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[ [ "Dead Parrot sketch" ], [ "Introduction", "Mr Praline (John Cleese) (right) attempts to return his dead Norwegian Blue parrot to the shopkeeper (Michael Palin)The \"'''Dead Parrot Sketch'''\", alternatively and originally known as the \"'''Pet Shop Sketch'''\" or \"'''Parrot Sketch'''\", is a sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' about a non-existent species of parrot, called a \"Norwegian Blue\".", "A satire on poor customer service, it was written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman and initially performed in the show's first series, in the eighth episode (\"Full Frontal Nudity\", which first aired 7 December 1969).The sketch portrays a conflict between disgruntled customer Mr Praline (played by Cleese) and a shopkeeper (Michael Palin), who argue whether or not a recently purchased parrot is dead.Over the years, Cleese and Palin have performed many versions of the \"Dead Parrot\" sketch for television shows, record albums, and live performances.", "\"Dead Parrot\" was voted the top alternative comedy sketch in a ''Radio Times'' poll." ], [ "Plot", "Mr Praline (Cleese) enters the pet shop to register a complaint about the dead Norwegian Blue parrot (actually Spix's macaw; parrots are not native to Norway) just as the shopkeeper (Palin) is preparing to close the establishment for lunch.", "Despite being told that the bird is deceased and that it had been nailed to its perch, the proprietor insists that it is \"pining for the fjords\" or simply \"stunned\".As the exasperated Praline attempts to wake up the parrot, the shopkeeper tries to make the bird move by hitting the cage, and Praline erupts into a rage after banging \"Polly Parrot\" on the counter.", "After listing several euphemisms for death (\"is no more\", \"has ceased to be\", \"bereft of life, it rests in peace\", and \"is an ex-parrot\") he is told to go to the pet shop run by the shopkeeper's brother in Bolton, Lancashire for a refund.", "That proves difficult, as the proprietor of that store (who is really the first shopkeeper, save for a fake moustache) claims this is Ipswich, whereas the railway station attendant (Terry Jones) claims he is actually in Bolton after all.Confronting the shopkeeper's \"brother\" for lying, the shopkeeper claims he was playing a prank on Praline by sending him to Ipswich, which was a palindrome for Bolton; Praline points out that the shopkeeper was wrong because a palindrome for Bolton would have been \"Notlob\" (i.e., it wouldn’t be spelled the same backwards).Praline then refuses to continue this conversation, saying that \"this is getting too silly\".", "Graham Chapman's no-nonsense Colonel then bursts in to concur with him and orders the sketch stopped." ], [ "Background", "The \"Dead Parrot\" sketch was inspired by a \"Car Salesman\" sketch that Palin and Chapman had done in ''How to Irritate People''.", "In it, Palin played a car salesman who repeatedly refused to admit that there was anything wrong with his customer's (Chapman's) car, even as it fell apart in front of him.", "That sketch was based on an actual incident between Palin and a car salesman.", "In ''Monty Python Live at Aspen'', Palin said that this salesman \"had an excuse for everything\".", "John Cleese said on the same show that he and Chapman \"believed that there was something very funny there, if we could find the right context for it\".", "In early drafts of what would become the Dead Parrot Sketch, the frustrated customer was trying to return a faulty toaster to a shop.", "Chapman realised that it needed to be \"madder\", and came up with the parrot idea." ], [ "Variations of the sketch", "Palin and Cleese performing the Dead Parrot sketch at ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' in 2014In the film ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971), in which the parrot is a blue and gold macaw, the sketch ends with the shopkeeper explaining that he always wanted to be a lumberjack and, ignoring Mr Praline's protests of that being irrelevant, begins singing \"The Lumberjack Song\".The ''Monty Python Live at Drury Lane'' album features a live version of the sketch, which is slightly different from the TV version.", "Praline's rant about the deceased parrot includes \"He fucking snuffed it!\"", "Also, the sketch ends with the shopkeeper saying that he has a slug that does talk.", "Cleese, after a brief pause, says, \"Right, I'll have that one, then!\"", "According to Michael Palin's published diary, Palin changed his response in order to throw Cleese off.", "During this performance something occurs on stage that does not translate into audio, but causes the audience to break into hysterics upon Cleese's follow-up line \"Now that's what I call a dead parrot\".A live performance from the 1976 Amnesty International benefit show, ''A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)'', has Palin cracking up while Cleese declares \"Pining for the fjords?", "What kind of talk is that?\"", "The audience cheers this bit of breaking character, but Palin quickly composes himself and Cleese declares \"Now, look!", "This is nothing to laugh at!\"", "before proceeding with the sketch.", "This version can be seen in the film ''Pleasure at Her Majesty's'', albeit with the ending removed.The 1976 ''Monty Python Live at City Center'' performance ended with the following punchline::''Shopkeeper'': (long, long pause) ... Do you want to come back to my place?", ":''Mr Praline'': I thought you'd never ask.In his appearance on ''The Muppet Show'', Cleese appears as a pirate attempting to take over a spaceship during a \"Pigs in Space\" sketch.", "At the end of the sketch, he demands of the smart-mouthed talking parrot on his shoulder, \"Do you want to be an ex-parrot?", "\"In 1980, the sketch was performed again during The Pythons' four-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl.", "However, it was one of the sketches to be cut from the 1982 film version.", "In the 1989 TV special which saw the final appearance of all six Pythons together, the sketch appeared in the title, ''Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python''.", "True to its title, the \"Dead Parrot sketch\" is not included.In 1989's Amnesty benefit show, ''The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball'', the sketch opens similarly, but ends very differently::''Mr Praline'': It's dead, that's what's wrong with it.", ":''Shopkeeper'': ''(long pause as he examines the bird)'' So it is.", "'Ere's your money back and a couple of holiday vouchers.", ":''(audience goes wild)'':''Mr Praline'': ''(looks completely flabbergasted)'' Well, you can't say Thatcher hasn't changed some things.Margaret Thatcher famously used the sketch in a speech at the Conservative Party Conference in 1990, referring to the Liberal Democrats and their symbol being a dove, before ending the speech by commenting, \"And now for something completely different.\"", "In 1998, ''The Sun'' ran the front-page headline \"This party is no more...it has ceased to be...this is an EX-party\" for an article about a Conservative Party conference.", "According to her former political secretary John Whittingdale, Thatcher did not understand why the joke was funny and had to be persuaded that it would work.", "The Conservatives' use of this sketch was derivative of an earlier Spitting Image sketch, itself derivative of the Python Dead Parrot sketch, in which the part of Mr. Praline was played by a puppet representing David Owen and the part of the shopkeeper was played by a puppet representing Roy Jenkins.", "Mr Praline/Owen complains that the \"party\" he has recently acquired from the shopkeeper (representing the Social Democratic Party (UK)) has \"expired\", and the shopkeeper/Jenkins claims it is not dead but \"pining for Bill Rodgers\" (Rodgers, Jenkins and Owen being original members of the 'Gang of Four (SDP)'.In a 1997 ''Saturday Night Live'' performance of the sketch, Cleese added a line to the rant: \"Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians!\"", "In an interview on NPR's ''Fresh Air'', Palin attributed an almost dead audience to his seeing guests reverently mouthing the words of the sketch, rather than laughing at it.", "To end the sketch, Palin reused the punchline from ''City Center'' and asked Cleese, \"Do you want to come back to my place?\"", "to which Cleese said, \"I thought you'd never ask!", "\"For the 1999 ''Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python'' TV special, Trey Parker and Matt Stone made a ''South Park'' version of the sketch depicting Cartman angrily returning a dead Kenny to Kyle's shop.", "Using much of the dialogue from the original sketch, it ends with Terry Gilliam's animations playing around with Cartman before everything is crushed by the giant foot.In a 2002 interview with Michael Parkinson, John Cleese said that when he and Palin were performing the sketch on Drury Lane, Palin made him laugh by saying, when asked if his slug could talk, \"It mutters a bit\" instead of \"Not really.\"", "When Cleese eventually stopped laughing, he couldn't remember where they were in the sketch.", "He turned to the audience and asked them what the next line was, and people shouted it at him, causing him to wonder, \"What is the point of this?\"", "He also says that when he and Palin were asked to do the sketch for ''Saturday Night Live'' they sat down together to try to remember the lines, and when they got stuck they considered just going out and stopping somebody on the street to ask how it went, since everybody seemed to have it memorised.In his published 2006 diary, Michael Palin recalls that during the filming of ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' in Tunisia, Spike Milligan (who happened to be there on holiday) regaled the Pythons with his own version of the Dead Parrot sketch, but changed \"Norwegian Blue\" to \"Arctic Grey\".Cleese and Palin acted out the sketch during the Python's reunion in The O2 in July 2014, ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)''.", "The sketch ended with the shopkeeper saying he has a selection of cheeses, transitioning into the Cheese Shop Sketch.", "The entire sketch ended like the City Center performance, with the shopkeeper offering Mr Praline to come back to his place, and Mr Praline replying \"I thought you'd never ask.\"", "In their final performance on 20 July (which was broadcast live to many theatres all over the world), whilst listing the metaphors for the parrot's death, Cleese added the line \"it had expired and gone to meet Dr. Chapman\" after which both Cleese and Palin did a thumbs-up to the sky.In the episode of ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' from 13 November 2015, Cleese is a guest on the show.", "At the end of the big furry hat segment (where Stephen Colbert – and in this specific instance, Cleese – create nonsensical rules), Cleese asks, \"Do you want to come back to my place?\"", "and Colbert replies, \"I thought you'd never ask.\"" ], [ "Further uses", "At Graham Chapman's memorial service, John Cleese began his eulogy by reprising euphemisms from the sketch.Part or all of the dead parrot sketch is quoted in several television programmes, among them the \"Life of Python\" sketch from ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' (a parody of the ''Friday Night, Saturday Morning'' debate on ''Life of Brian'') and \"The Early Bird\", an episode from the third season of ''Death in Paradise''.When paleontologists published a paper announcing the discovery of a fossil parrot in Denmark, lead author Dr David Waterhouse alluded to the Dead Parrot Sketch, saying, \"Obviously, we are dealing with a bird that is bereft of life, but the tricky bit is establishing that it was a parrot.\"", "However, he declared that this bird could never have been pining for the fjords, explaining, \"This parrot shuffled off its mortal coil around 55 million years ago, but the fjords of Norway were formed during the last ice age and are less than a million years old.", "\"During the Monty Python Reunion at London's O2 Arena in 2014, UKTV channel Gold commissioned sculptor Iain Prendergast to create a giant fibreglass version of the mythical \"Norwegian Blue\".", "The 50-foot long (15m) bird was displayed, appropriately \"resting\" on its back, inside the O2 during the run of the shows there, as well as at Potters Fields Park in South London, in view of Tower Bridge.The sketch was extensively referenced in a 2021 British Columbia court opinion allowing a class action lawsuit for dietary supplements which did not contain the advertised ingredients.", "The judge stated \"Health Canada cannot establish a protocol that requires that a parrot only still have its feathers in order to be sold as a live parrot, and thereby prevent anyone from suing after being sold a parrot who 'joined the bleedin' choir invisible.'\"" ], [ "Precedents", "A joke dated AD 400, translated from Greek in 2008, shows similarities to the Parrot sketch.", "It was written by Hierocles and Philagrius and was included in a compilation of 265 jokes titled ''Philogelos: The Laugh Addict''.", "In the Greek version, a man complains to a slave-merchant that his new slave has died.", "The slave-merchant replies, \"When he was with me, he never did any such thing!", "\"In Mark Twain's humorous short story \"A Nevada Funeral\", two characters use a series of euphemisms for death including 'kicked the bucket' and 'departed to that mysterious country from whose bourne no traveller returns'.In 1963, Benny Hill performed a sketch entitled \"The Taxidermist\" (written by Dave Freeman) on ''The Benny Hill Show'' in which he attempted to pass off a stuffed duck as a parrot (blaming its different appearance on \"the steaming\" and \"the shrinkage\").", "John Cleese later admitted that he watched Hill's show during this period, but did not recall that particular piece.In the 1960s, the comedian Freddie \"Parrot Face\" Davies included an obviously stuffed parrot in his act, berating its seller for having cheated him." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Cheese Shop sketch" ], [ "Introduction", "The \"'''Cheese Shop'''\" is a sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''.It originally appeared in episode 33, \"Salad Days\" on 30 November, 1972.The script for the sketch is included in the 1989 book ''The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, Volume 2''.It was later reworked for the album ''The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' and appeared for one last time during ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'', as a surprising coda to the Dead Parrot sketch." ], [ "Origins", "The idea for the sketch came after a day of shooting in Folkestone Harbour, where John Cleese became seasick and threw up repeatedly while trying to deliver a line.", "During the drive back, Graham Chapman recommended that Cleese eat something and asked him what he wanted; Cleese replied that he fancied a piece of cheese.", "Upon seeing a chemist's shop, Cleese pondered whether the shop would sell cheese, to which Chapman responded that if they did it would be medicinal cheese and that Cleese would need a prescription to buy some.", "Giggling, they decided to write a sketch based on that idea.", "However, on starting to write it, they concluded that asking for cheese in a chemist's shop was too unrealistic without being set up.", "Wondering why someone would attempt to buy cheese somewhere other than a cheese shop, Cleese thought that they should write a sketch about someone attempting to buy cheese in a cheese shop that had no cheese whatsoever to set up a sketch revolving around someone attempting to buy cheese at a chemist's which never wound up happening.Chapman then wrote the sketch with Cleese, who did not initially find it humorous.", "When Chapman insisted that it was funny, they presented it at a reading for the other Python members.", "Though most of the other Pythons were also unimpressed, Michael Palin loved it and laughed hysterically, eventually falling to the floor.", "This amused the others and they agreed to use the sketch." ], [ "Summary", "Cleese plays an erudite customer (Mr. Mousebender in the script) attempting to purchase some cheese from \"''Ye National Cheese Emporium'', purveyor of fine cheese to the gentry (and the poverty-stricken too)\".", "The proprietor (Palin), Mr. Arthur Wensleydale (Henry Wensleydale in the TV version), appears to have nothing in stock, not even cheddar, \"the single most popular cheese in the world\".", "A slow crescendo of bouzouki music plays in the background performed by Joe Moretti, as Terry Jones and Graham Chapman dance while dressed in bowler hats and business suits.", "Cleese initially expresses appreciation of the music, being \"one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean Muse\", but as the sketch progresses it mirrors Cleese's growing frustration until he loudly demands the music cease.", "As Cleese lists increasingly obscure, unsavoury, and, in one instance fictional, cheeses to no avail, the proprietor offers weak excuses such as \"Ohh!", "The cat's eaten it.\"", "Cleese remarks that it is not much of a cheese shop, but Palin insists it is the best in the district due to its cleanliness, to which Cleese replies \"Well, it's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.\"", "Eventually, Cleese asks if Palin has any cheese at all, to which Palin replies \"yes\".", "Cleese then tells him that he will ask the question again, and if Palin says \"no\", he will shoot him \"through\" the head.", "Palin answers \"no\" the second time, and Cleese immediately shoots him, then muses, \"What a senseless waste of human life!\"", "He then puts on a Stetson, and the sketch segues into Hugh Walpole's ''Rogue Cheddar'' and a link to the Sam Peckinpah's \"Salad Days\" sketch." ], [ "Cheeses", "Forty-three cheeses are mentioned in the original sketch.", "In the audio version on ''The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' album and other live and recorded versions, Cleese also mentions Greek feta.", "In the 2014 reunion show ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'', Stinking Bishop, Armenian string cheese and Zimbabwean rhinoceros milk cheese were also added to the list.", "\"Venezuelan Beaver Cheese\", mentioned in the original as well as future versions, is a fictitious type of cheese.", "Cheese Source Red Leicester Original Tilsit Original Caerphilly Original Bel Paese Original Red Windsor Original Stilton Original Gruyère Original Emmental Original Norwegian Jarlsberg Original Liptauer Original Lancashire Original White Stilton Original Danish Blue Original Double Gloucester Original Cheshire Original Dorset Blue Vinney Original Brie Original Roquefort Original Pont l'Evêque Original Port Salut Original Savoyard Original Saint-Paulin Original Carré de l'Est Original Boursin Original Bresse-Bleu Original Perle de Champagne Original Camembert Original Gouda Original Edam Original Caithness Original Smoked Austrian Original Sage Derby Original Wensleydale Original Greek feta MT&H Gorgonzola Original Parmesan Original Mozzarella Original Pipo Crem OriginalDanish Fynbo Original Czechoslovakian sheep's milk cheese Original Venezuelan beaver cheese Original Cheddar Original Ilchester Original Limburger Original Stinking Bishop Live (Mostly) Any cheese at all Original" ], [ "Pastiches and parodies", "* The sketch was reworked for ''The Brand New Monty Python Bok'', becoming a two-player word game in which one player must keep naming different cheeses while the other player must keep coming up with different excuses; otherwise, \"the Customer wins and may punch the Shopkeeper in the teeth\".", "* The \"Weird Al\" Yankovic song \"Albuquerque\" parodies the sketch by portraying a similar situation in a doughnut shop.", "The scene ends when the shopkeeper reveals that all he has is a \"box of one dozen starving, crazed weasels\"; the main character purchases and opens it and is attacked by the creatures inside.", "* A wheel of Le Brouère cheese was flown aboard the first SpaceX Dragon 1 reusable space capsule on 8 December 2010 in reference to this sketch.", "The presence of the space cheese was made known the day after the successful flight." ], [ "See also", "* List of British cheeses* ''Smackout''* Olympia Cafe" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Bruces' Philosophers Song" ], [ "Introduction", "\"'''Bruces' Philosophers Song'''\", also known as \"'''The Bruces' Song'''\", is a Monty Python song written and composed by Eric Idle that was a feature of the group's stage appearances and its recordings." ], [ "Origins", "The Bruces' Philosophers Song is sung by The Bruces, stereotypical \"ocker\" Australians of the period.", "The Bruces are kitted out in khakis, slouch hats and a cork hat and are faculty members of the Philosophy Department at the fictional University of Woolamaloo.", "(There is no such place as Woolamaloo in Australia; but Woolloomooloo is an inner suburb of Sydney.", "There is no university there, although the real-life University of Sydney is not far away.", ")The Bruces themselves first appeared in the Bruces sketch which featured in episode 22, \"How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body\", of the TV show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', first broadcast on 24 November 1970.The sketch shows an English academic (played by Terry Jones) coming to a hot and perhaps remote part of Australia and being inducted by the Bruces (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and Michael Palin) into their Philosophy Department, seemingly located in a simple wooden shack.", "The Bruces are lounging around a wooden table and soon start drinking cans of Foster's Lager.The song was not part of the TV sketch; it first appeared on the Monty Python's 1973 album ''Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' as a coda for the album version of the sketch.", "The song was subsequently included in most of the Monty Python team's live shows, sometimes as a singalong with musical accompaniment provided by a Jew's harp." ], [ "Lyrics", "The song's lyrics make a series of scandalous allegations about a number of highly respected philosophers, usually with regard to their capacity or incapacity for imbibing alcoholic drinks.The sixth line differs from version to version.", "While the studio recording on ''Matching Tie and Handkerchief'' refers solely to \"Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel\", live recordings (included in the ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' film and on the albums ''Live at Drury Lane'' and ''Live at City Center'') mention \"Schopenhauer and Hegel.\"" ], [ "The philosophers", "Heidegger in 1960Mill in about 1870All the philosophers whom the song mentions were dead by the time it appeared, apart from Martin Heidegger.Philosophers mentioned in the song (in order):#Immanuel Kant (a real pissant who was very rarely stable)#Martin Heidegger (a boozy beggar who could think you under the table) #David Hume (able to outconsume G. W. F. Hegel)#Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (outconsumed by Hume)#Arthur Schopenhauer (in some versions also outconsumed by Hume) #Ludwig Wittgenstein (a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel)#Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel and/or August Wilhelm Schlegel (Wittgenstein is alleged be just as sloshed as)#Friedrich Nietzsche (particularly knowledgeable about \"the raising of the wrist\") #Socrates (the only one mentioned twice in the song: permanently pissed) #John Stuart Mill (particularly ill after half a pint of shandy)#Plato (said to regularly consume half a crate of whiskey daily) #Aristotle (a bugger for the bottle) #Thomas Hobbes (fond of his dram) #René Descartes (a drunken fart) #Socrates (second mention) (particularly missed, noted as both a lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed)" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "The Funniest Joke in the World" ], [ "Introduction", "\"'''The Funniest Joke in the World'''\" (also \"'''Joke Warfare'''\" and \"'''Killer Joke'''\") is a Monty Python comedy sketch revolving around a joke that is so funny that anyone who reads or hears it promptly dies from laughter.", "Ernest Scribbler (Michael Palin), a British \"manufacturer of jokes\", writes the joke on a piece of paper only to die laughing.", "His mother (Eric Idle) also immediately dies laughing after reading it, as do the first constables on the scene.", "Eventually the joke is contained, weaponized, and deployed against Germany during World War II.The sketch appeared in the first episode of the television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (\"Whither Canada\"), first shown on 5 October 1969.It appeared in altered forms in several later Python works.", "The German translation of the joke in the sketch is made of various meaningless, German-sounding nonce words, and so it does not have an English translation." ], [ "Synopsis", "The sketch is framed in a documentary style and opens with Ernest Scribbler (Michael Palin), a British \"writer of jokes\", creating and writing the funniest joke in the world on a piece of paper, only to die laughing.", "His mother (Eric Idle) finds the joke, thinks it is a suicide note, reads it and also immediately dies laughing.", "Aware of the deadly nature of the joke, a brave Scotland Yard inspector (Graham Chapman) attempts to retrieve the joke, aided by the playing of very somber music on gramophone records and the chanting of laments by fellow policemen to create a depressing atmosphere.", "The inspector leaves the house with the joke in hand, but also dies from laughter.The British Army are soon eager to determine \"the military potential of the Killer Joke\".", "They test the joke on a rifleman (Terry Jones), who laughs and falls dead on the range.", "After confirming its \"devastating effectiveness at a range of up to 50 yards\", they then translate it into German, with each translator working on only one word of the joke for their own safety (one translator saw two words of the joke and had to be hospitalised for several weeks).", "The German \"translation\" (in reality mostly just nonsense words) is used for the first time on 8 July 1944 in the Ardennes, causing German soldiers to fall down dead from laughter:The German version is described as being \"over 60,000 times as powerful as Britain's great pre-war joke\" (at this point a newsreel of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waving his \"piece of paper\" appears on screen).", "The joke is then used in open warfare, with Tommies running through an open field amid artillery fire while shouting the joke at the Germans, who die laughing in response.", "Afterward, a German field hospital is shown with bandaged German soldiers on stretchers, convulsing with laughter, presumably having heard some parts of the joke.", "In a subsequent scene, a British officer from the Joke Brigade (Palin) has been taken prisoner and is being interrogated by Gestapo officers.", "The British officer uses the joke to escape as his German captors die laughing, with one German officer (Cleese) insisting that the joke isn't funny.", "He then cracks up and utters a Woody Woodpecker-style laugh, before expiring.The Germans attempt counter-jokes, but each attempt is found unsuccessful, with unamused Gestapo officers executing the hapless scientists as a consequence.", "For example, a film is shown of Adolf Hitler supposedly saying, \"My dog has no nose\", then a German soldier asking \"How does he smell?", "\", with Hitler replying, \"Awful!\".", "Eventually their best \"V-joke\" (in reference to the V-weapons) is attempted on a radio broadcast to British households: \"Der ver zwei peanuts, valking down der Straße, und von vas assaulted...peanut.", "Ohohohoho!\"", "Although the joke is followed triumphantly by the German anthem \"Deutschland über alles\", the attack is ineffective.The British joke is said to have been laid to rest when \"peace broke out\" at the end of the war, and countries agree to a joke warfare ban at the Geneva Convention.", "In 1950, the last copy of the joke is sealed under a monument in the Berkshire countryside, bearing the inscription \"To the Unknown Joke\".", "Thus, the English version of the joke is never revealed to the audience." ], [ "Hitler footage from the sketch in reality", "The footage of Adolf Hitler is taken from Leni Riefenstahl's film ''Triumph of the Will''.", "The section (about 34 minutes into the film) where Konstantin Hierl presents the Reichsarbeitsdienst to Hitler is the source of the speech used for the joke.", "The first clip shows Hitler saying '''' (\"In particular, no one will live in Germany anymore without working for their country\"), subtitled \"My dog has no nose\".", "The crowd (led by Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach) saying: \"How does he smell?\"", "is from a scene just before Hitler's speech; the original German is '''', \"We are the Reich's young men!\"", "The punchline of the joke \"Awful\" is the next shot that shows Hitler's face.", "The original words are '''', from \"The whole nation will go through your school\"." ], [ "Influence, and other works", "Jim Carrey is a fan of Monty Python.", "He described how Ernest Scribbler, played by Michael Palin, laughing himself to death in the sketch, had a huge effect on his early years.The sketch was later remade in a shorter version for the film ''And Now for Something Completely Different''.", "It is also available on the CD-ROM video game version of the film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''." ], [ "See also", "* Death from laughter* ''Infinite Jest''* Nothing but Gingerbread Left" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)" ], [ "Introduction", "Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones playing \"The Spanish Inquisition\" in ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'', London, 2014\"'''The Spanish Inquisition'''\" is a series of sketches in ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', Series 2 Episode 2, first broadcast 22 September 1970, satirizing the Spanish Inquisition.", "This episode is itself titled \"The Spanish Inquisition\".", "The sketches are notable for their principal catchphrase, \"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!", "\", which has become a frequently used quote and internet meme.", "The final instance of the sketch uses music from the composition \"Devil's Galop\" by Charles Williams.", "Rewritten audio versions of the sketches were included on ''Another Monty Python Record'' in 1971." ], [ "Plot synopsis", "This recurring sketch is predicated on a seemingly unrelated narrative bit in which one character mentions that he \"didn't expect a Spanish Inquisition!", "\", often in irritation at being questioned by another.", "The first appearance of the Spanish Inquisition characters occurs in a drawing room set in \"Jarrow, 1912,\" with a title card featuring a modern British urban area with a nuclear power plant.", "A mill worker (Graham Chapman) enters the room and tells a woman sitting on a couch knitting (Carol Cleveland) in a thick accent that \"one of the cross beams has gone out askew on the treadle\".", "When Cleveland says that she cannot understand what he's talking about, Chapman repeats the line without the thick accent, then grows defensive and says, \"I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition!\".", "Suddenly, the Inquisitionconsisting of Cardinal Ximénez (Michael Palin) and his assistants, Cardinal Biggles (Terry Jones) (who resembles his namesake Biggles wearing a leather aviator's helmet and goggles) and Cardinal Fang (Terry Gilliam)burst into the room to the sound of a jarring musical sting.", "Ximénez shouts, with a particular and high-pitched emphasis on the first word: \"'''No'''-body expects the Spanish Inquisition!", "\".After entering, Ximénez begins enumerating their weapons, but interrupts himself as he keeps forgetting to mention additional weapons and has to begin numbering his list over again.", "After several attempts, Ximénez states that he will come in again and herds the Inquisition back off the set.", "The straight man mill worker repeats the cue line, the Inquisition bursts back in (complete with jarring chord), and the introduction is tried anew.", "But Ximénez fails again and tries to get Cardinal Biggles to do the introduction, but Biggles is also unsuccessful.Ximénez decides to forget the introduction and has Cardinal Fang read out charges of heresy against Cleveland who pleads \"innocent\", and the cardinals respond with \"diabolical laughter\" and threats.", "Ximénez intends to torture the woman with \"the rack\", but Cardinal Biggles instead produces a dish-drying rack.", "This rack is tied to Cleveland and Biggles pretends to turn a lever, but it has no effect whatsoever.", "As they work, Chapman answers the door to find a BBC employee (John Cleese) requesting him to open a door for a gag on \"the neighboring sketch\", leading into the \"Jokes and Novelties Salesman\" segment.The Inquisition returns in a later sketch as an older woman (Marjorie Wilde) shares photographs from a scrapbook with another woman (Cleveland), who rips them up as they are handed to her.", "When the older woman presents a photo of the Spanish Inquisition hiding behind the coal shed, Cleveland says, \"I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!\"", "The three cardinals then reappear and take the older woman away to a dungeon.Biggles tries to torture the woman by poking her repeatedly with soft cushions.", "When this fails, Ximénez orders Fang to get \"the comfy chair\", which is brought out and the woman placed in it.", "Ximénez states that she must stay in the chair \"until lunch time with only a cup of coffee at 11\", and begins to shout at her to confessonly to have Biggles break down and confess.", "This frustrates Ximénez, but he cannot complain about it since he is distracted by a cartoon character from the next scene.At the end of the show, in the \"Court Charades\" sketch, a judge (Jones) who is also a defendant in an obscenity trial at the Old Bailey is casually sentenced by another judge (Chapman) to be burned at the stake.", "The convicted judge responds, \"Blimey, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!\"", "The whole court rises and looks expectantly at the witness entrance door.", "As the closing credits of the episode begin, the Inquisitors race out of a house and hop on a double-decker bus to the Old Bailey, all to the tune of \"Devil's Galop\".", "As the Inquisitors ride in the bus, they comment worriedly that they are running out of credits and are panicked that the episode will soon end.", "The bus reaches the courthouse and the cardinals charge up the steps of the Old Bailey.", "They finally burst into the courtroom and Ximénez begins to shout, \"NO-body expects the Span...,\" but a black title card with the words, \"THE END\", interrupts him.", "In resignation, he says, \"Oh, bugger\", and the episode concludes.In the ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' stage show, the sketch ends when Ximénez orders Biggles to \"torture\" the victim (who is sitting in the comfy chair) by giving her a glass of cold milk from the fridge.", "When Biggles opens the door, the Man in the Fridge (Eric Idle) emerges and begins singing the \"Galaxy Song\" to the victim, while the Inquisition exit through the fridge." ], [ "Related sketches", "Cardinal Ximénez briefly appears two episodes later (\"The Buzz Aldrin Show\") in a vox pop, again displaying difficulty counting (in this instance, the kinds of aftershave he uses).", "Later in that episode during the \"Police Constable Pan Am Sketch\", the policeman tells a chemist \"one more peep out of you and I'll do you for heresy\", with the chemist (played by Palin) responding that he \"didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition\"; except that instead of the Spanish Inquisition arriving, PC Pan Am (played by Graham Chapman) simply tells the chemist to shut up." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Transcript of the sketch" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Maya Lin" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Maya Ying Lin''' (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor.", "In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.Lin has designed numerous memorials, public and private buildings, landscapes, and sculptures.", "Although best known for historical memorials, she is also known for environmentally themed works, which often address environmental decline.", "According to Lin, she draws inspiration from the architecture of nature but believes that nothing she creates can match its beauty." ], [ "Childhood", "Maya Lin was born in Athens, Ohio.", "Her parents emigrated from China to the United States, her father in 1948 and her mother in 1949, and settled in Ohio before Lin was born.", "Her father, Henry Huan Lin, born in Fuzhou, Fujian, was a ceramist and dean of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts.", "Her mother, Julia Chang Lin, born in Shanghai, is a poet and a former professor of literature at Ohio University.", "She is the \"half\" niece of Lin Huiyin, who was an American-educated artist and poet, and said to have been the first female architect in modern China.", "Lin Juemin and Lin Yin Ming, both of whom were among the 72 martyrs of the Second Guangzhou uprising, were cousins of her grandfather.", "Lin Chang-min, a Hanlin of Qing dynasty and the emperor's teacher, fathered Lin Huiyin with his wife, while Maya Lin's father Henry Huan Lin was Lin Chang-Min’s illegitimate son with his concubine.According to Lin, she \"didn't even realize\" she was ethnically Chinese until later in life, and that only in her 30s did she acquire an interest in her cultural background.Lin has said that she did not have many friends when growing up, stayed home a lot, loved to study, and loved school.", "While still in high school she took courses at Ohio University where she learned to cast bronze in the school's foundry.", "She graduated in 1977 from Athens High School in The Plains, Ohio, after which she attended Yale University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1981 and a Master of Architecture in 1986." ], [ "Environmental concerns", "According to Lin, she has been concerned with environmental issues since she was very young, and dedicated much of her time at Yale University to environmental activism.", "She attributes her interest in the environment to her upbringing in rural Ohio: the nearby Hopewell and Adena Native America burial mounds inspired her from an early age.", "Noting that much of her later work has focused on the relationship people have with their environment, as expressed in her earthworks, sculptures, and installations, Lin said, \"I'm very much a product of the growing awareness about ecology and the environmental movement...I am very drawn to landscape, and my work is about finding a balance in the landscape, respecting nature not trying to dominate it.", "Even the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is an earthwork.", "All of my work is about slipping things in, inserting an order or a structuring, yet making an interface so that in the end, rather than a hierarchy, there is a balance and tension between the man-made and the natural.", "\"According to the scholar Susette Min, Lin's work uncovers \"hidden histories\" to bring attention to landscapes and environments that would otherwise be inaccessible to viewers and \"deploys the concept to discuss the inextricable relationship between nature and the built environment\".", "Lin's focus on this relationship highlights the impact humanity has on the environment, and draws attention to issues such as global warming, endangered bodies of water, and animal extinction/endangerment.", "She has explored these issues in her recent memorial, called ''What Is Missing?", "''According to one commentator, Lin constructs her works to have a minimal effect on the environment by utilizing recycled and sustainable materials, by minimizing carbon emissions, and by attempting to avoid damaging the landscapes/ecosystems where she works.In addition to her other activities as an environmentalist, Lin has served on the Natural Resources Defense Council board of trustees." ], [ "Vietnam Veterans Memorial", "Maya Lin's winning submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial design competitionIn 1981, at 21 and still an undergraduate student, Lin won a public design competition to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to be built on the National Mall in Washington D.C.", "Her design, one of 1,422 submissions, specified a black granite wall with the names of 57,939 fallen soldiers carved into its face (hundreds more have been added since the dedication), to be v-shaped, with one side pointing toward the Lincoln Memorial and the other toward the Washington Monument.", "The memorial was completed in late October 1982 and dedicated in November 1982.According to Lin, her intention was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to symbolize the pain caused by the war and its many casualties.", "\"I imagined taking a knife and cutting into the earth, opening it up, and with the passage of time, that initial violence and pain would heal,\" she recalled.Her winning design was initially controversial for several reasons: its minimalist design, her lack of professional experience, and her Asian ethnicity.", "According to one writer, \"Some viewed her selection as an affront.", "They could not understand how a woman, a youth, and a Chinese American could design a memorial for men, for soldiers, and for Americans.\"", "Some objected to the exclusion of the surviving veterans' names, while others complained about the dark complexion of the granite, claiming that it expressed a negative attitude towards the Vietnam War.", "Lin defended her design before the US Congress, and a compromise was reached: ''Three Soldiers'', a bronze depiction of a group of soldiers and an American flag were placed to the side of Lin's design.Notwithstanding the initial controversy, the memorial has become an important pilgrimage site for relatives and friends of the dead soldiers, many of whom leave personal tokens and mementos in memory of their loved ones.", "In 2007, an American Institute of Architects poll ranked the memorial No.", "10 on a list of America's Favorite Architecture, and it is now one of the most visited sites on the National Mall.", "Furthermore, it now serves as a memorial for the veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.", "There is a collection with items left since 2001 from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which includes handwritten letters and notes of those who lost loved ones during these wars.", "There is also a pair of combat boots and a note with it dedicated to the veterans of the Vietnam War, that reads \"If your generation of Marines had not come home to jeers, insults, and protests, my generation would not come home to thanks, handshakes and hugs.", "\"Lin once said that if the competition had not been held \"blind\" (with designs submitted by name instead of number), she \"never would have won\" on account of her ethnicity.", "Her assertion is supported by the fact that she was harassed after her ethnicity was revealed, as when prominent businessman and later third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot called her an \"egg roll.\"" ], [ "Later work", "''2 × 4 Landscape'' (2006) at the De Young Museum in San Francisco in January 2009Lin's ''The Women's Table'' in front of the Sterling Memorial Library that commemorates the role of women at Yale UniversityLin, who now owns and operates Maya Lin Studio in New York City, has designed numerous projects following the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama (1989) and the ''Wave Field'' outdoor installation at the University of Michigan (1995).", "Lin is represented by the Pace Gallery in New York City.===A partial list of works===* '' Peace-Chapel'' (completed in 1989), for the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and Juniata College.", "Lin was approached by Elizabeth Evans Baker to design the open-aired chapel, perched on top of a mountain.", "The chapel represented in one place the connections between peace, art, spirituality, and nature.", "The site consists of a circle of stones for “pews,” the ground of the earth for a floor, and the boundless sky for a ceiling overhead.", "Located on Baker-Henry Nature Preserve in Huntingdon, PA.* ''Wave Field'' (completed in 1995), for the University of Michigan.", "Lin was inspired by both diagrams of fluids in motion and photographs of ocean waves.", "She was intrigued by the idea of capturing and freezing the motion of water and wished to capture that movement in the earth rather than through photography.", "''Wave Field'' was her first experiment with earthworks.", "* ''Confluence Project'' (completed in 2000), a series of outdoor installations at historical points along the Columbia River and Snake River in the states of Washington and Oregon.", "* ''Eleven Minute Line'' (completed in 2004), an earthwork in Sweden that was designed for the Wanås Foundation.", "Lin drew inspiration from the Serpent Mounds (Native American burial mounds) located in her home state, Ohio.", "It is meant to be a walkway for the viewers to experience, taking eleven minutes to complete.", "The work was inspired by Robert Smithson's ''Spiral Jetty''.", "* A new plaza (completed in 2005), at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine.", "* ''Waterline'' (completed in 2006), composed of aluminum tubing and paint.", "Lin has described the piece as a drawing instead of a sculpture.", "It is a to-scale representation of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, and it is installed so that viewers may walk on the underwater mountain range.", "One critic saw in the work a purposeful ambiguity as to where the actual water line was in relation to the mountain range, which highlighted the viewers' relationship to the environment and the effect they had on bodies of water.", "* ''Bodies of Water'' series (completed in 2006), consisting of representations of three bodies of water, \"The Black Sea,\" \"The Caspian Sea,\" and \"The Red Sea\".", "Each sculpture is made of layers of birch plywood, and are to-scale representations of three endangered bodies of water.", "The sculptures are balanced on the deepest point of the sea.", "Lin wished to call attention to the \"unseen ecosystems\" that people continue to pollute.", "* ''Input'' (with Tan Lin, completed in 2004).", "Lin was commissioned by Ohio University to design what is known as ''Input'' in that institution's Bicentennial Park, a landscape designed to resemble a computer punch card.", "The work relates to Lin's first official connection with the university.", "The daughter of the late Professor Emerita of English Julia Lin and the late Henry Lin, dean emeritus of the College of Fine Arts, Maya Lin studied computer programming at the university while in high school.", "The installation is located in a 3.5-acre park.", "It has 21 rectangles, some raised and some depressed, resembling computer punch cards, a mainstay of early programming courses.", "* ''Above and Below'' (completed in 2007), an outdoor sculpture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indiana.", "The artwork is made of aluminum tubing that has been electrolytically colored by anodization.", "* ''2 × 4 Landscape'' (completed in 2008), a 30-ton sculpture made of many pieces of wood, which was exhibited at the M.H.", "de Young Memorial Museum, in San Francisco.", "The sculpture itself is evocative of the swelling movement of water, which is juxtaposed with the dry materiality of the lumber pieces.", "According to Lin, ''2 × 4 Landscape'' was her attempt to bring the experience of ''Wavefield'' (1995) indoors.", "The 2 × 4 pieces are also meant to be reminiscent of pixels, to evoke the \"virtual or digital space that we are increasingly occupying.", "\"* ''Wave Field,'' (completed in 2008), at the Storm King Art Center in New York state.", "It is the center's first earthwork, spanning 4 acres of land, and is a larger version of her original ''Wave Field'' (1995) that focuses on the \"fusion of opposites,\" comparing the motion of water to the material of the earth.", "* Design of a building (2009) for the Museum of Chinese in America, near New York City's Chinatown.", "Lin said that she found the project to be personally significant, explaining that she wants her two daughters to \"know that part of their heritage\".", "* ''Silver River'' (2009), her first work of art in the Las Vegas Strip.", "It is part of a public fine art collection at MGM Mirage's CityCenter, which opened December 2009.Lin created an cast of the Colorado River made entirely of reclaimed silver.", "With the sculpture, Lin wanted to make a statement about water conservation and the importance of the Colorado River to Nevada in terms of energy and water.", "The sculpture is displayed behind the front desk of the Aria Resort and Casino.", "* ''A Fold in the Field'' (completed in 2013).", "Her largest work to date, it was built from 105,000m cubic meters of earth, covering 3 hectares.", "It forms part of a private collection within a sculpture park, owned by Alan Gibbs, north of Auckland, New Zealand.", "* Since around 2010, Lin has been working on what she calls \"her final memorial,\" the What Is Missing?", "Foundation, to commemorate the biodiversity that has been lost in the planet's sixth mass extinction.", "She aims to raise awareness about the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats by using sound, media, science, and art for temporary installations and a web-based project.", "''What Is Missing?''", "exists not in one specific site but in many forms and in many places simultaneously.", "* From 2015 to 2021, Lin worked on the renovation and reconfiguration of the Neilson Library and its grounds at Smith College.", "A project in Madison Square Park, \"Ghost Forest,\" was postponed until 2021.", "* Both ''What is Missing'' and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial were referred to by the White House in its press release that announced Lin as one of the 2016 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.", "Nature and the environment have been central concerns for Lin in both her art and architecture: \"As an artist I often work in series, and so for me, I wanted my last memorial to be on a subject that I have personally been concerned with and connected to since I was a child.", "The last memorial is \"What Is Missing?\"", "And encompasses multiple platforms, with temporary and permanent physical installations as well as an interactive online component.\"", "She has expressed her concerns for the goals of the Trump administration: \"I think nature is resilient— if we protect it—and with my background I wanted to lend a voice to the incredible threat we are under from climate change and species and habitat loss.", "\"===Exhibitions===* ''Il Cortile Mare'' (1998-1999), an exhibition of furniture design, maquettes and photos of works at the American Academy in Rome.===Written works===* Maya Lin, ''Boundaries'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000)." ], [ "Design methodology", "Maya Lin calls herself a \"designer,\" rather than an \"architect\".", "Her vision and her focus are always on how space needs to be in the future, the balance and relationship with the nature and what it means to people.", "She has tried to focus less on how politics influences design and more on what emotions the space would create and what it would symbolize to the user.", "Her belief in a space being connected and the transition from inside to outside being fluid, coupled with what a space means, has led her to create some very memorable designs.", "She has also worked on sculptures and landscape installations, such as “Input” artwork at Ohio University.", "In doing so, Lin focuses on memorializing concepts of time periods instead of direct representations of figures, creating an abstract sculptures and installations.Lin believes that art should be an act of any individual who is willing to say something that is new and not quite familiar.", "In her own words, Lin's work \"originates from a simple desire to make people aware of their surroundings, not just the physical world but also the psychological world we live in.\"", "Lin describes her creative process as having a very important writing and verbal component.", "She first imagines an artwork verbally to understand its concepts and meanings.", "She believes that gathering ideas and information is especially vital in architecture, which focuses on humanity and life and requires a well-rounded mind.", "When a project comes her way, she tries to \"understand the definition (of the site) in a verbal before finding the form to understand what a piece is conceptually and what its nature should be even before visiting the site\".", "After she completely understands the definition of the site, Lin finalizes her designs by creating numerous renditions of her project in model form.", "In her historical memorials, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the ''Women's Table'', and the Civil Rights Memorial, Lin tries to focus on the chronological aspect of what she is memorializing.", "That theme is shown in her art memorializing the changing environment and in charting the depletion of bodies of water.", "Lin also explores themes of juxtaposing materials and a fusion of opposites: \"I feel I exist on the boundaries.", "Somewhere between science and art, art and architecture, public and private, east and west....", "I am always trying to find a balance between these opposing forces, finding the place where opposites meet... existing not on either side but on the line that divides.\"" ], [ "Personal life", "Lin was married to Daniel Wolf (1955–2021), a photography dealer and collector.", "She has homes in New York and rural Colorado, and is the mother of two daughters, India and Rachel.", "She has an older brother, the poet Tan Lin." ], [ "Recognition", "Lin has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, Harvard University, Williams College, and Smith College.", "In 1987, she was among the youngest to be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by Yale University.In 1994, she was the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary ''Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision''.", "Its title comes from an address she gave at Juniata College in which she spoke of the monument design process in the origin of her work; \"My work originates from a simple desire to make people aware of their surroundings and this can include not just the physical but the psychological world that we live in.", "\"In 2002, Lin was elected Alumni Fellow of the Yale Corporation, the governing body of Yale University (upon whose campus sits another of Lin's designs, the Women's Table, designed to commemorate the role of women at Yale University), in an unusually public contest.", "Her opponent was W. David Lee, a local New Haven minister and graduate of the Yale Divinity School, who was running on a platform to build ties to the community with the support of Yale's unionized employees.", "Lin was supported by Yale President Richard Levin and other members of the Yale Corporation, and she was the officially endorsed candidate of the Association of Yale Alumni.In 2003, Lin was chosen to serve on the selection jury of the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition.", "A trend toward minimalism and abstraction was noted among the entrants and the finalists as well as in the chosen design for the World Trade Center Memorial.In 2005, Lin was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.President Barack Obama awarded Lin the National Medal of Arts in 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.In 2022, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. announced the first biographical exhibition, \"One Life: Maya Lin,\" dedicated to Lin, noting her contributions as architect, sculptor, environmentalist, and designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial." ], [ "Awards and honors", "* 1999: Rome Prize* 2000: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement* 2003: Finn Juhl Prize* 2005: elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters* 2005: elected to National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York* 2007: AIA Twenty-five Year Award* 2009: National Medal of Arts* 2011: Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, awarded jointly by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the University of Virginia.", "* 2014: The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, a $300,000 art prize* 2016: Presidential Medal of Freedom" ], [ "Selected works", "* Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM) (1980–82), Washington, D.C.* ''Aligning Reeds'' (1985), New Haven, Connecticut* Civil Rights Memorial (1988–89), Montgomery, Alabama* Open-Air Peace Chapel (1988–89), Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania* ''Topo'' (1989–91), Charlotte Sports Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina* ''Eclipsed Time'' (1989–95), Pennsylvania Station, New York City* ''The Women's Table'' (1990–93), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut* Weber House (1991–93), Williamstown, Massachusetts* ''Groundswell'' (1992–93), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio* Museum for African Art (1992–93), New York City* ''Wave Field'' (1993–95), FXB Aerospace Engineering Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan* ''10 Degrees North'' (1993–96), Rockefeller Foundation Headquarters, New York City* ''A Shift in the Stream'' (1995–97), Principal Financial Group Headquarters, Des Moines, Iowa* ''Reading a Garden'' (1996–98), Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio* Private Duplex Apartment, New York City (1996–98), New York* ''Topographic Landscape'' (1997) (Portable sculpture)* ''Phases of the Moon'' (1998) (Portable sculpture)* ''Avalanche'' (1998) (Portable sculpture)* Langston Hughes Library (1999), Clinton, Tennessee* ''Timetable'' (2000), Stanford University, Stanford, California* ''The character of a hill, under glass'' (2000–01), American Express Client Services Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota* ''Ecliptic'' (2001), Grand Rapids, Michigan* ''Input'' (2004), Bicentennial Park, Athens, Ohio* Riggio-Lynch Chapel (2004), Clinton, Tennessee* Arts Plaza, Claire Trevor School of the Arts (2005), Irvine, California* Confluence Project: Cape Disappointment State Park (2006)* Above and Below, Indianapolis Museum of Art (2007)* Confluence Project: Vancouver Land Bridge (2008)* Confluence Project: Sandy River Delta (2008)* Confluence Project: Sacajawea State Park (2010)* Ellen S. Clark ''Hope Plaza'', Washington University in St. Louis (2010)* Confluence Project: Chief Timothy Park (2011)* ''A Fold in the Field'' (2013), The Gibbs Farm, Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand* \"What is Missing?", "(2009–present), (Various locations, web project)* ''Under the Laurentide'', Brown University (2015)* ''Folding the Chesapeake'' (part of Wonder exhibit): Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC (2015)* Neilson Library (2021), Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (redesign)* ''Ghost Forest'' (2021), Madison Square Park, New York, New York" ], [ "Further reading", "* * ''Maya Lin: American Academy in Rome, 10 dicembre 1998-21 febbraio 1999'' (1998) * ''Timetable: Maya Lin'' (2000) ASIN B000PT331Y (2002, )* (2006, )* ''Landscape Architecture'' (2/2007), page 110–115, by Susan Hines" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Mayalin.com, Main site for Maya Lin Studio* Biography, interviews, essays, artwork images and video clips from PBS series ''Art:21 -- Art in the Twenty-First Century'' Season 1 (2001)* Pace Gallery* Maya Lin video produced by ''Makers: Women Who Make America''*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Manuscript" ], [ "Introduction", "Christ Pantocrator seated in a capital \"U\" in an illuminated manuscript from the Badische Landesbibliothek, Germany (from ).Image of two facing pages of the illuminated manuscript of \"Isagoge\", fols.", "42b and 43a.", "On the top of the left hand page is an illuminated letter \"D\" – initial of \"De urinarum differencia negocium\" (The matter of the differences of urines).", "Inside the letter is a picture of a master on bench pointing at a raised flask while lecturing on the \"Book on urines\" of Theophilus.", "The right hand page is only shown in part.", "On its very bottom is an illuminated letter \"U\" – initial of \"Urina ergo est colamentum sanguinis\" (Urine is the filtrate of the blood).", "Inside the letter is a picture of a master holding up a flask while explaining the diagnostic significance of urine to a student or a patient.", "HMD Collection, MS E 78.Inside the letter is a picture of a master in cathedra expounding on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates.", "Initial \"V\" rendered as \"U\" of \"Vita brevis, ars vero longa\", or \"Life is short, but the art is long\".", "\"Isagoge\", fol.", "15b.", "HMD Collection, MS E 78.A '''manuscript''' (abbreviated '''MS''' for singular and '''MSS''' for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way.", "More recently, the term has come to be understood to further include ''any'' written, typed, or word-processed copy of an author's work, as distinguished from the rendition as a printed version of the same.Before the arrival of prints, all documents and books were manuscripts.", "Manuscripts are not defined by their contents, which may combine writing with mathematical calculations, maps, music notation, explanatory figures, or illustrations." ], [ "Terminology", "Manuscript, Codex Manesse.", "Most manuscripts were ruled with horizontal lines that served as the baselines on which the text was entered.10th-century minuscule manuscript of Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian WarSatie's ''Sports et divertissements'' (published as a facsimile in 1923)The word \"manuscript\" derives from the (from , hand and from , to write).", "The study of the writing (the \"hand\") in surviving manuscripts is termed palaeography (or paleography).", "The traditional abbreviations are '''MS''' for manuscript and '''MSS''' for manuscripts, while the forms '''MS.", "''', '''ms''' or '''ms.'''", "for singular, and '''MSS.", "''', '''mss''' or '''mss.'''", "for plural (with or without the full stop, all uppercase or all lowercase) are also accepted.", "The second ''s'' is not simply the plural; by an old convention, a doubling of the last letter of the abbreviation expresses the plural, just as ''pp.''", "means \"pages\".A manuscript may be a codex (i.e.", "bound as a book), a scroll, or bound differently or consist of loose pages.", "Illuminated manuscripts are enriched with pictures, border decorations, elaborately embossed initial letters or full-page illustrations.===Parts===* Cover* Flyleaf (blank sheet)* Colophon (publication information)* incipit (the first few words of the text)* decoration; illustrations* dimensions* Shelfmark or Signature in holding library (as opposed to printed Catalog number)* works/compositions included in same ms* codicological elements: deletions method: erasure?", "overstrike?", "dots above letters?", " headers/footers page format/layout: columns?", "text and surrounding commentary/additions/glosses?", " interpolations (passage not written by the original author) owners' marginal notations/corrections owner signatures dedication/inscription censor signatures* collation (quires) (binding order)* foliation* page numeration* binding* manuscripts bound together in a single volume: convolute: volume containing different manuscripts fascicle: individual manuscript, part of a convolute=== Materials===* paper* parchment* papyrus to preserve text* ink* writing implement used* pencil to help with the writing process* pastedown (blank paper for inside cover)=== Paleographic elements ===* script (one or more)* dating* line fillers* rubrication (red ink text)* ruled lines* catchwords* historical elements of the ms: blood, wine etc.", "stains* condition: smokiness evidence of fire mold wormed===Reproduction===The mechanical reproduction of a manuscript is called facsimile.", "Digital reproductions can be called (high-resolution) scans or digital images." ], [ "History", "The Isha Upanishad manuscriptGharib al-Hadith, by Abu 'Ubaid al-Qasim ibn Sallam al-Harawi (d. 837 AD).", "The oldest known dated Arabic manuscript on paper in Leiden University Library, dated 319 AH (931 AD)A 14th-century Armenian manuscript, with painting by .", "The first page of the Gospel of Mark.", "Cod.", "2627, fol.", "436 r. (Matenadaran)Before the inventions of printing, in China by woodblock and in Europe by movable type in a printing press, all written documents had to be both produced and reproduced by hand.", "In the west, manuscripts were produced in form of scrolls (''volumen'' in Latin) or books (''codex'', plural ''codices'').", "Manuscripts were produced on vellum and other parchment, on papyrus, and on paper.In Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, palm leaf manuscripts, with a distinctive long rectangular shape, were used dating back to the 5th century BCE or earlier, and in some cases continued to be used until the 19th century.", "In China, bamboo and wooden slips were used prior to the introduction of paper.", "In Russia, birch bark documents as old as from the 11th century have survived.Paper spread from China via the Islamic world to Europe by the 14th century, and by the late 15th century had largely replaced parchment for many purposes there.", "When Greek or Latin works were published, numerous professional copies were sometimes made simultaneously by scribes in a scriptorium, each making a single copy from an original that was declaimed aloud.The oldest written manuscripts have been preserved by the perfect dryness of their Middle Eastern resting places, whether placed within sarcophagi in Egyptian tombs, or reused as mummy-wrappings, discarded in the middens of Oxyrhynchus or secreted for safe-keeping in jars and buried (Nag Hammadi library) or stored in dry caves (Dead Sea scrolls).", "Volcanic ash preserved some of the Roman library of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum.", "Manuscripts in Tocharian languages, written on palm leaves, survived in desert burials in the Tarim Basin of Central Asia.Ironically, the manuscripts that were being most carefully preserved in the libraries of antiquity are virtually all lost.", "Papyrus has a life of at most a century or two in relatively humid Italian or Greek conditions; only those works copied onto parchment, usually after the general conversion to Christianity, have survived, and by no means all of those.Originally, all books were in manuscript form.", "In China, and later other parts of East Asia, woodblock printing was used for books from about the 7th century.", "The earliest dated example is the Diamond Sutra of 868.In the Islamic world and the West, all books were in manuscript until the introduction of movable type printing in about 1450.Manuscript copying of books continued for a least a century, as printing remained expensive.", "Private or government documents remained hand-written until the invention of the typewriter in the late 19th century.", "Because of the likelihood of errors being introduced each time a manuscript was copied, the filiation of different versions of the same text is a fundamental part of the study and criticism of all texts that have been transmitted in manuscript.In Southeast Asia, in the first millennium, documents of sufficiently great importance were inscribed on soft metallic sheets such as copperplate, softened by refiner's fire and inscribed with a metal stylus.", "In the Philippines, for example, as early as 900 AD, specimen documents were not inscribed by stylus, but were punched much like the style of today's dot-matrix printers.", "This type of document was rare compared to the usual leaves and bamboo staves that were inscribed.", "However, neither the leaves nor paper were as durable as the metal document in the hot, humid climate.", "In Burma, the kammavaca, Buddhist manuscripts, were inscribed on brass, copper or ivory sheets, and even on discarded monk robes folded and lacquered.", "In Italy some important Etruscan texts were similarly inscribed on thin gold plates: similar sheets have been discovered in Bulgaria.", "Technically, these are all inscriptions rather than manuscripts.In the Western world, from the classical period through the early centuries of the Christian era, manuscripts were written without spaces between the words (scriptio continua), which makes them especially hard for the untrained to read.", "Extant copies of these early manuscripts written in Greek or Latin and usually dating from the 4th century to the 8th century, are classified according to their use of either all upper case or all lower case letters.", "Hebrew manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea scrolls make no such differentiation.", "Manuscripts using all upper case letters are called majuscule, those using all lower case are called minuscule.", "Usually, the majuscule scripts such as uncial are written with much more care.", "The scribe lifted his pen between each stroke, producing an unmistakable effect of regularity and formality.", "On the other hand, while minuscule scripts can be written with pen-lift, they may also be cursive, that is, use little or no pen-lift." ], [ "Islamic world", "Islamic manuscripts were produced in different ways depending on their use and time period.", "Parchment (vellum) was a common way to produce manuscripts.", "Manuscripts eventually transitioned to using paper in later centuries with the diffusion of paper making in the Islamic empire.", "When Muslims encountered paper in Central Asia, its use and production spread to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa during the 8th century." ], [ "Africa", "4,203 of Timbuktu's manuscripts were burned or stolen during the armed conflict in Mali between 2012 and 2013.90% of these manuscripts were saved by the population organized around the NGO \"Sauvegarde et valorisation des manuscrits pour la défense de la culture islamique\" (SAVAMA-DCI).", "Some 350,000 manuscripts were transported to safety, and 300,000 of them were still in Bamako in 2022.An international consultation on the safeguarding, accessibility and promotion of ancient manuscripts in the Sahel was held at the UNESCO office in Bamako in 2020." ], [ "Western world", "After plummeting in the Early Middle Ages, the high and late medieval period witnessed a sharp increase of manuscript production.Lectionary 183Most surviving pre-modern manuscripts use the codex format (as in a modern book), which had replaced the scroll by Late Antiquity.", "Parchment or vellum, as the best type of parchment is known, had also replaced papyrus, which was not nearly so long lived and has survived to the present almost exclusively in the very dry climate of Egypt, although it was widely used across the Roman world.", "Parchment is made of animal skin, normally calf, sheep, or goat, but also other animals.", "With all skins, the quality of the finished product is based on how much preparation and skill was put into turning the skin into parchment.", "Parchment made from calf or sheep was the most common in Northern Europe, while civilizations in Southern Europe preferred goatskin.", "Often, if the parchment is white or cream in color and veins from the animal can still be seen, it is calfskin.", "If it is yellow, greasy or in some cases shiny, then it was made from sheepskin.Vellum comes from the Latin word vitulinum which means \"of calf\"/ \"made from calf\".", "For modern parchment makers and calligraphers, and apparently often in the past, the terms parchment and vellum are used based on the different degrees of quality, preparation and thickness, and not according to which animal the skin came from, and because of this, the more neutral term \"membrane\" is often used by modern academics, especially where the animal has not been established by testing.===Scripts===Merovingian script, or \"Luxeuil minuscule\", is named after an abbey in Western France, the Luxeuil Abbey, founded by the Irish missionary St Columba .", "Caroline minuscule is a calligraphic script developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Latin alphabet could be easily recognized by the literate class from different regions.", "It was used in the Holy Roman Empire between approximately 800 and 1200.Codices, classical and Christian texts, and educational material were written in Carolingian minuscule throughout the Carolingian Renaissance.", "The script developed into blackletter and became obsolete, though its revival in the Italian renaissance forms the basis of more recent scripts.", "In ''Introduction to Manuscript Studies'', Clemens and Graham associate the beginning of this text coming from the Abby of Saint-Martin at Tours.Caroline Minuscule arrived in England in the second half of the 10th century.", "Its adoption there, replacing Insular script, was encouraged by the importation of continental European manuscripts by Saints Dunstan, Aethelwold, and Oswald.", "This script spread quite rapidly, being employed in many English centres for copying Latin texts.", "English scribes adapted the Carolingian script, giving it proportion and legibility.", "This new revision of the Caroline minuscule was called English Protogothic Bookhand.Another script that is derived from the Caroline Minuscule was the German Protogothic Bookhand.", "It originated in southern Germany during the second half of the 12th century.All the individual letters are Caroline; but just as with English Protogothic Bookhand it evolved.", "This can be seen most notably in the arm of the letter h. It has a hairline that tapers out by curving to the left.", "When first read the German Protogothic h looks like the German Protogothic b.", "Many more scripts sprang out of the German Protogothic Bookhand.", "After those came Bastard Anglicana, which is best described as:The coexistence in the Gothic period of formal hands employed for the copying of books and cursive scripts used for documentary purposes eventually resulted in cross-fertilization between these two fundamentally different writing styles.", "Notably, scribes began to upgrade some of the cursive scripts.", "A script that has been thus formalized is known as a ''bastard'' script (whereas a bookhand that has had cursive elements fused onto it is known as a hybrid script).", "The advantage of such a script was that it could be written more quickly than a pure bookhand; it thus recommended itself to scribes in a period when demand for books was increasing and authors were tending to write longer texts.", "In England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, many books were written in the script known as Bastard Anglicana.=== Genres ===From ancient texts to medieval maps, anything written down for study would have been done with manuscripts.", "Some of the most common genres were bibles, religious commentaries, philosophy, law and government texts.====Biblical====\"The Bible was the most studied book of the Middle Ages\".", "The Bible was the center of medieval religious life.", "Along with the Bible came scores of commentaries.", "Commentaries were written in volumes, with some focusing on just single pages of scripture.", "Across Europe, there were universities that prided themselves on their biblical knowledge.", "Along with universities, certain cities also had their own celebrities of biblical knowledge during the medieval period.====Book of hours====The Pentecost, from an illuminated Catholic liturgical manuscript, A book of hours is a type of devotional text which was widely popular during the Middle Ages.", "They are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscripts.", "Each book of hours contain a similar collection of texts, prayers, and psalms but decoration can vary between each and each example.", "Many have minimal illumination, often restricted to ornamented initials, but books of hours made for wealthier patrons can be extremely extravagant with full-page miniatures.", "These books were used for owners to recite prayers privately eight different times, or hours, of the day.====Liturgical books and calendars====Along with Bibles, large numbers of manuscripts made in the Middle Ages were received in Church.", "Due to the complex church system of rituals and worship these books were the most elegantly written and finely decorated of all medieval manuscripts.", "Liturgical books usually came in two varieties.", "Those used during mass and those for divine office.Most liturgical books came with a calendar in the front.", "This served as a quick reference point for important dates in Jesus' life and to tell church officials which saints were to be honored and on what day." ], [ "Modern variations", "In the context of library science, a manuscript is defined as any hand-written item in the collections of a library or an archive.", "For example, a library's collection of hand-written letters or diaries is considered a manuscript collection.", "Such manuscript collections are described in finding aids, similar to an index or table of contents to the collection, in accordance with national and international content standards such as DACS and ISAD(G).In other contexts, however, the use of the term \"manuscript\" no longer necessarily means something that is hand-written.", "By analogy a ''typescript'' has been produced on a typewriter.===Publishing===In book, magazine, and music publishing, a manuscript is an autograph or copy of a work, written by an author, composer or copyist.", "Such manuscripts generally follow standardized typographic and formatting rules, in which case they can be called fair copy (whether original or copy).", "The staff paper commonly used for handwritten music is, for this reason, often called \"manuscript paper\".===Film and theatre===In film and theatre, a manuscript, or ''script'' for short, is an author's or dramatist's text, used by a theatre company or film crew during the production of the work's performance or filming.", "More specifically, a motion picture manuscript is called a screenplay; a television manuscript, a teleplay; a manuscript for the theatre, a stage play; and a manuscript for audio-only performance is often called a radio play, even when the recorded performance is disseminated via non-radio means.