital of the state of Mrnjavčević house was Prilep.", "There are only two known rulers from the Mrnjavčević house – king Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his son, king Marko.", "King Marko became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire and later died in the Battle of Rovine.During the period in the 12th, 13th and early 14th century, parts of modern western North Macedonia were under the rule of the Albanian Noble Gropa family, which ruled territories between Ohrid and Debar.", "The city of Debar and some other territories after the ending rule of Gropa Noble family, were ruled by the Albanian Royal House of Kastrioti which ruled the Principality of Kastrioti during the end of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century.", "After the death of the Albanian Prince Gjon Kastrioti in 1437, many parts of his domains were conquered by the Ottoman Empire and shortly after this, during the 15th century were again restored into the Albanian rule of League of Lezhë led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg.", "During this period, western territories of modern North Macedonia became battleground between the Albanian and Ottoman armies.", "Some of the battles that took place in the territory of Macedonia were the Battle of Polog, Battle of Mokra, Battle of Ohrid, Battle of Otonetë, Battle of Oranik and many others.", "Skanderbeg's Campaign into Macedonia also took place.", "With the death of Skanderbeg on 17 January 1468 the Albanian Resistance began to fall.", "After the death of Skanderbeg the Albanian League was led by Lekë Dukagjini, but it did not have the same success as before and the last Albanian strongholds were conquered in 1479 in the Siege of Shkodër." ], [ "Ottoman period", "The city of Prilep in the late 19th century.", "An Ottoman minaret can be seen in the backgroundOttoman territory before the First Balkans War in 1912Conquered by the Ottoman army at the end of the 14th century, the region remained a part of the Ottoman Empire for over 500 years, as part of the province or Eyalet of Rumelia.", "During this in the second half of the 15th century the Albanian Leader of the League of Lezhë, Skanderbeg was able to occupy places in modern western North Macedonia that were under Ottoman rule like the then well known city of Ohrid (Albanian Ohër) in the Battle of Ohrid.", "Tetovo (Battle of Polog) and many other places.", "The Albanian forces under Skanderbeg penetrated deep into modern North Macedonia in the Battle of Mokra.", "But this did not last long and the places were again occupied by the Ottomans.", "Rumelia (Turkish: ''Rumeli'') means \"Land of the Romans\" in Turkish, referring to the lands conquered by the Ottoman Turks from the Byzantine Empire.).", "Over the centuries Rumelia Eyalet was reduced in size through administrative reforms, until by the nineteenth century it consisted of a region of central Albania and north-western part of the current state of North Macedonia with its capital at Manastir or present day Bitola.", "Rumelia Eyalet was abolished in 1867 and the territory of North Macedonia subsequently became part of the provinces of Manastir Vilayet, Kosovo Vilayet and Salonica Vilayet until the end of Ottoman rule in 1912.During the period of Ottoman rule the region gained a substantial Turkish minority, especially in the religious sense of Muslim; some of those Muslims became so through conversions.", "During the Ottoman rule, Skopje and Monastir (Bitola) were capitals of separate Ottoman provinces (eyalets).", "The valley of the river Vardar, which was later to become the central area of North Macedonia, was ruled by the Ottoman Empire prior to the First Balkan War of 1912, with the exception of the brief period in 1878 when it was liberated from Ottoman rule after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), becoming part of Bulgaria.", "In 1903, a short-lived Kruševo Republic was proclaimed in the south-western part of present-day North Macedonia by the rebels of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising.", "Most of the ethnographers and travellers during Ottoman rule classified Slavic speaking people in Macedonia as Bulgarians.", "Examples include the 17th century traveller Evliya Çelebi in his ''Seyahatname: Book of Travels'' to the Ottoman census of Hilmi Pasha in 1904 and later.", "However, they also remarked that the language spoken in Macedonia had somewhat of a distinctive character — often described as a \"Western Bulgarian dialect\" as other Bulgarian dialects in modern western Bulgaria.", "Evidence also exists that certain Macedonian Slavs, particularly those in the northern regions, considered themselves as Serbs, on the other hand the intention to join Greece predominated in southern Macedonia where it was supported by substantial part of the Slavic-speaking population too.", "Although references are made referring to Slavs in Macedonia being identified as Bulgarians, some scholars suggest that ethnicity in medieval times was more fluid than what we see it to be today, an understanding derived from nineteenth century nationalistic ideals of a homogeneous nation-state.During the period of Bulgarian National Revival (1762–1878), many Bulgarians from Vardar Macedonia supported the struggle for creation of Bulgarian cultural educational and religious institutions, including the Bulgarian Exarchate.", "The subsequent Macedonian Struggle (1893–1908) remained inconclusive." ], [ "Karađorđević period (1912–1944)", "=== Balkan Wars and World War I ===The region was captured by the Kingdom of Serbia during First Balkan War of 1912 and was subsequently annexed to Serbia under the Karađorđević dynasty in the post-war peace treaties except Strumica region was part of Bulgaria between 1912 and 1919.It had no administrative autonomy and was called South Serbia ('''') or \"Old Serbia\" ('''').", "It was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria between 1915 and 1918.After the First World War, the Kingdom of Serbia joined the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.File:Shkup1912.jpg|Skopje after being captured by Albanian revolutionaries who defeated the Ottoman forces holding the city in August 1912.File:Kingdom of Serbia (1914).svg|The Kingdom of Serbia in 1914, on the eve of World War IFile:Jugo-slavia, 1919.png|Map showing Yugoslavia in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I before the treaties of Neuilly, Trianon and RapalloFile:Scs kingdom provinces 1920 1922 en.png|Provinces of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920–1922=== Royal Yugoslav period ===Map of Vardar Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1941)After World War I (1914–1918) the Slavs in Serbian Macedonia (\"Vardar Macedonia\") were regarded as southern Serbs and the language they spoke a southern Serbian dialect.", "The Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian schools were closed, the Bulgarian priests and all non-Serbian teachers were expelled.", "The policy of Serbianization in the 1920s and 1930s clashed with pro-Bulgarian sentiment stirred by Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) detachments infiltrating from Bulgaria, whereas local communists favoured the path of self-determination.In 1925, D. J. Footman, the British vice consul at Skopje, addressed a lengthy report for the Foreign Office.", "He wrote that \"the majority of the inhabitants of ''Southern Serbia'' are Orthodox Christian Macedonians, ethnologically more akin to the Bulgarians than to the Serbs.", "He also pointed to the existence of the tendency to seek an independent Macedonia with Salonica as its capital.", "\"On 6 January 1929, king Alexander I Karađorđević committed a coup d'état and installed the so-called 6 January Dictatorship, abolishing the Vidovdan Constitution and renaming the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.", "It was divided into provinces called banovinas.", "The territory of Vardar Banovina had Skopje as its capital and it included what eventually became modern North Macedonia (plus some lands north of it that are now part of Serbia and Kosovo).", "Alexander's dictatorship effectively ruined parliamentary democracy, and after growing popular resentment against the king's autocratic rule, he was assassinated in 1934 in France by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).=== World War II ===During World War II, the Vardar Banovina was occupied between 1941 and 1944 by Italian-ruled Albania, which annexed the Albanian-populated western regions, and pro-German Bulgaria, which occupied the remainder.", "The occupying powers persecuted those inhabitants of the province who opposed the regime; this prompted some of them to join the Communist resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito.", "However, the Bulgarian army was well received by most of the population when it entered Macedonia and it was able to recruit from the local population, which formed as much as 40% to 60% of the soldiers in certain battalions." ], [ "Socialist Yugoslav period", "=== 1944–1949 ===Following World War II, Yugoslavia was reconstituted as a federal state under the leadership of Tito's Yugoslav Communist Party.", "When the former Vardar province was established in 1944, most of its territory was transferred into a separate republic while the northernmost parts of the province remained with Serbia.", "In 1946, the new republic was granted federal status as an autonomous \"People's Republic of Macedonia\" within the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.", "In the 1963 Constitution of Yugoslavia it was slightly renamed, to bring it in line with the other Yugoslav republics, as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.The Socialist Republic of Macedonia highlighted in red within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Greece was concerned by the initiatives of the Yugoslav government, as they were seen as a pretext for future territorial claims against the Greek region of Macedonia, which formed the bulk of historical Macedonia.", "The Yugoslav authorities also promoted the development of the Macedonians' ethnic identity and language.", "The Macedonian language was codified in 1944 (Keith 2003), from the Slavic dialect spoken around Veles.", "This further angered both Greece and Bulgaria, because of the possible territorial claims of the new states to the Greek and Bulgarian parts of the historic region of Macedonia received after the Balkan Wars.During the Greek Civil War (1944–1949), many Macedonians (regardless of ethnicity) participated in the ELAS resistance movement organized by the Communist Party of Greece.", "ELAS and Yugoslavia were on good terms until 1949, when they split due to Tito's lack of allegiance to Joseph Stalin (cf.", "Cominform).", "After the end of the war, the ELAS fighters who took refuge in southern Yugoslavia and Bulgaria were not all permitted by Greece to return: only those who considered themselves Greeks were allowed, whereas those who considered themselves Bulgarian or Macedonian Slavs were barred.", "These events also contributed to the bad state of Yugoslav-Greek relations in the Macedonia region.=== 1950–1990 ===" ], [ "Independence", "=== 1990s ===CIA map of North MacedoniaIn 1990, the form of government peacefully changed from socialist state to parliamentary democracy.", "The first multi-party elections were held on 11 and 25 November and 9 December 1990.After the collective presidency led by was dissolved, Kiro Gligorov became the first democratically elected president of the Republic of Macedonia on 31 January 1991.On 16 April 1991, the parliament adopted a constitutional amendment removing \"Socialist\" from the official name of the country, and on 7 June of the same year, the new name, \"Republic of Macedonia\", was officially established.On 8 September 1991, the country held an independence referendum where 95.26% voted for independence from Yugoslavia, under the name of the ''Republic of Macedonia''.", "The question of the referendum was formulated as \"Would you support independent Macedonia with the right to enter future union of sovereign states of Yugoslavia?\"", "(Macedonian: Дали сте за самостојна Македонија со право да стапи во иден сојуз на суверени држави на Југославија?).", "On 25 September 1991 the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by the Macedonian Parliament making the Republic of Macedonia an independent country – although in Macedonia independence day is still celebrated as the day of the referendum 8 September.", "A new Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia was adopted on 17 November 1991.Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the position of ethnic Albanians was uncertain in the early years of the new Macedonian republic.", "Various Albanian political parties emerged, of which the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) was the largest and most prominent.", "The PDP called for the improvement of the status of Albanians in North Macedonia, such as extended education rights and Albanian language usage, constitutional changes, release of political prisoners, proportional voting system and an end to discrimination.", "Discontent with the lack of constitutional recognition of collective rights for Albanians resulted in PDP leader Nevzat Halili declaring his party would regard the constitution as invalid and move toward seeking autonomy, declaring a Republic of Ilirida in 1992 and again in 2014.The proposal has been declared unconstitutional by the Macedonian government.Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the new Macedonian state under its constitutional name.", "However, international recognition of the new country was delayed by Greece's objection to the use of what it considered a Hellenic name and national symbols, as well as controversial clauses in the Republic's constitution, a controversy known as the Macedonia naming dispute.", "To compromise, the country was admitted to the United Nations under the provisional name of \"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\" on 8 April 1993.Greece was still dissatisfied and it imposed a trade blockade in February 1994.The sanctions were lifted in September 1995 after Macedonia changed its flag and aspects of its constitution that were perceived as granting it the right to intervene in the affairs of other countries.", "The two neighbours immediately went ahead with normalizing their relations, but the state's name remains a source of local and international controversy.", "The usage of each name remains controversial to supporters of the other.After the state was admitted to the United Nations under the temporary reference \"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\", other international organisations adopted the same convention.", "More than half of the UN's member states have recognized the country as the Republic of Macedonia, including the United States of America while the rest use the temporary reference \"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\" or have not established any diplomatic relations with the country.In 1999, the Kosovo War led to 340,000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo fleeing into the Republic of Macedonia, greatly disrupting normal life in the region and threatening to upset the balance between Macedonians and Albanians.", "Refugee camps were set up in the country.", "Athens did not interfere with the Republic's affairs when NATO forces moved to and from the region ahead a possible invasion of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.", "Thessaloniki was the main depot for humanitarian aid to the region.", "The Republic of Macedonia did not become involved in the conflict.In end the war, Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević reached an agreement with NATO which allowed refugees to return under UN protection.", "However, the war increased tensions, and relations between Macedonians and the Albanian minority became strained.", "On the positive side, Athens and Ankara presented a united front of 'non-involvement'.", "In Greece, there was a strong reaction against NATO and the United States.=== 2000s ===Monument in Makedonska Kamenica to a Macedonian soldier killed during the insurgency in 2001.In the spring of 2001, ethnic Albanian insurgents calling themselves the National Liberation Army (some of whom were former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army) took up arms in the north and northwest of the Republic of Macedonia.", "They demanded that the constitution be rewritten to enshrine certain Albanian minority interests such as language rights.", "The guerillas received support from Albanians in NATO-controlled Kosovo and Albanian guerrillas in the demilitarized zone between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia.", "The fighting was concentrated in and around Tetovo, the fifth largest city in the country, and in the wider regions of Skopje, the capital, and Kumanovo, the third largest city.After a joint NATO-Serb crackdown on Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo, European Union (EU) officials were able to negotiate a cease-fire in June.", "The government would give to the citizens of Albanian descent greater civil rights, and the guerrilla groups would voluntarily relinquish their weapons to NATO monitors.", "This agreement was a success, and in August 2001 3,500 NATO soldiers conducted \"Operations Essential Harvest\" to retrieve the arms.", "Directly after the operation finished in September the NLA officially dissolved itself.", "Ethnic relations have since improved significantly, although hardliners on both sides have been a continued cause for concern and some low level violence continues particularly directed against police.On 26 February 2004, President Boris Trajkovski died in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.", "The results of the official investigation revealed that the cause of the plane accident was procedural mistakes by the crew, committed during the approach to land at Mostar Airport.In March 2004, the country submitted an application for membership of the European Union, and on 17 December 2005 was listed by the EU Presidency conclusions as an accession candidate (as \"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\").", "However, accession proceedings were delayed due to opposition by Greece until the 2018 resolution of the Macedonia naming dispute, and later by Bulgaria due to unresolved differences between the two countries on the history of the region and what is perceived as \"anti-Bulgarian ideology\".=== 2010s–2020s ===The Macedonian and Greek foreign ministers, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias, sign the Prespa agreement before Prime Ministers Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras.", "In June 2017, Zoran Zaev of Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) became new Prime Minister six months after early elections.", "The new center-left government ended 11 years of conservative VMRO-DPMNE rule led by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.In June 2018, the Prespa agreement was reached between the governments of Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia to rename the latter the Republic of North Macedonia, or North Macedonia for short.", "This agreement, after it had been accepted by the respective legislatures of both countries, came into effect on 12 February 2019, thus ending the disputes.Stevo Pendarovski (SDSM) was sworn in as North Macedonia's new president in May 2019.The early parliamentary elections took place on 15 July 2020.Zoran Zaev has served as the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia again since August 2020.Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation after his party, the Social Democratic Union, suffered losses in local elections in October 2021.After internal party leadership elections, Dimitar Kovačevski succeeded him as leader of the SDSM on 12 December 2021, and was sworn in as Prime Minister of North Macedonia on 16 January 2022, securing a 62–46 confidence vote in Parliament for his new SDSM-led coalition cabinet." ], [ "See also", "* Breakup of Yugoslavia* History of Albania* History of the Balkans* History of Bulgaria* History of Europe* History of Greece* History of Kosovo* History of Serbia* History of Turkey* History of Yugoslavia* Macedonia (region)* Macedonian nationalism * United Macedonia * Military history of North Macedonia* Independent State of Macedonia* League of Communists of Yugoslavia* President of the Republic of North Macedonia* List of prime ministers of North Macedonia* List of presidents of Yugoslavia* List of prime ministers of Yugoslavia* Politics of North Macedonia" ], [ "References", "* * * Dalibor Jovanovski, \"Greek Historiography and the Balkan Wars\", ''On Macedonian Matters.", "From the partition and annexation of Macedonia in 1913 to the present'' (Verlag Otto Sagner: Munich, Berlin, 2015).", "http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/38056455/dalibor_statija.pdf archive" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Further reading", "*" ], [ "External links", "* The Mariovo in Macedonia, 1564: Mariovo People and Macedonia.", "* New Power – Federated Yugoslavia* History of Macedonia: Primary Documents* Discover Macedonia – Discover North Macedonia on Facebook" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "North Macedonia is a country situated in southeastern Europe with geographic coordinates , bordering Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west.", "The country is part of the wider region of Macedonia and makes up most of Vardar Macedonia.", "The country is a major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Southern Europe and the Aegean Sea.", "North Macedonia is a landlocked country but has three major natural lakes: Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Dojran.", "It has a water area of 857 km2, while its land area is 24,856 km2.Phytogeographically, Macedonia belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom.", "According to the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, North Macedonia's territory can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Pindus Mountains mixed forests, Balkan mixed forests, Rhodopes mixed forests and Aegean sclerophyllous and mixed forests." ], [ "Climate", "Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for North MacedoniaNorth Macedonia has a unique climate explained by its location and topography.", "The climate of the plains is a Mediterranean climate combined with the influence of the Black Sea.", "The country also holds continental characteristics, which are accentuated by the mountains in the south which prevent hot air from the south from moving to the north.", "Conversely, the Šar Mountains, which are located in the northwestern part, block cold northern winds.", "In whole, the northern and western parts of the country are relatively close to a Continental climate and the southern and eastern to a Mediterranean climate.North Macedonia has four seasons, but the lengths of the seasons varies based on geography.", "The spring is often very short.", "Summers are subtropical and it is not uncommon to see temperatures of above during this season, especially in the plains along the valley of the Vardar river.", "Winters, although moderate, can be quite cold.", "Snowfalls during winter are common and occasionally heavy.", "The average annual temperature of the air is , but the plains experience higher temperatures, .", "The warmest month is July, which has an average temperature of and the coldest is January, with a temperature of .", "The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded in North Macedonia to date are and , respectively.The rainfall is abundant in the western and eastern parts of the country, but the temperature decreases significantly in the Vardar region.", "This region sees warmer winters through the ''Vardarec'' wind.", "This wind comes up from the mouth of the Vardar river and brings warm air.", "Skopje, considered a low-lying city, has an average of 64 rainy days per year.", "The month of October is the wettest with 61 mm; the driest is August with 28 mm.", "Rains are most common in the spring and fall.Place Region Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Rainfall (mm) Temperature (°C)SkopjeNorth of the valley of the Vardar42° 00’21° 26’245940 13,5KočaniEastern North Macedonia41° 50’22° 00’400538 12,9Lake OhridSouthwest North Macedonia41° 03’20° 42’693759 11,4" ], [ "Physical Geography", "=== Boundaries ===The country has some 766 km of boundaries, shared with Kosovo (159 km or 99 mi) to the northwest, Serbia (62 km or 39 mi) to the North, Bulgaria (148 km) to the east, Greece (246 km) to the south, and Albania (151 km) to the west.The north border with Serbia and Kosovo is 221 kilometers in length.", "The border was made after World War II, between SR Macedonia and SR Serbia.", "But in 2008 when Kosovo declared independence the border with it was remarked again.", "Rather more than half of the boundary separates North Macedonia from Kosovo.", "From the tripoint with Albania, the boundary trends north-eastwards along the watershed of Šar Mountain.", "It describes a curve to the south across the River Lepenec and then turns to north-east to traverse Mount Crna before taking a course slightly to the north of east across the landscape features to the tripoint with Bulgaria.alt=Photo of a cloud-covered Macedonia taken from spaceThe east border with Bulgaria has length of approximately 148 km.", "The settled boundary from Yugoslavia and the People's Republic of Bulgaria was accepted after the independence in 1992.The boundary starts from the tripoint with Greece, the boundary runs north, crossing the River of Strumica and then rising to the watershed which it follows northwards and then north-westwards to the tripoint with Serbia.The south border that splits North Macedonia from Greece is 228 km long and it is the longest border.", "It was marked with the Treaty of Bucharest on 10 August 1913.The border starts from the tripoint with Albania, in Lake Prespa, the boundary runs in a straight line eastwards across the lake and then continues in the north of east trend across the relief to the Voras Oros (Nidže), where it turns north-eastwards.", "It traverses the watershed of the Voras Oros and then continues eastwards along the watershed before dropping to the valley of Vardar river.", "The boundary continues eastwards and then turns north across the Dojran lake, before, on the latitude of Valandovo, turning east to the tripoint with Bulgaria on Mount Tumba.The boundary with Albania was marked first in 1926 and then remarked with the Treaty of Paris in 1947.The boundary starts from the tripoint with Kosovo and follows a watershed before crossing, and for a short distance, following the Black Drin river and continuing along a crest line to Ohrid Lake.", "It crosses the lake, leaving approximately one-third in Albania, traverses a high ridge and meets the tripoint with Greece in Lake Prespa.=== Topography ===alt=Mount Korab rising above cloudsNorth Macedonia is a landlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges.", "The terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šar Mountains and Osogovo, which frame the valley of the Vardar river.", "Three large lakes — Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Dojran Lake — lie on the southern borders, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece.", "Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world.", "The region is seismically active and has been the site of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000.North Macedonia also has scenic mountains.", "They belong to two different mountain ranges: the first is the Šar Mountains that continues to the West Vardar/Pelagonia group of mountains (Baba Mountain, Nidže, Kozuf and Jakupica), also known as the Dinaric range.", "The second range is the Osogovo–Belasica mountain chain, also known as the Rhodope range.", "The mountains belonging to the Šar Mountains and the West Vardar/Pelagonia range are younger and higher than the older mountains that are part of the Osogovo-Belasica mountain group.Šar Mountains+ 10 tallest mountains in North Macedonia Name Rank Height (m) Height (ft)Mount Korab 1 2,764 9,396Titov Vrv 2 2,748 9,016Baba Mountain 3 2,601 8,533Jakupica 4 2,540 8,333Nidže 5 2,521 8,271Dešat 6 2,373 7,785Galičica 7 2,288 7,507Stogovo 8 2,273 7,457Jablanica 9 2,257 7,405Osogovo 10 2,251 7,383=== Hydrography ===Golemo Ezero, glacial lake located at 2218 m altitude in the alt=Golemo Ezero surrounded by land scattered with snowIn North Macedonia there are 1,100 large sources of water.", "The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, the Adriatic and that Black Sea basin.The Aegean basin is the largest.", "It covers 87% of the country's territory, which is 22,075 km2 .", "Vardar, the largest river in this basin, drains 80% of the territory or 20,459 km2.Its valley plays an important part in the economy and the communication system of the country.", "The project named The Vardar Valley is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the country.The river Black Drim forms the Adriatic basin, which covers an area of about 3,320 km2, i. e. 13% of the territory.", "It issues from Lakes Prespa and Ohrid.The Black Sea basin is the smallest with only 37 km2 It covers the northern side of Mount Skopska Crna Gora.", "Here is the source of the river Binačka Morava which joins the South Morava and later the Danube, which eventually flows into the Black Sea.Despite being a landlocked country, North Macedonia has three large lakes (Ohrid, Prespa, and Dojran), three artificial lakes and roughly 50 ponds.There are nine spa resorts in North Macedonia: Banište, Banja Bansko, Istibanja, Katlanovo, Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Banja Kočani, Kumanovski Banji and Negorci.==== River Vardar ====Veles|alt=The brown-coloured Vardar flowing through VelesThe Vardar is the longest and most important river in North Macedonia.", "It is long, and drains an area of around .", "There are proposals to construct a Morava-Vardar Canal, connecting to the Morava river, and hence connecting the Adriatic to central Europe, although this would require extensive work.The river rises at Vrutok, a few kilometers north of Gostivar in the Republic of North Macedonia.", "It passes through Gostivar, Skopje and into Veles, crosses the Greek border near Gevgelija, Polykastro and Axioupoli, before emptying into the Aegean Sea in Central Macedonia west of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.The Vardar basin includes two-thirds of the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia.", "For that the area is called \"Vardar Macedonia\" after the river, to distinguish it from \"Aegean Macedonia\" (in Greece) and \"Pirin Macedonia\" (in Bulgaria).", "The valley comprises fertile lands in Polog, Gevgelija and other parts.", "The river is surrounded by mountains elsewhere.", "The M1 / E75, connecting with Greek National Road 1, runs through the valley along the river's entire length to near Skopje.The river is depicted on the coat of arms of Skopje, which in turn is incorporated in the city's flag.==== Lake Ohrid ====alt=clouds above Lake OhridLake Ohrid (Macedonian: Охридско Езеро, Ohridsko Ezero) straddles the mountainous border between southwestern North Macedonia and eastern Albania.", "Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake of the Balkans, with a maximum depth of 288 m (940 ft) and a mean depth of 155 m (508 ft).", "It covers an area of , containing an estimated 55.4 km³ of water.", "It is 30.4 km long by 14.8 km wide at its maximum extent with a shoreline length of 87.53 km, shared between North Macedonia (56.02 km) and Albania (31.51 km).", "The lake drains an area of around 2600 km2 and is fed primarily by underground springs on the eastern shore (about 50% of total inflow), with roughly 25% shares from rivers and direct precipitation.", "Over 20% of the lake's water comes from nearby Lake Prespa, about to the southeast and at 150 m higher altitude than Lake Ohrid.", "alt=map showing Lakes Ohrid and Prespa and the surrounding rivers, mountains, etc.Similar to Lake Baikal and Lake Tanganyika, Lake Ohrid harbors endemic species covering the whole food-chain, from phytoplankton and sestile algae (20 species; e.g., Cyclotella fottii), over plant species (2 species; e.g., Chara ohridana), zooplankton (5 species; e.g., Cyclops ochridanus), cyprinid fish (8 species; e.g., Pachychilon pictus), to predatory fish (2 trout species; Ohrid trout Salmo letnica and \"Belvica\" Acantholingua ohridana) and finally its diverse endemic bottom fauna (176 species; e.g.", "Ochridagammarus solidus), with particularly large endemism among crustaceans, molluscs, sponges and planarians.There are three cities on the lake's shores: Ohrid and Struga in North Macedonia; Pogradec in Albania.", "There are also several fishing villages, although tourism is now a more significant part of their income.", "The catchment area of the lake has a population of around 170,000 people, with 131,000 people living directly at the lake shore (43,000 in Albania and 88,000 in North Macedonia).==== Lake Prespa ====View of the island of alt=The island of Golem Grad in Lake PrespaThe Great Prespa Lake (Macedonian: Преспанско Езеро, Prespansko Ezero) is divided between Albania, Greece and North Macedonia.", "The largest island in the Great Prespa Lake, called ''Golem Grad'' (\"Large Fortress\"), or Snake Island (Змиски Остров), lies within North Macedonia.", "Because Great Prespa Lake sits about 150m above Lake Ohrid, which lies only about to the west, its waters run through underground channels in the karst and emerge from springs which feed streams running into Lake Ohrid.==== Dojran Lake ====Dojran Lake, located in southeastern North Macedonia, is the smallest of the three major lakes with an area of 42.7 km2.The lake is shared between North Macedonia (27.1 km2) and Greece (15.6 km2).", "The town of Dojran is situated on the west coast of the lake, while the Greek village of Mouries lies to the east.", "To the north is the mountain Belasica and to the south is the Greek town of Doirani.", "The lake is round in shape, has a maximum depth of 10 metres, has a north-to-south length of 8.9 km, and is 7.1 km at its widest.=== Flora and fauna ===''alt=a tall green treeThe flora of North Macedonia is represented with around 210 families, 920 genera, and around 3,700 plant species.", "The most abundant group are the flowering plants with around 3,200 species, which is followed by mosses (350 species) and ferns (42).Phytogeographically, North Macedonia belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom.", "According to the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, the territory of the Republic can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the Pindus Mountains mixed forests, Balkan mixed forests, Rhodopes mixed forests and Aegean sclerophyllous and mixed forests.=== Minerals and ores ===North Macedonia is rich in low-grade iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, and gypsum.", "Also it is one of possibly two places in the world where the lorandite mineral is found.=== Land use ===* 16.1% of the country's territory is arable land.", "* 1.36% of permanent crops* 82.54% – other.", "(2011).According to 2004 estimates, there are 1278 km2 of irrigated land, and 6.4 km3 of total renewable water resources.=== Degradation and protection of the environment ===The alt=Photo of the Balkans taken from space showing wildfiresIn July 2007, fires were particularly visible in Greece, Albania and North Macedonia.The environment is preserved in areas impractical and sparsely populated.", "In addition, the country has three major national parks, created under the Yugoslav regime of 1948–1958.The parks of Pelister, Mavrovo and Galičica cover an area of and allow for the protection of natural areas by their exceptional geological setting, their fauna and flora.", "The ornithological reserve of Ezerani, north of Lake Prespa, is 2,000 hectares big and is home to sixty animals protected by the Bern Convention.However, if it is protected where man has little access, nature is threatened the outskirts of towns and villages.", "Indeed, in order to make North Macedonia, formerly rural and poor, a modern and prosperous country, the Yugoslav communist regime established many factories, often highly polluting.", "These factories, located mainly in the regions of Veles and Skopje are still functioning.", "The emissions of waste pollutants have decreased after 1991, after independence, because many companies have gone bankrupt or have reduced their activity after the transition to a market economy.The other danger of degradation of nature lies in waste.", "Indeed, only the city of Skopje has a processing center for household waste in the rest of the country, so they are left in open dumps.", "The lack of resources and political will behind these fatal neglect for the environment.North Macedonia is also experiencing serious problems in water management.", "The country, however should be able to secure its water through its dams and its sources.", "In summer, water restrictions are common.", "The summer period is also marked by the devastation of forests by wildfire.", "In 2008, six million trees were planted in North Macedonia to regenerate damaged forests.The environmental degradation nevertheless mobilizes local groups and North Macedonia is a signatory to international treaties like the Kyoto Protocol." ], [ "Human geography", "=== Differences in population and urbanization ===Panorama of Prilep and the plain of Pelagonia|alt=the red-roofed buildings of Prilep and surrounding mountains and valliesThe Republic of North Macedonia consists primarily of rural country towns, with only 45% of the population concentrated in the larger towns and cities.", "Skopje, with more than 500,000 inhabitants, is by far the largest city in the country.", "The surrounding region, one of the few plains of the country, includes several other cities, like Tetovo and Gostivar.", "Bitola, Prilep and other significant cities, are located in the plain of Pelagonia in the south.", "The rest of the population is concentrated in the valley of the Vardar and the few other basins and plains of the country.Urbanization, which is developing very fast since the communist era of Yugoslavia, has led to uncontrolled and illegal constructions.", "Other cities have not grown as fast as the capital, which has gained more than 300,000 inhabitants between 1948 and 1981.Bitola, Prilep and Kumanovo, the three other major cities, did not exceed 30,000 inhabitants in 1948 and have barely reached 100,000 people since.", "Kumanovo, which is the second largest city of North Macedonia, had only 105,000 inhabitants in 2002, which is substantial difference comparing it with the population of the capital Skopje – 506,000 inhabitants.", "This makes Skopje a primate city.", "'''Population of the most populous municipalities'''TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyImageSize = width:640 height:auto barincrement:25PlotArea = left:10 right:10 top:10 bottom:40AlignBars = justifyColors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97)BackgroundColors = canvas:canvasPeriod = from:0 till:600ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:0 gridcolor:drabgreenBarData= barset:EinwohnerzahlPlotData= width:20 fontsize:M textcolor:black color:skyblue shift:(20,-6) anchor:from barset:Einwohnerzahl from:start till:506.9 text:Skopje_(506 926) from:start till:105.5 text:Kumanovo_(105 484) from:start till:95.4 text:Bitola_(95 385) from:start till:86.5 text:Tetovo_(86 580) from:start till:81.0 text:Gostivar_(81 042) from:start till:76.7 text:Prilep_(76 768) from:start till:63.3 text:Struga_(63 376) from:start till:55.7 text:Ohrid_(55 749) from:start till:55.1 text:Veles_(55 108) from:start till:54.6 text:Strumica_(54 676)TextData= fontsize:S pos:(450,20) text:Population (in thousands)=== Ethnic distribution ===municipalities of North Macedonia according to the ethnic majority (in yellow, theMacedonians, in orange the Albanians, in green Turks, in blue municipalities with mixed ethnic groups)|alt=A map of Macedonia showing the most prominent ethnicity by municipality.", "Municipalities in the northwest frequently have Albanian majorities, and a couple with Turkish majorities.", "Almost all of the rest have Macedonian majoritiesThe Macedonians are the largest ethnic group in the country, accounting for 58.4% of the total population, according to the 2021 census.", "They speak the Macedonian language and most are Eastern Orthodox Christians.", "Ethnic Albanians are the country's largest minority, making up one-quarter of the total population.", "They live mainly in the west and northwest.", "The Turks, who comprise nearly 4% of the population, are mostly scattered, though they form a majority in two municipalities (Plasnica and Centar Župa).", "The Romani make up 2.5% of the population and are also concentrated throughout North Macedonia, while the Serbs, who form 1.3% of the total population, live mostly in the north of the country.=== Administrative divisions ===alt=Map of Macedonia showing which municipalities are rural and which are urbanNorth Macedonia is divided into eight statistical regions: Skopje, Pelagonia, Polog, Vardar, Eastern, Southeastern, Northeastern and Southwestern.The country is further divided into 84 municipalities.", "Until 1996, there were 123 municipalities, but several laws aimed at increasing the rights of minorities decreased the number of municipalities and modified their overall role.", "Skopje, the nation's capital, is itself divided into ten municipalities." ], [ "Economic geography", "North Macedonia, like most countries in Eastern Europe, has a developing economy.", "Under Yugoslavia, North Macedonia saw the establishment of many factories and the significant modernisation of the country, especially after the devastating Skopje earthquake of 1963.Since independence in 1991, it has suffered the transition to market economy.", "Greece, which believed that the republic was monopolising the cultural and historical heritage of Macedonia, imposed a temporary embargo in 1993 and had prevented the country's accession to organisations like the European Union and NATO, until the implementation of the Prespa agreement in 2019.In 1995, the Greek embargo was lifted and Macedonia was able to access the IMF and World Bank.", "The country still suffers, however, from its isolation and lack of foreign investment, to which Greece is one of the largest contributors.", "In 2007, the unemployment rate was estimated at 32% and the black market provided about 20% of the Gross Domestic Product.=== Characteristics and advantages ===North Macedonia's geographical positioning provides it with many advantages.", "One advantage is the geographical position of the country.", "It is the center of the Balkans, between Belgrade and Athens, Tirana and Sofia, between the Adriatic and Black Sea.", "The Vardar valley forms a natural corridor, which connects Greece to the rest of Europe.", "This corridor is crossed by the highway E75, which crosses in Europe and connects Scandinavia with Attica.", "This highway has also been renovated in North Macedonia with the European Agency for Reconstruction, and the communication channels that connect the Adriatic to the Black Sea, called the Corridor VIII, were also upgraded and maintained through international assistance including the Italian one.North Macedonia is also rich with minerals.", "The country in fact has substantial deposits of chromium and other nonferrous metals like copper, zinc, manganese and nickel.", "The country also has gypsum mines, marble and granite, located in Pelagonia.", "Lignite, provides 80% of the electricity in North Macedonia.", "In addition to mines and quarries, the country has large cement plants and large complexes of metal, created by the communist regime.Agriculture is encouraged by the significant water resources, managed by dams and canals.", "The presence of hot springs of volcanic origin can heat the greenhouses in winter, particularly in the Strumica region, whose products include tomatoes and cucumbers in the month of February.", "Different climates provide opportunities for various productions in the geographical area, so the vine and tobacco are operated in the south, the rice in the region of Kočani which is largely irrigated, and the wood industry is concentrated around Štip.", "Agriculture contributes a significant share of exports, especially with the wine and tobacco.", "The low cost of labor also helps the textile industry.Church of St. John at Kaneo with a view of the Ohrid Lake, the most popular destination for tourists in North Macedonia|alt=Church of St John at Kaneo on hill with Lake Ohrid beneath itNorth Macedonia receives about 1,000,000 tourists annually and experiences a constant increase of visitors.", "The number of domestic tourists from January to March 2008 increased by 23.5% compared to the same period of the previous year.", "The number of foreign tourists in March 2008 compared to March 2007 increased by 44.7%.", "In 2007, Lake Ohrid received about 250,000 domestic and foreign tourists.", "In February 2009, the country was visited by nearly 28,000 tourists, namely, 3.2% more than the same month last year.", "There was also an 8% increase in the number of foreign visitors.", "The summer of 2009 was the best tourist season for the city of Dojran with 135,000 overnight visitors, an increase of 12.5% compared to the previous year.The tourist capital of North Macedonia, Ohrid, has been listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979." ], [ "See also", "*Atlas of North Macedonia*Economy of North Macedonia*North Macedonia*Tourism in North Macedonia" ], [ "References and notes" ], [ "External links", "* ExploringMacedonia.com* Macedonia.org * COLISEE – Tourism in North Macedonia" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of North Macedonia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population." ], [ "Total population", " Year Resident population Growth rate Population density per km2 1921 808,724 - 31.5 1931 949,958 +17.46% 36.9 1948 1,152,986 +21.37% 44.8 1953 1,304,514 +13.14% 50.7 1961 1,406,003 +7.78% 54.7 1971 1,647,308 +17.16% 64.1 1981 1,909,136 +15.89% 74.2 1991 2,033,964 +6.54% 79.1 1994 1,945,932 -4.33% 75.7 2002 2,022,547 +3.94% 78.7 2021 1,836,713 -9.19% 71.4 Source: State Statistical Office, North Macedonia" ], [ "International statistics and estimates", "According to statistics from the European Union, the actual population has been reduced by at least 230,000 people who emigrated into European Union member states between 1998 and 2011.Further Albanian news sources estimated at October 2012 that the real population is closer to the sum of 1,744,237 people who are accounted within all of the health funds of the country.", "According to Bozhidar Dimitrov, the Bulgarian authorities have granted 87,000 to many of those emigrants a Bulgarian passport, as of 2012, which requires that they declare to be ethnic Bulgarians.", "Since Bulgaria's entry into the European Union, and under pressure from fellow European Union members, Bulgaria imposed more stringent rules and measures for the acquisition of a Bulgarian citizenship and passport.The provisions of the Ohrid agreement to elevate any minority language if the minority in question is above 20% of the population of any municipality into a co-official language for that municipality has created friction within the government, and between officials of different political and ethnic interests, resulting in the indefinite postponement of the census for almost twenty years until it was finally conducted in 2021." ], [ "Vital statistics", "Source: State Statistical Office of the Republic of North MacedoniaPopulation Data for period 2003-2020 was revised by the Statistical Office of the Republic of North Macedonia Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateFemale fertile population (15–49 years)'''1950'''1,229,000'''49,560'''18,023'''31,537''''''40.3'''14.7'''25.7''''''5.70'''294,931'''1951'''1,262,000'''45,329'''20,747'''24,582''''''35.9''' 16.4'''19.5''''''5.14'''301,089'''1952'''1,280,000'''51,054'''17,978'''33,076''''''39.9'''14.0'''25.8''''''5.64'''307,247'''1953'''1,310,000'''49,665'''19,312'''30,353''''''37.9'''14.7'''23.2''''''5.26'''313,405'''1954'''1,338,000'''50,984'''16,722'''34,262''''''38.1'''12.5'''25.6''''''5.27'''317,457'''1955'''1,355,000'''49,093'''17,919'''31,174''''''36.2'''13.2'''23.0''''''4.95'''321,509'''1956'''1,357,000'''47,486'''15,386'''32,100''''''35.0'''11.3'''23.7''''''4.63'''325,561'''1957'''1,364,000'''46,107'''17,341'''28,766''''''33.8'''12.7'''21.1''''''4.21'''341,923'''1958'''1,375,000'''44,619'''13,917'''30,702''''''32.5'''10.1'''22.3''''''4.27'''324,023'''1959'''1,382,000'''44,638'''14,998'''29,640''''''32.3'''10.9'''21.4''''''4.21'''326,697'''1960'''1,391,927'''44,059'''14,007'''30,052''''''31.7'''10.1'''21.6''''''4.11'''330,666'''1961'''1,408,302'''42,182'''13,141'''29,041''''''30.0'''9.3'''20.6''''''3.87'''334,636'''1962'''1,427,771'''40,615'''16,155'''24,460''''''28.4'''11.3'''17.1''''''3.68'''339,207'''1963'''1,449,932'''41,284'''13,229'''28,055''''''28.5'''9.1'''19.3''''''3.70'''346,815'''1964'''1,473,996'''42,897'''13,286'''29,611''''''29.1'''9.0'''20.1''''''3.79'''355,915'''1965'''1,499,729'''42,433'''12,758'''29,675''''''28.3'''8.5'''19.8''''''3.67'''364,762'''1966'''1,525,841'''41,434'''12,307'''29,127''''''27.2'''8.1'''19.1''''''3.55'''374,067'''1967'''1,550,453'''40,763'''12,523'''28,240''''''26.3'''8.1'''18.2''''''3.44'''385,649'''1968'''1,575,714'''40,123'''12,461'''27,662''''''25.5'''7.9'''17.6''''''3.35'''385,966'''1969'''1,602,993'''40,342'''13,111'''27,231''''''25.2'''8.2'''17.0''''''3.24'''407,438'''1970'''1,629,061'''37,862'''12,430'''25,432''''''23.2'''7.6'''15.6''''''2.98'''414,466'''1971'''1,654,076'''37,904'''12,447'''25,457''''''22.9'''7.5'''15.4''''''2.93'''421,227'''1972'''1,679,456'''38,187'''13,096'''25,091''''''22.7'''7.8'''14.9''''''2.85'''433,922'''1973'''1,704,602'''37,478'''12,217'''25,261''''''22.0'''7.2'''14.8''''''2.72'''441,858'''1974'''1,729,935'''38,382'''12,143'''26,239''''''22.2'''7.0'''15.2''''''2.70'''449,166'''1975'''1,756,335'''39,579'''12,629'''26,950''''''22.5'''7.2'''15.3''''''2.70'''459,158'''1976'''1,783,518'''39,809'''12,377'''27,432''''''22.3'''6.9'''15.4''''''2.68'''460,430'''1977'''1,810,148'''38,932'''12,899'''26,033''''''21.5'''7.1'''14.4''''''2.54'''471,191'''1978'''1,836,270'''38,790'''12,577'''26,213''''''21.1''' 6.8'''14.3''''''2.49'''477,743'''1979'''1,863,728'''39,407'''12,653'''26,754''''''21.1'''6.8'''14.4''''''2.49'''485,717'''1980'''1,891,319'''39,784'''13,542'''26,242''''''21.0'''7.2'''13.9''''''2.46'''493,691'''1981'''1,916,713'''39,488'''13,383'''26,105''''''20.6'''7.0'''13.6''''''2.48'''491,236'''1982'''1,941,914'''39,789'''13,510'''26,279''''''20.5'''7.0'''13.5''''''2.45'''494,342'''1983'''1,967,556'''39,210'''14,391'''24,819''''''19.9'''7.3'''12.6''''''2.40'''506,961'''1984'''1,992,424'''38,861'''14,066'''24,795''''''19.5'''7.1'''12.4''''''2.35'''510,613'''1985'''2,016,942'''38,722'''14,408'''24,314''''''19.2'''7.1'''12.1''''''2.32'''516,226'''1986'''2,041,064'''38,234'''14,438'''23,796''''''18.7'''7.1'''11.7''''''2.27'''521,084'''1987'''2,065,005'''38,572'''14,644'''23,928''''''18.7'''7.1'''11.6''''''2.27'''529,021'''1988'''2,088,651'''37,879'''14,565'''23,314''''''18.1'''7.0'''11.2''''''2.22'''530,321'''1989'''2,070,912'''35,927'''14,592'''21,335''''''17.3'''7.0'''10.3''''''2.09'''538,168'''1990'''2,053,172'''35,401'''14,643'''20,758''''''17.2'''7.1'''10.1''''''2.06'''547,749'''1991'''2,035,433'''34,830'''14,789'''20,041''''''17.1'''7.3'''9.8''''''2.30'''512,254'''1992'''2,017,694'''33,238'''16,022'''17,216''''''16.5'''7.9'''8.5''''''2.20'''507,575'''1993'''1,999,955'''32,374'''15,591'''16,783''''''16.2'''7.8'''8.4''''''2.15'''502,896'''1994'''1,945,932'''31,421'''15,649'''15,772''''''16.1'''8.0'''8.1''''''2.09'''501,788'''1995'''1,966,033'''29,886'''16,169'''13,717''''''15.2'''8.2'''7.0''''''1.98'''505,349'''1996'''1,983,009'''28,946'''15,882'''13,064''''''14.6'''8.0'''6.6''''''1.90'''511,941'''1997'''1,996,869'''26,830'''16,373'''10,457''''''13.4'''8.2'''5.2''''''1.75'''517,392'''1998'''2,007,523'''26,639'''16,628'''10,011''''''13.3'''8.3'''5.0''''''1.73'''520,862'''1999'''2,017,142'''24,964'''16,622'''8,342''''''12.4'''8.2'''4.1''''''1.61'''523,687'''2000'''2,026,350'''26,168'''17,085'''9,083''''''12.9'''8.4'''4.5''''''1.68'''526,563'''2001'''2,034,882'''24,183'''16,790'''7,393''''''11.9'''8.3'''3.6''''''1.55'''529,374'''2002'''2,020,157'''24,154'''17,866'''6,288''''''12.0'''8.8'''3.1''''''1.59'''522,016'''2003'''2,022,725'''23,596'''17,813'''5,783''''''11.7'''8.8'''2.9''''''1.55'''523,044'''2004'''2,016,186'''23,361'''17,944'''5,417''''''11.6'''8.9'''2.7''''''1.54'''520,696'''2005'''2,005,330 '''22,482'''18,406'''4,076''''''11.2'''9.2'''2.0''''''1.49'''516,960'''2006''' 1,994,287 '''22,585'''18,630'''3,955''''''11.3'''9.3'''2.0''''''1.51'''513,243'''2007'''1,982,933'''22,688'''19,594'''3,094''''''11.4'''9.9'''1.6''''''1.53'''509,072'''2008'''1,971,493'''22,945'''18,982'''3,963''''''11.6'''9.6'''2.0''''''1.56'''504,139'''2009'''1,958,782'''23,684'''19,060'''4,624''''''12.1'''9.7'''2.4''''''1.63'''498,130'''2010'''1,946,298'''24,296'''19,113'''5,183''''''12.5'''9.8'''2.7''''''1.70'''490,751'''2011'''1,937,398 '''22,770'''19,465'''3,305''''''11.8'''10.0'''1.7''''''1.62'''483,441'''2012'''1,929,821'''23,568'''20,134'''3,434''''''12.2'''10.4'''1.8''''''1.71'''476,635'''2013'''1,922,716 '''23,138'''19,208'''3,930''''''12.0'''10.0'''2.0''''''1.70'''469,371'''2014'''1,917,557'''23,596'''19,718'''3,878''''''12.3'''10.3'''2.0''''''1.76'''461,769'''2015'''1,912,430'''23,075'''20,461'''2,614''''''12.1'''10.7'''1.4''''''1.76'''454,398'''2016'''1,906,313 '''23,002'''20,421'''2,581''''''12.1'''10.7'''1.4''''''1.78'''447,443'''2017'''1,898,657 '''21,754'''20,318'''1,436''''''11.5'''10.7'''0.8''''''1.72'''440,271'''2018'''1,889,051'''21,333'''19,727'''1,606''''''11.3'''10.4'''0.9''''''1.73'''432,640'''2019'''1,876,262'''19,845'''20,446'''-601''''''10.6'''10.9'''-0.3''''''1.65'''424,658'''2020'''1,856,124'''19,031'''25,755'''-6,724''''''10.3'''13.9'''-3.6''''''1.62'''416,741'''2021'''1,837,114'''18,648'''28,516'''-9,868''''''10.2'''15.5'''-5.4''''''1.62'''410,912'''2022''''''1,831,712''''''18,073''' '''22,459''''''-4,386''''''9.9''''''12.3''''''-2.4''''''1.59''''''407,934'''===Current vital statistics===Life expectancy in North Macedonia since 1950Life expectancy in North Macedonia since 1960 by gender+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January - November 2022''' 16,332 20,586 -4,254 '''January - November 2023''' 15,014 18,042 -3,028 '''Difference''' -1,318 (-8.1%) -2,544 (-12.4%) +1,226" ], [ "Marriages and divorces", "Average populationMarriagesDivorcesCrude marriage rate (per 1000)Crude divorce rate (per 1000)Divorces per 1000 marriages'''1950'''1,229,000'''14,123''''''983'''11.50.8'''69.6''''''1951'''1,262,000'''13,651''''''951'''10.80.8'''69.7''''''1952'''1,280,000'''12,758''''''832'''10.00.7'''65.2''''''1953'''1,310,000'''11,739''''''990'''9.00.8'''84.3''''''1954'''1,338,000'''12,096''''''772'''9.00.6'''63.8''''''1955'''1,355,000'''12,003''''''983'''8.90.7'''81.9''''''1956'''1,357,000'''11,751''''''956'''8.70.7'''81.4''''''1957'''1,364,000'''11,432''''''1,079'''8.40.8'''94.4''''''1958'''1,375,000'''12,238''''''970'''8.90.7'''79.3''''''1959'''1,382,000'''11,846''''''1,013'''8.60.7'''85.5''''''1960'''1,391,927'''11,941''''''1,013'''8.60.7'''84.8''''''1961'''1,408,302'''11,881''''''796'''8.40.6'''67.0''''''1962'''1,427,771'''11,941''''''907'''8.40.6'''76.0''''''1963'''1,449,932'''11,827''''''685'''8.20.5'''57.9''''''1964'''1,473,996'''13,472''''''610'''9.10.4'''45.3''''''1965'''1,499,729'''13,467''''''754'''9.00.5'''56.0''''''1966'''1,525,841'''12,960''''''598'''8.50.4'''46.1''''''1967'''1,550,453'''13,141''''''392'''8.50.3'''29.8''''''1968'''1,575,714'''13,550''''''446'''8.60.3'''32.9''''''1969'''1,602,993'''14,376''''''448'''9.00.3'''31.2''''''1970'''1,629,061'''14,593''''''453'''9.00.3'''31.0''''''1971'''1,654,076'''14,739''''''463'''8.90.3'''31.4''''''1972'''1,679,456'''14,903''''''580'''8.90.3'''38.9''''''1973'''1,704,602'''15,105''''''1,053'''8.90.6'''69.7''''''1974'''1,729,935'''15,118''''''1,071'''8.70.6'''70.8''''''1975'''1,756,335'''15,554''''''1,270'''8.90.7'''81.7''''''1976'''1,783,518'''15,023''''''1,066'''8.40.6'''71.0''''''1977'''1,810,148'''15,604''''''822'''8.60.5'''52.7''''''1978'''1,836,270'''15,702''''''776'''8.60.4'''49.4''''''1979'''1,863,728'''16,122''''''816'''8.70.4'''50.6''''''1980'''1,891,319'''16,145''''''890'''8.50.5'''55.1''''''1981'''1,916,713'''16,303''''''911'''8.50.5'''55.9''''''1982'''1,941,914'''16,606''''''911'''8.60.5'''54.9''''''1983'''1,967,556'''16,404''''''747'''8.30.4'''45.5''''''1984'''1,992,424'''16,054''''''886'''8.10.4'''55.2''''''1985'''2,016,942'''16,335''''''817'''8.10.4'''50.0''''''1986'''2,041,064'''16,326''''''1,017'''8.00.5'''62.3''''''1987'''2,065,005'''16,799''''''811'''8.10.4'''48.3''''''1988'''2,088,651'''16,380''''''861'''7.80.4'''52.6''''''1989'''2,070,912'''15,842''''''951'''7.60.5'''60.0''''''1990'''2,053,172'''15,688''''''749'''7.60.4'''47.7''''''1991'''2,035,433'''15,311''''''496'''7.50.2'''32.4''''''1992'''2,017,694'''15,354''''''578'''7.60.3'''37.6''''''1993'''1,999,955'''15,080''''''636'''7.50.3'''42.2''''''1994'''1,982,215'''15,736''''''612'''7.90.3'''38.9''''''1995'''1,964,476'''15,823''''''710'''8.10.4'''44.9''''''1996'''1,981,543'''14,089''''''705'''7.10.4'''50.0''''''1997'''1,996,869'''14,072''''''1,021'''7.00.5'''72.6''''''1998'''2,007,523'''13,993''''''1,027'''7.00.5'''73.4''''''1999'''2,017,142'''14,172''''''1,045'''7.00.5'''73.7''''''2000'''2,026,350'''14,255''''''1,325'''7.00.7'''92.9''''''2001'''2,034,882'''13,267''''''1,448'''6.50.7'''109.1''''''2002'''2,020,157'''14,522''''''1,310'''7.20.6'''90.2''''''2003'''2,026,773'''14,402''''''1,405'''7.10.7'''97.6''''''2004'''2,032,544'''14,073''''''1,645'''6.90.8'''116.9''''''2005'''2,036,855'''14,500''''''1,552'''7.10.8'''107.0''''''2006'''2,040,228'''14,908''''''1,475'''7.30.7'''98.9''''''2007'''2,043,559'''15,490''''''1,417'''7.60.7'''91.5''''''2008'''2,046,898'''14,695''''''1,209'''7.20.6'''82.3''''''2009'''2,050,671'''14,923''''''1,287'''7.30.6'''86.2''''''2010'''2,055,004'''14,155''''''1,720'''6.90.8'''121.5''''''2011'''2,058,539'''14,736''''''1,753'''7.20.9'''119.0''''''2012'''2,061,044'''13,991''''''1,926'''6.80.9'''137.7''''''2013'''2,064,032'''13,982''''''2,045'''6.81.0'''146.3''''''2014'''2,067,471'''13,813''''''2,210'''6.71.1'''160.0''''''2015'''2,070,226'''14,186''''''2,200'''6.91.1'''155.1''''''2016'''2,072,490'''13,199''''''1,985'''6.41.0'''150.4''''''2017'''2,074,502'''13,781''''''1,994'''6.61.0'''144.7''''''2018 '''2,076,217'''13,494''''''1,620'''6.50.8'''120.1''''''2019''''''2,076,694''''''13,814''''''1,990''''''6.7''''''1.0''''''144.1'''" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "The process of industrialization and urbanization after the Second World War that caused the population growth to decrease involved the ethnic Macedonians to a greater extent than Muslims.", "Rates of increase were very high among rural Muslims: Turks and Torbesh (Macedonian Muslims) had rates 2.5 times those of the Macedonian majority, while Roma had rates 3 times as high.", "In 1994, Macedonians had a TFR of 2.07, while the TFR of others were: Albanian (2.10), Turkish (3.55), Roma (4.01), Serb (2.07), Vlachs (1.88) and Others (3.05).", "The TFR by religions was: Christian (2.17, with 2.20 for Catholics and 2.06 for Orthodox), Islam (4.02) and others (2.16).However, it is unlikely that this high minority TFR has continued since then in North Macedonia, as Balkan fertility elsewhere (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) has dropped sharply toward the European average.", "A more recent survey pegs Muslim fertility in North Macedonia at 1.7, versus 1.5 for non-Muslims.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1961.gif|Ethnic structure of SR Macedonia by settlements 1961.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1971.gif|Ethnic structure of SR Macedonia by settlements 1971.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1981.gif|Ethnic structure of SR Macedonia by settlements 1981.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1991 1.gif|Ethnic structure of SR Macedonia by settlements 1991.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1991 2.gif|Ethnic structure of SR Macedonia by settlements 1991.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 1994.gif|Ethnic structure of R. Macedonia by settlements 1994.File:Makedonija - Etnicki sastav po naseljima 2002.gif|Ethnic structure of R. Macedonia by settlements 2002.File:Етнички состав на Македонија, според пописот од 2021 година.png|Ethnic structure of R. North Macedonia by settlements 2021.+'''Population of North Macedonia according to ethnic group 1948–2021''' Ethnicgroup census 1948 census 1953 census 1961 census 1971 census 1981 census 1991 census 19941 census 2002census 2021 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %Number% Macedonians 789,648 68.5 860,699 66.0 1,000,854 71.2 1,142,375 69.3 1,281,195 67.0 1,328,187 65.3 1,295,964 66.6 1,297,981 64.18 1,073,299 58.44 Albanians 197,389 17.1 162,524 12.5 183,108 13.0 279,871 17.0 377,726 19.8 441,987 21.7 441,104 22.7 509,083 25.17 446,245 24.30 Turks 95,940 8.3 203,938 15.6 131,481 9.4 108,552 6.6 86,691 4.5 77,080 3.8 78,019 4.0 77,959 3.85 70,961 3.86 Romani 19,500 1.7 20,462 1.6 20,606 1.5 24,505 1.5 43,223 2.3 52,103 2.6 43,707 2.2 53,879 2.66 46,433 2.53 Serbs 29,721 2.6 35,112 2.7 42,728 3.0 46,465 2.8 44,613 2.3 42,775 2.1 40,228 2.1 35,939 1.78 23,847 1.30 Bosniaks 6,829 0.3 17,018 0.84 16,042 0.87 Aromanians 9,511 0.8 8,668 0.7 8,046 0.6 7,190 0.4 6,392 0.3 7,764 0.4 8,601 0.4 9,695 0.48 8,714 0.47Torbeshi 4,174 0.23 Bulgarians 889 0.1 920 0.1 3,087 0.2 3,334 0.2 1,984 0.1 1,370 0.1 1,682 0.1 1,417 0.07 3,504 0.19Ashkali 2,406 0.13 Croats 2,090 0.2 2,770 0.2 3,801 0.3 3,882 0.2 3,349 0.2 2,878 0.1 2,248 0.1 2,686 0.13 2,145 0.12 Muslims 1,560 0.1 1,591 0.1 3,002 0.2 1,248 0.1 39,555 2.1 31,356 1.5 15,418 0.8 2,553 0.13 1,187 0.06 Montenegrins 2,348 0.2 2,526 0.2 3,414 0.2 3,246 0.2 3,940 0.2 3,225 0.1 2,318 0.1 2,003 0.10 1,023 0.06 Yugoslavs 1,260 0.1 3,652 0.2 14,240 0.7 344 0.02 other/unspecified 4,390 0.4 5,304 0.4 4,616 0.3 22,988 1.4 6,228 0.3 45,239 2.2 9,814 0.5 14,8872 0.74 136,3893 7.42 Total 1,152,986 1,304,514 1,406,003 1,647,308 1,909,136 2,033,964 1,945,932 2,022,5471,836,713 1 Since 1994 residents who were permanently living abroad were no longer included2 Ashkali: 3,713 or 0.184%, Greeks: 422 or 0.021%, Russians: 368 or 0.018%, Slovenes: 365 or 0.018%, Poles: 162 or 0.008%, Ukrainians: 136 or 0.007%, Germans: 88 or 0.004%, Czechs: 60 or 0.005%, Slovaks: 60 or 0.005%, Jews: 53 or 0.003%, Italians: 46 or 0.002%, Austrians: 35 or 0.002%, Rusyns: 24 or 0.001%, Regionally affiliated: 829 or 0.041%, Non-declared: 404 or 0.02%, Others: 5332 or 0.264%3 Regionally affiliated: 110 or 0.01%, Non-declared: 450* or 0.02%, Citizens for whom the data are taken from administrative sources, not included directly in the census (without ethnic declaration) 132,260 or 7.20%.", "*In 2017, 21,754 children were born in North Macedonia.", "The ethnic affiliation of these newborns was: 11,260 (51.76%) Macedonian; 7,404 (34.03%) Albanian; 940 (4.32%) Turkish; 1,276 (5.87%) Roma; 40 (0.18%) Vlach; 129 (0.59%) Serbian; 213 (0.98%) Bosniaks; 492 (2,26%) other ethnic affiliation and unknown.", "In the school year 2016/2017 there were 192 715 students in elementary schools from which 104,756 (55%) were Macedonian, and 60,971 (32%) were Albanian, and in High schools there were 72 482 students from which 43,658 (60.1%) were Macedonian and 22 419 (30.9%) were Albanians.", "Furthermore, in 1999 Albanians accounted for 34.6% of newborns and 26.1% of students who finished high school in 2016, which was regulated by the Ministry of Education.+'''Newborns in North Macedonia according to ethnic group''' Ethnic group 1994 2002 201220212022 Number % Number % Number %Number %Number % Macedonians 16,704 49.88 13,639 49.13 11,995 50.90 9,338 50.089,10250.36 Albanians 12,010 35.86 10,118 36.45 8,035 34.09 6,663 35.736,57736.39 Romani 1,378 4.12 1,678 6.04 1,552 6.59 1,267 6.791,0946.05 Turks 1,616 4.83 1,202 4.33 1,092 4.63 835 4.487564.18 Bosniaks 251 1.07 177 0.951861.03 Serbs 403 1.20 168 0.61 125 0.53 123 0.661170.65 Vlach (Aromanians) 25 0.07 23 0.08 37 0.16 17 0.09260.14 other/unspecified 1,351 4.03 933 3.36 481 2.04 228 1.222151.19 Total 33,487 27,761 23,56818,64818,073" ], [ "Languages", "Source: Language, census 2021 Number % Total         1,836,713 100.00% Macedonian         1,127,394 61.38% Albanian            447,001 24.34% Turkish               62,723 3.41% Romani               31,721 1.73% Vlach                 3,151 0.17% Serbian               11,252 0.61% Bosnian               15,615 0.85% Bulgarian                 1,519 0.08% Croatian                     958 0.05% Other languages                 2,717 0.15% Unknown                     402 0.02% Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources            132,260 7.20%" ], [ "Religion", "Source: Religion, census 2021 Number %Total Christians 1,109,908 60.43%Orthodox 847,390 46.14%Christians (unspecified) 242,579 13.21%Evangelical Protestant Christians 8,764 0.48%Catholics 6,746 0.37%Protestants 1,313 0.07%Jehovah's Witnesses 1,137 0.06%Evangelical Methodists 889 0.05%Evangelists 678 0.04%Adventists 371 0.02%Baptists 70 0.00%Reformists 50 0.00% Islam 590,878 32.17% Buddhists 894 0.05% Hare Krishna 96 0.01% Members of the Jewish (Moses) community 74 0.00% Members of an unlisted religion 113 0.01% Non-believers (atheists) 8,764 0.48% Undeclared 16 0.00% Unknown 76 0.00% Agnostics 1,964 0.11% Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 132,260 7.20% '''Total population''' 1,836,713 100.00%" ], [ "''CIA World Factbook'' demographic statistics", "The following demographic statistics are from the ''CIA World Factbook'', unless otherwise indicated.===Age structure===* 0–14 years: 19.5% (male 210,078; female 203,106)* 15–64 years: 67.8% (male 707,298; female 696,830)* 65 years and over: 12.7% (male 97,437; female 124,661) (2004 est)===Sex ratio===* at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female* under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female* 15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female* 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female* total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===* total: 11.74 deaths/1,000 live births* female: 10.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.", ")* male: 12.67 deaths/1,000 live births===Life expectancy at birth===* total population: 74.73 years* male: 72.45 years* female: 77.2 years (2004 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===* 1.50 children born/woman (2015 est.", ")===HIV/AIDS===* adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.", ")* people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 100 (1999 est.", ")* deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.", ")===Nationality===* noun: Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia* adjective: Macedonian / of North Macedonia" ], [ "See also", "* Demographic history of North Macedonia* Rumelia* ** Demographics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia** Demographics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia* Demographics of Albania* Demographics of Bulgaria* Demographics of Greece* Demographics of Kosovo* Demographics of Serbia" ], [ "References" ], [ "Other sources", "* ''Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Macedonia 2004 (CD version)''" ], [ "External links", "* Results of the 2002 census* ''CIA World Factbook'' entry on North Macedonia" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics in North Macedonia''' occur within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.", "The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature." ], [ "Political system", "leftThe political system of North Macedonia consists of three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judicial.", "The Constitution is the highest law of the country.", "The political institutions are constituted by the will of its citizens by secret ballot at direct and general elections.", "Its political system of parliamentary democracy was established with the Constitution of 1991, which stipulates the basic principles of democracy and guarantees democratic civil freedom.", "The Elections for Representatives in the Assembly of North Macedonia is held in October.", "The Assembly is composed of 123 Representatives, who are elected for a period of four years.", "Out of this number, 120 are elected proportionally in 6 constituencies of 20 each, and 3 according to the majority principle, specifically for the diaspora (depending on turnout) (the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia representing one constituency).", "There are approximately 1.5 million voters registered in the General Electoral Roll for the election of Representatives in the Assembly of North Macedonia in 2.973 polling stations.", "The voting for the representatives is conducted according to the list system.=== Presidents ===* Kiro Gligorov (1991–1999)* Boris Trajkovski (1999–2004)* Branko Crvenkovski (2004–2009)* Gjorge Ivanov (2009–2019)* Stevo Pendarovski (2019–present)" ], [ "Executive branch", "|PresidentSDSM12 May 2019Prime MinisterBDI28 January 2024Although in Macedonian, these roles have very similar titles ( \"President of the Republic of North Macedonia\" and \"President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia\") it is much less confusing to refer to them in English as president and prime minister respectively.", "These are also the terms used in the English translation of the constitution.=== President ===Coat of arms of the president of North Macedonia* cannot hold any other public office or position in a political party* is elected for a 5-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms* is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President of the Security Council* nominates a candidate from the majority party or parties in the Assembly who then proposes the Government who are elected by the Assembly* makes diplomatic appointments and some judicial and Security Council appointments* grants decorations, honours and pardons=== Government ===The power of the president is fairly limited with all other executive power being vested in what the Constitution describes as the government, i.e., the prime minister and ministers.Ministers:* cannot be Representatives in the Assembly* cannot hold any other public office or follow a profession while in office* are elected by a majority vote in the Assembly* are granted legal immunity* cannot be called for service in the Armed Forces* propose laws, budget and regulations to be adopted by the Assembly* control diplomatic policy* make other state appointments=== Current cabinet ===The current cabinet is a coalition of SDSM, the Democratic Union for Integration, the New Social Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Party for the Full Emancipation of the Roma of Macedonia, Democratic Party of Turks and the Party for the Movement of Turks in Macedonia.The members of the Cabinet of North Macedonia are chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the national Parliament, however certain cabinet level positions are chosen by both President and Prime Minister, and approved by the Parliament.New government as of 28 February 2023 Member Portfolio Macedonio Dimitar Kovačevski Prime Minister Artan Grubi Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Framework Agreement Implementation, Political system andinter-community relations 50px Fatmir Bytyqi Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economic Affairs, Minister without Portfolio50px Bojan Maricik Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration, Minister without Portfolio50px Slavica Grkovska Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Good Governance Policies, Minister without Portfolio50px Bujar Osmani Minister of Foreign Affairs50px Slavjanka Petrovska Minister of Defense Oliver Spasovski Minister of Internal Affairs Fatmir Besimi Minister of Finance Krenar Loga Minister of Justice50px Ljubčo Nikolovski Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply50px Blagoja Bočvarski Minister of Transport and Communication50px Kreshnik Bekteshi Minister of Economy50px Fatmir Magiti Minister of Health50px Jeton Shaqiri Minister of Education and Science50px Admirim Aliti Minister of Information Society and Administration50px Goran Milevski Minister of Local Self-Government50px Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska Minister of Culture50px Jovana Trenchevska Minister of Labor and Social Policy50px Naser Nuredini Minister of Environment and Physical Planning50px Elvin Hasan Minister without Portfolio for Attracting foreign investment50px Xhemail Çupi Minister without Portfolio50px Zoran Sapurić Minister without Portfolio to improve investment climate for domestic enterprises50px Anita Angelovska-Bežoska Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia Ljupco Švrgovski Attorney General50px Vasko GjurčinovskiChief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia50px" ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Assembly (''Sobranie'') has 120 members, elected for a four-year term, by proportional representation.There are between 120 and 140 seats, currently there are 120; members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed list proportional representation vote.", "There is a possibility of three people being directly elected in diaspora constituencies by a simple majority vote provided there is sufficient voter turnout.The last election to be held was on 11 December 2016, with a second round held in one polling station on 25 December 2016.The next election is to be held in 2020.The result of this election was as follows: percent of vote by party/coalition - VMRO-DPMNE 38.1%, SDSM coalition 36.7%, BDI 7.3%, Besa Movement 4.9%, AfA 3.1%, PDSh 2.7%, other 7.2%; seats by party - VMRO-DPMNE 51, SDSM coalition 49, BDI 10, Besa Movement 5, AfA 3, PDSh 2; note - the 3 seats for diaspora went unfilled because none of the candidates won the 6,500 minimum vote threshold.Seats by party/coalition as of May 2019 - ruling coalition 68 (SDSM coalition 49, BDI 10, Besa Movement 3, PDSh 2, other 5), opposition coalition 52 (VMRO-DPMNE coalition 48, Besa Movement 2, AfA 2); composition - men 75, women 45, percent of women 37.5%" ], [ "2020 election result" ], [ "Judicial branch", "Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council.", "The assembly appoints the judges, of which there are 22 in the Supreme Court, and 9 in the Constitutional Court.", "Supreme Court judges nominated by the Judicial Council, a 7-member body of legal professionals, and appointed by the Assembly; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the Assembly for nonrenewable, 9-year terms" ], [ "Administrative divisions", "With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities (, ; singular: , .", "The capital, Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as \"the City of Skopje\".", "Municipalities in North Macedonia are units of local self-government.", "Neighbouring municipalities may establish cooperative arrangements." ], [ "Ethnic diversity", "The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically based political parties representing the country's Macedonian majority and Albanian minority.", "The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached.", "In August 2004, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.== Foreign relations == North Macedonia is member of the ACCT,BIS,CE,CEI,EAPC,EBRD,ECE,FAO,IAEA,IBRD,ICAO,ICCt,ICRM,IDA,IFAD,IFC,IFRCS,ILO,IMF,IMO,Interpol,IOC,IOM (observer),ISO,ITU,NATO,OPCW,OSCE,PCA,PFP,UN,UNCTAD,UNESCO,UNIDO,UPU,WCL,WCO,WHO,WIPO,WMO,WToO,WTrO (observer)Most notable relations with other countries include: Greece, China the US and Kosovo amongst others.=== Greece ===North Macedonia and Greece have excellent economic, trade and business relations, with Greece being the largest investor in the country.", "Until the Prespa Agreement (2018), the indeterminate status of North Macedonia's former name arose from a long-running dispute with Greece.", "The main points of the dispute were:The flag: the use of Vergina Sun, a Greek state symbol, on the initial national flag used between 1992 and 1995Constitutional issues: certain articles of the constitution that were seen as claims on Greek territory.The naming issue was \"parked\" in a compromise agreed at the United Nations in 1993.However, Greece refused to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic and imposed an economic blockade that lasted until the flag and constitutional issues were resolved in 1995 with the Interim Accord.", "The naming dispute was resolved with the Prespa Agreement, which was signed in 2018 and entered into force in February 2019.=== United States ===The United States and North Macedonia enjoy excellent bilateral relations.", "The United States formally recognised North Macedonia on 8 February 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on 13 September 1995.The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S.", "Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996.The development of political relations between the United States and North Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.", "In 2004, the United States recognised the country under its constitutional name of that time – Republic of Macedonia.=== China ===On 12 October 1993, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) established diplomatic relations with North Macedonia expressly declaring that the Government of the PRC is the sole legal government of China, and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.", "The Government of North Macedonia affirmed it would not establish any form of official relations with Taiwan." ], [ "See also", "* Electoral units of North Macedonia* Together Under One Sun" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of North Macedonia''' has become more liberalized, with an improved business environment, since its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, which deprived the country of its key protected markets and the large transfer payments from Belgrade.", "Prior to independence, North Macedonia was Yugoslavia's poorest republic (only 5% of the total federal output of goods and services).", "An absence of infrastructure, United Nations sanctions on its largest market (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), and a Greek economic embargo hindered economic growth until 1996.Worker remittances and foreign aid have softened the subsequent volatile recovery period.", "The country's GDP has increased each year except in 2001, rising by 5% in 2000.However, growth in 1999 was held down by the severe regional economic dislocations caused by the Kosovo War.Successful privatization in 2000 boosted the country's reserves to over $700 million.", "Also, the leadership demonstrated a continuing commitment to economic reform, free trade, and regional integration.", "The economy can meet its basic food, coal and hydroelectric power needs but depends on outside sources for all of its petroleum and natural gas and most of its modern machinery and parts.", "Inflation jumped to 11% in 2000 largely due to higher oil prices, but the currency has calmed since the exchange rate was normalised when the EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement entered into force in 2004." ], [ "History", "North Macedonia's economy has almost always been completely agricultural in nature from the beginning of the Ottoman Empire when it was part of the Sanjak of Üsküp and Salonica vilayet.", "It concentrated on pasture farming and vineyard growing.", "Opium poppy, introduced into the region in 1835, became an important crop as well by the late 19th century, and remained so until the 1930s.The role of industry in the region's economy increased during the industrial age.", "The geographical region of Macedonia was responsible for large outputs of textiles and several other goods in the Ottoman Empire.", "However, outdated techniques to produce the goods persisted.", "The stagnation of the regional economy began under the rule of the Kingdom of Serbia.When World War II ended, the local economy began to experience revitalization by way of subsidies from Federal Belgrade.", "The subsidies assisted North Macedonia to redevelop its \"lost\" industry and shift its agricultural-centered economy to an industry-centered economy with new hearts of industry emerging all over the country in Veles, Bitola, Štip and Kumanovo.", "Previously, Skopje was the only industrial centre in North Macedonia, this expanded to several other cities during Socialist Yugoslavia.After the fall of Socialist Yugoslavia, the economy experienced several shocks that damaged the local economy.", "Starting with the Western embargo on the Yugoslavian common market, and ending with the Greek embargo on Macedonia over the Macedonia naming dispute.", "The economy began to recover in 1995 and experienced a full recovery after the 2001 insurgency by ethnic Albanians.", "Macedonia's GDP grew by an average of 6% annually until the 2007–2008 financial crisis, when its economy contracted.", "The crisis had little impact on the country.", "North Macedonia today maintains a low debt-to-GDP ratio and is experiencing a revitalized investment interest by companies from Turkey, Algeria, Albania, and others." ], [ "Economic activity", "Pelagonija, breadbasket region of North Macedonia.North Macedonia is vulnerable to economic developments in Europe - due to strong banking and trade ties - and dependent on regional integration and progress toward EU membership for continued economic growth.", "At independence in September 1991, North Macedonia was the least developed of the Yugoslav republics, producing a mere 5% of the total federal output of goods and services.", "The collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ended transfer payments from the central government and eliminated advantages from inclusion in a de facto free trade area.", "An absence of infrastructure, UN sanctions on the downsized Yugoslavia, and a Greek economic embargo over a dispute about the country's constitutional name and flag hindered economic growth until 1996.Since then, North Macedonia has maintained macroeconomic stability with low inflation, but it has so far lagged the region in attracting foreign investment and creating jobs, despite making extensive fiscal and business sector reforms.", "Official unemployment remains high at 24.6% (2015, Q4), but may be overstated based on the existence of an extensive gray market that is not captured by official statistics.", "In the wake of the global economic downturn, North Macedonia has experienced decreased foreign direct investment, lowered credit availability, and a large trade deficit.", "However, as a result of conservative fiscal policies and a sound financial system, in 2010 the country credit rating improved slightly to BB+ and was kept at that level in 2011.Macroeconomic stability has been maintained by a prudent monetary policy, which keeps the domestic currency pegged against the euro.", "As a result, GDP growth was modest, but positive, in 2010 and 2011, and inflation was under control.", "Latest data from North Macedonia's State Statistical Office show that overall, output for 2012 dropped by 6.6 percent compared to 2011.As of 2020, the country had signed free trade agreements with the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, and bilateral agreements with Turkey and Ukraine.===Free Economic Zones===In a bid to attract more interest from domestic and foreign investors after 2000 the government has pursued a Free economic zone (FEZ) policy, in which more than a dozen geographically disparate FEZs have sprouted.", "One benefit is a tax holiday for 10 years.", "The social contribution rate hovered at approximately 30% for the five-year period to 2019.===Agriculture===Vineyard in North MacedoniaNorth Macedonia produced in 2020:* 318,000 tons of grape;* 246,000 tons of wheat;* 205,000 tons of bell pepper;* 193,000 tons of potato;* 168,000 tons of cabbage;* 155,000 tons of tomato;* 150,000 tons of maize;* 148,000 tons of barley;* 125,000 tons of watermelon;* 106,000 tons of apple;* 63,000 tons of onion;* 49,000 tons of cucumber;In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.===Energy===In September 2019, it was said that \"thermal power plants account for 842 MW of North Macedonia’s total power generation capacity of 1.41 GW, with hydroelectricity and wind accounting for 553.6 MW and 36.8 MW, respectively.\"", "There are 20 economically-exploitable locations for coal in the country, whose total geological reserves are estimated at 2,5 billion tons.", "There exist four hydroelectric reservoirs, located at: Pelagonia, Kičevo, Mariovo and Tikveš.", "The first two produce energy, while the latter two are speculative.===Mining and metallurgy===The country has been home to mines since at least the Roman era.", "Gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, nickel, zinc, gypsum and sulfur have been or are now being economically exploited.", "Marble has since Ancient Greek days been quarried at Sivec.===Trade===North Macedonia remains committed to pursuing membership in the European Union (EU) and NATO.", "It became a full World Trade Organization (WTO) member in April 2003.Following a 1997 cooperation agreement with the EU, North Macedonia signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in April 2001, giving North Macedonia duty-free access to European markets.", "In December 2005, it moved a step forward, obtaining candidate country status for EU accession.", "North Macedonia has had a foreign trade deficit since 1994, which reached a record high of $2.873 billion in 2008, or 30.2% of GDP.", "Total trade in 2010 (imports plus exports of goods and services) was $8.752 billion, and the trade deficit amounted to $2.149 billion, or 23.4% of GDP.", "In the first 8 months of 2011, total trade was $7.470 billion and the trade deficit was $1.778 billion.", "A significant 56.5% of North Macedonia's total trade was with EU countries.", "North Macedonia's major trading partners are Germany, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia, and Italy.", "In 2010, total trade between North Macedonia and the United States was $116.6 million, and in the first 8 months of 2011 it was $65 million.", "U.S. meat, mainly poultry, and electrical machinery and equipment have been particularly attractive to North Macedonia importers.", "Principal exports from North Macedonia to the United States are tobacco, apparel, iron, and steel.North Macedonia has bilateral free trade agreements with Ukraine, Turkey, and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA—Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).", "Bilateral agreements with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Moldova were replaced by membership in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).", "North Macedonia also has concluded an \"Agreement for Promotion and Protection of Foreign Direct Investments\" with Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Egypt, Iran, Italy, India, Spain, Serbia, Montenegro, People's Republic of China, South Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Sweden.===Unemployment===Unemployed19952000200520102015201620172018201920202021PersonsN/AN/AN/A311,000265,000225,000218,601199,325161,242156,627142,206Percent (%)30%33%38%32%27%24%22.9%19.4%16.6%16.2%15.2%Unemployment is a continuing problem in the Republic's economy where a large percentage of the Republic's qualified labor force cannot find work.", "Many people lost their jobs with the collapse of Yugoslavia.", "As a result, national unemployment was above 35% (37.30% in 2005), but that number has since dropped to 16.6% (2019), with population below the poverty line also dropping from 30.4% (2011) to 21.5% (2015), it is reasonable to assume that based on the trend over the past few years, further declines are likely for both unemployment and poverty.", "Full-time employment has risen steadily over the last few years, with part-time employment trending slightly downward over the same period resulting in an overall increase to employment, wages increased sharply after 2008, with steady increases continuing into 2016===Tourism===Ohrid is a popular tourist destination in North Macedonia.Tourism is a significant part of the economy." ], [ "Macroeconomics", "Real GDP in the first half of 2011 increased by 5.2%.", "This robust growth was mainly driven by 23.6% growth in the construction sector; 13.2% in mining, quarrying, and manufacturing; 12.4% in wholesale and retail trade; and 4.2% in transport and communication services.", "Industrial output in the first 8 months of 2011 was 7.5% higher than in the same period of 2010.Low public and external debt and a comfortable level of foreign exchange reserves allowed for further relaxation of monetary policy, with the reference interest rate of the Central Bank decreasing to 4%.", "Due to rising prices for energy, fuel, and food on international markets, inflation increased in the first half of 2011, but later decreased to an annualized rate of 3.4% at the end of September.", "The official unemployment rate dropped to 24.6% in the fourth quarter of 2015, but remained one of the highest in Europe.", "Many people work in the gray economy, and many experts estimate North Macedonia's actual unemployment is lower.The government budget has generally kept within projections.", "The budget deficit at the end of August 2011 reached about 2% of GDP, and fiscal authorities seemed committed to keeping it under the projected target of 2.5% of GDP by the end of the year.", "In addition to 220 million euros (approx.", "$298 million) drawn from an IMF Precautionary Credit Line (PCL) in March, financing mostly came from domestic borrowing.", "However, by the end of the year a financing gap remained of about 50 million to 60 million euros (approx.", "$67 million to $81 million), which the government plans to cover by borrowing from international capital markets, supported by a policy-based guarantee by the World Bank.", "The central government's public debt remained low at 26% of GDP, but represents a gradual increase from previous years.", "Despite lowering the Central Bank bills rate, the Central Bank has not changed liquidity indicators for banks or the reserve requirement since 2009, curbing credit growth to 7.5% in the first three-quarters of 2011.Nikola Gruevski says the government will pay off its entire debt to the private sector by February 2013 in order to improve the economy's overall liquidity.North Macedonia's external trade struggled in 2010 due to the slow recovery from the economic crisis of its main trading partners, particularly EU members.", "Starting from a very low base, export growth in the first 8 months of 2011 reached 41.7%, topping import growth of 36.8%.", "The trade deficit has widened to 18.3% of GDP, approaching the end-year target of 21.9% of GDP.", "At the same time, the current account balance deficit significantly improved and the end-year projection was revised upward to 5.5% of GDP.", "This was due primarily to a 4.4% higher inflow of current transfers, mostly during the summer, and came despite a poor level of foreign direct investment (FDI) of only $237.2 million by end-July 2011.Foreign currency reserves remained at about $2.6 billion, a level that comfortably covers 4 months of imports and about 110% of the country's short-term debt.In October 2010, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) with North Macedonia for the period 2011–2014.This CPS will provide the country assistance of about $100 million in funding for the first 2 years to improve competitiveness, strengthen employability and social protection, and increase the use of sustainable energy.", "This assistance also includes a commitment of $30 million in direct budget support in the form of a policy-based guarantee by the World Bank to the government to facilitate its access to financing from international capital markets, a process that had been started as of November 2011.North Macedonia became the first country eligible for the IMF's Precautionary Credit Line in January 2011.This program gives North Macedonia a line of credit worth 475 million euros (about $675 million) over 2 years, intended to be accessed only in case of need brought about by external shocks.", "The credit line was approved after extensive consultations with the IMF in October and December 2010.The IMF expects that there will be no additional withdrawals from the PCL.North Macedonia has the best economic freedom in the region, according to the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, released in January, 2012 by the conservative U.S. think tank Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.===Macroeconomic trends=== Year GDP (in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP) GDP (in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP per capita(in US$ nominal) GDP growth rate 1991 10.7 5617 15.5 8115 n/a 1992 10.3 5341 2.3 1201 -6.6% 1993 9.7 5025 2.5 1315 -7.5% 1994 9.7 5013 3.3 1734 -1.8% 1995 9.8 5031 4.4 2269 -1.1% 1996 10.1 5153 4.4 2232 1.2% 1997 10.5 5298 3.7 1883 1.3% 1998 10.9 5512 3.5 1795 3.3% 1999 11.6 5811 3.6 1837 4.3% 2000 12.4 6182 3.5 1785 4.5% 2001 12.1 6016 3.4 1704 -4.5% 2002 12.4 6149 3.7 1861 0.8% 2003 13.0 6443 5.0 2489 2.8% 2004 14.3 7049 5.9 2930 4.6% 2005 15.4 7599 5.7 2801 4.3% 2006 16.7 8225 6.9 3387 4.9% 2007 18.3 8962 8.6 4252 6.1% 2008 19.6 9600 9.1 4468 5.0% 2009 19.6 9584 9.7 4749 0.9% 2010 19.9 9727 9.1 4431 0.7% 2011 20.8 10112 10.1 4911 2.9% 2012 21.8 10608 10.7 5228 3.6% 2013 23.0 11176 11.4 5525 4.1% 2014 24.3 11176 12.2 5908 4.0% 2015 25.7 12430 13.0 6290 3.9% 2016 27.2 13135 13.8 6654 3.9%" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Economy of Republic of North Macedonia* Invest North Macedonia * Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones" ] ]
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[ [ "Telecommunications in North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in North Macedonia''' include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, telegraph and the Internet." ], [ "Radio and television", "* Radio stations: the public radio broadcaster operates over multiple stations; 3 privately owned radio stations broadcast nationally; there are about 70 local commercial radio stations (2012).", "* Radios: In the Radios market, volume is expected to amount to 103.00k pieces by 2028.", "* Television stations: ** the public TV broadcaster operates 3 national channels and a satellite network; 5 privately owned TV channels broadcast nationally using terrestrial transmitters and about 15 broadcast nationally via satellite; there are roughly 75 local commercial TV stations; and a large number of cable operators offering domestic and international programming (2012); ** 136 stations (1997).", "* Television sets: 1.9 million sets in use (2008).Television is North Macedonia's most popular news medium.", "Most private media are tied to political or business interests and state media tend to support the government.", "Public broadcast networks face stiff competition from commercial stations, which dominate the ratings.", "A European Union sponsored report says that with scores of TV and radio networks, the market is overcrowded and many local broadcasters are struggling to survive financially." ], [ "Telephones", "* Calling code: +389* International call prefix: 00* Main lines:** 407,900 lines in use, 103rd in the world (2012); ** 550,000 lines in use (2005).", "* Mobile cellular:** 2.2 million lines, 142nd in the world;** 2.1 million lines (2008).The combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership was about 130 per 100 persons in 2012.Competition from mobile-cellular phones has led to a drop in fixed-line telephone subscriptions." ], [ "Internet", "* Top-level domains: .mk and .мкд (Cyrillic).", "* Internet users: ** 1.3 million users, 109th in the world; 63.1% of the population, 58th in the world (2012);** 1.1 million users, 97th in the world, 52% of the population (2009).", "* Fixed broadband: 304,547 subscriptions, 79th in the world; 14.6% of the population, 58th in the world (2012).", "* Wireless broadband: 449,646 subscriptions, 93rd in the world; 21.6% of the population, 68th in the world (2012).", "* Internet hosts: 62,826 hosts, 92nd in the world (2012).", "* IPv4: 657,664 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 315.8 addresses per 1000 people (2012).", "* Internet service providers: 20 ISPs (2005).", "* Wi-Fi coverage: 95% of the population (2006).The United States Agency for International Development sponsored a project called \"Macedonia Connects\" which in 2006 helped to make Macedonia the first all-broadband wireless country in the world, where Internet access is available to virtually anyone with a wireless-enabled computer.", "Wireless access is available to about 95% of the population, even those living in remote sheepherding mountain villages where people don't have phones.", "The Ministry of Education and Sciences reported that all 461 primary and secondary schools were connected to the Internet.", "An Internet Service Provider (On.net), created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.===Internet censorship and surveillance===There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.", "Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press; however, the government does not always respect these rights in practice.", "The law prohibits speech that incites national, religious, or ethnic hatred, and provides penalties for violations.", "In November 2012 the defamation, libel and slander laws were decriminalized.", "Editors and media owners expressed concerns that steep fines under the revised law would cause self-censorship.", "The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice." ], [ "See also", "* Media in North Macedonia* Macedonian Radio Television, the public broadcaster of North Macedonia* Makedonski Telekom* MRT Sat or MKTV Sat, Macedonian Radio Television's satellite service" ], [ "References", "* *" ], [ "External links", "* IT and Internet usage in Macedonia , Republic of Macedonia State Statistical Office, 29 August 2008.", "* Macedonian Academic Research Network (MARnet) .", "* Makedonski Telekom* National Radio-Television .", "* Makedonski Radio – Radio Skopje ." ] ]
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[ [ "Transport in North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "The following is a summary of the '''transport system of the Republic of North Macedonia'''." ], [ "Railways", "''total:''(699 km (437 miles) of open track and of station/industrial track)''standard gauge:'' 1.435-m gauge (312 km electrified, all 25 kV 50 Hz)''note:''a new extension of the Kumanovo-Beljakovci line to the Bulgarian border is under construction.Restructuring of national railway MZ into infrastructure and operating companies completed in July 2007.===Railway links with adjacent countries===* Serbia - yes* Kosovo - yes* Bulgaria - no* Greece - yes* Albania - no===Maps===* UN Map* UNHCR Atlas Map" ], [ "Roads", "A-1 near StobiA-3 entering SkopjeA-4 near border crossing in Qafë ThanëResen ''total'' (2021)335 km of motorways (2021)===Motorways==='''A-1'''Tabanovce - Kumanovo - Miladinovci - Petrovec - Veles - Gradsko - Negotino - Demir Kapija - Gevgelija'''A-2'''Deve Bair - Kriva Palanka - Kumanovo - Skopje - Tetovo - Gostivar - Kičevo - Struga - Qafë Thanë'''A-3'''Ohrid - Resen - Bitola - Prilep - Veles - Štip - Kočani - Delčevo('''M-5K1''' Bitola - Medžitlija)'''A-4'''Blace - Skopje - Petrovec - Miladinovci - Sveti Nikole - Štip - Radoviš - Strumica - Novo SeloThe first motorway in the country was the Kumanovo-Petrovec section of the A-1, opened for traffic in 1979 as part of the Brotherhood and Unity Highway which linked Central Europe to Athens.In 2022 the country had of motorways, with additional under construction ===E-roads===The E-road network in North Macedonia consists of:E65E75E852E871===Road rules===Highway P504, descending from the Galičica Mts to Lake OhridThe traffic signs adhere to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.Lights must be on all the time, seatbelts are mandatory for passengers in the front and drivers are forbidden to speak on a mobile phone while driving.The general speed limits are:* in inhabited areas * outside of inhabited areas * on expressways * on motorways" ], [ "Waterways", "None.Lake transport (tourist and recreational boats) only, on the Greek and Albanian borders." ], [ "Pipelines", "Oil (2004) Gas (2004)" ], [ "Ports and harbours", "North Macedonia has no sea access.There are marinas for mostly recreational traffic on Ohrid Lake and other natural and artificial lakes." ], [ "Airports", "Air transport in North Macedonia began after the end of the First World War, when airmail traffic route was created between Novi Sad–Belgrade–Niš–Skoplje.", "Later, the Yugoslav flag carrier Aeroput inaugurated in 1930 a regular scheduled flight between Belgrade and Thessaloniki with a stop in Skopje airfield.", "Later, in 1933, Aeroput extended the route to Athens, while in 1935 Skopje was linked to Niš, Bitola, and Podujevo in 1936.After the end of Second World War, passenger and cargo air transport reestablished, Aeroput was rebranded as JAT Yugoslav Airlines, and routes linking Belgrade, through Skopje, to Athens and Istanbul, using a Douglas DC-3, were inaugurated.", "During SFRY period JAT linked Skopje with Belgrade and other domestic destinations, but through Belgrade passengers from Skopje were able to catch connecting flights to all five continents.", "In the 1980s the Skopje airport was majorly expanded, and by late 1980s and early 1990s several companies with hub in Skopje were created, such as Palair, Avioimpex, Air Vardar, and others.", "After independence of North Macedonia, most became flag carriers of the newly independent country.Beside Skopje, in North Macedonia, during second half of the 20th century, Ohrid airport was also developed, starting with the opening of regular scheduled flights between Belgrade–Skopje–Ohrid during the 1960s.", "Until 1990 charted flights were also inaugurated linking Ohrid with international destinations.Skopje International Airport17 (2002 est.", ")===Airports - with paved runways===''total:''118,000 to 9,999 ft:2under 3,000 ft:8 (2000 est.", ")===Airports - with unpaved runways===''total:''63,000 to 4,999 ft:3under 3,000 ft:3 (2000 est.)" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Army of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Army of the Republic of North Macedonia''' (, '''ARSM''') is the military of North Macedonia.", "The army is organized, prepared and trained to conduct armed struggle and combat and other actions to achieve its constitutional function of defending the independence and territorial integrity of North Macedonia.", "The army consists of the ground forces and the air force, which are further divided into branches and services.", "The army has a permanent composition and reserve forces.", "Since 2005, it is a fully professional defense force compatible with NATO standards.On 27 March 2020, North Macedonia joined NATO as the 30th member." ], [ "History", "Partisans of the Mirče Acev Battalion march in the liberated town of Kičevo on 12 September 1943.The Mirče Acev Battalion, called the first regular unit of the Macedonian Partisans, was formed on 18 August 1943 on Mount Slavej between Ohrid and Kičevo.", "Since 1993, that day has been celebrated as the Day of the Army.=== 1992–2020 ===The Republic of Macedonia became a sovereign and independent state in 1991, following the 8 September referendum.", "On 17 November, the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia was promulgated, which established that the armed forces of the Republic are responsible for protecting its territorial integrity and independence.", "On 15 February 1992, the Defense Law entered into force.", "Until this law was adopted, the armed forces consisted of the units, commands and headquarters of the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Macedonia.", "These forces had a wartime strength of roughly 100,000 manpower, according to a March 1991 CIA estimate, and were inherited from the Yugoslav armed forces.Macedonia remained at peace while other republics of Yugoslavia were at war.", "When the Defense Law entered into force, the JNA was still present in Macedonia.", "A week later, on 21 February 1992, an agreement was reached for the dislocation of the JNA, signed by President Kiro Gligorov and Blagoje Adžić, Acting Federal Secretary of People's Defense of Yugoslavia.", "The JNA took all of its equipment with it, stripping the facilities bare, and mining them.", "In some cases, even army apartments were stripped of wire and plumbing.", "The Belgrade newspaper Vreme estimated at the time that the JNA had removed equipment worth between $14 billion and $20 billion.", "It wrote that the weapons taken from Macedonia could have armed up to 30,000 troops.", "Macedonian officials argued that the republic had been contributing to the federal army budget since 1945, therefore most of the equipment belonged to Macedonia.", "The JNA withdrawal formally ended on 27 March 1992, when President Gligorov and JNA General Nikola Uzelac signed an agreement, after the previous day, the last and largest military facility, the Marshal Tito barracks in Skopje, today named Ilinden, was taken over.", "The first recruit of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia reported to the barracks in Ohrid on 13 April 1992, two days before the appointed date.In 1995, the government passed the military academy law and became the 27th member of the NATO \"Partnership and peace\" initiative.In 1996, for the first time a Macedonian army unit participated in a multinational exercise called \"Peace Eagle 96\" in Albania.In 1999, the first class of 64 sergeants were presented in the Goce Delčev barracks to had started and finished their schooling in the new military academy of Macedonia \"Mihailo Apostolski\".In 2001, Macedonia struggled with an ethnic insurgency.", "The army was involved as well.In 2006, the Macedonian army became a fully professional force and the Second Mechanized Infantry Brigade was formed.==== Participation in international operations ========= War in Afghanistan =====Macedonian soldiers in KabulThe then-Republic of Macedonia began its participation in the NATO-led ISAF operation in August 2002, with the allocation of two officers to the Turkish contingent.", "On 8 September, independence day of the Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian flag was flown for the first time in Kabul.", "In March 2003, the Army of the Republic of Macedonia increased its contribution in the ISAF mission by sending one section from the 2nd Infantry Brigade as part of the German contingent.", "As a result of the successful execution of the mission and the high marks received for participation in ISAF, from August 2004 until the end of 2006, it participated with one mechanized infantry platoon from the Leopard unit.", "At the same time, in August 2005 medical personnel was sent in ISAF as part of the Combined Medical Team in the A3 format (Macedonia, Albania, Croatia), which successfully carried out tasks at the Kabul airport, firstly in the composition of the Greek Field Hospital, and later in the composition of the Czech Field Hospital.Based on the assessments of the Alliance in the part of the declared units from the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, which achieved the required strict standards in the field of training and operational procedures, and in line with the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC), the Army in June 2006 sent also one mechanized infantry company, part of the first mechanized infantry brigade, in the composition of the British contingent in ISAF.", "The trust shown from the United Kingdom towards the ninety \"Scorpions\" from the first infantry brigade, was justified in full.The high marks from the highest command structures for the work of the unit as well as the learned lessons are only an imperative for continuing the successful mission.", "In the second rotation of the company for securing the ISAF command, the Republic of Macedonia increased the participation from ninety to one hundred and twenty seven participants, and from January 2008 it sent three staff officers in the ISAF Command in Kabul.As a support to the efforts for self-sustainability of the Afghanistan National Army (ANA), beginning from March 2008, the Republic of Macedonia sent two soldiers (one officer and one NCO) as part of the Combined Multinational Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) in Mazar-i-Sharif while, beginning from December 2008, in cooperation with the Kingdom of Norway, a Macedonian medical team is included through one Surgical team in the organizational structure of the surgical unit of the Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Meymanah, Afghanistan.===== EUFOR Althea =====Macedonian Mi-8 in EUFOR Althea Mission in BiHNorth Macedonia has reaffirmed its strategic commitment for attaining membership to the EU by its resolute political commitment to support the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CSFP) and by declaring a concrete contribution to the civilian and military operations in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).The participation of the then-Republic of Macedonia in the EU crisis management military operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina marked the first in the series of concrete and substantial contributions that the country provided in the framework of the civilian and military CSDP operations aimed at enhancing the EU capacities.The Agreement with the EU for its participation in Althea was signed on 3 July 2006, in Brussels.", "The contribution of the Republic of Macedonia to the EU operation Althea has confirmed its progress from a consumer of the first EU military operation (Concordia 2003) into an active contributor to the CSDP (Althea 2006).The country's first contribution to an EU-led operation began in July 2006, by declaring a helicopter detachment, consisting of two Mi-8/17 helicopters and 21crew.In November 2006, the Republic of Macedonia enhanced its own contribution to the EU operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina by declaring a medical team composed of 10 personnel for providing Role 1 medical support in Camp Butmir.===== Iraq War =====Macedonian soldiers in 2008 during the Iraq WarA Macedonian soldier saluting on behalf of his men during a performance of the Macedonian national anthem in 2008With the political consensus of all political entities in the RM as well as the overall Macedonian public in terms of the support of the Coalition in the \"fight against terrorism\", the Republic of Macedonia took active participation by sending its units in the Iraqi Freedom Mission.", "Based on all legal authorizations, the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia adopted decisions for sending its units to the Iraqi Freedom Mission in the period between June 2003 and December 2008 for each mission separately every 6 months during the term of the mission.", "The Mission started by sending two officers in the US Central Command in Tampa, in March 2003.Upon the completion of the major combat operations, the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, and the adoption of Resolution 1546 of the United Nations Security Council, in June 2003 on sending a special task platoon that executed the tasks as part of the 4th infantry division of the Multi-National Force Iraq.", "In 2008, participation in the Iraqi Freedom Mission was increased by an additional platoon.", "A total of 11 rotations were conducted between June 2003 and December 2008.The eleventh rotation was the last, which completed participation in the Iraqi Mission.", "The overall number of personnel that participated in this mission is 490.===== Support for KFOR =====Having in mind the priorities in the part of logistics not only in national terms, but even more in proportion with the requirements and requests of the Alliance, the Host Nation Support Coordination Centre began to work in April 2005 as part of the NATO HQ in Skopje, a project implemented for the first time with a member nation from the Partnership for Peace.", "The project at the beginning was implemented on proposal of General Blease, who at that time was the Commander of NATO forces in Skopje.", "At the beginning, the project included 11 officers from the Army, who successfully completed the training for the obligations related to giving support from the host nation.", "Promoting the personal professionalism and achievements, in 2006 these officers became the basis of the Coordination Centre, which gradually began the preparations for undertaking the tasks for support to KFOR.In June 2007, having in mind the large meaning and the projected goals, the Coordination Centre was included in the formation of the Logistics Support Command in the General Staff of the Army.", "In this manner as an addition to the participation in the mission in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon, the Army participates also in the mission for support to Kosovo.===== UNIFIL =====Macedonia participated in the peacekeeping mission of the United Nations in Lebanon, UNIFIL.The security and prosperity in global terms depend more and more on the effective multilateral system.", "The strategic partnership with the Organization of the United Nations, whose Treaty represents the fundamental framework of the international relations, are the priority of the European Union and NATO on the international security scene.", "Hence, the contribution of the Republic of Macedonia in the military part with respect to the missions led by the Organization of the United National is a confirmation of the effective membership of the Republic of Macedonia in the Organization and its strategic determinations.=== 2020– ===On 27 March 2020, North Macedonia became the 30th member of NATO." ], [ "Emblem", "The shield depicted on the church used as a base for the logo of the ArmyThe emblem of the Army is a stylized depiction of a shield found in the St. George Church in Lazarovci." ], [ "Defence structure", "=== Basis of the National Defence Policy and Doctrine ===The national defence policy and doctrine are determined and based upon the following basic security policy goals of North Macedonia:*To protect the lives and the personal safety of the civilians;*To guarantee the independence and the territorial integrity of the state;*To guarantee the material well-being and the prosperity of the civilians.Its security policy aims to accomplish the following goals:*Political and economic integration in the EU;*Political, that is military integration in the Collective Security and Defence Systems – UN, NATO, OSCE, WEU;*Maintaining of good equal neighbourly relations with all of our neighbours;*Organising of our own defence system.Starting out from the security policy provisions and goals, the defence policy of North Macedonia is based upon the following principles:*Organising of the defence as a system which enables fulfillment of the rights and the commitments of each citizen to defend the country which is guaranteed by the Constitution;*Organising the defence in order to fulfill the right to an individual and collective self-defence by an armed combat in case of an armed attack, guaranteed by Article 51 of the UN Charter;*Assuring the defensive character of the defence system;*Organisation of the Armed Forces as a deterring factor for aggression and other threats to the security of the country and capable of armed resistance in case of an aggression;*Organising of the defence for full protection of the air sovereignty;*Uniformity in the use of the Armed Forces.The political defence strategy of North Macedonia is based upon:*Deterring aggression;*Defending the country in case of an aggression;*Uniformity and conformity in the international co-operation in the area of defence.Macedonian soldiers in 2013 wearing the pixel camouflage uniform introduced in 2010North Macedonia maintains a defensive potential and combat readiness of its Armed Forces which function as a deterring factor in case of a potential aggression in accordance with its capabilities and international arrangements.In accordance with the Article 123 of the Constitution of North Macedonia, no one in the state has the right to declare capitulation.", "Therefore, the defence system of North Macedonia is based on the determination to give resistance by use of an armed force against any possible aggression and for a defensive combat on the whole territory.", "For that purpose, the defence system is responsible to provide conditions so that all of the state authorities and institutions function and conditions for joining the collective defence and security systems as a protection of the independence and sovereignty are provided.North Macedonia could maintain all the guarantees for its security through the collective defence and security systems.", "That is why North Macedonia supports the reinforcement of these collective systems and determines itself to actively participate in these systems and to cooperate with regard to the construction of the new European security architecture based upon NATO, OSCE and WEU.To fulfill these principles and strategic goals, the defence system of North Macedonia is a completed with the peacetime and warfare organisation, the basic development goals, the preparations and the use of the Armed Forces as well as the full civilian control over the Armed Forces.", "The defence system comprises the whole defence potential of the country: civilians, state authorities, civil protection forces, local self-management, public institutions and services and enterprises of special significance for the defence.The preparations for a successful defence are conducted during peacetime.", "These include preparations of the state authorities; preparations and training of the Armed Forces and their deployment on the territory of North Macedonia; preparation of the public institutions and the local self-management; preparations of the civil population and participation in joint exercises and other forms of co-operation with the PfP and NATO member countries.National Command ManagementThe management and the procedures in the field of defence of North Macedonia are defined by the Constitution, the Defence Law and by the responsibilities of the executive and judicial authorities.The commanding with the Armed Forces is based upon the uniformity in command when using the forces and the resources, and the responsibility to execute the decisions and the orders of the one that is superior in command.", "*The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.", "'''The President''' passes the defence plan and strategy, the decisions for readiness conducting, organisation and formation structure of the Army, passes documents on development, decision on mobilization etc.", "'''The President''' at the same time is the Chairman of the Security Council of North Macedonia.", "The Security Council considers all the defence and security related issues of North Macedonia and makes recommendations to the Parliament and to the Government.", "'''The Parliament of North Macedonia''' supervises the competence of the Government with regard to the defence, it passes decisions on the existing of a direct threat from a war, declares warfare situation and peace and passes the defence budget.The Parliamentary Interior Policy and Defence Commission has similar responsibilities.", "'''The Government of North Macedonia''' has the following responsibilities: proposes the defence plan, the defence budget etc.", "'''The Ministry of Defence''' develops the defence strategy and works out the assessment of the possible threats and risks.", "The MOD is also responsible for the defence system, training, readiness of the Armed Forces, the equipment and the development and it proposes the defence budget, etc." ], [ "Organization", "Pvt.", "Christina Colbasiuc of the Light Infantry Battalion (2014)The primary arm of the military in North Macedonia is the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia; it is commanded by the Minister of Defense through the Chief of the General Staff (CGS).", "Two Deputy CGS positions include the Deputy CGS for planning, operations and readiness, under whom operates the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia, and the Deputy CGS for civil-military cooperation.=== Joint Operations Command ===Controls and co-ordinates the Mechanized Infantry, Aviation and Logistics Support Brigades=== Mechanized Infantry Brigade of North Macedonia ===It plays the key role in securing the safety and unity of the territory of the country.", "The army is divided into the rapid reaction force and strategic reserve forces.", "The rapid reaction forces represent the main active combat capability of the military and consist of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.", "The strategic reserve forces provide reserve brigades that can be called up in times of emergency.=== Aviation Brigade of North Macedonia ===Air Warfare and Air Defence of North Macedonia has an important role as air support element of ground forces and in enhancing flight safety.", "One of the main goals of the Aviation Brigade is to build up an air surveillance system, which will be the cornerstone of the air traffic safety and airspace control.", "The air component is made up by the Aviation and the Air Defense Forces.", "It is located in Skopje International Airport (near Skopje)*Aviation Brigade Headquarters**Pilot Training Center (Bell 206B-3)**Training Squadron (Zlin 242L and Zlin 143L)**Combat Helicopter Squadron \"Night Thunders\" (Mi-24V x 4)**Transport Helicopter Squadron \"Bucephalus\" (Mi-8MT/17 x 6)**Air Surveillance and Air Target Acquisition Transmission Company**Air Defence Battalion \"Cobras\" (9K35 Strela-10 x 21)**Logistical Support Squadron** Special Parachute Air Operations Platoon \"Falcons\"(An-2R)=== Special Operations Regiment ===Special Operations Regiment, is the main command for Special Units of the Army of Republic of North Macedonia.", "Under the command of the Special Operations Regiment are, The Special Forces Battalion \"Wolves\" and The Rangers Battalion as well as a Regimental Headquarters Company and Logistical Support Company.", "'''Special Forces Battalion \"Wolves\"''' was formed in 1994.It consists of a Headquarters and an undisclosed number of Special Forces detachments and specializes in covert actions, Foreign Internal Defence assistance, Special Reconnaissance, Counter Terrorist operations, and Drug interdiction tasks.", "Its members wear the Maroon Beret.The '''Rangers Battalion''' was formed in 2004.It consists of a Headquarters and 3 Reconnaissance and Direct Action Companies, its members wear the Ranger Green Beret.", "The Rangers Battalion is well respected by its allies and is continually preparing for success in conducting its missions.", "Since 2004 the unit has gone through an intensive development period and has put maximum effort into improving its operative ability and its readiness to manage all challenges of modern time conflicts.The Mission of Special Operations Regiment is to provide fully organized, trained and equipped units to perform special operations and conventional specific operations, independently or in cooperation with other units of the Army and other coalition forces, in all weather and land conditions during peace, crisis and war and to support peace and conflict prevention as part of overall efforts to support internal security and foreign policy of the Republic of North Macedonia.==== Missions outside the Republic of North Macedonia ====* Special Operations Regiment from June 2003 to June 2008 attended by 11 contingents of rotations in the \"Iraqi Freedom\".", "* Participation in Peacekeeping \"ISAF-Phoenix\" in Afghanistan from May to December 2010.", "* Participation of individuals within the missions in Bosnia, Lebanon and Afghanistan.==== Decorations awarded ====* Order of Merit assigned to 14 August 2012, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Dr. Ivanov marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Army of Republic of North Macedonia;* Medal for bravery (6)* Bronze Star (8)* Achievement medal (43)* ARCOM medal (68)* NATO medal (46)* Altea medal (2)=== Logistics Support Brigade ===Formed in 2001, the Logistics Command oversees all combat service support operations, and controls the Land Forces Logistic Base and the Military Hospital.Mission:Planning, organizing, coordinating and executing logistical support to commands and units of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia, of level II and III.Tasks:Organization of the Military of the Republic of North Macedonia1.Planning, organizing, coordinating and executing logistical support in the following functional areas:* supply* maintenance and repair* movement and transport* medical and veterinary support* infrastructure* services2.Management with materials of all classes of supply for the commands and units of the Army3.Storage and maintenance of material supplies for the Army according to specified criteria4.Strengthening the logistics capacity of the Army in conducting training, work in field conditions, combat engagement and participation in missions5.Coordinating support of allied forces in transit or maintain in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia6.Execution of logistical support for the administrative bodies and bodies of local self-governments, organizations, associations, etc.", "(in special circumstances and for special orders and instructions)=== Other commands ===Chief of General Staff include ELINT Center and the Honor Guard Unit.=== Command for Training and Doctrines ===Command for Training and DoctrinesOrganization, coordination and dimensional task of training the individual soldiers, cadets, NCOs and officers of the active and reserve forces, support collective training commands and units of the Army of the Republic and the development of doctrine and lessons learned in the Army of Republic of North Macedonia.In particular for meeting NATO requirements.In order to improve the quality of training of the Army in 1996, were established several centers for basic and specialized training of individual soldiers, and collective training was done in the units.", "Centers were established to train: infantry, artillery, logistics, border guards, military police and reconnaissance." ], [ "Equipment" ], [ "See also", "* The Rangers Battalion* 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade* Ceremonial Guard Battalion* Military Reserve Force (North Macedonia)* Military Service for Security and Intelligence" ], [ "Gallery", "File:Регистарска табличка на Армијата на Република Македонија (A01-001).jpg|License plate of the former Army of the Republic of MacedoniaFile:Roundel of North Macedonia.svg|Roundel of North Macedonia's air force" ], [ "Citations" ], [ "References", "*" ], [ "Further reading", "* A description of the total equipment of the Army of North Macedonia, including Yugoslav-inherited M84 Tanks stored.", "Viewing version.", "( download)" ], [ "External links", "* Official website of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia* Ministry of Defence official site in English* VV i PVO ARM (Air Force and Air Defence of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia)* U.S. Embassy Skope assessment of progress towards NATO membership, February 2006, via United States diplomatic cables leak" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of North Macedonia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''foreign relations of North Macedonia''' since its independence in 1991 have been characterized by the country's efforts to gain membership in international organizations such as NATO and the European Union and to gain international recognition under its previous constitutional name, overshadowed by a long-standing, dead-locked dispute with neighboring Greece.", "Greek objections to the country's name had led to it being admitted to the United Nations and several other international fora only under the provisional designation ''Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'' until its official and ''erga omnes'' renaming to ''North Macedonia, a name under'' which it is now universally recognised''.''" ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "North Macedonia became a member state of the United Nations on April 8, 1993, eighteen months after its independence from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.", "It was referred within the UN as \"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\", pending a resolution, to the long-running dispute about the country's name.", "Unusually, the country's flag was not raised at UN Headquarters when the state joined the UN.", "It was not until after the country's flag was changed that it was raised at the UN Headquarters.", "Other international bodies, such as the European Union, European Broadcasting Union, and the International Olympic Committee had adopted the same naming convention.", "NATO also used that name in official documents but added an explanation on which member countries recognise the constitutional name.", "A number of countries recognised the country by its former constitutional name – the Republic of Macedonia – rather than the UN reference, notably four of the five permanent UN Security Council members (the United Kingdom, the United States, China, and Russia).", "All UN member states currently recognise North Macedonia as a sovereign state.", "===List of countries===List of countries which North Macedonia maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041—424344454647485049515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374757677—78798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161—162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178==Bilateral relations== ===Multilateral=== Organization Formal Relations BeganNotesSee Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union See North Macedonia–NATO relations North Macedonia joined in NATO on 27 March 2020.===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 14 November 1994* North Macedonia has an embassy in Cairo.18 September 2023 South Africa is represented in North Macedonia by its embassy in Athens, Greece.===Americas=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes24 September 1999*Argentina is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.", "*North Macedonia is accredited to Argentina from its embassy in Madrid, Spain.14 September 1998* Brazil is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Brasília.4 July 1996* Canada is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Ottawa.", "* Canada has an honorary consulate in Skopje.", "4 October 2001* Mexico is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.", "* North Macedonia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico has an honorary consulate in Skopje.13 September 1995See North Macedonia–United States relationsThen US President George W. Bush with the political leaders of North Macedonia in 2008The United States and North Macedonia enjoy excellent bilateral relations.", "The United States formally recognized North Macedonia on February 8, 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on September 13, 1995.The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S.", "Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996.The development of political relations between the United States and North Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.", "In 2004, the United States recognized the country under its constitutional name of that time – Republic of Macedonia.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Washington, D.C. and consulates-general in Chicago, Detroit and Ridgefield Park.", "* United States has an embassy in Skopje.===Asia=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes28 June 1995See Azerbaijan–North Macedonia relations* The government of North Macedonia recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on June 25, 1995.", "* Diplomatic relations were established on June 28, 1995.12 October 1993On October 12, 1993, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) established diplomatic relations with North Macedonia expressly declaring that the Government of the PRC is the sole legal government of China, and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.", "The Government of North Macedonia affirmed it would not establish any form of official relations with Taiwan.", "* China has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Beijing.16 February 2019See Georgia–North Macedonia relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on February 16, 2019.1996See India–North Macedonia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations in 1996.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in New Delhi.Indonesia is represented in North Macedonia by its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.", "* Indonesia has an honorary consulate in Skopje.7 December 1995See Israel–North Macedonia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on December 7, 1995.", "* Israel has an honorary consulate in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Tel Aviv.March 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations in March 1994.North Macedonia opened its first resident embassy in Tokyo in 2013 and the first resident ambassador of North Macedonia to Japan is H.E.", "Dr. Andrijana Cvetkovik * Japan has an embassy in Skopje.The two countries hold regular political consultations on subjects of political, economic, cultural, humanitarian issues.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Nur-Sultan.11 October 1993 Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 11, 1993.They enjoy friendly relations.", "DPRK is represented in North Macedonia through its embassy in Sofia.18 July 2019Due to the concern of Greece on Macedonia naming dispute, The Republic of Korea did not establish formal diplomatic relations with Macedonia until it renamed itself \"Republic of North Macedonia\".", "Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 18, 2019.South Korea is represented in North Macedonia through its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Doha.", "* Qatar has an embassy in Skopje.27 January 1999Notwithstanding the above, North Macedonia and the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) established diplomatic relations on January 27, 1999.This development increased the number of the ROC's diplomatic allies in Europe from one to two (the other being the Holy See).", "The PRC was opposed to this and in retaliation vetoed the UN resolution renewing the mandate of the UNPREDEP (a peacekeeping force) in North Macedonia.", "On April 28, 1999, North Macedonia opened an embassy in Taipei, ROC.", "The Republic of North Macedonia and the PRC normalized their relations on June 18, 2001.On the same day, the ROC severed diplomatic relations with North Macedonia.", "In the joint communiqué between North Macedonia and People's Republic of China, North Macedonia recognized \"emphatically that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory\".See North Macedonia–Turkey relationsDue to historical and cultural mutualities and human bonds North Macedonia and Turkey have very close and friendly relations.", "Shortly after North Macedonia declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, Turkey was among the first countries to recognise North Macedonia's sovereignty.", "Bilateral relations were established on August 26, 1992.North Macedonia has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate–general in Istanbul, while Turkey has an embassy in Skopje and a consulate-general in Bitola.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.10 June 1994*Both countries established diplomatic relations on June 10, 1994.", "*North Macedonia is represented in Vietnam through its embassy in Beijing, China.", "*Vietnam is represented in North Macedonia through its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.===Europe=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotesSee Albania–North Macedonia relationsRecently (Aug. 2008) they signed a treaty enabling visa-free movement between the countries.", "Both countries support each other's ethnic minorities in cultural, political and educational aspects.", "During the ethnic conflict in 2001, the Albanian government did not interfere and supported peaceful resolution.", "Albania had recognized Skopje under the UN provisional reference of the \"former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\", abbreviated as FYROM.Both countries are full members of the NATO and Council of Europe.On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania.", "North Macedonia sent €100,000 in financial aid, drones with thermal cameras, rescue teams and mechanical equipment for relief operations.Both countries EU Accession negotiations on 24 March 2020.", "* Albania has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Tirana.See Bosnia and Herzegovina–North Macedonia relations* Bosnia has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Sarajevo.See Bulgaria–North Macedonia relationsBulgaria–North Macedonia relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.", "Rules for governing good neighbourly relations were agreed between Bulgaria and North Macedonia in the Joint Declaration of February 22, 1999 and reaffirmed by a joint memorandum signed on January 22, 2008 in Sofia.", "The governments of Bulgaria and North Macedonia signed a friendship treaty to bolster the relations between the two Balkan states in August 2017.The treaty was ratified by the parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia on the 15th of and of Bulgaria on 18 January 2018.", "* Bulgaria is the first country in the world to recognise Macedonia as an independent state.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* Bulgaria has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Sofia.", "* Croatia has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Zagreb.29 August 2019See Cyprus–North Macedonia relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on August 29, 2019.2 March 1994See Czech Republic–North Macedonia relations * Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Prague.", "* Czech Republic has a consular agency in Skopje.See Denmark–North Macedonia relations * Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Copenhagen.", "* Denmark has an honorary consulate-general in Skopje.2 March 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on March 2, 1995.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Tallinn.", "* Estonia has an honorary consulate in Skopje.", "* Finland is an EU member and North Macedonia is an candidate.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* France has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Paris.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.See Germany–North Macedonia relations* Germany has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Berlin.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.See Greece–North Macedonia relationsNorth Macedonia and Greece have excellent economic and business relations, with Greece being the largest investor in the country.", "Until the Prespa Agreement (2019), the indeterminate status of North Macedonia's former name arose from a long-running dispute with Greece.", "The main points of the dispute were:* The name: see Macedonia naming dispute, and the section Naming issue (resolved, below in this article).", "* The flag: the use of Vergina Sun, a Greek state symbol, on the initial national flag used between 1992 and 1995 (resolved, see below)* Constitutional issues: certain articles of the constitution that were seen as claims on Greek territory (resolved, see below).The naming issue was \"parked\" in a compromise agreed at the United Nations in 1993.However, Greece refused to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic and imposed an economic blockade that lasted until the flag and constitutional issues were resolved in 1995.The naming issue was resolved with the Prespa Agreement, signed in 2018, and entered into force in February 2019.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* Greece has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Athens.", "*Iceland is represented in North Macedonia through its embassy in Vienna, Austria.", "*North Macedonia is represented in Iceland through its embassy in London, United Kingdom, and an honorary consulate in Reykjavík.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "See Kosovo–North Macedonia relationsNorth Macedonia and Kosovo have very friendly and cordial neighbourly relations which mainly are due to the ethnic Albanian populations that live inside North Macedonia.", "In October 2008, North Macedonia recognized Kosovo as an independent state with plan to establish diplomatic relations.", "Kosovo recognized the neighbouring country under its former constitutional name, ''Republic of Macedonia''.", "Also in October 2008, a bilateral agreement was signed between the two countries after the border between the two was physically marked by a joint committee.", "Kosovo and North Macedonia have signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2005 to facilitate trade opportunities, investment conditions and improve good-neighbourly relations.", "North Macedonia's investments are the largest in Kosovo since its independence on February 17, 2008 year.", "* Kosovo has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Pristina.18 July 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 18, 1995.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* Lithuania has an honorary consulate in Skopje.14 June 2006See North Macedonia–Montenegro relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on June 14, 2006.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Podgorica.", "* Montenegro has an embassy in Skopje.1993Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1993.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Oslo.", "* Norway has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Warsaw.", "* Poland has an embassy in Skopje.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.11 January 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on January 11, 1995.