===Insurance===In insurance, a manuscript policy is one that is negotiated between the insurer and the policyholder, as opposed to an off-the-shelf form supplied by the insurer." ], [ "Preservation", "About 300,000 Latin, 55,000 Greek, 30,000 Armenian and 12,000 Georgian medieval manuscripts have survived.", "National Geographic estimates that 700,000 African manuscripts have survived at the University of Timbuktu in Mali." ], [ "Repositories", "Major U.S. repositories of medieval manuscripts include:* The Morgan Library & Museum = 1,300 (including papyri)* Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale = 1,100* Walters Art Museum = 1,000* Houghton Library, Harvard = 850* Van Pelt Library, Penn = 650* Huntington Library = 400* Robbins Collection = 300* Newberry Library = 260* Cornell University Library = 150Many European libraries have far larger collections.", "* British Library#Collections of manuscriptsBecause they are books, pre-modern manuscripts are best described using bibliographic rather than archival standards.", "The standard endorsed by the American Library Association is known as AMREMM.", "A growing digital catalog of pre-modern manuscripts is Digital Scriptorium, hosted by the University of California at Berkeley." ], [ "See also", "=== Examples ===* * * * * * * * === General ===* * * * * " ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " British Library Glossary of manuscript terms, mostly relating to Western medieval manuscripts* Centre for the Studies of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg* Centre for the History of the Book, University of Edinburgh* Chinese Codicology* Digital Scriptorium* Shapell Manuscript Foundation* Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill* The Sarasvati Mahal Library, has the richest collection of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu* The Schøyen Collection – the world's largest private collection of manuscripts of all types, with many descriptions and images* * Newberry Library Manuscript Search * Getty Exhibitions* Polish manuscripts in Sweden* Medieval Manuscript Leaves, University of Colorado Boulder Libraries* Manuscripts of Lichfield Cathedral – Digital facsimile of the 8th-century St Chad Gospels and Cathedral's 15th-century Wycliffe New Testament, 2010.Includes the ability to overlay images captured with 13 different bands of light, historical images (starting in 1887), and multispectral visualizations.", "Also includes sixteen interactive 3D renderings.", "College of Arts & Sciences, University of Kentucky* Historical Image Overlays – See how an early medieval manuscript is aging* Introduction to codicology : Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Roman and Arabic Mss by Philippe Bobichon" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Misogyny" ], [ "Introduction", "''Swetnam the Woman-Hater'', printed in 1620.The work is credited with originating the English term ''misogynist''.", "'''Misogyny''' () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls.", "It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy.", "Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years.", "It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide.An example of misogyny is violence against women, which includes domestic violence and, in its most extreme forms, misogynist terrorism and femicide.", "Misogyny also often operates through sexual harassment, coercion, and psychological techniques aimed at controlling women, and by legally or socially excluding women from full citizenship.", "In some cases, misogyny rewards women for accepting an inferior status.Misogyny can be understood both as an attitude held by individuals, primarily by men, and as a widespread cultural custom or system.", "Sometimes misogyny manifests in obvious and bold ways; other times it is more subtle or disguised in ways that provide plausible deniability.", "In feminist thought, misogyny also includes the rejection of feminine qualities.", "It holds in contempt institutions, work, hobbies, or habits associated with women.", "It rejects any aspects of men that are seen as feminine or unmanly.", "Racism and other prejudices may reinforce and overlap with misogyny.According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' the English word \"misogyny\" was coined in the middle of the 17th century from the Greek misos 'hatred' + gunē 'woman'.", "The word was rarely used until it was popularised by second-wave feminism in the 1970s." ], [ "Definitions", "English and American dictionaries define misogyny as \"hatred of women\" and as \"hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women\".The American ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' distinguishes misogyny, \"a hatred of women\", from sexism, which denotes sex-based discrimination, and \"behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex.", "\"In 2012, primarily in response to a speech in the Australian Parliament, the ''Macquarie Dictionary'' (which documents Australian English and New Zealand English) expanded its definition to include not only hatred of women but also \"entrenched prejudices against women\".Social psychology research describes overt misogyny as \"blatant hostile sexism\" that raises resistance in women, as opposed to \"manifestations of benevolent sexism\" or chivalry that lead women to behave in a manner perpetuating patriarchal arrangements.According to sociologist Allan G. Johnson, \"misogyny is a cultural attitude of hatred for females because they are female\".", "Johnson argues that:Sociologist Michael Flood at the University of Wollongong defines misogyny as the hatred of women, and notes:Philosopher Kate Manne of Cornell University defines misogyny as the attempt to control and punish women who challenge male dominance.", "Manne finds the traditional \"hatred of women\" definition of misogyny too simplistic, noting it does not account for how perpetrators of misogynistic violence may love certain women; for example, their mothers.", "Instead, misogyny rewards women who uphold the status quo and punishes those who reject women's subordinate status.", "Manne distinguishes sexism, which she says seeks to rationalise and justify patriarchy, from misogyny, which she calls the \"law enforcement\" branch of patriarchy:''Misogynous'' and ''misogynistic'' can both be used as an adjectival form of the word.", "The noun ''misogynist'' can be used for a woman-hating person.", "The counterpart of misogyny is misandry, the hatred or dislike of men.", "Misandry is a minor issue, not equivalent to the widespread practice and extensive history of misogyny.", "The antonym of misogyny, philogyny—love or fondness toward women— is not widely used.", "Words derived from the word ''misogyny'' and denoting connected concepts include misogynoir, the intersection of anti-black racism and misogyny faced by Black women; transmisogyny, the intersection of misogyny and transphobia faced by trans women and transfeminine people; and transmisogynoir, the confluence of these faced by black trans women and transfeminine people." ], [ "Origins", "Misogyny likely arose at the same time as patriarchy: three to five thousand years ago at the start of the Bronze Age.", "Monotheism—the belief in one, usually male god—began to replace pantheism and matriarchal religions.", "The three main monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam promoted patriarchal societal structures, and used misogyny to keep women at a lower status.", "Misogyny gained strength in the Middle Ages, especially in Christian societies.In parallel to these developments, misogyny was also practised in societies such as the tribes of the Amazon Basin and Melanesia, who did not follow a monotheistic religion.", "Nearly every human culture contains evidence of misogyny.Anthropologist David D. Gilmore argues that misogyny is rooted in men's conflicting feelings: men's existential dependence on women for procreation, and men's fear of women's power over them in their times of male weakness, contrasted against the deep-seated needs of men for the love, care and comfort of women—a need that makes the men feel vulnerable.Angela Saini notes that a large proportion of women in ancient societies were kidnapped brides from other cultures.", "Such a woman was often forced to marry a man who had killed her family.", "Misogynistic suspicion in ancient Greece and elsewhere is to some degree explained by male anxiety that women would some day revolt against their captors.", "Saini argues that patriarchy and gender stereotyping emerged at the same time as the state." ], [ "Historical usage", "=== Classical Greece ===Roman copy of a Hellenistic bust of Chrysippus (British Museum)In his book ''City of Sokrates: An Introduction to Classical Athens'', J.W.", "Roberts argues that older than tragedy and comedy was a misogynistic tradition in Greek literature, reaching back at least as far as Hesiod.", "He claims that the term ''misogyny'' itself comes directly into English from the Ancient Greek word ''misogunia'' (), which survives in several passages.The earlier, longer, and more complete passage comes from a moral tract known as ''On Marriage'' (''c''.", "150 BC) by the stoic philosopher Antipater of Tarsus.", "Antipater argues that marriage is the foundation of the state, and considers it to be based on divine (polytheistic) decree.", "He uses ''misogunia'' to describe the sort of writing the tragedian Euripides eschews, stating that he \"rejects the hatred of women in his writing\" (ἀποθέμενος τὴν ἐν τῷ γράφειν μισογυνίαν).", "He then offers an example of this, quoting from a lost play of Euripides in which the merits of a dutiful wife are praised.According to Tieleman other surviving use of the Ancient Greek word is by Chrysippus, in a fragment from ''On affections'', quoted by Galen in ''Hippocrates on Affections''.", "Here, ''misogyny'' is the first in a short list of three \"disaffections\"—women (''misogunia''), wine (''misoinia'', μισοινία) and humanity (''misanthrōpia'', μισανθρωπία).", "Chrysippus' point is more abstract than Antipater's, and Galen quotes the passage as an example of an opinion contrary to his own.", "What is clear, however, is that he groups hatred of women with hatred of humanity generally, and even hatred of wine.", "\"It was the prevailing medical opinion of his day that wine strengthens body and soul alike.\"", "So Chrysippus, like his fellow stoic Antipater, views misogyny negatively, as a disease; a dislike of something that is good.", "It is this issue of conflicted or alternating emotions that was philosophically contentious to the ancient writers.", "Ricardo Salles suggests that the general stoic view was that \"a man may not only alternate between philogyny and misogyny, philanthropy and misanthropy, but be prompted to each by the other.", "\"In the ''Routledge philosophy guidebook to Plato and the Republic'', Nickolas Pappas describes the \"problem of misogyny\" and states:''Misogynist'' is also found in the Greek—''misogunēs'' ()—in ''Deipnosophistae'' (above) and in Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives'', where it is used as the title of Heracles in the history of Phocion.", "It was the title of a play by Menander, which we know of from book seven (concerning Alexandria) of Strabo's 17 volume ''Geography'', and quotations of Menander by Clement of Alexandria and Stobaeus that relate to marriage.", "A Greek play with a similar name, ''Misogunos'' (Μισόγυνος) or ''Woman-hater'', is reported by Marcus Tullius Cicero (in Latin) and attributed to the poet Marcus Atilius.Marcus Tullius CiceroCicero reports that Greek philosophers considered misogyny to be caused by gynophobia, a fear of women.In summary, despite considering women as generally inferior to men, Greek literature considered misogyny to be a disease—an anti-social condition—in that it ran contrary to their perceptions of the value of women as wives and of the family as the foundation of society.", "These points are widely noted in the secondary literature.=== English language ===Julia GillardAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary the word entered English because of an anonymous proto-feminist play, ''Swetnam the Woman-Hater'', published in 1620 in England.", "The play is a criticism of anti-woman writer Joseph Swetnam, who it represents with the pseudonym Misogynos.", "The character of Misogynos is the origin of the term misogynist in English.The term was fairly rare until the mid-1970s.", "The publication of feminist Andrea Dworkin's 1974 critique ''Woman Hating'' popularised the idea.", "The term misogyny entered the lexicon of second-wave feminism.", "Dworkin and her contemporaries used the term to include not only a hatred or contempt of women, but the practice of controlling women with violence and punishing women who reject subordination.Misogyny was discussed worldwide in 2012 because of a viral video of a speech by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.", "Her parliamentary address is known as the Misogyny Speech.", "In the speech, Gillard powerfully criticised her opponents for holding her policies to a different standard than those of male politicians, and for speaking about her in crudely sexual terms.", "She was criticised for systemic misogyny, because earlier in the day her Labour Party had passed legislation cutting $728 million in welfare benefits to single mothers.Gillard's usage of the word \"misogyny\" promoted re-evaluations of the word's published definitions.", "The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' revised its definition in 2012 to better match the way the word has been used over the prior 30 years.", "The book ''Down Girl'', which reconsidered the definition using the tools of analytic philosophy, was inspired in part by Gillard." ], [ "Religion", "=== Ancient Greek ===Pandora by John William WaterhouseIn ''Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice'', Jack Holland argues that there is evidence of misogyny in the mythology of the ancient world.", "In Greek mythology according to Hesiod, the human race had already experienced a peaceful, autonomous existence as a companion to the gods before the creation of women.", "When Prometheus decides to steal the secret of fire from the gods, Zeus becomes infuriated and decides to punish humankind with an \"evil thing for their delight\".", "This \"evil thing\" is Pandora, the first woman, who carried a jar (usually described—incorrectly—as a box) which she was told to never open.", "Epimetheus (the brother of Prometheus) is overwhelmed by her beauty, disregards Prometheus' warnings about her, and marries her.", "Pandora cannot resist peeking into the jar, and by opening it she unleashes into the world all evil; labour, sickness, old age, and death.=== Buddhism ===In his book ''The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender'', professor Bernard Faure of Columbia University argued generally that \"Buddhism is paradoxically neither as sexist nor as egalitarian as is usually thought.\"", "He remarked, \"Many feminist scholars have emphasised the misogynistic (or at least androcentric) nature of Buddhism\" and stated that Buddhism morally exalts its male monks while the mothers and wives of the monks also have important roles.", "Additionally, he wrote:=== Christianity ===Eve rides astride the Serpent on a capital in Laach Abbey church, 13th century.Differences in tradition and interpretations of scripture have caused sects of Christianity to differ in their beliefs with regard to their treatment of women.In ''The Troublesome Helpmate'', Katharine M. Rogers argues that Christianity is misogynistic, and she lists what she says are specific examples of misogyny in the Pauline epistles.", "She states:In K. K. Ruthven's ''Feminist Literary Studies: An Introduction'', Ruthven makes reference to Rogers' book and argues that the \"legacy of Christian misogyny was consolidated by the so-called 'Fathers' of the Church, like Tertullian, who thought a woman was not only 'the gateway of the devil' but also 'a temple built over a sewer'.", "\"Several Christian institutions exclude women.", "For example, women are excluded from the Mount Athos region of Greece and from the governing hierarchy of the Catholic Church.", "Some Christian theologians, such as John Knox in his book ''The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women'', have written that women should be excluded from secular government institutions for religious reasons.Personification of the seven deadly sins, MediaevalHowever, some other scholars have argued that Christianity does not include misogynistic principles, or at least that a proper interpretation of Christianity would not include misogynistic principles.", "David M. Scholer, a biblical scholar at Fuller Theological Seminary, stated that the verse Galatians 3:28 (\"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus\") is \"the fundamental Pauline theological basis for the inclusion of women and men as equal and mutual partners in all of the ministries of the church.\"", "In his book ''Equality in Christ?", "Galatians 3:28 and the Gender Dispute'', Richard Hove argues that—while Galatians 3:28 does mean that one's sex does not affect salvation—\"there remains a pattern in which the wife is to emulate the church's submission to Christ and the husband is to emulate Christ's love for the church.", "\"In ''Christian Men Who Hate Women'', clinical psychologist Margaret J. Rinck has written that Christian social culture often allows a misogynist \"misuse of the biblical ideal of submission\".", "However, she argues that this a distortion of the \"healthy relationship of mutual submission\" which is actually specified in Christian doctrine, where \"love is based on a deep, mutual respect as the guiding principle behind all decisions, actions, and plans\".", "Similarly, Catholic scholar Christopher West argues that \"male domination violates God's plan and is the specific result of sin\".=== Islam ===The fourth chapter (or ''sura'') of the Quran is called \"Women\" (''an-nisa'').", "The 34th verse is a key verse in feminist criticism of Islam.", "The verse notes men's God-given advantages over women.", "They are consequently their protectors and maintainers.", "Where women are disobedient \"admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them...\" In his book ''No god but God'', University of Southern California, Professor Reza Aslan wrote that \"misogynistic interpretation\" has been persistently attached to An-Nisa, 34 because commentary on the Quran \"has been the exclusive domain of Muslim men\".In his book ''Popular Islam and Misogyny: A Case Study of Bangladesh'', Taj Hashmi discusses misogyny in relation to Muslim culture, writing:The economic and social position of men and women was reflected in blood money to the family of a victim.", "The financial loss for a woman was pegged at half that of a man.=== Sikhism ===Scholars William M. Reynolds and Julie A. Webber have written that Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith tradition, was a \"fighter for women's rights\" that was \"in no way misogynistic\" in contrast to some of his contemporaries.", "However, unconscious misogynistic attitudes in Sikh men have steadily reduced the power of women in Sikhism, such that the Sikh community has been observed to contain toxic masculinity." ], [ "Misogynistic ideas among prominent Western thinkers", "Numerous influential Western philosophers have expressed ideas that have been characterised as misogynistic, including Aristotle, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, G. W. F. Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Otto Weininger, Oswald Spengler, and John Lucas.", "Because of the influence of these thinkers, feminist scholars trace misogyny in Western culture to these philosophers and their ideas.=== Aristotle ===Portrait of Aristotle, copy of Lysippos, LouvreAristotle believed women were inferior and described them as \"deformed males\".", "In his work ''Politics'', he statesas regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject 4 (1254b13-14).Another example is ''Cynthia's catalog'' in which Cynthia states \"Aristotle says that the courage of a man lies in commanding, a woman's lies in obeying; that 'matter yearns for form, as the female for the male and the ugly for the beautiful'; that women have fewer teeth than men; that a female is an incomplete male or 'as it were, a deformity'.", "Aristotle believed that men and women naturally differed both physically and mentally.", "He claimed that women are \"more mischievous, less simple, more impulsive ... more compassionate, ... more easily moved to tears, ... more jealous, more querulous, more apt to scold and to strike, ... more prone to despondency and less hopeful, ... more void of shame or self-respect, more false of speech, more deceptive, of more retentive memory and ... also more wakeful; more shrinking and more difficult to rouse to action\" than men.=== Jean-Jacques Rousseau ===Jean-Jacques Rousseau is well known for his views against equal rights for women for example in his treatise ''Emile'', he writes: \"Always justify the burdens you impose upon girls but impose them anyway... .", "They must be thwarted from an early age... .", "They must be exercised to constraint, so that it costs them nothing to stifle all their fantasies to submit them to the will of others.\"", "Other quotes consist of \"closed up in their houses\", \"must receive the decisions of fathers and husbands like that of the church\".=== Arthur Schopenhauer ===Schopenhauer by Karl BauerBased on his essay \"On Women\" (Über die Weiber), Arthur Schopenhauer has been noted as a misogynist by many such as the philosopher, critic, and author Tom Grimwood.", "In a 2008 article published in the philosophical journal of ''Kritique,'' Grimwood argues that Schopenhauer's misogynistic works have largely escaped attention despite being more noticeable than those of other philosophers such as Nietzsche.", "For example, he noted Schopenhauer's works where the latter had argued women only have \"meagre\" reason comparable that of \"the animal\" \"who lives in the present\".", "Other works he noted consisted of Schopenhauer's argument that women's only role in nature is to further the species through childbirth and hence is equipped with the power to seduce and \"capture\" men.", "He goes on to state that women's cheerfulness is chaotic and disruptive which is why it is crucial to exercise obedience to those with rationality.", "For her to function beyond her rational subjugator is a threat against men as well as other women, he notes.", "Schopenhauer also thought women's cheerfulness is an expression of her lack of morality and incapability to understand abstract or objective meaning such as art.", "This is followed up by his quote \"have never been able to produce a single, really great, genuine and original achievement in the fine arts, or bring to anywhere into the world a work of permanent value\".Schopenhauer condemned what he called \"Teutonico-Christian stupidity\" on female affairs.", "He argued that women are \"by nature meant to obey\" as they are \"childish, frivolous, and short sighted\".", "He also argued that women did not possess any real beauty:=== Nietzsche ===Friedrich Wilhelm NietzscheIn ''Beyond Good and Evil'', Friedrich Nietzsche stated that stricter controls on women was a condition of \"every elevation of culture\".", "In his ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'', he has a female character say \"You are going to women?", "Do not forget the whip!\"", "In ''Twilight of the Idols'', Nietzsche writes \"Women are considered profound.", "Why?", "Because we never fathom their depths.", "But women aren't even shallow.\"", "There is controversy over the questions of whether or not this amounts to misogyny, whether his polemic against women is meant to be taken literally, and the exact nature of his opinions of women.=== Hegel ===Hegel's view of women can be characterised as misogynistic.", "Passages from Hegel's ''Elements of the Philosophy of Right'' illustrate the criticism:" ], [ "Violence", "===Terrorism and hate crimes===Femicide is the name of a hate crime, the intentional killing of women or girls on account of their sex.", "It is ideological misogynist killing, and in some cases may also be an example of domestic violence.Misogynist terrorism is terrorism intended to punish woman.", "Since 2018 counter-terrorism professionals such as ICCT and START have tracked misogyny or male supremacy as ideologies that have motivated terrorism.", "They describe this form of terror as a \"rising threat\".", "Among the attacks designated as misogynist terrorism are the 2014 Isla Vista killings and the 2018 Toronto van attack.", "Some of the attackers have identified with the incel movement, and were motivated to kill by a perception of being entitled to sexual access to women.", "However, misogyny is common among mass killers, even when it is not the primary motivation." ], [ "Online misogyny", "Misogynistic rhetoric is pervasive online and has grown more aggressive over time.", "Online misogyny includes both individual attempts to intimidate and denigrate women, denial of gender inequity (neosexism), and also coordinated, collective attempts such as vote brigading and the Gamergate antifeminist harassment campaign.", "In a paper written for the ''Journal of International Affairs'', Kim Barker and Olga Jurasz discuss how online misogyny can lead to women facing obstacles when trying to engage in the public and political spheres of the Internet due to the abusive nature of these spaces.", "They also suggest regulations and shut downs of online misogyny through both governmental and non-governmental means.=== Coordinated attacks ===Anita Sarkeesian was the target of a coordinated misogynistic attack because of her feminist work.The most likely targets for misogynistic attacks by coordinated groups are women who are visible in the public sphere, women who speak out about the threats they receive, and women who are perceived to be associated with feminism or feminist gains.", "Authors of misogynistic messages are usually anonymous or otherwise difficult to identify.", "Their rhetoric involves misogynistic epithets and graphic or sexualised imagery.", "It centres on the women's physical appearance, and prescribes sexual violence as a corrective for the targeted women.", "Examples of famous women who spoke out about misogynistic attacks are Anita Sarkeesian, Laurie Penny, Caroline Criado Perez, Stella Creasy, and Lindy West.These attacks do not always remain online only.", "Swatting was used to bring Gamergate attacks into the physical world.=== Language used ===The insults and threats directed at different women tend to be very similar.", "Jude Doyle, who has been the target of online threats, noted the \"overwhelmingly impersonal, repetitive, stereotyped quality\" of the abuse, the fact that \"all of us are being called the same things, in the same tone\".A 2016 study conducted by the think tank Demos found that the majority of Twitter messages containing the words \"whore\" or \"slut\" were advertisements for pornography.", "Of those that were not, a majority used the terms in a non-aggressive way, such a discussion of slut-shaming.", "Of those that used the terms \"whore\" or \"slut\" in an aggressive, insulting way, about half were women and half were men.", "Twitter users most frequently targeted by women with aggressive insults were celebrities, such as Beyoncé Knowles.A 2020 study published in the journal ''New Media & Society'' also discusses how language on the internet can contribute to online misogyny.", "The authors specifically criticise ''Urban Dictionary'', claiming the language used in the definitions are misogynistic and anti-feminist, rather than simply being a collaborative dictionary.A 2021 study published at the meeting of the ''Association for Computational Linguistics'' notes that online misogyny presents differently in different contexts.", "For example: Spanish online discussions show a stronger presence of dominance; Italian misogyny has a plurality of stereotyping and objectification; English online misogyny most frequently involves discrediting women; and Danish discussions primarily express neo-sexism.=== Incels ===Incels, or involuntary celibates, is an online community of men who believe they cannot get into heterosexual relationships.", "They share a common belief that women pick partners based solely on looks, so due to their unattractiveness, they will be alone forever.", "Due to this perception of themselves, incels in turn hate women, and believe that men are systematically discriminated against.", "Incels have a large network of male-oriented websites dedicated to the cyber hate of women, discrimination, and networking of misogyny.", "In the incel form of misogyny, all women are discriminated against, however, women of color are doubly denigrated by sexism and racism.", "Incels endorse and participate in sexism, racism, and mass violence.", "They are not only a threat in online communities, but they also carry their misogyny over to killing sprees, like the 2014 Isla Vista massacre that inspired other incel acts of violence.", "Incel existence and rhetoric is a good example of misogyny online.===With white supremacy===Andrew Anglin uses the white supremacist website ''The Daily Stormer'' as a platform to promote misogynistic conspiracy theories, claiming that politically active \"white women across the Western world\" are pushing for liberal immigration policies \"to ensure an endless supply of Black and Arab men to satisfy their depraved sexual desires.\"", "In July 2018, Anglin summarised his misogynistic views, writing: \"Look, I hate women.", "I think they deserve to be beaten, raped and locked in cages.\"", "The term misogynoir describes misogyny directed towards Black women where prejudice based upon race and gender play reinforcing roles." ], [ "Psychological impact", "=== Internalised misogyny === Women who experience internalised misogyny may express it through minimising the value of women, mistrusting women, and believing gender bias in favour of men.", "A common manifestation of internalised misogyny is lateral violence.=== Abuse and harassment ===Misogyny has taken shape as sexual harassment.Misogynist attitudes lead to the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of gender nonconforming boys in childhood." ], [ "Feminist theory", "===\"Good\" versus \"bad\" women===Many feminists have written that the notions of \"good\" women and \"bad\" women are imposed upon women in order to control them.", "Women who are easy to control, or who advocate for their own oppression, may be told they are good.", "The categories of bad and good also cause fighting among women; Helen Lewis identifies this \"long tradition of regulating female behaviour by defining women in opposition to one another\" as the architecture of misogyny.Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieThe ''Madonna–whore dichotomy'' or ''virgin/whore dichotomy'' is the perception of women as either good and chaste or as bad and promiscuous.", "Belief in this dichotomy leads to misogyny, according to the feminist perspective, because the dichotomy appears to justify policing women's behaviour.", "Misogynists seek to punish \"bad\" women for their sexuality.", "Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie observes that when women describe being harassed or assaulted (as in the #MeToo movement) they are viewed as deserving sympathy only if they are \"good\" women: non-sexual, and perhaps helpless.In her 1974 book ''Woman Hating'', Andrea Dworkin uses traditional fairy tales to illustrate misogyny.", "Fairy tales designate certain women as \"good\", for example Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, who are inert, passive characters.", "Dworkin observed that these characters \"never think, act, initiate, confront, resist, challenge, feel, care, or question.", "Sometimes they are forced to do housework.\"", "In contrast, the \"evil\" women who populate fairy tales are queens, witches, and other women with power.", "Further, men in fairy tales are said to be good kings and good husbands irrespective of their actions.", "For Dworkin, this illustrates that under misogyny only powerless women are allowed to be seen as good.", "No similar judgement is applied to men.Andrea DworkinIn her book ''Right-Wing Women'', Dworkin adds that powerful women are tolerated by misogynists provided women use their power to reinforce the power of men and to oppose feminism.", "Dworkin gives Phyllis Schlafly and Anita Bryant as examples of powerful women tolerated by anti-feminists only because they advocated for their own oppression.", "Women may even be worshipped or called superior to men if they are sufficiently \"good\", meaning obedient or inert.Philosopher Kate Manne argues that the word \"misogyny\" as used by modern feminists denotes not a generalised hatred of women, but instead the system of distinguishing good from bad women.", "Misogyny is like a police force, Manne writes, that rewards or punishes women based on these judgements.===Patriarchal bargain===In the late 20th century, second-wave feminist theorists argued that misogyny is both a cause and a result of patriarchal social structures.Economist Deniz Kandiyoti has written that colonisers of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia kept conquered armies of men under control by offering them complete power over women.", "She calls this the \"patriarchal bargain\".", "Men who were interested in accepting the bargain were promoted to leadership by colonial powers, causing the colonised societies to become more misogynistic.===Contempt for the feminine===Julia Serano defines misogyny as not only hatred of women per se, but the \"tendency to dismiss and deride femaleness and femininity.\"", "In this view, misogyny also causes homophobia against gay men because gay men are stereotyped as feminine and weak; misogyny likewise causes anxiety among straight men that they will be seen as unmanly.", "Serano's book ''Whipping Girl'' argues that most anti-trans sentiment directed at trans women should be understood as misogyny.", "By embracing femininity, the book argues, trans women cast doubt on the superiority of masculinity.Jean-Léon Gérôme, ''Pygmalion and Galatea'', c. 1890Culture rewards traits that are considered masculine and devalues traits that seem feminine, according to Tracy M. Hallstead at Quinnipiac University.", "From childhood, boys and men are told to \"man up\" to appear tough by distancing themselves from feminine things.", "Boys learn that it is shameful to be seen as emotional, dependent, or vulnerable.", "Men raised in this way may disown femininity and may even learn to despise it.", "In this view, misogyny is directed not only at women, but at any feminine qualities that men see within themselves.This contempt for the feminine causes men feel that they must assert their dominance over women by controlling them, Hallstead writes.", "She illustrates this with the ancient story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who hated \"the faults beyond measure which nature has given to women.\"", "Pygmalion creates a sculpture of a woman that magically comes alive.", "Pygmalion is very gratified by the complete control he has over the woman, Galatea, because this control re-enforces his masculinity.", "He considers Galatea the perfect woman, in spite of his contempt for women, because of his absolute power over her." ], [ "English and Welsh law", "In recent years, there has been increasing discussion in England and Wales of misogyny being added to the list of aggravating factors that are commonly referred to by the media as \"hate crimes\".", "Aggravating factors in criminal sentencing currently include hostility to a victim due to characteristics such as sexuality, race or disability.In 2016, Nottinghamshire Police began a pilot project to record misogynistic behaviour as either hate crime or hate incidents, depending on whether the action was a criminal offence.", "Over two years (April 2016-March 2018) there were 174 reports made, of which 73 were classified as crimes and 101 as incidents.In September 2018, it was announced that the Law Commission would conduct a review into whether misogynistic conduct, as well as hostility due to ageism, misandry or towards groups such as goths, should be treated as a hate crime.In October 2018, two senior police officers, Sara Thornton, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, and Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, stated that police forces should focus on more serious crimes such as burglary and violent offences, and not on recording incidents which are not crimes.", "Thornton said that \"treating misogyny as a hate crime is a concern for some well-organised campaigning organisations\", but that police forces \"do not have the resources to do everything\".In September 2020 the Law Commission proposed that sex or gender be added to the list of protected characteristics.", "At the time of the Law Commission's proposals seven police forces in England and Wales classed misogyny as a hate crime, but that definition had not been adopted across the board.", "The commission plans to make its official recommendations to the government in 2021.A Home Office spokesperson in October 2021 stated that police forces had been requested to record any crime the victim understood was driven by hostility to their sex." ], [ "Criticism of the concept", "Camille Paglia, a self-described \"dissident feminist\" who has often been at odds with other academic feminists, argues that there are serious flaws in the Marxism-inspired interpretation of misogyny that is prevalent in second-wave feminism.", "In contrast, Paglia argues that a close reading of historical texts reveals that men do not ''hate'' women but ''fear'' them.", "Christian Groes-Green has argued that misogyny must be seen in relation to its opposite which he terms philogyny.", "Criticising R. W. Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinities, he shows how philogynous masculinities play out among youth in Maputo, Mozambique." ], [ "See also", "* Exploitation of women in mass media* Gender in horror films* Gender studies* Honor killing* Misogyny and mass media* Misogyny in rap music* Misogyny in sports* ''The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men''* Wife selling* Women's rights" ], [ "Notes and references" ], [ "Bibliography", "* Boteach, Shmuley.", "''Hating Women: America's Hostile Campaign Against the Fairer Sex''.", "2005.", "* Brownmiller, Susan.", "''Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape''.", "New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.", "* Dijkstra, Bram.", "''Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil''.", "New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.", "* Chodorow, Nancy.", "''The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender''.", "Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, 1978.", "* Ellmann, Mary.", "''Thinking About Women''.", "1968.", "* Forward, Susan, and Joan Torres.", "''Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them: When Loving Hurts and You Don't Know Why''.", "Bantam Books, 1986.", "* Haskell, Molly.", "''From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies''.", "1974.University of Chicago Press, 1987.", "* Kipnis, Laura.", "''The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability''.", "2006.", "* Klein, Melanie.", "''The Collected Writings of Melanie Klein''.", "4 volumes.", "London: Hogarth Press, 1975.", "* Lewis, Helen.", "''Difficult Women: A History Of Feminism In 11 Fights''.", "Jonathan Cape, 2020.", "* Marshall, Gordon.", "'Misogyny'.", "In ''Oxford Dictionary of Sociology''.", "Oxford University Press, 1998.", "* Millett, Kate.", "''Sexual Politics''.", "New York: Doubleday, 1970.", "* Morgan, Fidelis.", "''A Misogynist's Source Book''.", "* Patai, Daphne, and Noretta Koertge.", "''Professing Feminism: Cautionary Tales from the Strange World of Women's Studies''.", "1995.", "* Penelope, Julia.", "''Speaking Freely: Unlearning the Lies of our Fathers' Tongues''.", "Toronto: Pergamon Press Canada, 1990.", "* Smith, Joan.", "''Misogynies''.", "1989.Revised 1993.", "* ''World Health Organisation Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women''* 2005." ], [ "External links", "* Misogyny, Misandry, and Misanthropy" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Martinique" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Martinique''' ( , ; or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea.", "A part of the French West Indies (Antilles), Martinique is an overseas department and region and a single territorial collectivity of the French Republic.", "It is also part of the European Union as an outermost region within the special territories of members of the European Economic Area, but is not part of the Schengen Area or the European Union Customs Union.", "The currency in use is the euro.Martinique has a land area of and a population of 349,925 inhabitants as of January 2024.One of the Windward Islands, it lies directly north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica.", "Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and Martinican Creole.The Cape Saint Martin cliffs and the Dominica channel, as seen from Grand Rivière at the northern tip of the island" ], [ "Etymology", "It is thought that Martinique is a corruption of the Taíno name for the island (/, meaning 'island of flowers', or , 'island of women'), as relayed to Christopher Columbus when he visited the island in 1502.According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called or by the Caribs, which means 'the island of iguanas'." ], [ "History", "===Pre-European contact and early colonial periods===The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs.", "The Arawaks were described as gentle timorous Indians and the Caribs as ferocious cannibal warriors.", "The Arawaks came from Central America in the 1st century AD and the Caribs came from the Venezuelan coast around the 11th century.Christopher Columbus charted Martinique (without landing) in 1493, during his first voyage, but Spain had little interest in the territory.", "Columbus landed during a later voyage, on 15 June 1502, after a 21-day trade wind passage, his fastest ocean voyage.", "He spent three days there refilling his water casks, bathing and washing laundry.The indigenous people Columbus encountered called Martinique \"Matinino\".", "He was told by indigenous people ofSan Salvador that \"the island of Matinino was entirely populated by women on whom the Caribs descended at certain seasons of the year; and if these women bore sons they were entrusted to the father to bring up.", "\"On 15 September 1635, Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, French governor of the island of St. Kitts, landed in the harbour of St. Pierre with 80 to 150 French settlers after being driven off St. Kitts by the English.", "D'Esnambuc claimed Martinique for the French king Louis XIII and the French \"Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique\" (Company of the American Islands), and established the first European settlement at Fort Saint-Pierre (now St. Pierre).", "D'Esnambuc died in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who in 1637 became governor of the island.In 1636, in the first of many skirmishes, the indigenous Caribs rose against the settlers to drive them off the island.", "The French repelled the natives and forced them to retreat to the eastern part of the island, on the Caravelle Peninsula in the region then known as the Capesterre.", "When the Caribs revolted against French rule in 1658, the governor Charles Houël du Petit Pré retaliated with war against them.", "Many were killed, and those who survived were taken captive and expelled from the island.", "Some Caribs fled to Dominica or St. Vincent, where the French agreed to leave them at peace.After the death of du Parquet in 1658, his widow Marie Bonnard du Parquet tried to govern Martinique, but dislike of her rule led King Louis XIV to take over the sovereignty of the island.", "In 1654, Dutch Jews expelled from Portuguese Brazil introduced sugar plantations worked by large numbers of enslaved Africans.In 1667, the Second Anglo-Dutch War spilled out into the Caribbean, with Britain attacking the pro-Dutch French fleet in Martinique, virtually destroying it and further cementing British preeminence in the region.", "In 1674, the Dutch attempted to conquer the island, but were repulsed.attack on the French ships at Martinique in 1667Because there were few Catholic priests in the French Antilles, many of the earliest French settlers were Huguenots who sought religious freedom.", "Others were transported there as a punishment for refusing to convert to Catholicism, many of them dying en route.", "Those who survived were quite industrious and over time prospered, though the less fortunate were reduced to the status of indentured servants.", "Although edicts from King Louis XIV's court regularly came to the islands to suppress the Protestant \"heretics\", these were mostly ignored by island authorities until Louis XIV's Edict of Revocation in 1685.As many of the planters on Martinique were Huguenots suffering under the harsh strictures of the Revocation, they began plotting to emigrate from Martinique with many of their recently arrived brethren.", "Many of them were encouraged by the Catholics, who looked forward to their departure and the opportunities for seizing their property.", "By 1688, nearly all of Martinique's French Protestant population had escaped to the British American colonies or Protestant countries in Europe.", "The policy decimated the population of Martinique and the rest of the French Antilles and set back their colonisation by decades, causing the French king to relax his policies in the region, which left the islands susceptible to British occupation over the next century.===Post-1688 period===Under governor of the Antilles Charles de Courbon, comte de Blénac, Martinique served as a home port for French pirates, including Captain Crapeau, Étienne de Montauban, and Mathurin Desmarestz.", "In later years, pirate Bartholomew Roberts styled his jolly roger as a black flag depicting a pirate standing on two skulls labeled \"ABH\" and \"AMH\" for \"A Barbadian's Head\" and \"A Martinican's Head\" after governors of those two islands sent warships to capture Roberts.Battle of Martinique between British and French fleets in 1779Martinique was attacked or occupied several times by the British, in 1693, 1759, 1762 and 1779.Excepting a period from 1802 to 1809 following signing of the Treaty of Amiens, Britain controlled the island for most of the time from 1794 to 1815, when it was traded back to France at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.", "Martinique has remained a French possession since then.Despite the introduction of successful coffee plantations in the 1720s to Martinique, the first coffee-growing area in the Western hemisphere, as sugar prices declined in the early 1800s, the planter class lost political influence.", "Slave rebellions in 1789, 1815 and 1822, plus the campaigns of abolitionists such as Cyrille Bissette and Victor Schœlcher, persuaded the French government to end slavery in the French West Indies in 1848.Martinique was the first French overseas territory in which the abolition decree came into force, on 23 May of the same year.As a result, some plantation owners imported workers from India and China.", "Despite the abolition of slavery, life scarcely improved for most Martinicans; class and racial tensions exploded into rioting in southern Martinique in 1870 following the arrest of Léopold Lubin, a trader of African ancestry who retaliated after he was beaten by a Frenchman.", "After several deaths, the revolt was crushed by French militia.===20th–21st centuries===On 8 May 1902, Mont Pelée erupted and completely destroyed St. Pierre, killing 30,000 people.", "Refugees from Martinique travelled by boat to the southern villages of Dominica, and some of them remained permanently on the island.", "The only survivor in the town of Saint-Pierre, Auguste Cyparis, was saved by the thick walls of his prison cell.", "Shortly thereafter, the capital shifted to Fort-de-France, where it remains today.During World War II, the pro-Nazi Vichy government controlled Martinique under Admiral Georges Robert.", "German U-boats used Martinique for refuelling and re-supply during the Battle of the Caribbean.", "In 1942, 182 ships were sunk in the Caribbean, dropping to 45 in 1943, and five in 1944.Free French forces took over on the island on Bastille Day, 14 July 1943.In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an Overseas Department of France.", "Meanwhile, the post-war period saw a growing campaign for full independence; a notable proponent of this was the author Aimé Césaire, who founded the Progressive Party of Martinique in the 1950s.", "Tensions boiled over in December 1959 when riots broke out following a racially-charged altercation between two motorists, resulting in three deaths.", "In 1962, as a result of this and the global turn against colonialism, the strongly pro-independence OJAM () was formed.", "Its leaders were later arrested by the French authorities.", "However, they were later acquitted.", "Tensions rose again in 1974, when gendarmes shot dead two striking banana workers.", "However the independence movement lost steam as Martinique's economy faltered in the 1970s, resulting in large-scale emigration.", "Hurricanes in 1979–80 severely affected agricultural output, further straining the economy.", "Greater autonomy was granted by France to the island in the 1970s–80s.In 2009, Martinique was convulsed by the French Caribbean general strikes.", "Initially focusing on cost-of-living issues, the movement soon took on a racial dimension as strikers challenged the continued economic dominance of the ''Béké'', descendants of French European settlers.", "President Nicolas Sarkozy later visited the island, promising reform.", "While ruling out full independence, which he said was desired neither by France nor by Martinique, Sarkozy offered Martiniquans a referendum on the island's future status and degree of autonomy.On 2 February 2023, Martinique adopted its independent activist flag, symbolising its three colors of Pan-Africanism.Mont Pelée and Bay of St Pierre as seen from the Grande Savane trail" ], [ "Governance", "special territories of the European UnionLike French Guiana, Martinique is a special collectivity (Unique in French) of the French Republic.", "It is also an outermost region of the European Union.", "The inhabitants of Martinique are French citizens with full political and legal rights.", "Martinique sends four deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate.On 24 January 2010, during a referendum, the inhabitants of Martinique approved by 68.4% the change to be a \"special (unique) collectivity\" within the framework of article 73 of the French Republic's Constitution.", "The new council replaces and exercises the powers of both the General Council and the regional council.===Administrative divisions===arrondissements Martinique is divided into four ''arrondissements'' and 34 ''communes''.", "It had also been divided into 45 ''cantons'', but these were abolished in 2015.The four arrondissements of the island, with their respective locations, are as follows:* Fort-de-France, is the prefecture of Martinique.", "It takes up the central zone of the island.", "It includes four communes.", "In 2019, the population was 152,102.Besides the capital, it includes the communities of Saint-Joseph and Schœlcher.", "* La Trinité, one of the three subprefectures on the island, occupies the northeast region.", "It has ten communes.", "In 2019, the population was 75,238.La Trinité contains the communities of La Trinité, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Basse-Pointe, Le Gros-Morne, Le Lorrain, Macouba, Le Marigot, Le Robert and Sainte-Marie.", "* Le Marin, the second subprefecture of Martinique, makes up the southern part of the island and is composed of twelve communes.", "In 2019, the population was 114,824.The subprefecture includes the communities of La Marin, Les Anses d'Arlet, Le Diamant, Ducos, Le François, Rivière-Pilote, Rivière-Salée, Sainte-Anne, Sainte-Luce, Saint-Esprit, Les Trois-Îlets, and Le Vauclin.", "* Saint-Pierre, is the third subprefecture of the island.", "It comprises eight communes, lying in the northwest of Martinique.", "In 2019, the population was 22,344.Together with Saint-Pierre, its communities include Le Carbet, Case-Pilote-Bellefontaine, Le Morne-Rouge, and Le Prêcheur.NameArea (km2)Population (2019)ArrondissementMapL'Ajoupa-Bouillon12.31,756La Trinité50x50pxLes Anses-d'Arlet25.923,494Le Marin50x50pxBasse-Pointe27.952,823La Trinité50x50pxBellefontaine11.891,813Saint-Pierre50x50pxLe Carbet363,461Saint-Pierre50x50pxCase-Pilote18.444,455Saint-Pierre50x50pxLe Diamant27.345,511Le Marin50x50pxDucos37.6917,655Le Marin50x50pxFonds-Saint-Denis24.28680Saint-Pierre50x50pxFort-de-France44.2176,512Fort-de-France50x50pxLe François53.9315,980Le Marin50x50pxGrand'Rivière16.6610La Trinité50x50pxGros-Morne54.259,689La Trinité50x50pxLe Lamentin62.3240,095Fort-de-France50x50pxLe Lorrain50.336,768La Trinité50x50pxMacouba16.931,050La Trinité50x50pxLe Marigot21.633,117La Trinité50x50pxLe Marin31.548,751Le Marin50x50pxLe Morne-Rouge37.644,795Saint-Pierre50x50pxLe Morne-Vert13.371,816Saint-Pierre50x50pxLe Prêcheur29.921,203Saint-Pierre50x50pxRivière-Pilote35.7811,877Le Marin50x50pxRivière-Salée39.3811,874Le Marin50x50pxLe Robert47.321,913La Trinité50x50pxSaint-Esprit23.469,890Le Marin50x50pxSaint-Joseph43.2915,883Fort-de-France50x50pxSaint-Pierre38.724,121Saint-Pierre50x50pxSainte-Anne38.424,444Le Marin50x50pxSainte-Luce28.029,487Le Marin50x50pxSainte-Marie44.5515,487La Trinité50x50pxSchœlcher21.1719,612Fort-de-France50x50pxLa Trinité45.7712,025La Trinité50x50pxLes Trois-Îlets28.67,242Le Marin50x50pxLe Vauclin39.068,619Le Marin50x50pxDiamant beach, and Diamond Rock, as seen from Dizac beach=== Representation of the State ===The prefecture of Martinique is Fort-de-France.", "The three sub-prefectures are Le Marin, Saint-Pierre and La Trinité.", "The French State is represented in Martinique by a prefect (Stanislas Cazelles since 5 February 2020), and by two sub-prefects in Le Marin (Corinne Blanchot-Prosper) and La Trinité / Saint-Pierre (Nicolas Onimus, appointed on 20 May 2020).The prefecture was criticized for racism following the publication on its Twitter account of a poster calling for physical distancing against the coronavirus and showing a black man and a white man separated by pineapples.=== Institutions ===Former town hall or Mayor's office of Fort-de-FranceThe President of the Executive Council of Martinique is Serge Letchimy as of 2 July 2021.The Executive Council of Martinique is composed of nine members (a president and eight executive councilors).The deliberative assembly of the territorial collectivity is the Assembly of Martinique, composed of 51 elected members and chaired by Lucien Saliber as of 2 July 2021.The advisory council of the territorial collectivity of Martinique is the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of Martinique (Conseil économique, social, environnemental, de la culture et de l'éducation de Martinique), composed of 68 members.", "Its president is Justin Daniel since 20 May 2021.==== National representation ====Martinique has been represented since 17 June 2017, in the National Assembly by four deputies (Serge Letchimy, Jean-Philippe Nilor, Josette Manin and Manuéla Kéclard-Mondésir) and in the Senate by two senators (Maurice Antiste and Catherine Conconne) since 24 September 2017.Martinique is also represented in the Economic, Social and Environmental Council by Pierre Marie-Joseph since 26 April 2021=== Institutional and statutory evolution of the island ===During the 2000s, the political debate in Martinique focused on the question of the evolution of the island's status.", "Two political ideologies, assimilationism and autonomism, clashed.", "On the one hand, there are those who want a change of status based on Article 73 of the French Constitution, i.e., that all French laws apply in Martinique as of right, which in law is called legislative identity, and on the other hand, the autonomists who want a change of status based on Article 74 of the French Constitution, i.e., an autonomous status subject to the regime of legislative specialty following the example of St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.Since the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003, Martinique has four options:* First possibility: the status quo, Martinique retains its status as an Overseas Department and Region, under Article 73 of the Constitution.", "The DROMs are under the regime of legislative identity.", "In this framework, the laws and regulations are applicable as of right, with the adaptations required by the particular characteristics and constraints of the communities concerned.", "* Old City Hall, Fort-de-FranceSecond possibility: if the local stakeholders, and first and foremost the elected representatives, agree, they can, within the framework of Article 73 of the Constitution, propose an institutional evolution such as the creation of a single assembly (merger of the general council and the regional council).", "However, the department and the region will remain.", "The government may propose to the President of the Republic to consult the voters on this issue.", "In case of a negative answer, nothing will be possible.", "In case of positive response, the final decision will be taken by the Parliament, which will finally decide whether the reform is carried out by passing an ordinary law.", "* Third possibility: those elected may propose the creation of a new collectivity within the framework of Article 73 of the French Constitution.", "This new community will replace the department and the region.", "It will bring together the competences currently attributed to the General Council and the Regional Council.", "This community governed by Article 73 is subject to the regime of legislative identity and is therefore not autonomous.", "It will have as institutions an executive council, a deliberative assembly and an economic and social council.", "* Fourth possibility: if a consensus is reached, the elected representatives may propose to the government a change of status, i.e., the transformation of Martinique into an overseas collectivity (COM).", "Indeed, since the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003, the overseas departments may, under Article 74, become an overseas collectivity (COM) like St. Martin and St. Barthélemy.Unlike the overseas departments, the overseas collectivities are subject to legislative specialization.", "The laws and decrees of the Republic apply to them under certain conditions established by the organic law defining their status.", "The overseas departments have a greater degree of autonomy than the DOMs.", "They have an executive council, a territorial council and an economic and social council.", "The prefect is the representative of the French State in the overseas collectivity.Salines Beach, St Anne peninsulaHowever, the French Constitution specifies in Article 72-4 that \"no change may be made, for all or part of one of the communities mentioned in the second paragraph of Article 72-3, from one of the regimes provided for in Articles 73 and 74, without the prior consent of the electors of the community or part of the community concerned having been obtained, under the conditions provided for in the following paragraph.In 2003, a new organization is envisaged, in which the regional and departmental institutions would be merged into a single institution.", "This proposal was rejected in Martinique (but also in Guadeloupe) by 50.48% in a referendum held on 7 December 2003.On 10 January 2010, a consultation of the population was held.", "Voters were asked to vote in a referendum on a possible change in the status of their territory.", "The ballot proposed voters to \"approve or reject the transition to the regime provided for in Article 74 of the Constitution\".", "The majority of voters, 79.3%, said \"no\".The following 24 January, in a second referendum, 68.4% of the population of Martinique approved the transition to a \"single collectivity\" under Article 73 of the Constitution, i.e., a single assembly that would exercise the powers of the General Council and the Regional Council.=== New collectivity of Martinique ===The project of the elected representatives of Martinique to the government proposes a single territorial community governed by Article 73 of the Constitution, whose name is \"Territorial Community of Martinique\".", "The single assembly that replaces the General Council and the Regional Council is called the \"Assembly of Martinique\".", "The Assembly of Martinique is composed of 51 councilors, elected for a six-year term of office by the proportional representation system (the electoral district is divided into four sections).", "A majority bonus of 20% is granted to the first place list.The executive body of this community is called the \"executive council\", which is composed of nine executive councilors, including a president.", "The president of the community of Martinique is the president of the executive council.", "The executive council is responsible to the Assembly of Martinique, which may overrule it by a motion of constructive censure.", "Unlike the previous functioning of the General Council and the Regional Council, the Assembly of Martinique is separate from the Executive Council and is headed by a bureau and a president.Anses d'Arlet and its churchside beach, a landmark of MartiniqueThe new collectivity of Martinique combines the powers of the general and regional councils, but may obtain new powers through empowerments under Article 73.The executive council is assisted by an advisory council, the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of Martinique.The bill was approved on 26 January 2011, by the French Government.", "The ordinary law was submitted to Parliament during the first half of 2011 and resulted in the adoption of Law No.", "2011-884 27 July 2011, on the territorial communities of French Guiana and Martinique.=== Political forces ===Political life in Martinique is essentially based on Martinican political parties and local federations of national parties (PS and LR).", "The following classification takes into account their position with regard to the statutory evolution of the island: there are the assimilationists (in favor of an institutional or statutory evolution within the framework of Article 73 of the French Constitution), the autonomists and the independentists (in favor of a statutory evolution based on Article 74 of the French Constitution).Indeed, on 18 December 2008, during the congress of Martinique's departmental and regional elected representatives, the thirty-three pro-independence elected representatives (MIM/CNCP/MODEMAS/PALIMA) of the two assemblies voted unanimously in favor of a change in the island's status based on Article 74 of the French Constitution, which allows access to autonomy; this change in status was massively rejected (79.3%) by the population during the referendum of 10 January 2010.=== Defence ===The defence of the department is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces.", "Some 1,400 military personnel are deployed in Martinique and Guadeloupe – centred on the 33e régiment d'infanterie de Marine in Martinique and incorporating a reserve company of the regiment located in Guadeloupe.Five French Navy vessels are based in Martinique, including: the surveillance frigates and , the patrol and support ship ''Dumont d'Urville'', the ''Combattante'' and the coastal harbor tug (RPC) ''Maïtos''.", "The naval aviation element includes Eurocopter AS565 Panther and Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters able to embark on the ''Floréal''-class frigates as required.", "One ''Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards'' (EDA-S) landing craft is to be delivered to naval forces based in Martinique by 2025.The landing craft is to better support operations in the territory and region.About 700 National Gendarmerie are also stationed in Martinique." ], [ "Geography", "Diamond Rock and the Sleeping Woman, the defining landscape of the southwest peninsulaPart of the archipelago of the Antilles, Martinique is located in the Caribbean Sea about northeast of the coast of South America and about southeast of the Dominican Republic.", "It is north of St. Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica.The total area of Martinique is , of which is water and the rest land.", "Martinique is the 3rd largest island in The Lesser Antilles after Trinidad and Guadeloupe.", "It stretches in length and in width.", "The highest point is the volcano of Mount Pelée at above sea level.", "There are numerous small islands, particularly off the east coast.Caravelle Peninsula and Martinique's Atlantic coast, as seen from the Phare de la CaravelleThe Atlantic, or \"windward\" coast of Martinique is difficult to navigate by ship.", "A combination of coastal cliffs, shallow coral reefs and cays, and strong winds make the area notoriously hazardous for sea traffic.", "The Caravelle peninsula clearly separates the north Atlantic and south Atlantic coast.The Caribbean, or \"leeward\" coast of Martinique is much more favourable to sea traffic.", "Besides being shielded from the harsh Atlantic trade winds by the island, the sea bed itself descends steeply from the shore.", "This ensures that most potential hazards are deep underwater, and prevents the growth of corals.Pitons du Carbet rainforest, as seen from the Fontaine Didier route in Fort de FranceThe north of the island is especially mountainous.", "It features four ensembles of ''pitons'' (volcanoes) and ''mornes'' (mountains): the Piton Conil on the extreme North, which dominates the Dominica Channel; Mont Pelée, an active volcano; the Morne Jacob; and the Pitons du Carbet, an ensemble of five extinct volcanoes covered with rainforest and dominating the Bay of Fort de France at .", "Mont Pelée's volcanic ash has created grey and black sand beaches in the north (in particular between Anse Ceron and Anse des Gallets), contrasting markedly from the white sands of Les Salines in the south.Grand Anse beach, a haven for sea turtles, southwest peninsulaThe south is more easily traversed, though it still features impressive geographic features.", "Because it is easier to travel to, and due to the many beaches and food facilities throughout this region, the south receives most of the tourism.", "The beaches from Pointe de Bout, through Diamant (which features right off the coast of Roche de Diamant), St. Luce, the department of St. Anne and down to Les Salines are popular.=== Relief ===The terrain is mountainous on this island of volcanic origin.", "The oldest areas correspond to the volcanic zones at the southern end of the island and towards the peninsula of La Caravelle to the east.", "The island developed over the last 20 million years according to a sequence of movements and volcanic eruptions to the north.The volcanic activity is due to the subduction fault located here, where the South American Plate slides beneath the Caribbean Plate.", "Martinique has eight centres of volcanic activity.", "The oldest rocks are andesitic lavas dated to about 24 million years ago, mixed with tholeiitic magma containing iron and magnesium.", "Mount Pelée, the island's most dramatic feature, formed about 400,000 years ago.", "Pelée erupted in 1792, 1851, and twice in 1902.The eruption of 8 May 1902, destroyed Saint-Pierre and killed 28,000 people in 2 minutes; that of 30 August 1902, killed nearly 1,100, mostly in Le Morne-Rouge and Ajoupa-Bouillon.The east coast, coast of the wind or of the islands, has been called in the Caribbean \"''cabesterre''\".", "This term in Martinique designates more specifically the area of La Caravelle.", "This windward coast, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, is directly exposed to the trade winds and the sea bottom.", "The northern part of the Grand River in Sainte-Marie is basically surrounded by cliffs, with very few mooring points; access to maritime navigation is limited to inshore fishing with small traditional Martinique boats.===Flora and fauna===The Trou d'eau of the Pitons du Carbet forest, Rivière du Lorrain, as seen from the Trace des Jésuites trailBeach of Anse Grosse Roche, St Anne peninsulaThe Jamaican fruit bat can be found throughout the islandThe northern end of the island catches most of the rainfall and is heavily forested, featuring species such as bamboo, mahogany, rosewood and West Indian locust.", "The south is drier and dominated by savanna-like brush, including cacti, Copaiba balsam, logwood and acacia.Anole lizards and fer-de-lance snakes are native to the island.", "Mongooses (''Urva auropunctata''), introduced in the 1800s to control the snake population, have become a particularly cumbersome introduced species as they prey upon bird eggs and have exterminated or endangered a number of native birds, including the Martinique trembler, white-breasted trembler and White-breasted Thrasher.", "Bat species include the Jamaican fruit bat, the Antillean fruit-eating bat, the Little yellow-shouldered bat, Davy's naked-backed bat, the Greater bulldog bat, Schwartz's myotis, and the Mexican free-tailed bat.=== Beaches ===Martinique has many beaches: those in the south of the island are of white sand, unlike those in the north which are of volcanic origin and therefore of black or gray sand.Most of the beaches are wild, without services and without surveillance, but some are organized and give the possibility to do sports and activities related to the sea.=== Hydrography ===Due to the island's geographic and morphological characteristics, it has short and torrential rivers.", "The Lézarde, 30 km long, is the longest on the island.=== Major urban areas ===The most populous urban unit is Le Robert, which covers 11 communes in the southeastern part of the department.", "The three largest urban units are: Urban unit Population (2019) Le Robert 130,179 Fort-de-France 116,462 Le Lamentin 40,095" ], [ "Economy", "Dillon's distilleryIn 2014, Martinique had a total GDP of 8.4 billion euros.", "Its economy is heavily dependent on tourism, limited agricultural production, and grant aid from mainland France.Historically, Martinique's economy relied on agriculture, notably sugar and bananas, but by the beginning of the 21st century this sector had dwindled considerably.", "Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum.", "Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to mainland France.", "Chlordecone, a pesticide used in the cultivation of bananas before a ban in 1993, has been found to have contaminated farming ground, rivers and fish, and affected the health of islanders.", "Fishing and agriculture has had to stop in affected areas, having a significant effect on the economy.", "The bulk of meat, vegetable and grain requirements must be imported.", "This contributes to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from mainland France.All goods entering Martinique are charged a variable \"sea toll\" which may reach 30% of the value of the cargo and provides 40% of the island's total revenue.", "Additionally the government charges an \"annual due\" of 1–2.5% and a value added tax of 2.2–8.5%.=== Exports and imports ===Exports of goods and services in 2015 amounted to €1,102 million (€504 million of goods), of which more than 20% were refined petroleum products (SARA refinery located in the town of Le Lamentin), €95.9 million of agricultural, forestry, fish and aquaculture products, €62.4 million of agri-food industry products and €54.8 million of other goods.Imports of goods and services in 2015 were €3,038 million (of which €2,709 million were goods), of which approximately 40% were crude and refined petroleum products, €462.6 million were agricultural and agri-food products, and €442.8 million were mechanical, electrical, electronic and computer equipment.===Tourism===Les Salines, a wide sand beach at the southeastern end of the islandTourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange.", "Most visitors come from mainland France, Canada and the US.", "Roughly 16% of the total businesses on the island (some 6,000 companies) provide tourist-related services.=== Agriculture ======= Banana ====Banana cultivation is the main agricultural activity, with more than 7,200 hectares cultivated, nearly 220,000 tons produced and almost 12,000 jobs (direct + indirect) in 2006 figures.", "Its weight in the island's economy is low (1.6%); however, it generates more than 40% of the agricultural value added.Sugarcane Cultivation==== Rum ====Rum, and particularly agricultural rum, accounted for 23% of agri-food value added in 2005 and employed 380 people on the island (including traditional rum).", "The island's production is about 90,000 hl of pure alcohol in 2009, of which 79,116 hl of pure alcohol is agricultural rum (2009).==== Sugarcane ====In 2009, sugarcane cultivation occupied 4,150 hectares, or 13.7% of agricultural land.", "The area under cultivation has increased by more than 20% in the last 20 years, a rapid increase explained by the high added value of the rum produced and the rise in world sugar prices.", "This production is increasingly concentrated, with farms of more than 50 hectares accounting for 6.2% of the farms and 73.4% of the area under production.", "Annual production was about 220,000 tons in 2009, of which almost 90,000 tons went to sugar production, and the rest was delivered to agricultural rum distilleries.==== Pineapples ====Pineapples used to be an important part of agricultural production, but in 2005, according to IEDOM, they accounted for only 1% of agricultural production in value (2.5 million euros compared to 7.9 million in 2000)." ], [ "Infrastructure", "The A1 highway (972) in Fort-de-France===Transport===Martinique's main and only airport with commercial flights is Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport.", "It serves flights to and from Europe, the Caribbean, Venezuela, the United States, and Canada.", "See List of airports in Martinique.Fort-de-France is the major harbour.", "The island has regular ferry service to Guadeloupe, Dominica and St. Lucia.", "There are also several local ferry companies that connect Fort-de-France with Pointe du Bout.The road network is extensive and well-maintained, with freeways in the area around Fort-de-France.", "Buses run frequently between the capital and St. Pierre.==== Roads ====In 2019, Martinique's road network consisted of 2,123 km:* 7 km of highway (A1 between Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin) ;* 919 km of departmental and national roads* Lighthouse of La Caravelle, Martinique1,197 km of communal roads.In proportion to its population, Martinique is the French department with the highest number of vehicle registrations.In 2019, 19,137 new vehicles were registered in Martinique, i.e.", "42 new vehicles were purchased per 1,000 inhabitants (+14 in 5 years), to the great benefit of dealers.==== Public transport ====The public entity \"Martinique Transport\" was created in December 2014.This establishment is in charge of urban, intercity passenger (cabs), maritime, school and disabled student transport throughout the island, as well as the bus network.The first exclusive right-of-way public transport line in Martinique (TCSP), served by high service level buses between Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin airport, was put into service on 13 August 2018.Extensions to Schœlcher, Robert and Ducos are planned.==== Ports ====Given the insular nature of Martinique, its supply by sea is important.", "The port of Fort-de-France is the seventh largest French port in terms of container traffic.", "After 2012, it became the Grand Port Maritime Port (GPM) of Martinique, following the State's decision to modernize port infrastructures of national interest.==== Air services ====The island's airport is Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport.", "It is located in the municipality of Le Lamentin.", "Its civilian traffic (1,696,071 passengers in 2015) ranks it thirteenth among French airports, behind those of two other overseas departments (Guadeloupe – Pôle Caraïbes de Pointe-à-Pitre Airport, Guadeloupe, and La Réunion-Roland-Garros Airport).", "Its traffic is very strongly polarized by metropolitan France, with very limited (192,244 passengers in 2017) and declining international traffic.Former Martinique Plantation train (030-T-Corpet)==== Railroads ====At the beginning of the 20th century, Martinique had more than 240 km of railways serving the sugar factories (cane transport).", "Only one tourist train remains in Sainte-Marie between the Saint-James house and the banana museum.===Communications===The country code top-level domain for Martinique is .mq, but .fr is often used instead.", "The country code for international dialling is 596.The entire island uses a single area code (also 596) for landline phones and 696 for cell phones.", "(596 is dialled twice when calling a Martinique landline from another country.", ")==== Mobile telephony ====There are three mobile telephone networks in Martinique: Orange, SFR Caraïbe and Digicel.", "The arrival of Free, in partnership with Digicel, was planned for 2020.45According to Arcep, by mid-2018, Martinique is 99% covered by 4G.==== Television ====The DTT package includes 10 free channels: 4 national channels of the France Télévisions group, the news channel France 24, Arte and 4 local channels Martinique 1re, ViàATV, KMT Télévision.", "Zouk TV stopped broadcasting in April 2021 and will be subsequently replaced by Zitata TV, whose broadcasting is delayed following the COVID-19 pandemic.Viewers in Martinique do not have free access to other free national channels in the DTT package in mainland France (TF1 group, M6 group, etc.", ").Viewers in the French overseas territories also do not have free access to the public service cultural channel Culturebox, which is not broadcast locally on DTT.The French-language satellite package Canal+ Caraïbes is available in the territory.==== Telephone and Internet ====In early 2019, Orange put into service \"Kanawa\", a new submarine cable linking Martinique to French Guiana.Martinique is also connected by other submarine cables: ECFS (en), Americas-2 (en) and Southern Caribbean Fiber." ], [ "Demographics", "===Population===Martinique had a population of 349,925 as of January 2024.The population has been decreasing by 0.9% per year since 2013.There are an estimated 260,000 people of Martinican origin living in mainland France, most of them in the Paris region.", "Emigration was highest in the 1970s, causing population growth to almost stop, but it is comparatively light today.", "Historical population 1700estimate 1738estimate 1848estimate 1869estimate 1873estimate 1878estimate 1883estimate 1888estimate 1893estimate 1900estimate 1954census 24,000 74,000 120,400 152,925 157,805 162,861 167,119 175,863 189,599 203,781 239,130 1961census 1967census 1974census 1982census 1990census 1999census 2010census 2015census 2021census 2024estimate 292,062 320,030 324,832 328,566 359,572 381,325 394,173 380,877 360,749 349,925 Official figures from past censuses and INSEE estimates===Ethnic groups===The population of Martinique is mainly of African descent generally mixed with European, Amerindian (Carib), Indian (descendants of 19th-century Tamil and Telugu immigrants from South India), Lebanese, Syrian or Chinese.", "Martinique also has a small Syro-Lebanese community, a small Indian community, a small but increasing Chinese community, and the ''Béké'' community, descendants of the first European settlers.The Béké population represents around 1% of Martinique's population, mostly of noble ancestry or members of the old bourgeoisie.", "In addition to the island population, the island hosts a mainland French community, most of which live on the island on a temporary basis (generally from 3 to 5 years).===Religion===Cathédrale Saint LouisAbout 90% of Martiniquans are Christian, predominantly Roman Catholic as well as smaller numbers of various Protestant denominations.", "There are much smaller communities of other faiths such as Islam, Hinduism and the Baháʼí Faith.The island has 49 parishes and several historic places of worship, such as the Saint-Louis Cathedral of Fort de France, the Sacred Heart Church of Balata, and the Co-Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption, Saint-Pierre.==== Catholic Church ====Catholic parishes are present in each municipality and village of the territory.", "The island has the following places of worship classified as historic monuments:* Saint-Louis Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint Louis) in Fort-de-France, erected in 1850 by a bull of Pope Pius IX, is currently the seat of the archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France since 1967.", "* Church of the Sacré-coeur (Sacred Heart) in Balata* Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique.", "The former church of Mouillage, located on the corner of Victor Hugo Street and Dupuy Street, in the Mouillage district of Saint-Pierre, was completed in 1956.", "* Our Lady of the Assumption Church, in Sainte-Marie, a town in Martinique, dates to 1658.The Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France (Latin: archidioecesis Sancti Petri et Arcis Gallicae seu Martinicensis) is an ecclesiastical circumscription of the Catholic Church in the Caribbean, based in Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France, on the island of Martinique.", "The archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France is metropolitan and its suffragan dioceses are Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre and Cayenne.===Languages===Multilingual welcome sign in Fort-de-France.", "''Kontan wè zot'' is Martiniquan Creole for \"Happy to see you.", "\"The official language of Martinique is French, which is spoken by most of the population.", "The department was integrated into France in 1946, and consequently became French.", "Most residents also speak Martinican Creole (''Martinique Creole'', ''Kréyol Mat'nik, Kreyòl''), a form of Antillean Creole closely related to the varieties spoken in neighboring English-dominated islands of Saint Lucia and Dominica.", "Martiniquan Creole is based on French, Carib and African languages with elements of English, Spanish, and Portuguese.", "Also, unlike other varieties of French creole, such as Mauritian Creole, Martinican Creole is not readily understood by speakers of Standard French due to significant differences in grammar, syntax, vocabulary and pronunciation.", "It continues to be used in oral storytelling traditions and other forms of speech and to a lesser extent in writing.French and Creole are in a diglossic situation in Martinique, where French is used in official dialogue and Martinican Creole is used in casual or familial contexts.", "Creole was a spoken language with a developed \"oraliture\"; it was not until the mid 20th century that Martinican Creole began to be written.", "Since then, decreolization of the language has taken place via the adoption of Standard French features, mostly unconsciously, but some speakers have noticed that they do not speak Creole like their parents once did.Being an overseas department of France, the island has European, French, Caribbean, Martinican, black and Creole markers of identity, all being influenced by foreign factors, social factors, cultural factors and, as a reportedly important marker, linguistic practices.", "Martinican and Creole identities are specifically asserted through encouragement of Creole and its use in literature, in a movement known as ''Créolité,'' that was started by Patrick Chamoiseau, Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant.", "Martinican Creole used to be a shameful language, and it was not until the 1970s that it has been revalorized through literature and increasing code switching.", "People now speak Martinican Creole more often and in more contexts.Speaking Creole in public schools was forbidden until 1982, which is thought to have discouraged parents from using Creole in the home.", "In collaboration with GEREC (''Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches en Espace Créolophone'') Raphaël Confiant created KAPES KREYOL (CAPES for Creole, ''Certificat d'aptitude au professorat de l'enseignement du second degré)'', which is an aptitude exam that allowed Creole teachers in secondary school.", "This debuted 9 February 2001.Recently, the education authority, ''Académie de la Martinique'', launched \"Parcours Creole +\" in 2019, a project trialling bilingual education of children in French and Martinican.", "Rather than being a topic to be learned itself, Creole became a language that classes were taught in, such as arts, math, physical activity, etc.", "Parents can also choose the \"Parcours Anglais +\", learning in classes conducted in French and English from kindergarten until their final year, as in the Creole + course.", "A \"Parcours Espagnol +\", where children learn in and with French and Spanish, is in the planning stages.Though Creole is normally not used in professional situations, members of the media and politicians have begun to use it more frequently as a way to redeem national identity and prevent cultural assimilation by mainland France.==== Linguistic features of Martinican Creole ====Martinican Creole has general locative marking (GLM, also called general locative adposition, goal/source (in)difference and motion-to=motion-from).", "This means that source locations, final locations and static entity locations are expressed morphologically identically.", "Some West African languages that are possibly contributors to Martinican Creole also present GLM.", "Martinican Creole locative marking exists in 3 morphological types, including:# spatial prepositions as free morphemes;#* These include \"''an''\" (in), \"''adan''\" (inside), \"''douvan''\" (in front), \"''anba''\" (under) and \"''anlè''\" (on).# spatial morphemes \"a-\", \"an(n)-\", and \"o(z)-\" bound to the noun on their right;#* Only bare lexemes that depict certain locations will take on these particles# phonologically null locative markers#* In ambiguous sentences, these are added to polysyllabic city names" ], [ "Culture", "Martinique dancers in traditional dressAs an overseas ''département'' of France, Martinique's culture blends French and Caribbean influences.", "The city of Saint-Pierre (destroyed by a volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée), was often referred to as the \"Paris of the Lesser Antilles\".", "Following traditional French custom, many businesses close at midday to allow a lengthy lunch, then reopen later in the afternoon.Today, Martinique has a higher standard of living than most other Caribbean countries.", "French products are easily available, from Chanel fashions to Limoges porcelain.", "Studying in the ''métropole'' (mainland France, especially Paris) is common for young adults.", "Martinique has been a vacation hotspot for many years, attracting both upper-class French and more budget-conscious travelers.===Cuisine===Martinique has a hybrid cuisine, mixing elements of African, French, Carib Amerindian and Indian subcontinental traditions.", "One of its most famous dishes is the Colombo (compare kuzhambu () for gravy or broth), a unique curry of chicken (curry chicken), meat or fish with vegetables, spiced with a distinctive ''masala'' of Tamil origins, sparked with tamarind, and often containing wine, coconut milk, cassava and rum.", "A strong tradition of Martiniquan desserts includes cakes made with pineapple, rum, and a wide range of local ingredients.===Literature===Schoelcher LibrarySisters Jeanne Nardal and Paulette Nardal were involved in the creation of the Négritude movement.", "Yva Léro was a writer and painter who co-founded the Women's Union of Martinique.", "Marie-Magdeleine Carbet wrote with her partner under the pseudonym Carbet.Aimé Césaire is perhaps Martinique's most famous writer; he was one of the main figures in the Négritude literary movement.", "René Ménil was a surrealist writer who founded the journal ''Tropiques'' with Aimé and Suzanne Césaire and later formulated the concept of Antillanité.", "Other surrealist writers of that era included Étienne Léro and Jules Monnerot, who co-founded the journal ''Légitime Défense'' with Simone Yoyotte and Ménil.", "Édouard Glissant was later influenced by Césaire and Ménil, and in turn had an influence on Patrick Chamoiseau, who founded the Créolité movement with Raphaël Confiant and Jean Bernabé.", "Raphaël Confiant was a poetry, prose and non-fiction writer who supports Creole and tries to bring both French and Creole (Martinican and Guadeloupean) together in his work.", "He is specifically known for his contribution to the Créolité movement.Frantz Fanon, a prominent critic of colonialism and racism, was also from Martinique.===Music===Martinique has a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later 20th century.", "Zouk's popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Martinique and Guadeloupe.", "Zouk's origins are in the folk music of Martinique and Guadeloupe, especially Martinican chouval bwa, and Guadeloupan gwo ka.", "There's also notable influence of the pan-Caribbean calypso tradition and Haitian kompa.=== Symbols and flags ===Martinique adopted a new flag on February 2, 2023, featuring a red triangle at the hoist and two horizontal bands of green and black.", "The flag of France is also flown alongside it as the country's parent country.", "A previous competition to create a flag in 2018 was annulled by the local administrative tribunal, but the island began a new public vote in 2022, with the hummingbird design being selected as the winner.", "However, the designer withdrew her design due to accusations of plagiarism, and the runner-up design, the rouge-vert-noir (\"red-green-black\"), was adopted.", "This flag is also the preferred symbol of Martinique's independence movement.Image:Flag of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique.svg\|The Ipséité is a civil flag, designed for use in international cultural and sporting events to represent the territory.Image:MARTINIQUE TAEKWONDO DRAPEAU.svg\|Flag sometimes used by Martinique in taekwondo competitions.Image:Snake Flag of Martinique.svg\|A St Michael cross with white snakes.", "Also called the 'snake flag' of Martinique.", "Its use is sometimes controversial.Image:Flag of the Front National de Libération de la Martinique.svg\|Also called ‘red, green and black’, this flag is used by the independence movement.Image:Flag of Martinique (Local).svg\|Flag of the Assembly of Martinique (Collectivité Territoriale de la Martinique).Image:Flag-of-Martinique.svg\|Flag of Martinique adopted on February 2, 2023Image:BlasonMartinique.svg\|Coat of arms based on the controversial 'snake flag'.", "Its use by the National Gendarmerie was ended in 2018." ], [ "Sport", "Louis Achille Stadium=== Association football ===The Martinique national football team is affiliated with CONCACAF, but not FIFA, so it does not play in World Cup Qualifiers, but can play friendly matches and CONCACAF tournaments such as the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup.", "Since Martiniquais people are French citizens, they may choose to represent France in international competitions.", "Several French players also have had roots in Martinique although they were born or raised in France.", "Among the most famous include Thierry Henry, Eric Abidal, Raphaël Varane, Sylvain Wiltord and Loïc Rémy, all of whom represented France on multiple occasions and in Henry's case won the European Golden Boot twice.", "Henry and Varane also have won a FIFA World Cup each.Martinique has its own soccer league known as the Ligue de Football de Martinique.", "The Martinique men's soccer championship, known as the Regional 1 (R1) – Trophée Gérard Janvion, is a premier local soccer competition in the territory.", "It is held annually in the form of a championship between fourteen amateur clubs between the months of September and May.", "The competition is organized by the Martinique Football League and, although the clubs in the league are affiliated with the French Football Federation, there is no promotion to the French national championships.At the end of the twenty-six-day (two-stage) championship, the top four teams qualify for the Ligue Antilles, while the bottom three are relegated to the lower division, the Régionale 2.=== Surf ===153rd International Surfing Championship, Basse-Pointe, MartiniqueThe Martinique Surf Pro is an international surfing competition held every year in April in Basse-Pointe (Martinique).", "It was created in 2015 by two Martinicans, Nicolas Ursulet and Nicolas Clémenté and is organized by the Caribbean Surf Project (CSP).51 It is the only Caribbean competition in the World Surf League, the world surfing championship.", "It is part of the World Qualifying Series calendar, the entry league to the WSL's elite circuit, the Championship Tour.=== Regattas ===Le Tour de Yoles Rondes de Martinique is an annual sailing regatta, the island's largest sporting event, which takes place in late July and early August and is very popular with spectators.The event is organized by the ''Fédération des yoles rondes''.", "Crews circumnavigate Martinique on a 180-kilometer course over eight stages.", "The race begins with a prologue time trial from the starting town.The time trial determines the starting order of the first ten boats, and the time between starts is determined by the advantage of each boat over the next during the prologue; all Boats below the top ten start simultaneously.", "The next seven legs circumnavigate the island.", "The leg around the southern part of the island, starting in the commune of Le Diamant, passing through Sainte-Anne and finishing in Le François, is known as the Défi de l'Espace Sud (Southern Challenge Zone).Tour des Yoles=== Handball ===The Martinique Handball Championship, organized by the Martinique Handball League, concludes with the Poule des As (play-off) which determines the Martinique champion in the women's and men's categories.", "The Poule des As is a very popular event in Martinique, the pavilions are filled for the finals held at the Palais des Sports de Lamentin.The highest division is the Pré-Nationale, equivalent to the Pré-Nationale (or even the Nationale 3) in metropolitan France.", "The champions of the Poule des As come every year to Metropolitan France to play in the finals of the French Handball Championships of N1, N2 and N3 Women, N2 and N3 Men Metropolitan/Ultra Marines.The winners (female and male) of the Martinique Handball Cup, receive a reward of 10 000 Euros.", "The main players of the Martinique Handball Championship in recent years have been: Katty Piejos, Cédric Sorhaindo, Joël Abati." ], [ "Notable Martinique people", "Below is a list of notable people born in Martinique, with at least one parent or grandparent born in Martinique, or who are living or have lived in Martinique.=== Painters and sculptors ===* Victor Anicet* Jean-François Boclé* Hector Charpentier* Henri Guédon* René Louise* Joseph René-Corail, also known as Khokho=== Film-makers, screenwriters, directors and actors ===Viktor Lazlo (Paris Book Fair 2011).", "* Lucien Jean-Baptiste* Alex Descas* Viktor Lazlo* Darling Légitimus* Chris Macari* Sabine Quindou* Euzhan Palcy* Stéfi Celma* Cathy Rosier=== Singers, musicians or music groups ===Jocelyne Béroard at the Mons International Film Festival (May 2007).", "She was made Officier des l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2020 and National Order of the Legion of Honor in 2014.Joeystarr at Art Rock 2007, Saint-Brieuc (February 2011).Kalash, rapper and singer of Dancehall and Trap.", "* Paulo Albin : author, composer and performer, lead singer in La Perfecta* Jenny Alpha : actress and singer* Jocelyne Béroard : author and part of the group Kassav' and first woman to receive a double gold record, for the sales of her album ''Siwo'' in the Antilles.", "She was made Officer of l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2020 and National Order of the Legion of Honor in 2014.", "* Mino Cinelu : musician* Cyril Cinélu : winner of ''Star Académy'' 2006* Miss Dominique : singer* Gibson Brothers : a disco/salsa band from Sainte-Marie* Christina Goh : singer and songwriter of blues-chanson réaliste music* JoeyStarr : rapper, producer and actor* Simon Jurad : author, composer, performer (former guitarist of La Perfecta)* Lord Kossity : rapper and dancehall singer.", "In 1998, he recorded the hit Ma Benz with Kool Shen and JoeyStarr on Suprême NTM's album, which made him a household name in France.", "* Philippe Lavil : singer, author, composer and performer* Kalash : rapper* Tiitof : rapper and trap music artist.", "* Viktor Lazlo : actress and singer* Princess Lover : zouk singer* Malavoi : band mixing French Antillean music with modern influences from across the Americas* Edmond Mondésir : author, composer and singer of Bèlè music* La Perfecta : a band which played music including cadence and compas most active in the 1970s and 80s.", "* Ronald Rubinel : author, composer, performer and producer of zouk.", "* Dédé Saint Prix : singer and traditional musician playing chouval bwa* Shy'm : French R'n'B singer and dancer* Axel Tony : singer* Lynnsha : singer, author, composer and performer of zouk* Eddy Marc : zouk singer* Stacy: zouk singer, nominee for Best New International Act at the BET Awards 2020.=== Sports personalities ======= Athletics / Parathletics ====* Marie-José Pérec* Coralie Balmy* Ghislaine Barnay* Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos* Mandy François-Elie* Max Morinière* Hermann Panzo* Ronald Pognon==== Basketball ====* Marielle Amant* Leslie Ardon* Sandrine Gruda* Ronny TuriafMélanie de Jesus dos Santos is the 2019 European Artistic Gymnastics all-around champion, a two time European champion on floor exercise (2018, 2019), and the 2021 European champion on the balance beamCoralie Balmy, freestyle swimmer, at the parade of French medallists of the 2012 Olympics (August 2012).Wendie Renard at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup (July 2011).Ronny Turiaf at a New York Knicks practice (October 2010).==== Football ====* Stéphane Abaul* Fabrice Abriel* Nicolas Anelka* Johan Audel* Jean-Sylvain Babin* Mickaël Biron* Garry Bocaly* Patrick Burner* Manuel Cabit* Florian Chabrolle* Daniel Charles-Alfred* Paul Chillan* Jérémie Porsan-Clémenté* Gaël Clichy* Charles-Édouard Coridon* Mathias Coureur* Sébastien Crétinoir* Jordy Delem* Didier Domi* Julio Donisa* Gaël Germany* Joan Hartock* Thierry Henry* Christophe Hérelle* Daniel Hérelle* Steeven Langil* Peter Luccin* Kévin Parsemain* Patrick Percin* Frédéric Piquionne* David Regis* Loïc Rémy* Wendie Renard* Fabrice Reuperné* Emmanuel Rivière* Franck Tanasi* Kévin Théophile-Catherine* Raphaël Varane* Sylvain Wiltord* Axel Witsel* Jonathan Zebina==== Handball ====* Joël Abati* Mathieu Grébille* Cédric Sorhaindo==== Judo ====* Amandine Buchard* Kayra Sayit==== Tennis ====* Gaël Monfils==== Volleyball ====* Frantz Granvorka=== Politics ======= Contemporary political figures ====Serge Letchimy, President of the Executive Council of Martinique since 2 July 2021, President of the Regional Council of Martinique from 2010 to 2015, Mayor of Fort-de-France from 2001 to 2010 and President of the Martinican Progressive Party since 2005Pierre-Marie Pory-Papy, Abolitionist and anti-slavery Member of Parliament from 1848 to 1849 and 1871-1874* Maurice Antiste, Senator and former mayor of François* David Zobda, Mayor of Lamentin, vice-president of CACEM and member of the Executive Council of Martinique* Didier Laguerre, Mayor of Fort-de-France, CACEM and Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique* Yann Monplaisir, Mayor of Saint-Joseph,1st vice-president of the Territorial Authorities of Martinique* André Lesueur, Mayor of Rivière-Salée and former Conseiller régional of Martinique* Serge Letchimy, President of the Executive Council of Martinique since 2021, member of the National Assembly of France representing the island of Martinique's 3rd constituency since June 2007* Josette Manin, Member of Parliament for Martinique, Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique and former President of the General Council of Martinique* Bruno Nestor Azerot, Mayor of Sainte-Marie, President of CAP Nord Martinique and Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique * Jean-Philippe Nilor, Deputy and Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique* Luc-Louison Clémenté, Mayor of Schoelcher and President of the CACEM* Justin Pamphile, Mayor of Le Lorrain, Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique, President of the Association of Mayors of Martinique* Nicaise Monrose, Mayor of Sainte-Luce, vice-president of CAESM and member of the Executive Council of Martinique* Arnaud René-Corail, Mayor of Les Trois-Ilets, vice-president of CAESM and member of the Executive Council of Martinique* Marie-Thérèse Casimirius, Mayor of Basse-Pointe, First Vice-president of CAP Nord Martinique and member of the Executive Council of Martinique* Manuéla Kéclard-Mondésir, Member of Parliament for Martinique* Lucien Saliber, President of the Assembly of Martinique, 4th Vice President of CAP Nord Martinique, Municipal Councillor of Le Morne-Vert and former mayor of Le Morne-Vert* Jenny Dulys-Petit, Mayor of Le Morne Rouge and Councillor to the Assembly of Martinique* Audrey Pulvar, former journalist and politician, Deputy Mayor of Paris and Regional Councillor for Île-de-France, Member of the Standing Committee.", "* Karine Jean-Pierre, political advisor, White House Press Secretary.", "* Cédric Pemba-Marine was born in Hauts-de-Seine in France, of Martinican origin, and mayor of Le Port-Marly since 2020.==== Politicians of Martinique ====Cyrille Bissette deputy from 1849 to 1851 and one of the fathers of the abolition of slavery in Martinique* Pierre Aliker, doctor and mayor of Fort-de-France* Josephine Bonaparte, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie was Empress of the French and Queen consort of Italy* Cyrille Bissette, deputy and one of the fathers of the abolition of slavery in Martinique* Auguste-François Perrinon, Abolitionist Member of Parliament* Pierre-Marie Pory-Papy, first black Martinician to become a lawyer, a mayor of Saint-Pierre and Abolitionist Member of Parliament* Victor Mazuline, first black Martinican elected Member of Parliament* Léopold Bissol, deputy and one of the founders of the communist movement in Martinique and the CGT Martinique union* Aimé Césaire, Deputy Mayor of Fort-de-France and President of the Regional Council* Camille Darsières, Member of Parliament and President of the Regional Council* Louis Delgrès, known for the anti-Slavery proclamation signed with his name, dated 10 May 1802, and leading resistance on Guadeloupe to reoccupation and thus the reinstitution of slavery by Napoleonic France in 1802.", "* Alcide Delmont, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies of the nineteenth and nineteenth century, in the government of André Tardieu* Ernest Deproge, Member of Parliament for Martinique (1882-1898), President of the General Council and a controversial figure of French colonization* Osman Duquesnay, Mayor of Fort-de-France and Member of Parliament * François Duval, Senator from 1968 to 1977, Mayor of François and President of the General Council* Georges Gratiant, Mayor of Lamentin and President of the General Council* Marius Hurard, deputy and founder of the secular school in Martinique* Joseph Lagrosillière, deputy and founder of the socialist movement in Martinique* Pierre-Alexandre Le Camus, Count of Fürstenstein (born in Martinique in 1774, died in 1824 in Le Chesnay), Secretary of State and foreign minister to Kingdom of Westphalia.", "* Henry Lémery, Justice Minister in the government of Gaston Doumergue, Martinician appointed minister in a French government.", "* Émile Maurice, Mayor of Saint-Joseph and President of the General Council* Camille Petit, deputy and founder of the Gaullist movement in Martinique* Pierre Petit, Mayor of Le Morne-Rouge and Member of Parliament* Marie-Joseph Pernock served in the National Assembly from 1966 to 1967.", "* Michel Renard, Mayor of Marigot and Deputy* Victor Sévère, Deputy Mayor of Fort-de-France* Paul Symphor, President of the General Council 1947-1948 and Senator* Victor Schœlcher (died 1893), deputy of Martinique, 1848-1849 and 1871–1875, known for having acted in favor of the definitive abolition of slavery in France, via the decree of abolition of 1848* Emmanuel Véry-Hermence 1902–1966, member of the National Assembly=== Martinican writers and intellectuals ===Aimé Césaire poet, playwright and author of Cahier d'un retour au pays natal.", "He is one of the founders of NégritudeÉdouard Glissant, novelist, poet, essayist and philosopher, he won the Prix Renaudot in 1958, the Prix Puterbaugh in the United States in 1989 and the Prix Roger Caillois in 1991.Edouard Glissant is the founder of the literary movement L'Antillanité and the philosophical concept \"Le Tout Monde\"René Ménil, Philosopher, essayist, and winner of the Frantz Fanon prize in 1999.In 1932, he was amongst Martinique literary figures engaged in publishing Légitime DéfensePatrick Chamoiseau, novelist awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1992 for his novel ''Texaco'' and Commander of the ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010.He is a co-founder of the literary movement, CréolitéRené Maran, novelist awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1921 for his novel ''Batouala''Raphaël Confiant, novelist and cofounder of the literary movement Créolité.", "He has won several literary prizes including the prix Novembre in 1991 for his novel Eau de café, the Shibusawa-Claudel Prize in Japan, the Antigone Prize, the Caribbean Literary Prize, the Carbet Prize and the Casa de las Américas Prize in Cuba.A non-exhaustive list of the main novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, sociologists, economists and historians from Martinique:* Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande : Historian.", "In 2000, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of the West Indies.", "He is the author of \"''Histoire générale des Antilles et des Guyanes, des Précolombiens à nos jours''\" and directed the publication of volumes 3 and 4 of the \"''Historial antillais''\" series.", "* Alfred Alexandre : a writer, he won the Prix des Amériques insulaires et de la Guyane in 2006 for his novel \"''Bord de canal''\".", "In 2020, he won the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde for his collection of poems \"''The walk of Leïla Khane''\".", "* Sabine Andrivon-Milton : historian, founder of the Association for the Military History of Martinique and Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, she is the author of \"''La Martinique pendant la Grande Guerre''\" a collection of poems and songs, and \"''Anatole dans la tourmente du Morne Siphon''\".", "* Jean Bernabé : a writer, linguist and author of several novels including ''Le Bailleur d'étincelle'' and ''Le Partage des ancêtres''* Daniel Boukman : writer, he won the Carbet Prize in 1992, writing ''Et jusqu'à la dernière pulsation de nos veines'', ''Délivrans'', and ''Chants pour hâter la mort du temps des Orphées ou Madinina île esclave''* Roland Brival : writer, awarded the prix RFO du livre in 2000 and chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2013* Guy Cabort-Masson : novelist, who won the Prix de la Fondation Frantz Fanon in 1998 for ''La Mangrove mulâtre'', ''Martinique, comportements et mentalité''* Nicole Cage-Florentiny : novelist who won the prix Casa de las Américas 1996 (Cuba) for ''Arc-en-Ciel, l'espoir'', also writing ''C'est vole que je vole'' and a bilingual collection of poems, ''Dèyè pawol sé lanmou / Par-delà les mots l'amour''* Mayotte Capécia : novelist born in Le Carbet in 1916, the author of two major novels \"''I Am a Martinican Woman''\" and \"''The White Negress''\".", "She won the France-Antilles prize for \"''Je suis martiniquaise''\" in 1949* Marie-Magdeleine Carbet : a novelist, whose best-known work is a volume of poetry titled \"''Rose de ta grâce''\".", "She received the Prix littéraire des Caraïbes in 1970* Paule Cassius de Linval, writer, storyteller and poet.", "In 1961, his collection of tales \"''Mon pays à travers les légendes''\" won the prix Montyon* Aimé Césaire : poet and playwright and father of the concept of négritude, ''Cahier d'un retour au pays natal'', ''Discourse on Colonialism, The Tragedy of King Christophe''* Suzanne Césaire : author of ''Léo Frobénius et le problème des civilisations'' and ''Aurore de la liberté''* Patrick Chamoiseau : novelist awarded the prix Goncourt in 1992 for ''Texaco'', ''Chronique des sept misères'', ''Une enfance créole'' * Nadia Chonville : Sociologist and novelist.", "She is the author of the fantasy novel \"''Rose de Wégastrie''\".", "* Raphaël Confiant : novelist awarded the prix Antigone and the prix Novembre for his work ''Eau de café, Adèle et la Pacotilleuse, La Panse du chacal''* Jean Crusol : economist and author of ''Les Antilles Guyane et la Caraïbe : coopération et globalisation'', ''Le tourisme et la Caraïbe'' and ''L'enjeu des petites Économies insulaires''* Camille Darsières : and author of : ''Des origines de la nation martiniquaise'', ''Joseph Lagrosillière, socialiste colonial''* Marie-Reine de Jaham, novelist, made officer of the ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2013, awarded the Prix littéraire des Caraïbes in 1997 and author of the best-selling novel \"La Grande Béké\"* Édouard de Lépine : historian and essayist, ''Sur la Question dite du Statut de la Martinique'', ''Questions sur l'histoire antillaise : trois essais sur l'abolition, l'assimilation, l'autonomie'', ''Dix semaines qui ébranlèrent la Martinique : ''* Tony Delsham : a journalist and best selling novelist in the Antilles; he is author of ''Xavier : Le drame d'un émigré antillais'', ''Papa, est-ce que je peux venir mourir à la maison?''", "and \"''Tribunal des femmes bafouées''\".", "* Georges Desportes : novelist, poet and essayist, the author of : ''Cette île qui est la nôtre'', ''Sous l'œil fixe du soleil'' and ''Le Patrimoine martiniquais, souvenirs et réflexions''.", "* Suzanne Dracius : novelist awarded the prix de la Société des Poètes français Jacques Raphaël-Leygues in 2010 : ''Negzagonal et Moun le Sid'', and in 2009 Prix Fetkann Maryse Condé in the poetry category for ''Exquise déréliction métisse''* Miguel Duplan, a writer and teacher, he won the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe in 2007 for his novel \"L'Acier\".", "He is also the author of the following novels \"Le Discours profane\" and \"Un long silence de Carnaval\".", "* Victor Duquesnay : Martinican poet.", "His best-known works are \"Les Martiniquaises\" and \"Les Chansons des Isles\".", "* Jude Duranty : writer in French and Martinican Creole.", "He is the author of \"Zouki ici danse\", de \"La fugue de Sopaltéba\" and \"Les contes de Layou\".", "* Frantz Fanon : essayist, author of ''Black Skin, White Masks'' and ''The Wretched of the Earth''* Georges Fitt-Duval : poet, author of the following collections of poems : \"Salut ma patrie\", \"Floralies-florilèges\" and \"Environnement, tropiques rayonnants\".", "* Édouard Glissant : novelist awarded the prix Renaudot in 1958.He is the author of ''La Lézarde'', ''La Case du commandeur''.", "In 1992, Edouard Glissant was a finalist for the Nobel prize in Literature, but it was the St. Lucian poet and playwright Derek Walcott who won by one vote.", "* Gilbert Gratiant : a pioneer of literature Martinican Creole, writing : ''Fab' Compè Zicaque'', ''Poèmes en vers faux'', ''Sel et Sargasses''.", "* Simonne Henry-Valmore : ethno-psychoanalyst and essayist.", "She won the prix Frantz Fanon in 1988 for \"''Dieu en exil''\".", "She co-wrote \"''Aimé Césaire, le nègre inconsolé''\" with Roger Toumson in 1992, then \"''objet perdu''\" in 2013.", "* Fabienne Kanor, novelist, awarded the Prix RFO du livre in 2007 for her novel \"Humus\".", "In 2014, she won the Prix Carbet De la Caraïbe for her novel \"Faire l'aventure\".", "* Viktor Lazlo : novelist, singer and actor* Étienne Léro : co-author of the literary journal ''Légitime défense'' and the journal ''Tropiques''* Yva Léro : novelist, Yva Léro authored \"''La Plaie''\", \"''Peau d'ébène''\" and \"''Doucherie''\".", "* Georges-Henri Léotin : novelist in French and Martinician Creole.", "He is the author of \"''Memwè la tè\"'', \"''Mango vèt''\", and \"''Bèlè li sid''\".", "* Marie-Hélène Léotin, historian and executive advisor to the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique in charge of Heritage and Culture, she is the author of \"''Habiter le monde, Martinique 1946-2006''\" ;* Térèz Léotin : writer in French and Martinican Creole.", "She is the author of the novels \"''Le génie de la mer''\", \"''La panthère''\" et \"''Un bonheur à crédit''\".", "* André Lucrèce : sociologist and writer author of ''La pluie de Dieu'', ''Civilisés et énergumènes'', and ''Société et modernité''* J. Q. Louison : poet and author of the fantasy novel series ''Le Crocodile assassiné'', ''Le Canari brisé'' and ''L'Ère du serpent''.", "* Marie-Thérèse Julien Lung-Fou : Martinican writer best known for her collections of \"créole tales\" published in three volumes in 1979: \"''Contes mes''\", \"''Contes diaboliques, fabliaux''\" and \"''Contes animaux, proverbes, titimes ou devinettes''\".", "She also wrote the essay entitled \"''Le Carnaval aux Antilles''\".", "* Marcel Manville : essayist, and winner of the Frantz Fanon Prize in 1992 for his essay ''Les Antilles sans fard''.", "* René Maran : novelist awarded the prix Goncourt in 1921 ''for Batouala'', ''Un homme pareil aux autres''* Georges Mauvois : novelist, playwright he won the Casa de las Américas Prize 2004 for ''Ovando ou Le magicien de Saint-Domingue'', ''Agénor Cacoul'', ''Man Chomil''.", "* Alfred Melon-Degras, writer, poet and academic.", "He is the author of\"''Le silence''\", \"''Battre le rappel''\" and \"''Avec des si, avec des mains''\".", "* René Ménil, philosopher and essayist.", "In 1999, he received the Frantz Fanon Prize for his essay \"''Antilles déjà jadis''\".He was also co-founder in 1932 of the journal ''Légitime Défense'' and with Aimé Césaire of the cultural review ''Tropiques'' in 1941.He is the author of \"''Tracées : Identité, négritude, esthétique aux Antilles''\" and \"''Pour l'émancipation et l'identité du peuple martiniquais''\".", "René Ménil, and with Césaire, Fanon and Glissant is one of Martinique's greatest thinkers.", "* Monchoachi : the pen name of André Pierre-Louis, a writer in French and Martinician Creole, he won the Carbet Prize and the prix Max-Jacob in 2003.His works include ''L'Espère-geste'', ''Lakouzémi'', ''Nostrom'' and ''Lémistè'' * Paulette Nardal : co-founder of the journal, ''La Revue du Monde Noir'' in 1932 and one of the inspirations of the négritude movement * Jeanne Nardal : Writer, philosopher and essayist, sister of Paulette Nardal* Armand Nicolas : Martinican historian.", "He is the author of \"''Histoire de la Martinique''\", \"''La révolution antiesclavagiste de mai 1848 à La Martinique''\", and \"L'Insurrection du Sud à la Martinique, septembre 1870\".", "* Gaël Octavia, writer, playwright* Xavier Orville : novelist, who won the Frantz Fanon prize in 1993.He wrote ''Le Corps absent de Prosper Ventura'', ''Le Parfum des belles de nuit''.", "* Gilbert Pago : historian and author of \"''1848 : Chronique de l'abolition de l'esclavage en Martinique''\", \"L'insurrection de Martinique 1870-1871\", and \"Lumina Sophie dite Surprise (1848-1879) : insurgée et bagnarde\".", "* Roger Parsemain : Poet and novelist.", "He is the author of \"''L'œuvre des volcans''\", \"''l'absence du destin''\" and \"''Il chantait des boléros''\".", "* Eric Pézo, Writer and novelist in French and Martinican Creole, author of the novels : \"''L'amour sinon rien''\"; in Martinician Creole, \"''lanmou épi sé tout''\", \"''Marie-Noire''\", and \"''Passeurs de rives''\" and \"''Lasotjè''\", a work of poetry.", "* Daniel Picouly : writer, tv host and winner of the Prix Renaudot for ''L'Enfant Léopard''* Vincent Placoly : winner of the prix Frantz Fanon in 1991.Author of ''Une journée torride'', ''La vie et la mort de Marcel Gonstran'', ''L'eau-de-mort guildive''* Alain Rapon, novelist and storyteller.", "He is the author of the novel \"''La Présence de l'Absent''\" and received the Prix littéraire des Caraïbes in 1983.He is also the author of \"''Ti soleil''\", \"''Ti-Fène et la rivière qui chante''\", \"''Itinéraire d'un Esprit perdu''\" and \"''Danse, petit nègre danse''\".", "* Clément Richer : Martinican novelist and author of \"''L'homme de la Caravelle''\".", "In 1941 and 1948 he was awarded the Prix Paul Flat by the Académie française for his novel \"''Le dernier voyage de Pembroke''\" and \"''La croisière de la Priscilla''\" and the Prix Marianne in 1939.His novel \"''Ti Coyo et son requin''\" has been translated into English, German, Spanish, Danish and Dutch and adapted for film by Italo Calvino as Tiko and the Shark.", "* Jean-Marc Rosier : writer in French and Martinican Creole.", "He won the prix Sonny Rupaire for his novel in Creole, \"''An lavi chimérik''\" in 1999, then the prix Carbet de la Caraïbe for his novel \"''Noirs néons''\" in 2008 and in the poetry category of the prix Fetkann Maryse Condé for \"''Urbanîle''\" in 2015.", "* Julienne Salvat : writer, poet, she is the author of ''Feuillesonge'', ''La lettre d'Avignon''* Juliette Sméralda : sociologist, author of ''L'Indo-Antillais entre Noirs et Békés'', ''Peau noire cheveu crépu, l'histoire d'une aliénation''* Daniel Thaly : Martinican poet, and librarian of the Schœlcher Library from 1939 to 1945.", "* Raphaël Tardon : writer, author of \"''La Caldeira''\" and \"''Starkenfirst''\", which received the grand prix littéraire des Antilles in 1948.In 1967, Raphaël Tardon was posthumously awarded the Prix littéraire des Caraïbes in recognition of his life's work.", "* Louis-Georges Tin : essayist and academic, the author of ''Esclavage et réparations : Comment faire face aux crimes de l'histoire'' and author of a dictionary that documents the history of the treatment of homosexuals in all regions of the world.", "* Simone Yoyotte : She was the only woman to participate in producing the literary journal ''Légitime Défense'' published in 1932 by young Martinican intellectuals in Paris and considered one of the founding acts of the Négritude movement.", "* Joseph Zobel : A novelist, and winner of the Frantz Fanon Prize in 1994.He is the author of : ''La Rue Cases-Nègres''=== Other personalities ===* Antoine Lavalette (1708-1767), Jesuit missionary to Martinique, slave owner whose debts led to the banning of the Jesuits in France.", "* Hippolyte Morestin, doctor, associate professor of anatomy and specialist in reconstructive surgery* Raymond Garcin, neurologist, former member of Académie Nationale de Médecine* Georges Le Breton, Doctor of Dental Surgery, former President of the Académie Nationale de Chirurgie dentaire* Robert Attuly, Doctor of Law, Judge and former trial judge at the Court of Cassation* Harry Roselmack, journalist* Karine Baste, journalist* Manon Tardon, fought with the French Resistance in the Second World War* Jane Léro, communist and feminist activist and founder of the Union des Femmes de la Martinique (l'UFM; Union of Women of Martinique* Soa de Muse, drag performer, finalist in first ever season of Drag Race France" ], [ "Energy", "Martinique is part of the zones not interconnected to the continental metropolitan network (ZNI), which must therefore produce the electricity they consume themselves.", "For this reason, the ZNI have specific legislation on electricity production and distribution.Martinique's energy mix is marked by a very strong importance of thermal energy production.", "At the same time, the island's electricity consumption has decreased slightly.", "These results can be attributed to the information and awareness-raising efforts of the regions, the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) and energy companies in favor of energy savings, but also to the context of demographic decline of the territory.Despite these results, the control of the Territory's electricity consumption remains a central issue, given the Territory's low energy potential compared to other overseas territories, such as Guadeloupe and Reunion.Martinique and its inhabitants are therefore faced with a twofold need: to further strengthen the control of electricity consumption and at the same time develop renewable energies to reduce environmental pollution due to thermal electricity production.Saut-Gendarme waterfall=== Renewable energies ===The exploitation of renewable energies in Martinique started late, as the characteristics of the island were previously considered unfavorable for their development.", "However, the efforts of the population and energy suppliers are moving towards a higher proportion of renewable energies in Martinique's future energy mix.Article 56 of the Grenelle I Law No.", "2009-967 3 August 2009, on the implementation of the Grenelle Environment Forum, sets out the provisions for overseas: in the case of Martinique, the energy objective is to reach 50% renewable energy in final consumption by 2020.Energy autonomy is planned for 2030.As Martinique's electricity distribution grid is not interconnected with neighboring islands, let alone with the mainland's metropolitan grid, the decree of 23 April 2008, applies to the management of so-called intermittent energies: wind, photovoltaic and marine: any solar and wind power production facility with a capacity exceeding 3 kWp and not equipped with a storage system is liable to be disconnected from the grid by the grid manager once the threshold of 30% of random active power injected into the grid has been reached.Thus, the achievement of the objectives of the Grenelle I law is subject to the development of Structures with a maximum power of 3 kWp or less, or to the incorporation of storage devices in production facilities.=== Water ===90% of the water distributed by Martinique's drinking water network comes from Rainwater intakes in five catchment areas.", "Thus, although there is no shortage of water, the situation becomes very critical in the Lenten period, with abstractions leading to the drying up of several rivers.Water resources are abundant but unevenly distributed: Four municipalities (Saint-Joseph, Gros-Morne, le Lorrain and Fort-de-France) provide 85% of Martinique's drinking water.There is no water catchment in the south of the island.", "The water consumed in the South comes exclusively from abstractions from the North and the center (mainly from the Blanche River which flows into the Lézarde, the Capot, and the Dumauzé).", "Thus, 60% of the total is extracted from a single river (the Lézarde and its tributary, the Blanche river).", "This concentration of abstractions can constitute a risk in a crisis situation, such as a drought for example." ], [ "Health", "A patient is transferred between aircraft and ambulance at Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport.=== Regional health agency ===A regional health agency for Martinique (Agence régionale de santé Martinique) was set up in 2010.It is responsible for applying French health policy in the territory, managing public health and health care regulations.=== Healthcare professionals ===As of 1 January 2018, Martinique had a workforce of 1,091 doctors.", "For each 100,000 people of its population, there was a density of 141 general practitioners, 150 specialists, 53 dentists, 1,156 state certified nurses and 90 pharmacists.", "Self-employed doctors are represented by URML Martinique, created under the Hospital, patients, health, territories bill.", "URML Martinique works in partnership with ARS Martinique, l'Assurance Maladie, the Ministry of Health and Local Authorities to manage regional health policy.=== Health facilities ===The University Hospital of Martinique (Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Martinique) is a teaching hospital based in Fort-de-France, in an agreement with the University of the French Antilles.", "It is the largest French- and English-speaking university hospital in the Caribbean, having more than 1600 beds.", "These include 680 medical, 273 surgical and 100 obstetrics beds, with another 30 in its intensive care unit.", "The hospital operates a 24-hour emergency service.=== Chlordecone controversy ======= Actions of the French government ====After the discovery of the toxicity of chlordecone, a dangerous insecticide, and the health risks it posed, the French state put in place certain measures to protect the Martinican and Guadeloupean populations, allocating nearly 100 million euros towards the implementation of these measures.", "The soils are regularly tested and subjected to strict regulations related to the standards of potability.", "Martinique is also subject to regular mapping processes to delineate highly contaminated areas.", "River fishing is also prohibited in order to limit health risks, as rivers represent high-risk contamination areas.Since 2008, the French state has developed three action plans establishing strategies to protect local populations, raise awareness regarding the effects of chlordecone, as well as to support the agriculture and fisheries sectors.A French parliamentary commission revealed in 2019 that more than 90% of Martinicans have been exposed to chlordecone, which was authorized for use between 1972 and 1993 in the banana plantations of the Antilles.", "The committee judged the three \"Chlordecone Plans\" launched by the State since 2008 to be inadequate; recommendations were provided via its rapporteur, Justine Benin MP, to address prevention and research into cleanup methods for a fourth plan, scheduled for 2020.The parliamentary commission of inquiry called the French state into question for having authorized the sale of chlordecone as an insecticide, as its toxicity was known, but \"responsibilities are shared with economic actors.", "Firstly, industrialists, but also groups of planters and certain elected officials.", "\"==== Health consequences ====Chlordecone is known to have harmful effects on human health, with scientific research identifying it as an endocrine disruptor or hormonally-active chemical agent, as well as a probable carcinogen, particularly in relation to increasing chances of prostate cancer occurrence and recurrence.", "As an endocrine disruptor, chlordecone can also lead to delayed cognitive development in infants, an increased likelihood of pregnancy complications, and may disrupt the reproductive process.The chlordecone molecule has physical and chemical characteristics that allow it to remain for several centuries in soil, river-water and groundwater, thus spreading beyond the location of the banana plantations where this insecticide was initially administered.", "Although chlordecone has not been used since the 1990s, the health risks remain.", "Chlordecone contamination occurs through contaminated food and drink.==== Local community response ====In the streets of Fort-de-France, approximately 5,000 to 15,000 residents of Martinique demonstrated in protest on 27 March 2021, denouncing the possible statute of limitations on a complaint filed by civil parties for the use of chlordecone in causing life endangerment (''mise en danger de la vie d'autrui).''", "The complaint was issued on 23 February 2006.The French government's actions in response to the historical authorization of chlordecone are often criticized by residents of Martinique and local associations involved in the \"Chlordecone Scandal.\"", "The lack of information transmitted to the population concerning the danger of chlordecone between 1993 and 2004 is one of the main concerns expressed.The civil complaint in 2006 was issued by several associations from the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and was in response to the long-term impacts of government-authorized chlordecone use in polluting the islands' natural environments and affecting the health of inhabitants.=== COVID-19 pandemic ===Martinique's first cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed in March 2020.The pandemic has since put provision of health services under significant stress; as of 2 September 2021, Martinique had recorded an excess mortality at all ages, and of all causes since the week beginning 26 July 2021." ], [ "In popular culture", "* In 1887, the artist Paul Gauguin lived in Martinique.", "Gauguin painted the tropical landscape and the native women.", "The Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre (former Gauguin Museum) is dedicated to his stay on the island.", "* Aimé Césaire's seminal poem ''Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to the Native Land)'' envisions the poet's imagined journey back to his homeland Martinique to find it in a state of colossal poverty and psychological inferiority due to the French colonial presence.", "* Lafcadio Hearn in 1890 published a travel book titled ''Two Years in the French West Indies'', in which Martinique Martinique Sketches is its main topic; his descriptions of the island, people and history are lively observations of life before the Mont Pelée eruption in 1902 that would change the island forever.", "The Library of America republished his works in 2009 entitled ''Hearn: American Writings''." ], [ "See also", "* 2009 French Caribbean general strikes* Bibliography of Martinique* Index of Martinique-related articles* Le Tour de Yoles Rondes de Martinique* List of colonial and departmental heads of Martinique* Regional Council of Martinique" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Forster, Elborg, Robert Forster, and Pierre Dessailes – ''Sugar and Slavery, Family and Race: The Letters and Diaries of Pierre Dessailes, Planter in Martinique, 1808–1856.", "''* Gerstin, Julian and Dominique Cyrille – ''Martinique: Cane Fields and City Streets.", "''* Haigh, Sam – ''An Introduction to Caribbean Francophone Writing: Guadeloupe and Martinique.", "''* Heilprin, Angelo – ''Mont Pelee and the Tragedy of Martinique.", "''* Heilprin, Angelo – ''The Tower of Pelee.", "New Studies of the Great Volcano of Martinique.", "''* Kimber, Clarissa Therese – ''Martinique Revisited: The Changing Plant Geographies of a West Indian Island.", "''* Lamont, Rosette C. and Richard Miller – ''New French Language Plays: Martinique, Quebec, Ivory Coast, Belgium.", "''* Laguerre, Michel S. – ''Urban Poverty in the Caribbean: French Martinique as a Social Laboratory.", "''* Murray, David A.", "B.", "– ''Opacity: Gender, Sexuality, Race and the 'Problem' of Identity in Martinique.", "''* Slater, Mariam K. – ''The Caribbean Family: Legitimacy in Martinique.", "''* Tomich, Dale W. – ''Slavery in the Circuit of Sugar: Martinique and the World Economy, 1830–1848.", "''* Watts, David – ''The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture, and Environmental Change Since 1492.''" ], [ "External links", "; Government* Prefecture website * Collectivité Territoriale de Martinique website ; General information* ; Travel* Martinique Tourism Authority – Official site* Zananas Martinique – Informations site" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Martinique" ], [ "Introduction", "This is a list of the '''demographics of Martinique''', a Caribbean island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France." ], [ "Population", "According to INSEE Martinique has an estimated population of 390,371 on January 1, 2012.Life expectancy at birth is 78.9 years for males and 84.8 for females (figures for 2011)." ], [ "Ethnic groups", "African Martinicans and African-white-Indian mixture 80%; Indo-Martiniquais 10%; White Martinicans 5%; Lebanese, Jewish, Syrian, and Chinese Martinicans comprise less than 5% of the population.", "Note that French government forbids ethnic censuses.", "Those numbers are not official and may be inaccurate." ], [ "Languages", "French is the official language and is understood by the majority of the population.", "Martinican Creole, a form of Antillean Creole, is also spoken by most of the population." ], [ "Religion", "Martinique's population is predominantly Christian, with 96.5% of Martinicans identifying as such.", "A much smaller number of Martinicans identify as unaffiliated with any religion, accounting for 2.3% of the population.", "Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam all have a presence on the island, each accounting for less than 1% of the population.", "Muslims account for 0.5% or 1751 person, out of population of 350,373." ], [ "Vital statistics", "YearPopulation (x1000) (01.01)Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate 1950 2228 4202 9875 43337.313.723.7 1951 2248 7503 3565 39438.814.224.6 1952 2288 7123 1935 51938.314.324.0 1953 2339 4092 4556 95439.611.627.9 1954 2399 5582 4997 05939.411.028.5 1955 2469 7702 6607 11039.811.228.6 1956 25310 1462 5297 61739.810.029.8 1957 26010 5022 5337 96939.110.628.5 1958 26710 2952 7547 54138.49.928.4 1959 27410 4352 3478 08837.58.728.8 1960 28210 6612 6787 98338.49.728.7 1961 28810 5732 2898 28436.58.228.3 1962 29510 6632 5468 11737.38.528.8 1963 30110 2172 5147 70335.48.327.1 1964 30610 3372 5237 81434.48.126.4 1965 31110 7472 3898 35834.88.126.8 1966 31510 0942 4357 65933.77.925.7 1967 3199 8772 3777 50031.77.923.8 1968 3219 8482 2907 55831.97.624.3 1969 3238 8932 4936 40029.07.721.3 1970 3259 2752 5596 71628.97.821.1 1971 3269 2142 2306 98429.77.022.6 1972 3278 6572 2806 37728.47.321.2 1973 3287 6832 3825 30126.37.418.9 1974 3287 3172 4274 89024.67.417.2 1975 3286 7412 3004 44122.97.115.8 1976 3275 8732 3443 52919.57.212.3 1977 3265 4092 1733 23617.96.811.1 1978 3255 0652 1882 87716.46.79.7 1979 3255 4392 1203 31917.26.510.7 1980 3255 3632 1643 19918.16.611.5 1981 3275 4062 0413 36518.26.411.8 1982 3295 3762 1133 26318.26.411.8 1983 3335 6412 2073 43418.56.611.9 1984 3365 7122 0723 64018.36.411.9 1985 3405 7112 1323 57918.26.511.7 1986 3445 9692 1123 85717.76.211.5 1987 3486 3282 1494 17918.66.212.4 1988 3526 3862 0924 29418.76.012.7 1989 3556 5652 1624 40319.36.113.2 1990 358.4066 4372 2284 20918.06.211.7 1991 359.7746 3162 1814 13517.56.011.5 1992 361.4206 3152 1824 13317.46.011.4 1993 363.3445 9012 2263 67516.26.110.1 1994 365.5545 6982 2163 48215.56.09.5 1995 368.0455 6442 3383 30615.36.39.0 1996 370.8185 6692 2903 37915.36.29.1 1997 373.8735 7352 4033 33215.36.48.9 1998 377.2215 7932 5303 26315.36.78.61.90 1999 380.8635 7662 5513 21515.16.78.41.91 2000 383.5755 8902 6393 25115.36.98.52.00 2001 386.5425 7742 7343 04014.97.17.91.98 2002 389.3025 4462 6492 79714.06.87.21.89 2003 391.6765 4302 7272 70313.87.06.91.92 2004 393.8525 2552 6452 61013.36.76.61.91 2005 395.9825 0322 6102 42212.76.66.11.86 2006 397.7325 3702 6632 70713.56.76.82.04 2007 397.7305 3172 8302 48713.37.16.22.05 2008 397.6935 3332 7932 54013.47.06.42.10 2009 396.4045 1742 7712 40312.96.96.02.07 2010 394.1734 8882 8432 04512.47.25.22.02 2011 392.2914 4752 7411 73411.57.04.51.91 2012 388.3644 4582 8161 64211.57.34.21.99 2013 385.5514 1282 9021 22610.77.53.21.91 2014 383.9114 3673 3191 04811.48.72.72.08 2015 380.8773 9723 05791510.58.12.41.94 2016 376.4803 7823 28449810.08.71.31.90 2017 372.5943 6403 2174239.88.71.11.87 2018 368.7833 6703 29237810.09.01.01.90 2019 364.5083 7493 55919010.39.80.51.97 2020 360.2803 5293 586-579.810.0-0.21.86 2021 356.0293 6274 642-1 01510.213.1-2.91.93 2022 350.373 3 4934 188-6959.911.3-1.41.88 2023 === Structure of the population ===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 182 644 213 664 396 308 100 0-4 12 113 11 573 23 686 5.98 5-9 13 174 13 236 26 410 6.66 10-14 14 074 13 562 27 636 6.97 15-19 14 763 14 658 29 421 7.42 20-24 11 099 11 488 22 587 5.70 25-29 7 989 10 199 18 188 4.59 30-34 8 326 11 584 19 910 5.02 35-39 11 585 15 995 27 580 6.96 40-44 14 036 18 055 32 091 8.10 45-49 15 044 18 076 33 120 8.36 50-54 13 186 15 504 28 690 7.24 55-59 11 376 13 554 24 930 6.29 60-64 10 057 11 596 21 653 5.46 65-69 7 816 9 145 16 961 4.28 70-74 7 038 8 377 15 415 3.89 75-79 4 898 6 525 11 423 2.88 80-84 3 461 5 003 8 464 2.14 85-89 1 785 3 308 5 093 1.29 90-94 593 1 532 2 125 0.54 95+ 231 694 925 0.23Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 39 361 38 371 77 732 19.61 15-64 117 461 140 709 258 170 65.14 65+ 25 822 34 584 60 406 15.24Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 176 328 204 549 380 877 100 0–4 9 968 9 545 19 514 5.12 5–9 11 841 11 338 23 179 6.09 10–14 12 616 12 229 24 846 6.52 15–19 12 913 12 152 25 065 6.58 20–24 9 758 9 157 18 914 4.97 25–29 8 092 9 886 17 978 4.72 30–34 7 651 10 233 17 884 4.70 35–39 8 508 11 474 19 983 5.25 40–44 11 391 14 984 26 375 6.92 45–49 13 979 17 073 31 052 8.15 50–54 14 886 17 891 32 777 8.61 55–59 13 462 15 101 28 564 7.50 60–64 11 229 13 609 24 838 6.52 65-69 9 408 11 084 20 492 5.38 70-74 7 148 8 638 15 786 4.14 75-79 6 019 7 582 13 601 3.57 80-84 4 090 5 710 9 800 2.57 85-89 2 174 3 836 6 010 1.58 90-94 895 2 067 2 962 0.78 95-99 241 731 971 0.25 100+ 59 228 287 0.08Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 34 425 33 112 67 537 17.73 15–64 111 869 131 561 243 430 63.91 65+ 30 034 39 876 69 910 18.36Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 162 310 193 719 356 029 100 0–4 8 196 7 868 16 064 4.51 5–9 8 896 9 008 17 904 5.03 10–14 10 595 10 353 20 948 5.88 15–19 10 819 10 682 21 501 6.04 20–24 8 965 8 519 17 484 4.91 25–29 6 985 8 407 15 392 4.32 30–34 7 420 9 856 17 276 4.85 35–39 7 381 10 175 17 556 4.93 40–44 7 153 10 212 17 365 4.88 45–49 10 044 13 700 23 744 6.67 50–54 12 864 16 287 29 151 8.19 55–59 14 470 17 451 31 921 8.97 60–64 13 510 15 187 28 697 8.06 65-69 11 067 13 016 24 083 6.76 70-74 8 892 10 594 19 486 5.47 75-79 6 193 7 905 14 098 3.96 80-84 4 612 6 607 11 219 3.15 85-89 2 789 4 366 7 155 2.01 90-94 1 107 2 355 3 462 0.97 95-99 327 897 1 224 0.34 100-104 25 197 222 0.06 105-109 0 73 73 0.02 110+ 0 4 4 <0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 27 687 27 229 54 916 15.42 15–64 99 611 120 476 220 087 61.82 65+ 35 012 46 014 81 026 22.76" ], [ "See also", "* Demographics of France" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Martinique" ], [ "Introduction", "Martinique is an overseas Territorial collectivity of France, with the same political status as regions and departments in mainland France.", "The administrative centre of Martinique is located in Fort-de-France.During the referendum of 24 January 2010, the residents of Martinique approved by 68.4% the creation of a new and unique territorial collectivity which is governed by the section 73 of the French Constitution.", "The territorial collectivity of Martinique replaces and exercises all the related power and duties of the department's General Council and the Regional Council.", "''Gran Sanblé pou ba peyi an chans'', a coalition of the Martinican Independence Movement and right-wing parties, led by Alfred Marie-Jeanne defeated '''', a coalition of left-wing parties, led by Serge Letchimy, winning 33 seats out of 51 seats of the new Territorial Collectivity's assembly during the election held on December 13, 2015 in Martinique.On December 18, 2015 Alfred Marie-Jeanne was elected the first president of the Executive Council of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique." ], [ "Assembly of Martinique", "The Assembly of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique is composed of 51 members elected by proportional representation in two rounds with each list having an equal number of male and female candidates.", "The term of the Assembly is 6 years.", "The current president of the assembly is Claude Lise.", "Party seats•Gran Sanblé pou pa peyi an chans 33Ensemble pour une Martinique Nouvelle 18" ], [ "General Council of Martinique", "The General Council of Martinique was composed of 45 seats whose members were elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms.", "The last President of the General Council was Josette Manin.+'''Composition''' Party seats•Miscellaneous Left 21•Martinican Progressive Party 10Miscellaneous Right 4Union for a Popular Movement 3Other regionalists 3Martinican Independence Movement 2Socialist Party 2" ], [ "Regional Council of Martinique", "The Regional Council was composed of 41 seats whose members were elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms.", "The last President of the Regional Council was Serge Letchimy.+'''Composition''' Party seats•Martinican Independence Movement 28Martinican Progressive Party 9UDF (FMP) 4" ], [ "Parliamentary representation", ":''Notable representatives may be found in :Category:Martiniquais politicians''===French Senate, 2 seats===Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; indirect elections were last held in September 2004.The Martinican Progressive Party won 1 senator and one other left-wing candidate was elected.===French National Assembly, 4 seats===Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly, the last elections were held in June 2007.The Union for a Popular Movement elected 1 deputy (Alfred Almont), the Socialist Party elected 1 (Louis-Joseph Manscour), the nationalist Martinican Independence Movement elected 1 (Alfred Marie-Jeanne), and the Martinican Progressive Party also elected 1 (Serge Letchimy, mayor of Fort de France).+'''Current Deputies'''ConstituencyMemberParty 1st Louis-Joseph Manscour PS 2nd Alfred Almont UMP 3rd Serge Letchimy PPM 4th Alfred Marie-Jeanne MIM" ], [ "Judicial system", "In Martinique, the French system of justice is in force with there being two lower courts (''tribunaux d’instance''), one higher court (''tribunal de grande instance''), one administrative court, a commercial court, and a court of appeal at Fort-de-France.With regard to the legal profession, it is known that women have been practicing law since 1945 when Andrée Pierre-Rose Bocaly became an attorney.", "She would be followed by Marcelle Yang-ting, Marie-Thérèse Yoyo-Likao, and Marie-Alice André-Jaccoulet (1969) in sequence." ], [ "See also", "*List of presidents of the Regional Council of Martinique" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Martinique" ], [ "Introduction", "Fort-de-France, MartiniqueSugar cane and banana plantations - the main agricultural products of MartiniqueThe '''economy of Martinique''' is mostly based in the services sector.", "Agriculture accounts for about 6% of Martinique's GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%.", "Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum.", "Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France.", "The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France.", "Tourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange.", "The majority of the work force is employed in the service sector and in administration." ], [ "Gross domestic product", "'''GDP:'''real exchange rate - US$9.61 billion (in 2006)'''GDP - real growth rate:'''2.8% (in 2006)'''GDP - per capita:'''real exchange rate - US$24,118 (in 2006)'''GDP - composition by sector:'''''agriculture:''6%''industry:''11%''services:''83% (1997 est.)" ], [ "Demographics", "'''Population below poverty line:'''NA%'''Household income or consumption by percentage share:'''''lowest 10%:''NA%''highest 10%:''NA%'''Labor force:'''165 900 (1998)'''Labor force - by occupation:'''agriculture 7%, industry 20%, services 73% (1997)'''Unemployment rate:'''27.2% (1998)'''Budget:'''''revenues:''$900 million''expenditures:''$2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996)" ], [ "Industries", "'''Industries:'''construction, rum, cement, petroleum refining, sugar, tourism'''Industrial production growth rate:'''NA%" ], [ "Infrastructure", "'''Electricity - production:'''1,205 GWh (2003)'''Electricity - production by source:'''''fossil fuel:''100%''hydro:''0%''nuclear:''0%''other:''0% (1998)'''Electricity - consumption:'''1,000 GWh (1998)'''Electricity - exports:'''0 kWh (1998)'''Electricity - imports:'''0 kWh (1998)" ], [ "Agriculture", "'''Agricultural products:'''pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane'''Exports:'''US$957 million (in 2005)'''Exports - commodities:'''refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples'''Exports - partners:'''Mainland France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (1997)'''Imports:'''US$3,098 billion (in 2005)'''Imports - commodities:'''petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods'''Imports - partners:'''Mainland France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (1997)'''Debt - external:'''$180 million (1994)'''Economic aid - recipient:'''Martinique receives substantial annual aid from the French state." ], [ "Economics", "'''Currency'''1 euro (€) = 100 cents'''Exchange rates:'''euros per US$1 – 0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs (F) per US$1 – 5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996), 4.9915 (1995)'''Fiscal year:'''calendar year" ], [ "See also", "* Economy of France in: French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna* Taxation in France* Economic history of France* Poverty in France" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*Wong, A. and R. Gomes (2012).", "\"Intractable social-economic problems of Martinique\".", "Revue Etudes Carbiéennes, n°21, https://etudescaribeennes.revues.org/5795." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Martinique" ], [ "Introduction", "Martinique is a small Caribbean island that is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France.", "An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea.", "It has a land area of and a population of 376,480 inhabitants as of January 2016.One of the Windward Islands, it is directly north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica.", "Martinique is also an Outermost Region (OMR) of the European Union and a special territory of the European Union; the currency in use is the euro.", "Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and Martinican Creole.Given its geography, the balance of its transport network is unusual: there are three airports, only 2.5 km of heritage railway, and 2,105 km of paved highways (in 2000).", "Sea transport is also important, and there are two harbours at Fort-de-France and La Trinité." ], [ "Road transport", "As of 2000, Martinique had 2,105 km of paved highways.There is a part of the N5 road that has been upgraded to a '''motorway''', running from the capital Fort-de-France through Lamentin, Ducos and Rivière Salée until Les Coteaux." ], [ "Rail transport", "Le Train des PlantationsMartininique has now(2018) only one railway line in operation: The little-known 2.5 km long Le Train des Plantations is a heritage railway that runs from the Rhum Museum in Sainte-Marie through some sugarcane and banana plantations over two Bailey bridges to the Banana Museum.In former times several narrow gauge sugarcane railways existed.", "Saint-Pierre had horse-drawn trams, which had an unusually narrow gauge.", "At least two steam locomotives are preserved in an optically refurbished condition, but not operational." ], [ "Air transport", "It has three airports, the main one being Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport.", "See List of Airports in Martinique." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "The original inhabitants of Mauritania were the Bafour, presumably a Mande ethnic group, connected to the contemporary Arabized minor social group of ''Imraguen'' (\"fishermen\") on the Atlantic coast.The territory of Mauritania was on the fringe of geographical knowledge of Libya in classical antiquity.", "Berber immigration took place from about the 3rd century.", "Mauritania takes its name from the ancient Berber kingdom and later Roman province of Mauretania, and thus ultimately from the Mauri people, even though the respective territories do not overlap, historical Mauritania being considerably further north than modern Mauritania.The Umayyads were the first Arab Muslims to enter Mauritania.", "During the Islamic conquests, they made incursions into Mauritania and were present in the region by the end of the 7th century.", "Many Berber tribes in Mauritania fled the arrival of the Arabs to the Gao region in Mali.The European colonial powers of the 19th century had little interest in Mauritania.", "The French Republic was mostly interested in the territory for strategic reason, as a connection between their possessions in North and in West Africa.", "Mauritania thus became part of French West Africa in 1904, but colonial control was mostly limited to the coast and the Saharan trade routes, and there were territories nominally within French West Africa which were not reached by European control as late as 1955.In 1960, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania became Independent of France.", "The conflict over the former Spanish territory of Western Sahara in 1976 resulted in partial annexation by Mauritania, withdrawn in favour of Morocco in 1979.The long-serving President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was ousted by the military of Mauritania and replaced by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy in a coup d'état in 2005.A new constitution was passed in 2006.An indecisive election in 2007 triggered another coup in 2008.A leader of the 2005 coup, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was elected president in 2009.After his ten-year presidency, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani's victory in the 2019 Mauritanian presidential election was presented as having been the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence." ], [ "Early history", "The Sahara has linked rather than divided the peoples who inhabit it and has served as an avenue for migration and conquest.", "Mauritania, lying next to the Atlantic coast at the western edge of the desert, received and assimilated into its complex society many waves of these migrants and conquerors.What is now Mauritania was a dry savanna area during classical antiquity, where independent tribes like the Pharusii and the Perorsi (and the Nigritae near the Niger river) lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle facing growing desertification.The Romans explored toward this area and probably reached, with Suetonius Paulinus, the area of Adrar.", "There is evidence (coins, fibulas) of Roman commerce in Akjoujt and Tamkartkart near Tichit.Berbers moved south to Mauritania beginning in the 3rd century, followed by Arabs in the late 7th century, subjugating and assimilating Mauritania's original inhabitants.", "From the 8th through the 15th century, black kingdoms of the western Sudan, such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, brought their political culture from the south.The divisive tendencies of the various groups within Mauritanian society have always worked against the development of Mauritanian unity.", "Both the Sanhadja Confederation, at its height from the 8th to the 10th century, and the Almoravid Empire, from the 11th to the 12th century, were weakened by internecine warfare, and both succumbed to further invasions from the Ghana Empire and the Almohad Empire, respectively." ], [ "Islamization", "The Umayyads were the first Arab Muslims to enter Mauritania.", "During the Islamic conquests, they made incursions into Mauritania and were present in the region by the end of the 7th century.", "Many Berber tribes in Mauritania fled the arrival of the Arabs to the Gao region in Mali.", "By the 11th century, Islamization had reached the region around the Senegal River.In the 11th century, several nomadic Berber confederations in the desert regions overlapping present-day Mauritania joined together to form the Almoravid movement.", "They expanded north and south, spawning an important empire that stretched from the Sahara to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe.", "However, the legacy of the southern Almoravids in the Sahara is less well-documented and understood than their subsequent operations in the north.", "Arabic sources record that Abu Bakr, one of the early leaders of the Almoravids, made Azuggi his base after he left Marrakesh and the northern Almoravids under the control of Yusuf Ibn Tashfin.", "According to Arabic sources, he also led the Almoravids further south to conquer the ancient and extensive Ghana Empire around 1076, but this narrative has been disputed and debated by modern historians.The decline of the Almoravids after this is not documented.", "From the 13th century onward, the Banu Ma'qil, an Arab tribal confederation of Yemeni origin, migrated into the Maghreb and into what is now Morocco.", "Some of them progressively moved south into the Sahara, identifying themselves as the Beni Ḥassān or Awlad Hassan.", "From 1644 to 1674, the indigenous peoples of the area that is modern Mauritania made what became their final effort to repel the Ma'qil Arabs who were invading their territory.", "This effort, which was unsuccessful, is known as the Char Bouba War.", "The invaders were led by the Beni Ḥassān tribe.", "The descendants of the Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of society.", "Hassaniya, a bedouin Arabic dialect named for the Beni Hassan, became the dominant language among the largely nomadic population.From the 15th to the 19th century, European contact with Mauritania was dominated by the trade for gum arabic.", "Rivalries among European powers enabled the Arab-Berber population to maintain their independence and later to exact annual payments from France, whose sovereignty over the Senegal River and the Mauritanian coast was recognized by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.Although penetration beyond the coast and the Senegal River began in earnest under Louis Faidherbe, governor of Senegal in the mid-19th century, European conquest or \"pacification\" of the entire country did not begin until 1900.Because extensive European contact began so late in the country's history, the traditional social structure carried over into modern times with little change." ], [ "French colonization", "French West Africa, circa 1913.The history of French colonial policy in Mauritania is closely tied to that of the other French possessions in West Africa, particularly to that of Senegal, on which Mauritania was economically, politically, and administratively dependent until independence.", "The French policy of assimilation and direct rule, however, was never applied with any vigor in Mauritania, where a system that corresponded more to indirectly ruling the colony developed.", "Colonial administrators relied extensively on Islamic religious leaders and the traditional warrior groups to maintain their rule and carry out their policies.", "Moreover, little attempt was made to develop the country's economy.", "After World War II, Mauritania, along with the rest of French West Africa, was involved in a series of reforms of the French colonial system, culminating in independence in November 1960.These reforms were part of a trend away from the official policies of assimilation and direct rule in favor of administrative decentralization and internal autonomy.", "Although the nationalistic fervor sweeping French West Africa at this time was largely absent in Mauritania, continuous politicking (averaging one election every eighteen months between 1946 and 1958) provided training for political leaders and awakened a political consciousness among the populace.", "On 28 July 1960 France agreed to Mauritania becoming fully independent.", "Nevertheless, when Mauritania declared its independence on 28 November 1960, its level of political as well as economic development was, at best, embryonic." ], [ "Independence, Ould Daddah era, and the Saharan War", "As the country gained Independence on November 28, 1960, the capital city, Nouakchott, was founded at the site of a small village founded during the colonial period, the Ksar, while 90% of the population was still nomadic.", "With independence, larger numbers of ethnic Sub-Saharan Africans (Haalpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof) entered Mauritania, moving into the area north of the Senegal River.", "As before independence, the sedentary lifestyle of these groups made them more receptive to and useful in state formation, and they quickly came to dominate state administration, even if the Moorish groups built up by the French remained in charge of the political process.", "Moors reacted to this change by increasing pressures for Arabization, to Arabicize many aspects of Mauritanian life, such as law and language, and ethnic tension built up – helped by a common memory of warfare and slave raids.President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally assisted to the post by the French, rapidly reformed Mauritania into an authoritarian one-party state in 1964, with his new Mauritanian constitution.", "Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization.", "The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style multi-party democracy.", "Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 and 1976.To take advantage of the country's sizable iron ore deposits in Zouérat, the new Government built a 675-km railway and a mining port.", "Production began in 1963.The mines were operated by a foreign owned consortium that paid its approximately 3,000 expatriate workers handsomely – their salaries accounted for two-thirds of the country's entire wages bill.", "When the Mauritanian miners went on a two-month strike in the late 1960s the army intervened and eight miners were killed.", "Left-wing opposition to the government mounted and some miners formed a clandestine Marxist union in 1973.President Ould Daddah survived the challenge from left-wing opponents by nationalizing the company in 1974 and withdrawing from the franc zone, substituting the ouguiya for the CFA.", "In 1975, partly for nationalist reasons and partly for fear of Moroccan expansionism, Mauritania invaded and annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1975, renaming it Tiris al-Gharbiyya.", "However, after nearly three years of raids by the Sahrawi guerrillas of the Polisario Front, Mauritania's economic and political stability began to crumble.", "Despite French and Moroccan military aid, Polisario raids against the Zouerate railway and mines threatened to bring about economic collapse, and there were deep misgivings in the military about the Saharan adventure.", "Ethnic unrest contributed to the disarray.", "Black Africans from the south were conscripted as front-line soldiers, after the northern Sahrawi minorities and their Moorish kin had proven unreliable in the fight against Polisario, but many of the southerners rebelled against having to fight what they considered an inter-Arab war.", "After the government quarters in Nouakchott had twice been shelled by Polisario forces, unrest simmered, but Daddah's only response was to further tighten his hold on power.On July 10, 1978, Col. Mustafa Ould Salek led a bloodless coup d'état that ousted the President, who would later go into exile in France.", "Power passed to the military strongmen of the Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN).", "Polisario immediately declared a cease-fire, and peace negotiations began under the sponsorship of Polisario's main backer, Algeria.", "With the CMRN's leader reluctant to break with France and Mauritania, the country refused to give in to Polisario demands for a troop retreat, and Ould Salek's careless handling of the ethnic issue (massively discriminating against Black Africans in nominating for government posts ) contributed to further unrest.", "In early 1979, he was pushed aside by another group of officers, who renamed the junta the Military Committee for National Salvation (CMSN).", "Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla soon emerged as its main strongman." ], [ "1978 to 1984", "In 1979, Polisario broke off the cease-fire and unleashed a string of new attacks on military and government targets.", "Mauritania, under its new government, immediately returned to the table to meet Polisario's goals, declaring full peace, a complete troop retreat, relinquishing their portion of Western Sahara and recognizing the Front as the Sahrawi people's sole representative.", "Morocco, occupying the northern half of Western Sahara and also involved in combat against Polisario, reacted with outrage, and launched a failed 1981 coup against the CMSN.", "Mauritania broke off relations with Rabat in protest, although ties were later restored.", "In interior policy, Ould Haidallah sought to improve relations between White Moors and Black Moors, among other things officially decreeing the ban of slavery for the first time in the country's history, but he neither tried nor achieved a radical break with the sectarian and discriminating policies of previous regimes.", "An attempt to reinstate civilian rule was abandoned after the above-mentioned Moroccan-sponsored coup attempt nearly brought down the regime; foreign-backed plots also involved Persian Gulf countries and Libya, and the country several times appeared to be under military threat from Morocco.", "With Ould Haidallah's ambitious political and social reform program undone by continuing instability, regime inefficiency and a plethora of coup attempts and intrigues from within the military establishment, the CMSN Chairman turned increasingly autocratic, excluding other ''junta'' officers from power, and provoking discontent by frequently reshuffling the power hierarchy to prevent threats to his position.On December 12, 1984, Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya deposed Haidallah and declared himself Chairman of the CMSN.", "Like other rulers before him, he promised a swift transfer to democracy, but then made little of these promises." ], [ "1984 to present", "The discord between conflicting visions of Mauritanian society as either black or Arab, again rose to the surface during the inter-communal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the \"1989 Events\"), when a Mauritania–Senegal border dispute escalated into violence between the two communities.", "Tens of thousands of black Mauritanians fled or were expelled from the country, and many remain in Senegal as refugees.", "This is also where the black Mauritanian movement FLAM is based.", "Although tension has since subsided, the Arab-African racial tension remains an important feature of the political dialog today.", "The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its black minority population and the dominant Mauri (Arab–Berber) populace.", "A significant number from both groups, however, seek a more diverse, pluralistic society.", "Opposition parties were legalized, and a new Constitution approved in 1991 which put an end to formal military rule.", "However, Ould Taya's election wins were dismissed as fraudulent by both opposition groups and some external observers.", "In 1998, Mauritania became the third Arab country to recognize Israel, despite strong internal opposition.", "In 2001, elections incorporated more safeguards against voter fraud, but opposition candidate (and former leader) Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah was nevertheless arrested prior to election day on charges of planning a coup, released the same day and rearrested after the election.", "Attempted military coups and unrest instigated by Islamist opponents of the regime marred the early years of the 21st century, and the Taya regime's heavy-handed crackdowns were criticized by human rights groups.", "On June 8, 2003, a failed coup attempt was made against President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya by forces unhappy with his imprisonment of Islamic leaders in the wake of the United States-led invasion of Iraq and his establishment of full diplomatic relations with Israel.", "The coup was suppressed after two days of heavy fighting in the capital when pro-Taya military forces arrived from the countryside.", "A number of Government officials were detained after the coup including the head of the Supreme Court, Mahfoud Ould Lemrabott, and the Secretary of State for Women's Affairs, Mintata Mint Hedeid.", "The coup leader, Saleh Ould Hanenna, a former Army major sacked for opposing Taya's pro-Israel policies, was not captured or killed during the coup, he initially escaped capture.", "(See this BBC article on theories behind the coup.)", "On August 3, 2005, the Mauritanian military, including members of the Presidential guard (BASEP), seized control of key points in the capital of Nouakchott, performing a coup against the Government of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya who was out of the country attending the funeral of Saudi King Fahd.", "The officers released the following statement: ''The national armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the defunct authority, which our people have suffered from during the past years.''", "(BBC)Taya was never able to return to the country and remains in exile.", "The new junta called itself the ''Military Council for Justice and Democracy'', and democracy and rule of law.", "Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall emerged as leader at an early stage.", "Dissidents were released, and the political climate relaxed.", "A new constitution was approved in June 2006.Elections were held in March 2007, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was elected president and Vall stood down.On August 6, 2008, Mauritania's presidential spokesman Abdoulaye Mamadouba said President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef and the Interior minister were arrested by renegade Senior Mauritanian army officers, unknown troops and a group of generals and were held under house arrest at the Presidential palace in Nouakchott.", "In the apparently successful and bloodless coup d'état, Abdallahi's daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi said: \"The security agents of the BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion) came to our home and took away my father.\"", "The coup plotters are top fired Mauritania's security forces, which include General Muhammad Ould 'Abd Al-'Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmed Ould Bakri.", "Mauritanian lawmaker, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, announced that \"many of the country's people were supporting the takeover attempt and the government is \"an authoritarian regime\" and that the president had \"marginalized the majority in parliament.\"", "In August 2019, former general Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was sworn in as Mauritania’s tenth president since its independence from France in 1960.His predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ruled the country for 10 years.", "The ruling party Union for the Republic (UPR) was founded by Aziz in 2009.In December 2023, former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was sentenced to 5 years in prison for corruption." ], [ "See also", "History of AfricaHistory of North AfricaHistory of West AfricaList of presidents of MauritaniaPolitics of Mauritania Nouakchott history and timeline" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Chafer, Tony.", "''The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization?''.", "Berg (2002).", "Newton, Alex, ''History of West Africa'' (1988)" ], [ "External links", "* Background Note: Mauritania - History from the US State Department." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Mauritania () include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects." ], [ "Population", "Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimatesAccording to , the total population was in , compared to only 657 000 in 1950.The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 39.9%, 57.