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Bucharest.", "* Romania has an embassy in Skopje.See North Macedonia–Russia relations * North Macedonia has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Skopje.See North Macedonia–Serbia relationsNorth Macedonia and Serbia traditionally have friendly relations.", "Serbia is a main trading partner and recognized its neighbour under its former constitutional name – ''Republic of Macedonia''.", "Macedonians in Serbia are a recognized national minority, same as Serbs in North Macedonia.", "However, the non-recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church by the Serbian Orthodox Church and North Macedonia's recognition of Kosovo as an independent state are disturbing the relations of these two countries.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Belgrade.", "* Serbia has an embassy in Skopje.12 February 1992See North Macedonia–Slovenia relationsNorth Macedonia and Slovenia have very close political and economic relations.", "Once part of SFR Yugoslavia, the two republics declared independence in 1991 (Slovenia in June, North Macedonia in September) and recognised each other's independence on February 12, 1992.Diplomatic relations between both countries were established on March 17, 1992.Slovenia supports North Macedonia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, its Euro-integration and visa liberalisation.", "A significant number of Slovenian investments ended up in North Macedonia.", "In 2007, about 70 million euros were invested.", "In January 2009, the Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski announced, that he expects more Slovenian investments in infrastructure and energy projects.", "Over 70 Slovenian companies are present on the Macedonian market.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* Slovenia has an embassy in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia has an embassy in Ljubljana.See North Macedonia–Spain relations * North Macedonia has an embassy in Madrid.", "* Spain has an embassy in Skopje.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.", "* Sweden is an EU member and North Macedonia is an candidate.", "* North Macedonia supports Sweden's NATO membership.See North Macedonia–Ukraine relations * North Macedonia has an embassy in Kyiv.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Skopje.See North Macedonia–United Kingdom relations* North Macedonia has an embassy in London.", "* United Kingdom has an embassy in Skopje.", "* Both countries are full members of NATO.===Oceania=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes15 February 1994*Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 February 1994.", "*Australia is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.", "*North Macedonia has an embassy in Canberra.", "* Australia has an honorary consulate in Skopje.", "*North Macedonia is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.", "*New Zealand is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Rome, Italy." ], [ "Issues", "===Flag issue===The former flag of the former Republic of Macedonia (used from 1992 to 1995), bearing the Vergina SunNorth Macedonia's first post-independence flag caused a major controversy when it was unveiled.", "The use of the Vergina Sun on the flag was seen by Greece as territorial claim to the northern Greek region of Macedonia, where the golden larnax containing the symbol was unearthed in 1977 during excavations in Vergina by Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos.", "The Vergina Sun, claimed by Greece as an exclusive state symbol, was removed from the flag under an agreement reached between the Republic of North Macedonia and Greece in September 1995.The Republic agreed to meet a number of Greek demands for changes to its national symbols and constitution, while Greece agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic and end its economic blockade.Under the Prespa Agreement, North Macedonia recognised (among other Ancient Macedonian elements) the Vergina Sun as a Hellenic symbol and agreed to remove the Vergina Sun from public display in all State-owned organisations, products, logos, etc.", "The implementation of this clause started on August 12, 2019.Within six months following the entry into force of this Agreement, the Second Party i.e.", "North Macedonia shall review the status of monuments, public buildings and infrastructures on its territory, and insofar as they refer in any way to ancient Hellenic history and civilization constituting an integral component of the historic or cultural patrimony of the First Party, shall take appropriate corrective action to effectively address the issue and ensure respect for the said patrimony.—Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Prespa agreementThe Second Party i.e.", "North Macedonia shall not use again in any way and in all its forms the symbol formerly displayed on its former national flag i.e.", "the Vergina Sun.", "Within six months of the entry into force of this Agreement, the Second Party shall proceed to the removal of the symbol displayed on its former national flag from all public sites and public usages on its territory.", "Archaeological artefacts do not fall within the scope of this provision.—Article 8, paragraph 3 of the Prespa agreement===Constitutional issue===North Macedonia's first post-independence constitution, adopted on November 17, 1991 included a number of clauses that Greece interpreted as promoting secessionist sentiment among the Slavophone population of northern Greece, and making irredentist claims on Greek territory.", "Article 49 of the constitution caused particular concern.", "It read::''(1) The Republic cares for the status and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian expatriates, assists their cultural development and promotes links with them.", "In the exercise of this concern the Republic will not interfere in the sovereign rights of other states or in their internal affairs.", "'':''(2) The Republic cares for the cultural, economic and social rights of the citizens of the Republic abroad.", "''The Greek government interpreted this as a licence for North Macedonia to interfere in Greek internal affairs.", "Given long-standing Greek sensitivities over the position of the country's minority groups, the government saw this as being the most serious of the three main issues affecting relations between the two countries; the issue of the republic's symbols, by contrast, was seen as being of much less substantive importance, even though it aroused the loudest political controversy.", "The Greek prime minister at the time, Constantine Mitsotakis, later commented that:''What concerned me from the very first moment was not the name of the state.", "The problem for me was that we should not allow the creation of a second minority problem in the area of western Greek Macedonia the first minority being the Turkish-speaking Greeks of western Thrace.", "My main aim was to convince the Republic to declare that there is no Slavomacedonian minority in Greece.", "This was the real key of our difference with Skopje.", "''The offending articles were removed under the 1995 agreement between the two sides." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in North Macedonia* List of diplomatic missions of North Macedonia* List of state visits made by Gjorge Ivanov* Passport of North Macedonia* Foreign relations of Yugoslavia" ], [ "References", "*" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Malawi''' (; ; Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the '''Republic of Malawi''' and formerly known as '''Nyasaland''', is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa.", "It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest.", "Malawi spans over and has an estimated population of 19,431,566 (as of January 2021).", "Malawi's capital and largest city is Lilongwe.", "Its second-largest is Blantyre, its third-largest is Mzuzu and its fourth-largest is its former capital, Zomba.The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled around the 10th century by migrating Bantu groups.", "Centuries later, in 1891, the area was colonised by the British as the British Central African Protectorate, renamed Nyasaland in 1907.In 1953, it became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.", "The Federation was dissolved in 1963.In 1964, the protectorate was ended: Nyasaland became an independent country as a Commonwealth realm under Prime Minister Hastings Banda, and was renamed ''Malawi''.", "Two years later, Banda became president by converting the country into a one-party presidential republic.", "Declared President for life in 1971, Malawi's next few decades of independence were characterized by Banda's highly repressive dictatorship.", "Following the introduction of a multiparty system in 1993, Banda was defeated in the 1994 general election.", "Today, Malawi has a democratic, multi-party republic headed by an elected president and has continued to experience peaceful transitions of power.", "According to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Malawi is ranked 63rd electoral democracy worldwide and 6th electoral democracy in Africa.", "The country's military, the Malawian Defence Force, includes an army, a navy, and an air wing.", "Malawi's foreign policy is pro-Western.", "It maintains positive diplomatic relations with most countries, and participates in several international organisations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Union (AU).Malawi is one of the world's least-developed countries.", "The economy is heavily based on agriculture, and it has a largely rural and rapidly growing population.", "The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet its development needs, although the amount needed (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000.The Malawian government faces challenges in its efforts to build and expand the economy, to improve education, healthcare, and environmental protection, and to become financially independent despite widespread unemployment.", "Since 2005, Malawi has developed several policies that focus on addressing these issues, and the country's outlook appears to be improving: key indicators of progress in the economy, education, and healthcare were seen in 2007 and 2008.Malawi has a low life expectancy and high infant mortality.", "HIV/AIDS is highly prevalent, which both reduces the labour force and requires increased government expenditures.", "The country has a diverse population that includes native peoples, Asians, and Europeans.", "Several languages are spoken, primarily Chichewa, and there is an array of religious beliefs.", "Although in the past there was a periodic regional conflict fuelled in part by ethnic divisions, by 2008 this internal conflict had considerably diminished, and the idea of identifying with one's Malawian nationality had reemerged." ], [ "Etymology", "The first name given to what is known now as ''Malawi'' was Nyasaland, a combination of Lomwe word, ''\"nyasa\"'' to mean \"lake\" and an English word \"land\".", "The combined name was formed by David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer and missionary.", "The current name ''Malawi'' was chosen by the first president of Malawi, Kamuzu Banda after the country achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1964." ], [ "History", "===Pre-colonial history===Chongoni Rock Art AreaThe area of Africa now known as Malawi had a very small population of hunter-gatherers before waves of Bantu peoples began emigrating from the north around the 10th century.", "Although most of the Bantu peoples continued south, some remained and founded ethnic groups based on common ancestry.", "By 1500 AD, the tribes had established the Kingdom of Maravi that reached from north of what is now Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River and from Lake Malawi to the Luangwa River in what is now Zambia.Soon after 1600, with the area mostly united under one native ruler, native tribesmen began encountering, trading with and making alliances with Portuguese traders and members of the military.", "By 1700, however, the empire had broken up into areas controlled by many individual ethnic groups.", "The Indian Ocean slave trade reached its height in the mid-1800s, when approximately 20,000 people were enslaved and considered to be carried yearly from Nkhotakota to Kilwa where they were sold.===Colonial occupation===Missionary and explorer David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi (then Lake Nyasa) in 1859 and identified the Shire Highlands south of the lake as an area suitable for European settlement.", "As the result of Livingstone's visit, several Anglican and Presbyterian missions were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s, the African Lakes Company Limited was established in 1878 to set up a trade and transport concern working closely with the missions, and a small mission and trading settlement were established at Blantyre in 1876 and a British Consul took up residence there in 1883.The Portuguese government was also interested in the area so, to prevent Portuguese occupation, the British government sent Harry Johnston as British consul with instructions to make treaties with local rulers beyond Portuguese jurisdiction.British Central Africa stamp issued by the United KingdomIn 1889, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Shire Highlands, which was extended in 1891 to include the whole of present-day Malawi as the British Central Africa Protectorate.", "In 1907, the protectorate was renamed Nyasaland, a name it retained for the remainder of its time under British rule.", "In a prime example of what is sometimes called the \"Thin White Line\" of colonial authority in Africa, the colonial government of Nyasaland was formed in 1891.The administrators were given a budget of £10,000 (1891 nominal value) per year, which was enough to employ ten European civilians, two military officers, seventy Punjabi Sikhs and eighty-five Zanzibar porters.", "These few employees were then expected to administer and police a territory of around 94,000 square kilometres with between one and two million people.", "That same year, slavery came to its complete cessation.In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was formed by the Africans of Nyasaland to promote local interests to the British government.", "In 1953, Britain linked Nyasaland with Northern and Southern Rhodesia in what was the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, often called the Central African Federation (CAF), for mainly political reasons.", "Even though the Federation was semi-independent, the linking provoked opposition from African nationalists, and the NAC gained popular support.", "An influential opponent of the CAF was Hastings Banda, a European-trained doctor working in Ghana who was persuaded to return to Nyasaland in 1958 to assist the nationalist cause.", "Banda was elected president of the NAC and worked to mobilise nationalist sentiment before being jailed by colonial authorities in 1959.He was released in 1960 and asked to help draft a new constitution for Nyasaland, with a clause granting Africans the majority in the colony's Legislative Council.=== Hastings Kamuzu Banda era (1961–1993) ===President, Hastings Banda (left), with Tanzania's President Julius NyerereIn 1961, Banda's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963.The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and on 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, and that is commemorated as the nation's Independence Day, a public holiday.", "Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic with Banda as its first president.", "The new document also formally made Malawi a one-party state with the MCP as the only legal party.", "In 1971, Banda was declared president-for-life.", "For almost 30 years, Banda presided over a rigidly totalitarian regime, which ensured that Malawi did not suffer armed conflict.", "Opposition parties, including the Malawi Freedom Movement of Orton Chirwa and the Socialist League of Malawi, were founded in exile.Malawi's economy, while Banda was president, was often cited as an example of how a poor, landlocked, and heavily populated country deficient in mineral resources could achieve progress in both agriculture and industrial development.", "While in office, and using his control of the country, Banda constructed a business empire that eventually produced one-third of the country's GDP and employed 10% of the wage-earning workforce.=== Multi-party democracy (1993–present) ===Under pressure for increased political freedom, Banda agreed to a referendum in 1993, where the populace voted for a multi-party democracy.", "In late 1993, a presidential council was formed, the life presidency was abolished and a new constitution was put into place, effectively ending the MCP's rule.", "In 1994 the first multi-party elections were held in Malawi, and Banda was defeated by Bakili Muluzi (a former Secretary General of the MCP and former Banda Cabinet Minister).", "The ever-shifting allegiances among politicians led Professor Harri Englund to coin the phrase \"a democracy of chameleons\".", "Re-elected in 1999, Muluzi remained president until 2004, when Bingu wa Mutharika was elected.", "Although the political environment was described as \"challenging\", it was stated in 2009 that a multi-party system still existed in Malawi.", "Multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections were held for the fourth time in Malawi in May 2009, and President Mutharika was successfully re-elected, despite charges of election fraud from his rival.President Mutharika was seen by some as increasingly autocratic and dismissive of human rights, and in July 2011 protests over high costs of living, devolving foreign relations, poor governance and a lack of foreign exchange reserves erupted.", "The protests left 18 people dead and at least 44 others suffering from gunshot wounds.The Malawian flag was modified in 2010, altering three coloured stripes with the white sun.", "It existed for a short while until 2012 when the colours of black-red-green of the old flag were restored.In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack.", "Over a period of 48 hours, his death was kept secret, including an elaborate flight with the body to South Africa, where the ambulance drivers refused to move the body, saying they were not licensed to move a corpse.", "After the South African government threatened to reveal the information, the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda (not related to the former president Banda).In 2014 Malawian general election Joyce Banda lost the elections (coming third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika, the brother of ex-President Mutharika.", "In the 2019 Malawian general election president Peter Mutharika was narrowly re-elected.", "In February 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court overturned the result because of irregularities and widespread fraud.", "In May 2020 Malawi Supreme Court upheld the decision and announced a new election was held on July 2.This was the first time an election in the country was legally challenged.", "Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won the 2020 Malawian presidential election and he was sworn in as the new president of Malawi." ], [ "Government and politics", "Malawi is a unitary presidential republic under the leadership of President Lazarus Chakwera The current constitution was put into place on 18 May 1995.The branches of the government consist of executive, legislative and judicial.", "The executive includes a President who is both Head of State and Head of Government, first and second Vice Presidents and the Cabinet of Malawi.", "The President and Vice President are elected together every five years.", "A second Vice President may be appointed by the President if so chosen, although they must be from a different party.", "The members of the Cabinet of Malawi are appointed by the President and can be from either inside or outside of the legislature.National Assembly building in LilongweThe legislative branch consists of a unicameral National Assembly of 193 members who are elected every five years, and although the Malawian constitution provides for a Senate of 80 seats, one does not exist in practice.", "If created, the Senate would provide representation for traditional leaders and a variety of geographic districts, as well as special interest groups including the disabled, youth, and women.", "The Malawi Congress Party is the ruling party together with several other parties in the Tonse Alliance led by Lazarus Chakwera while the Democratic Progressive Party is the main opposition party.", "Suffrage is universal at 18 years of age, and the central government budget for 2021/2022 is $2.4 billion from $2.8 billion for the 2020/2021 financial year.The independent judicial branch is based upon the English model and consists of a Supreme Court of Appeal, a High Court divided into three sections (general, constitutional, and commercial), an Industrial Relations Court and Magistrates Courts, the last of which is divided into five grades and includes Child Justice Courts.", "The judicial system has been changed several times since Malawi gained independence in 1964.Conventional courts and traditional courts have been used in varying combinations, with varying degrees of success and corruption.Malawi is composed of three regions (the Northern, Central, and Southern regions), which are divided into 28 districts, and further into approximately 250 traditional authorities and 110 administrative wards.", "Local government is administered by central government-appointed regional administrators and district commissioners.", "For the first time in the multi-party era, local elections took place on 21 November 2000, with the UDF party winning 70% of the available seats.", "There was scheduled to be a second round of constitutionally mandated local elections in May 2005, but these were cancelled by the government.In February 2005, President Mutharika split with the United Democratic Front and began his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party, which had attracted reform-minded officials from other parties and won by-elections across the country in 2006.In 2008, President Mutharika had implemented reforms to address the country's major corruption problem, with at least five senior UDF party members facing criminal charges.", "In 2012, Malawi was ranked 7th of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, an index that measures several variables to provide a comprehensive view of the governance of African countries.", "Although the country's governance score was higher than the continental average, it was lower than the regional average for southern Africa.", "Its highest scores were for safety and rule of law, and its lowest scores were for sustainable economic opportunity, with a ranking of 47th on the continent for educational opportunities.", "Malawi's governance score had improved between 2000 and 2011.Malawi held elections in May 2019, with President Peter Mutharika winning re-election over challengers Lazarus Chakwera, Atupele Muluzi, and Saulos Chilima.", "In 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court annulled President Peter Mutharika's narrow election victory last year because of widespread fraud and irregularities.", "Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he became the new president.===Administrative divisions===Malawi is divided into 28 districts within three regions:'''Central Region'''----* 1Dedza* 2Dowa* 3Kasungu* 4Lilongwe* 5Mchinji* 6Nkhotakhota* 7Ntcheu* 8Ntchisi* 9Salima'''Northern Region'''----* 10Chitipa* 11Karonga* 12Likoma* 13Mzimba* 14Nkhata Bay* 15 Rumphi'''Southern Region'''----* 16Balaka* 17Blantyre* 18Chikwawa* 19Chiradzulu* 20Machinga* 21Mangochi* 22Mulanje* 23Mwanza* 24Nsanje* 25Thyolo* 26Phalombe* 27Zomba* 28Neno===Foreign relations===Former President Hastings Banda established a pro-Western foreign policy that continued into early 2011.It included good diplomatic relationships with many Western countries.", "The transition from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy strengthened Malawian ties with the United States.", "Significant numbers of students from Malawi travel to the US for schooling, and the US has active branches of the Peace Corps, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Agency for International Development in Malawi.", "Malawi maintained close relations with South Africa throughout the Apartheid era, which strained Malawi's relationships with other African countries.", "Following the collapse of apartheid in 1994, diplomatic relationships were made and maintained into 2011 between Malawi and all other African countries.", "In 2010, however, Malawi's relationship with Mozambique became strained, partially due to disputes over the use of the Zambezi River and an inter-country electrical grid.", "In 2007, Malawi established diplomatic ties with China, and Chinese investment in the country has continued to increase since then, despite concerns regarding the treatment of workers by Chinese companies and competition of Chinese business with local companies.", "In 2011, relations between Malawi and the United Kingdom were damaged when a document was released in which the British ambassador to Malawi criticised President Mutharika.", "Mutharika expelled the ambassador from Malawi, and in July 2011, the UK announced that it was suspending all budgetary aid because of Mutharika's lack of response to criticisms of his government and economic mismanagement.", "On 26 July 2011, the United States followed suit, freezing a US$350 million grant, citing concerns regarding the government's suppression and intimidation of demonstrators and civic groups, as well as restriction of the press and police violence.Locations of Malawian diplomatic embassies or high commissions Malawi has been seen as a haven for refugees from other African countries, including Mozambique and Rwanda, since 1985.These influxes of refugees have placed a strain on the Malawian economy but have also drawn significant inflows of aid from other countries.", "Donors to Malawi include the United States, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, the UK and Flanders (Belgium), as well as international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the African Development Bank and UN organizations.Malawi is a member of several international organizations including the Commonwealth, the UN and some of its child agencies, the IMF, the World Bank, the African Union and the World Health Organization.", "Malawi tends to view economic and political stability in southern Africa as a necessity and advocates peaceful solutions through negotiation.", "The country was the first in southern Africa to receive peacekeeping training under the African Crisis Response Initiative.===Human rights===, international observers noted issues in several human rights areas.", "Excessive force was seen to be used by police forces, security forces were able to act with impunity, mob violence was occasionally seen, and prison conditions continued to be harsh and sometimes life-threatening.", "However, the government was seen to make some effort to prosecute security forces who used excessive force.", "Other legal issues included limits on free speech and freedom of the press, lengthy pretrial detentions, and arbitrary arrests and detentions.", "Societal issues found included violence against women, human trafficking, and child labour.", "Corruption within the government is seen as a major issue, despite the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau's (ACB) attempts to reduce it.", "The ACB appears to be successful at finding and prosecuting low level corruption, but higher level officials appear to be able to act with impunity.", "Corruption within security forces is also an issue.", "Malawi had one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world.", "In 2015 Malawi raised the legal age for marriage from 15 to 18.Other issues that have been raised are lack of adequate legal protection of women from sexual abuse and harassment, very high maternal mortality rate, and abuse related to accusations of witchcraft., homosexuality has been illegal in Malawi.", "In one 2010 case, a couple perceived as homosexual (a cis man and a trans woman) faced extensive jail time when convicted.", "The convicted pair, sentenced to the maximum of 14 years of hard labour each, were pardoned two weeks later following the intervention of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.", "In May 2012, then-President Joyce Banda pledged to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality.", "It was her successor, Peter Mutharika, who imposed a moratorium in 2015 that suspended the country's anti-gay laws pending further review of the same laws.", "On 26 June 2021, the country's LGBT community held the first Pride parade in Lilongwe." ], [ "Geography", "Mountains in Northern Malawi during the rainy seasonMalawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique to the south, southwest, and southeast.", "It lies between latitudes 9° and 18°S, and longitudes 32° and 36°E.The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from north to south, and to the east of the valley lies Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa), making up over three-quarters of Malawi's eastern boundary.", "Lake Malawi is sometimes called the Calendar Lake as it is about long and wide.", "The Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the Zambezi River farther south in Mozambique.", "The surface of Lake Malawi is at above sea level, with a maximum depth of , which means the lake bottom is over below sea level at some points.Lake MalawiIn the mountainous sections of Malawi surrounding the Rift Valley, plateaus rise generally above sea level, although some rise as high as in the north.", "To the south of Lake Malawi lie the Shire Highlands, gently rolling land at approximately above sea level.", "In this area, the Zomba and Mulanje mountain peaks rise to respective heights of .Malawi's capital is Lilongwe, and its commercial centre is Blantyre with a population of over 500,000 people.", "Malawi has two sites listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.", "Lake Malawi National Park was first listed in 1984 and the Chongoni Rock Art Area was listed in 2006.Malawi's climate is hot in the low-lying areas in the south of the country and temperate in the northern highlands.", "The altitude moderates what would otherwise be an equatorial climate.", "Between November and April, the temperature is warm with equatorial rains and thunderstorms, with the storms reaching their peak severity in late March.", "After March, the rainfall rapidly diminishes, and from May to September wet mists float from the highlands into the plateaus, with almost no rainfall during these months.===Flora and fauna===Elephant in Majete Wildlife ReserveAnimal life indigenous to Malawi includes mammals such as elephants, hippos, antelopes, buffaloes, big cats, monkeys, rhinos, and bats; a great variety of birds including birds of prey, parrots and falcons, waterfowl and large waders, owls and songbirds.", "Lake Malawi has been described as having ''one of the richest lake fish faunas in the world'', being the home for some 200 mammals, 650 birds, 30+ mollusk, and 5,500+ plant species.Seven terrestrial ecoregions lie within Malawi's borders: Central Zambezian miombo woodlands, Eastern miombo woodlands, Southern miombo woodlands, Zambezian and mopane woodlands, Zambezian flooded grasslands, South Malawi montane forest-grassland mosaic, and Southern Rift montane forest-grassland mosaic.There are five national parks, four wildlife and game reserves and two other protected areas in Malawi.", "The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.74/10, ranking it 96th globally out of 172 countries." ], [ "Economy", "Crafts market in LilongweMalawi is among the world's least developed countries.", "Around 85% of the population lives in rural areas.", "The economy is based on agriculture, and more than one-third of GDP and 90% of export revenues come from this.", "In the past, the economy has been dependent on substantial economic aid from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other countries.", "Malawi was ranked the 119th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings.In December 2000, the IMF stopped aid disbursements due to corruption concerns, and many individual donors followed, resulting in an almost 80% drop in Malawi's development budget.", "However, in 2005, Malawi was the recipient of over US$575 million in aid.", "The Malawian government faces challenges in developing a market economy, improving environmental protection, dealing with the rapidly growing HIV/AIDS problem, improving the education system, and satisfying its foreign donors that it is working to become financially independent.", "Improved financial discipline had been seen since 2005 under the leadership of President Mutharika and Financial Minister Gondwe.", "This discipline has since evaporated as shown by the purchase in 2009 of a private presidential jet followed almost immediately by a nationwide fuel shortage which was officially blamed on logistical problems but was more likely due to the hard currency shortage caused by the jet purchase.", "The overall cost to the economy (and healthcare system) is unknown.In addition, some setbacks have been experienced, and Malawi has lost some of its ability to pay for imports due to a general shortage of foreign exchange, as investment fell 23% in 2009.There are many investment barriers in Malawi, which the government has failed to address, including high service costs and poor infrastructure for power, water, and telecommunications.", ", it was estimated that Malawi had a GDP (purchasing power parity) of $22.42 billion, with a per capita GDP of $1200, and inflation estimated at 12.2% in 2017.Agriculture accounts for 35% of GDP, industry for 19% and services for the remaining 46%.", "Malawi has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world, although economic growth was estimated at 9.7% in 2008 and strong growth is predicted by the International Monetary Fund for 2009.The poverty rate in Malawi is decreasing through the work of the government and supporting organisations, with people living under the poverty line decreasing from 54% in 1990 to 40% in 2006, and the percentage of \"ultra-poor\" decreasing from 24% in 1990 to 15% in 2007.Many analysts believe that economic progress for Malawi depends on its ability to control population growth.In January 2015 southern Malawi was devastated by the worst floods in living memory, stranding at least 20,000 people.", "These floods affected more than a million people across the country, including 336,000 who were displaced, according to UNICEF.", "Over 100 people were killed and an estimated 64,000 hectares of cropland were washed away.===Agriculture and industry===groundnuts at an agricultural research station in MalawiThe economy of Malawi is predominantly agricultural.", "Over 80% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, even though agriculture only contributed to 27% of GDP in 2013.The services sector accounts for more than half of GDP (54%), compared to 11% for manufacturing and 8% for other industries, including natural uranium mining.", "Malawi invests more in agriculture (as a share of GDP) than any other African country: 28% of GDP.The main agricultural products of Malawi include tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats.", "The main industries are tobacco, tea and sugar processing, sawmill products, cement and consumer goods.", "The industrial production growth rate is estimated at 10% (2009).", "The country makes no significant use of natural gas.", ", Malawi does not import or export any electricity, but does import all its petroleum, with no production in country.", "Beginning in 2006, the country began mixing unleaded petrol with 10% ethanol, produced in-country at two plants, to reduce dependence on imported fuel.", "In 2008, Malawi began testing cars that ran solely on ethanol, and initial results are promising, and the country is continuing to increase its use of ethanol.Children attending a farmer meeting in Nalifu village, Mulanje, Malawi exports an estimated US$945 million in goods per year.", "The country's strong reliance on tobacco places a heavy burden on the economy as world prices decline and the international community increases pressure to limit tobacco production.", "Malawi's dependence on tobacco is growing, with the product jumping from 53% to 70% of export revenues between 2007 and 2008.The country also relies heavily on tea, sugar, and coffee, with these three plus tobacco making up more than 90% of Malawi's export revenue.", "Because of a rise in costs and a decline in sales prices, Malawi is encouraging farmers away from tobacco towards more profitable crops, including spices such as paprika.", "The move away from tobacco is further fueled by likely World Health Organisation moves against the particular type of tobacco that Malawi produces, burley leaf.", "It is seen to be more harmful to human health than other tobacco products.", "India hemp is another possible alternative, but arguments have been made that it will bring more crime to the country through its resemblance to varieties of cannabis used as a recreational drug and the difficulty in distinguishing between the two types.", "This concern is especially important because the cultivation of Malawian cannabis, known as Malawi Gold, as a drug has increased significantly.", "Malawi is known for growing \"the best and finest\" cannabis in the world for recreational drug use, according to a recent World Bank report, and cultivation and sales of the crop may contribute to corruption within the police force.GDP in Southern African Development Community countries by economic sector, 2013 or closest yearOther exported goods are cotton, peanuts, wood products, and apparel.", "The main destination locations for the country's exports are South Africa, Germany, Egypt, Zimbabwe, the United States, Russia, and the Netherlands.", "Malawi currently imports an estimated US$1.625 billion in goods per year, with the main commodities being food, petroleum products, consumer goods, and transportation equipment.", "The main countries that Malawi imports from are South Africa, India, Zambia, Tanzania, the US, and China.In 2006, in response to disastrously low agricultural harvests, Malawi began a programme of fertilizer subsidies, the Fertiliser Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) that was designed to re-energise the land and boost crop production.", "It has been reported that this programme, championed by the country's president, is radically improving Malawi's agriculture, and causing Malawi to become a net exporter of food to nearby countries.", "The FISP fertiliser subsidy programmes ended with President Mutharika's death; the country quickly faced food shortages again, and farmers developed reluctance to purchase fertilisers and other agricultural inputs on the open markets that remained.In 2016, Malawi was hit by a drought, and in January 2017, the country reported an outbreak of armyworms around Zomba.", "The moth is capable of wiping out entire fields of corn, the staple grain of impoverished residents.", "On 14 January 2017, the agriculture minister George Chaponda reported that 2,000 hectares of crop had been destroyed, having spread to nine of twenty-eight districts.===Infrastructure===The M1 road between Blantyre and Lilongwe, Malawi has 31 airports, seven with paved runways (two international airports) and 24 with unpaved runways.", ", the country has of railways, all narrow-gauge, and, as of 2003, of roadways in various conditions, paved and unpaved.", "Malawi also has of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River., there were 10.23 million mobile phone connections in Malawi.", "There were 4.03 million Internet users in 2022 ( Datareportal).", "Also, there was one government-run radio station (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) and approximately a dozen more owned by private enterprises.Radio, television and postal services in Malawi are regulated by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA).", "Malawi television is improving.", "The country boasts 20 television stations by 2016 broadcasting on the country's digital network MDBNL e.g.3 This includes Times Group, Timveni, Adventist, and Beta, Zodiak and CFC.", "In the past, Malawi's telecommunications system has been named as some of the poorest in Africa, but conditions are improving, with 130,000 land line telephones being connected between 2000 and 2007.Telephones are much more accessible in urban areas, with less than a quarter of land lines being in rural areas." ], [ "Science and technology", "=== Research trends ===Scientific publication trends in the most productive SADC countries, 2005–2014Malawi devoted 1.06% of GDP to research and development in 2010, according to a survey by the Department of Science and Technology, one of the highest ratios in Africa.", "This corresponds to $7.8 per researcher (in current purchasing parity dollars).In 2014, Malawian scientists had the third-largest output in Southern Africa, in terms of articles cataloged in international journals.", "They published 322 articles in Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index expanded) that year, almost triple the number in 2005 (116).", "Only South Africa (9,309) and the United Republic of Tanzania (770) published more in Southern Africa.", "Malawian scientists publish more in mainstream journals – relative to GDP – than any other country of similar population size.", "This is impressive, even if the country's publication density remains modest, with just 19 publications per million inhabitants cataloged in international journals in 2014.The average for sub-Saharan Africa is 20 publications per million inhabitants.", "Malawi was ranked 107th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from 118th in 2019.=== Policy framework ===Malawi's first science and technology policy dates from 1991 and was revised in 2002.The ''National Science and Technology Policy'' of 2002 envisaged the establishment of a National Commission for Science and Technology to advise the government and other stakeholders on science and technology-led development.", "Although the Science and Technology Act of 2003 made provision for the creation of this commission, it only became operational in 2011, with a secretariat resulting from the merger of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Council.", "The Science and Technology Act of 2003 also established a Science and Technology Fund to finance research and studies through government grants and loans but, , this was not yet operational.", "The Secretariat of the National Commission for Science and Technology has reviewed the ''Strategic Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation'' (2011–2015) but, as of early 2015, the revised policy had not yet met with Cabinet approval.Malawi is conscious of the need to attract more foreign investment to foster technology transfer, develop human capital and empower the private sector to drive economic growth.", "In 2012, most foreign investments flowed to infrastructure (62%) and the energy sector (33%).", "The government has introduced a series of fiscal incentives, including tax breaks, to attract more foreign investors.", "In 2013, the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre put together an investment portfolio spanning 20 companies in the country's six major economic growth sectors, namely:* agriculture;* manufacturing;* energy (bio-energy, mobile electricity);*tourism (ecolodges);* infrastructure (wastewater services, fiber optic cables, etc.", "); and* mining.File:Life sciences and geosciences dominate, Cumulative totals by field, 2008–2014.svg|alt=Scientific research output in terms of publications in Southern Africa, cumulative totals by field, 2008–2014.|Scientific research output in terms of publications in Southern Africa, cumulative totals by field, 2008–2014File:Researchers (HC) in Southern Africa per million inhabitants, 2013 or closest year.svg|Researchers (HC) in Southern Africa per million inhabitants, 2013 or closest yearFile:Seychelles and South Africa have the most publications per million inhabitants.svg|alt=Scientific publications per million inhabitants in SADC countries in 2014.|Scientific publications per million inhabitants in SADC countries in 2014File:Gross domestic expenditure on Research and Development GDP ratio in Southern Africa, 2012 or closest year.svg|Domestic expenditure on research in Southern Africa as a percentage of GDP, 2012 or closest yearIn 2013, the government adopted a ''National Export Strategy'' to diversify the country's exports.", "Production facilities are to be established for a wide range of products within the three selected clusters: oilseed products, sugar cane products, and manufacturing.", "The strategy makes provision for greater access to the outcome of international research and better information about available technologies; it also helps companies to obtain grants to invest in such technologies from sources such as the country's Export Development Fund and the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund." ], [ "Demographics", "===Population===Malawi has a population of over million, with a growth rate of 3.32%, according to estimates.", "The population is forecast to grow to over 45 million people by 2050, nearly tripling the estimated 16 million in 2010.Malawi's estimated 2016 population is, based on most recent estimates, 18,091,575.===Cities======Ethnic groups===Malawi's population is made up of the Chewa, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, and Ngonde native ethnic groups, as well as populations of Chinese and Europeans.===Languages===The official language is English.Chewa (blue dot) and Tumbuka (green dot).Major languages include Chichewa, a Bantu language spoken by over 70% of the population, Chiyao (10.1 %) and Chitumbuka (9.5 %).Other native languages are Malawian Lomwe, spoken by around 250,000 in the southeast of the country; Kokola, spoken by around 200,000 people also in the southeast; Lambya, spoken by around 45,000 in the northwestern tip; Ndali, spoken by around 70,000; Nyakyusa-Ngonde, spoken by around 300,000 in northern Malawi; Malawian Sena, spoken by around 270,000 in southern Malawi; and Tonga, spoken by around 170,000 in the north.All students in public elementary school receive instruction in Chichewa, which is described as the unofficial national language of Malawi.", "Students in private elementary schools, however, receive instruction in English if they follow the American or British curriculum.===Religion===LivingstoniaMalawi is a majority Christian country, with a significant Muslim minority.", "Government surveys indicate that 87% of the country is Christian, with a minority 11.6% Muslim population.", "The largest Christian groups in Malawi are the Roman Catholic Church, of which 19% of Malawians are adherents, and the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) to which 18% belong.", "The CCAP is the largest Protestant denomination in Malawi with 1.3 million members.", "There are smaller Presbyterian denominations like the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Malawi and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Malawi.", "There are also smaller numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, evangelicals, Seventh-day Adventists, and the Lutherans.Most of the Muslim population is Sunni, of either the Qadriya or Sukkutu groups, with a few who follow the Ahmadiyya.Other religious groups within the country include Jehovah's Witnesses (over 95,000), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with just over 2,000 members in the country at the end of 2015, Rastafari, Hindus, Baháʼís, (0.2%) and around 300 Jews.", "Atheists make up around 4% of the population, although this number may include people who practice traditional African religions that do not have any gods.===Health===Malawi women with young children attending family planning servicesMalawi has central hospitals, regional and private facilities.", "The public sector offers free health services and medicines, while non-government organizations offers services and medicines for fees.", "Private doctors offer fee-based services and medicines.", "Health insurance schemes have been established since 2000.The country has a pharmaceutical manufacturing industry consisting of four privately owned pharmaceutical companies.", "Malawi's healthcare goal is for \"promoting health, preventing, reducing and curing disease, and reducing the occurrence of premature death in the population\".Infant mortality rates are high, and life expectancy at birth is 50.03 years.", "Abortion is illegal in Malawi, except to save the mother's life.", "The Penal Code punishes women who seek illegal or clinical abortion with 7 years in prison, and 14 years for those perform the abortion.", "There is a high adult prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, with an estimated 980,000 adults (or 9.1% of the population) living with the disease in 2015.There are approximately 27,000 deaths each year from HIV/AIDS, and over half a million children orphaned because of the disease (2015).", "Approximately 250 new people are infected each day, and at least 70% of Malawi's hospital beds are occupied by HIV/AIDS patients.", "The high rate of infection has resulted in an estimated 5.8% of the farm labour force dying of the disease.", "The government spends over $120,000 each year on funerals for civil servants who die of the disease.", "In 2006, international superstar Madonna started Raising Malawi, a foundation that helps AIDS orphans in Malawi, and also financed a documentary about the hardships experienced by Malawian orphans, called ''I Am Because We Are''.", "Raising Malawi also works with the Millennium Villages Project to improve education, health care, infrastructure and agriculture in Malawi.There is a very high degree of risk for major infectious diseases, including bacterial and protozoal diarrhoea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, malaria, plague, schistosomiasis, and rabies.", "Malawi has been making progress on decreasing child mortality and reducing the incidences of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; however, the country has been \"performing dismally\" on reducing maternal mortality and promoting gender equality.", "Female genital mutilation (FGM), while not widespread, is practiced in some local communities.On 23 November 2016, a court in Malawi sentenced an HIV-positive man to two years in prison with forced labour for having sex with 100 women without disclosing his status.", "Women rights activists asked the government to review the sentence calling it too \"lenient\".", "Some of the major health facilities in the country are Blantyre Adventist Hospital, Mwaiwathu Private Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Central, and Kamuzu Central Hospitals.===Education===Public expenditure on education in Southern Africa as a share of GDP, 2012 or closest yearIn 1994, free primary education for all Malawian children was established by the government, and primary education has been compulsory since the passage of the Revised Education Act in 2012.As a result, attendance rates for all children have improved, with enrollment rates for primary schools up from 58% in 1992 to 75% in 2007.Also, the percentage of students who begin standard one and complete standard five has increased from 64% in 1992 to 86% in 2006.According to the World Bank, it shows that youth literacy had also increased from 68% in 2000 to 75% in 2015.This increase is primarily attributed to improved learning materials in schools, better infrastructure and feeding programs that have been implemented throughout the school system.", "However, attendance in the secondary school falls to approximately 25%, with attendance rates being slightly higher for males.", "Dropout rates are higher for girls than boys, attributed to security problems during long walks to school, as girls face a higher prevalence of gender-based violence.Education in Malawi comprises eight years of primary education, four years of secondary school and four years of university.", "There are four public universities in Malawi: Mzuzu University (MZUNI), Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), the University of Malawi (UNIMA) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).", "There are also private universities, such as Livingstonia, Malawi Lakeview, Catholic University of Malawi, Central Christian University, African Bible College, UNICAF University, and MIM.", "The entry requirement is six credits on the Malawi School Certificate of Education, which is equivalent to O levels." ], [ "Women in Malawi", "Mbawemi Women's group in Malawi learning how to add value to beeswax by making candlesThe status of women throughout the world, including Malawi, is measured using a wide range of indices that cover areas of social, economic, and political contexts.", "Focusing primarily on the time period between 2010 and the current day, the status of women in Malawi will be analyzed through a range of statistical indices.The current social status of women in Malawi is effectively estimated through indices such as female access to schooling, maternal mortality rate, and life expectancy of women from birth.", "These indices offer a wide lens of information on women's rights and life in Malawi.", "Women's access to schooling in Malawi as an index highlights how within the state, the ratio of male to female students for many age groups and for total students by gender shows women's access to schooling maintains on par with men's access.", "Female students in Malawi, though, see consistent declines as the age increases, signifying the failure of compulsory education amongst female students in Malawi.", "The life expectancy of women from birth in Malawi has seen significant growth over the past decade as the life expectancy of women in 2010 was approximately 58 years old whilst the most recent data from 2017 finds that women in Malawi's average life expectancy grew to 66 years.", "The maternal mortality rate in Malawi which is particularly low even when compared with states at similar points in the development process.The economic status of women in Malawi is gauged using indices such as the inheritance rights for women, unemployment, and labour force participation for females, along with the extent of the wage gap present between men and women in the Malawian economy.", "The inheritance rights index gauges the ability of women to effectively own and maintain the property in comparison with their male counterparts.", "The current inheritance rights in Malawi are found to be equal in their dispersion between male/female children and for male/female surviving spouses.", "Contrary to the equality found in inheritance rights in Malawi, labour force participation and unemployment highlight the challenges for female employment in the state.", "The current state of female labour participation details how a higher percentage of the male population is currently employed despite the female population having a higher total employed population and a very similar unemployment rate.", "This gap continues with wages in Malawi as the state continues to score towards the bottom of the list when compared to states across the world.", "Along with their poor international ranking, the state scores poorly when compared to other sub-Saharan countries as the highest-ranked sub-Saharan state, Rwanda, scored a 0.791 on a 0–1 scale while Malawi scored 0.664.The indices used to gauge the political status of women include political participation amongst women, access to political institutions, and female seats in the national parliament.", "The political participation of women in Malawi as an index is effectively captured through a myriad of sources; these sources come to similar conclusions in regards to the political participation of women.", "The participation of women in the national political structure has been shown to be weaker than their male counterparts due to the normalization of negative stereotypes which women are not expected to be as politically active as men.", "The female participation in politics is further restricted from national political structures due to the presence of gatekeepers which provide access to the resources needed to win elections and maintain seats in parliament.", "This limited participation is directly correlated to the limited positions which are occupied by women in the national setup.", "This setup, despite its commitment to equal positions for men and women, has failed to promote methods for female politicians maintaining their seats in parliament and as a result of said policies, women throughout Malawi are left without the proper structure and resources to maintain their position in the national structure.", "Despite the limited resources available to these female politicians, the national parliament within Malawi finds reasonable success in appointing female members to seats within the body as over 20% of the seats in parliament are held by women.", "Despite the limited access and resources widely available for female politicians in Malawi, the state is finding reasonable success in promoting female politicians on the national scene which works in conjunction with the positive trajectory of the social and economic indices to conclude that Malawi should expect continued growth toward gender equality." ], [ "Military", "Malawian female soldierMalawi maintains a small standing military of approximately 25,000, the Malawian Defence Force.", "It consists of army, navy and air force elements.", "The Malawi army originated from British colonial units formed before independence, and is now made up of two rifle regiments and one parachute regiment.", "The Malawi Air Force was established with German help in 1976, and operates a small number of transport aircraft and multi-purpose helicopters.", "The Malawian Navy was established in the early 1970s with Portuguese support, presently having three vessels operating on Lake Malawi, based in Monkey Bay.", "In 2017, Malawi signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons." ], [ "Culture", "Musical instruments of MalawiThe name \"Malawi\" comes from the Maravi, a Bantu ethnic group who emigrated from the southern Congo around 1400 AD.", "Upon reaching northern Lake Malawi, the group divided, with one group moving south down the west bank of the lake to become the group known as the Chewa, while the other group, the ancestors of today's Nyanja, moved along the east side of the lake to the southern section of Malawi.", "Ethnic conflict and continuing migration prevented the formation of a society that was uniquely and cohesively Malawian until the dawn of the 20th century.", "Over the past century, ethnic distinctions have diminished to the point where there is no significant inter-ethnic friction, although regional divisions still occur.", "The concept of a Malawian nationality has begun to form around predominantly rural people who are generally conservative and traditionally nonviolent.", "The \"Warm Heart of Africa\" nickname is not due to the hot weather of the country, but due to the kind, loving nature of the Malawian people.From 1964 to 2010, and again since 2012, the Flag of Malawi is made up of three equal horizontal stripes of black, red, and green with a red rising sun superimposed in the center of the black stripe.", "The black stripe represented the African people, the red represented the blood of martyrs for African freedom, green represented Malawi's ever-green nature and the rising sun represented the dawn of freedom and hope for Africa.", "In 2010, the flag was changed, removing the red rising sun and adding a full white sun in the centre as a symbol of Malawi's economic progress.", "The change was reverted in 2012.Its dances are a strong part of Malawi's culture, and the National Dance Troupe (formerly the Kwacha Cultural Troupe) was formed in November 1987 by the government.", "Traditional music and dances can be seen at initiation rites, rituals, marriage ceremonies and celebrations.The indigenous ethnic groups of Malawi have a rich tradition of basketry and mask carving, and some of these goods are used in traditional ceremonies still performed by native peoples.", "Wood carving and oil painting are also popular in more urban centres, with many of the items produced being sold to tourists.", "There are several internationally recognised literary figures from Malawi, including poet Jack Mapanje, history and fiction writer Paul Zeleza and authors Legson Kayira, Felix Mnthali, Frank Chipasula and David Rubadiri.===Media===* Television Malawi===Sports===Bingu National Stadium in LilongweFootball is the most common sport in Malawi, introduced there during British colonial rule.", "Its national team has failed to qualify for a World Cup so far, but have made three appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations.", "Football teams include Mighty Wanderers, Big Bullets, Silver Strikers, Blue Eagles, Civo Sporting, Moyale Barracks, and Mighty Tigers.Basketball is also growing in popularity, but its national team is yet to participate in any international competition.More success has been found in netball, with the Malawi national netball team ranked 6th in the world (as of March 2021).", "Notably a number of players in the national team play in international leagues.===Cuisine===Malawian cuisine is diverse, with tea and fish being popular features of the country's cuisine.", "Sugar, coffee, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats are also important components of the cuisine and economy.", "Lake Malawi is a source of fish including chambo (similar to bream), usipa (similar to sardines), and mpasa (similar to salmon and kampango).", "Nsima is a food staple made from ground corn and typically served with side dishes of meat and vegetables.", "It is commonly eaten for lunch and dinner." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Malawi* Telephone numbers in Malawi" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "* * * ** * * *" ], [ "External links", "* Government of the Republic of Malawi Official website*" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Madagascar" ], [ "Introduction", "Madagascar has diplomatic relations with many countries, both individual bilateral relations and by virtue of its membership of African and other regional blocs.", "International aid has been received from the IMF and the World Bank, and a national environmental plan supported by the World Bank and USAID began in 1990." ], [ "Regional relations", "Nations with which Madagascar has diplomatic relations.Madagascar historically has remained outside the mainstream of African affairs, although it is a member of the Indian Ocean Commission, the Organization of African Unity (now renamed the AU), the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA), and the Non-Aligned Movement.", "Madagascar was admitted to the Southern African Development Community in 2004." ], [ "Bilateral relations", "Active diplomatic relationships are maintained with Europe, especially the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, as well as with Russia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Egypt and China.", "Madagascar also maintains good relations with the United States.International agencies being present in the country allows to react quickly to emergencies such as a food crisis.===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes15 June 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 June 1964August 2005Both countries established diplomatic relations in August 2005.12 November 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 November 1976.26 July 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 July 197417 September 2014Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 September 2014 when Ambassador of Republic of Congo to Madagascar with residence in Pretoria Mr. Léonard-Emile Ognimba presented his credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.13 August 1999Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 August 1999.23 February 1970Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 February 1970.12 April 2017Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 April 2017 when Ambassador of Eritrea to Madagascar Mr. Salih Omar Abdu, presented his letters of credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.21 October 2015Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 October 2015 when Ambassador of Swaziland with residence in Maputo Mr. Christian Muzie Nkambule, presented his credentials to President of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina.26 December 1972Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 December 197213 September 1973* Kenya is accredited to Madagascar from its high commission in Maputo, Mozambique.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Kenya from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.7 December 1971Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 December 19719 February 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 February 197411 November 2015Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 November 2015 when Ambassador of Mauritania M. Mohamed Ould Hannani, presented his letters of credentials to President of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina.27 August 1968See Madagascar–Mauritius relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 August 1968* Madagascar has an embassy in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Antananarivo.15 April 1994See Madagascar–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 15 April 1994* Madagascar is accredited to Morocco from its embassy in Dakar, Senegal.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Antananarivo.9 August 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 August 1975* Madagascar is accredited to Mozambique from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Mozambique is accredited to Madagascar from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.13 July 2005Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 July 2005 when has been accredited ambassador of Madagascar to Namibia with residence in Pretoria Mr. Yvan Randriasandratriniony.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Namibia is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.13 January 2016Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 January 2016 when Ambassador of Niger to Madagascar with residence in Pretoria Mme Rakiatou Mayaki presented his letters of credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.24 June 1971Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 June 1971* Madagascar is accredited to Nigeria from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.", "* Nigeria is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.17 January 2018Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 January 2018 when Ambassador of Rwanda to Madagascar with residence in Pretoria Mr. Vincent Karega presented his credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Dakar.", "* Senegal is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.12 April 1989Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 April 1989.5 November 1966Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 November 1966 when Dr. Rakoto-Ratsimamanga, the first Malagasy Ambassador to Sierra Leone with residence in Paris, presented his credentials.27 January 1994See Madagascar–South Africa relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 January 1994.South Africa and Madagascar share maritime borders with each other.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Pretoria and a consulate-general in Cape Town.", "* South Africa has an embassy in Antananarivo.15 April 2015Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 April 2015 when Ambassador of Sudan to Madagascar Mr. Abdalla Mohamed Ahmed Wadi, presented his letters of credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.28 June 1973Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 June 1973* Madagascar is accredited to Tanzania from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Tanzania is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.25 March 2015Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 March 2015 when Ambassador of Togo To Madagascar Mr. Ekpao Nolaki presented his letters of credentials to President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.12 March 1969Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 March 1969.13 September 1973Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 September 197319 October 1981Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 October 1981===Americas=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes20 July 2001Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 July 2001* Argentina is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.", "* Madagascar does not have an accreditation to Argentina.7 October 1996Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 October 1996* Brazil is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.7 January 1965See Canada–Madagascar relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 7 January 1965* Canada is accredited to Madagascar from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Ottawa.23 December 1971Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 December 197115 June 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 June 1995* Colombia is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Colombia from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.11 April 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 April 1974* Cuba is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Cuba from its embassy in Ottawa, Canada.23 September 2022Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 September 202226 December 1975* Madagascar is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa and maintains an honorary consulate in Antananarivo.26 October 1984Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 October 198426 June 1960See Madagascar–United States relationsRelations between the United States and Madagascar date to the middle 19th century.", "The two countries concluded a commercial convention in 1867 and a treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce in 1881.Traditionally warm relations suffered considerably during the 1970s, when Madagascar expelled the U.S. ambassador, the USA closed a NASA tracking station, allied with the USSR, and nationalized two U.S. oil companies.", "In 1980, relations at the ambassadorial level were restored.Throughout the troubled period, commercial and cultural relations remained active.", "In 1990, Madagascar was designated as a priority aid recipient, and assistance increased from $15 million in 1989 to $40 million in 1993.Recent U.S. assistance has contributed to a population census and family planning programs; conservation of Madagascar's remarkable biodiversity, private sector development, agriculture, democracy and governance initiatives; and media training.", "Madagascar became the first country with a Millennium Challenge Account compact when it signed an agreement worth $110 million in April 2006.The Ravalomanana government is especially positive about ties with the United States.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Washington, DC.", "* United States has an embassy in Antananarivo.17 November 2008Both countries established diplomatic relations 17 November 2008===Asia=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes25 June 1993The two countries established diplomatic relations on June 25, 1993.", "* Armenia does not have an accreditation to Madagascar.", "* Madagascar does not have an accreditation to Armenia.26 May 1993The two countries established diplomatic relations on 26 May 1993.23 September 2022Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 September 20224 March 2020Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 March 2020 when first ambassador of Bangladesh to Madagascar Rezina Ahmed, presented his letters of credentials to President Andry Rajoelina.20 October 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 October 199225 March 1997Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 March 19976 November 1972See China-Madagascar relationsChina and Madagascar established diplomatic relations on November 6, 1972.", "* China has an embassy in Antananarivo and a consulate-general in Toamasina.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Beijing.24 May 2007Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 May 200727 June 1960See India–Madagascar relationsIndia has had maritime links with Madagascar for several centuries.", "India opened a consulate general in Antananarivo in 1954.Upon Madagascar gaining independence in 1960, it was upgraded to an embassy.", "There are about 20,000 persons of Indian origin in Madagascar, including approximately 2,500 Indian passport holders.", "* India has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in New Delhi.13 December 1974See Indonesia–Madagascar relations* Indonesia has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar does not have an accreditation to Indonesia.", "The two countries have a number of bilateral agreements in force.", "* Israel does not have an accreditation to Madagascar.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Israel from its embassy in Paris, France.March 1962The two countries established diplomatic relations on July 5, 1960.", "* Japan has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Tokyo.10 April 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 April 19926 December 1973Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 December 197327 February 1980Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 February 19805 May 2017Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 May 2017.6 April 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 April 199510 May 1979Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 May 197926 September 2018Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 September 201816 November 1972Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 November 1972.29 June 2016Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 June 201624 September 2021Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 September 202122 October 2008Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 October 2008* Madagascar has an embassy in Riyadh.", "* Saudi Arabia is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.31 January 1990Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 January 199025 June 1962, broke off diplomatic relations on July 1972, Restored 19 May 1993* Madagascar is accredited to South Korea from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.", "* South Korea has an embassy in Antananarivo.27 July 2001Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 July 200112 June 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 June 199330 November 1990Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 November 199030 January 1963See Madagascar–Turkey relations* Madagascar is accredited to Turkey from its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "*Turkey has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "*Trade volume between the two countries was 76.5 million USD in 2019 (Malagasy exports/imports: 5.2/71.3 million USD).1 December 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 199522 September 2016Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 September 201619 December 1972The two countries established diplomatic relations on 19 December 1972.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Vietnam from its embassy in Beijing, China.", "* Vietnam is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.===Europe=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes28 April 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 April 1976.25 September 2018Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 September 201828 May 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 May 1993.15 June 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 June 197627 September 2006The two countries established diplomatic relations on 27 September 2006.", "* Croatia is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Madagascar does not have an accreditation to Croatia.", "* Cyprus is accredited to Madagascar from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.", "and an honorary consulate in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar does not have an accreditation to Cyprus.", "* Denmark is represented in Madagascar, through its embassy in Pretoria.", "* Denmark have a consulate in Antananarivo.13 April 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 April 19921 June 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 June 197726 June 1960See France–Madagascar relationsboth countries established diplomatic relations on 26 June 1960.", "* France has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Paris and consulates-general in Marseille and Saint-Denis.26 June 1960See Germany–Madagascar relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 26 June 1960* Germany has an embassy in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Berlin.1962* Greece is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Greece from its embassy in Rome, Italy.24 December 1966* Holy See has an apostolic nunciature in Antananarivo.", "* Madagascar is accredited to the Holy See from its embassy in Paris, France.1 December 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 1975.22 September 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 September 2006* Iceland is accredited to Madagascar from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Reykjavík.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Iceland from its embassy in Berlin, Germany.2005Both countries established diplomatic relations.", "* Ireland is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique * Madagascar is accredited to Ireland from its embassy in London, United Kingdom 26 September 2018Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 September 201829 November 2017Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 November 201722 September 2021Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 September 202128 May 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 May 1993.11 December 2020Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 December 202016 March 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 March 1961 when has been accredited Ambassador of Netherlands to Madagascar with residence in Addis Ababa Mr. J.I.M.", "Welsing.18 October 2002Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 October 200227 October 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 October 1960* Madagascar is accredited to Norway from its embassy in Berlin, Germany.", "* Norway has an embassy in Antananarivo.28 November 1973Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 November 1973* Madagascar is accredited to Poland from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Poland is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and maintains an honorary consulate in Antananarivo.10 September 1968The two countries established diplomatic relations on 10 September 1968.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Romania from its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "* Romania is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.29 September 1972See Madagascar–Russia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 29 September 1972.During the 2009 Malagasy political crisis, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia is \"concerned by the increased frequency of attempts on the African continent to resort to non-constitutional methods of solving internal political problems.\"", "He went on to say that, in addition to increasing economic and social problems, the use of force is of concern and runs counter to democratic principles, whilst affirming Russia's support of the African Union's position.", "* Madagascar has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Antananarivo.23 September 2022Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 September 20229 December 1969Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 December 1969.", "*A number of bilateral agreements have been concluded and are in force between the two countries.", "* Madagascar is accredited to Serbia from its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "* Serbia is accredited to Madagascar from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City, United States.16 February 1996Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 February 1996.5 October 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 October 200625 March 1966Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 March 1966* Madagascar is accredited to Spain from its embassy in Paris, France.", "* Spain is accredited to Madagascar from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.13 June 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 June 1961* Madagascar has an embassy in Geneva.", "* Switzerland has an embassy in Antananarivo.10 June 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 June 1993.27 June 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 June 1960 when British Consul General Andrew Ronalds becomes Ambassador to Madagascar.===Oceania===" ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Madagascar* List of diplomatic missions of Madagascar* Visa policy of Madagascar" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar (French)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "History of Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''History of Malawi''' covers the area of present-day Malawi.", "The region was once part of the Maravi Empire (Maravi was a kingdom which straddled the current borders of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the 16th century).", "In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland.", "It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.", "The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964.After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994." ], [ "Prehistory", "In 1991 a hominid jawbone was discovered near Uraha village that was between 2.3 and 2.5 million years old.", "Early humans inhabited the vicinity of Lake Malawi 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.", "Human remains at a site dated about 8000 BCE showed physical characteristics similar to peoples living today in the Horn of Africa.", "At another site, dated 1500 BCE, the remains possess features resembling San people.", "They might be responsible for the rock paintings found south of Lilongwe in Chencherere and Mphunzi.", "According to Chewa myth, the first people in the area were a race of dwarf archers which they called Akafula or Akaombwe.", "Bantu-speaking people entered the region during the four first centuries of the \"Common Era\", bringing use of iron and slash-and-burn agriculture.", "Later waves of Bantu settlement, between the 13th and 15th centuries, displaced or assimilated the earlier Bantu and pre-Bantu populations." ], [ "Maravi Empire", "Map of the Maravi Kingdom at its height, c. 1650The name Malawi is thought to derive from the word ''Maravi''.", "The people of the Maravi Empire were iron workers.", "Maravi is thought to mean \"Flames\" and may have come from the sight of many kilns lighting up the night sky.", "A dynasty known as the Maravi Empire was founded by the Amaravi people in the late 15th century.", "The Amaravi, who eventually became known as the Chewa (a word possibly derived from a term meaning \"foreigner\"), migrated to Malawi from the region of the modern-day Republic of Congo to escape unrest and disease.", "The Chewa attacked the Akafula, whom no longer exist.Eventually encompassing most of modern Malawi, as well as parts of modern-day Mozambique and Zambia, the Maravi Empire began on the southwestern shores of Lake Malawi.", "The head of the empire during its expansion was the Kalonga (also spelt Karonga).", "The Kalonga ruled from his headquarters in Mankhamba.", "Under the leadership of the Kalonga, sub-chiefs were appointed to occupy and subdue new areas.", "The empire began to decline during the early 18th century when fighting among the sub-chiefs and the burgeoning slave trade weakened the authority of the Maravi Empire." ], [ "Trade and invasions", "Malawian ethnic groups at the end of the 19th century===Portuguese influence===Initially, the Maravi Empire's economy was largely dependent on agriculture, especially the production of millet and sorghum.", "It was during the Maravi Empire, sometime during the 16th century, that Europeans first came into contact with the people of Malawi.", "Under the Maravi Empire, the Chewa had access to the coast of modern-day Mozambique.", "Through this coastal area, the Chewa traded ivory, iron, and slaves with the Portuguese and Arabs.", "Trade was enhanced by the common language of Chewa (Nyanja) which was spoken throughout the Maravi Empire.In 1616 the Portuguese trader Gaspar Bocarro journeyed through what is now Malawi, producing the first European account of the country and its people.", "The Portuguese were also responsible for the introduction of maize to the region.", "Maize would eventually replace sorghum as the staple of the Malawian diet.", "Malawian tribes traded slaves with the Portuguese.", "These slaves were sent mainly to work on Portuguese plantations in Mozambique or to Brazil.===Ngoni===The decline of the Maravi Empire resulted from the entrance of two powerful groups into the region of Malawi.", "In the 19th century, the Angoni or Ngoni people and their chief Zwangendaba arrived from the Natal region of modern-day South Africa.", "The Angoni were part of a great migration, known as the mfecane, of people fleeing from the head of the Zulu Empire, Shaka Zulu.", "The Ngoni people settled mostly in what is modern-day central Malawi; particularly Ntcheu and parts of Dedza district.", "However, some groups proceeded north; entering Tanzania and settling around Lake Victoria.", "But splinter groups broke off and headed back south; settling in modern-day northern Malawi, particularly Mzimba district, where they mixed with another migrant group coming from across Lake Malawi called the Bawoloka.", "Clearly, the mfecane had a significant impact on Southern Africa.", "The Angoni adopted Shaka's military tactics to subdue the lesser tribes, including the Maravi, they found along their way.", "Staging from rocky areas, the Ngoni impis would raid the Chewa (also called Achewa) and plunder food, oxen and women.", "Young men were drawn in as new fighting forces while older men were reduced to domestic slaves and/or sold off to Arab slave traders operating from the Lake Malawi region.=== Yao ===The second group to take power around this time was the Yao.", "The Yao were richer and more independent than the Makuwa.", "They came to Malawi from northern Mozambique either to escape from conflict with the Makuwa, who they had become enemies of, or to profit from the slave and ivory trades with the Arabs from Zanzibar, the Portuguese, and the French.", "In any case, upon migrating to Malawi in the 1800s, they soon began buying slaves from the Chewa and Ngoni.", "The Yao are recorded to have also attacked them in order to capture prisoners whom they later sold as slaves.By the time David Livingstone encountered them on his travels, recording their practice of slavery, they traded with the Rwozi of Zimbabwe, with the Bisa on the Luangwa river in modern-day Zambia, and even the Congo and the eastern coast.", "Their extensive expeditions required educated merchants and tradespeople, who were naturally proficient in using the Arabic alphabet.", "Craftsmen built dhows for lake travel, farmers set out irrigation for the growing of rice, and prominent members of society founded madrassahs and boarding schools.", "The Yao were the first, and for a long while, the only group to use firearms, which they bought from Europeans and Arabs, in conflicts with other tribes, including the Makololo who had migrated from Southern Africa after being displaced by the Zulu people.By the 1860s, the Yao had converted to Islam.", "The conversion is normally attributed to connections made during their trading expeditions, especially those to the Kilwa Sultanate and Zanzibar.", "The conversion had begun before the 1840s, as can be told from the accounts Salim bin Abdallah, who is better known as the Jumbe of Nkhotakota.", "Although the Yao were not animist before Islam, they believed in a God accessible through the intercedence of ancestral spirits As a benefit of their conversion, the Yao employed Swahili and Arab sheikhs from the coast who promoted literacy and founded mosques; Chief Mponda in Mangochi had founded almost twelve madrassas before the Christian missionaries arrived in 1875.Their writings were in the Kiswahili language, which became a lingua franca of Malawi from 1870 to the 1960s.===Arabs and their Swahili allies===Using their strong partnership with the Yao, the Arab traders set up several trading posts along the shore of Lake Malawi.", "The Yao expeditions to the east attracted the attention of the Swahili-Arabs.", "It was from the Yao, the Swahili and Arabs knew the existence and the geography of Lake Malawi.", "Jumbe (Salim Abdallah) followed the Yao trade route from the eastern side of Lake Malawi up to Nkhotakota.", "When Jumbe arrived in Nkhotakota in 1840 he found a number of Yao and Bisa well established.", "Some of those Yao he found in Nkhotakota were already Islamised and he opted to employ them rather than employing non-Muslim Chewa.", "During the height of his power, Jumbe transported between 5,000 and 20,000 slaves through Nkhotakota annually.", "From Nkhotakota, the slaves were transported in caravans of no less than 500 slaves to the small island of Kilwa Kisiwani off the coast of modern-day Tanzania.", "The founding of these various posts effectively shifted the slave trade in Malawi from the Portuguese in Mozambique to the Arabs of Zanzibar.Although the Yao and the Angoni continually clashed with each other, neither was able to win a decisive victory.", "However, the Ngoni of Dedza opted to work the Yao of Mpondas.", "The remaining members of the Maravi Empire, however, were nearly wiped out in attacks from both sides.", "Some Achewa chiefs saved themselves by creating alliances with the Swahili people who were allied with the Arab slave traders.===Lomwe of Malawi===The Lomwe of Malawi are a recent introduction having arrived as late as the 1890s.", "The Lomwe came from a hill in Mozambique called uLomwe, north of the Zambezi River and south east of Lake Chilwa in Malawi.", "Theirs was also a story of hunger largely instigated by the Portuguese settlers moving into the neighbourhoods of uLomwe.", "To escape from ill-treatment, the Lomwe headed north and entered Nyasaland by way of the southern tip of lake Chilwa, settling in the Phalombe and Mulanje areas.In Mulanje they found the Yao and Mang'anja already settled.", "The Yao chiefs such as Chikumbu, Mtilamanja, Matipwili, Juma, Chiuta welcomed the Lomwe as their cousins from Mozambique.", "A large number of Lomwe were given land by the Yao and Mang'anja.", "Later on the Lomwe got employment on tea estates that various British companies were establishing on the foothills of Mount Mulanje.", "They gradually spread into Thyolo and Chiradzulu.", "The Lomwe readily mixed with the local Mang'anja tribes, and there are no reported cases of tribal conflict.===Early European contact===The Portuguese were reportedly the first to discover Malawi; in 1859, acting off a tip received from a Portuguese source, David Livingstone discovered Lake Malawi.", "The Yao allegedly told him that the mass of water he saw was called ''Nyasa''.", "Livingstone, who did not know Chiyao, possibly thought that Nyasa was the proper name of the lake.", "However, the term Nyasa in Chiyao meant the ''lake'' in English.", "His next journey, with Bishop Charles Mackenzie from the UMCA in 1861, saw hostility erupt between the Muslim Yao and the non-Muslim Mang'anja, whom the bishop preferred to preach to; those of the Yao who practised Islam and slavery were naturally hostile to the Christian missionaries.", "The skirmishes eventually subsided after Mackenzie's death from malaria.More group of missionaries arrived in 1875-6 from the Free Church of Scotland, and established a base at Cape Maclear at the southern end of Lake Malawi.", "This time, attempts were also made to convert those of the Yao who were Muslims.", "Although some of the Amangochi Yao were prepared to convert, slow progress was made.", "After some initial debate, Bishop Robert Laws was selected as leader.", "Laws, who quickly gained fame for his medical expertise, decided to establish missions further north, at Bandawe among the Tonga and at Kaningina among the Ngoni people.", "There, the missionaries found fertile ground in a turbulent political climate: the missions became buffer zones for the Tonga, who were near-constantly under attack by Ngoni raiders.", "Some of the teachers of the Tonga were the Nyanja who had embraced Christianity at Cape Maclear in Mangochi.", "In 1878, a number of traders, mostly from Glasgow, formed the African Lakes Company to supply goods and services to the missionaries.", "Others soon followed: traders, hunters, planters came, and even missionaries from different denominations; from 1889, the Catholic White Fathers attempted to convert the Yao.In 1894 the mission extended to the Tumbuka, who were also being attacked by the powerful Ngoni; Laws opened a mission station near Rumphi that year.", "The Tumbuka, like the Tonga sought refuge among the missionaries and embraced Christianity.", "By contrast, the Yao were still completely distanced from Christianity, and were still writing and reading in Arabic, which would soon not be recognized in Malawi; this would prove to disadvantage the Yao.", "The failure to convert the Yao Muslims to Christianity contributed to the negative appearance of the Yao people in traditional Euro-centric history.", "The Yao socio-economic contribution to Malawi was not recognised, rather history judged them as great slave traders.", "Under H. H. Johnson, the British fought Yao chiefs such as Makanjila and Mponda Jalasi for five years before they were subdued.", "Today, fewer Yao are found in jobs requiring literacy, which has forced a large number of them to migrate to South Africa as a source of labour.", "The Yao believe that they have been deliberately marginalized by the authorities because of their faith; in Malawi, they are predominantly farmers, tailors, guards, fishermen or working in other unskilled manual jobs.", "At one time, a number of Yao concealed their names in order to progress in education: Mariam was known as Mary; Yusufu was called Joseph; Che Sigele became Jeanet." ], [ "British rule", "Flag of NyasalandIn 1883, a consul of the British government was accredited to the \"Kings and Chiefs of Central Africa\" and in 1891, the British established the British Central Africa Protectorate.In 1907 the name was changed to ''Nyasaland'' or the ''Nyasaland Protectorate'' (Nyasa is the Chiyao word for \"lake\").", "In the 1950s, Nyasaland was joined with Northern and Southern Rhodesia in 1953 to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.", "The Federation was dissolved on 31 December 1963.In January 1915, John Chilembwe, a Baptist pastor in south-eastern Nyasaland, led an unsuccessful revolt against British colonial rule known as the Chilembwe uprising.", "Chilembwe opposed both the recruitment of Nyasas as porters in the East African campaign of World War I, as well as the system of colonial rule.", "Chilembwe's followers attacked local plantations, but a rapid counteroffensive by government forces defeated the rebels.", "Chilembwe was killed, and many of his followers were executed.In 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC), inspired by the African National Congress' Peace Charter of 1914, emerged.", "NAC soon spread across Southern African with powerful branches emerging among migrant Malawian workers in Salisbury (now Harare) in Southern Rhodesia and Lusaka, in Northern Rhodesia.Thousands of Nyasalanders fought in the Second World War.", "In July 1958, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda returned to the country after a long absence in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ghana.", "He assumed leadership of the NAC, which later became the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).", "In 1959, Banda was sent to Gwelo Prison for his political activities but was released in 1960 to participate in a constitutional conference in London.In August 1961, the MCP won an overwhelming victory in an election for a new Legislative Council.", "It also gained an important role in the new Executive Council and ruled Nyasaland in all but name a year later.", "In a second constitutional conference in London in November 1962, the British Government agreed to give Nyasaland self-governing status the following year.Hastings Banda became Prime Minister on 1 February 1963, although the British still controlled the country's financial, security, and judicial systems.", "A new constitution took effect in May 1963, providing for virtually complete internal self-government." ], [ "Independence{{anchor|Malawi Independence Act 1964}}", "Map of MalawiMalawi became a fully independent member of the Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth) on 6 July 1964.Shortly after, in August and September 1964, Banda faced dissent from most of his cabinet ministers in the Cabinet Crisis of 1964.The Cabinet Crisis began with a confrontation between Banda, the prime minister, and all the cabinet ministers present on 26 August 1964.Their grievances were not dealt with, but three cabinet ministers were dismissed on 7 September.", "These dismissals were followed, on the same day and on 9 September, by the resignations of three more cabinet ministers in sympathy with those dismissed, although one of those who had resigned rescinded his resignation within a few hours.", "The reasons that the ex-ministers put forward for the confrontation and their subsequent resignations were the autocratic attitude of Banda, who failed to consult other ministers and kept power in his own hands, his insistence on maintaining diplomatic relations with South Africa and Portugal and a number of domestic austerity measures.", "After continuing unrest and some clashes between their supporters and those of Banda, most of the ex-ministers left Malawi in October.", "One ex-minister, Henry Chipembere led a small, unsuccessful armed uprising in February 1965.After its failure, he arranged for his transfer to the USA.", "Another ex-minister, Yatuta Chisiza, organised an even smaller incursion from Mozambique in 1967, in which he was killed.", "Several of the former ministers died in exile or, in the case of Orton Chirwa in a Malawian jail, but some survived to return to Malawi after Banda was deposed in 1993, and resumed public life.Two years later, Malawi adopted a republican constitution and became a one-party state with Hastings Banda as its first president." ], [ "One-party rule", "In 1970, Hastings Banda was declared President for life of the MCP, and in 1971 Banda consolidated his power and was named president for life of Malawi itself.", "The paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party, the Young Pioneers, helped keep Malawi under totalitarian control until the 1990s.Banda, who was always referred to as \"His Excellency the Life President Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda\", was a dictator.", "Allegiance to him was enforced at every level.", "Every business building was required to have an official picture of Banda hanging on the wall.", "No other poster, clock, or picture could be placed higher on the wall than the president's picture.", "The national anthem was played before most events – including movies, plays, and school assemblies.", "At the cinemas, a video of His Excellency waving to his subjects was shown while the anthem played.", "When Banda visited a city, a contingent of women was expected to greet him at the airport and dance for him.", "A special cloth, bearing the President's picture, was the required attire for these performances.", "The one radio station in the country aired the President's speeches and government propaganda.", "People were ordered from their homes by police, and told to lock all windows and doors, at least an hour prior to President Banda passing by.", "Everyone was expected to wave.Among the laws enforced by Banda, it was illegal for women to wear see-through clothes, pants of any kind or skirts which showed any part of the knee.", "There were two exceptions to this: if they were at a Country Club (a place where various sports were played) and if they were at a holiday resort/hotel, which meant that with the exception of the resort/hotel staff they were not seen by the general populace.", "Men were not allowed to have hair below the collar; when men whose hair was too long arrived in the country from overseas, they were given a haircut before they could leave the airport.", "Churches had to be government sanctioned.", "Members of certain religious groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, were persecuted and forced to leave the country at one time.", "All Malawian citizens of Indian heritage were forced to leave their homes and businesses and move into designated Indian areas in the larger cities.", "At one time, they were all told to leave the country, then hand-picked ones were allowed to return.", "It was illegal to transfer or take privately earned funds out of the country unless approved through proper channels; proof had to be supplied to show that one had already brought in the equivalent or more in foreign currency in the past.", "When some left, they gave up goods and earnings.All movies shown in theatres were first viewed by the Malawi Censorship Board.", "Content considered unsuitable – particularly nudity or political content – was edited.", "Mail was also monitored by the Censorship Board.", "Some overseas mail was opened, read, and sometimes edited.", "Videotapes had to be sent to the Censorship Board to be viewed by censors.", "Once edited, the movie was given a sticker stating that it was now suitable for viewing, and sent back to the owner.", "Telephone calls were monitored and disconnected if the conversation was politically critical.", "Items to be sold in bookstores were also edited.", "Pages, or parts of pages, were cut out or blacked out of magazines such as ''Newsweek'' and ''Time''.Dr Banda was a wealthy man, like most if not all world leaders.", "He owned houses (and lived in a palace), businesses, private helicopters, cars and other such luxuries.", "Speaking out against the President was strictly prohibited.", "Those who did so were often deported or imprisoned.", "Banda and his government were criticised for human rights violations by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.", "After he was deposed, Banda was put on trial for murder and attempts to destroy evidence.During his rule, Banda was one of the very few post-colonial African leaders to maintain diplomatic relations with Apartheid-era South Africa." ], [ "Multi-party democracy", "Increasing domestic unrest and pressure from Malawian churches and from the international community led to a referendum in which the Malawian people were asked to vote for either a multi-party democracy or the continuation of a one-party state.", "On 14 June 1993, the people of Malawi voted overwhelmingly in favour of multi-party democracy.", "Free and fair national elections were held on 17 May 1994 under a provisional constitution, which took full effect the following year.Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), was elected president in those elections.", "The UDF won 82 of the 177 seats in the National Assembly and formed a coalition government with the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD).", "That coalition disbanded in June 1996, but some of its members remained in the government.", "The President was referred to as Dr Muluzi, having received an honorary degree at Lincoln University in Missouri in 1995.Malawi's newly written constitution (1995) eliminated special powers previously reserved for the Malawi Congress Party.", "Accelerated economic liberalisation and structural reform accompanied the political transition.On 15 June 1999, Malawi held its second democratic elections.", "Bakili Muluzi was re-elected to serve a second five-year term as president, despite an MCP-AFORD Alliance that ran a joint slate against the UDF.The aftermath of elections brought the country to the brink of civil strife.", "Disgruntled Tumbuka, Ngoni and Nkhonde Christian tribes dominant in the north were irritated by the election of Bakili Muluzi, a Muslim from the south.", "Conflict arose between Christians and Muslims of the Yao tribe (Muluzi's tribe).", "Property valued at over millions of dollars was either vandalised or stolen and 200 mosques were torched down." ], [ "Malawi in the 21st century", "In 2001, the UDF held 96 seats in the National Assembly, while the AFORD held 30, and the MCP 61.Six seats were held by independents who represent the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) opposition group.", "The NDA was not recognised as an official political party at that time.", "The National Assembly had 193 members, of whom 17 were women, including one of the Deputy Speakers.Malawi saw its very first transition between democratically elected presidents in May 2004, when the UDF's presidential candidate Bingu wa Mutharika defeated MCP candidate John Tembo and Gwanda Chakuamba, who was backed by a grouping of opposition parties.", "The UDF, however, did not win a majority of seats in Parliament, as it had done in 1994 and 1999 elections.", "It successfully secured a majority by forming a \"government of national unity\" with several opposition parties.", "Bingu wa Mutharika left the UDF party on 5 February 2005 citing differences with the UDF, particularly over his anti-corruption campaign.", "He won a second term outright in the 2009 election as the head of a newly founded party, the Democratic Progressive Party.", "In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack; the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda (not related to the former president Banda).", "In 2014 Malawian general election Joyce Banda lost (coming third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika, the brother of ex-President Mutharika.", "In 2019 Malawian general election president Peter Mutharika got narrow election victory and he was re-elected.", "In February 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court overturned the result because of irregularities and widespread fraud.", "In May 2020 Malawi Supreme Court upheld the decision and announced a new election will be held on 2 July.", "This was the first time election was legally challenged.", "Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he was sworn in as the new president of Malawi.In August 2021, the Constitutional Court examines an appeal lodged by the Democratic Progress Party of Peter Mutharika.", "He calls for the cancellation of the 2020 presidential election because four of his representatives had been banned from sitting on the Electoral Commission.", "However, the challenge to Malawi's 2020 presidential elections, made by the opposition Democratic Progress Party, was dismissed by the country's constitutional court in November 2021." ], [ "See also", "*Heads of Government of Malawi*History of Africa*History of Southern Africa*List of heads of state of Malawi*Politics of Malawi* Lilongwe history and timeline" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "*S.S. Murray, ''A Handbook of Nyasaland''*Valiant Mussa, ''History of Islam in Malawi before and after Christianity'' *Leroy Vail and Landeg White (eds).", "''Tribalism in the Political History of Malawi''" ], [ "External links", "* Background Note: Malawi" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Malawi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Malawi derives its name from the Maravi, a Bantu people who came from the southern Congo about 600 years ago.", "On reaching the area north of Lake Malawi, the Maravi divided.", "One branch, the ancestors of the present-day Chewas, moved south to the west bank of the lake.", "The other, the ancestors of the Nyanjas, moved down the east bank to the southern part of the country.", "By AD 1500, the two divisions of the tribe had established a kingdom stretching from north of the present-day city of Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River in the south, and from Lake Malawi in the east, to the Luangwa River in Zambia in the west.", "Migrations and tribal conflicts precluded the formation of a cohesive Malawian society until the turn of the 20th century.", "In more recent years, ethnic and tribal distinctions have diminished.", "Regional distinctions and rivalries, however, persist.", "Despite some clear differences, no significant friction currently exists between tribal groups, and the concept of a Malawian nationality has begun to take hold.", "Predominantly a rural people, Malawians are generally conservative and traditionally nonviolent.Chewa (blue dot) and Tumbuka (green dot).The Chewas constitute 90% of the population of the central region; the Nyanja tribe predominates in the south and the Tumbuka in the north.", "In addition, significant numbers of the Tongas live in the north; Ngonis—an offshoot of the Zulus who came from South Africa in the early 19th century—live in the lower northern and lower central regions; and the Yao, who are mostly Muslim, predominate in the Southern Region of the country and live in a wide band from Blantyre and Zomba north to Lake Malawi and east to the border with Mozambique.", "Bantus of other tribes came from Mozambique as refugees." ], [ "Population", "Demographics of Malawi, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022 ; Number of inhabitants in millions.Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimatesAccording to the total population was in , compared to only 2 881 000 in 1950.The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 45.8%, 51.1% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older.Total population (x 1000)Population aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 19502 88145.751.23.1 19553 16645.751.52.8 19603 52545.951.62.6 19653 97545.352.32.4 19704 53146.351.42.3 19755 30246.950.62.5 19806 24047.150.32.6 19857 26847.550.02.5 19909 38145.951.42.7 19959 88344.752.23.1 200011 22945.851.13.1 200512 82346.150.93.1 201014 90145.851.13.1Total and Percent Distribution of Population by Single Year of Age (Census 09.03.2018)Age PopulationPercent Total 17,563,749 100 0-4 2,552,406 14.53 0 522,802 2.98 1 509,351 2.90 2 490,811 2.79 3 511,365 2.91 4 518,077 2.95 5-9 2,632,878 14.99 5 529,111 3.01 6 546,708 3.11 7 526,347 3.00 8 532,846 3.03 9 497,866 2.83 10-14 2,533,303 14.42 10 539,264 3.07 11 489,887 2.79 12 517,832 2.95 13 492,122 2.80 14 494,198 2.81 15-19 2,035,945 11.59 15 452,017 2.57 16 339,248 1.93 17 384,682 2.19 18 497,831 2.83 19 362,167 2.06 20-24 1,651,576 9.40 20 357,667 2.04 21 323,511 1.84 22 304,519 1.73 23 330,222 1.88 24 335,657 1.91 25-29 1,229,411 7.00 25 291,198 1.66 26 274,739 1.56 27 213,337 1.21 28 238,630 1.36 29 211,507 1.20 30-34 1,107,226 6.30 30 243,969 1.39 31 209,155 1.19 32 226,360 1.29 33 218,620 1.24 34 209,122 1.19 35-39 968,998 5.52 35 221,078 1.26 36 207,499 1.18 37 165,564 0.94 38 210,252 1.20 39 164,605 0.94 40-44 729,600 4.15 40 168,637 0.96 41 137,967 0.79 42 147,438 0.84 43 151,363 0.86 44 124,195 0.71 45-49 535,868 3.05 45 129,172 0.74 46 121,996 0.69 47 89,576 0.51 48 112,116 0.64 49 83,008 0.47 50-54 387,812 2.21 50 99,632 0.57 51 57,309 0.33 52 63,690 0.36 53 72,671 0.41 54 94,510 0.54 55-59 306,921 1.75 55 69,274 0.39 56 63,914 0.36 57 50,534 0.29 58 75,091 0.43 59 48,108 0.27 60-64 234,918 1.34 60 69,006 0.39 61 38,753 0.22 62 44,264 0.25 63 40,119 0.23 64 42,776 0.24 65-69 240,551 1.37 65 47,861 0.27 66 50,078 0.29 67 35,456 0.20 68 59,659 0.34 69 47,497 0.27 70-74 144,788 0.82 70 39,380 0.22 71 27,618 0.16 72 26,622 0.15 73 31,656 0.18 74 19,512 0.11 75-79 124,718 0.71 75 25,635 0.15 76 28,492 0.16 77 19,096 0.11 78 35,174 0.20 79 16,321 0.09 80-84 63,675 0.36 80 16,846 0.10 81 9,987 0.06 82 12,908 0.07 83 14,208 0.08 84 9,726 0.06 85-89 54,754 0.31 85 12,054 0.07 86 14,628 0.08 87 8,331 0.05 88 15,327 0.09 89 4,414 0.03 90-94 15,130 0.09 90 5,041 0.03 91 2,466 0.01 92 2,746 0.02 93 2,897 0.02 94 1,980 0.01 95+ 13,271 0.08Age group PopulationPercent 0-14 7,718,587 43.95 15-64 9,188,275 52.31 65+ 656,887 3.74===UN population projections===Numbers are in thousands.", "UN medium variant projections *2015\t17,522*2020\t20,677*2025\t24,212*2030\t28,173*2035\t32,667*2040\t37,797*2045\t43,521*2050\t49,719" ], [ "Vital statistics", "Registration of vital events is in Malawi not complete.", "The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.Mid-year population (thousands)Live births (thousands)Deaths (thousands)Natural change (thousands)Crude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)Life expectancy (in years)19502 950 000  145 000  96 000  49 00049.232.516.76.80206.132.751951  3 001 000  149 000  96 000  53 00049.631.817.86.81205.832.811952  3 056 000  153 000  96 000  57 00050.131.418.66.83204.932.911953  3 115 000  157 000  97 000  60 00050.531.219.46.85203.933.101954  3 176 000  160 000  98 000  62 00050.430.819.56.79202.933.401955  3 240 000  165 000  99 000  66 00050.930.520.56.83201.833.791956  3 309 000  170 000  100 000  70 00051.430.221.36.87200.534.221957  3 381 000  176 000  101 000  74 00052.030.022.06.91199.334.521958  3 457 000  181 000  103 000  78 00052.429.922.66.95197.934.801959  3 537 000  187 000  105 000  82 00053.029.823.27.00196.535.021960  3 621 000  193 000  108 000  85 00053.329.723.57.03195.235.201961  3 708 000  199 000  110 000  89 00053.729.724.07.07193.835.331962  3 799 000  205 000  112 000  93 00054.029.524.57.10192.635.651963  3 894 000  212 000  116 000  96 00054.329.724.67.13191.835.621964  3 990 000  216 000  118 000  98 00054.129.624.47.10191.135.691965  4 089 000  221 000  121 000  100 00054.129.624.47.11190.735.721966  4 191 000  227 000  124 000  103 00054.229.524.77.16190.135.871967  4 296 000  233 000  127 000  107 00054.329.524.87.22189.435.901968  4 403 000  239 000  129 000  110 00054.329.425.07.28188.636.041969  4 513 000  244 000  131 000  113 00054.129.125.07.29187.736.321970  4 625 000  249 000  133 000  117 00053.928.725.27.32186.236.731971  4 742 000  254 000  133 000  121 00053.628.125.57.33183.837.241972  4 866 000  260 000  134 000  127 00053.527.426.07.35180.637.901973  4 996 000  266 000  134 000  132 00053.226.826.57.36176.838.541974  5 134 000  272 000  134 000  138 00053.026.026.97.37172.939.271975  5 281 000  279 000  133 000  146 00052.925.227.77.40168.640.221976  5 438 000  287 000  132 000  155 00052.824.328.57.43164.341.231977  5 612 000  296 000  131 000  164 00052.723.429.37.46159.742.231978  5 809 000  305 000  131 000  174 00052.622.630.17.48154.943.291979  6 029 000315 000  132 000  184 00052.521.930.67.51149.844.271980  6 267 000  329 000  134 000  195 00052.621.431.27.57145.745.091981  6 520 000  339 000  137 000  203 00052.321.031.37.54142.145.701982  6 784 000  351 000  141 000  210 00051.920.931.17.51140.145.991983  7 058 000  361 000  147 000  214 00051.320.930.47.44140.046.041984  7 339 000  370 000  155 000  215 00050.721.229.47.36141.645.581985  7 625 000  382 000  164 000  218 00050.321.728.77.29143.744.951986  7 910 000  393 000  174 000  220 00049.922.027.97.22145.244.341987  8 296 000  404 000  182 000  222 00049.522.327.27.15145.543.811988  8 755 000  423 000  198 000  225 00048.922.926.07.02144.643.381989  9 175 000  439 000  204 000  234 00048.322.525.86.91142.643.341990  9 540 000  454 000  210 000  244 00047.822.125.76.81139.943.321991  9 832 000  467 000  213 000  253 00047.521.725.86.72136.543.311992  10 115 000  477 000  215 000  262 00047.221.325.96.65132.443.411993  10 257 000  488 000  219 000  269 00046.921.025.96.59128.943.391994  10 132 000  484 000  214 000  270 00046.620.626.06.51125.443.561995  10 113 000  470 000  206 000  264 00046.320.326.06.42122.443.641996  10 311 000  476 000  212 000  264 00046.020.525.56.31120.043.441997  10 513 000  486 000  218 000  268 00046.120.725.46.26117.643.131998  10 732 000  497 000  224 000  273 00046.220.825.46.24114.642.851999  10 974 000  506 000  222 000  284 00046.020.225.86.15110.743.572000  11 229 000  510 000  220 000  290 00045.419.625.86.04105.244.522001  11 499 000  520 000  214 000  306 00045.218.626.65.9998.145.902002  11 784 000  532 000  208 000  324 00045.117.727.45.9690.947.222003  12 088 000  546 000  201 000  345 00045.116.628.55.9483.148.792004  12 411 000  559 000  193 000  366 00045.015.529.45.9376.750.452005  12 756 000  573 000  187 000  387 00044.914.630.35.9171.752.042006  13 118 000  583 000  183 000  400 00044.414.030.45.8468.253.242007  13 495 000  589 000  182 000  407 00043.613.530.15.7465.853.952008  13 889 000  593 000  180 000  413 00042.713.029.75.6162.854.602009  14 299 000  598 000  174 000  424 00041.812.229.65.4559.955.452010  14 718 000  601 000  168 000  433 00040.811.429.45.2756.956.382011  15 146 000  604 000  161 000  444 00039.910.629.35.1153.157.462012  15 581 000  605 000  153 000  452 00038.89.829.04.9249.058.682013  16 025 000  607 000  146 000  461 00037.99.128.84.7844.659.732014  16 478 000  606 000  138 000  468 00036.8 8.428.44.6141.060.902015  16 939 000  606 000  136 000  470 00035.88.027.84.4538.561.382016  17 406 000  606 000  131 000  475 00034.87.527.34.3135.962.212017  17 881 000  614 000  128 000  486 00034.37.127.24.2233.762.982018  18 368 000  623 000  128 000  496 00033.97.027.04.1431.763.282019  18 867 000  634 000  125 000  509 00033.6 6.627.04.0730.164.122020  19 377 000  644 000  130 000  514 00033.26.726.54.0028.763.722021  19 890 000  654 000  139 000  515 00032.97.025.93.9227.562.90===Fertility and births===Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 1984 52 7.58 1992 42.9 6.73 (5.74) 40.5 5.51 (4.38) 43.2 6.88 (5.92) 2000 45.5 6.3 (5.2) 40.8 4.5 (3.5) 46.2 6.7 (5.5) 2004 42.4 6.0 (4.9) 37.0 4.2 (3.3) 43.4 6.4 (5.2) 2010 39.2 5.7 (4.5) 36.0 4.0 (3.3) 39.8 6.1 (4.8) 2015-16 32.2 4.4 (3.4) 29.5 3.0 (2.5) 32.6 4.7 (3.6)201732.14.227.42.833.04.5Fertility data as of 2016 (DHS Program): Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49Northern 4.2 8.1 5.7Central 4.4 7.8 6.2Southern 4.6 7.3 5.7 '''Total''' '''4.4''' '''7.6''' '''5.9'''" ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.", "*One birth every 48 seconds\t*One death every 4 minutes\t*One net migrant every 65 minutes\t*Net gain of one person every 59 secondsThe following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.===Population===:20,794,353 (2022 est.", "):19,842,560 (July 2018 est.", "):19,196,246 (July 2017 est.", ")===Religions===Protestant 33.5% (includes Church of Central Africa Presbyterian 14.2%, Seventh Day Adventist/Baptist 9.4%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Anglican 2.3%), Roman Catholic 17.2%, other Christian 26.6%, Muslim 13.8%, traditionalist 1.1%, other 5.6%, none 2.1% (2018 est.", ")===Age structure===Population pyramid of Malawi in 2020:''0-14 years:'' 45.87% (male 4,843,107/female 4,878,983):''15-24 years:'' 20.51% (male 2,151,417/female 2,195,939):''25-54 years:'' 27.96% (male 2,944,936/female 2,982,195):''55-64 years:'' 2.98% (male 303,803/female 328,092):''65 years and over:'' 2.68% (2020 est.)", "(male 249,219/female 318,938):''0-14 years:'' 46.17% (male 4,560,940 /female 4,600,184):''15-24 years:'' 20.58% (male 2,023,182 /female 2,059,765):''25-54 years:'' 27.57% (male 2,717,613 /female 2,752,983):''55-64 years:'' 3% (male 284,187 /female 310,393):''65 years and over:'' 2.69% (male 234,776 /female 298,537) (2018 est.", ")===Birth rate===:27.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 38th:40.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 8th:41 births/1,000 population (2017 est.", ")===Death rate===:4.58 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 206th:7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 100th:7.9 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===:3.4 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 41st:4 children born/woman (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 9th===Population growth rate===:2.34% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 31st:3.31% (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 3rd:3.31% (2017 est.", ")===Median age===:total: 16.8 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 221st:male: 16.7 years:female: 16.9 years (2020 est.", "):total: 16.6 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 223rd:male: 16.5 years :female: 16.8 years (2018 est.", ")===Mother's mean age at first birth===:18.9 years (2015/16 est.", "):note: median age at first birth among women 25-29===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:59.2% (2015/16)===Net migration rate===:0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 91st:0 migrants/1,000 population (2017).", "There is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities.===Dependency ratios===:total dependency ratio: 91 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 85.3 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 5.7 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 17.4 (2015 est.", ")===Urbanization===:urban population: 18% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 4.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", "):''urban population:'' 16.9% of total population (2018):''rate of urbanization:'' 4.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===:total population: 72.44 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 154thmale: 69.33 yearsfemale: 75.59 years (2022 est.", "):total population: 62.2 years (2018 est.", "):male: 60.2 years (2018 est.", "):female: 64.3 years (2018 est.", "): ''total population:'' 61.7 years: ''male:'' 59.7 years: ''female:'' 63.8 years (2017 est.", ")===Sex ratio===* ''at birth:'' 1.03 male(s)/female* ''under 15 years:'' 1 male(s)/female* ''15-64 years:'' 0.97 male(s)/female* ''65 years and over:'' 0.69 male(s)/female* ''total population:'' 0.97 male(s)/female (2000 est.", ")===Ratio of medical doctors to general population===1 Doctor/65,000 Malawians ===Major infectious diseases===:degree of risk: very high (2020):food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever:vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever:water contact diseases: schistosomiasis:animal contact diseases: rabiesnote: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Malawi is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine===Nationality===* ''noun:'' Malawian(s)* ''adjective:'' Malawian===Ethnic groups===*Chewa 34.3%* Lomwe 18.8%* Yao 13.2%* Ngoni 11.4%* Tumbuka 9.2%* Sena 3.8%* Mang'anja 3.2%* Tonga 1.8%* Nyanja 1.8%* Nyakyusa 1%* Europeans 0.04%*Other 2.5%===Languages=== English (official)*Chichewa 6,180,000*Chitumbuka - 4,180,000*Chiyao - 3,760,000*Chilomwe - 3,290,000*Chisena - 2,468,000*Chingoni - 37,500*Chimakhuwa - 200,000*Chitonga - 471,000*Chinyika - 5,000*Chinyiha - 10,000*Chindali - 70,000*Chinyakyusa - 149,000*Chilambya - 59,500*Afrikaans - 26,000===Education expenditures===:2.9% of GDP (2020):country comparison to the world: 159===Literacy===''definition:'' age 15 and over can read and write: ''total population:'' 62.1%: ''male:'' 69.8%: ''female:'' 55.2% (2015 est.", ")===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 11 years (2011):male: 11 years (2011):female: 11 years (2011)===Unemployment, youth ages 15-24===:total: 8.5%:male: 6.7%:female: 10.6% (2017 est.)" ], [ "See also", "* Malawi* Malawian American" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", " '''Politics of Malawi''' takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.", "There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.Malawi got independence in July 1964 and was governed as a one-party personalist dictatorship under Hastings Banda and his Malawi Congress Party from 1964 to 1994.In the early 1990s, pressure formed on the regime to democratize.", "Following a 1993 referendum won by pro-democracy forces, a multi-party democratic system was established in 1994." ], [ "Executive branch", "Under the 1995 constitution, the president, who is both chief of state and head of the government, is chosen through universal direct suffrage every 5 years.", "Malawi has a vice president who is elected with the president.", "The president has the option of appointing a second vice president, who must be from a different party.", "It also includes a presidentially appointed cabinet.", "The members of the cabinet of Malawi can be drawn from either within or outside of the legislature.", "Bakili Muluzi was president from 21 May 1994 to May 2004, having won reelection in 2000 with 51.4% of the vote to leading challenger Gwandaguluwe Chakuamba's 44.3% for the MCP-AFORD party.", "In the 2004 election Bingu wa Mutharika defeated Chakuamba by a ten-point margin.", "Although the political environment was described as \"challenging\", it was stated in 2009 that a multi-party system still existed in Malawi.", "Multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections were held for the fourth time in Malawi in May 2009, and President Mutharika was successfully re-elected, despite charges of election fraud from his rival.President Mutharika was seen by some as increasingly autocratic and dismissive of human rights, and in July 2011 protests over high costs of living, devolving foreign relations, poor governance and a lack of foreign exchange reserves erupted.", "The protests left 18 people dead and at least 44 others suffering from gunshot wounds.In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack.", "Over a period of 48 hours, his death was kept secret, including an elaborate flight with the body to South Africa, where the ambulance drivers refused to move the body, saying they were not licensed to move a corpse.", "After the South African government threatened to reveal the information, the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda (not related to the former president Banda).In 2014 Malawian general election Joyce Banda lost the elections (coming third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika, the brother of ex-President Mutharika.", "In the 2019 Malawian general election president Peter Mutharika was narrowly re-elected.", "In February 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court overturned the result because of irregularities and widespread fraud.", "In May 2020 Malawi Supreme Court upheld the decision and announced a new election will be held on July 2.This was the first time election was legally challenged.", "Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he was sworn in as the new president of Malawi.===Current executive===The President of Malawi and the current executive branch is supported by appointed members of a Cabinet of Malawi and government agencies in Malawi.In 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court annulled president Peter Mutharika’s narrow election victory and re-election because of irregularities.", "Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he became the new president.PresidentLazarus ChakweraMalawi Congress Party28 June 2020" ], [ "Legislative branch", "The National Assembly has 193 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies.", "The constitution also originally provided for a second house, a Senate of 80 seats, but to date no action has been taken to create the Senate, and the provisions allowing for its creation were deleted in 2001.The Senate is intended to provide representation for traditional leaders and the different geographical districts, as well as various special interest groups, such as women, youth, and the disabled." ], [ "Judicial branch", "The constitution provides for an independent judiciary.", "Malawi's judicial system, based on the English model, is made up of magisterial lower courts, a High Court, and a Supreme Court of Appeal.Until 1969, Malawi retained a system of justice based on the colonial model, which followed the principles of English law as amended by the laws of Malawi.", "The hierarchy of courts began with Magistrates’ Courts in the towns, rising to a High Court and finally a Supreme Court of Appeal.", "In addition, mainly in rural areas, there are several levels of local courts with varying powers to hear disputes such as divorces and other matrimonial issues, inheritance and access to land based on traditional customary law.", "these courts also heard minor criminal cases specified in the Malawi Penal Code, using an expedited procedure.", "These were subordinate to the High Court, and subject to legislation giving the guarantee of a fair trial, including the right to legal representation and the right to appeal to the High Court.After independence in 1964, Banda, who was then Prime Minister, and the Minister of Justice Orton Chirwa began to criticise such principles of English-based law as the Presumption of innocence, the need to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt and the requirement for corroborating evidence.", "In 1969, the acquittal of five defendants in the first Chilobwe murders trial caused outrage although, as another individual was later found guilty of all these murders in a second trial, this anger was misplaced.", "Parliamentary reaction was hostile, and several speakers, including ministers, openly suggested that European judges and the European-style legal system had allowed clearly guilty defendants to escape the punishment they deserved.", "Aleke Banda, the Minister of Finance, particularly attacked the use of defence lawyers and the legal safeguards imposed by the English-law Rules of evidence.", "Banda (who had become President in 1966) said that, if the judge had any conscience, he should resign and specifically linked traditional law to making punishment certain, claiming that lack of evidence was not proof of innocence.From 1970, the system of Traditional Courts was transformed.", "Three Regional Traditional Courts and a National Traditional Court of Appeal were created above the existing network of lower-level traditional courts, and given jurisdiction over virtually all criminal trials, including murder and treason, involving Africans of Malawian descent, using \"customary\" rules of evidence and procedure.", "Any appeals were directed to a National Traditional Court of Appeal rather than the Malawi High Court, as had been the case before 1970.The High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal remained in existence, and mainly dealt with civil law cases outside customary law.", "Although these courts retained their criminal jurisdiction, in practice the vast majority of criminal cases were heard in Traditional Courts.", "The Traditional Courts were supposed to operate in accordance with African law and custom, although they applied an authoritarian, restrictive and punitive version of customary law, in line with the views of Banda.", "The majority of the judges were chiefs without legal training, appointed by and liable to dismissal by Banda, so without any judicial independence.", "Defendants were not allowed lawyers to plead their cases, had no automatic rights either to call witnesses or of appeal (these were at the discretion of the courts and the minister of Justice).", "They were not given a summary of the charges against them before the trial, so could not prepare a defence.During the 1970s and 1980s, the Traditional Courts gained a reputation for being used to prosecute Banda's political opponents and of being corrupt.", "The political manipulation of the Traditional Courts is shown in the high-profile trials of in 1976 of Albert Muwalo, Secretary General of the Malawi Congress Party and Focus Gwede, Head of the Police Special Branch, on a charge of attempting to assassinate President Banda, and the 1983 treason trial of Orton Chirwa, who was Minister of Justice until the Cabinet Crisis of 1964 and his wife, Vera Chirwa.", "In both cases, unsubstantiated evidence was admitted to secure convictions and all four were sentenced to death on flimsy evidence, although only Muwalo was ultimately executed.During the transition to democracy, the operation of the three regional Traditional Courts and the National Traditional Appeal Court was suspended indefinitely in October 1993, which amounted in practice to their abolition.", "When the new Constitution came into force on 18 May 1994, it recognised customary law as an integral part of the legal system and converted many of the local, lower level Traditional Courts into Magistrates’ courts.", "It also provided for a new system of Traditional Courts but no legislation to set up such courts was introduced before 2011.The 2011 legislation provided for two levels of customary law courts: several Local Courts were established in each of Malawi's 27 districts, mainly in rural areas, and one District Appeals Local Court in each district (to hear appeals from the Local Courts).", "Further appeals may be made to the High Court, to which both types of Local Courts are subordinate.", "Each Local Court and District Appeals Local Court was headed by chairperson, who need not be a lawyer, but with a reasonable standard of education, proficiency in English and an adequate knowledge of the customary law and language of the area that the court serves.", "Complaints have been made that the Local Courts, now popularly called Traditional Courts, are charging excessive court fees to settle disputes.At present (2013), Malawi has as its highest court a Supreme Court of Appeal with jurisdiction only in appeals from lower courts.", "Its members include the Chief Justice and nine other Supreme Court justices.", "The High Court of Malawi has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceedings.", "Most High Court cases are heard before a single judge, without a jury, but cases on constitutional matters must be heard by three judges: there is a Chief Judge and 19 other High Court judges.", "The High Court has a General Division which may also hear appeals from subordinate courts, and a Commercial Division, dealing with commercial or business cases.", "One subordinate court is the Industrial Relations Court with jurisdiction over employment issues.", "Cases before it are heard informally, and with some restrictions on legal representation, by a panel consisting of a chairperson and one representative each of employers and employees.", "Other subordinate courts are the Magistrate Courts and Local or Traditional Courts.", "These have defined criminal and civil jurisdiction depending ontheir level, but expressly excluding cases of treason, murder or manslaughter." ], [ "Local government", "Local government is carried out in 28 districts within three regions administered by regional administrators and district commissioners who are appointed by the central government.", "Local elections, the first in the multi-party era, took place on November 21, 2000.The UDF party won 70% of the seats in this election.", "The districts are Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Neno, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba" ], [ "Political process", "===Political parties===Malawi is a multi-party state system (see list of political parties in Malawi).", "Malawi began as a one-party state in 1964, with the MCP being the only party until 1993.A movement called the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) under the leadership of Chakufwa Chihana grew, calling for the end of Kamuzu Banda's dictatorship.", "Due to this internal and external pressure Banda agreed to hold a national referendum in 1993 where the nation voted to become a multi-party state.", "AFORD became the first registered opposition political party, and other opposition parties formed thereafter.", "The first multi-party elections occurred in 1994 in which the UDF won votes as the first administration under a multi-party system under Bakili Muluzi.", "Malawi is now a multi -party nation with 40 registered parties but only a few prominent ones.===Elections===Elections in Malawi have been held every five years since 1994.Past election years in Malawi were in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2009, 2014 and the last one held in May 2019.In June 2020, Malawi held a rerun presidential election, following allegations of irregularities in the 2019 presidential election.", "*Past elections:**Malawian general election, 2019**Malawian general election, 2014** Malawian general election, 2009** Malawi general election, 2004** Malawian general election, 1999** Malawian general election, 1994" ], [ "International organization participation", "ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO" ], [ "See also", "* Elections in Malawi* Cabinet of Malawi* President of Malawi* List of political parties in Malawi*2007 Malawian political crisis" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Official page of the Government of Malawi" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "Lilongwe market.The '''economy of Malawi''' is $7.522 billion by gross domestic product as of 2019, and is predominantly agricultural, with about 80% of the population living in rural areas.", "The landlocked country in south central Africa ranks among the world's least developed countries.", "In 2017, agriculture accounted for about one-third of GDP and about 80% of export revenue.", "The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations.", "The government faces strong challenges: to spur exports, to improve educational and health facilities, to face up to environmental problems of deforestation and erosion, and to deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa.", "Malawi is a least developed country according to United Nations." ], [ "Agriculture", "Malawi's most important export crop is tobacco, which accounted for a third (30%) of export revenue in 2012.In 2000, the country was the tenth-largest producer in the world.", "The country's heavy reliance on tobacco places a heavy burden on the economy as world prices decline and the international community increases pressure to limit tobacco production.", "Malawi's dependence on tobacco is growing, with the product jumping from 53% to 70% of export revenues between 2007 and 2008.A Malawi tea estateThe country also relies heavily on tea, sugarcane and coffee, with these three plus tobacco making up more than 90% of Malawi's export revenue.", "Tea was first introduced in 1878.Most of it is grown in Mulanje and Thyolo.", "Other crops include cotton, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats.", "Tobacco and sugar processing are notable secondary industries.Traditionally Malawi has been self-sufficient in its staple food, maize (corn), and during the 1980s it exported substantial quantities to its drought-stricken neighbors.", "Nearly 90% of the population engages in subsistence farming.", "Smallholder farmers produce a variety of crops, including maize, beans, rice, cassava, tobacco, and groundnuts (peanuts).", "Financial wealth is generally concentrated in the hands of a small elite.", "Malawi's manufacturing industries are situated around the city of Blantyre.Lake Malawi and Lake Chilwa provide most of the fish for the region.", "For many Malawians, fish is the most important source of proteins.", "Dried fish is not only consumed locally, but also exported to neighboring countries.", "Most fishing is done on small scale by hand.", "However, Maldeco Fisheries owns several commercial fishing boats and operates fish farms in the southern part of Lake Malawi.Dried fish on Likoma IslandMalawi has few exploitable mineral resources.", "A South-African Australian consortium exploits uranium at a mine near Karonga.", "Coal is being extracted in Mzimba District.", "Malawi's economic reliance on the export of agricultural commodities renders it particularly vulnerable to external shocks such as declining terms of trade and drought.", "High transport costs, which can comprise over 30% of its total import bill, constitute a serious impediment to economic development and trade.", "Malawi must import all its fuel products.", "Other challenges include a paucity of skilled labor, difficulty in obtaining expatriate employment permits, bureaucratic red tape, corruption, and inadequate and deteriorating road, electricity, water, and telecommunications infrastructure which hinder economic development in Malawi.", "However, recent government initiatives targeting improvements in the road infrastructure, together with private sector participation in railroad and telecommunications, have begun to render the investment environment more attractive.BlantyreThe following are Malawi's top 20 agricultural production values and volumes for 2009.", "(Unofficial figures derived from FAO statistics) Commodity Production in International dollars (1000) Production in tonnes FAO source Maize 462,330 3,582,500 Cassava 404,764 3,823,240 Tobacco 331,542 208,155 Groundnuts 116,638 275,176 Bananas (excluding plantains) 95,152 400,000 F Sugar cane 82,093 2,500,000 F Indigenous cattle meat 80,688 0 Pigeon peas 80,274 184,156 Beans, dry 75,706 164,712 Fresh fruit 74,456 213,321 Im Plantains 72,634 351,812 Im Indigenous pig meat 68,788 0 Tea 55,895 52,559 P Indigenous goat meat 53,512 0 Mangoes, mangosteens and guavas 49,527 82,659 Im Cotton lint 39,017 27,300 F Paddy rice 36,896 135,988 Fresh vegetables 30,530 162,012 Im Indigenous chicken meat 25,713 0 Cow peas 18,073 72,082Key:F : FAO estimate, Im: FAO data based on imputation methodology, P : Provisional official data" ], [ "Macro-economic trends", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017.Year GDP(in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Inflation(in Percent) Government debt(Pct.", "of GDP) 1980 2.42 3683.02 0.4 % 19.2 % ... 1985 3.46 4492.76 4.6 % 10.6 % ... 1990 4.52 4504.22 5.7 % 11.9 % ... 1995 5.75 5393.41 13.8 % 83.1 % ... 2000 7.73 6404.26 0.8 % 29.6 % ... 2005 9.76 7145.15 3.3 % 15.4 % 107 % 2006 10.53 7505.63 4.7 % 13.9 % 28 % 2007 11.85 8206.24 9.6 % 8.0 % 28 % 2008 13.00 8767.49 7.6 % 8.7 % 36 % 2009 14.19 9298.72 8.3 % 8.4 % 36 % 2010 15.35 9779.80 6.9 % 7.4 % 30 % 2011 16.43 1,01611.24 4.9 % 7.6 % 31 % 2012 17.05 1,0258.42 1.9 % 21.3 % 44 % 2013 18.22 1,0657.65 5.2 % 28.3 % 59 % 2014 19.61 1,1148.53 5.7 % 23.8 % 55 % 2015 20.40 1,1279.01 3.0 % 21.9 % 61 % 2016 21.13 1,1347.73 2.3 % 21.7 % 60 % 2017 22.37 1,1678.94 4.0 % 11.5 % 59 %" ], [ "Industry", "In 2013, Malawi's manufacturing sector contributed 10.7% of GDP.", "The main industries are food processing, construction, consumer goods, cement, fertilizer, ginning, furniture production and cigarette production.The government's attempts to diversify the agriculture sector and move up the global value chain have been seriously constrained by poor infrastructure, an inadequately trained work force and a weak business climate.", "In order to help companies adopt innovative practices and technologies, the ''National Export Strategy'' adopted in 2013 affords companies greater access to the outcome of international research and better information about available technologies; it also helps companies to obtain grants to invest in such technologies from sources such as the country's Export Development Fund and the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund.", "In parallel, the government has raised its investment in research and development to 1% of GDP.", "===Food and beverages===Most fruits and vegetables are exported raw, while processed food is imported mainly from South Africa.", "Carlsberg opened its first brewery outside of Denmark in Blantyre in 1965.The brewery also bottles Coca-Cola products under licence.", "A mango processing plant for the export of fruit concentrate opened in Salima in 2013.Universal Industries operates several food factories in Blantyre, where it produces sweets, crisps, biscuits, milk powder, soy products and baby food.", "Coffee and tea are processed by half a dozen of different companies in the regions of Thyolo, Mulanje and around Mzuzu.=== Pharmaceutical companies ===Malawi has four pharmaceutical companies.", "They manufacture a limited range of drugs, particularly those that are in great demand on the local market.", "These are Pharmanova Ltd., which is the biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer in Malawi, followed by SADM, Malawi Pharmacies (Pharmaceuticals Limited) and Kentam Products Limited.===Forestry===Lady carrying a solar panel.Large man-made pine tree forests are located in the Viphya Mountains, around Mulanje and Zomba.", "Timber production for building materials and furniture is an important industry for these regions.", "However, most areas in Malawi suffer from deforestation due to illegal logging for charcoal production and the use of firewood.===Electricity===Malawi's sole power supplier is the state owned Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (ESCOM), which generates almost all its power from hydroelectric plants along the Shire River.", "The installed is approximately 351MW.", "About 12% of the country's population has access to electricity, according to 2014 World Bank figures.The country has been suffering from intermittent power outages as a result of an ongoing drought that has halved power output as water levels of the Shire river dropped significantly.", "The river usually generates 300MW of electricity, accounting for 98% of Malawi's total supply.", "However, the drought reduced that capacity to 160MW, according to ESCOM." ], [ "Services", "The service sector accounts for 51.7% of Malawi's national GDP.", "Notable industries are tourism, retail, transport, education, health services, telecommunication and the banking sector.", "The Government of Malawi holds shares in many important companies, such as Malawian Airlines (51%) and Press Corporation Limited.", "Press Corporation Ltd. is the country's biggest company, with subsidiaries in the tobacco, banking, sugar, fishing, ethanol production, steel production, retail, telecommunication and petrol sectors." ], [ "International support", "Malawi has undertaken economic structural adjustment programs supported by the World Bank (IBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other donors since 1981.Broad reform objectives include stimulation of private sector activity and participation through the elimination of price controls and industrial licensing, liberalization of trade and foreign exchange, rationalization of taxes, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and civil service reform.", "Malawi qualified for Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) debt relief and is in the process of refining its poverty reduction strategy.Malawi has bilateral trade agreements with its two major trading partners, South Africa and Zimbabwe, both of which allow duty-free entry of Malawian products into their countries.", "The government faces challenges such as the improvement of Malawi's educational and health facilities — particularly important because of the rising rates of HIV/AIDS — and environmental problems including deforestation, erosion, and overworked soils.Former President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi spoke about the country's recent unilateral agricultural reforms at the World Economic Forum on Africa at the United Nations, September 2008.===Move towards economic independence===In 2006, in response to disastrously low agricultural harvests, Malawi, through an initiative by the late President Bingu Mutharika, an economist by profession, began a program of fertilizer subsidies that were designed to re-energize the land and boost crop production.", "It has been reported that this program, championed by the country's president, is radically improving Malawi's agriculture, and causing Malawi to become a net exporter of food to nearby countries.Economic grievances though took a downward slide during Mutharika's second term.", "Economic grievances were a catalyst that resulted in the 2011 economic protests in Malawi in July." ], [ "Economic indicators", "The following figures are taken from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.", "'''GDP:'''purchasing power parity = $22.37 billion (2017 est.", ")Interest rates advertised by Malawi Savings Bank in Nchalo, Malawi on 30 September 2008Exchange rates advertised by a currency trader in Lilongwe on 7 October 2008Reserve Bank of Malawi Mzuzu Branch under construction in Mzuzu, a fast-growing city.", "July 2008'''GDP - real growth rate:'''4% (2017 est.", ")'''GDP - per capita:'''purchasing power parity - $1200 (2017 est.", ")'''GDP - composition by sector:'''''agriculture:''28.1%''industry:''15.8%''services:''56.1% (2016 est.", ")'''Population below poverty line:'''50.7% (2010 est.", ")'''Inflation rate (consumer prices):'''23% (2014 est.", ")'''Labor force:'''7 million (2013 est.", ")'''Labor force - by occupation:'''agriculture 76.9%, industry and services 23.1% (2013 est.", ")'''Unemployment rate:'''NA%'''Budget:'''''revenues:''$1.346 billion (2017 est.", ")''expenditures:''$1.556 billion (2017 est.", ")'''Public Debt'''59.3% of GDP (2017 est.", ")'''Industries:'''tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods, cotton, consumer goods, uranium and coal mining'''Industrial production growth rate:'''2.8% (2013 est.", ")'''Electricity - production:'''1.973 billion kWh (2010 est.", ")'''Electricity - consumption:'''1.835 billion kWh (2010 est.", ")'''Agriculture - products:'''tobacco, sugar cane, cotton, tea, maize, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, pulses; cattle, goats'''Exports:'''$1.427 billion (2013 est.", ")'''Exports - commodities:'''tobacco, tea, sugar, cotton, coffee, peanuts, wood products, apparel, uranium and its compounds'''Exports - partners:'''Canada 10.6%, Zimbabwe 9.3%, Germany 7.3%, South Africa 6.6%, Russia 6.5%, US 6.1%, China 4.2% (2012)'''Imports:'''$2.42 billion (2013 est.", ")'''Imports - commodities:'''food, petroleum products, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment'''Imports - partners:'''South Africa 27%, China 16.6%, India 8.7%, Zambia 8.5%, Tanzania 5.1%, US 4.3% (2012)'''Current account balance'''- $280.1 million (2013 est.", ")'''Debt - external:'''$1.556 billion (31 December 2013 est.", ")'''Economic aid - recipient:'''$575.3 million (2005)'''Foreign direct investment - inflow'''$129.5 million (2014)'''Currency:'''1 Malawian kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala'''Exchange rates:'''Malawian kwachas per US dollar -730.00 (20/June/2016), 460.00 (20/Jan/2015), 360.00 (6/Feb/2013), 165.961 (1/Sep/2011), 145.179 (2009), 135.96 (2006), 108.894 (2005), 108.898 (2004), 97.433 (2003), 76.687 (2002)'''Fiscal year:'''1 July - 30 June" ], [ "See also", "* Transportation in Malawi* List of companies based in Malawi* Science and technology in Malawi* Economy of Mozambique* Economy of South Africa* Economy of Botswana* The International Monetary Fund and Malawi* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*Anthony and Doreen Young, ''A Geography of Malawi'', Second edition.", "Evans Brothers, Limited, London (1978)" ], [ "External links", "* Official site - Ministry of Finance of Malawi* * MBendi Malawi overview* Malawi latest trade data on ITC Trade Map" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Communications in Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Communications in Malawi''' includes the country's postal, telephone, television, radio and internet services." ], [ "Post", "Malawi Posts Corporation provides the national postal service in Malawi and runs the post offices throughout the country.", "Ten other postal services providers operate in Malawi, including DHL, FedEx.Postal services in Malawi are regulated by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)." ], [ "Telephone", "Mobile telephones are vastly more common than fixed line phones in Malawi, with over 6.1 million mobile subscriptions compared with only 45,678 fixed line subscriptions .A report by the International Telecommunication Union in 2014 found the average Malawians spend on mobile phones was over 56% of the average monthly earning there.", "This was the highest proportion of earnings found by the survey.Telephone system:* domestic - fair system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations* international - satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean)" ], [ "Radio and television", "Radio and television broadcast services in Malawi are also regulated by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA).There are 45 licensed radio broadcast stations, of which 31 are operational: AM 9, FM 5 (plus 15 repeater stations), shortwave 2 (plus a third station held in standby status)) ()Radios: 2.6 million ()There are 20 licensed television broadcast stations, of which 5 are operational ()." ], [ "Internet", "The internet in Malawi is regulated by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Business to consumer Internet service providers include Airtel, and Malawi Postal Service.", "there were 1.67 million internet users in Malawi.The number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) was 18 ().", "The Country code (Top level domain) is MW." ], [ "See also", "*Malawi* Media of Malawi" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* GSM World page on Malawi* PanAfriL10n page on Malawi" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "An unpaved country road in Malawi'''Transportation in Malawi''' is poorly developed.", "The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways.", "It has of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved.", "Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River." ], [ "Highways", "Road to Mzuzu through the Chikangawa man-made forest.Truck on M1 near Karonga.Recent (c. 2009) assessments indicate that there were of roads in the country; of these, (45 percent) were paved.", "The remaining were not paved." ], [ "Ports, harbours and waterways", "Boat on Lake MalawiLake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and Shire River (144 kilometres) provide the major waterways.", "There is a railhead at the port of Chipoka, Salima district in central Malawi.", "Smaller ports exist at Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota and Chilumba.The MV Ilala connects Likoma Island with the mainland, as well as the Malawian and Mozambican sides of the lake.", "In 2010, a port in Nsanje was opened to connect the country through the Shire and Zambezi rivers with the Indian Ocean.", "As of 2015, the port is not operational due to unresolved contracts with Mozambique." ], [ "Air transport", "'''Malawian Airlines Limited''' is the national airline of Malawi which operates regional passenger service.", "Based in Lilongwe, it is 51% owned by the Malawi government.", "49% are controlled by Ethiopian Airlines The airline's main base of operations is Lilongwe International Airport, with a secondary hub at Chileka International Airport.===Airports===In 2001 there was a total of 44 airports in the country.As of 2015, two airports have scheduled passenger services.=== Paved runways ===''total:''6''over 3,047 m:''1''1,524 to 2,437 m:''1''914 to 1,523 m:''4 (2002)=== Unpaved runways ===''total:''37''1,524 to 2,437 m:''1''914 to 1,523 m:''14''under 914 m:''22 (2002)" ], [ "Rail transport", "'''Malawi Railways''' is the national rail network in Malawi, run by a government corporation until privatisation in 1999.As of 1 December 1999 the '''Central East African Railways''', a consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation, won the right to operate the network.", "This was the first rail privatisation in Africa which did not involve a parastatal operator.The rail network totalled 797 kilometres in 2001.It is a narrow gauge line with a track.=== Railway links with adjacent countries ===The , gauge line extends from the Zambian border at Mchinji in the west via Lilongwe to Blantyre and Makhanga in the south.", "At Nkaya Junction it links with the Nacala Corridor line going east via Nayuchi to Mozambique's deepwater port at Nacala on the Indian Ocean.", "The link south from Makhanga to Mozambique's Beira corridor has been closed since the Mozambique Civil War, with plans for reconstruction not yet realised.There is no direct link with neighbouring Tanzania as there is a break of gauge, / .", "An extension from Mchinji to Chipata in Zambia opened in 2010, and there is a proposal to eventually link up from there with the TAZARA railway at Mpika.", "Direct linkage is available with Mozambique, however, which has the same gauge track.", "Linkage is called the Nacala Corridor line via Nayuchi to the port of Nacala, and Nsanje to the Dona Ana Bridge and Beira.", "The latter link has not been operational since the war in Mozambique and is in need of reconstruction.=== Rail developments in 2006 ===In 2006, a Brazilian company (VALE) announced plans to build a rail branch line to the Moatize coal mine in western Mozambique from the Nacala Corridor line to export coal via the port of Nacala; the link would cross Malawi.", "The national Railroad Development Corporation map shows a proposed extension across the border to Chipata in Zambia.", "Central East African Railways, previously a subsidiary of the Railroad Development Corporation, operates the privatised Malawi Railways network.", "Also in 2006, the president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika asked his Mozambiquan counterpart, Armando Guebuza, to consider the provision of a new 250 kilometre rail connection from Nsanje - the then-current southern extent of Malawi Railways - to the Indian Ocean port of Chinde, near the mouth of the Zambesi." ], [ "Communications", "As of 2007, there were 175,200 land line telephones in Malawi, and 1.051 million cell phones, which is approximately 8 cell phones per 100 people.", "The telephone system overall is described as rudimentary.", "In the past, Malawi's telecommunications system has been named as some of the poorest in Africa, but conditions are improving, with 130,000 land line telephones being connected between 2000 and 2007.Telephones are much more accessible in urban areas, with less than a quarter of land lines being in rural areas.", "There were 139,500 Internet users as of 2007, and 3 Internet service providers as of 2002.As of 2001 there were 14 radio stations and 1 TV station." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* UN Map* RRDC map" ] ]
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[ [ "Foreign relations of Malawi" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Malawi's''' former President Bakili Muluzi continued the pro-Western '''foreign policy''' established by his predecessor, Hastings Banda.", "It maintains excellent diplomatic relations with principal Western countries.", "Malawi's close relations with South Africa throughout the apartheid era strained its relations with other African nations.", "Following the collapse of apartheid in 1994, Malawi developed, and currently maintains, strong diplomatic relations with all African countries." ], [ "Bilateral donors", "Important bilateral donors include Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Republic of China (Taiwan), the United Kingdom, and the United States.", "Multilateral donors include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations organizations." ], [ "SADC", "Malawi assumed the chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2001.Muluzi took an active role in SADC on issues such as the global coalition against terrorism and land reform in Zimbabwe." ], [ "ACP", "Malawi has been a member of the ACP group since Lomé I and is also a party to the Cotonou agreement, the partnership agreement between the European Community/European Union and 77 states from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific." ], [ "Memberships in international organizations", "Malawi is a member of the following international organizations: the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Nations and some of its specialized and related agencies (i.e.", "UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO), IMF, World Bank, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, Organization of African Unity (OAU), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Lome Convention, African Development Bank (AFDB), Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Non-Aligned Movement, G-77, and the World Health Organization (WHO).Malawi is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98)." ], [ "Bilateral Relations", "List of countries which Malawi maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate16 July 196426 July 196436 July 196446 July 196458 July 19646 15 July 1964730 July 1964819 October 1964925 November 1964109 March 1965119 March 19651227 May 19651328 September 1965142 December 19651516 December 19651619651719651828 January 1966—5 February 19661922 February 19662019 May 19662117 June 19662220 September 1966231 July 19672410 September 1967254 August 19692629 November 19692730 April 19702815 September 19702927 October 19723012 February 19743110 September 1974324 September 19763328 October 198034November 19803519 June 1981361 July 19813717 July 19813819813925 June 1982401 July 19834116 May 19854211 July 19854315 July 1985441 May 1986451 June 19874621 March 19904723 August 19904830 November 19904926 December 19905020 March 1991516 November 19915210 July 1992532 November 1993549 November 19935530 December 19935623 November 19945719 June 19955818 February 19965912 June 19966010 December 19976113 February 19986220 February 19986330 March 19986421 April 1998659 June 19986614 August 19986724 August 19986810 September 1998—23 October 19986913 November 19987010 December 19987122 December 19987219987311 March 19997423 June 19997515 August 19997627 September 19997730 September 19997822 June 20007911 October 20008031 January 2001819 February 2001823 May 20018322 May 20018426 June 20018513 July 20018620028721 May 20048831 January 20078928 December 20079026 February 2009919 June 20119225 June 20119319 July 20119420 July 20119521 July 20119621 July 20119716 September 20119819 September 20119926 September 201110018 October 201110118 November 201110221 December 2011103201110420 January 201210530 January 201210615 March 201210731 July 201210826 September 201210920 March 201311029 September 20141118 March 20161128 March 20161139 March 2016—20 July 20161147 December 20161153 May 201711620 July 201711721 July 201711818 October 201711919 February 201912019 February 201912122 September 202212224 September 202212325 September 202212418 October 202212516 February 20231262 August 20231271 November 20231288 December 2023129Unknown130Unknown131Unknown Country Formal Relations BeganNotes1 July 1983*Australia is represented in Malawi by its embassy in Harare.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "9 June 1998See Bahrain–Malawi relations1 July 1967Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 July 1967 when first High Commissioner of Botswana Mr. H. Mannathoko presented his credentials to President of Malawi.Both countries are full members of the Southern African Development Community, Commonwealth of Nations and of the Non-Aligned Movement.12 February 1974*Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 February 1974*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.28 December 2007Hastings Banda recognized the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1967.In January 2008, Malawi switched this recognition to the People's Republic of China.Since 2008 there has been a significant shift by the Malawian government towards accepting investment from China.", "Potentially this may be part of a wider power struggle between the East and West in Africa.22 June 2000**Both countries are full members of Commonwealth of Nations.22 February 1966*Denmark is represented in Malawi by its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique.", "*Malawi is represented in Denmark by its embassy in London, England, United Kingdom.30 April 1970*Greece is represented in Malawi by its embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.", "*Malawi is represented in Greece by its embassy in Brussels, Belgium.19 October 1964See India–Malawi relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 October 1964 when has been accredited Acting High Commissioner of India to Malawi Mr. Dileep S. Kamtekar.5 April 1971Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 April 1971.But diplomatic relations were severed on 11 February 1979 and re-established on 18 February 1996.15 July 1964See Israel–Malawi relations10 December 1998* Malawi is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Malawi from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.1 July 1981See Malawi-Mozambique relationsBetween 1985 and 1995, Malawi accommodated more than a million refugees from Mozambique.", "The refugee crisis placed a substantial strain on Malawi's economy but also drew significant inflows of international assistance.", "The accommodation and eventual repatriation of the Mozambicans is considered a major success by international organizations.3 May 2001Neither country has an embassy in each other's territories.", "The Philippines's embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, is accredited to Malawi; on the other hand, Malawi's embassy in Tokyo, Japan, is accredited to the Philippines.As of 25 May 2018, the date of presentation of credentials of Philippine non-resident ambassador Uriel Norman Garibay to President Arthur Peter Mutharika, there are 41 Filipino nationals residing in Malawi, mainly in Blantyre and Lilongwe.", "10 July 1992See Malawi–Poland relations26 September 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 September 2012 when Ambassador of Malawi to Qatar (resident in Kuwait City) Mr. Yunis Abdul Karim has presented his credentials.26 June 2001Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 June 2001 when accredited first Ambassador of Rwanda to Malawi (resident in Dar es Salaam) Mr. Zephyr MutanguhaIn 1996, Malawi received a number of Rwandan and Congolese refugees seeking asylum.", "The government did not turn away refugees, but it did invoke the principle of \"first country of asylum.\"", "Under this principle, refugees who requested asylum in another country first, or who had the opportunity to do so would not subsequently be granted asylum in Malawi.", "There were no reports of the forcible repatriation of refugees.10 September 1967See Malawi–South Africa relationsThe colonial structures of Malawian labour export to South African mines continued after Malawi achieved independence in 1964.Led by dictator Hastings Banda, Malawi was the only African country to maintain close relations with White-ruled South Africa until the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela.", "Malawians were viewed as important workers in the South African mines due to their \"skills, work discipline and lack of militancy\" From 1988 to 1992, around 13,000 Malawian migrant laborers were forcefully repatriated out of South Africa.", "Officially, this was because 200 Malawians had tested positive for HIV in the previous two years, but many believe that it was due to the need for retrenchment of laborers during a crisis in South Africa's mining industry.Since South Africa and Malawi had their first democratic elections in 1994, Malawi and South Africa have enhanced relations.", "In 2008, the two governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to enhance the relationship between the two countries through enhanced security cooperation.9 March 1965In 2011 Bilateral Trade between both nations totaled US$31 million.27 October 1972See Malawi–Spain relations16 May 1985Malawi has a dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi).4 August 1969* Embassy of Malawi in Berlin is accredited to Turkey.", "*Turkish Embassy in Lusaka is accredited to Malawi.", "*Trade volume between the two countries was US$21 million in 2019 (Malawi's exports/imports: 16.4/4.67 million USD).22 December 1998 See Malawi-Ukraine relations6 July 1964See Malawi–United Kingdom relationsHistorical ties make the UK historically one of the more important donors and supporters of Malawi.", "However, the expulsion of the UK's High Commissioner in April 2011 may change this relationship.", "Since the expulsion the UK has suspended direct government aid, citing concerns over governance and human rights.6 July 1964See Malawi–United States relationsThe transition from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy significantly strengthened the already cordial U.S. relationship with Malawi.", "Significant numbers of Malawians study in the United States.", "The United States has an active Peace Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and an Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Malawi.In July 2011, the United States suspended direct funding.", "The US government agency responsible, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, suspended aid because it was 'deeply upset' by the deaths of the 19 people during the July protests.17 July 1981Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 July 1981 when has been appointed first High Commissioner of Malawi to Zimbabwe Mr. M. A. Banda and open High Commission of Malawi in Harare.In October 2022, a memorandum of understanding was signed with Liberland, which caused public critics in the country." ], [ "Malawi and the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]", "Malawi became a full member of the Commonwealth on independence from the United Kingdom in 1964.Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, was Queen of Malawi, represented by the Governor-General of Malawi, until the country became a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations in 1966, when the then Prime Minister of Malawi, Hastings Banda, declared himself the first President of Malawi." ], [ "See also", "*List of diplomatic missions in Malawi*List of diplomatic missions of Malawi" ], [ "References" ] ]
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[ [ "Demographics of Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''demographics of Malaysia''' are represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in the country.", "Malaysia's population, according to the 2010 census, is 28,334,000 including non-citizens, which makes it the 42nd most populated country in the world.", "Of these, 5.72 million live in East Malaysia and 22.5 million live in Peninsular Malaysia.", "The population distribution is uneven, with some 79% of its citizens concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of , constituting under 40% of the total area of Malaysia.The Malaysian population is growing at a rate of 1.94% per annum as of 2017.According to latest projection of the 2010 census, the fertility rates of the 3 largest Malaysian groups are as follows: Malay/Bumiputera: 2.4 children per woman, Chinese: 1.4 children per woman and Indian: 1.8 children per woman.", "Malay fertility rates are 40% higher than Malaysian Indians and 56% higher than Malaysian Chinese.", "Population projections in 2017 show that the Malays and Bumiputeras comprised a total of 68.8% of the total population, Chinese 23.2% and Indians 7.0%.", "The Chinese population has shrunk proportionally from 1957, when it was about 40% of Malaya, although in absolute numbers they have increased around threefold by 2017 in Malaysia (2.4 million in 1957 to 6.6 million in 2017, the later figure includes East Malaysia) but have been dwarfed by the fivefold increase of Malays (from around 3.1 million in 1957 to 15.5 million in 2017)." ], [ "Demographic trends and key rates", "Censuses were taken in Malaysia in 1970, 1980, 1991, 2000 and 2010.The total population is around 28.3 million according to the 2010 census.", "The population distribution is highly uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated in Peninsula Malaysia.", "74.7% of the population is urban.", "Due to the rise in labour-intensive industries, Malaysia is estimated to have over 3 million migrant workers, which is about 10% of the Malaysian population.", "The exact numbers are unknown: there are a million legal foreign workers and perhaps another million unauthorised foreigners.", "The state of Sabah alone had nearly 25% of its 2.7 million population listed as illegal foreign workers in the last census.", "Sabah based NGOs estimate that out of the 3 million population, 2 million are illegal immigrants.Additionally, according to the ''World Refugee Survey 2008'', published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), Malaysia hosts a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 155,700.Of this population, approximately 70,500 refugees and asylum seekers are from the Philippines, 69,700 from Burma, and 21,800 from Indonesia.", "The USCRI named Malaysia as one of the ten worst places for refugees on account of the country's discriminatory practices toward them.", "Malaysian officials are reported to have turned deportees directly over to human smugglers in 2007, and Malaysia employs RELA, a volunteer militia, to enforce its immigration law.Population in Peninsular Malaysia by parliamentary constituency (2020 census)===Population distribution by states and territories===Source: National Census 2000, Department of Statistics Malaysia.Population in Peninsular Malaysia by local authority (2020 census)====In 2000====State Population Area (km2) Pop.", "density Urban pop.", "(%) Bumiputra (%) Chinese (%) Indian (%)Johor 2,740,625 18,987 144 65.2 57.1 35.4 6.9Kedah 1,649,756 9,425 175 39.3 76.6 14.9 7.1Kelantan 1,313,014 15,024 87 34.2 95.0 3.8 0.3Malacca 635,791 1,652 385 67.2 62.8 30.1 6.5Negeri Sembilan 859,924 6,644 129 53.4 57.9 25.6 16.0Pahang 1,288,376 35,965 36 42.0 76.8 17.7 5.0Penang 1,313,449 1,031 1274 80.1 42.5 46.5 10.6Perak 2,051,236 21,005 98 58.7 54.7 32.0 13.0Perlis 204,450 795 257 34.3 85.5 10.3 1.3Selangor 4,188,876 7,960 526 87.6 53.5 30.7 14.6Terengganu 898,825 12,955 69 48.7 96.8 2.8 0.2Sabah 2,603,485 73,619 35 48.0 80.5 13.2 0.5 Sarawak 2,071,506 124,450 17 48.1 72.9 26.7 0.2FT Kuala Lumpur 1,379,310 243 5676 100.0 43.6 43.5 11.4FT Labuan 76,067 92 827 77.7 79.6 15.8 1.3FT Putrajaya 45,000 148 304 100.0 94.8 1.8 2.7* Putrajaya data is for 2004.", "* Population estimates are rounded to the nearest hundred.====In 2010====Source: National Census 2010, Department of Statistics MalaysiaState Population Area (km2) Pop.", "density Urban pop.", "(%) Bumiputra (%) Chinese (%) Indian (%)Johor 3,348,283 18,987 174 71.9 58.9 33.6 7.1Kedah 1,890,098 9,425 199 64.6 77.9 13.6 7.3Kelantan 1,459,994 15,024 97 42.4 95.7 3.4 0.3Malacca 788,706 1,652 470 86.5 66.9 26.4 6.2Negeri Sembilan 997,071 6,644 150 66.5 61.3 23.2 15.2Pahang 1,443,365 35,965 40 50.5 79.0 16.2 4.4Penang 1,520,143 1,031 1,500 90.8 43.6 45.6 10.4Perak 2,258,428 21,005 110 69.7 57.0 30.4 12.2Perlis 227,025 795 280 51.4 88.4 8.0 1.2Selangor 5,411,324 7,960 670 91.4 57.1 28.6 13.5Terengganu 1,015,776 12,955 69 59.1 97.0 2.6 0.2Sabah 3,117,405 73,619 42 54.0 84.8 12.8 0.3 Sarawak 2,420,009 124,450 19 53.8 74.8 24.5 0.3FT Kuala Lumpur 1,627,172 243 6,891 100.0 45.9 43.2 10.3FT Labuan 86,908 92 950 82.3 83.7 13.4 0.9FT Putrajaya 67,964 148 1,400 100.0 98.0 0.7 1.2====In 2020====Source: National Census 2020, Department of Statistics MalaysiaState Population Area (km2) Pop.", "density Urban pop.", "(%) Bumiputra (%) Chinese (%) Indian (%)Pop.", "Growth(%)Johor 4,009,670 18,987 210 77.4 60.1 32.8 6.619.753%Kedah 2,131,427 9,425 225 67.3 80.1 12.3 6.312.7681%Kelantan 1,792,501 15,024 119 44.1 96.6 2.5 0.322.7745%Malacca 998,428 1,652 604 90.9 71.7 22.1 5.626.5906%Negeri Sembilan 1,199,974 6,644 180 69.3 63.3 21.9 14.320.3499%Pahang 1,591,295 35,965 44 52.8 81.0 14.7 3.710.249%Penang 1,740,405 1,031 1,686 92.5 44.7 44.9 9.714.4896%Perak 2,496,041 21,005 119 72.0 60.9 27.2 11.510.5212%Perlis 284,885 795 348 53.8 88.8 7.4 1.825.4862%Selangor 6,994,423 7,960 882 95.8 60.6 27.3 11.329.2553%Terengganu 1,149,440 12,955 89 64.2 97.6 2.1 0.2Sabah 3,418,785 73,619 46 54.7 88.7 9.5 0.2 Sarawak 2,453,677 124,450 20 57.0 75.7 23.8 0.2FT Kuala Lumpur 1,982,112 243 8,157 100.0 47.7 41.6 10.021.8133%FT Labuan 95,120 92 1038 88.9 86.2 11.7 1.1FT Putrajaya 109,202 148 2,215 100.0 97.9 0.6 1.225.6524%===Population age distribution trends for 2001–2016===Year 64 Years (%) Population (in millions)2001 32.7 63.4 3.9 24.122002 31.9 64.1 4.0 24.722004 30.4 65.5 4.1 25.912005 29.7 66.1 4.2 26.482006 29.2 66.5 4.3 26.832007 28.7 66.9 4.4 27.002008 28.2 67.3 4.5 27.542009 27.7 67.7 4.6 27.902010 27.2 68.1 4.7 28.252015 24.9 69.3 5.8 31.202016 24.5 69.5 6.0 31.71Data from July 2010.=== Structure of the population ===Population pyramidAge GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 14 523 912 14 028 800 28 552 712 100 0–4 1 257 227 1 197 893 2 455 120 8.60 5–9 1 258 724 1 200 377 2 459 101 8.61 10–14 1 407 479 1 333 133 2 740 612 9.60 15–19 1 382 650 1 298 541 2 681 191 9.39 20–24 1 305 753 1 255 439 2 561 192 8.97 25–29 1 225 425 1 202 220 2 427 645 8.50 30–34 1 156 987 1 133 836 2 290 823 8.02 35–39 1 084 255 1 055 838 2 140 093 7.50 40–44 1 021 261 980 714 2 001 975 7.01 45–49 923 951 878 655 1 802 606 6.31 50–54 780 930 741 641 1 522 571 5.33 55–59 627 320 599 062 1 226 382 4.30 60–64 440 893 421 490 862 383 3.02 65–69 276 593 276 416 553 009 1.94 70–74 180 583 198 929 379 512 1.33 75–79 104 871 127 903 232 774 0.82 80–84 56 445 73 578 130 023 0.46 85–89 22 803 31 736 54 539 0.19 90+ 9 762 21 399 31 161 0.11Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 3 923 430 3 731 403 7 654 833 26.81 15–64 9 949 425 9 567 436 19 516 861 68.35 65+ 651 057 729 961 1 381 018 4.84Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 15 994 299 15 001 407 30 995 706 100 0–4 1 342 280 1 250 354 2 592 634 8.36 5–9 1 290 296 1 220 033 2 510 329 8.10 10–14 1 361 753 1 289 823 2 651 576 8.55 15–19 1 467 520 1 374 861 2 842 381 9.17 20–24 1 666 826 1 512 363 3 179 189 10.26 25–29 1 636 156 1 453 738 3 089 894 9.97 30–34 1 421 538 1 277 508 2 699 046 8.71 35–39 1 122 020 1 012 167 2 134 187 6.89 40–44 966 696 919 886 1 886 582 6.09 45–49 866 201 857 006 1 723 207 5.56 50–54 802 194 754 597 1 556 791 5.02 55–59 662 308 642 015 1 304 323 4.21 60–64 504 442 495 056 999 498 3.22 65–69 370 875 378 953 749 828 2.42 70–74 225 299 236 337 461 636 1.49 75–79 151 764 168 867 320 631 1.03 80–84 73 949 85 206 159 155 0.51 85–89 38 547 47 792 86 339 0.28 90–94 13 383 14 359 27 742 0.09 95+ 10 252 10 486 20 738 0.07Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 3 994 329 3 760 210 7 754 539 25.02 15–64 11 115 901 10 299 197 21 415 098 69.09 65+ 884 069 942 000 1 826 069 5.89Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 16 805 601 15 851 659 32 657 260 100 0–4 1 313 211 1 228 960 2 542 171 7.78 5–9 1 321 691 1 232 295 2 553 986 7.82 10–14 1 288 772 1 215 312 2 504 084 7.67 15–19 1 468 340 1 367 361 2 835 701 8.68 20–24 1 649 108 1 483 506 3 132 614 9.59 25–29 1 729 641 1 518 081 3 247 722 9.94 30–34 1 503 303 1 374 201 2 877 504 8.81 35–39 1 325 416 1 243 400 2 568 816 7.87 40–44 1 041 407 969 239 2 010 646 6.16 45–49 900 990 878 715 1 779 705 5.45 50–54 809 250 824 736 1 633 986 5.00 55–59 744 683 723 021 1 467 704 4.49 60–64 604 050 605 327 1 209 377 3.70 65-69 442 747 458 890 901 637 2.76 70-74 310 254 336 607 646 861 1.98 75-79 171 384 194 969 366 353 1.12 80-84 101 116 119 005 220 121 0.67 85+ 80 238 78 034 158 272 0.48Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 3 923 674 3 676 567 7 600 241 23.27 15–64 11 776 188 10 987 587 22 763 775 69.71 65+ 1 105 739 1 187 505 2 293 244 7.02+ Age specific population by ethnic group 2021 Age groups 0–14 15–64 65-over Malays 31% 63.9% 5.1% Chinese 12.3% 72.7% 15% Indians 16.6% 75.4% 8%+ List of races by age at first marriage Races Men Women AverageYear Malays 22.4 19.3 20.92020 Chinese 34.6 31.7 33.22019 Indians 27.3 23.2 25.3 2020===Key demographic rates===* '''Population growth rate^:''' 1.542% (2012 data)* '''Age Structure^:'''** ''0–14 years:'' 23.0% (male 4,118,086/female 3,884,403)** ''15–64 years:'' 69.6% (male 7,838,166/female 7,785,833)** ''65 years and over:'' 7.4% (male 1,458,038/female 1,418,280) (2021 est.", ")* '''Net migration rate:''' -0.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.", ")** ''note:'' does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region* '''Human sex ratio:'''** ''at birth:'' 1.07 male(s)/female** ''under 15 years:'' 1.06 male(s)/female** ''15–64 years:'' 1.03 male(s)/female** ''65 years and over:'' 0.89 male(s)/female** ''total population:'' 1.03 male(s)/female (2012 est.", ")* '''Infant mortality rate:^''' 14.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 data)* '''Life expectancy at birth:'''** ''total population:'' 74.04 years (at 1:1 male-to-female ratio)** ''male:'' '''^''' 71.28 years (2012 data)** ''female:'' '''^''' 76.99 years (2012 data)* '''Total fertility rate:'''** 2.64 children born/woman (2012 est.", "):In 1987, Malays had a TFR of 4.51, Chinese had TFR of 2.25 and Indians had TFR of 2.77.The corresponding figures in Singapore was 2.16, 1.48 and 1.95.Data for ('''^''') obtained from Department of Statistics releases.", "See notes.", "All key rates sampled per 1000 of population." ], [ "Vital statistics", "=== UN estimates ===Population growth from 1961 to 2003Data from United Nation:PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBR1CDR1NC1TFR1IMR1 1950–1955 280 000 92 000 188 000 42.7 14.0 25.3 6.23 96.4 1955–1960 318 000 89 000 229 000 41.9 11.7 28.9 6.23 79.5 1960–1965 361 000 86 000 275 000 40.8 9.7 29.9 6.23 64.3 1965–1970 351 000 82 000 268 000 34.2 8.0 28.1 5.21 51.0 1970–1975 365 000 82 000 283 000 31.4 7.1 25.9 4.56 40.4 1975–1980 385 000 83 000 302 000 29.4 6.3 21.7 3.93 31.9 1980–1985 436 000 86 000 350 000 29.5 5.8 26.4 3.73 25.3 1985–1990 488 000 91 000 397 000 28.7 5.3 26.9 3.59 19.9 1990–1995 535 000 97 000 438 000 27.5 5.0 22.8 3.42 15.7 1995–2000 559 000 104 000 454 000 25.3 4.7 19.8 3.18 12.4 2000–2005 572 000 114 000 458 000 19.4 4.5 14.9 2.45 2005–2010 571 000 127 000 443 000 17.6 4.6 13.0 2.22 2010–2015 17.1 4.7 12.4 2.11 2015–2020 16.8 5.1 11.7 2.01 2020–2025 15.9 5.5 10.4 1.92 2025–2030 14.5 5.9 8.6 1.85 1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births===Registered births and deaths===Data from Department of Statistics Malaysia:Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)1947 4,908,100 43.0 19.4 23.6 1948 4,987,400 40.4 16.3 24.2 1949 5,081,800 43.8 14.2 29.6 1950 5,226,500 42.0 15.8 26.2 1951 5,337,200 43.6 15.3 28.3 1952 5,506,400 44.4 13.6 30.8 1953 5,706,000 43.7 12.4 31.3 1954 5,888,600 43.8 12.2 31.6 1955 6,058,300 43.0 11.5 31.6 1956 6,251,600 45.5 11.3 34.3 1957 6,278,800 46.2 12.4 33.7 1958 6,504,600 43.3 11.0 32.3 6.31959 6,702,600 42.1 9.7 32.4 6.21960 8,118,000 40.9 9.5 31.4 6.01961 8,378,500 41.8 9.2 32.6 6.21962 8,651,800 40.4 9.4 31.0 6.01963 8,920,200 38.1 8.5 29.7 6.01964 9,168,400 38.2 7.7 30.5 6.01965 9,436,600 36.1 7.5 28.5 5.61966 9,732,800 36.7 7.3 29.4 5.71967 10,007,400 34.9 7.2 27.7 5.41968 10,252,800 35.2 7.2 28.0 5.41969 10,500,200 33.3 7.0 26.3 5.11970 10,881,800 32.4 6.7 25.7 4.91971 11,159,700 32.8 6.6 26.3 4.91972 11,441,300 32.2 6.3 25.9 4.71973 11,719,800 31.1 6.3 24.8 4.51974 12,001,300 31.3 6.0 25.3 4.41975 12,300,300 30.7 6.0 24.8 4.31976 12,588,100 30.9 5.7 25.3 4.21977 12,901,100 30.3 5.8 24.5 4.11978 13,200,200 29.7 5.4 24.3 4.01979 13,518,300 30.4 5.4 25.0 4.01980 13,879,200 30.6 5.3 25.4 4.01981 14,256,900 31.2 4.9 26.3 4.01982 14,651,100 31.0 5.0 26.0 4.01983 15,048,200 30.2 5.1 25.1 3.81984 15,450,400 31.0 5.0 25.9 3.91985 15,882,700 497,414 31.5 5.0 26.6 4.01986 16,329,400 30.6 4.7 25.8 3.91987 16,773,500 488,200 29.3 4.5 24.7 3.71988 17,219,100 507,579 29.7 4.6 25.0 3.71989 17,662,100 469,663 26.8 4.6 22.2 3.41990 18,102,400 497,522 83,244 414,278 27.9 4.6 23.3 3.51991 18,547,200 511,527 84,221 427,306 27.6 4.5 23.0 3.41992 19,067,500 528,475 86,040 442,435 27.7 4.5 23.2 3.51993 19,601,500 541,887 87,626 454,261 27.6 4.5 23.2 3.51994 20,141,700 537,654 90,079 447,575 26.7 4.5 22.2 3.41995 20,681,800 539,295 95,103 444,192 26.1 4.6 21.5 3.31996 21,222,600 540,866 95,520 445,346 25.5 4.5 21.0 3.21997 21,769,300 537,104 97,042 440,062 24.8 4.5 20.3 3.11998 22,333,500 554,573 97,906 456,667 25.0 4.4 20.6 3.01999 22,909,500 554,200 100,900 453,300 24.4 4.4 20.0 2.92000 23,494,900 569,500 102,100 467,400 24.5 4.4 20.1 2.9262001 24,030,500 516,000 104,600 411,400 21.5 4.4 17.1 2.7092002 24,542,500 482,600 105,900 376,700 19.7 4.3 15.4 2.6092003 25,038,100 516,300 111,700 404,600 20.6 4.5 16.1 2.4942004 25,541,500 514,500 113,900 400,600 20.1 4.5 15.6 2.4502005 26,045,500 512,700 116,200 396,500 19.6 4.4 15.2 2.3622006 26,549,900 490,000 117,300 372,700 18.4 4.4 14.0 2.2992007 27,058,400 456,443 116,672 339,771 16.5 4.2 12.3 2.2742008 27,567,600 470,900 123,300 346,700 17.0 4.4 12.6 2.2742009 28,081,500 496,315 130,135 366,178 17.7 4.6 13.0 2.2452010 28,588,600 491,239 130,978 360,261 17.2 4.6 12.6 2.1362011 29,062,000 511,594 135,463 376,131 17.6 4.7 12.9 2.1742012 29,510,000 508,774 136,836 371,938 17.2 4.6 12.6 2.1882013 30,213,700 503,914 142,202 361,712 16.7 4.7 12.0 2.0222014 30,708,500 528,612 150,318 378,294 17.2 4.9 12.3 2.0722015 31,186,100 521,136 155,786 365,350 16.7 5.0 11.7 2.0022016 31,633,500 508,203 162,201 346,002 16.1 5.1 11.0 1.9182017 32,022,600 508,685 168,168 340,517 15.9 5.3 10.6 1.8902018 32,382,300 501,945 172,031 329,914 15.5 5.3 10.2 1.8412019 32,523,000 489,863 174,254 315,609 15.1 5.4 9.7 1.7812020 32,447,400 471,504 166,970 304,534 14.5 5.1 9.4 1.7152021 32,576,300 439,744 224,569 215,175 13.5 6.9 6.6 1.6962022 32,698,100 423,124 190,299 232,825 12.9 5.9 7.0 1.6312023 33,379,500 440,686 192,902 247,784 13.2 5.8 7.4 ===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January — September 2022''' 309,771 155,857 +153,914 '''January — September 2023''' 327,919 144,652 +183,267 '''Difference''' +18,148 (+5.9%) -11,205 (-7.2%) +29,310===Total fertility rate by ethnic group===Malays ChineseIndiansTotal2010 2.694 1.517 1.733 2.1362011 2.694 1.557 1.663 2.1742012 2.743 1.719 1.579 2.1882013 2.640 1.384 1.474 2.0222014 2.653 1.414 1.384 2.0182015 2.553 1.353 1.361 1.9412016 2.482 1.345 1.337 1.8922017 2.472 1.200 1.282 1.8902018 2.415 1.112 1.256 1.8412019 2.288 1.111 1.198 1.7812020 2.192 0.981 1.177 1.7152021 2.074 0.849 1.104 1.696===Total fertility rate by state===Total fertility rate (TFR) by state according to year: State 2011 2015 2020 Putrajaya 1.44 1.37 2.78 Kuala Lumpur 1.53 1.40 1.49 Penang 1.62 1.51 1.25 Sabah 1.81 1.64 1.33 Selangor 1.96 1.82 1.57 Johor 2.18 1.88 1.94 Melaka 2.23 1.93 1.73 Sarawak 2.23 2.01 1.53 Negeri Sembilan 2.30 2.02 1.96 Perak 2.39 2.05 1.66 Pahang 2.50 2.31 1.94 Perlis 2.56 2.33 1.96 Kedah 2.61 2.37 2.03 Terengganu 3.46 2.80 2.86 Kelantan 3.77 3.07 2.66==== Life expectancy at birth ====Life expectancy in Malaysia since 1950Life expectancy in Malaysia since 1960 by genderAverage life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.PeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195554.81985–199070.11955–196057.91990–199571.31960–196560.91995–200072.31965–197063.32000–200573.21970–197565.42005–201073.71975–198067.22010–201574.71980–198568.82015-202075.9" ], [ "Ethnolinguistic groups", "Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups.", "People of Austronesian origin make up the majority of the population, and are known as the Bumiputras.", "Large Chinese and Indian minorities also exist.", "Malays, as Bumiputra, see Malaysia as their land, and since race riots in 1969, Bumiputra have been especially privileged in Malaysia – top government positions are reserved for Malays, and the Malays received cheaper housing, priority in government jobs as well as business licenses.", "However, since the riot, racial stability has prevailed, if not full harmony, and mixed marriages are on the rise.", "In the 2010 census, 68.8 per cent of the population were considered ''bumiputera'', 23.2 per cent Malaysian Chinese, and 7 per cent Malaysian Indian.", "In 2021 these figures were 69.7 per cent bumiputera, 22.5 per cent Chinese, and 6.8 per cent Indian.Chinese population in Malaysia'''Group''''''Total''' Malay, Malaysian language6,916,000 Malay, Kedah3,095,000 Malay, East coast 2,448,000 Han Chinese, Hokkien1,903,000 Tamil1,796,000 Han Chinese, Hakka1,729,000 Han Chinese, Cantonese1,396,000 Han Chinese, Teochew1,004,000 Han Chinese, Mandarin986,000 Minangkabau901,000 Iban686,000Javanese640,000 Arab people500,000 Filipino, Tagalog456,000 Han Chinese, Hainanese396,000 Han Chinese, Northern Min384,000 Brunei Malay, Kedayan 350,000 Malay, East Malaysia280,000 Han Chinese, Eastern Min256,000 Straits Chinese244,000 Nepalese224,000 Tausug209,000 Dusun, Central197,000 Malayali, Malayalam228,900 Telugus, Telugu120,000 Punjabis, Indian Punjabis100,000 Bugis 139,000 Murut people 110,131 Lun Bawang/Lundayeh 31,600 Kelabit people 5,000===Bumiputras===A storefront of a Kuala Lumpur kopi tiam that depicts the languages and ethnic groups of MalaysiaBumiputras totaling 68.8% of Malaysia's population as of 2017 are divided into Muslim Malays proper, who make up the majority of the Malaysian population at 54.66%; and other bumiputra, who make up 14.14% of the Malaysian population, and most of whom belong to various Austronesian ethnic groups related to the Muslim Malays.", "Bumiputra status is also accorded to certain non-Malay indigenous peoples, including ethnic Thais, Khmers, Chams and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.", "Laws over who gets Bumiputra status vary between states.", "Some Eurasians can obtain bumiputra privileges, providing they can prove they are of Portuguese (Kristang) descent.====Malays====A Malay joget performance.The Malays are an ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and parts of Sumatra and Borneo.", "They form the largest community in Malaysia and play a dominant role politically.", "They make up about half of the total population.", "By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslims who practice Malay customs (''adat'') and culture.Their language, Malay (''Bahasa Melayu''), is the national language of the country.", "Citizens of Minangkabau, Bugis or Javanese origins, who can be classified \"Malay\" under constitutional definitions may also speak their respective ancestral tongues.", "However, English is also widely spoken in major towns and cities across the country.", "Malays from different states in Malaysia carry distinct dialects that can sometimes be unintelligible to most of their fellow countrymen.", "By definition of the Malaysian constitution, all Malays are Muslims.In the past, Malays wrote in Pallava or using the Sanskrit-based alphabet of Kawi.", "Arabic traders later introduced Jawi, an Arabic-based script, which became popular after the 15th century.", "Until then reading and writing were mostly the preserve of scholars and nobility, while most Malay commoners were illiterate.", "Jawi was taught along with Islam, allowing the script to spread through all social classes.", "Nevertheless, Kawi remained in use by the upper-class well into the 15th century.", "The Romanised script was introduced during the colonial period and, over time, it came to replace both Sanskrit and Jawi.", "This was largely due to the influence of the European education system, wherein children were taught the Latin alphabet.Malay culture shows strong influences from Buddhism, Hinduism and animism.", "However, since the Islamisation movement of the 1980s and 90s, these aspects are often neglected or banned altogether.", "Because any Malay-speaking Muslim is entitled to Bumiputra privileges, many non-Malay Muslims have adopted the Malay language, customs and attire in the last few decades.", "This is particularly the case with Indian Muslims from the peninsula and the Kedayan of Borneo.", "The Malay ethnic group is distinct from the concept of a Malay race, which encompasses a wider group of people, including most of Indonesia and the Philippines.====Other Bumiputras====Ethnic groups in SabahMalaysia has many other non-Malay indigenous people, who are given Bumiputra status.", "The indigenous tribes are the oldest inhabitants of Malaysia, and the indigenous groups of Peninsular Malaysia are known collectively as Orang Asli and in East Malaysia as \"Orang Asal\".", "They account for about 11 percent of the nation's population, and represent a majority in East Malaysia of Sabah and Sarawak.", "In Sarawak, the dominant tribal group are the Dayak people, who are either Iban (also known as Sea Dayak) or Bidayuh (also known as Land Dayak) of which are mainly Christians.", "The Iban form the largest of all indigenous groups, numbering over 600,000 (35% of Sarawak's population), who mostly still live in traditional longhouses which can hold up to 200 people.", "Longhouses are mostly places along the Rajang and Lupar rivers and their tributaries, although many Iban have moved to the cities.", "The Bidayuhs, numbering around 170,000, are concentrated in the southwestern part of Sarawak.", "They, together with other indigenous groups in Sarawak make up over half of the states population.The largest indigenous tribe in Sabah is the Kadazan, most of whom are Christians and rice farmers.", "They live as subsistence farmers.", "Sabah has a large number of indigenous people, 19.3% of the population are Kadazan-Dusuns, and 16.5% are Bajaus.There also exist aboriginal groups in much smaller numbers on the peninsula, where they are collectively known as Orang Asli (literally meaning \"original person\").", "The 140,000 Orang Asli comprise a number of different ethnic communities.", "Many tribes, both on the peninsula and in Borneo, were traditionally nomadic or semi-nomadic hunter—gatherers who practice animism, including the Punan, Penan and Senoi.", "However, their ancestral land and hunting grounds are commonly reclaimed by the state, shifting them to inferior land and sometimes pushing them out of their traditional way of life.", "The most numerous of the Orang Asli are called Negritos and are related to native Papuans in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and possibly even to the aborigines in Australia.", "Other bumiputera minorities to a lesser degree include the Malaysian Siamese, Khmers, Chams, Burmese and the Indian Muslims commonly known as Mamaks.===Non-Bumiputras===Minorities who lack Bumiputra status have established themselves in Malaysia.", "Those who are not considered to be Bumiputras make up a considerable portion of the Malaysian population – non-Malays once constituted around 50% of the population of peninsula Malaya (1947–1957), but have since declined in percentage term due to a higher birthrate of Malays owing to favorable policies by the government as well as some degree of out-migration by the Chinese.", "A large number of the non-Bumiputra arrived during the colonial period, but most of the non-Bumiputras were native-born by 1947 as large-scale immigration had effectively ceased by the late 1940s.", "Some Chinese families, known as Peranakan (\"straits-born\"), have resided in Malaysia since as far back as 15th century Malacca.====Chinese====alt=Map of Bumiputera and Chinese proportions of districts around MalaysiaMalaysian Chinese in PerakThe second largest ethnic group at 6.69 million are the Chinese who make up 23% of the population excluding non-citizens as of 2018.They have been dominant in trade and business since the early 20th century.", "Malaysian Chinese businesses developed as part of the larger bamboo network, a network of overseas Chinese businesses operating in the markets of Southeast Asia that share common family and cultural ties.", "George Town, Ipoh and Iskandar Puteri are Chinese-majority cities, while Penang was the only state in Malaysia with a non-Bumiputera majority population.", "The Chinese have been settling in Malaysia for many centuries, as seen in the emergence of the ''Peranakan'' culture, but the exodus peaked during the nineteenth century through trading and tin-mining.", "When they first arrived, the Chinese often worked the most grueling jobs like tin mining and railway construction.", "Later on, some of them owned businesses that became large conglomerates in today's Malaysia.", "Most Chinese are Tao Buddhist and retain strong cultural ties to their ancestral homeland.The first Chinese people to settle in the Straits Settlements, primarily in and around Malacca, gradually adopted elements of Malayan culture, and some intermarried with the Malayan community.", "A distinct sub-ethnic group called ''babas'' (male) and ''nyonyas'' (female) emerged.", "''Babas'' and ''nyonyas'' as a group are known as ''Peranakan''.", "They produced a syncretic set of practices, beliefs, and arts, combining Malay and Chinese traditions in such a way as to create a new culture.", "The ''Peranakan'' culture is still visible to this day in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang.The Chinese community in Malaysia, depending on the predominant dialect in a particular region, speaks a variety of Chinese dialects including Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew.", "In certain regions in Malaysia, some dialects are more widely used; Hokkien predominates in Penang and Kedah, while most Chinese in the former centres of tin mining, such as Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, speak Cantonese.", "More recently, however, with the standardised, compulsory use of Mandarin in Chinese schools, a huge majority of Malaysian Chinese now speak Mandarin, a non-native language that originated from northern China.On the other hand, it was reported that up to 10% of Malaysian Chinese are primarily English-speaking.", "The English-speaking Chinese minority is typically concentrated in cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Johor Bahru, George Town, Ipoh and Malacca.", "The English speakers form a distinct subset within the larger Chinese community, as they are known to have a less Sinocentric mindset, and are rather Westernized in thinking and attitudes.====Indian====Malaysian Indians in SelangorThe 2.01 million strong Indian community in Malaysia is the smallest of the three main ethnic groups, comprising only 8.0% of the total population excluding non-citizens as of 2017.Indians were brought in to Malaysia during the British colonial period in late 18th century and early 19th centuries.", "There is another historical evidence that confirms Indian civilisation started in Malaysia thousands of years ago by Rajendra Cholan.", "The proof still exist in Lembah Bujang ,Kedah.", "This is an historical evidence that still about Malaysia and Indians.", "They first came to Malaya for barter trade, especially in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang.", "During the British colonial rule, Indian labourers, who were mostly south Indian Tamils from Tamil Nadu and some Telugus and Malayalis from other parts of South India, were brought to Malaya to work on sugarcane and coffee plantations, rubber and oil palm estates, construction of buildings, railways, roads and bridges.", "English-educated Ceylon Tamils from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and some Malaysian Telugus and Malayalees (from Kerala) were brought in to handle white-collar jobs.", "Kerala had the first mission schools in India and as such produced English educated administrators.", "Both ethnicities worked mainly as clerks, public servants, teachers, hospital assistants, doctors and in other skilled professions.", "As for the Punjabis from Punjab, most of them where enlisted in the army in Malaya while some handled the bullock-cart services in the country.The Indians who came to Malaysia brought with them the Hindu religion, its unique temples called Kovils and the Sikhs with their Gurdwaras.", "Tamil cuisine is hugely popular.", "More than 86% of Malaysian Indians adhere to Hinduism.", "The Chitty community in Malacca are descendants of much earlier Indian immigrants who adopted local culture.", "Though they remain Hindu, the Chitties speak Bahasa Malaysia and women dress in sarong kebayas.", "The Hindu community celebrates two main festivals — Deepavali and Thaipusam — and many other smaller religious events each year.", "Both ethnic Telugu people and Malayalees from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala celebrate the Ugadi festival (new year) and Onam.", "The ethnic Punjabis celebrate Vasakhi, Lodi and Gurpurab.", "Majority of the Indians in Malaysia speak Tamil (also lingua franca among all Indians) while Telugu, Malayalam and Punjabi are also spoken by minorities.====Others====A small minority of Malaysians do not fit into the broader ethnic groups.", "A small population exists of people of European and Middle Eastern descent.", "Europeans and Middle Easterners, who first arrived during the colonial period, assimilated through intermarriage into the Christian and Muslim communities.", "Most Eurasian Malaysians trace their ancestry to British, Dutch and/or Portuguese colonists, and there is a strong Kristang community in Malacca.The Nepalese are mostly migrant workers from Nepal totalling 356,199 of which Malaysian Citizens are as little over 600 and lives in Rawang, Selangor.", "Originally brought by the British as bodyguards and security personnel, Nepali population consist of Rana, Chettri, Rai and Gurung clans.", "Other minorities include Filipinos and Burmese.", "A small number of ethnic Vietnamese from Cambodia and Vietnam settled in Malaysia as Vietnam War refugees.There is no general consensus on the ethnic profiling of children of mixed parentage.", "Some choose to be identified according to paternal ethnicity while others simply think that they fall in the \"Others\" category.", "The majority choose to identify themselves as Malay as long as either parent is Malay, mainly due to the legal definition of Bumiputra and the privileges that comes along with it.", "Children of Chinese–Indian parentage are known as Chindians.", "Though this is not an official category in national census data, it is an increasing number especially in urban areas due to the increasing ethnic Chinese-Indian relationships.Many other people from around the world have moved to Malaysia.", "There are over 70,000 Africans who have emigrated to Malaysia." ], [ "Languages", "A sign at 7-Eleven stores showing common languages in Malaysia: English, Malay, Chinese, and TamilMalaysia contains speakers of 137 living languages, 41 of which are found in Peninsula Malaysia.", "The official language of Malaysia is known as Bahasa Malaysia, a standardised form of the Malay language.", "English was, for a protracted period, the de facto, administrative language of Malaysia, though its status was later rescinded.", "Despite that, English remains an active second language in many areas of Malaysian society and is taught as a compulsory subject in all public schools.", "Many businesses in Malaysia conduct their transactions in English, and it is sometimes used in official correspondence.", "Examinations are based on British English, although there has been much American influence through television.Malaysian English, also known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE), is a form of English derived from British English, although there is little official use of the term, except with relation to education.", "Malaysian English also sees wide use in business, along with Manglish, which is a colloquial form of English with heavy Malay, Chinese languages and Tamil influences.", "Most Malaysians are conversant in English, although some are only fluent in the Manglish form.", "The Malaysian government officially discourages the use of Manglish.Malaysian Chinese mostly speak Chinese languages from the southern provinces of China.", "The more common languages in Peninsular Malaysia are Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Hainanese, and Hokchiu.", "In Sarawak, most ethnic Chinese speak either Fuzhounese or Hakka while Hakka predominates in Sabah except in the city of Sandakan where Cantonese is more often spoken despite the Hakka-origins of the Chinese residing there.", "Hokkien is mostly spoken in Penang, Kedah and Perlis, whereas Cantonese is mostly spoken in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.", "However, in Malaysia as a whole, the majority of ethnic Chinese now speak Mandarin, a non-native language from northern China (originally spoken by the Beijing elite and chosen as the official language of China), as their first language, while English is the first language for the rest.", "Some of the less-spoken languages such as Hainanese are facing extinction.", "As with Malaysian youths of other races, most Chinese youth are multilingual and can speak up to four languages with at least moderate fluency – their native Chinese language, Mandarin, English and Malay.Tamil is the most common language spoken among Indians in Malaysia, especially in Peninsular Malaysia where they still maintain close cultural ties with their homeland Tamil Nadu & Ceylon.", "This is because there are far fewer Indians in East Malaysia than in the Peninsula.", "Tamil community from Ceylon have their own Tamil dialect known as Sri Lankan Tamil.", "Besides Tamil, the Malayalam Language is spoken by over 200,000 Malayalees in Malaysia, predominantly in Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johore.", "Telugu is also spoken by the Telugu community.", "Punjabi language is commonly spoken by the Punjabi community.", "Besides that, Sinhala is used by a small number of Sinhalese community from Sri Lanka.Citizens of Minangkabau, Bugis or Javanese origins, who can be classified \"Malay\" under constitutional definitions may also speak their respective ancestral tongues.", "The native tribes of East Malaysia have their own languages which are related to, but easily distinguishable from, Malay.", "The Iban is the main tribal language in Sarawak while Dusunic languages are spoken by the natives in Sabah.", "A variant of the Malay language that is spoken in Brunei is also commonly spoken in both states.Some Malaysians have Caucasian ancestry and speak creole languages, such as the Portuguese-based Malaccan Creoles, and the Spanish-based Zamboangueño Chavacano.", "Thai is also spoken in some areas." ], [ "Citizenship", "Citizenship is usually granted by lex soli.", "Citizenship in the states of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo are distinct from citizenship in Peninsular Malaysia for immigration purposes.", "Every citizen is issued a biometric smart chip identity card, known as ''MyKad'', at the age of 12, and must carry the card at all times." ], [ "Religion", "Dominant religious confessions in Malaysia according to 2020 census.Dark green: Muslim majority > 50%Light green: Muslim plurality Blue: Christian majority > 50%Islam is the largest and state religion of Malaysia, although Malaysia is a multi-religious society and the Malaysian constitution guarantees religious freedom.", "Despite the recognition of Islam as the state religion, the first 4 prime ministers have stressed that Malaysia could function as a secular state.", "According to the Population and Housing Census 2020 figures, approximately 63.5 percent of the population practised Islam; 18.7 percent Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.1 percent Hinduism; and 2.7 percent practise other religions or reported having no religion or did not provide any information.", "The percentage population of Muslims has been steadily increasing – from 58.6% in 1991, 60.4% in 2000, 61.5% in 2010, to 63.5% of the 2020 census.The majority of Malaysian Indians follow Hinduism (84.5%), with a significant minority identifying as Christians (7.7%), Sikhs (3.9%), Muslims (3.8%), and 1,000 Jains.", "Most Malaysian Chinese follow a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor-worship but, when pressed to specify their religion, will identify themselves as Buddhists.", "Statistics from the 2000 Census indicate that 75.9% of Malaysia's ethnic Chinese identify as Buddhist, with significant numbers of adherents following Taoism (10.6%) and Christianity (9.6%), along with small Hui-Muslim populations in areas like Penang.", "Christianity constitutes a slim majority of the non-Malay Bumiputra community (50.1%) with an additional 36.3% identifying as Muslims while 7.3% follow folk religion.===Islam===Kampung Laut Mosque in Tumpat is one of the oldest mosques in Malaysia, dating to early 18th centuryIslam is thought to have been brought to Malaysia around the 12th century by Arab traders.", "Since then the religion has become the predominant religion of the country and is recognised as the state's official religion.", "All ethnic Malays are considered Muslim by Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia.Muslims are obliged to follow the decisions of Syariah courts in matters concerning their religion.", "The Islamic judges are expected to follow the Shafi`i legal school of Islam, which is the main madh'hab of Malaysia.", "The jurisdiction of Shariah courts is limited only to Muslims in matters such as marriage, inheritance, divorce, apostasy, religious conversion, and custody among others.", "No other criminal or civil offences are under the jurisdiction of the Shariah courts, which have a similar hierarchy to the Civil Courts.", "Despite being the supreme courts of the land, the Civil Courts (including the Federal Court) do not hear matters related to Islamic practices, as ratified by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the late 1980s.", "Regulation of sexual activities among the Muslim population is strict; with laws prohibiting unmarried couples from occupying a secluded area or a confined space to prevent suspicion of acts forbidden in Islam." ], [ "Education", "Malaysia campus of the University of Nottingham at Semenyih, SelangorLiteracy rates (percentage of people over 15 who can read and write) are high in Malaysia, with an overall literacy rate of 88.7%.", "Literacy rates are higher among males (92%) than females (85.4%)Education in Malaysia is monitored by the federal government Ministry of Education.", "The education system features a non-compulsory kindergarten education followed by six years of compulsory primary education, and five years of optional secondary education.", "Most Malaysian children start schooling between the ages of three to six, in kindergarten.===Primary education===Children begin primary schooling at the age of seven for a period of six years.", "Primary schools are divided into two categories, national primary schools and vernacular school.", "Vernacular schools (''Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan'') use either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction, whereas national primary schools (''Sekolah Kebangsaan'') uses Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for subjects except English, Science and Mathematics.Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) is one of the earliest boarding schools established in British Malaya.Before progressing to the secondary level of education, pupils in Year 6 are required to sit the Primary School Achievement Test (''Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah'', UPSR).", "A programme called First Level Assessment (''Penilaian Tahap Satu'', PTS) taken during Primary Year 3 was abolished in 2001.===Secondary education===Secondary education in Malaysia is conducted in secondary schools (''Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan'') for five years.", "National secondary schools use Malay as the main language of instruction.", "The only exceptions are Mathematics and Science and languages other than Malay, however this was only implemented in 2003, prior to which all non-language subjects were taught in Malay.", "At the end of Form Three, which is the third year, students are evaluated in the Form Three Assessment (\"Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga\", PT3)（ now abolished ）.", "Secondary students no longer sit for PMR in Form Three that has been abolished in 2014.In the final year of secondary education (Form Five), students sit the Malaysian Certificate of Education (''Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia'', SPM) examination, which is equivalent to the former British Ordinary or 'O' Levels.", "The government has decided to abandon the use of English in teaching maths and science and revert to Bahasa Malaysia, starting in 2012.Malaysian national secondary schools are sub-divided into several types: National Secondary School (''Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan''), Religious Secondary School (''Sekolah Menengah Agama''), National-Type Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan) (also referred to as Mission Schools), Technical Schools (Sekolah Menengah Teknik), Residential Schools and MARA Junior Science College (Maktab Rendah Sains MARA).There are also 60 Chinese Independent High Schools in Malaysia, where most subjects are taught in Chinese.", "Chinese Independent High Schools are monitored and standardised by the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM).", "However, unlike government schools, independent schools are autonomous.", "It takes six years to complete secondary education in Chinese independent schools.", "Students will sit a standardised test conducted by UCSCAM, which is known as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) in Junior Middle 3 (equivalent to PMR) and Senior Middle 3 (equivalent to A level).", "A number of independent schools conduct classes in Malay and English in addition to Chinese, enabling the students to sit the PMR and SPM additionally.===Tertiary education===An aerial view of Multimedia University's Cyberjaya campus.", "Multimedia University is Malaysia's first private university.Before the introduction of the matriculation system, students aiming to enter public universities had to complete an additional 18 months of secondary schooling in Form Six and sit the Malaysian Higher School Certificate (''Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia'', STPM); equivalent to the British Advanced or 'A' levels.", "Since the introduction of the matriculation programme as an alternative to STPM in 1999, students who completed the 12-month programme in matriculation colleges (kolej matrikulasi in Malay) can enrol in local universities.", "However, in the matriculation system, only 10 per cent of the places are open to non-Bumiputra students.There are a number of government-funded public universities in Malaysia, the most prominent of them being University of Malaya.", "Although the ethnic quota system favouring Malays at such universities was abolished in 2002, disparity of student intake still exists in these universities with underrepresentation of non-Bumiputras.", "Instead, private universities have sprung up to cater to the local population.", "These private universities are also gaining a reputation for international quality education and students from all over the world attend these universities.", "In addition, four reputable international universities have set up their branch campuses in Malaysia since 1998.A branch campus can be seen as an 'offshore campus' of the foreign university, which offers the same courses and awards as the main campus.", "Both local and international students can acquire these identical foreign qualifications in Malaysia at a lower fee.", "The foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia are: Monash University Malaysia Campus, Curtin University, Malaysia, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.Students also have the option of enrolling in private tertiary institutions after secondary studies.", "Most institutions have educational links with overseas universities especially in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, allowing students to spend a portion of their course duration abroad as well as getting overseas qualifications.", "One such example is Tunku Abdul Rahman University College which partnered with Sheffield Hallam University and Coventry University.===International schools===In addition to the Malaysian National Curriculum, Malaysia has many international schools such as The International School Kuala Lumpur, Alice Smith School, Gardens International School, Cempaka Schools Malaysia, Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar...etc.", "These schools cater to the growing expatriate population in the country and the Malaysians who want a foreign curriculum, UK based curriculum, English education or Australian curriculum as well." ], [ "Health", "The Malaysian government places importance on the expansion and development of health care, putting 5% of the government social sector development budget into public health care—an increase of more than 47% over the previous figure.", "This has meant an overall increase of more than RM 2 billion.", "With a rising and ageing population, the Government wishes to improve in many areas including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion of the number of polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth.", "A major problem with the health care sector is the lack of medical centres for rural areas, which the government is trying to counter through the development of and expansion of a system called \"tele-primary care\".", "Another issue is the overprescription of drugs, though this has decreased in recent years.", "Since 2009 the Malaysian Health Ministry has increased its efforts to overhaul the system and attract more foreign investment.The country generally has an efficient and widespread system of health care.", "It implements a universal healthcare system, which co-exists with the private healthcare system.", "Infant mortality rate in 2009 was 6 deaths per 1000 births, and life expectancy at birth in 2009 was 75 years.", "Malaysia has the highest levels of obesity among ASEAN countries.The Malaysian health care system requires doctors to perform a compulsory three years service with public hospitals to ensure that the manpower in these hospitals is maintained.", "Recently foreign doctors have also been encouraged to take up employment in Malaysia.", "There is still, however, a significant shortage in the medical workforce, especially of highly trained specialists; thus, certain medical care and treatment are available only in large cities.", "Recent efforts to bring many facilities to other towns have been hampered by lack of expertise to run the available equipment.The majority of private hospitals are in urban areas and, unlike many of the public hospitals, are equipped with the latest diagnostic and imaging facilities.", "Private hospitals have not generally been seen as an ideal investment—it has often taken up to ten years before companies have seen any profits.", "However, the situation has now changed and companies are now exploring this area again, corresponding with the increased number of foreigners entering Malaysia for medical care and the recent government focus on developing the health tourism industry.", "The Government has also been trying to promote Malaysia as a health care destination, regionally and internationally." ], [ "Major cities", "Kuala Lumpur is the capital and largest city of Malaysia.", "Although many executive and judicial branches of the federal government have moved to Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, making it the country's legislative capital.", "It is also the economic and business centre of the country, and is a primate city.", "Kuala Lumpur is also the only Alpha-rated global city in Malaysia.", "Along with Subang Jaya, Klang, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Kajang-Sungai Chua, Ampang Jaya and Selayang it forms the country's largest and most important urban area, the Klang Valley.George Town, the capital city of Penang used to be Malaysia's largest and only city until the 1970s when Kuala Lumpur was granted city status.", "Today, George Town, rated a Gamma global city, serves as the financial, industrial and medical tourism hub in the northern region of Malaysia.", "Together with the city of Seberang Perai, and the municipalities of Sungai Petani, Kulim, Bandar Baharu and Kerian, it forms the George Town Conurbation, the nation's second largest metropolitan area with a population of over 2.83 million.The third largest urban area in Malaysia is situated at the country's southern end, comprising the cities of Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri and Pasir Gudang, along with Kulai and Pontian.", "Located next to Singapore, it is also an important industrial, tourism and commercial hub for southern Malaysia.Other major cities in Malaysia include Ipoh, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching." ], [ "See also", "* Immigration to Malaysia* Project IC, corruption & electoral demographics" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Department of Statistics, Malaysia" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics of Malaysia''' takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government.", "Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments.", "Legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts.The Constitution of Malaysia is codified and the system of government is based on the Westminster system.", "The hierarchy of authority in Malaysia, in accordance to the Federal Constitution, stipulates the three branches (administrative components) of the Malaysian government as consisting of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branch.", "Whereas, the Parliament consists of the ''Dewan Negara'' (Upper House/Senate) and ''Dewan Rakyat'' (Lower House/House of Representatives).Malaysia has had a multi-party system since the first direct election of the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya in 1955 on a first-past-the-post basis.", "The ruling party was the Alliance Party () coalition and from 1973 onwards, its successor, the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition.", "Together with its predecessor, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government served for 61 years and was one of the world's longest serving governments until it lost power to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the 14th general election that was held on 9 May 2018.Following the 2020–22 Malaysian political crisis, the Perikatan Nasional government served from 1 March 2020 to 17 August 2021 when Barisan Nasional withdrew support and left the coalition.", "The opposition primarily consist of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which comprises the Democratic Action Party (DAP), People's Justice Party (PKR), National Trust Party (Amanah) and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) with Sabah Heritage Party (Warisan) as confidence-and-supply partner.", "Other opposition parties include the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), the Homeland Fighters' Party (PEJUANG) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that \"the government, ruling party, and administration are intertwined with few countervailing forces.\"", "However, since the 8 March 2008 General Election, the media's coverage on the country's politics has noticeably increased.", "After the 14th general elections, media freedom was promised by then new government of Malaysia, the Pakatan Harapan coalition.The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Malaysia a \"flawed democracy\" in 2016.However, Malaysia was a runner up to the Economist 2018 \"Country of the Year\" in 2018 due to the peaceful transfer of power following the 14th general elections, losing out at least partly due to Mahathir Mohamad's seeming reluctance to relax the country's divisive racial politics or to hand over power, as agreed, to Anwar Ibrahim." ], [ "History", "===Early developments===Early organised political movements in Malaysia were organised along regional and ethnic groups and were not political parties in the modern sense.", "They generally were loose alliances of interest groups and individuals primarily concerned with social welfare, social progress and religious reform among the Muslim Malay communities similar to interest groups and civil society organisations of today.====Religious reformers====Religious reformers played a large role in developing and disseminating ideas with magazines and periodicals like ''al-Imam'' published in Singapore by Tahir Jalaluddin between 1906 and 1908, and ''al-Munir'' published in Penang by Abdullah Ahmad between 1911 and 1916.These in turn were primarily influenced by the Egyptian Islamic reform magazine, ''al-Manar'' published in Cairo by Rashid Rida from 1898 to 1936.While these publications were primarily concerned with the Islamic religion, it also touched extensively on the social, political and economic conditions of the Malays.One of the first such movements was the New Hope Society () that was established in Johor Bahru in 1916.On 14 September 1923, a movement was established in Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt by students from British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies known as the Al-Jam'iyah Al-Khairiyah lit-tholabah Al-Azhariyah Al-Jawiyah (renamed in 1937 to the Indonesia Malaya Convention or ''Perhimpunan Indonesia Malaya''; '''PERPINDOM''').", "Composed primarily of students influenced by the Young Turks movement and later the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement encouraged intentional political and religious discourse through periodicals like Osman Abdullah's ''Seruan Al-Azhar'' (''Al-Azhar Clarion'') and ''Pilehan Timur'' (''Oriental Choice'').====Teachers' unions====The Sultan Idris Training College for Malay teachers in Tanjung Malim was fertile ground for the exchange of ideas.", "The establishment of the Selangor Malay Teachers Association () in 1921 by Muhammad Yusof paved the way for similar organisations to be set up in the other Federated Malay States and a magazine known as ''Majalah Guru'' (''Teacher's Magazine'') was published in 1923.This magazine allowed for the discussion of larger socio-economic issues as well political issues, establishing itself as one of the influences in the development of Malay nationalism.====Self-help societies====Various self-help societies like the Maharani Company in Muar, Johor and the Serikat Pembaikan Hidup () organised by Mohamad Eunos Abdullah of the Singapore Malay Union () established co-operatives and communes to help improve the socio-economic conditions of the Malay peasants and smallholders.", "They too utilised newspapers and periodicals like the Maharani Company published ''Perjumpaan Melayu'' (''Malay Convergence'') to disseminate ideas and encourage discourse on issues pertaining to the social, political and economic conditions of the Malay people.===Early political organisations=======Malay Union====The Malay Union (; '''KM''') was established in 1926 by Mohamad Eunos Abdullah, Tengku Kadir Ali and Embok Suloh with the aim of increasing the role of Malays in public life, upholding Malay interests with the colonial authorities, and promote higher and technical education for Malays.", "Eunos himself was a Justice of Peace, a member of the '''Muslim Advisory Board''' set up by the colonial administration during World War I and a member of the Singapore Municipal Council.", "In his capacity as the chairman of the KM, he became the first Malay member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements.", "One of the first issues championed by the KM was the appeal for land to be set aside for a Malay settlement.", "The appeal was granted and a sum of $ 700,000 was set aside for the KM to purchase and develop the land.", "This settlement has evolved and is now part of the Eunos neighbourhood in Singapore.The KM also became the catalyst for the establishment of similar organisations in the other states of the British Malaya such as the Penang Malay Association (founded in 1927) and the Perak Malay Association (founded in 1937).", "People associated with the KM included the first President of Singapore, Yusof Ishak.", "The KM survived World War II and entered into a political coalition with the United Malays National Organisation and the Malayan Chinese Association to form the Singapore Alliance Party.", "It however eventually faded away with the electoral defeats of the Alliance in the 1955 legislative elections in Singapore.====Communist Party of Malaya====The first political party to be organised with a pan-Malayan outlook was the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) established in 1930.The CPM was originally set up as a branch of the Comintern supervised by the Far Eastern Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party in 1926.It was then known as the '''South Seas Communist Party'''.", "The fraternal Communist Party of Indonesia (established in 1924) was by then underground or in exile due to their abortive revolt in 1926.This resulted in the CPM being almost exclusively dominated by people of Chinese descent.", "Efforts to establish a broader based representation were made especially in the 1935 representative conferences between the CPM and the General Labour Union as well as the establishment of contact with Communist cells in Siam and the Dutch East Indies in 1936.Nonetheless, the CPM remained an organisation that was predominantly Chinese in composition until the Japanese occupation of Malaya which saw a larger participation of people from other ethnicities.====Young Malay Union====The Young Malay Union (; '''KMM''') was established in Kuala Lumpur in 1938 under the leadership of Ibrahim Yaacob.", "While registered as a social organisation working to improve Malay youths in sports, education, agriculture, health and other recreational pursuits, the primary aim of the KMM was to struggle for the political independence of all the Malayan states from Britain and oppose British imperialism.While gaining significant support from the larger Malay community, the KMM failed to gain support from the Malay aristocrats and bureaucracy and on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, more than 100 KMM members were arrested by the authorities for collaboration.All were released after the fall of Singapore in February 1942.On 14 January 1942, a KMM delegation led by vice-president, Mustapha Hussain, met with the Japanese authorities to negotiate for the independence of Malaya.", "The Japanese authorities instead disbanded KMM and established the Pembela Tanah Ayer (also known as the ''Malai Giyu Gun'' or by its Malay acronym '''PETA''') militia in its stead.Most who joined PETA were also part of the underground KMM Youth League who continued to struggle for an independent Malaya and some cooperated with the CPM sponsored Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army and other anti-Japanese guerilla units like Force 136 and Wataniah.With the surrender of Japan in August 1945, former KMM cadres formed the nucleus of the emerging political movements like the Malay Nationalist Party, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, and Angkatan Wanita Sedar." ], [ "Political conditions", "Malaysia's predominant political party, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), held power in the coalition known as the Barisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance) with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957 until 2018.In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition – the Barisan Nasional — composed of fourteen parties.", "Today the Barisan Nasional coalition has three prominent members – the UMNO, MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) and MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress).", "The current Prime Minister of Malaysia is from Pakatan Harapan (PH) who is the ex-UMNO leader, marking the first time the post is occupied by a non-UMNO party member.In addition to the UMNO and other member parties of the Barisan Nasional (BN), three main parties (and several smaller parties) compete in national and state-level elections in Malaysia.", "The three most competitive opposition parties are the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS) and the Barisan Nasional coalition.", "The Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) promotes a more Islamist political agenda, the BN Coalition is rather critical about the current ruling government since the May 2018 General Elections.Unlike some countries close to Malaysia, such as Thailand or Indonesia, the armed forces are not prominent in politics.The political process in Malaysia from 1957 to 2018 has generally been described as taking the form of \"consociationalism\" whereby \"communal interests are resolved in the framework of a grand coalition\".", "The executive branch is described as tending to dominate political activity, with the Prime Minister's office being in a position to preside \"over an extensive and ever growing array of powers to take action against individuals or organisations,\" and \"facilitate business opportunities\".", "Critics of the ruling government generally agree that although authoritarianism in Malaysia preceded the administration of Mahathir bin Mohamad, it was he who \"carried the process forward substantially\".", "Legal scholars have suggested that the political \"equation for religious and racial harmony\" is rather fragile, and that this \"fragility stems largely from the identification of religion with race coupled with the political primacy of the Malay people colliding with the aspiration of other races for complete equality.", "\"During the terms of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, many constitutional amendments were made.", "For example, the Senate could only delay a bill from taking effect and the Monarch no longer had veto powers on proposed bills.", "Also, the 26 state senators were no longer the majority as another 44 senators were appointed by the King at the advice of the Prime Minister.", "The amendments also limited the powers of the judiciary to what parliament grants them.In early September 1998, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and accused Anwar of immoral and corrupt conduct.", "Anwar said his ousting was actually owed to political differences and led a series of demonstrations advocating political reforms.", "Later in September, Anwar was arrested, beaten while in prison (by among others, the chief of police at the time), and charged with corrupt practices, in both legal and moral contexts, charges including obstruction of justice and sodomy.", "In April 1999, he was convicted of four counts of corruption and sentenced to six years in prison.", "In August 2000, Anwar was convicted of one count of sodomy and sentenced to nine years to run consecutively after his earlier six-year sentence.", "Both trials were viewed by domestic and international observers as unfair.", "Anwar's conviction on sodomy has since been overturned, and having completed his six-year sentence for corruption, he has since been released from prison.", "In the November 1999 general election, the Barisan Nasional returned to power with three-fourths of the parliamentary seats, but UMNO's seats dropped from 94 to 72.The opposition, the Barisan Alternatif coalition, led by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), increased its seats to 42.PAS retained control of the state of Kelantan and won the additional state of Terengganu.Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin YassinThe former 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia was Dato' Seri Mohd.", "Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak.", "He took office following the retirement of Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (colloquially known as \"Pak Lah\") on April 2009.Mahathir Mohamad took office as the Prime Minister of Malaysia under the new Pakatan Harapan government on 10 May 2018.In the March 2004 general election, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi led Barisan Nasional to a landslide victory, in which Barisan Nasional recaptured the state of Terengganu.", "The coalition controlled 92% of the seats in Parliament.", "In 2005, Mahathir stated that \"I believe that the country should have a strong government but not too strong.", "A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was Prime Minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong.", "... We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes.", "When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right.", "\"The national media is largely controlled by the government and by political parties in the Barisan Nasional/National Front ruling coalition and the opposition has little access to the media.", "The print media is controlled by the Government through the requirement of obtaining annual publication licences under the Printing and Presses Act.", "In 2007, a government agency – the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission – issued a directive to all private television and radio stations to refrain from broadcasting speeches made by opposition leaders.The official state ideology is the Rukunegara, which has been described as encouraging \"respect for a pluralistic, multireligious and multicultural society\", but political scientists have argued that the slogan of ''Bangsa, Agama, Negara'' (race, religion, nation) used by UMNO constitutes an unofficial ideology too.", "Both ideologies have \"generally been used to reinforce a conservative political ideology, one that is Malay-centred.", "\"Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament.", "The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body.In recent years, the former opposition, now government has been campaigning for freer and fairer elections within Malaysia.", "On 10 November 2007, a mass rally, called the 2007 Bersih Rally, took place in the Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur at 3 pm to demand for clean and fair elections.", "The gathering was organised by BERSIH, a coalition comprising political parties and civil society groups(NGOs), and drew supporters from all over the country.On 11 November, the Malaysian government briefly detained de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday and arrested a human rights lawyer and about a dozen opposition leaders, amid growing complaints that the government was cracking down on dissent.", "Dozens of policemen blocked the main entrance to the parliament building in Kuala Lumpur to foil an opposition-led rally.", "The rally was carried out along with the attempt to submit a protest note to Parliament over a government-backed plan to amend a law that would extend the tenure of the Election Commission chief, whom the opposition claims is biased.The Malaysian government intensified efforts on 6 March 2008 to portray opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim as a political turncoat, days ahead of the 2008 Malaysian general election on 8 March 2008 because he posed a legitimate threat to the ruling coalition.", "Campaigning wrapped up 7 March 2008 for general elections that could see gains for Malaysia's opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese and Indians.", "Malaysians voted 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections.", "Election results showed that the ruling government suffered a setback when it failed to obtain two-thirds majority in parliament, and five out of 12 state legislatures were won by the opposition parties.", "Reasons for the setback of the ruling party, which has retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were rising inflation, crime and ethnic tensions.2018 marks the first time since independence in 1957 that a non-UMNO party namely PH formed the federal government.", "PH leader Anwar Ibrahim was then freed after receiving a royal pardon from the king and was designated to take over as PM from Mahathir Mohamed.", "However, things did not go well and the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan administration fell in March 2020 during the 2020 political crisis, having lost the majority number of seats required to hold power as government.", "They were then replaced by the Perikatan Nasional government, with Muhyiddin as Prime Minister.", "However, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned after 17 months in office.On 21 August 2021, Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as the country’s ninth prime minister.", "The new prime minister was a veteran politician from UMNO.In the November 2022 Malaysian general election, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition won 82 seats and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) gained 73 seats.", "Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was the biggest loser, securing just 30 seats in the 222-member parliament.", "On 24 November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia." ], [ "Monarch", "The monarch of Malaysia is the ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' (YDPA), commonly referred to as the Supreme King of Malaysia.", "Malaysia is a constitutional elective monarchy, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is selected for a five-year term from among the nine Sultans of the Malay states.", "The other four states that do not have monarch kings, are ruled by governors.", "The nine sultans and four governors together make up the Conference of Rulers who elect the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.", "The position has to date been, by informal agreement, based on systematic rotation between the nine sultans; the order was originally based on seniority.According to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the YDPA is considered as the Supreme Head of the Federation (Article 32).", "As a constitutional head, the YDPA is to act on the advice of the Prime Minister (Article 40).", "The YDPA or monarch king basically has three broad power vested in him (Jeong, 2012):* The power to exercise based on the advice from the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the Conference of Rulers (Article 32, 38, 40)* The power to exercise based on his discretionary power (without the consent or influence of any other authority)* The power to pardon (granting of pardons), reprieves and respites, and/or of remitting, suspending or commuting sentences, under Clause (12) of Article 42.The YDPA is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (i.e.", "Police, Army) in the Federation of Malaysia (Article 41).", "He is also the head of the Islamic faith in Malaysia." ], [ "System of government", "Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and 3 federal territories.", "The system of government in Malaysia is closely modelled on that of Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of British colonial rule.", "In practice however, more power is vested in the executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary has been weakened by sustained attacks by the government during the Mahathir era.", "Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years, usually concurrent with state elections for state assemblies except for Sabah (until 2004) and Sarawak." ], [ "Branches of federal government", "===Legislative===The Parliament building in Kuala LumpurLegislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures.The bicameral parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives or ''Dewan Rakyat'' (literally the \"Chamber of the People\"); and the upper house, the Senate or ''Dewan Negara'' (literally the \"Chamber of the Nation\").", "All seventy Senate members sit for three-year terms (to a maximum of two terms); twenty-six are elected by the thirteen state assemblies, and forty-four are appointed by the king based on the advice of the Prime Minister.The 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage.", "Parliament has a maximum mandate of five years by law.", "The king may dissolve parliament at any time, and usually does so upon the advice of the Prime Minister.", "General elections must be held within sixty days of the dissolution of parliament.", "In practice, this has meant that elections have been held every three to five years at the discretion of the Prime Minister.Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures.", "Malaysia has two sources of law.", "The national constitution, the nation's supreme law, can be amended by a two-thirds majority in parliament.", "(Since its formation, the BN has never lacked the necessary two-thirds until 8 March 2008's General Election) The second source of law is sharia (Islamic law), which applies only to Muslims.", "The federal government has little input into the administration of sharia; it falls to the states to implement Islamic law, and interpretations vary from state to state.", "The parliament follows a multi-party system and the governing body is elected through a first-past-the-post system.===Executive===Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the Lower House of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA), commands a majority in parliament.", "The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body.The Executive branch of the government consists of the Prime Minister as the head of the government, followed by the various ministers of the Cabinet.", "It formulates various socio-economic policies and development plans, for the development of the country as a whole.", "The Executive has the power and authority to generate revenues through the collection of various taxes, levies, fines, summons, custom duties, and fees, to name some, from the general public.===Judicial===Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, housing the Court of Appeal and the Federal CourtThe judiciary is theoretically independent of the executive and the legislature, although supporters of the government hold many judicial positions.", "The highest court in the judicial system is the Federal Court, followed by the Court of Appeal, and two High Courts, one for Peninsular Malaysia, and one for East Malaysia.", "The subordinate courts in each of these jurisdictions include Sessions Courts, Magistrates' Courts, and Courts for Children.", "Malaysia also has a Special Court to hear cases brought by or against all Royalty.The Special Court was established in 1993 to hear cases brought by or against any Rulers.", "Before its establishment, Rulers were immune from any proceedings brought against them in their personal capacity.", "Rulers include the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the elected Monarch), and the heads of state of Malaysia's component states.Separate from the civil courts are the Syariah Courts, which decide on cases which involve Malaysian Muslims.", "These courts run parallel to the normal court system, and are undergoing reforms that include the first ever appointment of female judges.", "Debate exists in Malaysia over whether the country should be secular or Islamic.", "Some state governments controlled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), including that of Terengganu, have passed Islamic laws, but these have not gone into effect due to opposition from the federal government." ], [ "Legal system", "Malaysia's legal system is based on English Common Law, alongside a Sharia court system for Malaysian Muslims.", "The Federal Court reviews decisions referred from the Court of Appeals; it has original jurisdiction in constitutional matters and in disputes between states or between the federal government and a state.", "Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak each has a high court.The federal government has authority over external affairs, defence, internal security, justice (except civil law cases among Malays or other Muslims and other indigenous peoples, adjudicated under Islamic and traditional law), federal citizenship, finance, commerce, industry, communications, transportation, and other matters." ], [ "State governments", "Each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber () whose members are elected from single-member constituencies.", "State governments are led by Chief Ministers (''Menteri Besar'' in Malay states or ''Ketua Menteri'' in states without hereditary rulers), who are state assembly members from the majority party in the Dewan Undangan Negeri.", "They advise their respective sultans or governors.", "In each of the states with a hereditary ruler, the Chief Minister is required to be an ethnic Malay, appointed by the Sultan upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister.", "Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years, with the last general election being in May 2018.Registered voters of age 18 and above may vote for the members of the House of Representatives and, in most of the states, for the state legislative chamber.", "Voting is not mandatory.Although Malaysia is a federal state, political scientists have suggested that its \"federalism is highly centralised\":" ], [ "Participation", "Race plays a large role in Malaysian politics, and many Malaysian political parties are ethnically based.", "The Government's New Economic Policy (NEP) and the National Development Policy (NDP) which superseded it, were implemented to advance the standing of ''Bumiputera'' Malaysians.", "The policies provide preferential treatment to Malays over non-Malays in employment, education, scholarships, business, and access to cheaper housing and assisted savings.", "While improving in the economic position of Malays, it is a source of resentment amongst non-Malays.", "The race-based politics practiced by UMNO has been widely criticised as racist and discriminatory.", "Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak has claimed to attempt to close racial divides through the 1Malaysia initiative.", "This, however, has not helped much.The origin of race based politics can be traced back to independence of Malaysia from United Kingdom, who wanted all citizens of Malaysia to be equal upon independence, instead of dominance by Malays.", "This caused the political parties of the three major races at the time, the UMNO (representing Malays), the MCA (representing Chinese), and the MIC (representing Indians), to join and form the Alliance Party.Students are not allowed to be involved in politics, due to the University and University College Act.", "A higher interest in the political process led to a slowdown in outbound corporate travel in anticipation of the general election in the first half of 2013, where many travellers postponed travel to ensure they had the chance to cast their votes.In June 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed that he was committed to transitioning Malaysia from race-based to needs-based affirmative action policies." ], [ "Foreign relations", "Malaysia participates in international politics and engages in formal relationships with international bodies as well as with foreign states adopting various policies.", "Malaysia's participation in international politics also affects domestic politics for example the Israel–Malaysia relations." ], [ "See also", "* Censorship in Malaysia* Human rights in Malaysia* List of political parties in Malaysia" ], [ "References" ], [ "Books", "* James Chin.", "Politics of Federal Intervention in Malaysia, with reference to Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol.", "35, No 2 (July) 1997, pp 96–120* Abdul Rashid Moten & Syed Serajul Islam.", "(2005).", "''Introduction to Political Science.''", "Singapore: Thomson Publication.", "* Ahmad Ibrahim, Tan Sri Datuk Seri.", "(1992).", "''The Malaysian Legal System''.", "Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka.", "* ILBS.", "(2007).", "''Federal Constitution of Malaysia''.", "Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services.", "* Jeong Chun Hai @ Ibrahim & Nor Fadzlina Nawi.", "(2012).", "''Principles of Public Administration: Malaysian Perspectives.''", "Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Publishers.", "* Jeong Chun Hai @ Ibrahim.", "(2007).", "''Fundamental of Development Administration.''", "Selangor: Scholar Press.", "* Wan Arfah Hamzah & Ramy Bulan.", "(2003).", "''The Malaysian Legal System.''", "Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti." ], [ "Further reading", "* * * * *" ], [ "External links" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "The economy of Malaysia is the fifth largest in Southeast Asia and the 36th largest in the world in terms of GDP.", "The 2018 labour productivity of Malaysia was measured at Int$55,360 per worker, the third highest in ASEAN.", "The 2021 Global Competitiveness Report ranked Malaysian economy the 25th most competitive country economy in the world.Malaysians enjoy a relatively affluent lifestyle compared to many of its neighbours in Southeast Asia.", "This is due to a fast-growing export-oriented economy, a relatively low national income tax, highly affordable local food and transport fuel, as well as a fully subsidized single-payer public healthcare system.", "Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, which is relatively open and state-oriented.", "The Malaysian economy is highly robust and diversified with the export value of high-tech products in 2020 standing at US$92.1 billion, the second highest in ASEAN.", "Malaysia exports the second largest volume and value of palm oil products globally, after Indonesia." ], [ "History", "As one of three countries that control the Strait of Malacca, international trade plays a very significant role in Malaysia's economy.", "At one time, it was the largest producer of tin, rubber and palm oil in the world.Manufacturing has a large influence in the country's economy, accounting for over 40% of the GDP.In the 1970s, Malaysia began to imitate the four Asian Tiger economies (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) and committed itself to a transition from being reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing.", "In the 1970s, the predominantly mining and agricultural based Malaysian economy began a transition towards a more multi-sector economy.", "Since the 1980s the industrial sector has led Malaysia's growth.", "High levels of investment played a significant role in this.", "With Japanese investment, heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years, Malaysian exports became the country's primary growth engine.", "Malaysia consistently achieved more than 7% GDP growth along with low inflation in the 1980s and the 1990s.In 1991, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir outlined his ideal, Vision 2020 in which Malaysia would become a self-sufficient industrialised nation by 2020.Tan Sri Nor Mohamed, a government minister, said Malaysia could attain developed country status in 2018 if the country's growth remains constant or increases.Malaysia experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development during the late 20th century and has GDP per capita (nominal) of US$11,062.043 in 2014, and is considered a newly industrialised country.", "In 2009, the PPP GDP was US$383.6 billion, about half the 2014 amount, and the PPP per capita GDP was US$8,100, about one third the 2014 amount.In 2014, the Household Income Survey undertaken by the government indicated that there were 7 million households in Malaysia, with an average of 4.3 members in each household.", "The average household income of Malaysia increased by 18% to RM5,900 a month, compared to RM5,000 in 2012.According to a HSBC report in 2012, Malaysia will become the world's 21st largest economy by 2050, with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (Year 2000 dollars) and a GDP per capita of $29,247 (Year 2000 dollars).", "The report also says \"The electronic equipment, petroleum, and liquefied natural gas producer will see a substantial increase in income per capita.", "Malaysian life expectancy, relatively high level of schooling, and above average fertility rate will help in its rapid expansion.\"", "Viktor Shvets, the managing director in Credit Suisse, has said \"Malaysia has all the right ingredients to become a developed nation.", "\"In the beginning of 2020, Malaysian economy was severely afflicted by COVID-19 pandemic that eventually expanded to the rest of the world, and causing the economic shutdown and downturn in the country, worse since 2008.In early December 2020 during the pandemic, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's rating from A− to BBB+.", "Some, such as Hoo Ke Ping at the Kingsley Strategic Institute, suggested that this was because of a lack of communication between the new government and the ratings agency.", "Others, such as Carmelo Ferlito, from the Centre for Market Education, said it might require something more substantial as the recent budget lacked a strategy for the recovery as well as addressing the political tensions, and also, Shan Saeed at Juwai IQI suggested that the agency had lots its relevance as the analysis was \"Behind the curve\".", "However, COVID-19 recession in the country was ended by 1 April 2022 as COVID-19 Omicron infection rate continued to fall and ahead of the endemic phase." ], [ "Economic policies", "===Monetary policy===Malaysian ringgit was an internationalised currency, which was freely traded around the world.", "Just before the crisis, the Ringgit was traded RM2.50 at the dollar.", "Due to speculative activities, the Ringgit fell to as much as RM4.10 to the dollar in matter of weeks.", "Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad decided to impose capital controls to prevent the outflow of the Ringgit in the open market.", "The Ringgit became non-internationalised and a traveller had to declare to the central bank if taking out more than RM10,000 out of the country and the Ringgit itself was pegged at RM3.80 to the US dollar.The fixed exchange rate was abandoned in favour of the floating exchange rate in July 2005, hours after China announced the same move.", "At this point, the Ringgit was still not internationalised.", "The Ringgit continued to strengthen to 3.18 to the dollar by March 2008 and appreciated as low as 2.94 to the dollar in May 2011.Meanwhile, many aspects of capital control have been slowly relaxed by Bank Negara Malaysia.", "However, the government continues to not internationalise the Ringgit.", "The government stated that the Ringgit will be internationalised once it is ready.Bank Negara Malaysia for the time being, uses interest rate targeting.", "The Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) is their policy instrument, and is used to guide the short term interbank rates which will hopefully influence inflation and economic growth.===Affirmative action===Tun Abdul Razak, who was then the Prime Minister, implemented the affirmative action policy named as New Economic Policy (NEP) soon after 13 May Incident in 1969.Prior to the incident, the poverty rates among Malays were extremely high (at 65%) as was discontent between races, particularly towards the Chinese, who controlled 74% of the economy at the time.", "Through NEP, the Bumiputeras majority were given priority and special privileges in housing developments, scholarship admission and also for ownership of publicly listed companies.The Malaysian New Economic Policy was created in 1971 with the aim of bringing Malays a 30% share of the economy of Malaysia and eradicating poverty amongst Malays, primarily through encouraging enterprise ownership by Bumiputeras.", "After 40 years of the program, bumiputra equity ownership rose to 23% worth RM167.7 billion in 2010 against 2.4% in 1970.The NEP was accused of creating an oligarchy, and creating a 'subsidy mentality'.", "Political parties such as Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Democratic Action Party proposed a new policy which will be equal for every Malaysian, regardless of race.", "When the Democratic Action Party was elected in the state of Penang in 2008, it announced that it would do away with the NEP, claiming that it \"... breeds nepotism, corruption and systemic inefficiency\".Wolfgang Kasper, a professor of economics at University of New South Wales, and once an adviser to Malaysia's Finance Ministry, criticized the NEP, saying that \"NEP handouts (are) making Malays lazy, corrupt & swell-headed.", "Worst of all, it keeps them poor.\"", "He also criticized the Federal Government giving cash-handouts and financial aid instead of providing equal access to education to help the marginalized poor to lift their income status.On 21 April 2009, the prime minister Najib Tun Razak announced the liberalization of 27 services sub-sector by abolishing the 30% bumiputera requirement.", "The move was seen as a government effort to increase investment in the service sector of the economy.", "According to the premier, many more sectors of the economy would be liberalized.On 30 June 2009, the prime minister announced further liberation moves including the dismantling of the Bumiputera equity quotas and repealing the guidelines of the Foreign Investment Committee, which was responsible to monitor foreign shareholding in Malaysian companies.", "However, any Malaysian companies that wished to list in Malaysia would still need to offer 50 percent of public shareholding spread to Bumiputera investors.===Subsidies and price controls===The Malaysian government subsidises and controls prices on a lot of essential items to keep the prices low.", "Prices of items such as palm oil, cooking oil, petrol, flour, bread, rice and other essentials have been kept under market prices to keep cost of living low.", "As of 2009, 22 per cent of government expenditures were subsidies, with petrol subsidies alone taking up 12 per cent.Since 2010, the government has been gradually reforming Malaysia's subsidy system, via a series of reductions in subsidies for fuel and sugar to improve government finances and to improve economic efficiency.", "As a result, in December 2014, the government officially ended all fuel subsidies and implemented a 'managed float' system, taking advantage of low oil prices at the time, potentially saving the government almost RM20 billion ringgit (US$5.97 billion) annually.===Sovereign wealth funds===The government owns and operates several sovereign wealth funds that invest in local companies and also foreign companies.", "One such fund is Khazanah Nasional Berhad which was established in 1993, and as of 31 December 2013 has US$41 billion worth of assets.", "The fund invests in major companies in Malaysia such as CIMB in the banking sector, UEM Group in the construction sector, Telekom Malaysia and Axiata in the communications industry, Malaysia Airports and Malaysia Airlines in the aerospace industry, as well as Tenaga Nasional in the energy sectorAnother fund that is owned by the Malaysian government is the Employees Provident Fund which is a retirement fund that as of 31 March 2014, has an asset size of RM597 billion.", "(US$184 billion), making it the fourth largest pension fund in Asia and seventh largest in the world.", "Like Khazanah Nasional, the EPF invests and sometimes owns several major companies in Malaysia such as RHB Bank.", "EPF investment is diversified over a number of sectors but almost 40% of their investment are in the services sector.Permodalan Nasional Berhad is another major fund manager controlled by the Malaysian Government.", "It offers capital guaranteed mutual funds such as Amanah Saham Bumiputera and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 which are open only to Malaysian and in some cases, Bumiputeras.===Government influence===Although the federal government promotes private enterprise and ownership in the economy, the economic direction of the country is heavily influenced by the government through five years development plans since independence.", "The economy is also influenced by the government through agencies such as the Economic Planning Unit and government-linked wealth funds such as Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Employees Provident Fund and Permodalan Nasional Berhad.The government's development plans, called the Malaysian Plan, currently the Tenth Malaysia Plan, started in 1950 during the British colonial rule.", "The plans were largely centred around accelerating the growth of the economy by selectively investing in selective sectors of the economy and building infrastructure to support said sectors.", "For example, in the current national plan, three sectors – agriculture, manufacturing and services, will receive special attention to promote the transition to high value-added activities in the respective areas.Government-linked investment vehicles such as Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Employees Provident Fund and Permodalan Nasional Berhad invest in and sometimes own major companies in major sectors of the Malaysian economy." ], [ "Data", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027).", "Inflation below 5% is in green.", "YearGDP(in Bil.", "US$PPP)GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in Bil.", "US$nominal)GDP per capita(in US$ nominal)GDP growth(real)Inflation rate(in Percent)Unemployment(in Percent)Government debt(in % of GDP)198046.33,337.826.81,927.07.4%6.7%n/an/a198154.33,813.027.31,920.16.9%9.7%n/an/a198261.04,182.429.32,006.55.9%5.8%n/an/a198367.44,505.632.72,189.66.3%3.7%n/an/a198475.24,908.037.12,419.57.8%3.9%n/an/a198576.94,862.034.12,154.5-0.9%2.6%6.9%n/a198679.44,883.230.31,864.01.2%0.4%8.3%n/a198785.75,139.634.52,070.05.4%0.7%8.2%n/a198897.65,708.037.82,213.99.9%0.3%8.1%n/a1989110.66,316.441.72,380.59.1%2.6%6.7%n/a1990125.16,846.247.22,585.89.0%3.0%5.1%74.1%1991141.67,636.553.52,885.19.5%4.3%4.3%67.3%1992157.78,272.564.53,380.28.9%4.8%3.7%59.1%1993177.59,053.072.93,717.49.9%3.5%3.0%51.1%1994197.99,827.381.14,028.49.2%3.7%2.9%43.7%1995222.010,731.896.64,672.19.8%3.5%3.1%38.2%1996248.611,715.0109.95,176.310.0%3.5%2.5%32.8%1997271.412,469.0108.84,997.07.3%2.7%2.4%29.6%1998254.311,386.478.63,520.9-7.4%5.3%3.2%33.6%1999273.711,946.786.23,762.86.1%2.7%3.4%34.4%2000304.212,945.8102.14,347.78.7%1.6%3.1%32.5%2001312.612,959.3101.14,189.10.5%1.4%3.7%38.1%2002334.613,532.2109.84,441.85.4%1.8%3.5%39.5%2003361.014,256.3120.04,740.35.8%1.1%3.6%41.4%2004395.815,278.8135.95,244.96.8%1.4%3.6%42.0%2005428.516,184.8150.45,678.75.0%3.0%3.6%40.8%2006466.417,383.1170.56,355.05.6%3.6%3.3%39.7%2007509.218,789.4202.97,485.96.3%2.0%3.2%39.3%2008544.019,711.4242.18,771.04.8%5.4%3.3%39.4%2009539.219,202.1212.07,550.3-1.5%0.6%3.7%50.4%2010586.820,525.5258.89,054.17.5%1.7%3.3%51.2%2011630.721,701.7302.610,413.75.3%3.2%3.1%51.9%2012677.622,963.3319.210,815.15.5%1.7%3.0%53.8%2013701.723,224.6328.110,858.44.7%2.1%3.1%55.7%2014745.424,273.0343.111,172.46.0%3.1%2.9%55.4%2015750.824,074.1301.49,663.35.0%2.1%3.2%57.0%2016783.924,779.9301.99,544.24.5%2.1%3.5%55.8%2017829.325,897.2319.29,969.55.8%3.8%3.4%54.4%2018890.227,491.3359.011,086.14.8%1.0%3.3%55.6%2019946.129,091.6365.311,231.54.4%0.7%3.3%57.1%2020904.627,760.7337.610,361.3-5.5%-1.1%4.5%67.7%2021971.329,702.4373.011,407.73.1%2.5%4.7%69.0%20221,096.533,112.7434.113,107.95.4%3.2%4.5%69.6%20231,185.335,353.6467.513,942.64.4%2.8%4.3%70.0%20241,269.737,416.1503.114,826.04.9%2.4%4.2%70.0%20251,350.539,335.8539.615,717.84.4%2.4%4.2%70.2%20261,437.241,395.7577.216,623.94.4%2.4%4.2%70.2%20271,522.743,387.1615.017,523.63.9%2.5%4.2%70.6%" ], [ "Currency", "The only legal tender in Malaysia is the Malaysian ringgit.", "As of 19 February 2024, the ringgit is traded at MYR 4.78 at the US dollar.The ringgit has not been internationalised since September 1998, due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis in which the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad imposed capital controls on the currency, due to speculative short-selling of the ringgit.", "As a part of series of capital controls, the currency was pegged between September 1998 and 21 July 2005 at MYR 3.80 to the dollar after dropping from MYR 2.50 per USD to, at one point, MYR 4.80 per USD.In recent years, Bank Negara Malaysia has begun to relax certain rules on capital controls, although the currency itself is still not traded internationally.", "According to the Bank Governor, the ringgit will be internationalised when it is ready.In September 2010, in an interview with CNBC, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, who was the then Prime Minister of Malaysia and also held the position of Finance Minister, said that the government was open to open up the ringgit to offshore trading if the move would help the economy.", "He added that before such a move could be made, it would ensure that rules and regulation were in place to avoid abuse of the currency." ], [ "Natural resources", "Palm oil estate in Malaysia.Malaysia is well-endowed with natural resources in areas such as agriculture, forestry and minerals.", "It is an exporter of natural and agricultural resources, the most valuable exported resource being petroleum.", "In the agricultural sector, Malaysia is one of the top exporters of natural rubber and palm oil, which together with timber and timber products, cocoa, pepper, pineapple and tobacco dominate the growth of the sector.", "As of 2011, the percentage arable land in Malaysia is 5.44%.", "Croplands consists of 17.49% while other land uses consists of 77.07%.", "As of 2009, irrigated land covers 3,800 km2.Total renewable water resources make up 580 cubic km as of 2011.Tin and petroleum are the two main mineral resources that are of major significance in the Malaysian economy.", "Malaysia was once the world's largest producer of tin until the collapse of the tin market in the early 1980s.", "In the 19th and 20th century, tin played a predominant role in the Malaysian economy, with Malaysia accounting for over 31% of global output.", "It was only in 1972 that petroleum and natural gas took over from tin as the mainstay of the mineral extraction sector.", "Other minerals of some importance or significance include copper, bauxite, iron-ore and coal together with industrial minerals like clay, kaolin, silica, limestone, barite, phosphates and dimension stones such as granite as well as marble blocks and slabs.", "Small quantities of gold are produced.In 2019, the country was the 11th largest world producer of manganese; the 11th largest world producer of tin, the 12th largest world producer of bauxite, and the 19th largest world producer of lime.=== Energy resources ===Malaysia holds proven oil reserves of 4 billion barrels as of January 2014, the fourth-highest reserves in Asia-Pacific after China, India, and Vietnam.", "Nearly all of Malaysia's oil comes from offshore fields.", "The continental shelf is divided into three producing basins: the basin offshore Eastern Peninsular Malaysia in the west and the Sarawak and Sabah basins in the east.", "Most of the country's oil reserves are located in the Peninsular basin and tend to be light and sweet crude.", "Malaysia's benchmark crude oil, Tapis Blend, is a light and sweet crude oil, with an API gravity of 42.7° and a sulphur content of 0.04% by weight.Malaysia also holds 83 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves as of January 2014, and was the third-largest natural gas reserve holder in the Asia-Pacific region after China and Indonesia.", "More than half of the country's natural gas reserves are located in its eastern areas, predominantly offshore Sarawak.", "Most of Malaysia's gas reserves are associated with oil basins, although Sarawak and Sabah have an increasing amount of non-associated gas reserves that have offset some of the declines from mature oil and gas basins offshore Peninsular Malaysia." ], [ "Business environment", "In 2015, Malaysia's economy was one of the most competitive in the world, ranking 14th in the world and 5th for countries with a population of over 20 million, higher than countries like Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan.In 2015, Malaysia was the 6th most attractive country for foreign investors, ranked in the Baseline Profitability Index (BPI) published by Foreign Policy Magazine.The government is moving towards a more business friendly environment by setting up a special task force to facilitate business called PEMUDAH, which means \"simplifier\" in Malay.", "Highlights includes easing restrictions and requirement to hire expatriates, shorten time to do land transfers and increasing the limit of sugar storage (a controlled item in Malaysia) for companies.Malaysia was ranked 33rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, up from 35th in 2019." ], [ "Taxation", "In 2016, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia lowered the effective tax rate to 24% for businesses with capital exceeding 2.5 million ringgit.", "For the smaller companies, the rate is 19%.The Malaysian government also imposes government taxes such as the Sales and Services tax and real estate taxes.", "The current rate of SST is at 6% while disposal of property is subject to a schedule of period holding the property." ], [ "External trade", "In 2021, Malaysia's total external trade totaled RM2,227 billion (approximately US$530 billion), made up of RM1,239 billion (approximately US$295 billion) of exports and RM987 billion (approximately US$235 billion) of imports, making Malaysia the world's 21st largest exporter and the world's 25th largest importer.Malaysia's largest trading partner is China.", "Malaysia has been China's top trading partner within ASEAN for five years in a row since 2008.The two-way trade volume between China and Malaysia in 2013 reached $106 billion, making Malaysia China's third-largest trade partner in Asia, just behind Japan and South Korea and eighth largest overall.", "On 31 May 2014, during Najib Razak's visit to China where he was welcomed by China's Premier Li Keqiang, China and Malaysia pledged to increase bilateral trade to US$160 billion by 2017.They also agreed to upgrade economic and financial co-operation, especially in the production of halal food, water processing and railway construction.Malaysia's second largest trading partner is Singapore and Malaysia is Singapore's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling roughly US$91 billion in 2012, accounting for over a fifth of total trade within ASEAN.Malaysia's third largest trading partner is Japan, amounting RM137.45 billion (US$42 billion) of trade in 2014, an increase of 1.4% compared with to 2013.Out of this, exports totalled RM82.71 billion (US$25.6 billion), a growth of 4.4% cent while imports contracted 2.9% to RM54.75 billion (US$16.74 billion).", "Malaysian Ambassador to Japan Datuk Ahmad Izlan Idris said the main exports from Malaysia to Japan were liquefied natural gas (LNG), electrical and electronics as well as chemical-based products.", "He said Malaysia's main imports from Japan were electrical and electronics, machines and equipment as well as spare parts and accessories for vehicles and cars.Malaysia is an important trading partner for the United States.", "In 1999, two-way bilateral trade between the US and Malaysia totalled US$30.5 billion, with US exports to Malaysia totalling US$9.1 billion and US imports from Malaysia increasing to US$21.4 billion.", "Malaysia was the United States' 10th-largest trading partner and its 12th-largest export market.", "During the first half of 2000, US exports totalled US$5 billion, while US imports from Malaysia reached US$11.6 billion." ], [ "Agriculture sector", "Rubber plantation in MalaysiaAgriculture is now a minor sector of the Malaysian economy, accounting for 7.1% of Malaysia's GDP in 2014 and employing 11.1% of Malaysia's labour force, contrasting with the 1960s when agriculture accounted for 37% of Malaysia's GDP and employed 66.2% of the labour force.", "The crops grown by the agricultural sector has also significantly shifted from food crops like paddy and coconut to industrial crops like palm oil and rubber, which in 2005 contributed to 83.7% of total agricultural land use, compared to 68.5% in 1960.===Palm Oil Industry===Despite its minor contribution to Malaysia's GDP, Malaysia has a significant foothold in the world's agricultural sector, being the world's second largest producer of palm oil in 2012 producing 18.79 million tonnes of crude palm oil on roughly of land.", "Though Indonesia produces more palm oil, Malaysia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil having exported 18 million tonnes of palm oil products in 2011.In March 2019, the European Commission concluded that palm oil cultivation results in excessive deforestation and its use in transport fuel should be phased out by 2030.In response, Mahathir Mohamad alleged that the European Union is at risk of starting a trade war with Malaysia regarding its \"grossly unfair\" policies geared towards decreasing the use of palm oil, which Mahathir stated was \"unfair\" and an example of \"rich people...trying to impoverish poor people\"." ], [ "Industry sector", "Science policies in Malaysia are regulated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.", "The country is one of the world's largest exporters of semiconductor devices, electrical devices, and IT and communication products.Malaysia's industrial sector accounts for 36.8%, over a third of the country's GDP in 2014, and employs 36% of the labour force in 2012.The industrial sector mostly contributed by the electronics industry, automotive industry and construction industry.=== Electrical and electronics ===The electrical & electronics (E&E) industry is the leading sector in Malaysia's manufacturing sector, contributing significantly to the country's exports (32.8 per cent) and employment (27.2 per cent) in 2013.Malaysia benefits from the global demand in the usage of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), storage devices (cloud computing, data centres), optoelectronics (photonics, fibre optics, LEDs) and embedded technology (integrated circuits, PCBs, LEDs).==== Electronic components ====Products/activities which fall under this sub-sector include semiconductor devices, passive components, printed circuits and other components such as media, substrates and connectors.Within the electronic components sub-sector, the semiconductor devices is the leading contributor of exports for the E&E industry.", "Exports of semiconductor devices were RM111.19 billion or 47% of the total E&E products exported in 2013.Malaysia is a major hub for electrical component manufacturing, with factories of international companies like Intel, AMD, Freescale Semiconductor, ASE, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Fairchild Semiconductor, Renesas, X-Fab and major Malaysian-owned companies such as Green Packet, Silterra, Globetronics, Unisem and Inari which have contributed to the steady growth of the semiconductor industry in Malaysia.", "To date, there are more than 50 companies, largely MNCs producing semiconductors devices in Malaysia.==== Photovoltaics ====Malaysia is a major hub for solar equipment manufacturing, with factories of companies like First Solar, Panasonic, TS Solartech, Jinko Solar, JA Solar, SunPower, Hanwha Q Cells, and SunEdison in locations like Kulim, Penang, Malacca, Cyberjaya and Ipoh.First Solar's factory in KulimIn 2013, Malaysia's total production capacity for solar wafers, solar cells and solar panels totalled 4,042 MW.", "By 2014, Malaysia was the world's third largest manufacturer of photovoltaics equipment, behind China and the European Union.Many international companies have the majority of production capacity located in Malaysia, such as the American company First Solar which has over 2,000 MW of production capacity located in Kulim and only 280 MW located in Ohio, and formerly German-based Hanwha Q Cells which produces 1,100 MW worth of solar cells in Cyberjaya while producing only 200 MW worth of solar cells in Germany.", "SunPower's largest manufacturing facility with a capacity of 1,400 MW is also located in Malacca.=== Automotive ===The Proton Prevé, a car made by Malaysian car company Proton.The automotive industry in Malaysia consists of 27 vehicle producers and over 640 component manufacturers.", "The Malaysian automotive industry is the third largest in Southeast Asia, and the 23rd largest in the world, with an annual production output of over 500,000 vehicles.", "The automotive industry contributes 4% or RM 40 billion to Malaysia's GDP, and employs a workforce of over 700,000 throughout a nationwide ecosystem.The Malaysian automotive industry is Southeast Asia's sole pioneer of indigenous car companies, namely Proton and Perodua.", "In 2002, Proton helped Malaysia become the 11th country in the world with the capability to fully design, engineer and manufacture cars from the ground up.", "The Malaysian automotive industry also hosts several domestic-foreign joint venture companies, which assemble a large variety of vehicles from imported complete knock down (CKD) kits.Malaysia's first tech unicorn startup, automotive e-commerce platform Carsome, raised $290 million in a Series E funding round to expand its product, technology and infrastructure in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.", "This latest funding round values the used-car online marketplace at $1.7 billion.=== Construction ===Penang BridgeMalaysia has a large construction industry of over RM102.2 billion (US$32 billion).", "The highest percentage share was contributed by construction of non-residential buildings which recorded 34.6 per cent.", "This was followed by civil engineering sub-sector (30.6%), residential buildings (29.7%), and special trades (5.1%).Selangor recorded the highest value of construction work done at 24.5% among the states, followed by Johor at 16.5%, Kuala Lumpur at 15.8%, Sarawak at 8.6% and Penang at 6.4%.", "The contribution of these five states accounted for 71.8% of the total value of construction work in Malaysia.The expansion of the construction industry has been catalysed by major capital expenditure projects, and a key factor has been the government's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and public-private partnership (PPP) mega-projects like Tun Razak Exchange, KVMRT and Iskandar Malaysia.=== Defence ===Kedah-class warship, with another unit being built in the backgroundMalaysia has a relatively new defence industry that was created after the government created the Malaysia Defence Industry Council to encourage local companies to participate in the country's defence sector in 1999.The land sector of the defence industry is dominated by DefTech, a subsidiary of Malaysia's largest automotive manufacturer, DRB-HICOM.", "The company focuses on manufacturing armoured vehicles and specialised logistics vehicles.", "The company has supplied ACV-15 infantry fighting vehicles to the Malaysian Army in the past and is currently supplying the DefTech AV8 amphibious multirole armoured vehicle to the Malaysian Army.The sea sector of the defence industry is dominated by Boustead Heavy Industries, who builds warships for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) through transfer of technology with foreign companies.", "The company has built 4 Kedah-class offshore patrol vessels for the RMN in the past and is currently undertaking a project to build 6 more Second Generation Patrol Vessels for the RMN." ], [ "Services sector", "===Finance and banking===Headquarters of Maybank, Malaysia's largest bankKuala Lumpur has a large financial sector, and is ranked the 22nd in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index.There are currently 27 commercial banks (8 domestic and 19 foreign), 16 Islamic banks (10 domestic and 6 foreign), 15 investment banks (all domestic) and 2 other financial institutions (both domestic) operating in Malaysia.Commercial banks are the largest and most significant providers of funds in the banking system.", "The biggest banks in Malaysia's finance sector are Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank Berhad, RHB Bank and AmBank.Malaysia is currently also the world's largest centre of Islamic Finance.", "Malaysia has 16 fully-fledged Islamic banks including five foreign ones, with total Islamic bank assets of US$168.4 billion, which accounts for 25% of the Malaysia's total banking assets.", "This in turn accounts for over 10% of the world's total Islamic banking assets.", "In comparison, Malaysia's main rival UAE, has US$95 billion of assets.Malaysia is the global leader in terms of the sukuk (Islamic bond) market, issuing RM62 billion (US$17.74 billion) worth of sukuk in 2014 - over 66.7% of the global total of US$26.6 billion Malaysia also accounts for around two-thirds of the global outstanding sukuk market, controlling $178 billion of $290 billion, the global total.The Malaysian government is planning to transform the country's capital Kuala Lumpur into a major financial centre in a bid to raise its profile and spark greater international trade and investment through the construction of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX).", "The government believes the project will allow Malaysia to compete with regional financial superpowers such as Singapore and Hong Kong, by leveraging on the country's established strength in the rapidly growing Islamic financial marketplace.Based in Kuala Lumpur, Bursa Malaysia serves as the country's sole national stock exchange.", "Trading of shares started in 1960 and it is today one of the largest bourses in Southeast Asia.===Tourism===Perhentian BesarTourism is a huge sector of the Malaysian economy, with over 57.1 million domestic tourists generating RM37.4 billion (US$11 billion) in tourist receipts in 2014, and attracting 27,437,315 international tourist arrivals, a growth of 6.7% compared to 2013.Total international tourist receipts increased by 3.9% to RM60.6 billion (US$19 billion) in 2014.United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) listed Malaysia as the 10th most visited country in 2012.Malaysia is rich with diverse natural attractions which become an asset to the country's tourism industry.", "This was recognised by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), who declared Malaysia as \"a destination full of unrealized potential\" with the main strength as the availability of a vast range of diverse attractions to suit all tastes relatively affordable prices and; largely unspoilt destination.Malaysia's top tourist destinations are the Mulu Caves, Perhentian Islands, Langkawi, Petronas Towers and Mount Kinabalu.