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% was 65 years or older.Total population (x 1000)Population aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 1950 65743.854.81.4 1955 74443.654.71.6 1960 85444.353.81.8 1965 98445.252.82.0 19701 13445.852.12.2 19751 31245.851.92.3 19801 51845.651.92.4 19851 74845.352.22.5 19901 99644.952.52.6 19952 29244.053.42.7 20002 64342.754.62.7 20053 04741.256.12.7 20103 46039.957.42.7=== Structure of the population===Structure of the population (Census 24.II.2013):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 743 074 1 794 294 3 537 368 100 0-4 316 217 298 475 614 692 17.38 5-9 263 263 256 839 520 102 14.70 10-14 212 838 216 667 429 505 12.14 15-19 176 116 185 288 361 404 10.22 20-24 144 478 157 962 302 440 8.55 25-29 121 586 135 767 257 353 7.28 30-34 99 834 113 691 213 525 6.04 35-39 83 578 95 379 178 957 5.06 40-44 72 108 79 228 151 336 4.28 45-49 60 297 64 516 124 813 3.53 50-54 50 739 51 751 102 490 2.90 55-59 41 075 40 645 81 720 2.31 60-64 31 660 30 459 62 119 1.76 65-69 24 120 23 055 47 175 1.33 70-74 18 167 17 129 35 296 1.00 75-79 12 670 12 231 24 901 0.70 80-84 8 080 8 584 16 664 0.47 85+ 6 248 6 628 12 876 0.36Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 792 318 771 981 1 564 299 44.22 15-64 881 471 954 686 1 836 157 51.91 65+ 69 285 67 627 136 912 3.87Population by Age Group (Estimates 1.VII.2016) (Data refer to national projections.", "):Age GroupTotal% Total 3 782 701 100 0–4 579 832 15.33 5–9 567 643 15.01 10–14 478 293 12.64 15–19 396 650 10.49 20–24 333 473 8.82 25–29 280 531 7.42 30–34 236 864 6.26 35–39 196 168 5.19 40–44 164 707 4.35 45–49 137 439 3.63 50–54 111 936 2.96 55–59 90 008 2.38 60–64 68 836 1.82 65–69 50 266 1.33 70–74 36 188 0.96 75-79 24 540 0.65 80+ 29 328 0.78Age group TotalPercent 0–14 1 625 768 42.98 15–64 2 016 611 53.31 65+ 140 322 3.71" ], [ "Vital statistics", "Registration of vital events in Mauritania is incomplete.", "The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.Mid-year population (thousands)Live births (thousands)Deaths (thousands)Natural change (thousands)Crude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)Life expectancy (in years)1950 659 30 15 1545.223.022.26.12157.138.741951 673 31 15 1545.322.522.86.13155.039.291952 689 31 15 1645.222.123.16.13152.839.771953 705 32 15 1645.221.823.46.13150.740.211954 721 33 15 1745.321.423.96.16148.440.781955 739 34 16 1845.421.024.46.18146.141.411956 757 35 16 1945.620.724.96.21143.641.941957 776 36 16 2045.820.425.46.24141.142.501958 796 37 16 2146.020.026.06.28138.443.161959 816 38 16 2246.119.626.66.32135.743.881960 838 39 16 2346.319.027.36.35133.044.771961 862 40 16 2446.618.628.06.40130.145.441962 886 41 16 2546.618.328.36.43127.346.051963 911 43 16 2646.717.928.86.48124.546.691964 938 44 16 2846.817.429.46.53121.747.451965 966 45 16 2946.917.029.96.59118.948.061966 995 47 17 3047.016.630.36.64116.148.731967 1 025 48 17 3146.816.230.66.67113.349.371968 1 056 49 17 3246.515.830.76.68110.650.041969 1 089 50 17 3446.315.430.96.69108.450.631970 1 122 52 17 3546.015.130.86.69107.051.041971 1 156 53 17 3645.614.930.86.69106.251.391972 1 191 54 18 3745.514.730.76.70105.851.661973 1 227 56 18 3845.314.630.76.70105.451.901974 1 264 57 18 3945.114.430.76.70104.952.181975 1 302 59 18 4044.914.130.86.68104.052.651976 1 342 60 19 4144.713.930.86.67102.652.921977 1 381 62 19 4344.613.630.96.68100.753.371978 1 422 63 19 4444.313.331.06.6798.553.861979 1 464 64 19 4543.812.930.96.6596.254.471980 1 507 66 19 4743.812.631.26.6294.055.061981 1 552 68 19 4943.712.231.56.5891.855.661982 1 598 69 19 5043.311.831.56.5389.656.281983 1 646 71 19 5242.911.631.46.4887.256.681984 1 696 72 19 5342.511.231.26.4184.657.161985 1 746 73 19 5441.910.931.06.3481.857.581986 1 798 74 19 5541.410.630.76.2579.157.991987 1 851 76 19 5741.010.330.76.1676.558.581988 1 906 78 19 5940.710.030.76.1174.259.141989 1 955 80 19 6140.79.830.96.0872.659.321990 2 006 82 19 6240.69.631.06.0671.059.771991 2 066 84 20 6440.69.531.16.0470.159.941992 2 148 87 20 6740.69.431.36.0469.560.261993 2 237 93 21 7241.59.432.16.0469.160.381994 2 315 95 22 7340.99.431.65.9268.960.341995 2 380 97 22 7540.79.431.35.8568.960.261996 2 429 97 23 7439.69.430.25.7169.160.061997 2 484 97 23 7439.09.229.85.6668.960.451998 2 551 98 23 7538.49.129.45.5768.860.611999 2 621 100 24 7738.29.029.35.5468.760.822000 2 695 102 24 7837.88.928.95.4668.561.032001 2 762 104 24 8037.58.828.75.3868.261.192002 2 822 105 25 8037.08.728.35.2968.061.272003 2 883 106 25 8136.78.628.15.2367.761.352004 2 947 109 25 8436.88.528.25.1967.061.592005 3 012 112 26 8636.98.528.45.1966.361.662006 3 081 115 26 8937.18.428.75.1965.261.892007 3 154 117 26 9137.18.328.85.1564.162.232008 3 233 121 27 9437.28.229.05.1562.762.402009 3 323 123 27 9536.98.228.75.0861.362.802010 3 419 126 28 9736.88.328.45.0459.863.112011 3 524 129 30 9936.78.528.35.0358.563.352012 3 636 132 31 10136.48.627.84.9957.263.582013 3 743 134 32 10235.88.727.24.9455.863.912014 3 843 137 32 10535.58.327.24.8954.464.162015 3 946 139 32 10735.28.027.24.8153.064.492016 4 052 141 31 11034.87.727.14.7451.764.772017 4 160 143 31 11234.47.427.04.6650.365.082018 4 271 146 31 11534.27.226.94.6149.165.312019 4 384 148 31 11733.77.026.74.5247.865.692020 4 499 150 34 11733.47.526.04.4646.564.532021 4 615 153 34 11933.27.425.84.4045.364.36===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) 2000-2001 32.1 4.7 (4.3) 31.9 4.3 (3.9) 32.1 5.0 (4.7) 2003-2004 4.6 4.1 5.1 2019-2021 35.5 5.2 (4.5) 30.3 4.1 (3.6) 40.2 6.4 (5.5)Fertility data as of 2010 (DHS Program): Zone Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 Nouakchott 4.3 8.0 5.7 Sud-Est 5.0 10.4 5.2 Fleuve 5.1 8.5 6.0 Nord 4.6 7.1 6.5 Centre 4.0 6.7 6.1=== Life expectancy ===PeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195541.72 1955–1960 45.19 1960–1965 47.93 1965–1970 50.28 1970–1975 52.73 1975–1980 55.76 1980–1985 57.77 1985–1990 58.89 1990–1995 59.84 1995–2000 60.27 2000–2005 61.32 2005–2010 62.64 2010–2015 63.43" ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "One birth every 3 minutes\tOne death every 16 minutes\tOne net migrant every 120 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 4 minutesThe following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.===Population===:4,161,925 (2022 est.", "):3,840,429 (July 2018 est.", "):3,381,634 (June 2011 est.", ")===Religions===Muslim (official) 100%===Age structure===Population pyramid of Mauritania in 2020:''0-14 years:'' 37.56% (male 755,788/female 748,671):''15-24 years:'' 19.71% (male 387,140/female 402,462):''25-54 years:'' 33.91% (male 630,693/female 727,518):''55-64 years:'' 4.9% (male 88,888/female 107,201):''65 years and over:'' 3.92% (2020 est.)", "(male 66,407/female 90,707):''0-14 years:'' 38.24% (male 737,570 /female 730,969):''15-24 years:'' 19.78% (male 372,070 /female 387,375):''25-54 years:'' 33.44% (male 595,472 /female 688,620):''55-64 years:'' 4.74% (male 82,197 /female 99,734):''65 years and over:'' 3.81% (male 62,072 /female 84,350) (2018 est.", ")===Median age===:total: 21 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 187th:male: 20.1 years:female: 22 years (2020 est.", "):total: 20.7 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 186th:male: 19.7 years :female: 21.6 years (2018 est.", "):total: 19.3 years:male: 18.5 years:female: 20.2 years (2010 est.", ")===Birth rate===:28.06 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 37th:29.9 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 38th===Death rate===:7.43 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 109th:7.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 97th===Total fertility rate===:3.53 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 38th:3.79 children born/woman (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 39th===Population growth rate===:1.99% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 41st:2.14% (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 41st:2.349% (2011 est.", ")===Mother's mean age at first birth===:21.4 years (2019-2021):note: median age at first birth among women 25-29===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:17.8% (2015)===Net migration rate===:-0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 134th:-0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 132nd===Dependency ratios===:total dependency ratio: 76.5 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 71 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 5.5 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 18.3 (2015 est.", ")===Urbanization===:urban population: 56.9% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 3.84% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", "):urban population: 53.7% of total population (2018):rate of urbanization: 4.28% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===:total population: 65.22 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 204th:male: 62.77 years:female: 67.75 years (2022 est.", "):total population: 63.8 years (2018 est.", "):male: 61.4 years (2018 est.", "):female: 66.2 years (2018 est.", ")total population: 60.75 yearsmale: 58.57 yearsfemale: 62.99 years (2010 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:animal contact diseases: rabies:respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitisnote: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mauritania 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===Sex ratio===at birth: 1.03 male(s)/femaleunder 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female15–64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/femaletotal population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2010 est.", ")===Ethnic groups===Fair Moors (bidhanes) 53% or 2.4 million people, dark Moors (haratins) 30%, 17% sub-Saharan Mauritanians (non-Arabic speaking, largely resident in or originating from the Senegal River Valley, including Helpulaar, Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, and Bambara ethnic groups)=== HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS ===9,500 (2003 est.", ")'''HIV/AIDS - deaths:'''less than 500 (2003 est.", ")===Nationality===noun: Mauritanian(s) adjective: Mauritanian===Languages===Arabic (official and national), French (widely used in media and among educated classes), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, Serer.===Education expenditures===:1.9% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 179th===Literacy===definition: age 15 and over can read and write :total population: 53.5%:male: 63.7%:female: 43.4% (2017):total population: 52.1% (2015 est.", "):male: 62.6% (2015 est.", "):female: 41.6% (2015 est.", "):total population: 51.2%:male: 59.5%:female: 43.4% (2000 census)===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 9 years:male: 9 years:female: 10 years (2019):total: 8 years (2017):male: 8 years (2017):female: 8 years (2017)===Unemployment, youth ages 15-24===:total: 21.1%:male: 18.8%:female: 24.9% (2017 est.)" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Maures* Mauritania - Country Profile*Decomentry film A History of the Haratin" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "Mauritania is a presidential democracy, but has suffered from repeated military coups since its independence in November 1960.For 18 years after independence, Mauritania was a one-party state under Moktar Ould Daddah.", "This was followed by decades of military rule.", "The first fully democratic presidential election in Mauritania occurred on 11 March 2007, which marked a transfer from military to civilian rule following the military coup in 2005.The election was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who was ousted by another military coup in 2008 and replaced by general Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.", "Mauretania underwent its first peaceful transition of power after the 2019 presidential election, although this was between two presidents of the ruling UPR party and former army generals.", "Personalities have long exercised an important influence in the politics of Mauritania - the effective exercise of political power in the country depends on control over resources; perceived ability or integrity; and tribal, ethnic, family, and personal considerations.", "Conflict between white Moor, black Moor, and non-Moor ethnic groups, centering on language, land tenure, and other issues, continues to pose challenges to the idea of national unity." ], [ "Political administration", "The government bureaucracy comprises traditional ministries, special agencies, and parastatal companies.", "The Ministry of Interior controls a system of regional governors and prefects modeled on the French system of local administration.", "Under this system, Mauritania has 13 regions (wilaya), including the capital district, Nouakchott.", "Control remains tightly concentrated in the executive branch of the central government, but a series of national and municipal elections since 1992 have produced some limited decentralization." ], [ "Political history", "Mauritania achieved independence from the French colonial empire in 1960.After independence, President Moktar Ould Daddah, originally installed by the French, formalized Mauritania into a one-party state in 1964 with a new constitution, which set up an authoritarian presidential regime.", "Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization.", "The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style multi-party democracy.", "Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 and 1976.Daddah was ousted in a bloodless coup on July 10, 1978.A committee of military officers governed Mauritania from July 1978 to April 1992.A popular referendum approved the current Constitution in July 1991.===Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's rule (1984-2005) ===The ''Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social'' (PRDS), led by President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, has dominated Mauritanian politics since the country's first multi-party elections in April 1992 following the approval by referendum of the current constitution in July 1991.President Taya, who won elections in 1992 and 1997, first became chief of state through a December 12, 1984, bloodless coup which made him Chairman of the committee of military officers that governed Mauritania from July 1978 to April 1992.Political parties were legalized again in 1991.By April 1992, as civilian rule returned, 16 major political parties had been recognized; 12 major political parties were active in 2004.By April 1992, as civilian rule returned, 15 political parties had gained official recognition.", "Among the mostly small groupings, two main opposition parties emerged:# the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD).", "# the Action for Change (AC)--traditionally considered the party of the Haratines.", "Most opposition parties boycotted the first legislative election in 1992, and for nearly a decade the Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS) dominated the parliament.", "The opposition participated in municipal elections in January–February 1994 and in subsequent elections for the Senate, gaining representation at the local level as well as one seat in the Senate.", "Noting procedural changes and opposition gains in municipal and legislative contests, most local observers considered the October 2001 elections open and transparent.", "The opposition participated in municipal elections in January–February 1994 and subsequent Senate elections, most recently in April 2004, gaining representation at the local level as well as three seats in the Senate.", "In October 2001, Mauritania held its third legislative and fifth municipal elections since the establishment of multi-party politics under the 1991 constitution.", "In an effort to forestall the sort of widespread accusations of fraud and manipulation which had accompanied previous elections, the government introduced new safeguards, including published voter lists and a hard-to-falsify voter identification card.", "Reversing a trend of election boycotts, 15 opposition parties nominated candidates for more than 3,000 municipal posts and for the 81-member National Assembly.", "Four opposition parties won a combined 11 seats in the National Assembly and took 15% of the municipal posts.", "The ruling Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS), in conjunction with two coalition parties, won the remaining contests.", "See 2003 Mauritania election Mauritania's presidential election, its third since adopting the democratic process in 1992, took place on November 7, 2003.Six candidates, including Mauritania's first female and first Haratine (former slave family) candidates, represented a wide variety of political goals and backgrounds.", "Incumbent President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya won reelection with 67.02% of the popular vote, according to the Official figures, with ex-head-of-state Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla finishing second.", "Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya recognized the State of Israel, and started cooperating with the United States in antiterrorism activities.", "A group identifying itself as the Military Council for Justice and Democracy (CMJD) overthrew the Taya Government on 3 August 2005 during the absence of the President in Saudi Arabia for King Fahd's funeral.", "The military dictatorship said it would remain in power for two years in order to allow time for implementing democratic institutions.", "===August 2005 military coup===In August 2005, a military coup led by Col. Ely Ould Mohamed Vall ended Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's 21 years of strong-arm rule.", "On August 3, the Mauritanian military, including members of the presidential guard (BASEP), seized control of key points in the capital of Nouakchott.", "They took advantage of President Taya's attendance at the funeral of Saudi King Fahd to organize the coup, which took place without loss of life.", "The officers, calling themselves the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, released the following statement: :''The national armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the defunct authority, which our people have suffered from during the past years.''", "(BBC) The Military Council later issued another statement naming as president Col. Ould Mohamed Vall, Director of the national police force, the ''Sûreté Nationale'', since 1987, and listing 16 other officers as members.", "Col. Mohamed Vall was once regarded as a firm ally of the now-ousted president Sid'Ahmed Taya, even aiding him in the original coup that brought him to power, and later serving as his security chief.", "This high-level betrayal of the former president suggests broad discontent within the branches of local government, which is further supported by the lack of bloodshed and the population's support of the rebel militaries.", "Applauded by the Mauritanian people, but cautiously watched by the international community, the coup has since been generally accepted, while the military ''junta'' has promised to organize elections within two years.", "Parliamentary and municipal elections were held on the 19 November 2006 .", "Israel's recognition by the Islamic Republic of Mauritania was maintained by the new regime.", "===Dispute with Woodside Petroleum===In February 2006, the new Mauritanian government denounced amendments to an oil contract made by former Leader Ould Taya with Woodside Petroleum, an Australian company.", "In 2004, Woodside had agreed to invest $US 600 million in developing Mauritania's Chinguetti offshore oil project.", "The controversial amendments, which Mauritanian authorities declared had been signed \"outside the legal framework of normal practice, to the great detriment of our country\", could cost Mauritania up to $200 million a year, according to ''BBC News''.", "Signed by Woodside two weeks after the February 1, 2005, legislation authorizing the four amendments, they provided for a lower state quota in the ''profit-oil'', and reduced taxes by 15 percent in certain zones.", "They also eased environmental constraints and extended the length and scope of the exploitation and exploration monopoly, among other measures.", "The disputed amendments were signed by former Oil Minister Zeidane Ould Hmeida in February 2004 and March 2005.Hmeida was arrested in January 2006 on charges of \"serious crimes against the country's essential economic interests\".", "Nouakchott's authorities declared that the government would likely seek international arbitration, which Woodside (which operated for Hardman, BG Group, Premier, ROC Oil, Fusion, Petronas, Dana Petroleum, Energy Africa and the Hydrocarbons Mauritanian Society) also contemplated.", "Discovered in 2001, Chinguetti has proven reserves of about of oil.", "At the end of December 2005, authorities estimated that in 2006, the oil profits would be 47 billion ''ouguiyas'' (about US$180 million) and represent a quarter of the state budget, according to ''RFI''.", "===2007 Presidential election===The first fully democratic Presidential election since 1960 occurred on 11 March 2007.The election is the final transfer from military to civilian rule following the military coup in 2005.This is the first time the president will have been selected by ballot in the country's history.", "The election was won by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.", "Slavery is still said to exist in Mauritania, some 100 years after slavery officially ended in the West and since it was officially abolished in the country in 1981.===2008 coup d'état===On August 6, 2008, Mauritania's presidential spokesman Abdoulaye Mamadou Ba said President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef and the Interior minister, were arrested by renegade Senior Mauritanian army officers, unknown troops and a group of generals, and were held under house arrest at the Presidential palace in Nouakchott.", "In the apparently successful and bloodless coup d'état, Abdallahi's daughter Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi said, \"The security agents of the BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion) came to our home and took away my father.\"", "The coup plotters are top fired Mauritania’s security forces, which include General Muhammad Ould ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmed Ould Bakri.", "Mauritanian lawmaker, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, announced that \"many of the country's people were supporting the takeover attempt and the government is 'an authoritarian regime'\" and that the president had \"marginalized the majority in parliament.\"", "=== After the 2008 coup ===In August 2019, former General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was sworn in as Mauritania’s tenth president since its independence from France in 1960.His predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ran the African desert country for 10 years.", "The ruling party Union for the Republic (UPR) was founded by Aziz in 2009 and renamed to Equity Party in 2022.Mohamed Ould Ghazouani's victory in the 2019 Mauritanian presidential election was presented as having been the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence." ], [ "Executive branch" ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Parliament (''Barlamane/Parlement'') has two chambers.", "The National Assembly (''Al Jamiya al-Wataniyah/Assemblée Nationale'') has 176 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies.", "The Senate (''Majlis al-Shuyukh/Sénat'') has 56 members, 53 members elected for a six-year term by municipal councillors with one third renewed every two years and 3." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "===Presidential elections======Parliamentary elections===" ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Mauritania is divided in 12 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 capital district; Adrar, Assaba, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh Ech Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Inchiri, Nouakchott, Tagant, Tiris Zemmour, Trarza." ], [ "International organization participation", "ABEDA, ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CAEU, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "}Mauritanian exports in 2006The '''economy of Mauritania''' is still largely based on agriculture and livestock, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurring droughts in the 1970s and 1980s.", "Train carrying iron ore.Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports.", "The decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production.", "With the current rise in metal prices, gold and copper mining companies are opening mines in the interior.", "The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue.", "The country's first deep water port opened near Nouakchott in 1986.In recent years, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of foreign debt.", "In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint World Bank-International Monetary Fund mission on a $54 million enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF).", "The economic objectives have been set for 1999–2002.Privatization remains one of the key issues." ], [ "Macro-economic trends", "This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Mauritania at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Mauritanian Ouguiyas.", "Year Gross Domestic Product US Dollar Exchange Inflation Index (2000=100) 1980 37,211 45.93 Ouguiyas 23 1985 60,197 77.07 Ouguiyas 36 1990 97,819 80.64 Ouguiyas 52 1995 158,443 129.76 Ouguiyas 73 2000 258,245 240.00 Ouguiyas 100 2005 514,642 265.55 Ouguiyas 144 Current GDP per capita of Mauritania grew 82% in the Sixties reaching a peak growth of 166% in the Seventies.", "But this proved unsustainable, and growth consequently scaled back to 14% in the Eighties.", "Finally, it shrank by 29% in the Nineties.", "Mean wages were $0.97 per man-hour in 2009.The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1990–2017.Year GDP(in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth(real) Inflation(in Percent) Government debt(Percentage of GDP) 1990 3.75 1,8801.79 ... ... ... 1995 4.86 2,1182.09 9.8% 6.5% ... 2000 5.91 2,2351.78 −0.4% 3.3% 234% 2005 8.32 2,7312.94 9.0% 12.1% 155% 2006 10.20 3,4534.01 18.9% 6.2% 83% 2007 10.76 3,5454.33 2.8% 7.2% 73% 2008 11.09 3,5565.14 1.1% 7.5% 78% 2009 11.06 3,4544.73 −1.0% 2.2% 90% 2010 11.73 3,5715.64 4.8% 6.3% 81% 2011 12.53 3,7206.78 4.7% 5.7% 72% 2012 13.51 3,9116.72 5.8% 4.9% 74% 2013 14.56 4,1167.33 6.1% 4.1% 71% 2014 15.64 4,3216.62 5.6% 3.8% 80% 2015 15.95 4,3046.18 0.8% 0.5% 98% 2016 16.42 4,3286.41 1.6% 1.5% 99% 2017 17.25 4,4446.83 3.2% 2.3% 91%" ], [ "Diversification", "In 2007, mining industries accounted for well over 35 percent of the Mauritanian economy, with the fish industry so much as 54% (with big changes between these industries in the power relationship).", "Diversification of the economy into non-mining industries remains a long-term issue.", "Mauritania is a net importer of food, reportedly importing 70% of its domestic food needs." ], [ "Natural Gas and the Tortue/Ahmeyim Project", "In 2015, Kosmos Energy made significant natural gas discoveries on the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania, and in December 2016, it entered into partnership with British Petroleum.", "The two companies, along with Mauritanian and Senegalese governments and the two countries' national oil companies, are optimistic about the potential of these gas discoveries.", "The Grand Tortue/Ahmeyim reserves are estimated at 15 trillion cubic feet.", "According to BP, 'that's equivalent to all of Africa's current gas production for nearly seven years.'", "The production phase will begin in 2022, starting with 2.3 million tons annually." ], [ "Dispute with Woodside Petroleum", "In February 2006, the new Mauritanian government denounced amendments to an oil contract made by former Leader Ould Taya with Woodside Petroleum, an Australian company.", "In 2004, Woodside had agreed to invest $US 600 million in developing Mauritania's Chinguetti offshore oil project.", "The controversial amendments, which Mauritanian authorities declared had been signed \"outside the legal framework of normal practice, to the great detriment of our country\", could cost Mauritania up to $200 million a year, according to BBC News.", "Signed by Woodside two weeks after the February 1, 2005, legislation authorizing the four amendments, they provided for a lower state quota in the ''profit-oil'', and reduced taxes by 15 percent in certain zones.", "They also eased environmental constraints and extended the length and scope of the exploitation and exploration monopoly, among other measures.", "The disputed amendments were signed by former Oil Minister Zeidane Ould Hmeida in February 2004 and March 2005.Hmeida was arrested in January 2006 on charges of \"serious crimes against the country's essential economic interests\".", "Nouakchott's authorities declared that the government would likely seek international arbitration, which Woodside (which operated for Hardman, BG Group, Premier Oil, ROC Oil, Fusion, Petronas, Dana Petroleum, Energy Africa and the Hydrocarbons Mauritanian Society) also contemplated.Discovered in 2001, Chinguetti has proven reserves of about of oil.", "At the end of December 2005, authorities estimated that in 2006, the oil profits would be 47 billion ''ouguiyas'' (about US$180 million) and represent a quarter of the state budget, according to ''RFI''.", "Some U.S. oil companies are alleged to be playing a part in Mauritania's oil related corruption." ], [ "Electricity", "Mauritania has 380 MW of generating capacity, of which 263 MW are fossil fuels and 117 MW are renewable.", "Its sunny weather makes solar power highly favorable, and eight plants totaling 16.6 MW were installed with the support of Masdar in 2016." ], [ "See also", "Economy of Africa Slavery in Mauritania * List of companies based in Mauritania * United Nations Economic Commission for: Africa & Western Asia" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "** Mauritania latest trade data on ITC Trade Map*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "Trans-Saharan highway taken near NouadhibouCitizens of Mauritania have various transportation methods.", "Railways and highways connect major cities in the country.", "Mauritania is a coastal country so there are many ports along its coast and there are a few big rivers that run through the country.", "Lastly, there are 26 airports spread out throughout the country." ], [ "Railways", "Railways in Mauritania717 km total of single track (standard gauge), owned and operated by a government mining company, Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (National Mining and Industrial Company, SNIM).", "The railway goes from the mines at Zouerat and El Rhein, passes another mine at Fderik, and ends at the port of Nouadhibou/Cansado.", "One of the world's longest trains (up to 2.5 km long) runs here, with more than 200 wagons mainly transporting iron ore, and some carriages for passengers; alternatively, people sit on top of the iron piles.There are no rail links with adjacent countries.In 2008, a railway was proposed that would link Nouakchott with Tiguint, Mederdra, R'Kiz, Leguatt, Leeleibatt, Menjem Boffal, Kaedi, and Bofal.=== Maps ===*=== Timeline ======= 2007 ==== Sunday, August 5, 2007 - Sudan, China To Build $630 Mln Mauritania Railway.", "Sudan's Danfodio Holding and China's Transtech Engineering have signed an agreement to build a 460 million euro ($634 million) railway linking Mauritania's capital Nouakchott with southern phosphate deposits at Bofal.", "The line would run close to the southern frontier with Senegal.", "It is hoped that the new line would link with existing lines just across the border in Senegal, Mali There is no through link to Burkina Faso.", "There are problems of choice of gauge.==== 2008 ====* May - 8 new EMD locomotives==== 2013 ====* Proposed line for phosphate traffic - 430 km long railway line, Nouakchott and Kaedi, Mauritania's third city, through Tiguint, Mederdra, R'Kiz, Leguatt, Leeleibatt and Menjem Boffal, is to be constructed in three years time.==== 2014 ====* Glencore Xstrata proposes branch lines to new mines at Askaf and Guelb El Aouj sharing infrastructure of SNIM." ], [ "Motorway", "There are 450 km of Motorway in Mauritania (in 2010), connecting Nouakchott to Nouadhibou along a coastal route.", "A motorway linking Nouakchott to Rosso is under construction (due for completion in 2012)." ], [ "Highways", "250pxMauritania has only about of surfaced roads, of unsurfaced roads, and of unimproved tracks.", "The country's size and harsh climate make road maintenance and repair especially problematic.", "Overland travel is difficult and roadside assistance is almost nonexistent.", "Public transportation is not safe and road conditions in Mauritania are poor, particularly in the interior.", "Driving in Mauritania can be treacherous, and many Mauritanians drive without regard to traffic signs or rules.", "Roadway obstructions and hazards caused by drifting sand, animals, and poor roads often plague motorists.===International highways===The Cairo-Dakar Highway in the Trans-African Highway network passes through Mauritania, linking Nouakchott to Rabat, Tangiers, Algiers, and Tripoli.", "The section between the capital Nouakchott and the port of Nouadhibou was paved by 2018; only a few kilometres remain unpaved at the Moroccan border :fr:Transport en Mauritanie.", "From Dakar there are links throughout western Africa.The north-western end of the Trans–West African Coastal Highway is considered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to originate in Nouakchott." ], [ "Waterways", "Mostly ferry traffic on the Senegal River" ], [ "Ports and harbours", "=== Atlantic Ocean ===(from north to south)NouadhibouNouakchott=== Senegal River ===RossoKaediBogue" ], [ "Merchant marine", "None as of 2002" ], [ "Airports (paved)", "See Airports in Mauritania9 in total (2002)3 are of length 2,438 to 3,047 m6 are of length 1,524 to 2,437 mBy city: * Aioun el Atrouss* Akjoujt* Atar International* Bir Moghrein * Abbaye * Boutilimit* Dahara Airport* Fderik* Kaédi * Kiffa* Letfotar* Néma * Nouadhibou International* Nouakchott (former airport)* Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International* Sélibaby* Tamchakett* Tichitt* Tidjikja * Timbedra* Tazadit" ], [ "Airports (unpaved)", "See Airports in Mauritania17 in total (2002)2 are of length 2,438 to 3,047 m5 are of length 1,524 to 2,437 m7 are of length 914 to 1,523 m3 are of length under 914 m" ], [ "See also", "MauritaniaLongest trainsNational railway passing through foreign territory*Mauritania Airlines" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telephones - main lines in use:'''31,500 (2002)'''Telephones - mobile cellular:'''300,000 (2003)'''Telephone system:'''''general assessment:''limited system of cable and open-wire lines, minor microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations (improvements being made)''domestic:''mostly cable and open-wire lines; a recently completed domestic satellite telecommunications system links Nouakchott with regional capitals''international:''country code - 222; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 2 Arabsat '''Radio broadcast stations:'''AM 1, FM 14, shortwave 1 (2001)'''Radios:'''410,000 (2001)'''Television broadcast stations:'''1 (2002)'''Televisions:'''98,000 (2001)'''Internet Service Providers (ISPs):'''26 (2014)'''Internet users:'''10,000 (2002)'''Country code (Top level domain):''' .mr" ], [ "Broadband Internet access", "Mauritania has three operators, the original monopoly, Mauritel (now owned by Vivendi's Maroc Telecom), Mattel (owned by Tunisie Telecom) and Chinguitel, which will start operations in December 2006.The country only has around 1000 DSL subscribers, and 3000 internet subscribers in total, out of a population of 2.5 million.", "Monthly DSL charges were high, around US$95.69 per month, but have now dropped to MRO 10000 (around US$40) per month." ], [ "See also", "* Media of Mauritania" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Armed Forces of Mauritania" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Armed Forces of Mauritania''' (, ) is the defence force of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, having an army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, and presidential guard.", "Other services include the national guard and national police, though they both are subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior.", "As of 2018, the Mauritanian armed forces budget was 3.9% of the country's GDP.The military forces of Mauritania are listed by the IISS Military Balance 2007 as comprising 15,870 personnel with an additional 5,000 paramilitaries, in the national gendarmerie.", "The Navy (Marine Mauritanienne) has 620 personnel and 11 patrol and coastal combatants, with bases at Nouadhibou and Nouakchott.", "The CIA reports that the navy includes naval infantry.", "The small Air Force (Force Aérienne Islamique de Mauritanie, FAIM) has 250 personnel, 2 FTB-337 aircraft, 15 transport aircraft of various types, and 4 SF-260E trainers.", "The 5,000 paramilitaries are divided in the National Gendarmerie (3,000), and the National Guard (2,000) who both report to the Ministry of the Interior.", "Other paramilitary services reported by the CIA in 2001 include the National Police, Presidential Guard (BASEP)." ], [ "History", "Former flag of the Mauritanian Armed Forces (1960–2017).", "Saleh Ould Hanenna, a former army major, led the 2003 Mauritanian coup d'état attempt in June 2003.It aimed to overthrow President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.", "He commanded a rebel section of the Army during two days of heavy fighting in Nouakchott.", "With the failure of the coup Hanenna initially escaped capture, and formed a group called the Knights of Change with Mohamed Ould Cheikhna, but they were arrested on 9 October 2004.General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a career soldier and high-ranking officer, was a leading figure in the 2005 Mauritanian coup d'état that deposed President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.", "In August 2008, General Ould Abdel Aziz led the 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état that toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.", "Following the latter coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election.", "He resigned from that post in April 2009 to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election, which he won.", "He was sworn in on 5 August 2009." ], [ "Army", "In March 1985, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported the army was 8,300 strong with no reserves (Military Intelligence Summary – Africa South of the Sahara, DDB 2680-104-85, ICOD 15 October 1984, Mauritania pages 4, 5, declassified by letter dated 29 April 2014).", "Reported regions at the time were Region I – Nouadbihou, Region II – Zoueirat, Region III – Atar, Region IV – formerly at Tidjikdja, which no longer existed, Region V – Nema, Region VI – Nouakchott, and Region VII – Rosso.", "The army was organised into the six regions which each supervised several companies, though there was 'one small autonomous infantry battalion stationed in Nouakchott.", "'The Army is 15,000 strong, according to the IISS, with six military regions, two camel corps battalions, one battalion of T-55 battle tanks, one armoured reconnaissance squadron, eight garrison infantry battalions, seven motorised infantry battalions, one commando/para battalion, 3 artillery battalions, 4 air defence batteries, one engineer company, and one guard battalion.", "The 1ère région militaire is at Nouadhibou, 2nd Military Region is at Zouerate, 3rd Military Region is at Atar, 4ème région militaire may be at Tidjikdja, 5th Military Region headquarters is at Néma, The 6th Military Region may be in the area of the capital, and the 7th Military Region may be at Aleg.The Mauritanian military is currently involved in Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara.", "Previous U.S. anti-terrorist engagement included training under the Pan Sahel Initiative.", "Under the PSI, a 10th Special Forces Group training team carried out a one-week border monitoring training programme in January 2004.The IISS listed equipment in 2007 as including 35 T-55 main battle tanks, 70 reconnaissance vehicles (20 Panhard AML-60, 40 Panhard AML-90, 10 Alvis Saladin), 25 wheeled APCs (estimate 20 Panhard M3 and 5 Alvis Saracen), 194 artillery pieces (80 towed: 36 HM-2/M-101, 20 D-30, 24 D-74; 114 mortars: 60 60-mm, 30 Brandt 120-mm), 24 MILAN ATGM, 114 recoilless rocket launchers (est.", "90 M-40A1 106mm, est 24 M-20 75mm), est 48 RPG-7 Knout, 104 SAMs (est 100 SA-7 Grail, and a reported 4 SA-9 Gaskin), and 82 towed anti-aircraft guns (14.5mm, including 12 ZPU-4, ZU-23-2, 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K), 12 57 mm AZP S-60, and 12 100mm KS-19s).===Equipment=== Name Image Caliber Type Origin Notes Pistols MAC-50 150px 9×19mm Semi-automatic pistol Standard issue pistol.", "TT-33 150px 7.62×25mm Semi-automatic pistol Submachine guns FN P90 150px FN 5.7×28mm Submachine gunPersonal defense weapon MAT-49 150px 9×19mm Submachine gun Star Model Z-45 150px 9×23mm Submachine gun Rifles SKS 150px 7.62×39mm Semi-automatic rifle AKM 150px 7.62×39mm Assault rifle MAS-49/56 150px 7.5×54mm Semi-automatic rifle MAS-36 150px 7.5×54mm Bolt-action rifle Heckler & Koch G3 150px 7.62×51mm Battle rifle French-made G3s Machine guns PKM 150px 7.62×54mmR General-purpose machine gun Browning M1919 150px .30-06 Medium machine gun Browning M2 150px .50 BMG Heavy machine gun AA-52 150px 7.5×54mm General-purpose machine gun Sniper rifles FR F1 150px 7.5×54mm Sniper rifle Grenade launchers RPG-7 150px 40 mm Rocket-propelled grenade 48 Tanks, Armoured Vehicles, and Reconnaissance Vehicles T-55 150px 35 in service Panhard AML-60 150px 20 in service Panhard AML-90 150px 39 in service Alvis Saladin 150px 40 in service Panhard M3 150px 20 in service Alvis Saracen 150px 5 in service Panhard EBR 75 150px 15 in service Artillery and Mortar D-74 150px 20 in service D-30 150px 20 in service M101A1 150px 35 in service 60-mm Mortar 150px 60 in service Brandt 120-mm Mortar 150px 30 in service Anti-Tank missiles and rockets MILAN ATGM 150px 24 in service M40 recoilless rifle 150px 90 in service M20 recoilless rifle 150px 24 in service SAMs and Anti-aircraft guns SA-7 Grail 150px 100 in service SA-9 Gaskin 150px 4 in service Towed anti-aircraft guns 150px 82 in service (including 12 ZPU-4, ZU-23-2, 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)) 57 mm AZP S-60 150px 12 in service 100mm KS-19 150px 12 in serviceAmong reported special forces units are:1er Bataillon de Commandos Parachutistes (1er BCP)2eme Bataillon de Commandos Parachutistes (2eme BCP)Bataillon de la Securite Presidentielle (BASEP)Bataillon Special d'Intervention (BSI) * (GSI)" ], [ "Air Force", "After achieving independence in 1960 the Faidem's (Force Aerienne Islamique de Mauritanie) was supplied equipment by France, such as C-47s and MH.1521 Broussards, which was later replaced by the Britten-Norman BN-2A Defender between 1976 and 1978 and had operated as a transport and observation squadron in the Western Sahara War.", "During the same time two Cessna 337s and two DHC-5 Buffalo STOL transports were supplied in 1977 and 1978 with one DHC-5 crashing almost immediately and the other being returned to De Havilland Canada in 1979.After the Polisario Front shot down one Defender and damaged two in 1978 the Mauritanian government ordered six IA-58 Pucarás for ground attack duties from Argentina; this order was later cancelled after a Mauritanian military coup.The Air Force School was created in Atar.", "It was founded to train pilots, mechanics, other crewmen for the Air Force.More recent procurements have been from China in the form of the Harbin Y-12 II turboprop transports were delivered in September 1995, one crashed in April 1996.A second one crashed on 12 July 2012.The Xian Y7-100C (a copy of the AN-24 transport) was delivered from October 1997, which crashed in May 1998.The Air Force has recently received their order of Embraers.", "===Aircraft===Mauritania Air Force A-29B Super Tucano at Paris Air Show 2013.Mauritanian Douglas C-47A Dakota in the Sahara.", "Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes Combat aircraft EMB 314 Super Tucano Brazil COIN more than 4 Maritime patrol BN-2 Islander United Kingdom Maritime patrol3 Cessna 208United States Maritime patrol 21 on order Piper PA-31United StatesMaritime patrol2 Transport Basler BT-67United States Transport/Utility 1Modified Douglas DC-3 with P&W PT6A Turboprop enginesCessna 441United StatesVIP transport1Pilatus PC-6SwitzerlandUtility 1Harbin Y-12ChinaTransport1 HelicoptersHarbin Z-9ChinaUtility2 AgustaWestland AW109Italy Utility 2MD-500United StatesUtility4 Trainer aircraft EMB-312Brazil Trainer4SIAI-Marchetti SF.260Italy Trainer 4" ], [ "Navy", "Mauritania has developed a five-year plan to develop its navy into a force that is capable of defending the country's 235,000 km squared exclusive economic zone, Admiral Isselkou Ould Cheik El-Weli said during a promotion ceremony held at the Nouadhibou naval base in late May 2017.The Saharamedias.net website reported that the plan includes the acquisition of two 60-meter vessels, which are currently under construction, and \"mid-sized ships\", as well as the formation of three companies of marines.", "No further details were provided.The Mauritanian Navy was created on 25 January 1966, after the extension of Mauritania's territorial waters from .", "By 1972 the navy had one small patrol gunboat and two small patrol craft that performed port control and customs duties.", "In 1987 the navy had thirteen boats.", "Of these boats, only eight were seaworthy, and the navy could send only two vessels out to open water at a time.", "Mauritania's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extended out from the coast, but even if effective coastal surveillance were possible, the navy's vessels would not be able to control Mauritania's waters.", "Nouadhibou housed the major naval base; Nouakchott housed a secondary base.===Ship inventory===A patrol boat similar to this one is used by the Navy.", "Vessel Origin Type In service Notes ''LIMAM EL HADRAMI'' China Patrol boat Obtained in 2001 ''TIMBEDRA'' China Patrol boat Obtained in 2016 .", "CMS from France (LYNCEA CMS) ''GORGOL'' China Patrol boat Obtained in 2016.CMS from France (LYNCEA CMS) ''Abourbekr Ben Amer'' France Patrol boat Obtained in 1992 '' El Nasr '' France Patrol boat 1 Patra-class '' Z'bar'' Germany Patrol boat 1 Neustadt-class" ], [ "References", "===Works cited===" ], [ "External links", " Mauritanian National Army's Official Website* :ar:الجيش الوطني الموريتاني* Arcticle in French" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mumbai" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mumbai''' (, , IAST: ; formerly known as '''Bombay''') is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra.", "Mumbai is the ''de facto'' financial centre and the most populous city of India with an estimated city proper population of 12.5 million (1.25 crore).", "Mumbai is the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 23 million (2.3 crore) living within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.", "Mumbai lies on the Konkan coast on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour.", "In 2008, Mumbai was named an alpha world city.The seven islands that constitute Mumbai were earlier home to communities of Marathi language-speaking Koli people.", "For centuries, the seven islands of Bombay were under the control of successive indigenous rulers before being ceded to the Portuguese Empire, and subsequently to the East India Company in 1661, through the dowry of Catherine Braganza when she was married off to Charles II of England.", "Beginning in 1782, Mumbai was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the Arabian Sea.", "Along with the construction of major roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845, transformed Mumbai into a major seaport on the Arabian Sea.", "Mumbai in the 19th century was characterized by economic and educational development.", "During the early 20th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement.", "Upon India's independence in 1947 the city was incorporated into Bombay State.", "In 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Mumbai as the capital.Mumbai is the financial, commercial, and the entertainment capital of India.", "It is also one of the world's top ten centres of commerce in terms of global financial flow, generating 6.16% of India's GDP, and accounting for 25% of industrial output, 70% of maritime trade in India (Mumbai Port Trust, Dharamtar Port and JNPT), and 70% of capital transactions to India's economy.", "The city houses important financial institutions and the corporate headquarters of numerous Indian companies and multinational corporations.", "It is also home to some of India's premier scientific and nuclear institutes.", "The city is also home to the Bollywood and Marathi cinema industries.", "Mumbai's business opportunities attract migrants from all over India." ], [ "Etymology", "The name ''Mumbai'' (Marathi: ) is derived from ''Mumbā'' or ''Mahā-Ambā''—the name of the patron Hindu goddess (kuladevata) Mumbadevi of the native Koli community—and from ''ā'ī'', meaning \"mother\" in the Marathi language, which is the mother tongue of the Koli people and the official language of Maharashtra.", "According to certain accounts, the Koli community, which hails from Kathiawar and Central Gujarat, is believed to have introduced their deity Mumba from Kathiawar (Gujarat), where her worship continues to this day.", "However, other sources disagree that Mumbai's name was derived from the goddess Mumba.The Mumba Devi Temple, from whom the city of Mumbai may derive its name.The oldest known names for the city are ''Kakamuchee'' and ''Galajunkja''; these are sometimes still used.", "Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia recorded the name \"Bombaim\" after 1512 in his ''Lendas da Índia'' (''Legends of India'').", "While some anglophone authors have suggested this name possibly originated as an alleged Galician-Portuguese phrase ''bom baim'', meaning \"good little bay\", such suggestions lack any scientific basis.", "Portuguese linguist José Pedro Machado attributes that interpretation to a deficient knowledge of the Portuguese language of these authors, mixing up the Portuguese word \"bom\" with the English \"bay\", from the English version of the name.", "In 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name ''Tana-Maiambu'': ''Tana'' appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and ''Maiambu'' to ''Mumbadevi''.", "The form ''Bombaim'' is still commonly used in Portuguese.Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include: ''Mombayn'' (1525), ''Bombay'' (1538), ''Bombain'' (1552), ''Bombaym'' (1552), ''Monbaym'' (1554), ''Mombaim'' (1563), ''Mombaym'' (1644), ''Bambaye'' (1666), ''Bombaiim'' (1666), ''Bombeye'' (1676), ''Boon Bay'' (1690) and ''Bon Bahia''.", "After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, the Portuguese name was anglicised as ''Bombay''.", "Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial dewan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the ''Mirat-i Ahmedi'' (1762) referred to the city as ''Manbai''.The French traveller Louis Rousselet, who visited in 1863 and 1868, states in his book ''L'Inde des Rajahs'', which was first published in 1877: \"Etymologists have wrongly derived this name from the Portuguese Bôa Bahia, or (French: \"bonne bai\", English: \"good bay\"), not knowing that the tutelar goddess of this island has been, from remote antiquity, Bomba, or Mumba Devi, and that she still ... possesses a temple\".By the late 20th century, the city was referred to as ''Mumbai'' or ''Mambai'' in Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, and as ''Bambai'' in Hindi.", "The Government of India officially changed the English name to ''Mumbai'' in November 1995.This came at the insistence of the Marathi nationalist Shiv Sena party, which had just won the Maharashtra state elections, and mirrored similar name changes across the country and particularly in Maharashtra.", "According to ''Slate'' magazine, \"they argued that 'Bombay' was a corrupted English version of 'Mumbai' and an unwanted legacy of British colonial rule.\"", "''Slate'' also said \"The push to rename Bombay was part of a larger movement to strengthen Marathi identity in the Maharashtra region.\"", "While Mumbai is still referred to as Bombay by some of its residents and by some Indians from other regions, mention of the city by a name other than ''Mumbai'' has been controversial.=== People from Mumbai ===A resident of Mumbai is called ''Mumbaikar'' (pronounced Help:IPA/Marathi\|mumbəikəɾ) in Marathi, in which the suffix ''-kar'' means a ''resident of''.", "The term had been in use for quite some time but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai.", "Older terms such as ''Bombayite'' are also used." ], [ "History", "=== Early history ===alt=A white Buddhist stupa.Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands: Isle of Bombay, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli, and Old Woman's Island (also known as ''Little Colaba'').", "It is not exactly known when these islands were first inhabited.", "Pleistocene sediments found along the coastal areas around Kandivali in northern Mumbai suggest that the islands were inhabited since the South Asian Stone Age.", "Perhaps at the beginning of the Common Era, or possibly earlier, they came to be occupied by the Koli fishing community.In the 3rd century BCE, the islands formed part of the Maurya Empire, during its expansion in the south, ruled by the Buddhist emperor Ashoka of Magadha.", "The Kanheri Caves in Borivali were excavated from basalt rock in the first century CE, and served as an important centre of Buddhism in Western India during ancient Times.", "The city then was known as ''Heptanesia'' (Ancient Greek: A Cluster of Seven Islands) to the Greek geographer Ptolemy in 150 CE.", "The Mahakali Caves in Andheri were cut out between the 1st century BCE and the 6th century CE.Between the 2nd century BCE and 9th century CE, the islands came under the control of successive indigenous dynasties: Satavahanas, Western Satraps, Abhira, Vakataka, Kalachuris, Konkan Mauryas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas, before being ruled by the Shilaharas from 810 to 1260.Some of the oldest edifices in the city built during this period are the Jogeshwari Caves (between 520 and 525), Elephanta Caves (between the sixth to seventh century), Walkeshwar Temple (10th century), and Banganga Tank (12th century).The Haji Ali Dargah was built in 1431, when Mumbai was under the rule of the Gujarat Sultanate.King Bhimdev founded his kingdom in the region in the late 13th century and established his capital in ''Mahikawati'' (present day Mahim).", "The Pathare Prabhus, among the earliest known settlers of the city, were brought to ''Mahikawati'' from Saurashtra in Gujarat around 1298 by Bhimdev.", "The Delhi Sultanate annexed the islands in 1347–48 and controlled it until 1407.During this time, the islands were administered by the Muslim Governors of Gujarat, who were appointed by the Delhi Sultanate.The islands were later governed by the independent Gujarat Sultanate, which was established in 1407.As a result of the Sultanate's support, numerous mosques were built, with one notable example being the Haji Ali Dargah in Worli.", "Erected in 1431, this magnificent structure pays homage to the revered Muslim saint, Haji Ali.", "From 1429 to 1431, the islands were a source of contention between the Gujarat Sultanate and the Bahmani Sultanate of Deccan.", "In 1493, Bahadur Khan Gilani of the Bahmani Sultanate attempted to conquer the islands but was defeated.=== Portuguese and British rule ===Madh Fort, built by the Portuguese, was one of the most important forts in Salsette.The Mughal Empire, founded in 1526, was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent during the mid-16th century.", "Growing apprehensive of the power of the Mughal emperor Humayun, Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese Empire on 23 December 1534.According to the treaty, the Seven Islands of Bombay, the nearby strategic town of Bassein and its dependencies were offered to the Portuguese.", "The territories were later surrendered on 25 October 1535.Flora Fountain, built in Neo Classical and Gothic Revival style in 1864, depicts the Roman goddess Flora.The Portuguese were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their Roman Catholic religious orders in Bombay.", "They called the islands by various names, which finally took the written form ''Bombaim''.", "The islands were leased to several Portuguese officers during their regime.", "The Portuguese Franciscans and Jesuits built several churches in the city, prominent being the St. Michael's Church at Mahim (1534), St. John the Baptist Church at Andheri (1579), St. Andrew's Church at Bandra (1580), and Gloria Church at Byculla (1632).", "The Portuguese also built several fortifications around the city like the Bombay Castle, ''Castella de Aguada'' (Castelo da Aguada or Bandra Fort), and Madh Fort.", "The English were in constant struggle with the Portuguese vying for hegemony over Mumbai, as they recognised its strategic natural harbour and its natural isolation from land attacks.", "By the middle of the 17th century the growing power of the Dutch Empire forced the English to acquire a station in western India.", "On 11 May 1661, the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, placed the islands in possession of the English Empire, as part of Catherine's dowry to Charles.", "However, Salsette, Bassein, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli, Sion, Dharavi, and Wadala still remained under Portuguese possession.", "From 1665 to 1666, the English managed to acquire Mahim, Sion, Dharavi, and Wadala.Two views of the English fort in Bombay, In accordance with the Royal Charter of 27 March 1668, England leased these islands to the English East India Company in 1668 for a sum of £10 per annum.", "The population quickly rose from 10,000 in 1661, to 60,000 in 1675.The islands were subsequently attacked by Yakut Khan, the Muslim Koli admiral of the Mughal Empire, in October 1672, Rickloffe van Goen, the Governor-General of Dutch India on 20 February 1673, and Siddi admiral Sambal on 10 October 1673.In 1687, the English East India Company transferred its headquarters from Surat to Mumbai.", "The city eventually became the headquarters of the Bombay Presidency.", "Following the transfer, Mumbai was placed at the head of all the company's establishments in India.", "Towards the end of the 17th century, the islands again suffered incursions from Yakut Khan in 1689–90.The Portuguese presence ended in Mumbai when the Marathas under ''Peshwa'' Baji Rao I captured Salsette in 1737, and Bassein in 1739.By the middle of the 18th century, Mumbai began to grow into a major trading town, and received a huge influx of migrants from across India.", "Later, the British occupied Salsette on 28 December 1774.With the Treaty of Surat (1775), the British formally gained control of Salsette and Bassein, resulting in the First Anglo-Maratha War.", "The British were able to secure Salsette from the Marathas without violence through the Treaty of Purandar (1776), and later through the Treaty of Salbai (1782), signed to settle the outcome of the First Anglo-Maratha War.Mumbai Harbour (c. 1731).", "Mumbai emerged as a significant trading town during the mid-18th century.From 1782 onwards, the city was reshaped with large-scale civil engineering projects aimed at merging all the seven islands of Bombay into a single amalgamated mass by way of a causeway called the Hornby Vellard, which was completed by 1784.In 1817, the British East India Company under Mountstuart Elphinstone defeated Baji Rao II, the last of the Maratha ''Peshwa'' in the Battle of Khadki.", "Following his defeat, almost the whole of the Deccan Plateau came under British suzerainty, and was incorporated into the Bombay Presidency.", "The success of the British campaign in the Deccan marked the end of all attacks by native powers.By 1845, the seven islands coalesced into a single landmass by the Hornby Vellard project via large scale land reclamation.", "On 16 April 1853, India's first passenger railway line was established, connecting Mumbai to the neighbouring town of Thana (now Thane).", "During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the city became the world's chief cotton-trading market, resulting in a boom in the economy that subsequently enhanced the city's stature.The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 transformed Mumbai into one of the largest seaports on the Arabian Sea.", "In September 1896, Mumbai was hit by a bubonic plague epidemic where the death toll was estimated at 1,900 people per week.", "About 850,000 people fled Mumbai and the textile industry was adversely affected.", "While the city was the capital of the Bombay Presidency, the Indian independence movement fostered the Quit India Movement in 1942 and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in 1946.=== Independent India ===Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai in 1950 (Victoria Terminus partly visible on far right)After India's independence in 1947, the territory of the Bombay Presidency retained by India was restructured into Bombay State.", "The area of Bombay State increased, after several erstwhile princely states that joined the Indian union were integrated into the state.", "Subsequently, the city became the capital of Bombay State.", "In April 1950, Municipal limits of Mumbai were expanded by merging the Mumbai Suburban District and Mumbai City to form the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation.The Samyukta Maharashtra movement to create a separate Maharashtra state including Mumbai was at its height in the 1950s.", "In the ''Lok Sabha'' discussions in 1955, the Congress party demanded that the city be constituted as an autonomous city-state.", "The States Reorganisation Committee recommended a bilingual state for Maharashtra–Gujarat with Mumbai as its capital in its 1955 report.", "Bombay Citizens' Committee, an advocacy group of leading Gujarati industrialists lobbied for Mumbai's independent status.Following protests during the movement in which 105 people died in clashes with the police, Bombay State was reorganised on linguistic lines on 1 May 1960.Gujarati-speaking areas of Bombay State were partitioned into the state of Gujarat.", "Maharashtra State with Mumbai as its capital was formed with the merger of Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay State, eight districts from Central Provinces and Berar, five districts from Hyderabad State, and numerous princely states enclosed between them.", "As a memorial to the martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, Flora Fountain was renamed as ''Hutatma Chowk'' (Martyr's Square) and a memorial was erected.", "The Hutatma Chowk memorial, built to honour the martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (Flora Fountain on its left in the background)\|alt=A stone statue of torch-bearers as seen at night.", "A fountain with a white base is in the background\|leftThe following decades saw massive expansion of the city and its suburbs.", "In the late 1960s, Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade were reclaimed and developed.", "The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) was established on 26 January 1975 by the Government of Maharashtra as an apex body for planning and co-ordination of development activities in the Mumbai metropolitan region.", "In August 1979, a sister township of New Mumbai was founded by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) across the Thane and Raigad districts to help the dispersal and control of Mumbai's population.", "The textile industry in Mumbai largely disappeared after the widespread 1982 Great Bombay Textile Strike, in which nearly 250,000 workers in more than 50 textile mills went on strike.", "Mumbai's defunct cotton mills have since become the focus of intense redevelopment.", "Industrial development began in Mumbai when its economy started focusing on the petrochemical, electronic, and automotive sectors.", "In 1954 Hindustan Petroleum comissoned Mumbai Refinery at Trombay and BPCL Refinery.The Jawaharlal Nehru Port, which handles 55–60% of India's containerized cargo, was commissioned on 26 May 1989 across the creek at Nhava Sheva with a view to de-congest Mumbai Harbour and to serve as a hub port for the city.", "The geographical limits of Greater Mumbai were coextensive with municipal limits of Greater Mumbai.", "On 1 October 1990, the Greater Mumbai district was bifurcated to form two revenue districts namely, Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban, though they continued to be administered by same Municipal Administration.The years from 1990 to 2010 saw an increase in violence and terrorism activities.", "Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the city was rocked by the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992–93 in which more than 1,000 people were killed.", "In March 1993, a series of 13 coordinated bombings at several city landmarks by Islamic extremists and the Mumbai underworld resulted in 257 deaths and over 700 injuries.", "In 2006, 209 people were killed and over 700 injured when seven bombs exploded on the city's commuter trains.", "In 2008, a series of ten coordinated attacks by armed terrorists for three days resulted in 173 deaths, 308 injuries, and severe damage to several heritage landmarks and prestigious hotels.", "The three coordinated bomb explosions in July 2011 that occurred at the Opera house, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar were the latest in the series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai which resulted in 26 deaths and 130 injuries.Mumbai is the commercial capital of India and has evolved into a global financial hub.", "For several decades it has been the home of India's main financial services companies, and a focus for both infrastructure development and private investment.", "From being an ancient fishing community and a colonial centre of trade, Mumbai has become South Asia's largest city and home of the world's most prolific film industry." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite image of MumbaiMumbai consists of two revenue districts.Mumbai is on a narrow peninsula on the southwest of Salsette Island, which lies between the Arabian Sea to the west, Thane Creek to the east and Vasai Creek to the north.", "Mumbai's suburban district occupies most of the island.", "Navi Mumbai is east of Thane Creek and Thane is north of Vasai Creek.", "Mumbai consists of two distinct regions: Mumbai City district and Mumbai Suburban district, which form two separate revenue districts of Maharashtra.", "The city district region is also commonly referred to as the ''Island City'' or South Mumbai.", "The total area of Mumbai is 603.4 km2 (233 sq mi).", "Of this, the island city spans 67.79 km2 (26 sq mi), while the suburban district spans 370 km2 (143 sq mi), together accounting for 437.71 km2 (169 sq mi) under the administration of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).", "The remaining areas belong to various Defence establishments, the Mumbai Port Trust, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Borivali National Park, which are out of the jurisdiction of the MCGM.", "The Mumbai Metropolitan Region which includes portions of Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts in addition to Greater Mumbai, covers an area of 4,355 km2 (1681.5 sq mi).Mumbai lies at the mouth of the Ulhas River on the western coast of India, in the coastal region known as the Konkan.", "It sits on Salsette Island (Sashti Island), which it partially shares with the Thane district.", "Mumbai is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west.", "Many parts of the city lie just above sea level, with elevations ranging from 10 m (33 ft) to 15 m (49 ft); the city has an average elevation of 14 m (46 ft).", "Northern Mumbai (Salsette) is hilly, and the highest point in the city is 450 m (1,476 ft) at Salsette in the Powai–Kanheri ranges.", "The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Borivali National Park) is located partly in the Mumbai suburban district, and partly in the Thane district, and it extends over an area of 103.09 km2 (39.80 sq mi).Apart from the Bhatsa Dam, there are six major lakes that supply water to the city: Vihar, Lower Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Tulsi, Tansa and Powai.", "Tulsi Lake and Vihar Lake are located in Borivili National Park, within the city's limits.", "The supply from Powai lake, also within the city limits, is used only for agricultural and industrial purposes.", "Three small rivers, the Dahisar River, Poinsar (or Poisar) and Ohiwara (or Oshiwara) originate within the park, while the Mithi River originates from Tulsi Lake and gathers water overflowing from Vihar and Powai Lakes.", "The coastline of the city is indented with numerous creeks and bays, stretching from the Thane creek on theeastern to Madh Marve on the western front.", "The eastern coast of Salsette Island is covered with large mangrove swamps, rich in biodiversity, while the western coast is mostly sandy and rocky.Soil cover in the city region is predominantly sandy due to its proximity to the sea.", "In the suburbs, the soil cover is largely alluvial and loamy.", "The underlying rock of the region is composed of black Deccan basalt flows, and their acidic and basic variants dating back to the late Cretaceous and early Eocene eras.", "Mumbai sits on a seismically active zone owing to the presence of 23 fault lines in the vicinity.", "The area is classified as a Seismic Zone III region, which means an earthquake of up to magnitude 6.5 on the Richter magnitude scale may be expected.=== Climate ===leftSkyline of Mumbai during a monsoonMumbai has an extreme tropical wet and dry climate (''Aw'') under the Köppen climate classification, although the central and northern suburbs have a tropical monsoon climate (''Am'') with even heavier wet season rainfall.", "Mumbai has a virtually rainless period extending from October to May and an extremely wet period peaking in July.", "A cooler season from December to February is followed by a hotter season from March to May.", "The period from June to about the end of September constitutes the south west monsoon season, and October and November form the post-monsoon season.Between June and September, the South-west monsoon rains occur in Mumbai.", "Pre-monsoon showers are received in May.", "Occasionally, north-east monsoon showers occur in October and November.", "The maximum annual rainfall ever recorded was for 1954.The highest rainfall recorded in a single day was on 26 July 2005.The average total annual rainfall is for the Island City, and for the suburbs.The average annual temperature is , and the average annual precipitation is .", "In the Island City, the average maximum temperature is , while the average minimum temperature is .", "In the suburbs, the daily mean maximum temperature range from to , while the daily mean minimum temperature ranges from to .", "The record high is set on 14 April 1952, and the record low is set on 27 January 1962.Tropical cyclones are rare in the city.", "The worst cyclone to ever impact Mumbai was the one in 1948 where gusts reached in Juhu.", "The storm left 38 people dead and 47 missing.", "The storm reportedly impacted Mumbai for 20 hours and left the city devastated.Mumbai is prone to monsoon floods, exacerbated by climate change which affects heavy rains and high tide in the sea.", "According to the World Bank, unplanned drainage system and informal settlement is a key factor of frequent floods in Mumbai.", "Among other causes of flooding in Mumbai is its geographic location, Mumbai urban is peninsular in form, (a land-filled area that connects seven islands) a low laying area, compared to its suburbs that sit on an elevated location.", "Over the past few decades, new informal settlements were formed in the suburbs, causing a rapid increase in population, improper waste management, and drainage congestion.", "The rainwater from these areas heavily flows towards low-lying urban areas consisting of some slums and high-rise buildings.", "As a result, slums are either swamped, washed away, or collapse causing heavy casualties, and post-flood water logging lasts for a long time that causing blockage of railway lines-(most frequently used public transport in Mumbai), traffic snarl, inundated roads, and sub-merged bylanes.", "Over the past few decades, the frequency of floods in Mumbai is enormous, the 2005 Mumbai floods are characterized by 500-1000 deaths, household displacements, damaged infrastructure-(including heritage sites), and a financial loss of 1.2 billion.", "In the process of reducing floods in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government adopted a flood mitigation plan; according to which the drainage system will be restructured, restoration of Mithi River, and re-establishment of informal settlements.", "Local civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities are assigned to forecast and issue eviction notices while BMC along with NGO's prepare for the evacuation of the residents of those areas to temporary safe camps.=== Air pollution ===Air pollution is a major issue in Mumbai.", "According to the 2016 World Health Organization Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database, the annual average PM2.5 concentration in 2013 was 63 μg/m3, which is 6.3 times higher than that recommended by the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for the annual mean PM2.5.The Central Pollution Control Board for the Government of India and the Consulate General of the United States, Mumbai monitor and publicly share real-time air quality data.", "In December 2019, IIT Bombay, in partnership with the McKelvey School of Engineering of Washington University in St. Louis launched the Aerosol and Air Quality Research Facility to study air pollution in Mumbai, among other Indian cities." ], [ "Economy", "Mumbai is India's largest city (by population) and is the financial and commercial capital of the country as it generates 6.16% of the total GDP.", "It serves as an economic hub of India; as of 2006, Mumbai contributed 10% of the nation's factory employment, 25% of industrial output, 33% of income tax collections, 60% of customs duty collections, 20% of central excise tax collections, 40% of foreign trade, and in corporate taxes.Along with the rest of India, Mumbai has witnessed an economic boom since the liberalisation of 1991, the finance boom in the mid-nineties and the IT, export, services and outsourcing boom in the 2000s.", "Although Mumbai had prominently figured as the hub of economic activity of India in the 1990s, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region's contribution to India's GDP is currently declining.Recent estimates of the economy of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have ranged from $368 billion to $400 billion (PPP metro GDP) ranking it either the most or second-most productive metro area of India.", "Many of India's numerous conglomerates (including Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance), and five of the Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Mumbai.", "This is facilitated by the presence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), and financial sector regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).Until the 1970s, Mumbai owed its prosperity largely to textile mills and the seaport, but the local economy has since then diversified to include finance, engineering, diamond-polishing, healthcare and information technology.The key sectors contributing to the city's economy are: finance, gems & jewellery, leather processing, IT and ITES, textiles, petrochemical, electronics manufacturing, automobiles, and entertainment.", "Nariman Point and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) are Mumbai's major financial centres.Despite competition from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, Mumbai has carved a niche for itself in the information technology industry.", "The Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) and the International Infotech Park (Navi Mumbai) offer excellent facilities to IT companies.State and central government employees make up a large percentage of the city's workforce.", "Mumbai also has a large unskilled and semi-skilled self-employed population, who primarily earn their livelihood as hawkers, taxi drivers, mechanics, and other such blue collar professions.", "The port and shipping industry is well established, with Mumbai Port being one of the oldest and most significant ports in India.", "Dharavi, in central Mumbai, has an increasingly large recycling industry, processing recyclable waste from other parts of the city; the district has an estimated 15,000 single-room factories.As of 2023, Mumbai is home to the seventh-highest number of billionaires of any city.", "With a total wealth of around $960 billion, it is the richest Indian city and one of the richest cities in the world.", ", the Globalization and World Cities Study Group (GaWC) has ranked Mumbai as an \"Alpha world city\", third in its categories of Global cities.", "Mumbai is the third most expensive office market in the world, and was ranked among the fastest cities in the country for business startup in 2009." ], [ "Government and politics", "=== Civic administration ===Headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the largest civic organisation in the country.Greater Mumbai (or Brihanmumbai), an area of , consisting of the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts, extends from Colaba in the south, to Mulund and Dahisar in the north, and Mankhurd in the east.", "Its population as per the 2011 census was 12,442,373.It is administered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) (sometimes referred to as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai), formerly known as the ''Bombay Municipal Corporation'' (BMC).", "The BMC is in charge of the civic and infrastructure needs of the metropolis.", "The mayor, who serves for a term of two and a half years, is chosen through an indirect election by the councillors from among themselves.The municipal commissioner is the chief executive officer and head of the executive arm of the municipal corporation.", "All executive powers are vested in the municipal commissioner who is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer appointed by the state government.", "Although the municipal corporation is the legislative body that lays down policies for the governance of the city, it is the commissioner who is responsible for the execution of the policies.", "The commissioner is appointed for a fixed term as defined by state statute.", "The powers of the commissioner are those provided by statute and those delegated by the corporation or the standing committee.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was ranked 9th out of 21 cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014.It scored 3.5 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.The Bombay High Court exercises jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.\|alt=A brown building with a central tower and sloping roofs surrounded by trees.", "A grassy ground and a coconut tree are in front of it.The two revenue districts of Mumbai come under the jurisdiction of a District Collector.", "The collectors are in charge of property records and revenue collection for the central government, and oversee the national elections held in the city.The Mumbai Police is headed by a police commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.", "The Mumbai Police is a division of the Maharashtra Police, under the state Home Ministry.", "The city is divided into seven police zones and seventeen traffic police zones, each headed by a deputy commissioner of police.", "The Mumbai Traffic Police is a semi-autonomous body under the Mumbai Police.", "The Mumbai Fire Brigade, which is under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation, is headed by the chief fire officer, who is assisted by four deputy chief fire officers and six divisional officers.", "The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is responsible for infrastructure development and planning of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.Mumbai is the seat of the Bombay High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.", "Mumbai also has two lower courts, the Small Causes Court for civil matters, and the Sessions Court for criminal cases.", "Mumbai also has a special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) court for people accused of conspiring and abetting acts of terrorism in the city.=== National politics ===First session of the alt=Men in traditional Indian dresses posing for a photographMumbai had been a traditional stronghold and birthplace of the Indian National Congress, also known as the Congress Party.", "The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in Mumbai from 28 to 31 December 1885.The city played host to the Indian National Congress six times during its first 50 years, and became a strong base for the Indian independence movement during the 20th century.The 1960s saw the rise of regionalist politics in Mumbai, with the formation of the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966, under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginalisation of the native Marathi people in Mumbai.", "Shiv Sena switched from 'Marathi Cause' to larger 'Hindutva Cause' in 1985 and joined hands with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the same year.", "The Congress had dominated the politics of Mumbai from independence until the early 1980s, when the Shiv Sena won the 1985 Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections.In 1989, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major national political party, forged an electoral alliance with the Shiv Sena to dislodge the Congress in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.", "In 1999, several members left the Congress to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) but later allied with the Congress as part of an alliance known as the Democratic Front.", "Other parties such as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and several independent candidates also contest elections in the city.In the Indian national elections held every five years, Mumbai is represented by six parliamentary constituencies: North, North West, North East, North Central, South Central, and South.", "A member of parliament (MP) to the ''Lok Sabha'', the lower house of the Indian Parliament, is elected from each of the parliamentary constituencies.", "In the 2019 national election, all six parliamentary constituencies were won by the BJP and Shiv Sena in alliance, with both parties winning three seats each.Maharashtra Legislative AssemblyIn the Maharashtra state assembly elections held every five years, Mumbai is represented by 36 assembly constituencies.", "A member of the legislative assembly (MLA) to the Maharashtra ''Vidhan Sabha'' (legislative assembly) is elected from each of the assembly constituencies.", "In the 2019 state assembly election, out of the 36 assembly constituencies, 16 were won by the BJP, 11 by the Shiv Sena, 6 by the Congress, 2 by the NCP and one by independent candidate.Elections are also held every five years to elect corporators to power in the MCGM.", "The Corporation comprises 227 directly elected Councillors representing the 24 municipal wards, five nominated Councillors having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration, and a mayor whose role is mostly ceremonial.", "In the 2012 municipal corporation elections, out of the 227 seats, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance secured 107 seats, holding power with the support of independent candidates in the MCGM, while the Congress-NCP alliance bagged 64 seats.", "The tenure of the mayor, deputy mayor, and municipal commissioner is two and a half years." ], [ "Transport", "=== Public transport ===Public transport systems in Mumbai include the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Monorail, Metro, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses, black-and-yellow meter taxis, auto rickshaws and ferries.", "Suburban railway and BEST bus services together accounted for about 88% of the passenger traffic in 2008.Auto rickshaws are allowed to operate only in the suburban areas of Mumbai, while taxis are allowed to operate throughout Mumbai, but generally operate in South Mumbai.", "Taxis and Auto rickshaws in Mumbai are required by law to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), and are a convenient, economical, and easily available means of transport.==== Railway ====The Mumbai Suburban Railway, popularly referred to as Locals forms the backbone of the city's transport system.", "It is operated by the Central Railway and Western Railway zones of the Indian Railways.", "Mumbai's suburban rail systems carried a total of 63 lakh (6.3 million) passengers every day in 2007.Trains are overcrowded during peak hours, with twelve-car trains of rated capacity 1,700 passengers, actually carrying around 4,500 passengers at peak hours.", "The Mumbai rail network is spread at an expanse of 319 route kilometres.", "191 rakes (train-sets) of 12 car and 15 car composition are utilised to run a total of 2,226 train services in the city.The Mumbai Monorail and Mumbai Metro have been built and are being extended in phases to relieve the overcrowding on the existing network.", "The Monorail opened in early February 2014.The first line of the Mumbai Metro opened in early June 2014.Mumbai is the headquarters of two zones of the Indian Railways: the Central Railway (CR) headquartered at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), and the Western Railway (WR) headquartered at Churchgate.", "Mumbai is also well connected to most parts of India by the Indian Railways.", "Long-distance trains originate from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Andheri and Borivali.