==== Medical tourism ====Tuaran Hospital in SabahMedical tourism is a significant sector of Malaysia's economy, with an estimated 1 million travelling to Malaysia specifically for medical treatments alone in 2014, contributing around US$200 million (about RM697 mil) in revenue to the economy.Malaysia is reputed as one of the most preferred medical tourism destinations with modern private healthcare facilities and highly efficient medical professionals.", "In 2014, Malaysia was ranked the world's best destination for medical tourism by the Nomad Capitalist.", "Malaysia was also included in the top 10 medical tourism destinations list by CNBC.In 2014, Prince Court Medical Centre, a Malaysian hospital, was ranked the world's best hospital for medical tourists by MTQUA.The Malaysian government targets to hit RM 9.6 billion (US$3.2 billion) in revenue from 1.9 million foreign patients by 2020.===Oil and gas===Petronas petrol station in ThailandMalaysia has a vibrant oil and gas industry.", "The national oil company, Petronas is ranked the 69th biggest company in the world in the Fortune 500 list in 2014, with a revenue of over US100.7 billion and total assets of over US$169 billion.", "Petronas provides around 30% of the Malaysian government's revenue, although the government has been actively cutting down on its reliance of petroleum, with a target of 20%.Petronas is also the custodian of oil and gas reserves for Malaysia.", "Hence, all oil and gas activities are regulated by Petronas.", "Malaysia encourages foreign oil company participation through production sharing contracts, in which significant amount of oil will be given away to the foreign oil company until it reaches a production milestone.", "Currently, many major oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Nippon Oil, and Murphy Oil are involved in such contracts.", "As a result, 40% of oil fields in Malaysia are developed.There are over 3,500 oil and gas (O&G) businesses in Malaysia comprising international oil companies, independents, services and manufacturing companies that support the needs of the O&G value chain both domestically and regionally.", "Many major global machinery & equipment (M&E) manufacturers have set up bases in Malaysia to complement home-grown M&E companies, while other Malaysian oil and gas companies are focused on key strategic segments such as marine, drilling, engineering, fabrication, offshore installation and operations and maintenance (O&M)." ], [ "Infrastructure", "The infrastructure of Malaysia is one of the most developed in Asia.", "Its telecommunications network is second only to Singapore's in Southeast Asia, with 4.7 million fixed-line subscribers and more than 30 million cellular subscribers.", "(2011) The country has seven international ports, the major one being the Port Klang.", "There are 200 industrial parks along with specialised parks such as Technology Park Malaysia and Kulim Hi-Tech Park.", "Fresh water is available to over 95 per cent of the population.", "During the colonial period, development was mainly concentrated in economically powerful cities and in areas forming security concerns.", "Although rural areas have been the focus of great development, they still lag behind areas such as those in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.", "The telecommunication network, although strong in urban areas, is less available to the rural population.=== Energy ===Bakun Dam under construction in 2009Malaysia's energy infrastructure sector is largely dominated by Tenaga Nasional, the largest electric utility company in Southeast Asia, with over RM99.03 billion of assets.", "Customers are connected to electricity through the National Grid, with more than 420 transmission substations in the Peninsular linked together by approximately 11,000 km of transmission lines operating at 132, 275 and 500 kilovolts.In 2013, Malaysia's total power generation capacity was over 29,728 megawatts.", "Total electricity generation was 140,985.01 GWh and total electricity consumption was 116,087.51 GWh.Energy production in Malaysia is largely based on oil and natural gas, owing to Malaysia's oil reserves and natural gas reserves, which is the fourth largest in Asia-Pacific after China, India and Vietnam.Malaysia has also significant renewable energy resources and has high potential for the development of large-scale solar power and it has one of the most advanced legal frameworks in the ASEAN region for promoting renewables.", "The country set a 20% target of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2025 and to achieve this the government will need to improve its renewable energy governance, investment policy and market entry for foreign investors as well to develop a framework for easier grid connection and use.", "As of 2021, Malaysia is one of the major producers of solar panels for the international market, but paradoxically it has yet to fully capitalize on this for domestic electricity generation.=== Transport network ======= Road network ====North–South Expressway, the longest highway in MalaysiaMalaysia's road network is one of the most comprehensive in Asia and covers a total of .The main national road network is the Malaysian Federal Roads System, which span over .", "Most of the federal roads in Malaysia are 2-lane roads.", "In town areas, federal roads may become 4-lane roads to increase traffic capacity.", "Nearly all federal roads are paved with tarmac except parts of the Skudai–Pontian Highway which is paved with concrete, while parts of the Federal Highway linking Klang to Kuala Lumpur, is paved with asphalt.Malaysia has over of highways and the longest highway, the North–South Expressway, extends over on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, connecting major urban centres like Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.", "In 2015, the government announced a RM27 billion (US$8.23 billion) Pan-Borneo Highway project to upgrade all trunk roads to dual carriage expressways, bringing the standard of East Malaysian highways to the same level of quality of Peninsular highways.==== Rail network ====There are currently of railways in Malaysia, are double tracked and electrified.Rail transport in Malaysia comprises heavy rail (KTM), light rapid transit and monorail (Rapid Rail), and a funicular railway line (Penang Hill Railway).", "Heavy rail is mostly used for intercity passenger and freight transport as well as some urban public transport, while LRTs are used for intra-city urban public transport.", "There two commuter rail services linking Kuala Lumpur with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.", "The sole monorail line in the country is also used for public transport in Kuala Lumpur, while the only funicular railway line is in Penang.", "A rapid transit project, the KVMRT, is currently under construction to improve Kuala Lumpur's public transport system.The railway network covers most of the 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia.", "In East Malaysia, only the state of Sabah has railways.", "The network is also connected to the Thai railway network in the north.", "If the Burma Railway is rebuilt, services to Myanmar, India, and China could be initiated.==== Air network ====Kuala Lumpur International AirportMalaysia has 118 airports, of which 38 are paved.", "The national airline is Malaysia Airlines, providing international and domestic air services.", "Major international routes and domestic routes crossing between West Malaysia and East Malaysia are served by Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo Air while smaller domestic routes are supplemented by smaller airlines like MASwings, Firefly and Berjaya Air.", "Major cargo airlines include MASkargo and Transmile Air Services.Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the main and busiest airport of Malaysia.", "In 2014, it was the world's 13th busiest airport by international passenger traffic, recording over 25.4 million international passenger traffic.", "It was also the world's 20th busiest airport by passenger traffic, recording over 48.9 million passengers.Other major airports include Kota Kinabalu International Airport, which is also Malaysia's second busiest airport and busiest airport in East Malaysia with over 6.9 million passengers in 2013, and Penang International Airport, with over 5.4 million passengers in 2013.====Sea network====Port KlangMalaysia is strategically located on the Strait of Malacca, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.Malaysia has two ports that are listed in the top 20 busiest ports in the world, Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas, which are respectively the 2nd and 3rd busiest ports in Southeast Asia after the Port of Singapore.Port Klang is Malaysia's busiest port, and the 13th busiest port in the world in 2013, handling over 10.3 million TEUs.", "Port of Tanjung Pelepas is Malaysia's second busiest port, and the 19th busiest port in the world in 2013, handling over 7.6 million TEUs." ], [ "Free trade efforts", "=== International trade agreements ===+EconomyAgreementAbbreviationConcludedSignedEffectiveLegalTextMalaysia–Japan Economic Partnership AgreementMJEPA13 December 200513 December 200513 July 2006Malaysia–Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership AgreementMPCEPA8 November 20078 November 20071 January 2008Malaysia–New Zealand Free Trade AgreementtMNZFTA30 May 200926 October 20091 August 2010Malaysia–India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation AgreementMICECA18 February 20111 July 2011Malaysia–Chile Free Trade AgreementMCFTAMay 201013 November 201025 February 2012Malaysia–Australia Free Trade AgreementMAFTA30 March 20121 January 2013Malaysia–Turkey Free Trade AgreementMTFTA15 January 201417 April 20141 August 2015ASEAN–China Free Trade AgreementACFTANovember 20021 January 2010ASEAN–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementAJCEP14 April 20081 February 2009ASEAN–Korea Free Trade AgreementAKFTA1 January 2010ASEAN–India Free Trade AgreementAIFTA13 August 20091 January 2010ASEAN–Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area AgreementAANZFTA27 February 20091 January 2010ASEAN–Hong Kong, China Free Trade AgreementAHKFTA12 November 201713 October 2019Regional Comprehensive Economic PartnershipRCEP15 November 202018 March 2022=== Trade agreements under negotiation ===* Malaysia-EFTA Economic Partnership Agreement since 2012* Malaysia–European Union Free Trade Agreement (MEUFTA)* Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)* Trade Prefential System-Organisation of Islamic Conference (TPS-OIC)* Developing Eight (D-8) Preferential Tariff Agreement (PTA)" ], [ "Investments", "Malaysia's total accumulated investments in 2014 was RM235.9 billion, with 72.6 per cent (RM171.3 billion) being contributed by domestic sources and 27.4 per cent (RM64.6 billion) coming from foreign sources.According to A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, Malaysia was ranked 15th in the 2014 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, 9th in 2012, 16th in 2007 and 21st in 2010.The index assesses the impact of political, economic and regulatory changes on the FDI intentions and preferences of the leaders of top companies around the world.Rank 2007 Rank 2010 Rank 2012 Rank 2014 Country FDI Confidence Index3 2 4 1 2.161 1 1 2 1.95 – 9 20 3 1.934 10 8 4 1.916 4 3 5 1.9110 5 5 6 1.84 5 3 2 7 1.8111 7 6 8 1.767 24 7 9 1.758 13 17 10 1.7420 11 15 11 1.74 19 8 – 12 1.7218 – 11 13 1.70 – – 22 14 1.6816 21 10 15 1.65 – – – 16 1.64 – – – 17 1.64 - – 24 18 1.63 – – 21 19 1.62 – – – 20 1.61 12 – 16 21 1.61 6 6 23 22 1.61 – – 18 23 1.61 13 – 19 24 1.6018 23 13 25 1.60" ], [ "Largest public Malaysian companies", "=== Fortune Global 500 ===Malaysia has 1 company that rank in the Fortune Global 500 ranking for 2022.+World RankCompanyIndustrySales ($M)Profits ($M)Assets ($M)Employees216PetronasOil and gas59,87310,091152,49846,884=== Forbes Global 2000 ===Malaysia has 8 companies that rank in the Forbes Global 2000 ranking for 2022.World rank Company Industry Sales (billion $) Profits (billion $) Assets (billion $) Market value (billion $)485 Maybank Banking 9.2 2.0 213.2 24.7837 Tenaga Nasional Utilities 12.7 0.883 43.8 11.8751 Public Bank Berhad Banking 4.5 1.4 111.1 21.2895 CIMB Group Holdings Banking 5.7 1.0 149.3 12.21525 RHB Capital Banking 2.6 0.631 69.5 5.71641 Hong Leong Financial Group Business services & supplies 1.9 0.567 66.7 5.11448 Top Glove Health care equipment & services 3.6 1.6 3.1 10.81236 Petronas Chemicals Chemicals 5.6 1.8 11.5 19.1" ], [ "See also", "* List of Malaysian states by GDP* Bamboo network* Malaysian Green Transition" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "*" ], [ "Further reading", "*" ], [ "External links", "* Mahathir bin Mohamad's interview with the PBS series \"Commanding Heights\" on the subject of East Asian economic development.", "* Key Statistics for Malaysia* Economic Outlook by Economist Intelligence Unit * Khazanah Nasional Berhad SWF Profile* World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Malaysia" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "The primary regulator of '''telecommunications in Malaysia''' is the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).", "It issues licenses under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Postal Services Act 2012 and the Digital Signature Act 1997." ], [ "History", "The British, who had a presence in Malaysia from the 18th century, were responsible for setting up the country's earliest telecommunications facilities, which over time evolved into TM.", "First establishing telegraph lines under the Posts & Telegraphs Department, telephones made their debut in the late 19th century, the earliest hand-cranked Magneto operated devices being used in Perak in the 1880s.", "The first public telephone exchange in the country was also set up in Ipoh, in 1902.In 1891, telephones made its debut in Kuala Lumpur.", "At the turn of the century, a major telephony line from Province Wellesley (Seberang Prai) in Penang to Johor Bahru was built, and in 1915 the first underground cable was laid linking Ipoh, Taiping, Kampar and Teluk Anson.Along with increased trade and the development of townships, the number of telephone subscribers in Peninsular Malaysia increased significantly.", "By 1930, to deal with the volume of telephony traffic, an automated magneto exchange was commissioned in Kuala Lumpur on Jalan Weld.", "In the 1930s, all telephone exchanges in the Malayan Trunk System could communicate with exchanges in Java, the Philippines, the United States, Canada and Mexico using shortwave radio-telephone transmitters.", "Towards the end of the decade, a Marconi Radio Terminal was installed at the Kuala Lumpur Telephone Exchange to handle overseas calls.Much of this telecommunications infrastructure was damaged during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation.", "In 1946, when the British re-established their position in Malaya, they repaired the trunk routes, restored fallen telephone poles and installed the copper wires that had either been damaged or stolen.", "During the Japanese occupation, the Posts & Telegraphs Department had been split into two separate units.", "When the British returned, they initially re-united the two entities, but this effort was short-lived.", "Along with the formation of the Malayan Union on 1 April 1946, the Malaysian Telecommunications Department and the Postal Services Department were born, with the former controlling telegraph, telephone and wireless services and the latter overlooking mail, money orders and savings accounts." ], [ "Telephones system", "'''Number of fixed-telephone subscriptions:''' 6.474 million as at 4Q 2019'''Number of Direct Exchange Line (DEL) subscriptions:''' 2.199 million as at 4Q 2019===Telephone system===Domestic:* Communication connectivity in Peninsular Malaysia is covered by both fixed and wireless infrastructure such as fibre network, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) network, mobile base stations, earth stations and microwave link stations* Communication connectivity in East Malaysia mainly provided by the coverage of fibre network, ADSL network, earth stations, mobile base station and microwave link stations* Intercity communication service (backhaul) provided in Peninsular and East Malaysia is mainly by fibre optic connections and fixed wireless systems (microwave links).", "In addition, there are also deployment of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for service provisioning in rural areas* Major telecommunication operators in Malaysia include Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and Time dotComInternational:* Connectivity via submarine cables to Tier 1 networks that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection* Major submarine cable providers in Malaysia are Telekom Malaysia and Time dotCom* Satellite services coverage to most world continents by MEASAT, the Malaysian satellite service provider" ], [ "Broadband", "Total broadband subscriptions are at 43.378 million as at 4Q 2019, with broadband penetration rate per 100 inhabitants standing at 131.7%.=== Fixed broadband development ===In 2019, fixed broadband contributed 6.79% of total broadband market share or 2.947 million subscriptions (2018: 2.7 million).Fixed broadband is being provided via Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL), Very-high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), Satellite, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO).The High Speed Broadband project known as HSBB was introduced since 2008 to improve the quality of broadband access and enable the users in major cities and high-impact economies areas to enjoy broadband speeds up to 100Mbit/s; The Suburban Broadband (SUBB) and Rural Broadband (RBB) provide broadband speeds up to 20Mbit/s for users in suburban and rural areas.On 28 August 2019, the Government approved the implementation of the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) over a five-year period from 2019 to 2023.NFCP is a plan that aims to put in place a robust, pervasive, high quality and affordable digital connectivity for the well-being of the people and progress of the country with the following targets::1.Entry-level fixed broadband package at 1% of GNI by 2020:2.Gigabits availability in selected industrial areas by 2020 and to all State Capitals by 2023:3.100% availability for premises in State Capitals and selected high impact areas with a minimum speed of 500Mbps by 2021:4.20% availability for premises in sub-urban and rural areas with up to 500Mbps by 2022:5.Fibre network passes 70% of schools, hospitals, libraries, police stations and post offices by 2022:6.Average speed of 30Mbps in 98% of populated areas by 2023:7.Improve mobile coverage along Pan Borneo highway upon completionFurther information on NFCP can be obtained from NFCP Home Page.=== Mobile broadband development ===In 2019, mobile broadband contributed 93.21% of total broadband market share or 40.431 million of subscriptions as at 4Q 2019 (2018: 36.8 million).", ":Upgrading and expansion of network coverage::The Time 3 and Time 3 Extension initiatives involved construction of 1,833 new communications towers in rural areas nationwide.", "Apart from that, a total of 4,895 base stations at existing communications towers were upgraded from 2G to 3G/4G to cater higher broadband speed in rural areas.", ":'''Submarine Cable System to Sabah & Sarawak'''::Introduced in 2014 through a public-private partnership between MCMC and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM).", "The project was completed in 2017 and this will be a redundancy to the existing domestic submarine cable services that have been operating since 1995.It was aimed to meet the growing demands for bandwidth between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia.", ":Submarine Cable System to Islands::The project started in 2017 and was completed in 2018, which involved in upgrading of existing communications infrastructure network, together with the submarine cables connecting between the mainland with three islands - Perhentian, Tioman and Pangkor islands.=== Broadband service providers ==='''Service providers''''''Service''''''Fixed broadband''''''Mobile broadband'''Telekom Malaysia (TM) Maxis Berhad (Maxis) Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom) Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) U Mobile Sdn Bhd (U Mobile)" ], [ "Mobile cellular", "The major service providers for mobile cellular services in Malaysia are Celcom Axiata Berhad, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Berhad and U Mobile Sdn Bhd.", "The number of mobile cellular subscriptions stood at 44.601 million as at 4Q 2019 with penetration rate per 100 inhabitants is 135.4%.Mobile cellular service is also provided by Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).", "As at 4Q 2019, there are 10 MVNOs operating in Malaysia." ], [ "Internet", "'''Internet Users:''' 28.304 million (2018)2'''Country code (Top level domain):''' MY" ], [ "See also", "* History of Communications in Malaysia* Internet in Malaysia* Malaysian telephone codes* Malaysian mobile phone codes* Media of Malaysia" ], [ "Notes", "1 Network that can reach every other network on the Internet without purchasing IP transit or paying for peering2 Internet user population is calculated from Internet Users Survey 2018 (IUS 2018) based on 87.4% of total population of Malaysia in 2018 (32.385 mil).", "Population data from Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM)." ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "A map showing Malaysia's transportation networkNorth–South Expressway, which runs through seven states in Peninsular Malaysia, is the longest expressway in Malaysia.", "'''Transportation in Malaysia''' started to develop during British colonial rule, and the country's transport network is now diverse and developed.", "Malaysia's road network is extensive, covering 290,099.38 kilometres, including 2,016.05 km of expressways (in 2021).", "The main highway of the country extends over 800 km, reaching the Thai border from Singapore.", "Peninsular Malaysia has an extensive road network, whilst the road system in East Malaysia is not as well-developed.", "The main modes of transport in Peninsular Malaysia include buses, trains, cars and to an extent, commercial travel on airplanes.Malaysia has six international airports.", "The official airline of Malaysia is Malaysia Airlines, providing international and domestic air service alongside two other carriers.", "Most of the major cities are connected by air routes.", "The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of 1,849 km.", "Popular within the cities are commuter rail and rapid transit, which reduces the traffic load on other systems, and is considered safe, comfortable and reliable." ], [ "Land", "=== Roads ===Malaysia's road network covers , of which is paved/unpaved roads, and is expressways.", "The longest highway of the country, the North–South Expressway, extends over between the Thai border and Singapore.", "The Second longest highway is East-Coast Highway (LPT-E8) Spanning almost 500 km from Kuala Lumpur to state capital of Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu.", "The road systems in Sabah and Sarawak are less developed and of lower quality in comparison to that of Peninsular Malaysia.", "Recently, the construction of Pan-Borneo Highway is approved under 2015 Malaysian Budget.", "The highway project spans 1,663 km (936 km in Sarawak, 727 km in Sabah) mostly mirror the existing trunk road, and it involves the widening of the present three-metre-wide single-carriageway into a dual-carriageway.", "Driving on the left has been compulsory since the introduction of motor vehicles in Federated Malay States in 1903 during British colonial era.", "It is estimated that 9,432,023 passenger cars is actively using this road network in 2018.Railway network in peninsular Malaysia=== Railways ===The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of .", "Most of the railway lines are consisted of ballasted setup, along with concrete sleepers, which serves better in wet and humid tropical condition, compared to wooden sleepers which can rot over time.", "As early as 1980s, due to the need for local suppliers of such products, a few local Malaysian rail manufacturing companies had been formed by collaboration with foreign technology partners.", "of it is metre gauge, while is standard gauge.", "Seven hundred and sixty-seven kilometres of metre gauge tracks and all of the standard gauge tracks are electrified.", "Intra-city travel is through relatively inexpensive rapid transit systems.", "Commuter rail and electric train service are available for most major only Kuala Lumpur and its neighbouring states, development of such efficient transportation have not been made in other states that really needs them .", "Malaysia already approved her first Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail project spanning 375 km between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.", "This rapid development had spurred growth of local Malaysian rail service Companies which caters these niche needs." ], [ "Air", "KLIA is the main international airport in Malaysia.Air transport route maps in Malaysia.Malaysia has 62 airports, of which 38 are paved.", "Malaysia Airlines, as the national carrier, offers extensive international and domestic routes.", "Major international routes and domestic routes crossing between West Malaysia and East Malaysia are served by Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, MYAirline, Firefly, and Batik Air Malaysia while smaller domestic and regional routes are supplemented by smaller airlines like MASwings, Firefly and SKS Airways.", "Cargo airlines such as MASkargo, Teleport, World Cargo Airlines, Kargo Xpress, and Raya Airways play a crucial role in enhancing connectivity between West and East Malaysia and Malaysia to the world.=== Airports ===Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the primary and busiest airport in Malaysia.", "In 2018, it was the world's 12th-busiest airport by international passenger traffic, recording over 43.5 million international passenger traffic.", "Other major airports include Kota Kinabalu International Airport, which is also Malaysia's second-busiest airport and busiest airport in East Malaysia with over 8.6 million passengers in 2018, and Penang International Airport, which serves Malaysia's second-largest urban area, with over 7.99 million passengers in 2018.=== Airports with paved runways ===total: 38 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.", ")=== Heliports ===2 (2006 est.", ")===Airlines==='''National airline:'''* Malaysia Airlines'''Other airline:'''* List of airlines of Malaysia" ], [ "Waterways", "Malaysia has of waterways, most of them rivers.", "Of this, are in Peninsular Malaysia, are in Sabah, and are in Sarawak.=== Ports and harbours ===Shuttle boats ferry to the Malacca-Sumatra ferry (the big yellow boat) anchored offshore near Malacca.Malaysia is strategically located on the Strait of Malacca, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.", "Malaysia has two ports that are listed in the top 20 busiest ports in the world, Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas, which are, respectively, the second- and third-busiest ports in Southeast Asia after the Port of Singapore.", "Port Klang is Malaysia's busiest port, and the thirteenth-busiest port in the world in 2013, handling over 10.3 million TEUs.", "Port of Tanjung Pelepas is Malaysia's second-busiest port, and the nineteenth-busiest port in the world in 2013, handling over 7.6 million TEUs.This is a list of Malaysian ports and harbours:* Bintulu* Kota Kinabalu* Kuantan* Kemaman* Kuching* Kudat* Labuan* Lahad Datu* Lumut* Miri* Pasir Gudang* Penang* Port Dickson* Port Klang* Sandakan* Sibu* Tanjung Berhala* Tanjung Kidurong* Tawau* Tanjung Pelepas* Kuala Kedah* Kuala Perlis=== Ferry ===* Penang ferry service* Langkawi Ferry Service* Pangkor Ferry Service* Tioman Ferry Service* Labuan Ferry service* Tawau Ferry service* Miri Ferry service* Sandakan Ferry service=== Merchant Marine ===Total: 360 ships (1,000 GT or over) 5,389,397 GT/by type: bulk 59, cargo 100, chemical tanker 38, container 66, liquefied gas 25, livestock carrier 1, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 56, roll on/roll off 5, vehicle carrier 8Foreign-owned: China 1, Germany 2, Hong Kong 8, Indonesia 2, Japan 2, South Korea 1, Liberia 1, Monaco 1, Norway 1, Philippines 2, Singapore 81, Vietnam 1 registered in other countries: 75 (2009 est.", ")=== Pipelines ===Malaysia has of condensate pipeline, of gas pipeline, of oil pipeline, and of refined products pipelines." ], [ "See also", "* List of airports in Malaysia* Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail* Public transport in Kuala Lumpur* Transportation in Kuala Lumpur* Plug-in electric vehicles in Malaysia'''Regulation:'''* Road signs in Malaysia* Puspakom, vehicle inspection* Vehicle registration plates of Malaysia" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malaysian Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Malaysian Armed Forces''' (: '''MAF'''; ; Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.", "The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 along with the reserve forces at 51,600.The Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces is the ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong;'' the King of Malaysia." ], [ "Background", "Malaysia's armed forces were created from the unification of military forces which arose during the first half of the 20th century when Malaya and Singapore were the subjects of British colonial rule, before Malaya achieved independence in 1957.The primary objective of the armed forces in Malaysia is to defend the country's sovereignty and protect it from any and all types of threats.It is responsible for assisting civilian authorities to overcome all international threats, preserve public order, assist in natural disasters and participate in national development programs.", "It is also sustaining and upgrading its capabilities in the international sphere to uphold the national foreign policy of being involved under the guidance of the United Nations (UN)." ], [ "Theater of operation", "Operatives of PASKAL, GGK, 69 Commando and PASKAU during the 65th Merdeka Day in Kuala Lumpur.The main theaters of operations were within Malaysian borders, primarily to fight an insurgency led by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in what was known as the Emergency.", "The only foreign incursion of Malaysian territory in modern times were in World War II by Japan (Malaya was then not a unified political entity and consisted of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements, and the British protected Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States) and during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation by Indonesia under the leadership of President Sukarno.", "Operations on foreign soil have mainly been peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations.", "* First Emergency (1948–1960)*: An insurrection and guerrilla war with the Malayan National Liberation Army organised by the CPM against the British and Malayan administration.", "* Moro attacks on Malaysia (Part of the Piracy in the Sulu Sea) (1962–present)* Congo Peacekeeping Mission (1960–1962)*: A contingent of 1,947 personnel were dispatched as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo or ONUC.", "This contingent was known as the Malayan Special Force to the Congo and their experiences there were later recounted through the drawings of the cartoonist, Rejabhad.", "* Sarawak Communist Insurgency (1963–1990)*: An insurrection and guerrilla war of the Sarawak Communist Organisation (from 1971, the North Kalimantan Communist Party or NKCP) against the British and Malaysian governments to establish an independent nation comprising the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.", "The insurgency ended when the NKCP signed a peace treaty with the Malaysian government in 1990.", "* Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation (1963–1966)*: An intermittent armed conflict between Malaysia and Indonesia with skirmishes mainly occurring in Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo.", "In 1964, armed raids were made on Peninsular Malaysia.", "Combat eased with the deposing of Indonesia's President Sukarno in 1965 by the Indonesian army and the conflict was declared over by both sides in 1966.", "* Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–89)*: A low level resurgence of insurgent activity by the armed elements of the CPM from sanctuaries in the Malaysian-Thai border.", "The insurgency was only ended after the CPM signed a peace treaty with the Governments of Malaysia and Thailand on 2 December 1989.", "* Iran/Iraq Border (1988–1991)*: Participated as part of the UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG) to supervise the Iran–Iraq War ceasefire.", "* Namibia (1989–1990)*: Contributed a battalion to the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) to supervise Namibia's elections and transition to independence.", "* Western Sahara (1991–present)*: A contingent of observers under the Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to help implement a ceasefire between the Polisario Front & Morocco and help promote a referendum on the area's future.", "* Angola (1991–1995)*: A contingent was sent under the United Nations Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II) to enforce the ceasefire in the Angolan civil war.", "* Iraq/Kuwait Border (1992–2003)*: A contingent was sent under the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) to monitor the demilitarised zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border, deter border violations and report on any hostile action.", "* Cambodia (1992–1993)*: An observer team was sent under the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to aid in the administration of Cambodia and to organise and run elections.", "* Bosnia and Herzegovina (1993–1998)*: A peacekeeping contingent known as MALBATT Command (Malaysia Battalion) was sent initially under the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) from 1993 to 1995 with deployments at Konjic, Jablanica and Pazarić in Hadžići.", "Following the Dayton Agreement, forces were redeployed as MALCON Command (Malaysia Contingent) under the NATO led Implementation Force (IFOR) in Operation Joint Endeavor with deployments at Livno, Glamoč and Kupres.", "MALCON further participated as part of the NATO led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) until 1998.Up to 8,000 troops were eventually deployed in this theatre of operations.", "* Liberia (1993–1997)*: An observer team of 3 officers was sent under the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) to support the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Liberian National Transitional Government to implement peace agreements signed between the warring parties in Liberia.", "* Somalia (1993–1994)*: A contingent known as MALBATT was sent under the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) to take appropriate action, including enforcement measures, to establish throughout Somalia a secure environment for humanitarian assistance.", "During its deployment, MALBATT was involved in the Battle of Mogadishu which saw 1 personnel killed in action and 7 others wounded in action during the relief operations to aid the surrounded troops of the United States' Task Force Ranger.", "On 18 January 1994, Lieutenant General Abu Samah Bin Abu Bakar was appointed the Commander of UNOSOM II forces.", "His appointment also saw the United Nations revise the mandate of UNOSOM II to stop using \"coercive methods\" in the discharge of their duties while retaining \"some capability to defend its personnel if circumstances so warrant.", "\"* Mozambique (1993–1995)* A team of observers were sent under the United Nations Operations in Mozambique (ONUMOZ).", "* Lahad Datu standoff (2013)* Deployed in South Lebanon on peace keeping role at present after the withdrawal of Israeli Military forces early 2007 (Invasion of South Lebanon by Israeli Military).", "Unit also consist of GGK, PASKAL, PASKAU and PARA elements.", "* Deployed a contingent called Malaysian Medical Team (MASMEDTIM) to Chaman, Pakistan to treat refugees from Afghanistan during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.", "* Deployed approximately a brigade-sized force on islands surrounding Sabah waters in Ops Pasir to prevent the recurrence of 2000 Sipadan kidnappings.", "* Deployed a contingent to Aceh after the tsunami disaster in 2004.", "* Deployed MASMEDTIM to Pakistan during the 2005 quake.", "* Deployed in Southern Philippines as a part of monitoring force agreed upon by both the Philippine Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).", "* Deployed in East Timor/East Leste together with Australian, Portuguese and New Zealand forces at the request of East Timor Government.", "The first team of 25 soldiers from 10 Para Brigade, Royal Intelligence Corp and Commando Regiment were deployed on a fact-finding mission before being reinforced by another 209 soldiers.", "(as at 27 May 2006)Other limited participation under UNPKO are United Nations International Police Force (UNIPTF) since December 1995; United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999; United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) since October 1999; United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) since September 1999 and United Nations Organisation Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) since February 2000.18 Malaysian Armed Forces personnel have been killed during UN peacekeeping operations." ], [ "Present development", "PT-91M MBT, Malaysian Army paratrooper with M4A1, and Su-30MKM fighter aircraft.Malaysian defence requirements are assigned to the Malaysian Armed Forces (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia – ATM).", "The armed forces has three branches, the Malaysian Army (Tentera Darat Malaysia – TDM), Royal Malaysian Navy (Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia – TLDM) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia – TUDM).", "Malaysia does not have conscription, and the required minimum age for voluntary military service is 18.In the early 1990s, Malaysia undertook a major program to expand and modernise its armed forces.", "However, budgetary constraints imposed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis held back many of its procurements.", "The recent economic recovery may lead to a relaxation of budgetary constraints and a resumption of major weapons purchases.", "In October 2000, the Defence Minister also announced a review of national defence and security policy to bring it up to date.", "The review addressed new security threats that have emerged in the form of low intensity conflicts, such as the kidnapping of Malaysians and foreigners from resort islands located off the east coast of the state of Sabah and the rising risk of territory disputes with several neighbouring countries.", "Currently, 1.4% of Malaysia's GDP is spent on the military, and employing 1.23% of Malaysia's manpower.", "Dr Kogila Balakrishnan is the head of the Defence Industry.===Malaysian Army===PT-91M Pendekar MBT of Malaysian Army.Since the recovery from the 1997 economic crisis, the army's modernisation programme has gained momentum.", "The acquisition of Main Battle Tanks (MBT), Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) and modern artillery make the Malaysian army one of the most potent powers in the region.===Royal Malaysian Navy=== of RMN.Following the completion of the New Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV) program, Malaysia has moved on to its next program called the Second Generation Patrol Vessel (SGPV).", "Malaysia is also looking to purchase more submarines as well as a batch of Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) and Multi Role Support Ship (MRSS).", "In addition to this, an upgrade programme and Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) for the aging navy's ships will keep the fleet modern with the latest technologies needed.===Royal Malaysian Air Force===Sukhoi Su-30MKM of RMAF.The RMAF has traditionally looked to the West for its purchases, primarily to the United States and Europe.", "However, limitations imposed by the United States on \"new technology\" to the region made the RMAF consider purchases from Russia and other non-traditional sources.", "Currently, the RMAF operates a unique mix of American, European and Russian-made aircraft.===Forming of Marine Corps===Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said in a statement on 10 October 2013, that Malaysia is planning on establishing a marine corps for amphibious operations.", "The marine corps will be drawn from all three services.", "The bulk of it being from one of the three parachute battalions of the 10th Parachute Brigade which will consequently be re-designated as a marine battalion.", "The 9th Royal Malay Regiment (Airborne) and 8th Royal Ranger Regiment (Airborne) have both conducted amphibious warfare training as a secondary mission such as the CARAT exercise with the US Marine Corps (USMC) and other amphibious exercises also conducted with foreign armed forces." ], [ "Defence industry", "After independence, Malaysia moved forward by establishing and developing its own defence industry.", "Malaysia has improved its defence industry through its defence companies by locally manufacturing and producing weapons, such as ammunition, rifles, armoured cars, warships and light aircraft including unmanned aerial vehicles for the armed forces.", "DefTech, Mildef International Technologies and Weststar Defence Industries are among the local companies that emphasize on the maintenance and manufacturing of military land vehicles and the automotive sector.", "While the Sapura company focuses more on military electronics and systems integration such as; communication systems, tactical systems, command and control systems, training and simulation systems and surveillance systems.", "Following the Malaysia's National Defence Policy, Malaysian Armed Forces has adopted locally made weapons such as DefTech ACV-300 Adnan, DefTech AV-8 Gempita, DefTech AV-4 Lipanbara, Weststar GK-M1 and Handalan.", "In January 2021, Mildef International Technologies has launched its new Mildef Tarantula HMAV intended for the local market and export.", "At the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2022, Mildef International Technologies has launched its second armoured vehicle called the Mildef Rentaka 4x4.Another local company, Cendana Auto also introduced its new Cendana Auto Rover which is ready to deliver to the Malaysian Army.As a country with vast maritime area, Malaysia has long had a great shipbuilding industry since the Malacca Sultanate.", "During which, the country had been the main shipbuilders in the region.", "Nowadays, Malaysia houses many shipbuilding companies, giving it its reputation as a country with great maritime expertise and facilities.", "Through local companies such as Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation, Destini Berhad and Gading Marine, Malaysia was able to locally build their own major surface combatants and combat boats such as Maharaja Lela-class frigate, Kedah-class offshore patrol vessel, Jerung-class gunboat, Gagah Samudera-class training ship, Sri Tiga-class fast troop vessel, Gading Marine G2000-18m class combat boat and Sandakan Jaya Teknik-class boat.", "In addition to this, local companies such as Labuan Shipyard and Engineering, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering and others were also able to execute minor and major maintenance and overhaul to the naval grade vessels locally, without needing to send them abroad.", "Some of these great achievements were put on display when Malaysia succeeded in completing major overhaul of its Scorpene-class submarines.", "The upgrade program was done locally by Boustead at the RMN submarine base in Labuan, Sabah.", "Malaysia also already exports their naval vessels to foreign navies such as the Shin Yang-made Al-Quwaisat-class LST to the United Arab Emirates navy and Northern Shipyard-made Manta MkII-class fast interdiction combat boat to the Nigerian navy.", "This particular combat boat was marketed under the Singapore-based company, Suncraft Private Limited.In the aerospace sector, it is no doubt that Malaysia is one of the aerospace hubs in the region.", "AIROD is one of the only companies to have received a certificate from the United States (US) based defence company, Lockheed Martin as a C-130 MRO centre outside the US.", "In 2015, the United States Marine Corps awarded AIROD for MRO operations on its 13 units of C-130 aircraft that were based in Japan.", "Besides the C-130, AIROD also had an expertise in servicing other types of commercial and military aircraft and had served other customers across the region.", "Like AIROD, another local aerospace company named ATSC has also played an important role in the aerospace industry in Malaysia.", "This company focuses more on MRO services for Russian-built aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-30, MiG-29 and Mil Mi-17.In 2017, ATSC was awarded a contract to do a major overhaul and upgrade on the RMAF Sukhoi Su-30 MKM fleet.", "Since the 1990s, Malaysia, through SME Aerospace and CTRM has been manufacturing aircraft components such as wing parts, nacelles, composites structures and helicopter parts for the Airbus company.", "These include parts for the A320, A330, A350, A380, A400 and Airbus helicopters.", "Other than that, SME Aerospace also manufactures pylons for the BAE Systems Hawk AJT for worldwide customers.", "Although Malaysia does not build major aircraft locally or through any partnerships, Malaysia already has experience in building light aircraft such as the SME Aero Tiga and CTRM Eagle Aircraft Eagle 150.In addition to this, CTRM also builds their indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle called the CTRM Aludra.In 1969, Malaysia set up a firearms manufacturing company, SME Ordnance.", "Starting out by manufacturing ammunition locally, now SME Ordnance are also able to manufacture high-tech firearms.", "In 1991, SME Ordnance acquired a licence to manufacture Austria-made Steyr AUG rifles locally.", "By 2001, SME Ordnance moving forward by acquiring a licence to manufacture US-made M4 Carbine rifles locally.", "Both locally manufactured Steyr and M4 rifles are currently used by the Malaysian Armed Forces and other government agencies.", "Besides that, SME Ordnance also provides a wide range of NATO standard ammunitions starting from 5.56 mm to 155 mm calibre, mines, explosions and rockets.", "Another local firearms company; Aegis Malinnov also developed indigenous pistols called the Malinnov M1P intended to be used by Malaysian government agencies.", "In conjunction of LIMA 2023, United Arab Emirates EDGE Group had signed an agreement with Malaysian-company Ketech Asia Sdn Bhd for the production of CARACAL firearms locally through the transfer of technology.Malaysia also has its own defence technology research statutory board.", "The Science Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE) is the statutory board under the Ministry of Defence (Malaysia) and is responsible for performing research and development related to defence technologies for the Malaysian Ministry of Defence and Malaysian Armed Forces." ], [ "International action", "Elements of the Malaysian Army with those of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Australian Army on joint exercise in the Philippine Sea, August 2022.The Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom is a regional security initiative which has been in place for more than 45 years.", "It involves joint military exercises held between the five countries.Malaysia also actively takes part in international exercises such as CARAT, RIMPAC and COPE.", "Joint exercises and war games also have been held with Brunei,Indonesia,France and the United States.", "Besides that, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to host joint security force exercises to secure their maritime borders and tackle issues such as illegal immigration, piracy and smuggling.Previously, there were fears that extremist militants activities in the Muslim areas of the southern Philippines and southern Thailand could spill over into Malaysia.", "In response, Malaysia began to strengthen its border security." ], [ "Equipment" ], [ "See also", "*Malaysian Army*Royal Malaysian Navy*Royal Malaysian Air Force*Malaysia Coast Guard*Royal Malaysia Police*Royal Johor Military Force*Joint Forces Command*Malaysian National Service" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Robert Karniol, 'Country Briefing: Malaysia,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 25 November 1995, p. 25–40" ], [ "External links", "* Malaysian Armed Forces Headquarters Website * Perspective from a military personnel in The Liaison* (malaysiandefence.com)" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Malaysia" ], [ "Introduction", "Map of countries with diplomatic missions of Malaysia shown in blue.Malaysia is an active member of various international organisations, including the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement.", "It has also in recent times been an active proponent of regional co-operation." ], [ "Foreign Policy 1957–1969", "Malaysia has been a member of the Commonwealth since independence in 1957, when it entered into the Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement (AMDA) with the United Kingdom whereby Britain guaranteed the defence of Malaya (and later Malaysia).", "The presence of British and other Commonwealth troops were crucial to Malaysia's security during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) and the Indonesian Confrontation (1962–1966), which was sparked by Malaya's merger with the British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo to form Malaysia in 1963.The British defence guarantee ended following Britain's decision in 1967 to withdraw its forces east of Suez, and was replaced in 1971 with the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) by which Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to co-operate in the area of defence, and to \"consult\" in the event of external aggression or the threat of attack on Malaysia or Singapore.", "The FPDA continues to operate, and the Five Powers have a permanent Integrated Area Defence System based at RMAF Butterworth, and organise annual naval and air exercises.Under the leadership of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (up to 1970), Malaysia pursued a strongly pro-Commonwealth anti-communist foreign policy.", "Nonetheless, Malaysia was active in the opposition to apartheid that saw South Africa quit the Commonwealth in 1961, and was a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1969, with the Tunku as its first Secretary-General in 1971." ], [ "Foreign policy since 1969", "Under Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia shifted its policy towards non-alignment and neutrality.", "Malaysia's foreign policy is officially based on the principle of neutrality and maintaining peaceful relations with all countries, regardless of their ideology or political system, and to further develop relations with other countries in the region.", "In 1971, ASEAN issued its neutralist and anti-nuclear ''Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality'' (ZOPFAN) Declaration.", "In the same year, Malaysia joined the Non-Aligned Movement.", "Consistent with this policy Malaysia established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1974.This policy shift was continued and strengthened by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who pursued a regionalist and pro-South policy with at times strident anti-Western rhetoric.", "He long sought to establish an East Asian Economic Group as an alternative to APEC, excluding Australia, New Zealand and the Americas, and during his premiership Malaysia signed up to an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN+3, a regional forum with China, Japan and South KoreaA strong tenet of Malaysia's policy is national sovereignty and the right of a country to control its domestic affairs.Malaysia views regional co-operation as the cornerstone of its foreign policy.", "It attaches a high priority to the security and stability of Southeast Asia, and has tried to strengthen relations with other Islamic states.", "Malaysia was a leading advocate of expanding ASEAN's membership to include Laos, Vietnam, and Burma, arguing that \"constructive engagement\" with these countries, especially Burma, will help bring political and economic changes.", "Malaysia is also a member of G-15 and G-77 economic groupings.Despite Mahathir's frequently anti-Western rhetoric he worked closely with Western countries, and led a crackdown against Islamic fundamentalists after the 11 September attacks.", "The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Dato' Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, who assumed office on 10 March 2020.with Kamaruddin Jaafar was deputy minister.Malaysia has never recognised Israel and has no diplomatic ties with it, with the country ever condemning the Israelis action during their raid over a Gaza humanitarian mission and request the International Criminal Court to take any action against them.", "Malaysia has stated it will only establish an official relations with Israel once a peace agreement with the State of Palestine been reached and called for both parties to find a quick resolution.", "Malaysian peacekeeping forces have contributed to many UN peacekeeping missions, such as in Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, East Timor and Lebanon." ], [ "International affiliations", "Malaysia is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).", "It is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.", "Kuala Lumpur was the site of the first East Asia Summit in 2005, and Malaysia has chaired ASEAN, the OIC, and the NAM in the past.", "A former British colony, it is also a member of the Commonwealth.Malaysia is affiliated with the United Nations and many of its specialised agencies, including UNESCO, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Atomic Energy Agency; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.", "It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Developing 8 Countries.", "Asian Development Bank, Five-Power Defense Arrangement, G-77, and South Centre.", "On 31 October 2011 Malaysia became a party to the Antarctic Treaty." ], [ "International disputes", "The policy towards territorial disputes by the Malaysian government is one of pragmatism, solving disputes in a number of ways, including some resolved in the International Court of Justice.===Spratly and other islands in the South China Sea===Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Brunei.", "Tensions have eased since 2002 \"Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea\".", "However, it is not the legally binding code of conduct sought by some parties.", "Malaysia was not party to a March 2005 joint accord among the national oil companies of China, the Philippines and Vietnam on conducting marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands.", "Malaysia long maintained a low-key approach to the dispute, maintaining positive relations with China due to strong economic ties, a large ethnic Chinese population, and a desire for a balance of power in the region.", "However, as Chinese fishing vessels and coast guard ships have become increasingly assertive, Malaysia has increased its diplomatic and military responses.===Ligitan, Sipadan and Ambalat===The ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands to Malaysia over Indonesia but left the maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute, culminating in hostile confrontations in March 2005 over concessions to the Ambalat oil block.===Singapore===Singapore was a part of Malaysia for two years (1963–65), but it ultimately was asked by Tunku to secede after increased racial tensions due to the election campaigns in 1964.Today, disputes continue among other things, over the pricing of deliveries of raw untreated water to Singapore, Singapore's land reclamation causing a negative environmental impact in Malaysian waters, a new bridge to replace the Johor-Singapore Causeway which Singapore does not want to pay for, maritime boundaries, the redevelopment of Malayan Railway lands in Singapore and Pedra Branca.", "Both parties however, agreed to ICJ arbitration on the island dispute.", "On 24 May 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore with the nearby Middle Rocks going to Malaysia.", "Regarding railway land in Singapore, see also Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement of 1990.On introducing budget flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the stumbling block appears to be Malaysia's sympathy towards flag carrier Malaysia Airlines, and preference for the existing near duopoly with Singapore Airlines.===The Philippines===The Philippines has a dormant claim to eastern Sabah.===Brunei===Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is no longer in dispute.", "On 16 March 2009, Brunei announced its decision to drop a long-standing claim to Sarawak's Limbang district.", "This was the result of the two countries resolving their various land and sea territorial disputes.", "This issue was resolved along with several other disputes with the sealing and signing of letters of exchange by Abdullah and the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei at Istana Nurul Iman.", "As of 2010, the two countries are working towards resolving disputes over their maritime boundaries.===Thailand===According to a source, the areas around Ko Kra and Ko Losin in present-day Thailand are once disputed with Malaysia." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Malaysia maintains diplomatic relations with: 425x425px#CountryDate123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282917 December 1960303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556—57585921 June 1971606162636465— (suspended)66676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124—1254 May 19921264 May 199212712812913013113213313413513613713813914012 June 19931411421431441451469 March 1994147148149—150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177——178179180181182183184185Unknown186Unknown187Unknown188Unknown" ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===ASEAN=== Country Formal relations beganNotes1 January 1984Brunei has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.", "Malaysia maintains a high commission in Bandar Seri Begawan.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "The states of Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia are connected to Brunei via the Pan Borneo Highway.", "Brunei has denounced its claims on Limbang and recognises Malaysia's full sovereignty.", "In 2003, Brunei and Malaysia ceased gas and oil exploration in their disputed offshore and deep water seabeds and negotiations have stalemated prompting consideration of international adjudication.31 August 1957More than 24,000 Cambodians visited Malaysia since the first half of 2012, while Malaysian visited to Cambodia numbered 54,000.In 2011, bilateral trade between the two countries worth over US$319.5 million and in 2010 Malaysia were consider as one of the biggest investors in the country with the total investments were U$2.19 billion while Malaysian investments in Cambodia during the past two years totalling U$118 million.31 August 1957, severed diplomatic relations 15 September 1963, restored 31 August 1967* Indonesia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in George Town, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.", "Malaysia has an embassy in Jakarta and a consulate general in Medan and Pekanbaru.", "* Relations between the two nations deteriorated under Indonesian President Sukarno prior to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, but was returned to normal under President Suharto.", "* Currently, both nations are in territorial disputes over the oil rich area of Ambalat east of Borneo and over Tanjung Datu as well as Camar Bulan near the Sarawak-West Kalimantan border.", "* Both nations are founding members of ASEAN and APEC.", "* Both countries are descendants of the British and Dutch influence as prior to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, both Indonesia and Malaysia are part of the Malay Archipelago with both the Indonesian and Malaysian languages came from the Malay language.", "* Although both countries frequently involved in many disputes, both share a strong relations due to some similarity in their language and close ethnic relations.1 July 1966During the collapse of the Communist bloc, the Soviet Union could no longer afford aid for the development of Laos.", "This made Laos seek aid from other countries to help develop their country and has led the country to adopt a neutral foreign policy.", "When this policy of neutrality was adopted, relations with Malaysia were established.1 March 1958Myanmar has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.Relations between the two countries were established on 1 March 1957 and the first Burmese mission at the legation level was set up in Kuala Lumpur in June 1959 and later raised to the embassy level.October 1959, severed 16 September 1963, restored 18 May 1964, severed 29 November 1968, restored 16 December 1969* The Philippines has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Manila.", "* Despite religious differences (the former is mostly Muslim, while the latter is predominantly Roman Catholic).", "Malaysia and the Philippines share a one-of-a-kind relationship rooted on the basis of geography, ethnicity, and political aspirations.", "* Both countries are members of the Asian Union.", "* The countries are both involved in ongoing disputes over ownership of the Spratly Islands and the Philippines has a claim on the eastern Sabah in northern Borneo though this is currently not being actively pursued.1 September 1965Singapore has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and a Consulate in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and Malaysia has a High Commission in Singapore.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.See also Malaysia-Singapore border, Pedra Branca dispute31 August 1957Thailand has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in George Town and Kota Bharu.", "Malaysia maintains an embassy in Bangkok.", "Recently, Thai-Malay relations have soured considerably due to the ethnically-Malay Pattani separatists in three southern provinces of Thailand.30 March 1973* Vietnam has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Hanoi.", "* Malaysia forged diplomatic ties with the modern-day Vietnamese state in March 1973 which have lasted until today.", "Relations between two countries were frosty in the late 1970s and 1980s as a result of the Cambodian–Vietnamese War and the influx of Vietnamese boat people into Malaysia.", "The subsequent resolution of these issues in the late 1980s saw the cultivation of strong trade and economic ties, and bilateral trade between both countries grew exponentially in the 1990s.", "and later expanded to other areas of major co-operation including information technology, education and defence in the 2000s.===East Asia=== Country Formal relations beganNotes31 May 1974China has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in George Town, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.", "Malaysia maintains an embassy in Beijing, and consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Nanning, Guilin and Hong Kong.", "Diplomatic relations were established in 1974.Following the end of the Cold War, diplomatic foreign relations between China and Malaysia immediately turned positive.", "Although issues arose from China's activities in the South China Sea, the political and cultural connections between the two nations strengthened.", "Both countries are full members of APEC, and there is a sizeable population of Chinese in Malaysia.1960 (ceased on 1974)The relations are conducted on an unofficial level as Kuala Lumpur has changed to a one-China policy in 1974 and only recognised the People's Republic of China.", "However, the economic and the cultural relations are still maintained with Malaysia has a trade centre office in Taipei, and Taiwan has an economic and cultural centre in Kuala Lumpur.2 July 1971Under the \"One Country, Two Systems\" law, the People's Republic of China is responsible for diplomatic and defence affair of Hong Kong.", "However, Hong Kong enjoys significant autonomy in economic, trade, financial and monetary matters.", "Currently, Malaysia has a consulate general office in Wan Chai and the relations are mostly based on economic co-operation.31 August 1957Japan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in George Town and Kota Kinabalu.", "Malaysia maintains an embassy in Tokyo.Bilateral economic trades between Malaysia and Japan have increased.", "In 2011, total trade between both countries was at MYR145.3 billion.", "Japan has increased its import of liquefied natural gas to about 34%.", "Before 2007, the bilateral rate between both countries were at a deficit.", "About 1,400 Japanese companies are operating in Malaysia creating more than 11,000 job opportunities.", "Halal certification endorsement by the Malaysian government has allowed Malaysian companies in the halal food industry to compete well in the Japanese market.", "The building of a halal park in Japan is also considered.8 September 1971Malaysia has an honorary consulate in Ulaanbaatar, and Mongolia honorary consulate in Bangkok was accredited to Malaysia.", "However, since 2006, Mongolia has not presented any ambassador to Malaysia for seven years due to the murder of a Mongolian citizen on the country, but later decided to appointing an ambassador in 2014.30 June 1973, diplomatic relations was severed 19 March 2021North Korea maintained friendly diplomatic ties with Malaysia.", "In an effort to boost tourism between the two countries, North Korea announced that Malaysians will not require a visa to visit North Korea.", "North Korea's flag carrier, Air Koryo has regular flights to Kuala Lumpur.", "Recently, Malaysia's Bernama News Agency reported that the two countries will enhance co-operation in information-related areas.", "North Korea maintains an embassy in Kuala Lumpur while Malaysia has an embassy in Pyongyang.", "After the assassination of Kim Jong-nam due to poisoning at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017 allegedly under the orders of the North Korean leader and his half-brother Kim Jong-un, relations between both countries steadily worsened, and as a response Malaysia gradually withdrew its ambassador from North Korea, cancelled the visa-free entry for North Koreans for security reasons, and decided to expel the North Korean ambassador.On 19 March 2021, North Korea severed diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected North Korean businessman Mun Chol Myong's appeal against extradition to the United States on money laundering charges.", "In response, the Malaysian Government defended the Malaysian judicial process and ordered the closure of the North Korean Embassy and expulsion of North Korean diplomats and their dependents.23 February 1960The two countries established relations in 1960.South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was in Kuala Lumpur from 9–10 December 2010 for a two-day visit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and South Korea.===Middle East=== Country Formal relations beganNotes25 November 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 November 1974Bahrain has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Manama.10 September 1957* Egypt has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Cairo.7 October 1966Diplomatic relations between Iran and Malaysia are brotherly and cooperative, with Iran having its embassy in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia having its embassy in Tehran.", "The two countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the D8.The Economic trade between Iran and Malaysia is quite sturdy as well, amounting to US$1.43 billion as of 2008.In 2010, ASEAN jointly with Iran opened a trade centre in Malaysia to promote trade ties between Iran and the regional countries.Despite initial contact after the independence of Malaysia, no diplomatic relations were made.", "Malaysia consistently rejected relations with Israel as it tried to increase its relations with Arab states and shore up support for its conflict with Indonesia.", "Malaysia officially declared it did not recognise Israel in 1966.Relations ceased to exist until the 1990s, when limited economic ties were made, although diplomatic ties were explicitly rejected.", "Malaysia has stated it will open ties with Israel once a final solution been reach with the State of Palestine.January 1966Jordan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Amman.", "Relations between the two countries are mainly in economic and Islamic affairs.28 March 1965Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 March 1965Kuwait has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Kuwait City.", "Relations are mainly in economic co-operation.1965Lebanon has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Beirut.15 January 1982Oman and Malaysia signed an agreement for Oman to import frozen chicken from Malaysia, costing 120 million Malaysian ringgit.", "Oman imports most of its food, up to 80%.Palestine has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "Malaysia is a supporter of the Palestinian bid for UN membership.1974Malaysia has an embassy in Doha, and Qatar has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.1957Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Riyadh.", "Relations, both diplomatic and economic, are quite close between the two Muslim-majority OIC members.", "Additionally, there is a sizeable population of Malaysian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.1958Syria has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Damascus.", "Syria and Malaysia negotiated over a $30 billion worth of contracts over Malaysian companies building infrastructure in Syria.", "17 June 1964See Malaysia–Turkey relations* Malaysia has an embassy in Ankara.", "*Turkey has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "*Both countries are members of D-8, OIC and WTO.", "*Trade volume between the two countries was US$1.70 billion in 2015 (Malaysian exports/imports: 1.34/0.36 billion USD).", "*Yunus Emre Institute has a local headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.1974United Arab Emirates has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.Malaysia has an embassy in Sana'a, and Yemen has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.===South Asia=== Country Formal relations beganNotes11 September 1972* Bangladesh has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has a High Commission in Dhaka.", "* Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "* Both countries are members of the OIC, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.", "* Malaysia was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh's independence in 1971.", "* There were approximately 500,000 Bangladeshis in Malaysia as of 2009.", "* India has a high commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has a high commission in New Delhi.", "* Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Asian Union.", "* India and Malaysia are also connected by various cultural and historical ties that date back to antiquity.", "* The two countries are on excellently friendly terms with each other seeing as Malaysia is home to great number of Indians who have become naturalised.", "* Prime Minister Najib Razak made his official trip to India in January 2010.", "* Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh made a three-day official visit in November 2010.1968Malaysia's High Commission in Colombo is also accredited to the Maldives, and Maldives has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.1 January 1960Malaysia has an embassy in Kathmandu, and Nepal has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 January 1960, with bilateral relations between Malaysia and Nepal have developed from historic grounds.1957Pakistan has its High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has its High Commission in Islamabad.", "Pakistan has strong brotherly relations with Malaysia.", "Both are members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Commonwealth of Nations.There is a trade and cultural pact between the two countries, under which the import and export of various goods is done on fairly large scale.", "The President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan along with other high officials visited Malaysia many times and Malaysian officials also paid a good will visit to Pakistan.", "Both countries enjoy close relations and military links of mutual friendship and the co-operation has further strengthened.Since the independence of Malaysia, Pakistan has supported the re-unification of Singapore, Pattani and Brunei as integral part of Kuala Lumpur's administration; it also considers the Riau Islands as part of the Malayan Federation since its independence in 1957.Pakistan and Malaysia are linked by air transport.", "Pakistan International Airlines and Malaysia Airlines operate many weekly flights between Karachi and Kuala Lumpur.", "Both Malaysia and Pakistan were a part of the South east Asian version of NATO called SEATO also known as a 'mutual defence pact'.October 1957Malaysia has a High Commission in Colombo, and Sri Lanka has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.Diplomatic relations have been established since 1957.President Chandrika Kumaratunga made a state visit in 1997 and several memorandum of understanding (MoU) were signed during the meeting.===Other parts of Asia=== Country Formal relations beganNotes5 April 1993* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Baku.", "* Malaysia recognized the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 31 December 1991 and on 5 April 1993 diplomatic relations were established.20 May 2002East Timor has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Dili.Since 1999, Malaysia has contributed to many UN peacekeeping missions on the country, such as one are the Operation Astute during the 2006 East Timorese crisis.", "Malaysia also has provided assistance to East Timor in the area of human resources development through various training programmes and providing assistance to East Timor in its nation building efforts.16 March 1992Kazakhstan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur while Malaysia has an embassy in Nur-Sultan.", "Both are members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).26 March 1992* Kyrgyzstan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia embassy in Tashkent is also accredited to Kyrgyzstan.11 March 1992* Tajikistan embassy in Putrajaya is currently under construction.", "* Both countries have been enjoying warm diplomatic relations since relations were established on 11 March 1992, and are willing to make constructive efforts towards progress.17 May 1992* Malaysia has an embassy in Ashgabat.", "* Turkmenistan has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.21 February 1992* Malaysia has an embassy in Tashkent.", "* Uzbekistan has an embassy in Ampang, Selangor.===Europe=== Country Formal relations beganNotes23 June 1981 * Albania had an embassy in Kuala Lumpur but already closed.11 March 1993See Foreign relations of Armenia* Armenia is represented in Malaysia through its embassy in New Delhi (India).", "* Malaysia is represented in Armenia through its embassy in Moscow (Russia).6 August 1962Austria has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Vienna.Malaysia is one of Austria's most important trading partners in Southeast Asia.", "In 2003, Austrian exports to Malaysia, covering a wide range of products such as machinery and components, especially electrical machinery and parts thereof, paper, paperboard, telecommunication equipment and medical and pharmaceutical products, declined by 10.8% to 82.6 million.", "Malaysian imports to Austria, consisting mainly of one product group, namely electronic and electrical goods, especially semiconductors, reduced by half to 236.4 million.", "In Kuala Lumpur, the Austrian Trade office offers support to Austrian and Malaysian companies to assist them in forging new partnerships.Austrian President Heinz Fischer made a state visit to Malaysia on 7–9 November 2010, visiting Kuala Lumpur and Malacca Town.5 March 1992* Belarus embassy in Jakarta is accredited to Malaysia.", "* Both countries are the members of Non-Aligned Movement.1957Belgium has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Brussels.5 December 1992* Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Sarajevo.4 May 1992Croatia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Zagreb.16 September 1971 and 1 January 1993* Czech Republic has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Prague.", "* Following the establishment of relations with the Soviet Union on 3 April 1967, Malaysia also expanded its relations with then Czechoslovakia (1971) and other Eastern European countries.7 September 1958Denmark has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia is represented in Denmark, through its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.11 February 1992 and 4 November 1993See Foreign relations of Estonia* Estonia has an honorary consul in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia embassy in Helsinki is accredited to Estonia.", "* Malaysia has recognised the independence of Estonia on 11 September 1991 shortly after the dissolution of Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic on 20 August 1991.While the relations between the two countries has been established since 4 November 1993.The relations started with the 1980 European Commission–ASEAN Agreement and were developed since the formation of European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957.In 2011, Malaysia is the European Union second largest trading partner in Southeast Asia after Singapore and the 23rd largest trading partner for the European Union in the world, while the European Union is Malaysia's 4th largest trading partner.17 November 1972* Finland has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Helsinki.31 August 1957* France has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Paris.7 May 1993See Foreign relations of Georgia* Georgia is represented in Malaysia through its embassy in Beijing (China).", "* Malaysia is represented in Georgia through its embassy in Kyiv (Ukraine).23 September 1957Germany has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Berlin.16 November 1959* The Greek embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, is also accredited to Malaysia.", "In the opposite way, the Malaysian embassy in Berlin is at the same time accredited to Greece.", "There is an Honorary Greek Consulate in Kuala Lumpur and there is a Malaysian honorary consulate in Athens.", "* Greece exports specialised machinery, non-ferrous metals, tobacco, metal goods, medical products, minerals and fruit, and imports industrial equipment, oil, footwear, paper, rubber, vehicles and telecommunications equipment from Malaysia.27 July 2011* The Holy See has a Nunciature in Kuala Lumpur* Malaysia is represented to the Holy See by a non-residential ambassador, who resides in Bern (Switzerland).", "* In 2002 Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visited the Vatican to meet Pope John Paul II.", "* Apostolic Delegation to Malaysia29 December 1969Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 December 1969* Hungary has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Budapest.", "* Malaysia Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with Hungary * Hungary–Malaysia relations on www.kln.gov.my1957* Italy has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Rome.23 March 2011Formal relations between the two countries first began in 2000, when Malaysia became the first Asian country to establish a liaison office in Kosovo.", "Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008 and Malaysia recognised it on 30 October 2008.Since that time, Malaysia has pledged assistance to Kosovo in several areas.12 June 1993Latvia doesn't have any embassy in Malaysia.", "while Malaysian embassy in Helsinki is accredited to Latvia.9 March 1994Lithuania has an honorary consulate in Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysia embassy in Stockholm were also accredited to Lithuania.31 August 1957Netherlands has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in The Hague.", "The Dutch established relations with the Sultanate of Johor in the early 17th century, and in 1641 they captured the Portuguese colony of Malacca (on the south-western coast of today's Peninsular Malaysia).", "With a long interruption during the Napoleonic Wars, the Dutch Malacca era lasted until 1824.In the 20th century, the Netherlands established diplomatic relations with Malaysia soon after the Asian state became independent.", "The erudite Dutch Sinologist and author Robert van Gulik (who was raised in the former Dutch East Indies himself) served as the ambassador of the Netherlands in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s.", "During his diplomatic service there he became closely acquainted with Malaysia's gibbons (he kept a few in his ambassadorial residence) and became sufficiently interested in this ape species to start the study of its role in ancient Chinese culture, the results of which he later published in his last book (''Gibbon in China'').8 March 1968* Malaysia has a consulate in Oslo, while Norway has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.21 June 1971Malaysia has an embassy in Warsaw, and Poland has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur and a consulate in Kuching.22 March 1969Malaysia has an embassy in Bucharest.", "Romania has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.3 April 1967 (as Soviet Union)Russia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Moscow.7 May 1967, severed diplomatic relations 12 August 1992, restored 23 January 2003See Foreign relations of SerbiaEntry to Malaysia was refused to all Serbian passport holders until 2007, unless they were in possession of a letter of approval from Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs.", "During the time, citizens of Serbia and Montenegro were banned from participating in Malaysia My Second Home program.", "However, in August 2008, senior officials of Serbia and Malaysia held their first diplomatic meeting since 1991.Afterwards, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that establishing an embassy in Malaysia was a possibility, bilateral agreements between the two nations would be signed, and Malaysia has removed all visa restrictions for Serbian citizens.", "This meant that now only the citizens of Israel were banned from participating in Malaysia My Second Home program.", "Currently, Malaysia has an embassy in Belgrade while Serbian embassy in Jakarta was also accredited to Malaysia.12 May 1967Malaysia has an embassy in Madrid, and Spain has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "Spain established a diplomatic relations with Malaysia on 12 May 1967 with both the Malaysian and Spanish embassy were opened in 1985.1958Diplomatic relations were established in 1958.Sweden has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Stockholm.", "As of 2009, 90 Swedish companies are present in Malaysia and about 450 Swedish citizens live in Malaysia.10 September 1963Switzerland has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Bern.", "The diplomatic relations has been established since 1963.3 March 1992* Malaysia has an embassy in Kyiv.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.31 August 1957The United Kingdom has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has a High Commission in London.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.===Americas=== Country Formal relations beganNotes7 June 1967Argentina has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Buenos Aires.", "Argentina established diplomatic relations with Malaysia on 7 June 1967.11 February 2000*Both countries established diplomatic relations on February 11, 2000.", "*Both countries are full members of Commonwealth of Nations.1959Brazil has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Brasilia.1957Canada has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has a High Commission in Ottawa.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "Canada's trade relationship with Malaysia includes commerce across several sectors.22 May 1979The Chile–Malaysia relations is mainly based on trade.", "In 2009, the total trade between Chile and Malaysia is $336 million with the total Malaysian export to Chile were $16.8 million while the import with $148.7 million.19 August 1987Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 August 1987Both are the members of United Nations, Movement of Non-Aligned Cooperation Forum Asia-Latin America (FEALAC) and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).", "* Colombia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia is accredited to Colombia from its embassy in Lima, Peru.6 February 1975Malaysia has an embassy in Havana, while Cuba has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "19 January 2015*Malaysia is represented in Dominica by its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.1989Their relations covers on political, commercial, cultural and social activities.", "*Malaysia is represented in Grenada by its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.26 April 1976*Both countries established diplomatic relations on April 26, 1976.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.28 November 1975In 2006, Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller and Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, have expressed satisfaction with the progress of bilateral relations between the two countries and have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening these relations through the exchange of visits and co-operation in the economic, technological, shipping, health and educational sectors, among other areas.27 March 1974Malaysia has an embassy in Mexico City, and Mexico has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "Relations between the two countries was established on 27 March 1974.24 April 1986Malaysia is one of the main destination for Peruvian exports with the total trade in 2012 records $235 million.", "Peruvian exports to Malaysia total around $28 million while Malaysian exports with $207 million.", "In 1995, an agreement on mutual promotion and protection of investments has been signed between the two countries.", "* Peru has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Lima.31 August 1957Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 August 1957Economic ties are robust.", "The United States is Malaysia's largest trading partner and Malaysia is the tenth-largest trading partner of the US Annual two-way trade amounts to $49 billion.", "The United States and Malaysia launched negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in June 2006.President Barack Obama visited Malaysia between 26 and 28 April 2014, as part of his four-nation Asia tour.", "This visit was the first visit by a sitting US president in almost 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson in 1966.Other top US government officials have made visits to Malaysia in the past, such as then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in November 2010, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in August 2013, and Secretary of State John Kerry in October 2013.Malaysia has its embassy in Washington, DC with consulates in New York City, NY and Los Angeles, CA and a permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.", "The United States has its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.18 December 1986Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 December 1986Malaysia has an embassy in Caracas while Venezuela has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.", "Both countries are full members of the Group of 77.===Oceania=== Country Formal relations beganNotes31 August 1957* Australia has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has a High Commission in Canberra and consulates in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.", "* Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "* Both Australia and Malaysia are members of the Five Power Defence Arrangement and often participate in military exercises together.22 May 1972* Fiji has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.", "* Malaysia has a high Commission in Suva.", "* Both countries were part of the British Empire and has a long-standing relations due to many Fijian soldiers served in Peninsular Malaysia during the Malayan Emergency from 1952 to 1956.25 September 1957Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 September 1957New Zealand has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has a High Commission in Wellington.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.10 May 1983Malaysia has an honorary consul in Solomon Islands while Malaysia's High Commission in Port Moresby also accredited to the country, and Solomon Islands has a high commission in Kuala Lumpur.===Africa=== Country Formal relations beganNotes26 November 1964Algeria has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Algiers.1965Ethiopia has a consulate-general in Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysia has no embassy in Ethiopia.Malaysia is one of the major trade partner and also one of the largest investors in Ethiopia.5 December 1966Ghana has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has a High Commission in Accra.1965Kenya has maintained a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur since in 1996.Malaysia opened a High Commission in Nairobi in 2005.9 November 1973Libya has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Tripoli.", "Relations are mainly in economic co-operation.6 April 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 April 19954 November 1991Malaysia together with Malawi are both significant tea producers, and co-operate in tri-national (with India) discussions of market conditions and promotion of the product globally.13 August 1986Mauritius has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysia embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe also accredited to Mauritius.", "Both are members of Commonwealth of Nations.", "Cooperation between the two countries include cultural exchanges, trade in goods, financial assistance and capacity building in various sectors.1963Malaysia has an embassy in Rabat, and Morocco has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.1990Malaysia has a High Commission in Windhoek, and Namibia has a high commission in Kuala Lumpur.", "Both countries were once part of the British Empire and before Namibia achieved its independence, Malaysia has contributed to some operations in Namibia by sending a group of soldiers to help monitor the Namibia elections and peace process.", "Today, the relations are much more focused in economic co-operation.5 March 1965The High Commissioner of Nigeria, Bello Shehu Ringim, speaking with the Yang Dipertua Dewan Negara, Abu Zahar Ujang, expresses the concern of Nigerian students being fooled by Malaysian private-owned universities and social problems.", "The Nigerian government are serious about the problems by its citizens and the negative perception of its students.", "Malaysia is committed to Nigeria's concern and will give solutions to the problem.1 April 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 April 1977Malaysia has an embassy in Dakar, and Senegal has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.1 May 1987Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 May 1987Seychelles has a High Commission in Subang Jaya.28 January 1991Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 January 19918 November 1993Relations are good between Malaysia and South Africa, who view each other as close partners.", "Malaysia is the fourth largest new investor in South Africa, and the countries have exchanged High Commissioners.1973The stability of Sudan has enabled the country to take experiences from Malaysia in law legislation and investor-friendly policies, as claimed by Mahathir Mohammad, former prime minister of Malaysia who visits Khartoum in November 2012.At least seven Memorandum of Understandings have been made, related to Malaysian companies.", "The expected growth of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Sudan will have a big impact on the import of Sudanese beef.In October 2021, Sudanese–Malaysia relations were adversely affected by the Sudanese transitional government's seizure of Malaysian state owned enterprise Petronas' assets and arrest of the company's country manager.", "In response, the Malaysian Government urged Sudan to honour the Bilateral Investment and Protection Treaty while Petronas submitted an arbitration request at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).", "Malaysia has a High Commission in Dar es Salaam, and Tanzania has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.Malaysian embassy in Dakar is accredited to The Gambia, while the Gambian embassy in Abu Dhabi is accredited to Malaysia.", "The relations are friendly warm.29 November 1964Several agreements were signed since 1969 covering a lot of sectors, including the agreement on suppression of visa and the agreement on economic and technical co-operation which signed in 1994.Several other drafts also are currently under negotiations.1962Malaysia does not yet have a High Commission in Kampala, while Uganda has a consulate in Kuala Lumpur and Uganda's High Commission in India were also accredited to Malaysia." ], [ "Malaysia and the Commonwealth of Nations", "The Federation of Malaya became an independent native elective monarchy within the Commonwealth on 31 August 1957 with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as head of state.Malaya united with North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963.Singapore was expelled from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, and became an independent republic in the Commonwealth of Nations." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Malaysia* List of diplomatic missions of Malaysia* Visa requirements for Malaysian citizens* List of ambassadors and high commissioners to Malaysia* List of ambassadors and high commissioners of Malaysia" ], [ "External links", "* Malaysia Ministry of Foreign Affairs*" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Maldives''' ( ; , ), officially the '''Republic of Maldives''' (, ), is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean.", "The Maldives is named after the main island and capital of Male.", "The word \"Maldives\" means \"the islands (dives) of Male\".", "The name may derive from the Sanskrit word \"maladvipa\" meaning \"garland of islands\".", "Dhivehi Raajje in Dhivehi means \"Kingdom of the Dhivehi people\".", "The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the Asian continent's mainland.", "The Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia.", "Including the sea, the territory spans roughly , and a land area of .", "The Maldives is one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states, and the smallest Muslim-majority country by land area.", "With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the 2nd least populous country in Asia.", "Malé is the capital and the most populated city, traditionally called the \"King's Island\", where the ancient royal dynasties ruled from its central location.", "The Maldivian Archipelago is located on the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean; this also forms a terrestrial ecoregion with the Chagos Archipelago and Lakshadweep.", "The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of above sea level, and a highest natural point of only , making it the world's lowest-lying country.", "Some sources state the highest point, Mount Villingili, as .The Maldives has been inhabited for over 2,500 years.", "Documented contact with the outside world began around 947 AD when Arab travellers began visiting the islands.", "In the 12th century, due to the importance of the Arabs and Persians as traders, Islam reached the Maldivian Archipelago.", "The Maldives was soon consolidated as a sultanate, developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa.", "From the mid-16th century, the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers, with the Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887.Independence from the United Kingdom came in 1965, and a presidential republic was established in 1968 with an elected People's Majlis.", "The ensuing decades have seen political instability, efforts at democratic reform, and environmental challenges posed by climate change and rising sea levels.", "The Maldives became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).", "The Maldives is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement.", "The World Bank classifies the Maldives as having an upper-middle income economy.", "The Maldives is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.", "Fishing has historically been the dominant economic activity, and remains the largest sector by far, followed by the rapidly growing tourism industry.", "The Maldives rates \"high\" on the Human Development Index, with ''per capita'' income significantly higher than other SAARC nations.", "The Maldives was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations from July 1982 until withdrawing from the organisation in October 2016 in protest of allegations by other nations of its human rights abuses and failing democracy.", "The Maldives rejoined the Commonwealth on 1 February 2020 after showing evidence of functioning democratic processes and popular support." ], [ "Etymology", "According to legends, the first settlers of the Maldives were people known as Dheyvis.", "The first Kingdom of the Maldives was known as Dheeva Maari.", "During the 3rd century BCE visit of emissaries, it was noted that the Maldives was known as Dheeva Mahal.During c. 1100 – 1166, the Maldives was also referred to as Diva Kudha and the Laccadive archipelago which was a part of the Maldives was then referred to as Diva Kanbar by the scholar and polymath al-Biruni (973–1048).The name ''Maldives'' may also derive from Sanskrit '''' (garland) and '''' (island), or ''Maala Divaina'' (\"Necklace Islands\") in Sinhala.", "The Maldivian people are called ''Dhivehin''.", "The word ''Dheeb/Deeb'' (archaic ''Dhivehi'', related to Sanskrit , '''') means \"island\", and ''Dhives'' (''Dhivehin'') means \"islanders\" (i.e., Maldivians).", "In Tamil, \"Garland of Islands\" can be translated as '''' ().The ancient Sri Lankan chronicle ''Mahavamsa'' refers to an island called ''Mahiladiva'' (\"Island of Women\", महिलादिभ) in Pali, which is probably a mistranslation of the same Sanskrit word meaning \"garland\".Jan Hogendorn, Grossman Professor of Economics at Colby College, theorised that the name Maldives derives from the Sanskrit '''' (), meaning \"garland of islands\".", "In Malayalam, \"Garland of Islands\" can be translated as '''' ().", "In Kannada, \"Garland of Islands\" can be translated as '''' ().", "None of these names are mentioned in any literature, but classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic period mention the \"Hundred Thousand Islands\" (''''), a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the Laccadives, Aminidivi Islands, Minicoy, and the Chagos island groups.Medieval Arab travellers such as Ibn Battuta called the islands '''' () from the Arabic word '''' (\"palace\"), which must be how the Berber traveller interpreted the local name, having been through Muslim North India, where Perso-Arabic words were introduced to the local vocabulary.", "This is the name currently inscribed on the scroll in the Maldives state emblem.", "The classical Persian/Arabic name for the Maldives is ''''.", "The Dutch referred to the islands as the '''' (), while the British anglicised the local name for the islands first to the \"Maldive Islands\" and later to \"Maldives\".In a conversational book published in 1563, Garcia da Orta writes: \"I must tell you that I have heard it said that the natives do not call it Maldiva but Nalediva.", "In the Malabar language, ''nale'' means four and ''diva'' island.", "So that in that language, the word signifies 'four islands', while we, corrupting the name, call it Maldiva.", "\"The local name for Maldives by the Maldivian people in Dhivehi language is \"Dhivehi Raajje\"." ], [ "History", "===Ancient history and settlement===In the 6th–5th century BCE, the Maldives already had their kingdoms.", "The country has an established history of over 2,500 years according to historical evidence and legends.", "Early settlers in the Maldives were probably Gujaratis who reached and settled Sri Lanka about 500 BCE.", "Evidence of cultural influence from North India can be deduced from the methods of boatbuilding and silver punch-marked coinsThe ''Mahāvaṃsa'' (300 BCE) has records of people from Sri Lanka emigrating to the Maldives.", "Assuming that cowrie shells come from the Maldives, historians believe that there may have been people living in the Maldives during the Indus Valley civilisation (33001300 BCE).", "A number of artefacts show the presence of Hinduism in the country before the Islamic period.According to the book () (''On the Ancient Ruins of Meedhoo''), written in the 17th century in Arabic by Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine (Allama Shihab al-Din) of Meedhoo in Addu Atoll, the first settlers of the Maldives were people known as Dheyvis.", "They came from the Kalibanga in India.", "The time of their arrival is unknown but it was before Emperor Asoka's kingdom in 269–232 BCE.", "Shihabuddin's story tallies remarkably well with the recorded history of South Asia and that of the copperplate document of the Maldives known as Loamaafaanu.The ''Maapanansa'', the copper plates on which recorded the history of the first Kings of the Maldives from the Solar Dynasty, were lost quite early on.A 4th-century notice written by Ammianus Marcellinus (362 CE) speaks of gifts sent to the Roman emperor Julian by a deputation from the nation of Divi.", "The name Divi is very similar to Dheyvi who were the first settlers of Maldives.The ancient history of the Maldives is told in copperplates, ancient scripts carved on coral artefacts, traditions, language and different ethnicities of Maldivians.The first Maldivians did not leave any archaeological artefacts.", "Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds, and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate.", "Moreover, chiefs or headmen did not reside in elaborate stone palaces, nor did their religion require the construction of large temples or compounds.Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic, and cultural traditions confirm that the first settlers were people from the southern shores of the neighbouring Indian subcontinent, including the Giraavaru people, mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Malé.A strong underlying layer of Dravidian and North Indian cultures survives in Maldivian society, with a clear Elu substratum in the language, which also appears in place names, kinship terms, poetry, dance, and religious beliefs.", "The North Indian system was brought by the original Sinhalese from Sri Lanka.", "Malabar and Pandya seafaring culture led to the settlement of the Islands by Tamil and Malabar seafarers.The Maldive Islands were mentioned in ancient Sangam Tamil literature as \"Munneer Pazhantheevam\" or \"Older Islands of Three Seas\".===Buddhist period===Isdhoo Lōmāfānu is the oldest copper-plate book to have been discovered in the Maldives to date.", "The book was written in 1194 CE (590 AH) in the Evēla form of the Divehi akuru, during the reign of Siri Fennaadheettha Mahaa Radun (Dhinei Kalaminja).Despite being just mentioned briefly in most history books, the 1,400 year-long Buddhist period has a foundational importance in the history of the Maldives.", "It was during this period that the culture of the Maldives both developed and flourished, a culture that survives today.", "The Maldivian language, early Maldive scripts, architecture, ruling institutions, customs, and manners of the Maldivians originated at the time when the Maldives were a Buddhist kingdom.Buddhism probably spread to the Maldives in the 3rd century BCE at the time of Emperor Ashoka's expansion and became the dominant religion of the people of the Maldives until the 12th century.", "The ancient Maldivian Kings promoted Buddhism, and the first Maldive writings and artistic achievements, in the form of highly developed sculpture and architecture, originate from that period.", "Nearly all archaeological remains in the Maldives are from Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and all artefacts found to date display characteristic Buddhist iconography.Buddhist (and Hindu) temples were Mandala shaped.", "They are oriented according to the four cardinal points with the main gate facing east.", "Local historian Hassan Ahmed Maniku counted as many as 59 islands with Buddhist archaeological sites in a provisional list he published in 1990.===Islamic period===The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the 12th century may partly explain why the last Buddhist king of the Maldives, Dhovemi, converted to Islam in the year 1153 (or 1193).", "Adopting the Muslim title of Sultan Muhammad al-Adil, he initiated a series of six Islamic dynasties that lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective.", "The formal title of the sultan up to 1965 was, ''Sultan of Land and Sea, Lord of the twelve-thousand islands and Sultan of the Maldives'' which came with the style ''Highness''.A Muslim Berber from Somalia, Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari (Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn) is traditionally cited for this conversion.", "According to the story told to Ibn Battutah, a mosque was built with the inscription: 'The Sultan Ahmad Shanurazah accepted Islam at the hand of Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari.'", "Some scholars have suggested the possibility of Ibn Battuta misreading Maldive texts, and having a bias towards the North African, Maghrebi narrative of this Shaykh, instead of the East African origins account that was known as well at the time.", "Even when Ibn Battuta visited the islands, the governor of the island of Utheemu at that time was Abd Aziz Al Mogadishawi, a SomaliSomalis have a legend which claims Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari as a native of Barbera, a significant trading port on the northwestern coast of Somalia.", "This is also seen when Ibn Battuta visited Mogadishu, he mentions that the Sultan at that time, \"Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh Omar\", was a Berber.", "After his conversion of the population of Dogor (now known as Aw Barkhadle), a town in Somalia, he is also cited to have been responsible for spreading Islam in the Maldivian islands, establishing the Hukuru Miskiy, and force converting the Maldivian population to Islam.", "Ibn Battuta states the Maldivian king was converted by Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari.Others have it he may have been from the Persian town of Tabriz.", "The first reference to an Iranian origin dates to an 18th-century Persian text.His venerated tomb now stands on the grounds of Medhu Ziyaaraiy, across the street from the Friday Mosque, or Hukuru Miskiy, in Malé.", "Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in the Maldives.", "Following the Islamic concept that before Islam there was the time of Jahiliya (ignorance), in the history books used by Maldivians the introduction of Islam at the end of the 12th century is considered the cornerstone of the country's history.", "Nonetheless, the cultural influence of Buddhism remains, a reality directly experienced by Ibn Battuta during his nine months there sometime between 1341 and 1345, serving as a chief judge and marrying into the royal family of Omar I.", "For he became embroiled in local politics and left when his strict judgments in the laissez-faire island kingdom began to chafe with its rulers.", "In particular, he was angered at the local women going about with no clothing above the waist— a cultural epithet of the region at the time- was seen as a violation of Middle Eastern Islamic rules of modesty—and the locals taking no notice when he complained.Compared to the other areas of South Asia, the conversion of the Maldives to Islam happened relatively late.", "The Maldives remained a Buddhist kingdom for another 500 years.", "Arabic became the prime language of administration (instead of Persian and Urdu), and the Maliki school of jurisprudence was introduced, both hinting at direct contact with the core of the Arab world.Middle Eastern seafarers had just begun to take over the Indian Ocean trade routes in the 10th century and found the Maldives to be an important link in those routes as the first landfall for traders from Basra sailing to Southeast Asia.", "Trade involved mainly cowrie shells—widely used as a form of currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast—and coir fibre.", "The Bengal Sultanate, where cowrie shells were used as legal tender, was one of the principal trading partners of the Maldives.", "The Bengal–Maldives cowry shell trade was the largest shell currency trade network in history.The other essential product of the Maldives was coir, the fibre of the dried coconut husk, resistant to saltwater.", "It stitched together and rigged the dhows that plied the Indian Ocean.", "Maldivian coir was exported to Sindh, China, Yemen, and the Persian Gulf.===Protectorate period===Portuguese presence in the Maldives was established in 1558, by order of Constantino of Braganza, Viceroy of Portuguese India.16th-century Portuguese illustration from the Códice Casanatense, depicting workers18th-century map by Pierre Mortier from the Netherlands, depicting with detail the islands of the MaldivesIn 1558, the Portuguese established a small garrison with a (), or overseer of a factory (trading post) in the Maldives, which they administered from their main colony in Goa.", "Their attempts to impose Christianity provoked a local revolt led by Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-A'uẓam, his two brothers and Dhuvaafaru Dhandahele, who fifteen years later drove the Portuguese out of the Maldives.", "This event is now commemorated as National Day.In the mid-17th century, the Dutch, who had replaced the Portuguese as the dominant power in Ceylon, established hegemony over Maldivian affairs without involving themselves directly in local matters, which were governed according to centuries-old Islamic customs.The British expelled the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included the Maldives as a British protectorate.", "The status of the Maldives as a British protectorate was officially recorded in an 1887 agreement in which the sultan Muhammad Mueenuddeen II accepted British influence over Maldivian external relations and defence while retaining home rule, which continued to be regulated by Muslim traditional institutions in exchange for an annual tribute.", "The status of the islands was akin to other British protectorates in the Indian Ocean region, including Zanzibar and the Trucial States.", "17th-century Portuguese drawing of the fortress of Maldives and the archipelago.", "In Antonio Bocarro book of fortress (1632)In the British period, the Sultan's powers were taken over by the Chief Minister, much to the chagrin of the British Governor-General who continued to deal with the ineffectual Sultan.", "Consequently, Britain encouraged the development of a constitutional monarchy, and the first Constitution was proclaimed in 1932.However, the new arrangements favoured neither the ageing Sultan nor the wily Chief Minister, but rather a young crop of British-educated reformists.", "As a result, angry mobs were instigated against the Constitution which was publicly torn up.The Maldives remained a British crown protectorate until 1953 when the sultanate was suspended and the First Republic was declared under the short-lived presidency of Muhammad Amin Didi.", "While serving as prime minister during the 1940s, Didi nationalised the fish export industry.", "As president, he is remembered as a reformer of the education system and an advocate of women's rights.", "Conservatives in Malé ousted his government, and during a riot over food shortages, Didi was beaten by a mob and died on a nearby island.An RAF Short Sunderland moored in the lagoon at Addu Atoll, during WWIIBeginning in the 1950s, the political history in the Maldives was largely influenced by the British military presence on the islands.", "In 1954, the restoration of the sultanate perpetuated the rule of the past.", "Two years later, the United Kingdom obtained permission to reestablish its wartime RAF Gan airfield in the southernmost Addu Atoll, employing hundreds of locals.", "In 1957, however, the new prime minister, Ibrahim Nasir, called for a review of the agreement.", "Nasir was challenged in 1959 by a local secessionist movement in the three southernmost atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan.", "This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state, the United Suvadive Republic with Abdullah Afeef as president and Hithadhoo as its capital.", "One year later the Suvadive republic was scrapped after Nasir sent gunboats from Malé with government police, and Abdulla Afif went into exile.", "Meanwhile, in 1960 the Maldives allowed the United Kingdom to continue to use both the Gan and the Hithadhoo facilities for thirty years, with the payment of £750,000 from 1960 to 1965 for the Maldives' economic development.", "The base was closed in 1976 as part of the larger British withdrawal of permanently-stationed forces 'East of Suez'.===Independence and republic===Sultan of the MaldivesWhen the British became increasingly unable to continue their colonial hold on Asia and were losing their colonies to the indigenous populations who wanted freedom, on 26 July 1965 an agreement was signed on behalf of the Sultan by Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan, Prime Minister, and on behalf of the British government by Sir Michael Walker, British Ambassador-designate to the Maldive Islands, which formally ended the British authority on the defence and external affairs of the Maldives.", "The islands thus achieved independence, with the ceremony taking place at the British High Commissioner's Residence in Colombo.", "After this, the sultanate continued for another three years under Sir Muhammad Fareed Didi, who declared himself King upon independence.On 15 November 1967, a vote was taken in parliament to decide whether the Maldives should continue as a constitutional monarchy or become a republic.", "Of the 44 members of parliament, 40 voted in favour of a republic.", "On 15 March 1968, a national referendum was held on the question, and 93.34% of those taking part voted in favour of establishing a republic.", "The republic was declared on 11 November 1968, thus ending the 853-year-old monarchy, which was replaced by a republic under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir.", "As the King had held little real power, this was seen as a cosmetic change and required few alterations in the structures of government.Tourism began to be developed on the archipelago by the beginning of the 1970s.", "The first resort in the Maldives was Kurumba Maldives which welcomed the first guests on 3 October 1972.The first accurate census was held in December 1977 and showed 142,832 people living in the Maldives.Political infighting during the 1970s between Nasir's faction and other political figures led to the 1975 arrest and exile of elected prime minister Ahmed Zaki to a remote atoll.", "Economic decline followed the closure of the British airfield at Gan and the collapse of the market for dried fish, an important export.", "With support for his administration faltering, Nasir fled to Singapore in 1978, with millions of dollars from the treasury.Maumoon Abdul Gayoom began his 30-year role as president in 1978, winning six consecutive elections without opposition.", "His election was seen as ushering in a period of political stability and economic development given Maumoon's priority to develop the poorer islands.", "Tourism flourished and increased foreign contact spurred development.", "However, Maumoon's rule was controversial, with some critics saying Maumoon was an autocrat who quelled dissent by limiting freedoms and practising political favouritism.A series of coup attempts (in 1980, 1983, and 1988) by Nasir supporters and business interests tried to topple the government without success.", "While the first two attempts met with little success, the 1988 coup attempt involved a roughly 80-strong mercenary force of the PLOTE who seized the airport and caused Maumoon to flee from house to house until the intervention of 1,600 Indian troops airlifted into Malé restored order.The November 1988 coup d'état was headed by Ibrahim Lutfee, a businessman, and Sikka Ahmed Ismail Manik, the father of the former first lady of the Maldives Fazna Ahmed.", "The attackers were defeated by then National Security Services of Maldives.", "On the night of 3 November 1988, the Indian Air Force airlifted a parachute battalion group from Agra and flew them over to the Maldives.", "By the time Indian armed forces reached the Maldives, the mercenary forces has already left Malé on the hijacked ship MV Progress Light.", "The Indian paratroopers landed at Hulhulé and secured the airfield and restored the government rule at Malé within hours.", "The brief operation labelled ''Operation Cactus'', also involved the Indian Navy that assisted in capturing the freighter MV Progress Light and rescued the hostages and crew.===21st century===17th SAARC summit in Addu City, MaldivesThe Maldives were devastated by a tsunami on 26 December 2004, following the Indian Ocean earthquake.", "Only nine islands were reported to have escaped any flooding, while fifty-seven islands faced serious damage to critical infrastructure, fourteen islands had to be totally evacuated, and six islands were destroyed.", "A further twenty-one resort islands were forced to close because of tsunami damage.", "The total damage was estimated at more than US$400 million, or some 62% of the GDP.", "102 Maldivians and 6 foreigners reportedly died in the tsunami.", "The destructive impact of the waves on the low-lying islands was mitigated by the fact there was no continental shelf or land mass upon which the waves could gain height.", "The tallest waves were reported to be high.During the later part of Maumoon's rule, independent political movements emerged in the Maldives, which challenged the then-ruling Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (Maldivian People's Party, MPP) and demanded democratic reform.", "The dissident journalist and activist Mohamed Nasheed founded the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in 2003 and pressured Maumoon into allowing gradual political reforms.", "In 2008, a new constitution was approved and the first direct presidential elections occurred, which were won by Nasheed in the second round.", "His administration faced many challenges, including the huge debt left by the previous government, the economic downturn following the 2004 tsunami, overspending by means of overprinting of local currency (the rufiyaa), unemployment, corruption, and increasing drug use.", "Taxation on goods was imposed for the first time in the country, and import duties were reduced on many goods and services.", "Universal health insurance (Aasandha) and social welfare benefits were given to those aged 65 years or older, single parents, and those with special needs.Social and political unrest grew in late 2011, following opposition campaigns in the name of protecting Islam.", "Nasheed controversially resigned from office after large number of police and army mutinied in February 2012.Nasheed's vice-president, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, was sworn in as president.Nasheed was later arrested, convicted of terrorism, and sentenced to 13 years.", "The trial was widely seen as flawed and political.", "The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for Nasheed's immediate release.The elections in late 2013 were highly contested.", "Former president Nasheed won the most votes in the first round, but the Supreme Court annulled it despite the positive assessment of international election observers.", "In the re-run vote Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of the former president Maumoon, assumed the presidency.", "Yameen survived an assassination attempt in late 2015.Vice-president Ahmed Adeeb was later arrested together with 17 supporters for \"public order offences\" and the government instituted a broader crackdown against his accomplices.", "A state of emergency was later declared ahead of a planned anti-government rally, and the people's Majlis accelerated the removal of Adeeb.In the 2018 elections, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the most votes, and was sworn in as the Maldives' new president in November 2018.Adeeb was freed by courts in Male in July 2019 after his conviction on charges of terrorism and corruption was overruled, but was placed under a travel ban after the state prosecutor appealed the order in a corruption and money laundering case.", "Adeeb escaped in a tugboat to seek asylum in India.", "It is understood that the Indian Coast Guard escorted the tugboat to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and he was then \"transferred\" to a Maldivian Coast Guard ship, where officials took him into custody.Former president Abdulla Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison in November 2019 for money laundering.", "The High Court upheld the jail sentence in January 2021.However, Supreme Court overturned Yameen's conviction in November 2021.On 30 September 2023, opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu won the second-round runoff of the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent president, Ibrahim Solih, with 54% of the vote.", "On 17 October 2023, Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the eighth President of the Republic of Maldives." ], [ "Geography", "Maalhosmadulu Atoll seen from space.", "Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll and Southern Maalhosmadulu Atoll can be seen in this picture.Dark clouds bringing heavy rain, common in the rainy seasonThe Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, that stretch along a length of north to south, east to west, spread over roughly , of which only is dry land, making this one of the world's most dispersed countries.", "It lies between latitudes 1°S and 8°N, and longitudes 72° and 74°E.", "The atolls are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, situated atop a submarine ridge long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs north to south.Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of the Maldives.", "For administrative purposes, the Maldivian government organised these atolls into 21 administrative divisions.", "The largest island of the Maldives is that of Gan, which belongs to Laamu Atoll or Hahdhummathi Maldives.", "In Addu Atoll, the westernmost islands are connected by roads over the reef (collectively called Link Road) and the total length of the road is .The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with maximum and average natural ground levels of only and above sea level, respectively.", "In areas where construction exists, however, this has been increased to several metres.", "More than 80 per cent of the country's land is composed of coral islands which rise less than one metre above sea level.", "As a result, the Maldives are in danger of being submerged due to rising sea levels.", "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that, at current rates, sea-level rise would be high enough to make the Maldives uninhabitable by 2100.===Climate===Bathala islandThe Maldives has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) under the Köppen climate classification, which is affected by the large landmass of South Asia to the north.", "Because the Maldives has the lowest elevation of any country in the world, the temperature is constantly hot and often humid.", "The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water.", "These factors set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over South Asia, resulting in the southwest monsoon.", "Two seasons dominate the Maldives' weather: the dry season associated with the winter northeastern monsoon and the rainy season associated with the southwest monsoon which brings strong winds and storms.The shift from the dry northeast monsoon to the moist southwest monsoon occurs during April and May.", "During this period, the southwest winds contribute to the formation of the southwest monsoon, which reaches the Maldives at the beginning of June and lasts until the end of November.", "However, the weather patterns of the Maldives do not always conform to the monsoon patterns of South Asia.", "The annual rainfall averages in the north and in the south.The monsoonal influence is greater in the north of the Maldives than in the south, more influenced by the equatorial currents.The average high temperature is 31.5 degrees Celsius and the average low temperature is 26.4 degrees Celsius.===Sea level rise===In 1988, Maldivian authorities claimed that sea rise would \"completely cover this Indian Ocean nation of 1,196 small islands within the next 30 years.", "\"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted the upper limit of the sea level rise will be by 2100, which means that most of the republic's 200 inhabited islands may need to be abandoned.", "According to researchers from the University of Southampton, the Maldives are the third most endangered island nation due to flooding from climate change as a percentage of population.In 2008, Nasheed announced plans to look into purchasing new land in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia because of his concerns about global warming, and the possibility of much of the islands being inundated with water from rising sea levels.", "The purchase of land will be made from a fund generated by tourism.", "The president explained his intentions: \"We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades\".At the 2009 International Climate Talks, Nasheed stated that:For us swearing off fossil fuels is not only the right thing to do, but it is also in our economic self-interest...", "Pioneering countries will free themselves from the unpredictable price of foreign oil; they will capitalise on the new green economy of the future, and they will enhance their moral standing giving them greater political influence on the world stage.Former president Mohamed Nasheed said in 2012 that \"If carbon emissions continue at the rate they are climbing today, my country will be under water in seven years.\"", "He has called for more climate change mitigation action while on the American television shows ''The Daily Show'' and the ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and hosted \"the world's first underwater cabinet meeting\" in 2009 to raise awareness of the threats posed by climate change.", "Concerns over rising sea levels have also been expressed by Nasheed's predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.In 2020, a three-year study at the University of Plymouth which looked at the Maldives and the Marshall Islands, found that tides move sediment to create a higher elevation, a morphological response that the researchers suggested could help low-lying islands adjust to sea level rise and keep the islands habitable.", "The research also reported that sea walls were compromising islands' ability to adjust to rising sea levels and that island drowning is an inevitable outcome for islands with coastal structures like sea walls.", "Hideki Kanamaru, natural resources officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization in Asia-Pacific, said the study provided a \"new perspective\" on how island nations could tackle the challenge of sea-level rise, and that even if islands can adapt naturally to higher seas by raising their own crests, humans still needed to double down on global warming and protection for island populations.===Environment===Environmental issues other than sea level rise include bad waste disposal and sand theft.", "Although the Maldives are kept relatively pristine and little litter can be found on the islands, most waste disposal sites are often substandard.", "The bulk of the waste from Malé and nearby resorts in the Maldives are disposed of at Thilafushi, an industrial island on top of a lagoon reclaimed in the early '90s to sort waste management issues which had plagued the capital and surrounding islands.31 protected areas are administered by the Ministry of Environment and Energy and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Maldives.===Marine ecosystem===Maldives soft coralOriental sweetlips (''Plectorhinchus vittatus'') at Meeru Island, North Male AtollThe Maldives have a range of different habitats including deep sea, shallow coast, and reef ecosystems, fringing mangroves, wetlands and dry land.", "There are 187 species of coral forming the coral reefs.", "This area of the Indian Ocean, alone, houses 1,100 species of fish, 5 species of sea turtle, 21 species of whale and dolphin, 400 species of mollusc, and 83 species of echinoderms.", "The area is also populated by a number of crustacean species: 120 copepods, 15 amphipods, as well as more than 145 crab and 48 shrimp species.Among the many marine families represented are pufferfish, fusiliers, jackfish, lionfish, oriental sweetlips, reef sharks, groupers, eels, snappers, bannerfish, batfish, humphead wrasse, spotted eagle rays, scorpionfish, lobsters, nudibranches, angelfish, butterflyfish, squirrelfish, soldierfish, glassfish, surgeonfish, unicornfish, triggerfish, Napoleon wrasse, and barracuda.These coral reefs are home to a variety of marine ecosystems that vary from planktonic organisms to whale sharks.", "Sponges have gained importance as five species have displayed anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties.In 1998, sea-temperature warming of as much as due to a single El Niño phenomenon event caused coral bleaching, killing two-thirds of the nation's coral reefs.In an effort to induce the regrowth of the reefs, scientists placed electrified cones anywhere from below the surface to provide a substrate for larval coral attachment.", "In 2004, scientists witnessed corals regenerating.", "Corals began to eject pink-orange eggs and sperm.", "The growth of these electrified corals was five times faster than untreated corals.", "Scientist Azeez Hakim stated:Again, in 2016, the coral reefs of the Maldives experienced a severe bleaching incident.", "Up to 95% of coral around some islands have died, and, even after six months, 100% of young coral transplants died.", "The surface water temperatures reached an all-time high in 2016, at 31 degrees Celsius in May.Recent scientific studies suggest that the faunistic composition can vary greatly between neighbour atolls, especially in terms of benthic fauna.", "Differences in terms of fishing pressure (including poaching) could be the cause.===Wildlife===" ], [ "Government", "Republic Square in MaléThe Maldives is a presidential constitutional republic, with extensive influence of the president as head of government and head of state.", "The president heads the executive branch, and appoints the cabinet which is approved by the People's Majlis (Parliament).", "He leads the armed forces.", "The current president as of 24 November 2023 is Mohamed Muizzu.", "President of the Maldives and Members of the unicameral Majlis serve five-year terms.", "The total number of members are determined by atoll populations.", "At the 2014 election, 77 members were elected.", "The People's Majlis, located in Malé, houses members from all over the country.The republican constitution came into force in 1968 and was amended in 1970, 1972, and 1975.On 27 November 1997 it was replaced by another Constitution assented to by then-President Maumoon.", "This Constitution came into force on 1 January 1998.The current Constitution of Maldives was ratified by President Maumoon on 7 August 2008, and came into effect immediately, replacing and repealing the constitution of 1998.This new constitution includes a judiciary run by an independent commission, and independent commissions to oversee elections and fight corruption.", "It also reduces the executive powers vested under the president and strengthens the parliament.", "All state that the president is head of state, head of government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Maldives.In 2018, the then ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM-Y)'s tensions with opposition parties and subsequent crackdown was termed as an \"assault on democracy\" by the UN Human Rights chief.President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih congratulates Mohamed Nasheed Speaker of the People’s Majlis on May 2019In April 2019 parliamentary election The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won a landslide victory.", "It took 65 of 87 seats of the parliament.", "This was the first time a single party was able to get such a high number of seats in the parliament in Maldivian history.Order of Nishanizzuddeen is the Maldives' highest civilian honor that can be bestowed upon a person.", "It is awarded by the president, usually in an elaborate ceremony.===Law===According to the Constitution of Maldives, \"the judges are independent, and subject only to the Constitution and the law.", "When deciding matters on which the Constitution or the law is silent, judges must consider Islamic Shari'ah\".Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden.", "The 2008 constitution says that the republic \"is based on the principles of Islam\" and that \"no law contrary to any principle of Islam can be applied\".", "Non-Muslims are prohibited from becoming citizens.The requirement to adhere to a particular religion and prohibition of public worship following other religions is contrary to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Maldives has recently become party and was addressed in the Maldives' reservation in adhering to the Covenant claiming that \"The application of the principles set out in Article 18 of the Covenant shall be without prejudice to the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives.", "\"A new penal code came into effect on 16 July 2015, replacing the 1968 law, the first modern, comprehensive penal code to incorporate the major tenets and principles of Islamic law.Same-sex relations are illegal in the Maldives, although tourist resorts typically operate as exceptions to this law.===Foreign relations===Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hosts Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.Since 1996, the Maldives has been the official progress monitor of the Indian Ocean Commission.", "In 2002, the Maldives began to express interest in the commission but had not applied for membership.", "Maldives' interest relates to its identity as a small island state, especially economic development and environmental preservation, and its desire for closer relations with France, a main actor in the IOC region.The Maldives is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).", "The republic joined the Commonwealth in 1982, some 17 years after gaining independence from the United Kingdom.", "In October 2016, the Maldives announced its withdrawal from the Commonwealth in protest at allegations of human rights abuse and failing democracy.", "The Maldives enjoys close ties with Commonwealth members Seychelles and Mauritius.", "The Maldives and Comoros are also both members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.", "Following his election as president in 2018, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and his Cabinet decided that the Maldives would apply to rejoin the Commonwealth, with readmission occurring on 1 February 2020.As a result of sanctions imposed upon the Russian oligarchs by the West in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many of them sought refuge for their mega-yachts in the Maldives due to the absence of an extradition treaty with the United States and other countries.===Military===Fire & Rescue Service boatsThe Maldives National Defence Force is the combined security organisation responsible for defending the security and sovereignty of the Maldives, having the primary task of being responsible for attending to all internal and external security needs of the Maldives, including the protection of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the maintenance of peace and security.", "The MNDF component branches are the Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Special Forces, Service Corps, Defence Intelligence Service, Military Police, Corps of Engineers, Special Protection Group, Medical Corps, Adjutant General's Corps, Coast Guard Aviation Squadron, and the Fire and Rescue Service.", "The Maldives has an arrangement with India allowing cooperation on radar coverage.As a water-bound nation, much of its security concerns life at sea.", "Almost 99% of the country is covered by sea and the remaining 1% land is scattered over an area of × , with the largest island being not more than .", "Therefore, the duties assigned to the MNDF of maintaining surveillance over the Maldives' waters and providing protection against foreign intruders poaching in the EEZ and territorial waters, are immense tasks from both logistical and economic viewpoints.", "The Coast Guard plays a vital role in carrying out these functions.", "To provide timely security its patrol boats are stationed at various MNDF Regional Headquarters.", "The Coast Guard is also assigned to respond to maritime distress calls and to conduct search and rescue operations in a timely manner.In 2019, the Maldives signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.Maldives Military===Human rights===Human rights in the Maldives is a contentious issue.", "In its 2011 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House declared the Maldives \"Partly Free\", claiming a reform process which had made headway in 2009 and 2010 had stalled.", "The United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor claims in their 2012 report on human rights practices in the country that the most significant problems are corruption, lack of religious freedom, abuse, and unequal treatment of women.===Administrative divisions===Each administrative atoll is marked, along with the thaana letter used to identify the atoll.", "Natural atolls are labelled in light blue.The Maldives has twenty-six natural atolls and few island groups on isolated reefs, all of which have been divided into twenty-one administrative divisions (17 administrative atolls and cities of Malé, Addu, Fuvahmulah and Kulhudhuffushi).Each atoll is administered by an elected Atoll Council.", "The islands are administered by an elected Island Council.In addition to a name, every administrative division is identified by the Maldivian code letters, such as \"Haa Alif\" for Thiladhunmati Uthuruburi (Thiladhunmathi North); and by a Latin code letter.", "The first corresponds to the geographical Maldivian name of the atoll; the second is a code adopted for convenience.", "As there are certain islands in different atolls that have the same name, for administrative purposes this code is quoted before the name of the island, for example: Baa Funadhoo, Kaafu Funadhoo, Gaafu-Alifu Funadhoo.", "Since most atolls have very long geographical names it is also used whenever the long name is inconvenient, for example in the atoll website names.The introduction of code-letter names has been a source of much puzzlement and misunderstandings, especially among foreigners.", "Many people have come to think that the code-letter of the administrative atoll is its new name and that it has replaced its geographical name.", "Under such circumstances, it is hard to know which is the correct name to use." ], [ "Economy", "Malé harbourHistorically, the Maldives provided enormous quantities of cowry shells, an international currency of the early ages.", "From the 2nd century CE, the islands were known as the 'Money Isles' by the Arabs.", "''Monetaria moneta'' were used for centuries as a currency in Africa, and huge amounts of Maldivian cowries were introduced into Africa by western nations during the period of slave trade.", "The cowry is now the symbol of the Maldives Monetary Authority.In the early 1970s, the Maldives was one of the world's 20 poorest countries, with a population of 100,000.The economy at the time was largely dependent on fisheries and trading local goods such as coir rope, ambergris (Maavaharu), and coco de mer (Tavakkaashi) with neighbouring countries and East Asian countries.The Maldivian government began a largely successful economic reform programme in the 1980s, initiated by lifting import quotas and giving more opportunities to the private sector.", "At the time tourism sector which would play a significant role in the nation's development was at its infant stage.Agriculture and manufacturing continue to play lesser roles in the economy, constrained by the limited availability of cultivable land and the shortage of domestic labour.