==== Bus ====Mumbai's bus services carried over 5.5 million passengers per day in 2008, which dropped to 2.8 million in 2015.Public buses run by BEST cover almost all parts of the metropolis, as well as parts of Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar and Thane.", "The BEST operates a total of 4,608 buses with CCTV cameras installed, ferrying 4.5 million passengers daily over 390 routes.", "Its fleet consists of single-decker, double-decker, vestibule, low-floor, disabled-friendly, air-conditioned and Euro III compliant diesel and compressed natural gas powered buses.", "BEST introduced air-conditioned buses in 1998.BEST buses are red in colour, based originally on the Routemaster buses of London.Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC, also known as ST) buses provide intercity transport connecting Mumbai with other towns and cities of Maharashtra and nearby states.", "The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) and Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) also operate their buses in Mumbai, connecting various nodes of Navi Mumbai and Thane to parts of Mumbai.Buses are generally favoured for commuting short to medium distances, while train fares are more economical for longer distance commutes.The ''Mumbai Darshan'' is a tourist bus service which explores numerous tourist attractions in Mumbai.", "Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) lanes have been planned throughout Mumbai.", "Though 88% of the city's commuters travel by public transport, Mumbai still continues to struggle with traffic congestion.", "Mumbai's transport system has been categorised as one of the most congested in the world.==== Water ====Water transport in Mumbai consists of ferries, hovercraft and catamarans.", "Services are provided by both government agencies as well as private partners.", "Hovercraft services plied briefly in the late 1990s between the Gateway of India and CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai.", "They were subsequently scrapped due to lack of adequate infrastructure.=== Road ===Mumbai is served by National Highway 48, National Highway 66, National Highway 160 and National Highway 61.The Mumbai–Chennai and Mumbai–Delhi prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral system of National Highways start from the city.", "The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was the first expressway built in India.", "The Eastern Freeway was opened in 2013.The Bandra-Worli Sea Link bridge, along with Mahim Causeway, links the island city to the western suburbs.", "The three major road arteries of the city are the Eastern Express Highway from Sion to Thane, the Sion Panvel Expressway from Sion to Panvel and the Western Express Highway from Bandra to Bhayander.", "The long Mumbai Trans Harbour Link was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 January 2024, connects Mumbai with Navi Mumbai.", "Mumbai has approximately of roads.", "There are five tolled entry points to the city by road.Mumbai had about 721,000 private vehicles as of March 2014, 56,459 black and yellow taxis , and 106,000 auto rickshaws, as of May 2013.Mumbai currently has one operational expressway–the Mumbai–Pune Expressway, which directly connects Mumbai with Pune.", "In the coming years, the great metropolis will be connected with more expressways.", "They are as follows:Delhi–Mumbai Expressway: Under construction since March 2019, to be completed by December 2023.", "Mumbai–Nagpur Expressway: Under construction since January 2019, to be completed by December 2023.", "Konkan Expressway: Proposed.=== Air ===The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (formerly Sahar International Airport) is the main aviation hub in the city and the second busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic.", "It handled 36.6 million passengers and 694,300 tonnes of cargo during FY 2014–2015.An upgrade plan was initiated in 2006, targeted at increasing the capacity of the airport to handle up to 40 million passengers annually and the new terminal T2 was opened in February 2014.The proposed Navi Mumbai International airport to be built in the Kopra-Panvel area has been sanctioned by the Indian Government and will help relieve the increasing traffic burden on the existing airport.The Juhu Aerodrome was India's first airport, and now hosts the Bombay Flying Club and a heliport operated by state-owned Pawan Hans.=== Sea ===Mumbai is served by two major ports, Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, which lies just across the creek in Navi Mumbai.", "Mumbai Port has one of the best natural harbours in the world, and has extensive wet and dry dock accommodation facilities.", "Jawaharlal Nehru Port, commissioned on 26 May 1989, is the busiest and most modern major port in India.", "It handles 55–60% of the country's total containerised cargo.", "Ferries from Ferry Wharf in Mazagaon allow access to islands near the city.The city is also the headquarters of the Western Naval Command, and also an important base for the Indian Navy." ], [ "Utility services", "Under colonial rule, tanks were the only source of water in Mumbai, with many localities having been named after them.", "The MCGM supplies potable water to the city from six lakes, most of which comes from the Tulsi and Vihar lakes.", "The Tansa lake supplies water to the western suburbs and parts of the island city along the Western Railway.", "The water is filtered at Bhandup, which is Asia's largest water filtration plant.", "India's first underground water tunnel was completed in Mumbai to supply water to the Bhandup filtration plant.Deonar dumping ground seen behind the Eastern Express Highway\|thumbAbout 700 million (70 crore) litres of water, out of a daily supply of 3.5 billion (350 crore) litres, is lost by way of water thefts, illegal connections and leakages, per day in Mumbai.", "Almost all of Mumbai's daily refuse of 7,800 metric tonnes, of which 40 metric tonnes is plastic waste, is transported to dumping grounds in Gorai in the northwest, Mulund in the northeast, and to the Deonar dumping ground in the east.", "Sewage treatment is carried out at Worli and Bandra, and disposed of by two independent marine outfalls of and at Bandra and Worli respectively.Electricity is distributed by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking in the island city, and by Adani Transmission, Tata Power and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (Mahavitaran) in the suburbs.", "Power supply cables are underground, which reduces pilferage, thefts and other losses.Cooking gas is supplied in the form of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders sold by state-owned oil companies, as well as through piped natural gas supplied by Mahanagar Gas Limited.The largest telephone service provider is the state-owned MTNL, which held a monopoly over fixed line and cellular services up until 2000, and provides fixed line as well as mobile WLL services.", "Mobile phone coverage is extensive, and the main service providers are Vodafone Essar, Airtel, MTNL, Loop Mobile, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Tata Indicom.", "Both GSM and CDMA services are available in the city.", "Mumbai, along with the area served by telephone exchanges in Navi Mumbai and Kalyan is classified as a ''Metro'' telecom circle.", "Many of the above service providers also provide broadband internet and wireless internet access in Mumbai.", ", Mumbai had the highest number of internet users in India with 16.4 million (1.64 crore) users." ], [ "Demographics", "Shri Siddhivinayak Temple is one of the most popular Hindu temples in the city.According to the 2011 census, the population of Mumbai city was 12,479,608.The population density is estimated to be about 20,482 persons per square kilometre.", "The living space is 4.5 square metres per person.", "Mumbai Metropolitan Region was home to 20,748,395 people by 2011.Greater Mumbai, the area under the administration of the MCGM, has a literacy rate of 94.7%, higher than the national average of 86.7%.", "The number of slum-dwellers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is estimated to be 90 lakh (9 million), up from 60 lakh (6 million) in 2001 which constitutes approximately 38.5% of the region.The sex ratio in 2011 was 838 females per 1,000 males in the island city, 857 in the suburbs, and 848 as a whole in Greater Mumbai, all numbers lower than the national average of 914 females per 1,000 males.", "The low sex ratio is partly because of the large number of male migrants who come to the city to work.Residents of Mumbai call themselves ''Mumbaikar'', ''Mumbaiite'', ''Bombayite'' or ''Bombaiite''.Mumbai suffers from the same major urbanization problems seen in many fast growing cities in developing countries: poverty and unemployment.", "With available land at a premium, Mumbai residents often reside in cramped, relatively expensive housing, usually far from workplaces, and therefore requiring long commutes on crowded mass transit, or clogged roadways.", "Many of them live close to bus or train stations, although suburban residents spend significant time travelling southward to the main commercial district.", "Dharavi, Asia's second largest slum (if Karachi's Orangi Town is counted as a single slum) is located in central Mumbai and houses between 800,000 and 10 lakh (one million) people in , making it one of the most densely populated areas on Earth with a population density of at least 334,728 persons per square kilometre.The number of migrants to Mumbai from outside Maharashtra during the 1991–2001 decade was 11.2 lakh (1.12 million), which amounted to 54.8% of the net addition to the population of Mumbai.The number of households in Mumbai is forecast to rise from 42 lakh (4.2 million) in 2008 to 66 lakh (6.6 million) in 2020.The number of households with annual incomes of 20 lakh (2 million) rupees will increase from 4% to 10% by 2020, amounting to 660,000 families.", "The number of households with incomes from 10 to 20 lakh (1–2 million) rupees is also estimated to increase from 4% to 15% by 2020.According to the 2016 report of the Central Pollution Control Board, Mumbai is the noisiest city in India, ahead of Lucknow, Hyderabad and Delhi.=== Ethnic groups and religions ===The religious groups represented in Greater Mumbai as of 2011 include Hindus (65.99%), Muslims (20.65%), Buddhists (4.85%), Jains (4.10%), Christians (3.27%) and Sikhs (0.49%).", "The linguistic/ethnic demographics in the Greater Mumbai Area are: Maharashtrians (32%), Gujaratis (20%), with the rest hailing from other parts of India.Native Christians include East Indian Catholics, who were converted by the Portuguese during the 16th century, while Goan and Mangalorean Catholics also constitute a significant portion of the Christian community of the city.", "Jews settled in Mumbai during the 18th century.", "The Bene Israeli Jewish community of Mumbai, who migrated from the Konkan villages, south of Mumbai, are believed to be the descendants of the Jews of Israel who were shipwrecked off the Konkan coast, probably in the year 175 BCE, during the reign of the Greek ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.", "Mumbai is also home to the largest population of Parsi Zoroastrians in the world, numbering about 60,000, however their population is declining rapidly.", "Parsis migrated to India from Greater Iran following the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century.", "The oldest Muslim communities in Mumbai include the Dawoodi Bohras, Ismaili Khojas, and Konkani Muslims.=== Language ===Marathi is the official and working language of the bureaucracy along with English.", "Mumbai has a large polyglot population like all other metropolitan cities of India.", "Sixteen major languages of India are spoken in Mumbai, with the most common being Marathi and its dialect East Indian.", "Marathi, and its dialect, as a single language is spoken by 35.30% of the population around 4,396,870 people.", "Hindi is spoken by 25.90% of the population around 3,582,719 people, making it the second largest dominant language in Mumbai.", "Many Hindi speakers are workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who migrate seasonally to Mumbai to work as labourers.", "Gujarati with 2,640,990 speakers is spoken by 20.4% of the population.Other languages spoken include Urdu by 11.69% of the population.", "English is extensively spoken and is the principal language of the city's white collar workforce.", "A colloquial form of Hindi, known as ''Bambaiya'' – a blend of Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Urdu, Indian English and some invented words – is spoken on the streets.Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tulu, Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri are other minority languages spoken in Mumbai.In the Suburbs, Marathi is spoken by 36.78% of the population and Gujarati by 31.21%." ], [ "Education", "Rajabai Clock Tower at the University of Mumbai is part of The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.=== Schools ===Schools in Mumbai are either \"municipal schools\" (run by the MCGM) or private schools (run by trusts or individuals), which in some cases receive financial aid from the government.", "The schools are affiliated with either of the following boards: Maharashtra State Board (MSBSHSE)* The All-India Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)* The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)* The Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE)* The International Baccalaureate (IB)* The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).", "Marathi or English is the usual language of instruction.The primary education system of the MCGM is the largest urban primary education system in Asia.", "The MCGM operates 1,188 primary schools imparting primary education to 485,531 students in eight languages (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada).", "The MCGM also imparts secondary education to 55,576 students through its 49 secondary schools.=== Higher education ===University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world.Under the 10+2+3/4 plan, students complete ten years of schooling and then enrol for two years in junior college, where they select one of three streams: arts, commerce, or science.", "This is followed by either a general degree course in a chosen field of study, or a professional degree course, such as law, engineering and medicine.", "Most colleges in the city are affiliated with the University of Mumbai, one of the largest universities in the world in terms of the number of graduates.The University of Mumbai is one of the premier universities in India.", "It was ranked 41 among the Top 50 Engineering Schools of the world by America's news broadcasting firm ''Business Insider'' in 2012 and was the only university in the list from the five emerging BRICS nations viz Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.", "Moreover, the University of Mumbai was ranked 5th in the list of best universities in India by ''India Today'' in 2013 and ranked at 62 in the QS BRICS University rankings for 2013, a ranking of leading universities in the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).Its strongest scores in the QS University Rankings: BRICS are for papers per faculty (8th), employer reputation (20th) and citations per paper (28th).It was ranked 10th among the top Universities of India by QS in 2013.With 7 of the top ten Indian Universities being purely science and technology universities, it was India's 3rd best Multi Disciplinary University in the QS University ranking.Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is a premier engineering institute in the country.The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), Mumbai, Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT / UICT), Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), which are India's premier engineering and technology schools, along with SNDT Women's University are the autonomous universities located in Mumbai.", "In April 2015, IIT Bombay launched the first U.S.-India joint EMBA program alongside Washington University in St. Louis.", "Thadomal Shahani Engineering College is the first and the oldest private engineering college affiliated to the federal University of Mumbai and is also pioneered to be the first institute in the city's university to offer undergraduate level courses in Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology.", "Grant Medical College established in 1845 and Seth G.S.", "Medical College are the leading medical institutes affiliated with Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals and KEM Hospital respectively.", "Mumbai is also home to the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and several other management schools.", "Government Law College and Sydenham College, respectively the oldest law and commerce colleges in India, are based in Mumbai.", "The Sir J. J.", "School of Art is Mumbai's oldest art institution.It also has one of the best law schools or universities of the country which is National Law Universities (NLU).Mumbai is home to two prominent research institutions: the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).", "The BARC operates CIRUS, a 40 MW nuclear research reactor at their facility in Trombay.Mumbai Veterinary College is the oldest and premier Veterinary College of India and Asia.", "Its foundation stone is laid in the year of 1886.The '''ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education''' ('''CIFE''') is a Deemed to be University and institution of higher learning for fisheries science in Mumbai, India.", "CIFE has over four decades of leadership in human resource development with its alumni aiding in the development of fisheries and aquaculture worldwide, producing notable contributions to research and technological advancements to its credit.", "The institute is one of four deemed to be universities operating under the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR); the other three being the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) and the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI)" ], [ "Culture", "The Asiatic Society of Mumbai is one of the oldest public libraries in the city.\|alt=A white building with a triangular façade and wide stairsMumbai's culture offers a blend of traditional and cosmopolitan festivals, food, entertainment, and night life.", "The city's cosmopolitan and urban-centric modern cultural offerings are comparable to other world capitals.", "Mumbai bears the distinction of being the most cosmopolitan city of India.", "Its history as a major trading centre and the expansion of an education middle class has led to a diverse range of cultures, religions, and cuisines coexisting in the city.", "The variety and abundance of restaurants, cinemas, theatres, sports events and museums are a product of Mumbai's unique cosmopolitan culture.Mumbai is the birthplace of Indian cinema—Dadasaheb Phalke laid the foundations with silent movies followed by Marathi talkies—and the oldest film broadcast took place in the early 20th century.", "Mumbai also has a large number of cinema halls that feature Bollywood, Marathi and Hollywood movies.", "The Mumbai International Film Festival and the award ceremony of the Filmfare Awards, the oldest and prominent film awards given for Hindi film industry in India, are held in Mumbai.", "Despite most of the professional theatre groups that formed during the British Raj having disbanded by the 1950s, Mumbai has developed a thriving \"theatre movement\" tradition in Marathi, Hindi, English, and other regional languages.Contemporary art is featured in both government-funded art spaces and private commercial galleries.", "The government-funded institutions include the Jehangir Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Modern Art.", "Built in 1833, the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is one of the oldest public libraries in the city.", "The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly The Prince of Wales Museum) is a renowned museum in South Mumbai which houses rare ancient exhibits of Indian history.Mumbai has a zoo named Jijamata Udyaan (formerly Victoria Gardens), which also harbor's a garden.", "The rich literary traditions of the city have been highlighted internationally by Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie, Aravind Adiga.", "Marathi literature has been modernized in the works of Mumbai-based authors such as Mohan Apte, Anant Kanekar, and Gangadhar Gadgil, and is promoted through an annual Sahitya Akademi Award, a literary honor bestowed by India's National Academy of Letters.Girgaum Chowpatty beach.", "Beaches are a popular tourist attraction in the city.Mumbai residents celebrate both Western and Indian festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi is the biggest and most important festival of Mumbai, There are almost 5000 Ganpati Pandals set up in the city for the celebrations.", "Other festivals like Diwali, Holi, Navratri, Christmas, Rakshabandhan, Makar Sankranti, Dussera, Eid, Durga Puja, Ram Navami, Shiv Jayanti and Maha Shivratri are some of the popular festivals in the city.", "The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is an exhibition of a world of arts that encapsulates works of artists in the fields of music, dance, theatre and films.The Banganga Festival is a two-day music festival, held annually in the month of January, which is organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) at the historic Banganga Tank in Mumbai.", "The Elephanta Festival—celebrated every February on the Elephanta Islands—is dedicated to classical Indian dance and music and attracts performers from across the country.", "Public holidays specific to the city and the state include Maharashtra Day on 1 May, to celebrate the formation of Maharashtra state on 1 May 1960, and Gudi Padwa which is the New Year's Day for Marathi people.Beaches are a major tourist attraction in the city.", "The major beaches in Mumbai are Girgaum Chowpatty, Juhu Beach, Dadar Chowpatty, Gorai Beach, Marve Beach, Versova Beach, Madh Beach, Aksa Beach and Manori Beach.", "Most of the beaches are unfit for swimming, except Girgaum Chowpatty and Juhu Beach.", "Essel World is a theme park and amusement centre situated close to Gorai Beach, and includes Asia's largest theme water park, Water Kingdom.", "Adlabs Imagica opened in April 2013 is located near the city of Khopoli off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway." ], [ "Cityscape", "Mumbai's cityscape consists of a variety of tall buildings and structures, most of which have been built in the last two decades.", "There was a significant lull in construction projects since the mid-1990s after which construction projects began taking the skyline upwards, with a major acceleration in the pace of development since 2000, when the Lower Parel area began developing.", "Mumbai with a commanding 77% share of tall buildings in India, is poised to maintain its position as the frontrunner in tall building construction due to its ability to command premium prices compared to other cities, thereby ensuring the economic viability of such developments within the city.Mumbai has more residential tall buildings rather than commercial, unlike the trend globally.", "Limited land resources and an exponential increase in urban population were the primary reasons for Mumbai's vertical growth compared to other Tier 1 Indian cities.=== Architecture ===Chhatrapati Shivaji TerminusThe architecture of the city is a blend of Gothic Revival, Indo-Saracenic, Art Deco, and other contemporary styles.", "Most of the buildings during the British period, such as the Victoria Terminus and University of Mumbai, were built in Gothic Revival style.", "Their architectural features include a variety of European influences such as German gables, Dutch roofs, Swiss timbering, Romance arches, Tudor casements, and traditional Indian features.", "There are also a few Indo-Saracenic styled buildings such as the Gateway of India.", "Art Deco styled landmarks can be found along Marine Drive and west of the Oval Maidan.", "Mumbai has the second highest number of Art Deco buildings in the world after Miami.", "In the newer suburbs, modern buildings dominate the landscape.", "Mumbai has by far the highest number of skyscrapers in India, with 956 existing skyscrapers and 272 under construction .The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC), established in 1995, formulates special regulations and by-laws to assist in the conservation of the city's heritage structures.", "Mumbai has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Elephanta Caves and the Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble.", "In the south of Mumbai, there are colonial-era buildings and Soviet-style offices.", "In the east are factories and some slums.", "On the West coast are former-textile mills being demolished and skyscrapers built on top.", "There are 237 buildings taller than 100 m, compared with 327 in Shanghai and 855 in New York." ], [ "Food" ], [ "Media", "Film City entranceBollywood, the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai, produces around 150–200 films every year.", "The name Bollywood is a blend of Bombay and Hollywood.", "The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood's popularity overseas.", "This led filmmaking to new heights in terms of quality, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances such as special effects and animation.", "Studios in Goregaon, including Film City, are the location for most movie sets.", "The city also hosts the Marathi film industry which has seen increased popularity in recent years, and TV production companies.", "Mumbai is a hub of Indian film making.", "Several other Indian language films such as Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Urdu are also occasionally shot in Mumbai.", "Slumdog Millionaire, an English language British film, was shot entirely in Mumbai and has garnered 8 Oscar awards.", "''The Times of India'''s first office is opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus where it was founded.Mumbai has numerous newspaper publications, television and radio stations.", "Marathi dailies enjoy the maximum readership share in the city and the top Marathi language newspapers are ''Maharashtra Times'', ''Navakaal'', ''Lokmat'', ''Loksatta'', ''Mumbai Chaufer'', ''Saamana'' and ''Sakaal''.", "Popular Marathi language magazines are ''Saptahik Sakaal'', ''Grihashobhika'', ''Lokrajya'', ''Lokprabha'' and ''Chitralekha''.", "Popular English language newspapers published and sold in Mumbai include ''The Times of India'', ''Mid-day'', ''Hindustan Times'', ''DNA India'' and ''The Indian Express''.", "Newspapers are also printed in other Indian languages.", "Mumbai is home to Asia's oldest newspaper, ''Bombay Samachar'', which has been published in Gujarati since 1822.", "''Bombay Durpan'', the first Marathi newspaper, was started by Balshastri Jambhekar in 1832.Numerous Indian and international television channels can be watched in Mumbai through one of the Pay TV companies or the local cable television providers.", "The metropolis is also the hub of many international media corporations, with many news channels and print publications having a major presence.", "The national television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free terrestrial channels, while three main cable networks serve most households.The wide range of cable channels available includes Zee Marathi, Zee Talkies, ETV Marathi, Star Pravah, Mi Marathi, DD Sahyadri (All Marathi channels), news channels such as ABP Majha, IBN-Lokmat, Zee 24 Taas, sports channels like ESPN, Star Sports, National entertainment channels like Colors TV, Sony, Zee TV and Star Plus, business news channels like CNBC Awaaz, Zee Business, ET Now and Bloomberg UTV.", "News channels entirely dedicated to Mumbai include Sahara Samay Mumbai.", "Zing a popular Bollywood gossip channel is also based out of Mumbai.", "Satellite television (DTH) has yet to gain mass acceptance, due to high installation costs.", "Prominent DTH entertainment services in Mumbai include Dish TV and Tata Sky.There are twelve radio stations in Mumbai, with nine broadcasting on the FM band, and three All India Radio stations broadcasting on the AM band.", "Mumbai also has access to Commercial radio providers such as Sirius.", "The Conditional Access System (CAS) started by the Union Government in 2006 met a poor response in Mumbai due to competition from its sister technology Direct-to-Home (DTH) transmission service." ], [ "Sports", "Cricket is more popular than any other sport in Mumbai.", "It is home to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Indian Premier League (IPL).", "Mumbai's first-class team Mumbai cricket team has won 41 Ranji Trophy titles, the most by any team.", "The city based Mumbai Indians compete in the Indian Premier League.", "Mumbai has two international cricket stadiums, the Wankhede Stadium and the Brabourne Stadium.", "The first cricket test match in India was played in Mumbai at the Bombay Gymkhana.", "The biggest cricketing event to be staged in the city so far is the final of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup which was played at the Wankhede Stadium.", "Mumbai and London are the only two cities to have hosted both a World Cup final and the final of an ICC Champions Trophy which was played at the Brabourne Stadium in 2006.Football is another popular sport in the city, with the FIFA World Cup and the English Premier League being followed widely.", "The Mumbai City FC of Indian Super League (ISL) play their home matches at the Mumbai Football Arena.", "While the I-League 2 club Mumbai Kenkre FC uses the Cooperage Ground as home ground.", "When the Elite Football League of India was introduced in August 2011, Mumbai was noted as one of eight cities to be awarded a team for the inaugural season.Mumbai's first professional American football franchise, the Mumbai Gladiators, played its first season, in Pune, in late 2012.In Hockey, Mumbai is home to the Mumbai Marines and Mumbai Magicians in the World Series Hockey and Hockey India League respectively.", "Matches in the city are played at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium.The Indian Badminton League (IBL), now known as the Premier Badminton League is also visiting Mumbai since its inaugural edition in 2013 when the final was held in Mumbai's National Sports Club of India.", "In the second season, the final of the 2016 Premier Badminton League was held between home-squad Mumbai Rockets and the Delhi Dashers (formerly Delhi Acers), the visitors eventually claiming the title.", "The opening ceremony was also held in Mumbai while the finals in Delhi.In the 2017 Premier Badminton League (also known as Vodafone PBL 2017 for sponsorship reasons) the Mumbai Rockets beat the Hyderabad Hunters 3–1 to proceed to the final.", "In the final they lost 3–4 to the Chennai Smashers.U Mumba is the team representing Mumbai in the country's professional Kabaddi league, Pro Kabaddi.", "The Mumbai Leg of Pro Kabaddi is held at the NSCI, Worli.Rugby is another growing sport in Mumbai with league matches being held at the Bombay Gymkhana from June to November.Every February, Mumbai holds derby races at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse.", "Mcdowell's Derby is also held in February at the Turf Club in Mumbai.", "In March 2004, the Mumbai Grand Prix was part of the F1 powerboat world championship, and the Force India F1 team car was unveiled in the city, in 2008.In 2004, the annual Mumbai Marathon was established as a part of \"The Greatest Race on Earth\".", "Mumbai had also played host to the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open, an International Series tournament of the ATP World Tour, in 2006 and 2007.Mumbai will host the 140th IOC Session in 2023.", "'''Regional and Professional Sports Teams from Mumbai'''Team/ClubTournament/LeagueSportVenueEstablishedMumbai cricket teamRanji TrophyVijay Hazare TrophySyed Musthaq Ali TrophyCricketWankhede StadiumBrabourne Stadium1930Maharashtra football teamSantosh TrophyFootball –1941Kenkre FCI-LeagueFootballCooperage Ground2000 Mumbai IndiansIndian Premier LeagueCricketWankhede StadiumBrabourne Stadium2008 Mumbai MarinesWorld Series HockeyField hockeyMahindra Hockey Stadium2011Mumbai GladiatorsElite Football League of IndiaAmerican football –2012 Mumbai MagiciansHockey India LeagueField hockeyMahindra Hockey Stadium2012Mumbai RocketsPremier Badminton LeagueBadmintonNational Sports Club of India2013Mumbai City FCIndian Super LeagueFootballMumbai Football Arena2014 U MumbaPro Kabaddi LeagueKabaddiSardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium2014Mumbai Tennis MastersChampions Tennis LeagueTennisKalina Stadium2014Mumbai ChallengersUBA Pro Basketball LeagueBasketball –2015'''Former Regional and Professional Sports Teams from Mumbai'''Team/ClubTournament/LeagueSportVenueEstablishedCeasedMumbai ChampsIndian Cricket LeagueCricketN/A20072009Mumbai MastersPremier Badminton LeagueBadmintonNational Sports Club of India20132016" ], [ "International relations", "===Twin towns and sister cities===Source: ''Hindustan Times''" ], [ "See also", "* Geology of Mumbai* List of tallest buildings in Mumbai* List of people from Mumbai* List of twin towns and sister cities in India" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Sources", " * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * " ], [ "External links", " * * * * *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Miami Dolphins" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Miami Dolphins''' are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area.", "The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division.", "The team plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, a northern suburb of Miami.", "The team is owned by Stephen M. Ross.", "The Dolphins are the oldest professional sports team in Florida.", "Of the four AFC East teams, the Dolphins are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League (AFL).", "The Dolphins were also one of the first professional football teams in the southeast, along with the Atlanta Falcons.The Dolphins were founded by Joe Robbie, an attorney and politician, and Danny Thomas, an actor and comedian.", "They began play in the AFL in 1966.The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946, before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.", "For the first few years, the Dolphins' full-time training camp and practice facilities were at Saint Andrew's School, a private, boys boarding prep school in Boca Raton.", "Miami joined the NFL as a result of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger.The team played in its first Super Bowl in Super Bowl VI, losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 24–3.The following year, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season, culminating in a Super Bowl win, winning all 14 of their regular-season games, and all three of their playoff games, including Super Bowl VII.", "They were the third NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season, and remain the only team to do so including playoffs since the AFL-NFL merger, the time known as the Super Bowl era.", "The next year, the Dolphins won Super Bowl VIII, becoming the first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team (the first AFL/AFC team) to win back-to-back championships.", "Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.For most of their early history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history in terms of total games won.", "Under Shula, the Dolphins posted losing records in only two of his 26 seasons as the head coach.", "During the period spanning 1983 to the end of 1999, quarterback Dan Marino became one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records.", "Marino led the Dolphins to five division titles, 10 playoff appearances, and an appearance in Super Bowl XIX before retiring following the 1999 season.Since Marino's retirement, they have experienced mediocre levels of success and have just six playoff appearances (2000, 2001, 2008, 2016, 2022, and 2023) and two division titles (2000 and 2008) with one playoff win.", "They currently have the longest postseason win drought in the NFL." ], [ "Franchise history", "1972 season by defeating the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.The Miami Dolphins joined the American Football League (AFL) when an expansion franchise was awarded to lawyer Joseph Robbie and actor Danny Thomas in 1965 for $7.5 million, although Thomas would eventually sell his stake in the team to Robbie.", "During the summer of 1966, the Dolphins' training camp was in St. Pete Beach with practices in August at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport.The Dolphins were the worst team with a 15–39–2 record in their first four seasons under head coach George Wilson, before Don Shula was hired as head coach.", "Shula was a Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts, after losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFL's New York Jets, and finishing 8–5–1 the following season.", "Shula got his first NFL coaching job from then-Detroit head coach George Wilson, who hired him as the defensive coordinator.", "The AFL merged with the NFL in 1970, and the Dolphins were assigned to the AFC East division in the NFL's new American Football Conference.For the rest of the 20th century, the Shula-led Dolphins emerged as one of the most dominant teams in the NFL, with only two losing seasons between 1970 and 1999.They were extremely successful in the 1970s, completing the first complete perfect season in NFL history by finishing with a 14–0 regular-season record in 1972 and winning the Super Bowl that year.", "It was the first of two consecutive Super Bowl wins and one of three appearances in a row.", "The 1980s and 1990s were also moderately successful.", "The early 80s teams made two Super Bowls despite losing both times and saw the emergence of future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who went on to break numerous NFL passing records, holding many of them until the late 2000s.", "After winning every game against the division rival Buffalo Bills in the 1970s, the two teams gradually developed a competitive rivalry in the 80s and 90s, often competing for AFC supremacy when Jim Kelly emerged as the quarterback for the Bills.", "The Dolphins have also maintained a strong rivalry with the New York Jets throughout much of their history.Joe Robbie, founder and former principal owner of the Dolphins (1966–1990)A statue of coach Don Shula outside of Hard Rock StadiumFollowing the retirements of Marino and Shula and the rise of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, the Dolphins suffered a decline in the 2000s and 2010s.", "During this period, the team's level of play was largely described as mediocre.", "They have only made the playoffs four times since Marino's retirement and have largely been unable to find a consistent quarterback to replace him.", "The team suffered a franchise-worst 1–15 season in 2007.They rebounded the following season, becoming the first team in NFL history to win their division and make a playoff appearance following a league-worst season.", "That same season, the Dolphins upset the New England Patriots on the road during Week 3 thanks to the use of the gimmick Wildcat offense, which handed the Patriots their first regular-season loss since December 10, 2006, in which coincidentally, they were also beaten by the Dolphins.", "However, this success in 2008 proved to be an outlier during this period in the franchise's history; to date, it is the last season the Dolphins won the AFC East.", "However, the Dolphins have been competitive against the Patriots despite their decline, with notable wins coming in 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, and 2019.Until 2020, they were also the last team in the AFC East to win the division championship aside from the Patriots, doing so in 2008." ], [ "Championships", "===Super Bowl championships=== Season Coach Super Bowl Location Opponent Score Record Don Shula VII L.A. Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles) Washington Redskins 14–7 17–0 VIII Rice Stadium (Houston) Minnesota Vikings 24–7 15–2 '''Total Super Bowls won:''' '''2'''===AFC championships=== Season Coach Location Opponent Score Record 1971 Don Shula Orange Bowl (Miami) Baltimore Colts 21–0 12–4–1 1972 Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh) Pittsburgh Steelers 21–17 17–0 1973 Orange Bowl (Miami) Oakland Raiders 27–10 15–2 1982 New York Jets 14–0 10–3 1984 Pittsburgh Steelers 45–28 16–3 '''Total AFC Championships won:''' '''5'''" ], [ "Rivalries", "=== New England Patriots ===The Dolphins dominated the New England Patriots during the 1970s and the 1990s, but there were some notable moments as well, including a 1982 game now known as the Snowplow Game.", "Fortunes changed when Tom Brady became the franchise quarterback for the Patriots, and during his tenure with the Patriots, New England dominated the AFC, especially the AFC East, winning 16 of 17 division titles between 2003 and 2019, with the Dolphins winning the only non-Patriots division title in that time frame when Brady was out due to injury.", "Miami posed the biggest divisional challenge to the Brady-led Patriots, however, winning more games against them than the Bills or Jets did during that era.Notable wins over New England by the Dolphins include the Miracle in Miami, which involved a dramatic last-minute game-winning touchdown that paralleled \"The Night that Courage Wore Orange\", where in 2004, the Dolphins, at 2–11, upset the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots 28–29, and handed them the second of their 2 losses that season.", "The rivalry briefly intensified in 2005 when Nick Saban, Bill Belichick's former Browns defensive coordinator was hired as their new head coach and when Saban nearly signed quarterback Drew Brees, as well as in 2008, when the two teams battled for the AFC East division title.", "Miami and New England are also the only two franchises to have posted undefeated regular-season records since the NFL-AFL merger, with Miami going 14–0 in 1972 and New England going 16–0 in 2007, but only the 1972 Dolphins were able to win the Super Bowl.=== Buffalo Bills ===The Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills have a long-standing rivalry, as there are stark characteristic differences between the cities of Miami and Buffalo, especially in climate and culture.", "The rivalry was extremely lopsided in favor of Miami during the 1970s, as the Dolphins won all 20 games against the Bills during that decade.", "Fortunes changed in the 1980s and 1990s when Jim Kelly became the Bills' starting quarterback.", "Though both teams were extremely dominant during that period, the Bills ultimately held the edge and dominated the Dolphins during their four playoff matchups in the 1990s, with the Dolphins' only playoff win coming after Kelly's retirement.", "With the rise of Tom Brady and the Patriots during the 2000s and the retirements of Kelly and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, the Bills-Dolphins rivalry faded in relevance, but remains somewhat intense to this day.", "Some former Dolphins have gone to play for the Bills as well, most notably Dan Carpenter, Chris Hogan, and Charles Clay.In the 2020s, the rivalry sharpened, with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, drafted in 2020, leading a resurgent Dolphins team against the Josh Allen-led Bills, who had gained a streak of success after Brady's departure from the Patriots and the division.", "Though Allen's career record against Miami currently stands at 9–2, Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to their first win over Bills in 8 games in 2022, and the Dolphins played the Bills tightly in the teams' two other meetings that year despite losing both, including the playoffs.=== New York Jets ===The New York Jets are perhaps Miami's most bitter rivals.", "Dolphins fans despise the Jets due to the sheer amount of New York City transplants who have moved to South Florida and the Jets' usual cocky demeanor.", "Just as the Bills-Dolphins rivalry is motivated by differences, the Dolphins-Jets series is also notable for the differences between New York and Miami.", "Unlike the former, this rivalry has been more consistent over the years.", "Some of the more memorable moments in this rivalry include Dan Marino's fake spike, Vinny Testaverde leading the Jets to a notable comeback on Monday Night Football, and former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington signing with the Dolphins and leading them to a divisional title.", "The two teams have also played in the 1982 AFC Championship, with Miami winning to face the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII.=== Tampa Bay Buccaneers ===Since the founding of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, the Dolphins and Buccaneers have shared a mellow in-state rivalry and were the only two teams in Florida until the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995.=== Jacksonville Jaguars ===The Dolphins have taken part in a minor rivalry with the Jacksonville Jaguars as both teams are the only two AFC franchises located in Florida.", "The two teams first met during the 1998 NFL season on a Monday Night Football matchup.", "Both teams later met in the 1999 AFC Divisional Round in what would ultimately be the final career game for Dolphins' hall-of-fame quarterback Dan Marino.", "The Dolphins entered the game as heavy underdogs as they had finished the 1999 season 9–7, securing the lowest wild card berth.", "Meanwhile; the Jaguars had boasted an impressive 14–2 campaign under pro-bowl quarterback Mark Brunell; culminating in the Jaguars destroying Miami in a 62–7 blowout loss.", "The Jaguars managed an improbable upset victory during the 2021 Season as the team had declined severely under controversial head coach Urban Meyer.", "Despite this; the Jaguars managed a comeback victory against the Dolphins in London during week 6.The teams are tied 5–5 all time, though the Jaguars lead 1–0 in the postseason.=== Indianapolis Colts ===When the then-Baltimore Colts were inserted into the AFC East following the AFL/NFL merger, they sparked a heated rivalry with the Dolphins, as a controversy involving the hiring of former Colts coach Don Shula forced Miami to forfeit a first-round draft pick.", "The Dolphins and Colts faced off several times in the AFC playoffs during the 1970s, including the AFC championship game leading up to Super Bowl VI, which the Dolphins lost to the Dallas Cowboys.", "The rivalry cooled down in the 1980s after the Colts struggled and moved to Indianapolis, but heated up once again in the late 90s until the Colts were reassigned into the AFC South as a result of the 2002 realignment of the NFL's divisions.=== Other AFC rivals ===The Dolphins also share historic rivalries with other AFC teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Pittsburgh Steelers, stemming from often competing against these teams in the playoffs during the Don Shula era.The Dolphins won a notable pair of games against the Kansas City Chiefs, defeating them in \"The Longest Game\", the final game in Municipal Stadium, and then the first regular season game at Arrowhead Stadium in 1972." ], [ "Facilities", "===Stadiums===Hard Rock Stadium in 2012.Miami Orange Bowl, the former home of the Dolphins (1966–1986)The Dolphins originally played all home games in the Orange Bowl in Miami.", "They moved to the new Joe Robbie Stadium after the 1986 season.", "From 1993 to 2011, the Dolphins shared the stadium with Major League Baseball's Florida Marlins (now known as the Miami Marlins).", "The venue has had multiple naming rights deals since 1996, carrying the names Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, LandShark Stadium, Sun Life Stadium, New Miami Stadium and, as of August 2016, Hard Rock Stadium.", "The facility is located in Miami Gardens, a suburb of Miami located approximately north of downtown Miami.", "The Miami Dolphins share Hard Rock Stadium with the NCAA Miami Hurricanes.", "The 2015–2016 season was the first season in the newly renovated Hard Rock Stadium.", "The Dolphins spent more than two years and over $400 million on a major overhaul to Hard Rock Stadium.", "Every seat was replaced and the lower-level seats were moved closer to the field.", "There are roughly 10,000 fewer seats.===Training===St.", "Petersburg Beach hosted the Dolphins' first training camp in 1966.St.", "Andrew's School in Boca Raton hosted training camp in the late 1960s.", "The Dolphins subsequently trained in Miami Gardens at Biscayne College, later renamed St. Thomas University, from 1970 until 1993.In 1993, the Dolphins opened the Miami Dolphins Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.", "In 2006, the facility added a domed field that allows the team to practice during thunderstorms which are common in the area during the summer.In 2021, the Dolphins opened a new, 135 million training facility, dubbed the Baptist Health Training Complex, the Dolphins will practice in.", "The complex is located next to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens." ], [ "Franchise information", "===Logos and uniforms=======Leaping dolphin (1966–2012)====Miami's wordmark logo (1980–1996)RB Mercury Morris's 1972 jersey at the Pro Football Hall of FameThe Dolphins logo and uniforms remained fairly consistent from the team's founding through 2012.The team's colors were originally aqua and coral, with the coral color paying tribute to the Miami Seahawks and to the many natural coral reefs in Biscayne Bay.", "The team's original logo consisted of a sunburst with a leaping dolphin wearing a football helmet bearing the letter M. At their debut in 1966, a lighter & brighter orange was used instead of the deep coral color.", "The dolphin's head was near the center of the sunburst.", "In the 1967 season, the dolphin was centered on the sunburst, but it reverted to the original placement between 1968 and 1973.By 1974, the dolphin's body was centered on the sunburst in a slightly smaller logo than the 1967 version.", "The uniforms featured white pants with aqua and orange stripes, paired with either a white or aqua jersey.", "On the white jersey, aqua block numbers and names were outlined in orange, with aqua and orange sleeve stripes.", "Starting with the 1972 perfect season, these uniforms were used as the primary uniforms for road games and daytime home games, due to the extreme heat of South Florida.", "The team also had an aqua jersey used mainly for night home games or road games in which the opponent chose to wear white.", "The aqua jersey featured white block numbers and names with an orange outline, and orange and white sleeve stripes.An update was given to the logo in 1997 – the sunburst was simplified and the dolphin was darkened and given a more serious game-face expression.", "The uniforms remained the same; however, a different block number font was used and navy drop shadows were added.On very rare occasions, an orange jersey was used for primetime games.", "The uniforms essentially swapped the location of orange and aqua from the aqua jersey.", "The orange jersey was first used on a Sunday night in 2003 against Washington, a Dolphin win.", "In 2004, the orange jersey was brought back for an ''Monday Night Football'' match pitting the 2–11 Dolphins against the 12–1 defending champion New England Patriots.", "The Dolphins scored a huge upset win after trailing by 11 points with less than 5 minutes remaining.", "Due to the unusual orange jerseys, the game has become known within some Dolphin circles as \"The Night That Courage Wore Orange\".", "The orange jerseys were used for a 2009 Monday night win against the New York Jets.", "However, the Dolphins would lose a 2010 Sunday night matchup with the Jets, their first loss in orange, and the orange jerseys in the original style would not be worn again.In 2009, the Dolphins switched to black shoes for the first time since the early 1970s glory days, following a recent trend among NFL teams.", "However, by 2011, they returned to wearing white shoes.The Dolphins' final game in the original style uniforms with block numbers and the iconic leaping dolphin logo was the final game of the 2012 season, a 28–0 shutout loss to the New England Patriots in Foxboro.", "The white jerseys were worn for the game, and as rumors of a new look had been swirling, many fans watching knew that it would likely be the last time their team would wear the leaping dolphin logo.====Stylized swimming dolphin (2013–present)====A new logo and new uniforms were unveiled shortly before the 2013 NFL Draft.", "The new logo features a stylized aqua dolphin swimming in front of a heavily modified version of the orange sunburst.", "The dolphin in the logo is more vague and artistic, and is not wearing a helmet as it is merely a silhouette of a dolphin cast in aqua and navy.Navy was incorporated as featured color for the first time, with orange becoming greatly de-emphasized.", "The uniforms feature both white pants and aqua pants, with a white or aqua jersey.", "The Dolphins continue to wear white at home, just as they had with the previous uniforms, with aqua being used for primetime home games.", "The white jersey features aqua numbers and names in a unique custom font, with orange and navy outlines on the numbers; however, the names only use navy as an outline color.", "The aqua jerseys use white numbers with an orange and aqua outline, and white names with a navy outline.", "The helmets are white with a white facemask, just like the final years of the previous look; however, navy is a prominent color on the helmet stripe, joining aqua and a de-emphasized orange.", "Both jerseys have large \"Dolphins\" text above the numbers, written in the team's new script.", "The pants are either aqua or white, and contain no markings other than a small team wordmark.In 2018, the team made some slight modifications to the logo and uniform set: The shades of orange and aqua were tweaked, and navy blue was removed from the color scheme, only remaining on the logo.====Throwback uniforms====In 2015, the Dolphins brought back their 1970s aqua uniforms for a few select games.", "Four years later, they brought back a white version from the same era as a second alternate uniform.", "The aqua throwbacks were worn during the now-famous 2018 Miracle in Miami play against the Patriots.====Color Rush uniform====On September 29, 2016, the Dolphins debuted their new Color Rush uniform in a Thursday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.", "The all-orange uniform marked the first time since 2010 that the Dolphins wore an orange uniform.", "However, the set was only used for that game as the Dolphins immediately retired the uniform soon after.In later years, the Dolphins wore similar all-aqua or all-white uniforms in select games as the NFL gradually relaxed its rules regarding hosiery.===Fight song===The song was written and composed by Lee Ofman, and has similar instrumentation and lyrics to the fight song of the Houston Oilers.", "Ofman approached the Dolphins with it before the 1972 season because he wanted music to inspire his favorite team.", "The fight song would soon serve as a good luck charm for the Dolphins that season.", "The Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to record an undefeated season, going 17–0 en route to victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.", "The following season, Miami posted an equally impressive 15–2 record and capped the season with another title, defeating the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII.", "The back-to-back championship runs, coupled with the popularity of the fight song amongst Dolphins fans, have ensured the song's longevity.", "The Dolphins revealed a new fight song by T-Pain and Jimmy Buffett featuring Pitbull on August 7, 2009, which was introduced for the 2009 NFL season.", "The fight song was played during the preseason home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on August 17, 2009, but was not played during the second preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on August 22, 2009, after being booed heavily in the first game.", "Furthermore, the team has preferred to play Buffett's song \"Fins\" after scores during the 2009 regular season instead of the traditional fight song.===Cheerleaders===Miami Dolphins CheerleadersThe team's cheerleaders are known collectively as the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.", "The company had its debut in 1978 as the Dolphins Starbrites.", "(The name referred to the co-sponsor, Starbrite Car Polish.)", "The cheerleaders' founding choreographer was June Taylor, famed colleague of Jackie Gleason, who led the squad until her retirement in 1990.===Special Teams/Volunteer Program===In April 2010, the Dolphins started the first Volunteer Program in the NFL.", "Special Teams is a unique volunteer organization created to enlist and mobilize the ongoing services of the community with the Dolphins staff, players and alumni.", "The mission of the Special Teams is to offer hands-on services to communities and families in need, to partner with existing organizations on worthwhile social, civic and charitable programs, to provide assistance at Miami Dolphins Foundation events, and to support community efforts in times of emergency.", "This program is headed by Leslie Nixon and Sergio Xiques.", "Since its inception, Special Teams has given over 250,000 community services hours to the South Florida and Mexico community.===Mascots=======T.D.====(\"The Dolphin\")On Friday, April 18, 1997, the first \"official\" mascot of the Miami Dolphins was introduced.", "The 7-foot mascot made his public debut on April 19 at Pro Player Stadium during the team's draft-day party.", "The team then made a \"Name the Mascot\" contest that drew over 13,000 entries covering all 50 states and 22 countries.", "529 names were suggested.", "The winning entry was announced at the annual Dolphins Awards Banquet on June 4, 1997.====Dolfan Denny====Denny Sym cheered on the Miami Dolphins for 33 years as a one-man sideline show, leading Miami crowds in cheers and chants in his glittering coral (orange) and aqua hat from the Dolphins' first game in 1966 until 2000.Sym died on March 18, 2007.He was 72.====Flipper====\"Flipper\" (former mascot)From 1966 to 1968, and in the 1970s a live dolphin was situated in a water tank in the open (east) end of the Orange Bowl.", "He would jump in the tank to celebrate touchdowns and field goals.", "The tank that was set up in the 1970s was manufactured by Evan Bush and maintained during the games by Evan Bush and Dene Whitaker.", "Flipper was removed from the Orange Bowl after 1968 to save costs, and in the 1970s due to stress." ], [ "Radio and television", "In August 2010, the team launched its own regional TV \"network\".", "The Dolphins Television Network comprises 10 South Florida TV stations that agreed to carry the team-produced coverage.", "Preseason games are broadcast on television through WFOR-TV in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, WTVX in West Palm Beach, WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, and WRDQ in Orlando.", "Longtime TV and radio personality Dick Stockton provides play-by-play commentary, with Dolphins Hall-of-Fame QB Bob Griese and former Dolphins WR Nat Moore providing color commentary.", "The radio broadcast team features Jimmy Cefalo providing play-by-play commentary and Joe Rose providing color commentary during preseason games, along with Griese for regular-season games.", "Griese replaced longtime color commentator Jim Mandich, who played for the Dolphins under Don Shula.", "Mandich lost his fight with cancer in 2011, opening the door for Griese as his replacement.", "Radio coverage as of the 2023 season will be provided by WINZ (940 AM) and WBGG-FM (105.9 FM).", "Additionally, games can also be heard in Spanish on WNMA (1210 AM), with Raúl Striker Jr. and Joaquin Duro providing play-by-play and color commentary, respectively.CBS-owned WFOR, in addition to preseason telecasts, airs most of the Dolphins' regular season games.", "If the team hosts an interconference opponent or plays on a Thursday night, WSVN, the local Fox affiliate will have the games being televised.", "When playing on Sunday night, the team's matches will be broadcast on WTVJ, the NBC O&O station.The Dolphins' radio affiliates:===English=== City Call sign Frequency Miami/Fort Lauderdale WINZ 940 AM WBGG-FM 105.9 FM Fort Myers WRXK-FM 96.1 FM Key West WKWF 1600 AM Orlando WDBO 580 AM Port St. Lucie WPSL 1590 AM West Palm Beach WUUB 106.3 FM===Spanish=== City Call sign Frequency Miami/Fort Lauderdale WNMA 1210 AM West Palm Beach WEFL 760 AM" ], [ "Season-by-season records" ], [ "Players", "===Current roster======Players of note===Hall of Fame WR Paul WarfieldHall of Fame FB Larry CsonkaHall of Fame QB Bob GrieseHall of Fame G Larry LittleHall of Fame QB Dan Marino===Miami Dolphins in the Pro Football Hall of Fame===The Dolphins currently have ten players, and one coach enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that have spent the majority (or entirety) of their careers, or made significant contributions with the Miami Dolphins.", "Three other players and four coaches/contributors that have spent only a \"minor portion\" of their careers with the Dolphins, have also been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but have been enshrined primarily with other teams.", "'''Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame primarily as a Miami Dolphin''''''Jersey Number Retired''' '''Miami Dolphins Hall of Famers''' Players No.", "Name Position Season(s) Inducted 42 '''Paul Warfield''' WR 1970–1974 1983 '''39''' '''Larry Csonka''' FB 1968–1974, 1979 1987 62 '''Jim Langer''' C 1970–1979 1987 '''12''' '''Bob Griese''' QB 1967–1980 1990 66 '''Larry Little''' G 1969–1980 1993 57 '''Dwight Stephenson''' C 1980–1987 1998 85 '''Nick Buoniconti''' LB 1969–1974, 1976 2001 '''13''' '''Dan Marino''' QB 1983–1999 2005 34 Thurman Thomas RB 2000 2007 88 Cris Carter WR 2002 2013 55 Junior Seau LB 2003–2005 2015 99 '''Jason Taylor''' DE 1997–2007, 2009, 2011 2017 54 '''Zach Thomas LB 1996–2007 2023 Coaches and executives Name Position Season(s) Inducted '''Don Shula''' Head coach 1970–1995 1997 Bill Parcells Executive VP of Football Operations 2008–2010 2013 Bobby Beathard Director of Player Personnel 1972–1977 2018 Jimmy Johnson Head coach 1996–1999 2020 George Young Director of Personnel and Pro Scouting 1975–1978 2020===Retired numbers===The Miami Dolphins currently have three retired jersey numbers:* No.", "12 for Bob Griese, which was retired on a ''Monday Night Football'' broadcast in 1985.", "* No.", "13 for Dan Marino, which was retired on September 17, 2000, during halftime of the \"Ravens @ Dolphins\" game on ''Sunday Night Football''.", "* No.", "39 for Larry Csonka, which was retired on December 9, 2002 (30th anniversary of Miami's \"1972 Undefeated Team\"), during halftime of the \"Bears @ Dolphins\" game on ''Monday Night Football''.The Dolphins have other numbers that have currently not been issued to any player, or are currently in reduced circulation, but not yet officially retired.", "They include:* No.", "54 for Zach Thomas* No.", "99 for Jason Taylor===Individual award winners===Listed below are the individuals who have won the following NFL, Super Bowl, and Pro Bowl MVP awards, the Offensive and Defensive Rookie and Player of the Year awards, the Comeback Player of the Year winners, the winners of the prestigious NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, and the winner of the Coach of the Year Award for the Miami Dolphins.", "'''Bold''' indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.", "'''NFL MVP winners''' Season Player Position 1984 '''Dan Marino''' QB '''Super Bowl MVP winners''' Super Bowl Player PositionVIIJake ScottSVIII'''Larry Csonka'''FB '''Pro Bowl MVP winners''' Pro Bowl Player Position1973Garo YepremianK2002Ricky WilliamsRB2011Brandon MarshallWR '''NFL Offensive Player of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1984'''Dan Marino'''QB '''NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1973Dick AndersonS1983Doug BettersDE2006'''Jason Taylor'''DE '''NFL Comeback Player of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1972Earl MorrallQB1979'''Larry Csonka'''FB1994'''Dan Marino'''QB2008Chad PenningtonQB '''NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1987Troy StradfordRB '''NFL/AFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1968Dick AndersonS1977A.", "J. DuheLB1994Tim BowensDT '''NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year winners''' Season Player Position1985'''Dwight Stephenson'''C1998'''Dan Marino'''QB2007'''Jason Taylor'''DE '''NFL Coach of the Year winners''' Season Coach1972'''Don Shula'''===NFL All-Decade Team and 100th Anniversary All-Time Team selections===The following are Miami Dolphins (players and/or coaches) who have been selected to an \"All-Decade Team\", or the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee.", "'''Bold''' indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.", "'''1970s All-Decade Team selections''' No.", "Player Position Tenure — '''Don Shula''' Head coach 1970–1995 62 '''Jim Langer''' C 1970–1979 66 '''Larry Little''' G 1969–1980 42 '''Paul Warfield''' WR 1970–1974 40 Dick Anderson S 1968–1977 1 Garo Yepremian K 1970–1978 '''1980s All-Decade Team selections''' No.", "Player Position Tenure 57 '''Dwight Stephenson''' C 1980–1987 4 Reggie Roby P 1983–1992 '''1990s All-Decade Team selections'''No.PlayerPositionTenure 78 Richmond Webb OT 1990–2000 '''2000s All-Decade Team selections''' No.", "Player Position Tenure 99 '''Jason Taylor''' DE 1997–2007, 2009, 2011 54 '''Zach Thomas''' LB 1996–2007 '''2010s All-Decade Team selections''' No.", "Player Position Tenure 93 Ndamukong Suh DT 2015–2017 21 Frank Gore RB 2018 '''NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team selections''' No.", "Player Position Tenure — '''Don Shula''' Head coach 1970–1995 42 '''Paul Warfield''' WR 1970–1974 57 '''Dwight Stephenson''' C 1980–1987 13 '''Dan Marino''' QB 1983–1999 55 '''Junior Seau''' LB 2003–2005===Pro Bowl selections===Jason TaylorHall of Fame LB Zach ThomasMany former and current Miami Dolphins players have represented the franchise in the Pro Bowl (or the AFL All-Star Game).", "Below is a list of current or former players that play or have played for the Miami Dolphins that have been selected to at least five Pro Bowls.", "'''Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame''' '''Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl selections''' No.", "of Pro Bowls Player Position Tenure Pro Bowl years9''''''QB1983–19991983–19871991–19921994–19958''''''QB1967–19801967–19681970–19711973–19741977–19787''''''LB1996–20071999–20032005–2006OT1990–20001990–1996G1970–19841974–19751977–19781982–19836''''''C1970–19791973–19786''''''DE1997–2007, 2009, 20112000, 2002, 2004–2007DT1977–19861979, 1981–1984WR1983–19921984–1986, 1988, 19915''''''FB1968–1974, 19791970–19745''''''G1969–19801969, 1971–1974LB1986–19931986–1990S1970–19751971–1975DE1969–19761969, 1971–19745''''''C1980–19871983–1987DE2009–20182010, 2012–2014, 20165''''''WR1970–19741970–1974===50 greatest players===In 2015, to commemorate the Miami Dolphins' 50th NFL season, the Dolphins organization announced through voting from the South Florida Media and Miami Dolphin fans the results of the 50 greatest players in Miami Dolphins franchise history.", "The results were announced during halftime on Monday Night Football between the Dolphins and the Giants.", "Here are the 50 greatest Dolphins broken down by position.", "'''Bold''' indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.", "'''Offense:'''* QB: '''Bob Griese''', '''Dan Marino''', Earl Morrall* HB: Jim Kiick, Mercury Morris, Tony Nathan, Ricky Williams* FB: '''Larry Csonka'''* WR: Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, O.J.", "McDuffie, Nat Moore, '''Paul Warfield'''* TE: Bruce Hardy, Keith Jackson, Jim Mandich* C: '''Jim Langer''', Mike Pouncey, '''Dwight Stephenson'''* G: Bob Kuechenberg, '''Larry Little''', Ed Newman, Keith Sims * T: Norm Evans, Richmond Webb'''Defense:'''* DT: Bob Baumhower, Tim Bowens, Manny Fernandez* DE: Doug Betters, Vern Den Herder, Bill Stanfill, '''Jason Taylor''', Cameron Wake * LB: Kim Bokamper, Bob Brudzinski, '''Nick Buoniconti''', Bryan Cox, A. J. Duhe, John Offerdahl, '''Zach Thomas'''* CB: Brent Grimes, Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain* S: Dick Anderson, Glenn Blackwood, Louis Oliver, Jake Scott'''Special teams:'''* K: Garo Yepremian* P: Reggie Roby* ST: Jim Jensen===Honor Roll===The Miami Dolphins Honor Roll is a ring around the second tier of Hard Rock Stadium that honors former players, coaches, owners and contributors who have made significant contributions to the franchise throughout their history.", "Each of these players is honored with a placard on the facing of the upper level around Hard Rock Stadium including team founder-owner Joe Robbie.", "In place of a jersey number, Shula has the number 347, representing his record number of NFL coaching victories, 274 of them as Dolphins head coach.In 1992, at the 20 year anniversary, Miami's \"1972 Undefeated Team\" was enshrined into the Honor Roll.", "At the 40 year anniversary, which enshrined former defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger into the Honor Roll, his name went on the Honor Roll where the \"1972 Undefeated Team\" inductee previously and originally was enshrined, and an updated \"1972 Perfect Season Team 17–0\" inductee was put into one corner of Hard Rock Stadium with special placards of Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII included next to it on each side.", "'''Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame''''''Jersey Number Retired'''The inductees as of 2014 include: Miami Dolphins Honor Roll No.", "Name Position(s) Years with club Inducted — Joe Robbie Owner/Founder 1966–1989 1990 '''39''' '''Larry Csonka''' FB 1968–1974, 1979 '''12''' '''Bob Griese''' QB 1967–1980 62 '''Jim Langer''' C 1970–1979 42 '''Paul Warfield''' WR 1970–1974 85 '''Nick Buoniconti''' LB 1969–1974, 1976 1991 1972 Undefeated Team 1992 66 '''Larry Little''' G 1969–1980 1993 57 '''Dwight Stephenson''' C 1980–1987 1994 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 1970–1984 1995 347 '''Don Shula''' Head coach 1970–1995 1996 89 Nat Moore WR 1974–1986 1999 '''13''' '''Dan Marino''' QB 1983–1999 2000 83 Mark Clayton WR 1983–1992 2003 85 Mark Duper WR 1982–1992 40 Dick Anderson S 1968–1977 2006 78 Richmond Webb OT 1990–2000 73 Bob Baumhower DT 1977–1986 2008 75 Doug Betters DE 1978–1987 13 Jake Scott S 1970–1975 2010 84 Bill Stanfill DE 1969–1976 88 Jim Mandich TE/Radio Broadcaster 1970–1977 / 1992–2004, 2007–2010 2011 — Bill Arnsparger Defensive Coordinator 1970–19731976–1983 2012 Super Bowl VII Team1972 Perfect Season Team 17–0Super Bowl VIII Team UPDATED 1992 Inductee 99 '''Jason Taylor''' DE 1997–2007, 2009, 2011 54 '''Zach Thomas''' LB 1996–2007 56 John Offerdahl LB 1986–1993 2013 75 Manny Fernandez DT 1968–1975 2014===Joe Robbie Alumni Plaza Walk of Fame===A statue of the original founder/owner of the Miami Dolphins from 1966 to 1989, Joe Robbie, on display as the centerpiece to the Joe Robbie Alumni Plaza Walk of Fame.The Joe Robbie Alumni Plaza Walk of Fame was first established in 2011, designed to be all-encompassing and recognize the best of the Miami Dolphins alumni, including those in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Honor Roll, and as well as the many other players who were among the unsung heroes and community leaders that the organization has produced.", "The \"Walk of Fame\" is located at the north end of Hard Rock Stadium, with a life-size bronze statue of Joe Robbie, the original founder and owner of the Miami Dolphins from 1966 to 1989.", "'''Bold''' indicates those elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.The inductees as of 2018 (by yearly class) are:* Class of 2011: '''Nick Buoniconti''', '''Larry Csonka''', '''Bob Griese''', '''Jim Langer''', '''Larry Little''', Joe Robbie, '''Dan Marino''', '''Don Shula''', '''Dwight Stephenson''', '''Paul Warfield'''* Class of 2012: Tim Bowens, A. J. Duhe, Manny Fernandez, Nat Moore, Earl Morrall, Don Strock* Class of 2013: Kim Bokamper, Mercury Morris, O. J. McDuffie, Keith Sims* Class of 2014: Jeff Cross, Sam Madison, Tony Nathan, Ed Newman* No classes from 2015 to 2017, due to modernization and reconstruction at Hard Rock Stadium* Class of 2018: Dick Anderson, Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, Jon Giesler, John Offerdahl, '''Jason Taylor'''===All-time first-round draft picks===" ], [ "Staff", "===Head coaches======Current staff===" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* * Miami Dolphins at the National Football League official website" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "M" ], [ "Introduction", "'''M''', or '''m''', is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide.", "Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''." ], [ "History", " Egyptian hieroglyph \"n\" Phoenician ''Mem'' Etruscan M Greek ''Mu'' Latin Mn 25x25px x25px x35px Latin MThe letter M is derived from the Phoenician Mem, via the Greek Mu (Μ, μ).", "Semitic Mem is most likely derived from a \"Proto-Sinaitic\" (Bronze Age) adoption of the \"water\" ideogram in Egyptian writing.", "The Egyptian sign had the acrophonic value , from the Egyptian word for \"water\", ''nt''; the adoption as the Semitic letter for was presumably also on acrophonic grounds, from the Semitic word for \"water\", ''mā(y)-''." ], [ "Use in writing systems", "The letter represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound in the orthography of Latin as well as in that of many modern languages, and also in the International Phonetic Alphabet.", "In English, the Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that is sometimes a vowel, in words like ''spasm'' and in the suffix ''-ism''.", "In modern terminology, this is described as a syllabic consonant (IPA ).", "M is the fourteenth most frequently used letter in the English language.In Washo, lower-case represents a typical em sound, while upper-case represents a voiceless em sound." ], [ "Other uses", "Styled letter M in the coat of arms of Miehikkälä The Roman numeral M represents the number 1000, though it was not used in Roman times.", "There is, however, scant evidence that the letter was later introduced in the early centuries A.D. by the Romans.", "* Unit prefix M (mega), meaning one million times, and m (milli) meaning one-thousandth.", "* m is the standard abbreviation for metre (or meter) in the International System of Units (SI).", "However, m is also used as an abbreviation for mile.", "* M is used as the unit abbreviation for molarity.", "* With money amounts, m or M can mean one million: For example, $5m is five million dollars.", "* M often represents male or masculine, especially in conjunction with F for female or feminine.", "* M (James Bond) is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series.", "* In typography, an em dash is a punctuation symbol whose width is equal to that of a capital letter M." ], [ "Related characters", "===Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet===M with diacritics: Ḿ ḿ Ṁ ṁ Ṃ ṃ M̃ m̃ ᵯIPA-specific symbols related to M: Ɱ : Capital M with hookUralic Phonetic Alphabet-specific symbols related to M:*********Some symbols related to M were used by the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet prior to its formal standardization in 1902:**The Teuthonista phonetic transcription system uses Other variations used for phonetic transcription: ᶆ ᶬ ᶭƜ ɯ : Turned Mꟽ : Inverted M was used in ancient Roman texts to stand for ''mulier'' (woman)ꟿ : Archaic M was used in ancient Roman texts to abbreviate the personal name 'Manius' (A regular capital M was used for the more common personal name 'Marcus')ℳ : currency symbol for Mark===Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets===𐤌 : Semitic letter Mem, from which the following symbols originally deriveΜ μ : Greek letter Mu, from which M derives : Coptic letter Me, which derives from Greek MuМ м : Cyrillic letter Em, also derived from Mu𐌌 : Old Italic M, which derives from Greek Mu, and is the ancestor of modern Latin M : Runic letter Mannaz, which derives from old Italic M* : Gothic letter manna, which derives from Greek Mu===Ligatures and abbreviations===₥ : Mill (currency)™ : Trademark symbol℠ : Service mark symbol" ], [ "Computing codes", ": 1" ], [ "Other representations" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "**" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mean" ], [ "Introduction", "A '''mean''' is a numeric quantity representing the center of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of a set of numbers.", "There are several kinds of '''means''' in mathematics, especially in statistics.", "Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set.", "For a data set, the ''arithmetic mean'', also known as \"arithmetic average\", is a measure of central tendency of a finite set of numbers: specifically, the sum of the values divided by the number of values.", "The arithmetic mean of a set of numbers ''x''1, ''x''2, ..., x''n'' is typically denoted using an overhead bar, .", "If the data set were based on a series of observations obtained by sampling from a statistical population, the arithmetic mean is the ''sample mean'' () to distinguish it from the mean, or expected value, of the underlying distribution, the ''population mean'' (denoted '''''' or '''''').Outside probability and statistics, a wide range of other notions of mean are often used in geometry and mathematical analysis; examples are given below." ], [ "Types of means", "===Pythagorean means======= Arithmetic mean (AM) ====The arithmetic mean (or simply ''mean'' or sample mean) of a list of numbers, is the sum of all of the numbers divided by the number of numbers.", "Similarly, the mean of a sample , usually denoted by , is the sum of the sampled values divided by the number of items in the sample.", ":For example, the arithmetic mean of five values: 4, 36, 45, 50, 75 is::==== Geometric mean (GM) ====The geometric mean is an average that is useful for sets of positive numbers, that are interpreted according to their product (as is the case with rates of growth) and not their sum (as is the case with the arithmetic mean):: For example, the geometric mean of five values: 4, 36, 45, 50, 75 is::==== Harmonic mean (HM) ====The harmonic mean is an average which is useful for sets of numbers which are defined in relation to some unit, as in the case of speed (i.e., distance per unit of time): :For example, the harmonic mean of the five values: 4, 36, 45, 50, 75 is:If we have five pumps that can empty a tank of a certain size in respectively 4, 36, 45, 50, and 75 minutes, then the harmonic mean of tells us that these five different pumps working together will pump at the same rate as much as five pumps that can each empty the tank in minutes.==== Relationship between AM, GM, and HM ====AM, GM, and HM satisfy these inequalities::Equality holds if all the elements of the given sample are equal.===Statistical location===Comparison of the arithmetic mean, median, and mode of two skewed (log-normal) distributions.Geometric visualization of the mode, median and mean of an arbitrary probability density function.In descriptive statistics, the mean may be confused with the median, mode or mid-range, as any of these may incorrectly be called an \"average\" (more formally, a measure of central tendency).", "The mean of a set of observations is the arithmetic average of the values; however, for skewed distributions, the mean is not necessarily the same as the middle value (median), or the most likely value (mode).", "For example, mean income is typically skewed upwards by a small number of people with very large incomes, so that the majority have an income lower than the mean.", "By contrast, the median income is the level at which half the population is below and half is above.", "The mode income is the most likely income and favors the larger number of people with lower incomes.", "While the median and mode are often more intuitive measures for such skewed data, many skewed distributions are in fact best described by their mean, including the exponential and Poisson distributions.====Mean of a probability distribution====The mean of a probability distribution is the long-run arithmetic average value of a random variable having that distribution.", "If the random variable is denoted by , then the mean is also known as the expected value of (denoted ).", "For a discrete probability distribution, the mean is given by , where the sum is taken over all possible values of the random variable and is the probability mass function.", "For a continuous distribution, the mean is , where is the probability density function.", "In all cases, including those in which the distribution is neither discrete nor continuous, the mean is the Lebesgue integral of the random variable with respect to its probability measure.", "The mean need not exist or be finite; for some probability distributions the mean is infinite ( or ), while for others the mean is undefined.===Generalized means=======Power mean====The generalized mean, also known as the power mean or Hölder mean, is an abstraction of the quadratic, arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic means.", "It is defined for a set of ''n'' positive numbers ''x''i by By choosing different values for the parameter ''m'', the following types of means are obtained:==== ''f''-mean====This can be generalized further as the generalized -mean: and again a suitable choice of an invertible will give: arithmetic mean, harmonic mean, power mean, geometric mean.===Weighted arithmetic mean===The weighted arithmetic mean (or weighted average) is used if one wants to combine average values from different sized samples of the same population:: Where and are the mean and size of sample respectively.", "In other applications, they represent a measure for the reliability of the influence upon the mean by the respective values.===Truncated mean===Sometimes, a set of numbers might contain outliers (i.e., data values which are much lower or much higher than the others).", "Often, outliers are erroneous data caused by artifacts.", "In this case, one can use a truncated mean.", "It involves discarding given parts of the data at the top or the bottom end, typically an equal amount at each end and then taking the arithmetic mean of the remaining data.", "The number of values removed is indicated as a percentage of the total number of values.