===Tourism===Filitheyo island beach with tall palm trees and blue fresh lagoonsThe Maldives remained largely unknown to tourists until the early 1970s.", "Only 189 islands are home to its 382,751 inhabitants.", "The other islands are used entirely for economic purposes, of which tourism and agriculture are the most dominant.", "Tourism accounts for 28% of the GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts.", "Over 90% of government tax revenue comes from import duties and tourism-related taxes.The development of tourism fostered the overall growth of the country's economy.", "It created direct and indirect employment and income generation opportunities in other related industries.", "The first tourist resorts were opened in 1972 with Bandos Island Resort and Kurumba Village (the current name is Kurumba Maldives), which transformed the Maldives' economy.The resort island of Landaa Giraavaru (Baa atoll)According to the Ministry of Tourism, the emergence of tourism in 1972 transformed the economy, moving rapidly from dependence on fisheries to tourism.", "In just three and a half decades, the industry became the main source of income.", "Tourism was also the country's biggest foreign currency earner and the single largest contributor to the GDP.", ", 89 resorts in the Maldives offered over 17,000 beds and hosted over 600,000 tourists annually.", "In 2019, over 1.7 million visitors came to the islands.The number of resorts increased from 2 to 92 between 1972 and 2007., over 8,380,000 tourists had visited the Maldives.The country has six heritage Maldivian coral mosques listed as UNESCO tentative sites.====Visitors====Sign outside the Velana International AirportVisitors to the Maldives do not need to apply for a visa pre-arrival, regardless of their country of origin, provided they have a valid passport, proof of onward travel, and the money to be self-sufficient while in the country.Most visitors arrive at Velana International Airport, on Hulhulé Island, adjacent to the capital Malé.", "The airport is served by flights to and from India, Sri Lanka, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Dhaka, Istanbul, and major airports in South-East Asia like Kuala Lumpur International in Malaysia, as well as charters from Europe like Charles De Gaulle in France.", "Gan Airport, on the southern atoll of Addu, also serves an international flight to Malpensa in Milan several times a week.", "British Airways offers direct flights to the Maldives from Heathrow Airport.===Fishing industry===A mechanised traditional inter-island dhoni stripped of its sailsFor many centuries the Maldivian economy was entirely dependent on fishing and other marine products.", "Fishing remains the main occupation of the people and the government gives priority to the fisheries sector.The mechanisation of the traditional fishing boat called ''dhoni'' in 1974 was a major milestone in the development of the fisheries industry.", "A fish canning plant was installed on Felivaru in 1977, as a joint venture with a Japanese firm.", "In 1979, a Fisheries Advisory Board was set up with the mandate of advising the government on policy guidelines for the overall development of the fisheries sector.", "Manpower development programmes began in the early 1980s, and fisheries education was incorporated into the school curriculum.", "Fish aggregating devices and navigational aids were located at various strategic points.", "Moreover, the opening up of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Maldives for fisheries has further enhanced the growth of the fisheries sector., fisheries contributed over 15% of the country's GDP and engaged about 30% of the country's workforce.", "Fisheries were also the second-largest foreign exchange earner after tourism." ], [ "Demographics", "Malé, the capital of the MaldivesYearPopulation191172,2371966100,8832000270,1012020 est.557,426The largest ethnic group is Dhivehin, i.e.", "the Maldivians, native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising today's Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India.", "They share the same culture and speak the Dhivehi language.", "They are principally an Indo-Aryan people, having traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes in the population.In the past, there was also a small Tamil population known as the Giraavaru people.", "This group has now been almost completely absorbed into the larger Maldivian society but were once native to the island of Giraavaru (Kaafu Atoll).", "This island was evacuated in 1968 due to heavy erosion of the island.Some social stratification exists on the islands.", "It is not rigid, since rank is based on varied factors, including occupation, wealth, Islamic virtue, and family ties.", "Instead of a complex caste system, there was merely a distinction between noble (bēfulhu) and common people in the Maldives.", "Members of the social elite are concentrated in Malé.Life expectancy in the MaldivesThe population doubled by 1978, and the population growth rate peaked at 3.4% in 1985.At the 2006 census, the population had reached 298,968, although the census in 2000 showed that the population growth rate had declined to 1.9%.", "Life expectancy at birth stood at 46 years in 1978, and later rose to 72.Infant mortality has declined from 12.7% in 1977 to 1.2% today, and adult literacy reached 99%.", "Combined school enrolment reached the high 90s.", "The population was projected to have reached 317,280 in 2010.The 2014 Population and Housing Census listed the total population in the Maldives as 437,535: 339,761 resident Maldivians and 97,774 resident foreigners, approximately 16% of the total population.", "However, it is believed that foreigners have been undercounted.", ", there were 281,000 expatriate workers, an estimated 63,000 of whom are undocumented in the Maldives: 3,506 Chinese, 5,029 Nepalese, 15,670 Sri Lankans, 28,840 Indians, and (the largest group of foreigners working in the country) 112,588 Bangladeshis.", "Other immigrants include Filipinos as well as various Western foreign workers.===Religion===After the long Buddhist period of Maldivian history, Muslim traders introduced Islam.", "Maldivians converted to Islam by the mid-12th century.", "The islands have had a long history of Sufic orders, as can be seen in the history of the country such as the building of tombs.", "They were used until as recently as the 1980s for seeking the help of buried saints.", "They can be seen next to some old mosques and are considered a part of the Maldives's cultural heritage.Other aspects of tassawuf, such as ritualised dhikr ceremonies called Maulūdu (Mawlid) - the liturgy of which included recitations and certain supplications in a melodic tone - existed until very recent times.", "These Maulūdu festivals were held in ornate tents specially built for the occasion.", "At present Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship.According to Arab traveller Ibn Battuta, the person responsible for this conversion was a Sunni Muslim visitor named Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari, sailing from what is today Morocco.", "He is also referred to as Tabrizugefaanu.", "His venerated tomb now stands on the grounds of Medhu Ziyaaraiy, across the street from the Friday Mosque, or Hukuru Miskiy, in Malé.", "Built in 1656, this is the country's oldest mosque.In 2013, scholar Felix Wilfred of Oxford University estimates the number of Christians in Maldives as 1,400 or 0.4% of the country's population.Since the adoption of the 2008 constitution citizens and anyone wishing to become a citizens are required by law to nominally follow Sunni Islam which would make Maldives a 100% Muslim country in theory.", "But residents, tourists and guest workers are free to be of any religion and practise them in private.", "However, in 2020, studies found that 0.3% of the population is Christian (roughly split between Catholic and Protestant).", "'''Islam''' (98.7) '''Christianity''' (0.4%) '''Others''' (1.0%)===Languages===Thaana scriptThe official and national language is Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhala language of Sri Lanka.", "The first known script used to write Dhivehi is the ''eveyla akuru'' script, which is found in the historical recording of kings (''raadhavalhi'').", "Later a script called ''dhives akuru'' was used for a long period.", "The present-day script is called Thaana and is written from right to left.", "Thaana is said to have been introduced by the reign of Mohamed Thakurufaanu.English is widely spoken by the locals of the Maldives: \"Following the nation's opening to the outside world, the introduction of English as a medium of instruction at the secondary and tertiary levels of education, and its government's recognition of the opportunities offered through tourism, English has now firmly established itself in the country.", "About 96.6% of Maldivians speak a variety of Dhivehi.", "Linguistic minorities are small: Tamil (2%), Sinhalese (0.6%), Gujarati (0.1%), Malayalam (0.1%).", "English is commonly spoken at tourist sites.", "As such, the Maldives are quite similar to the countries in the Gulf region ....", "The nation is undergoing vast societal change, and English is part of this.", "\"+'''Consonants''' Letter Name Malé LatinISO 15919 IPA Derived from letter h h Perso–Arabic digit-1: sh ṣ Perso–Arabic digit-2: n n Perso–Arabic digit-3: r r Perso–Arabic digit-4: b b Perso–Arabic digit-5: lh ḷ Perso–Arabic digit-6: k k Perso–Arabic digit-7: only carried vowel is writtenonly carried vowel is written Perso–Arabic digit-8: v v Perso–Arabic digit-9: m m Dives Akuru digit-1: 𑥑 f f Dives Akuru digit-2: 𑥒 dh d Dives Akuru digit-3: 𑥓 th t Dives Akuru digit-4: 𑥔 l l Dives Akuru digit-5: 𑥕 g g Dives Akuru digit-6: 𑥖 gn ñ s s Dives Akuru digit-8: 𑥘 d ḍ Dives Akuru digit-9: 𑥙 z z t ṭ y y possibly p p j j ch c - ṇ '''' Dives Akuru digit-7: ''𑥗''====''Naviyani''====Naviyani (ޱ) represents the voiced retroflex nasal \"n\" () common to many Indic languages.", "This letter was abolished from Maldivian official documents around 1953.The letter's former position in the Maldivian alphabet was the sixteenth, between Gaafu and Seenu, instead of Gnaviyani (ޏ).", "The former position of Gnaviyani (ޏ) was 22nd.", "It is still seen in reprints of old books like the ''Bodu Tarutheebu,'' and it is used by the people of Addu Atoll and Fuvahmulah when writing songs or poetry in their dialects as the sound is still present in their spoken dialects.====''Thikijehi Thaana''====These additional letters were added to the Thaana alphabet by adding dots () to existing letters, to allow for transliteration of Arabic loanwords, as previously Arabic loanwords were written using the Arabic script.", "Their usage is inconsistent, and becoming less frequent as the spelling changes to reflect pronunciation by Maldivians, rather than the original Arabic pronunciation, as the words get absorbed into the Maldivian language.+ ''Thikijehi Thaana'' Letter Name Malé LatinISO 15919 Representing letter IPA - '''h̤'''ā '''kh'''aa '''k͟h'''ā '''zh'''e '''ž'''e '''′'''ainu '''‘'''ainu '''gh'''ainu '''ġ'''ainu '''w'''aavu '''w'''āvu - '''ẕ'''ālu - '''t̤'''ā - '''ẓ'''ā - '''s̱'''ā '''q'''aafu '''q'''āfu - '''s̤'''ādu - '''ż'''ādu '''sh'''eenu '''ś'''īnu ===Population by locality===" ], [ "Health", "On 24 May 2021, the Maldives had the world's fastest-growing COVID-19 outbreak, with the highest number of infections per million people over the prior 7 and 14 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.", "Doctors warned that increasing demand for COVID-19 care could hinder their ability to handle other health emergencies in the Maldives.", "The reason for the outbreak was the Delta variant." ], [ "Culture", "Maahefun Festival in FuvahmulahThe culture of the Maldives is influenced by the cultures of the people of different ethnicities who have settled on the islands throughout the times.Since the 12th century AD, there were also influences from Arabia in the language and culture of the Maldives because of the conversion to Islam and its location as a crossroads in the central Indian Ocean.", "This was due to the long trading history between the far east and the middle east.Reflective of this is the fact that the Maldives has had the highest national divorce rate in the world for many decades.", "This, it is hypothesised, is due to a combination of liberal Islamic rules about divorce and the relatively loose marital bonds that have been identified as common in non- and semi-sedentary peoples without a history of fully developed agrarian property and kinship relations.===Media===" ], [ "Transportation", "Velana International AirportTMA TerminalVelana International Airport is the principal gateway to the Maldives; it is adjacent to the capital city Malé and is connected by a bridge.", "International travel is available on government-owned Island Aviation Services (branded as Maldivian), which operates DHC-6 Twin Otter seaplanes and to nearly all Maldivian domestic airports with several Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and one Airbus A320 with international service to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand.In the Maldives, there are three main ways to travel between islands: by domestic flight, by seaplane, or by boat.", "For several years there were two seaplane companies operating: TMA (Trans Maldivian Airways) and Maldivian Air Taxi, but these merged in 2013 under the name TMA.", "The seaplane fleet is entirely made up of DHC-6 Twin Otters.", "There is also another airline, Flyme, which operates using ATR planes to domestic airports, principally Villa-Maamigili, Dharavandhoo and some others.", "Manta Air began its first scheduled seaplane service in 2019.Its seaplane fleet is made up of DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft.", "In addition to the seaplane service, Manta Air utilises ATR 72–600 aircraft to operate domestic flights to Dhaalu Airport, Dharavandhoo Airport and Kooddoo Airport from the main Velana International Airport.", "Depending on the distance of the destination island from the airport, resorts organise speedboat transfers or seaplane flights directly to the resort island jetty for their guests.", "Several daily flights operate from Velana International Airport to the 18 domestic and international airports in the country.", "Scheduled ferries also operate from Malé to many of the atolls.", "The traditional Maldivian boat is called a dhoni.", "Speedboats and seaplanes tend to be more expensive, while travel by dhoni, although slower, is relatively cheaper and convenient." ], [ "Education", "The Maldives National University is one of the country's three institutions of higher education.", "In 1973, the Allied Health Services Training Centre (the forerunner of the Faculty of Health Sciences) was established by the Ministry of Health.", "The Vocational Training Centre was established in 1974, providing training for mechanical and electrical trades.", "In 1984, the Institute for Teacher Education was created and the School of Hotel and Catering Services was established in 1987 to provide trained personnel for the tourist industry.", "In 1991, the Institute of Management and Administration was created to train staff for public and private services.", "In 1998, the Maldives College of Higher Education was founded.", "The Institute of Shar'ah and Law was founded in January 1999.In 2000 the college launched its first-degree programme, Bachelor of Arts.", "On 17 January 2011 the Maldives National University Act was passed by the President of the Maldives; The Maldives National University was named on 15 February 2011.In 2015 under a Presidential decree the College of Islamic Studies was changed into the Islamic University of Maldives (IUM).The Maldivian government now offers 3 different scholarships to students that have completed their higher secondary education with results above a certain threshold, with ranks of the scholarship received depending on the merits achieved by students on their year 12 examinations." ], [ "See also", "* List of Maldives-related topics* Outline of Maldives* Maldives Sign Language* Maldives Inland Revenue Authority" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* ''Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru''.", "Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee.", "G.Sōsanī.", "Malé 1999.", "* H. C. P. Bell, ''The Maldive Islands, An account of the Physical Features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade''.", "Colombo 1883, .", "* H.C.P.", "Bell, ''The Maldive Islands; Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy''.", "Reprint Colombo 1940.Council for Linguistic and Historical Research.", "Malé 1989.", "* H.C.P.", "Bell, ''Excerpta Maldiviana''.", "Reprint Colombo 1922/35 edn.", "Asian Educational Services.", "New Delhi 1999.", "* ''Divehi Tārīkhah Au Alikameh.", "Divehi Bahāi Tārikhah Khidmaiykurā Qaumī Markazu''.", "Reprint 1958 edn.", "Malé, Maldives 1990.", "* Christopher, William (1836–38).", "''Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society'', Vol.", "I.", "Bombay.", "* Lieut.", "I.A.", "Young & W. Christopher, ''Memoirs on the Inhabitants of the Maldive Islands''.", "* Geiger, Wilhelm.", "''Maldivian Linguistic Studies''.", "Reprint 1919 edn.", "Asian Educational Services.", "Delhi 1999.", "* Hockly, T.W.", "''The Two Thousand Isles''.", "Reprint 1835 edn.", "Asian Educational Services.", "Delhi 2003.", "* Hideyuki Takahashi, ''Maldivian National Security - And the Threats of Mercenaries'', The Round Table (London), No.", "351, July 1999, pp. 433–444.", "* Malten, Thomas: Malediven und Lakkadiven.", "Materialien zur Bibliographie der Atolle im Indischen Ozean.", "Beiträge zur Südasien-Forschung Südasien-Institut Universität Heidelberg, Nr.", "87.Franz Steiner Verlag.", "Wiesbaden, 1983.", "* Vilgon, Lars: Maldive and Minicoy Islands Bibliography with the Laccadive Islands.", "Published by the author.", "Stockholm, 1994.", "* Clarence Maloney, ''People of the Maldive Islands'', Orient Black Swan, 2013* Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders: a study of the popular culture of an ancient ocean kingdom'', NEI, 1999* Xavier Romero-Frias, ''Folk Tales of the Maldives'', Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2012* Djan Sauerborn, '' The Perils of Rising Fundamentalism in the Maldives '', International Relations and Security Network (ISN), Zürich, September 2013* Djan Sauerborn, '' Failing to Transition: Democratization under Stress in the Maldives'', South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), February 2015" ], [ "External links", "* Official tourist guide to Maldives* President's Office* Official website of the Government of Maldives* Maldives.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Maldives from UCB Libraries GovPubs* * Maldives from the BBC News* Maldives ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' entry* * * Key Development Forecasts for the Maldives from International Futures* Constitution of the Republic of Maldives" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "History of the Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''history of the Maldives''' is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia and Indian Ocean; and the modern nation consisting of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1194 islands.", "Historically, the Maldives had a strategic importance because of its location on the major marine routes of the Indian Ocean.", "The Maldives' nearest neighbours are the British Indian Ocean Territory, Sri Lanka and India.", "The United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and some Indian kingdoms have had cultural and economic ties with the Maldives for centuries.", "In addition to these countries, Maldivians also traded with Aceh and many other kingdoms in, what is today, Indonesia and Malaysia.", "The Maldives provided the main source of cowrie shells, then used as a currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast.", "Most probably Maldives were influenced by Kalingas of ancient India who were earliest sea traders to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from India and were responsible for the spread of Buddhism.", "Stashes of Chinese crockery found buried in various locations in the Maldives also show that there was direct or indirect trade contact between China and the Maldives.", "In 1411 and 1430, the Chinese admiral Zheng He 鄭和 visited the Maldives.", "The Chinese also became the first country to establish a diplomatic office in the Maldives, when the Chinese nationalist government based in Taipei opened an embassy in Malé in 1966.This office has since been replaced by the embassy of the People's Republic of China.After the 16th century, when colonial powers took over much of the trade in the Indian Ocean, first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and the French occasionally meddled in local politics.", "However, this interference ended when the Maldives became a British Protectorate in the 19th century and the Maldivian monarchs were granted a good measure of self-governance.The Maldives gained total independence from the British on 26 July 1965.However, the British continued to maintain an air base on the island of Gan in the southernmost atoll until 1976.The British departure in 1976 at the height of the Cold War almost immediately triggered foreign speculation about the future of the air base.", "The Soviet Union requested the use of the base, but the Maldives refused.The greatest challenge facing the republic in the early 1990s was the need for rapid economic development and modernisation, given the country's limited resource base in fishing and tourism.", "Concern was also evident over a projected long-term sea level rise, which would prove disastrous to the low-lying coral islands." ], [ "Early Age", "Much of the history of the Maldives is unknown, however based on tales and actual data, it can be deduced that the islands have been inhabited for over 2500 years, according to an old folklore from the Maldives' southern atoll.", "Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine (Allama Shihab al-Din) of Meedhoo on Addu Atoll wrote down this account in Arabic during Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I's rule in the 17th century.", "Kitab Fi al-Athari Midu al-Qadimiyyah was the title of Allama Shihabuddine's book (\"On the Ancient Ruins of Meedhoo\").", "The account is strikingly consistent with known South Asian history, including referencing Emperor Asoka, the legendary Indian emperor.", "It also backs up parts of the facts found in old Maldivian records and the loamaafaanu copperplates.", "Legends from the past, facts written on old copperplates, ancient writings engraved on coral items, and repeated in the language, traditions, and ethnicity of the people tell the tale of the Maldives' legacy.In comparison to the southern islands, which are up to 800 km away, the northern islands may have had a different migratory and colonization history.=== The first settlers to the southern Maldives ===A delegation from the Divi people sent gifts to the Roman Emperor Julian, according to a 4th-century note published by Ammianus Marcellinus in 362 AD.", "(1937, Rolfe).", "Divi is remarkably similar to Dheyvi, and it is possible that they are the same person.", "The Redi and the Kunibee, both from India's Mahrast area, were among the later settlers.", "The Aryas (Aryans) arrived in the Maldives about the 6th-5th century BC, roughly three centuries before Emperor Asoka built his state in India.", "According to folklore, they were not native to India and had arrived from another country.", "Hinduism was also brought to the Maldives at this period (Shihabuddine c. 1650–1687).==== Dheeva Maari ====The Dheyvis found Suvadinmathi (Huvadhu Atoll) after their first settlement in Isdhuva in Isduvammathi ( Haddhunmathi ) according to Shihabuddine.", "These people gave the term \"duva\" to each island where they first lived and discovered.", "They established the Dheeva Maari===== The first known monarch of the Dheevis =====The kingdom of Adeetta Vansa was formed in Dheeva Maari by Sri Soorudasaruna Adeettiya which was his formal name.", "This was the first known monarch of the Dheevis of Dheeva Maari.", "He founded the kingdom of Adeetta Vansa just before the kingdom of \"Malik Aashooq\" was created.===== Dheeva Mahal =====A group of individuals from Bairat came to Dheeva Maari to preach Buddha's beliefs and works.", "Dheeva Mahal was the name given to Dheeva Maari during the time.=== The first settlers to the northern Maldives ===According to mythology, the northern atolls of Maldives were populated by other tribes from southern India with deeper skin colors.", "The islands they populated were given names like Nolhivaram, Kuruhinnavaram, and Giravaram, according to legend (Shihabuddine c. 1650–1687).", "These islands are now known as Nolhivaramu, Hinnavaru, and Giravaru.", "It's probable that the names have evolved over many centuries to their current form.Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic and cultural traditions and customs indicate that one of the earliest settlers to the northern Maldives were descendants of fishermen from the southwest coasts of present India and the northwestern shores of Sri Lanka.", "One such community are the Giraavaru people.", "They are mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Malé.Some argue (from the presence of Jat, Gujjar Titles and Gotra names) that Sindhis also accounted for an early layer of migration.", "Seafaring from Debal began during the Indus valley civilisation.", "The Jatakas and Puranas show abundant evidence of this maritime trade; the use of similar traditional boat building techniques in Northwestern South Asia and the Maldives, and the presence of silver punch mark coins from both regions, gives additional weight to this.", "There are minor signs of Southeast Asian settlers, probably some adrift from the main group of Austronesian reed boat migrants that settled Madagascar.=== Kingdom of Adeetta Vansa ===The Kingdom of Adeetta Vansa (Solar Dynasty) formed in Dheeva maari ruled until the establishment of the Kingdom of Soma Vansa (Lunar Dynasty).", "Soma Vansa was born in Kalinja, and Adeetta Vansa was born in Kalinja as well.", "This kingdom was founded by the son of a Soma Vansa monarch who ruled in Kalinja at the time.", "Dheeva Mahal turned to Islam over a century and a half later.", "Sri Balaadeettiya was the first king of Soma Vansa.", "Queen Damahaar, his wife, was the final queen of Adeetta Vansa.", "So, while the dynasty's name was altered to Soma Vansa, the monarchs were still related to both Soma Vansa and Adeetta Vansa.=== Kingdom of Soma Vansa ===At the start of the Soma Vansa dynasty, the Indian ruler Raja Dada invaded Dheeva Mahal's northern two atolls, Malikatholhu and Thiladunmathi, and took control of them.", "Sri Loakaabarana, (his son) Sri Maha Sandura, and his brother Sri Bovana Aananda were the most recent five monarchs of Soma Vansa before to the advent of Islam.", "After his brother, Sri Maha Sandura, passed away, he ascended to the crown.=== Mahapansa ===Sri Maha Sandura's daughter, Kamanhaar (sometimes spelled Kamanaar), and Rehendihaar were exiled to the island of \"Is Midu.\"", "She took Maapanansa, a book that contained the history of Adeetta Vansa's kings.", "In his work, Al Muhaddith Hasan claims to have read the entire Maapanansa, which was written in Copper.", "He also claims to have buried all of Maapanansa's parts.", "Sri Mahaabarana Adeettiya, Sri Bovana Aananda's son, ascended to the throne after him.", "The Indians who controlled Malikatholhu and Thiladunmathi, the two most northern atolls, were defeated by this King.", "The Indians belonged to the same tribe as Raja Dada, who was the first to conquer these two atolls.", "He was then given the title of monarch of 14 atolls and 2,000 islands.", "Malikaddu dhemedhu between Minicoy and Addu was his \"Dheeva Mahal.", "\"==== Ancient names of atolls of Maldives according to Mahapansa ====# Thiladunmathi# Miladunmaduva# Maalhosmaduva# Faadu Bur# Mahal Atholhu# Ari adhe Atholhu# Felide Atholhu# Mulakatholhu# Nilande Atholhu# Kolhumaduva# Isaddunmathi# Suvadinmathi=== Archaeological remains of the first settlers ===These first Maldivians did not leave any archaeological remains.", "Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate.", "Moreover, chiefs or headmen did not reside in elaborate stone palaces, nor did their religion require the construction of large temples or compounds.=== Earliest written history ===The earliest written history of the Maldives is marked by the arrival of Sinhalese people, who were descended from the exiled Magadha Prince Vijaya from the ancient city known as Sinhapura in North East India.", "He and his party of several hundred landed in Sri Lanka, and some in the Maldives circa 543 to 483 BC.", "According to the ''Mahavansa'', one of the ships that sailed with Prince Vijaya, who went to Sri Lanka around 500 BC, went adrift and arrived at an island called ''Mahiladvipika'', which is being identified with the Maldives.", "It is also said that at that time, the people from Mahiladvipika used to travel to Sri Lanka.", "Their settlement in Sri Lanka and the Maldives marks a significant change in demographics and the development of the Indo-Aryan language Dhivehi, which is most similar in grammar, phonology, and structure to Sinhala, and especially to the more ancient Elu Prakrit, which has less Pali.Alternatively, it is believed that ''Vijaya'' and his clan came from western India – a claim supported by linguistic and cultural features, and specific descriptions in the epics themselves, e.g.", "that ''Vijaya'' visited ''Bharukaccha'' (Bharuch in Gujarat) in his ship on the voyage down south.Philostorgius, a Greek historian of Late Antiquity, wrote of a hostage among the Romans, from the island called ''Diva'', which is presumed to be the Maldives, who was baptised Theophilus.", "Theophilus was sent in the 350s to convert the Himyarites to Christianity, and went to his homeland from Arabia; he returned to Arabia, visited Axum, and settled in Antioch." ], [ "Caste system in Maldives", "Maldivian society serves as an example of a social structure that has lately shed a lot of stratification related characteristics while still perhaps holding onto certain remnants of the former caste society." ], [ "Buddhist period", "The Buddhist Stupa at Kuruhinna in Gan Island (Haddhunmathi Atoll).", "Western SideIsdhoo Lōmāfānu is the oldest copper-plate book to have been discovered in the Maldives to date.", "The book was written in AD 1194 (590 AH) in the Evēla form of the Divehi akuru, during the reign of Siri Fennaadheettha Mahaa Radun (Dhinei Kalaminja).Despite being just mentioned briefly in most history books, the 1,400-year-long Buddhist period has a foundational importance in the history of the Maldives.", "It was during this period that the culture of the Maldives as we now know it both developed and flourished.", "The Maldivian language, the first Maldive scripts, the architecture, the ruling institutions, the customs and manners of the Maldivians originated at the time when the Maldives were a Buddhist kingdom.Before embracing Buddhism as their way of life, Maldivians had practised an ancient form of Hinduism, ritualistic traditions known as ''Śrauta'', in the form of venerating the ''Surya'' (the ancient ruling caste were of ''Aadheetta'' or ''Suryavanshi'' origins).Buddhism probably spread to the Maldives in the 3rd century BC, at the time of Aśoka.", "Nearly all archaeological remains in the Maldives are from Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and all artifacts found to date display characteristic Buddhist iconography.Buddhist (and Hindu) temples were Mandala shaped, they are oriented according to the four cardinal points, the main gate being towards the east.", "The ancient Buddhist stupas are called \"havitta\", \"hatteli\" or \"ustubu\" by the Maldivians according to the different atolls.", "These stupas and other archaeological remains, like foundations of Buddhist buildings Vihara, compound walls and stone baths, are found on many islands of the Maldives.", "They usually lie buried under mounds of sand and covered by vegetation.", "Local historian Hassan Ahmed Maniku counted as many as 59 islands with Buddhist archaeological sites in a provisional list he published in 1990.The largest monuments of the Buddhist era are in the islands fringing the eastern side of Haddhunmathi Atoll.In the early 11th century, the Minicoy and Thiladhunmathi, and possibly other northern Atolls, were conquered by the medieval Chola Tamil emperor Raja Raja Chola I, thus becoming a part of the Chola Empire.Unification of the archipelago is traditionally attributed to King Koimala.", "According to a legend from Maldivian folklore, in the early 12th century AD, a medieval prince named Koimala, a nobleman of the Lion Race from Sri Lanka, sailed to Rasgetheemu island (literally \"Town of the Royal House\", or figuratively \"King's Town\") in the North Maalhosmadulu Atoll, and from there to Malé, and established a kingdom, named Dheeva Mari Kingdom.", "By then, the ''Aadeetta'' (Sun) Dynasty (the Suryavanshi ruling cast) had for some time ceased to rule in Malé, possibly because of invasions by the Cholas of Southern India in the 10th century.", "Koimala Kalou (Lord Koimala), who reigned as King Maanaabarana, was a king of the ''Homa'' (Lunar) Dynasty (the Chandravanshi ruling cast), which some historians call the House of Theemuge.The ''Homa'' (Lunar) dynasty sovereigns intermarried with the ''Aaditta'' (Sun) Dynasty.", "This is why the formal titles of Maldive kings until 1968 contained references to \"''kula sudha ira''\", which means \"descended from the Moon and the Sun\".", "No official record exists of the Aadeetta dynasty's reign.", "Since Koimala's reign, the Maldive throne was also known as the ''Singaasana'' (Lion Throne).", "Before then, and in some situations since, it was also known as the ''Saridhaaleys'' (Ivory Throne).", "Some historians credit Koimala with freeing the Maldives from Chola rule.Western interest in the archaeological remains of early cultures on the Maldives began with the work of H.C.P.", "Bell, a British commissioner of the Ceylon Civil Service.", "Bell was first ordered to the islands in late 1879 and returned several times to the Maldives to investigate ancient ruins.", "He studied the ancient mounds, called ''havitta'' or ''ustubu'' (these names are derived from chaitiya and stupa) () by the Maldivians, which are found on many of the atolls.Early scholars like H.C.P.", "Bell, who resided in Sri Lanka most of his life, claim that Buddhism came to the Maldives from Sri Lanka and that the ancient Maldivians had followed Theravada Buddhism.", "Since then, new archaeological discoveries point to Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist influences, which are likely to have come to the islands straight from the Subcontinent.", "An urn discovered in Maalhos (Ari Atoll) in the 1980s has a Vishvavajra inscribed with Protobengali script.", "This text was in the same script used in the ancient Buddhist centres of learning in Nalanda and Vikramashila.", "There is also a small Porites stupa in the Museum where the directional Dhyani Buddhas (Jinas) are etched in its four cardinal points as in the Mahayana tradition.", "Some coral blocks with fearsome heads of guardians are also displaying Vajrayana Iconography.", "Buddhist remains have been also found in Minicoy Island, then part of the Maldive Kingdom, by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in the latter half of the 20th century.", "Among these remains a Buddha head and stone foundations of a Vihara deserve special mention.In the mid-1980s, the Maldivian government allowed Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl to excavate ancient sites.", "Heyerdahl studied the ancient mounds, called havitta by the Maldivians, found on many of the atolls.", "Some of his archaeological discoveries of stone figures and carvings from pre-Islamic civilizations are today exhibited in a side room of the small National Museum on Male.", "Heyerdahl's research indicates that as early as 2,000 B.C.", "Maldives lay on the maritime trading routes of early Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Indus Valley civilizations." ], [ "Islamic period", "=== Introduction of Islam ===Hukuru Mosque, Malé, Maldives, placed by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar on which Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari's name is written.", "His last name is also read as \"at-Tabrizi\" instead of \"al-Barbari\".Malé Friday Mosque Minaret, 1981The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the 12th century may partly explain why the last Buddhist king of Maldives Dhovemi converted to Islam in the year 1153 (or 1193, as certain copper plate grants give a later date).", "The king thereupon adopted the Muslim title and name of Sultan Muhammad al Adil, initiating a series of six dynasties consisting of eighty-four sultans and sultanas that lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective.", "The formal title of the Sultan up to 1965 was, ''Sultan of Land and Sea, Lord of the twelve-thousand islands and Sultan of the Maldives'' which came with the style ''Highness''.The person traditionally deemed responsible for this conversion was a Sunni Muslim visitor named Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari.", "His venerated tomb now stands on the grounds of Medhu Ziyaaraiy across the street from the Hukuru Mosque in the capital Malé.", "Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in Malé.Following the Islamic concept that before Islam there was the time of Jahiliya (ignorance), in the history books used by Maldivians the introduction of Islam at the end of the 12th century is considered the cornerstone of the country's history.Compared to the other areas of South Asia, the conversion of the Maldives to Islam happened relatively late.", "Arab Traders had converted populations in the Malabar Coast since the 7th century, and the Arab conqueror Muhammad Bin Qāsim had converted large swathes of Sindh to Islam at about the same time.", "The Maldives remained a Buddhist kingdom for another five hundred years (perhaps the south-westernmost Buddhist country) until the conversion to Islam.The document known as Dhanbidhū Lōmāfānu gives information about the suppression of Buddhism in the southern Haddhunmathi Atoll, which had been a major center of that religion.", "Monks were taken to Male and beheaded, The Satihirutalu (the chattravali or chattrayashti crowning a stupa) were broken to disfigure the numerous stupasm and the statues of Vairocana, the transcendent Buddha of the middle world region, were destroyed.", "Arab interest in Maldives also was reflected in the residence there in the 1340s of Ibn Battutah.", "The well-known North African traveler wrote how a Moroccan, one ''Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari'', was believed to have been responsible for spreading Islam in the islands, reportedly convincing the local king after having subdued Ranna Maari, a demon coming from the sea.", "Even though this report has been contested in later sources, it does explain some crucial aspects of Maldivian culture.", "For instance, historically Arabic has been the prime language of administration there, instead of the Persian and Urdu languages used in the nearby Muslim states.", "Another link to North Africa was the Maliki school of jurisprudence, used throughout most of North Africa, which was the official one in the Maldives until the 17th century.Berber Muslim Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari, is traditionally credited for this conversion.", "According to the story told to Ibn Battutah, a mosque was built with the inscription: 'The Sultan Ahmad Shanurazah accepted Islam at the hand of Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari.'", "Some scholars have suggested the possibility of Ibn Battuta misreading Maldive texts, and having a bias towards the North African, Maghrebi narrative of this Shaykh, instead of the East African origins account that was known as well at the time.", "Even when Ibn Battuta visited the islands, the governor of the island at that time was Abd Aziz Al Mogadishawi, a Somali.Scholars have posited another scenario where Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari might have been a native of Barbera, a significant trading port on the northwestern coast of Somalia.", "This is also seen when Ibn Batuta visited Mogadishu, he mentions that the Sultan at that time, \"Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh Omar\", was a Berber.", "Ibn Batuta states the Maldivian king was converted by Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari (Meaning Abdul Barakat the Berber).Another interpretation, held by the more reliable local historical chronicles, ''Raadavalhi'' and ''Taarikh'', is that Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari was Abdul Barakat Yusuf Shams ud-Dīn at-Tabrīzī, also locally known as Tabrīzugefānu.", "In the Arabic script the words al-Barbari and al-Tabrizi are very much alike, owing to the fact that at the time, Arabic had several consonants that looked identical and could only be differentiated by overall context (this has since changed by addition of dots above or below letters to clarify pronunciation – For example, the letter \"B\" in modern Arabic has a dot below, whereas the letter \"T\" looks identical except there are two dots above it).", "\"'''ٮوسڡ الٮٮرٮرى'''\" could be read as \"Yusuf at-Tabrizi\" or \"Yusuf al-Barbari\".=== Cowrie shells and coir trade ===1742 drawing of shells of the money cowry, ''Cypraea moneta''Inhabitants of the Middle East became interested in Maldives due to its strategic location.", "Middle Eastern seafarers had just begun to take over the Indian Ocean trade routes in the 10th century and found Maldives to be an important link in those routes.", "The Maldives was the first landfall for traders from Basra, sailing to Sri Lanka or Southeast Asia.", "Bengal was one of the principal trading partners of the Maldives.", "Trade involved mainly cowrie shells and coir fiber.The Maldives had and abundant supply of cowrie shells, a form of currency that was widely used throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast since ancient times.", "Shell currency imported from the Maldives was used as legal tender in the Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal, alongside gold and silver.", "The Maldives received rice in exchange for cowry shells.", "The Bengal-Maldives cowry shell trade was the largest shell currency trade network in history.", "In the Maldives, ships could take on fresh water, fruit and the delicious, basket-smoked red flesh of the black ''bonito'', a delicacy exported to Sindh, China and Yemen.", "The people of the archipelago were described as gentle, civilised and hospitable.", "They produced brass utensils as well as fine cotton textiles, exported in the form of sarongs and turban lengths.", "These local industries must have depended on imported raw materials.The other essential product of the Maldives was ''coir'', the fibre of the dried coconut husk.", "Cured in pits, beaten, spun and then twisted into cordage and ropes, coir's salient quality is its resistance to saltwater.", "It stitched together and rigged the dhows that plied the Indian Ocean.", "Maldivian coir was exported to Sindh, China, Yemen, and the Persian Gulf.", "\"It is stronger than hemp\", wrote Ibn Battuta, \"and is used to sew together the planks of Sindhi and Yemeni dhows, for this sea abounds in reefs, and if the planks were fastened with iron nails, they would break into pieces when the vessel hit a rock.", "The coir gives the boat greater elasticity, so that it doesn't break up.", "\"The local name for cowry shells is ''Boli''.", "There are several hundreds of these shells found in the beaches of the islands even today." ], [ "Colonial Period", "1598 Bertius map of the Maldives, issued in Middelburg, Netherlands.=== Portuguese Colonization and local revolt ===In 1558 the Portuguese established themselves in the Maldives, which they administered from their main colony in Goa.", "This colony included Western Coast of modern-day Kerala and Karnataka and Ceylon The Portuguese tried to impose Christianity on the locals.", "One native ruler converted to Christianity during this period and married D. Francisca de Vasconcelos, an ''órfãs do rei''.", "In 1573, a local leader from Utheemu, North Thiladhumathi Atoll named Muhammad Thakurufaanu-al-A'uzam and his 2 brothers, Ali and Hassan organized a popular revolt to drive out the Portuguese from the islands.", "It is reported that due to the strong resistance of the Maldivians, the Portuguese colonizers have suppressed the local islanders.The 3 brothers landed on a different island every night.", "They would fight the Portuguese, and return to Utheemu before daybreak.", "On the first day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the brothers reached Malé.", "It is said that the Portuguese garrison of Andreas Andre (Locally known as ''Andhiri Andhirin'', meaning ''dark dark'', or in English, ''Andrew Andrew'') had planned to come to the island and forcibly convert the local Maldivians into Christianity the night after.", "The local fighters were ready to die for their faith and people, to liberate their people from the outsiders.", "According to reports, Andreas Andre was killed by a musket shot by Muhammad Thakurufaanu himself.", "This eventually resulted in the surrender of the Portuguese troops, thus leaving the islands.", "After the Portuguese left the islands, the local islanders chose Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam to be their sultan in 1573, thus putting the Utheemu dynasty in power until 1697.Every first day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the Maldives recognizes the National Day or ''Gaumee Dhuvas'' in remembrance of Muhammad Thakurufaanu.", "His home in Utheemu (Known as ''Utheemu Ganduvaru'' or ''Utheemu Palace'').", "Many pieces of furniture that were inside the house are now located inside the Maldives National Museum in Malé.", "A memorial centre is also located near Utheemu Ganduvaru.=== Dutch hegemony ===In the mid-17th century, the Dutch had come to replace the European dominance over the Maldives as in the late 1650s (Around 1658), the Dutch colonized the islands.", "The Dutch administered the colony in Ceylon, which in turn was administered by the Dutch East India Company.", "and established hegemony over Maldivian affairs without direct involving in local matters, which were governed according to centuries-old Islamic customs.", "In 1796, the local revolt had disrupted the colonial status, and with British interference and pressure, the Dutch had stepped down from the islands.File:1662 Tabula Indiae Orientalis by Wit BPL 15922 detail.png|Detail of the 1662 ''Tabula Indiae orientalis'' by Frederik de WitFile:18th-century Maldives map by Pierre Mortier.jpg|18th-century map by Pierre Mortier of the Netherlands depicting with detail the islands of the Maldives.File:AriAtoll 1753.jpg|1753 Van Keulen Map of Ari AtollFile:Huvadu 1753.jpg|1753 Van Keulen Map of Huvadu Atoll (inaccurate)=== British protectorate ===The wreck of the ''Corbin'', 1865The British expelled the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included Maldives as a British protected area.Britain got entangled with the Maldives as a result of domestic disturbances which targeted the settler community of Bora merchants who were British subjects in the 1860s.", "Rivalry between two dominant families, the Athireege clan and the Kakaage clan was resolved with former winning the favour of the British authorities in Ceylon.", "The status of Maldives as a British protectorate was officially recorded in an 1887 agreement.On 16 December 1887, the Sultan of the Maldives signed a contract with the British Governor of Ceylon turning the Maldives into a British protected state, thus giving up the islands' sovereignty in matters of foreign policy, but retaining internal self-government.", "The British government promised military protection and non-interference in local administration, which continued to be regulated by Muslim traditional institutions, in exchange for an annual tribute.", "The status of the islands was akin to other British protectorates in the Indian Ocean region, including Zanzibar and the Trucial States.During the British era, which lasted until 1965, Maldives continued to be ruled under a succession of sultans.", "It was a period during which the Sultan's authority and powers were increasingly and decisively taken over by the Chief Minister, much to the chagrin of the British Governor-General who continued to deal with the ineffectual Sultan.", "Consequently, Britain encouraged the development of a constitutional monarchy, and the first Constitution was proclaimed in 1932.However, the new arrangements favoured neither the aging Sultan nor the wily Chief Minister, but rather a young crop of British-educated reformists.", "As a result, angry mobs were instigated against the Constitution, which was publicly torn up.The Maldives were only marginally touched by the Second World War.", "The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb I was sunk off Addu Atoll in 1941.After the death of Sultan Majeed Didi and his son, the members of the parliament elected Muhammad Amin Didi as the next person in line to succeed the sultan.", "But Didi refused to take up the throne.", "So, a referendum was held and Maldives became a republic, with Amin Didi as first elected President, having abolished the 812-year-old sultanate.", "While serving as prime minister during the 1940s, Didi nationalized the fish export industry.", "As president he is remembered as a reformer of the education system and a promoter of women's rights.", "Yet, while he was in Ceylon for medical treatment, a revolution was brought by the people of Malé, headed by his deputy Velaanaagey Ibraahim Didi.", "When Amin Did returned he was confined to Dhoonidhoo Island.", "He escaped to Malé and tried to take control of Bandeyrige, but was beaten by an angry mob and died soon after.After the fall of President Mohamed Amin Didi, a referendum was held and 98% of the people voted in favour of restoration of the monarchy, so the country was again declared a Sultanate.", "A new People's Majilis was elected, as the former had been dissolved after the end of the revolution.", "The members of the special majilis decided to take a secret vote to elect a sultan, and Prince Muhammad Fareed Didi was elected as the 84th Sultan in 1954.His first Prime minister was Ehgamugey Ibraahim Ali Didi (later Ibraahim Faamuladheyri Kilegefaan).", "On 11 December 1957, the prime minister was forced to resign and Velaanagey Ibrahim Nasir was elected as the new prime minister the following day.Part of the reception-room of the High Priest, showing the bed and shields used by the fencers, 1885 - The Graphic 1886.gif|Illustration by CW Rosett in ''The Graphic'', depicting veranda sing (Fendaamathi Undholi) of royal palace (1885).Thottiyan hut.jpg|A hut of Tottiyan from Male island.", "Illustration b Edgar Thurston, 1909.Mohamed Amin.jpg|Muhammad Amin Didi, President of the First Maldivian Republic (1953)=== British military presence and Suvadive secession ===1920 British map of the MaldivesBeginning in the 1950s, political history in Maldives was largely influenced by the British military presence in the islands.", "In 1954 the restoration of the sultanate perpetuated the rule of the past.", "Two years later, the United Kingdom obtained permission to reestablish its wartime RAF Gan airfield in the southernmost Addu Atoll.", "Maldives granted the British a 100-year lease on Gan that required them to pay £2,000 a year, as well as some 440,000 square metres on Hitaddu for radio installations.", "This served as a staging post for British military flights to the Far East and Australia, replacing RAF Mauripur in Pakistan which had been relinquished in 1956.In 1957, however, the new prime minister, Ibrahim Nasir, called for a review of the agreement in the interest of shortening the lease and increasing the annual payment, and announced a new tax on boats.", "But Nasir was challenged in 1959 by a local secessionist movement in the southern atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan.", "This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state, the United Suvadive Republic, with Abdullah Afif as president.", "The short-lived state (1959–63) had a combined population of 20,000 inhabitants scattered over Huvadu, Addu and Fua Mulaku.", "Afeef pleaded for support and recognition from Britain in the edition of 25 May 1959 of ''The Times'' of London.Instead the initial British measure of lukewarm support for the small breakaway nation was withdrawn in 1961, when the British signed a treaty with the Maldive Islands without involving Afeef.", "Following that treaty the Suvadives had to endure an economic embargo.", "In 1962 Nasir sent gunboats from Malé with government police on board to eliminate elements opposed to his rule.", "One year later the Suvadive republic was scrapped and Abdullah Afif went into exile to the Seychelles, where he died in 1993.Meanwhile, in 1960 the Maldives had allowed the United Kingdom to continue to use both the Gan and the Hitaddu facilities for a thirty-year period, with the payment of £750,000 over the period of 1960 to 1965 for the purpose of Maldives' economic development.The base was closed in 1976 as part of the larger British withdrawal of permanently stationed forces 'East of Suez' initiated by Labour government of Harold Wilson.Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF619.jpg|RAF camp on Addu Atoll established in 1944 as a base for flying boats operating in the Indian OceanRoyal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF620.jpg|RAF Short Sunderland moored in the lagoon at Addu Atoll, during WWIIFile:Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF632.jpg|A wind break constructed from ration boxes protects the small RAF camp at Kelai, Maldive Islands, which serves as a refuelling base for flying boats operating in the Indian Ocean.Abdullah Afeef.png|Abdullah Afif, leader of the secessionist United Suvadive Republic (1959-1963)SuvadiveCOA.png|Coat of arms of the secessionist United Suvadive Republic" ], [ "Independence", "On 26 July 1965, Maldives gained independence under an agreement signed with United Kingdom.", "The British government retained the use of the Gan and Hithadhoo facilities.", "In a national referendum in March 1968, Maldivians abolished the sultanate and established a republic.In line with the broader British policy of decolonisation on 26 July 1965 an agreement was signed on behalf of His Majesty the Sultan by Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan, Prime Minister, and on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen by Sir Michael Walker, British Ambassador designate to the Maldive Islands, which ended the British responsibility for the defence and external affairs of the Maldives.", "The islands thus achieved full political independence, with the ceremony taking place at the British High Commissioner's Residence in Colombo.", "After this, the sultanate continued for another three years under Muhammad Fareed Didi, who declared himself King rather than Sultan.On 15 November 1967, a vote was taken in parliament to decide whether the Maldives should continue as a constitutional monarchy or become a republic.", "Of the 44 members of parliament, forty voted in favour of a republic.", "On 15 March 1968, a national referendum was held on the question, and 81.23% of those taking part voted in favour of establishing a republic.", "The republic was declared on 11 November 1968, thus ending the 853-year-old monarchy, which was replaced by a republic under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir, the former prime minister.", "As the King had held little real power, this was seen as a cosmetic change and required few alterations in the structures of government.===Nasir Presidency===The Second Republic was proclaimed in November 1968 under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir, who had increasingly dominated the political scene.", "Under the new constitution, Nasir was elected indirectly to a four-year presidential term by the Majlis (legislature) and his candidacy later ratified by referendum.", "He appointed Ahmed Zaki as the new prime minister.In 1973 Nasir was elected to a second term under the constitution as amended in 1972, which extended the presidential term to five years and which also provided for the election of the prime minister by the Majlis.", "In March 1975, newly elected prime minister Zaki was arrested in a bloodless coup and was banished to a remote atoll.", "Observers suggested that Zaki was becoming too popular and hence posed a threat to the Nasir faction.During the 1970s, the economic situation in Maldives suffered a setback when the Sri Lankan market for Maldives' main export of dried fish collapsed.", "Adding to the problems was the British decision in 1975 to close its airfield on Gan.", "A steep commercial decline followed the evacuation of Gan in March 1976.As a result, the popularity of Nasir's government suffered.", "Maldives's 20-year period of authoritarian rule under Nasir abruptly ended in 1978 when he fled to Singapore.", "A subsequent investigation revealed that he had absconded with millions of dollars from the state treasury.Nasir is widely credited with modernising the long-isolated and nearly unknown Maldives and opening them up to the rest of the world, including by building the first international airport (Malé International Airport, 1966) and bringing the Maldives to United Nations membership.", "He laid the foundations of the nation by modernising the fisheries industry with mechanized vessels and starting the tourism industry – the two prime drivers of today's Maldivian economy.He was credited with many other improvements such as introducing an English-based modern curriculum to government-run schools and granting vote to Maldivian women in 1964.He brought television and radio to the country with formation of ''Television Maldives'' and ''Radio Maldives'' for broadcasting radio signals nationwide.", "He abolished ''Vaaru'', a tax on the people living on islands outside Malé.Tourism in the Maldives began to be developed by the beginning of the 1970s.", "The first resort in the Maldives was Kurumba Maldives which welcomed the first guests on 3 October 1972.The first accurate census was held in December 1977 and showed 142,832 persons residing in Maldives.", "When Nasir relinquished power Maldives was debt-free and the national shipping line with more than 40 ships remained a source of national pride.Nasir was criticized for his authoritarian methods against opponents and for his iron-fisted methods in handling an insurrection by the Addu islanders who formed a short-lived breakaway government – United Suvadives Republic – with closer ties to the British.Nasir's hasty introduction of the Latin alphabet (Malé Latin) in 1976 instead of local Thaana script – reportedly to allow for the use of telex machines in the local administration – was widely criticised.", "Clarence Maloney, a Maldives-based U.S. anthropologist, lamented the inconsistencies of the \"Dhivehi Latin\" which ignored all previous linguistic research on the Maldivian language and did not follow the modern Standard Indic transliteration.", "At the time of the romanization every island's officials were required to use only one script and they became illiterate overnight.", "Officials were relieved when the Tāna script was reinstated by President Maumoon shortly after he took power in 1978.However, Malé Latin continues to be widely used.===Maumoon Presidency===Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives (1978–2008).As Ibrahim Nasir's second term was coming to an end, he decided not to seek re-election and, in June 1978, the Majlis was called upon to nominate a presidential candidate.", "Nasir received 45 votes (despite his stated intention not to seek re-election), with the remaining 3 votes for Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former university lecturer and Maldivian ambassador to the United Nations.", "Another ballot was called on 16 June.", "Maumoon received 27 votes, allowing his name to be put forward as the sole candidate.", "Five months later, he was elected the new President of the Maldives, with 92.96% of the votes (he would be later re-elected five times as the sole candidate).", "The peaceful election was seen as ushering in a period of political stability and economic development in view of Maumoon's priority to develop the poorer islands.", "In 1978 Maldives joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.", "Tourism also gained in importance to the local economy, reaching more than 120,000 visitors in 1985.The local populace appeared to benefit from increased tourism and the corresponding increase in foreign contacts involving various development projects.A demonstration (''Muzhaahira'') in Fua Mulaku in support of the government, 1981.There were three attempts to overthrow Maumoon's government during the 1980s – in 1980, 1983 and 1988.Whereas the 1980 and 1983 coup attempts against Maumoon's presidency were not considered serious, the third coup attempt in November 1988 alarmed the international community, as about 80 armed mercenaries of the PLOTE Tamil militant group landed on Malé before dawn aboard used cargo vessels which had taken almost 2 days to arrive Male' and failed in controlling the capital city.", "The plan was ill-prepared and by noon the PLOTE militants and the Maldivian allies fled the country realising they had already lost.", "soon after the militants had left the Indian Military arrived on the request of President Gayyoom, and their gun ships chased the ships that were being used as get away boats by the PLOTE militants.", "Nineteen people died in the fighting, and several taken hostage also died when the Indian Gunships fired on the Vessel carrying the hostages.", "Mercenaries, and later also the mastermind of the attempted coup, were tried and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison.", "Some were later pardoned.Despite coup attempts, Maumoon served three more presidential terms.", "In the 1983, 1988, and 1993 elections, Maumoon received more than 95% of the vote.", "Although the government did not allow any legal opposition, Maumoon was opposed in the early 1990s by the growth of Islamist radicalisation and by some powerful local business leaders.Maumoon's tenure was marked by several allegations of corruption as well as allegations of autocratic rule, human rights abuses and corruption.", "Maumoon's opponents and international human rights groups had accused him of employing terror tactics against dissidents, such as arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, employing torture, forced confessions, and politically motivated killings." ], [ "21st century", "=== Democratisation ===During the later part of Maumoon's rule, independent political movements emerged in Maldives, which challenged the then-ruling Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (Maldivian People's Party, MPP) and demanded democratic reform.Since 2003, following the death in custody of a prisoner, Naseem, the Maldives experienced several anti-government demonstrations calling for political reforms, more freedoms, and an end to torture and oppression.", "The dissident journalist Mohamed Nasheed rose to challenge the autocratic rule of Maumoon.", "Nasheed was imprisoned a total of 16 times under Maumoon's rule.", "Persisting in his activism, he founded the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in 2003 while in exile.", "His activism, as well as civil unrest that year, pressured Maumoon into allowing for gradual political reforms.September 2003 protestsViolent protests broke out in Malé on 20 September 2003 after Evan Naseem, a prisoner, was killed in Maafushi Prison, after the most brutal torture, by prison staff.", "An attempt to cover up the death was foiled when the mother of the dead man discovered the marks of torture on his body and made the knowledge public, therefore triggering the riots.", "A subsequent disturbance at the prison resulted in three deaths when police guards at the prison opened fire on unarmed inmates.", "Several government buildings were set on fire during the riots.", "As a result of pressure from reformists, the junior prison guards responsible for Naseem's death were subsequently tried, convicted and sentenced in 2005 in what was believed to be a show trial that avoided the senior officers involved being investigated.", "The report of an inquiry into the prison shootings was heavily censored by the Government, citing \"national security\" grounds.", "Pro-reformists claim this was in order to cover-up the chain of authority and circumstances that led to the killings.Protesters in Malé in August 2004There were fresh protests in the capital city of Maldives, Malé on 13 August 2004, (Black Friday), which appear to have begun as a demand for the release of four political activists from detention.", "Beginning on the evening of 12 August 2004, up to 5,000 demonstrators got involved.", "This unplanned and unorganized demonstration was the largest such protest in the country's history.", "Protesters initially demanding the freeing of the pro-reformists arrested on the afternoon of 12 August 2004.As the protest continued to grow, people demanded the resignation of president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been in power since 1978.What started as a peaceful demonstration ended after 22 hours, as the country's darkest day in recent history.", "Several people were severely injured as personnel from the Maldivian National Security Service (NSS) – later Maldivian National Defence Force – used riot batons and teargas on unarmed civilians.After two police officers were reportedly stabbed, allegedly by government agents provocateurs, President Maumoon declared a State of Emergency and suppressed the demonstration, suspending all human rights guaranteed under the Constitution, banning demonstrations and the expression of views critical of the government.", "At least 250 pro-reform protesters were arrested.", "As part of the state of emergency, and to prevent independent reporting of events, the government shut off Internet access and some mobile telephony services to Maldives on 13 and 14 August 2004.As a result of these activities, political parties were eventually allowed in June 2005.The main parties registered in Maldives are: the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP), the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and the Adhaalath Party, also known as the Adhaalath Party.", "The first party to register was the MDP headed by popular opposition figures such as Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) and Mohamed Latheef (Gogo).", "The next was the Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) headed by then-President Maumoon.Protesters in Malé in August 2005New civil unrest broke out in Malé, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and Addu Atoll of the Maldives on 12 August 2005 which led to events that supported the democratic reform of the country.", "This unrest was provoked by the arrest of Mohamed Nasheed – an open critic of the president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – and the subsequent demolition of the ''Dhunfini tent'', used by the members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for their gatherings.", "Supporters of MDP were quick to demonstrate.", "They started calling for the resignation of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, soon after Nasheed's arrest.", "Several arrests were made on the first night followed by the demolition of the Dhunfini tent.", "The demolition complicated the situation further provoking the unrest.", "The unrest grew violent on the third night, on 14 August 2005, due to the methods used in the attempts by the authority to stop the demonstration.The unrest continued intermittently for three nights, from 12 to 14 August 2005.By 15 August 2005, the uprising was controlled with the presence of heavy security around Malé.", "Almost a fourth of the city had to be cordoned off during the unrest.=== Tsunami impact ===The tsunami that struck Malé on 26 December 2004.Photo taken by Sofwathulla Mohamed while standing on his doorstep.", "His apartment was entirely washed out damaging all his belongings.On 26 December 2004, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Maldives were devastated by a tsunami.", "Only nine islands were reported to have escaped any flooding, while fifty-seven islands faced serious damage to critical infrastructure, fourteen islands had to be totally evacuated, and six islands were destroyed.", "A further twenty-one resort islands were forced to close because of serious damage.", "The total damage was estimated at more than US$400 million, or some 62% of the GDP.", "102 Maldivians and 6 foreigners reportedly died in the tsunami.", "The destructive impact of the waves on the low-lying islands was mitigated by the fact there was no continental shelf or land mass upon which the waves could gain height.", "The tallest waves were reported to be high.=== Nasheed Presidency ===The protest movements brought about significant change in political structure.", "A new Constitution was ratified in August 2008, paving the way for the country's first multi-party presidential election two months later.", "Standing as the DRP candidate, Maumoon lost in the election's second round, in which he received 45.75% of the vote against 54.25% for his opponents, MDP's Presidential Candidate Mohamed Nasheed accordingly succeeded Maumoon as president on 11 November 2008, with Gaumee Itthihaad's Candidate Mohammed Waheed Hassan in the new post of Vice President.", "The 2009 parliamentary election saw the Maldivian Democratic Party of President Nasheed receive the most votes with 30.81%, gaining 26 seats, although Maumoon's MPP, with 24.62% of the vote, received the most seats (28).The government of President Mohamed Nasheed faced many challenges, including the huge debt left by the previous government, the economic downturn following the 2004 tsunami, overspending (by means of overprinting of local currency rufiyaa) during his regime, unemployment, corruption, and increasing drug use.Taxation on goods was imposed for the first time in the country, and import duties were reduced in many goods and services.", "Social welfare benefits were given to those above 65 years of age, single parents, and those with special needs.", "On 10 November 2008, Nasheed announced an intent to create a sovereign wealth fund with money earned from tourism that could be used to purchase land elsewhere for the Maldives people to relocate should rising sea levels due to climate change inundate the country.", "The government reportedly considered locations in Sri Lanka and India due to cultural and climate similarities, and as far away as Australia.An October 2009 cabinet meeting was held underwater (ministers wore scuba gear and communicated with hand signals) to publicise to the wider world the threat of global warming on the low-lying islands of the Maldives.A series of peaceful protests that broke out in the Maldives on 1 May 2011.They would continue, eventually escalating into the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed in disputed circumstances in February 2012.Demonstrators were protesting what they considered the government's mismanagement of the economy and were calling for the ouster of President Mohamed Nasheed.", "The main political opposition party in the country, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (Maldivian People's Party) led by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom accused President Nasheed of \"talking about democracy but not putting it into practice.\"", "The primary cause for the protests was rising commodity prices and a poor economic situation in the country.=== Waheed Presidency ===Mohammed Waheed HassanNasheed resigned on 7 February 2012 following weeks of protests after he ordered the military to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, on 16 January.", "Maldives police joined the protesters after refusing to use force on them and took over the state-owned television station forcibly switching the broadcast opposition party leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's call for people to come out to protest.", "The Maldives Army then clashed with police and other protesters who were with the police.", "All this time none of the protesters tried to invade any security facility including headquarters of MNDF.", "The Chief Justice was released from detention after Nasheed resigned from his post.Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn as the new president of Maldives.", "Former President Nasheed's supporters clashed with the security personnel during a rally on 12 July 2012, seeking ouster of President Waheed.Nasheed stated the following day that he was forced out of office at gunpoint, while Waheed supporters maintained that the transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional.", "A later British Commonwealth meeting concluded that it could not \"determine conclusively the constitutionality of the resignation of President Nasheed\", but called for an international investigation.", "The Maldives' National Commission of Inquiry, appointed to investigate the matter, found that there was no evidence to support Nasheed's version of events.Many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, were quick to abandon Nasheed, instead endorsing his successor.", "(The United States backtracked in late 2012 in response to widespread criticism.)", "On 23 February 2012, the Commonwealth suspended the Maldives from its democracy and human rights watchdog while the ousting was being investigated, and backed Nasheed's call for elections before the end of 2012.On 8 October, Nasheed was arrested after failing to appear in court to face charges that he ordered the illegal arrest of a judge while in office.", "However, his supporters claim that this detention was politically motivated in order to prevent him from campaigning for the 2013 presidential elections.In March 2013 the former president Nasheed was convicted under the country's terrorism laws for ordering the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge in 2012 and jailed for 13 years.", "Maldives' international partners – including the EU, US, UK and the United Nations – have said his rushed trial was seriously flawed following a UN panel ruling in the former president's favour.", "The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for his immediate release.", "Nasheed appealed also to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.=== Yameen Presidency ===Yameen in 2014At the time Nasheed was jailed, President Mohammed Waheed Hassan announced a presidential election would be held in 2013.The elections in late 2013 were highly contested.", "Former president Mohammed Nasheed won the most votes in the first round.", "Contrary to the assessment of international election observers, the Supreme Court cited irregularities and annulled it.", "In the end, the opposition combined to gain a majority.", "Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of the former president Maumoon, assumed the presidency.Yameen implemented a foreign policy shift towards increased engagement with China, establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.", "Yameen employed Islam as a tool of identity politics, framing religious mobilisation as the solution to perceived Western attempts to undermine Maldivian national sovereignty.", "Yameen's policy of connecting Islam with anti-Western rhetoric represented a new development.On 28 September 2015 there was an assassination attempt on President Abdulla Yameen as he was returning from Saudi Arabia after the hajj pilgrimage.", "As his speedboat was docking at Male there was an explosion on board.", "Amid screams, the right door of the boat fell on the jetty and there was heavy smoke.", "Three people were injured, including his wife, but the President managed to escape unhurt.In a probe of the explosion targeting president, on 24 October 2015 Maldives vice president Ahmed Adeeb was arrested at the airport upon his return from a conference in China.", "17 of Adheeb's supporters were also arrested for \"public order offences\".", "The government instituted a broader crackdown against political dissent.On 4 November 2015, President Abdulla Yameen declared a 30-day state of emergency ahead of a planned anti-government rally.The next day, as per the ''State of Emergency'' bill made by the President, the people's Majlis decided to rush the process for the removal of Vice president Ahmed Adeeb by a no confidence vote that was submitted by PPM Parliament than the originally intended period.", "As a result, the Majlis passed the ''no confidence vote'' with a majority of 61 members favouring it, removing Adeeb from the post of Vice President in the process.On 10 November 2015, President Yameen revoked the ''State of Emergency'' citing that no imminent threats remained in the country.===Growth of Islamic radicalism===Though the popular image of the Maldives is that of a holiday paradise, its radicalised youths are enlisting in significant numbers to fight for Islamic State militants in the Middle East.In the late 1990s Wahhabism challenged more traditional moderate practices.", "After the 2004 tsunami, Saudi-funded preachers gained influence.", "Within a short period of a decade fundamentalist practices dominated the culture.", "The Guardian estimates that 50–100 fighters have joined ISIS and al Qaeda from the Maldives.", "The Financial Times puts the number at 200.Most radicals are young men who suffer from lethargy, unemployment, drug abuse, and the need to prove their masculinity.", "Radicalization often happens in jail where the \"only thing to read is the Qur'an or religious literature.", "There are also lots of older militants and young guys look up to them.", "\"===Ibrahim Mohamed Solih presidency===Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was selected as the new presidential candidate for the coalition of opposition parties in the 2018 election, when former president Mohamed Nasheed changed his mind about running.", "In the 2018 elections Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the most votes, and he sworn in as the Maldives new president on 17 November 2018, when the five-year term of Abdulla Yameen expired.", "Solih became the 7th President of the Maldives and the country's third democratically elected president.", "He promised to fight against widespread corruption and investigate the human rights abuses of the previous regime.", "There was also a change in foreign relations.", "His predecessor Abdulla Yameen was politically very close to China with some \"anti-India\" attitude, but president Solih reaffirmed previous \"India-First Policy\", and Maldives and India strengthened their close relationship.On 19 November 2018, Solih announced that the Maldives is to return to the Commonwealth of Nations, a decision recommended by his Cabinet, considering that the Maldives was a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1982 to 2016.On 1 February 2020, Maldives officially re-joined the Commonwealth.In April 2019 parliamentary election The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won a landslide victory.", "It took 65 of 87 seats of the parliament.", "This was the first time a single party was able to get such a high number of seats in the parliament in Maldivian history.", "Former president Abdulla Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison in November 2019 for money laundering.", "The High Court upheld the jail sentence in January 2021.The Supreme Court acquitted Yameen from the charges on 30 November 2021 due to the lack of substantial evidence.=== Mohamed Muizzu presidency ===On 30 September 2023, opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu won the second-round runoff of the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent president Ibrahim Solih with 54% of the vote.", "On 17 October 2023, Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the eighth President of the Republic of Maldives." ], [ "See also", "* Hinduism in Maldives* History of Asia* History of India* History of South Asia* List of Sultans of the Maldives* List of presidents of the Maldives* Maldivian Folklore* National Museum of the Maldives* National Library of Maldives* Politics of the Maldives* Sultanate of Maldives" ], [ "References" ], [ "Works cited", "*" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", " This is a demography of the population of Maldives, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Demographics of the Maldives, from 2000 to 2012Population by locality (2012)" ], [ "Vital statistics", "===UN estimates===PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBR1CDR1NC1TFR1IMR1 1950-1955 3 000 2 000 1 000 43.2 27.7 15.5 6.03 233.4 1955-1960 4 000 2 000 2 000 53.0 28.2 24.8 6.81 221.6 1960-1965 5 000 3 000 3 000 55.0 27.2 27.9 7.12 205.5 1965-1970 6 000 3 000 3 000 52.2 23.4 28.8 7.22 175.5 1970-1975 6 000 2 000 4 000 47.4 19.3 28.1 7.17 146.5 1975-1980 6 000 2 000 4 000 44.1 15.7 28.3 6.86 121.5 1980-1985 8 000 2 000 6 000 47.8 12.7 35.1 7.26 97.2 1985-1990 9 000 2 000 7 000 45.4 10.5 34.8 6.81 77.1 1990-1995 8 000 2 000 6 000 35.6 8.0 27.6 5.25 62.5 1995-2000 7 000 1 000 5 000 25.1 5.5 19.6 3.52 41.7 2000-2005 6 000 1 000 4 000 19.7 4.1 15.6 2.49 26.5 2005-2010 5 000 1 000 4 000 17.2 3.7 13.5 1.90 9.8 1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births===Registered births and deaths===Average estimated populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)TFR 1980 157,000 6,822 1,787 5,035 43.6 11.4 32.1 1981 162,000 7,010 1,963 5,047 43.3 12.1 31.2 1982 168,000 7,402 2,129 5,273 44.1 12.7 31.4 1983 174,000 7,236 1,748 5,488 41.6 10.1 31.6 1984 180,000 8,255 1,640 6,615 45.8 9.1 36.7 1985 187,000 8,968 1,607 7,361 48.0 8.6 39.4 1986 193,000 8,615 1,511 7,104 44.6 7.8 36.8 1987 200,000 8,364 1,525 6,839 41.8 7.6 34.2 1988 207,000 8,297 1,526 6,771 40.2 7.4 32.8 1989 213,000 8,726 1,476 7,250 41.0 6.9 34.0 1990 219,000 8,639 1,355 7,284 39.4 6.2 33.2 1991 226,000 8,390 1,366 7,024 37.2 6.1 31.1 1992 232,000 8,139 1,330 6,809 35.1 5.7 29.4 1993 238,000 7,780 1,319 6,461 32.7 5.6 27.2 1994 243,000 7,382 1,240 6,142 30.3 5.1 25.2 1995 249,000 6,849 1,151 5,698 27.5 4.6 22.9 1996 254,000 6,772 1,213 5,559 26.7 4.8 21.9 1997 259,000 6,184 1,175 5,009 23.9 4.5 19.3 1998 264,000 5,687 1,121 4,566 21.6 4.2 17.3 1999 269,000 5,225 1,037 4,188 19.5 3.9 15.6 2000 273,000 5,399 1,032 4,367 19.8 3.8 16.0 2001 278,000 4,897 1,081 3,816 17.6 3.9 13.7 2002 282,000 5,003 1,113 3,890 17.7 3.9 13.8 2003 287,000 5,157 1,030 4,127 18.0 3.6 14.4 2004 291,000 5,220 1,015 4,205 17.9 3.5 14.5 2005 295,000 5,543 1,027 4,516 18.8 3.5 15.3 2006 300,000 5,829 1,083 4,746 19.5 3.6 15.9 2007 305,000 6,569 1,118 5,451 21.6 3.7 18.0 2008 310,000 6,946 1,061 5,885 22.6 3.4 19.1 2009 315,000 7,423 1,163 6,260 23.6 3.7 19.9 2.400 2010 320,000 7,115 1,105 6,010 22.3 3.5 18.8 2.263 2011 325,000 7,180 1,137 6,043 22.1 3.5 18.6 2.239 2012 331,000 7,431 1,135 6,296 22.5 3.4 19.0 2.259 2013 336,000 7,153 1,120 6,033 21.3 3.3 18.0 2.133 2014 437,535 7,245 1,143 6,102 16.6 2.6 14.0 2.007 2015 454,434 6,896 1,130 5,766 15.2 2.5 12.7 1.907 2016 472,426 6,756 1,226 5,530 14.3 2.6 11.7 1.805 2017 491,589 6,723 1,241 5,482 13.7 2.5 11.2 1.718 2018 512,038 6,586 1,300 5,286 12.9 2.5 10.4 1.651 2019 533,941 6,153 1,132 5,021 11.5 2.1 9.4 1.557 2020 557,426 6,293 1,275 5,018 11.3 2.3 9.0 1.572 2021 568,362 5,914 1,552 4,362 10.4 2.7 7.7=== Structure of the population ===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 151 459 147 509 298 968 100 0-4 13 362 12 809 26 171 8.75 5-9 15 352 14 515 29 867 9.99 10-14 19 111 17 888 36 999 12.38 15-19 20 155 19 749 39 904 13.35 20-24 16 933 17 876 34 809 11.64 25-29 11 915 12 666 24 581 8.22 30-34 10 022 10 613 20 635 6.90 35-39 8 780 9 394 18 174 6.08 40-44 7 828 8 043 15 871 5.31 45-49 6 872 6 697 13 569 4.54 50-54 4 147 3 789 7 936 2.65 55-59 3 046 2 813 5 859 1.96 60-64 2 852 2 714 5 566 1.86 65-69 3 014 2 664 5 678 1.90 70-74 2 333 1 853 4 186 1.40 75-79 1 444 933 2 377 0.80 80-84 617 447 1 064 0.36 85-89 241 155 396 0.13 90-94 89 70 159 0.05 95+ 52 32 84 0.03 unknown 3 294 1 789 5 083 1.70Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 47 825 45 212 93 037 31.12 15-64 92 550 94 354 186 904 62.52 65+ 7 790 6 154 13 944 4.66Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 169 800 166 424 336 224 100 0-4 16 714 16 429 33 143 9.86 5-9 13 826 13 318 27 144 8.07 10-14 14 498 13 671 28 169 8.38 15-19 18 153 16 795 34 948 10.39 20-24 20 743 19 640 40 383 12.01 25-29 19 091 19 401 38 492 11.45 30-34 14 054 14 828 28 882 8.59 35-39 10 761 11 263 22 024 6.55 40-44 9 409 9 935 19 344 5.75 45-49 8 270 8 587 16 857 5.01 50-54 7 421 7 340 14 761 4.39 55-59 5 105 4 799 9 904 2.95 60-64 3 118 2 884 6 002 1.79 65-69 2 542 2 495 5 037 1.50 70-74 2 430 2 338 4 768 1.42 75-79 1 971 1 648 3 619 1.08 80+ 1 693 1 054 2 747 0.82Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 45 038 43 418 88 456 26.31 15-64 116 126 115 471 231 597 68.88 65+ 8 636 7 535 16 171 4.81Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 356 149 201 277 557 426 100 0–4 20 612 18 798 39 411 7.07 5–9 19 345 17 242 36 587 6.56 10–14 17 446 16 495 33 941 6.09 15–19 17 354 13 032 30 386 5.45 20–24 48 242 16 763 65 005 11.66 25–29 65 935 21 387 87 322 15.67 30–34 51 583 22 366 73 949 13.27 35–39 36 844 19 016 55 859 10.02 40–44 24 838 13 365 38 203 6.85 45–49 17 124 10 950 28 074 5.04 50–54 11 939 9 187 21 126 3.79 55–59 8 754 7 754 16 508 2.96 60–64 6 450 6 008 12 458 2.23 65-69 3 351 2 958 6 309 1.13 70-74 2 232 2 200 4 432 0.80 75-79 1 832 1 848 3 680 0.66 80+ 2 269 1 908 4 177 0.75Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 57 403 52 535 109 938 19.72 15–64 289 062 139 828 428 890 76.94 65+ 9 684 8 914 18 598 3.34===Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)===Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate): Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 2009 24.7 2.5 (2.2) 22.9 2.1 (1.9) 25.5 2.8 (2.4) 2016-17 22.0 2.1 (1.9) 19.9 1.8 (1.5) 23.0 2.5 (2.2)==== Geographical differences ====The total fertility rate differs greatly from as low as 2.05 children per woman in Malé to a maximum of 3.88 children in Faafu.", "Code Name Official Name Population (2014 census) Reg.", "Population (31 December 2018) TFR (2014 census) MaléMalé City 133,412 64,742 2.05 Haa Alif Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi 13,004 22,761 2.91 Haa Dhaalu Thiladhunmathi Dhekunuburi 18,570 27,259 2.91 Shaviyani Miladhunmadulu Uthuruburi 12,127 18,274 2.66 Noonu Miladhunmadulu Dhekunuburi 10,556 16,789 2.83 Raa Maalhosmadulu Uthuruburi 14,934 23,721 2.93 Baa Maalhosmadulu Dhekunuburi 8,919 14,624 2.45 Lhaviyani Faadhippolhu 7,996 13,238 2.59 Kaafu Malé Atholhu 12,232 12,036 2.70 Alif Alif Ari Atholhu Uthuruburi 5,915 7,614 2.94 Alif Dhaal Ari Atholhu Dhekunuburi 8,183 11,439 3.30 Vaavu Felidhu Atholhu 1,622 2,599 2.34 Meemu Mulak Atholhu 4,711 7,415 2.75 Faafu Nilandhe Atholhu Uthuruburi 4,140 6,264 3.88 Dhaalu Nilandhe Atholhu Dhekunuburi 5,329 7,932 2.62 Thaa Kolhumadulu 8,923 16,161 2.97 Laamu Haddhunmathi 11,841 16,977 2.67 Gaafu Alif Huvadhu Atholhu Uthuruburi 8,477 14,057 2.80 Gaafu Dhaalu Huvadhu Atholhu Dhekunuburi 11,653 21,096 3.13 Gnaviyani Fuvahmulah City 8,095 13,037 2.76 Addu CityAddu City 19,827 33,876 2.49 Maldives Republic of Maldives 344,023 374,775 2.46 === Life expectancy at birth ===Life expectancy at birth in the MaldivesPeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195534.51985–199059.31955–196036.11990–199563.51960–196539.01995–200067.61965–197042.42000–200572.21970–197546.22005–201075.61975–198050.72010–201576.31980–198555.5Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "The largest ethnic group is Dhivehin, native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising today's Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India.", "They share the same culture and speak the Dhivehi language.", "They are principally an Indo-Aryan people, closely related to the Sinhalese and having traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes in the population.In the past there was also a small Tamil population known as the Giraavaru people.", "This group have now been almost completely absorbed into the larger Maldivian society but were once native to the island of Giraavaru (Kaafu Atoll).", "This island was evacuated in 1968 due to heavy erosion of the island.Filipinos in the Maldives numbering 3,000 in 2018." ], [ "Languages", "Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhala language of Sri Lanka, and written in a specialized Arabic script (Thaana), is the official language and is spoken by virtually the whole population.", "English is also spoken as a second language by many." ], [ "Religion", "Sunni Islam is the state religion.", "Historically, the Maldives were converted to Islam from Buddhism in the 12th century.", "Under the 2008 constitution Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship." ], [ "CIA World Factbook demographic statistics", "The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.===Population===301,475 (July 2000 est.)", "- 369,031 (July 2007 est.", ")===Age structure===*0–14 years: 22.3% (male 45,038/female 43,291)*15–64 years: 73.8% (male 180,874/female 171,703)*65 years and over: 3.9% (male 7,711/female 7,717) (2010 est.", ")===Sex ratio===* ''at birth:'' 1.05 male(s)/female* ''under 15 years:'' 1.06 male(s)/female* ''15-64 years:'' 1.04 male(s)/female* ''65 years and over:'' 1.09 male(s)/female* ''total population:'' 1.05 male(s)/female (2000 est.", ")===Nationality===* ''noun:'' Maldivian(s)* ''adjective:'' Maldivian===Literacy===* ''definition:'' age 15 and over can read and write* ''total population:'' 96.3%* ''male:'' 96.2%* ''female:'' 96.4% (2000 census)===Education===The average Maldivian citizen has 4.7 years of education" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* H.C.P.", "Bell, The Maldive Islands, An account of the physical features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade.", "Colombo 1883, * Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom.", "Barcelona 1999," ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of the Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of the Maldives''' take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the Head of Government.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "The President heads the executive branch and appoints the Cabinet; like many presidential democracies, each member of the cabinet need to be approved by the Parliament.", "The President, along with their pick for vice president, is directly elected by the denizens to a five-year term by a secret ballot.", "Once in office, they could be re-elected to a second 5-year term, which is the limit allowed by the Constitution.", "The current President of the Maldives is Mohamed Muizzu, when his predecessor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih lost the 2023 Maldivian presidential election.", "Nasheed reportedly resigned involuntarily to forestall an escalation of violence, and was placed in jail, before being forced into exile, from which he eventually returned.The unicameral Majlis of the Maldives is composed of 87 members serving a five-year term.", "The total number of the members representing each constituency depends on the total population of that constituency.", "The last parliamentary election was held on 6 April 2019.The Maldivian legal system is derived mainly from the traditional Islamic law.", "There is a Supreme Court with 5 judges including the Chief Justice.", "The Chief Justice is appointed by the President, with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.", "Parliament is required to approve the appointment before he assumes office.", "Excluding the Supreme Court, there also exists the High Court (two branches), a Criminal Court, Civil Court, Family Court, Juvenile Court, Drug Court and many Lower Courts in each Atoll/Island.", "An Attorney General is part of the Cabinet and also needs the approval of Parliament before taking office.Under the new 2008 constitution, the function of Local Government is devolved to an Atoll Council to administer each atoll and an Island Council to administer each inhabited island.", "Island councillors are elected by the people of each island, and the Atoll Councillors are in turn elected by the Island Councillors.The Constitution of the Maldives requires the following for a president: be a Maldivian citizen born to parents who are Maldivian citizens, and who is not also a citizen of a foreign country;be a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam;" ], [ "History", "A 1968 referendum approved a constitution making Maldives a republic with executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.", "The constitution was amended in 1970, 1972, 1975, and 1997 and again in 2008.Ibrahim Nasir, Prime Minister under the pre-1968 sultanate, became president and held office from 1968 to 1978.He was succeeded by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was elected president in 1978 and re-elected in 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003.At the end of his presidency in 2008, he was the longest serving leader in Asia.Since 2003, following the death in custody of a prisoner, Naseem, the Maldives experienced several anti-government demonstrations calling for political reforms, more freedoms, and an end to torture and oppression.", "As a result of these activities, political parties were eventually allowed in June 2005.The main parties registered in Maldives are: the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP), the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and the Adhaalath Party, also known as the Adhaalath Party.", "The first party to register was the MDP headed by popular opposition figures such as Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) and Mohamed Latheef (Gogo).", "The next was the Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) headed by then-President Gayoom.", "Former president Yaameen also has a hefty following though he is currently not associated with any official party.", "A new Constitution was ratified in August 2008, paving the way for the country's first multi-party presidential election two months later.The Maldives have scored poorly on some indices of freedom.", "The \"Freedom in the World\" index, a measure of political rights and civil liberties published by Freedom House, judged Maldives as \"not free\" until May 1, 2009, when it was raised to \"partly free\".", "The \"Worldwide Press Freedom Index\", published by Reporters Without Borders, ranks Maldives 100 out of 180 in terms of press freedom as of 2023.In September 2018, a presidential election was held, during which Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was elected to the post of president, with 58.38% of the public vote.", "He stood as a member of a joint opposition to Yaameen Abdul Gayoom's regime, which had been condemned internationally for shutting down free speech, and violating human rights.On 30 September 2023, opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu won the second-round runoff of the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent president Ibrahim Solih with 54% of the vote.", "On 17 October 2023, Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the eighth President of the Republic of Maldives." ], [ "Executive branch", "The Cabinet of the Maldives presided by the President, contains the Vice President and ministers.", "there are currently 22 ministers that lead their respective ministries, they are:* Minister of Economic Development and Trade* Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources* Attorney General* Minister of Islamic Affairs* Minister of Tourism* Minister of Social and Family Development* Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation* Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy* Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development* Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation* Minister of Dhivehi Language, Culture and Heritage* Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development* Minister of Construction and Infrastructure* Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare* Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts* Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works" ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Majlis of the Maldives has 87 members elected by the people under first-past-the-post voting." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "On a national level, Maldives elects a head of state the president and a legislature.", "The president is elected for a five-year term by the people since 2008.Until 2005 (after the election), no legal parties existed.", "The results of the most recent legislative elections held in 2019 are:File:Maldives_People's_Majlis_2019.svgPartyVotes%Seats+/–Maldivian Democratic Party96,35445.8365 +39Jumhooree Party23,45211.155–10Progressive Party of Maldives19,1769.125–28People's National Congress13,9316.633NewMaldives Development Alliance6,6363.162–3Adhaalath Party4,4232.100–1Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party3140.150NewDhivehi Rayyithunge Party3730.1800Maldives Third Way Democrats2930.140NewIndependents45,30121.557 +2Invalid/blank votes4,800–––'''Total''''''215,053''''''100''''''87''''''+2'''Registered voters/turnout264,44281.32––Source: Elections Commission of Maldives (8619 of 8631 results sheets verified)The Maldivian parliament voted unanimously for the creation of a multiparty system on June 2, 2005.Prior to June 2005, the Maldivian political system was based on the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform.", "In June 2005, as part of an ongoing programme of democratic reform, new regulations were promulgated to formally recognised political parties within the framework of the electoral system.The Maldivian Democratic Party was already active.", "New parties created within a few years after this included those such as the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, the Jumhooree Party, and the Adhaalath Party.There are now 11 registered political parties in the Maldives:Party Registered DateMaldivian Democratic Party (MDP)21 June 2005Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP)21 July 2005Adhaalath Party (AP)18 August 2005Jumhooree Party (JP)3 August 2008Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)17 October 2011Maldives Development Alliance (MDA)20 December 2012Maldives Third Way Democrats (MTD)27 December 2018Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party (MLSDP)20 January 2019People's National Congress (PNC)31 January 2019Maldives Reform Movement (MRM)20 November 2019Maldives National Party (MNP)25 October 2021Source: Elections CommissionOn October 8, 2008, the country held its first ever multi-party presidential election.In the 2019 parliamentary election, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 65 seats in the 87 seat parliament.", "This was the first time a single party was able to get such a high number of seats in the parliament in Maldivian history." ], [ "Judicial branch", "The legal system is based on Islamic law with admixtures of English common law primarily in commercial matters.", "Maldives has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "20 atolls (''atholhu'', singular and plural): Alif Alif, Alif Dhaal, Baa, Dhaalu, Faafu, Gaafu Alifu, Gaafu Dhaalu, Gnaviyani, Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Laamu, Lhaviyani, Kaafu, Meemu, Noonu, Raa, Seenu, Shaviyani, Thaa, Vaavu, and one first-order administrative city (Malé)." ], [ "International organization participation", "The Maldives is a member of many international organisations, some of which include:The ADB, Commonwealth of Nations, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, International Monetary Fund, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IsDB, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, World Health Organization, WCO, WIPO, WMO, and the WTO." ], [ "Governmental agencies", "* Ministry of Islamic Affairs" ], [ "See also", "*Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim*Zahiya Zareer" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Majlis* Presidency* Amnesty International reports on the Maldives* Freedom of expression in the Maldives – IFEX* Penn Law School Students Help Draft a Criminal Code for the Maldives, from the University of Pennsylvania website* Maldives Holds Cabinet Meeting Underwater to Highlight Danger of Global Warming – video report by ''Democracy Now!''" ] ]
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[ [ "Economy of Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "In ancient times, Maldives were renowned for cowries, coir rope, dried tuna fish (Maldive fish), ambergris (''maavaharu'') and coco de mer (''tavakkaashi'').", "Local and foreign trading ships used to load these products in the Maldives and bring them abroad.Nowadays, the mixed economy of Maldives is based on the principal activities of tourism, fishing and shipping.", "This results from the Maldives' strategic geographic positioning near crucial sea routes essential for China's energy provisions.", "Consequently, China has persistently utilized its economic resources to enhance its sway over the Maldivian government.", "'''Tourism''' is the largest industry in the Maldives, accounting for 28% of GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts.", "It powered the current GDP per capita to expand 265% in the 1980s and a further 115% in the 1990s.", "Over 90% of government tax revenue flows in from import duties and tourism-related taxes.", "'''Fishing''' is the second leading sector in the Maldives.", "The economic reform program by the government in 1989 lifted import quotas and opened some exports to the private sector.", "Subsequently, it has liberalized regulations to allow more foreign investment.", "'''Agriculture''' and manufacturing play a minor role in the economy, constrained by the limited availability of cultivable land and shortage of domestic labour.", "Most staple foods are imported.", "'''Industry''' in the Maldives consists mainly of garment production, boat building, and handicrafts.", "It accounts for around 18% of GDP.", "Maldivian authorities are concerned about the impact of erosion and possible global warming in the low-lying country.Among the 1,190 islands in the Maldives, only 198 are inhabited.", "The population is scattered throughout the country, and the greatest concentration is on the capital island, Malé.", "Limitations on potable water and arable land, plus the added difficulty of congestion are some of the problems faced by households in Malé.Development of the infrastructure in the Maldives is mainly dependent on the tourism industry and its complementary tertiary sectors, transport, distribution, real estate, construction, and government.", "Taxes on the tourist industry have been plowed into infrastructure and it is used to improve technology in the agricultural sector." ], [ "Macro-economic trend", "This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Maldives at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of rufiyaa.", "Year Gross domestic product US dollar exchange Per capita income (as % of USA) 1980 440 7.58 rufiyaa 3.11 1985 885 7.08 rufiyaa 3.85 1990 2,054 9.55 rufiyaa 4.34 1995 4,696 11.76 rufiyaa 6.29 2000 7,348 11.77 rufiyaa 6.77 2005 10,458 12.80 rufiyaa 5.33 2011 10,458 15.40 rufiyaa 7.43The Maldives has experienced relatively low inflation throughout the recent years.", "Real GDP growth averaged about 10% in the 1980s.", "It expanded by an exceptional 16.2% in 1990, declined to 4% in 1993, and, over the 1995–2004 decade, real GDP growth averaged just over 7.5% per year.", "In 2005, as a result of the tsunami, the GDP contracted by about 5.5%; however, the economy rebounded in 2006 with a 13% increase.The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2020.Year198019851990199520002005201020152020GDP in $(PPP)0.24 bn.0.51 bn.0.80 bn.1.24 bn.2.01 bn.2.86 bn.4.65 bn.7.63 bn.7.27 bn.GDP per capita in $(PPP)1,5992,7913,7685,0907,4449,73214,52821,93119,222Inflation(in Percent Change)27.9 % -9.16 %15.5 %5.49 %−1.18 %2.46 %6.15 %1.37 % -1.59 %Government debt(Percentage of GDP) ... ... ... ... 39 %43 %53 %55 %146 %" ], [ "Economic sectors", "===Tourism======Fishing======Industry===The industrial sector provides only about 7% of GDP.", "Traditional industry consists of boat building and handicrafts, while modern industry is limited to a few tuna canneries, five garment factories, a bottling plant, and a few enterprises in the capital producing PVC pipe, soap, furniture, and food products.", "There are no patent laws in the Maldives.===Financial===The banking industry dominates the small financial sector of the Maldives.", "The country's seven banks are regulated by the Maldives Monetary Authority.", "The Maldives has no income, sales, property, or capital-gains taxes, and has been considered to have the simplest tax code in the world.", "The Tax Justice Network gave the Maldives a \"secrecy score\" of 92 on its 2011 Financial Secrecy Index - the highest score in that category of any actively-ranked country.", "However, the Maldives' minor market share put it near the bottom of the overall weighted lists.", "A recurrent trend of Beijing leveraging its economic influence to attain geopolitical goals is observable.", "This pattern is not confined solely to small island nations in the Indian Ocean, like the Maldives and Sri Lanka, but extends to the wider Indo-Pacific region, encompassing countries with sizable and advanced economies as well.", "The Maldives government is grappling with concerns about falling into a potential debt entrapment with China.===Shipping===Beginning in the 1990s, the Port of Male received over £10 million in loans from the Asian Development Bank designated for infrastructure upgraded.", "The ADB notes that from 1991 to 2011, due to the loans, the ports annual throughput in freight tons equaled 273,000.By 2011 that number reached 1 million.", "The ADB also provided training for port authority staff to increase efficiency.", "ADB and the Government of Maldives, in a joint report address ship turn-around, \"What used to take about 10 days in 1991 was achieved in 3.8 days by 1997, and about 2.6 days by 2014\"." ], [ "Environmental concerns", "There is growing concern towards the coral reef and marine life due to coral mining (used for building and jewelry making), sand dredging, solid waste pollution and oil spills from boats.", "Mining of sand and coral has destroyed the natural coral reef that once protected several important islands, now making them highly susceptible to the erosive effects of the sea.", "The destruction of large coral beds due to heat is also a growing concern.In April 1987, high tides swept over the Maldives, inundating much of Malé and nearby islands which prompted Maldivian authorities to take global climatic changes seriously.", "An INQUA research in 2003 found that actual sea levels in the Maldives had dropped in the 1970s and forecasts little change in the next century.", "There is also concern over the questionable shark fishing practices in place in the island.", "Shark fishing is forbidden by law, but these laws are not enforced.", "The population of sharks has sharply decreased in recent years.The Asian brown cloud hovering in the atmosphere over the northern Indian Ocean is also another concern.", "Studies show that decreased sunshine and increased acid rain source from this cloud." ], [ "Energy", "While electricity in the Maldives has historically come entirely from diesel generators, solar power has been increasingly adopted to avoid high fuel costs.", "The resort on Dhiddhoofinolhu claims to have the world's largest oceanic floating solar plant, with 678 kW enough to supply peak demand.", "The country's Environment Ministry has deployed solar–battery–diesel hybrid systems across the outer islands to reduce subsidies for imported diesel and promote low-carbon energy independence." ], [ "Poverty, income and gender inequality", "Old street sellers in MaléMaldives achieved their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of people living under the poverty line to 1% as of 2011.Starvation is non-existent, HIV rates have fallen and malaria has been eradicated.", "Despite these accomplishments and progressive economic growth, developmental issues remain.", "In particular, the country needs to address income and gender disparities.", "Development in Maldives has occurred predominantly in the capital Malé; islands outside the capital continue to encounter high poverty vulnerability, lower per-capita income, lower employment and limited access to social services.", "A country-wide household income survey in 1997-1998 showed that the average income in the capital Malé was 75% higher than in surrounding islands.", "Maldives's Gini co-efficient stands at 0.41.===Poverty and Income Disparity===The factors that have led to Maldivians falling into or remaining in poverty are:# '''Geography''': Residents of the northern regions of Maldives tend to remain in poverty more than other regions due to the relatively lower level of development in the North;# ''' Health''': Maldivians who do not work due to poor health remain in poverty possibly on account of lower accessibility to health services in the country;# ''' Young household members''': Larger proportion of young family members results in a lower overall household income;# '''Female household members''': Lower female labour participation rate and therefore, households with a greater proportion of females will have lower household income.The difficulty of accessing social services and infrastructure in the outer atolls has meant that geography is a key reason for poverty and income disparity in Maldives.", "In islands far from the capital, there tends to be lack of production, inadequate use of fishery resources, low value chain development and insufficient credit for small-scale producers and entrepreneurs.", "The scarcity of land and water, the underdeveloped farming practices and absence of support services in atolls has meant low production and thus low incomes in these regions.===Current Efforts===The government has recognized these issues of income and gender disparities and with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Maldives has implemented policies that directly address these issues.", "In 2011, President Nasheed said, \"The most important facility for a country's development is its people... and since women are half of the population in any country, for a certainty their full participation will speed up the pace of development.\"" ], [ "See also", "* Economic aid to the Maldives" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Global Economic Prospects: Growth Prospects for South Asia The World Bank, December 13, 2006* \"Doing Business in Maldives\" The World Bank Group* \"IMF October 2021 report\" International Monetary Fund" ] ]
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[ [ "Telecommunications in the Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in the Maldives''' is under the control and supervision of the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM).", "The Maldives is served by three telecommunications operators, Dhiraagu, Ooredoo Maldives and Raajjé Online." ], [ "Telephones", "'''Mobile network operators (MNOs):''' 2, Dhiraagu and Ooredoo Maldives (2020)'''Telephones - Fixedline's in use:'''21,000 (1999)'''Telephones - Mobile Cellular:'''344,000 (2007)'''Telephone system:'''''domestic:'' interatoll communication through microwave links; all inhabited islands are connected with telephone and fax service.", "''international:'' satellite earth station - 3 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)" ], [ "Radio and Television", "'''Radio broadcast stations:'''AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 1 (2008)'''Radios:'''35,000 (1999)'''Television broadcast stations:'''9 (2009)'''Televisions:'''10,000 (1999)" ], [ "Internet", "'''Internet Service Providers (ISPs):'''3, Dhiraagu, Ooredoo Maldives and Raajjé Online (2020)'''Internet users:'''20,000 (2008)'''Country code (Top level domain):''' .mv'''MV Domain registrar:''' Dhiraagu" ], [ "See also", "*Dhiraagu*Ooredoo Maldives*SatLink Online*Raajjé Online" ], [ "External links", "* Website of Communications Authority of Maldives* Website of Dhiraagu* Website of Ooredoo Maldives* Website of SatLink Online* Website of Raajjé Online" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in the Maldives" ], [ "Introduction", "Dhonis are major way of transportation.", "'''Transport in the Maldives''' includes, road (magu), water and air.", "The country has no railways." ], [ "Road", "The majority of roads in the capital city of Malé are paved with concrete cobblestones and some roads are paved with tarmac.", "Many of the roads in Addu city are paved with tarmac.", "A small highway in Addu is called \"the link road\".", "A causeway connects three islands." ], [ "Ports and harbours", "Gan (Addu Atoll), Malé, are the local port authority." ], [ "Merchant marine", "===Total===16 ships (1,000 GT or over) total 66 804 GT/.===Ship types===As of 2005 ships number 12 cargo, 1 passenger/cargo, 2 petroleum tanker and 1 refrigerated cargo 1,===Foreign registry===As of 2005 2 ships were registered in Panama." ], [ "Air", "The archipelago has 18 airports.", "Two had paved runways.", "One stretched over .", "Another was in the range .", "Three airports had unpaved runways of .", "Five of the 18 airports schedule international flights." ], [ "See also", "*List of airports in Maldives*Flyme*Maldivian*Mega Maldives*Trans Maldivian Airways" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mali''' (; ), officially the '''Republic of Mali''', is a landlocked country in West Africa.", "Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over .", "The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauritania, to the south by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and to the west by Guinea and Senegal.", "The population of Mali is million, 67% of which was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017.Its capital and largest city is Bamako.", "The country has 13 official languages, of which Bambara is the most commonly spoken.The sovereign state of Mali consists of 19 regions; its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert.", "The country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, is in the Sudanian savanna and both the Niger and Senegal rivers pass through.", "The country's economy centres on agriculture and mining.", "Its most prominent natural resources include gold, of which it is the third largest producer in Africa, as well as salt.Mali was once part of three extremely powerful and wealthy West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire (for which Ghana is named), the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire.", "At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa and one of the wealthiest on earth, with its 14th-century emperor Mansa Musa believed to be one of the wealthiest individuals in history.", "Besides being an economic powerhouse, medieval Mali was a centre of Islam, culture and knowledge, with Timbuktu becoming a renowned place of learning with its university, one of the oldest in the world still active.", "The expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the empire in 1468, followed by a Saadian army which defeated the Songhai in 1591.In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan; as the Sudanese Republic, a brief federation with Senegal was formed, achieving independence in 1960.After Senegal's withdrawal, the Republic of Mali was established.", "After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of a territory in the north, and in April declared the secession of a new state, Azawad.", "The conflict was complicated by a military coup in March 2012 and later fighting between Tuareg and other rebel factions.", "In response to territorial gains, the French military launched Operation Serval in January 2013.A month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north, although the conflict continued.", "Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second-round run-off held on 11 August, and legislative elections were held on 24 November and 15 December 2013.In the early 2020s, Mali experienced two military takeovers by Assimi Goïta." ], [ "Etymology", "The name ''Mali'' is taken from the name of the Mali Empire.", "It means \"the place where the king lives\" and carries a connotation of strength.Fourteenth-century Maghrebi traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the empire was called Mali.", "One Mandinka tradition tells that the legendary first emperor Sundiata Keita changed himself into a hippopotamus upon his death in the Sankarani River and that it was possible to find villages in the area of this river called \"old Mali\".", "A study of Malian proverbs noted that in old Mali, there is a village called Malikoma, which means \"New Mali\", and that ''Mali'' could have formerly been the name of a city.Another theory suggests that ''Mali'' is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples.", "It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment shifts to and the terminal vowel denasalizes and raises, leading \"Manden\" to shift to ." ], [ "History", "The extent of the Mali Empire's peakThe pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.", "Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890The rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife.", "Early ceramics have been discovered at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to represent an instance of the independent invention of pottery in the region.", "Farming took place by 5000 BC and iron was used around by 500 BC.In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River in central Mali, including Dia which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC, and Djenne-Djenno, which lasted from around 300 BC to 900 AD.", "By the sixth century AD, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires.There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature.", "Among these are references to \"Pene\" and \"Malal\" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068, the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana, and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi.Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, other precious commodities, and slaves majorly during the reign of Mansa Musa from c. 1312 – c. 1337.These Sahelian kingdoms had neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities.", "The earliest of these empires was the Ghana Empire, which was dominated by the Soninke, a Mande-speaking people.", "The empire expanded throughout West Africa from the eighth century until 1078, when it was conquered by the Almoravids.The Battle of Kirina in 1235, culminated in a victory for the Mandinka under the command of the exiled prince Sundiata Keita, which led to the downfall of the Sosso Empire.Map of the Pashalik of Timbuktu (yellow-striped) as part of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco (outlined black) within the Songhai Empire (outlined red), c. 1591The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century.", "Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning.", "The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire.The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.", "The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of the Moroccan invasion of 1591 under the command of Judar Pasha.", "The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads.", "Following the establishment of sea routes by the European powers, the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance.", "At that time, the Mali Empire's abundance in wealth expanded its commercial assets of salt and gold.One of the worst famines in the region's recorded history occurred in the 18th century.", "According to John Iliffe, \"The worst crises were in the 1680s, when famine extended from the Senegambian coast to the Upper Nile and 'many sold themselves for slaves, only to get a sustenance', and especially in 1738–1756, when West Africa's greatest recorded subsistence crisis, due to drought and locusts, reportedly killed half the population of Timbuktu.", "\"===French colonial rule===Cotton being processed in Niono into bales for export to other parts of Africa and to France, Mali fell under the control of France during the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century.", "By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan.", "In November 1915, a large anti-French uprising broke out among the tribes in the regions of present-day Mali and Burkina Faso.", "The last resistance was suppressed only in September 1916.During the suppression of the uprising, over 100 villages were destroyed by French colonial troops.On 24 November 1958, French Sudan (which changed its name to the Sudanese Republic) became an autonomous republic within the French Community.", "In January 1959, Mali and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation.", "The Mali Federation gained independence from France on 20 June 1960.Senegal withdrew from the federation in August 1960, which allowed the Sudanese Republic to become the independent Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960, and that date is now the country's Independence Day.", "Modibo Keïta was elected the first president.", "Keïta quickly established a one-party state, adopted an independent African and socialist orientation with close ties to the East, and implemented extensive nationalization of economic resources.", "In 1960, the population of Mali was reported to be about 4.1 million.===Moussa Traoré===On 19 November 1968, following progressive economic decline, the Keïta regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Moussa Traoré, a day which is now commemorated as Liberation Day.", "The subsequent military-led regime, with Traoré as president, attempted to reform the economy.", "His efforts were frustrated by political turmoil and a devastating drought between 1968 and 1974, in which famine killed thousands of people.", "The Traoré regime faced student unrest beginning in the late 1970s and three coup attempts.", "The Traoré regime repressed all dissenters until the late 1980s.The government continued to attempt economic reforms, and the populace became increasingly dissatisfied.", "In response to growing demands for multi-party democracy, the Traoré regime allowed some limited political liberalization.", "They refused to usher in a full-fledged democratic system.", "In 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, and was complicated by the turbulent rise of ethnic violence in the north following the return of many Tuaregs to Mali.WWI Commemorative Monument to the \"Armée Noire\"Anti-government protests in 1991 led to a coup, a transitional government, and a new constitution.", "Opposition to the corrupt and dictatorial regime of General Moussa Traoré grew during the 1980s.", "During this time strict programs, imposed to satisfy demands of the International Monetary Fund, brought increased hardship upon the country's population, while elites close to the government supposedly lived in growing wealth.", "Peaceful student protests in January 1991 were brutally suppressed, with mass arrests and torture of leaders and participants.", "Scattered acts of rioting and vandalism of public buildings followed, but most actions by the dissidents remained nonviolent.====March Revolution====From 22 March through 26 March 1991, mass pro-democracy rallies and a nationwide strike was held in both urban and rural communities, which became known as ''les évenements'' (\"the events\") or the March Revolution.", "In Bamako, in response to mass demonstrations organized by university students and later joined by trade unionists and others, soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on the nonviolent demonstrators.", "Riots broke out briefly following the shootings.", "Barricades as well as roadblocks were erected and Traoré declared a state of emergency and imposed a nightly curfew.", "Despite an estimated loss of 300 lives over the course of four days, nonviolent protesters continued to return to Bamako each day demanding the resignation of the dictatorial president and the implementation of democratic policies.26 March 1991 is the day that marks the clash between military soldiers and peaceful demonstrating students which climaxed in the massacre of dozens under the orders of then President Moussa Traoré.", "He and three associates were later tried and convicted and received the death sentence for their part in the decision-making of that day.", "Nowadays, the day is a national holiday in order to remember the tragic events and the people who were killed.", "The coup is remembered as Mali's March Revolution of 1991.By 26 March, the growing refusal of soldiers to fire into the largely nonviolent protesting crowds turned into a full-scale tumult, and resulted in thousands of soldiers putting down their arms and joining the pro-democracy movement.", "That afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré announced on the radio that he had arrested the dictatorial president, Moussa Traoré.", "As a consequence, opposition parties were legalized and a national congress of civil and political groups met to draft a new democratic constitution to be approved by a national referendum.===Amadou Toumani Touré presidency===In 1992, Alpha Oumar Konaré won Mali's first democratic, multi-party presidential election, before being re-elected for a second term in 1997, which was the last allowed under the constitution.", "Amadou Toumani Touré, a retired general who had been the leader of the military aspect of the 1991 democratic uprising, was elected in 2002.During this democratic period Mali was regarded as one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.Slavery persists in Mali today with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master.", "In the Tuareg Rebellion of 2012, ex-slaves were a vulnerable population with reports of some slaves being recaptured by their former masters.===Northern Mali conflict===Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali, January 2012In January 2012 a Tuareg rebellion began in Northern Mali, led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).", "In March, military officer Amadou Sanogo seized power in a coup d'état, citing Touré's failures in quelling the rebellion, and leading to sanctions and an embargo by the Economic Community of West African States.", "The MNLA quickly took control of the north, declaring independence as Azawad.", "However, Islamist groups including Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), who had helped the MNLA defeat the government, turned on the Tuareg and took control of the North with the goal of implementing sharia in Mali.On 11 January 2013, the French Armed Forces intervened at the request of the interim government.", "On 30 January, the coordinated advance of the French and Malian troops claimed to have retaken the last remaining Islamist stronghold of Kidal, which was also the last of three northern provincial capitals.", "On 2 February, French president François Hollande joined Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traoré in a public appearance in recently recaptured Timbuktu.Map showing the fullest extent of rebel-held territory in January 2013In August 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected as the new president of Mali in the second round of the election.=== Conflict in Central Mali ===In the central Mali province of Mopti, conflict has escalated since 2015 between agricultural communities like the Dogon and the Bambara, and the pastoral Fula (or Fulani) people.", "Historically, the two sides have fought over access to land and water, factors which have been exacerbated by climate change as the Fula move into new areas.", "The Dogon and the Bambara communities have formed \"self-defense groups\" to fight the Fula.", "They accuse the Fula of working with armed Islamists linked to al-Qaeda.", "While some Fula have joined Islamist groups, Human Rights Watch reports that the links have been \"exaggerated and instrumentalized by different actors for opportunistic ends\".Added a top Mali military commander:\"I’ve discussed the growing violence with my commanders and with village chiefs from all sides.", "Yes, sure, there are jihadists in this zone, but the real problem is banditry, animal theft, score settling – people are enriching themselves using the fight against terrorists as a cover.", "\"The conflict has seen the creation and growth of Dogon and Bambara militias.", "The government of Mali is suspected of supporting some of these groups under the guise of they being proxies in the war against Islamists in the Northern Mali conflict.", "The government denies this.", "One such militia is the Dogon group Dan Na Ambassagou, created in 2016.====2018 elections====Modibo Sidibe voting in Bamako, 2018 Malian presidential electionPresidential elections were held in Mali on 29 July 2018.In July 2018, the Constitutional Court approved the nomination of a total of 24 candidates in the election.", "As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a runoff was held on 12 August 2018 between the top two candidates, incumbent president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of the Rally for Mali and Soumaïla Cissé of the Union for the Republic and Democracy.", "Keïta was subsequently re-elected with 67% of the vote.====2018 ceasefire and aftermath====In September 2018, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue negotiated a unilateral ceasefire with Dan Na Ambassagou \"in the context of the conflict which opposes the group to other community armed groups in central Mali\".", "However, the group has been blamed for the 24 March 2019 massacre of 160 Fula villagers.", "The group denied the attack, but afterwards Malian president Keita ordered the group to disband.The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, warned of a growing ethnicization of the conflict.", "By 2020, more than 600,000 people had been displaced by the conflict in Mali.The United Nations reported that the number of children killed in the conflict in the first six months of 2019 was twice as many for the entire year of 2018.Many of the children have been killed in intercommunal attacks attributed to ethnic militias, with the majority of attacks occurring around Mopti.", "It is reported that around 900 schools have closed down and that armed militias are recruiting children.During the first week of October 2019, two jihadist attacks in the towns of Boulikessi and Mondoro killed more than 25 Mali soldiers near the border with Burkina Faso.", "President Keïta declared that \"no military coup will prevail in Mali\", continuing by saying that he doesn't think it \"is on the agenda at all and cannot worry us\".In February 2020, Human Rights Watch documented atrocities against civilians in Central Mali and said that at least 456 civilians were killed, while hundreds were injured from January 2019 until November.===2020 coup d'état and aftermath===Members of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, directory of the ruling junta in MaliPopular unrest began on 5 June 2020 following irregularities in the March and April parliamentary elections, including outrage against the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé.", "Between 11 and 23 deaths followed protests that took place from 10 to 13 June.", "In July, President Keïta dissolved the constitutional court.Members of the military led by Colonel Assimi Goïta and Colonel-Major Ismaël Wagué in Kati, Koulikoro Region, began a mutiny on 18 August 2020.President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé were arrested, and shortly after midnight Keïta announced his resignation, saying he did not want to see any bloodshed.", "Wagué announced the formation of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) and promised elections in the future.", "A curfew was begun and the streets of Bamako were quiet.The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned the coup and demanded the reinstallation of President Keïta.On 12 September 2020, the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) agreed to an 18-month political transition to civilian rule.", "Shortly after, Bah N'daw was named interim president by a group of 17 electors, with Goïta being appointed vice president.", "The government was inaugurated on 25 September 2020.On 18 January 2021, the transitional government announced that the CNSP had been disbanded, almost four months after had been promised under the initial agreement.==== 2021 coup d'état ====Tensions have been high between the civilian transitional government and the military since the handover of power in September 2020.On 24 May, tensions came to a head after a cabinet reshuffle, where two leaders of the 2020 military coup – Sadio Camara and Modibo Kone – were replaced by N'daw's administration.", "Later that day, journalists reported that three key civilian leaders – President N'daw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Defence Minister Souleymane Doucouré, were being detained in a military base in Kati, outside Bamako.", "On 7 June 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goïta was sworn into office as the new interim president.==== Assimi Goïta junta ====here.In 2022 and 2023, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara saw major gains in the Mali War, occupying large swathes of territory in southeastern Mali.", "Ansongo and Tidermène were also captured by the group.", "By mid-2023, the militant group had doubled the amount of territory it controlled since the overthrow of the previous government and establishment of the junta.On 10 January, Mali announced the closure of its borders and recalled several ambassadors to ECOWAS countries, in response to sanctions placed on Mali for deferring elections for four years.", "On 4 February, France's ambassador was expelled.", "According to Human Rights Watch, Malian troops and suspected Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group executed around 300 civilian men in central Mali in March 2022.France had started withdrawing French troops from Mali in February 2022, commencing the end of Operation Barkhane.", "On 2 May, the military government announced breaking its defence accords concluded in 2013 with France, constituting an additional step in the deterioration of Malian-French relations.", "This latest announcement has been criticized by French authorities and considered as \"illegitimate\".", "A UN panel reported that in the first three months of 2022, 543 civilians were killed and 269 wounded, warning the 2015 peace agreement between the government and pro-independence groups was threatened by a potential risk of confrontation for the first time in five years.", "The report also noted a sharp increase in the number of people needing humanitarian assistance over the previous year.Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, visited Bamako on 7 February 2023 and said that Moscow would continue to help Mali improve its military capabilities.In June 2023 Mali removed French, the language of its former colonizer, as an official language with the approval of a new constitution by 97% of voters in a referendum conducted by the junta." ], [ "Geography", "thumbMali map of Köppen climate classificationLandscape in thumbMali is a landlocked country in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria.", "It lies between latitudes 10° and 25°N, and longitudes 13°W and 5°E.", "Mali borders Algeria to the north-northeast, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west.At , Mali is the world's 24th-largest country and is comparable in size to South Africa or Angola.", "Most of the country lies in the southern Sahara Desert, which produces an extremely hot, dust-laden Sudanian savanna zone.", "Mali is mostly flat, rising to rolling northern plains covered by sand.", "The Adrar des Ifoghas massif lies in the northeast.Mali lies in the torrid zone and is among the hottest countries in the world.", "The thermal equator, which matches the hottest spots year-round on the planet based on the mean daily annual temperature, crosses the country.", "Most of Mali receives negligible rainfall and droughts are very frequent.", "Late April to early October is the rainy season in the southernmost area.", "During this time, flooding of the Niger River is common, creating the Inner Niger Delta.", "The vast northern desert part of Mali has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification ''BWh'') with long, extremely hot summers and scarce rainfall which decreases northwards.", "The central area has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification ''BSh'') with very high temperatures year-round, a long, intense dry season and a brief, irregular rainy season.", "The southern areas have a tropical wet and dry climate.", "(Köppen climate classification ''Aw'') In review, Mali's climate is tropical, with March to May being the hot, dry season.", "June to October is rainy, humid and mild.", "November to February is the cool, dry season.Mali has considerable natural resources, with gold, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, salt and limestone being most widely exploited.", "Mali is estimated to have in excess of 17,400 tonnes of uranium (measured + indicated + inferred).", "In 2012, a further uranium mineralized north zone was identified.", "Mali faces numerous environmental challenges, including desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, and inadequate supplies of potable water.Five terrestrial ecoregions lie within Mali's borders: Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian savanna, Inner Niger Delta flooded savanna, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands.", "The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.16/10, ranking it 51st globally out of 172 countries.===Regions and cercles===Since 2016, Mali has been divided into ten regions and the District of Bamako.", "Each region has a governor.", "The implementation of the two newest regions, Taoudénit (formerly part of Tombouctou Region) and Ménaka (formerly Ménaka Cercle in Gao Region), has been ongoing since January 2016; a governor and transitional council has been appointed for both regions.", "The ten regions in turn are subdivided into 56 ''cercle''s and 703 ''communes''.The ''régions'' and Capital District are: Region name Area (km2) PopulationCensus 1998 PopulationCensus 2009 Kayes119,7431,374,3161,993,615 Koulikoro95,8481,570,5072,422,108 BamakoCapital District2521,016,2961,810,366 Sikasso70,2801,782,1572,643,179 Ségou64,8211,675,3572,338,349 Mopti79,0171,484,6012,036,209 Tombouctou56,435442,619674,793 Gao89,532341,542542,304 Kidal151,43038,77467,739 Taoudénit 440,176 – 18,160 Ménaka 81,040 – 54,456==== Extent of central government control ====In March 2012, the Malian government lost control over Tombouctou, Gao and Kidal Regions and the north-eastern portion of Mopti Region.", "On 6 April 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declared their secession from Mali as Azawad, an act that neither Mali nor the international community recognised.", "The government later regained control over these areas.===Wildlife===" ], [ "Politics and government", "===Government===Assimi Goita, interim president of Mali since 2021 Malian coup d'étatUntil the military coup of 22 March 2012, Mali was a constitutional democracy governed by the Constitution of 12 January 1992, which was amended in 1999.The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.", "The system of government can be described as \"semi-presidential\".", "Executive power is vested in a president, who is elected to a five-year term by universal suffrage and is limited to two terms.The president serves as a chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.", "A prime minister appointed by the president serves as head of government and in turn appoints the Council of Ministers.", "The unicameral National Assembly is Mali's sole legislative body, consisting of deputies elected to five-year terms.", "Following the 2007 elections, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress held 113 of 160 seats in the assembly.", "The assembly holds two regular sessions each year, during which it debates and votes on legislation that has been submitted by a member or by the government.Mali's constitution provides for an independent judiciary, but the executive continues to exercise influence over the judiciary by virtue of power to appoint judges and oversee both judicial functions and law enforcement.", "Mali's highest courts are the Supreme Court, which has both judicial and administrative powers, and a separate Constitutional Court that provides judicial review of legislative acts and serves as an election arbiter.", "Various lower courts exist, though village chiefs and elders resolve most local disputes in rural areas.The transition government pushed back the timetable for a new election, initially to be held in February 2022, to February 2024.In exchange for the government's commitment to a 2024 election, ECOWAS agreed to lift sanctions on the country.=== Foreign relations ===Former President of Mali Amadou Toumani Touré and Minister-president of the Netherlands Mark RutteRepresentatives of Mali and Russia at the 2nd International Parliamentary Conference “Russia-Africa” in Moscow, 19 March 2023Until 2012, Mali's foreign policy orientation had become increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time.", "Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 2002, Mali's relations with the West in general and with the United States in particular have improved significantly.", "Mali has a longstanding yet ambivalent relationship with France, a former colonial ruler.", "Mali was active in regional organizations such as the African Union until its suspension over the 2012 Malian coup d'état.Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali's major foreign policy goals.", "Mali feels threatened by the potential for the spillover of conflicts in neighboring states, and relations with those neighbors are often uneasy.", "General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional relations.In early 2019, Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for an attack on a United Nations base in Mali that killed 10 peacekeepers from Chad.", "25 people were reported to have been injured in the attack.", "Al Qaeda's stated reason for the attack was Chad's re-establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.", "The base was attacked in Anguelhok, a village located in an especially unstable region of the country.