===Interquartile mean===The interquartile mean is a specific example of a truncated mean.", "It is simply the arithmetic mean after removing the lowest and the highest quarter of values.", ": assuming the values have been ordered, so is simply a specific example of a weighted mean for a specific set of weights.===Mean of a function===In some circumstances, mathematicians may calculate a mean of an infinite (or even an uncountable) set of values.", "This can happen when calculating the mean value of a function .", "Intuitively, a mean of a function can be thought of as calculating the area under a section of a curve, and then dividing by the length of that section.", "This can be done crudely by counting squares on graph paper, or more precisely by integration.", "The integration formula is written as:: In this case, care must be taken to make sure that the integral converges.", "But the mean may be finite even if the function itself tends to infinity at some points.===Mean of angles and cyclical quantities===Angles, times of day, and other cyclical quantities require modular arithmetic to add and otherwise combine numbers.", "In all these situations, there will not be a unique mean.", "For example, the times an hour before and after midnight are equidistant to both midnight and noon.", "It is also possible that no mean exists.", "Consider a color wheel—there is no mean to the set of all colors.", "In these situations, you must decide which mean is most useful.", "You can do this by adjusting the values before averaging, or by using a specialized approach for the mean of circular quantities.=== Fréchet mean ===The Fréchet mean gives a manner for determining the \"center\" of a mass distribution on a surface or, more generally, Riemannian manifold.", "Unlike many other means, the Fréchet mean is defined on a space whose elements cannot necessarily be added together or multiplied by scalars.It is sometimes also known as the ''Karcher mean'' (named after Hermann Karcher).=== Triangular sets ===In geometry, there are thousands of differentdefinitions for the center of a triangle that can all be interpreted as the mean of a triangular set of points in the plane.===Swanson's rule===This is an approximation to the mean for a moderately skewed distribution.", "It is used in hydrocarbon exploration and is defined as:: where , and are the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of the distribution, respctively.===Other means===Arithmetic-geometric meanArithmetic-harmonic meanCesàro meanChisini meanContraharmonic meanElementary symmetric meanGeometric-harmonic meanGrand meanHeinz meanHeronian meanIdentric meanLehmer meanLogarithmic meanMoving averageNeuman–Sándor meanQuasi-arithmetic meanRoot mean square (quadratic mean)Rényi's entropy (a generalized f-mean)Spherical meanStolarsky meanWeighted geometric meanWeighted harmonic mean" ], [ "See also", "Central tendencyMedianModeDescriptive statisticsKurtosisLaw of averagesMean value theoremMoment (mathematics)Summary statisticsTaylor's law" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "MIT License" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''MIT License''' is a permissive software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s.", "As a permissive license, it puts very few restrictions on reuse and therefore has high license compatibility.Unlike copyleft software licenses, the MIT License also permits reuse within proprietary software, provided that all copies of the software or its substantial portions include a copy of the terms of the MIT License and also a copyright notice.", "In 2015, the MIT License was the most popular software license on GitHub.Notable projects that use the MIT License include the X Window System, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, Lua, jQuery, .NET, Angular, and React." ], [ "License terms", "The MIT License has the identifier MIT in the SPDX License List.", "It is also known as the \"Expat License\".", "It has the following terms:Copyright (c) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copyof this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"), to dealin the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rightsto use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sellcopies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software isfurnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in allcopies or substantial portions of the Software.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS ORIMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.", "IN NO EVENT SHALL THEAUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHERLIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THESOFTWARE." ], [ "Variations", "=== X11 License ===The '''X11 License''', also known as the '''MIT/X Consortium License''', is a variation on the MIT license, most known for its usage by the X Consortium.", "It has the identifier X11 in the SPDX License List.It differs from the MIT License mainly by an additional clause restricting use of the copyright holders' name for advertisement.It has the following terms:Copyright (C) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.", "IN NO EVENT SHALL THE X CONSORTIUM BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.Except as contained in this notice, the name of shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from .=== MIT No Attribution License ===The MIT No Attribution License, a variation of the MIT License, has the identifier MIT-0 in the SPDX License List.", "A request for legacy approval to the Open Source Initiative was filed on May 15, 2020, which led to a formal approval on August 5, 2020.By doing so, it forms a public-domain-equivalent license, the same way as BSD Zero Clause.", "It has the following terms:MIT No AttributionCopyright Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.", "IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.=== Other variations ===The SPDX License List contains extra MIT license variations.", "Examples include:* , a variation with an additional advertising clause." ], [ "Ambiguity and variants", "The name \"MIT License\" is potentially ambiguous.", "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has used many licenses for software since its creation; for example, MIT offers four licensing options for the FFTW C source code library, one of which is the GPL v2.0 and the other three of which are not open-source.", "The term \"MIT License\" has also been used to refer to the '''Expat License''' (used for the XML parsing library Expat) and to the '''X11 License''' (also called \"'''MIT/X Consortium License'''\"; used for X Window System by the MIT X Consortium).", "Furthermore, the \"MIT License\" as published by the Open Source Initiative is the same as the Expat License.", "Due to this differing use of terms, some prefer to avoid the name \"MIT License\".", "The Free Software Foundation argues that the term is misleading and ambiguous, and recommends against its use.The X Consortium was dissolved late in 1996, and its assets transferred to The Open Group, which released X11R6 initially under the same license.", "The X11 License and the X11R6 \"MIT License\" chosen for ncurses by the Free Software Foundation both include the following clause, absent in the Expat License:As of 2020, the successor to the X Window System is the X.Org Server, which is licensed under what is effectively the common MIT license, according to the X.org licensing page:The X.Org Foundation has chosen the following format of the MIT License as the preferred format for code included in the X Window System distribution.", "This is a slight variant of the common MIT license form published by the Open Source InitiativeThe \"slight variant\" is the addition of the phrase \"(including the next paragraph)\" to the second paragraph of the license text, resulting in: \"The above copyright notice and this permission notice (including the next paragraph) shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.\"", "This inclusion clarifies that the liability paragraph must also be included for the conditions of the license to be met.The license-management features at popular source code repository GitHub, as well as its \"Choose a License\" service, do not differentiate between MIT/Expat license variants.", "The text of the Expat variant is presented as simply the \"MIT License\" (represented by the metadata tag mit)." ], [ "Comparison to other licenses", "===BSD===The original BSD license also includes a clause requiring all advertising of the software to display a notice crediting its authors.", "This \"advertising clause\" (since disavowed by UC Berkeley) is present in the modified MIT License used by XFree86.The University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License combines text from both the MIT and BSD licenses; the license grant and disclaimer are taken from the MIT License.The ISC license contains similarities to both the MIT and simplified BSD licenses, the biggest difference being that language deemed unnecessary by the Berne Convention is omitted.===GNU Public License===The GPL is explicit about the patent grant an author would be giving when the code or derivative work is distributed, the MIT license does not discuss patents.", "Moreover, the GPL license impacts derivative works, but the MIT license does not." ], [ "Relation to patents", "Like the BSD license, the MIT license does not include an express patent license although some commentators state that the grant of rights covers all potential restrictions including patents.", "Both the BSD and the MIT licenses were drafted before the patentability of software was generally recognized under US law.", "The Apache License version 2.0 is a similarly permissive license that includes an explicit contributor's patent license.Of specific relevance to US jurisdictions, the MIT license uses the terms \"sell\" and \"use\" that are also used in defining the rights of a patent holder in Title 35 of the United States Code section 154.This has been construed by some commentators as an unconventional but implicit license in the US to use any underlying patents." ], [ "Origins", "One of the originators of the MIT license, computer scientist Jerry Saltzer, has published his recollections of its early development, along with documentary evidence." ], [ "Reception", ", according to WhiteSource Software the MIT license was used in 27% of four million open source packages.", ", according to Black Duck Software and a 2015 blog from GitHub, the MIT license was the most popular open-source license, with the GNU GPLv2 coming second in their sample of repositories." ], [ "See also", "* Comparison of free and open-source software licenses* ISC license—similar to the MIT license, but with language deemed unnecessary removed* :Category:Software using the MIT license" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", " MIT License variants* The MIT License template (Open Source Initiative official site)* Expat License* X11 License" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "MU" ], [ "Introduction", "'''MU''', '''Mu''' or '''μ''' may refer to:" ], [ "Arts and entertainment", "===Film and television===* Aries Mu, a character from the anime ''Saint Seiya''* Mu La Flaga, a character from the anime ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED''* ''Monsters University'', a 2013 animated film by Disney and Pixar* \"μ's\" (pronounced \"Muse\") is the name of the protagonist school idol group in the anime series ''Love Live!", "''.=== Gaming ===* ''Mu Online'', a 2003 online role-playing game* Mu, an ancient civilization from ''Mega Man Star Force 2''.", "* Mu-12, a character from the ''BlazBlue'' series* Colony Mu, a location from ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3''===Music===* ''Mu'' (album), a pair of free jazz albums by Don Cherry, released in 1969 and 1970* Mu Performing Arts, an Asian-American theater company and taiko drumming ensemble* MU (musician), Mutsumi Kanamori, a Japanese-British musician* MU, musical group formed by Merrell Fankhauser and Jeff Cotton* ''M.U.", "– The Best of Jethro Tull'', a greatest hits album* Planet Mu, an electronic music label" ], [ "Businesses and organizations", "===Businesses and brands===* Mu Dynamics, a company which makes hardware and software to test network services* MU Press, an independent comic book publisher* Isuzu MU Wizard, a compact sport/utility vehicle* Micron Technology, Boise, Idaho, US, NASDAQ symbol* China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai, China, IATA code===Other organizations===* Mothers' Union, a global Anglican women's organisation* Musicians' Union (UK)* ''Groupe μ'', Belgian linguistics group" ], [ "Language and scripts", "* Mu (letter), Μ or μ, Greek letter::Micro-, μ, metric prefix for one millionth* Mu (kana), む or ム, a Japanese kana* Mu (cuneiform), a sign in cuneiform writing* Mu (negative), a word meaning \"no\" or \"without\" (Japanese: 無; Korean: 무)* Middle Ukrainian, Ukrainian language 16th–18th century" ], [ "Places", "* Mu River, a river in Burma (Myanmar)* Mu River (Hokkaidō), a river in Japan* Mù, a village in the Edolo municipality of Italy* Mauritius (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code MU)** .mu, the country code top-level domain for Mauritius===Mythical places===* Mu (mythical lost continent), a mythical continent in the Pacific Ocean=== Universities ===* Metropolitan University (disambiguation)==== Australia ====* Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales* Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria* Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia==== India ====* Madras University, Chennai* Mumbai University* Manipur University, Imphal==== United States ====* Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin* Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia* Maryville University, Town and Country, Missouri* Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia* Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania* Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Millersville, Pennsylvania* University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri==== Other countries ====* Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand* Mandalay University, Mandalay, Myanmar* Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic* Meiho University, Pingtung, Taiwan* Misamis University, Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, Philippines* Mondragon University, Mondragon, Spain* Mzumbe University, Mzumbe, Tanzania" ], [ "Names and people", "* Mu (surname) (穆, 牧, 慕, 木, 母, 目, 沐, 睦 and 暮), Chinese surnames* Mu family, a powerful Chinese family from the 14th to the 18th century* Mu of Baekje (580–641), king of Baekje* Mu of Balhae (died 737), king of Balhae from 718 to 737* Marquis Mu of Cai, ruler of the state of Cai from 675 to 646 BC* King Mu of Chu (died 614 BC), king of the state of Chu from 625 to 614 BC* Emperor Mu of Jin (343–361), emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty* Marquis Mu of Jin (died 812 BC), ruler of the state of Jin from c. 798 to 776 BC* King Mu of Zhou (died 922 BC), king of the state of Zhou from c. 976 to 922 BC* Mu Dan (1918–1977), Chinese poet and translator* Athing Mu (born 2002), American middle-distance runner" ], [ "Religion and philosophy", "* Mu (negative), 無, a concept in Buddhism* Muism (Korean shamanism), the native religion of Korea* Mu (shaman), a Korean priest* Church of England in Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia (\"early church code\" used by NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages)" ], [ "Science, technology, and mathematics", "===Biology and medicine===* Mu phage, a bacteriophage of the family Myoviridae of double-stranded DNA non-enveloped contractile tail bacterial viruses* Centimorgan, or \"map unit\", a unit of recombinant frequency in genetics* Monitor unit (MU), a measure of absorbed dose from a linear accelerator in radiation therapy = 0.001 Gray* SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant, one of the variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19* Mouse unit, the amount of toxin required to kill a 20g mouse in 15 minutes via Intraperitoneal injection=== Chemistry ===* Chemical potential, a form of potential energy that can be absorbed or released during a chemical reaction* Bridging ligand, an atom that connects two or more metal centers in a complex (molecule)=== Mathematics ===* MU puzzle, a puzzle in the book ''Gödel, Escher, Bach''* Minimalization operator (M operator), a function-building operator for General recursive function* Möbius function, a multiplicative function in number theory and combinatorics* Degree of membership in a fuzzy set* The standard measure function name in measure theory* Complex cobordism, an extraordinary cohomology theory=== Measurement ===* Micro-, SI (metric) prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 (one millionth)* Micrometre (deprecated as a single-character symbol)* Million units of energy, a term used in India for a gigawatt-hour, see kilowatt-hour#Other related energy units* Mu (unit), a Chinese unit of area also spelled \"mou\", equivalent to about 0.066 hectares.=== Physics ===* Coefficient of friction, used to approximate the force of friction* Deformation (mechanics), as the \"unit\" of strain* Electron mobility, relating the drift of electrons to the applied electric field across a material* Linear density, a measure of mass per unit of length* Magnetic dipole moment, a measure of the strength of a system's net magnetic source* Mu-metal, a nickel-iron alloy with high magnetic permeability* Muon, an elementary particle* Muonium, exotic atoms made up of an antimuon and an electron* Permeability (electromagnetism) coefficient, degree of magnetization of a material* Proton-to-electron mass ratio, a dimensionless physical constant* Reduced mass, the \"effective\" inertial mass appearing in the two-body problem* Standard gravitational parameter of a celestial body* Viscosity, the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by stress===Other uses in science and technology===* μ, in evolutionary algorithms, the population size from which in each generation λ offspring will generate* Mu (rocket family), a Japanese rocket family launched between 1966 and 2006* Multiple unit, self-propelled train carriages capable of coupling with other units of similar type* Olympus mju (stylised as μmju:), series of a compact cameras" ], [ "Other uses", "* Musician (United States Navy), an enlisted rating* Mu, a type of icicle radish* Manchester United F.C., a British football club* MuseScore, a sheet music notation software* /mu/, a board pertaining to music discussion on 4chan" ], [ "See also", "* Moo (disambiguation)* M (disambiguation)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mu-metal" ], [ "Introduction", "Assortment of mu-metal shapes used in electronics, 1951Five-layer mu-metal box.", "Each layer is about 5 mm thick.", "It reduces the effect of the Earth's magnetic field inside by a factor of 1500.", "'''Mu-metal''' is a nickel–iron soft ferromagnetic alloy with very high permeability, which is used for shielding sensitive electronic equipment against static or low-frequency magnetic fields." ], [ "Properties", "Mu-metal has several compositions.", "One such composition is approximately: 77% nickel,: 16% iron,: 5% copper, and: 2% chromium or molybdenum.More recently, mu-metal is considered to be ASTM A753 Alloy 4 and is composed of approximately: 80% nickel,: 5% molybdenum,: small amounts of various other elements such as silicon, and: 12~15% iron for the remainder.The name came from the Greek letter mu (μ) which represents permeability in physics and engineering formulas.", "A number of different proprietary formulations of the alloy are sold under trade names such as ''MuMETAL'', ''Mumetall'', and ''Mumetal2''.Mu-metal typically has relative permeability values of 80,000–100,000 compared to several thousand for ordinary steel.", "It is a \"soft\" ferromagnetic material; it has low magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction, giving it a low coercivity so that it saturates at low magnetic fields.", "This gives it low hysteresis losses when used in AC magnetic circuits.", "Other high-permeability nickel–iron alloys such as permalloy have similar magnetic properties; mu-metal's advantage is that it is more ductile, malleable and workable, allowing it to be easily formed into the thin sheets needed for magnetic shields.Mu-metal objects require heat treatment after they are in final form—annealing in a magnetic field in hydrogen atmosphere, which increases the magnetic permeability about 40 times.", "The annealing alters the material's crystal structure, aligning the grains and removing some impurities, especially carbon, which obstruct the free motion of the magnetic domain boundaries.", "Bending or mechanical shock after annealing may disrupt the material's grain alignment, leading to a drop in the permeability of the affected areas, which can be restored by repeating the hydrogen annealing step." ], [ "Application", "Mu-metal shields for cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) used in oscilloscopes, from a 1945 electronics magazineMu-metal is a soft magnetic alloy with exceptionally high magnetic permeability.", "The high permeability of mu-metal provides a low reluctance path for magnetic flux, leading to its use in magnetic shields against static or slowly varying magnetic fields.", "Magnetic shielding made with high-permeability alloys like mu-metal works not by blocking magnetic fields but by providing a path for the magnetic field lines around the shielded area.", "Thus, the best shape for shields is a closed container surrounding the shielded space.", "The effectiveness of mu-metal shielding decreases with the alloy's permeability, which drops off at both low field strengths and, due to saturation, at high field strengths.", "Thus, mu-metal shields are often made of several enclosures one inside the other, each of which successively reduces the field inside it.", "Because mu-metal saturates at such low fields, sometimes the outer layer in such multilayer shields is made of ordinary steel.", "Its higher saturation value allows it to handle stronger magnetic fields, reducing them to a lower level that can be shielded effectively by the inner mu-metal layers.RF magnetic fields above about 100 kHz can be shielded by Faraday shields: ordinary conductive metal sheets or screens which are used to shield against electric fields.", "Superconducting materials can also expel magnetic fields by the Meissner effect, but require cryogenic temperatures.The alloy has a low coercivity, near zero magnetostriction, and significant anisotropic magnetoresistance.", "The low magnetostriction is critical for industrial applications, where variable stresses in thin films would otherwise cause a ruinously large variation in magnetic properties." ], [ "Examples", "Mu-metal is used to shield equipment from magnetic fields.", "For example:* Electric power transformers, which are built with mu-metal shells to prevent them from affecting nearby circuitry.", "* Hard disks, which have mu-metal backings to the magnets found in the drive to keep the magnetic field away from the disk.", "* Cathode-ray tubes used in analogue oscilloscopes, which have mu-metal shields to prevent stray magnetic fields from deflecting the electron beam.", "* Magnetic phonograph cartridges, which have a mu-metal case to reduce interference when LPs are played back.", "* Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment.", "* The magnetometers used in magnetoencephalography and magnetocardiography.", "* Photomultiplier tubes.", "* Vacuum chambers for experiments with low-energy electrons, for example, photoelectron spectroscopy.", "* Superconducting circuits and especially Josephson junction circuits.", "* Fluxgate magnetometers and compasses as part of the sensor.", "* Proximity sensors (inductive type)" ], [ "Similar materials", "Other materials with similar magnetic properties include Co-Netic, supermalloy, supermumetal, nilomag, sanbold, molybdenum permalloy, Sendust, M-1040, Hipernom, HyMu-80 and Amumetal.Ceramic ferrites are used for similar purposes, and have even higher permeability at high frequencies, but are brittle and nearly non-conductive, so can only replace mu-metals where conductivity and pliability aren't required." ], [ "History", "Mu-metal submarine cable constructionMu-metal was developed by British scientists Willoughby S. Smith and Henry J. Garnett and patented in 1923 for inductive loading of submarine telegraph cables by The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co. Ltd. (now Telcon Metals Ltd.), a British firm that built the Atlantic undersea telegraph cables.", "The conductive seawater surrounding an undersea cable added a significant capacitance to the cable, causing distortion of the signal, which limited the bandwidth and slowed signaling speed to 10–12 words per minute.", "The bandwidth could be increased by adding inductance to compensate.", "This was first done by wrapping the conductors with a helical wrapping of metal tape or wire of high magnetic permeability, which confined the magnetic field.", "Telcon invented mu-metal to compete with permalloy, the first high-permeability alloy used for cable compensation, whose patent rights were held by competitor Western Electric.", "Mu-metal was developed by adding copper to permalloy to improve ductility.", "of fine mu-metal wire were needed for each 1.6 km of cable, creating a great demand for the alloy.", "The first year of production Telcon was making 30 tons per week.", "In the 1930s this use for mu-metal declined, but by World War II many other uses were found in the electronics industry (particularly shielding for transformers and cathode-ray tubes), as well as the fuzes inside magnetic mines.", "Telcon Metals Ltd. abandoned the trademark \"MUMETAL\" in 1985.The last listed owner of the mark \"MUMETAL\" is Magnetic Shield Corporation, Illinois." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Mu-Metal Properties* Zero gauss chambers * Info about using mu metal shields" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Monastir" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Monastir''' may refer to:" ], [ "Places", "===Tunisia===* Monastir, Tunisia, the capital of Monastir Governorate** Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport* Monastir Governorate, one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia===Other places===* Manastir, Republic of North Macedonia, the former name of Bitola* Manastir vilayet, covering parts of modern Albania, Greece and North Macedonia* Monastir, Sardinia, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cagliari, Italy" ], [ "Other uses", "* US Monastir, a football club from Monastir, Tunisia" ], [ "See also", "* Manastir (disambiguation)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Michael Reagan" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Michael Edward Reagan''' (born '''John Charles Flaugher'''; March 18, 1945) is an American conservative political commentator, Republican strategist, and former radio talk show host.", "He is the adopted son of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman.", "He works as a columnist for Newsmax." ], [ "Early life", "Michael Edward Reagan was born John Charles Flaugher at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles to Essie Irene Flaugher (October 18, 1916 – December 26, 1985), an unmarried woman from Kentucky who became pregnant through a relationship with John Bourgholtzer, a U.S. Army corporal.", "He was adopted by Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman shortly after his birth.He was expelled from Loyola High School after a short period at the school and in 1964, he graduated from the Judson School, a boarding school outside of Scottsdale, Arizona.", "He attended Arizona State University for less than one semester and Los Angeles Valley College but never graduated.In 1965, the FBI warned Ronald Reagan that in the course of an organized crime investigation it had discovered his son Michael was associated with the son of a crime boss Joseph Bonanno, which would have become a campaign issue had it been publicly known.", "Reagan thanked the FBI and said he would tell his son to discreetly discontinue the association." ], [ "Careers", "===Salesman===Sometime before September 1970, Reagan was working as a salesman for the clothing company Hart, Schaffner, & Marx.", "He then became a director of special events catering at Michaelson Food Service Company in Los Angeles.", "In 1981, Reagan was hired as a salesman for Industrial Circuits, a circuit board company owned by Robert Herring Sr.===Actor===Reagan has had small roles in movies and television shows since 1985, including ''Falcon Crest'', which starred his mother, Jane Wyman.===Television===In 1987, Reagan served as the host for the first season of the television game show ''Lingo''.===Radio===His work in talk radio started in the Southern California local market as a guest host for radio commentator Michael Jackson's talk radio show slot on KABC in Los Angeles.", "After this beginning, he landed a talk show spot on KSDO radio in San Diego.Reagan also hosted ''The Michael Reagan Show'' nationwide for most of the 2000s.", "The show was variously syndicated on Premiere Networks and Radio America.", "Since then he has focused on public speaking about his father.===Author===In 1988, he wrote, with Joe Hyams, an autobiography, ''Michael Reagan: On the Outside Looking In''.", "He also wrote that he was sexually abused at the age of seven by a camp counselor.In 2005, he wrote ''Twice Adopted'' about his feelings of rejection being adopted, parents divorcing and becoming a born-again Christian." ], [ "Political commentary", "===Same-sex marriage===In April 2013, in a syndicated column, Reagan accused American churches of not fighting hard enough to block same-sex marriage.", "He wrote that, in regard to arguments supporting gay marriage, similar arguments could be used to support polygamy, bestiality, and murder.", "As he wrote: \"There is also a very slippery slope leading to other alternative relationships and the unconstitutionality of any law based on morality.", "Think about polygamy, bestiality, and perhaps even murder.", "\"===Call for the execution of Mark Dice===In June 2008, Mark Dice launched a campaign urging people to send letters and DVDs to US troops stationed in Iraq which support the theory that the September 11 attacks were an \"inside job\".", "\"Operation Inform the Soldiers\", as Dice has called it, prompted Reagan to comment that Dice should be executed for treason.", "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a liberal/progressive media criticism organization, asked Radio America at the time to explain whether it permits \"its hosts to call for murder on the air\".===Support for profiling===He spoke out in support of profiling in October 2014.In a piece called ''Profile or Die'', he wrote that it would be left to citizens to defend themselves if there were an attack against them by terrorists such as the Islamic State." ], [ "Legal problems", "In 1981, Reagan was accused of felony violations of California securities laws in court documents.", "The Los Angeles County District Attorney alleged that Reagan had baited investors into unlawful stock arrangements, and selling stocks despite the fact that he was not legally permitted to do so.", "The D.A.", "'s office investigated allegations that Reagan improperly spent money invested by others in a company, Agricultural Energy Resources, he operated out of his house in a venture to develop the potential of gasohol, a combination of alcohol and gasoline.", "Investigators said they were also checking whether he had spent up to $17,500 of investors' money for his living expenses.", "The district attorney's office cleared Reagan of both charges later that year.On September 20, 2012, Reagan, Tim Kelly and Jay Hoffman were sued by a fellow partner, for allegedly withholding the partner's interest in an e-mail business built around the Reagan.com domain name.", "In 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Reagan liable for conversion and breach of fiduciary duty.", "Reagan and his business partners were ordered to pay $662,500 each in damages." ], [ "Personal life", "In June 1971, Reagan married Pamela Gail Putnam (born 1952), daughter of Duane Putnam, former Atlanta Falcons football line coach.", "The couple divorced in 1972.He married Colleen Sterns, an interior decorator, in 1975 at The Church on the Way.", "They have two children, Cameron and Ashley.", "Reagan and his wife live in the Toluca Lake area of Los Angeles.In January 2011, he called his adoptive brother Ron Reagan, the biological son of Ronald Reagan and his second wife, Nancy Davis Reagan, \"an embarrassment\" for speculating in a memoir that their father suffered from Alzheimer's disease while president." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Molecular biology" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Molecular biology''' is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions.Molecular biology was first described as an approach focused on the underpinnings of biological phenomena—uncovering the structures of biological molecules as well as their interactions, and how these interactions explain observations of classical biology.The term molecular biology was first used in 1945 by physicist William Astbury.", "In 1953 Francis Crick, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and colleagues working at the Medical Research Council Unit, Cavendish Laboratory, created the double helix model of DNA.", "They proposed the DNA structure based on previous research done by Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.", "This led to the discovery of DNA material in other microorganisms, plants, and animals.The field of molecular biology includes techniques which enable scientists to learn about molecular processes.", "These techniques are be used to efficiently target new drugs, diagnose disease, and better understand cell physiology.", "Some clinical research and medical therapies arising from molecular biology are covered under gene therapy whereas the use of molecular biology or molecular cell biology in medicine is now referred to as molecular medicine." ], [ "History of molecular biology", "Angle description in DNA structureDiagrammatic representation of Watson and Crick's DNA structureMolecular biology sits at the intersection of biochemistry and genetics; as these scientific disciplines emerged and evolved in the 20th century, it became clear that they both sought to determine the molecular mechanisms which underlie vital cellular functions.", "Advances in molecular biology have been closely related to the development of new technologies and their optimization.", "Molecular biology has been elucidated by the work of many scientists, and thus the history of the field depends on an understanding of these scientists and their experiments.The field of genetics arose as an attempt to understand the molecular mechanisms of genetic inheritance and the structure of a gene.", "Gregor Mendel pioneered this work in 1866, when he first wrote the laws of genetic inheritance based on his studies of mating crosses in pea plants.", "One such law of genetic inheritance is the law of segregation, which states that diploid individuals with two alleles for a particular gene will pass one of these alleles to their offspring.", "Because of his critical work, the study of genetic inheritance is commonly referred to as Mendelian genetics.A major milestone in molecular biology was the discovery of the structure of DNA.", "This work began in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist who first proposed a structure called ''nuclein'', which we now know to be (deoxyribonucleic acid), or DNA.", "He discovered this unique substance by studying the components of pus-filled bandages, and noting the unique properties of the \"phosphorus-containing substances\".", "Another notable contributor to the DNA model was Phoebus Levene, who proposed the \"polynucleotide model\" of DNA in 1919 as a result of his biochemical experiments on yeast.", "In 1950, Erwin Chargaff expanded on the work of Levene and elucidated a few critical properties of nucleic acids: first, the sequence of nucleic acids varies across species.", "Second, the total concentration of purines (adenine and guanine) is always equal to the total concentration of pyrimidines (cysteine and thymine).", "This is now known as Chargaff's rule.", "In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published the double helical structure of DNA, using the X-ray crystallography work done by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.", "Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA and conjectured about the implications of this unique structure for possible mechanisms of DNA replication.", "Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962, along with Wilkins, for proposing a model of the structure of DNA.In 1961, it was demonstrated that when a gene encodes a protein, three sequential bases of a gene's DNA specify each successive amino acid of the protein.", "Thus the genetic code is a triplet code, where each triplet (called a codon) specifies a particular amino acid.", "Furthermore, it was shown that the codons do not overlap with each other in the DNA sequence encoding a protein, and that each sequence is read from a fixed starting point.During 1962–1964, through the use of conditional lethal mutants of a bacterial virus, fundamental advances were made in our understanding of the functions and interactions of the proteins employed in the machinery of DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA recombination, and in the assembly of molecular structures." ], [ "Griffith's experiment", "Diagrammatic representation of Griffith's experimentIn 1928, Frederick Griffith, encountered a virulence property in pneumococcus bacteria, which was killing lab rats.", "According to Mendel, prevalent at that time, gene transfer could occur only from parent to daughter cells only.", "Griffith advanced another theory, stating that gene transfer occurring in member of same generation is known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT).", "This phenomenon is now referred to as genetic transformation.Griffith's experiment addressed the ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' bacteria, which had two different strains, one virulent and smooth and one avirulent and rough.", "The smooth strain had glistering appearance owing to the presence of a type of specific polysaccharide – a polymer of glucose and glucuronic acid capsule.", "Due to this polysaccharide layer of bacteria, a host's immune system cannot recognize the bacteria and it kills the host.", "The other, avirulent, rough strain lacks this polysaccharide capsule and has a dull, rough appearance.Presence or absence of capsule in the strain, is known to be genetically determined.", "Smooth and rough strains occur in several different type such as S-I, S-II, S-III, etc.", "and R-I, R-II, R-III, etc.", "respectively.", "All this subtypes of S and R bacteria differ with each other in antigen type they produce." ], [ "Hershey–Chase experiment", "Hershey–Chase experimentConfirmation that DNA is the genetic material which is cause of infection came from the Hershey–Chase experiment.", "They used ''E.coli'' and bacteriophage for the experiment.", "This experiment is also known as blender experiment, as kitchen blender was used as a major piece of apparatus.", "''Alfred Hershey'' and ''Martha Chase'' demonstrated that the DNA injected by a phage particle into a bacterium contains all information required to synthesize progeny phage particles.", "They used radioactivity to tag the bacteriophage's protein coat with radioactive sulphur and DNA with radioactive phosphorus, into two different test tubes respectively.", "After mixing bacteriophage and ''E.coli'' into the test tube, the incubation period starts in which phage transforms the genetic material in the ''E.coli'' cells.", "Then the mixture is blended or agitated, which separates the phage from ''E.coli'' cells.", "The whole mixture is centrifuged and the pellet which contains ''E.coli'' cells was checked and the supernatant was discarded.", "The ''E.coli'' cells showed radioactive phosphorus, which indicated that the transformed material was DNA not the protein coat.The transformed DNA gets attached to the DNA of ''E.coli'' and radioactivity is only seen onto the bacteriophage's DNA.", "This mutated DNA can be passed to the next generation and the theory of Transduction came into existence.", "Transduction is a process in which the bacterial DNA carry the fragment of bacteriophages and pass it on the next generation.", "This is also a type of horizontal gene transfer." ], [ "Modern molecular biology", "In the early 2020s, molecular biology entered a golden age defined by both vertical and horizontal technical development.", "Vertically, novel technologies are allowing for real-time monitoring of biological processes at the atomic level.", "Molecular biologists today have access to increasingly affordable sequencing data at increasingly higher depths, facilitating the development of novel genetic manipulation methods in new non-model organisms.", "Likewise, synthetic molecular biologists will drive the industrial production of small and macro molecules through the introduction of exogenous metabolic pathways in various prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell lines.Horizontally, sequencing data is becoming more affordable and used in many different scientific fields.", "This will drive the development of industries in developing nations and increase accessibility to individual researchers.", "Likewise, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing experiments can now be conceived and implemented by individuals for under $10,000 in novel organisms, which will drive the development of industrial and medical applications." ], [ "Relationship to other biological sciences", "Schematic relationship between biochemistry, genetics and molecular biologyThe following list describes a viewpoint on the interdisciplinary relationships between molecular biology and other related fields.", "* '''''Molecular biology''''' is the study of the molecular underpinnings of the biological phenomena, focusing on molecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms and interactions.", "* '''''Biochemistry''''' is the study of the chemical substances and vital processes occurring in living organisms.", "Biochemists focus heavily on the role, function, and structure of biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids.", "* '''''Genetics''''' is the study of how genetic differences affect organisms.", "Genetics attempts to predict how mutations, individual genes and genetic interactions can affect the expression of a phenotypeWhile researchers practice techniques specific to molecular biology, it is common to combine these with methods from genetics and biochemistry.", "Much of molecular biology is quantitative, and recently a significant amount of work has been done using computer science techniques such as bioinformatics and computational biology.", "Molecular genetics, the study of gene structure and function, has been among the most prominent sub-fields of molecular biology since the early 2000s.", "Other branches of biology are informed by molecular biology, by either directly studying the interactions of molecules in their own right such as in cell biology and developmental biology, or indirectly, where molecular techniques are used to infer historical attributes of populations or species, as in fields in evolutionary biology such as population genetics and phylogenetics.", "There is also a long tradition of studying biomolecules \"from the ground up\", or molecularly, in biophysics." ], [ "Techniques of molecular biology", "DNA animation===Molecular cloning===Transduction imageMolecular cloning is used to isolate and then transfer a DNA sequence of interest into a plasmid vector.", "This recombinant DNA technology was first developed in the 1960s.", "In this technique, a DNA sequence coding for a protein of interest is cloned using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and/or restriction enzymes, into a plasmid (expression vector).", "The plasmid vector usually has at least 3 distinctive features: an origin of replication, a multiple cloning site (MCS), and a selective marker (usually antibiotic resistance).", "Additionally, upstream of the MCS are the promoter regions and the transcription start site, which regulate the expression of cloned gene.This plasmid can be inserted into either bacterial or animal cells.", "Introducing DNA into bacterial cells can be done by transformation via uptake of naked DNA, conjugation via cell-cell contact or by transduction via viral vector.", "Introducing DNA into eukaryotic cells, such as animal cells, by physical or chemical means is called transfection.", "Several different transfection techniques are available, such as calcium phosphate transfection, electroporation, microinjection and liposome transfection.", "The plasmid may be integrated into the genome, resulting in a stable transfection, or may remain independent of the genome and expressed temporarily, called a transient transfection.DNA coding for a protein of interest is now inside a cell, and the protein can now be expressed.", "A variety of systems, such as inducible promoters and specific cell-signaling factors, are available to help express the protein of interest at high levels.", "Large quantities of a protein can then be extracted from the bacterial or eukaryotic cell.", "The protein can be tested for enzymatic activity under a variety of situations, the protein may be crystallized so its tertiary structure can be studied, or, in the pharmaceutical industry, the activity of new drugs against the protein can be studied.===Polymerase chain reaction===Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an extremely versatile technique for copying DNA.", "In brief, PCR allows a specific DNA sequence to be copied or modified in predetermined ways.", "The reaction is extremely powerful and under perfect conditions could amplify one DNA molecule to become 1.07 billion molecules in less than two hours.", "PCR has many applications, including the study of gene expression, the detection of pathogenic microorganisms, the detection of genetic mutations, and the introduction of mutations to DNA.", "The PCR technique can be used to introduce restriction enzyme sites to ends of DNA molecules, or to mutate particular bases of DNA, the latter is a method referred to as site-directed mutagenesis.", "PCR can also be used to determine whether a particular DNA fragment is found in a cDNA library.", "PCR has many variations, like reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) for amplification of RNA, and, more recently, quantitative PCR which allow for quantitative measurement of DNA or RNA molecules.agarose gel in borate buffer cast in a gel tray===Gel electrophoresis===leftGel electrophoresis is a technique which separates molecules by their size using an agarose or polyacrylamide gel.", "This technique is one of the principal tools of molecular biology.", "The basic principle is that DNA fragments can be separated by applying an electric current across the gel - because the DNA backbone contains negatively charged phosphate groups, the DNA will migrate through the agarose gel towards the positive end of the current.", "Proteins can also be separated on the basis of size using an SDS-PAGE gel, or on the basis of size and their electric charge by using what is known as a 2D gel electrophoresis.Proteins stained on a PAGE gel using Coomassie blue dye=== The Bradford protein assay ===The Bradford assay is a molecular biology technique which enables the fast, accurate quantitation of protein molecules utilizing the unique properties of a dye called Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250.Coomassie Blue undergoes a visible color shift from reddish-brown to bright blue upon binding to protein.", "In its unstable, cationic state, Coomassie Blue has a background wavelength of 465 nm and gives off a reddish-brown color.", "When Coomassie Blue binds to protein in an acidic solution, the background wavelength shifts to 595 nm and the dye gives off a bright blue color.", "Proteins in the assay bind Coomassie blue in about 2 minutes, and the protein-dye complex is stable for about an hour, although it is recommended that absorbance readings are taken within 5 to 20 minutes of reaction initiation.", "The concentration of protein in the Bradford assay can then be measured using a visible light spectrophotometer, and therefore does not require extensive equipment.This method was developed in 1975 by Marion M. Bradford, and has enabled significantly faster, more accurate protein quantitation compared to previous methods: the Lowry procedure and the biuret assay.", "Unlike the previous methods, the Bradford assay is not susceptible to interference by several non-protein molecules, including ethanol, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride.", "However, it is susceptible to influence by strong alkaline buffering agents, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS).===Macromolecule blotting and probing===The terms ''northern'', ''western'' and ''eastern'' blotting are derived from what initially was a molecular biology joke that played on the term ''Southern blotting'', after the technique described by Edwin Southern for the hybridisation of blotted DNA.", "Patricia Thomas, developer of the RNA blot which then became known as the ''northern blot'', actually did not use the term.====Southern blotting====Named after its inventor, biologist Edwin Southern, the Southern blot is a method for probing for the presence of a specific DNA sequence within a DNA sample.", "DNA samples before or after restriction enzyme (restriction endonuclease) digestion are separated by gel electrophoresis and then transferred to a membrane by blotting via capillary action.", "The membrane is then exposed to a labeled DNA probe that has a complement base sequence to the sequence on the DNA of interest.", "Southern blotting is less commonly used in laboratory science due to the capacity of other techniques, such as PCR, to detect specific DNA sequences from DNA samples.", "These blots are still used for some applications, however, such as measuring transgene copy number in transgenic mice or in the engineering of gene knockout embryonic stem cell lines.====Northern blotting====Northern blot diagramThe northern blot is used to study the presence of specific RNA molecules as relative comparison among a set of different samples of RNA.", "It is essentially a combination of denaturing RNA gel electrophoresis, and a blot.", "In this process RNA is separated based on size and is then transferred to a membrane that is then probed with a labeled complement of a sequence of interest.", "The results may be visualized through a variety of ways depending on the label used; however, most result in the revelation of bands representing the sizes of the RNA detected in sample.", "The intensity of these bands is related to the amount of the target RNA in the samples analyzed.", "The procedure is commonly used to study when and how much gene expression is occurring by measuring how much of that RNA is present in different samples, assuming that no post-transcriptional regulation occurs and that the levels of mRNA reflect proportional levels of the corresponding protein being produced.", "It is one of the most basic tools for determining at what time, and under what conditions, certain genes are expressed in living tissues.====Western blotting====A western blot is a technique by which specific proteins can be detected from a mixture of proteins.", "Western blots can be used to determine the size of isolated proteins, as well as to quantify their expression.", "In western blotting, proteins are first separated by size, in a thin gel sandwiched between two glass plates in a technique known as SDS-PAGE.", "The proteins in the gel are then transferred to a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), nitrocellulose, nylon, or other support membrane.", "This membrane can then be probed with solutions of antibodies.", "Antibodies that specifically bind to the protein of interest can then be visualized by a variety of techniques, including colored products, chemiluminescence, or autoradiography.", "Often, the antibodies are labeled with enzymes.", "When a chemiluminescent substrate is exposed to the enzyme it allows detection.", "Using western blotting techniques allows not only detection but also quantitative analysis.", "Analogous methods to western blotting can be used to directly stain specific proteins in live cells or tissue sections.====Eastern blotting====The eastern blotting technique is used to detect post-translational modification of proteins.", "Proteins blotted on to the PVDF or nitrocellulose membrane are probed for modifications using specific substrates.===Microarrays===A DNA microarray being printedHybridization of target to probeA DNA microarray is a collection of spots attached to a solid support such as a microscope slide where each spot contains one or more single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide fragments.", "Arrays make it possible to put down large quantities of very small (100 micrometre diameter) spots on a single slide.", "Each spot has a DNA fragment molecule that is complementary to a single DNA sequence.", "A variation of this technique allows the gene expression of an organism at a particular stage in development to be qualified (expression profiling).", "In this technique the RNA in a tissue is isolated and converted to labeled complementary DNA (cDNA).", "This cDNA is then hybridized to the fragments on the array and visualization of the hybridization can be done.", "Since multiple arrays can be made with exactly the same position of fragments, they are particularly useful for comparing the gene expression of two different tissues, such as a healthy and cancerous tissue.", "Also, one can measure what genes are expressed and how that expression changes with time or with other factors.There are many different ways to fabricate microarrays; the most common are silicon chips, microscope slides with spots of ~100 micrometre diameter, custom arrays, and arrays with larger spots on porous membranes (macroarrays).", "There can be anywhere from 100 spots to more than 10,000 on a given array.", "Arrays can also be made with molecules other than DNA.===Allele-specific oligonucleotide===Allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) is a technique that allows detection of single base mutations without the need for PCR or gel electrophoresis.", "Short (20–25 nucleotides in length), labeled probes are exposed to the non-fragmented target DNA, hybridization occurs with high specificity due to the short length of the probes and even a single base change will hinder hybridization.", "The target DNA is then washed and the labeled probes that did not hybridize are removed.", "The target DNA is then analyzed for the presence of the probe via radioactivity or fluorescence.", "In this experiment, as in most molecular biology techniques, a control must be used to ensure successful experimentation.In molecular biology, procedures and technologies are continually being developed and older technologies abandoned.", "For example, before the advent of DNA gel electrophoresis (agarose or polyacrylamide), the size of DNA molecules was typically determined by rate sedimentation in sucrose gradients, a slow and labor-intensive technique requiring expensive instrumentation; prior to sucrose gradients, viscometry was used.", "Aside from their historical interest, it is often worth knowing about older technology, as it is occasionally useful to solve another new problem for which the newer technique is inappropriate." ], [ "See also" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* * " ], [ "External links", " *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mauritius''', officially the '''Republic of Mauritius''', is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar.", "It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon ( Cargados Carajos shoals) .", "The islands of Mauritius including Agalega, St. Brandon and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), are part of the Mascarene Islands.", "The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis.", "The country spans and has an exclusive economic zone covering .Based on verbal accounts and the 1502 Cantino planisphere, Arab traders in the Indian Ocean may have been among the first to discover and name the uninhabited island, around 975 AD, as ''Dina Arobi''.", "In 1507, Portuguese sailors blown off course from the Madagascar channel on their way to India visited the uninhabited island naming it Cirne ('cisne' or 'swan' in modern day Portuguese), Ilha do Cerne on 16th Century Portuguese maps.", "A Dutch fleet, under the command of Admiral Van Warwyck, landed at what is now the Grand Port District and took possession of the island in 1598, renaming the uninhabited islands after Maurice, Prince of Orange.", "A succession of short-lived Dutch attempts at permanent settlement took place over a century with the aim of exploiting the local ebony forests, establishing a consistent sugar and arrack production using cane plant cuttings imported from Java together with over three hundred Malagasy slaves, before abandoning their efforts.", "France took the uninhabited island in 1715, renaming the island \"Isle de France\".", "In 1810, the United Kingdom seized the island, and four years later, under the Treaty of Paris, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom.", "The British colony of Mauritius included Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago, and, until 1906, the Seychelles.", "Mauritius and France dispute sovereignty over the island of Tromelin, as the treaty failed to mention it specifically.", "Mauritius became the British Empire's main sugar-producing colony and remained a primarily sugar-dominated plantation-based colony until independence, in 1968.In 1965, the UK paid Mauritius and excised the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritian territory to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).", "The local population was forcibly expelled and the largest island, Diego Garcia, was leased to the United States.", "Ruling on the sovereignty dispute between Mauritius and the UK, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea requested the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius but had no legal jurisdiction in the matter.Given its geographic location and associated centuries of colonialism, the people of Mauritius became highly diverse in their ethnicity, culture, language and faith.", "It is the only country within the geographical constraints of the African continent where Hinduism is the most practised religion.", "Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities.", "The island's government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and Mauritius has a high ranking for economic and political freedom being listed by the Economist's Democracy Index as the only country geographically close to Africa with full democracy.", "Mauritius is the only African country with a very high Human Development Index, and the World Bank classifies it as a high-income economy.", "It is amongst the most competitive and most developed economies in the African region.", "The government provides free universal healthcare, free education up through the tertiary level and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled.", "Mauritius is consistently ranked as the most peaceful when compared to African countries.Along with the other Mascarene Islands and, especially the Cargados Carajos shoals, Mauritius is known for its biodiverse flora and fauna and its endemism.", "The main island is known for the demise of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, became extinct soon after human settlement.", "Other endemic animals, such as the echo parakeet, the Mauritius kestrel and the pink pigeon, have survived and are subject to intensive and successful conservation efforts." ], [ "Etymology", "The first historical evidence of the existence of the island now known as Mauritius is on a 1502 map called the Cantino planisphere which was smuggled out of Portugal, for the Duke of Ferrara, by the Italian 'spy' Alberto Cantino.", "On this stolen Portuguese map, Mauritius bore the name ''Dina Arobi'' (likely ''Daniyah ‘Arūbi'' or corruption of ''Dībah ‘Arūbi'').", "In 1507, Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island.", "The island appears with the Portuguese names ''Cirne'' or ''Do-Cerne'' on early Portuguese maps, probably from the name of a ship in the 1507 expedition.In 1598, a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island ''Mauritius'', in honour of Prince Maurice van Nassau, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic.", "Later the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France.", "On 3 December 1810, the French surrendered the island to the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars.", "Under British rule, the island's name reverted to ''Mauritius'' .", "Mauritius is also commonly known as ''Maurice'' () and ''Île Maurice'' in French, ''Moris'' () in Mauritian Creole." ], [ "History", "=== Early history ===The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first recorded visit by Arab sailors in the end of the 10th century.", "Its name Dina Arobi has been associated with Arab sailors who first discovered the island.Pedro Mascarenhas, Viceroy of Portuguese India and namesake of the Mascarene Islands.The Treaty of Tordesillas purported to give the Kingdom of Portugal the right to colonise this part of the world.", "In 1507, Portuguese sailors came to the uninhabited island and established a visiting base.", "Diogo Fernandes Pereira, a Portuguese navigator, was the first European known to land in Mauritius.", "He named the island \"Ilha do Cisne\" (\"Island of the Swan\").", "The Portuguese did not stay long as they were not interested in these islands.", "The Mascarene Islands were named after Pedro Mascarenhas, Viceroy of Portuguese India, after his visit to the islands in 1512.Rodrigues Island was named after Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, who first came upon the island in 1528.Dutch activities on Mauritius, as well as the first published depiction of a dodo bird (2), 1601In 1598, a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand Van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island \"Mauritius\" after Prince Maurice of Nassau (Dutch: ''Maurits van Nassau'') of the Dutch Republic.", "The Dutch inhabited the island in 1638, from which they exploited ebony trees and introduced sugar cane, domestic animals and deer.", "It was from here that Dutch navigator Abel Tasman set out to seek the Great Southern Land, mapping parts of Tasmania, New Zealand and New Guinea.", "The first Dutch settlement lasted 20 years.", "In 1639, the Dutch East India Company brought enslaved Malagasy to cut down ebony trees and to work in the new tobacco and sugar cane plantations.", "Several attempts to establish a colony permanently were subsequently made, but the settlements never developed enough to produce dividends, causing the Dutch to abandon Mauritius in 1710.A 1755 article in the English ''Leeds Intelligencer'' claims that the island was abandoned due to the large number of long tailed macaque monkeys \"which destroyed everything in it,\" and that it was also known at the time as the '''Island of Monkeys'''.", "Portuguese sailors had brought these monkeys to the island from their native habitat in Southeast Asia, prior to Dutch rule.===French Mauritius (1715–1810)===France, which already controlled neighbouring Île Bourbon (now Réunion), took control of Mauritius in 1715 and renamed it Isle de France.", "In 1723, the ''Code Noir'' was established to regulate slavery; categorise one group of human beings as \"goods\", for the owner of these goods to be able to obtain insurance money and compensation in case of loss of his \"goods\".", "The 1735 arrival of French governor Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais coincided with development of a prosperous economy based on sugar production.", "Mahé de La Bourdonnais established Port Louis as a naval base and a shipbuilding centre.", "Under his governorship, numerous buildings were erected, a number of which are still standing.", "These include part of Government House, the Château de Mon Plaisir, and the Line Barracks, the headquarters of the police force.", "The island was under the administration of the French East India Company, which maintained its presence until 1767.During the French rule, slaves were brought from parts of Africa such as Mozambique and Zanzibar.", "As a result, the island's population rose dramatically from 15,000 to 49,000 within thirty years.", "During the late eighteenth century, African slaves accounted for around 80 percent of the island's population, and by the early nineteenth century there were 60,000 slaves on the island.", "In early 1729, Indians from Pondicherry, India, arrived in Mauritius aboard the vessel ''La Sirène''.", "Work contracts for these craftsmen were signed in 1734 at the time when they acquired their freedom.The Battle of Grand Port between French and British naval forces, 20–27 August 1810From 1767 to 1810, except for a brief period during the French Revolution when the inhabitants set up a government virtually independent of France, the island was controlled by officials appointed by the French government.", "Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre lived on the island from 1768 to 1771, then went back to France, where he wrote ''Paul et Virginie'', a love story that made the Isle de France famous wherever the French language was spoken.", "In 1796 the settlers broke away from French control when the government in Paris attempted to abolish slavery.", "Two famous French governors were the Vicomte de Souillac (who constructed the Chaussée in Port Louis and encouraged farmers to settle in the district of Savanne) and Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux (who saw to it that the French in the Indian Ocean should have their headquarters in Mauritius instead of Pondicherry in India).", "Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen was a successful general in the French Revolutionary Wars and, in some ways, a rival of Napoléon I.", "He ruled as Governor of Isle de France and Réunion from 1803 to 1810.British naval cartographer and explorer Matthew Flinders was arrested and detained by General Decaen on the island from 1803 to 1810, in contravention of an order from Napoléon.", "During the Napoleonic Wars, Mauritius became a base from which French corsairs organised successful raids on British commercial ships.", "The raids continued until 1810, when a Royal Navy expedition led by Commodore Josias Rowley, R.N., an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, was sent to capture the island.", "Despite winning the Battle of Grand Port against the British, the French could not prevent the British from landing at Cap Malheureux three months later.", "They formally surrendered the island on the fifth day of the invasion, 3 December 1810, on terms allowing settlers to keep their land and property and to use the French language and law of France in criminal and civil matters.", "Under British rule, the island's name reverted to Mauritius.===British Mauritius (1810–1968)===seizing the Isle of France on 2 December 1810First indentured Indian workers (1834)The British administration, which began with Sir Robert Farquhar as its first governor, oversaw rapid social and economic changes.", "However, it was tainted by the Ratsitatane episode.", "Ratsitatane, nephew of King Radama of Madagascar, was brought to Mauritius as a political prisoner.", "He managed to escape from prison and plotted a rebellion that would free the island's slaves.", "He was betrayed by his associate Laizaf and was caught by a group of militiamen and summarily executed.In 1832, d'Épinay launched the first Mauritian newspaper (''Le Cernéen''), which was not controlled by the government.", "In the same year, there was a move by the ''procureur-general'' to abolish slavery without compensation to the slave owners.", "This gave rise to discontent, and, to check an eventual rebellion, the government ordered all the inhabitants to surrender their arms.", "Furthermore, a stone fortress, Fort Adelaide, was built on a hill (now known as the Citadel hill) in the centre of Port Louis to quell any uprising.", "Slavery was gradually abolished over several years after 1833, and the planters ultimately received two million pounds sterling in compensation for the loss of their slaves, who had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation.", "The abolition of slavery had important effects on Mauritius's society, economy and population.", "The planters brought a large number of indentured labourers from India to work in the sugar cane fields.", "Between 1834 and 1921, around half a million indentured labourers were present on the island.", "They worked on sugar estates, factories, in transport and on construction sites.", "Additionally, the British brought 8,740 Indian soldiers to the island.", "Aapravasi Ghat, in the bay at Port Louis and now a UNESCO site, was the first British colony to serve as a major reception centre for indentured servants.", "The labourers brought from India were not always fairly treated, and a German, Adolph von Plevitz, made himself the unofficial protector of these immigrants.", "In 1871 he helped them to write a petition that was sent to Governor Gordon.", "A commission was appointed and recommended several measures that would affect the lives of Indian labourers during the next fifty years.In 1885, a new constitution was introduced.", "It was referred to as ''Cens Démocratique'' and it incorporated some of the principles advocated by one of the Creole leaders, Onésipho Beaugeard.", "It created elected positions in the Legislative Council – although the franchise was restricted mainly to the white French and fair-skinned Indian elite who owned real estate.", "In 1886, Governor John Pope Hennessy nominated Gnanadicarayen Arlanda as the first ever Indo-Mauritian member of the ruling council – despite the sugar oligarchy's preference for rival Indo-Mauritian Emile Sandapa.", "Arlanda served until 1891.In 1903, motorcars were introduced in Mauritius, and in 1910, the first taxis came into service.", "The electrification of Port Louis took place in 1909, and in the same decade the Mauritius Hydro Electric Company of the Atchia Brothers was authorised to provide power to the towns of upper Plaines Wilhems.Champ de Mars Racecourse, Port Louis, 1880King George V and Queen Mary) to Mauritius, 1901The 1910s were a period of political agitation.", "The rising middle class (made up of doctors, lawyers, and teachers) began to challenge the political power of the sugar cane landowners.", "Eugène Laurent, mayor of Port Louis, was the leader of this new group; his party, Action Libérale, demanded that more people should be allowed to vote in the elections.", "Action Libérale was opposed by the Parti de l'Ordre, led by Henri Leclézio, the most influential of the sugar magnates.", "In 1911, there were riots in Port Louis due to a false rumour that Laurent had been murdered by the oligarchs in Curepipe.", "This became known as the 1911 Curepipe riots.", "Shops and offices were damaged in the capital, and one person was killed.", "In the same year, 1911, the first public cinema shows took place in Curepipe, and, in the same town, a stone building was erected to house the Royal College.", "In 1912, a wider telephone network came into service, used by the government, business firms, and a few private households.World War I broke out in August 1914.Many Mauritians volunteered to fight in Europe against the Germans and in Mesopotamia against the Turks.", "But the war affected Mauritius much less than the wars of the eighteenth century.", "In fact, the 1914–1918 war was a period of great prosperity, due to a boom in sugar prices.", "In 1919, the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate came into being, which included 70% of all sugar producers.", "The 1920s saw the rise of a \"retrocessionism\" movement, which favoured the retrocession of Mauritius to France.", "The movement rapidly collapsed because none of the candidates who wanted Mauritius to be given back to France were elected in the 1921 elections.", "In the post-war recession, there was a sharp drop in sugar prices.", "Many sugar estates closed down, marking the end of an era for the sugar magnates who had not only controlled the economy but also the political life of the country.From the end of nominated Arlanda's term in 1891, until 1926, there had been no Indo-Mauritian representation in the Legislative Council.", "However, at the 1926 elections, Dunputh Lallah and Rajcoomar Gujadhur became the first Indo-Mauritians to be elected to the Legislative Council.", "At Grand Port, Lallah won over rivals Fernand Louis Morel and Gaston Gebert; at Flacq, Gujadhur defeated Pierre Montocchio.", "1936 saw the birth of the Labour Party, launched by Maurice Curé.", "Emmanuel Anquetil rallied the urban workers while Pandit Sahadeo concentrated on the rural working class.", "The Uba riots of 1937 resulted in reforms by the local British government that improved labour conditions and led to the un-banning of labour unions.", "Labour Day was celebrated for the first time in 1938.More than 30,000 workers sacrificed a day's wage and came from all over the island to attend a giant meeting at the Champ de Mars.", "Following the dockers' strikes, trade unionist Emmanuel Anquetil was deported to Rodrigues, Maurice Curé and Pandit Sahadeo were placed under house arrest, whilst numerous strikers were jailed.", "Governor Sir Bede Clifford assisted Mr Jules Leclezio of the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate to counter the effects of the strike by using alternative workers known as 'black legs'.At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, many Mauritians volunteered to serve under the British flag in Africa and the Near East, fighting against the German and Italian armies.", "Mauritius was never really threatened, but in 1943, several British ships were sunk outside Port Louis by German submarines.", "In the initial stages of the war, locally recruited military formations were raised in order to defend the country in case the British imperial troops had to leave.", "On 24 March 1943, the Mauritius Regiment, was created as an imperial unit and a new subsidiary of the East Africa Command (EAC).", "In late 1943, the 1st Battalion of the Mauritius Regiment (1MR) was sent to Madagascar for training, and in their place a battalion of the King's African Rifles (KAR) was stationed in Mauritius.", "The dispatch of the 1MR proved to be politically unpopular on the basis of some troops resenting conscription and the battalion overseas comprising solely non-white troops, exacerbating racial tensions in the country.", "The 1MR troops were further aggrieved at the segregation they were subject to, unequal pay, physically demanding training, and were fearful of the Japanese soldiers, all these factors culminated in the 1MR mutinying.During World War II, conditions were hard in the country; the prices of commodities doubled but workers' salaries increased only by 10 to 20 percent.", "There was civil unrest, and the colonial government censored all trade union activities.", "However, the labourers of Belle Vue Harel Sugar Estate went on strike on 27 September 1943.Police officers eventually fired directly at the crowd, resulting in the deaths of four labourers.", "This became known as the 1943 Belle Vue Harel Massacre.", "Social worker and leader of the Jan Andolan movement Basdeo Bissoondoyal organised the funeral ceremonies of the four dead labourers.", "Three months later, on 12 December 1943, Bissoondoyal organised a mass gathering at \"Marie Reine de la Paix\" in Port Louis, and the significant crowd of workers from all over the island confirmed the popularity of the Jan Andolan movement.After the proclamation of the 1947 Constitution of Mauritius, the general elections were held on 9 August 1948 – and, for the first time, the colonial government expanded the franchise to all adults who could write their name in one of the island's 19 languages, abolishing the previous gender and property qualifications.", "Guy Rozemont's Labour Party won the majority of the votes with 11 of the 19 elected seats won by Hindus.", "However, the Governor-General Donald Mackenzie-Kennedy appointed 12 Conservatives to the Legislative Council on 23 August 1948 to perpetuate the predominance of white Franco-Mauritians.", "In 1948, Emilienne Rochecouste became the first woman to be elected to the Legislative Council.", "Guy Rozemont's party bettered its position in 1953, and, on the strength of the election results, demanded universal suffrage.", "Constitutional conferences were held in London in 1955 and 1957, and the ministerial system was introduced.", "Voting took place for the first time on the basis of universal adult suffrage on 9 March 1959.The general election was again won by the Labour Party, led this time by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.A Constitutional Review Conference was held in London in 1961, and a programme of further constitutional advance was established.", "The 1963 election was won by the Labour Party and its allies.", "The Colonial Office noted that politics of a communal nature was gaining ground in Mauritius and that the choice of candidates (by parties) and the voting behaviour (of electors) were governed by ethnic and caste considerations.", "Around that time, two eminent British academics, Richard Titmuss and James Meade, published a report of the island's social problems caused by overpopulation and the monoculture of sugar cane.", "This led to an intense campaign to halt the population explosion, and the decade registered a sharp decline in population growth.In early 1965, a political assassination took place in the suburb of Belle-Rose, in the town of Quatre Bornes, where Labour activist Rampersad Surath was beaten to death by thugs of rival party Parti Mauricien.", "On 10 May 1965, racial riots broke out in the village of ''Trois Boutiques'' near Souillac and progressed to the historic village of Mahébourg.", "A nationwide state of emergency was declared on the whole British colony.", "The riot was initiated by the murder of Police Constable Beesoo in his vehicle by a Creole gang.", "This was followed by the murder of a civilian named Mr. Robert Brousse in Trois Boutiques.", "The Creole gang then proceeded to the coastal historic village of Mahébourg to assault the Indo-Mauritian spectators who were watching a Hindustani movie at Cinéma Odéon.", "Mahébourg police recorded nearly 100 complaints of assaults on Indo-Mauritians.=== Independence (since 1968) ===Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, first Prime Minister of Mauritius at Lod airport, Israel 1962At the Lancaster Conference of 1965, it became clear that Britain wanted to relieve itself of the colony of Mauritius.", "In 1959, Harold Macmillan had made his famous \"Wind of Change Speech\" in which he acknowledged that the best option for Britain was to give complete independence to its colonies.", "Thus, since the late fifties, the way was paved for independence.Later in 1965, after the Lancaster Conference, the Chagos Archipelago was excised from the territory of Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).", "A general election took place on 7 August 1967, and the Independence Party obtained the majority of seats.", "In January 1968, six weeks before the declaration of independence the 1968 Mauritian riots occurred in Port Louis leading to the deaths of 25 people.Elizabeth II was Queen of Mauritius from 1968 to 1992.Mauritius adopted a new constitution, and independence was proclaimed on 12 March 1968.Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became the first prime minister of an independent Mauritius – with Queen Elizabeth II remaining head of state as Queen of Mauritius.", "In 1969, the opposition party, Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), was founded, led by Paul Bérenger.", "Later, in 1971, the MMM – backed by unions – called a series of strikes in the port, which caused a state of emergency in the country.The coalition government of the Labour Party and the PMSD (Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate) reacted by curtailing civil liberties and curbing freedom of the press.", "Two unsuccessful apparent assassination attempts were made against Paul Bérenger in 1971, killing his supporter Fareed Muttur and dock worker and activist Azor Adélaïde.", "General elections were postponed and public meetings were prohibited.", "Members of the MMM, including Paul Bérenger, were imprisoned on 23 December 1971.The MMM leader was released a year later.In May 1975, a student revolt that started at the University of Mauritius swept across the country.", "The students were unsatisfied with an education system that did not meet their aspirations, and that gave limited prospects for future employment.", "On 20 May, thousands of students tried to enter Port-Louis over the Grand River North West bridge, and clashed with police.", "An act of Parliament was passed on 16 December 1975 to extend the right to vote to 18-year-olds.", "This was seen as an attempt to appease the frustration of the younger generation.The next general elections took place on 20 December 1976.The Labour-CAM coalition won only 28 seats out of 62.The MMM secured 34 seats in Parliament but outgoing Prime Minister Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam managed to remain in office, with a two-seat majority, after striking an alliance with the PMSD of Gaetan Duval.In 1982 an MMM-PSM government (led by PM Anerood Jugnauth, Deputy PM Harish Boodhoo and Finance Minister Paul Bérenger) was elected.", "However, ideological and personality differences emerged within the MMM and PSM leadership.", "The power struggle between Bérenger and Jugnauth peaked in March 1983.Jugnauth travelled to New Delhi to attend a Non-Aligned Movement summit; on his return, Bérenger proposed constitutional changes that would strip power from the Prime Minister.", "At Jugnauth's request, PM Indira Gandhi of India planned an armed intervention involving the Indian Navy and Indian Army to prevent a coup under the code name Operation Lal Dora.The MMM-PSM government split up nine months after the June 1982 election.", "According to an Information Ministry official the nine months was a \"socialist experiment\".", "Harish Boodhoo dissolved his party PSM to enable all PSM parliamentarians to join Jugnauth's new party MSM, thus remaining in power whilst distancing themselves from MMM.", "The MSM-Labour-PMSD coalition was victorious at the August 1983 elections, resulting in Anerood Jugnauth as PM and Gaëtan Duval as Deputy PM.That period saw growth in the EPZ (Export Processing Zone) sector.", "Industrialisation began to spread to villages as well, and attracted young workers from all ethnic communities.", "As a result, the sugar industry began to lose its hold on the economy.", "Large retail chains began opening stores in 1985 and offered credit facilities to low-income earners, thus allowing them to afford basic household appliances.", "There was also a boom in the tourism industry, and new hotels sprang up throughout the island.", "In 1989 the stock exchange opened its doors, and in 1992, the freeport began operation.", "In 1990, the Prime Minister lost the vote on changing the Constitution to make the country a republic with Bérenger as president.