=== Military ===Mali's military forces consist of an army, which includes land forces and air force, as well as the paramilitary Gendarmerie and Republican Guard, all of which are under the control of Mali's Ministry of Defense and Veterans, headed by a civilian." ], [ "Economy", "A market scene in DjennéA proportional representation of Mali exports, 2019Kalabougou pottersCotton processing at CMDTThe Central Bank of West African States handles the financial affairs of Mali and additional members of the Economic Community of West African States.", "Mali is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.", "The average worker's annual salary is approximately US$1,500.GDP per capita development of MaliMali underwent economic reform, beginning in 1988 by signing agreements with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.", "During 1988 to 1996, Mali's government largely reformed public enterprises.", "Since the agreement, sixteen enterprises were privatized, 12 partially privatized, and 20 liquidated.", "In 2005, the Malian government conceded a railroad company to the Savage Corporation.", "Two major companies, Societé de Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) and the Cotton Ginning Company (CMDT), were expected to be privatized in 2008.Between 1992 and 1995, Mali implemented an economic adjustment programme that resulted in economic growth and a reduction in financial imbalances.", "The programme increased social and economic conditions, and led to Mali joining the World Trade Organization on 31 May 1995.Mali is also a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).", "The gross domestic product (GDP) has risen since.", "In 2002, the GDP amounted to US$3.4 billion, and increased to US$5.8 billion in 2005, which amounts to an approximately 17.6% annual growth rate.Mali is a part of the \"Franc Zone\" (''Zone Franc''), which means that it uses the CFA franc.", "Mali is connected with the French government by agreement since 1962 (creation of BCEAO).", "Today all seven countries of BCEAO (including Mali) are connected to French Central Bank.Mali was ranked 129th out of 132 in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.=== Agriculture ===Mali's key industry is agriculture.", "Cotton is the country's largest crop export and is exported west throughout Senegal and Ivory Coast.", "During 2002, 620,000 tons of cotton were produced in Mali but cotton prices declined significantly in 2003.In addition to cotton, Mali produces rice, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and tree crops.", "Gold, livestock and agriculture amount to 80% of Mali's exports.Eighty percent of Malian workers are employed in agriculture.", "15% of Malian workers are employed in the service sector.", "Seasonal variations lead to regular temporary unemployment of agricultural workers.=== Mining ===In 1991, with the assistance of the International Development Association, Mali relaxed the enforcement of mining codes which led to renewed foreign interest and investment in the mining industry.", "Gold is mined in the southern region and Mali has the third highest gold production in Africa (after South Africa and Ghana).The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the cotton and Ivory Coast crises.", "Other natural resources include kaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.=== Energy ===Electricity and water are maintained by the Energie du Mali, or EDM, and textiles are generated by Industry Textile du Mali, or ITEMA.", "Mali has made efficient use of hydroelectricity, consisting of over half of Mali's electrical power.", "In 2002, 700 GWh of hydroelectric power were produced in Mali.Energie du Mali is an electric company that provides electricity to Mali citizens.", "Only 55% of the population in cities have access to EDM.=== Transport infrastructure ===In Mali, there is a railway that connects to bordering countries.", "There are also approximately 29 airports, of which 8 have paved runways.", "Urban areas are known for their large quantity of green and white taxicabs.", "A significant sum of the population is dependent on public transportation." ], [ "Demographics", "Bozo girl in Bamako+ Population in Mali Year Million 1950 4.7 2000 11 In , Mali's population was an estimated  million.", "Mali's population grew from 7.7 million in 1982 to 19.9 million in 2018.The population is predominantly rural (68% in 2002), and 5%–10% of Malians are nomadic.", "More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has over 2 million residents.In 2007, about 48% of Malians were younger than 12 years old, 49% were 15–64 years old, and 3% were 65 and older.", "The median age was 15.9 years.", "The birth rate in 2014 was 45.53 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate (in 2012) was 6.4 children per woman.", "The death rate in 2007 was 16.5 deaths per 1,000.Life expectancy at birth was 53.06 years total (51.43 for males and 54.73 for females).", "Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality, with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007.===Largest cities in Mali======Ethnic groups===Tuareg are historic, nomadic inhabitants of northern Mali.Mali's population encompasses a number of sub-Saharan ethnic groups.The Bambara () are by far the largest single ethnic group, making up 36.5% of the population.Collectively, the Bambara, Soninké, Khassonké, and Malinké (also called Mandinka), all part of the broader Mandé group, constitute 50% of Mali's population.", "Other significant groups are the Fula (; ) (17%), Voltaic (12%), Songhai (6%), and Tuareg and Moor (10%).", "In Mali as well as Niger, the Moors are also known as Azawagh Arabs, named after the Azawagh region of the Sahara.", "They speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic which is one of the regional varieties of Arabic.In the far north, there is a division between Berber-descended Tuareg nomad populations and the darker-skinned Bella or Tamasheq people, due to the historical spread of slavery in the region.An estimated 800,000 people in Mali are descended from slaves.", "Slavery in Mali has persisted for centuries.The Arabic population kept slaves well into the 20th century, until slavery was suppressed by French authorities around the mid-20th century.", "There still persist certain hereditary servitude relationships, and according to some estimates, even today approximately 200,000 Malians are still enslaved.Some mixed European/African descendants of Muslims of Spanish, as well as French, Irish, Italian and Portuguese origin, live in Mali, where they are known as the Arma people (1% of the nation's population).Although Mali has enjoyed reasonably good inter-ethnic relationships based on a long history of coexistence, some hereditary servitude and bondage relationship exist, as well as ethnic tension between settled Songhai and nomadic Tuaregs of the north.", "Due to a backlash against the northern population after independence, Mali is now in a situation where both groups complain about discrimination on the part of the other group.", "This conflict also plays a role in the continuing Northern Mali conflict where there is a tension between both Tuaregs and the Malian government, and the Tuaregs and radical Islamists who are trying to establish sharia law.=== Languages ===In January 2022, due to deteriorating relations between Mali and the French government, the Mali government announced making Bambara the official language.", "In July 2023, French was dropped as an official language, becoming instead a working language.", "At the same time, the 13 national languages, namely Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Hassaniya Arabic, Kassonke, Maninke, Minyanka, Senufo, the Songhay languages, Soninke and Tamasheq, became official languages.", "The ''lingua franca'' in Mali is mainly Bambara, which about 80 percent of the population can communicate in.", "Over 40 other African languages are spoken by the various ethnic groups of Mali.According to the 2009 census, the languages spoken natively in Mali were Bambara by 51.5%, Fula (8.3%), Dogon (6.6%) Soninké (5.7%), Songhai (5.3%), Mandinka (5.2%), Minianka (3.8%), Tamasheq (3.2%), Sénoufo (2%), Bobo (1.9%), Tieyaxo Bozo (1.6%), Kassonké (1.1%), Maure (1%), Dafing (0.4%), Samogo (0.4%), Arabic (Hassaniya) (0.3%), other Malian languages (0.5%), other African languages (0.2%), and other non-African languages (0.2%); 0.7% did not declare their first language.===Religion===An entrance to the Djinguereber mosqueIslam was introduced to West Africa in the 11th century and remains the predominant religion in much of the region.", "An estimated 90% of Malians are Muslim (mostly Sunni), approximately 5% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant) and the remaining 5% adhere to traditional African religions such as the Dogon religion.", "Atheism and agnosticism are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion daily.The constitution establishes a secular state and provides for freedom of religion, and the government largely respects this right.Islam as historically practiced in Mali has been malleable and adapted to local conditions; relations between Muslims and practitioners of minority religious faiths have generally been amicable.After the 2012 imposition of sharia rule in northern parts of the country, however, Mali came to be listed high (number 7) in the Christian persecution index published by Open Doors, which described the persecution in the north as severe.=== Education ===High school students in KatiPublic education in Mali is in principle provided free of charge and is compulsory for nine years between the ages of seven and sixteen.", "The system encompasses six years of primary education beginning at age 7, followed by six years of secondary education.", "Mali's actual primary school enrolment rate is low, in large part because families are unable to cover the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and other fees required to attend.In 2017, the primary school enrolment rate was 61% (65% of males and 58% of females).", "In the late 1990s, the secondary school enrolment rate was 15% (20% of males and 10% of females).", "The education system is plagued by a lack of schools in rural areas, as well as shortages of teachers and materials.Estimates of literacy rates in Mali range from 27–30 to 46.4%, with literacy rates significantly lower among women than men.", "The University of Bamako, which includes four constituent universities, is the largest university in the country and enrols approximately 60,000 undergraduate and graduate students.=== Health ===Mali faces numerous health challenges related to poverty, malnutrition, and inadequate hygiene and sanitation.", "Mali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world.", "Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 53.06 years in 2012.In 2000, 62–65% of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69% to sanitation services of some kind.", "In 2001, the general government expenditures on health totaled about US$4 per capita at an average exchange rate.Efforts have been made to improve nutrition, and reduce associated health problems, by encouraging women to make nutritious versions of local recipes.", "For example, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Aga Khan Foundation, trained women's groups to make ''equinut'', a healthy and nutritional version of the traditional recipe ''di-dèguè'' (comprising peanut paste, honey and millet or rice flour).", "The aim was to boost nutrition and livelihoods by producing a product that women could make and sell, and which would be accepted by the local community because of its local heritage.Village in the Sahel regionMedical facilities in Mali are very limited, and medicines are in short supply.", "Malaria and other arthropod-borne diseases are prevalent in Mali, as are a number of infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis.", "Mali's population also suffers from a high rate of child malnutrition and a low rate of immunization.", "An estimated 1.9% of the adult and children population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.", "An estimated 85%–91% of Mali's girls and women have had female genital mutilation (2006 and 2001 data).=== Gender equality ===In 2017, Mali ranked 157th out of 160 countries in the gender inequality index as reported by the United Nations Development Programme.", "The Malian Constitution states that it protects women's rights, however many laws exist that discriminate against women.", "Provisions in the laws limit women's decision-making power after marriage, in which the husband becomes superior to his wife.", "Women are blamed for not maintaining the appearance of their husbands and are also blamed for the actions of their children if they misbehave, which encourages the cultural attitude that women are inferior to men.", "The lack of participation of women in politics is due to the idea that politics is associated with men and that women should avoid this sector.", "Education is also an area in which boys dominate, since it is a better investment for the parents.", "As traditional values and practices have contributed to gender inequality in Mali, conflict and lawlessness have also influenced the growing gap in gender through gender-based violence.", "The unstable government of Mali has led to organizations like USAID attempting to improve the lives of the people, mainly women and girls' rights in order to re-engage the development of the country.==== Gender relations ====Religion, the patriarchal norms, and gender-based violence are major negative factors shaping the life of women in Mali.", "Patriarchal norms cause major gender inequalities and lead to male domination within the household.", "Girls learn household activities like chores, cooking, childcare, etc.", "at a young age and are expected to take the main responsibility of household chores throughout their life.", "This hampers women's ability to enter the formal workforce and leads to a lack of education of girls.", "Gender-based violence in Mali happens both on a national and a family level.", "At the national level, in 2012 the conflict in the Northern part of the country increased cases of kidnappings and rapes.", "The conflict also reduced women's access to resources, economy, and opportunities.", "At the household level, Malian women face gender-based violence through domestic violence, forced marriages, and marital rape.", "The Demographic Health Survey for Mali in 2013 stated that 76% of women and 54% of men believed physical harm towards women was acceptable if the women burnt food, argued back, went out without notifying her husband, or refused sexual relations with her husband.==== Area of opportunity ====The lack of education has increased gender inequality in Mali because not many women are working outside the household are even participating in the Public Administration sector.", "After adjusting the entrance requirements and access to education, girls still have lower enrollment rates and less access to formal education.", "Drop-out rates for girls are 15% higher than that of boys because they have a higher responsibility at home and most parents refuse to allow all their children to go to school, so boys tend to become educated.", "Similarly, technical and vocational education has a lower numbers of girls participating and are inadequately distributed in the country because the training centers are focused in the urban cities.", "Finally, higher education for girls consist of short programs because early marriages prevent most girls from pursuing a longer term education program like those in science.", "Although women do not have the same access of education, in recent decades women have been entering and representing in decision-making positions in the Public Administration sector.", "Out of 147 members of Parliament, 15 were women in 2010.Recent decades show that women are slowly joining important decision-making positions which is changing the attitude and status of women in Mali, which has led to the promotion of women's right in the political sphere.==== Efforts ====Legislation at the international and national levels have been implemented over the decades to help promote women's rights in Mali.", "At the international, Mali signed the Beijing Platform for Action which suggest that women should participate in decision-making and the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which is the foundation to women's rights promotion.", "At the national level, Mali's Constitution has the Decree No.", "092-073P-CTSP that claims equality to all Malian citizens and discrimination is prohibited, which has not been followed.", "The Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP) and the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme under the Malian Government seek to improve the well-being of the citizens, and changes to governance and gender in the country.", "The Ministry for Advancement of Women, Children and the Family was created specifically for women and children so that their basics rights and needs get met under the law.", "Although there exists legislation and policy for gender equality the institutionalization of the National Gender Policy of Mali is necessary to support the importance of women's rights.", "Strengthening and the support of girls' and women's access to education and training is recommended to improve gender equality in Mali.", "The involvement of international organizations like USAID assist Mali financially to enhance their development through the efforts of the improvement of women's rights." ], [ "Culture", "Konoguel Mosque towerThe varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity.", "Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubous that are typical of West Africa.", "Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies.=== Music ===Mali Dogon DanceMalian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as \"Keepers of Memories\".", "Malian music is diverse and has several different genres.", "Some famous Malian influences in music are kora virtuoso musician Toumani Diabaté, the ngoni with Bassekou Kouyate the virtuoso of the electric jeli ngoni, the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, Khaira Arby, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Fatoumata Diawara, Rokia Traore, and Habib Koité.", "Dance also plays a large role in Malian culture.", "Dance parties are common events among friends, and traditional mask dances are performed at ceremonial events.=== Literature ===Though Mali's literature is less famous than its music, Mali has always been one of Africa's liveliest intellectual centers.", "Mali's literary tradition is passed mainly by word of mouth, with ''jalis'' reciting or singing histories and stories known by heart.", "Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Mali's best-known historian, spent much of his life writing these oral traditions down for the world to remember.The best-known novel by a Malian writer is Yambo Ouologuem's ''Le devoir de violence'', which won the 1968 but whose legacy was marred by accusations of plagiarism.", "Other well-known Malian writers include Baba Traoré, Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Massa Makan Diabaté, Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko.=== Sport ===Dogon villageThe most popular sport in Mali is association football, which became more prominent after Mali hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations.", "Most towns and cities have regular games; the most popular teams nationally are Djoliba AC, Stade Malien, and Real Bamako, all based in the capital.", "Informal games are often played by youths using a bundle of rags as a ball.Basketball is another major sport; the Mali women's national basketball team, led by Hamchetou Maiga, competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.", "Traditional wrestling (''la lutte'') is also somewhat common, though popularity has declined in recent years.", "The game wari, a mancala variant, is a common pastime.Mali featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.===Cuisine===Malian teaRice and millet are the staples of Malian cuisine, which is heavily based on cereal grains.", "Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from edible leaves, such as spinach or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce, and may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat (typically chicken, mutton, beef, or goat).", "Malian cuisine varies regionally.", "Other popular dishes include fufu, jollof rice, and maafe.===Media===In Mali, there are several newspapers such as ''Les Echos'', ''L'Essor'', ''Info Matin'', ''Nouvel Horizon'', and ''''.Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali is the state-owned service.", "Telecommunications in Mali include 869,600 mobile phones, 45,000 televisions and 414,985 Internet users." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Mali-related articles* Outline of Mali" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* A student-translated English version is also available.", "* * ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.", "''* *" ], [ "External links", "* Official website * * * Mali.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * Mali profile from the BBC News* Possibilities and Challenges for Transitional Justice in Mali from the ICTJ* Facebook group about Ngoni, considered a traditional instrument of Mali; also known as Xalam, Jeli N'goni, Hoddu, Khalam, Tehardent, or Gambare===Trade===* Mali 2012 Trade Summary Statistics" ] ]
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[ [ "History of Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "Mali is located in Africa.The history of the territory of modern Mali may be divided into:*Pre-Imperial Mali, before the 13th century*The history of the eponymous Mali Empire and of the Songhai Empire during the 13th to 16th centuriesThe borders of Mali are those of French Sudan, drawn in 1891.They are artificial, and unite parts of the larger Sudan region with parts of the Sahara.As a consequence, Mali is a multiethnic country, with a majority of its population consisting of Mandé peoples.Mali's history is dominated by its role in trans-Saharan trade, connecting West Africa and the Maghreb.", "The Malian city Timbuktu is exemplary of this: situated on the southern fringe of the Sahara and close to the Niger River, it has played an important role in the trans-Saharan trade from the 13th century on, with the establishment of the Mali Empire.", "Had no power in the West Africa After this the Songhai empire started growing." ], [ "Prehistory", "===Paleolithic===The Sahara was often drier, but also more rainy for a long time than it is today.", "Hence, it was a place uninhabitable for humans 325,000 to 290,000 years ago and 280,000 to 225,000 years ago, apart from favorable places like the Tihodaïne lake on the water-storing Tassili n'Ajjer.", "In these and other dry periods, the desert stretched repeatedly far to the north and south; its sand dunes can be found far beyond the present-day borders of the Sahara.", "Human traces can only be expected in the rainier green phases.", "It is possible that anatomically modern humans, which perhaps developed in the said isolated phase 300,000 to 200,000 years ago south of the Sahara, already in the long green phase over 200,000 years ago the water-rich area at that time.", "Even around 125,000 to 110,000 years ago there was an adequate network of waterways that allowed numerous animal species to spread northward, followed by human hunters.", "Huge lakes contributed to this, such as the Mega Lake Chad, which at times covered over 360,000 km2.On the other hand, the desert stretched far north and south again 70,000 to 58,000 years ago and is therefore likely to have represented a barrier that was difficult to overcome.", "Another green phase followed 50,000 to 45,000 years ago.In Mali the find situation is less favorable than in the northern neighbors.", "Excavations at the Ounjougou complex on the Dogon Plateau near Bandiagara have shown that hunters and gatherers lived in the region more than 150,000 years ago.", "Dating back to between 70,000 and 25,000 years ago is certain.", "The Paleolithic ended very early in Mali because after this section 25,000 to 20,000 years ago there was another extreme dry phase, the Ogolia.", "When towards the end of the savannah landscape.===Neolithic=== After the end of the last maximum expansion of the northern ice masses towards the end of the last glacial period, the climate was characterized by much higher humidity than it is today.", "The Niger created a huge inland lake in the area around Timbuktu and Araouane, as well as a similarly large lake in Chad.", "At the same time, savannah landscapes and a landscape in northern Mali comparable to that which characterizes the south today.", "This around 9500 BC The humid phase that began after the Younger Dryas period, a cold period after the last glacial period, was around 5000 BC.", "Chr.", "Increasingly replaced by an increasingly dry phase.The Neolithic, the time in which people increasingly produced their own food instead of hunting, fishing or collecting it as before, developed during this humid phase.", "This is usually divided into three sections, which are separated from each other by distinct dry phases.", "Sorghum and millet were planted and around 8000 BC.", "Large herds of cattle that were close to the zebus grazed in what is now the Sahara; Sheep and goats were not added until much later from West Asia, while cattle were first domesticated in Africa.Ceramics appeared at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to be an instance of the independent invention of pottery.i.e.", "9500 to 7000 v. BC, in the Aïr according to Marianne Cornevin as early as 10,000 BC.", "Chr.", "8 The earliest Neolithic is attributed to the phase of the productive way of life, although no plants were cultivated and no cattle were kept.", "In Mali, the Ravin de la Mouche site, which belongs here, was dated to an age of 11,400–10,200 years.", "9 This site belongs to the Ounjougou complex on the Yamé, where all eras since the Upper Paleolithic have left traces 10 and the oldest ceramics in Mali to 9400 BC.", "Was dated.", "In Ravin de la Mouche, artifacts could date between 9500 and 8500 BC.", "The site Ravin du Hibou 2 can be dated to 8000 to 7000 BC.", "Thereafter, where the said oldest ceramic remains were found in the course of a research program that has been running since 1997 in the two gorges, a hiatus between 7000 and 3500 BC occurred.", "BC because the climate was too unfavorable - even for hunters and gatherers.The middle Neolithic of the Dogon Plateau can be recognized by gray, bifacial stone tools made from quartzite .", "The first traces of nomadic cattle breeders can be found (again) around 4000 BC.", "BC, whereby it was around 3500 BC.", "The relatively humid climate came to an end.", "11 Excavations in Karkarichinkat (2500–1600 BC) and possibly in Village de la Frontière (3590 cal BC) prove this, as do studies on Lake Fati.", "The latter consisted continuously between 10,430 and 4660 BPas evidenced by layers of mud on its eastern edge.", "A 16 cm thick layer of sand was dated around 4500 BP, which provided evidence that the region dried out around 1000 years later than on the Mauritanian coast.", "12 A thousand years later, the dry phase, which apparently drove cattle nomads from the east to Mali, reached its peak.", "The northern lakes dried up and the population mostly moved south.", "The transition from the Neolithic to the Pre-Dogon is still unclear.", "In Karkarichinkat it became apparent that sheep, cattle and goats were kept, but hunting, gathering and fishing continued to play an important role.", "It may even be the case that successful pastoralism prevented agriculture from establishing itself for a long time.13The late Neolithic was marked by renewed immigration from the Sahara around 2500 BC.", "Chr., Which had grown into an enormously spacious desert.", "This aridization continued and forced further migrations to the south, the approximate course of which is archaeologically understandable.", "On the basis of ethno-archaeological studies of ceramics, three groups were found that lived around Méma, the Canal de Sonni Ali and Windé Koroji on the border with Mauritania in the period around 2000 BC.", "Lived.", "This was made possible by ceramic research at the Kobadi site (1700 to 1400 BC), the MN25 site near Hassi el Abiod and Kirkissoy near Niameyin Niger (1500 to 1000 BC).", "Apparently the two groups hiked towards Kirkissoy last.", "14 No later than the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC.", "Millet cultivation reached the region at the Varves Ouest site, more precisely the cultivation of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), but also wheat and emmer, which were established much earlier in the east of the Sahara, now (again?)", "Reached Mali.", "Ecological changes indicate that tillage must have started as early as the 3rd millennium.", "15 But this phase of agriculture ended around 400 BC.", "In turn by an extreme drought.The use of ocher in funerals was common up to the 1st millennium, even with animals, as the spectacular find of a horse in the west of the inland delta, in Tell Natamatao (6 km from Thial in the Cercle Tenenkou) shows, whose bones are included Ocher had been sprinkled.", "16 There are also rock carvings typical of the entire Sahara, in which not only symbols and depictions of animals but also depictions of people appear.", "From the 1st millennium BC Paintings in the Boucle-du-Baoulé National Park (Fanfannyégèné), on the Dogon Plateau and in the Niger River Delta (Aire Soroba).", "17In Karkarichikat Nord (KN05) and Karkarichinkat Sud (KS05) in the lower Tilemsi Valley, a fossil river valley 70 km north of Gao, it was possible to prove for the first time in eleven women in West Africa south of the Sahara that the modification of the teeth for ritual reasons was also there was in use around 4500-4200 BP, similar to the Maghreb.", "18 In contrast to men, women have modifications ranging from extractions to filings, so that the teeth are given a pointed shape.", "A custom that lasted until the 19th century.", "19It was also found there that the inhabitants of the valley already obtained 85% of their carbon intake from grass seeds, mainly from C4 plants; this happened either through the consumption of wild plants, such as the wild millet, or through domesticated lamp-cleaning grasses.", "20 This provided the earliest evidence of agricultural activity and cattle breeding in West Africa (around 2200 cal BP).", "21The sites of the Dhar Tichitt tradition in the Méma region, a former river delta west of today's inland delta, also known as the \"dead delta\", 22 belong to the period between 1800 and 800/400 BC.", "Chr.", "Their settlements measured between one and eight hectares, but the settlement was not continuous, which may be related to the fact that this region was not suitable for cattle farming during the rainy season.", "The reason for this was the tsetse fly, which prevented this way of life from expanding southwards for a long time.In contrast to these cattle breeders, who then drove their herds northwards again, the members of the simultaneous Kobadi tradition, who had lived exclusively from fishing, collecting wild grasses and hunting since the middle of the 2nd millennium at the latest, remained relatively stationary.", "Both cultures had copper that they brought from Mauritania.", "At the same time, the different cultures cultivated a lively exchange.", "23===Earlier Iron Age===A series of early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River (in Mali) including at Dia which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC, and at Djenné-Djenno, which was occupied from around 250 B.C.", "to around 800 AD.", "Djenné-Djenno comprised an urban complex consisting of 40 mounds within a 4 kilometer radius.The site is believed to exceed , and the town engaged in both local and long-distance trade During Djenné-Djenno's second phase (during the first millennium AD) the borders of the site expanded during (possibly covering 100,000 square meters or more), also coinciding with the development at the site of a kind of permanent mud brick architecture, including a city wall, probably built during the latter half of the first millennium AD using the cylindrical brick technology, \"which was 3.7 meters wide at its base and ran almost two kilometers around the town\".There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature.", "Among these are references to \"Pene\" and \"Malal\" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068, the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana, and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi." ], [ "Ghana Empire" ], [ "Mali Empire", "The Mali Empire started in 1230 and was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs.Until the 19th century, Timbuktu remained important as an outpost at the southwestern fringe of the Muslim world and a hub of the trans-Saharan slave trade.Mandinka from 13th to the 17th century.", "The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became known for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I.", "The Mali Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Africa, allowing the spread of its language, laws and customs along the Niger River.", "It extended over a large area and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces.The empire was known for its abundant gold resources, which were used to finance the construction of impressive architecture, such as the famous Great Mosque of Djenné.", "The Mali Empire was also known for its thriving trade network, which stretched across the Sahara Desert and into North Africa and the Middle East.The modern countries included are Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, and parts of Niger and Burkina Faso.", "But Mali itself is the centre of the empire." ], [ "Songhai Empire", "The Mali Empire began to weaken by the mid 14th century.", "The Songhai took advantage of this and asserted their independence.", "The Songhai made Gao their capital and began an imperial expansion of their own throughout the western Sahel.", "And by 1420, Songhai was strong enough to exact tribute from Masina.", "The emerging Songhai Empire and the declining Mali Empire co-existed during much of the later 14th and throughout the 15th century.", "In the later 15th century, control of Timbuktu shifted to the Songhai Empire.", "There was a prophecy during this time that in the 21st century there would be a born heir." ], [ "After the empires (1591–1892)", "The Songhai empire eventually collapsed under the pressure from the Moroccan Saadi dynasty.", "The turning point was the Battle of Tondibi of 13 March 1591.Morocco subsequently controlled Gao, Timbuktu, Djenné (also seen as Jenne), and related trade routes with much difficulty until around the end of the 17th century.Pashalik of Timbuktu (yellow-striped) as part of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco, c. 1591After the collapse of the Songhai Empire, no single state-controlled the region.", "The Moroccans only succeeded in occupying a few portions of the country, and even in those locations where they did attempt to rule, their hold was weak and challenged by rivals.", "Several small successor kingdoms arose.", "The most notable in what is now Mali were:=== Bambara Empire or the Kingdom of Segou ===Places which were under the control of the Bambara EmpireThe Bambara Empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to 1861, was based at Ségou and also Timbuktu (also seen as Segu), and ruled parts of central and southern Mali.", "It existed until El Hadj Umar Tall, a Toucouleur conqueror swept across West Africa from Futa Tooro.", "Umar Tall's mujahideen readily defeated the Bambara, seizing Ségou itself on March 10, 1861, and declaring an end to the empire.=== Kingdom of Kaarta ===A split in the Coulibaly dynasty in Ségou led to the establishment of a second Bambara state, the kingdom of Kaarta, in what is now western Mali, in 1753.It was defeated in 1854 by Umar Tall, leader of Toucouleur Empire, before his war with Ségou.=== Kenedougou Kingdom ===The Senufo Kenedugu Kingdom originated in the 17th century in the area around what is now the border of Mali and Burkina Faso.", "In 1876 the capital was moved to Sikasso.", "It resisted the effort of Samori Ture, leader of Wassoulou Empire, in 1887, to conquer it, and was one of the last kingdoms in the area to fall to the French in 1898.=== Maasina ===An Islamic-inspired uprising in the largely Fula Inner Niger Delta region against rule by Ségou in 1818 led to the establishment of a separate state.", "It later allied with Bambara Empire against Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire and was also defeated by it in 1862.=== Toucouleur Empire ===This empire, founded by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur peoples, beginning in 1864, ruled eventually most of what is now Mali until the French conquest of the region in 1890.This was in some ways a turbulent period, with ongoing resistance in Messina and increasing pressure from the French.=== Wassoulou Empire ===The Wassoulou or Wassulu Empire was a short-lived (1878–1898) empire, led by Samori Ture in the predominantly Malinké area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali (Wassoulou).", "It later moved to Ivory Coast before being conquered by the French." ], [ "French Sudan (1892–1960)", "Mali fell under French colonial rule in 1892.By 1893, the French appointed a civilian governor of the territory they called ''Soudan Français'' (French Sudan), but active resistance to French rule continued.", "By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control.French Sudan was administered as part of the Federation of French West Africa and supplied labor to France's colonies on the coast of West Africa.", "In 1958 the renamed Sudanese Republic obtained complete internal autonomy and joined the French Community.", "In early 1959, the Sudanese Republic and Senegal formed the Federation of Mali.", "On 31 March 1960 France agreed to the Federation of Mali becoming fully independent.", "On 20 June 1960 the Federation of Mali became an independent country and Modibo Keïta became its first President." ], [ "Independence (1960–present)", "Following the withdrawal of Senegal from the federation in August 1960, the former Sudanese Republic became the Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960, with Modibo Keïta as president.President Modibo Keïta, whose Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally (US/RDA) party had dominated pre-independence politics (as a member of the African Democratic Rally), moved quickly to declare a single-party state and to pursue a socialist policy based on extensive nationalization.", "Keïta withdrew from the French Community and also had close ties to the Eastern bloc.", "A continuously deteriorating economy led to a decision to rejoin the Franc Zone in 1967 and modify some of the economic excesses.In 1962-64 there was the Tuareg insurgency in northern Mali.=== Under Moussa Traoré ===On November 19, 1968, a group of young officers staged a bloodless coup and set up a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation (CMLN), with Lt. Moussa Traoré as president.", "The military leaders attempted to pursue economic reforms, but for several years faced debilitating internal political struggles and the disastrous Sahelian drought.A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule.", "However, the military leaders remained in power.", "In September 1976, a new political party was established, the Democratic Union of the Malian People (UDPM), based on the concept of democratic centralism.", "Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traoré received 99% of the votes.", "His efforts at consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by student-led anti-government demonstrations that led to three coup attempts, which were brutally quashed.The political situation stabilized during 1981 and 1982, and remained generally calm throughout the 1980s.", "In late December 1985, however, a border dispute between Mali and Burkina Faso over the mineral rich Agacher strip erupted into a brief war.", "The UDPM spread its structure to Cercles and Arrondissements across the land.Shifting its attention to Mali's economic difficulties, the government approved plans for some reforms of the state enterprise system, and attempted to control public corruption.", "It implemented cereal marketing liberalization, created new incentives to private enterprise, and worked out a new structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).", "But the populace became increasingly dissatisfied with the austerity measures imposed by the IMF plan as well as their perception that the ruling elite was not subject to the same strictures.", "In response to the growing demands for multiparty democracy then sweeping the continent, the Traoré regime did allow some limited political liberalization.", "In National Assembly elections in June 1988, multiple UDPM candidates were permitted to contest each seat, and the regime organized nationwide conferences to consider how to implement democracy within the one-party framework.", "Nevertheless, the regime refused to usher in a full-fledged democratic system.However, by 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, including the National Democratic Initiative Committee and the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (Alliance pour la Démocratie au Mali, ADEMA).", "The increasingly turbulent political situation was complicated by the rise of ethnic violence in the north in mid-1990.The return to Mali of large numbers of Tuareg who had migrated to Algeria and Libya during the prolonged drought increased tensions in the region between the nomadic Tuareg and the sedentary population.", "Ostensibly fearing a Tuareg secessionist movement in the north, the Traoré regime imposed a state of emergency and harshly repressed Tuareg unrest.", "Despite the signing of a peace accord in January 1991, unrest and periodic armed clashes continued.=== 2000s ===Konaré stepped down after his constitutionally mandated limit of two terms and did not run in the 2002 elections.", "Touré then reemerged, this time as a civilian.", "Running as an independent on a platform of national unity, Touré won the presidency in a runoff against the candidate of Adema, which had been divided by infighting and suffered from the creation of a spin-off party, the Rally for Mali.", "Touré had retained great popularity because of his role in the transitional government in 1991–92.The 2002 election was a milestone, marking Mali's first successful transition from one democratically elected president to another, despite the persistence of electoral irregularities and low voter turnout.", "In the 2002 legislative elections, no party gained a majority; Touré then appointed a politically inclusive government and pledged to tackle Mali's pressing social and economic development problems.===2010s===In January 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) began an insurgency.", "Rebel troops from the military appeared on state TV on 22 March 2012 announcing they had seized control of the country, citing unrest over the president's handling of the conflict with the rebels.", "The former president was forced into hiding.However, due to the 2012 insurgency in northern Mali, the military government controls only the southern third of the country, leaving the north of the country (known as Azawad) to MNLA rebels.", "The rebels control Timbuktu, 700 km from the capital.", "In response, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) froze assets and imposed an embargo, leaving some with only days of fuel.", "Mali is dependent on fuel imports trucked overland from Senegal and Ivory Coast.As of July 17, 2012, the Tuareg rebels have since been pushed out by their allies, the Islamists, Ansar Dine, and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (A.Q.I.M.).", "An extremist ministate in northern Mali is the unexpected result from the collapse of the earlier coup d'etat by the angry army officers.Refugees in the 92,000-person refugee camp at Mbera, Mauritania, describe the Islamists as \"intent on imposing an Islam of lash and gun on Malian Muslims.\"", "The Islamists in Timbuktu have destroyed about a half-dozen venerable above-ground tombs of revered holy men, proclaiming the tombs contrary to Shariah.", "One refugee in the camp spoke of encountering Afghans, Pakistanis and Nigerians.Ramtane Lamamra, the African Union's peace and security commissioner, said the African Union has discussed sending a military force to reunify Mali and that negotiations with terrorists had been ruled out but negotiations with other armed factions is still open.On 10 December 2012 Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was arrested by soldiers and taken to a military base in Kati.", "Hours later, the Prime Minister announced his resignation and the resignation of his government on national television.On 10 January 2013, Islamist forces captured the strategic town of Konna, located 600 km from the capital, from the Malian army.", "The following day, the French military launched Opération Serval, intervening in the conflict.By 8 February, the Islamist-held territory had been re-taken by the Malian military, with help from the international coalition.", "Tuareg separatists have continued to fight the Islamists as well, although the MNLA has also been accused of carrying out attacks against the Malian military.A peace deal between the government and Tuareg rebels was signed on 18 June 2013.Presidential elections were held in Mali on 28 July 2013, with a second round run-off held on 11 August.", "Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta defeated Soumaïla Cissé in the run-off to become the new President of Mali.The peace deal between the Tuareg rebels and Malian government was broken in late November 2013 because of clashes in the northern city of Kidal.", "A new ceasefire was agreed upon on 20 February 2015 between the Malian government and the northern rebels.In August 2018, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected for a new five-year term after winning the second round of the election against Soumaïla Cissé.===2020s===Since 5 June 2020 street protests calling for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta began in Bamako.", "On 18 August 2020 mutinying soldiers arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé.", "President Keïta resigned and left the country.", "The National Committee for the Salvation of the People led by Colonel Assimi Goïta took power, meaning the fourth coup happened since independence from France in 1960.On 12 September 2020, the National Committee for the Salvation of the People agreed to an 18-month political transition to civilian rule.", "Shortly after, Bah N'Daw was named interim president.On May 25, 2021, Colonel Assimi Goïta dismissed the transitional president Bah N'Daw and the transitional prime minister Moctar Ouane from their positions.", "On 7 June 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goita was sworn into office as the new interim president.", "According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) Malian troops and suspected Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group executed around 300 civilian men in central Mali in March 2022.France had withdrawn French troops from Mali in February 2022.In 2023, there was a proposal from Burkina Faso to establishm a federation with Mali.", "The aim of the federation was to amplify the political and economic influence of both nations by combining their resources, territories and populations.", "This initiative was part of a larger trend of African countries forming regional alliances to address shared challenges and advance their collective interests.", "The proposal faced criticism and opposition due to concerns over cultural, historical, and economic differences between the two countries, as well as issues regarding the distribution of power and resources and potential loss of national sovereignty." ], [ "See also", "* Bamako history and timeline* History of Africa* History of West Africa*List of heads of government of Mali*List of heads of state of Mali*Politics of Mali* History of Timbuktu* Mali National Archives*" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mali" ], [ "Introduction", " Demographic features of the population of Mali include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Mali's population (1890-2021)" ], [ "Population", "In , Mali's population was an estimated million, with an annual growth rate of 2.7%.", "This figure can be compared to 4,638,000 in 1950.The population is predominantly rural (68% in 2002), and 5–10% of Malians are nomadic.", "More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has over 1 million residents.In 2007, about 48% of Malians were less than 15 years old, 49% were 15–64 years old, and 3% were 65 and older.", "The median age was 15.9 years.", "The birth rate in 2007 was 49.6 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate was 7.4 children per woman.The death rate in 2007 was 16.5 deaths per 1,000.Life expectancy at birth was 49.5 years total (47.6 for males and 51.5 for females).", "Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality, with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births.The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 47.2%.", "50.6% of the population were aged between 15 and 65 years of age.", "2.2% of the population were aged 65 years or older.Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 19504 638 00038.958.32.8 19554 928 00040.157.42.5 19605 248 00040.557.22.3 19655 597 00041.556.22.3 19706 034 00042.355.22.4 19756 604 00043.354.12.6 19807 246 00044.652.62.8 19858 010 00045.851.32.9 19908 673 00047.549.53.0 19959 825 00047.449.92.8 200011 295 00047.250.32.5 200513 177 00047.150.62.3 201015 370 00047.250.62.2=== Structure of the population ===Population pyramid 2016Structure of the population (Census 01.IV.2009):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 7 204 990 7 323 672 14 528 662 100 0-4 1 328 871 1 294 514 2 623 385 18.06 5-9 1 202 875 1 154 948 2 357 823 16.23 10-14 918 866 865 138 1 784 004 12.28 15-19 732 526 783 620 1 516 146 10.44 20-24 529 535 612 368 1 141 903 7.86 25-29 449 099 546 603 995 702 6.85 30-34 385 003 427 795 812 798 5.59 35-39 325 005 326 894 651 949 4.49 40-44 271 239 275 364 546 603 3.76 45-49 228 626 217 261 445 887 3.07 50-54 189 424 192 382 381 806 2.63 55-59 148 594 134 083 282 677 1.95 60-64 127 557 123 461 251 018 1.73 65-69 88 292 77 082 165 374 1.14 70-74 67 319 66 063 133 382 0.92 75-79 40 904 36 197 77 101 0.53 80+ 41 992 43 602 85 594 0.59 unknown 129 213 146 297 275 510 1.90Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 3 450 612 3 314 600 6 765 212 46.56 15-64 3 386 658 3 639 831 7 026 489 48.36 65+ 238 507 222 944 461 451 3.18Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2018) (Projections considering also the results of the 2009 Population Census.", "):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 9 631 376 9 786 721 19 418 097 100 0–4 1 824 718 1 854 149 3 678 867 18.95 5–9 1 481 610 1 505 507 2 987 117 15.38 10–14 1 235 790 1 255 722 2 491 512 12.83 15–19 1 027 744 1 044 321 2 072 065 10.67 20–24 872 370 886 440 1 758 810 9.06 25–29 740 900 752 850 1 493 750 7.69 30–34 608 309 618 121 1 226 430 6.32 35–39 481 340 489 104 970 444 5.00 40–44 363 798 369 665 733 463 3.78 45–49 270 771 275 138 545 909 2.81 50–54 211 869 215 287 427 156 2.20 55–59 172 475 175 257 347 731 1.79 60–64 127 886 129 949 257 835 1.33 65-69 103 184 104 848 208 033 1.07 70-74 60 828 61 809 122 637 0.63 75-79 31 964 32 479 64 443 0.33 80+ 15 820 16 075 31 895 0.16Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 4 542 118 4 615 378 9 157 496 47.16 15–64 4 877 462 4 956 132 9 833 594 50.64 65+ 211 796 215 211 427 007 2.20" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "A family in Djenné, Mali.Ethnic groups include:* 33.3% Bambara* 13.3% Fula* 9.8% Soninke* 9.6% Senufo / Bwa / Malinke* 8.7% Dogon* 6.1% Bobo* 5.9% Songhai* 1.7% Tuareg* 11.6% OthersMali's population consists of Sub-Saharan ethnic groups, sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions.", "Exceptions are two nomadic northern groups, the Tuaregs, a Berber people, and Maurs (or Moors), of Arabo-Berber origins.", "In Mali and Niger, the Moors are also known as Azawagh Arabs, named after the Azawagh region of the Sahara.", "Azawagh Arabs speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic which is one of the regional varieties of Arabic.The Tuaregs traditionally have opposed the central government.", "Starting in June 1990 in the north, Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy led to clashes with the military.", "In April 1992, the government and most opposing factions signed a pact to end the fighting and restore stability in the north.", "Its major aims are to allow greater autonomy to the north and increase government resource allocation to what has been a traditionally impoverished region.", "The peace agreement was celebrated in 1996 in Timbuktu during an official and highly publicized ceremony called \"Flamme de la Paix\"--(peace flame).Historically, interethnic relations throughout the rest of the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the Niger River and across the country's vast savannahs.", "Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific occupation, all working within proximity to each other, although the distinctions were often blurred.The Bambara, Malinké, Sarakole, Dogon and Songhay are farmers; the Fula or Fulani, Maur, and Tuareg are herders, while the Bozo are fishers.", "In recent years this linkage has shifted considerably, as ethnic groups seek nontraditional sources of income.=== Europeans in Mali ===People of European origin form a small minority in the country.", "They include those of mixed European and African descendant, as well as those of full European background.", "The latter includes the French, as well as the Spanish, Irish, Italian and Portuguese origins.", "Some of them descend from the Arma people (1% of the nation's population).", "They mainly live in Bamako, Sikasso, Kalabancoro, Koutiala, Ségou, Kayes, Kati, Mopti, Niono, Gao, San, Koro, Bla, Bougouni, Mandé, Baguineda-Camp, Kolondiéba, Kolokani, and others." ], [ "Vital statistics", "Registration of vital events in Mali is not complete.", "The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.Mid-year population (thousands)Live births (thousands)Deaths (thousands)Natural change (thousands)Crude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)Life expectancy (in years)19504 695  245  176  6952.237.514.76.96211.128.171951  4 760  247  178  6951.837.314.66.96210.228.291952  4 825  249  178  7051.536.914.66.95208.428.531953  4 888  250  179  7251.136.514.66.95206.928.761954  4 951  252  179  7350.836.114.76.94205.528.971955  5 015  254  180  7450.535.814.76.94204.329.131956  5 079  256  180  7650.435.514.96.94203.329.371957  5 145  259  182  7750.235.315.06.95202.529.471958  5 209  262  183  7950.235.115.16.95201.829.591959  5 275  267  185  8150.535.115.46.99201.229.651960  5 347  270  187  8350.535.015.57.00200.629.751961  5 420  274  189  8450.434.915.57.00200.029.831962  5 495  277  191  8650.434.815.67.02199.329.941963  5 570  281  193  8850.434.615.87.03198.430.151964  5 647  285  194  9150.434.316.17.05197.330.421965  5 726  290  195  9450.534.116.47.08195.830.621966  5 807  294  197  9750.633.916.77.10194.030.871967  5 888  299  198  10150.633.617.17.13191.831.211968  5 974  303  198  10550.733.117.57.15189.431.631969  6 062  306  199  10850.432.717.77.17186.932.051970  6 154  310  198  11250.432.218.27.18183.932.531971  6 248  315  199  11650.431.818.67.20181.332.941972  6 347  320  196  12450.330.819.57.20177.833.861973  6 455  326  195  13150.430.220.37.21174.834.571974  6 569  332  193  13950.429.321.17.23171.935.431975  6 687  338  192  14650.528.621.97.24169.036.231976  6 808  344  189  15550.427.722.77.25165.537.201977  6 935  350  187  16350.426.923.57.28162.038.111978  7 073  357  185  17250.426.124.37.30158.539.061979  7 218  365  183  18250.525.325.27.32155.039.951980  7 373  372  182  19050.324.725.77.33151.540.751981  7 533  379  183  19550.124.325.97.32148.241.221982  7 696  383  183  20049.623.725.97.27144.641.821983  7 864  387  184  20449.123.325.87.23141.242.141984  8 030  394  183  21048.922.826.17.22138.042.701985  8 188  399  183  21648.522.326.27.21134.943.211986  8 335  405  181  22448.321.626.77.24131.743.981987  8 474  408  179  22947.821.026.97.25128.944.691988  8 617  413  176  23747.720.427.37.26126.345.391989  8 774  416  176  24147.219.927.37.28123.845.881990  8 945  419  173  24646.719.327.47.25121.846.621991  9 124  430  172  25847.018.828.27.23119.847.221992  9 311  437  173  26346.718.528.27.18118.147.501993  9 507  443  174  26946.418.328.17.12116.547.731994  9 712  452  177  27546.418.228.27.07115.247.741995  9 921  455  179  27545.718.027.76.99113.647.821996  10 132  464  182  28245.717.927.86.95112.147.791997  10 359  477  180  29745.917.428.66.91110.048.531998  10 620  492  180  31246.216.929.36.89107.949.161999  10 917  513  180  33347.016.530.56.88105.549.802000  11 239  530  180  35047.116.031.16.87102.850.542001  11 584  549  180  36947.315.531.86.85100.051.282002  11 953  568  178  39047.514.932.66.8297.152.222003  12 342  588  178  41047.614.433.26.7894.252.892004  12 752  611  179  43247.914.033.96.7491.453.542005  13 181  633  180  45348.013.734.36.7288.754.002006  13 624  649  180  46947.613.234.46.6986.254.622007  14 081  666  182  48447.312.934.46.6683.754.942008  14 551  684  184  50147.012.634.46.6481.255.292009  15 033  705  183  52146.812.234.66.6178.855.872010  15 529  724  184  54146.611.834.86.5876.556.382011  16 040  743  185  55846.211.534.76.5574.256.762012  16 515  762  186  57645.911.234.76.5272.057.082013  17 004  771  186  58545.310.934.36.4970.057.362014  17 552  788  185  60244.810.534.26.4467.857.902015  18 113  804  185  61944.310.234.16.3965.858.362016  18 700  820  186  63443.89.933.96.3263.958.732017  19 311  839  186  65243.49.633.76.2562.159.132018  19 934  856  188  66842.99.433.56.1860.459.392019  20 567  873  190  68342.49.233.26.1058.759.662020  21 224  892  202  68942.09.532.56.0457.158.632021  21 905  913  203  71041.69.332.45.9655.458.94=== Fertility and Births ===Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 1981-1983 7.10 6.85 7.17 1984-1986 6.73 6.09 6.97 1995-1996 45.1 6.7 (6.0) 39.9 5.4 (4.8) 47.2 7.3 (6.6) 2001 45.1 6.8 (6.1) 42.1 5.5 (4.8) 45.9 7.3 (6.6) 2006 45.2 6.6 (6.0) 41.8 5.4 (5.1) 46.6 7.2 (6.5) 2012-2013 38.8 6.1 (5.3) 36.7 5.0 (4.3) 39.2 6.5 (5.6) 2018 40.9 6.3 (5.5) 36.3 4.9 (4.2) 42.3 6.8 (6.0)Fertility data as of 2012-2013 (DHS Program): Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49Kayes 6.0 11.3 6.0Koulikoro 6.0 14.3 5.8Sikasso 6.6 11.5 6.2Ségou 6.1 12.2 6.1Mopti 6.5 11.7 5.9Bamako 5.1 6.5 5.1" ], [ "Immigration and emigration", "Mali had an estimated net migration rate of –6.6 migrants per 1,000 people in 2006.About 3 million Malians are believed to reside in Côte d'Ivoire and France.", "Conversely, according to a 2003 estimate, Mali hosts about 11,000 Mauritanians; most are Fulani herders who routinely engage in cross-border migration.", "In addition, there are several thousand refugees from Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in Bamako and other urban areas of Mali." ], [ "Demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "*One birth every 37 seconds\t*One death every 3 minutes\t*One net migrant every 13 minutes\t*Net gain of one person every 51 secondsThe following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.=== Population ===:20,741,769 (2022 est.", "):18,429,893 (July 2018 est.", ")=== Age structure ===Population pyramid of Mali in 2020:''0-14 years:'' 47.69% (male 4,689,121/female 4,636,685):''15-24 years:'' 19% (male 1,768,772/female 1,945,582):''25-54 years:'' 26.61% (male 2,395,566/female 2,806,830):''55-64 years:'' 3.68% (male 367,710/female 352,170):''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 293,560/female 297,401) (2020 est.", "):''0-14 years:'' 48.03% (male 4,449,790 /female 4,402,076):''15-24 years:'' 18.89% (male 1,657,609 /female 1,823,453):''25-54 years:'' 26.36% (male 2,243,158 /female 2,615,695):''55-64 years:'' 3.7% (male 346,003 /female 335,733):''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 277,834 /female 278,542) (2018 est.", ")=== Birth rate ===:41.07 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 4th:43.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 3rd=== Death rate ===:8.3 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 79th:8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 73rd:9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 45th=== Total fertility rate ===:5.54 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 4th:5.9 children born/woman (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 5th=== Population growth rate ===:2.95% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 11th:2.98% (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 8th=== Median age ===:total: 16 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 224th:male: 15.3 years:female: 16.7 years (2020 est.", "):total: 15.8 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 127th:male: 15.2 years :female: 16.5 years (2018 est.", ")=== Mother's mean age at first birth ===:19.2 years (2018 est.", "):note: median age at first birth among women 20-49:18.8 years (2012/13 est.", "):note: median age at first birth among women 25-29=== Contraceptive prevalence rate ===:17.2% (2018):15.6% (2015)=== Net migration rate ===:-3.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 181st:-3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 181st=== Dependency ratios ===:total dependency ratio: 101.9 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 96.8 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 19.5 (2015 est.", ")=== Urbanization ===:urban population: 45.4% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 4.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", "):urban population: 42.4% of total population (2018):rate of urbanization: 4.86% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.", ")=== Life expectancy at birth ===:total population: 62.41 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 211st:male: 60.19 years:female: 64.7 years (2022 est.", "):total population: 60.8 years (2018 est.", "):male: 58.6 years (2018 est.", "):female: 63 years (2018 est.", ")=== Major infectious diseases ===:degree of risk: very high (2020):food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever:vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever:water contact diseases: schistosomiasis:animal contact diseases: rabies:respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis=== Education expenditures ===:3.4% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 131st=== Literacy ===definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.", "):total population: 35.5%:male: 46.2%:female: 25.7% (2018):total population: 33.1% (2015 est.", "):male: 45.1% (2015 est.", "):female: 22.2% (2015 est.", ")=== School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) ===:total: 7 years:male: 8 years:female: 7 years (2017)=== Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 ===:total: 2.4%:male: 2.6%:female: 2.3% (2018 est.)" ], [ "Languages", "Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians communicate over ethnic borders in Bambara, which is the common language of the marketplace.", "French is the country's official language and is spoken somewhat by 30% of Malians." ], [ "Religion", "An estimated 95% of Malians are Sunni Muslim, 4% adhere to indigenous or traditional animist beliefs, and 1% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant).", "Atheism and agnosticism are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion on a daily basis.", "Islam as practiced in Mali can be moderate, tolerant, and adapted to local conditions; relations between Muslims and practitioners of minority religious faiths are generally amicable.", "The constitution establishes a secular state and provides for freedom of religion." ], [ "Health", "Life expectancy in MaliMali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world.", "In 2000 only 62–65 percent of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69 percent to sanitation services of some kind; only 8 percent was estimated to have access to modern sanitation facilities.", "Only 20 percent of the nation’s villages and livestock watering holes had modern water facilities.There were an estimated 140,000 cases of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) reported in 2003, and an estimated 1.9 percent of the adult population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (see also HIV/AIDS in Africa).", "In the same year, there were 12,000 AIDS deaths.", "The infant mortality rate is 69.5 deaths/1,000 live births (75.3/1,000 among males and 63.5/1,000 among females) (2017 est.).", "Life expectancy at birth is 60.3 years (58.2 years among males and 62.5 years among females) (2017 est.", ").=== Life expectancy ===PeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195526.96 1955–1960 27.98 1960–1965 28.61 1965–1970 30.79 1970–1975 34.201975–1980 37.71 1980–1985 41.55 1985–1990 44.51 1990–1995 46.57 1995–2000 46.75 2000–2005 49.96 2005–2010 54.03 2010–2015 56.24" ], [ "Education", "In the 2000–01 school year, the primary school enrollment rate was 61% (71% of males and 51% of females).", "The primary school completion rate is also low: only 36 percent of students in 2003 (and lower for females).", "The majority of students reportedly leave school by age 12.In the late 1990s, the secondary school enrollment rate was 15% percent (20% of males and 10% of females).According to United States government estimates, the adult literacy rate (defined as those over age 15 who can read and write) was 46.4 percent for the total population in 2003 (53.5 percent for males and 39.6 percent for females).", "According to United Nations sources, however, the literacy rate is actually much lower—only 27–30 percent overall and as low as 12 percent for females, among the lowest rates in Africa." ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*." ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "Until the military coup of March 22, 2012 and a second military coup in December 2012 the '''politics of Mali''' took place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Mali is head of state with a Presidentially appointed Prime Minister as the head of government, and of a multi-party system.Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.", "The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.In August 2018, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected for a new five-year term after winning the second round of the election against Soumaïla Cissé.On 18 August 2020 a coup d'état ousted the president and prime minister.", "On 25 September 2020, retired colonel and former defence minister Bah Ndaw was sworn in as Mali's interim president.On 15 April 2021, the transitional administration announced that legislative and presidential elections will be held on 27 February 2022.On 7 June 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goita was sworn into office as the new interim president.", "On 30 December 2021, the transitional administration announced plans to delay the election by six months to five years in part because of security issues, leading to political opposition and sanctions." ], [ "Executive branch", "|Interim PresidentAssimi GoïtaMilitary25 May 2021Prime MinisterChoguel Kokalla MaïgaIndependent6 June 2021The executive branch consists of the President of Mali and the Government of Mali, lead by the Prime Minister of Mali.Under Mali's 1992 constitution, the president is chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.", "The president is elected to 5-year terms by direct popular vote.", "He is limited to two terms.The Prime Minister of Mali is the head of government.", "They are appointed by the president and are responsible for the appointment of the other ministers of government.The president chairs the Council of Ministers (the prime minister and currently 27 other ministers), which adopts a proposals for laws submitted to the National Assembly for approval of them." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The National Assembly is the sole legislative arm of the Malian government.", "It has 160 members, who are elected directly for a five-year term by party list.", "147 members are elected in single-seat constituencies and 13 members elected by Malians abroad.", "Representation is apportioned according to the population of administrative districts.The Assembly meets for two regular sessions each year.", "It debates and votes on legislation proposed either by one of its members or by the government; it also has the right to question government ministers about government actions and policies.", "Eight political parties, aggregated into four parliamentary groups, are represented in the Assembly.", "ADEMA currently holds the majority; minority parties are represented in all committees and in the Assembly directorate." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "Mali's constitution provides for a multi-party democracy, with the only restriction being a prohibition against parties based on ethnic, religious, regional, or gender lines.", "In addition to those political parties represented in the National Assembly, others are active in municipal councils.===Presidential elections======Parliamentary elections===" ], [ "Judicial branch", "Mali's legal system is based on codes inherited at independence from France.", "New laws have been enacted to make the system conform to Malian life, but French colonial laws not abrogated still have the force of law.", "The constitution provides for the independence of the judiciary.The Ministry of Justice appoints judges and supervises both law enforcement and judicial functions.", "The Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative powers.", "Under the constitution, there is a separate constitutional court and a high court of justice with the power to try senior government officials in cases of treason." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Administratively, Mali is divided into ten regions (Gao, Ménaka, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Ségou, Sikasso, Tombouctou, Taoudénit) and the capital district of Bamako, each under the authority of an elected governor.", "Each region consists of five to nine districts (or Cercles), administered by Prefects.", "Cercles are divided into communes, which, in turn, are divided into villages or quarters.A decentralisation and democratisation process began in the 1990s with the establishment of 702 elected municipal councils, headed by elected mayors, and previously appointed officials have been replaced with elected officials, which culminates in a National council of local officials.", "Other changes included greater local control over finances, and the reduction of administrative control by the central government." ], [ "Foreign relations", "Mali is member of ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Official portal of the Government of Mali* Official portal of the President of Mali* Government Decree 4-141, May 2004 - Official list of the Ministers and Ministries of the Government of Mali, at the official portal of the President of Mali" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Mali''' is based to a large extent upon agriculture, with a mostly rural population engaged in subsistence agriculture.Mali is among the ten poorest nations of the world, is one of the 37 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, and is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources, including multilateral organizations (most significantly the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and Arab Funds), and bilateral programs funded by the European Union, France, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany.", "Before 1991, the former Soviet Union, China and the Warsaw Pact countries had been a major source of economic and military aid.The per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of Mali was $820 in 1999.Mali's great potential wealth lies in mining and the production of agricultural commodities, livestock, and fish.", "The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the Niger River, the Inner Niger Delta and the southwestern region around Sikasso." ], [ "Macro-economic trend", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021.Inflation below 5% is in green.YearGDP (in bil.", "US$ PPP)GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)GDP (in bil.", "US$ nominal)GDP growth(real)Inflation rate(in Percent)Government debt(in % of GDP)19803.85420.22.020.3%n/a19814.05550.3 1.712.7%n/a19823.85100.3 1.53.9%n/a19834.05360.41.410.5%n/a19844.35570.41.410.7%n/a19854.65830.51.49.1%n/a19864.96220.62.0 -1.4%n/a19875.26440.62.3 -14.9%n/a19885.46580.72.38.9%n/a19896.27460.82.8 -0.2%n/a19907.08300.83.21.6%n/a19917.89040.93.31.5%n/a19927.98881.0 3.4 -5.9%n/a19938.39171.03.4 -0.6%n/a19948.89471.12.624.3%n/a19959.39701.23.311.6%n/a199610.21,0321.43.46.5%n/a199710.81,0721.63.2 -0.7%n/a199811.31,0871.73.34.0%n/a199912.11,1401.93.4 -1.2%n/a200012.41,1332.0 3.0 -0.8%90.5%200114.61,2982.13.55.2%77.5%200215.31,3192.33.95.0%42.6%200317.11,4232.94.7 -1.3%44.2%200417.81,4383.25.5 -3.1%42.4%200519.51,5292.96.36.4%46.6%200621.11,5973.76.91.6%18.1%200722.41,6414.18.21.4%18.5%200823.91,6954.69.99.2%20.2%200925.21,7294.310.22.4%21.9%201026.91,7874.710.71.2%25.3%201128.31,8275.213.03.0%24.0%201228.21,7645.4 12.55.3%25.4%201329.81,8136.113.2 -0.6%26.4%201432.41,9157.014.40.9%26.9%201535.42,0337.613.11.4%30.7%201639.32,1898.314.0 -1.8%36.0%201741.62,2479.015.42.4%36.0%201844.62,3389.917.11.9%37.5%201947.62,42010.817.3 -3.0%40.7%202047.52,3487.3 17.60.5%47.3%202151.02,44710.819.83.8%51.9%" ], [ "Agriculture", "The major agricultural region in southern Mali, showing isohyet lines and crop intensity percentages.", "Mali's most productive agricultural region is located between Bamako and Mopti.", "Irrigation water is used mainly for rice while cotton is grown as a rainfed crop.", "(USDA: 2001)In 2018, Mali produced:* 3.8 million tons of maize;* 3.1 million tons of rice;* 1.8 million tons of millet;* 1.5 million tons of sorghum;* 814 thousand tons of mango (15th largest producer in the world);* 710 thousand tons of cotton (15th largest producer in the world);* 551 thousand tons of watermelon;* 522 thousand tons of onion;* 512 thousand tons of okra;* 370 thousand tons of sugar cane;* 368 thousand tons of peanuts;* 312 thousand tons of sweet potato;* 303 thousand tons of potato;* 226 thousand tons of sheanut;* 215 thousand tons of cowpea;* 196 thousand tons of banana;* 167 thousand tons of cashew nuts (8th largest producer in the world);* 159 thousand tons of beans;* 159 thousand tons of tomato;In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.Agricultural activities occupy 70% of Mali's labor force and provide 42% of the GDP.", "Cotton and livestock make up 75%–80% of Mali's annual exports.", "Small-scale traditional farming dominates the agricultural sector, with subsistence farming (of cereals, primarily sorghum, pearl millet, and maize) on about 90% of the under cultivation.Man in a Sidibé Agro-techniques greenhouse holding a pepper.", "The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the Niger River between Bamako and Mopti and extends south to the borders of Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.", "Average rainfall varies in this region from per year around Mopti to in the south near Sikasso.", "This area is most important for the production of cotton, rice, pearl millet, maize, vegetables, tobacco and tree crops.Annual rainfall, critical for Mali's agriculture, has been at or above average since 1993.Cereal production, including rice, has grown annually, and the 1997–98 cotton harvest reached a record 500,000 tons.Until the mid-1960s, Mali was self-sufficient in grains — pearl millet, sorghum, rice and maize.", "Diminished harvests during bad years, a growing population, changing dietary habits, and, most importantly, policy constraints on agricultural production resulted in grain deficits almost every year from 1965 to 1986.Production has rebounded since 1987 due to agricultural policy reforms undertaken by the government and supported by the Western donor nations.", "Liberalization of producer prices and an open cereals market have created incentives to production.", "These reforms, combined with adequate rainfall, successful integrated rural agriculture programs in the south, and improved management of the Office du Niger, have led to surplus cereal production over the past five years.=== Rice ===Rice planting in Mali.Rice is grown extensively along the banks of the Niger between Ségou and Mopti, with the most important rice-producing area at the Office du Niger, located north of Ségou toward the Mauritanian border.", "Using water diverted from the Niger, the Office du Niger irrigates about of land for rice and sugarcane production.", "About one-third of Mali's paddy rice is produced at the Office du Niger.=== Sorghum ===Sorghum is planted extensively in the drier parts of the country and along the banks of the Niger in eastern Mali, as well as in the lake beds in the Niger delta region.", "During the wet season, farmers near the town of Dire have cultivated wheat on irrigated fields for hundreds of years.", "Peanuts are grown throughout the country but are concentrated in the area around Kita, west of Bamako.=== Livestock ===In 2019, Mali produced 276 million liters of cow's milk, 270 million liters of camel milk, 243 million liters of goat milk, 176 million liters of sheep's milk, 187 thousand tons of beef, 64 thousand tons of lamb meat, 54 thousand tons of chicken meat, among others.Mali's resource in livestock consists of millions of cattle, sheep, and goats.", "Approximately 40% of Mali's herds were lost during the great drought in 1972–74.The level was gradually restored, but the herds were again decimated in the 1983–85 drought.", "The overall size of Mali's herds is not expected to reach pre-drought levels in the north of the country, where encroachment of the desert has forced many nomadic herders to abandon pastoral activities and turn instead to farming.The largest concentrations of cattle are in the areas north of Bamako and Ségou extending into the Niger delta, but herding activity is gradually shifting southward, due to the effects of previous droughts.", "Sheep, goats, and camels are raised to the exclusion of cattle in the dry areas north and east of Timbuktu." ], [ "Fishing", "Fishermen on a river in Mali.The Niger River is also an important source of fish, providing food for riverside communities; the surplus—smoked, salted, and dried—is exported.", "Due to drought and diversion of river water for agriculture, fish production has steadily declined since the early 1980s." ], [ "Mining & resources", "Drilling for oil in the Taoudeni basin.Mining has long been an important aspect of the Malian economy.", "Gold, largest source of Malian exports, is still mined in the southern region: at the end of the 20th century Mali had the third highest gold production in Africa (after South Africa and Ghana).", "These goldfields, the largest of which lie in the Bambouk Mountains in western Mali (Kenieba Cercle), were a major source of wealth and trade as far back as the Ghana Empire.Salt mining in the far north, especially in the Saharan oases of Taoudenni and Taghaza have been a crucial part of the Malian economy for at least seven hundred years.", "Both resources were vital components of the Trans-Saharan trade, stretching back to the time of the Roman Empire.From the 1960s to the 1990s state owned mining—especially for gold—expanded, followed by a period of expansion by international contract mining.In 1991, following the lead of the International Development Association, Mali relaxed the enforcement of mining codes which led to greater foreign investment in the mining industry.", "From 1994 to 2007, national and foreign companies were granted around 150 operating licences along with more than 25 certificates for exploitation and more than 200 research permits.", "Gold mining in Mali has increased dramatically, with more than 50 tonnes in 2007 from less than half a tonne produced annually at the end of the 1980s.", "Mining revenue totaled some 300 billion CFA francs in 2007 more than a thirty times increase from the 1995 total national mining revenue of less than 10 billion CFA.", "Government revenues from mining contracts, less than 1% of the state income in 1989 were almost 18% in 2007.===Gold===In 2019, the country was the 16th largest world producer of gold.", "Gold accounted for some 80% of mining activity in the mid-2000s, while there remain considerable proven reserves of other minerals not currently exploited.", "Gold has become Mali's largest export, after cotton—historically the basis of Mali's export industry—and livestock.", "The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impacts caused by fluctuations in world cotton markets and loss of trade from the Ivorian Civil War to the south.", "Large private investments in gold mining include Anglogold-Ashanti ($250 million) in Sadiola and Yatela, and Randgold Resources ($140 million) in Morila – both multinational South African companies located respectively in the north-western and southern parts of the country.====Social and environment impacts====While great incomes are produced, most staff employed in the mining industries are from outside Mali, and residents in the areas of intensive mining complain of little benefit from the industry.", "Populations complain of displacement for the construction of mines: at Sadiola Gold Mine, 43 villages have lost some land to the mine there, while in Fourou, near the large Syama goldmines, 121 villages saw some displacement.In addition, the continued exploitation of unregulated small scale mining, often by child laborers, supplies a large international gold market in Bamako which feeds into international production.", "Recent criticism has surfaced around the working conditions, pay, and the widespread use of child labor in these small gold mines (as reported recently in the U.S. Department of Labor's ''List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor''), and the method with which middlemen, in regional centers like Sikasso and Kayes, purchase and transport gold.", "Gold collected in the towns is sold on—with almost no regulation or oversight—to larger merchant houses in Bamako or Conakry, and eventually to smelters in Europe.", "Ecological factors, especially pollution of water by mine tailings, is a major source of concern.===Other minerals===Other mining operations include kaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.", "The government is trying to generate interest in the potential of extracting petroleum from the Taoudeni basin." ], [ "Manufacturing", "Malian export destinations in 2006.During the colonial period, private capital investment was virtually nonexistent, and public investment was devoted largely to the Office du Niger irrigation scheme and to administrative expenses.", "Following independence, Mali built some light industries with the help of various donors.", "Manufacturing, consisting principally of processed agricultural products, accounted for about 8% of the GDP in 1990." ], [ "Economic Reform", "A proportional representation of Mali exports, 2019Between 1992 and 1995, Mali implemented an economic adjustment program that resulted in economic growth and a reduction in financial imbalances.", "This was reflected in the increased GDP growth rates (9.6% in 2002) and decreased inflation.", "GDP in 2002 amounted to US$3.2 billion, made up of agriculture 37.8%, industry 26.4% and services 35.9%.Effective implementation of macroeconomic stabilization and economic liberalization policies and the stable political situation resulted in good economic performance and enabled Mali to strengthen the foundations for a market-oriented economy and encourage private sector development, backed up by significant progress in implementing the country's privatization program.", "Agricultural reform measures were aimed at diversifying and expanding production as well as at reducing costs.Mali's economic performance is fragile, characterized by a vulnerability to climatic conditions, fluctuating terms of trade, dependence on ports in neighboring countries.Mali produces cotton, cereals and rice.", "Although locally produced rice now provides competition to imported Asian rice, Mali's primary export is cotton.", "Livestock exports and industry (producing vegetable and cottonseed oils, and textiles) have experienced growth.", "Although most of Mali is desert or semi-desert, the Niger River is a potential irrigation source.", "Exports are in three primary sector products (56% gold, 27% cotton, 5% livestock).", "Ivory Coast is where most of the country's trade goes through and the crisis previously experienced here had a negative effect on Mali's economy.The mining industry in Mali has recently attracted renewed interest and investment from foreign companies.", "Gold and phosphate are the only minerals mined in Mali although deposits of copper and diamonds do also exist.", "The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the cotton and Ivory Coast crises.The development of the oil industry is important due to the country's dependence on the importation of all petroleum products from neighbouring states.", "Electricity is provided by the parastatal utility, Electricite du Mali." ], [ "Foreign aid", "Mali residents are mostly French speaking.", "Mali is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources, including multilateral organizations (most significantly the World Bank, African Development Bank, and Arab Funds), and bilateral programs funded by the European Union, France, United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Germany.", "Cooperation from Brazil has been growing quickly, especially in cotton production, by means of developing cotton seeds adapted to the Malian soil.", "Since 2009, Brazilian cooperation in Mali has raised the quality of the cotton fields and their productivity.", "Brazilian aide has also started since 2019 in cattle raising and the recovery of eroded soils for agriculture.", "Before 1991, the former Soviet Union had been a major source of economic and military aid, including construction of a cement plant and the Kalana gold mine.Currently, aid from Russia is restricted mainly to training and provision of spare parts.", "Chinese aid remains high, and Chinese-Malian joint venture companies have become more numerous in the last 3 years, leading to the opening of a Chinese investment center.", "The Chinese are major participants in the textile industry and in large scale construction projects, including a bridge across the Niger, a conference center, an expressway in Bamako, and a stadium in Bamako completed in 2001 for the Africa Cup competition in 2002, named Stade du 26 Mars.In 1998, U.S. assistance reached over $40 million.", "This included $39 million in sector support through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, largely channeled to local communities through private voluntary agencies; Peace Corps program budget of $2.2 million for more than 160 Volunteers serving in Mali; Self Help and the Democracy Funds of $170,500; and $650,000 designated for electoral support.", "Military assistance includes $275,000 for the International Military Education Training (IMET) program, $1.6 million for the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), $60,000 for Joint Combined Exercise Training (JCET), and $100,000 for Humanitarian Assistance." ], [ "Statistics", "Dyeing bezin, one of several types of cloth made in Mali.GDP per capita development of Mali'''GDP:'''purchasing power parity – $41.22 billion (2017 est.", ")'''GDP – real growth rate:'''5.4% (2017 est.", ")'''GDP – per capita:'''purchasing power parity – $2,200 (2017 est.", ")'''GDP – composition by sector:'''''agriculture:''41.8% (2017 est.", ")''industry:''18.1% (2017 est.", ")''services:''40.5% (2017 est.", ")'''Population below poverty line:'''36.1% (2005 est.", ")'''Household income or consumption by percentage share:'''''lowest 10%:''2.4% (2001 est.", ")''highest 10%:''30.2% (2001 est.", ")'''Inflation rate (consumer prices):'''1.8% (2017 est.", ")'''Labor force:'''6.447 million (2017 est.", ")'''Labor force – by occupation:'''agriculture and fishing: 80% (2005 est.", ")industry and services: 20% (2005 est.", ")'''Unemployment rate:'''12%'''Budget:'''''revenues:''3.075 billion (2017 est.", ")''expenditures:''3.513 billion (2017 est.", ")'''Industries:'''food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining'''Industrial production growth rate:'''6.3% (2017 est.", ")'''Electricity – production:'''2.489 billion kWh (2016 est.", ")The Inner Niger Delta and surrounding farmlands, Mali.", "'''Electricity – production by source:'''''fossil fuel:''68%''hydro:''31%''nuclear:''0%''other:''1% (2017 est.", ")'''Electricity – consumption:'''2.982 billion kWh (2016 est.", ")'''Electricity – exports:'''0 kWh (2016 est.", ")'''Electricity – imports:'''800 million kWh (2016 est.", ")'''Agriculture – products:'''cotton, pearl millet, rice, corn, maize, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats'''Exports:'''$3.06 billion (2017 est.", ")'''Exports – commodities:'''cotton 50%, gold, livestock'''Exports – partners:'''Switzerland 31.8%, UAE 15.4%, Burkina Faso 7.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 7.3%, South Africa 5%, Bangladesh 4.6% (2017)'''Imports:'''$3.644 billion (2017 est.", ")'''Imports – commodities:'''petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles'''Imports – partners:'''Senegal 24.4%, China 13.2%, Cote d'Ivoire 9%, France 7.3% (2017)'''Debt – external:'''$4.192 billion (31 December 2017 est.", ")'''Economic aid – recipient:'''$691.5 million (2005)'''Currency:'''1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes'''Exchange rates:'''Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 – 647.25 (January 2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995)''note:''since 1 January 1999, the CFAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro'''Fiscal year:'''calendar year" ], [ "See also", "* Transport in Mali* Tourism in Mali* Communications in Mali* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * Mineral resources of Mali* Mali latest trade data on ITC Trade Map* Mali Market Information: Projet d'Appui au Systéme d'Information Décentralisé du Marché Agricole (PASIDMA).", "* OBSERVATOIRE DU MARCHE AGRICOLE: Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Mali.", "* Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d'Agriculture du Mali \"APCAM\": Agricultural cooperatives assembly, Bamako Mali.", "* The Quicker Ticker- Mali: A French language investment site for Mali* West African Agricultural Market Observer/Observatoire du Marché Agricole (RESIMAO), a project of the West-African Market Information Network (WAMIS-NET), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria.", "Sixty commodities are tracked weekly.", "The project is run by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, and a number of European, African, and United Nations agencies." ] ]
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[ [ "Telecommunications in Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "Children watch television in a village in rural Mali.Mali, a large, landlocked, multicultural country in West Africa, consistently ranks low in the Human Development Index.", "The infrastructure of '''communications in Mali''', while underdeveloped, is crucial to the nation." ], [ "History", "Prior to the 19th century, the area which became Mali was crisscrossed by trade and communication links, the most important being the Niger River, and important southern terminals of the Trans-Saharan trade routes.", "Only the most basic infrastructure (notably the Dakar-Niger Railway) was constructed during the period of French colonialism.", "During the first two decades of independence, Mali received major technical and financial support from the former Soviet Union, China, and their allies, especially in the area of radio and television broadcasting.Since the 1980s, the government has instituted major infrastructural drives, primarily funded by European government partners, to improve and expand communications.", "Cellular phone usage, due to the vast and sparsely populated distances in the north and west, has grown tremendously since the 1990s.Internet connectivity, very low by developed world standards, has been the focus of decentralised commune based development projects since the year 2000, while the government participates in the UN's Global Alliance for ICT and Development and the Connect Africa projects to further computer and internet availability in the country." ], [ "Telephone service", "There are some 112,000 (2012) fixed line telephone lines in Mali, far outstripped by 14.613 million (2012) mobile cellular phone lines.There are two major mobile telephone operators, Ikatel (a subsidiary of Sonatel, of Senegal) and Malitel (a subsidiary of SOTELMA, the state owned telecommunications company).In June 2003, legislation passed allowing other private telecommunications operators to enter the market.", "'''Telephone system:'''domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service''domestic:''network consists of microwave radio relay, open wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress''international:''satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)" ], [ "Radio and television", "'''Radio broadcast stations:'''Government funded: AM 1, shortwave 1.Mali has since 1994 when law allowed for private (as in non-state) radios to begin operating.", "Foreign funding, and some commercial funding (mostly in the capital) have helped to established 160 FM stations in Mali, though many of those are small community \"suitcase radio stations\".", "Private radio are required to be members of URTEL, the radio union https://web.archive.org/web/20070312082256/http://urtel.radio.org.ml/.The state-operated radio is ORTM (office de Radiodiffusion au Television de Mali), which operates 2 FM stations and 1 television station, with repeaters throughout the country.", "''note:''The shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International (2001)'''Radios:'''570,000 (1997)'''Television broadcast stations:'''1 (plus repeaters) (2001)'''Televisions:'''45,000 (1997)" ], [ "Internet", "A computer training center in Bamako.", "'''Top-level domain:''' .ml'''Internet users:'''414,985 users or 2.9% of the population (2011).", "Internet usage is low by international standards, ranked 123 of 125 by the UN in 2002.", "'''Internet Service Providers (ISPs):'''13 (2001).There are an estimated 25 private internet service providers.", "Recently an association has been formed called AFIM (Association de Fournisseurs de l'Internet au Mali), which is intended to represent these providers.SOTELMA the state telecom, provides X.25 and dial-up telephone services.", "Many operators offer dial-up internet service, and wireless internet services.", "Most ISPs are small Bamako based providers with a VSAT connection, a cyber cafe and use wireless systems (Alviron, 802.11a,b, g, Motorola) to share their service with their clients.", "Bamako has at least 21 wireless providers, ranging from small VSAT operators, to sophisticated, multi-access point, full services providers." ], [ "See also", "*Telephone numbers in Mali*Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali: State Radio and Television broadcaster.", "*Union des Radios et Televisions Libres (URTEL)* Media of Mali" ], [ "References", "* Peter Coles, Turn your radio on.", "New Scientist, 7 October 1995.", "* Mali (2007): Freedom House report.", "* Six radio station staff freed on completing sentences: Mali.", "Reporters Without Borders, 26 September 2006.", "* Silicon Mali.", "Silvia Sansoni, Forbes 02.04.02.", "* VOA Training African Affiliates: Broadcasters’ Fiscal Health Key ‘To Guarantee Pluralism’.", "Voice of America, 13 September 2005* Mali Market Information Study FOOD SECURITY II COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT between U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT and MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: IN-COUNTRY TIME PERIOD: JULY 1987 - DECEMBER 1994.", "''statistical evidence is consistent with anecdotal reports from both farmers and traders that the SIM radio broadcasts have fundamentally changed bargaining relationships between traders and farmers, forcing traders to offer more competitive prices in isolated rural markets.", "''* Cécile Leguy.", "Revitalizing the Oral Tradition: Stories Broadcast by Radio Parana (San, Mali).", "Research in African Literatures, Fall 2007, Vol.", "38, No.", "3, Pages 136-147.", "* Radio Bamakan - Mali.", "InteRadio, Vol.", "5, No.2, June 1993." ], [ "External links", "* PanAfriL10n page on Mali" ] ]
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[ [ "Transport in Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "A highway heading south from Bamako, Mali.Mali's transportation infrastructure is regarded as poor, even by regional standards, and deficiencies have limited economic growth and development.", "Nevertheless, improvements have been noted in the early 2000s.", "Most of the transportation in Mali consists of cars, planes, and boats." ], [ "Railways", "Mali has one railroad (the Dakar-Niger Railway), including 729 kilometers in Mali, which runs from the port of Koulikoro via Bamako to the border with Senegal and continues on to Dakar.", "The Bamako-Dakar line, which has been described as dilapidated, was owned by a joint company established by Mali and Senegal in 1995, with the eventual goal of privatization.", "In 2003 the two countries sold a 25-year concession to run the rail line to a Canadian company, which has pledged to upgrade equipment and infrastructure.The Malian portion of the railroad carried an estimated 536,000 tons of freight and 778,000 passengers in 1999.The track is in poor condition, and the line is closed frequently during the rainy season.", "The line is potentially significant because it links landlocked Mali to the port of Dakar, increasingly of interest for Malian exports in the face of the disruption of access to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, as a result of civil conflict in that country beginning in late 2002.In the early 2000s, there also were plans to construct a new rail line between Bamako and Kouroussa and Kankan in Guinea.As of 2013, passenger services in Mali were being offered three days between Bamako and Kayes via Kati and Diamou." ], [ "Highways", "A typical highway scene in Mali.Mali had a road network totaling about 18,563 kilometers in 2000, including about 4,450 kilometers of paved roads.", "Mali's main economic link to the coast is a paved road between Bamako and Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire.", "The European Development Fund is financingconstruction of a road linking Bamako and Dakar, Senegal.", "The African Development Bank is funding the construction of a road linking Bamako and Kankan in Guinea.", "There are also plans for a trans-Saharan road linking Mali with Algeria.In general, road conditions outside of urban areas are hazardous, especially at night.", "Because of isolation, poor road conditions, and the prevalence of banditry, overland travel to the north of Mali is regarded as especially dangerous.", "Flying or traveling by boat is reported to be preferable where possible.", "Many of Mali's major thoroughfares in the north are little more than desert tracks with long isolated stretches.===Urban transport===Because rate of automobile ownership is low, and formal government run public transit is sparse, informal buses and taxis abound in Malian urban centers.", "Bamako in particular is known for its green and yellow taxi fleet.", "Other vehicles, including trucks, buses, motorcycles and mini-vans, function as taxis.", "In recent years small motorcycles, imported from China and most lacking licenses, have come to dominate much of Bamako's traffic.", "Inexpensive motorbikes are often the only affordable transport in Mali, with Chinese made bikes selling for US$700.While the government formally requires licensing for both motorcycles and their operators, these rules are largely ignored.", "Some 500,000 motorcycles were estimated to be operating in Mali in 2009, with two-thirds of them inexpensive Chinese made cycles, known locally as \"Jakarta\"s, which boast better fuel economy but fewer safety features than more expensive Japanese or Western brands.In the 1990s, Bamako banned horse carts, which caused an increase in hand carts on the streets.", "Recent road construction has included separated lanes for two wheeled (carts, bicycles, motorcycles), four wheeled, and pedestrian traffic.===Road fatalities===Motor vehicle accidents are relatively common on Mali's roads.", "The Malian Equipment and Transport Ministry reported that the first half of 2008 saw 254 deaths and 1,924 injuries on Mali's roads, following on 579 deaths in 2007 and 642 in 2006.The government has pledged 15 billion CFAF in 2009 to fund road safety, and has pledged to create a national road security agency to control highway traffic.===Police corruption===While police control barriers are a common sight on African highways, and while illicit demands for bribes at such stops are common in many countries, the main Malian highway heading south from Bamako to the Burkina Faso border was singled out in late 2008 as the worst in West Africa.", "A survey by the Observatory of Abnormal Practices (OPA) of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) found the Malian section of this road to have the highest number of police roadblocks with the highest average amount paid in bribes per trip in West Africa.", "An average of twenty-nine roadblocks, almost 4 for every 100 km, were reported from June to September 2008.The amount paid in bribes in the Mali section (per trip) was CFA F 31,509.Also at Bamako airport is common to ask for CFA 40.000 to be allowed to leave the country.", "While in other nations the customs officials were responsible for most stops, in Mali, gendarmerie (National paramilitary police) and the Police force were found creating the majority of bribe extorting roadblocks" ], [ "Ports and waterways", "The Kankou Moussa river ferry on the Niger river at Korioume, 2008.Mali has no seaports because it is landlocked, but Koulikoro on the Niger River near Bamako, serves as a principal river port.", "Traditionally, Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire has been Mali's main seaport, handling as much as 70 percent of Mali's trade (except for gold exports).", "Mali's export trade suffered when turbulence in Côte d’Ivoire in the early 2000s interrupted that trade route.Mali has 1,815 kilometers of inland waterways, principally the Niger River, some portions of which are navigable for medium and large shipping during the rainy season (June/July–November/December) in years of normal rainfall.", "Parts of the Senegal River also are navigable, providing year-round access to the Atlantic from Kayes to St. Louis in Senegal." ], [ "Aviation", "In 2007 Mali reportedly had 29 airports, 8 of which had paved runways.", "The main airport is Senou International Airport in Bamako, which offers flights to neighboring countries and to Europe.", "As part of infrastructure improvements in 2002, the runway at Bamako was extended, and new airstrips were built in previously isolated areas of the west—Kayes, Mopti, and Sikasso.", "Intercontinental services from Bamako are provided by Air France and a Belgian airline, among others." ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malian Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Malian Armed Forces''' () consists of the Army (), Republic of Mali Air Force (), and National Guard.", "They number some 7,000 and are under the control of the Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans.", "The Library of Congress as of January 2005 stated that \"the military is underpaid, poorly equipped, and in need of rationalization.", "Its organisation has suffered from the incorporation of Tuareg irregular forces into the regular military following a 1992 agreement between the government and Tuareg rebel forces.", "\"In 2009, the IISS Military Balance listed 7,350 soldiers in the Army, 400 in the Air Force, and 50 in the Navy.", "The Gendarmerie and local police forces (under the Ministry of Interior and Security) maintain internal security.", "The IISS listed paramilitary total force as 4,800 personnel: 1,800 in the Gendarmerie (8 companies), 2,000 in the Republican Guard, and 1,000 police officers.", "A few Malians receive military training in the United States, France, and Germany.Military expenditures total about 13% of the national budget.", "Mali is an active contributor to peacekeeping forces in West and Central Africa; the Library of Congress said that in 2004 Mali was participating in United Nations operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC, 28 personnel including 27 observers), Liberia (UNMIL, 252 personnel, including 4 observers), and Sierra Leone (3 observers)." ], [ "History", "The Malian armed forces were initially formed by Malian conscript and volunteer veterans of the French Armed Forces.", "In the months preceding the formation of the Malian armed forces, the French Armed Forces withdrew from their bases in Mali.A national guard soldier walks by demonstrators at Bamako airport.Among the last bases to be closed were those at Kati, on 8 June 1961, Tessalit (''base aérienne secondaire''), on 8 July 1961, Gao (''base aérienne 163 de Gao''), on 2 August 1961, and Air Base 162 at Bamako (''base aérienne 162 de Bamako''), on 5 September 1961.", "\"On 1 October 1960, the Malian army was created and solemnly installed through a speech by Chief of Staff Captain Sekou Traore.", "On 12 October the same year, the population of Bamako attended for the first time an army parade under the command of Captain Tiemoko Konate.", "Organizationally, says Sega Sissoko, is the only battalion of Ségou and includes units scattered across the territory.", "A memo from the Chief of Staff ordered a realignment of the battalion.", "Following on, a command and services detachment in Bamako was created, and the engineer company in Ségou, the first Saharan motorized company of Gao, the Saharan Motor Company of Kidal, the Arouane nomad group, nomadic group of Timetrine (in the commune of Timtaghène), the 1st Reconnaissance Company and Nioro 2nd Reconnaissance Company Tessalit.", "As of 16 January 1961, Mali's army totaled 1232 men.", "\"In the sixties and seventies, Mali's army and air force relied primarily on the Soviet Union for materiel and training.On 19 November 1968, a group of young Malian officers staged a bloodless coup and set up a 14-member military junta, with Lieutenant Moussa Traoré as president.", "The military leaders attempted to pursue economic reforms, but for several years faced debilitating internal political struggles and the disastrous Sahelian drought.", "A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule.", "The military leaders remained in power.Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in June 1979, and General Moussa Traoré received 99% of the votes.", "His efforts at consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by student-led anti-government demonstrations, which were brutally put down, and by three coup attempts.", "The Traore government ruled throughout the 1970s and 1980s.", "On 26 March 1991, after four days of intense anti-government rioting, a group of 17 military officers, led by subsequent President Amadou Toumani Touré, arrested President Traoré and suspended the constitution.", "They formed a civilian-heavy provisional ruling body, and initiated a process that led to democratic elections.The Tuareg rebellion began in 1990 when Tuareg separatists attacked government buildings around Gao.", "The armed forces' reprisals led to a full-blown rebellion in which the absence of opportunities for Tuareg in the army was a major complaint.", "The conflict died down after Alpha Konaré formed a new government and made reparations in 1992.Also, Mali created a new self-governing region, the Kidal Region, and provided for greater Tuareg integration into Malian society.", "In 1994, Tuareg, reputed to have been trained and armed by Libya, attacked Gao, which again led to major Malian Army reprisals and to the creation of the Ghanda Koi Songhai militia to combat the Tuareg.", "Mali effectively fell into civil war.As of June 2008, service commanders were Colonel Boubacar Togola (Armée de Terre), Colonel Waly Sissoko (Armée de l'Air), Lieutenant-Colonel Daouda Sogoba (Garde Nationale) et du Colonel Adama Dembélé (Gendarmerie Nationale).The Malian army largely collapsed during the war against Tuareg separatists and Islamist rebels in early 2012.In a span of less than fourth months at the start of 2012, the Malian army was defeated by the rebels who seized more than 60% of the former Malian territory, taking all camps and position of the army, capturing and killing hundreds of Malian soldiers, while hundred others deserted or defected.Following the rebel advance, a group of soldiers from the Kati camp near Bamako staged a coup on 22 March 2012 which overthrew Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré.", "After the junta seized power, they successfully repelled a counter coup on 30 April by loyalists from the red berets elite units.The Malian military was rebuilt by French forces, and is now capable of conducting counter terrorism operations.", "In February 2020, the army stated that up to 200 Malian troops arrived in Kidal, a Northern city.", "This was the first time the army was deployed in this area because of the Tuareg Separatists rebels that chased out the army since 2014.Since the 2020 coup, the military received equipment from Turkish forces." ], [ "Army", "Manpower is provided by two-year selective conscription.", "Mali apparently has six military regions, according to Jane's World Armies.", "The 1st Military Region and 13th Combined Arms Regiment may be in Gao.", "The 3rd Military Region appears to be at Kati.", "The 4th Military Region is at Kayes and the 5th Military Region is at Timbuktu.The 512 Regiment was reported within the 5th Military Region in 2004.In 2010 Agence France-Presse reported that French training would be given to the 62nd Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 6th Military Region, based at Sévaré.", "The same story said that the regiment consisted of three Rapid Intervention Companies (CIR) and AFP said it was \"considered the elite...of the Malian army.", "\"Mali is one of four Saharan states which created a Joint Military Staff Committee in 2010, to be based at Tamanrasset in southern Algeria.", "Algeria, Mauritania, Niger, and Mali were to take part.The ''134e Escadron de Reconnaissance'' (reconnaissance squadron) was to be trained to operate the French ACMAT Bastion APC by the EUTM Mali.The Army controls the small navy (approx.", "130 sailors and 3 river patrol boats).", "List of Malian generals Nº Rank Name Corps of origin Date of nomination '''1st republic 1960 – 1968''' 01 Général de Brigade Abdoulaye SOUMARÉ (deceased) Infantry 29 December 1960 '''2nd republic, 1968 – 1991''' 02 Général d'Armée Moussa Traoré Infantry 1974/79 03 Général de Division Amadou Baba Diarra (deceased) Armour 1981/84 04 Général de Division Filifing SISSOKO (deceased) Air Force 1982/84 05 Général de Division Sékou LY (deceased) Armour 1984/86 06 Général de Brigade Bougary SANGARÉ (deceased) Infantry 1985/89 07 Général de Brigade Abdoulaye OUOLOGUEM (deceased) Infantry 1985/89 08 Général de Brigade Amara DANFAGA (deceased) Infantry 1985/90 09 Général de Brigade Sory Ibrahim SILLA (deceased) Infantry 1987/90 10 Général de Brigade Mamadou COULIBALY Air Force 1987/91 '''3rd republic, Alpha Oumar Konaré, 1991 – 2002''' 11 Général d'Armée Amadou Toumani TOURÉ Infantry 20 January 1995 12 Général de Division Bourama Siré TRAORÉ Air Force 1997/99 13 Général de Division Cheick O. DIARRA (deceased) Air Force 1997/99 14 Général de Division Kafougouna KONÉ Infantry 1997/99 15 Général de Division Tiécoura DOUMBIA Artillery 1997/99 16 Général de Brigade Mamadou DOUCOURÉ Air Force 1997/99 17 Général de Brigade Abdoul Karim DIOP Engineers 1997/99 18 Général de Brigade Siriman KEITA (deceased) Infantry 1999/2000 '''3rd republic, Amadou Toumani Touré, 2002 – 2010''' 19 Général de Brigade Seydou TRAORÉ Infantry 2005 20 Général de Brigade Salif TRAORÉ Air Force 2006 21 Général de Brigade Sadio GASSAMA Infantry 1 January 2007 22 Général de Brigade Toumani SISSOKO Infantry 1 January 2007 23 Général de Brigade Pangassy SANGARÉ Armour 1 January 2007 24 Général de Brigade Tiefolo TOGOLA Infantry 1 January 2007 25 Général de Brigade Brahima COULIBALY Artillery 1 January 2007 26 Général de Brigade Lassana KONÉ Armour 1 January 2007 27 Général de Division Youssouf BAMBA Air Force 1 January 2007 28 Général de Division Souleymane Sidibé Gendarmerie 1 January 2007 29 Général de Brigade Naïny TOURÉ Gendarmerie 1 January 2007 30 Général de Division Gabriel POUDIOUGOU Infantry 12 June 2008 31 Général de Brigade Mahamane TOURÉ Infantry 1 October 2010 32 Général de Brigade Mamadou DIALLO Infantry 1 October 2010 33 Général de Brigade Kalifa KEITA Armour 1 October 2010 34 Général de Brigade Bégrélé SIORO Air Force 1 October 2010 35 Général de Brigade Mamadou TOGOLA Air Force 1 October 2010 36 Général de Brigade Siaka SANGARÉ Air Force 1 October 2010 37 Général de Brigade Samballa DIALLO Gendarmerie 1 October 2010 38 Général de Brigade Sirakoro SANGARÉ Engineers 1 October 2010 39 Général de Brigade Djibril SANGARÉ DCSSA 1 October 2010 40 Général de Brigade Mohamed COULIBALY DCSSA 1 October 2010 41 Général de Brigade Kani DIABATÉ DCSSA 1 October 2010 42 Général de Brigade Minkoro KANÉ Infantry 1 October 2010 43 Général de Brigade Youssouf GOÏTA Infantry 1 October 2010 44 Général de Brigade Yakouba SIDIBÉ Artillery 1 October 2010 45 Général de Brigade Ismaïla CISSÉ Artillery 1 October 2010 46 Général de Brigade Lamine DIABIRA Armour 1 October 2010 47 Général de Brigade Cheick Fanta M. MAIGA Administration 1 October 2010 48 Général de Brigade Hamet SIDIBÉ Air Force 1 October 2010 49 Général de Brigade Hamidou SISSOKO Gendarmerie 1 October 2010 50 Général de Brigade Idrissa DJILLA Engineers 1 October 2010 51 Général de Brigade Sékou Hamed NIAMBÉlÉ DTTA (transmission) 1 October 2010 52 Général de Brigade Mady MACALOU DCSSA 1 October 2010 53 Général de Brigade Fanta KONIPO (décédé) DCSSA 1 October 2010 54 Général de Brigade Amadou Baba TOURÉ (décéssed) Infantry 1 October 2010 55 Général de Brigade Waly SISSOKO Air Force 1 January 2012 56 Général de Brigade Soumana KOUYATE Air Force 1 January 2012 57 Général de Brigade Mady Boubou KAMISSOKO Gendarmerie 1 January 2012 58 Général de Brigade Mamadou Lamine BALLO Engineers 1 January 2012 59 Général de Brigade Antoine Ibrahima NIENTAO DCSSA 1 January 2012Sources: Mali Actu 17 February 2012: Liste des généraux du Mali sous ATT : À quoi servaient-ils ?", "Quel sera leur sort ?", "and Le Monde-Duniya du 12 avril 2012: Les Generaux du MALI" ], [ "Equipment", "The goal of this list is to comprehensively catalogue Mali's current and past inventory of (armoured fighting) vehicles and heavy weaponry.", "Historically a major recipient of Soviet military aid, frequent arms deliveries in the 1970s and 1980s turned Mali into one of the strongest militaries in western Africa, operating advanced equipment such as dedicated tank destroyers, S-125 SAM systems and MiG-21bis jet fighters.+Equipment currently in service with the Malian ArmyNameImageOriginIn serviceNotesTanksT-54150x150pxN/A(Rarely used operationally).PT-76 Mod.", "1952150x150pxN/A(Rarely used operationally).Type-62 150x150pxN/A(In operational condition but not in active use).Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs)BRDM-2150x150pxN/AInfantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs)BMP-1 150x150pxN/A(In operational condition but not in active use).Armoured Personnel CarriersBTR-152150x150pxN/ABTR-60PB 150x150pxN/A(At least one operates without a turret).BTR-70150x150pxN/AVN2C150pxN/AFahd150x150pxN/AMine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) VehiclesTyphoon 4x4150x150pxN/AGladiator N/ATyphoon 6x6 N/A(Armed with a HMG).Tornado 6x6N/AShrek One150x150pxN/AOTT PUMA M36-15 N/A(Armed with a 12.7mm DShK).Paramount Maurader150x150pxN/ACasspir150x150pxN/AOTT Casspir 150x150pxN/A(Armed with a 12.7mm DShK).RG-31 Nyala150x150pxN/A(Used by the Gendarmerie).VP11N/AInfantry Mobility Vehicles (IMVs)Panhard PVP 150x150pxN/A(Armed with a 12.7mm M2 HMG).ACMAT Bastion150x150pxN/AACMAT Bastion150x150pxN/A(Ambulance).URO VAMTAC150x150pxN/AStark Motors StormN/AKia KLTV150x150pxN/A(Armed with a 7.62mm PKM LMG).VN-4150x150pxN/ACougar 150x150pxN/APython N/A(Not yet seen).All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)Lynx CS/VP11N/AUtility VehiclesACMAT ALTV150x150pxN/AACMAT ALTV AmbulanceN/AMasstecH T4150x150pxN/AKia KM420150x150pxN/AKia KM450 150x150pxN/AKia KM450 Ambulance150x150pxN/ADongfeng EQ2500 150x150pxN/AToyota Land Cruiser150x150pxN/AToyota Land Cruiser Ambulance150x150pxN/AToyota Land Cruiser Prado150x150pxN/AToyota Land Cruiser GXR150x150pxN/ANissan NP300 150x150pxN/ANissan Frontera150x150pxN/AMitsubishi L200150x150pxN/ALand Rover Defender150x150pxN/ALand Rover Defender150x150pxN/A(Ambulance).Towed Artillery100mm MT-12 'Rapira'150x150pxN/A122mm D-30150x150pxN/AMultiple Rocket Launchers (MRLs)107mm Type-63150x150pxN/A122mm 9P122 'Grad-P'150x150pxN/A122mm BM-21 'Grad'150x150pxN/AMortars60mm M57150x150pxN/A82mm 82-BM-37150x150pxN/A120mm PM-43150x150pxN/A(Self-propelled) Anti-Aircraft Guns12.7mm DShK150x150pxN/A14.5mm ZPU-1 150x150pxN/A14.5mm QJG-02 170pxN/A23mm ZSU-23-4 'Shilka'150x150pxN/A(Rarely used operationally).Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)Hawker Q800XN/ATrucksACMAT VLRA 4x4 150x150pxN/AACMAT VLRA 6x6150x150pxN/ABerliet GBC-180150x150pxN/ARenault T430150x150pxN/ARenault Kerax150x150pxN/ARenault Kerax Wrecker150x150pxN/ASNVI M120150x150pxN/ASNVI M230150x150pxN/ASNVI M350150x150pxN/AIveco 330.30 ANW150x150pxN/AIveco Eurocargo150x150pxN/ADAF 2800 6x4150x150pxN/AMAN KAT1 4x4  150x150pxN/AMAN KAT1 6x6  150x150pxN/AMAN TGS 35.440  150x150pxN/AMercedes-Benz MB1017  150x150pxN/AMercedes-Benz Actros150x150pxN/AMercedes-Benz Atego150x150pxN/AMagirus Eckhauber150x150pxN/A(3.Generation).Unimog 1300150x150pxN/AUnimog 1300150x150pxN/A(Ambulance).Ural-4320 150x150pxN/AGAZ-3308 'Sadko'150x150pxN/ADongfeng EQ1092FN/ADongfeng EQ140-1C150x150pxN/ADongfeng EQ240 150x150pxN/AFAW CA1122J N/AHowo Sinotruk 4x4 150x150pxN/AHowo Sinotruk 6x6 150x150pxN/AHongyan Genlyon150x150pxN/AJiefang J5 N/ASachman SX2190N/AEngineering VehiclesCaterpillar bulldozer150x150pxN/AM-Boot150x150pxN/A=== Equipment formerly in service ===+Equipment formerly in serviceNameImageOriginIn StockNotesTanksT-34/85150x150pxN/AFT-17150x150pxN/AArmoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs)BTR-40150x150pxN/A9P133150x150pxN/A(Some repurposed as fire-support vehicles armed with ZU-23s).Towed Artillery76mm ZiS-3150x150pxN/A85mm D-44150x150pxN/AMultiple Rocket Launchers (MRLs)132mm BM-13150x150pxN/AAnti-Aircraft Guns14.5mm ZPU-2 150x150pxN/A37mm M-1939150x150pxN/ASurface-To-Air Missile Systems (SAMs)S-125150x150pxN/ARadarsP-12/18 'Spoon Rest'150x150pxN/AP-15 'Flat Face A'150x150pxN/ASNR-125 'Low Blow' 150x150pxN/A(for S-125), (Not yet seen).Utility VehiclesUAZ-452 150x150pxN/AUAZ-469 150x150pxN/AGAZ-69 150x150pxN/ABeijing BJ212150x150pxN/AVW Iltis150x150pxN/AVW T3150x150pxN/ALand Rover Series III150x150pxN/ATrucksGAZ-66150x150pxN/AZiL-131 150x150pxN/AZiL-157150x150pxN/AMAZ-537150x150pxN/AUral-4320 Crane150x150pxN/AMercedes-Benz SK150x150pxN/AMercedes-Benz 1113150x150pxN/A(Double Cabin).MAN Hauber150x150pxN/AMagirus Eckhauber150x150pxN/AUnimog Ambulance150x150pxN/A(Ambulance).Renault R340150x150pxN/AUnknown TruckN/AN/AEngineering VehiclesGSP-55150x150pxN/APTS150x150pxN/AHanomag Dozer150x150pxN/AGrader150x150pxN/AUnknown Loader N/AN/AUnknown RollerN/AN/A" ], [ "Training establishments", "The Malian armed forces have at least two significant training establishments:* '''Joint Military School''' at Koulikoro* '''Alioune Blondin Beye Peacekeeping Training School''' at Bamako (:fr:École de maintien de la paix Alioune Blondin Beye de Bamako)The Alioune Bloundin Beye school is the tactical-level component of a trio of three ECOWAS peacekeeping training schools: the Alioune Bloundin Beye school (EMPABB), the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana (operational level), and the Nigerian National Defence College (strategic level).", "The school has trained over 6900 students since its opening and is currently supported financially and technically by seven countries and as well as the ECOWAS." ], [ "Air Force", "Bamako–Sénou InternationalThe Mali Air Force (''Armée de l'air du Mali'') was founded in 1961 with French supplied military aid.", "This included MH.1521 Broussard utility monoplane followed by two C-47 transports until Soviet aid starting in 1962 with four Antonov AN-2 Colt biplane transports and four Mi-4 light helicopters.", "It used to operate MiG jets but is currently equipped with cargo aircraft, light attack aircraft and helicopters." ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*'Insurgency, disarmament, and insecurity in Northern Mali 1990–2004,' in Nicolas Florquin and Eric G. Berman (eds.)", "Armed and Aimless Armed Groups, Guns, and Human Security in the ECOWAS Region, Small Arms Survey, , May 2005*Mahamadou Nimaga, 'Mali', in Alan Bryden, Boubacar N'Diaye, 'Security Sector Governance in Francophone West Africa: Realities and Opportunities,' DCAF/Lit Verlag, 2011.", "*Jared Rudacille, \" Security Sector Reform's Utility in Conflict Prevention,\" Monograph written as part of a degree requirement at the US School of Advanced Military Studies, November 2013.", "''(Includes case study of US aid to security sector reform in Mali, 2004–2012.)''" ], [ "External links", "* Soldiers training during the Northern Mali conflict* http://www.jamana.org/lesechos/articles/2005/septembre/ec1_actu15_0905.html – two new Malian generals, total eight* https://web.archive.org/web/20101224193445/http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/12/09BAMAKO815.html – \"Closing ceremony of JCET training for Malian army\"" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Mali" ], [ "Introduction", "Nations with which Mali has diplomatic relations.A Malian VisaFollowing independence in 1960, Mali initially followed a socialist path and was aligned ideologically with the communist bloc.", "Mali's foreign policy orientation became increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time.", "Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 1992, Mali's relations with the West in general and the United States in particular have improved significantly.", "U.S.-Malian relations are described by the U.S. Department of State as \"excellent and expanding,\" especially given Mali's recent record of democratic stability in the volatile area of West Africa and its avowed support of the war on terrorism.", "Mali is reported to be one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid in Africa.Mali is active in regional organizations such as the African Union (AU).", "Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali's major foreign policy goals.", "Mali feels threatened by the potential for the spillover of conflicts in neighboring states, and relations with those neighbors are often uneasy.", "General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional regions.Although Azawad, a region spanning the expansive north of Mali, was proclaimed independent in April 2012 by Tuareg rebels, Mali has not recognised the ''de facto'' state.", "Britain has closed its embassy; ECOWAS has declared an embargo against Mali, aiming to squeeze out Malian oil supplies; closed Mali's assets in the ECOWAS regional bank and has prepared a potential intervention force of 3,000 troops.", "France has declared it will assist in a potential intervention." ], [ "Multilateral membership", "Mali is a member of the United Nations (and many of its specialized agencies), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).", "It also belongs to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU); Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); an associate member of the European Community (EC); and African Development Bank (ADB).Mali is active in regional organizations.", "It participates in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic Monetary Union (UEMOA) for regional economic integration; Liptako-Gourma Authority, which seeks to develop the contiguous areas of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso; the Niger River Commission; the Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel (CILSS); and the Senegal River Valley Development Organization (OMVS).Historically, Mali has used these organizations to leverage the promotion of regional peacekeeping efforts.", "One of the largest issues facing the country is security threats from extremist groups and consequential political unrest.One of the most prominent examples of this is Mali's former membership the G5 Sahel with the fellow member states Burkina Faso (formerly), Chad, Mauritania, and Niger (formerly).", "The Sahel was originally formed on February 16, 2014, with the main objective of encouraging security and development.", "This partnership is historically significant due to the group's shared colonizer, France.", "In its first year of existence, the organization formed a legal framework for strategic intervention and a secretariat located in Nouakchott, Mauritania.", "The framework was titled the Development and Security Strategy (SDS).", "In 2017, the G5 Sahel Joint Force was created and funded through the Priority Investment Program (PIP), aiming to reduce violence and create more stability in the region.", "In a December 2018 coordination conference, $2.6 billion was pledged from foreign nations including the United States, European Union, Saudi Arabia, and China.", "American and French financial support is suspected to be, in part, a result of their consequentially lowered troop commitment in the region.", "This military collective targets organized crime and religious extremists specifically with cross-border operations.", "In addition to military-centered approaches, Mali and Niger have implemented Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration, or DDR, programs while Mauritania and Burkina Faso have not.", "DDR is an approach that removes weapons, breaks up crime organizations, and reintegrates combatants into civilian life or state-sanctioned armed forces.", "Although more costly and time-intensive, DDR has proven to be more sustainable than other stabilization approaches over time.", "The G5 Sahel has been weakening in the most recent years, with many forces from the European Union pulling their troops to concentrate their efforts on the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.", "However, to compensate, the Sahel member states have reported on plans to expand the size of their force from six to fourteen battalions.", "Biannual reports from the Sahel have revealed that the efforts have become increasingly dire with high humanitarian needs and large terrorist activity with large resource and land occupation.", "This eventually lead to its withdrawal on May 15, 2022.As seen with the G5-Sahel, Mali has not been a particularly active or compliant member of these organizations as a result of their ongoing political unrest.", "Despite some early successful peacekeeping initiatives by ECOWAS and the AU, their most recent joint policies are facing challenges of limited institutional capacity, low enforcement, and inexplicit language surrounding its implementation.", "ECOWAS was originally founded to promote economic development across its 15 West African member states, but also works to promote political institutions and stability.", "Recently, it promised to end the unconstitutional takeover of political power in member states, but Mali has since developed new policies to distance themselves from the organization and limit its reach.The UN has also attempted many peacekeeping missions focusing on political unrest, economic objectives, and women's rights throughout Mali's history.", "The most notable effort began with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2013.In 2022, Mali restricted United Nations peacekeeping operations through their security council and, in June 2023, asked for them to be removed.", "Although this program is being dissolved, some UN presence will remain in Mali.", "This effort kept about 15,000 soldiers and police personnel in Mali throughout the project's decade, but has recently been threatened by nearby territorial conflicts.", "It is also rumored that this removal may be the result of some strategic differences.", "Since the AU's creation in 2002, there have been some difficulties aligning it with the UN.", "Generally, the AU prioritizes short-term solutions over long-term, which is opposite to the UN.", "This disagreement has contributed to arguments about jurisdiction and the correct approach to security efforts." ], [ "Bilateral relations", " Country Formal Relations BeganNotes22 July 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 July 1963 when has been accredited first Ambassador of Mali to Algeria Mr. Tidjani Guisse.During the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, the Algerian consulate was seized by at least two people wearing explosives belts.", "Seven hostages were taken, including the consul.", "In regards to Azawad's UDI, Algeria's Prime Minister has declared it would never \"accept questioning Mali's territorial integrity\" Algeria has planned to co-ordinate with MNLA to work towards freeing the hostages.", "* Algeria has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Algiers.8 September 1964Both countries cestablished diplomatic relations on 8 September 196421 February 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 February 199415 March 1984Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 March 1984 when first non-resident Ambassador of Mali to Australia Mr. Boubacar Toure presented his credentials26 November 1996* Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 November 1996* The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Kingdom of Morocco is accredited to the Republic of Mali.6 June 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 June 197730 September 1981Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 September 198122 July 2021Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 July 20211 August 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 August 1963 when M. Gerard Walravens, first Ambassador of Belgium to Mali, resident in Abidjan, presented his letters of credentials to President Modibo Keita.27 August 1965Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 August 1965 when first ambassador of Mali to Dahomey (resident in Niamey) Mr. Hangadoumbo Toure presented his credentials.10 December 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 December 19945 June 2007Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 June 200724 January 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 January 1962.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Brasília.23 October 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 October 1960.4 November 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 November 1964 when appointed first Ambassador of Mali to Burundi (resident in Dar es Salaam) Mr. Boubacar Diallo7 January 1963See Canada–Mali relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 7 January 1963Mali established its embassy in Canada in 1978, with its first appointed ambassador Zana Ousmane Dao, while Canada's embassy in Mali has been open since 1995.Canada has moved from Mali's sixth-largest donor of bilateral official development assistance in 2000 to third-largest in 2007.The value of Canada's exports of goods to Mali exceeded imports from Mali by Cdn.$22m.", "between 1990 and 2008.Natural Resources Canada estimated that Canadian mining investment in Mali reached Cdn.$500 million in 2009, and in 2005, 73 mining concessions were held by Canadian firms in Mali.", "* Canada has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Ottawa.5 September 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 September 196325 October 1960See China–Mali relationsChina established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Mali on 25 October 1960* China has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Beijing.29 September 1988Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 September 198816 February 2016Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 February 2016 when Ambassador of Mali to Comoros Mr. Mahamane Aoudou Cisse presented his credentials to President Dr. Ikililou Dhoinine.27 November 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 November 1964 when Ambassador of Mali to Congo-Brazzaville Mr. Alioune Diakite, presented his credentials to President Alphonse Massamba-Debat.16 April 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 April 1962 when M. Amadou Hampate Ba has been appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary with the rank and prerogatives of Ambassador of Mali to Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (resident in Abidjan).13 September 2001Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 September 200130 December 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 December 1960* Cuba has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Havana.", "26 January 1990Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 January 1990 when first Ambassador of Mali to Cyprus Mr. Sinally Coulibaly presented his credentials10 August 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 August 1960.15 September 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 September 200617 April 2015Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 April 201510 January 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 January 196123 September 2014Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 September 20144 November 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 November 1993.16 February 2012Both countreies established diplomatic relations on 16 February 2012 when Ambassador of Mali to Eritrea Mr. Moussa Diakite, has presented his credentials to President Isaias Afwerki.13 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 November 199223 March 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 March 1964 when first Ambassador of the Republic of Mali, Mr. Modibo Diallo, has presented his credentials to Emperor Haile Selassie18 August 2005See Finland–Mali relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 18 August 200520 August 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1960Mali has a longstanding relationship with France, its former colonial ruler, but relations have been described as ambivalent rather than close.", "Mali dropped out of the Franc Zone shortly after independence, not rejoining until 1967.One contentious issue between the two nations is the frequent expulsion of illegal Malian immigrants from France since 1996.However, France has played a significant part in helping Mali via military support in the Northern Mali conflict, with soldiers of the two nations' armies working together to take back territory from the rebels.", "This military intervention, named Operation Barkhane, had the main objectives of strengthening Mali's armed forces and counterrorism efforts which began in 2013.It was meant to bring stability to the state's institutions but, ultimately, helped to enable the 2020 military-led coup d'état.", "In 2022, Mali expelled the last 2,400 troops of the advanced French military services due to increased violence and worsening conditions following the 2021 coup.", "This marked a shift in relations between the two countries but appears to have not threatened other forms of support, such as financial aid.", "France has historically lent significant funding to Mali, most notably starting in December 2018 during the G-5 Sahel's Joint Force's Priority Investment Program (PIP) conference.", "This funding was meant to boost security efforts with the G5 Sahel, raising US$2.6 billion in pledges for the region from international donors.", "Since the dismantling of the Sahel, it is unclear if and how these funds have been distributed.", "France also donated US$128 million between 2020–2021 to Mali through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC).", "* France has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Paris.25 June 1971Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 June 1971 when Gambia's first Ambassador to Mali, Mr. Samuel Jonathan Okiki Sarr, presented his credentials to the Head of States, Lieut.", "Traore.31 May 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 May 201223 September 1960See Germany–Mali relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 23 September 1960* Germany has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Berlin.14 October 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 14 October 1960 when established Embassy of Mali in Ghana and appointed first Charges d'Affaires Mr.", "Sow Oumar in Accra7 July 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 July 20067 March 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 March 1962 when M. Thiemoko Compah has been appointed as Minister Resident of Mali to Republic of Guinea.12 March 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 March 196123 July 2004Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 July 200424 January 1962See India–Mali relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 24 January 1962.", "* India has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in New Delhi.21 June 1965Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 June 1965 when M. Souraedi Tashi, Indonesia's first Ambassador to Mali, presented his credentials to President Modibo Keita.12 April 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 April 197527 April 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 April 1962 when first Ambassador of Mali to Italy (resident in Paris) Mr. Bokar N'Diaye presented his credentials to President Giovanni Gronchi.17 December 2003Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 December 200318 January 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 January 1962 when has been appointed ambassador of Japan to Mali with residence in Ghana Mr. Susumu Nakagawa.25 April 1988Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 April 198826 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 November 19924 November 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 November 1964 when appointed first Ambassador of Mali to Kenya (resident in Dar es Salaam) Mr. Boubacar Diallo3 July 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 July 1963 when Mali's first Ambassador to Kuwait presented credentials to Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.5 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 November 19922 January 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 January 197726 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 November 19929 October 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 October 1961 when first Lebanese Ambassador to Mali (resident in Accra) Dr. Karim Azqul presented his credentials to President Modibo Keita.14 October 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 14 October 1960 when established Embassy of Mali in Liberia and appointed first Chargé d'Affaires Mr. Sango Ibrahima in Monrovia17 November 1972See Libya-Mali relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 17 November 1972 when the first Libyan Ambassador to Mali, Muhammad Ahmad Mograhi, presented his credentials to President Mousa Traore.", "* Libya has an embassy in Bamako.", "* Mali has an embassy in Tripoli.21 November 1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 November 199515 December 1965Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 December 1965.2 August 2023Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 August 2023 when Ambassador of Mali Mr. Bakary Coulibaly, presented his credentials to President of Malawi Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.16 October 1980Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 October 1980.8 December 1980Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 December 1980.See Mali–Mauritania relationsSince Mauritania negotiated a boundary dispute with Mali in 1963, ties between the two countries have been mostly cordial.", "Mali and Mauritania have cooperated on several development projects, such as the OMVS and a plan to improve roads between Nouakchott and Bamako.", "This cooperation somewhat lessened Mali's dependence on Senegal and Ivory Coast.", "Although relations were warm with other black African states, since 1965 the orientation of Mauritania's foreign policy has been geared towards relations with North African countries.", "* Mali has an embassy in Nouakchott.", "* Mauritania has an embassy in Bamako.1 December 2003Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 200323 March 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 March 1977* Mali is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Mali from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco and has an honorary consulate in Bamako.", "27 September 2004Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 September 200426 January 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 January 201225 January 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 January 196110 May 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 May 201210 January 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 January 196127 October 2004Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 October 2004 when has been accredited non-resident Ambassador of Mali to Namibia Mr. Sinally Coulibaly.19 November 2009Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 November 2009.11 July 1964See Mali–Netherlands relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 11 July 1964 when has been accredited Ambassador of the Netherlands to Mali with residence in Dakar.6 March 1983Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 March 1983 when first Mali Ambassador to New Zealand (resident in Peking), Mr. Boubacar Toure presented his credentials to the Governor-General27 July 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 July 1993 when Ambassador of Mali to Nicaragua Mr. Souleymane Yacouba Sidibe has presented his credentials.1 August 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 August 196217 June 1977Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 June 19771964Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1964 when has been accredited Ambassador of Pakistan to Mali Mr. J. G.", "Kharas.", "* Mali is accredited to Pakistan from its embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.", "25 June 2010Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 June 201016 July 1998Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 July 199812 May 1961See Mali–Poland relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 12 May 196117 December 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 December 1976.1 December 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 196014 October 1960See Mali–Russia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 14 October 1960* Mali has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Bamako.6 January 1987Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 January 1987 when Ambassador of Mali Mr.Moktar Kounta El Bakaye presented his credentials to President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana.11 June 2007Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 June 2007April 2001Both countries established diplomatic relations in April 2001.29 August 1989Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 August 1989.12 February 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 February 1993.3 December 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 December 19926 May 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 May 199427 September 1990Both countries estadlished diplomatic relations on 27 September 1990* Mali is accredited to South Korea from its embassy in Beijing, China.20 August 1964See Mali–Spain relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1964* Mali has an embassy in Madrid.", "* Spain has an embassy in Bamako.19 January 2012Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 January 201219 August 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 August 1962.25 January 1965Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 January 1965 when first Ambassador of Sweden to Mali with residence in Abidjan Mr. Karl Henrik Anderson, presented his letters of credentials.26 May 1961Both coutties established diplomatic relations on 26 May 196115 October 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 October 1993.24 November 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 November 1964 when first Ambassador of Mali to Tanzania presented his credentials to President Julius Nyerere15 September 1981Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 September 1981.17 April 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 April 1963 when accredited first Ambassador of Turkey to Mali (resident in Accra) Mr. Kamran Acet.", "* Mali has an embassy in Ankara.", "*Turkey has an embassy in Bamako.", "*Trade volume between the two countries was US$57 million in 2019 (Mali's exports/imports: 8.6/48.4 million USD).16 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 November 19924 November 1964Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 November 1964 when appointed first Ambassador of Mali to Uganda (resident in Dar es Salaam) Mr. Boubacar Diallo5 November 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 November 199224 September 1960See Mali–United States relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 24 September 1960The bilateral agenda is dominated by efforts to increase broad-based growth, improve health and educational facilities, promote the sustainable use of natural resources, reduce the population growth rate, counter the spread of highly infectious diseases, encourage regional stability, build peacekeeping capabilities, institutionalize respect for human rights, and strengthen democratic institutions in offering good governance.", "Mali currently is a small market for U.S. trade and investment, but there is potential for considerable growth as its economy expands.The majority of Mali-US relations and support is centered around military efforts in the form of intelligence, equipment, and financial aid valuing over $588 million, which began in 2017.From 2020 to 2021, US$205 million was also donated in aid through OECD-DAC.", "This pledged support was announced as conditional on Mali's ability to uphold elections on an agreed timeframe.", "Although this election timeframe has not been upheld, USAID is currently giving to the distinct initiatives of Agriculture and Economic Growth, Education, Health, Humanitarian Assistance, Multi-Sectoral Nutrition, and Peace, Democracy, and Governance (PDG) Programs.", "The most recent coups, expulsion of foreign troops, and rejection of intergovernmental foreign aid has made these programs less stable, but has not slowed donations or halted the US support.", "* Mali has an embassy in Washington, D.C.* United States has an embassy in Bamako.13 February 1997Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 February 199724 December 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 December 197631 October 1960Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 October 19602 October 1987Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 October 1987 when has been accredited Ambassador of Mali to Zambia (Resident in Cairo) Mr. Elbekaye Moctar Kounta.23 March 2006Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 March 2006 when Ambassador of Mali to Zimbabwe (resident in Pretoria), presented his credentials to President Mugabe." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Mali* List of diplomatic missions of Mali" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Malta''' ( , , ), officially the '''Republic of Malta''' ( ), is an island country in southern Europe, located in the Mediterranean Sea.", "It consists of an archipelago between Italy, Tunisia and Libya.", "It lies south of Sicily, Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya.", "The official languages are Maltese, the only Semitic language in the European Union, and English, and the nation's capital is Valletta.With a population of about 519,000 over an area of , Malta is the tenth-smallest country by area and fifth most densely populated sovereign country.", "Its capital is Valletta, the smallest national capital in the European Union by area and population.", "According to 2020 data by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480,134.According to the United Nations, ESPON and EU Commission, \"the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region\".", "Malta increasingly is referred to as a city-state.Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC.", "Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British.", "While Christianity has been present since the time of the early Christians, Malta was predominantly a Muslim country under Arab rule in the Middle Ages.", "Muslim rule ended with the Norman invasion of Malta by Roger I in 1091.Malta became a British colony in 1813, serving as the headquarters for the British Mediterranean Fleet.", "It was besieged by the Axis powers during World War II and was an important Allied base for operations in North Africa and the Mediterranean.", "The British parliament passed the Malta Independence Act in 1964, giving Malta independence, with Elizabeth II as its queen.", "The country became a republic in 1974.It has been a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations since independence, and joined the European Union in 2004; it became part of the eurozone monetary union in 2008.Malta is also closely tied historically and culturally to Italy and specifically Sicily, with between 62 to 66 percent of Maltese people speaking or having significant knowledge of the Italian language, which was one of the official languages of Malta until 1934.Catholicism is the state religion, but the Constitution of Malta guarantees freedom of conscience and religious worship.", "The economy of Malta is heavily reliant on tourism, and the country promotes itself as a Mediterranean tourist destination with its warmer climate compared to the rest of Europe, numerous recreational areas, and architectural and historical monuments, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Valletta, and seven megalithic temples which are some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world.==Etymology==The origin of the name ''Malta'' is uncertain.", "The modern-day variation is derived from the Maltese language.", "The most common etymology is that ''Malta'' is derived from the Greek word , , meaning \"honey\".", "The ancient Greeks called the island () meaning 'honey-sweet', possibly for Malta's unique production of honey by an endemic subspecies of bees.", "The Romans called the island , which can be considered either a Latinisation of the Greek or an adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation.", "In 1525, William Tyndale used the transliteration in his translation of The New Testament that relied on Greek texts instead of Latin.", "''Melita'' is the spelling used in the Authorized (King James) Version of 1611.", "''Malta'' is widely used in more recent versions.Another conjecture suggests that the word ''Malta'' comes from the Phoenician word ''Maleth'', \"a haven\", or 'port'.", "Few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term ''Malta'' appearing in its present form in the ''Antonine Itinerary''." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory===Malta has been inhabited from circa 5900 BC, since the arrival of settlers originating from European Neolithic agriculturalists.", "Pottery found by archaeologists at the Skorba Temples resembles that found in Italy, and suggests that the Maltese islands were first settled in 5200 BC by Stone Age hunters or farmers who had arrived from Sicily, possibly the Sicani.", "The extinction of the dwarf hippos, giant swans and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta.", "Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic include Għar Dalam.", "The population on Malta grew cereals, raised livestock and, in common with other ancient Mediterranean cultures, worshipped a fertility figure.Ġgantija megalithic temple complexA culture of megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period.", "Around 3500 BC, these people built some of the oldest existing free-standing structures in the world in the form of the megalithic Ġgantija temples on Gozo; other early temples include those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra.", "The temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BC.", "Tentative information suggests that animal sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, whose statue is now in the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.", "Another archaeological feature of the Maltese Islands often attributed to these ancient builders is equidistant uniform grooves dubbed \"cart tracks\" or \"cart ruts\" which can be found in several locations throughout the islands, with the most prominent being those found in Misraħ Għar il-Kbir.", "These may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone.", "The culture apparently disappeared from the islands around 2500 BC, possibly due to famine or disease.After 2500 BC, the Maltese Islands were depopulated for several decades until an influx of Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called dolmens.", "They are claimed to belong to a population certainly different from that which built the previous megalithic temples.", "It is presumed the population arrived from Sicily because of the similarity of Maltese dolmens to some small constructions found there.===Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans=== The lands which comprise modern-day Malta were a part of the Byzantine Empire (the empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (its vassals in pink)).Phoenician traders colonised the islands sometime after 1000 BC as a stop on their trade routes from the eastern Mediterranean to Cornwall.", "The Phoenicians inhabited the area now known as Mdina, and its surrounding town of Rabat, which they called ''Maleth''.", "After the fall of Phoenicia in 332 BC, the area came under the control of Carthage.", "During this time, the people on Malta mainly cultivated olives and carob and produced textiles.Roman mosaic from the Domvs RomanaDuring the First Punic War, the island was conquered after harsh fighting by Marcus Atilius Regulus.", "After the failure of his expedition, the island fell back in the hands of Carthage, only to be conquered again in 218 BC, during the Second Punic War, by Roman Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus.", "After that, Malta became ''Foederata Civitas'', a designation that meant it was exempt from paying tribute or the rule of Roman law, and fell within the jurisdiction of the province of Sicily.", "Punic influence, however, remained vibrant on the islands with the famous Cippi of Melqart, pivotal in deciphering the Punic language, dedicated in the second century BC.", "Local Roman coinage, which ceased in the first century BC, indicates the slow pace of the island's Romanization: the last locally minted coins still bear inscriptions in Ancient Greek and Punic motifs, showing the resistance of the Greek and Punic cultures.In the second century, Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–38) upgraded the status of Malta to ''municipium'' or free town: the island local affairs were administered by four ''quattuorviri iuri dicundo'' and a municipal senate, while a Roman procurator, living in Mdina, represented the proconsul of Sicily.", "In 58 AD, Paul the Apostle and Luke the Evangelist were shipwrecked on the islands.", "Paul remained for three months, preaching the Christian faith.", "The island is mentioned at the Acts of the Apostles as Melitene ().In 395, when the Roman Empire was divided for the last time at the death of Theodosius I, Malta, following Sicily, fell under the control of the Western Roman Empire.", "During the Migration Period as the Western Roman Empire declined, Malta was conquered or occupied a number of times.", "From 454 to 464 the islands were subdued by the Vandals, and after 464 by the Ostrogoths.", "In 533, Belisarius, on his way to conquer the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, reunited the islands under Imperial (Eastern) rule.", "Little is known about the Byzantine rule in Malta: the island depended on the theme of Sicily and had Greek Governors and a small Greek garrison.", "While the bulk of population continued to be constituted by the old, Latinized dwellers, during this period its religious allegiance oscillated between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople.", "The Byzantine rule introduced Greek families to the Maltese collective.", "Malta remained under the Byzantine Empire until 870, when it was conquered by the Arabs.===Arab period and the Middle Ages===Malta became involved in the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the conquest of Malta is closely linked with that of Sicily that began in 827 after Admiral Euphemius' betrayal of his fellow Byzantines, requesting that the Aghlabids invade the island.The Muslim chronicler and geographer al-Himyari recounts that in 870, following a violent struggle against the defending Byzantines, the Arab invaders, first led by Halaf al-Hadim, and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, pillaged the island, destroying the most important buildings, and leaving it practically uninhabited until it was recolonised by the Arabs from Sicily in 1048–1049.It is uncertain whether this new settlement resulted from demographic expansion in Sicily, a higher standard of living in Sicily (in which case the recolonisation may have taken place a few decades earlier), or a civil war which broke out among the Arab rulers of Sicily in 1038.The Arab Agricultural Revolution introduced new irrigation, some fruits and cotton, and the Siculo-Arabic language was adopted on the island from Sicily; it would eventually evolve into the Maltese language.===Norman conquest===Roger I of Sicily returned Malta to Christian rule.The Normans attacked Malta in 1091, as part of their conquest of Sicily.", "The Norman leader, Roger I of Sicily, was welcomed by Christian captives.", "The notion that Count Roger I reportedly tore off a portion of his checkered red-and-white banner and presented it to the Maltese in gratitude for having fought on his behalf, forming the basis of the modern flag of Malta, is founded in myth.Malta became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Sicily, which also covered the island of Sicily and the southern half of the Italian Peninsula.", "The Catholic Church was reinstated as the state religion, with Malta under the See of Palermo, and some Norman architecture sprang up around Malta, especially in its ancient capital Mdina.", "King Tancred made Malta a fief of the kingdom and installed a count of Malta in 1192.As the islands were much desired due to their strategic importance, it was during this time that the men of Malta were militarised to fend off attempted conquest; early Counts were skilled Genoese privateers.The kingdom passed on to the Hohenstaufen dynasty from 1194 until 1266.As Emperor Frederick II began to reorganise his Sicilian kingdom, Western culture and religion began to exert their influence more intensely.", "Malta was declared a county and a marquisate, but its trade was totally ruined.", "For a long time it remained solely a fortified garrison.A mass expulsion of Arabs occurred in 1224, and the entire Christian male population of Celano in Abruzzo was deported to Malta in the same year.", "In 1249 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that all remaining Muslims be expelled from Malta or compelled to convert.For a brief period, the kingdom passed to the Capetian House of Anjou, but high taxes made the dynasty unpopular in Malta, due in part to Charles of Anjou's war against the Republic of Genoa, and the island of Gozo was sacked in 1275.===Crown of Aragon rule and the Knights of Malta===Flag of the Aragonese Kingdom of SicilyMalta was ruled by the House of Barcelona, the ruling dynasty of the Crown of Aragon, from 1282 to 1409, with the Aragonese aiding the Maltese insurgents in the Sicilian Vespers in the naval battle in Grand Harbour in 1283.Relatives of the Kings of Aragon ruled the island until 1409 when it formally passed to the Crown of Aragon.", "Early on in the Aragonese ascendancy, the sons of the monarchs received the title Count of Malta.", "During this time much of the local nobility was created.", "By 1397, however, the bearing of the comital title reverted to a feudal basis, with two families fighting over the distinction.", "This led King Martin I of Sicily to abolish the title.", "The dispute over the title returned when the title was reinstated a few years later and the Maltese, led by the local nobility, rose up against Count Gonsalvo Monroy.", "Although they opposed the Count, the Maltese voiced their loyalty to the Sicilian Crown, which so impressed King Alfonso that he did not punish the people for their rebellion.", "Instead, he promised never to grant the title to a third party and incorporated it back into the crown.", "The city of Mdina was given the title of ''Città Notabile''.St.", "Paul's Cathedral, Mdina built in the Baroque styleOn 23 March 1530, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the islands to the Knights Hospitaller under the leadership of Frenchman Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, in perpetual lease for which they had to pay an annual tribute of a single Maltese Falcon.", "These knights, a military religious order also known as the Order of St John and later as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522.The Knights Hospitaller ruled Malta and Gozo between 1530 and 1798.During this period, the strategic and military importance of the island grew greatly as the small yet efficient fleet of the Order of Saint John launched their attacks from this new base targeting the shipping lanes of the Ottoman territories around the Mediterranean Sea.In 1551, the population of the island of Gozo (around 5,000 people) were enslaved by Barbary pirates and taken to the Barbary Coast in North Africa.Castilian knights on 21 August 1565The knights, led by Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, withstood the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565.The knights, with the help of Spanish and Maltese forces, repelled the attack.", "After the siege they decided to increase Malta's fortifications, particularly in the inner-harbour area, where the new city of Valletta, named in honour of Valette, was built.", "They also established watchtowers along the coasts – the Wignacourt, Lascaris and De Redin towers – named after the Grand Masters who ordered the work.", "The Knights' presence on the island saw the completion of many architectural and cultural projects, including the embellishment of Città Vittoriosa (modern Birgu) and the construction of new cities including Città Rohan (modern Ħaż-Żebbuġ).", "However, by the late 1700s the power of the Knights had declined and the Order had become unpopular.===French period and British conquest===Palazzo Parisio in VallettaThe Knights' reign ended when Napoleon captured Malta on his way to Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1798.During 12–18 June 1798, Napoleon resided at the Palazzo Parisio in Valletta.", "He reformed national administration with the creation of a Government Commission, twelve municipalities, a public finance administration, the abolition of all feudal rights and privileges, the abolition of slavery and the granting of freedom to all Turkish and Jewish slaves.", "On the judicial level, a family code was framed and twelve judges were nominated.", "Public education was organised along principles laid down by Bonaparte himself, providing for primary and secondary education.", "He then sailed for Egypt leaving a substantial garrison in Malta.The French forces left behind became unpopular with the Maltese, due particularly to the French forces' hostility towards Catholicism and pillaging of local churches to fund war efforts.", "French financial and religious policies so angered the Maltese that they rebelled, forcing the French to depart.", "Great Britain, along with the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily, sent ammunition and aid to the Maltese, and Britain also sent its navy, which blockaded the islands.On 28 October 1798, Captain Sir Alexander Ball successfully completed negotiations with the French garrison on Gozo for a surrender and transfer of the island to the British.", "The British transferred the island to the locals that day, and it was administered by Archpriest Saverio Cassar on behalf of Ferdinand III of Sicily.", "Gozo remained independent until Cassar was removed by the British in 1801.General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois surrendered his French forces in 1800.Maltese leaders presented the main island to Sir Alexander Ball, asking that the island become a British Dominion.", "The Maltese people created a Declaration of Rights in which they agreed to come \"under the protection and sovereignty of the King of the free people, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland\".", "The Declaration also stated that \"his Majesty has no right to cede these Islands to any power...if he chooses to withdraw his protection, and abandon his sovereignty, the right of electing another sovereign, or of the governing of these Islands, belongs to us, the inhabitants and aborigines alone, and without control.", "\"===British Empire and the Second World War===siege of Malta, 1942In 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became a part of the British Empire and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters.", "After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Malta's position halfway between the Strait of Gibraltar and Egypt proved to be its main asset, and it was considered an important stop on the way to India, a central trade route for the British.A Turkish Military Cemetery was commissioned by Sultan Abdul Aziz and built between 1873 and 1874 for the fallen Ottoman soldiers of the Great Siege of Malta.Between 1915 and 1918, during the First World War, Malta became known as ''the Nurse of the Mediterranean'' due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were accommodated there.", "In 1919, British troops fired into a crowd protesting against new taxes, killing four.", "The event, known as Sette Giugno (\"7 June\"), is commemorated every year and is one of five National Days.", "Until the Second World War, Maltese politics was dominated by the Language Question fought out by Italophone and Anglophone parties.Before the Second World War, Valletta was the location of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean fleet headquarters; however, despite Winston Churchill's objections, the command was moved to Alexandria, Egypt, in 1937 out of fear that it was too susceptible to air attacks from Europe.", "During the war Malta played an important role for the Allies; being a British colony, situated close to Sicily and the Axis shipping lanes, Malta was bombarded by the Italian and German air forces.", "Malta was used by the British to launch attacks on the Italian Navy and had a submarine base.", "It was also used as a listening post, intercepting German radio messages including Enigma traffic.", "The bravery of the Maltese people during the second siege of Malta moved King George VI to award the George Cross to Malta on a collective basis on 15 April 1942.Some historians argue that the award caused Britain to incur disproportionate losses in defending Malta, as British credibility would have suffered if Malta had surrendered, as British forces in Singapore had done.", "A depiction of the George Cross now appears on the Flag of Malta and the country's arms.===Independence and Republic===Monument to the independence of Malta in FlorianaMalta joined the European Union in 2004 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.Malta achieved its independence as the State of Malta on 21 September 1964 (Independence Day).", "Under its 1964 constitution, Malta initially retained Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta and thus head of state, with a governor-general exercising executive authority on her behalf.", "In 1971, the Malta Labour Party led by Dom Mintoff won the general elections, resulting in Malta declaring itself a republic on 13 December 1974 (Republic Day) within the Commonwealth.", "A defence agreement was signed soon after independence, and after being re-negotiated in 1972, expired on 31 March 1979 (Freedom Day).", "Upon its expiry, the British base closed and lands formerly controlled by the British were given to the Maltese government.", "In the aftermath of the departure of the remaining British troops in 1979 the country intensified its participation in the Non-Aligned Movement.", "Malta adopted a policy of neutrality in 1980.In that same year, three of Malta's sites, including the capital Valletta, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.", "In 1989, Malta was the venue of a summit between US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, their first face-to-face encounter, which signalled the end of the Cold War.", "Malta International Airport was inaugurated and became fully operational on 25 March 1992, boosting the local aircraft and tourism industry.", "A referendum on joining the European Union was held on 8 March 2003, with 53.65% in favour.", "Malta joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 and the eurozone on 1 January 2008." ], [ "Politics", "Parliament House in VallettaMalta is a republic whose parliamentary system and public administration are closely modelled on the Westminster system.The unicameral Parliament is made up of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives ().", "The President of Malta, a largely ceremonial position, is appointed for a five-year term by a resolution of the House of Representatives carried by a simple majority.", "The House of Representatives has 65 members, elected for a five-year term in 13 five-seat electoral divisions, called , with constitutional amendments that allow for mechanisms to establish strict proportionality amongst seats and votes of political parliamentary groups.", "Members of the House of Representatives are elected by direct universal suffrage through single transferable vote every five years, unless the House is dissolved earlier by the president either on the advice of the prime minister or through a motion of no confidence.", "Malta had the second-highest voter turnout in the world (and the highest for nations without mandatory voting), based on election turnout in national lower house elections from 1960 to 1995.Since Malta is a republic, the head of state in Malta is the President of the Republic.", "The current President of the Republic is George Vella, who was appointed in 2019 after being nominated both by the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party as opposition.", "The 80th article of the Constitution of Malta provides that the president appoint as prime minister \"the member of the House of Representatives who, in his judgment, is best able to command the support of a majority of the members of that House\".", "Maltese politics is a two-party system dominated by the Labour Party (), a centre-left social democratic party, and the Nationalist Party (), a centre-right Christian democratic party.", "The Labour Party has been the governing party since 2013 and is currently led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, who has been in office since 13 January 2020.There are a number of small political parties in Malta which have no parliamentary representation.", "===Administrative divisions===Administrative divisions of MaltaMalta has had a system of local government since 1993, based on the European Charter of Local Self-Government.", "The country is divided into five regions (one of them being Gozo), with each region having its own Regional Committee, serving as the intermediate level between local government and national government.", "The regions are divided into local councils, of which there are currently 68 (54 in Malta and 14 in Gozo).", "The six districts (five on Malta and the sixth being Gozo) serve primarily statistical purposes.Each council is made up of a number of councillors (from 5 to 13, depending on and relative to the population they represent).", "A mayor and a deputy mayor are elected by and from the councillors.", "The executive secretary, who is appointed by the council, is the executive, administrative and financial head of the council.", "Councillors are elected every four years through the single transferable vote.", "Due to system reforms, no elections were held before 2012.Since then, elections have been held every two years for an alternating half of the councils.Local councils are responsible for the general upkeep and embellishment of the locality (including repairs to non-arterial roads), allocation of local wardens, and refuse collection; they also carry out general administrative duties for the central government such as the collection of government rents and funds and answer government-related public inquiries.", "Additionally, a number of individual towns and villages in the Republic of Malta have sister cities.===Military===''Protector''-class patrol boats of the Maritime Squadron of the AFMThe objectives of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) are to maintain a military organisation with the primary aim of defending the islands' integrity according to the defence roles as set by the government in an efficient and cost-effective manner.", "This is achieved by emphasising the maintenance of Malta's territorial waters and airspace integrity.The AFM also engages in combating terrorism, fighting against illicit drug trafficking, conducting anti-illegal immigrant operations and patrols, and anti-illegal fishing operations, operating search and rescue (SAR) services, and physical or electronic security and surveillance of sensitive locations.", "Malta's search-and-rescue area extends from east of Tunisia to west of Crete, an area of around .As a military organisation, the AFM provides backup support to the Malta Police Force (MPF) and other government departments/agencies in situations as required in an organised, disciplined manner in the event of national emergencies (such as natural disasters) or internal security and bomb disposal.In 2020, Malta signed and ratified the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.===Human rights===Malta is regarded as one of the most LGBT-supportive countries in the world, and was the first nation in the European Union to prohibit conversion therapy.", "Malta also constitutionally bans discrimination based on disability.Maltese legislation recognises both civil and canonical (ecclesiastical) marriages.", "Annulments by the ecclesiastical and civil courts are unrelated and are not necessarily mutually endorsed.", "Malta voted in favour of divorce legislation in a referendum held on 28 May 2011.Abortion in Malta is illegal.", "It is the only European Union member state with a total ban on the procedure.", "There are no exceptions for rape or incest.", "On 21 November 2022, the government led by the Labour Party proposed a bill that \"introduces a new clause into the country's criminal code allowing for the termination of a pregnancy if the mother's life is at risk or if her health is in serious jeopardy\".", "As of 2023, an exception was added to allow abortion only if the mother's life is at risk." ], [ "Geography", "Topographic map of MaltaMalta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean (in its eastern basin), some from southern Italy across the Malta Channel.", "Only the three largest islands—Malta (), Gozo (), and Comino ()—are inhabited.", "The islands of the archipelago lie on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last ice age.", "The archipelago is located on the African tectonic plate.", "Malta was considered an island of North Africa for centuries.Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours.", "The landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields.", "The highest point in Malta is Ta' Dmejrek, at , near Dingli.", "Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Malta.", "However, some watercourses have fresh water running all year round at Baħrija near Ras ir-Raħeb, at l-Imtaħleb and San Martin, and at Lunzjata Valley in Gozo.Phytogeographically, Malta belongs to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian province of the Mediterranean region within the Boreal Kingdom.", "According to the WWF, the territory of Malta belongs to the terrestrial ecoregion of Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests.Maltese landscape, MġarrThe following uninhabited minor islands are part of the archipelago:* Barbaġanni Rock (Gozo)* Cominotto ()* Dellimara Island (Marsaxlokk)* Filfla (Żurrieq)/(Siġġiewi)* Fessej Rock* Fungus Rock (), (Gozo)* Għallis Rock (Naxxar)* Ħalfa Rock (Gozo)* Large Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)* Islands of St. Paul/Selmunett Island (Mellieħa)* Manoel Island, which connects to the town of Gżira, on the mainland via a bridge* Mistra Rocks (San Pawl il-Baħar)* Taċ-Ċawl Rock (Gozo)* Qawra Point/Ta' Fraben Island (San Pawl il-Baħar)* Small Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)* Sala Rock (Żabbar)* Xrobb l-Għaġin Rock (Marsaxlokk)* Ta' taħt il-Mazz Rock===Climate===Malta has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification ''Csa''), with mild winters and hot summers, hotter in the inland areas.", "Rain occurs mainly in autumn and winter, with summer being generally dry.The average yearly temperature is around during the day and at night.", "In the coldest month – January – the typical maximum temperature ranges from during the day and minimum at night.", "In the warmest month – August – the typical maximum temperature ranges from during the day and minimum at night.", "Amongst all capitals in the continent of Europe, Valletta – the capital of Malta has the warmest winters, with average temperatures of around during the day and at night in the period January–February.", "In March and December average temperatures are around during the day and at night.", "Large fluctuations in temperature are rare.", "Snow is very rare, although snowfalls have been recorded in the last century, the last one in 2014.The average annual sea temperature is , from in February to in August.", "In the 6 months – from June to November – the average sea temperature exceeds .The annual average relative humidity is high, averaging 75%, ranging from 65% in July (morning: 78% evening: 53%) to 80% in December (morning: 83% evening: 73%).Sunshine duration hours total around 3,000 per year, from an average 5.2 hours of sunshine duration per day in December to an average above 12 hours in July.", "This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europe, for comparison: London – 1,461; however, in winter it has up to four times more sunshine; for comparison: in December, London has 37 hours of sunshine whereas Malta has above 160.===Urbanisation===The main urban area of Malta.", "Valletta is the central peninsula.According to Eurostat, Malta is composed of two larger urban zones nominally referred to as \"Valletta\" (the main island of Malta) and \"Gozo\".", "The main urban area covers the entire main island, with a population of around 400,000.The core of the urban area, the ''greater city'' of Valletta, has a population of 205,768.According to the data from 2020 by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480 134.According to the United Nations, about 95 percent of the area of Malta is urban and the number grows every year.", "According to ESPON and EU Commission studies, \"the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region\".Malta, with area of and population of over 0.5 million, is one of the most densely populated countries worldwide.", "It is in some sources referred to as a city-state.", "Sometimes Malta is listed in rankings concerning cities or metropolitan areas.===Flora===Maltese centaury (, since 1971)The Maltese islands are home to a wide diversity of indigenous, sub-endemic and endemic plants.", "They feature many traits typical of a Mediterranean climate, such as drought resistance.", "The most common indigenous trees on the islands are olive (''Olea europaea''), carob (''Ceratonia siliqua''), fig (''Ficus carica''), holm oak (''Quericus ilex'') and Aleppo pine (''Pinus halepensis''), while the most common non-native trees are eucalyptus, acacia and opuntia.", "Endemic plants include the national flower (''Cheirolophus crassifolius''), (''Helichrysum panormitanum'' subsp.", "''melitense''), (''Hyoseris frutescens'') and (''Matthiola incana'' subsp.", "''melitensis'') while sub-endemics include (''Jacobaea maritima'' subsp.", "''sicula'') and (''Micromeria microphylla'').", "The biodiversity of Malta is severely endangered by habitat loss, invasive species and human intervention." ], [ "Economy", "The dolphin show at Mediterraneo Marine Park.", "Tourism generates a significant part of the GDP of Malta.Malta is classified as an advanced economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).", "Malta's major resources are limestone, a favourable geographic location and a productive labour force.", "Malta produces only about 20 percent of its food needs, has limited fresh water supplies because of the drought in the summer, and has no domestic energy sources, aside from the potential for solar energy from its plentiful sunlight.", "The economy is dependent on foreign trade (serving as a freight trans-shipment point), manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism.", "Film production has contributed to the Maltese economy.Access to biocapacity in Malta is below the world average.", "In 2016, Malta had 0.6 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, contrasted with a global average of 1.6 hectares per person.", "Additionally, residents of Malta exhibited an ecological footprint of consumption of 5.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person, resulting in a sizable biocapacity deficit.Malta is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue).In preparation for Malta's membership in the European Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004, it privatised some state-controlled firms and liberalised markets.", "Malta has a financial regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), with a strong business development mindset, and the country has been successful in attracting gaming businesses, aircraft and ship registration, credit-card issuing banking licences and also fund administration.", "Malta has made strong headway in implementing EU Financial Services Directives including UCITs IV and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs).", "As a base for alternative asset managers who must comply with new directives, Malta has attracted a number of key players including IDS, Iconic Funds, Apex Fund Services and TMF/Customs House.As of 2015, Malta did not have a property tax.", "Its property market, especially around the harbour area, was booming, with the prices of apartments in some towns like St Julian's, Sliema and Gzira skyrocketing.According to Eurostat data, Maltese GDP per capita stood at 88 per cent of the EU average in 2015 with €21,000.The National Development and Social Fund from the Individual Investor Programme, a citizenship by investment programme also known as the \"citizenship scheme\", became a significant income source for the government of Malta, adding 432,000,000 euro to the budget in 2018.===Banking and finance===Portomaso Business Tower, the tallest building in MaltaThe two largest commercial banks are Bank of Valletta and HSBC Bank Malta.", "Digital banks such as Revolut have also increased in popularity.", "The Central Bank of Malta (Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta) has two key areas of responsibility: the formulation and implementation of monetary policy and the promotion of a sound and efficient financial system.", "The Maltese government entered ERM II on 4 May 2005, and adopted the euro as the country's currency on 1 January 2008.===Currency===Maltese euro coins feature the Maltese cross on €2 and €1 coins, the coat of arms of Malta on the €0.50, €0.20 and €0.10 coins, and the Mnajdra Temples on the €0.05, €0.02 and €0.01 coins.Malta has produced collectors' coins with face value ranging from 10 to 50 euros.", "These coins continue an existing national practice of minting of silver and gold commemorative coins.", "Unlike normal issues, these coins are not accepted in all the eurozone.From its introduction in 1972 until the introduction of the Euro in 2008, the currency was the Maltese lira, which had replaced the Maltese pound.", "The pound replaced the Maltese scudo in 1825.===Tourism===Mellieħa Bay beachMalta is a popular tourist destination, with 1.6 million tourists per year.", "Three times more tourists visit than there are residents.", "Tourism infrastructure has increased dramatically over the years and a number of hotels are present on the island, although overdevelopment and the destruction of traditional housing is of growing concern.", "In 2019, Malta had a record year in tourism, recording over 2.1 million tourists in one single year.In recent years, Malta has advertised itself as a medical tourism destination, and a number of health tourism providers are developing the industry.", "However, no Maltese hospital has undergone independent international healthcare accreditation.", "Malta is popular with British medical tourists, pointing Maltese hospitals towards seeking UK-sourced accreditation, such as with the Trent Accreditation Scheme.Tourism in Malta contributes around 11.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product.===Science and technology===Malta signed a co-operation agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) for more-intensive co-operation in ESA projects.The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) is the civil body responsible for the development of science and technology on an educational and social level.", "Most science students in Malta graduate from the University of Malta and are represented by S-Cubed (Science Student's Society), UESA (University Engineering Students Association) and ICTSA (University of Malta ICT Students' Association).", "Malta was ranked 25th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023." ], [ "Demographics", "As of the 2021 census, Maltese-born natives make up the majority of the island with 386,280 people out of a total population of 519,562.However, there are minorities, the largest of which by birthplace were: 15,082 from the United Kingdom, Italy (13,361), India (7,946), Philippines (7,784) and Serbia (5,935).", "Among racial origins for the non-Maltese, 58.1% of all identified as Caucasian, 22.2% Asian, 6.3% Arab, 6.0% African, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino and 2.9% more than one race., 17 percent were aged 14 and under, 68 percent were within the 15–64 age bracket whilst the remaining 13 percent were 65 years and over.", "Malta's population density of 1,282 per square km (3,322/sq mi) is by far the highest in the EU and one of the highest in the world.", "Valletta, Malta's capitalThe Maltese-resident population for 2004 was estimated to make up 97.0 per cent of the total resident population.", "All censuses since 1842 have shown a slight excess of females over males.", "Population growth has slowed down, from +9.5 per cent between the 1985 and 1995 censuses, to +6.9 per cent between the 1995 and 2005 censuses (a yearly average of +0.7 per cent).", "The birth rate stood at 3860 (a decrease of 21.8 per cent from the 1995 census) and the death rate stood at 3025.Thus, there was a natural population increase of 835 (compared to +888 for 2004, of which over a hundred were foreign residents).The population's age composition is similar to the age structure prevalent in the EU.", "Malta's old-age-dependency-ratio rose from 17.2 percent in 1995 to 19.8 percent in 2005, reasonably lower than the EU's 24.9 percent average; 31.5 percent of the Maltese population is aged under 25 (compared to the EU's 29.1 percent); but the 50–64 age group constitutes 20.3 percent of the population, significantly higher than the EU's 17.9 percent.", "Malta's old-age-dependency-ratio is expected to continue rising steadily in the coming years.In 2021, the population of the Maltese Islands stood at 519,562.The total fertility rate (TFR) was estimated at 1.45 children born/woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1.In 2012, 25.8 per cent of births were to unmarried women.", "The life expectancy in 2018 was estimated at 83.===Languages===''Il-Kantilena'' by Pietru Caxaro, the oldest text in Maltese language, 15th centuryThe Maltese language () is one of the two constitutional languages of Malta and is considered the national language.", "The second official language is English and hence laws are enacted both in Maltese and English.", "However, article 74 of the Constitution states that \"if there is any conflict between the Maltese and the English texts of any law, the Maltese text shall prevail.", "\"Maltese is a Semitic language descended from the now extinct Sicilian-Arabic (Siculo-Arabic) dialect (from southern Italy) that developed during the Emirate of Sicily.", "The Maltese alphabet consists of 30 letters based on the Latin alphabet.In 2022, Malta National Statistics Office states that 90 percent of the Maltese population has at least a basic knowledge of Maltese, 96 percent of English, 62 percent of Italian, and 20 percent of French.", "This widespread knowledge of second languages makes Malta one of the most multilingual countries in the European Union.", "A study collecting public opinion on what language was \"preferred\" discovered that 86 percent of the population preferred Maltese, 12 percent English, and 2 percent Italian.", "Italian television channels from Italy-based broadcasters, such as Mediaset and RAI, reach Malta and remain popular.Maltese Sign Language is used by signers in Malta.===Religion===The predominant religion in Malta is Catholicism.", "The second article of the Constitution of Malta establishes Catholicism as the state religion and it is also reflected in various elements of Maltese culture, although there are entrenched provisions for the freedom of religion.", "There are more than 360 churches in Malta, Gozo, and Comino, or one church for every 1,000 residents.", "The parish church (Maltese: ''\"il-parroċċa\"'', or ''\"il-knisja parrokkjali\"'') is the architectural and geographic focal point of every Maltese town and village.Malta is an Apostolic See; the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 28) tells of how St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island of \"Melite\", which many Bible scholars identify with Malta, an episode dated around AD 60.The Maltese saint, Saint Publius is said to have been made Malta's first bishop.", "Further evidence of Christian practices and beliefs during the period of Roman persecution appears in catacombs that lie beneath various sites around Malta, including St. Paul's Catacombs.", "There are also a number of cave churches, including the grotto at Mellieħa, which is a Shrine of the Nativity of Our Lady where, according to legend, St. Luke painted a picture of the Madonna.", "It has been a place of pilgrimage since the medieval period.For centuries, the Church in Malta was subordinate to the Diocese of Palermo, except when it was under Charles of Anjou, who appointed bishops for Malta, as did – on rare occasions – the Spanish and later, the Knights.", "Since 1808 all bishops of Malta have been Maltese.", "The patron saints of Malta are Saint Paul, Saint Publius, and Saint Agatha.", "Although not a patron saint, St George Preca (San Ġorġ Preca) is greatly revered as the second canonised Maltese saint after St. Publius.", "Various Catholic religious orders are present in Malta, including the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and Little Sisters of the Poor.Most congregants of the local Protestant churches are not Maltese; their congregations draw on vacationers and British retirees living in the country.", "There are also a Seventh-day Adventist church in Birkirkara, and a New Apostolic Church congregation founded in 1983 in Gwardamangia.", "There are approximately 600 Jehovah's Witnesses.", "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is also represented.The Beheading of Saint John'', by Caravaggio.", "Oil on canvas, .", "Oratory of the Co-Cathedral.The Jewish population of Malta reached its peak in the Middle Ages under Norman rule.", "In 1479, Malta and Sicily came under Aragonese rule and the Alhambra Decree of 1492 forced all Jews to leave the country.", "Today, there are two Jewish congregations.", "In 2019 the Jewish community in Malta gathered around 150 persons, slightly more than the 120 (of which 80 were active) estimated in 2003, and mostly elderly.", "Many among the newer generations decided to settle abroad, including in England and Israel.", "Most contemporary Maltese Jews are Sephardi, however, an Ashkenazi prayer book is used.", "In 2013 the Chabad Jewish Center in Malta was founded.There is one Muslim mosque, the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque.", "Of the estimated 3,000 Muslims in Malta, approximately 2,250 are foreigners, approximately 600 are naturalised citizens, and approximately 150 are native-born Maltese.Zen Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith claim some 40 members.In a survey held by Malta Today, the overwhelming majority of the Maltese population adheres to Christianity (95.2%) with Catholicism as the main denomination (93.9%); 4.5% of the population declared themselves either atheist or agnostic, one of the lowest figures in Europe.", "According to a 2019 Eurobarometer survey, 83% of the population identified as Catholic.", "The number of atheists has doubled from 2014 to 2018.Non-religious people have a higher risk of suffering from discrimination.", "In the 2015 edition of the annual Freedom of Thought Report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Malta was in the category of \"severe discrimination\".", "In 2016, following the abolishment of blasphemy law, Malta was shifted to the category of \"systematic discrimination\" (same as most EU countries).===Migration===Foreign population in MaltaYearPopulation% total200512,1123.0%201120,2894.9%201998,91821.0%2020119,26123.17%Historically a land of emigration, since the early 21st century Malta has seen a significant increase in net migration; the foreign-born population has grown nearly eightfold between 2005 and 2020.Most of the foreign community in Malta consists of active or retired British nationals and their dependents, centred on Sliema and surrounding suburbs.", "Other smaller foreign groups include Italians, Libyans, and Serbians, many of whom have assimilated into the Maltese nation over the decades.Malta is also home to a large number of foreign workers who migrated to the island for economic opportunity.", "This migration was driven predominantly in the early 21st century, when the Maltese economy was steadily booming yet the cost and quality of living on the island remained relatively stable.", "In recent years however the local Maltese housing index has doubled pushing property and rental prices to very high and almost unaffordable levels.", "Consequently, some expats in Malta have seen their relative financial fortunes decline, with others relocating to other European countries altogether.Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe.", "As a member of the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, Malta is bound by the Dublin Regulation to process all claims for asylum by those asylum seekers that enter EU territory for the first time in Malta.", "However, irregular migrants who land in Malta are subject to a compulsory detention policy, being held in several camps organised by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM), including those near Ħal Far and Ħal Safi.", "The compulsory detention policy has been denounced by several NGOs, and in July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found that Malta's detention of migrants was arbitrary, lacking in adequate procedures to challenge detention, and in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.", "On 8 September 2020, Amnesty International criticized Malta for \"illegal tactics\" in the Mediterranean, against immigrants who were attempting to cross from North Africa.", "The reports claimed that the government's approach might have led to avoidable deaths.In January 2014, Malta started granting citizenship for a €650,000 contribution plus investments, contingent on residence and criminal background checks.", "This \"golden passport\" citizenship scheme has been criticized as a fraudulent act by the Maltese Government.", "Concerns as to whether the Maltese citizenship scheme is allowing an influx of such individuals into the greater European Union have been raised by both the public as well as the European Council on multiple occasions.Child Migrants' Memorial at the Valletta Waterfront, commemorating the 310 child migrants who travelled to Australia between 1950 and 1965In the 19th century, most emigration from Malta was to North Africa and the Middle East, although rates of return migration to Malta were high.", "In the 20th century, most emigrants went to destinations in the New World, particularly to Australia, Canada, and the United States.", "Post Second World War, Malta's Emigration Department would assist emigrants with the cost of their travel.", "Between 1948 and 1967, 30 percent of the population emigrated.", "Between 1946 and the late-1970s, over 140,000 people left Malta on the assisted passage scheme, with 57.6% migrating to Australia, 22% to the UK, 13% to Canada and 7% to the United States.", "Emigration dropped dramatically after the mid-1970s and has since ceased to be a social phenomenon of significance.", "However, since Malta joined the EU in 2004 expatriate communities emerged in a number of European countries, particularly in Belgium and Luxembourg.===Education===University of MaltaNational Library in VallettaPrimary schooling has been compulsory since 1946; secondary education up to the age of sixteen was made compulsory in 1971.The state and the Church provide education free of charge, both running a number of schools in Malta and Gozo.", ", state schools are organised into networks known as Colleges and incorporate kindergarten schools, primary and secondary schools.", "A number of private schools are run in Malta.", "St. Catherine's High School, Pembroke offers an International Foundation Course for students wishing to learn English before entering mainstream education.", ", there are two international schools, Verdala International School and QSI Malta.", "The state pays a portion of the teachers' salary in Church schools.Education in Malta is based on the British model.", "Primary school lasts six years.", "Pupils sit for SEC O-level examinations at the age of 16, with passes obligatory in mathematics, a minimum of one science subject, English and Maltese.", "Pupils may opt to continue studying at a sixth form college for two years, at the end of which students sit for the matriculation examination.", "Subject to their performance, students may then apply for an undergraduate degree or diploma.The adult literacy rate is 99.5 per cent.Maltese and English are both used to teach pupils at the primary and secondary school level, and both languages are also compulsory subjects.", "Public schools tend to use both Maltese and English in a balanced manner.", "Private schools prefer to use English for teaching, as is also the case with most departments of the University of Malta; this has a limiting effect on the capacity and development of the Maltese language.", "Most university courses are in English.", "The College of Remote and Offshore Medicine based in Malta teaches exclusively in English.Of the total number of pupils studying a first foreign language at secondary level, 51 per cent take Italian whilst 38 per cent take French.", "Other choices include German, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Chinese and Arabic.Malta is also a popular destination to study the English language, attracting over 83,000 students in 2019." ], [ "Infrastructure", "===Transport===Traffic in Malta drives on the left.", "Car ownership in Malta is exceedingly high, considering the very small size of the islands; it is the fourth-highest in the European Union.", "There were 182,254 registered cars in 1990, giving an automobile density of .", "Malta has of road, (87.5 per cent) of which are paved (as of December 2003).Maltese ''Otokar'' and ''King Long'' busesBuses (''xarabank'' or ''karozza tal-linja'') are the primary method of public transport, established in 1905.Malta's vintage buses operated in the Maltese islands up to 2011 and became popular tourist attractions.", "To this day they are depicted on many Maltese advertisements and merchandise for tourists.The bus service underwent extensive reform in July 2011.The management structure changed from having self-employed drivers driving their own vehicles to a service being offered by a single company through a public tender.", "The public tender was won by Arriva Malta, which introduced a fleet of brand new buses, built by King Long especially for service by Arriva Malta and including a smaller fleet of articulated buses brought in from Arriva London.", "It also operated two smaller buses for an intra-Valletta route only and 61 nine-metre buses, which were used to ease congestion on high-density routes.", "Overall Arriva Malta operated 264 buses.", "On 1 January 2014 Arriva ceased operations in Malta due to financial difficulties, having been nationalised as ''Malta Public Transport''.", "The government chose Autobuses Urbanos de León (Alsa subsidiary) as its preferred bus operator for the country in October 2014.From October 2022, the bus system is free of charge for residents of Malta.As of 2021, an underground Malta Metro is being planned, with a projected total cost of €6.2 billion.Malta Freeport, one of the largest European portsMalta has three large natural harbours on its main island:* The Grand Harbour (or Port il-Kbir), located at the eastern side of the capital city of Valletta, has been a harbour since Roman times.", "It has several extensive docks and wharves, as well as a cruise liner terminal.", "A terminal at the Grand Harbour serves ferries that connect Malta to Pozzallo & Catania in Sicily.", "* Marsamxett Harbour, located on the western side of Valletta, accommodates a number of yacht marinas.", "* Marsaxlokk Harbour (Malta Freeport), at Birżebbuġa on the south-eastern side of Malta, is the islands' main cargo terminal.", "Malta Freeport is the 11th busiest container ports in continent of Europe and 46th in the World with a trade volume of 2.3 million TEU's in 2008.There are also two human-made harbours that serve a passenger and car ferry service that connects Ċirkewwa Harbour on Malta and Mġarr Harbour on Gozo.Malta International Airport (Ajruport Internazzjonali ta' Malta) is the only airport serving the Maltese islands.", "It is built on the land formerly occupied by the RAF Luqa air base.", "A heliport is also located there.", "The heliport in Gozo is at Xewkija.", "A former airfield at Ta' Qali houses a national park, stadium, the Crafts Village visitor attraction and the Malta Aviation Museum.An Air Malta Airbus A320The national airline is Air Malta, which is based at Malta International Airport and operates services to 36 destinations in Europe and North Africa.", "The owners of Air Malta are the Government of Malta (98 percent) and private investors (2 percent).", "In June 2019, Ryanair has invested into a fully-fledged airline subsidiary, called Malta Air, operating a low-cost model.", "The Government of Malta holds one share in the airline.===Communications===The mobile penetration rate in Malta exceeded 100% by the end of 2009.Malta uses the GSM900, UMTS(3G) and LTE(4G) mobile phone systems, which are compatible with the rest of the European countries, Australia and New Zealand.In early 2012, the government called for a national Fibre to the Home (FttH) network to be built, with a minimum broadband service being upgraded from 4Mbit/s to 100Mbit/s.===Healthcare===Malta has a long history of providing publicly funded health care.", "The first hospital recorded in the country was already functioning by 1372.Today, Malta has both a public healthcare system, where healthcare is free at the point of delivery, and a private healthcare system.", "Malta has a strong general practitioner-delivered primary care base and the public hospitals provide secondary and tertiary care.", "The Maltese Ministry of Health advises foreign residents to take out private medical insurance.leftMalta also boasts voluntary organisations such as Alpha Medical (Advanced Care), the Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit (E.F.R.U.", "), St John Ambulance and Red Cross Malta who provide first aid/nursing services during events involving crowds, Malta's primary hospital, opened in 2007.It has one of the largest medical buildings in Europe.The University of Malta has a medical school and a Faculty of Health Sciences.", "The Medical Association of Malta represents practitioners of the medical profession.", "The Foundation Program followed in the UK has been introduced in Malta to stem the 'brain drain' of newly graduated physicians to the British Isles." ], [ "Culture", "The culture of Malta reflects the various cultures, from the Phoenicians to the British, that have come into contact with the Maltese Islands throughout the centuries.===Music===Manoel Theatre, Europe's third-oldest working theatre.", "Now Malta's National Theatre and home to the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.While Maltese music today is largely Western, traditional Maltese music includes what is known as ''għana''.", "This consists of background folk guitar music, while a few people, generally men, take it in turns to argue a point in a sing-song voice.", "Music plays an important part in Maltese culture as each locality parades its own band club, on various occasions these being multiple per locality, and function to establish the thematic musical background to the various village feasts.", "The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as Malta's foremost musical institution and is notable for being called to participate in important state events.Contemporary music in Malta spans a variety of styles and sports international classical talents such as Miriam Gauci and Joseph Calleja, as well as non-classical music bands such as Winter Moods, and Red Electric, and singers like Ira Losco, Fabrizio Faniello, Glen Vella, Kevin Borg, Kurt Calleja, Chiara Siracusa, and Thea Garrett.===Literature===Documented Maltese literature is over 200 years old.", "However, a recently unearthed love ballad testifies to literary activity in the local tongue from the Medieval period.", "Malta followed a Romantic literary tradition, culminating in the works of Dun Karm Psaila, Malta's national poet.", "Subsequent writers like Ruzar Briffa and Karmenu Vassallo tried to estrange themselves from the rigidity of formal themes and versification.The next generation of writers, including Karl Schembri and Immanuel Mifsud, widened the tracks further, especially in prose and poetry.===Architecture===Lower Barrakka GardensMaltese architecture has been influenced by many different Mediterranean cultures and British architecture over its history.", "The first settlers on the island constructed Ġgantija, one of the oldest manmade freestanding structures in the world.", "The Neolithic temple builders (3800–2500 BC) endowed the numerous temples of Malta and Gozo with intricate bas-relief designs.The Roman period introduced highly decorative mosaic floors, marble colonnades, and classical statuary, remnants of which are beautifully preserved and presented in the Roman Domus, a country villa just outside the walls of Mdina.", "The early Christian frescoes that decorate the catacombs beneath Malta reveal a propensity for eastern, Byzantine tastes.", "These tastes continued to inform the endeavours of medieval Maltese artists, but they were increasingly influenced by the Romanesque and Southern Gothic movements.Malta is currently undergoing several large-scale building projects, while areas such as the Valletta Waterfront and Tigné Point have been or are being renovated.===Art===Towards the end of the 15th century, Maltese artists, like their counterparts in Sicily, came under the influence of the School of Antonello da Messina, which introduced Renaissance ideals and concepts to the decorative arts in Malta.", "''The Siege of Malta – Flight of the Turks'', by Matteo Perez d'AleccioThe artistic heritage of Malta blossomed under the Knights of St. John, who brought Italian and Flemish Mannerist painters to decorate their palaces and the churches of these islands, most notably, Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, whose works appear in the Magisterial Palace and in the Conventual Church of St. John in Valletta, and Filippo Paladini, who was active in Malta from 1590 to 1595.For many years, Mannerism continued to inform the tastes and ideals of local Maltese artists.The arrival in Malta of Caravaggio, who painted at least seven works during his 15-month stay on these islands, further revolutionised local art.", "Two of Caravaggio's most notable works, ''The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist'' and ''Saint Jerome Writing'', are on display in the Conventual Church of St. John.", "His legacy is evident in the works of local artists Giulio Cassarino and Stefano Erardi.", "However, the Baroque movement that followed was destined to have the most enduring impact on Maltese art and architecture.", "The vault paintings of the Calabrese artist Mattia Preti transformed the Conventual Church St. John into a Baroque masterpiece.", "Melchior Gafà emerged as one of the top Baroque sculptors of the Roman School.Francesco Noletti's ''Still Life of Pomegranates, Peaches and other Fruits''During the 17th and 18th century, Neapolitan and Rococo influences emerged in the works of the Italian painters Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena, and these developments can be seen in the work of their Maltese contemporaries such as Gio Nicola Buhagiar and Francesco Zahra.", "The Rococo movement was greatly enhanced by the relocation to Malta of Antoine de Favray, who assumed the position of court painter to Grand Master Pinto in 1744.Neo-classicism made some inroads among local Maltese artists in the late-18th century, but this trend was reversed in the early 19th century, as the local Church authorities – perhaps in an effort to strengthen Catholic resolve against the perceived threat of Protestantism during the early days of British rule in Malta – favoured and avidly promoted the religious themes embraced by the Nazarene movement.", "Romanticism, tempered by the naturalism introduced to Malta by Giuseppe Calì, informed the \"salon\" artists of the early 20th century, including Edward and Robert Caruana Dingli.Parliament established the National School of Art in the 1920s.", "During the reconstruction period that followed the Second World War, the emergence of the \"Modern Art Group\", whose members included Josef Kalleya, George Preca, Anton Inglott, Emvin Cremona, Frank Portelli, Antoine Camilleri, Gabriel Caruana and Esprit Barthet greatly enhanced the local art scene.", "This group came together forming an influential pressure group known as the Modern Art Group, which played a leading role in the renewal of Maltese art.", "Most of Malta's modern artists have in fact studied in Art institutions in England, or on the continent, leading to a diversity of artistic expression that has remained characteristic of contemporary Maltese art.", "In Valletta, the National Museum of Fine Arts featured work from artists such as H. Craig Hanna.", "In 2018 the national collection of fine arts was put on display in the new National Museum of Art, MUŻA, at Auberge d'Italie in Valletta.===Cuisine===''Pastizzi'', a typical Maltese snackMaltese cuisine shows strong Sicilian and Italian influences as well as influences of English, Spanish, Maghrebin and Provençal cuisines.", "A number of regional variations can be noted as well as seasonal variations associated with the seasonal availability of produce and Christian feasts (such as Lent, Easter and Christmas).", "Food has been important historically in the development of a national identity in particular the traditional ''fenkata'' (i.e., the eating of stewed or fried rabbit).", "Potatoes are a staple of the Maltese diet as well.A number of grapes are endemic to Malta, including Girgentina and Ġellewża.", "There is a strong wine industry, with significant production of wines using these native grapes, as well as locally grown grapes of other more common varietals.", "A number of wines have achieved Protected Designation of Origin, with wines produced from grapes cultivated in Malta and Gozo designated as \"DOK\" wines, that is ''Denominazzjoni ta' l-Oriġini Kontrollata''.===Customs===A 2010 Charities Aid Foundation study found that the Maltese were the most generous people in the world, with 83% contributing to charity.Maltese folktales include various stories about mysterious creatures and supernatural events.", "These were most comprehensively compiled by the scholar (and pioneer in Maltese archaeology) Manwel Magri in his core criticism \"''Ħrejjef Missirijietna''\" (\"Fables from our Forefathers\").", "This collection of material inspired subsequent researchers and academics to gather traditional tales, fables and legends from all over the Archipelago.", "While giants, witches, and dragons feature in many of the stories, some contain entirely Maltese creatures like the Kaw kaw, Il-Belliegħa and L-Imħalla among others.===Traditions===Traditional Maltese proverbs reveal cultural importance of childbearing and fertility: \"''iż-żwieġ mingħajr tarbija ma fihx tgawdija''\" (a childless marriage cannot be a happy one).", "This is a belief that Malta shares with many other Mediterranean cultures.", "In Maltese folktales the local variant of the classic closing formula, \"and they all lived happily ever after\" is \"''u għammru u tgħammru, u spiċċat''\" (and they lived together, and they had children together, and the tale is finished).Maltese carnival has been celebrated since the 1400sRural Malta shares in common with the Mediterranean society a number of superstitions regarding fertility, menstruation, and pregnancy, including the avoidance of cemeteries leading up to childbirth, and avoiding the preparation of certain foods during menses.", "Pregnant women are encouraged to satisfy their food cravings, out of fear that their unborn child will bear a representational birth mark (Maltese: ''xewqa'', literally \"desire\" or \"craving\").", "Maltese and Sicilian women also share certain traditions that are believed to predict the sex of an unborn child.Traditionally, Maltese newborns were baptised as promptly as possible.", "Traditional Maltese delicacies served at a baptismal feast include ''biskuttini tal-magħmudija'' (almond macaroons), ''it-torta tal-marmorata'' (a spicy, heart-shaped tart of chocolate-flavoured almond paste), and a liqueur known as ''rożolin'', made with rose petals, violets, and almonds.On a child's first birthday, in a tradition that still survives today, Maltese parents would organise a game known as ''il-quċċija'', where a variety of symbolic objects would be randomly placed around the seated child.", "These may include a hard-boiled egg, a Bible, crucifix or rosary beads, a book, and so on.", "Whichever object the child shows the most interest in is said to reveal the child's path and fortunes in adulthood.Traditional Maltese weddings featured the bridal party walking in procession beneath an ornate canopy, from the home of the bride's family to the parish church, with singers trailing behind (''il-ġilwa'').", "New wives would wear the għonnella, a traditional item of Maltese clothing.", "Today's couples are married in churches or chapels in the village or town of their choice, usually followed by a lavish wedding reception.", "Occasionally, couples will try to incorporate elements of the traditional Maltese wedding in their celebration.", "A resurgent interest in the traditional wedding was evident in May 2007, when thousands of Maltese and tourists attended a traditional Maltese wedding in the style of the 16th century, in Żurrieq.===Festivals and events===The statue of St. George at the ''festa'' of Victoria, GozoLocal festivals, similar to those in Southern Italy, are commonplace in Malta and Gozo, celebrating weddings, christenings and, most prominently, saints' days.", "On saints' days, in the morning, the ''festa'' reaches its apex with a High Mass featuring a sermon on the life and achievements of the patron saint.", "In the evening, a statue of the religious patron is taken around the local streets in solemn procession, with the faithful following in prayer.", "The atmosphere of religious devotion is preceded by several days of celebration and revelry: band marches, fireworks, and late-night parties.Carnival (Maltese: ''il-karnival ta' Malta'') has had an important place on the cultural calendar after Grand Master It is held during the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, and typically includes masked balls, fancy dress and grotesque mask competitions, lavish late-night parties, a colourful, ticker-tape parade of allegorical floats presided over by King Carnival (Maltese: ''ir-Re tal-Karnival''), marching bands and costumed revellers.Holy Week procession in ŻebbuġHoly Week (Maltese: ''il-Ġimgħa Mqaddsa'') starts on Palm Sunday (''Ħadd il-Palm'') and ends on Easter Sunday (''Ħadd il-Għid'').Mnarja, or l-Imnarja (pronounced ''lim-nar-ya'') is one of the most important dates on the Maltese cultural calendar.", "Officially, it is a national festival dedicated to the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.", "Its roots can be traced back to the pagan Roman feast of ''Luminaria'' (literally, \"the illumination\"), when torches and bonfires lit up the early summer night of 29 June.", "The festivities still commence today with the reading of the ''\"bandu\"'', an official governmental announcement, which has been read on this day in Malta since the 16th century.", "It is said that under the Knights, this was the one day in the year when the Maltese were allowed to hunt and eat wild rabbit, which was otherwise reserved for the hunting pleasures of the Knights.", "The close connection between Mnarja and rabbit stew (Maltese: ''\"fenkata\"'') remains strong today.Isle of MTV is a one-day music festival produced and broadcast on an annual basis by MTV.", "The festival has been arranged annually in Malta since 2007, with major pop artists performing each year.", "2012 saw the performances of worldwide acclaimed artists Flo Rida, Nelly Furtado and Will.i.am.", "Over 50,000 people attended, which marked the biggest attendance so far.The Malta International Fireworks Festival has been arranged annually in the Grand Harbour of Valletta since 2003.===Media===The most widely read and financially the strongest newspapers are published by Allied Newspapers Ltd., mainly ''The Times of Malta'' (27 percent) and its Sunday edition ''The Sunday Times of Malta'' (51.6 percent).", "Due to bilingualism half of the newspapers are published in English and the other half in Maltese.", "The Sunday newspaper ''It-Torċa'' (\"The Torch\") published by a subsidiary of the General Workers' Union, is the widest Maltese language paper.", "Its sister paper, ''L-Orizzont'' (\"The Horizon\"), is the Maltese daily with the biggest circulation.", "There is a high number of daily or weekly newspapers—one for every 28,000 people.", "Advertising, sales, and subsidies are the three main methods of financing.There are nine terrestrial television channels in Malta: TVM, TVMNews+, Parliament TV, One, NET Television, Smash Television, F Living, TVMSport+ and Xejk.", "The state and political parties subsidise most of the funding of these channels.", "TVM, TVMNews+, and Parliament TV are operated by Public Broadcasting Services, the national broadcaster, and members of the EBU.", "Media.link Communications Ltd., the owner of NET Television, and One Productions Ltd., the owner of One, are affiliated with the Nationalist and Labour parties, respectively.", "The rest are privately owned.", "The Malta Broadcasting Authority supervises all local broadcasting stations and ensures their compliance with legal and licence obligations as well as the preservation of due impartiality.The Malta Communications Authority reported that there were 147,896 pay TV subscriptions active at the end of 2012.For reference the latest census counts 139,583 households in Malta.", "Satellite reception is available to receive other European television networks.===Sport===Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in Malta.", "Other popular sports include boċċi, horse racing, gostra, regatta, water polo, clay pigeon shooting, and motorsports.In 2018 Malta hosted its first Esports tournament, 'Supernova CS:GO Malta', a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.", "Also since 2018, Malta has become the primary location for hosting ESL Pro League." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Malta* Index of Malta-related articles" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "===Notes======Sources===* * * * * * * Omertaa, Journal for Applied AnthropologyVolume 2007/1, Thematic Issue on Malta* Antonio Lafreri map of Malta, 1565.. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection.", "The National Library of Israel===Attribution===* ===Bibliography===* * * * * * * Charles Mifsud, The Climatological History of The Maltese Islands, Minerva 1984* * * **" ], [ "Further reading", "* Hastings, Max (2021).", "''Operation Pedestal: The Fleet that Battled to Malta, 1942''.", "New York: HarperCollins." ], [ "External links", "* Gov.mtMaltese Government official site* Malta Environment and Planning Authority's GIS* Visit Malta – Maltese tourism official site* Malta.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Malta from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* * *" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Malta include population density, ethnicity, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)ImageSize = width:455 height:303PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:600000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10000 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondoBarData= bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1948 text:1948 bar:1957 text:1957 bar:1967 text:1967 bar:1985 text:1985 bar:1995 text:1995 bar:2005 text:2005 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1901 from: 0 till:184742 bar:1911 from: 0 till:211564 bar:1921 from: 0 till:212258 bar:1931 from: 0 till:241621 bar:1948 from: 0 till:305991 bar:1957 from: 0 till:319620 bar:1967 from: 0 till:314216 bar:1985 from: 0 till:345418 bar:1995 from: 0 till:378132 bar:2005 from: 0 till:404962 bar:2011 from: 0 till:417432 bar:2021 from: 0 till:519562PlotData= bar:1901 at:184742 fontsize:XS text: 184742 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:211564 fontsize:XS text: 211564 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:212258 fontsize:XS text: 212258 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:241621 fontsize:XS text: 241621 shift:(-8,5) bar:1948 at:305991 fontsize:XS text: 305991 shift:(-8,5) bar:1957 at:319620 fontsize:XS text: 319620 shift:(-8,5) bar:1967 at:314216 fontsize:XS text: 314216 shift:(-8,5) bar:1985 at:345418 fontsize:XS text: 345418 shift:(-8,5) bar:1995 at:378132 fontsize:XS text: 378132 shift:(-8,5) bar:2005 at:404962 fontsize:XS text: 404962 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:417432 fontsize:XS text: 417432 shift:(-8,5) bar:2021 at:519562 fontsize:XS text: 519562 shift:(-8,5)TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Census data" ], [ "Characteristics", "Malta is the most densely populated country in the EU and one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with about .", "This compares with about 32 per square kilometre (85 per square mile) for the United States.", "A census (held every 10 years) was held in November 2005.Inhabited since prehistoric times, Malta was first colonized by Sicilians.", "Subsequently, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs in 870 AD who may have completely depopulated the islands but in 1224 were themselves expelled from Malta, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, French and the British have influenced Maltese life and culture to varying degrees.Roman Catholicism is established by law as the religion of Malta with 98%; however, full liberty of conscience and freedom of worship is guaranteed, and a number of faiths have places of worship on the island (rather small groups, a combined total of 2% of the people are Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Muslims and Jews).Malta has two official languages--Maltese (a Semitic language derived from Siculo-Arabic and heavily influenced by Sicilian and Italian), and English.", "Both languages are compulsory subjects in Maltese primary and secondary schools.", "A large portion of the population is also fluent in Italian, which was, until 1936, the national language of Malta.", "The literacy rate has reached 93%, compared to 63% in 1946.Schooling is compulsory until age 16.===Age distribution===Since 2000, the shift in the age composition towards an older population continued to materialise.", "In fact, the average age of the Maltese population increased from 38.5 in 2005 to 40.5 in 2011.This resulted from the increase in the number of persons aged 55 and over, together with a decrease in the number of persons under 25 years of age.", "The average in Gozo and Comino (41.6 years) was higher than that observed for Malta.Persons aged 65 and over more represent 16.3% of the total population in 2011, compared to 13.7% in 2005.In contrast, persons aged 14 and under make up 14.8% of the population in 2011, compared to 17.2% in 2005.=== Migrant background and foreign nationality ==='''Foreign nationals in Malta'''As of 2016 and 2017, the numbers of selected groups of resident foreign nationals (non-naturalized residents) in Malta were as follows:This list does not include foreign nationals who acquired Maltese nationality and foreign nationals without resident status.+RankNationalityPopulation (2016)Population (2017)Total30,000+ EU nationals22,000+1 Italy5,180 2 United Kingdom3,9853 Libya3,6224 Serbia2,7575 Philippines2,4076 Bulgaria2,0447 Russia2,0278 Somalia1,8459 Hungary1,30810 Syria1,28911 Romania1,262 12 Spain1,119 13 China1,090 14 Sweden1,08515 Eritrea1,057 16 Germany99117 Ukraine89618 France879 19 India81920 Poland719 21 Netherlands46622 Greece379 23 Slovakia338 24 Austria332 25 Finland321 26 Portugal297 27 Czech Republic296 28 Ireland281 29 Latvia276 30 Lithuania213 31 Denmark204 32 Belgium188 33 Estonia120 34 Slovenia106 35 Croatia100Other non-EU nationals400+=== Emigration ===Child Migrants' Memorial at the Valletta Waterfront, commemorating the 310 Maltese child migrants who travelled to Australia between 1950 and 1965.Malta has long been a country of emigration, with big Maltese communities in English-speaking countries abroad.Mass emigration picked up in the 19th century, reaching its peak in the decades after World War II.In the nineteenth century, most migration from Malta was to North Africa and the Middle East (particularly Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt), although rates of return migration to Malta were high.", "Nonetheless, Maltese communities formed in these regions.", "By 1900, for example, British consular estimates suggest that there were 15,326 Maltese in Tunisia.There is little trace left of the Maltese communities in North Africa, most of them having been displaced, after the rise of independence movements, to places like Marseille, the United Kingdom or Australia.After World War II, Malta's Emigration Department would assist emigrants with the cost of their travel.", "Between 1948 and 1967, 30 per cent of the population emigrated.", "Between 1946 and the late 1970s, over 140,000 people left Malta on the assisted passage scheme, with 57.6 per cent migrating to Australia, 22 per cent to the UK, 13 per cent to Canada and 7 per cent to the United States.", "(See also Maltese Australians; Maltese people in the United Kingdom)46,998 Maltese-born residents were recorded by the 2001 Australian Census, 30,178 by the 2001 UK Census, 9,525 by the 2001 Canadian Census and 9,080 by the 2000 United States Census.Emigration dropped dramatically after the mid-1970s and has since ceased to be a social phenomenon of significance.", "However, since Malta joined the EU in 2004 expatriate communities emerged in a number of European countries particularly in Belgium and Luxembourg.", "At the same time, Malta is becoming more and more attractive for communities of immigrants, both from Western and Northern Europe (Italians, British) and from Eastern Europe (Serbians).=== Immigration ===Foreign population in MaltaYearPopulation% total2005 12,1123.0%2011 20,2894.9%2021 115,44922.2%Most of the foreign community in Malta, predominantly active or retired British nationals and their dependents, is centred on Sliema and surrounding modern suburbs.", "Other smaller foreign groups include Italians, French, and Lebanese, many of whom have assimilated into the Maltese nation over the decades.Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe.As a member of the European Union and of the Schengen agreement, Malta is bound by the Dublin Regulation to process all claims for asylum by those asylum seekers that enter EU territory for the first time in Malta.Irregular migrants (formal Maltese: ''immigranti irregolari'', informal: ''klandestini'') who land in Malta are subject to a compulsory detention policy, being held in several camps organised by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM), including those near Ħal Far and Ħal Safi.", "The compulsory detention policy has been denounced by several NGOs, and in July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found that Malta's detention of migrants was arbitrary, lacking in adequate procedures to challenge detention, and in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.Very few migrants arrived in Malta in 2015, despite the fact that the rest Europe was experiencing a migrant crisis.", "Most migrants who were rescued between Libya and Malta were taken to Italy, and some refused to be brought to Malta." ], [ "CIA World Factbook demographic statistics", "The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.", "'''Largest cities:'''*Birkirkara*Mosta*Qormi*Żabbar*San Pawl il-Baħar*Sliema*San Ġwann*Rabat*Żejtun*NaxxarLife expectancy at birth in Malta'''Life expectancy at birth:'''''total population:''79.01 years''male:''76.83 years''female:''81.31 years (2006 est.", ")'''Total fertility rate:'''1.42 children born/woman (2015 est.", ")'''State religion:'''Roman Catholic Church in Malta 88.6% (2016 est.", ")'''Languages:'''Maltese (official de facto), English (official de jure), Italian (widely understood)" ], [ "Vital statistics", "''Statistics from United Nations'' ''and National Statistics Office Malta''Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Fertility rate 1932 246,000 8,000 5,150 2,850 32.5 20.9 11.6 1933 250,000 8,300 5,100 3,200 33.2 20.4 12.8 1934 254,000 8,544 5,702 2,842 33.6 22.4 11.2 1935 256,000 8,701 6,018 2,683 34.0 23.5 10.5 1936 259,000 8,875 4,617 4,258 34.3 17.8 16.4 1937 263,000 8,879 5,304 3,575 33.8 20.2 13.6 1938 267,000 8,704 5,399 3,305 32.6 20.2 12.4 1939 269,000 8,930 5,385 3,545 33.2 20.0 13.2 1940 270,000 8,808 6,144 2,664 32.6 22.8 9.9 1941 271,000 7,352 6,444 908 27.1 23.8 3.4 1942 270,000 6,768 8,603 -1,835 25.1 31.9 -6.8 1943 271,000 8,452 5,578 2,874 31.2 20.6 10.6 1944 276,000 10,963 3,700 7,263 39.7 13.4 26.3 1945 283,000 10,998 4,016 6,982 38.9 14.2 24.7 1946 291,000 11,304 4,050 7,254 38.8 13.9 24.9 1947 300,000 11,612 3,838 7,774 38.7 12.8 25.9 1948 306,000 11,029 3,737 7,292 36.0 12.2 23.8 1949 311,000 10,590 3,326 7,264 34.1 10.7 23.4 1950 312,000 10,281 3,224 7,057 33.0 10.3 22.6 1951 313,000 9,511 3,476 6,035 30.4 11.1 19.3 1952 317,000 9,226 3,365 5,861 29.1 10.6 18.5 1953 317,000 8,977 2,848 6,129 28.3 9.0 19.3 1954 320,000 8,991 3,071 5,920 28.1 9.6 18.5 1955 314,000 8,560 2,683 5,877 27.3 8.5 18.7 1956 314,000 8,418 2,918 5,500 26.8 9.3 17.5 1957 319,000 8,794 2,955 5,839 27.6 9.3 18.3 1958 322,000 8,528 2,657 5,871 26.5 8.3 18.2 1959 325,000 8,499 2,836 5,663 26.2 8.7 17.4 1960 327,200 8,565 2,819 5,746 26.2 8.6 17.6 1961 325,900 7,674 2,937 4,737 23.6 9.0 14.6 1962 324,600 7,513 2,840 4,673 23.2 8.8 14.4 1963 323,200 6,672 2,981 3,691 20.7 9.2 11.4 1964 321,900 6,394 2,756 3,638 19.9 8.6 11.3 1965 320,600 5,628 3,001 2,627 17.7 9.4 8.2 1966 317,000 5,340 2,865 2,475 16.9 9.1 7.9 1967 313,400 5,309 2,985 2,324 17.0 9.6 7.5 1968 309,700 5,143 2,883 2,260 16.7 9.4 7.3 1969 306,100 5,096 3,024 2,072 16.7 9.9 6.8 1970 302,500 5,314 3,070 2,244 17.6 10.1 7.4 1971 302,800 5,562 3,090 2,472 18.4 10.2 8.2 1972 302,600 5,385 2,891 2,494 17.8 9.6 8.2 1973 302,300 5,272 2,935 2,337 17.4 9.7 7.7 1974 302,100 5,440 2,747 2,693 18.0 9.1 8.9 1975 301,892 5,724 2,900 2,824 18.8 9.5 9.3 1976 306,551 5,696 2,967 2,729 18.6 9.7 8.9 1977 304,997 5,793 2,872 2,921 18.9 9.4 9.5 2.14 1978 308,942 5,641 3,263 2,378 18.2 10.5 7.7 2.05 1979 311,421 5,823 2,968 2,855 18.6 9.5 9.1 2.10 1980 315,262 5,602 3,216 2,386 17.7 10.2 7.5 1.99 1981 318,028 5,292 3,062 2,230 16.6 9.6 7.0 1.87 1982 319,936 5,912 3,050 2,862 18.1 9.4 8.8 1983 331,859 5,651 3,137 2,514 17.1 9.5 7.6 1984 329,189 5,571 2,903 2,668 16.9 8.8 8.1 1.95 1985 331,997 5,430 2,837 2,593 16.1 8.4 7.7 1.95 1986 340,907 5,245 2,824 2,421 15.3 8.3 7.1 1.93 1987 343,334 5,314 2,908 2,406 15.4 8.4 7.0 1.97 1988 345,636 5,533 2,708 2,825 15.9 7.8 8.1 2.06 1989 349,014 5,584 2,610 2,974 15.9 7.4 8.5 2.10 1990 352,430 5,368 2,745 2,623 15.2 7.8 7.4 2.04 1991 361,908 5,302 2,875 2,427 14.6 7.9 6.7 1.99 1992 365,781 5,474 2,900 2,574 14.9 7.9 7.0 2.07 1993 369,455 5,147 2,692 2,455 13.9 7.3 6.6 1.97 1994 373,161 4,826 2,698 2,128 12.9 7.2 5.7 1.84 1995 376,433 4,613 2,708 1,905 12.2 7.2 5.0 1.77 1996 378,404 5,038 2,759 2,279 13.3 7.3 6.0 1.99 1997 381,405 4,848 2,865 1,983 12.7 7.5 5.2 1.93 1998 384,176 4,670 3,018 1,652 12.1 7.8 4.3 1.84 1999 386,397 4,403 3,079 1,324 11.4 7.9 3.4 1.73 2000 388,759 4,392 2,941 1,451 11.3 7.5 3.7 1.68 2001 391,415 3,957 2,904 1,053 10.1 7.4 2.71.48 2002 394,641 3,918 3,006 9129.9 7.6 2.31.45 2003 397,296 4,050 3,146 904 10.2 7.9 2.31.48 2004 399,867 3,887 3,006 881 9.7 7.5 2.21.39 2005 402,668 3,858 3,132 726 9.6 7.8 1.81.38 2006 404,999 3,779 3,216 563 9.3 7.9 1.41.36 2007 405,6163,765 3,111 654 9.3 7.6 1.61.35 2008 407,832 4,013 3,243 770 9.8 7.9 1.91.43 2009 410,926 4,029 3,221 808 9.8 7.8 2.01.42 2010 414,027 3,898 3,010 888 9.4 7.3 2.11.36 2011 414,989 4,165 3,267 898 10.0 7.8 2.21.45 2012 417,546 4,130 3,418 712 9.8 8.1 1.71.42 2013 422,509 4,032 3,236 796 9.5 7.6 1.91.36 2014 429,424 4,191 3,270 921 9.6 7.5 2.1 1.38 2015 439,691 4,325 3,442 883 9.7 7.7 2.01.37 2016 450,415 4,476 3,342 1,134 9.8 7.3 2.51.37 2017 460,297 4,319 3,571 748 9.2 7.6 1.6 1.26 2018 475,701 4,444 3,688 756 9.2 7.6 1.6 1.23 2019 493,559 4,350 3,688 662 8.6 7.3 1.3 1.14 2020 514,5644,414 4,084 330 8.6 7.9 0.6 1.13 2021 516,1004,395 4,163 2328.5 8.1 0.4 1.13 2022 521,0004,309 4,230 79 8.3 8.0 0.3 2023 4,374 4,164 210 ===Structure of the population===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 207 625 209 807 417 432 100 0–4 10 347 9 714 20 061 4.81 5–9 9 971 9 448 19 419 4.65 10–14 11 355 10 893 22 248 5.33 15–19 13 509 12 673 26 182 6.27 20–24 15 062 14 388 29 450 7.06 25–29 15 722 14 598 30 320 7.26 30–34 15 641 14 553 30 194 7.23 35–39 14 757 14 042 28 799 6.90 40–44 12 840 12 396 25 236 6.05 45–49 13 574 13 321 26 895 6.44 50–54 15 292 15 304 30 596 7.33 55–59 14 655 14 591 29 246 7.01 60–64 15 130 15 465 30 595 7.33 65-69 11 429 12 299 23 728 5.68 70-74 7 389 8 816 16 205 3.88 75-79 5 579 7 708 13 287 3.18 80-84 3 181 5 313 8 494 2.03 85-89 1 622 2 945 4 567 1.09 90-94 480 1 103 1 583 0.38 95-99 82 214 296 0.07 100+ 8 23 31 0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 31 673 30 055 61 728 14.79 15–64 146 182 141 331 287 513 68.88 65+ 29 770 38 421 68 191 16.34Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 266 939 249 161 516 100 100 0–4 12 184 11 317 23 501 4.55 5–9 12 348 11 434 23 782 4.61 10–14 11 403 10 626 22 029 4.27 15–19 11 014 10 392 21 406 4.15 20–24 16 408 14 129 30 537 5.92 25–29 24 459 20 409 44 868 8.69 30–34 25 930 21 822 47 752 9.25 35–39 23 597 19 532 43 129 8.36 40–44 20 810 17 639 38 449 7.45 45–49 17 950 15 572 33 522 6.50 50–54 14 946 13 455 28 401 5.50 55–59 15 447 14 499 29 946 5.80 60–64 15 714 15 646 31 360 6.08 65-69 13 961 14 239 28 200 5.46 70-74 13 713 14 856 28 569 5.54 75-79 8 511 9 955 18 466 3.58 80-84 5 065 6 991 12 056 2.34 85-89 2 495 4 425 6 920 1.34 90-94 806 1 727 2 533 0.49 95-99 142 416 558 0.11 100-104 28 67 95 0.02 105-109 6 11 17 <0.01 110+ 2 2 4 <0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 35 935 33 377 69 312 13.43 15–64 186 275 163 095 349 370 67.69 65+ 44 729 52 689 97 418 18.88Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics).", "As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year." ], [ "Census per [[Local councils of Malta|locality]], 1901-2021", "Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)ImageSize = width:455 height:303PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:600000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10000 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondoBarData= bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1948 text:1948 bar:1957 text:1957 bar:1967 text:1967 bar:1985 text:1985 bar:1995 text:1995 bar:2005 text:2005 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1901 from: 0 till:184742 bar:1911 from: 0 till:211564 bar:1921 from: 0 till:212258 bar:1931 from: 0 till:241621 bar:1948 from: 0 till:305991 bar:1957 from: 0 till:319620 bar:1967 from: 0 till:314216 bar:1985 from: 0 till:345418 bar:1995 from: 0 till:378132 bar:2005 from: 0 till:404962 bar:2011 from: 0 till:417432 bar:2021 from: 0 till:519562PlotData= bar:1901 at:184742 fontsize:XS text: 184742 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:211564 fontsize:XS text: 211564 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:212258 fontsize:XS text: 212258 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:241621 fontsize:XS text: 241621 shift:(-8,5) bar:1948 at:305991 fontsize:XS text: 305991 shift:(-8,5) bar:1957 at:319620 fontsize:XS text: 319620 shift:(-8,5) bar:1967 at:314216 fontsize:XS text: 314216 shift:(-8,5) bar:1985 at:345418 fontsize:XS text: 345418 shift:(-8,5) bar:1995 at:378132 fontsize:XS text: 378132 shift:(-8,5) bar:2005 at:404962 fontsize:XS text: 404962 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:417432 fontsize:XS text: 417432 shift:(-8,5) bar:2021 at:519562 fontsize:XS text: 519562 shift:(-8,5)TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Census data'''1901''''''1911''''''1921''''''1931''''''1948''''''1957''''''1967''''''1985''''''1995''''''2005''''''2011''''''2021''''''MALTA''''''184,742''''''211,564''''''212,258''''''241,621''''''305,991''''''319,620''''''314,216''''''345,418''''''378,132''''''404,962''''''417,432''''''519,562''''''Malta''''''164,952''''''188,869''''''189,697''''''217,784''''''278,311''''''292,019''''''288,238''''''319,736''''''349,106''''''373,955''''''386,057''''''480,275''''''Gozo and Comino''''''19,790''''''22,695''''''22,561''''''23,837''''''27,680''''''27,601''''''25,978''''''25,682''''''29,026''''''31,007''''''31,375''''''39,287''''''Southern Harbour''''''70,244''''''74,955''''''79,001''''''87,811''''''84,206''''''90,705''''''87,879''''''86,843''''''83,234''''''81,047''''''79,438''''''86,009'''Cospicua12,14812,16411,53612,1634,8229,0959,1237,7316,0855,6575,2494,654Fgura‐‐‐‐‐‐2,7378,25411,04211,25811,44913,066Floriana5,6875,8115,9076,2415,0745,8114,9443,3272,7012,2402,0141,985Ħal Luqa3,6703,9453,6074,0594,3185,3825,4135,5856,1506,0725,9117,249Ħal Tarxien2,0652,8202,8763,2474,6077,7067,9897,0167,4127,5978,3809,464Ħaż‐Żabbar5,7507,0127,0448,00311,72611,00510,16712,86914,13814,67114,91617,148Kalkara1,1581,4911,6981,8992,0682,1011,9452,0862,8332,8822,9463,105Marsa‐‐4,8387,86711,56010,6729,7227,9535,3245,3444,7885,468Paola2,8124,3195,4757,29714,79311,42411,79411,7449,4008,8228,2679,339Santa Luċija‐‐‐‐‐‐‐3,2083,6053,1862,9702,617Senglea8,0938,2057,7417,6832,7565,0654,7494,1583,5283,0742,7402,304Valletta22,76823,00622,39222,77918,66618,20215,2799,3407,2626,3005,7485,157Vittoriosa6,0936,1825,8876,5733,8164,2424,0173,5723,0692,7012,4892,261Xgħajra‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐6851,2431,5712,192'''Northern Harbour''''''42,774''''''53,746''''''52,347''''''63,941''''''101,526''''''104,889''''''105,060''''''113,730''''''118,409''''''119,332''''''120,449''''''157,297'''Birkirkara8,4179,5738,56510,34516,07016,98717,21320,38521,28121,85821,74925,807Gżira‐‐‐‐6,2958,5459,5758,4717,8727,0907,05510,331Ħal Qormi8,1879,4049,28610,16514,39614,86915,39818,25617,69416,55916,39418,099 Ħamrun10,39314,60110,43411,58017,12416,89514,78713,68211,1959,5419,04310,514 Msida2,8933,6273,3733,9906,0646,58711,4376,2196,9427,6297,74813,587 Pembroke‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐2,2132,9353,4883,545 San Ġwann‐‐‐‐‐‐2,1228,17912,01112,73712,15214,244 Santa Venera‐‐1,9102,6394,5355,2466,1347,8276,1836,0756,7898,834 St Julian's1,4442,1642,5943,9989,1228,2857,39410,2397,3527,7528,06711,653 Swieqi‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐6,7218,2088,75513,044 Ta' Xbiex‐‐‐‐‐‐‐1,9551,7321,8601,5562,092 Tal‐Pietà9331,2051,8232,3443,6264,076‐4,3804,3073,8464,0325,892 Tas‐Sliema10,50713,17214,36218,88024,29423,39921,00014,13712,90613,24213,62119,655 '''South Eastern''''''17,546''''''20,412''''''20,090''''''23,052''''''34,208''''''36,854''''''35,224''''''42,475''''''50,650''''''59,371''''''64,276''''''77,948'''Birżebbuġa‐‐1,2191,7245,3395,2974,8765,6687,3078,56410,41211,844 Gudja1,1331,2701,1671,2831,4861,7121,7292,1562,8822,9232,9943,229 Ħal Għaxaq1,5181,7651,6291,8962,4482,8302,8663,6554,1264,4054,5775,538 Ħal Kirkop6337867078051,0161,2041,2251,5591,9572,1852,2832,527 Ħal Safi3674124594481,0407097841,3231,7311,9792,0742,641 Marsaskala‐‐‐‐‐8888761,9364,7709,34611,05916,804 Marsaxlokk4467157918291,4311,4691,4622,4052,8573,2223,3663,988 Mqabba1,2281,3581,2821,4681,9652,0882,1202,2692,6133,0213,2233,525 Qrendi1,3331,5221,5261,6112,1442,1552,0942,1992,3442,5352,6673,148 Żejtun7,2348,0607,7018,73111,98011,66510,44011,32111,37911,41011,33412,409 Żurrieq3,6544,5243,6094,2575,3596,8376,7527,9848,6849,78110,28712,295 '''Western''''''21,666''''''24,478''''''23,587''''''26,393''''''34,899''''''36,196''''''36,142''''''44,580''''''51,961''''''57,038''''''58,129''''''65,266'''Ħ'Attard1,8372,0522,0582,3542,4802,6632,5705,6819,21410,40510,55312,268 Ħad‐Dingli8079631,0871,2581,8692,0411,7952,0472,7253,3473,5113,865 Ħal Balzan1,0961,2631,3131,6612,6372,7343,3014,7813,5603,8694,1014,774 Ħal Lija1,6921,8251,6121,7951,9502,1192,1433,0782,4972,7972,9773,162 Ħaż‐Żebbuġ5,4545,9505,3615,7567,4937,9698,1319,78810,39811,29211,58013,785 Iklin‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐3,0983,2203,1693,399 Mdina3044828169821,384823988421377278239193 Mtarfa‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐2,4262,5852,566 Rabat7,2118,4147,9859,05012,50312,79212,24312,92012,99511,47311,21211,936 Siġġiewi3,2653,5293,3553,5374,5835,0554,9715,8647,0977,9318,2029,318 '''Northern''''''12,722''''''15,278''''''14,672''''''16,587''''''23,472''''''23,375''''''23,933''''''32,108''''''44,852''''''57,167''''''63,765''''''93,755'''Ħal Għargħur1,3771,5121,3271,4831,6901,8131,7742,3211,9912,3522,6053,741 Mellieħa2,3572,6752,6373,1984,5494,2904,2794,5256,2217,6768,66112,738 Mġarr7451,0671,2711,6272,2182,1672,1152,1882,6723,0143,4794,840 Mosta4,6295,7834,8665,2517,1867,3778,33412,14816,75418,73519,75023,482 Naxxar3,4293,2092,8863,2494,3894,6884,6436,4619,82211,97812,87516,912 St Paul's Bay1851,0321,6851,7793,4403,0402,7884,4657,39213,41216,39532,042 '''Gozo and Comino''''''19,790''''''22,695''''''22,561''''''23,837''''''27,680''''''27,601''''''25,978''''''25,682''''''29,026''''''31,007''''''31,375''''''39,287'''Fontana‐‐‐‐‐‐8938368178508821,042 Għajnsielem1,1211,2951,2501,4491,8781,8601,7551,8092,1762,5702,6453,523 Għarb1,0911,4171,4021,3981,5551,2691,1179831,0301,1461,1961,549 Għasri467428409467594471374335369418431518 Munxar‐‐‐‐‐‐4205077801,0521,0681,707 Nadur2,9483,3933,4603,3543,4654,1363,6943,4823,8824,1923,9731,707 Qala1,2191,3681,3401,6011,5691,6161,5221,3691,4921,6161,8112,300 San Lawrenz643558528499413428511517552598610772 Ta' Kerċem1,0371,1351,1431,2121,3071,2721,2511,4111,5571,6651,7181,881 Ta' Sannat1,1161,2431,2281,3241,6251,6561,2971,3091,6041,7251,8372,186 Victoria5,0575,6555,2195,5316,1756,3575,4625,9686,5246,3956,2527,242 Xagħra2,5623,1563,2623,5224,7594,0563,5173,2023,6693,9343,9685,161 Xewkija1,7622,1352,3142,4703,0793,2812,9992,7723,1283,1113,1433,555 Żebbuġ7679121,0061,0101,2611,1991,1661,1821,4461,7351,8413,303 Notes:# Gżira shown as a separate locality since 1948.# New locality of Msieraħ (San Ġwann) constituted from parts of Birkirkara and St Julian's and is shown as separate locality in 1967.# New locality of Fgura constituted from parts of Paola, Ħal Tarxien and Ħaż‐Żabbar in 1967.# Marsaskala shown as a separate locality since 1957.# New locality of Munxar constituted from parts of Ta' Sannat and Fontana till 1957.# New locality of Fontana shown as separate locality till 1967.# Gwardamangia formed part of Ħamrun in 1967.# Tal‐Pietà formed part of Msida in 1967.# Santa Luċija formed part of Ħal Tarxien and Paola till 1967.# Ta' Xbiex formed part of Msida and Gżira till 1967.# Pembroke formed part of St Julian's till 1985.# Swieqi formed part of St Julian's till 1985.# Xgħajra formed part of Ħaż‐Żabbar till 1985.# Iklin formed part of Ħal Lija, Birkirkara, Naxxar and San Ġwann till 1985.# Mtarfa formed part of Rabat till 1995.# The boundaries of some localities were changed between 1995 and 2005.Source: Census of population and housing 2011, Final Report, p. 3; Census of population and housing 2021, Final Report" ], [ "See also", "*Malta*Culture of Malta*Maltese people*Ageing of Europe" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Malta''' takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Malta is the constitutional head of state.", "Executive authority is vested in the president of Malta, with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the prime minister of Malta, who is the head of government and the cabinet.", "Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta, which consists of the president of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the speaker as the presiding officer of the legislative body.", "Judicial power remains with the chief justice and the judiciary of Malta.", "Since independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party (''Partit Nazzjonalista'') and the social democratic Labour Party (''Partit Laburista'')." ], [ "Political developments since independence", "Since independence, two parties have dominated Malta's polarized and evenly divided politics during this period: the centre-right Nationalist Party and the centre-left Labour Party.", "From the pre-independence 1962 general election until 2017, third parties failed to score any electoral success.", "In the 2013 election, the Democratic Alternative (a green party established in 1989) managed to secure only 1.8% of the first preference votes nationwide.The 1996 elections resulted in the election of the Labour Party, by 8,000 votes, to replace the Nationalists, who had won in 1987 and 1992.Voter turnout was characteristically high at 96%, with the Labour Party receiving 50.72%, the Nationalist Party 47.8%, the Democratic Alternative 1.46%, and independent candidates 0.02%.", "In 1998, the Labour Party's loss in a parliamentary vote led the prime minister to call an early election.", "The Nationalist Party was returned to office in September 1998 by a majority of 13,000 votes, holding a five-seat majority in Parliament.", "Voter turnout was 95%, with the Nationalist Party receiving 51.81%, the Labour Party 46.97%, the Democratic Alternative 1.21%, and independent candidates 0.01%.By the end of 2002 the Nationalist government wrapped up negotiations for European Union membership.", "A referendum on the issue was called in March 2003, for which the Nationalists and the Democratic Alternative campaigned for a \"yes\" vote while Labour campaigned heavily for \"no\" vote, invalidate their vote or abstain.", "Turnout was 91%, with more than 53% voting \"yes\".The Labour Party argued that the \"yes\" votes amounted to less than 50% of the overall votes, hence, and citing the 1956 Maltese United Kingdom integration referendum as an example, they claimed that the \"yes\" had not in fact won the referendum.", "The then MLP Leader Alfred Sant said that the general election which was to be held within a month would settle the affair.", "In the general elections the Nationalists were returned to office with 51.79% of the vote to Labour's 47.51%.", "The Democratic Alternative polled 0.68%.", "The Nationalists were thus able to form a government and sign and ratify the EU Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003.On 1 May 2004 Malta joined the EU and on 1 January 2008, the Eurozone with the euro as the national currency.", "The first elections after membership were held in March 2008 resulting in a narrow victory for the Nationalist Party with 49.34% of first preference votes.", "In May 2011, a nationwide referendum was held on the introduction of divorce.", "This was the first time in the history of parliament that Parliament approved a motion originating outside from the Cabinet.In March 2013, the Labour Party returned to government after fifteen years in opposition with a record-breaking lead of 36,000 votes leading to the resignation of the Nationalist leader Lawrence Gonzi, and Joseph Muscat became prime minister.", "In June 2017, the Labour Party called in a snap election on its May Day celebrations and increased its vote disparity to around 40,000 votes.", "The then leader of the opposition, Simon Busuttil, announced his resignation shortly thereafter.", "This election saw the first third party elected to Malta's Parliament since independence, with the election of Marlene Farrugia in the 10th District representing the Democratic Party.", "Joseph Muscat continued to be prime minister In January 2020, he stepped down after the 2019 Malta political crisis surrounding the car bombing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.", "Robert Abela - the son of Malta's former president George Abela - elected a new leader of Labour Party and new prime minister of Malta in January 2020.Democratic Alternative and the Democratic Party merged into a new party, AD+PD, on 17 October 2020.In March 2022, the ruling Labour party, led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, won its third successive election.", "It gained even bigger victory than in 2013 and in 2017." ], [ "Executive branch", "Under its 1964 constitution, Malta became a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth.", "Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was sovereign of Malta, and a governor-general exercised executive authority on her behalf, while the actual direction and control of the government and the nation's affairs were in the hands of the cabinet under the leadership of a Maltese prime minister.On December 13, 1974, the constitution was revised, and Malta became a republic within the Commonwealth, with executive authority vested in the president of Malta, which can be exercised directly or through officers subordinate to him.", "The president is elected by the House of Representatives for a five-year term.", "They appoint as prime minister the leader of the party with a majority of seats in the unicameral House of Representatives, known in Maltese as ''Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti''.San Anton Palace in Attard serves as the official residence of the president of MaltaThe president also nominally appoints, upon recommendation of the prime minister, the individual ministers.", "Ministers are selected from among the members of the House of Representatives, which usually consists of 65 members unless bonus seats are given to a party which gains an absolute majority of votes but not a parliamentary majority.", "Elections must be held at least every five years and the electoral system used is single transferable vote.===Administrative divisions===Malta is divided into 68 elected local councils, with each council responsible for the administration of cities or regions of varying sizes.", "Administrative responsibility is distributed between the local councils and the central government in Valletta.", "The Local Councils Act, 1993 (Act XV of 1993), was published on June 30, 1993, subdividing Malta into 54 local councils in Malta and 14 in Gozo.", "The inhabitants who are registered elect the Council every three years, as voters in the Local Councils' Electoral Register.", "Elections are held by means of the system of proportional representation using the single transferable vote.", "The mayor is the head of the Local Council and the representative of the Council for all effects under the Act.", "The executive secretary, who is appointed by the Council, is the executive, administrative, and financial head of the Council.", "All decisions are taken collectively with the other members of the Council.", "Local councils are responsible for the general upkeep and embellishment of the locality, local wardens, and refuse collection, and carry out general administrative duties for the central government such as collection of government rents and funds, and answering government-related public inquiries.There are also Administrative Committees elected with responsibility for smaller regions." ], [ "Legislative branch", "Parliament House in VallettaElections to the House of Representatives (''Kamra tad-Deputati'') are based on the single transferable vote system, a variant of the proportional representation electoral system.", "First, vacancies are filled through casual election and subsequent vacancies through co-option, meaning that no by-elections are held between one general election and the other.", "The parliamentary term cannot exceed five years.Ordinarily, 65 members are elected to the House from 13 multi-seat constituencies each returning 5 MPs.", "Additional MPs are elected in two circumstances:* When a party achieves 50%+1 of first-preference valid votes in the election but does not secure a parliamentary majority it is awarded enough seats (filled by the best runner-up candidates) to make a parliamentary majority* When in an election contested by more than two parties only two parties are elected to Parliament and the relative parliamentary strength is not proportionate to the first preference votes obtained, additional seats are allocated to establish proportionalityA third electoral amendment has been enacted which guarantees strict-proportionality with respect to votes and seats to parliamentary political groups." ], [ "Political party standings as of the most recent election" ], [ "Judicial branch", "Courts of Justice building in VallettaThe judicial system in Malta comprises inferior courts, civil and criminal courts of appeal, and a Constitutional Court.", "Inferior courts are presided over by magistrates which have original jurisdiction in criminal and civil actions.", "In the criminal courts, the presiding judge sits with a jury of nine.", "The Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal hear appeals from decisions of the civil and criminal actions respectively.The highest court, the Constitutional Court, has both original and appellate jurisdiction.", "In its appellate jurisdiction it adjudicates cases involving violations of human rights and interpretation of the Constitution.", "It can also perform judicial review.", "In its original jurisdiction it has jurisdiction over disputed parliamentary elections and electoral corrupt practices.There is a legal aid scheme offered to citizens lacking the means to afford legal defence.According to the Constitution, the president appoints the chief justice of Malta acting in accordance with a resolution of the House supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House of Representatives.", "The judges of the Superior Court and the magistrates of the inferior courts are appointed through the Judicial Appointments Committee of Malta.Guarantees for the independence of the judiciary include the security of tenure for judges until their retiring age set at 65 (with a choice to extend retirement till 68), or until impeachment.", "The impeachment procedure for judges foresees a removal decision of the president upon request by the Commission for the Administration for Justice.", "The independence of the judiciary is also guaranteed by the constitutional requirement that the judges’ salaries are paid from the Consolidated Fund and thus the government may not diminish or amend them to their prejudice.The Maltese system is considered in line with the principles of separation of powers and of independence of the judiciary.", "However, in its pre-accession evaluation reports, the European Commission has suggested in 2003 the need to reform the procedure for appointment of the members of the judiciary, currently \"controlled by political bodies\" (i.e.", "the Parliament and parties therein), in order to improve its objectivity.", "The Commission has also pointed to the need to check the compliance of the procedure for challenging judges and magistrates provided for by Article 738 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure with the principle of an impartial tribunal enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights." ], [ "International organization participation", "Malta is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (member from 1 May 2004), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrOMalta was a long-time member of the Non-Aligned Movement.", "It ceased to be part of the movement when it joined the European Union." ], [ "See also", "*Nationalist Party*Labour Party*People's Party*Volt Malta*Mass meeting" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Central Government of Malta* House of Representatives* Laws of Malta* Local Councils of Malta* Constitution of Malta (pdf file)* Labour Party* Nationalist Party" ] ]
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[ [ "Economy of Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Malta''' is a highly industrialised service-based economy.", "It is classified as an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund and is considered a high-income country by the World Bank and an innovation-driven economy by the World Economic Forum.", "It is a member of the European Union and of the eurozone, having formally adopted the euro on 1 January 2008.The strengths of Malta's economy are its advantageous location, being situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea at a crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, its fully developed open market economy, multilingual population (88% of Maltese people speak English), productive labour force, low corporate tax and well developed finance and ICT clusters.", "The economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics), tourism and other services in the tertiary sector of the economy.", "In 2014, over 1.7 million tourists visited the island.Malta's GDP per capita in 2023, adjusted by purchasing power parity, stood at $61,939 and ranked 15th in the list of EU countries in terms of purchasing power standard.", "In the 2013 calendar year, Malta recorded a budget deficit of 2.7%, which is within the limits for eurozone countries imposed by the Maastricht criteria, and Government gross debt of 69.8%.", "At 5.9%, Malta had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in the EU in 2015.Malta is the 33rd-most democratic country in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index." ], [ "History", "During the Napoleonic Wars (1800–1815), Malta's economy prospered and became the focal point of a major trading system.", "In 1808, two-thirds of the cargo consigned from Malta went to Levant and Egypt.", "Later, one half of the cargo was usually destined for Trieste.", "Cargo consisted of largely British and colonial-manufactured goods.", "Malta's economy became prosperous from this trade and many artisans, such as weavers, found new jobs in the port industry.In 1820, during the Battle of Navarino, which took place in Greece, the British fleet was based in Malta.", "In 1839, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and East India Companies used Malta as a calling port on their Egypt and Levant runs.In 1869, the opening of the Suez Canal benefited Malta's economy greatly as there was a massive increase in the shipping which entered in the port.", "The economy had entered a special phase.", "The Mediterranean Sea became the \"world highway of trade\" and a number of ships called at Malta for coal and various supplies on their way to the Indian Ocean and the Far East.", "From 1871 to 1881, about 8,000 workers found jobs in the Malta docks and a number of banks opened in Malta.", "By 1882, Malta reached the height of its prosperity.However, the boom did not last long.", "By the end of the 19th century, the economy began declining and by the 1940s, Malta's economy was in serious crisis.", "This was primarily due to the invention of large ships which had become oil-fired and therefore had no need to stop in the Grand Harbor of Malta to refuel.", "The British Government had to extend the dockyard.At the end of World War II, Malta's strategic importance had reached a low point.", "Modern air warfare technology and the invention of the atomic bomb had changed the importance of the military base.", "The British lost control of the Suez Canal and withdrew from the naval dockyard, transforming it for commercial shipbuilding and ship repair purposes." ], [ "Modern economy", "The Maltese economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and pharmaceuticals), and tourism.", "Malta adopted the Euro currency on 1 January 2008.Tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings derived from tourism have steadily increased since 1987.Following the September 11 attacks, the tourist industry suffered a temporary setback.", "With the help of a favorable international economic climate, the availability of domestic resources, and industrial policies that support foreign export-oriented investment, the economy has been able to sustain a period of rapid growth.", "Growing public and private sector demand for credit has led — in the context of interest rate controls — to credit rationing to the private sector and the introduction of non-interest charges by banks.", "Despite these pressures, consumer price inflation has remained low (2.2% according to the Central Bank of Malta in 2007), reflecting the impact of a fixed exchange rate policy (100% hard peg to the euro, in preparation for currency changeover) and lingering price controls.There is a strong manufacturing base for high value-added products like electronics and pharmaceuticals, and the manufacturing sector has more than 250 foreign-owned, export-oriented enterprises.", "Tourism generates around 15% of GDP.", "Film production in Malta is another growing industry (approx.", "35 million euros between 1997 and 2011), despite stiff competition from other film locations in Eastern Europe and North Africa, with the Malta Film Commission providing support services to foreign film companies for the production of feature cinema, commercials and television series.From 2001 to 2005 the mean GDP real growth was 0.4% due to Malta losing pace in tourism and other industries.", "Unemployment was down to 4.4%, its lowest level in 3 years.", "Many formerly state-owned companies are being privatised—and the market liberalised.Fiscal policy has been directed toward bringing down the budget deficit after public debt grew from a negative figure in 1988 to 56% in 1999 and 69.1% in 2009.By 2007, the deficit-to-GDP ratio was comfortably below 3% as required for eurozone membership, but due to pre-election spending has gone up to 4.4% in 2008 and 3.8% in 2009.=== Energy ===Despite a great potential for solar and wind power, Malta produces almost all its electricity from oil, importing 100% of it.", "Energy and the cost of energy, which is oft-quoted as the highest in Europe, was a key issue in the 2013 election.===Industry===+Average annual employment and average annual earnings in manufacturing industry (2007)'''Sector'''Average annualemploymentAverage annualearnings per capitain eurosFood and beverages; tobacco2,87313,441Textiles and textile products42215,512Wearing apparel and clothes73311,698Leather and leather products1859,308Wood and wood products7812,000Paper and paper products26515,698Publishing and printing1,66917,615Chemicals and chemical products1,03819,052Rubber and plastic products1,57815,254Other non-metallic mineral products76611,928Fabricated metal products59614,451Machinery and equipment n.e.c.44613,518Electrical machinery and apparatus1,40916,515Radio, TV and communication equipment3,16818,673Medical, precision and optical instruments87715,582Motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers5010,220Other transport equipment25820,938Furniture and manufacturing n.e.c.1,59715,753Total18,00815,812=== Banking ===+Largest banks in Malta, 2022RankCompanyFoundedMarket %1Bank of Valletta197444.67 %2HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c.199920.48 %3APS BANK P.L.C.19108.41 %4MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc20046.87 %5FIMBank plc19955.70 %6Lombard Bank Malta plc19553.85 %7BNF Bank plc20083.13 %" ], [ "Statistics", "'''GDP identity from the income side:''' Percentage compensation of employees by industry averaged for the period 2016 to 2020.", "(NSO, Gross Domestic Product: 2020 report.", ")'''Electricity - production:'''1,620 GWh (1998)'''Electricity - production by source:'''''fossil fuel:''98.6%''hydro:''0%''nuclear:''0%''Renewable sources:''1.4%''other:''0% (1998)'''Electricity - consumption:'''1,507 GWh (1998)'''Electricity - exports:'''0 kWh (1998)'''Electricity - imports:'''0 kWh (1998)'''Agriculture - products:'''potatoes, cauliflower, grapes, wheat, barley, tomatoes, citrus, cut flowers, green peppers; pork, milk, poultry, eggs'''Currency:'''1 euro = 100 cents since 1 January 2008previously 1 Maltese lira = 100 cents;'''Exchange rates:'''Maltese liri (LM) per US$1 – 0.4086 (January 2000), 0.3994 (1999), 0.3885 (1998), 0.3857 (1997), 0.3604 (1996), 0.3529 (1995)Irrevocably fixed conversion rate to the euro: Maltese liri (LM) per EUR1 - 0.4293 (2007)" ], [ "Companies", "According to HitHorizons, companies registered in Malta generate € 88,255,174,701 in sales per annum.", "The company with the highest sales is ALKAGESTA LTD with € 2.075B followed by HC TRADING MALTA LIMITED and ADVAITA TRADE PRIVATE LIMITED with € 1.346B and € 1.253B in sales respectively." ], [ "Poverty", "Poverty and social exclusion are significant problems in Malta.", "As of 2008, an estimate of 15% of Malta's citizens were living below the poverty line, which was slightly better than the EU average of 17% at the time.", "To address the issue of poverty, on 24 December 2014 Malta addressed poverty in the six branches of social services, health and environment, culture, income and social benefits, education and employment, by unveiling the National Strategic Policy for Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion; this will stay in effect from 2014 to 2024.Under this policy, stakeholders will be involved in the discussion of how to reduce hardships experienced by families living in Malta." ], [ "Unemployment system", "Benefits for unemployment are given out based on contributory and non-contributory schemes.", "Contributory schemes distribute unemployment benefits within 50 weeks of contribution.", "Non-contributory schemes a Social Unemployment Benefit is granted after a means test to the head of a household.", "In order to qualify for unemployment benefits, a person must be able to do work and have registered as unemployed.There are three categories to the Malta registrar of unemployment.", "People who have never worked fall into category one.", "Those who quit or were dismissed from their jobs fall into category two.", "Category three is for people who are currently employed but are looking for other job prospects.", "Benefits for unemployment are given for 156 days after which a person may qualify for the means tested unemployment assistance.", "People eligible for unemployment benefits are Maltese citizens who are aged sixteen years or older, people signed up for eligible work-study programs, and citizens outside of Malta who are employed by foreign entities.Some scholars have noted that Malta's unemployment system has created a dependency on the benefits provided by the system.", "From 1992 to 2005, there was an increase in the number of recipients of both short-term and long-term benefits.", "Additionally, in 2016, 969 Maltese citizens were cut off the employment register for abusing the system.", "For these reasons, there has been movements from politicians to reduce and reshape the unemployment system.", "After the election of the Labour Party in 2013, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits dropped by 75%.", "This same government introduced the \"in-work\" benefit which forces more people to work while helping the most poor and desperate.In order to be eligible for in-work benefit, applicants must first have children under the age of 23, and from that point, benefits vary depending on marital status and the number of people employed per family.", "For a single parent in employment who earns between €6,600-€16,500, they are eligible for a maximum payable rate of up to €1,250 annually per child.", "For a married couple whose collective income is between €10,000 and is less than €24,000 (the income of one of the spouses must be over €3,000), they are eligible for a maximum payment rate of up to €1,200 annually per child.", "In 2016, the in-work benefit was extended to married couples where only one parent works, extending the benefit to an additional 3,700 families.", "For a married couple with only one parent gainfully employed whose income is greater than €6,600 and less than €16,500, they are eligible for a maximum payable rate of up to €350 yearly per child.", "The in-work benefit is paid quarterly in January, April, July, and October.At 42.3% in 2017, female workforce participation rate in Malta is relatively low.", "For over half of Maltese women who stay out of the workforce altogether, they do not receive direct unemployment benefits.", "Rather, most unemployment benefits are given to men because to receive unemployment benefits, one must first be employed.", "However, because older women tend to stay out of the workforce, those women who do participate in the workforce tend to be younger and have higher levels of education.", "This has led to a lower long-term unemployment rate amongst women than men.", "In 2011, the long-term unemployment rate of women was 2.5% while the long-term unemployment rate of men was 3.3%." ], [ "Pensions system", "Malta has public and private pension systems.", "There are two types of contributions for the public pension system: class one and class two.", "Employed people contribute to class one and those are self-employed contribute to class two.", "There was a gradual increase in pension age in Malta in the 1950s and 1960s; for example, someone who was born in 1953 needs to be 62 years old in order to collect pensions while another person born in 1960 would have to be 64 years old in order to collect pensions.", "Another requirement to qualify for a Malta pension program is that a person must have been contributing to the program for a certain time period or they will not be eligible..In Malta there is a state Malta Retirement Program for foreign pensioners.", "According to the program, a foreigner whose income is more than 75% from pension payments, can receive a residence permit in the country and a special tax status." ], [ "See also", "*Tourism in Malta*List of companies of Malta*Economy of Europe*General Retailers and Traders Union" ], [ "References" ], [ "Notes" ] ]
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[ [ "Telecommunications in Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "Melita plc at Madliena, Swieqi.This article is an overview of '''telecommunications in Malta'''." ], [ "Telephone", "'''Telephones - main lines in use:'''229,700 (2012)'''Telephones - mobile cellular:'''539,500 (2012)'''Telephone system:'''automatic system satisfies normal requirements''domestic:''submarine cables and microwave radio relay between islands''international:''2 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)" ], [ "Radio", "'''Radio broadcast stations:'''AM 1, FM 18, shortwave 6 (1999)'''Radios:'''255,000 (1997)'''Amateur radio operators:'''Approx.", "500'''Amateur radio repeaters:'''1 HF ALE EchoLink Gateway (9H1BBS-L) DTMF Access 145300 CTCSS 77 Hz (Owned by G0DEO/9H1IA)1 VHF/UHF 9H1IA-L Frequency Agile CrossBand Link CTCSS 151.4 Hz (Owned by G0DEO/9H1IA)1 VHF (9H1BBS 145.750 MHz CTCSS 77 Hz (Owned by G0DEO/9H1IA)1 UHF (9H1BBS 433.175 MHz CTCSS 77 Hz (Owned by G0DEO/9H1IA)2 Microwave Amateur Television ( ATV ) Repeaters ( 9H1ATV built by 9H1LO and run by MARL and 9H1LO/r built and run by 9H1LO )'''Amateur radio beacons:'''1 HF 6 Meater Beacon 9H1SIX 50.023 MHz JM75fv (Run by MARL Club)1 HF 10 Meter Band CW Beacon 9H1LO/B on 28.223 MHz1 HF 30 Meter Band QRSS Beacon 9H1LO/B on 10.140.90 MHz1 HF 17 Meter Band PSK31 Beacon 9H1LO/B on 18.110.15 MHz1 VHF 2 Meter Band Beacon 9H1LO/B on 144.500 MHz (currently summer months only)" ], [ "Television", "'''Television broadcast stations:'''6 (2000)'''Televisions:'''280,000 (1997)" ], [ "Internet", "'''Internet Service Providers (ISPs):'''17 (2005)'''Broadband Wireless Internet Service Provider Licenses:'''3 (2005)'''Internet users:'''240,600 (2009)'''Country code (Top level domain):''' .mt" ], [ "References" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "View of Gżira showing traffic on Triq ix-Xatt and boats in Marsamxett HarbourThe '''transport system in Malta''' is small but extensive, and the islands' domestic system of public transport is reliant on buses and taxis, although there were both a railway and a tramway in the past.Malta's primary international connections are the Malta International Airport in Luqa and by sea the Valletta Ferry Terminal.", "Malta's primary commercial connection is the Malta Freeport (the 3rd largest transshipment port in the Mediterranean Sea) in Birzebugga.Created in 2010 the authority in charge of all Transport services in the country is Transport Malta, consumed the services of the Malta Maritime Authority, the Malta Transport Authority and the Director and Directorate of Civil Aviation.The Ministry of Culture of Malta sanctioned Touring Club Malta to set up a Transport Museum." ], [ "Land transport", "===Roads===Triq l-Indipendenza in ĦamrunTraffic in Malta drives on the left, being one of only four countries in Europe to do so, along with the United Kingdom, Ireland and Cyprus.", "Car ownership in Malta is exceedingly high given the very small size of the islands.", "The country has a car ownership rate of 766 motor vehicles per 1,000 people.", "As of October 2021, the number of registered cars amounted to 411,056, giving an auto-mobile density of 1253.8 per km².Malta has 3,096 kilometres of road, 2,704 km (87.3%) of which are paved and 392 km are unpaved as of 2008.114 km of Malta's roads are on the Trans-European Transport Network but it has no motorways.", "Roads in Malta are maintained and operated by Infrastructure Malta.The official road user guide for Malta is ''The Highway Code''.===Buses===Traditional Maltese busModern buses at Valletta City Gate Bus StationBuses are the primary method of public transport for the Maltese Islands and have been in operation there since 1905, offering a cheap and frequent service to many parts of Malta and Gozo.", "The vast majority of buses on Malta depart from a terminus in Valletta.", "Malta's buses carried over 40 million passengers in 2015.The traditional classic Maltese buses, which were in operation until 2011 and still provide tourist-oriented services to this day, have become visitor attractions in their own right due to their uniqueness, and are depicted on many Maltese advertisements to promote tourism as well as on gifts and merchandise for tourists.", "Prior to their reform there were approximately 500 buses in public transit service, most of them privately owned by the bus drivers themselves, and operated to a unified timetable set by the transport authority.", "On any one day, half the bus fleet worked on the public transport network (called \"route buses\"), while the other half were used for private tours and school transport.In July 2011 a new public transport network was installed by Transport Malta (the regulating authority) and on 3 July 2011 it started being operated by Arriva Malta, which was owned by Arriva (67%) and Tumas Group (33%), operating as the sole operator on a 10-year contract and running a new 264-strong fleet of buses in a turquoise and cream livery.", "Unlike the system it replaced, the buses were owned and operated by a single company with the drivers working as employees of Arriva Malta.When Arriva ceased operations on 1 January 2014 due to financial difficulties, the company was nationalised as Malta Public Transport by the Maltese government as an interim measure while a new bus operator could be found.", "As of October 2014 the government has chosen Autobuses Urbanos de León (Alsa subsidiary) as its preferred bus operator for the country, and although the agreement has yet to be fully determined and signed, it is planned that they will being operation in January 2015.During the closing days of December 2014, the Times of Malta and other newspapers were reporting that the company had now signed contracts and purchased the existing operation for 8 million euros.", "They duly took over the business on January 8, 2015 with their takeover being effected as a \"soft launch\".", "The existing name - Malta Public Transport - is to be retained instead of using Autobuses Urbanos de León and nothing will have changed from a passenger perspective initially.", "The buses are to be repainted into a new livery of light green and white and during a press announcement to mark the formal takeover of operations on the day, several repainted buses were lined up for a photo call to show off the new livery, these being two of the leased in 2014 Optare Solos, one of the leased in 2014 Wright Volvos, one each of the new in 2011 King Long XMQ6900J and XMQ6127J buses.", "By February the sub contracted buses from UBS were replaced - temporarily - with 32 dual-door Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses operated by ALESA (as opposed to the situation until then of sub contracting of both bus and driver from UBS) until new Otokar Vectio C dual-door single deck buses currently on order have arrive later in 2015.These new buses will number 142 in total and used to augment the existing fleet as the revised route network is incrementally rolled out during the course of 2015 with the full service planned not expected to be fully realized until 2016, at which time the 23 million euro subsidy for 2015 will rise to 29 million thereafter.In January 2019, the Government has said that young people who are between 16 and 20-years old in 2018 can now travel by bus for free.", "People between 17 and 19-years old will travel for free between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019.The government also said that those who will turn 16 this year will start travelling for free on their birthday and will keep benefiting from the scheme until their 17th birthday.", "20-year-olds will benefit until they reach 21.From October 2022 the bus system will be free for all residents of Malta.===Railway===Old Malta Railway tracks (1883-1931)The Malta Railway was the only railway line ever on the island of Malta, and it consisted of a single railway line from Valletta to Mdina.", "It was a single-track line in metre gauge, operating from 1883 to 1931 between the capital city of Valletta and the army barracks at Mtarfa / Mdina.", "The railway was known in Maltese as ''il-vapur tal-art'' (the land ship).=== Tramways ===Map of the Maltese tramways, 1905-1929Electric tramways operated in Malta from 23 February 1905 till 1929.The tramway was connected with two lines, considered to be a direct line:# Valletta – Marsa – Paola – Cospicua# Valletta – Ħamrun – Qormi – Żebbuġ# Valletta – Ħamrun – BirkirkaraThere was no immediate extension of the track to Mosta.The tracks run on the road parallel to the Valletta-Mdina railway line, which allowed the traffic system to be used by cars and buses in the ruin.", "The road operation was terminated after the bankruptcy of the company on December 15, 1929 and the infrastructure was rebuilt.In 2008, the Halcrow report suggested the government to reintroduce two tram lines in Malta: Valletta to Sliema along the coast road, and Valletta to Ta' Qali.", "The report was largely overlooked, as the government focused on reforming the bus transport.", "In 2016 the government announced a new study on reintroducing the tram.", "The new study, which is expected by late 2020, should also look at metro and monorail options.File:Straßenbahn-Eröffnungszeremonie in Malta im Jahr 1905 (retuschiert).jpg|Inauguration, 1905File:20181022-Ansichtskarte-Straßenbahn auf Piazza St Anna-Floriana.jpg|Tramway in Floriana, Valletta in 1929===Metro===In 2021 the Maltese government unveiled a proposal for a €6.2 billion metro network, to consist of three lines and 25 stations, of which the majority would be underground." ], [ "Maritime transport", "The Gozo ferry MV ''Malita'' departs at ĊirkewwaThe Malta-Sicily ferry MV ''Jean De La Valette'' at the Grand HarbourMalta has three large natural harbours on its main island.", "There are also two man-made harbours that connect the islands of Malta and Gozo.", "*The Grand Harbour, located at the eastern side of the capital city of Valletta.", "The Grand Harbour, which has been used as a harbour since Roman times, has several extensive docks and wharves, as well as a cruise liner terminal.", "*Marsamxett Harbour, located on the western side of Valletta, accommodate a number of yacht marinas.", "*Marsaxlokk Harbour is sited at Marsaxlokk on the southeastern side of Malta, and is the location of the Malta Freeport, the islands' main cargo terminal.===Ferry services===A frequent daily passenger and car ferry service runs between the islands of Malta and Gozo between Ċirkewwa Harbour and Mġarr Harbour.There is also a ferry terminal at the Grand Harbour that connects Malta to Pozzallo and Catania in Sicily.===Merchant marine===Malta is one of the ten largest ship registers in the world (6th in 2016) and the largest in the EU, with 66.2 million gt registered.", "At the end of 2015, there were also 501 yachts on the register." ], [ "Air transport", "An Air Malta Airbus A320Malta International Airport is the only airport serving the Maltese Islands.", "It is built on the land formerly occupied by the RAF Luqa air base.", "A heliport is also located there, but the scheduled service to Gozo ceased in 2006.From June 2007 to August 2012, a three-times daily floatplane service, operated by HarbourAir Malta, linked the sea terminal in Grand Harbour to Mgarr harbour in Gozo.In the past there were two further airfields which were in operation during World War II and into the 1960s, located at Ta'Qali and Ħal Far.", "They have now since been closed, the land on the former has now been converted into a national park, stadium and the Crafts Village visitor attraction.", "The Malta Aviation Museum is also situated here, preserving several aircraft including Hurricane and Spitfire fighters which defended the island in World War II.", "Ħal Far has been converted into an industrial estate, a race track and an immigration reception centre.The national airline is Air Malta." ], [ "See also", "* Plug-in electric vehicles in Malta" ], [ "References" ], [ "Notes", "**" ], [ "External links", "* Images of Maltese buses* Live Traffic Cameras* Transport Malta" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Malta" ], [ "Introduction", "After independence in 1964, Malta followed a policy of close co-operation with NATO countries.", "Since 1971, the country sought relations with the rest of the world, including communist countries in Eastern Europe and the non-aligned countries.After substantially increased financial contributions from several NATO countries (including the United States), the Royal Navy remained in the Malta Dockyard until 1979.Following their departure, Malta charted a new course of neutrality and became an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement.", "The country joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1973 as the third European member state after Cyprus and SFR Yugoslavia.", "Malta is an active participant in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Council of Europe, OSCE, and various other international organisations.", "In these forums, Malta has frequently expressed its concern for the peace and economic development of the Mediterranean region.On May 1, 2004, Malta withdrew from the Non-Aligned Movement and became a full member of the European Union, with which it had an association agreement since 1971.It was one of ten new members which joined on that date.", "The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, at Palazzo Parisio, oversees the direction of Maltese foreign policy.", "The country has close relations with most sovereign countries, with an emphasis on increased trade and foreign direct investment." ], [ "Bilateral relations", "List of countries which Malta maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px # Country Date1September 1964221 September 1964321 September 1964421 September 1964521 September 196464 December 1964723 December 1964810 March 1965 930 April 19651015 June 196511June 19651215 July 1965136 October 1965 142 November 1965—15 December 1965 15December 196516January 19661725 March 19661830 April 1966 —27 June 1966199 November 19662026 July 19672110 October 19672221 December 1967237 June 1968247 June 196825266 January 1969277 February 19692821 February 19692926 March 1969303 June 196931June 19693212 December 19703319703410 September 19713523 October 1971363 December 1971 3720 December 1971 3831 January 19723911 May 1972 4013 September 1972413 October 19724217 October 1972435 March 19734420 November 19734523 November 19734627 November 19734714 January 19744827 February 19744924 May 1974504 June 1974514 November 1974524 November 19745318 December 19745422 January 19755529 May 19755618 June 19755723 June 1975581 July 19755922 July 1975601 September 1975618 October 19756213 October 19756329 October 19756419 January 19766512 March 19766621 October 1976673 November 19766824 February 19776911 April 19777027 April 1977719 June 19777217 September 19777319 April 1979748 August 197975August 1979761 December 19797720 December 1979 —1979781 January 19807930 March 1980801 December 19808130 November 19828225 September 19838317 December 1984845 March 19858531 March 19868615 August 1986877 July 19878816 May 19888911 April 19899011 December 19899113 June 1990921 January 1992931 January 1992945 March 19929529 June 19929630 June 1992971 January 1993984 February 19939910 February 199310016 February 199310119 February 199310225 February 199310325 February 199310426 February 1993 1057 June 19931067 February 19941078 February 19941089 January 199510917 July 199511025 July 199511114 October 199511211 December 19951133 July 19961143 July 199811527 January 200011611 April 200111716 October 200111812 May 200311920 May 20031208 June 20041219 June 20041228 July 200412321 July 200412422 July 200412523 July 200412620 September 200412729 September 20041281 October 200412927 October 20041305 November 20041319 December 200413210 December 20041336 January 200513413 January 200513511 February 200513619 May 200513721 October 200513825 November 200513920 January 200614027 January 200614111 April 200614219 July 20061433 May 200714425 September 20071458 February 20081468 February 200814716 May 200814820 May 200814919 November 200815011 December 200815118 December 200815225 March 200915318 May 200915424 September 200915511 March 201015615 June 201015723 December 201015813 January 201115914 February 201116026 May 201116121 July 2011—23 September 201116211 June 201416311 December 201416412 January 201516511 June 20151666 November 201516717 March 201616825 January 201716923 February 20171705 April 20171716 October 2017 —6 October 201717226 June 201817312 July 201817417 July 201817524 September 201817625 September 201817722 September 202117821 September 202217918 May 2023180Unknown181Unknown===Multilateral=== Organization Formal Relations BeganNotesSee 2004 enlargement of the European Union Malta joined the European Union as a full member on 1 May 2004.See Austria–NATO relations Malta is not a member of NATO.===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 4 November 1965* Malta has an embassy in Cairo and 2 honorary consulates in Alexandria and Suez.", "* Egypt has an embassy in Ta' Xbiex.", "21 October 1976Both countries have a Memorandum on Migration Matters.", "27 February 1974* Ghana has a high commission in Valletta.", "* Malta has a high commission in Accra.", "11 April 2006*Both countries established diplomatic relations on April 11, 2006.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "15 June 1965 see Libya–Malta relations* Both countries established diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence.", "* Libya has an embassy in Balzan.", "* Malta has an embassy in Tripoli.Malta has enjoyed cordial relations with Libya ever since its Independence.", "In 1984, a Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation was signed with Gaddafi's regime by Dom Mintoff.", "This treaty included a security protocol in which Libyan forces agreed to train and arm their Maltese counterparts.", "Libya supplied Malta with refined crude oil starting in 1975.Libyan nationals did not require visas to enter Malta until 2004.20 December 1967* Both countries established official diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence.", "* Malta has an embassy in Tunis.", "* Tunisia has an embassy in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "* Tunisian Foreign Affairs Ministry about relations with Malta* Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration* Maltese and Tunisian Arabic are very similar languages.", "The two countries share very rich historical links.", "21 July 2004*Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 21, 2004.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.===Americas=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes28 May 1975* Argentina is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "* Malta is accredited to Argentina from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Valletta and maintains an honorary consulate in Buenos Aires.23 June 1975* Brazil is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy and maintains an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in Brasília.", "21 December 1964* Canada is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy and maintains an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is accredited to Canada from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains a consulate-general in Toronto and honorary consulates in Quebec City, St. John's, and Edmonton.", "* A substantial Maltese diaspora exists in Canada.", "* Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.11 December 1989In July 2017, Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca paid an official visit to Chile.", "* Chile is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy and maintains an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is accredited to Chile from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Valletta.", "12 March 1976*Both countries established diplomatic relations on March 12, 1976.", "*Both countries are full members of Commonwealth of Nations29 October 1975* Mexico is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy and maintains an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is accredited to Mexico from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Valletta.", "10 December 2004*Both countries established diplomatic relations on December 10, 2004.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "24 September 2009*Both countries established diplomatic relations on September 24, 2009.", "*Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "21 September 1964 See Malta–United States relationsMalta and the United States established full diplomatic relations upon Malta's independence in 1964; overall relations are currently active and cordial.", "The United States has been sympathetic to Malta's campaign to attract private investment, and some firms operating in Malta have U.S. ownership or investment.", "These include major hotels, manufacturing and repair facilities, and some offices servicing local and regional operations.", "* Malta has an embassy in Washington, D.C.* United States has an embassy in Ta' Qali.===Asia=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes7 June 1993*Armenia is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome.", "*Malta is represented in Armenia through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland and has an honorary consulate in Yerevan.", "31 January 1972 see China–Malta relations 13 September 1972 See Cyprus–Malta relations* The two countries share membership of the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.", "* Cyprus is represented to Malta through its accredited embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta is represented to Cyprus through its accredited embassy in Athens (Greece).", "* The political relations are close due to similarities between the 2 countries (on historical, economical and regional).", "* List of Treaties between the 2 countries by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus 26 February 1993 * Georgia is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta is represented in Georgia through its embassy in Moscow (Russia).", "* Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of Council of Europe.", "* Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with Malta 10 March 1965 see India–Malta relations* Malta opened a high commission in New Delhi in 2007.", "* India opened a high commission in Malta at St Venera in early 2018.", "* Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "December 1965* Malta has an embassy in Tel Aviv.", "* Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "* See also Maltese Jews.", "* In December 2015, Israel singled Malta and five other EU countries for sanctions because they supported a decision that goods made in Jewish communities in the West Bank and the Golan Heights should be specially marked.", "19 February 1993*Both countries established diplomatic relations on February 19, 1993.", "*Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "January 1966*Malta is represented in Pakistan through its embassy in Beijing (China) and an honorary consulate in Karachi.", "Pakistan is represented in Malta through its embassy in Tripoli (Libya) and an honorary consulate in Marsa.", "*In 2007, in a meeting in Malta between Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and Foreign Minister of Malta Michael Frendo, the two countries agreed to continue the ongoing cooperation between the two countries in the United Nations and other international forums as well and reviewed bilateral ties with a view to strengthening relations between Pakistan and Malta in all spheres, especially trade and investment.", "Foreign Minister Kasuri emphasized the need for exchanging trade delegations to exploit true potential for enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries, which are the \"gateways\" to their respective regions.", "Dr. Michael Frendo agreed to send an expert delegation to Pakistan to seek opportunities for enhancing bilateral trade relations.", "Pakistan also sought Malta's support for Pakistan's initiative for equitable market access to the European Union through a Free Trade Agreement or similar mechanism.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.", "*In 2002 a Maltese citizen, who was born in Pakistan, was sentenced to seven years in prison in Malta.", "He was found guilty of kidnapping 11 Pakistani babies that were brought to Malta for adoption.", "In 2009 it was reported that a Pakistan-based human trafficking ring has set up a successful business in Malta, where Pakistanis seeking illegal entry into mainland Europe are being furnished with new travel documents and transported on to Italy and Spain.", "It was reported that sources within the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that the illegal migration of Pakistanis to Europe was being carried out through Malta, from where the migrants are being transported by ship to Sicily and onward to countries such as Italy and Spain.", "1 September 1975* Malta has an embassy in Riyadh and an honorary consulate in Jeddah.", "* Saudi Arabia is represented through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "April 2, 1965The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Malta began on April 2, 1965.", "* On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2015 President Park Geun-hye exchanged celebratory messages with Maltese President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca* Bilateral Trade in 2014 ** Exports 1,014,000,000 US dollars** Imports 514,000,000 US dollars* Bilateral Investments(2014): ** South Korea's investment in Malta was 31,490,000 US dollars** Malta's investment in South Korea was 5,883,000,000 US dollars 25 September 2007*Both countries established diplomatic relations on September 25, 2007.", "*Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "10 October 1967 See Malta–Turkey relations* Malta is represented in Turkey through its Consulate General in Istanbul.", "* Turkey is represented in Malta through its embassy in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Union for the Mediterranean.", "Also, Malta is an EU member and Turkey is a candidate.", "* Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Malta ===Europe=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 9 November 1966* Austria is represented in Malta through an honorary consulate in Ta' Xbiex.", "* Malta has an embassy in Vienna and 4 honorary consulates (in Innsbruck, Linz, Salzburg and Vienna).", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* Austria Ministry of Foreign Affairs: List of bilateral treaties between both countries (in German only)* Direction of the Austrian honorary consulate in Ta' Xbiex* Directions of the Maltese representation in Austria 16 February 1993* Belarus is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow (Russia).", "June 1965* Both countries established diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence.", "* Belgium has an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in Brussels and an honorary consulate in Antwerp.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "11 September 1971* Bulgaria is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta has 2 honorary consulates in Bulgaria (in Sofia and Varna).", "* Malta joined the European Union as a full member on May 1, 2004, while Bulgaria joined on January 1, 2007.30 June 1992* Croatia is represented in Malta through it embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta is represented in Croatia through its general embassy in Valletta (Malta) and 2 honorary consulate in Zagreb and Split.", "* Malta joined the European Union as a full member on May 1, 2004, while Croatia joined on July 1, 2013.", "* Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: list of bilateral treaties with Malta* Malta Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Croatia 10 July 1968 and 1 January 1993* The Czech Republic is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome, (Italy) and through an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is represented in the Czech Republic through a non-resident ambassador based in the Foreign Ministry at Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "26 March 1969* Denmark is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy) and through an honorary general consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in Copenhagen and 3 honorary consulates (in Aarhus, Copenhagen and Odense).", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "1 January 1992 * Malta recognised Estonia on August 26, 1991.", "* Estonia is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Malta is represented in Estonia through a non-resident embassy based in Valletta (in the Foreign Affairs Ministry) and through an honorary consulate in Tallinn.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Malta 21 February 1969See Finland–Malta relations 21 September 1964* The two countries share membership of the European Union.", "* France has an embassy in Malta.", "* The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy went to Malta on a private trip just after his election in May 2007.", "* French Foreign Ministry about relations with Malta 16 February 1965* Germany opened an embassy in Valletta in 1965.", "* Malta has an embassy in Berlin.", "* German Foreign Ministry about relations with Malta * Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "30 April 1966 See Greece–Malta relations* Greece has an embassy in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in Athens.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "15 December 1965* The Holy See has a nunciature in Rabat.", "* Malta has an embassy to the Holy See located in Rome.", "12 December 1970 * Hungary is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome, Italy and through an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is represented in Hungary through its embassy in Vienna, Austria and through an honorary consulate in Budapest.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "3 July 1998Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 3, 1998.13 June 1990* Ireland has an embassy in Ta' Xbiex.", "* Malta has an embassy in Dublin and two honorary consulates (Dublin and Cork).", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union and of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "* The Irish Defence Forces trains officer cadets of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) See Italy–Malta relations* Both countries established official diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence.", "* Italy has an embassy in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in Rome and 18 honorary consulates (in Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Livorno, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Reggio Calabria, Savona, Syracuse, Turin, Trieste, and Venice).", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union and of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "22 September 2011 * Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, and Malta recognised it on August 21, 2008.", "* Kosovo and Malta established diplomatic relations on September 22, 2011.7 February 1994 * Malta is represented in Lithuania through a non-resident ambassador based in Valletta (in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and an honorary consulate in Vilnius.", "* Lithuania is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy) and an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign affairs: list of bilateral treaties with Malta (in Lithuanian only) 3 July 1996* Malta is represented in Moldova through a non-resident embassy based in Valletta (in the Foreign Affairs Ministry).", "* Moldova is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "* Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration about the relation with Malta 1965See Malta–Netherlands relations* The Netherlands have an embassy in Valletta.", "* Malta has an embassy in The Hague and 2 honorary consulates (in Amsterdam and Breda).", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Malta (in Dutch) 25 January 2017Both countries established diplomatic relations on January 25, 2017.", "* Malta has an embassy in Warsaw.", "* Poland has an embassy in Valletta.", "* Both countries became members of the European Union on 1 May 2004.November 1968See Malta–Portugal relations* Malta has an embassy in Lisbon and 4 honorary consulates (in Algarve, Azores, Lisbon and Porto).", "* Portugal has an embassy and an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union and of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "7 June 1968* Malta has an honorary consulate in Bucharest.", "* Romania has a non-resident embassy for Malta in Rome (Italy) and an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* Malta joined the European Union as a full member on May 1, 2004, while Romania joined on January 1, 2007.26 July 1967See Malta–Russia relations* Malta has an embassy in Moscow and an honorary consulate in Saint Petersburg.", "* Russia has an embassy in San Ġwann.", "* Coordination Board of Russian Compatriots in Malta 4 June 1968 See Malta–Serbia relations* Malta is represented in Serbia through a non-resident ambassador based in Valletta (in the Foreign Ministry).", "* Serbia is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy) and through an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Malta is an EU member and Serbia is an EU candidate.", "1 January 1993 See Malta–Slovakia relations* Malta is represented in Slovakia through a non-resident ambassador based in Valletta (in the Foreign Ministry).", "* Slovakia is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy) and an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "* The foreign relations between Malta and Slovakia are not very intensive.", "Foreign policy of Malta is concentrated rather on cooperation with Algeria, Tunis, Libya and Egypt.", "There is, however, 41 years lasting cooperation between those two countries.", "* In 2001 Slovak prime minister Mikuláš Dzurinda visited Malta at the invitation of Maltese premier Edward Fenech Adami, and negotiated the integration of both countries into European Union and economic cooperation between Malta and Slovakia.", "* In 2008 Slovakian agency SARIA signed a treaty of reciprocal assistance related to third-world countries, with Malta Enterprise.", "* Slovak prime minister Robert Fico visited Maltese capital Valletta in 2008.29 June 1992* Malta has an honorary consulate in Ljubljana.", "* Slovenia is represented through its embassy in Rome, Italy and through an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are members of the European Union and the Union for the Mediterranean.", "10 October 1968See Malta–Spain relations* Malta has an embassy in Madrid and 5 honorary consulates (in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Santander, Seville and Valencia).", "* Spain has an embassy in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union and of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "June 1969* Malta is represented in Sweden through its embassy in Copenhagen (Denmark) and through 2 honorary consulates (in Malmö and Sundsvall).", "* Sweden is represented in Malta through a non-resident ambassador (based in the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm) and through an honorary consulate in Valletta.", "* Both countries are full members of the European Union.", "5 March 1992 See Malta–Ukraine relations* The Maltese embassy in Moscow (Russia) is also accredited as a non-resident embassy to Ukraine.", "* Ukraine is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome (Italy).", "21 September 1964 See Malta – United Kingdom relationsIn the 1950s and 1960s, serious consideration was given in both countries to the idea of a political union between the United Kingdom and Malta.", "However, this plan for \"Integration with Britain\" foundered, and Malta gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1964.===Oceania=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 21 September 1964 see Australia–Malta relationsBoth countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations since 1967.Australia has a High Commission in Valletta.", "Malta has a High Commission in Canberra, 2 Consulates-General (in Melbourne and Sydney), and 4 honorary consulates (in Adelaide, Ascot Vale, Melbourne and Perth).Maltese president Eddie Fenech Adami embarked on a state visit to Australia in February 2009, where he met with Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.", "During an official dinner in honour of the Maltese President, Kevin Rudd declared \"Australia would not be as complete without Malta\".", "In the same month, Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg visited Australia for discussions with Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith, where the commercial relationship between the two countries were discussed, in particular the signing of a contract between a Perth-based shipbuilding company and the Maltese armed forces for the construction and delivery of four inshore patrol craft." ], [ "Malta and the Commonwealth of Nations", "Malta has been a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1964, when it became an independent Dominion under the name 'State of Malta'.Malta became a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations on December 13, 1974, when the last Governor-General of Malta, Sir Anthony Mamo became the first President of Malta." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Malta* List of diplomatic missions of Malta* Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Malta)" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Malta Ministry of Foreign Affairs" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Marshall Islands''' (), officially the '''Republic of the Marshall Islands''' (), is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.", "The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands, divided across two island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west.", "97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state.", "The country shares maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west.", "The capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population.Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeast Asian crops, including coconuts, giant swamp taro, and breadfruit, as well as domesticated chickens, which made the islands permanently habitable.", "Several Spanish expeditions visited the islands in the mid-16th century, but Spanish galleons usually sailed a Pacific route farther north and avoided the Marshalls.", "European maps and charts named the group for British captain John Marshall, who explored the region in 1788.American Protestant missionaries and Western business interests began arriving in the 1850s.", "German copra traders dominated the economy in the 1870s and 1880s, and the German Empire annexed the Marshalls as a protectorate in 1885.The Empire of Japan occupied the islands in the autumn of 1914 at the beginning of World War I.", "After the war, the Marshalls and other former German Pacific colonies north of the equator became the Japanese South Seas Mandate.", "The United States occupied the islands during World War II and administered them as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands after the war.", "Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll.The U.S. government formed the Congress of Micronesia in 1965, a plan for increased self-governance of Pacific islands.", "In May 1979, the United States gave the Marshall Islands independence by recognizing its constitution and president, Amata Kabua.", "Full sovereignty or self-government was achieved in a Compact of Free Association with the United States.", "Marshall Islands has been a member of the Pacific Community (PC) since 1983 and a United Nations member state since 1991.Politically, the Marshall Islands is a parliamentary republic with an executive presidency in free association with the United States, with the U.S. providing defense, subsidies, and access to U.S.-based agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Postal Service.", "With few natural resources, the islands' wealth is based on a service economy, as well as fishing and agriculture; aid from the United States represents a large percentage of the islands' gross domestic product, and although most financial aid from the Compact of Free Association was set to expire in 2023, it was extended for another 20 years that same year.", "The country uses the United States dollar as its currency.", "In 2018, it also announced plans for a new cryptocurrency to be used as legal tender.The majority of the citizens of the Republic of Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands.", "The two official languages are Marshallese, which is one of the Oceanic languages, and English.", "Almost the entire population of the islands practices some religion: three-quarters of the country follows either the United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands (UCCCMI) or the Assemblies of God." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory===Marshall Islanders sailing, with sails brailed (reefed), c. 1899–1900Linguistic and anthropological studies have suggested that the first Austronesian settlers of the Marshall Islands arrived from the Solomon Islands.", "Radiocarbon dating suggests that Bikini Atoll may have been inhabited as early as 1200 BCE, though samples may not have been collected from secure stratigraphic contexts and older driftwood samples may have affected results.", "Archaeological digs on other atolls have found evidence of human habitation dating around the 1st century CE at the village of Laura on Majuro and on Kwajalein Atoll.The Austronesian settlers introduced Southeast Asian crops, including coconuts, giant swamp taro, and breadfruit, as well as domesticated chickens throughout the Marshall Islands.", "They possibly seeded the islands by leaving coconuts at seasonal fishing camps before permanently settling years later.", "The southern islands receive heavier rainfall than the north, so communities in the wet south subsisted on prevalent taro and breadfruit, while northerners were more likely to subsist on pandanus and coconuts.", "Southern atolls probably supported larger, more dense populations.stick chart.", "Most were made from a grid of coconut frond midribs with small shells representing the relative location of islands.The Marshallese sailed between islands on walaps made from breadfruit-tree wood and coconut-fiber rope.", "They navigated by using the stars for orientation and initial course setting, but also developed a piloting technique of interpreting disruptions in ocean swells to determine the location of low coral atolls below the horizon.", "They noticed that swells refracted around the undersea slope of atolls.", "When refracted swells from different directions met, they created noticeable disruption patterns, which Marshallese pilots could read to determine the direction of an island.", "When interviewed by anthropologists, some Marshallese sailors noted that they piloted their canoes by both sight and feeling changes in the motion of the boat.", "Sailors also invented stick charts to map the swell patterns, but unlike western navigational charts, the Marshallese stick charts were tools for teaching students and for consultation before embarking on a voyage; navigators did not take charts with them when they set sail.When Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue visited the Marshalls in 1817, the islanders still showed few signs of western influence.", "He observed that the Marshallese lived in thatched-roof huts, but their villages did not include the large ornate meeting houses found in other parts of Micronesia.", "They did not have furniture, except for woven mats, which they used for both floor coverings and clothing.", "The Marshallese had pierced ears and tattoos.", "He learned that Marshallese families practiced infanticide after the birth of a third child as a form of population planning due to frequent famines.", "He also noted that Marshallese iroij held considerable authority and rights to all property, though he had a more favorable view of the condition of Marshallese commoners than of that of Polynesian commoners.", "The Marshalls' two island groups, the Ratak and Ralik chains, were each ruled by a paramount chief, or iroijlaplap, who held authority over the individual island iroij.===European exploration===Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolines, c. 1590 Boxer CodexOn August 21, 1526, Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to sight the Marshall Islands.", "While commanding the ''Santa Maria de la Victoria'', he sighted an atoll with a green lagoon, which may have been Taongi.", "The crew could not land, because of strong currents and water too deep for the ship's anchor, so the ship sailed for Guam two days later.", "On January 2, 1528, the expedition of Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón landed on an uninhabited island, possibly in Ailinginae Atoll, where they resupplied and stayed for six days.", "Natives from a neighboring island briefly met the Spanish.", "This expedition named the islands 'Los Pintados' or \"the Painted Ones\" for the natives who wore tatoos.", "Later Spanish explorers of the Marshalls included Ruy López de Villalobos, Miguel López de Legazpi, Alonso de Arellano, and Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, though coordinates and geographic descriptions in 16th century Spanish logs are sometimes imprecise, leaving uncertainty about the specific islands they sighted and visited.", "On July 6, 1565, the Spanish ship ''San Jeronimo'' nearly wrecked at Ujelang Atoll after the ship's pilot Lope Martín led a mutiny.", "While the mutineers were resupplying at Ujelang, several crew members took back control of the ship and marooned Martín and twenty-six other mutineers in the Marshalls.", "By the late 16th century, Spanish galleons sailing between the Americas and the Philippines kept to a sea lane at 13°N and provisioned at Guam, avoiding the Marshalls, which Spanish sailors saw as unprofitable islands amid hazardous waters.The British sea captains John Marshall and Thomas Gilbert visited the islands in 1788.Their vessels had been part of the First Fleet taking convicts from England to Botany Bay in New South Wales, and were en route to Guangzhou when they passed through the Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands.", "On June 25, 1788, the British ships had peaceful interactions and traded with islanders at Mili Atoll; their meeting may have been the first contact between Europeans and Marshallese since the Mendaña expedition of 1568.Subsequent navigational charts and maps named the islands for John Marshall.From the 1820s through the 1850s, the Marshall Islanders became increasingly hostile to western vessels, possibly because of violent punishments that sea captains exacted for theft as well as the abduction of Marshallese people for sale into slavery on Pacific plantations.", "One of the earliest violent encounters occurred in February 1824, when the inhabitants of Mili Atoll massacred marooned sailors from the American whaler ''Globe''.", "Similar encounters occurred as late as 1851 and 1852, when three separate Marshallese attacks on ships occurred at Ebon, Jaluit, and Namdrik Atolls.===Colonial period===Offices of the Pacific Navigation Co. at Jaluit Atoll in the late 1880sIn 1857, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent two families to establish a mission church and school at Ebon.", "By 1875, the missionaries had established churches on five atolls and had baptized more than 200 islanders, and one traveler noted that most women on Ebon wore western clothes and many men wore trousers by the mid-1870s.In 1859, Adolph Capelle and another merchant arrived at Ebon and set up a trading post for the German company Hoffschlaeger & Stapenhorst.", "When the firm went bankrupt in 1863, Capelle partnered with Portuguese ex-whaler Anton Jose DeBrum to establish a copra trading firm: Capelle & Co.", "In 1873, the company moved its headquarters to Jaluit, the home of Kabua, a powerful iroij and disputed successor for the paramount chieftainship of the southern Ralik Chain.", "In the 1870s, various other companies from Germany, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the United States engaged in the copra trade in the Marshall Islands.", "By 1885, the German firms Hernsheim & Co. and Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft Der Südee Inseln zu Hamburg controlled two-thirds of the trade.Contact between the Marshallese and westerners led to sometimes lethal outbreaks of western diseases, including influenza, measles, syphilis, and typhoid fever.", "Increased access to alcohol led to social problems in some Marshallese communities, and on several atolls conflicts erupted between rival iroij with access to firearms.====German protectorate====German colonial administration building at Jaluit Atoll in 1886In 1875, the British and German governments conducted a series of secret negotiations to divide the Western Pacific into spheres of influence.", "The German sphere included the Marshall Islands.", "On November 26, 1878, the German warship SMS ''Ariadne'' anchored at Jaluit to begin treaty negotiations with the chiefs to grant the German Empire \"most favored nation\" status in the Ralik Chain.", "During the second day of negotiations, Captain Bartholomäus von Werner ordered his men to give military demonstrations which he later said were intended to \"show the islanders, who have not seen anything like it before, the power of the Europeans.\"", "On November 29, Werner signed a treaty with Kabua and several other Ralik Chain iroij which secured a German fuelling station at Jaluit and free use of the atoll's harbor.On August 29, 1885, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck authorized the annexation of the Marshall Islands as a protectorate following repeated petitions by German business interests.", "The German gunboat SMS ''Nautilus'' docked at Jaluit on October 13 to take control.", "On October 15, iroij Kabua, Loiak, Nelu, Lagajime, and Launa signed a protection treaty in German and Marshallese at the German consulate.", "While the Marshallese text made no distinction of rank between the five chiefs, the German text recognized Kabua as the King of the Marshall Islands, despite an ongoing dispute between Kabua and Loiak over the paramount chieftainship.", "A company of German marines hoisted the flag of the German Empire over Jaluit, and performed similar ceremonies at seven other atolls in the Marshalls, though several pro-American iroij refused to recognize the German protectorate until threatened with German naval force in mid-1886.Nauru was incorporated into the German Protectorate of the Marshall Islands in 1888, following the Anglo-German Declarations of April 1886.The German commercial interests formed the joint-stock Jaluit Company, which was responsible for financing the colony's administration.", "In addition to controlling two-thirds of the Marshallese copra trade, the company had the authority to collect commercial license fees and an annual poll tax.", "The company also had the right to be consulted on all new laws and ordinances and nominated all colonial administrative staff.", "The company's licensing fees and legal advantages pushed out American and British competition, creating a monopoly in the German Pacific colonies.", "The British government protested the regulations benefiting the Jaluit Company as a violation of the Anglo-German Declarations' free-trade provision.", "On March 31, 1906, the German government assumed direct control and reorganized the Marshall Islands and Nauru as part of the protectorate of German New Guinea.====Japanese mandate====South Seas Government branch office, Jaluit, c. 1932The Imperial Japanese Navy invaded Enewetak on September 29, 1914, and Jaluit on September 30 at the beginning of World War I.", "An occupation force was stationed on Jaluit on October 3.At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Germany's Pacific colonies north of the equator became the Japanese South Seas Mandate under the system of League of Nations mandates.", "Germany ceded the Marshall Islands to Japan with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.The Japanese navy administered the islands from late 1914 through 1921.The civilian set up its headquarters in Palau in April 1922 and administered the Marshalls until World War II.", "Japanese surveys determined that the Marshalls' value was primarily strategic, because they could enable future southward expansion.", "The Marshalls also continued to be a major producer of copra during the Japanese period, with the taking over the Jaluit Company's operations and building upon the German colonial infrastructure.", "Other parts of the South Seas Mandate experienced heavy Japanese settlement, shifting the population to majority Japanese in the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau, but Japanese settlers remained a minority under 1,000 people in the Marshall Islands throughout the Japanese period, because the islands were distant from Japan and had the most limited economic potential in Micronesia.Battle of Kwajalein in 1944On March 27, 1933, Japan declared its intentions to withdraw from the League of Nations, officially withdrawing in 1935 but continuing to control the territory of the South Seas Mandate.", "Japanese military planners initially discounted the Marshalls as too distant and indefensible for extensive fortification, but as Japan developed long-range bombers, the islands became useful as a forward base to attack Australia, British colonies, and the United States.", "In 1939 and 1940, the navy built military airfields on Kwajalein, Maloelap, and Wotje Atolls as well as seaplane facilities at Jaluit.After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the United States Pacific Fleet carried out the Marshalls–Gilberts raids, which struck Jaluit, Kwajalein, Maloelap, and Wotje on February 1, 1942.They were the first American air raids on Japanese territory.", "The United States invaded the Marshall Islands on January 31, 1944, during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign.", "The Americans simultaneously invaded Majuro and Kwajalein.", "By autumn 1944, the Americans controlled all of the Marshall Islands, except for Jaluit, Maloelap, Mili, and Wotje.", "As the American campaign advanced through Micronesia and into the Ryukyu Islands, the four Japanese-held atolls were cut off from supplies and subject to American bombardment.", "The garrisons began running out of provisions in late 1944, leading to high casualties from starvation and disease.====U.S.", "Trust Territory====Bikini Islanders being forcibly relocated from Bikini Atoll in March 1946 before the U.S. Operation Crossroads atomic bomb testing commencedMushroom cloud from the largest atmospheric nuclear test the United States ever conducted, Castle BravoIn 1947, the United States entered into an agreement with the UN Security Council to administer much of Micronesia, including the Marshall Islands, as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.From 1946 to 1958, it served as the Pacific Proving Grounds for the United States and was the site of 67 nuclear tests on various atolls.Operation Crossroads atomic bomb testing began in 1946 on Bikini Atoll after some of the residents were forcibly evacuated.The world's first hydrogen bomb, codenamed \"Mike\", was tested at the Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands on November 1 (local date) in 1952, which produced significant fallout in the region.Over the years just one of over 60 islands was cleaned by the U.S. government, and the inhabitants are still waiting for the 2 billion dollars in compensation assessed by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal.", "Many of the islanders and their descendants still live in exile, as the islands remain contaminated with high levels of radiation.A significant radar installation was constructed on Kwajalein atoll.===Independence===On May 1, 1979, in recognition of the evolving political status of the Marshall Islands, the United States recognized the constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.", "The constitution incorporates both American and British constitutional concepts.There have been a number of local and national elections since the Republic of the Marshall Islands was founded.", "The United Democratic Party, running on a reform platform, won the 1999 parliamentary election, taking control of the presidency and cabinet.The islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1986.Trusteeship was ended under United Nations Security Council Resolution 683 of December 22, 1990.Until 1999 the islanders received US$180 million for continued American use of Kwajalein atoll, US$250 million in compensation for nuclear testing, and US$600 million in other payments under the compact.Despite the constitution, the government was largely controlled by Iroij.", "It was not until 1999, following political corruption allegations, that the aristocratic government was overthrown, with Imata Kabua replaced by the commoner Kessai Note.The Runit Dome was built on Runit Island to deposit U.S.-produced radioactive soil and debris, including lethal amounts of plutonium.", "There are ongoing concerns about deterioration of the waste site and a potential radioactive spill.In February 2018, the Marshall Islands became the first country in the world to recognize its cryptocurrency as its own legal tender for digital currency.In January 2020, David Kabua, son of founding president Amata Kabua, was elected as the new President of the Marshall Islands.", "His predecessor Hilda Heine lost the position after a vote.Since the late 1980s, Marshallese have migrated to the US, with over 4,000 in Arkansas and over 7,000 in Hawaii in the 2010 US Census.Following independence, the Marshall Islands continued to play a prominent role in the testing and launches of missiles and rockets for both military and commercial space purposes.", "All five of the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket flights were carried out on Omelek Island within the Kwajalein Atoll.", "The fourth launch of the Falcon 1 was successful, marking the first time in history a privately developed, fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle achieved orbit.", "SpaceX founder Elon Musk was present in Kwajalein for select launches." ], [ "Geography", "Map of the Marshall IslandsAerial view of Majuro, one of the many atolls that make up the Marshall IslandsBeach scenery at the islet of Eneko, MajuroView of the coast of Bikini Atoll from aboveView of Marshall IslandsThe Marshall Islands sit atop ancient submerged volcanoes rising from the ocean floor, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the disputed U.S. territory of Wake Island, to which it also lays claim.", "The atolls and islands form two groups: the Ratak (sunrise) and the Ralik (sunset).", "The two island chains lie approximately parallel to one another, running northwest to southeast, comprising about of ocean but only about of land mass.", "Each includes 15 to 18 islands and atolls.The country consists of a total of 29 atolls and five individual islands situated in about of the Pacific.", "The largest atoll with a land area of is Kwajalein.", "It surrounds a lagoon.Twenty-four of the atolls and islands are inhabited.", "The remaining atolls are uninhabited due to poor living conditions, lack of rain, or nuclear contamination.", "The uninhabited atolls are:* Ailinginae Atoll* Bikar (Bikaar) Atoll* Bikini Atoll * Bokak Atoll* Erikub Atoll* Jemo Island* Nadikdik Atoll* Rongerik Atoll* Toke Atoll* Ujelang AtollThe average altitude above sea level for the entire country is .===Shark sanctuary===In October 2011, the government declared that an area covering nearly of ocean shall be reserved as a shark sanctuary.", "This is the world's largest shark sanctuary, extending the worldwide ocean area in which sharks are protected from .", "In protected waters, all shark fishing is banned and all by-catch must be released.", "However, some have questioned the ability of the Marshall Islands to enforce this zone.===Territorial claim on Wake Island===The Marshall Islands also lays claim to Wake Island based on oral legends.", "While Wake Island has been administered by the United States since 1899, the Marshallese government refers to it by the name ''Ānen Kio'' (new orthography) or ''Enen-kio'' (old orthography).", "The United States does not recognize this claim.===Climate===Average monthly temperatures (red) and precipitation (blue) on MajuroThe climate has a relatively dry season from December to April and a wet season from May to November.", "Many Pacific typhoons begin as tropical storms in the Marshall Islands region and grow stronger as they move west toward the Mariana Islands and the Philippines.Population has outstripped the supply of fresh water, usually from rainfall.", "The northern atolls get of rainfall annually; the southern atolls about twice that.", "The threat of drought is commonplace throughout the island chains.==== Climate change====Climate change is a threat to the Marshall Islands, with typhoons becoming stronger and sea levels rising.", "The sea around the Pacific islands has risen a year since 1993, which is more than twice the worldwide average rate.", "In Kwajalein, there is a high risk of permanent flooding; when sea level rises by , 37% of buildings will be permanently flooded.", "In Ebeye, the risk from sea level rise is even higher, with 50% of buildings being permanently flooded in the same scenario.", "With of sea level rise, parts of the Majuro atoll will be permanently flooded and other parts will have a high risk of flooding especially the eastern part of the atoll would be significantly at risk.", "With sea level rise all the buildings of Majuro will be permanently flooded or will be at a high risk of being flooded.The per capita emissions were 2.56 t in 2020.The government of Marshall Islands pledged to be net zero in 2050, with a decrease of 32% in GHGs in 2025, 45% in 2030 and 58% in 2035, all compared to 2010 levels.===Fauna=======Birds====Most birds found in the Marshall Islands, with the exception of those few introduced by humans, are either sea birds or migratory species.", "There are about 70 species of birds, including 31 seabirds.", "15 of these species actually nest locally.", "Sea birds include the black noddy and the white tern.", "The only land bird is the house sparrow, introduced by humans.====Marine====There are about 300 species of fish, 250 of which are reef fish.", "* Turtles: green turtles, hawksbill, Leatherback sea turtles, and Olive ridley sea turtles.", "* Sharks: There are at least 22 shark species including: Blue shark, Silky shark, Bigeye thresher shark, Pelagic thresher shark, Oceanic whitetip shark, and Tawny nurse shark.====Arthropods====* Scorpions: dwarf wood scorpion, and Common house scorpion.", "Pseudoscorpions are occasionally found.", "*Spiders: Two: a scytodes, ''Dictis striatipes''; and ''Jaluiticola'', a genus of jumping spiders endemic to the Marshall Islands.", "Its only species is ''Jaluiticola hesslei''.", "* Amphipod: One – ''Talorchestia spinipalma''.", "* Orthoptera: cockroaches, American cockroaches, short-horned grasshopper, crickets.", "* Crabs include hermit crabs, and coconut crabs." ], [ "Demographics", "Historical population figures for the Marshall Islands are unknown.", "In 1862, the population of the Islands was estimated at 10,000.In 1960, the population of the Islands was approximately 15,000.The 2021 census counted 42,418 residents, 23,156 of whom (approximately 54.6%) lived on Majuro.", "77.7% of the population lived in an urban setting on Majuro or Ebeye, the country's secondary urban center.", "This figure excludes Marshall Islands natives who have relocated elsewhere; the Compact of Free Association allows them to freely relocate to the United States and obtain work there.", "Approximately 4,300 Marshall Islands natives relocated to Springdale, Arkansas in the United States this figure represents the largest population concentration of Marshall Islands natives outside their island home.Most residents of the Marshall Islands are Marshallese.", "Marshallese people are of Micronesian origin and are believed to have migrated from Asia to the Marshall Islands several thousand years ago.", "A minority of the Marshallese have Asian and European ancestry such as Japanese and German.", "A Majority have Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry.", "About one-half of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye Atolls.The official languages of the Marshall Islands are English and Marshallese.", "Both languages are widely spoken.===Religion===Christians in the Marshall IslandsAt the September 2021 census, approximately 96.2% of the population identified with one of fourteen Christian denominations in the Marshall Islands.", "The denominations with more than 1,000 adherents included the United Church of Christ - Congregational in the Marshall Islands (47.9%), the Assemblies of God (14.1%), the Catholic Church (9.3%), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (5.7%), the Full Gospel Church of the Marshall Islands (5%), and Bukot nan Jesus (3%).", "The remainder of denominations primarily included Protestant churches as well as Jehovah's Witnesses.", "1,128 people, or 2.7% of respondents identified as belonging to a religion other than one of the fourteen denominations listed on the census form.", "444 people, or 1.1% of respondents claimed to be irreligious.", "Majuro also has a Baháʼí community and a Muslim community.", "The country's sole mosque is aligned with the Ahmadiyya movement.Father A. Erdland, a Catholic priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Hiltrup (German Empire, called in German ''Herz-Jesu-Missionare'' and in Latin ''Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis''), lived in Jaluit between 1904 and 1914.After doing considerable research on Marshallese culture and language, he published a 376-page monograph on the islands in 1914.Father H. Linckens, another Sacred Heart missionary, visited the Marshall Islands in 1904 and 1911 for several weeks.", "In 1912, he published a small work on Catholic missionary activities and the people of the Marshall Islands.", "The Catholics are under the responsibility of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands (''Praefectura Apostolica Insularum Marshallensium''), with headquarters at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Majuro, which was created by Pope John Paul II in 1993 through the papal bull ''Quo expeditius''.===Health===During the Castle Bravo test of the first deployable thermonuclear bomb, a miscalculation resulted in the explosion being over twice as large as predicted.", "The nuclear fallout spread eastward onto the inhabited Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls.", "These islands were not evacuated before the explosion.", "Many of the Marshall Islands natives have since suffered from radiation burns and radioactive dusting, suffering similar fates as the Japanese fishermen aboard the ''Daigo Fukuryū Maru'', but have received little, if any, compensation from the federal government." ], [ "Government", "The Marshall Islands Capitol (now in disuse)H.E.", "Hilda C. Heine, first woman and former president of the Marshall Islands, walking through the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery Sept. 12, 2017The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary-presidential system as set forth in its 1979 Constitution.", "Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage (for all citizens above 18), with each of the twenty-four constituencies (see below) electing one or more representatives (senators) to the lower house of RMI's unicameral legislature, the Nitijela.", "(Majuro, the capital atoll, elects five senators.)", "The President, who is head of state as well as head of government, is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela.", "Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected since the Constitution was adopted in 1979 have been traditional paramount chiefs.Former President Hilda Heine with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in October 2017In January 2016, senator Hilda Heine was elected by Parliament as the first female president of the Marshall Islands; previous president Casten Nemra lost office in a vote of no confidence after serving two weeks.Legislative power lies with the Nitijela.", "The Council of Iroij is an advisory body comprising twelve paramount chiefs.", "The executive branch consists of the President and the Presidential Cabinet, which consists of ten ministers appointed by the President with the approval of the Nitijela.", "The twenty-four electoral districts into which the country is divided correspond to the inhabited islands and atolls.", "There are currently four political parties in the Marshall Islands: Aelon̄ Kein Ad (AKA), United People's Party (UPP), Kien Eo Am (KEA), and United Democratic Party (UDP).", "The AKA and the UDP share rulership.", "The following senators are in the legislative body:* Ailinglaplap Atoll – Christopher Loeak (AKA), Alfred Alfred, Jr. (IND)* Ailuk Atoll – Maynard Alfred (UDP)* Arno Atoll – Mike Halferty (KEA), Jejwadrik H. Anton (IND)* Aur Atoll – Hilda C. Heine (AKA)* Ebon Atoll – John M. Silk (UDP)* Enewetak Atoll – Jack J. Ading (UPP)* Jabat Island – Kessai H. Note (UDP)* Jaluit Atoll – Casten Nemra (IND), Daisy Alik Momotaro (IND)* Kili Island – Eldon H. Note (UDP)* Kwajalein Atoll – Michael Kabua (AKA), David R. Paul (KEA), Alvin T. Jacklick (KEA)* Lae Atoll – Thomas Heine (AKA)* Lib Island – Jerakoj Jerry Bejang (AKA)* Likiep Atoll – Leander Leander, Jr. (IND)* Majuro Atoll – Sherwood M. Tibon (KEA), Anthony Muller (KEA), Brenson Wase (UDP), David Kramer (KEA), Kalani Kaneko (KEA)* Maloelap Atoll – Bruce Bilimon (IND)* Mejit Island – Dennis Momotaro (AKA)* Mili Atoll – Wilbur Heine (AKA)* Namdrik Atoll – Wise Zackhras (IND)* Namu Atoll – Tony Aiseia (AKA)* Rongelap Atoll – Kenneth A. Kedi (IND)* Ujae Atoll – Atbi Riklon (IND)* Utirik Atoll – Amenta Mathew (KEA)* Wotho Atoll – David Kabua (AKA)* Wotje Atoll – Litokwa Tomeing (UPP)===Foreign affairs and defense===USCGC ''Oliver Berry'' and the RMIS ''Lomor'' on a joint patrolThe Compact of Free Association with the United States gives the U.S. sole responsibility for international defense of the Marshall Islands.", "It gives the islanders (the Marshallese) the right to emigrate to the United States without any visa.", "However, as aliens, they can be placed in removal proceedings if convicted of certain criminal offenses.The Marshall Islands was admitted to the United Nations based on the Security Council's recommendation on August 9, 1991, in Resolution 704 and the General Assembly's approval on September 17, 1991, in Resolution 46/3.In international politics within the United Nations, the Marshall Islands has often voted consistently with the United States with respect to General Assembly resolutions.On April 28, 2015, the Iranian navy seized the Marshall Island-flagged MV ''Maersk Tigris'' near the Strait of Hormuz.", "The ship had been chartered by Germany's Rickmers Ship Management, which stated that the ship contained no special cargo and no military weapons.", "The ship was reported to be under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard according to the Pentagon.", "Tensions escalated in the region due to the intensifying of Saudi-led coalition attacks in Yemen.", "The Pentagon reported that the destroyer USS ''Farragut'' and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft were dispatched upon receiving a distress call from the ship ''Tigris'' and it was also reported that all 34 crew members were detained.", "US defense officials have said that they would review U.S. defense obligations to the Government of the Marshall Islands in the wake of recent events and also condemned the shots fired at the bridge as \"inappropriate\".", "It was reported in May 2015 that Tehran would release the ship after it paid a penalty.In March 2017, at the 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, Vanuatu made a joint statement on behalf of the Marshall Islands and some other Pacific nations raising human rights violations in the Western New Guinea, which has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963, and requested that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights produce a report.", "Indonesia rejected allegations.Since 1991 the Republic of Marshall Islands Sea Patrol, a division of Marshall Islands Police, has operated the 160-ton patrol vessel RMIS ''Lomor''.", "''Lomor'' is one of 22 Pacific Forum patrol vessels Australia provided to smaller nations in the Pacific Forum.", "While some other nations' missions for their vessels include sovereignty and protection, the terms of the Compact of Free Association restrict ''Lomor'' to civilian missions, like fishery protection and search and rescue.In 2021, the governments of Australia and Japan decided to fund two major law enforcement developments in the Marshall Islands.In February 2021, the Marshall Islands announced it would be formally withdrawing from the Pacific Islands Forum in a joint statement with Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia after a dispute regarding Henry Puna's election as the forum's secretary-general." ], [ "Culture", "fansAlthough the ancient skills are now in decline, the Marshallese were once able navigators, using the stars and stick-and-shell charts." ], [ "Sports", "Major sports played in the Marshall Islands include volleyball, basketball (primarily by men), baseball, soccer and a number of water sports.", "The Marshall Islands has been represented at the Olympics at all games since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.", "In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Marshall Islands were represented by two swimmers.=== Association football===The Marshall Islands have a small club league, including Kobeer as the most successful club.", "One tournament was held by ''Play Soccer Make Peace''.", "There is a small Football Association on the island of Majuro.", "The sport of association football is new to the Marshall Islands.", "The Marshall Islands is the only country in the world that does not have a national football team.", "The Marshall Islands is therefore the only sovereign country in the world that does not have a record of a national football match.=== Marshall Islands Baseball / Softball Federation===Softball and baseball are held under one sports federation in the Marshall Islands.", "The President is Jeimata Nokko Kabua.", "Both sports are growing at a fast pace, with hundreds of Marshallese people behind the Marshall Islands Baseball / Softball Federation.", "The Marshall Islands achieved a silver medal in the Micronesian Games in 2012, as well as medals in the SPG Games." ], [ "Economy", "The islands have few natural resources, and their imports far exceed exports.", "According to the CIA, the value of exports in 2013 was approximately $53.7 million while estimated imports were $133.7 million.", "Agricultural products include coconuts, tomatoes, melons, taro, breadfruit, fruits, pigs and chickens.", "Industry is made of the production of copra and craft items, tuna processing and tourism.", "The GDP in 2016 was an estimated $180 million, with a real growth rate of 1.7%.", "The GDP per capita was $3,300.The International Monetary Fund reported in mid-2016 that the economy of the Republic had expanded by about 0.5 percent in the Fiscal Year 2015 thanks to an improved fisheries sector.", "A surplus of 3% of GDP was recorded \"owing to record-high fishing license fees.", "Growth is expected to rise to about 1.5 percent and inflation to about 0.5 percent in FY2016, as the effects of the drought in earlier 2016 are offset by the resumption of infrastructure projects.", "\"In 2018, the Republic of Marshall Islands passed the Sovereign Currency Act, which made it the first country to issue their own cryptocurrency and certify it as legal tender; the currency is called the \"Sovereign\".Marshall Islands has signed a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan in 2019, this agreement has been approved in 2023 and will take effect at a future date.=== Shipping===The Marshall Islands plays a vital role in the international shipping industry as a flag of convenience for commercial vessels.", "The Marshallese registry began operations in 1990, and is managed through a joint venture with International Registries, Inc., a US-based corporation that has offices in major shipping centers worldwide.", "As of 2017, the Marshallese ship registry was the second largest in the world, after that of Panama.Unlike some flag countries, there is no requirement that a Marshallese flag vessel be owned by a Marshallese individual or corporation.", "Following the 2015 seizure of the ''MV Maersk Tigris'', the United States announced that its treaty obligation to defend the Marshall Islands did not extend to foreign-owned Marshallese flag vessels at sea.As a result of ship-to-ship transfers by Marshallese flag tanker vessels, the Marshall Islands have statistically been one of the largest importers of crude oil from the United States, despite the fact that the islands have no oil refining capacity.===Labour===In 2007, the Marshall Islands joined the International Labour Organization, which means its labor laws will comply with international benchmarks.", "This may affect business conditions in the islands.===Taxation===The income tax has two brackets, with rates of 8% and 12%.", "The corporate tax is 3% of revenue.===Foreign assistance===United States government assistance is the mainstay of the economy.", "Under terms of the Amended Compact of Free Association, the U.S. is committed to providing US$57.7 million per year in assistance to the Marshall Islands (RMI) through 2013 and then US$62.7 million through 2023, at which time a trust fund, made up of U.S. and RMI contributions, will begin perpetual annual payouts.The United States Army maintains the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll.", "Marshallese landowners receive rent for the base.===Agriculture===Coconut palms in the Marshall IslandsAgricultural production is concentrated on small farms.", "The most important commercial crop is copra, followed by coconut, breadfruit, pandanus, banana, taro and arrowroot.", "The livestock consists primarily of pigs and chickens.===Industry===Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, fish processing, and copra.===Fishing===Majuro is the world's busiest tuna transshipment port, with 704 transshipments totaling 444,393 tons in 2015.Majuro is also a tuna processing center; the Pan Pacific Foods plant exports processed tuna to a number of countries, primarily the United States under the Bumble Bee brand.", "Fishing license fees, primarily for tuna, provide noteworthy income for the government.In 1999, a private company built a tuna loining plant with more than 400 employees, mostly women.", "But the plant closed in 2005 after a failed attempt to convert it to produce tuna steaks, a process that requires half as many employees.", "Operating costs exceeded revenue and the plant closed.", "It was taken over by the government, which had been the guarantor of a $2 million loan to the business.===Energy===Coconut trees abound in the Pacific's tropical islands.", "Copra, the meat of the coconut, yields 1 liter of coconut oil for every 6 to 10 coconuts.", "As of 2007 power authorities, private companies, and entrepreneurs on the islands had been experimenting with coconut oil as alternative to diesel fuel for vehicles, power generators, and ships.", "In 2009, a 57 kW solar power plant was installed, the largest in the Pacific at the time, including New Zealand.", "It is estimated that 330 kW of solar and 450 kW of wind power would be required to make the College of the Marshall Islands energy self-sufficient.", "Marshalls Energy Company (MEC), a government entity, provides the islands with electricity.", "In 2008, two 100-Wp solar home systems were installed on 420 homes on Ailinglaplap Atoll, sufficient for limited electricity use." ], [ "Education", "The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that the Marshall Islands are fulfilling only 66.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.", "HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education.", "While taking into consideration the Marshall Islands' income level, the nation is achieving 65.5% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 66.6% for secondary education.The Ministry of Education is the education agency of the islands.", "Marshall Islands Public School System operates the state schools in the Marshall Islands.In the 1994–1995 school year the country had 103 elementary schools and 13 secondary schools.", "There were 27 private elementary schools and one private high school.", "Christian groups operated most of the private schools.Historically the Marshallese population was taught in English first with Marshallese instruction coming later, but this was reversed in the 1990s to keep the islands' cultural heritage and so children could write in Marshallese.", "Now English language instruction begins in grade 3.Christine McMurray and Roy Smith wrote in ''Diseases of Globalization: Socioeconomic Transition and Health'' that this could potentially weaken the children's English skills.There are two tertiary institutions operating in the Marshall Islands, the College of the Marshall Islands and the University of the South Pacific." ], [ "Transportation", "The Marshall Islands are served by the Marshall Islands International Airport in Majuro, the Bucholz Army Airfield in Kwajalein, and other small airports and airstrips.Airlines include United Airlines, Nauru Airlines, Air Marshall Islands, and Asia Pacific Airlines." ], [ "Media and communications", "The Marshall Islands have several AM and FM radio stations.", "AM stations are 1098 5 kW V7AB Majuro (Radio Marshalls, national coverage) and 1224 AFN Kwajalein (both public radio) as well as 1557 Micronesia Heatwave.", "The FM stations are 97.9 V7AD Majuro, V7AA 96.3 FM Uliga and 104.1 V7AA Majuro (Baptist religious).", "BBC World is broadcast on 98.5 FM Majuro.", "The most recent station is Power 103.5 which started broadcasting in 2016.AFRTS stations include 99.9 AFN Kwajalein (country), 101.1 AFN (adult rock) and 102.1 AFN (hot AC).There is one broadcast television station, MBC-TV operated by the state.", "Cable TV is available.", "On cable TV, most programs are shown two weeks later than in North America but news in real time can be viewed on CNN, CNBC and BBC.", "American Forces Radio and Television also provides TV service to Kwajalein Atoll.The Marshall Islands National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) provides telephone, cable TV (MHTV), FAX, cellular and Internet services.", "The Authority is a private corporation with significant ownership by the national government.===Newspapers===''Loan Ran Kein'', a Marshallese language paper, was published from 1953 to 1954.The current national newspaper is a bilingual (Marshallese and English) weekly, ''The Marshall Islands Journal''.", "It has been published since 1980." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of the Marshall Islands* Index of Marshall Islands–related articles* List of islands of the Marshall Islands* Pacific Proving Grounds* List of island countries* ''The Plutonium Files''* Visa policy of the Marshall Islands* Naval Base Marshall Islands" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "*****************" ], [ "Further reading", "* * * Hein, J. R., F. L. Wong, and D. L. Mosier (2007).", "''Bathymetry of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Vicinity''.", "Miscellaneous Field Studies; Map-MF-2324.Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.", "* * * Woodard, Colin (2000).", "''Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas''.", "New York: Basic Books.", "(Contains extended account of sea-level rise threat and the legacy of U.S. Atomic testing.)" ], [ "External links", "===Government===* Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Washington, DC official government site* Chief of State and Cabinet Members=== General information===* Marshall Islands.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Country Profile from New Internationalist* Marshall Islands from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* * Marshall Islands from the BBC News* === News media===* Marshall Islands Journal Weekly independent national newspaper=== Other===* Digital Micronesia – ''Marshalls'' by Dirk HR Spennemann, Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage Management* Plants & Environments of the Marshall Islands Book turned website by Dr. Mark Merlin of the University of Hawaii* Atomic Testing Information* Pictures of victims of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands on Nuclear Files.org * \"Kenner hearing: Marshall Islands-flagged rig in Gulf oil spill was reviewed in February\"* NOAA's National Weather Service – Marshall Islands* Canoes of the Marshall Islands* Alele Museum – Museum of the Marshall Islands * WUTMI – Women United Together Marshall Islands" ] ]
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[ [ "Geography of the Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", " The Marshall Islands consist of two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands, which form two parallel groups—the \"Ratak\" (sunrise) chain and the \"Ralik\" (sunset) chain.", "The Marshalls are located in the North Pacific Ocean and share maritime boundaries with Micronesia and Kiribati.", "Two-thirds of the nation's population lives in the capital of Majuro and the settlement of Ebeye.", "The outer islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities and economic development." ], [ "Statistics", "The country is located about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Papua New Guinea.", "The archipelago includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik.The total area of the islands is equal to the size of the City of Washington, DC.", "The largest atoll with a land area of is Kwajalein.", "The terrain consists of low coral limestone and sand islands.", "Natural resources include coconut products, marine products, and deep seabed minerals.", "Current environmental issues are inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels.", "'''Maritime claims:'''''territorial sea:''12 nautical miles''contiguous zone:''24 nm''exclusive economic zone:''200 nm'''Elevation extremes:'''''lowest point:''Pacific Ocean 0 meters''highest point:''unnamed location on Likiep Atoll above sea level'''Land use:'''''arable land:''11.11%''permanent crops:''44.44%''other:''44.44% (2011)'''Environment - international agreements:'''''party to:''Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, WhalingBikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range; the island city of Ebeye is the second largest settlement in the Marshall Islands, after the capital of Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific.Majuro and Arno Atolls" ], [ "Climate", "Tropical; hot and humid with a Koeppen-Geiger classification of ''Af''.", "The wet season lasts from May to November and the islands border the typhoon belt.", "Typhoons do pose an infrequent threat from July to mid November.Due to their low elevation, the Marshall Islands are threatened by the potential effects of sea level rise.", "According to the President of Nauru, the Marshall Islands are the most endangered nation on Earth due to flooding from climate change.A study by the University of Plymouth found that the tides move sediment to create higher elevation, which may keep the islands habitable.===Climate change===Climate change is a serious threat to the Marshall Islands, with typhoons becoming stronger and sea levels rising.", "The sea around Pacific islands has risen 7mm a year since 1993, which is more than twice the rate of the worldwide average.", "In Kwajalein, there is a high risk of permanent flooding; when sea level rise to 1 meter, 37% of buildings will be permanently flooded in that scenario.", "In Ebeye, the risk of sea level rise is even higher, with 50% of buildings being permanently flooded in the same scenario.", "With 1 meter sea level rise parts of the Majuro atoll will be permanently flooded and other parts are having a high risk of flooding especially the eastern part of the atoll would be significantly at risk.", "With 2 meter sea level rise all the buildings of Majuro will be permanently flooded or would be at a high risk to be flooded.The per capita emissions were 2.56t in 2020.The government of Marshall Islands pledged to be net zero in 2050, with a decrease of 32% decrease of GHGs in 2025, 45% decrease in 2030 and a 58% decrease in 2035 all compared to 2010 levels." ], [ "Extreme points", "Image of Bikrin Islet, Majuro Atoll, one of the many landmasses of the Marshall Islands.This is a list of the extreme points of the Marshall Islands, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.", "* Northernmost point – Bokak Atoll (Taongi), Ratak Chain** Easternmost point – Knox Atoll, Ratak Chain* Southernmost point – Ebon Atoll, Ralik Chain* Westernmost point - Ujelang Atoll, Ralik Chain* ''Note: the government of the Marshall Islands claims Wake Island, currently under US administration.", "If this is considered part of the Marshall Islands, then Toki Point on Peale Island, Wake Island is the northernmost point of the Marshall Islands''" ], [ "References" ] ]
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[ [ "Demographics of the Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''demographics of the Marshall Islands''' include data such as population density, ethnicity, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.Historical population figures for the Marshall Islands are unknown.", "In 1862, the population of the islands was estimated at 10,000.In 1960, the population of the Islands was approximately 15,000.The 2021 census counted 42,418 residents, 23,156 of whom (approximately 54.6%) lived on Majuro.", "77.7% of the population lived in an urban setting on Majuro or Ebeye, the country's the secondary urban center.", "The Marshallese census figures exclude Marshall Islanders who have relocated elsewhere; the Compact of Free Association allows them to freely relocate to the United States and obtain work there.", "Approximately 4,300 Marshall Islands natives relocated to Springdale, Arkansas in the United States; this figure represents the largest population concentration of Marshall Islands natives outside their island home.Most residents of the Marshall Islands are Marshallese.", "Marshallese people are of Micronesian origin and are believed to have migrated from Asia to the Marshall Islands several thousand years ago.", "A minority of the Marshallese have Asian and European ancestry such as Japanese and German.", "A Majority have Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry.", "About one-half of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye Atolls.The official languages of the Marshall Islands are English and Marshallese.", "Both languages are widely spoken." ], [ "Vital statistics", "'''Births and deaths''' YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR 1988 43,380 7.2 1999 50,840 2,125 41.8 4.9 36.9 5.71 2011 53,158 1,641 32.1 3.7 28.4 4.05===Structure of the population===Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 03.IV.2011):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 27 243 25 915 53 158 100 0–4 4 031 3 712 7 743 14.57 5–9 3 622 3 395 7 017 13.20 10–14 3 385 3 108 6 493 12.21 15–19 2 417 2 314 4 731 8.90 20–24 2 614 2 480 5 094 9.58 25–29 2 159 2 245 4 404 8.28 30–34 1 876 1 913 3 789 7.13 35–39 1 587 1 549 3 136 5.90 40–44 1 419 1 366 2 785 5.24 45–49 1 189 1 155 2 344 4.41 50–54 1 016 914 1 930 3.63 55–59 815 761 1 576 2.96 60–64 583 469 1 052 1.98 65-69 284 283 522 0.98 70-74 131 119 250 0.47 75-79 62 90 152 0.29 80-84 31 61 92 0.17 85-89 21 15 36 0.07 90-94 1 11 12 0.02 95+ 0 0 0 0Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 11 038 10 215 21 253 39.98 15–64 15 675 15 121 30 796 57.93 65+ 530 579 1 109 2.09" ], [ "Religion", "Major religious groups in the Republic of the Marshall Islands include the United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands, with 51.5% of the population; the Assemblies of God, 24.2%; the Roman Catholic Church, 8.4%; and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 8.3%.", "Also represented are Bukot Nan Jesus (also known as Assembly of God Part Two), 2.2%; Baptist, 1.0%; Seventh-day Adventists, 0.9%; Full Gospel, 0.7%; and the Baháʼí Faith, 0.6%.", "Persons without any religious affiliation account for a very small percentage of the population.", "Islam is also present through Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which is based in Majuro, with the first mosque opening in the capital in September 2012." ], [ "Health", "During the Castle Bravo test of the first deployable thermonuclear bomb, a miscalculation resulted in the explosion being over twice as large as predicted.", "The nuclear fallout spread eastward onto the inhabited Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls.", "These islands were not evacuated before the explosion.", "Many of the Marshall Islands natives have since suffered from radiation burns and radioactive dusting, suffering the similar fates as the Japanese fishermen aboard the ''Daigo Fukuryū Maru'', but have received little, if any, compensation from the federal government." ], [ "CIA World Factbook demographic statistics", "Demographics of the Marshall Islands, Data of FAO, year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.Source:===Population===*77,917 (July 2020 est.", ")===Age structure===*0–14 years: 32.94% (male 13,090/female 12,575)*15–24 years: 19.09% (male 7,568/female 7,308)*25–54 years: 37.35% (male 14,834/female 14,270)*55–64 years: 5.92% (male 2,269/female 2,341)*65 years and over: 4.7% (male 1,805/female 1,857) (2020 est.", ")===Population growth rate===*1.43% (2020 est.", ")===Birth rate===*22.8 births/1,000 population (2020 est.", ")===Death rate===*4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2020 est.", ")===Net migration rate===*-4.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020 est.", ")===Sex ratio===*at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female*0–14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female*15–24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female*25–54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female*55–64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female*65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female*Total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2020 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===*Total: 17.4 deaths/1,000 live births*Male: 19.7 deaths/1,000 live births*Female: 15.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===*Total population: 74.1 years*Male: 71.8 years*Female: 76.5 years (2020 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===*2.86 children born/woman (2020 est.", ")===Nationality===*Marshallese (singular and plural)*Marshallese (adjective)===Ethnic groups===*Marshallese: 92.1%*Mixed Marshallese: 5.9%* Other: 2% (2006)===Religions===*Protestant: 80.5%*United Church: 47%*Assembly of God: 16.2%*Roman Catholic: 8.5%*Bukot nan Jesus: 5.4%*Latter-day Saints: 1.4%*Other Christian: 10.5%*Other: 1.2%*None: 1.1%===Languages===*Marshallese (official): 98.2% *other languages 1.8%" ], [ "References", "*" ] ]
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[ [ "Communications in the Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "The Marshall Islands is an island country in Oceania.In 2010, the Majuro and Kwajalein Atoll were connected to the HANTRU-1 undersea communications cable to provide high-speed bandwidth.", "Faster internet service was rolled out to Majuro and Ebeye on April 1, 2010.National Telecommunications Authority buildingThe majority of communication is under the responsibility of ''Marshall Islands National Telecommunications Authority''." ], [ "Publications", "Newspapers: * Marshall Islands Journal: tabloid** The Marshall Islands Journal is a dual language, once a week publication.", "It is the newspaper of record for the Marshall Islands." ], [ "Telephone", "Telephones:* main lines in use: 3,000 (1994)* mobile cellular: 280 (1994)Telex services:* ''domestic:'' Majuro Atoll and Ebeye and Kwajalein islands have regular, seven-digit, direct-dial telephones; other islands interconnected by shortwave radio, telephone (used mostly for government purposes)* ''international:'' satellite earth stations – 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein" ], [ "Radio", "Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)Stations included are:* V7AB 1098 (State-run, by Marshalls Broadcasting Company, national coverage)* V7AFN 1224 Kwajalein (military, NPR)* V7EG 1170 Micronesia Heatwave (commercial) (formerly V7RR AM 1557)* V7EMON 95.5* V7AB 97.9* V7EAGLE 99.9 Kwajalein (military, Country)* V7DJ 101.1 Kwajalein (military, Active Rock)* AFN 102.1 Kwajalein (military, Hot AC)* V7AA 104.1 - Religious" ], [ "Television", "Television broadcast stations: 3 (of which two are US military stations): MBC-TV, CPN (AFN) – Central Pacific Network (Channel 1) - CPN (AFN) – Central Pacific Network (Channel 2)" ], [ "Internet", "Internet Service Providers: 1Top level domain: The TLD of the Marshall Islands is .mh.", "However, it's registrar has been essentially defunct, with their website not resolving." ], [ "Notes" ] ]
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[ [ "Transportation in the Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Railways:'''0 kmRoad system on Majuro Atoll'''Highways:'''''total:''NA km''paved:''64.5 km''unpaved:''NA km''note:''paved roads on major islands (Majuro, Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and tracks (2002)'''Ports and harbors:'''Majuro'''Merchant marine:'''''total:''342 ships (1,000 GT or over) totaling 14,471,690 GT/''ships by type:''bulk 86, cargo 18, chemical tanker 31, combination bulk 4, combination ore/oil 7, container 69, liquified gas 8, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 6, petroleum tanker 106, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 1 (2002 est.", ")''note:''a flag of convenience registry; includes the ships of People's Republic of China 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 9, Germany 70, Greece 54, Hong Kong 2, Japan 4, Monaco 8, Netherlands 8, United Kingdom 3, United States 87, and Uruguay 1 (2002 est.", ")'''Airports:'''35 (2009), see list of airports in the Marshall Islands'''Airports - with paved runways:'''''total:''5''1,524 to 2,437 m:''4 (Eniwetok, IATA airport code ENT; Kwajalein, KWA; and Marshall Islands International, MAJ; Rongelap).", "''914 to 1,523 m:''1 (2009)'''Airports and airstrips - with unpaved runways:'''''total:''30''914 to 1,523 m:''29''under 914 m:''1 (2009)" ], [ "See also", "*Marshall Islands*Public Transportation" ], [ "External links" ] ]
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[ [ "Foreign relations of the Marshall Islands" ], [ "Introduction", "The Republic of the Marshall Islands has established bilateral diplomatic relations with 112 countries.", "Regional cooperation, through membership in various regional and international organizations, is a key element in its foreign policy.The Marshall Islands became a member of the United Nations on September 17, 1991.The Marshall Islands maintains embassies in the United States, Fiji, South Korea, Japan, and the Republic of China (Taiwan).", "They also maintain a consulate in Honolulu, Hawaii and in Springdale, Arkansas, United States." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which the Marshall Islands maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px # Country Date1 11 12 13 14 15 16 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 3738 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 — 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 —68 — 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 —— 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 9293 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107108109110111112" ], [ "Bilateral relations", " CountryNotesSee India–Marshall Islands relationsAs per the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, India established diplomatic relations with Republic of the Marshall Islands in April 1995.Development assistance from India has included a grant of US$100,000 in June 2008 for a solar street lighting project in the capital city of Majuro and grant of 5 ITEC scholarships in November 2010.Marshall Islands has been supportive of issues of importance to India, particularly Indian candidature to international organizations.", "It supported India's candidature for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2011–12 term.", "Presently, there are about 10 Indian nationals in the Marshall Islands.See Israel–Marshall Islands relationsSee Kosovo–Marshall Islands relationsThe Marshall Islands officially recognised the independence of the Republic of Kosovo on the 17 April 2008.See Marshall Islands–Federated States of Micronesia relationsThe Marshall Islands and Micronesia share very good relations, as they are both bound by Compacts of Free Association with the United States.", "* Marshall Islands does not have an accreditation to Mexico* Mexico is accredited to the Marshall Islands from its embassy in Manila, Philippines.See Marshall Islands-Palau relationsThe Marshall Islands and Palau share very good relations, as they are both bound by Compacts of Free Association with the United States.See Marshall Islands-South Korea relations The Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Korea have good diplomatic relations.", "* Bilateral trade of both countries in 2020 were about 4.83 billion $.", "* Turkish ambassador in Canberra to Australia is also accredited to Marshall Islands.", "* Marshall Islands has an Honorary Consulate in Istanbul.", "* Trade volume between the two countries was negligible in 2018.See Marshall Islands–United States relationsThe Marshall Islands and the United States maintain a strong and stable relationship under the Compact of Free Association.", "The US has full responsibility in the country's defense, financial aid, and social services.", "In return, the U.S. provides healthcare services, security, and freedom of movement between U.S., American Samoan, and Marshall Islander citizens.", "In international politics, Marshall Islands has often voted with the United States with respect to United Nations General Assembly resolutions.", "* Marshall Islands has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and consulates in Honolulu and Springdale.", "* United States has an embassy in Majuro." ], [ "Human rights criticisms", "'''Hong Kong national security law'''In June 2020, the Marshall Islands openly opposed the Hong Kong national security law." ], [ "See also", "* Compact of Free Association* List of diplomatic missions in the Marshall Islands* List of diplomatic missions of the Marshall Islands* Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the United Nations* RMI Embassy to the U.S. * US Embassy in Majuro" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mass deacidification" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mass deacidification''' is a term used in library and information science as one possible measure against the degradation of paper in old books, the so-called \"slow fires\".", "The goal of the process is to increase the pH of acidic paper.", "Although acid-free paper has become more common, a large body of acidic paper still exists in books made after the 1850s; this is because of its cheaper and simpler production methods.", "Acidic paper, especially when exposed to light, air pollution, or high relative humidity, yellows and becomes brittle over time.", "During mass deacidification an alkaline agent is deposited in the paper to neutralize existing acid and prevent further decay.", "Mass deacidification is intended for objects on acidic paper that will be lost if no action is performed." ], [ "History of research and process development", "Mass deacidification—along with microfilm and lamination—was developed during the early and mid-20th century as a response to the chemical process of hydrolysis by which the fibers that constitute paper, providing its structure and strength, have their bonds broken, resulting in paper that becomes increasingly brittle over time.", "Environmental pollutants can react with paper to form acids that promote oxidation, creating more acid as a by-product, which results in a positive feedback loop of autocatalytic destruction.", "Supported in part by grants from the Council on Library Resources, William J. Barrow conducted research into paper decay and found that no more than three percent of books published between 1900 and 1949 would survive more than fifty years.", "In response to this, a Standing Committee on the Preservation of Research Library Materials was formed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in 1960.Barrow also invented an aqueous process to neutralize acid in paper while depositing an alkaline buffer that would slow the rate of decay.", "In addition to Barrow's original method, both non-aqueous—employing organic solvents—and vaporous—the Library of Congress' DEZ (diethyl zinc) treatment—methods of achieving the same results have been researched in an attempt to reduce time, labor, and cost requirements.One technique proposed is to place books in an evacuated chamber, then introduce diethylzinc (DEZ).", "In theory, the diethylzinc would react with acidic residues in the paper, leaving an alkaline residue that would protect the paper against further degradation.", "In practice, the heating required to remove trace water from the books before reaction (DEZ reacts violently with water) caused an accelerated degradation of the paper, a series of chemical reactions between DEZ and other components of the book (glues, bindings), caused further damage, and produced unpleasant aromas.", "In the 1980s, a pilot plant for mass deacidification, using this process, was constructed by NASA and was tested on books provided by the Library of Congress.", "In 1986 it was discovered that the DEZ had not been removed in one of the deacidification runs and pooled in the bottom of the chamber, possibly remaining within the plumbing.", "DEZ is violently flammable when it comes in contact with either oxygen or water vapor, so the vacuum chamber could not be opened to remove the books within.", "Eventually, explosives were used to rupture the suspect plumbing; suspicions of the presence of residual DEZ were confirmed by the subsequent fire that destroyed the plant.", "In his book ''Double Fold'', Nicholson Baker discusses the failure of the NASA program at great length.The chemical company AkzoNobel made later attempts at refining the process.", "The risks of fire and explosions were reduced by a better process design, however, damage and odors remained a problem.", "In the end, AkzoNobel determined the process was not a viable commercial proposition and shut down their research at the end of 1994." ], [ "Goals", "These are the results that the Library of Congress expected of an ideal mass deacidification treatment in 1994:*neutralize acidic paper and add an alkaline reserve.", "*produce a pH value between 6.8 and 10.4 that is evenly distributed throughout the book.", "*should not cause any damage to adhesives, inks, or dyes.", "*should not cause an odor or any change in the color of the paper.", "*should not cause loss of pliancy or mechanical strength.Faculty members of the Slovak University of Technology added these further requirements:*the chemicals used have to be safe.", "*the process has to be able to be applied to any kind of paper.", "*the process can not cause swelling or warping of the paper." ], [ "Effects", "All of the processes imparted an adequately high pH in studies conducted by the European Commission on Preservation and Access, the Library of Congress, and a team of scientists from the Centre de Recherches sur la Conservation des Documents Graphiques in the early and mid-nineties.", "BookKeeper produced a pH of 9–10.CSC Book Saver yielded a pH of 8.78–10.5.Wei T'o gives 7.5 to 10.4, and Papersave gives a pH of 7.5–9.The same studies also found that the processes had adverse cosmetic side effects.", "BookKeeper left \"a palpable residue\", clamp marks on the covers, and caused some of the colored inks to rub off.", "CSC Book Saver left a \"white powdery deposit\" on books.", "Papersave caused \"discoloration, white deposit, Newton's rings, bleeding of inks and dyes, odor and different 'feel' of the paper.\"", "Wei T'o caused \"odor, white residues, rings, cockling, (yellow) discolorations and adhesive bleeding.", "\"Conservators from the British Library acknowledge that the existing mass deacidification processes are still being developed and further research needs to be conducted on their chemical and mechanical effects." ], [ "Services", "Several commercial deacidification techniques are on the market :*The BookKeeper process is a non-aqueous, liquid phase process that uses magnesium oxide.", "BookKeeper is available through Preservation Technologies, L.P. with plants in the U.S., Spain, Japan, Poland, The Netherlands, South Africa, and Qatar.", "*The CSC Book Saver uses carbonated magnesium propylate for deacidification.", "The CSC Book Saver is available in Europe through Conservación de Sustratos Celulósicos S.L.", "(CSC) (Barcelona, Spain).", "*The Papersave process was developed by Battelle Ingenieurtechnik GmbH and is, therefore, sometimes referred to as \"the Battelle Process\".", "The process uses magnesium titanium alkoxide.", "The Papersave process is available in Europe through Nitrochemie Wimmis (Wimmis, Switzerland) under the name of Papersave Swiss and the Zentrum für Bucherhaltung (Leipzig, Germany).", "*The Wei T'o process uses methoxy magnesium methyl carbonate, or isopropoxy magnesium isopropyl carbonate, and new products are coming out in 2008.Wei T'o is less commonly used for mass deacidification treatment than for single item deacidification.", "Wei T'o products are available through Wei T'o Associates Inc. (Matteson, US).BookKeeper, CSC Booksaver, Papersave, and Wei T'o are also available as hand-held sprays." ], [ "Adoption and costs", "While deacidification has been adopted by major research libraries such as the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library, it is not clear whether many archives, particularly those in the United States, have followed suit.", "Some European national archives have tested deacidification techniques.", "The United States' National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which pioneered an aqueous technique that improved upon Barrow's, chose to invest its preservation dollars elsewhere.", "In 2000, the Chief of the NARA Document Conservation Laboratory defended the lack of a mass deacidification program by pointing to differences between library and archival collections.", "For example, noting that many of the papers coming to NARA were of a higher quality than those in library collections; that the Archives does not receive records from federal government agencies until they are at least 30 years old, by which time acidic paper will have already been irrevocably weakened, and that limited resources might best be applied elsewhere, such as climate control.", "Under the Archives' Twenty-Year Preservation Plan, emphasis was placed on achieving the \"maximum benefit for the greatest number of records.", "\"Though now dated, several sources estimate the costs and suitability of deacidification treatment.", "Studies conducted by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center and the General State Archive of the Netherlands found the DEZ method might be particularly applicable to archival materials.", "It was estimated that deacidification costs, excluding transportation and handling, during the early 1990s was $5–10 per volume.", "During 1995–1997, the Library of Congress received $2 million in appropriations to deacidify 72,000 books using the Bookkeeper commercial method and evaluate alternative methods.", "The actual cost per book was $11.70.Finally, a recent cost comparison with reformatting options per volume yielded $125 for microfilming, $50 for scanning and minimal indexing and, based on a New York Public Library project, $16.20 for deacidification.As of 2022, there were five mass deacidification plants in the world." ], [ "See also", "* Preservation (library and archive)* ''Double Fold''* Paper* Pulp (paper)* Preservation survey* Foxing*Rare Books and Manuscripts Section* Paper Chemicals" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* The Library of Congress' links to Mass Deacidification Publications* The Canadian Conservation Institute's study on Evaluating Commercial Deacidification Processes* Council on Library and Information Resources report on the Technical Considerations in Choosing a Mass Deacidification Process" ] ]
wikipedia
[ [ "Mile" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''mile''', sometimes the '''international mile''' or '''statute mile''' to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English feet, or 1,760 yards.", "The statute mile was standardised between the Commonwealth of Nations and the United States by an international agreement in 1959, when it was formally redefined with respect to SI units as exactly .With qualifiers, ''mile'' is also used to describe or translate a wide range of units derived from or roughly equivalent to the Roman mile (roughly ), such as the nautical mile (now exactly), the Italian mile (roughly ), and the Chinese mile (now exactly).", "The Romans divided their mile into 5,000 pedēs (\"feet\"), but the greater importance of furlongs in the Elizabethan-era England meant that the statute mile was made equivalent to or in 1593.This form of the mile then spread across the British Empire, some successor states of which continue to employ the mile.", "The US Geological Survey now employs the metre for official purposes, but legacy data from its 1927 geodetic datum has meant that a separate US survey mile continues to see some use, although it was officially phased out in 2022.While most countries replaced the mile with the kilometre when switching to the International System of Units (SI), the international mile continues to be used in some countries, such as Liberia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a number of countries with fewer than one million inhabitants, most of which are UK or US territories or have close historical ties with the UK or US." ], [ "Name {{anchor|Etymology}}", "The modern English word ''mile'' derives from Middle English '''' and Old English '''', which was cognate with all other Germanic terms for ''miles''.", "These derived from the nominal ellipsis form of '''' 'mile' or '''' 'miles', the Roman mile of one thousand paces.The present international mile is usually what is understood by the unqualified term ''mile''.", "When this distance needs to be distinguished from the nautical mile, the international mile may also be described as a land mile or statute mile.", "In British English, ''statute mile'' may refer to the present international mile or to any other form of English mile since the 1593 Act of Parliament, which set it as a distance of .", "Under American law, however, ''statute mile'' refers to the US survey mile.", "Foreign and historical units translated into English as ''miles'' usually employ a qualifier to describe the kind of mile being used but this may be omitted if it is obvious from the context, such as a discussion of the 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary describing its distances in terms of ''miles'' rather than ''Roman miles''.===Abbreviation===The mile has been variously abbreviated in English—with and without a trailing period—as \"mi\", \"M\", \"ml\", and \"m\".", "The American National Institute of Standards and Technology now uses and recommends \"mi\" to avoid confusion with the SI metre (m) and millilitre (ml).", "However, derived units such as miles per hour or miles per gallon continue to be abbreviated as \"mph\" and \"mpg\" rather than \"mi/h\" and \"mi/gal\".", "In the United Kingdom, road signs use \"m\" as the abbreviation for mile though height and width restrictions also use \"m\" as the symbol for the metre, which may be displayed alongside feet and inches.", "The BBC style holds that \"there is no acceptable abbreviation for 'miles and so it should be spelled out when used in describing areas." ], [ "Historical", "Golden Milestone, the zero-mile marker of the Roman road network, in the Roman Forum===Roman===The '''Roman mile''' ('''',  \"thousand paces\";  '''m.p.", "'''; also '''' and '''') consisted of a thousand paces as measured by every other step—as in the total distance of the left foot hitting the ground 1,000 times.", "When Roman legionaries were well-fed and harshly driven in good weather, they thus created longer miles.", "The distance was indirectly standardised by Agrippa's establishment of a standard Roman foot (Agrippa's own) in 29 BC, and the definition of a pace as 5 feet.", "An Imperial Roman mile thus denoted 5,000 Roman feet.", "Surveyors and specialised equipment such as the decempeda and dioptra then spread its use.In modern times, Agrippa's Imperial Roman mile was empirically estimated to have been about in length, slightly less than the of the modern international mile.In Hellenic areas of the Empire, the Roman mile (, ) was used beside the native Greek units as equivalent to 8 stadia of 600 Greek feet.", "The continued to be used as a Byzantine unit and was also used as the name of the zero mile marker for the Byzantine Empire, the Milion, located at the head of the Mese near Hagia Sophia.The Roman mile spread throughout Europe, with its local variations giving rise to the different units.", "Also arising from the Roman mile is the milestone.", "All roads radiated out from the Roman Forum throughout the Empire – 50,000 (Roman) miles of stone-paved roads.", "At every mile was placed a shaped stone.", "Originally, these were obelisks made from granite, marble, or whatever local stone was available.", "On these was carved a Roman numeral, indicating the number of miles from the centre of Rome – the Forum.", "Hence, one can know how far one is from Rome.===Italian===The '''Italian mile''' ('''',  '''') was traditionally considered a direct continuation of the Roman mile, equal to 1000 paces, although its actual value over time or between regions could vary greatly.", "It was often used in international contexts from the Middle Ages into the 17th century and is thus also known as the \"geographical mile\", although the geographical mile is now a separate standard unit.===Arabic===The '''Arabic mile''' (, ) was not the common Arabic unit of length; instead, Arabs and Persians traditionally used the longer parasang or \"Arabic league\".", "The Arabic mile was, however, used by medieval geographers and scientists and constituted a kind of precursor to the nautical or geographical mile.", "It extended the Roman mile to fit an astronomical approximation of 1 arcminute of latitude measured directly north-and-south along a meridian.", "Although the precise value of the approximation remains disputed, it was somewhere between 1.8 and 2.0 km.===English===The \"'''old English mile'''\" of the medieval and early modern periods varied but seems to have measured about 1.3 international miles (2.1 km).", "The old English mile varied over time and location within England.", "The old English mile has also been defined as 79,200 or 79,320 inches (1.25 or 1.2519 statute miles).", "The English long continued the Roman computations of the mile as 5000 feet, 1000 paces, or 8 longer divisions, which they equated with their \"furrow's length\" or furlong.The origins of English units are \"extremely vague and uncertain\", but seem to have been a combination of the Roman system with native British and Germanic systems both derived from multiples of the barleycorn.", "Probably by the reign of Edgar in the 10th century, the nominal prototype physical standard of English length was an arm-length iron bar (a yardstick) held by the king at Winchester; the foot was then one-third of its length.", "Henry I was said to have made a new standard in 1101 based on his own arm.", "Following the issuance of Magna Carta, the barons of Parliament directed John and his son to keep the king's standard measure ('''') and weight at the Exchequer, which thereafter verified local standards until its abolition in the 19th century.", "New brass standards are known to have been constructed under Henry VII and Elizabeth I.Arnold's ''Customs of London'' recorded a mile shorter than previous ones, coming to 0.947 international miles (5000 feet) or 1.524 km.====Statute==== The English '''statute mile''' was established by a Weights and Measures Act of Parliament in 1593 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.", "The act on the Composition of Yards and Perches had shortened the length of the foot and its associated measures, causing the two methods of determining the mile to diverge.", "Owing to the importance of the surveyor's rod in deeds and surveying undertaken under Henry VIII, decreasing the length of the rod by would have amounted to a significant tax increase.", "Parliament instead opted to maintain the mile of 8 furlongs (which were derived from the rod) and to increase the number of feet per mile from the old Roman value.", "The applicable passage of the statute reads: \"A Mile shall contain eight Furlongs, every Furlong forty Poles, and every Pole shall contain sixteen Foot and half.\"", "The statute mile therefore contained 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards.", "The distance was not uniformly adopted.", "Robert Morden had multiple scales on his 17th-century maps which included continuing local values: his map of Hampshire, for example, bore two different \"miles\" with a ratio of and his map of Dorset had three scales with a ratio of .", "In both cases, the traditional local units remained longer than the statute mile.", "The English statute mile was superseded in 1959 by the international mile by international agreement.===Welsh===The '''Welsh mile''' ('''' or '''') was 3 statute miles and 1,470 yards long (6.17 km).", "It comprised 9,000 paces (''''), each of 3 Welsh feet ('''') of 9 inches ('''').", "(The Welsh inch is usually reckoned as equivalent to the English inch.)", "Along with other Welsh units, it was said to have been codified under Dyfnwal the Bald and Silent and retained unchanged by Hywel the Good.", "Along with other Welsh units, it was discontinued following the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England in the 13th century.===Scots===Edinburgh's \"Royal Mile\"—running from the castle to Holyrood Abbey—is roughly a Scots mile long.The '''Scots mile''' was longer than the English mile, as mentioned by Robert Burns in the first verse of his poem \"Tam o' Shanter\".", "It comprised 8 (Scots) furlongs divided into 320 falls or faws (Scots rods).", "It varied from place to place but the most accepted equivalencies are 1,976 Imperial yards (1.123 statute miles or 1.81 km).It was legally abolished three times: first by a 1685 act of the Scottish Parliament, again by the 1707 Treaty of Union with England, and finally by the Weights and Measures Act 1824.It had continued in use as a customary unit through the 18th century but had become obsolete by its final abolition.===Irish===Milestone on Mountbellew Bridge, erected .", "Distances are given in Irish miles.The '''Irish mile''' ('''' or '''') measured 2,240 yards: approximately 1.27 statute miles or 2.048 kilometres.", "It was used in Ireland from the 16th century plantations until the 19th century, with residual use into the 20th century.", "The units were based on \"English measure\" but used a linear perch measuring as opposed to the English rod of .===Dutch===Mercator.", "The scalebar is expressed in \"Hours walking or common Flemish miles\", and includes three actual scales: small, medium and big Flemish miles.The '''Dutch mile''' () has had different definitions throughout history.", "One of the older definitions was 5,600 ells.", "But the length of an ell was not standardised, so that the length of a mile could range between 3,280 m and 4,280 m. In the sixteenth, the Dutch had three different miles: small (), medium (), and large ().", "The Dutch mile had the historical definition of one hour's walking (), which was defined as 24 stadia, 3000 paces, or 15,000 Amsterdam or Rhineland feet (respectively 4,250 m or 4,710 m).", "The common Dutch mile was 32 stadia, 4,000 paces, or 20,000 feet (5,660 m or 6,280 m).", "The large mile was defined as 5000 paces.", "The common Dutch mile was preferred by mariners, equating with 15 to one degree of latitude or one degree of longitude on the equator.", "This was originally based upon Ptolemy's underestimate of the Earth's circumference.", "The ratio of 15 Dutch miles to a degree remained fixed while the length of the mile was changed as with improved calculations of the circumference of the Earth.", "In 1617, Willebrord Snellius calculated a degree of the circumference of the Earth at 28,500 (within 3.5% of the actual value), which resulted in a Dutch mile of 1900 rods.", "By the mid-seventeenth century, map scales assigned 2000 rods to the common Dutch mile, which equalled around 7,535 m (reducing the discrepancy with latitude measurement to less than 2%).", "The metric system was introduced in the Netherlands in 1816, and the metric mile became a synonym for the kilometre, being exactly 1,000 m. Since 1870, the term was replaced by the equivalent .", "Today, the word is no longer used, except as part of certain proverbs and compound terms like (\"miles away\").===German===degree of meridian\"The '''German mile''' () was 24,000 German feet.", "The standardised '''Austrian mile''' used in southern Germany and the Austrian Empire was 7.586 km; the '''Prussian mile''' used in northern Germany was 7.5325 km.", "Following its standardisation by Ole Rømer in the late 17th century, the '''Danish mile''' ('''') was precisely equal to the Prussian mile and likewise divided into 24,000 feet.", "These were sometimes treated as equivalent to 7.5 km.", "Earlier values had varied: the , for instance, had been 11.13 km.", "The Germans also used a longer version of the geographical mile.===Breslau===The '''Breslau mile''', used in Breslau, and from 1630 officially in all of Silesia, equal to 11,250 ells, or about 6,700 meters.", "The mile equaled the distance from the Piaskowa Gate all the way to Psie Pole (Hundsfeld).", "By rolling a circle with a radius of 5 ells through Piaskowa Island, Ostrów Tumski and suburban tracts, passing eight bridges on the way, the standard Breslau mile was determined.===Saxon===The '''Saxon post mile''' ('''' or '''', introduced on occasion of a survey of the Saxon roads in the 1700s, corresponded to 2,000 Dresden rods, equivalent to 9.062 kilometres.===Hungarian===The '''Hungarian mile''' ('''' or '''') varied from 8.3790 km to 8.9374 km before being standardised as 8.3536 km.===Portuguese===The '''Portuguese mile''' ('''') used in Portugal and Brazil was 2.0873 km prior to metrication.===Russian===The '''Russian mile''' ( or , ) was 7.468 km, divided into 7 versts.===Croatian=== The '''Croatian mile''' (''''), first devised by the Jesuit Stjepan Glavač on a 1673 map, is the length of an arc of the equator subtended by ° or 11.13 km exactly.", "The previous Croatian mile, now known as the \"ban mile\" (''''), had been the Austrian mile given above.===Ottoman===The '''Ottoman mile''' was 1,894.35 m (1.17709 mi), which was equal to 5,000 Ottoman foot.", "After 1933, the Ottoman mile was replaced with the modern Turkish mile (1,853.181 m)." ], [ "International", "The '''international mile''' is precisely equal to '''''' (or  km as a fraction).", "It was established as part of the 1959 international yard and pound agreement reached by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa, which resolved small but measurable differences that had arisen from separate physical standards each country had maintained for the yard.", "As with the earlier statute mile, it continues to comprise 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet.The old Imperial value of the yard was used in converting measurements to metric values in India in a 1976 Act of the Indian Parliament.", "However, the current National Topographic Database of the Survey of India is based on the metric WGS-84 datum, which is also used by the Global Positioning System.The difference from the previous standards was 2 ppm, or about 3.2 millimetres ( inch) per mile.", "The US standard was slightly longer and the old Imperial standards had been slightly shorter than the international mile.", "When the international mile was introduced in English-speaking countries, the basic geodetic datum in America was the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27).", "This had been constructed by triangulation based on the definition of the foot in the Mendenhall Order of 1893, with 1 foot =  (≈0.304800609601) metres and the definition was retained for data derived from NAD27, but renamed the ''US survey foot'' to distinguish it from the international foot.", "Thus a survey mile =  × 5280 (≈1609.347218694) metres.", "An international mile = 1609.344 / ( × 5280) (=0.999998) survey miles.The exact length of the land mile varied slightly among English-speaking countries until the international yard and pound agreement in 1959 established the yard as exactly 0.9144 metres, giving a mile of exactly 1,609.344 metres.", "The US adopted this international mile for most purposes, but retained the pre-1959 mile for some land-survey data, terming it the ''U.", "S. survey mile''.", "In the United States, ''statute mile'' normally refers to the survey mile, about 3.219 mm ( inch) longer than the international mile (the international mile is exactly 0.0002% less than the US survey mile).While most countries abandoned the mile when switching to the metric system, the international mile continues to be used in some countries, such as Liberia, Myanmar, the United Kingdom and the United States.", "It is also used in a number of territories with less than a million inhabitants, most of which are UK or US territories, or have close historical ties with the UK or US: American Samoa, Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guam, The N. Mariana Islands, Samoa, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, St. Helena, St. Kitts & Nevis, the Turks & Caicos Islands, and the US Virgin Islands.The mile is even encountered in Canada, though this is predominantly in rail transport and horse racing, as the roadways have been metricated since 1977.The Republic of Ireland gradually replaced miles with kilometres, including in speed measurements; the process was completed in 2005." ], [ "US survey <span class=\"anchor\" id=\"U.S. survey mile\"></span>", "The '''US survey mile''' is 5,280 US survey feet, or 1,609.347 metres and 0.30480061 metres respectively.", "Both are very slightly longer than the international mile and international foot.", "In the United States, the term ''statute mile'' formally refers to the survey mile, but for most purposes, the difference of less than between the survey mile and the international mile (1609.344 metres exactly) is insignificant—one international mile is US survey miles—so ''statute mile'' can be used for either.", "But in some cases, such as in the US State Plane Coordinate Systems (SPCSs), which can stretch over hundreds of miles, the accumulated difference can be significant, so it is important to note that the reference is to the US survey mile.The United States redefined its yard in 1893, and this resulted in US and Imperial measures of distance having very slightly different lengths.The North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83), which replaced the NAD27, is defined in metres.", "State Plane Coordinate Systems were then updated, but the National Geodetic Survey left individual states to decide which (if any) definition of the foot they would use.", "All State Plane Coordinate Systems are defined in metres, and 42 of the 50 states only use the metre-based State Plane Coordinate Systems.", "However, eight states also have State Plane Coordinate Systems defined in feet, seven of them in US survey feet and one in international feet.State legislation in the US is important for determining which conversion factor from the metric datum is to be used for land surveying and real estate transactions, even though the difference (2 ppm) is hardly significant, given the precision of normal surveying measurements over short distances (usually much less than a mile).", "Twenty-four states have legislated that surveying measures be based on the US survey foot, eight have legislated that they be based on the international foot, and eighteen have not specified which conversion factor to use.SPCS 83 legislation refers to state legislation that has been passed or updated using the newer 1983 NAD data.", "Most states have done so.", "Two states, Alaska and Missouri, and two jurisdictions, Guam and Puerto Rico, do not specify which foot to use.", "Two states, Alabama and Hawaii, and four jurisdictions, Washington, DC, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands, do not have SPCS 83 legislation.In October 2019, US National Geodetic Survey and National Institute of Standards and Technology announced their joint intent to retire the US survey foot and US survey mile, as permitted by their 1959 decision, with effect on January 1, 2023." ], [ "Nautical", "'''On the utility of the nautical mile.", "'''Each circle shown is a great circle—the analogue of a line in spherical trigonometry—and hence the shortest path connecting two points on the globular surface.", "Meridians are great circles that pass through the poles.The ''nautical mile'' was originally defined as one minute of arc along a meridian of the Earth.", "Navigators use dividers to step off the distance between two points on the navigational chart, then place the open dividers against the minutes-of-latitude scale at the edge of the chart, and read off the distance in nautical miles.", "The Earth is not perfectly spherical but an oblate spheroid, so the length of a minute of latitude increases by 1% from the equator to the poles.", "Using the WGS84 ellipsoid, the commonly accepted Earth model for many purposes today, one minute of latitude at the WGS84 equator is 6,046 feet and at the poles is 6,107.5 feet.", "The average is about 6,076 feet (about 1,852 metres or 1.15 statute miles).In the United States, the nautical mile was defined in the 19th century as 6,080.2 feet (1,853.249 m), whereas in the United Kingdom, the ''Admiralty nautical mile'' was defined as 6,080 feet (1,853.184 m) and was about one minute of latitude in the latitudes of the south of the UK.", "Other nations had different definitions of the nautical mile, but it is now internationally defined to be exactly .===Related units===The nautical mile per hour is known as the knot.", "Nautical miles and knots are almost universally used for aeronautical and maritime navigation, because of their relationship with degrees and minutes of latitude and the convenience of using the latitude scale on a map for distance measuring.The data mile is used in radar-related subjects and is equal to 6,000 feet (1.8288 kilometres).", "The radar mile is a unit of time (in the same way that the light year is a unit of distance), equal to the time required for a radar pulse to travel a distance of two miles (one mile each way).", "Thus, the radar statute mile is 10.8 μs and the radar nautical mile is 12.4 μs." ], [ "Geographical", "The geographical mile is based upon the length of a meridian of latitude.", "The German geographical mile () was previously ° of latitude (7.4127 km)." ], [ "Grid system", "Cities in the continental United States often have streets laid out by miles.", "Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Miami, are several examples.", "Typically the largest streets are about a mile apart, with others at smaller intervals.", "In the Manhattan borough of New York City, \"streets\" are close to 20 per mile, while the major numbered \"avenues\" are about six per mile.", "(Centerline to centerline, 42nd Street to 22nd Street is supposed to be 5,250 feet, while 42nd Street to 62nd Street is supposed to be 5,276 ft 8 in.)" ], [ "Metric", "The informal term \"metric mile\" is used in some countries, in sports such as track and field athletics and speed skating, to denote a distance of .", "The 1500 meters is the premier middle distance running event in Olympic sports.", "In United States high-school competition, the term is sometimes used for a race of ." ], [ "Scandinavian", "The Scandinavian mile ('''') remains in common use in Norway and Sweden, where it has meant precisely 10 km since metrication in 1889.It is used in informal situations and in measurements of fuel consumption, which are often given as litres per ''''.", "In formal situations (such as official road signs) only kilometres are given.The Swedish mile was standardised as 36,000 Swedish feet or in 1649; before that it varied by province from about 6 to 14.485 km.Before metrication, the Norwegian mile was .The traditional Finnish '''' was translated as '''' and also set equal to 10 km during metrication in 1887, but is much less commonly used." ], [ "Comparison table", "A comparison of the different lengths for a \"mile\", in different countries and at different times in history, is given in the table below.", "Leagues are also included in this list because, in terms of length, they fall in between the short West European miles and the long North, Central and Eastern European miles.", "Length (m) Name Country used From To Definition Remarks 500 ''lǐ'' mainland China 1984 today 1,500 ''chi'' In Chinese, this unit and the imperial mile are written using the same word (里), with a qualifier to distinguish between systems if needed 960–1,152 Talmudic mil Land of Israel/Canaan today 2,000 amot (cubits) Biblical and Talmudic units of measurement 1,480 mille passus, milliarium Roman Empire Ancient Roman units of measurement 1,486.6 miglio Sicily 1,524 London mile England 1,609.3426 (statute) mile England/UK 1592 1959 1,760 yards Over the course of time, the length of a yard changed several times and consequently so did the English, and from 1824, the imperial mile.", "The statute mile was introduced in 1592 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I '''1,609.344''' mile some English speaking countries 1959 today 1,760 yards On 1 July 1959, the imperial mile was standardized to an exact length in metres.", "This figure corresponds to 5280 feet at 25.4 millimeters per inch.", "1,609.3472 (statute) mile United States 1893 2022 1,760 yards From 1959 also called the US Survey Mile.", "From then, its only utility has been land survey, before it was the standard mile.", "From 1893, its exact length in metres was: × 1760 1,807 Scots mile Scotland 1685 5,920 feet 1,820 Italy '''1,852''' nautical mile international today approx.", "1 minute of arc Measured at a circumference of 40,000 km.", "Abbreviation: NM, nm 1,852.3 (for comparison) 1 meridian minute 1,853.181 nautical mile Turkey 1,855.4 (for comparison) 1 equatorial minute Although the NM was defined on the basis of the minute, it varies from the equatorial minute, because at that time the circumference of the equator could only be estimated at 40,000 km.", "2,065 Portugal 2,220 Gallo-Roman league Gallo-Roman culture 1.5 miles Under the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, this replaced the Roman mile as the official unit of distance in the Gallic and Germanic provinces, although there were regional and temporal variations.", "2,470 Sardinia, Piemont 2,622 Scotland 2,880 Ireland 3,780 Flanders 3,898 French lieue (post league) France 2,000 \"body lengths\" 3,927 ''Ri'' Japan 12,960 ''shaku'' 4,000 ''general'' or ''metric league'' 4,000legue Guatemala 4,190legueMexico = 2,500 tresas = 5,000 varas 4,444.8 landleuge ° of a circle of longitude 4,452.2 lieue commune France Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution 4,513legueParaguay 4,513leguaChile, (Guatemala, Haiti) = 36 cuadros = 5,400 varas 4,808 Switzerland 4,828 English ''land league'' England 3 miles 4,8004,900 Germanic ''rasta'', also ''doppelleuge'' (double league) 5,000légua novaPortugal 5,196leguaBolivia = 40 ladres 5,152legua ArgentinaArgentina, Buenos Aires = 6,000 varas 5,154legueUruguay 5,200 Bolivian legua Bolivia 5,370legueVenezuela 5,500 Portuguese legua Portugal 5,510legueEcuador 5,510 Ecuadorian legua Ecuador 5,532.5 Landleuge(state league) Prussia Obsolete German units of measurement 5,540legueHonduras 5,556 Seeleuge (nautical league) ° of a circle of longitude 3 nautical miles 5,570 legua Spain and Chile Spanish customary units 5,572leguaColombia = 3 Millas 5,572.7leguePeru = 20,000 feet 5,572.7legua Antiguaold leagueSpain = 3 millas = 15,000 feet 5,590léguaBrazil = 5,000 varas = 2,500 bracas 5,600 Brazilian legua Brazil 5,685 ''Fersah'' (Turkish league) Ottoman Empire 1933 4 Turkish miles Derived from Persian 5,840 Dutch mile Holland 6,170 milltir Wales 13thC 9,000 camau ( = 27,000 troedfeddi = 243,000 inches) Eclipsed by the conquest of Wales by Edward I 6,197légua antigaPortugal = 3 milhas = 24 estadios 6,240 Persian legue Persia 6,277 Luxembourg 6,280 Belgium 6,687.24legua nuevanew league, since 1766Spain = 8,000 varas 6,700Breslau mileSilesia16301872Also known as in Polish 6,797 (state survey mile) Saxony Obsolete German units of measurement 7,400 Netherlands 7,409 (for comparison) 4 meridian minutes 7,419.2 Kingdom of Hanover Obsolete German units of measurement 7,419.4 Duchy of Brunswick Obsolete German units of measurement 7,420.47,414.9 Bavaria Obsolete German units of measurement 7,420.439 geographic mile equatorial grads 7,421.6 (for comparison) 4 equatorial minutes 7,448.7 Württemberg Obsolete German units of measurement 7,450 Hohenzollern Obsolete German units of measurement 7,467.6 Russia 7 verst Obsolete Russian units of measurement 7,480 Bohemia 7,500 kleine / neue Postmeile(small/new postal mile) Saxony 1840 German Empire, North German Confederation, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Russia.", "Obsolete German units of measurement 7,532.5 Land(es)meile(German state mile) Denmark, Hamburg, Prussia Primarily for Denmark defined by Ole Rømer.", "Obsolete German units of measurement 7,585.9 Postmeile(post mile) Austro-Hungary Austrian units of measurement 7,850 Milă Romania 8,534.31MilaPoland18197146 meters before 1819, also equaled 7 verst 8,800 Schleswig-Holstein Obsolete German units of measurement 8,888.89 Baden Obsolete German units of measurement 9,062 mittlere Post- / Polizeimeile(middle post mile or police mile) Saxony 1722 Obsolete German units of measurement 9,206.3 Electorate of Hesse Obsolete German units of measurement 9,261.4 (for comparison) 5 meridian minutes 9,277 (for comparison) 5 equatorial minutes 9,323 alte Landmeile(old state mile) Hanover 1836 Obsolete German units of measurement 9,347 alte Landmeile(old state mile) Hanover 1836 Obsolete German units of measurement 9,869.6 Oldenburg 10,000 metric mile, Scandinavian mile Norway, Sweden today Still commonly used today, e.g.", "for road distances; equates to the myriametre 10,044 große Meile(great mile) Westphalia Obsolete German units of measurement 10,670 Finland 10,688.54 mil Sweden 1889 In normal speech, \"mil\" means a Scandinavian mile of 10 km.", "11,113.7 (for comparison) 6 meridian minutes 11,132.4 (for comparison) 6 equatorial minutes 11,299 mil Norway was equivalent to 3,000 Rhenish rods.Similar units:* 1,066.8 m – verst, see also obsolete Russian units of measurement" ], [ "Idioms", "The mile is still used in a variety of idioms, even in English-speaking countries that have moved from the Imperial to the metric system (for example, Australia, Canada, or New Zealand).", "These idioms include:* A ''country mile'' is used colloquially to denote a very long distance.", "* ''\"A miss is as good as a mile\"'' (failure by a narrow margin is no better than any other failure)* ''\"Give him an inch and he'll take a mile\"'' – a corruption of ''\"Give him an inch and he'll take an ell\"'' (the person in question will become greedy if shown generosity)* ''\"Missed by a mile\"'' (missed by a wide margin)* ''\"Go a mile a minute\"'' (move very quickly)* ''\"Talk a mile a minute\"'' (speak at a rapid rate)* ''\"To go the extra mile\"'' (to put in extra effort)* ''\"Miles away\"'' (lost in thought, or daydreaming)* ''\"Milestone\"'' (an event indicating significant progress)" ], [ "See also" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "===Citations======Bibliography===* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* * * * .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "& * .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* .", "* ." ], [ "Further reading", "* * (Item notes: Sammlung5-6 (1856–57) Original from Harvard University Digitized 9 January 2008)* *" ] ]
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[ [ "Spam (Monty Python sketch)" ], [ "Introduction", "'''\"Spam\"''' is a Monty Python sketch, first televised in 1970 (series 2, episode 12, \"Spam\") and written by Terry Jones and Michael Palin.", "In the sketch, two customers are lowered by wires into a greasy spoon café and try to order a breakfast from a menu that includes Spam in almost every dish, much to the consternation of one of the customers.", "As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a group of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating \"Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Lovely Spam!", "Wonderful Spam!", "\".The excessive amount of Spam was probably a reference to the ubiquity of it and other imported canned meat products in the United Kingdom after World War II (a period of rationing in the UK) as the country struggled to rebuild its agricultural base.", "Thanks to its wartime ubiquity, the British public had grown tired of it.The televised sketch and several subsequent performances feature Terry Jones as the waitress, Eric Idle as Mr. Bun and Graham Chapman as Mrs. Bun, who does not like Spam.", "The original sketch also featured John Cleese as The Hungarian and Palin as a historian, but this part was left out of the audio version of the sketch recorded for the team's second album ''Another Monty Python Record'' (1971).", "A year later this track was released as the Pythons' first 7\" single.The use of the term ''spam'' for unsolicited electronic communications is derived from this sketch." ], [ "Plot", "Terry Jones (behind counter), Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and the Vikings in the Monty Python sketch \"Spam\"Spam sketch at ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' in 2014The three-and-a-half-minute sketch is set in the fictional Green Midget Cafe in Bromley.", "An argument develops between the waitress, who recites a menu in which nearly every dish contains Spam, and Mrs. Bun, who does not like Spam.", "She asks for a dish without Spam, much to the amazement of her Spam-loving husband.", "The waitress responds to this request with disgust.", "Mr. Bun offers to take her Spam instead, and asks for a dish containing a lot of Spam and baked beans.", "The waitress says the beans are not available; when Mr. Bun asks for a substitution of Spam, the waitress begins reading out the new dish's name.At several points, a group of Vikings in the restaurant interrupt conversations by loudly singing about Spam.", "The irate waitress orders them to shut up, but they resume singing more loudly.", "A Hungarian tourist comes to the counter, trying to order by using a wholly inaccurate Hungarian/English phrasebook (a reference to a previous sketch).", "He is rapidly escorted away by a police constable.The sketch abruptly cuts to a historian in a television studio talking about the origin of the Vikings in the café.", "As he goes on, he begins to increasingly insert the word \"Spam\" into every sentence, and the backdrop is raised to reveal the restaurant set behind.", "The historian joins the Vikings in their song, and Mr. and Mrs. Bun are lifted by wires out of the scene while the singing continues.", "In the original televised performance, the closing credits (which also have \"Spam\" inserted in various points among others) begin to scroll with the singing still audible in the background." ], [ "Production notes", "The sketch premiered on 15 December 1970 as the final sketch of the 25th show of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', and the end credits for the episode were changed so every member of the crew has either Spam or some other food item from the menu added to their names.", "(Spam Terry Jones, Michael Spam Palin, John Spam John Spam John Spam Cleese, Graham Spam Spam Spam Chapman, Eric Spam Egg and Chips Idle, Terry Spam Sausage Spam Egg Spam Gilliam, etc.)", "The \"Spam\" sketch became immensely popular, and was ranked the fifth favourite Python sketch in a poll.", "The word \"Spam\" is uttered at least 132 times.", "The Vikings' Spam song is a parody of \"The Viking Song\" by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.This sketch has also been featured in several Monty Python videos including ''Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python''.", "A lead sheet for the song appears in ''Monty Python's Big Red Book''.", "The DVD release of the episode contains a deliberate subtitling error.", "When the Hungarian tries to order food, his words are \"My lower intestine is full of Spam, Egg, Spam, Bacon, Spam, Tomatoes, Spam.\"", "Yet the subtitles read \"Your intestine is full of Sperm.\"", "This is a continuation of the \"Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook\" sketch from the same episode.The audio version of the sketch excludes the Hungarian and historian, and instead has the Vikings reaching a dramatic crescendo.", "The waitress, resigned to these disruptions, mutters \"Bloody Vikings!\"", "In the 2014 version of the sketch performed in ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'', one of the Vikings replies \"Racist bastard!\"", "before leading the group into an operatic chorus that includes a sampling of \"Finland\" from the team's ''Contractual Obligation Album''.Spam was a popular food during World War II in the UK.", "Although rationed, it was generally easily available and not subject to supply shortages, as were other meats.", "Thanks to its wartime ubiquity, the British public eventually tired of it." ], [ "Menu", "The menu at ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' in 2014*Egg and bacon*Egg, sausage, and bacon*Egg and Spam*Egg, bacon, and Spam*Egg, bacon, sausage, and Spam*Spam, bacon, sausage, and Spam*Spam, egg, Spam, Spam, bacon, and Spam*Spam, Spam, Spam, egg, and Spam * Spam, sausage, Spam, Spam, Spam, bacon, Spam, tomato, and Spam (vinyl record)*Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam, and Spam*Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and Spam.", "(Television broadcast):* Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, ''served in a Provençale manner with shallots and aubergines'', garnished with truffle pâté, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and Spam.", "(vinyl record)" ], [ "Impact", "The phenomenon, some years later, of marketers drowning out discourse by flooding Usenet newsgroups and individuals' email with junk mail advertising messages was named spamming, due to some early internet users that flooded forums with the word ''spam'' recounting the repetitive and unwanted presence of spam in the sketch.", "This phenomenon has been reported in court decisions handed down in lawsuits against spammers – see, for example, ''CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc.'', 962 F.Supp.", "1015, n. 1 (S.D.Ohio 1997).", "Furthermore, it has been referenced in an Electronic Frontier Foundation amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2014.The term also is used to refer to mass marketing using junk phone calls or text messages, and has since entered video game culture as a term to refer to producing a large quantity of something, such as rocket-spamming or grenade-spamming.The Python programming language, named after Monty Python, prefers to use spam, ham, and eggs as metasyntactic variables, instead of the traditional foo, bar and baz." ], [ "Hormel's response", "The sketch is featured at the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota.", "''Pictured'': Flying Pig pub (England section)Spam makers Hormel, while never happy with the use of the word ''spam'' for junk email, have been supportive of Monty Python and their sketch.", "Hormel issued a special tin of Spam for the Broadway premiere of Eric Idle's musical ''Spamalot'' based on ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.", "The sketch is part of the company's Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota, United States, and also mentioned in Spam's on-can advertisements for the product's 70th anniversary in 2007 – although the date of the Python sketch was incorrectly stated to be 1971 instead of 1970.In 2007 the company decided that such publicity was part of their corporate image, and sponsored a game where their product is strongly associated with Monty Python, featuring a product with \"Stinky French Garlic\" as part of the promotion of ''Spamalot''.", "For the company's 75th anniversary in 2012, they introduced Sir Can-A-Lot, a knight character, appearing on the product's packaging with the phrase \"Glorious SPAM®!", "\"." ], [ "See also", "*Olympia Cafe" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]
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