=== Republic (since 1992) ===On 12 March 1992, twenty-four years after independence, Mauritius was proclaimed a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations and the British monarch removed as head of state.", "The last Governor-General of Mauritius, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, became the first President.", "This was under a transitional arrangement, in which he was replaced by Cassam Uteem later that year.", "Political power remained with the prime minister.Despite an improvement in the economy, which coincided with a fall in the price of petrol and a favourable dollar exchange rate, the government did not enjoy full popularity.", "As early as 1984, there was discontent.", "Through the ''Newspapers and Periodicals Amendment Act'', the government tried to make every newspaper provide a bank guarantee of half a million rupees.", "Forty-three journalists protested by participating in a public demonstration in Port Louis, in front of Parliament.", "They were arrested and freed on bail.", "This caused a public outcry and the government had to review its policy.There was also dissatisfaction in the education sector.", "There were not enough high-quality secondary colleges to answer the growing demand of primary school leavers who had got through their CPE (Certificate of Primary Education).", "In 1991, a master plan for education failed to get national support and contributed to the government's downfall.In December 1995, Navin Ramgoolam was elected as PM of the Labour–MMM alliance.", "In October 1996, the triple murder of political activists at Gorah-Issac Street in Port Louis led to several arrests and a long investigation.The year 1999 was marked by civil unrest and riots in February and then in May.", "Following the Kaya riots, President Cassam Uteem and Cardinal Jean Margéot toured the country and calm was restored after four days of turmoil.", "A commission of enquiry was set up to investigate the root causes of the social disturbance.", "The resulting report delved into the cause of poverty and qualified many tenacious beliefs as perceptions.", "In January 2000, political activist Rajen Sabapathee was shot dead after he escaped from La Bastille jail.the government to respond promptly and effectively to the MV ''Wakashio'' oil spill resulted in anti-government protests.Sir Anerood Jugnauth of the MSM returned to power in September 2000 after securing an alliance with the MMM.", "In 2002, the island of Rodrigues became an autonomous entity within the republic and was thus able to elect its own representatives to administer the island.", "In 2003, the prime ministership was transferred to Paul Bérenger of the MMM, and Sir Anerood Jugnauth became President.", "Bérenger was the first Franco-Mauritian Prime Minister in the country's post-Independence history.In 2005 elections, Navin Ramgoolam became PM under the new coalition of Labour–PMXD–VF–MR–MMSM.", "In the 2010 elections the Labour–MSM–PMSD alliance secured power and Navin Ramgoolam remained PM until 2014.The MSM–PMSD–ML coalition was victorious at the 2014 elections under Anerood Jugnauth's leadership.", "Despite disagreements within the ruling alliance that led to the departure of PMSD, the MSM–ML stayed in power for their full 5-year term.On 21 January 2017, Sir Anerood Jugnauth announced his resignation and that his son and Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth would assume the office of prime minister.", "The transition took place as planned on 23 January 2017.In 2018, Mauritian president Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned over a financial scandal.", "The incumbent president is Prithvirajsing Roopun who has served since December 2019.In the November 2019 Mauritius general elections, the ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won more than half of the seats in parliament, securing incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a new five-year term.On 25 July 2020, Japanese-owned bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the coast of Mauritius, leaking up to 1,000 tonnes of heavy oil into a pristine lagoon.", "Its location on the edge of protected fragile marine ecosystems and a wetland of international importance made the ''MV Wakashio'' oil spill one of the worst environmental disasters ever to hit the western Indian Ocean." ], [ "Geography", "The total land area of the country is .", "It is the 170th largest nation in the world by size.", "The Republic of Mauritius comprises Mauritius Island and several outlying islands.", "The nation's exclusive economic zone covers about of the Indian Ocean, including approximately jointly managed with the Seychelles.=== Mauritius Island ===Mauritius is off the southeast coast of Africa, between latitudes 19°58.8'S and 20°31.7'S and longitudes 57°18.0'E and 57°46.5'E.", "It is long and wide.", "Its land area is .", "The island is surrounded by more than of white sandy beaches, and the lagoons are protected from the open sea by the world's third-largest coral reef, which surrounds the island.", "Just off the Mauritian coast lie some 49 uninhabited islands and islets, several of which have been declared natural reserves for endangered species.Mauritius Island (Mauritian Creole: ''Lil Moris''; , ) is relatively young geologically, having been created by volcanic activity some 8 million years ago.", "Together with Saint Brandon, Réunion, and Rodrigues, the island is part of the Mascarene Islands.", "These islands emerged as a result of gigantic underwater volcanic eruptions that happened thousands of kilometres to the east of the continental block made up of Africa and Madagascar.", "They are no longer volcanically active and the hotspot now rests under Réunion Island.", "Mauritius is encircled by a broken ring of mountain ranges, varying in height from above sea level.", "The land rises from coastal plains to a central plateau where it reaches a height of ; the highest peak is in the south-west, Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire at .", "Streams and rivers speckle the island, many formed in the cracks created by lava flows.A panoramic view of Mauritius Island=== Rodrigues Island ===The autonomous island of Rodrigues is located to the east of Mauritius, with an area .", "Rodrigues is a volcanic island rising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene Plateau.", "The island is hilly with a central spine culminating in the highest peak, Mountain Limon at .", "The island also has a coral reef and extensive limestone deposits.", "According to Statistics Mauritius, at 1 July 2019, the population of the island was estimated at 43,371.=== Chagos Archipelago ===The Chagos Archipelago is composed of atolls and islands, and is located approximately 2,200 kilometres north-east of the main island of Mauritius.", "Mauritius claims sovereignty over the archipelago, which forms the British Indian Ocean Territory and is ''de facto'' controlled by the United Kingdom.", "To the north of the Chagos Archipelago are Peros Banhos, the Salomon Islands and Nelsons Island; to the south-west are The Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Egmont Islands and Danger Island.", "Diego Garcia is in the south-east of the archipelago.", "In 2016, the Chagossian population was estimated at 8,700 in Mauritius, including 483 natives; 350 Chagossians live in the Seychelles, including 75 natives, while 3,000, including 127 natives, live in the UK (the population having grown from the 1200 Chagossians who moved there).=== St. Brandon ===The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon – Images of L'Île Coco, Cargados Carajos Shoals in MauritiusSt.", "Brandon, also known as Cargados Carajos Shoals, is located northeast of Mauritius Island.", "Saint Brandon is an archipelago composed of the remnants of the lost micro continent of Mauritia and consists of five island groups, with between 28 and 40 islands in total, depending on seasonal storms, cyclones, and related sand movements.", "In 2008, the Privy Council (United Kingdom) judgment (Article 71) confirmed Raphaël Fishing Company as ''the holder of a Permanent Grant of the thirteen islands mentioned in the 1901 Deed (transcribed in Vol TB25 No 342) subject to the conditions therein referred to;''=== Agaléga Islands ===The twin islands of Agaléga are located some to the north of Mauritius.", "Its North Island is long and wide, while its South Island is .", "The total area of both islands is .", "According to Statistics Mauritius, at 1 July 2019, the population of Agaléga and St. Brandon was estimated at 274.=== Tromelin ===Aerial view of Tromelin IslandTromelin Island lies 430 km north-west of Mauritius.", "Mauritius claims sovereignty over Tromelin island, though it is registered as a part of France.The French took control of Mauritius in 1715, renaming it Isle de France.", "France officially ceded Mauritius including all its dependencies to Britain through the Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814 and in which Réunion was returned to France.", "The British Colony of Mauritius consisted of the main island of Mauritius along with its dependencies Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, Tromelin (disputed) and the Chagos Archipelago, while the Seychelles became a separate colony in 1906.It is disputed whether the transfer of Isle de France (as Mauritius was previously known under French rule) and its dependencies to Britain in 1814 included Tromelin island.", "Article 8 of the Treaty of Paris stipulate the cession by France to Britain of Isle de France \"and its dependencies, namely Rodrigues and the Seychelles\".", "France considers that the sovereignty of Tromelin island was never transferred to Britain.", "Mauritius's claim is based on the fact that the transfer of Isle de France and its dependencies to Britain in 1814 was general in nature, that it was beyond those called out in the Treaty of Paris, and that all the dependencies of Isle de France were not specifically mentioned in the Treaty.", "Mauritius's claim is that since Tromelin was a dependency of Isle de France, it was 'de facto' transferred to Britain in 1814.The islands of Agaléga, St Brandon and the Chagos Archipelago were also not specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Paris but became part of the British Colony of Mauritius as they were dependencies of Isle de France at that time.", "In addition, the British authorities in Mauritius had been taking administrative measures with respect to Tromelin over the years; for instance, British officials granted four guano operating concessions on Tromelin island between 1901 and 1951.In 1959, British officials in Mauritius informed the World Meteorological Organization that it considered Tromelin to be part of its territory.", "A co-management treaty was reached by France and Mauritius in 2010 but has not been ratified.=== Wildlife ===" ], [ "Chagos Archipelago territorial dispute", "Map of the Chagos ArchipelagoMauritius has long sought sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, located to the north-east.", "Chagos was administratively part of Mauritius from the 18th century when the French first settled the islands.", "All of the islands forming part of the French colonial territory of Isle de France (as Mauritius was then known) were ceded to the British in 1810 under the Act of Capitulation signed between the two powers.", "In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches from the Seychelles to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).", "The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on 8 November 1965.On 23 June 1976, Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches were returned to Seychelles as a result of its attaining independence.", "The BIOT now comprises the Chagos Archipelago only.", "The UK leased the main island of the archipelago, Diego Garcia, to the United States under a 50-year lease to establish a military base.", "In 2016, Britain extended the lease to the US till 2036.Mauritius has repeatedly asserted that the separation of its territories is a violation of United Nations resolutions banning the dismemberment of colonial territories before independence and claims that the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius under both Mauritian law and international law.", "Between 1968 and 1973, British officials forcibly expelled over 1,000 Chagossians to Mauritius and the Seychelles.", "As part of the deportation, British officials have been accused of ordering the island's dog population of 1,000 to be gassed.", "At the United Nations and in statements to its Parliament, the UK stated that there was no \"permanent population\" in the Chagos Archipelago and described the population as \"contract labourers\" who were relocated.", "Since 1971, only the atoll of Diego Garcia is inhabited, home to some 3,000 UK and US military and civilian contracted personnel.", "Chagossians have since engaged in activism to return to the archipelago, claiming that their forced expulsion and dispossession were illegal.Mauritius considers the territorial sea of the Chagos Archipelago and Tromelin island as part of its exclusive economic zone.Camp Justice on Diego GarciaOn 20 December 2010, Mauritius initiated proceedings against the United Kingdom under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to challenge the legality of the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA), which the UK purported to declare around the Chagos Archipelago in April 2010.The dispute was arbitrated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.", "The Tribunal's decision determined that the UK's undertaking to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius gives Mauritius an interest in significant decisions that bear upon possible future uses of the archipelago.On 25 February 2019, the judges of the International Court of Justice by thirteen votes to one stated that the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible.", "Only the American judge, Joan Donoghue, voted in favor of the UK.", "The president of the court, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the detachment of the Chagos Archipelago in 1965 from Mauritius had not been based on a \"free and genuine expression of the people concerned\".", "\"This continued administration constitutes a wrongful act\", he said, adding \"The UK has an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible and that all member states must co-operate with the United Nations to complete the decolonization of Mauritius.", "\"On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly debated and adopted a resolution that affirmed that the Chagos Archipelago, which has been occupied by the UK for more than 50 years, \"forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius\".", "The resolution gives effect to an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), demanded that the UK \"withdraw its colonial administration ... unconditionally within a period of no more than six months\".", "116 states voted in favour of the resolution, 55 abstained and only Australia, Hungary, Israel and Maldives supported the UK and US.", "During the debate, the Mauritian Prime Minister described the expulsion of Chagossians as \"a crime against humanity\".", "While the resolution is not legally binding, it carries significant political weight since the ruling came from the UN's highest court and the assembly vote reflects world opinion.", "The resolution also has immediate practical consequences: the UN, its specialised agencies, and all other international organisations are now bound, as a matter of UN law, to support the decolonisation of Mauritius even if the UK claim that it has no doubt about its sovereignty." ], [ "Environment and climate", "Black River Gorges National ParkThe environment in Mauritius is typically tropical in the coastal regions with forests in the mountainous areas.", "Seasonal cyclones are destructive to its flora and fauna, although they recover quickly.", "Mauritius ranked second in an air quality index released by the World Health Organization in 2011.It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.46/10, ranking it 100th globally out of 172 countries.Situated near the Tropic of Capricorn, Mauritius has a tropical climate.", "There are 2 seasons: a warm humid summer from November to April, with a mean temperature of and a relatively cool dry winter from June to September with a mean temperature of .", "The temperature difference between the seasons is only 4.3°C (7.7°F).", "The warmest months are January and February with average day maximum temperature reaching and the coolest months are July and August with average overnight minimum temperatures of .", "Annual rainfall ranges from on the coast to on the central plateau.", "Although there is no marked rainy season, most of the rainfall occurs in the summer months.", "Sea temperature in the lagoon varies from .", "The central plateau is much cooler than the surrounding coastal areas and can experience as much as twice the rainfall.", "The prevailing trade winds keep the east side of the island cooler and bring more rain.", "Occasional tropical cyclones generally occur between January and March and tend to disrupt the weather for about three days, bringing heavy rain.Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth declared an environmental state of emergency after the 25 July 2020 ''MV Wakashio'' oil spill.", "France sent aircraft and specialists from Réunion and Greenpeace said that the leak threatened the survival of thousands of species, who are at \"risk of drowning in a sea of pollution\".=== Biodiversity ===Mauritius was the only known habitat of the extinct dodo, a flightless bird.", "Mauritius ornate day geckoThe country is home to some of the world's rarest plants and animals, but human habitation and the introduction of non-native species have threatened its indigenous flora and fauna.", "Due to its volcanic origin, age, isolation, and unique terrain, Mauritius is home to a diversity of flora and fauna not usually found in such a small area.", "Before the Portuguese arrival in 1507, there were no terrestrial mammals on the island.", "This allowed the evolution of a number of flightless birds and large reptile species.", "The arrival of humans saw the introduction of invasive alien species, the rapid destruction of habitat and the loss of much of the endemic flora and fauna.", "In particular, the extinction of the flightless dodo bird, a species unique to Mauritius, has become a representative example of human-driven extinction.", "The dodo is prominently featured as a (heraldic) supporter of the national coat of arms of Mauritius.Less than 2% of the native forest now remains, concentrated in the Black River Gorges National Park in the south-west, the Bambous Mountain Range in the south-east, and the Moka-Port Louis Ranges in the north-west.", "There are some isolated mountains, Corps de Garde, Le Morne Brabant, and several offshore islands, with remnants of coastal and mainland diversity.", "Over 100 species of plants and animals have become extinct and many more are threatened.", "Conservation activities began in the 1980s with the implementation of programmes for the reproduction of threatened bird and plant species as well as habitat restoration in the national parks and nature reserves.In 2011, the Ministry of Environment & Sustainable Development issued the \"Mauritius Environment Outlook Report,\" which recommended that St Brandon be declared a Marine protected area.", "In the President's Report of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation dated March 2016, St Brandon is declared an official MWF project to promote the conservation of the atoll.", "The Mauritian flying fox is the only remaining mammal endemic to the island,and has been severely threatened in recent years due to the government sanctioned culling introduced in November 2015 due to the belief that they were a threat to fruit plantations.", "Prior to 2015 the lack of severe cyclone had seen the fruit bat population increase and the status of the species was then changed by the IUCN from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2014.October 2018, saw the authorisation of the cull of 20% of the fruit bat population, amounting to 13,000 of the estimated 65,000 fruit bats remaining, although their status had already reverted to Endangered due to the previous years' culls." ], [ "Government and politics", "Government House, Port LouisThe politics of Mauritius take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, in which the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government, assisted by a Council of Ministers.", "Mauritius has a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the Government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the National Assembly.The National Assembly is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly until 1992, when the country became a republic.", "It consists of 70 members, 62 elected for four-year terms in multi-member constituencies and eight additional members, known as \"best losers\", appointed by the Electoral Service Commission to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are equitably represented.", "The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which monitors member states' compliance with the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICPCR), has criticised the country's Best Loser System following a complaint by a local youth and trade union movement.", "The president is elected for a five-year term by the Parliament.The island of Mauritius is divided into 20 constituencies that return three members each.", "The island of Rodrigues is a single district that returns two members.After a general election, the Electoral Supervisory Commission may nominate up to eight additional members with a view to correct any imbalance in the representation of ethnic minorities in Parliament.", "This system of nominating members is commonly called the best loser system.The political party or party alliance that wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government.", "Its leader becomes the Prime Minister, who selects the Cabinet from elected members of the Assembly, except for the Attorney General of Mauritius, who may not be an elected member of the Assembly.", "The political party or alliance which has the second largest group of representatives forms the Official Opposition and its leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition.", "The Assembly elects a Speaker, a Deputy Speaker and a Deputy Chairman of Committees as some of its first tasks.Mauritius is a democracy with a government elected every five years.", "The most recent National Assembly Election was held on 7 November 2019 in all the 20 mainland constituencies, and in the constituency covering the island of Rodrigues.", "Elections have tended to be a contest between two major coalitions of parties.The 2018 Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Mauritius first in good governance.", "According to the 2017 Democracy Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, Mauritius ranks 16th worldwide and is the only African-related country with \"full democracy\".Office heldOffice holderIncumbencyPresidentPrithvirajsing Roopun2 December 2019 Prime MinisterPravind Jugnauth 23 January 2017Vice President Marie Cyril Eddy Boissézon\| 2 December 2019 Deputy Prime Minister Steven Obeegadoo 25 June 2020Chief JusticeRehana Mungly-Gulbul 18 November 2021Speaker of the National AssemblySooroojdev Phokeer 21 November 2019Leader of the OppositionXavier-Luc Duval 4 March 2021=== Administrative subdivisions ===Mauritius has a single first-order administrative division, the Outer Islands of Mauritius (), which consists of the islands of Mauritius and several outlying islands.", "Mauritius comprises the island of Mauritius and Outer Islands of Mauritius.", "The following are the island-groups in Mauritius:Island of MauritiusRodriguesSaint Brandon (Cargados Carajos)AgalégaThe island of Mauritius is subdivided into nine districts, which are the country's second-order administrative divisions.=== Military ===All military, police, and security functions in Mauritius are carried out by 10,000 active-duty personnel under the Commissioner of Police.", "The 8,000-member National Police Force is responsible for domestic law enforcement.", "The 1,400-member Special Mobile Force (SMF) and the 688-member National Coast Guard are the only two paramilitary units in Mauritius.", "Both units are composed of police officers on lengthy rotations to those services.", "Mauritius has also a special operations military known as 'GIPM' that would intervene in any terrorist attack or high risk operations.=== Foreign relations ===Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 19 April 2018Mauritius has strong and friendly relations with various African, American, Asian, European and Oceanic countries.", "Considered part of Africa geographically, Mauritius has friendly relations with African states in the region, particularly South Africa, by far its largest continental trading partner.", "Mauritian investors are gradually entering African markets, notably Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.", "The country's political heritage and dependence on Western markets have led to close ties with the European Union and its member states, particularly France.", "Relations with India are very strong for both historical and commercial reasons.", "Mauritius established diplomatic relations with China in April 1972 and was forced to defend this decision, along with naval contracts with the USSR in the same year.", "It has also been extending its Middle East outreach with the setting up of an embassy in Saudi Arabia whose Ambassador also doubles as the country's ambassador to Bahrain.Mauritius is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Southern Africa Development Community, the Indian Ocean Commission, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association.=== Legal system ===Mauritius has a hybrid legal system derived from British common law and the French civil law.", "The Constitution of Mauritius established the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary and guaranteed the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual.", "Mauritius has a single-structured judicial system consisting of two tiers, the Supreme Court and subordinate courts.", "The Supreme Court is composed of various divisions exercising jurisdiction such as the Master's Court, the Family Division, the Commercial Division (Bankruptcy), the Criminal Division, the Mediation Division, the Court of First Instance in civil and criminal proceedings, the Appellate jurisdiction: the Court of Civil Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal.", "Subordinate courts consist of the Intermediate Court, the Industrial Court, the District Courts, the Bail and Remand Court and the Court of Rodrigues.", "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the final court of appeal of Mauritius.", "After the independence of Mauritius in 1968, Mauritius maintained the Privy Council as its highest court of appeal.", "Appeals to the Judicial Committee from decisions of the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court may be as of right or with the leave of the Court, as set out in section 81 of the Constitution and section 70A of the Courts Act.", "The Judicial Committee may also grant special leave to appeal from the decision of any court in any civil or criminal matter as per section 81(5) of the Constitution.Mauritius is often described as Africa's most developed country.", "There are no legal restrictions against homosexuality in Mauritius." ], [ "Demographics", "Population pyramid (2020)Mauritius had a population of 1,235,260 (608,090 males, 627,170 females) according to the final results of the 2022 Census.", "The population on the island of Mauritius was 1,191,280 (586,590 males and 604,690 females), and that of Rodrigues island was 43,650 (21,330 males and 22,320 females); Agalega island total population of 330 (170 males and 160 females).", "Mauritius has the second highest population density in Africa.", "According to the 2022 census, the average age of the population was 38 years.", "2022 Censusindicated that: The proportion of children aged below 15 years went down from 20.7% in 2011 to 15.4% in 2022; The share of persons aged 60 years and over has risen from 12.7% in 2011 to 18.7% in 2022.Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, the census does not compile data on ethnic identities anymore but still does on religious affiliation.", "The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity.", "Mauritius is a multiethnic society, drawn from Indian, African, Chinese and European (mostly French) origin.According to the Constitution of Mauritius, there are 4 distinct communities on the island for the purposes of representation in the National Assembly.", "Schedule I, Paragraph 3(4) of the Constitution states that ''The population of Mauritius shall be regarded as including a Hindu community, a Muslim community, and a Sino-Mauritian community, and every person who does not appear, from his way of life, to belong to one or other of those three communities shall be regarded as belonging to the General Population, which shall itself be regarded as a fourth community.''", "Thus each ethnic group in Mauritius falls within one of the four main communities known as Hindus, General Population, Muslims and Sino-Mauritians.As per the above constitutional provision, the 1972 ethnic statistics are used to implement the Best Loser System, the method used in Mauritius since the 1950s to guarantee ethnic representation across the entire electorate in the National Assembly without organising the representation wholly by ethnicity.Geographical distribution by religion (2011)=== Religion ===According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, 48.5% of the Mauritian population follows Hinduism, followed by Christianity (32.7%), out of which 26.3% are Catholic, Islam (17.2%) and other religions (0.7%).", "0.7% reported themselves as non-religious and 0.1% did not answer.", "The constitution prohibits discrimination on religious grounds and provides for freedom to practice, change one's religion or not have any.", "The Roman Catholic Church, Church of England, Presbyterian Church of Mauritius, Seventh-day Adventists, Hindu Temples Associations and Muslim Mosques Organisations enjoy tax-exemptions and are allocated financial support based on their respective share of the population.", "Other religious groups can register and be tax-exempt but receive no financial support.", "Public holidays of religious origins are the Hindu festivals of Maha Shivaratri, Ougadi, Thaipoosam Cavadee, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Diwali; the Christian festivals of All Saints Day and Christmas; and the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.", "The state actively participates in their organisation with special committees presiding over the pilgrimage to Ganga Talao for Maha Shivaratri and the annual Catholic Procession to Jacques-Désiré Laval's resting place at Sainte-Croix.=== Languages ===The Mauritian constitution makes no mention of an official language.", "The Constitution only mentions that the official language of the National Assembly is English; however, any member can also address the chair in French.", "English and French are generally considered to be de facto national and common languages of Mauritius, as they are the languages of government administration, courts, and business.", "The constitution of Mauritius is written in English, while some laws, such as the Civil and Criminal codes, are in French.", "The Mauritian currency features the Latin, Tamil and Devanagari scripts.The Mauritian population is multilingual; while Mauritian Creole is the mother tongue of most Mauritians, most people are also fluent in English and French; they tend to switch languages according to the situation.", "French and English are favoured in educational and professional settings, while Asian languages are used mainly in music, religious and cultural activities.", "The media and literature are primarily in French.The Mauritian Creole language, which is French-based with some additional influences, is spoken by the majority of the population as a native language.", "The Creole languages which are spoken in different islands of the country are more or less similar: Mauritian Creole, Rodriguan creole, Agalega creole and Chagossian creole are spoken by people from the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agaléga and Chagos.", "The following ancestral languages, also spoken in Mauritius, have received official recognition by acts of parliament: Bhojpuri, Chinese, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.", "Bhojpuri, once widely spoken as a mother tongue, has become less commonly spoken over the years.", "According to the 2022 census, Bhojpuri was spoken by 5.1% of the population compared to 12.1% in 2000.School students must learn English and French; they may also opt for an Asian language or Mauritian Creole.", "The medium of instruction varies from school to school but is usually English for public and government subsidised private schools and mainly French for paid private ones.", "O-Level and A-Level Exams are organised in public and government subsidised private schools in English by Cambridge International Examinations while paid private schools mostly follow the French Baccalaureate model." ], [ "Education", "The education system in Mauritius consists of pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.", "The education structure consists of two to three years of pre-primary school, six years of primary schooling leading to the Primary School Achievement Certificate, five years of secondary education leading to the School Certificate, and two years of higher secondary ending with the Higher School Certificate.", "Secondary schools have \"college\" as part of their title.", "The government of Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary level.", "In 2013 government expenditure on education was estimated at ₨ 13,584 million, representing 13% of total expenditure.", "As of January 2017, the government has introduced changes to the education system with the Nine-Year Continuous Basic Education programme, which abolished the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE).The O-Level and A-Level examinations are carried out by the University of Cambridge through University of Cambridge International Examinations in collaboration with the MES.", "The tertiary education sector includes universities and other technical institutions in Mauritius.", "The two main public universities are the University of Mauritius and the University of Technology, in addition to the Université des Mascareignes, founded in 2012, and the Open University Mauritius.", "These four public universities and several other technical institutes and higher education colleges are tuition-free for students as of 2019.The adult literacy rate was at 91.9% in 2022.According to the 2022 census, the proportion of people with higher education has increased to 8.8%.", "Mauritius was ranked 57th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, 1st in Africa." ], [ "Economy", "Since independence from Britain in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculture-based economy to a high-income diversified economy, based on tourism, textiles, sugar, and financial services.", "The economic history of Mauritius since independence has been called \"the Mauritian Miracle\" and the \"success of Africa\" (Romer, 1992; Frankel, 2010; Stiglitz, 2011).In recent years, information and communication technology, seafood, hospitality and property development, healthcare, renewable energy, and education and training have emerged as important sectors, attracting substantial investment from both local and foreign investors.Mauritius has no exploitable fossil fuel reserves and so relies on petroleum products to meet most of its energy requirements.", "Local and renewable energy sources are biomass, hydro, solar and wind energy.Mauritius has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world, and in 2012 the government announced its intention to develop the marine economy.Mauritius is ranked high in terms of economic competitiveness, a friendly investment climate, good governance and a free economy.", "The Gross Domestic Product (PPP) was estimated at US$29.187 billion in 2018, and GDP (PPP) per capita was over US$22,909, the second highest in Africa.Mauritius has a high-income economy, according to the World Bank in 2019.The World Bank's 2019 Ease of Doing Business Index ranks Mauritius 13th worldwide out of 190 economies in terms of ease of doing business.", "According to the Mauritian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country's challenges are heavy reliance on a few industry sectors, high brain drain, scarcity of skilled labour, ageing population and inefficient public companies and para-statal bodies.Mauritius has built its success on a free market economy.", "According to the 2019 Economic Freedom of the World report, Mauritius is ranked as having the 9th most free economy in the world.=== Financial services ===Port-Louis, the capital of MauritiusAccording to the Financial Services Commission, financial and insurance activities contributed to 11.1% of the country's GDP in 2018.Over the years, Mauritius has been positioning itself as the preferred hub for investment into Africa due its strategic location between Asia and Africa, hybrid regulatory framework, ease of doing business, investment protection treaties, non-double taxation treaties, highly qualified and multilingual workforce, political stability, low crime rate coupled with modern infrastructure and connectivity.", "It is home to a number of international banks, legal firms, corporate services, investment funds and private equity funds.", "Financial products and services include private banking, global business, insurance and reinsurance, limited companies, protected cell companies, trust and foundation, investment banking, global headquarter administration.Corporate tax rate ranges from 15% to 17% and individual tax rate ranges from 10% to 25%.", "While the country also offer incentives such as tax holidays and exemptions in some specific sectors to boost its competitiveness, the country is often tagged as a tax haven by the press due to individuals and companies who engaged in abusive practices in its financial sector.", "The country has built up a solid reputation by making use of best practices and adopting a strong legal and regulatory framework to demonstrate its compliance with international demands for greater transparency.", "In June 2015, Mauritius adhered to the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, and has an exchange information mechanism with 127 jurisdictions.", "Mauritius is a founding member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group and has been at the forefront in the fight against money laundering and other forms of financial crime.", "The country has adopted exchange of information on an automatic basis under the Common Reporting Standard and the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act.=== Tourism ===A tropical beach in Trou-aux-BichesMauritius is a major tourist destination, and the tourism sector is one of the main pillars of the Mauritian economy.", "The island nation enjoys a tropical climate with clear warm sea waters, beaches, tropical fauna and flora, complemented by a multi-ethnic and cultural population.", "The forecast of tourist arrivals for the year 2019 is maintained at 1,450,000, representing an increase of 3.6% over the figure of 1,399,408 in 2018.Mauritius currently has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, namely, Aapravasi Ghat and Le Morne Cultural Landscape.", "Additionally, Black River Gorges National Park is currently in the UNESCO tentative list.===Transport===Urbos 100–3 at Rose Hill Central StationSince 2005 public buses, and later trains, in Mauritius have been free of charge for students, people with disabilities, and senior citizens.", "The Metro Express railway currently links all five cities and the University of Mauritius at Réduit with planned expansion to the east and south.", "Former privately owned industrial railways have been abandoned since the 1960s.", "The harbour of Port Louis handles international trade as well as a cruise terminal.", "The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, the largest one in the Indian Ocean, is the main international airport and serves as the home operating base for the national airline Air Mauritius.", "The Plaine Corail Airport operates from Rodrigues ensuring air link with the main island of Mauritius and international flights with Réunion.=== Information and communications technology (ICT) ===The information and communications technology (ICT) sector has contributed to 5.7% of its GDP in 2016.Additionally, the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) – the regional Internet registry for Africa – is headquartered in Ebene.Mauritius is also connected to global Internet infrastructure via multiple optical fibre submarine communications cables, including the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) cable, the Mauritius–Rodrigues Submarine Cable, and the South Africa Far East (SAFE) cable." ], [ "Culture", "=== Art ===Prominent Mauritian painters include Henri Le Sidaner, Malcolm de Chazal, Raouf Oderuth and Vaco Baissac while Gabrielle Wiehe is a prominent illustrator and graphic designer.Historical Mauritius.", "A scene from the 1930sChinatown 1860sThe Mauritius \"Post Office\" stamps, the first stamps produced outside Great Britain, among the rarest postage stamps in the world, are widely considered \"the greatest item in all philately\".===Architecture===The distinctive architecture of Mauritius reflects the island nation's history as a colonial trade base connecting Europe with the East.", "Styles and forms introduced by Dutch, French, and British settlers from the seventeenth century onward, mixed with influences from India and East Africa, resulted in a unique hybrid architecture of international historic, social, and artistic significance.", "Mauritian structures present a variety of designs, materials, and decorative elements that are unique to the country and inform the historical context of the Indian Ocean and European colonialism.Decades of political, social, and economic change have resulted in the routine destruction of Mauritian architectural heritage.", "Between 1960 and 1980, the historic homes of the island's high grounds, known locally as campagnes, disappeared at alarming rates.", "More recent years have witnessed the demolition of plantations, residences, and civic buildings as they have been cleared or drastically renovated for new developments to serve an expanding tourism industry.", "The capital city of Port Louis remained relatively unchanged until the mid-1990s, yet now reflects the irreversible damage that has been inflicted on its built heritage.", "Rising land values are pitted against the cultural value of historical structures in Mauritius, while the prohibitive costs of maintenance and the steady decline in traditional building skills make it harder to invest in preservation.The general populace historically lived in what are termed creole houses.=== Literature ===Mauritius is remembered in literature mostly for the novel Paul et Virginie, a classic of French literature, by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's DodoJean-Marie Le Clézio, Ananda Devi, Nathacha Appanah, Malcolm de Chazal, Eugénie Poujade, Marie-Thérèse Humbert, Shenaz Patel, Khal Torabully, Aqiil Gopee, Dev Virahsawmy, South-African born Lindsey Collen-Seegobin writing in English and French and Abhimanyu Unnuth writing in Hindi are some of the most prominent Mauritian writers.", "Le Clézio, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008, is of Mauritian heritage and holds dual French-Mauritian citizenship.", "The island plays host to the Le Prince Maurice Prize.", "In keeping with the island's literary culture the prize alternates on a yearly basis between English-speaking and French-speaking writers.=== Media ====== Music ===The major musical genres of Mauritius are Sega and its fusion genre, Seggae, Bhojpuri folk songs, Indian movie music especially Bollywood, and Classical music mainly Western classical music and Indian classical music.=== Cuisine ===Mauritian cuisine is a combination of Indian, Creole, French and Chinese, with many dishes unique to the island.", "Spices are also a major component of Mauritian cuisine.", "There is a local variant of Persian falooda, locally known as ''alouda'', which is a cold beverage made with milk, basil seeds, and agar-agar jelly.", "Locally made French pastry and bread are sold in most localities.", "Popular hawker meals include a wrap called ''dholl puri'', rice-based biryani and ''gâteau piment''.File:La Marmite Mauricienne (Flic-en-Flac) - beignets de poisson.jpg\|Fish frittersFile:La Marmite Mauricienne (Flic-en-Flac) - chop suey crevettes (1).jpg\|Chop suey shrimpFile:La Marmite Mauricienne (Flic-en-Flac) - curry de poisson (1).jpg\|Fish curry=== Holidays and festivals ===The public holidays of Mauritius involve the blending of several cultures from Mauritius's history.", "There are Hindu festivals, Christian festivals, Chinese festivals, and Muslim festivals.", "There are 14 annual public holidays in Mauritius with New Year celebrated over two days if it falls on a weekend.", "All the public holidays related to religious festivals have dates that vary from year to year except for Christmas.", "Other festivals such as Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Durga Puja, Père Laval Pilgrimage also enrich the cultural landscape of Mauritius.Public holidays in Mauritius in 2023 Date New Year's Day Sunday 1 January – Monday 2 January Chinese Spring Festival Sunday 22 January Abolition of slavery Wednesday 1 February Thaipoosam Cavadee Saturday 4 February Maha Shivaratri Saturday 18 February Independence and Republic Day Sunday 12 March Ugadi Wednesday 22 March Eid ul-Fitr (''Depending on the visibility of the moon'') Saturday 22 April Labour Day Monday 1 May Ganesh Chaturthi Wednesday 20 September All Saints Day Wednesday 1 November Arrival of the Indentured Labourers Thursday 2 November Diwali Sunday 12 November Christmas Day Monday 25 December=== Sports ===The Maiden Cup in 2006The most popular sport in Mauritius is football and the national team is known as The Dodos or Club M. Other popular sports in Mauritius include cycling, table tennis, horse racing, badminton, volleyball, basketball, handball, boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, weightlifting, bodybuilding and athletics.", "Water sports include swimming, sailing, scuba diving, windsurfing and kitesurfing.Horseracing, which dates from 1812 when the Champ de Mars Racecourse was inaugurated, remains popular.", "The country hosted the second (1985), fifth (2003) and tenth editions (2019) of the Indian Ocean Island Games.", "Mauritius won its first Olympic medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when boxer Bruno Julie won the bronze medal.In golf, the former Mauritius Open and the current AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open have been part of the European Tour." ], [ "See also", "* Official Mauritius* Cargados Carajos and Agalega* Raphaël Fishing Company* Constitution of Mauritius* Index of Mauritius-related articles* Judicial Committee of the Privy Council* List of Mauritius-related topics* List of Sino-Mauritian dishes* Mauritian rupee* Outline of Mauritius" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "* * ''This article incorporates public domain text from the websites of the Government of Mauritius , the United States Department of State, the U.S. Library of Congress, and the CIA World Factbook.''" ], [ "Further reading", "* * " ], [ "Novels", " Geneviève Dormann, ''Le bal du dodo'', Albin Michel, 2000, .", "* J.M.G.", "Le Clézio, ''La quarantaine'', Gallimard, 1997, .", "* Nathacha Appanah, ''Les rochers de poudre d'or'', Gallimard, 2006.", "* Shenaz Patel, ''Le silence des Chagos'', éditions de l'Olivier, 2005, ." ], [ "External links", "===Reference===* * Country Profile from BBC News* Key Development Forecasts for Mauritius from International Futures* Mauritius at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* Mauritius entry at ''Encyclopædia Britannica''* Mauritius.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.===Government===* Board of Investment* Mauritius Government portal * Statistics Mauritius===Geography===* * * WikiSatellite view of Mauritius at WikiMapia" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "The known and sometimes formally documented '''history of Mauritius''' begins with its possible discovery by Austronesians (not documented) under the Austronesian expansion from pre-Han Taiwan, circa 1500 to 1000 BC, and then by Arabs, (documented on Portuguese maps), followed by Portuguese and its appearance on European maps in the early 16th century.", "Mauritius was successively colonized by the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, and became independent on 12 March 1968." ], [ "Discovery", "Mauritius was first officially discovered by the Portuguese as corroborated by Portuguese maps.", "This is evident in the earliest existing historical evidence of the island on the Cantino Planisphere which was purloined by the Italian diplomat/spy Alberto Cantino from Portugal in 1502.Cantino shows three islands which represent the Mascarenes (Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) and calls them Dina Margabin, Dina Arobi, and Dina Moraze.", "The Cantino planisphere also shows the Cargados Carajos shoals (St. Brandon) as ''baixos'' (shallows).", "The medieval Arab world called the Indian Ocean island region Waqwaq.Cantino planisphere (1502), Biblioteca Estense, Modena, Italy" ], [ "Portuguese discoveries (1507–1513)", "Mauritius was later rediscovered and visited by the Portuguese between 1507 and 1513.Mauritius and surrounding islands were known as the Mascarene Islands () after Pedro Mascarenhas.D.", "João III (verde)An official world map by Diogo Ribeiro described \"from west to east, the first island, 'Mascarenhas', the second, 'Santa Apolonia' and the third, 'Domingo Froiz.'", "\" The three islands (Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) were encountered some years earlier by chance during an exploratory expedition of the coast of the Bay of Bengal led by Tristão da Cunha.", "The expedition ran into a cyclone and was forced to change course.", "Thus, the ship ''Cirne'' of the captain Diogo Fernandes Pereira, came into view of Réunion island on 9 February 1507.They called the island \"Santa Apolonia\" (\"Saint Apollonia\") in honor of that day's saint.", "Mauritius was encountered during the same expedition and received the name of \"Cirne\" and Rodrigues that of \"Diogo Rodrigues\".", "Five years later, the islands were visited by Pedro Mascarenhas.", "who left the name \"Mascarene\" for the whole region.", "The Portuguese took no interest in these isolated islands.", "They were already established in Asia in Goa, on the coast of Malabar, on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and on the Malaysian coast.Their main African base was in Mozambique, therefore the Portuguese navigators preferred to use the Mozambique Channel to go to India.", "The Comoros to the north proved to be a more practical port of call.", "Thus no permanent colony was established on the island by the Portuguese." ], [ "Dutch East India Company era (1598–1710)", "VOC (Logo of the Dutch East India Company)Replica of an East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company/United East Indies Company (VOC)Dutch map of a coast of Mauritius.", "Dutch Mauritius (1638–1710) was the first permanent human settlement to be established on the island.", "''Parrot hunting on Mauritius'' by Johann Theodor de Bry, 1601Copper engraving from ''Het Tweede Boeck'' showing Dutch activities on the shore of Mauritius during the 1598 voyage of Admiral Jacob van Neck, as well as the first published depictions of a dodo (2) and a broad-billed parrot (5), both now extinct.", "Johann Theodor de Bry, 1598A representation of the extinct dodo bird.", "Dutch presence on the island largely contributed to the extinction of this endemic bird.In 1598, the second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia consisting of eight ships, under the orders of admirals Jacques Cornelius van Neck and Wybrandt van Warwyck, set sail from Texel, Netherlands, towards the Indian subcontinent.", "The eight ships ran into foul weather after passing the Cape of Good Hope and were separated.", "Three found their way to the northeast of Madagascar, while the remaining five regrouped and sailed in a southeasterly direction.", "On 17 September, the five ships under the orders of Admiral van Warwyck came into view of Mauritius.", "On 20 September, they entered a sheltered bay which they named \"Port de Warwick\" (now known as \"Grand Port\").", "They landed and decided to name the island \"Prins Mauritz van Nassaueiland,\" after the son of William the Silent, Prince Maurits (Latin version: Mauritius) of the House of Nassau, the ''stadtholder'' of most of the Dutch Republic, and after the main vessel of the fleet, the \"Mauritius\".", "From that time, only the name Mauritius has remained.", "On 2 October, the ships again took to the sea towards Bantam.From then on, the island's Port de Warwick was used by Dutch ships as a stopover after long months at sea.", "In 1606, two expeditions came for the first time to what would later become Port-Louis in the northwest part of the island.", "The expedition, consisting of eleven ships and 1,357 men under the orders of Admiral Corneille, came into the bay, which they named \"Rade des Tortues\" (literally meaning \"Harbor of the Tortoises\") because of the great number of terrestrial tortoises they found there.", "From that date, Dutch sailors shifted their choice to Rade des Tortues as a harbor.In 1615, the shipwreck and death of governor Pieter Both, who was coming back from India with four richly laden ships in the bay, led Dutch sailors to consider the route cursed, and they tried to avoid it as much as possible.", "In the meantime, the British and the Danes were beginning to make incursions into the Indian Ocean.", "Those who landed on the island freely cut and took with them the precious heartwood of the ebony trees, then found in profusion all over the island.Dutch colonization started in 1638 and ended in 1710, with a brief interruption between 1658 and 1666 (the year of Great Fire of London).", "Numerous governors were appointed, but continuous hardships such as cyclones, droughts, pest infestations, lack of food, and illnesses in the end took their toll, and the island was definitively abandoned in 1710.The island was not permanently inhabited for the first forty years after its \"discovery\" by the Dutch, but in 1638 Cornelius Gooyer established the first permanent Dutch settlement in Mauritius with a garrison of twenty-five.", "He thus became the first governor of the island.", "In 1639, thirty more men came to reinforce the Dutch colony.", "Gooyer was instructed to develop the commercial potential of the island, but he did nothing of the sort, so he was recalled.", "His successor was Adriaan van der Stel, who began the development in earnest, developing the export of ebony wood.", "For that purpose, van der Stel brought 105 Malagasy slaves to the island.", "Within the first week, about sixty were able to escape into the forests; about twenty of them were recaptured.In 1644, the islanders were faced with many months of hardships, due to delayed shipment of supplies, bad harvests, and cyclones.", "During those months, the colonists could only rely on their own ability to feed themselves by fishing and hunting.", "Nonetheless, van der Stel secured the shipment of 95 more servants from Madagascar, before being transferred to Ceylon.", "His replacement was Jacob van der Meersh.", "In 1645, the latter brought in 108 more Malagasy servants.", "Van der Meersh left Mauritius in September 1648 and was replaced by Reinier Por.In 1652, more hardships befell the inhabitants, colonists and servants alike.", "The population was then about a hundred people.", "The continuing hardships affected the commercial potential of the island and a pullout was ordered in 1657.On 16 July 1658, all the inhabitants left the island apart from a ship's 'boy' and two servants who had taken shelter in the forests.", "Thus the first attempt at Dutch colonization ended badly.In 1664, a second attempt also ended badly, as the men chosen for the job abandoned their sick commander, van Niewland, without proper treatment, and he died.From 1666 to 1669, Dirk Jansz Smient administered the new colony at Port de Warwick, with the cutting down and export of ebony trees as the main activity.", "When Dirk Jansz Smient left, he was replaced by George Frederik Wreeden, who died in 1672, drowned with five other colonists during a reconnaissance expedition.", "His replacement would be Hubert Hugo.", "Hugo was a man of vision and wanted to make the island into an agricultural colony.", "His vision was not shared by his superiors, and he eventually had to abandon the attempt.Issac Johannes Lamotius became the new governor when Hugo left in 1677.Lamotius governed until 1692, when he was deported to Batavia for judgment for persecuting a colonist whose wife had refused his courtship.", "A new governor, Roelof Diodati, was then appointed in 1692.Diodati faced many problems in his attempts to develop the island, such as cyclones, pest infestations, cattle illnesses, and droughts.On 7 January 1702, the pirate John Bowen foundered his ship called the 'speaker' onto a 'Swarte Klip' beach (a black rock beach?)", "on the East of Mauritius.", "A hundred and seventy pirates armed to the teeth against a poorly armed and frail Dutch population of fifty meant the 'crafty' Diodati had no choice but to sell them a small sloop for them to enlarge so as to leave Mauritius.Eventually discouraged, Diodati gave up and his replacement was Abraham Momber van de Velde.", "The latter fared no better but remained the last Dutch governor of the island until it was abandoned in 1710, again.Slaves were not particularly well treated by the colonists, and revolts or the act of organizing one were severely repressed and punished.", "Some punishments consisted of amputation of various parts of the body and exposure in the open air for a day as example to others, eventually culminating in condemned slaves’ execution at sunset.The legacy of the Dutch in Mauritius includes:Providing the name for the country and for many regions over the whole island.", "Some examples include \"Pieter Both\" mountain and the \"Vandermeersh\" region near Rose-Hill, as well as many other names.", "Introduction of sugar cane plants from Java.", "Decimating the local dodo and giant tortoise populations for food and by introducing competing species and pests, sometimes involuntarily.", "Clearing of large swathes of ancient forests for ebony wood exploitation in Europe." ], [ "French rule (1715–1810)", "French map from 1791 depicting Mauritius (then called \"Isle de France\").Abandoned by the Dutch, the island became a French colony when, in September 1715, Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsel landed and took possession of this port of call on the route to India.", "He named the island \"Isle de France\".", "Six years later, in 1721, the French started their occupation.", "However, it was only from 1735, with the arrival of the French governor, Mahé de La Bourdonnais, that \"Isle de France\" started developing effectively.", "Mahé de La Bourdonnais planted spices such as pepper, cinnamon and cloves at \"Jardin Pamplemousses\".Mahé de La Bourdonnais established Port Louis as a naval base and a shipbuilding centre.", "Under his governorship, numerous buildings were built, a number of which still stand today: part of Government House, the ''Château de Mon Plaisir'' at Pamplemousses and the Line Barracks.", "In early 1729 Indians from Pondicherry arrived in Mauritius aboard the vessel ''La Sirène''.", "Work contracts for these craftsmen were signed in 1734 at the time when they acquired their freedom.", "The island was under the administration of the French East India Company which maintained its presence until 1767.In 1796 the French settlers broke away from French control when the government in Paris attempted to abolish slavery, and the local colonists expelled government envoys Baco and Burnel.", "During the French rule slaves were brought from parts of Africa such as Mozambique, Madagascar and Zanzibar.", "As a result, the island's population rose dramatically from 15,000 to 49,000 within 30 years.", "During the late 18th century African slaves accounted for around 80 percent of the island's population, and by the early 19th century there were 60,000 slaves on the island.In 1806, the Governor General, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, created the city of Mahébourg, named in honour of Mahé de La Bourdonnais.", "It was originally known as Bourg Mahé.", "From that year until 1810, the island was in charge of officials appointed by the French government, except for a brief period during the French Revolution, when the inhabitants set up a government virtually independent of France.During the Napoleonic wars, the \"Isle de France\" became a base from which French corsairs organised successful raids on British commercial ships.", "The raids continued until 1810 when a strong British expedition was sent to capture the island.", "A preliminary attack was foiled at Grand Port in August 1810, but the main attack launched in December of the same year from Rodrigues, which had been captured during the same year, was successful.", "Rodrigues had previously been visited only for fresh water and food by the British in 1809.In late November 1810 the British landed in large numbers in the north of the island near Cap Malheureux and rapidly overpowered the French, who capitulated on 3 December 1810.By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the \"Isle de France\", which was renamed \"Mauritius\" was ceded to Great Britain, together with Rodrigues and the Seychelles.", "In the act of capitulation, the British guaranteed that they would respect the languages, the customs, the laws and the traditions of the inhabitants." ], [ "British rule (1810–1968)", "''The taking of the Isle of France 2 December 1810'', G. ThompsonDeer-hunting in Curepipe, circa 1900Despite the only French naval victory (during the Napoleonic Wars) of Battle of Grand Port on 19 and 20 August 1810 by a fleet commanded by Pierre Bouvet, Mauritius was captured on 3 December 1810 by the British under Commodore Josias Rowley.", "Their possession of the island was confirmed four years later by the Treaty of Paris (1814).", "French institutions, including the Napoleonic code of law, were maintained.", "The French language was at that moment still used more widely than English.The British administration, which began with Robert Townsend Farquhar as governor, was followed by rapid social and economic changes.", "An important figure of the 19th century was Rémy Ollier, a journalist of mixed origin.", "In 1828, the colour bar was officially abolished in Mauritius, but British governors gave little power to coloured persons, and appointed only whites as leading officials.", "Rémy Ollier petitioned to Queen Victoria to allow coloureds in the council of government, and this became possible a few years later.", "He also made Port Louis become a municipality so that the citizens could administer the town through their own elected representatives.", "A street has been named after him in Port Louis, and his bust was erected in the Jardin de la Compagnie in 1906.One of the most important events was the abolition of slavery on 1 February 1835.The planters received compensation of two million pounds sterling for the loss of their slaves who had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation.Sir George Ferguson Bowen was governor from 1879 to 1883.Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields.", "When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius.", "Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much needed laborers to Mauritius.", "This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during British rule, with many brutal episodes and a long struggle by the indentured for respect.", "The term applied to the indentured during this period, and which has since become a derogatory term for Mauritians of Asian descent, was Coolie.", "The island soon became the key-point in the trade of indentured laborers, as thousands of Indians set forth from Calcutta or Karikal; not only did they modify the social, political and economic physiognomies of the island, but some also went farther, to the West Indies.Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants, most of whom arrived between 1835 and 1924 via the Coolie Ghat to work as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished in 1835.Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are Muslims (about 17% of the population) from the Indian subcontinent.", "The Franco-Mauritian elite controlled nearly all of the large sugar estates and was active in business and banking.", "As the Indian population became numerically dominant and the voting franchise was extended, political power shifted from the Franco-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.", "In November 1901, Mahatma Gandhi visited Mauritius, on his way from South Africa to India.", "He stayed on the island for two weeks, and urged the Indo-Mauritian community to take an interest in education and to play a more active role in politics.", "Back in India, he sent over a young lawyer, Manilal Doctor, to improve the plight of the Indo-Mauritians.The meeting of a mosaic of people from India, China, Africa and Europe began a process of hybridisation and intercultural frictions and dialogues, which poet Khal Torabully has termed \"coolitude\".", "This social reality is a major reference for identity opened to otherness and is widely used in Mauritius where it represents a humanism of diversity.Painting depicting the first indentured Indian labourers arriving in Mauritius, by Raouf OderuthThe opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the number of ships transiting via Mauritius.", "This had a detrimental impact on the local economy.", "Conflicts arose between the Indian community (mostly sugarcane labourers) and the Franco-Mauritians in the 1920s, leading to severalmainly Indiandeaths.", "Following this, the Mauritius Labour Party was founded in 1936 by Maurice Curé to safeguard the interest of the labourers.", "Curé was succeeded a year later by Emmanuel Anquetil who tried to gain the support of the port workers.", "After his death, Guy Rozemont took over the leadership of the party.The Mauritius Territorial Force, comprising coastal artillery and infantry formations was created in 1934.Due to the escalation of the Second World War, the force expanded to comprise two battalions.", "It was renamed the Mauritius Regiment in 1943.During the World War II, thousands of Mauritians volunteered or were conscripted as military labourers, construction workers or infantry soldiers.", "Many served in the Royal Pioneer Corps in the Middle East and Southern Europe.", "Several Franco-Mauritians were killed while serving as agents of the Special Operations Executive, regular British forces or the Free French Forces.", "In December 1943, the 1000-strong Mauritius Regiment mutinied on Madagascar when the soldiers felt betrayed for being sent abroad, as they had enlisted for service only in Mauritius.", "Mauritius was an important base for cable and wireless information gathering as well as a base to counter the activities of Japanese submarines and the German Monsoon Group.More than 1500 Central European jews were denied entry to Palestine in 1940 by the British and instead detained in Beau Bassin until 1945.Elections in August 1948 for the newly created Legislative Council (under the revised 1947 Constitution) marked Mauritius's first steps toward self-rule.", "It was the first time that women were represented and a significant number of Indo-Mauritians and Creoles were elected.", "The previous Council of Government was replaced by the new Legislative Council composed of 19 elected members, 12 members nominated by the Governor and 3 ex-officio members.", "The first sitting of the Legislative Council took place on 1 September 1948." ], [ "Independence (1968)", "Flag of Mauritius (1968)An independence campaign gained momentum after 1961, when the British agreed to permit additional self-government and eventual independence.", "A coalition composed of the Mauritian Labour Party (MLP), the Comité d'Action Musulman (CAM), and the Independent Forward Bloc (IFB)a traditionalist Hindu partywon a majority in the 1967 Legislative Assembly election, despite opposition from Franco-Mauritian and Creole supporters of Sir Gaetan Duval QC's and Jules Koenig's Mauritian Social Democratic Party (PMSD).", "The Labour-IFB-CAM coalition was known as Independence Party (Mauritius).", "Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Chief Minister in the colonial government, became the first prime minister after independence, on 12 March 1968.The date of 12 March was specifically chosen to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March which occurred on 12 March 1930.Between 1965 and 1968 there were various ethnic riots which could only be brought under control with assistance from British troops who flew in from South-East Asia.", "The communal strife that preceded independence led to around 300 deaths.Queen's Personal Mauritian FlagBritish rule ended on 12 March 1968 with the Mauritius Independence Act 1968.The British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained nominal head of state as Queen of Mauritius.", "Her constitutional roles were delegated to the Governor-General of Mauritius.", "The last governor, Sir John Shaw Rennie served as the first governor-general until 27 August 1968.Whilst in power the Labour-IFB-CAM coalition (Independence Party (Mauritius)) disintegrated by 1969, most IFB MPs landed on opposition benches whilst most PMSD MPs joined the Labour-CAM government.", "The remaining PMSD MPs who refused to follow Gaetan Duval formed a new party called Union Démocratique Mauricienne (UDM) which together with the IFB formed the opposition to the Labour-CAM-PMSD government.", "In 1969, the Mouvement Militant Mauricien led by Paul Bérenger and Heeralall Bhugaloo emerged.", "The first MMM MP (Dev Virahsawmy) was elected in 1970 at a by-election of Constituency No.", "5 following the death of IFB MP Lall Jugnauth.", "Until 1982, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was prime minister, his Labour Party in coalition with Duval's PMSD.", "In 1982, the coalition of ''Mouvement Militant Mauricien/Parti Socialiste Mauricien'' (MMM-PSM) came to power in a landslide electoral victory, with Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC as prime minister and Harish Boodhoo as the Deputy Prime Minister.", "The coalition split in 1983, with Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC forming the ''Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien'' (MSM), which became the governing party, with Jugnauth as prime minister.", "Following the electoral defeat of 1982 Sir Satcam Boolell was dismissed from the Labour Party, which led him to form a new party, Mouvement Patriotique Mauricien (MPM), before returning to the Labour Party in 1983.Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam subsequently became Governor General.Sir Satcam Boolell was dismissed from the Labour Party (Mauritius) soon after the massive electoral defeat of 1982, and he formed a new party Mouvement Patriotique Mauricien (MPM) which was a short-lived venture, as he was allowed back into the Labour Party in 1983 soon before the collapse of the MMM-PSM government.", "Boolell was president of the Labour Party (Mauritius) from 1984 to 1991.In 1990 Seewoosagur's son, Navin Ramgoolam, succeeded him as leader of the party which was defeated at the 1991 elections, which saw Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC re-elected under a MMM-MSM government.The Republic of Mauritius was proclaimed on 12 March 1992.Following the abolition of the monarchy, the last Governor General of Mauritius, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo became the first President of Mauritius, functioning as a ceremonial figurehead.===Republic (1992-present)===In December 1991, the Constitution was amended to make Mauritius a republic within the Commonwealth.", "Mauritius became a republic on 12 March 1992, with the last governor general, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, as interim president.", "He was succeeded by Cassam Uteem on 30 June 1992.Dr.", "Navin Ramgoolam led a MLP-MMM coalition to victory at the 1995 general elections, replacing Sir Aneerood Jugnauth QC as prime minister, a post the latter had occupied for 13 years.", "The governing coalition split in 1997, with the MMM going back to the Opposition and Dr. Navin Ramgoolam staying on as prime minister.At the next elections in 2000, Sir Anerood Jugnauth's MSM, in coalition with Paul Bérenger's MMM was returned to power, with Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC appointed as prime minister.", "He subsequently retired as prime minister after 3 years and assumed the office of president.", "For the remaining time of the elected government the prime minister's post was filled by Paul Bérenger.", "At the 2005 general elections, the MLP-led Alliance Sociale coalition won the elections, and Dr. Navin Ramgoolam became prime minister while Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC remained the president.", "The 2010 general elections saw the victory of a MLP-MSM-PMSD coalition (known as \"L'Alliance de l'Avenir\") and the maintaining of Dr. Navin Ramgoolam as prime minister.", "A year or so later, Sir Anerood Jugnauth QC left the presidency and was replaced by Kailash Purryag, an attorney at law and politician, who has served the country as senior minister on many occasions under the leadership of Dr. Navin Ramgoolam.The 2014 general elections saw the victory of a MSM-PMSD-ML coalition (known as \"L'alliance Lepep\") and Sir Aneerood Jugnauth became Prime Minister while Kailash Prayag remained the president until 2016 when Mrs Ameena Gureeb Fakim became the first female president.", "However, she resigned over a financial scandal in March 2018.In January 2017, Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth stepped down to hand power to his son, Pravind.", "In November 2019, Mauritius’ ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won more than half of the seats in the 2019 elections, securing incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a new five-year term.On 25 July 2020, Japanese-owned bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the coast of Mauritius, leaking up to 1,000 tonnes of heavy oil into a pristine lagoon.", "Its location on the edge of protected fragile marine ecosystems and a wetland of international importance made the ''MV Wakashio'' oil spill one of the worst environmental disasters ever to hit the western Indian Ocean.On 5 December 2022, Yu Feng 67, a Taiwanese long liner based in Port Louis and authorised by the Mauritian Fisheries Planning and Licensing Division ran aground on the reefs of St. Brandon with 70 tonnes of diesel, 1 tonne of heavy oils and 30 to 40 tonnes of baitfish on board.", "This was the fourth Taiwanese shipwreck in Mauritius in 2022." ], [ "See also", "History of AfricaHistory of Southern AfricaPolitics of MauritiusList of prime ministers of MauritiusGovernor of Mauritius (disambiguation) Port Louis history and timeline" ], [ "Notes and references" ], [ "External links", "* The Mauritius Museums Council, a body corporate under the aegis of the Ministry of Arts and Culture* History of Mauritius island* WorldStatesmen- Mauritius* History of Mauritius in the French period* Gallery detailing the history of Mauritius" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "Mauritian society includes people from many different ethnic groups as well as a significant population of mixed-race people who have ancestry from more than one ethnic group.", "A majority of the republic's residents are the descendants of people from India.", "Mauritius also contains substantial populations from continental Africa, China, France, and the East African island nation of Madagascar.", "Mauritius had a population of 1,235,260 (608,090 males, 627,170 females) according to the final results of the 2022 Census.", "The population on the island of Mauritius was 1,191,280 (586,590 males and 604,690 females), and that of Rodrigues island was 43,650 (21,330 males and 22,320 females); Agalega island total population of 330 (170 males and 160 females).", "Mauritius has the second highest population density in Africa.", "According to the 2022 census, the average age of the population was 38 years.", "2022 Censusindicated that: The proportion of children aged below 15 years went down from 20.7% in 2011 to 15.4% in 2022; The share of persons aged 60 years and over has risen from 12.7% in 2011 to 18.7% in 2022." ], [ "Ethnic groups", "Indo-Mauritians are roughly sixty-six percent of the population.", "The Indo-Mauritian population consists of Hindu, Muslim and Christian descendants of Indian laborers.Mauritian Creoles (descendants of Africans) are twenty-eight percent of the population.", "Today, a significant proportion of Creoles are of African descent with varying amounts of French and Indian ancestry.", "The creole community also includes the country's ‘Metisse’ or mixed-race communities which consist of people with any admixture of the island's other groups.", "Rodrigues and Chagossians are usually incorporated within the Creole ethnic group.Along with the French European community, there is a small number of British expatriates or people of British descent in Mauritius.Sino-Mauritians from the Hakka and other Chinese sub-ethnic/linguistic groups make up around three percent of Mauritian society.While the government officially groups Mauritians into four ethnic groups – Hindus, Muslims, Chinese, and General Population – the general population includes all who do not practice the Hindu or Muslim religion and are not Chinese by ethnicity.", "Hence the general population is the Christian community, which includes Creoles, mixed-race people, white people, and those who have converted to Christianity.", "Small groups of foreign students from Europe or the Indian Ocean region are also present.", "Recent years have seen a steady flow of foreign workers into the textile industry (primarily Chinese women), the construction industry (primarily Indian workers), and harbor-related activities (primarily Taiwanese men)." ], [ "Population", "According to the total population was in , compared to 479,000 in 1950.The proportion of the population aged under 15 was 21.9% in 2010.71.2% were between 15 and 65 years of age, with 6.9% being 65 years or older.Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 1950 479 00045.251.93.0 1955 570 00046.151.32.6 1960 662 00046.650.92.5 1965 754 00046.251.32.5 1970 828 00043.853.62.6 1975 891 00039.957.32.8 1980 966 00035.461.03.6 19851 021 00031.464.54.1 19901 059 00029.765.84.5 19951 122 00027.867.25.0 20001 187 00026.767.65.7 20051 243 00024.869.16.1 20101 281 00021.971.26.9=== Structure of the population ===Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2012) (Based on the results of the 2011 Population Census.)", ":Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 621 297 634 585 1 255 882 100 0-4 38 379 37 772 76 151 6.06 5-9 46 802 45 130 91 932 7.32 10-14 49 926 48 044 97 970 7.80 15-19 50 158 49 996 100 154 7.97 20-24 48 747 47 374 96 121 7.65 25-29 43 794 43 392 87 186 6.94 30-34 52 325 51 550 103 875 8.27 35-39 45 447 44 448 89 895 7.16 40-44 43 961 43 150 87 111 6.94 45-49 49 134 48 570 97 704 7.78 50-54 43 718 44 514 88 232 7.03 55-59 37 174 38 625 75 799 6.04 60-64 28 929 31 946 60 875 4.85 65-69 16 986 20 842 37 828 3.01 70-74 11 099 14 471 25 570 2.04 75-79 7 761 11 311 19 072 1.52 80-84 4 077 7 033 11 110 0.88 85+ 2 880 6 417 9 297 0.74Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 135 107 130 946 266 053 21.18 15-64 443 387 443 565 886 952 70.62 65+ 42 803 60 074 102 877 8.19Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 04.VII.2019) (Excludes the islands of St. Brandon and Agalega.", "):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 610 848 625 969 1 236 817 100 0-4 36 702 36 376 73 078 5.91 5-9 44 947 44 068 89 015 7.20 10-14 47 302 46 337 93 639 7.57 15-19 50 715 50 293 101 008 8.17 20-24 46 871 45 800 92 671 7.49 25-29 45 589 45 348 90 937 7.35 30-34 52 182 51 247 103 429 8.36 35-39 44 241 43 556 87 797 7.10 40-44 45 150 44 236 89 386 7.23 45-49 49 800 49 541 99 341 8.03 50-54 42 996 43 341 86 337 6.98 55-59 35 713 37 341 73 054 5.91 60-64 27 143 30 199 57 342 4.64 65-69 15 846 19 593 35 439 2.87 70-74 10 986 14 389 25 375 2.05 75-79 7 349 10 695 18 044 1.46 80-84 4 176 7 193 11 369 0.92 85-89 2 135 4 233 6 368 0.51 90-94 512 1 470 1 982 0.16 95-99 107 384 491 0.04 100+ 13 83 96 0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 128 951 126 781 255 732 20.68 15-64 440 400 440 902 881 302 71.26 65+ 41 124 58 040 99 164 8.02 unknown 373 246 619 0.05" ], [ "Vital statistics", "Mauritius has an estimated population of 1,283,415 on December 31, 2010.14,701 children were born in 2011 (birth rate 11.4 per 1,000).The table below presents the population development of Mauritius since 1900.The figure up to 1945 are for the island of Mauritius only.", "As of 1946 the island of Rodrigues is included.Figures from Statistics Mauritius and United Nations Demographic Yearbook.Average population (x 1000)Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)TFR 1900 371 14 490 13 695 795 38.6 36.5 2.1 1901 371 12 910 14 970 -2 060 34.8 40.4 -5.6 1902 371 13 495 12 716 779 35.9 33.8 2.1 1903 371 13 611 15 034 -1 423 36.3 40.1 -3.8 1904 371 14 103 12 064 2 039 37.2 31.9 5.3 1905 370 14 043 15 379 -1 336 37.2 40.7 -3.5 1906 370 12 669 15 124 -2 455 33.6 40.0 -6.4 1907 370 14 186 13 037 1 149 37.7 34.6 3.1 1908 370 13 456 15 094 -1 638 36.0 40.3 -4.3 1909 369 12 837 13 761 - 924 34.4 36.9 -2.5 1910 369 13 329 12 488 841 36.1 33.8 2.3 1911 369 14 585 12 204 2 381 39.2 32.8 6.4 1912 370 13 209 14 429 -1 220 35.5 38.8 -3.3 1913 371 15 153 13 201 1 952 40.8 35.5 5.3 1914 372 15 229 12 134 3 095 40.8 32.5 8.3 1915 373 13 094 13 101 - 7 34.8 34.8 -0.0 1916 374 13 162 11 432 1 730 35.0 30.4 4.6 1917 375 13 887 12 234 1 653 36.9 32.5 4.4 1918 375 13 109 12 794 315 34.8 33.9 0.9 1919 375 13 261 24 455 -11 194 35.2 64.9 -29.7 1920 376 12 791 11 773 1 018 35.1 32.3 2.8 1921 376 14 360 15 159 - 799 38.1 40.3 -2.2 1922 376 13 955 12 967 988 37.0 34.5 2.5 1923 377 13 879 10 778 3 101 36.8 28.5 8.3 1924 380 15 430 10 558 4 872 41.1 28.1 13.0 1925 383 16 545 9 327 7 218 42.6 24.9 17.7 1926 386 15 520 9 958 5 562 39.4 25.3 14.1 1927 389 13 748 10 015 3 733 34.5 25.1 9.4 1928 391 15 206 11 342 3 864 37.9 28.2 9.7 1929 393 13 771 12 413 1 358 34.0 30.7 3.3 1930 393 12 793 14 341 -1 548 31.6 35.4 -3.8 1931 393 11 941 15 467 -3 526 29.7 38.4 -8.7 1932 390 10 266 12 848 -2 582 25.7 32.2 -6.5 1933 390 13 479 10 615 2 864 33.8 26.6 7.2 1934 392 13 516 10 069 3 447 33.7 25.1 8.6 1935 394 13 246 10 445 2 801 32.8 25.8 7.0 1936 398 13 867 10 500 3 367 34.1 25.8 8.3 1937 400 14 097 11 527 2 570 34.4 28.1 6.3 1938 402 13 420 12 046 1 374 32.6 29.2 3.4 1939 405 14 578 11 340 3 238 35.2 27.4 7.8 1940 407 12 145 10 373 1 772 29.1 24.9 4.2 1941 407 13 430 10 436 2 994 32.2 25.0 7.2 1942 408 13 553 11 927 1 626 32.5 28.6 3.9 1943 410 13 604 10 642 2 962 32.6 25.5 7.1 1944 419 18 258 11 355 6 903 43.4 27.0 16.4 1945 424 16 290 15 277 1 013 38.4 36.0 2.4 1946 437 16 939 12 678 4 261 38.8 29.0 9.8 1947 445 19 458 8 830 10 628 43.7 19.8 23.9 1948 455 19 429 10 680 8 749 42.7 23.5 19.2 1949 458 20 931 7 523 13 408 45.7 16.4 29.3 1950 479 23 667 6 611 17 056 49.4 13.8 35.6 1951 498 23 543 7 305 16 238 47.3 14.7 32.6 1952 514 24 689 7 569 17 120 48.0 14.7 33.3 1953 537 24 428 8 550 15 878 45.5 15.9 29.6 1954 551 22 513 8 587 13 926 40.9 15.6 25.3 1955 570 23 612 7 260 16 352 41.4 12.7 28.7 1956 591 25 666 6 910 18 756 43.4 11.7 31.7 1957 609 26 055 7 823 18 232 42.8 12.8 29.9 1958 627 25 398 7 307 18 091 40.5 11.7 28.9 1959 644 24 792 7 040 17 752 38.5 10.9 27.6 1960 662 26 017 7 588 18 429 39.3 11.5 27.8 1961 680 27 028 6 697 20 331 39.7 9.8 29.9 1962 700 27 162 6 485 20 677 38.8 9.3 29.5 1963 715 28 859 6 912 21 947 40.4 9.7 30.7 1964 735 28 610 6 421 22 189 38.9 8.7 30.2 1965 754 27 195 6 637 20 558 36.1 8.8 27.3 1966 773 27 831 6 944 20 887 36.0 9.0 27.0 1967 789 24 471 6 750 17 721 31.0 8.6 22.5 1968 804 25 409 7 382 18 027 31.6 9.2 22.4 1969 815 22 621 6 733 15 888 27.7 8.3 19.5 1970 828 22 765 6 520 16 245 27.5 7.9 19.6 1971 841 21 926 6 436 15 490 26.1 7.7 18.4 1972 851 21 495 6 753 14 742 25.3 7.9 17.3 1973 869 20 015 6 779 13 236 23.0 7.8 15.2 1974 881 24 002 6 424 17 578 27.3 7.3 20.0 1975 891 22 557 7 201 15 356 25.3 8.1 17.2 3.19 1976 903 23 274 6 968 16 306 25.8 7.7 18.0 3.13 1977 918 23 859 7 154 16 705 26.0 7.8 18.2 3.04 1978 934 25 278 6 596 18 682 27.1 7.1 20.0 3.09 1979 948 26 163 6 871 19 292 27.6 7.2 20.3 3.07 1980 966 26 294 6 919 19 375 27.2 7.2 20.1 3.19 1981 981 24 967 6 653 18 314 25.5 6.8 18.7 2.68 1982 993 22 459 6 584 15 875 22.6 6.6 16.0 2.39 1983 1 002 21 073 6 532 14 541 21.0 6.5 14.5 2.23 1984 1 011 20 332 6 646 13 686 20.1 6.6 13.5 2.16 1985 1 021 19 376 6 906 12 470 19.0 6.8 12.2 2.02 1986 1 028 19 170 6 805 12 365 18.6 6.6 12.0 1.99 1987 1 037 20 033 6 753 13 280 19.3 6.5 12.8 2.05 1988 1 043 20 941 6 879 14 062 20.1 6.6 13.5 2.14 1989 1 051 21 822 7 149 14 673 20.8 6.8 14.0 2.23 1990 1 059 22 602 7 031 15 571 21.3 6.6 14.7 2.32 1991 1 070 22 197 7 027 15 170 20.7 6.6 14.2 2.30 1992 1 084 22 902 7 023 15 879 21.1 6.5 14.6 2.37 1993 1 098 22 329 7 433 14 896 20.3 6.8 13.6 2.31 1994 1 113 21 795 7 402 14 393 19.6 6.7 12.9 2.25 1995 1 122 20 549 7 465 13 084 18.3 6.7 11.7 2.14 1996 1 134 20 763 7 670 13 093 18.3 6.8 11.5 2.12 1997 1 148 20 012 7 986 12 026 17.4 7.0 10.5 2.04 1998 1 160 19 434 7 839 11 595 16.8 6.8 10.0 1.97 1999 1 175 20 311 7 944 12 367 17.3 6.8 10.5 2.05 2000 1 187 20 205 7 982 12 223 17.0 6.7 10.3 1.99 2001 1 200 19 696 7 983 11 713 16.4 6.7 9.8 1.93 2002 1 210 19 983 8 310 11 673 16.5 6.9 9.6 1.96 2003 1 223 19 343 8 520 10 823 15.8 7.0 8.8 1.91 2004 1 233 19 230 8 475 10 755 15.6 6.9 8.7 1.92 2005 1 243 18 820 8 646 10 174 15.1 7.0 8.2 1.88 2006 1 253 17 604 9 162 8 442 14.0 7.3 6.7 1.77 2007 1 261 17 034 8 498 8 536 13.5 6.7 6.8 1.74 2008 1 268 16 372 9 004 7 368 12.9 7.1 5.8 1.67 2009 1 275 15 344 9 224 6 120 12.0 7.2 4.8 1.59 2010 1 281 15 005 9 131 5 874 11.7 7.1 4.6 1.57 2011 1 286 14 701 9 170 5 531 11.7 7.3 4.4 1.55 20121 256 14 502 9 343 5 159 11.5 7.4 4.1 1.54 20131 259 13 688 9 440 4 248 10.9 7.5 3.4 1.44 20141 261 13 283 9 682 3 601 10.5 7.7 2.8 1.43 2015 1 263 12,738 9,747 2,991 10.1 7.7 2.4 1.36 20161 263 12,948 10,174 2,774 10.2 8.1 2.1 1.40 20171 265 13,385 10,140 3,245 10.6 8.0 2.6 1.44 20181 265 12,980 10,787 2,193 10.3 8.5 1.8 1.41 20191 266 12,862 11,174 1,688 10.2 8.8 1.4 1.40 20201 266 13,465 11,060 2,405 10.6 8.7 1.9 1.44 20211 264 12,982 13,274 -292 10.3 10.5 -0.2 1.41 20221 261 12,096 12,938 -842 9.6 10.2 -0.6 1.32'''Current vital statistics'''+PeriodLive birthsDeathsNatural changeJanuary-June 20236,0796,519 -440January-June 20236,5085,738 +725Difference +429 (+7.1%) -781 (-12.0%) +1165=== Life expectancy ===PeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195550.19 1955–1960 55.74 1960–1965 61.23 1965–1970 62.96 1970–1975 63.55 1975–1980 65.58 1980–1985 68.10 1985–1990 68.49 1990–1995 70.28 1995–2000 70.36 2000–2005 72.09 2005–2010 72.75 2010–2015 74.13" ], [ "Language", "Picture from the 1950s of the Central Market, Port Louis, Mauritius.The main languages spoken in Mauritius are English, French, Mauritian Creole, and Bhojpuri.", "There is no official language.", "English is the official language of the parliament, though French is also permitted.", "However, the lingua franca is Mauritian Creole and the newspapers and television programs are usually in French.", "The Mauritian currency features the Latin, Tamil and Devanagari scripts.Mauritian Creole, which is spoken by 90 percent of the population, is considered to be the native language of the country and is used most often in informal settings.", "It was developed in the 18th century by African slaves who used a pidgin language to communicate with each other as well as with their French masters, who did not understand the various African languages.", "The pidgin evolved with later generations to become a casual language.Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole." ], [ "Religion", "In 2015, the population was estimated to be 48.5% Hindu, 27.2% Roman Catholic, 17.5% Muslim, 3.9% No religion and unspecified, 2.5% Protestantism, 0.4% Other religions.More than 90% of the Sino-Mauritian community are Christian; the remainder are largely Buddhist." ], [ "Migrants", "According to the United Nations, there were 28,713 international migrants in Mauritius in 2017.Their most common countries of origin were as follows:International migrants in Mauritius in 2017 8,689 8,364 2,964 2,287 1,511 1,131 624 456 187 146 136 124" ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "One birth every 41 minutes\tOne death every 46 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 360 minutesThe following demographics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.===Population===:1,308,223 (2022 est.", ")===Age structure===:0-14 years: 19.44% (male 137,010/female 131,113):15-24 years: 14.06% (male 98,480/female 95,472):25-54 years: 43.11% (male 297,527/female 297,158):55-64 years: 12.31% (male 80,952/female 88,785):65 years and over: 11.08% (2020 est.)", "(male 63,230/female 89,638)===Median age===:total: 36.3 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 80th:male: 35 years:female: 37.6 years (2020 est.", ")===Birth rate===:9.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 190th===Death rate===:8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 64th===Total fertility rate===:1.35 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 218th===Population growth rate===:0.1% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 188th===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:63.8% (2014)===Net migration rate===:0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 92nd===Life expectancy at birth===:total population: 74.86 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 131st:male: 72.04 years:female: 77.88 years (2022 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===:9.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.", ")===Dependency ratios===:total dependency ratio: 41.6 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 27.5 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 14.1 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 7.1 (2015 est.", ")===Urbanization===:urban population: 40.8% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", ")===Ethnic groups===Mauritians of Indian Origin 65.8%, Mauritians of African Origin 27.7%, Mauritians of Chinese Origin 3%, Mauritians of French Origin 2%===Languages===As mother tongue: Mauritian Creole 86.8%, Bhojpuri 5%, French 4.1%, Two languages 1.4%, Other 2.6%, Unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.", ")As ancestral languages: Bhojpuri 29.5%, Urdu 17.3%, Tamil 10%, Chinese 3%, Telugu 2%, Marathi 2%===Education expenditures===:4.6% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 80th===Literacy===definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.", "):total population: 91.3%:male: 93.4%:female: 89.4% (2018)===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 15 years (2017):male: 14 years (2017):female: 16 years (2017)===Unemployment, youth ages 15–24===:total: 21.8%:male: 16.8%:female: 28.4% (2019 est.)" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics of Mauritius''' () takes place in a framework of a parliamentary democracy.", "The separation of powers is among the three branches of the Government of Mauritius, namely the legislative, the executive and the Judiciary, is embedded in the Constitution of Mauritius.", "Being a Westminster system of government, Mauritius's unicameral house of parliament officially, the National Assembly, is supreme.", "It elects the President and the Prime Minister.", "While the President is voted by a single majority of votes in the house, the Prime Minister is the MP who supports a majority in the house.", "The President is the Head of State while the prime minister has full executive power and is the Head of Government who is assisted by a council of Ministers.", "Mauritius has a multi-party system.", "Historically, Mauritius's government has been led by the Labour Party or the MSM for the exception of short periods from 1982 to 1983 and 2003–2005 where the MMM was at the head of the country.", "L'Alliance Lepep, a coalition of several political parties including MSM, Muvmen Liberater and PMSD, won the 2014 elections.", "Two years into the political term, the PMSD announced their resignation from the coalition government on 19 December 2016, and joined the ranks of the opposition.", "On 23 January 2017, the then prime minister, 86-year-old Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, a key political figure in Mauritian politics who has previously served several political terms spanning over many decades, announced that he was stepping down as prime minister.", "Following the Westminster tradition, the leader of the governing party (MSM party) in the coalition government, Pravind Jugnauth who is Sir Aneerood Jugnauth's son and then Minister of Finance, was sworn in as prime minister.", "Although Sir Aneerood Jugnauth resigned as prime minister, he is still serving as Minister Mentor, Minister of Defence, Minister for Rodrigues.", "Mauritius' ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won more than half of the seats in 2019 parliamentary election, securing incumbent prime minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a new five-year term." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms.", "They form part along with the Speaker of the National Assembly, the legislative offices which under the constitution have the final decision and last word on any legislative matter including the laws of Mauritius.", "Most of the work is executed by the Executive Branch which consists of the Cabinet of Ministers, Leader of the Opposition and also other members of the parliament." ], [ "Executive branch", "Another important structure of the government of Mauritius is the executive branch.", "The Prime Minister is appointed by the president and is responsible to the National Assembly.", "The Council of Ministers is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.", "The Council of Ministers (cabinet), responsible for the direction and control of the government, consists of the prime minister (head of government), the leader of the majority party in the legislature, and about 24 ministers including one deputy prime minister and/or one vice prime minister.The Executive branch being with the Cabinet have four most powerful executive offices: prime minister, deputy prime minister and two offices of vice prime minister.", "They have the executive power and authority over the cabinet and also help the prime minister in his tasks and responsibilities.PresidentPrithvirajsing RoopunIndependent2 December 2019Prime MinisterPravind JugnauthMilitant Socialist Movement23 January 2017" ], [ "Power sharing", "In Mauritius, the prime minister enjoys significant power whereas the president has a mostly ceremonial role.", "The president as head of state resides in a historical Chateau laid on 220 hectares of land and the prime minister resides in the much smaller Clarisse House.", "Nevertheless, the prime minister is the chief executive.", "He is responsible for any bill sent to the president from the assembly.", "He presides over all cabinet ministers and is the first adviser of the president.", "He is the head of government and it is on his advice that the president shall appoint any person in the government." ], [ "Order of precedence", "This is a list of ceremonial precedence for the Mauritian government:# The President# The Prime Minister# The Vice President# The Deputy Prime Minister# The Chief Justice# The Speaker of the National Assembly# The Leader of the Opposition# The Former Presidents, Former Governor-Generals and Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III# The Former Prime Minister# The Vice Prime Ministers# The Ministers# The Former Vice President# The Government Chief Whip# The Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues# The Parliamentary Private Secretaries# The Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service# Financial Secretary/Secretary for Home Affairs/Secretary for Foreign Affairs# Dean of the Diplomatic Corps/Heads and Acting Heads of Diplomatic# Missions/Representatives of International and Regional Organisations# The Senior Puisne Judge# The Solicitor General/Puisne Judges/Senior Chief Executives# The Chief of Protocol# The Commissioner of Police# The Permanent Secretaries/Ambassadors/Secretary to President# The Deputy Speaker/Members of the National Assembly# The Heads of Religious Bodies# Holders of G.O.S.K.", "and/or persons knighted by the King# Lord Mayor of Port-Louis/Mayors/Chairpersons of District Councils# Consul General/Consuls/Honorary Consuls General/Honorary Consuls" ], [ "Judicial branch", "Mauritian law is an amalgam of French and British legal traditions.", "The Supreme Court—a chief justice and five other judges—is the highest local judicial authority.", "There is an additional higher right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.", "Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have been located in Mauritius since the end of 2008, as part of a plan to lower the costs of appeal.The present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is, '''Rehana Mungly-Gulbul''' who succeeded '''Ashraf Caunhye''' in 2021." ], [ "See also", "* List of political parties in Mauritius* Prime Minister of Mauritius* Elections in Mauritius" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Mauritius''' is a mixed developing economy based on agriculture, exports, financial services, and tourism.", "Since the 1980s, the government of Mauritius has sought to diversify the country's economy beyond its dependence on just agriculture, particularly sugar production." ], [ "Overview", "Sugarcane.Working in the salt marshes.In 1961, Professor James Meade painted a bleak picture of the economic prospects of Mauritius, which then had a population of 650,000.All the disadvantages associated with smallness of island states weighed heavily in his conviction that Mauritius was caught in a Malthusian trap and, therefore, if economic progress could at all be achieved, it would be to a very limited extent.", "Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to an upper-middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, ICT and tourist sectors.", "For most of the period, annual growth has been roughly 4%.", "This compares very favorably with other sub-Saharan African countries and is largely due to sustained progress in economic conditions; between 1977 and 2008, growth averaged 4.6% compared with a 2.9% average in sub-Saharan Africa.", "Also important is that it has achieved what few fast growing economies achieve, a more equitable income distribution and inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) fell from 45.7 to 38.9 between 1980 and 2006.This remarkable achievement has been reflected in increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure.", "Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings.", "The government's development strategy centers on expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry.", "Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion.", "Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).Mauritius has attracted US$10.98 billion in Foreign direct investment inflows.", "Top sectors attracting FDI inflows from Mauritius (from January 2000 to December, 2005) are electrical equipment, telecommunications, fuels, cement and gypsum products and services sector (financial and non-financial).", "With a well-developed legal and commercial infrastructure and a tradition of entrepreneurship and representative government, Mauritius is one of the developing world's most successful democracies.", "The economy has shown a considerable degree of resilience, and an environment already conducive to dynamic entrepreneurial activity has moved further toward economic freedom.", "The island's institutional advantages are noticeable.", "A transparent and well-defined investment code and legal system have made the foreign investment climate in Mauritius one of the best in the region.", "Taxation is competitive and efficient.", "The economy is increasingly diversified, with significant private-sector activity in sugar, tourism, economic processing zones, and financial services, particularly in offshore enterprises.", "The government is trying to modernize the sugar and textile industries, which in the past were overly dependent on trade preferences, while promoting diversification into such areas as information and communications technology, financial and business services, seafood processing and exports, and free trade zones.", "Agriculture and industry have become less important to the economy, and services, especially tourism, accounted for over 72 percent of GDP.", "The government still owns utilities and controls imports of rice, flour, petroleum products, and cement." ], [ "History", "The Mauritian economy has undergone remarkable transformations since independence.", "From a poor country with high unemployment exporting mainly sugar and buffeted by the vagaries of world demand, Mauritius has become relatively prosperous and diverse, although not without problems.The 1970s were marked by a strong government commitment to diversify the economy and to provide more high-paying jobs to the population.", "The promotion of tourism and the creation of the EPZs did much to attain these goals.", "Between 1971 and 1977, about 64,000 jobs were created.", "However, in the rush to make work, the government allowed EPZ firms to deny their workers fair wages, the right to organize and strike, and the health and social benefits afforded other Mauritian workers.", "The boom in the mid-1970s was also fueled by increased foreign aid and exceptional sugar crops, coupled with high world prices.The economic situation deteriorated in the late 1970s.", "Petroleum prices rose, the sugar boom ended, and the balance of payments deficit steadily rose as imports outpaced exports; by 1979 the deficit amounted to a staggering US$111 million.", "Mauritius approached the IMF and the World Bank for assistance.", "In exchange for loans and credits to help pay for imports, the government agreed to institute certain measures, including cutting food subsidies, devaluing the currency, and limiting government wage increases.By the 1980s, thanks to a widespread political consensus on broad policy measures, the economy experienced steady growth, declining inflation, high employment, and increased domestic savings.", "The EPZ with investment principally from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and came into its own, surpassing sugar as the principal export-earning sector and employing more workers than the sugar industry and the government combined, previously the two largest employers.", "In 1986 Mauritius had its first trade surplus in twelve years.", "Tourism also boomed, with a concomitant expansion in the number of hotel beds and air flights.", "An aura of optimism accompanied the country's economic success and prompted comparisons with other Asian countries that had dynamic economies, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea.The economy had slowed down by the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the government was optimistic that it could ensure the long-term prosperity of the country by drawing up and implementing prudent development plans.", "A stock exchange opened in Port Louis in 1989.As of 1993, Mauritius had a gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at US$8.6 billion, with a growth rate of 5.5 percent, and an inflation rate of 10.5 percent." ], [ "Policies for success", "Recent reports on progress on the Millennium Development Goals by the Overseas Development Institute indicated four key reasons for economic success.# Heterodox liberalisation and diversification# Concerted strategy of nation building# Strong and inclusive institutions# High levels of equitable public investment=== Heterodox liberalisation and diversification ===Mauritius has followed a pragmatic development strategy in which liberalisation process was sequenced and tailored to its competitive advantages and weaknesses.", "The export-orientated approach has encouraged liberalisation supported by strong state involvement as a facilitator (of the enabling environment for the private sector); as operator (to encourage competition); and as regulator (to protect the economy as well as vulnerable groups and sectors from shocks).", "Strategies were evidence-based and adapted according to results.", "There has been consistency and stability, regardless of which political party is in power.Liberalisation occurred in phases that were initiated to build on advantages the economy enjoyed on the international market.", "* 1970s: Mauritius profited from sugar rents, established an export processing zone EPZ and successfully attracted capital and foreign investment in manufacturing, from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.", "* 1980s–1990s: EPZ expanded and led to a significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourism.", "Preferential access to sugar and clothing markets amounted to 7% of GDP in the 1980s and 4.5% in the 1990s, capital and current accounts were liberalised, contributing to an investment and employment boom and the high inflow of FDI brought with it managerial skills.", "* 1990s–2010: Further diversification, liberalisation and investment as Chinese investors left to pursue investments in Africa and China.=== Concerted strategy of nation building ===A concerted strategy of nation building since Independence created the foundations for sustained growth.", "Partnerships across ethnic groups allowed economic redistribution to be negotiated and the resulting better balance of economic and political power allowed strong and independent institutions.", "The emerging political system encouraged a consultative approach to policy formation that allowed strategies for growth to be continued regardless of changes in the parties in power.=== Strong and inclusive institutions ===Strong institutions are critical in ensuring country's competitiveness, economic resilience and stability.", "They have supported development strategies and ensured that export earnings are reinvested in strategic and productive sectors.", "In the financial sector they have built a regulated and well-capitalised banking and financial system that protected it from toxic assets prior to the 2008 global financial crisis.====Corruption laws====In 2002, the government adopted the Prevention of Corruption Act, which led to the setting up of an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) a few months later.", "The ICAC has the power to detect and investigate corruption and money-laundering offenses and can also confiscate the proceeds of corruption and money laundering.", "Corruption is not seen as an obstacle to foreign direct investment.", "Mauritius ranks 45th out of 168 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015.Mauritius is one of Africa's least corrupt countries.=== High levels of equitable public investment ===Mauritius has a strong human capital foundation developed through consistent and equitable investment in human development.", "This enabled Mauritius to exploit advantages, learn from expertise brought in through FDI and maintain competitiveness in a fast evolving international market.", "Education and health services are free and have been expanded in recent years, in order to create further employment opportunities and ensuring inclusive growth.", "The educated and adaptable workforce were essential elements of 1980s export-orientated growth.", "Around 90% of entrepreneurs in the export processing zone (EPZ) and in the manufacturing sector were eventually Mauritian nationals, businesspeople had the human capital, education and knowledge needed to exploit market opportunities.", "According to the Government of Mauritius the general outlook for the manufacturing sector is positive, as the country offers many opportunities to entrepreneurs across the various value chains but insufficient skilled labour and limited research and development will remain impediments to potentially higher growth in this sector." ], [ "Financial services", "Mauritius provides an environment for banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, captive insurance managers, trading companies, ship owners or managers, fund managers and professionals to conduct their international business.", "The economic success achieved in the 1980s engendered the rapid growth of the financial services sector in Mauritius.", "The following types of offshore activities can be conducted in Mauritius:* Offshore Banking* Offshore Insurance* Offshore Funds Management* International Financial Services* Operational Headquarters* International Consultancy Services* Shipping and Ship Management* Aircraft Financing and Leasing* International Licensing and Franchising* International Data Processing and Information Technology Services* Offshore Pension Funds* International Trading* International Assets Management" ], [ "Information and communication technology", "Since 2002, Mauritius has invested heavily into the development of an hub in information and communication technology (ICT).", "The contribution of the ICT sector accounts for 5.7% of the GDP.", "The ICT Sector employs 15,390 people.", "In 2016, two students from Mauritius became finalists in Google Code-in.", "In 2017, Mauritius got its first grand prize winner.", "In 2012, Mauritius participated for the first time in Google Summer of Code.", "In 2018, the cyberstorm.mu team from Mauritius led three tracks during the Internet Engineering Task Force Hackathon in Bangkok.", "As from 2016 Mauritius is organizing hackathon and coding competitions such as Krakathon and the Webcup.", "Mauritius is one of the few countries which has participated in the development of post quantum cryptography." ], [ "International employment services" ], [ "Agriculture", "=== Sugar industry ===" ], [ "Macroeconomic statistics", "NameSourceYearNotesRefGDP (PPP)International Monetary Fund2012GDP (PPP) is $20.200 billionWorld Bank2012GDP (PPP) is $19,245,631,329The World Factbook2012GDP (PPP) is $20,950,000,000GDP (PPP) per capitaInternational Monetary Fund2012GDP (PPP) per capita is $15,591.974World Bank2012GDP (PPP) per capita is $14,902The World Factbook2013GDP (PPP) per capita is $16,100GDP (PPP) per person employedWorld Bank1990-2010The World Factbook2012 GDP (nominal)United Nations2012GDP (nominal) is $10,086,649,093International Monetary Fund2013GDP (nominal) is US$11.930 billionWorld Bank2012GDP (nominal) is $10,486,037,634The World Factbook2013GDP (nominal) is $11.9 billion GDP (nominal) per capitaUnited Nations2012International Monetary Fund2013GDP (nominal) per capita is US$9,159.681World Bank2012The World Factbook2013 Gross national income (Atlas method)World Bank2012Gross national income is US$11,070 millionGNI per capita (Atlas method and PPP)World Bank2012Average national income (PPP) of US$8,570 per person/Year'''Household income or consumption by percentage share''':'''Distribution of family income – Gini index''': 39 (2006 estimate)'''Agriculture – products''': sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish'''Industrial production growth rate''': 8% (2000 estimate)'''Electricity – production''': 1,836 GWh (2002)'''Electricity – consumption''': 1,707 GWh (2002)'''Oil – consumption''': (2003 estimate) (2001 estimate)'''Current account balance''': $1,339 million (2011 estimate) $799.4 million (2010 estimate)'''Reserves of foreign exchange and gold''': $2,797 billion (2012 estimate)$2,601 billion (2010 estimate)'''2013 Index of Economic Freedom rank = 8th'''Exchange rates''': Mauritian rupees per US dollar – 30.12 (26 March 2014), 30.99 (1 February 2010), 32.86 (2006), 29.14 (2005), 27.50 (2004), 27.90 (2003), 29.96 (2002), 29.13 (2001)" ], [ "See also", "* Board of Investment (Mauritius)* Bank of Mauritius (central bank)* Mineral industry of Mauritius* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa" ], [ "Notes and references" ], [ "External links", "* * Ministry Of Finance and Economic Development* Central Statistics Office - Official gatherer and provider of statistics for Mauritius" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "Telecommunications had an early beginning in Mauritius, with the first telephone line installed in 1883, seven years after the invention of the telephone.", "Over the years, the network and telephony improved.", "By the late 20th century, the rapid development and convergence of information and telecommunications technologies gave rise to an ICT industry on the island along with many incentives provided by the government.", "The government thus aims to make the ICT sector the 5th pillar of the Mauritian economy and Mauritius a Cyber Island.", "Historically, the country is known for tourism, rather than its call centers and business process outsourcing." ], [ "History", "In 1883, basic telephony was introduced in Mauritius, only seven years after the invention of the telephone.", "The first telephone line was set up between the Colony Governor's residence in Reduit and Government House in Port Louis.", "The telephone network was maintained by the ''Electricity and Telephone Department'' till 1956.From that date, the telecommunications department took that responsibility.In 1893, Mauritius was linked to Seychelles (then part of Mauritius) and Zanzibar via a submarine telegraphic cable followed by Rodrigues in 1901 by the Eastern and South African Telegraph Company.", "The transmission rate of the telegraphic service was 15 words per minute, a historical revolution in those days.Before the independence of the country and till 1985, international communications were managed by ''Cable & Wireless'', a private British company.", "From 1985, ''Overseas Telecommunications Services'', which subsequently became ''Mauritius Telecom Limited'' took over.The Central Information Systems Division (CISD), formerly known as Data Processing Division (DPD), was created in 1971.The CISD nowadays is responsible for government payroll IT systems, government email, maintenance of all government/departmental websites and technical support.In 1987, a second standard B earth station and a domestic satellite network were installed with Rodrigues and the Outer Islands.", "That same year, an X.25 Packet Switched data exchange was also installed.In July 1988, the state-owned Department of Telecommunications was privatised to become the Mauritius Telecommunications Services (MTS).", "With privatisation, national and international activities were merged to form Mauritius Telecom Ltd.The 1988 Telecommunications Act established the legal framework to cater for telecom services in a state-owned monopoly.The National Computer Board (NCB) was also set up in 1988 by the National Board Act (No 43) to advise the Government on the formulation of national policies for the development of the IT sector and promote an IT culture in the country.In 1989, the Central Informatics Bureau (CIB) was created whose main functions were to plan and coordinate computerization within the Civil Service.The State Informatics Limited was also set up in 1989 initially to help in the computerization of the Civil Service.in 1992, the Prime Minister of Mauritius said that he was firmly opposed to opening the hertzian waves to foreign television, and that his government \"would not accord this liberty to foreigners\".By 1997, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications was created to formulate and implement policies regarding the development of the ICT sector.", "The CISD and CIB became departments within this new ministry.However, following the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO, the 1988 Telecommunications Act was replaced with by the Telecommunications Act of 1998 which provided the legal framework to enable the emergence of a free and democratised telecommunications market on the island.", "This act also created the Mauritius Telecommunications Authority (MTA) as a regulatory body for the telecommunications sector.With the development of Information and Communications Technologies, the Telecommunications Act of 1998 was replaced by the Information and Communication Technologies Act of 2001.The MTA was subsequently replaced by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA).", "In 2007, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority directed internet service providers to block access to Facebook.", "In 2009, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority rejected an application from Outremer Telecom for a cellular telephony licence.", "In 2014, the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court ordered Data Communication Ltd to pay to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority the sum of Rs 20,672,135.80 inclusive of surcharges for late payment, with costs." ], [ "General statistics", "'''Telephones - main lines in use:'''372,200 (2014)'''Telephones - mobile cellular:'''1,652,000 (2014)'''Telephone system:'''small system with good service''domestic:''primarily microwave radio relay trunk system''international:''country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia'''Radio broadcast stations:'''AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002)'''Radios:'''420,000 (1997)'''Television broadcast stations:'''2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)'''Televisions:'''258,000 (1997)'''Internet Service Providers (ISPs):'''14 (2014)'''Internet users:'''735,400 (2014) '''Country code (Top level domain):''' MU" ], [ "Television", "Television broadcast stations: Only one state-controlled station, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, as the government refuses to issue licences to domestic broadcasters." ], [ "Internet", "Mauritius has several operators like Mauritius Telecom, Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) & Emtel.", "Each operator uses a different technology to provide Internet access.", "MTML uses CDMA2000 and Emtel uses HSDPA (3.5G).The monopoly is retained by Mauritius Telecom (MT) which provides dial-up & ADSL services over existing telephone lines.===Internet censorship and surveillance===In 2007, the government took down Facebook for a day.", "There is a National Cyber Security Strategy for the government to set up a comprehensive framework to monitor Internet traffic which might be harmful to the nation and society.", "in 2016, a couple was arrested after sharing a post about the Minister of Housing and Lands on Facebook.", "In September 2016, the Internet filtering and Public Key Infrastructure servers operated by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority were seized by the National Security Service." ], [ "Notes and references" ], [ "External links", "* ICT sector in Mauritius* Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICT Authority) - The Authority is the national regulator for the ICT sector and Postal Services in Mauritius" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "A map of Mauritius with major roadways in redTransportation in Mauritius is characterized by the network of roadways, ports, and airports.", "The island was originally only accessible by boat until 1922, when the first flight landed in Mauritius." ], [ "Rail transport", "A public and industrial railway system existed from the 1860s to the 1960s.", "Due to persistent unprofitability from 1948 to 1953, it was finally closed in 1964.From 1964 to 2020, there were no railways in Mauritius.To cope with increasing road traffic congestion, a light rail system, Metro Express, was built between Curepipe and Port Louis.", "The project consisted of a number of phases; the first phase, Port Louis to Rose Hill, went operational in January 2020.When completed, the system covered a distance of some 25 km, with some 19 stations, many located in town centres along the route with existing transport terminals.", "The end-to-end journey time would be approximately 41 minutes and coaches would be air-conditioned.", "Headways would vary by time of day, but are expected to be of the order of 6 minutes in peak periods.", "Access to stations would be by an integrated system of comfortable and reliable feeder buses.", "A 3.4-km branch with two stations will be built as well." ], [ "Motorized transport", "=== History ===At the beginning of 1860, the transport of passengers and goods was undertaken by about 2,000 horses, 4,000 donkeys and 4,500 carriages and carts.", "With the advent of the railways, and later of motorized transport, animal based transport systems declined on the island.In January 1901, the first two-seater car, imported by ''Goupilles & Cies'', was disembarked.", "In October of that same year, the ''Union Regnard'' sugar estate (Now F.U.E.L) received the first motorized truck of British origin, capable of transporting up to 5 tons.In 1930, the island had 3,016 vehicles: around 2,401 private cars, 300 taxis, 303 trucks, 92 buses and 220 motorcycles.", "In 1950, vehicles numbered in the 5,161 and went up to 13,291 in 1960 with the decline of the railways.", "In 1970, the number of vehicles nearly doubled, going to 25,389 motorised vehicles.", "This included 12,546 cars, 4,171 trucks, 722 buses and 5,383 motorcycles.", "Public transport, in the form of buses, grew in line with the demographic and economic growth of the island; buses numbered 186 in 1950, 488 in 1960, 722 in 1970 and 1,490 in 1980., 580,629 vehicles were registered on the island.", "Of these, 299,998 were cars and dual-purpose vehicles (cars capable of carrying a certain load of goods), and 216,863 were motorcycles and autocycles (light motorcycles).=== National Transport Authority ===The National Transport Authority (NTA) is the governmental department established under the Road Traffic Act in 1980 whose main responsibility is the regulation and control of road transport in Mauritius and Rodrigues.", "It falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping.", "The responsibility for the administration of the NTA rests with the Road Transport Commissioner.The NTA also has a board constituted under section 73 of the Road Traffic Act.", "The Board consists of a chairman appointed by the Minister and 10 other members.", "The board is responsible to hear and decide on the applications for licenses for the transport of goods and passengers; and disciplinary proceedings instituted against transport operators, drivers, and conductors of public service vehicles for offences committed under the Act.A public bus in MauritiusThe other responsibilities of this governmental department are:* registration and transfer of ownership of motor vehicles;* licensing of public service vehicles and goods vehicles as well as petrol service stations;* collection of road tax and other licence fees;* examination of motor vehicles as to their road-worthiness;* licensing of bus conductors;* enforcement of road transport legislation and monitoring the level of service of public transport;* enforcement of parking regulations;* keeping statistics relating to motor vehicles; and* planning of new transport services.=== Road network ===, there are of roads in Mauritius, of which are main roads, are secondary roads, are motorways and the remaining are made up of other types of roads.", "The percentage of paved roads is 98%.", "The number of vehicles per kilometre of road is 209.The motorway network includes three main motorways:M1 (Port Louis – Plaisance Dual Carriageway) goes from Port Louis to the International airport, also connecting Moka, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix and Curepipe.", "Its length is and it is the most important road in the country.", "M2 (Port Louis – Sottise Dual Carriageway) goes from Port Louis to Grand-Baie in the North, it also connects Pamplemousses.", "Its length is .", "M3 (Terre Rouge – Verdun – Trianon Link Road and Bagatelle – Valentina Link Road) bypasses Port Louis.", "''M4 (Airport – Bel Air – Point Blanc – Forbach)'' is in early stages of contracting.=== Bus network ===Mauritius has a widespread bus network with around 220 bus lines and roughly 900 bus stops.", "They are operated by major companies (Mauritius Bus Transport, National Transport Corporation (NTC), United Bus Service (UBS)), as well as smaller companies (Rose Hill Transport (RHT), Triolet Bus Service (TBS) and others) and various individual operators that are organized in regional Bus Owners Co-operative Societies (BOCS).", "The bus prices are regulated by the Government of Mauritius.", "However, there is no such thing as an operator independent ticket which could be used across the island." ], [ "Water transport", "=== Ports and harbours ===Port Louis is the main port in Mauritius.", "Port Mathurin is the main port on Rodrigues Island.", "Mauritius was only accessible by boat until 1922, when the first flight landed in Mauritius.Panorama view of Port Louis (Hotel Le Suffren)=== Merchant marine ===''total:''8 ships (1,000 GT or over) totalling 550142 GT/''ships by type:''cargo 2, combination bulk 2, container 2, cargo 2''note:''includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 1, India 3, Norway 1, Switzerland 2 (2002 est.)" ], [ "Air transport", "=== History ===The first recorded flight taking off from Mauritius was undertaken on 2 June 1922 by Major F.W.", "Honnet.", "The plane, a mono-engine biplane, christened ''Maurice'', had come by boat.", "For the inaugural flight, the land at the Gymkhana, Vacoas was converted into an improvised airport.On 10 September 1933, two French pilots, Maurice Samat and Paul Louis Lemerle, flew from Reunion Island to Mauritius on a Potez 43 plane called ''Monique''.", "The pilots landed in Mon-Choisy in the north of the island.", "On 4 October of the same year, a Mauritian pilot, Jean Hily, took off from Mon-Choisy for Réunion island.", "However, he never made it and was lost at sea.", "For some years that followed, the Mon-Choisy strip was used as an airport for the rare airplanes that landed on the island.", "However, in 1942, with the entry of Japan into the Second World War, the island gained a strategic importance in the Indian Ocean and thus the British government hastily built a new airport in the south of the island at Plaisance.", "On 24 November 1943, the first military airplane, a Dakota of the Royal Air Force (R.A.F) coming from Nairobi with a stopover at Madagascar, landed in Plaisance.In 1945, with the end of the war, the airport was opened to the civil aviation.", "Thus, on 10 February of that year, a Junker 52 of the Réseau des Liaisons Aériennes Francaises (R.L.A.F), later known as Air France, landed in Plaisance.", "Since 1945, the R.L.A.F operated the Paris-Mauritius line.", "The journey of 6 days and 7 stops included Antananarivo and Reunion island.", "In 1946, the R.A.F handed over the Plaisance airport to the Mauritian authorities.Air France became the first commercial aviation company to come to Mauritius.", "As from 1947, it's DC4, transporting 44 passengers, undertook the Paris-Mauritius in 3 days, including night time flight, with 12 stops in between.", "The following year, the British company SkyWays initiated a weekly flight on the Plaisance-Nairobi line.", "The introduction of Boeings as from 1961 sensibly reduced the travel time on this line.", "Even though Mauritius was a British colony, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C) began to come to Mauritius only from 1962.The Mauritius-London itinerary took 26 hours, with 4 stops.", "In 1967, a Boeing 707, capable of carrying 160 passengers was introduced on the Paris-Mauritius line, decreasing the travel time to 18 hours.Initially, Mauritian civil and commercial aviation developed under the impulsion of Rogers & Co Company.", "The aviation department within Rogers was created by Amédée Maingard on his return from the Second World War.", "In June 1967, the national company, Air Mauritius was created.", "The Mauritian government, British Airways, Air France and Air India were the initial stakeholders in this initiative, with Rogers an active supporter.", "Amédée Maingard became the first president of Air Mauritius and Jean Ribet the general manager.", "In December 1972, Air Mauritius landed a Piper-Navajo (twin-engined plane of 6 places), rented from Air Madagascar, in Rodrigues.", "Then, as from 1975, a Havilland Twin Otter of 16 places was used on the Mauritius-Rodrigues route.=== Airports ===As of 2014, there are 2 airports in Mauritius and its dependencies.", "Runways and length Number Airport(s) Paved, over 3,047 meters 1Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Plaine Magnien Paved, 914 to 1,523 meters 1 Plaine Corail Airport, Plaine Corail, Rodrigues Island" ], [ "See also", "* Rail transport in Mauritius* Air Mauritius – national airline" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport & Shipping* Taxi Mauritius Owners Association" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Mauritius" ], [ "Introduction", "Mauritius has strong and friendly relations with the West, with South Asian countries and with the countries of southern and eastern Africa.", "It is a member of the World Trade Organization, the Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the African Union, the Southern Africa Development Community, the Indian Ocean Commission, COMESA, and the recently formed Indian Ocean Rim Association.Trade, commitment to democracy, and the country's small size are driving forces behind Mauritian foreign policy.", "The country's political heritage and dependence on Western markets have led to close ties with the European Union and its member states, particularly France, as well as the United Kingdom, a former member state.", "Mauritius' only immediate neighbour is Reunion Island, an overseas department of France that is also part of the European Union.Considered part of Africa geographically, Mauritius has friendly relations with other African states in the region, particularly South Africa, by far its largest continental trading partner.", "Mauritian investors are gradually entering African markets, notably Madagascar and Mozambique.", "Mauritius coordinates much of its foreign policy with the Southern Africa Development Community and the Organisation of African Unity.", "The country is also a member of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA).Relations with France and India are strong for both historical and commercial reasons.", "Foreign embassies in Mauritius include Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, Egypt, France, India, Madagascar, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Bangladesh, and the United States.Mauritius 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)." ], [ "International disputes", "Mauritius claims the entire Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean and also claims the whole French-administered Tromelin Island." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Mauritius maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate129 February 1968212 March 1968312 March 1968412 March 1968512 March 1968617 March 1968723 March 1968823 April 1968924 April 19681028 April 19681127 August 1968121968135 March 19691411 March 19691522 October 1969 —9 March 19701626 March 1970178 April 19701825 September 1970196 October 1970203 July 19712125 September 19712215 April 19722319722430 January 197325262 March 19732716 March 19732829 October 19732931 October 1973301973318 April 19743220 May 19743325 June 19743414 December 19743519743620 June 1975374 January 19763811 January 1976399 February 19764012 February 19764112 February 19764217 February 19764322 March 19764422 March 1976458 June 19764610 June 19764716 June 19764819 June 19764919 June 19765030 July 19765118 October 19765218 October 19765312 December 1976 —1977545 August 19785530 December 19785622 January 197957585950616263 —6465 —66676869707172737475767778798081828330 May 19978485868788899091929394959697989910010110210310410510610710810911011111211311411511611711811912012112212312420 July 201012512612712812913013113213313415 October 2014135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154Unknown155Unknown156Unknown157Unknown158Unknown159Unknown160Unknown161Unknown162Unknown163Unknown164Unknown165Unknown166Unknown167Unknown168Unknown169Unknown" ], [ "Bilateral relations", " Country Formal Relations BeganNotes25 September 1970* Australia has a high commission in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius has a high commission in Canberra.1972See Bangladesh–Mauritius relationsBangladesh and Mauritius share a common heritage in culture and politics.", "Diplomatic relations were established in 1972, soon after the achievement of Bangladeshi independence.", "Both nations have rapidly growing trade ties and increasing investment and financial linkages.", "Bangladesh has a High Commission in Port Louis.", "The two countries are common members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Commonwealth of Nations.", "* Bangladesh has a high commission in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Bangladesh from its high commission in New Delhi, India.1975* Brazil is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Brazil from its embassy Washington, D.C., United States.1967Canada and Mauritius established diplomatic relations in 1967.Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.", "* Canada is accredited to Mauritius from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa and maintains an honorary consulate in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Canada from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "15 April 1972See China–Mauritius relationsUnder the President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao in 2010, an investment package of $750m was allocated to Mauritius to develop the Jinfei Special Economic Zone which consists of of land.", "Buildings of infrastructure and services primarily serving interests of Chinese companies operating the African region but would also eventually open up to foreign parties.", "The proposed investment package also includes development of advance logistic operations in Mauritius, construction of a university and an oceanographic research centre.", "This investment package is Mauritius' largest single foreign direct investment ever.", "* China has an embassy in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Beijing.1 February 2001* Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations* List of bilateral agreements.", "* Cyprus is accredited to Mauritius from its High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Cyprus from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium.", "* Ethiopia is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Addis Ababa.", "12 March 1968See France–Mauritius relationsFrance has remained one of its biggest trading partners; in addition, the two countries share close cultural ties in language, media and literature.", "* France has an embassy in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Paris.", "* Both nations are members of La Francophonie.23 March 1968* Germany is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Berlin.23 February 1981* Greece is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Greece from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium.1 December 1992* Mauritius is accredited to Guyana from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "Both countries established diplomatic relations on December 1, 1992.", "Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations.12 March 1968See Mauritius–India relationsIndia and Mauritius established diplomatic relations in 1948.India has remained one of its biggest trading partners; in addition India has deep social and historical links with a large portion of the population of Mauritius, India is the country's second largest source of foreign assistance.", "* India has a High Commission in Port Louis* Mauritius has a High Commission in New Delhi.", "and a consulate in Mumbai.Both countries have signed many bilateral agreements.See Kenya–Mauritius relations* Kenya is accredited to Mauritius from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Kenya from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.27 August 1968See Madagascar–Mauritius relations* Madagascar has an embassy in Port Louis.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Antananarivo.13 August 1986See Malaysia–Mauritius relationsBoth countries share strong common ground when it comes to culture.", "Both were governed by both Dutch and British rulers and gained their independence in the second half of the twentieth century.", "Both have sizeable representations of Indian and Chinese ethnic groups.", "Of the 30,000 people of Chinese ancestry residing in Mauritius, the vast majority come from the Hakka and Cantonese provinces, both of which are well present among Malaysia's population of Chinese ancestry.", "In both countries, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are represented by important communities.", "Thus, Malaysia's population consists of 60.4% Muslims, 6.4% of Hindus and 9.1% of Christians; the respective figures for Mauritius are 16.6%, 52% and 30%.Mauritius has established a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.", "Malaysia is not represented by a High Commission in Mauritius, the closest delegates being posted to Zimbabwe.", "A Double Taxation Avoidance agreement exists between the two countries.", "Malaysian nationals do not require a visa to enter Mauritius, and Mauritian passport holders do not require a visa to enter Malaysia for tourism.In recent years, the spectacular development experienced by Malaysia has seen a steady increase in the number of Mauritian visitors to the country.", "Official figures reveal that 2,320 Mauritian residents disembarked in Malaysia in 2010, a 27.8% increase on the previous year.", "While this is four times less than the number of Mauritians travelling to Singapore, the trend remains highly positive.", "In the other direction, 1,438 Malaysian tourists visited Mauritius in 2010, which represents a 23.5% rise on 2009 figures.", "Most of these tourists arrived during the months of May (143 visitors), June (118), September (188), November (179) and December (172).Another recent trend has been that of Mauritian youngsters going to Malaysia for higher studies, encouraged by the affordable fees and quality of life.", "* Malaysia is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.", "* Mauritius has a high commission in Kuala Lumpur.30 July 1976* Mauritius is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa and maintains an honorary consulate in Port Louis.1969See Mauritius–Pakistan relationsRelations between Pakistan and Mauritius were first established in 1969.On November 30, 2007, the two countries signed a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement.", "* Mauritius has a High Commission in Islamabad.", "* Pakistan has a High Commission in Port Louis.25 June 1974Both countries established diplomatic relations on July 30, 1976.17 March 1968See Mauritius–Russia relationsThe Soviet Union and Mauritius established diplomatic relations on March 17, 1968.The Russian Federation has an embassy in Floreal, Mauritius, and Mauritius has an embassy in Moscow, which was opened in July 2003.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Port Louis.17 June 1988* Mauritius has an honorary consulate in Victoria.", "* Seychelles has an honorary consulate in Port Louis.6 December 1993See Mauritius–South Africa relationsRelations between South Africa and Mauritius were established in 1992 with the establishing of Representative Offices in both countries.", "Full diplomatic relations were established in 1994.Upon South Africa's return to the Commonwealth, relations have been conducted at the level of High Commission.", "There is no visa requirements for South Africans visiting Mauritius.", "* Mauritius has a high commission in Pretoria.", "* South Africa has a high commission Port Louis.3 July 1971Mauritius and the Republic of Korea established Diplomatic Relations on July 3, 1971.", "* Mauritius is accredited to South Korea from its embassy in Beijing, China.", "* South Korea is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.30 May 1979* Mauritius is accredited to Spain from its embassy in Paris, France.", "* Spain is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1968.Both countries are full members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.", " Mauritius has an embassy in Geneva.", "* Switzerland is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.18 October 1976See Mauritius–Turkey relations* Embassy of Mauritius in Berlin is accredited to Turkey.", "Turkish Embassy in Antananarivo is accredited to Mauritius.", "Trade volume between the two countries was 76.5 million USD in 2019.", "There are direct flights from Istanbul to Mauritius since 15 December 2015.12 March 1968 Mauritius has a high commission in London.", "* United Kingdom has a high commission in Port Louis.12 March 1968See Mauritius–United States relationsGeorge W. Bush and Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth.", "Oval Office, June 26, 2003.Official U.S. representation in Mauritius dates from the end of the 18th century.", "An American consulate was established in 1794 and was closed in 1911.It was reopened in 1967 and elevated to embassy status upon Mauritius' independence in 1968.Since 1970, the mission has been directed by a resident U.S. ambassador.", "In 2002, Mauritius recalled its ambassador to the United Nations for not accurately conveying his government's pro-American stance in the Security Council debate.", "* Mauritius has an embassy in Washington, D.C.* United States has an embassy in Port Louis.4 May 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on May 4, 1994.Both countries are members of La Francophonie.", "* Mauritius is accredited to Vietnam from its high commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.", "* Vietnam is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Maputo, Mozambique." ], [ "International organisations", "Mauritius has been a member state of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations since independence in 1968.It is a member of the World Trade Organization, La Francophonie, Organisation of African Unity, the Southern Africa Development Community, the Indian Ocean Commission, COMESA, and the recently formed Indian Ocean Rim Association." ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Mauritius* List of diplomatic missions of Mauritius" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mayotte" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mayotte''' (; , ; , ; , ), officially the '''Department of Mayotte''' (), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France.", "It is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between Northwestern Madagascar and Northeastern Mozambique.", "Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), as well as several islets around these two.", "Mayotte is the most prosperous territory in the Mozambique Channel, making it a major destination for immigration.Mayotte's land area is and, with its 320,901 people according to January 2024 official estimates, is very densely populated at 858 inhabitants per km2 (2,228 per sq mi).", "The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on Grande-Terre.", "The Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring island of Petite-Terre.", "The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island.Mayotte is one of the overseas departments of France as well as one of the 18 regions of France, with the same status as the departments of Metropolitan France.", "It is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, part of the eurozone.French is the official language and is spoken as a second language by an increasing part of the population, with 63% of the population 14 years and older reporting in the 2007 census that they could speak it.", "The native languages of Mayotte are Shimaore, which is the most spoken, and the lesser spoken Kibushi, a Malagasy language, of which there are two varieties, Kibushi sakalava, most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy, and Kibushi antalaotsi, most closely related to the dialect spoken by the Antalaotra of Madagascar.", "Both have been influenced by Shimaore.The island was populated from neighbouring East Africa with later arrival of Arabs, who brought Islam.", "A sultanate was established in 1500.The vast majority of the population today is Muslim.", "In the 19th century, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar.Mayotte chose to remain with France after the Comoros declared its independence following the 1974 referendum.", "Mayotte became an overseas department on 31 March 2011 and became an outermost region of the European Union on 1 January 2014, following a March 2009 referendum with an overwhelming result in favour of the department status.The department faces enormous challenges.", "According to an INSEE report published in 2018, 84% of the population live under the poverty line (established at €959 per month and per household), compared to 16% in metropolitan France, 40% of dwellings are corrugated sheet metal shacks, 29% of households have no running water, and 34% of the inhabitants between the age of 15 and 64 do not have a job.", "In 2019, with an annual population growth of 3.8%, half the population was less than 17 years old.", "In addition, as a result of immigration from neighboring islands, 48% of the population were foreign nationals." ], [ "Geography", "Topographic map of Mayotte, the \"seahorse island\"The term Mayotte (or Maore) may refer to all of the department's islands, of which the largest is known as Maore () and includes Maore's surrounding islands, most notably Pamanzi (), or only to the largest island.", "The name is believed to come from ''Mawuti'', contraction of the Arabic ''Jazīrat al-Mawt'' – meaning \"island of death\" (maybe due to the dangerous reefs circling the island) and corrupted to ''Mayotta'' in Portuguese, later turned into French.", "However, the local name is ''Mahore'', and the Arabic etymology is doubtful.The main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands, is long and wide, and its highest point is Mount Benara, at above sea level.", "Because of the volcanic rock, the soil is relatively rich in some areas.", "A coral reef encircling much of the island ensures protection for ships and a habitat for fish.", "Dzaoudzi was the capital of Mayotte (and earlier the capital of all the colonial Comoros) until 1977, when the capital was relocated to Mamoudzou on the main island of Grande-Terre.", "It is situated on Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), which at is the largest of several islets adjacent to Maore.", "The area of the lagoon behind the reef is approximately , reaching a maximum depth of about 80m.", "It is described as \"the largest barrier-reef-lagoon complex within the southwestern Indian Ocean\".=== Topography ===Mayotte is the oldest of the four large islands of the Comoros archipelago, a chain of land emerging from a crescent-shaped submarine relief at the entrance to the Mozambique Channel.", "Located 295 km west of Madagascar and 67 km southeast of Anjouan, sometimes visible at sunset in the shade, it is composed of several islands and islets covered with lush vegetation.", "The two largest islands are Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre, backed by a coral reef.This 160 km long coral reef surrounds a 1,100 km2 lagoon, one of the largest and deepest in the world.", "Part of the barrier reef features a double barrier that is rare on the planet.", "It protects almost all of Mayotte from ocean currents and waves, except for a dozen passes, including one in the east called the \"S-pass\".", "The lagoon, which averages 5 to 10 km wide, is up to 100 meters deep.It is dotted with about a hundred coral islets, such as Mtsamboro.", "This reef serves as a refuge for boats and oceanic fauna.", "The volcanic activity that created the islands makes the soil particularly fertile.The total area of Mayotte is about 374 km2, which makes it by far the smallest French overseas department (after Martinique, which is three times larger at 1,128 km2).", "However, this area is difficult to assess accurately, given the number of small uninhabited islets, some of which are completely underwater at high tide, but may reveal significant areas at low tide.", "The main islands are* Grande-Terre, 363 km2, is 39 km long and 22 km wide.", "Its highest points are: Mount Bénara or Mavingoni (660 m), Mount Choungui (594 m), Mount Mtsapéré (572 m), and Mount Combani (477 m).", "It is home to Mamoudzou, which is the economic capital of Mayotte and houses the departmental council and the prefecture;* Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi Island), with Dzaoudzi (official capital of Mayotte) and Pamandzi (where the airport is located).", "It is 11 km2;* Mtsamboro is the third largest island (2 km2).", "It is permanently inhabited, mainly by fishermen;* Mbouzi islet (84 hectares or 0.84 km2) is classified as a nature reserve;* Bandrélé islet is the fifth largest island;* Sable Blanc islet is located near the Saziley Marine Park (marine protected area)." ], [ "Environment", "=== Geology ===Topography of MayotteDziani lake is the result of an ancient volcano that went extinct approximately 500,000 years ago.Mayotte is a primarily volcanic island rising steeply from the bed of the ocean to a height of on Mont Bénara (OpenStreetMap gives this as ).Two volcanic centres are reported, a southern one (Pic Chongui, ) with a breached crater to the NW, and a northern centre (Mont M'Tsapéré, ) with a breached crater to the south-east.", "Mont Bénara is on the curving ridge between these two peaks, approximately at the contact point of the two structures.", "Volcanic activity started about 7.7 million years ago in the south, ceasing about 2.7 million years ago.", "In the north, activity started about 4.7 million years ago and lasted until about 1.4 million years ago.", "Both centres had several phases of activity.", "The most recent age reported for an ash band is 7000 year BP.==== Earthquake swarm ====The November 11, 2018, seismic event occurred about off the coast of Mayotte.", "It was recorded by seismograms in many places, including Kenya, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, and Hawaii located almost away.", "The seismic waves lasted for more than 20 minutes, but despite this, no one felt it.Subsequently, the earthquake swarm has been linked to a newly discovered undersea volcano located away from Mayotte at a depth of .=== Marine environment ===Coral reef at low tide at M'Bouzi islandMayotte is surrounded by a typical tropical coral reef.", "It consists in a large outer barrier reef, enclosing one of the world's largest and deepest lagoons, followed by a fringing reef, interrupted by many mangroves.", "All Mayotte waters are ruled by a National Marine Park, and many places are natural reserves.The outer coral reef is long, housing of lagoon, including of mangrove.", "There are at least 250 different species of coral, 760 tropical fish species, and the National Natural Heritage Inventory (INPN) has no fewer than 3,616 marine species, but this is probably a far cry from the actual count.", "As this region of the world is still poorly inventoried by scientists, the waters of Mayotte continue to harbour many species unknown to science, and allow important scientific discoveries each year.=== Terrestrial environment ===Riparian forest with great mango treesMayotte has a great diversity in its plant life: more than 1,300 species are recorded, half of them being endemic, making this island one of the richest in plant diversity in the world compared to its size.", "15% of the island is classified as natural reserve; however, the primal forest now covers barely 5% of the island due to illegal deforestation.Just like many volcanic islands, Mayotte shelters quite a limited mammal biodiversity, the only native species being flying foxes (''Pteropus seychellensis comorensis'').", "However, there are 18 species of reptiles, 23 of terrestrial molluscs, 116 butterflies, 38 dragonflies, 50 grasshoppers, and 150 beetles.===Protected areas===By 2021 there were 30 protected areas on Mayotte, totaling or 13.94% of Mayotte's land area, and 100% of Mayotte's marine area.", "Protected areas on Mayotte include Mayotte Marine Natural Park, Pointes et plages de Saziley et Charifou, and Ilôt Mbouzi National Nature Reserve.On 3 May 2021 the French government created the Forests of Mayotte National Nature Reserve ().", "The reserve consists of 2,801 hectares in six mountain forests, covering 51% of Mayotte's reserve forests and 7.5% of Mayotte's total land area.", "Areas protected by the reserve include Mount Mtsapéré, Mount Combani, Mount Benara, and Mount Choungui.", "The purpose of the reserve is to protect the relict primary forests of the island, restore the island's secondary forests, and protect the island's native flora and fauna." ], [ "History", "In 1500, the Maore sultanate was established on the island.", "In 1503, Mayotte was observed and named (firstly ''Espirito Santo'') by Portuguese explorers, but not colonized.", "The island has known several eras of wealth (especially during the 11th century at Acoua or between 9th and 12th centuries at Dembéni), being an important part of the Swahili coast culture.", "However, its sister island Anjouan was preferred by international traders due to its better suitability to large boats, and, for a long time, Mayotte remained poorly developed compared to the three other Comoros islands, often being targeted by pirates and Malagasy or Comorian raids.In the early 19th century, Mayotte was controlled by a mercantile family that claimed Omani origins.", "The Sultans of Mayotte had political ties with the Anjouan Sultanate during this period.", "Mayotte was sparsely populated and mainly consisted of Comorian speakers that were politically aligned with the local sultan and the Malagasy who were autonomous.Andriantsoly, the last sultan of Mayotte, from 1832 to 1843In 1832, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar; in 1833, it was conquered by the neighbouring sultanate of Mwali (''Mohéli'' in French).", "On 19 November 1835, Mayotte was again conquered by the Ndzuwani Sultanate (Anjouan sultanate in French); a governor was installed with the unusual Islamic style of Qadi (from the Arabic , meaning \"judge\").", "However, in 1836 it regained its independence under a last local Sultan.", "Andriantsoly won again the island in 1836, but his depopulated and unfortified island was in a weak position towards the sultans of Comoros, Malagasy kings and pirates.", "Looking for the help of a powerful ally, he began to negotiate with the French, installed in the nearby Malagasy island of Nosy Bé in 1840.Mayotte was purchased by France in 1841, and integrated to the Crown.", "In the immediate aftermath, slavery was abolished and laborers were imported to the area to work in fields and plantations.", "The abolition of slavery led to several slave-owning elites to leave Mayotte as their authority was undermined.", "However, the freed slaves were often subsequently forced to work under harsher conditions for the French government or colonists in their plantations.", "Additionally, many of the imported laborers were victims of the slave trade.Mayotte therefore became a French island, but it remained an island with a sparse population due to decades of wars, as well as by the exodus of former elites and some of their slaves: most of the cities were abandoned, and nature regained its rights over the old plantations.", "The French administration therefore tried to repopulate the island, recalling first of all the Mayotte exiles or refugees in the region (Comoros, Madagascar), proposing the former exiled masters return in exchange for compensation, then by inviting wealthy Anjouan families to come and set up trade.", "France launched some first major works, such as the realization in 1848 of the Boulevard des Crabes connecting the rock of Dzaoudzi to Pamandzi and the rest of Petite-Terre.As it had done in the West Indies and Réunion, the French government planned to make Mayotte a sugar island: despite the steep slopes, large plantations were developed, 17 sugar factories were built and hundreds of foreign workers (mainly African, in particular Mozambic Makwas) hired from 1851 onwards.", "However, production remained mediocre, and the sugar crisis of 1883–1885 quickly led to the end of this crop in Mayotte (which had just reached its peak of production), leaving only a few factory ruins, some of which are still visible now.", "The last sugar plant to be closed was Dzoumogné in 1955: the best preserved, and now heritage, is Soulou, in the west of the island.At the Berlin conference in 1885, France took control over the whole Comoros archipelago, which was actually already ruled by French traders; the colony took the name of \"Mayotte and Dependencies\".In 1898, two cyclones razed the island to the ground, and a smallpox epidemic decimated the survivors.", "Mayotte had to start from the beginning once again, and the French government had to repopulate the island with workers from Mozambique, Comoros and Madagascar.", "The sugar industry was abandoned, replaced by vanilla, coffee, copra, sisal, then fragrant plants such as vetiver, citronella, sandalwood, and especially ylang-ylang, which later became one of the symbols of the island.Map of the Comoros Union (three island on the left) and the Mayotte French department (right)Mayotte was the only island in the archipelago that voted in referendums in 1974 and 1976 to retain its link with France and forgo independence (with 63.8% and 99.4% of votes respectively).", "UN General Assembly resolutions, which are legally non-binding, have voted not to recognise France's continued rule of Mayotte and the independent Comoros have never ceased to claim the island.", "A draft 1976 United Nations Security Council resolution recognising Comorian sovereignty over Mayotte, supported by 11 of the 15 members of the council, was vetoed by France.", "It was the only time, , that France cast a lone veto in the council.", "As mentioned, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a series of legally non-binding resolutions on Mayotte, under the pro-Comoros title \"Question of the Comorian Island of Mayotte\" up until 1995.In the decades since 1995, the subject of Mayotte has not been discussed by the General Assembly, and all the following referendums over Mayotte independence have shown a strong will of Mayotte people to remain French.Mayotte became an overseas department of France in March 2011 in consequence of a 29 March 2009 referendum.", "The outcome was a 95.5 percent vote in favour of changing the island's status from a French \"overseas community\" to become France's 101st département.", "Its non-official traditional Islamic law, applied in some aspects of the day-to-day life, will be gradually abolished and replaced by the uniform French civil code.", "Additionally, French social welfare and taxes apply in Mayotte, though some of each will be brought in gradually.", "Comoros continues to claim the island, while criticising the French military base there.In 2018, the department experienced civil unrest over migration from the Comoros." ], [ "Politics", "The departmental council in MamoudzouMap of the European Union in the world with overseas countries and territories and outermost regions (prior to Brexit)House at Kawéni, dubbed the biggest shantytown of FranceThe politics of Mayotte takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic government and of a multi-party system, whereby the President of the Departmental Council is the head of the local assembly.", "Executive power is exercised by the French government.Mayotte also sends two deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate.", "The deputies represent Mayotte's 1st constituency and Mayotte's 2nd constituency.The situation of Mayotte proved to be awkward for France: while a significant majority of the local population did not want to join the Comoros in becoming independent of France, some post-colonial leftist or Marxist-Leninist governments voiced criticism of Mayotte's ongoing ties to France.", "Furthermore, the peculiar local administration of Mayotte, largely ruled by customary Muslim law, would be difficult to integrate into the legal structures of France, not to mention the costs of bringing the standards of living to levels close to those of Metropolitan France.", "For these reasons, the laws passed by the national parliament had to state specifically that they applied to Mayotte for them to be applicable on Mayotte.The status of Mayotte was changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the departments of France, with the particular designation of departmental collectivity.", "This change was approved by 73% of voters in a referendum.", "After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became an overseas collectivity while retaining the title \"departmental collectivity\" of Mayotte.Mayotte became an overseas department of France (''département d'outre-mer'', DOM) on 31 March 2011 following the result of the March 2009 Mahoran status referendum, which was overwhelmingly approved by around 95% of voters.", "Becoming an overseas department will mean it will adopt the same legal and social system as used in the rest of France.", "This will require abandoning some customary laws, adopting the standard French civil code, and reforming the judiciary, educational, social and fiscal systems, and will take place over a period of about 20 years.Since it became an overseas department in 2011, Mayotte possesses a single local assembly, officially called the \"Departmental Council\" (''conseil départemental''), which acts both as a regional and departmental council, or a single territorial collectivity.", "This was a unique arrangement at the time, but French Guiana and Martinique adopted this arrangement in 2015.Despite its domestic constitutional evolution from the status of an overseas collectivity to that of an overseas department, effectively becoming a full constituent territory within the French Republic, with regards to the European Union, Mayotte remained an 'overseas country and territory' (OCT) in ''association'' with the Union (as per Article 355(2) TFEU) and not a constituent territory of the European Union in the same way as the other four overseas departments.", "However following a directive of the European Council in December 2013, Mayotte became an outermost region of the European Union on 1 January 2014.This successful agreement between the 27 member states follows a petition made by the French government for Mayotte to become an integral territory of the European Union nonetheless benefiting from the derogation clause applicable in existing outermost regions, namely Article 349 TFEU, as favoured in a June 2012 European Commission opinion on Mayotte's European constitutional status." ], [ "Defence", "Defence of the territory is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces, principally carried out by a Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte.", "One ''Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards'' (EDA-S) landing craft is to be delivered to naval forces based in Mayotte by 2025.The landing craft will replace a CTM landing craft currently deployed in the territory, to better support coastal operations.About 170 personnel of the National Gendarmerie are stationed in Mayotte while, as of late 2022, the Maritime Gendarmerie operates the patrol boats ''Odet'' and ''Verdon'' in the territory." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Mayotte is divided into 17 communes.", "There are also 13 cantons (not shown here).", "It is the only department and region of France without an arrondissement.Number on MapNameArea (km2)PopulationIndividual mapLabelled map1Dzaoudzi6.6617,83162x62px350x350px2Pamandzi4.2911,44262x62px3Mamoudzou41.9471,43762x62px4Dembeni38.815,84862x62px5Bandrélé36.4610,28262x62px6Kani-Kéli20.515,50762x62px7Bouéni14.066,18962x62px8Chirongui28.318,92062x62px9Sada11.1611,15662x62px10Ouangani19.0510,20362x62px11Chiconi8.298,29562x62px12Tsingoni34.7613,93462x62px13M'Tsangamouji21.846,43262x62px14Acoua12.625,19262x62px15Mtsamboro13.717,70562x62px16Bandraboua32.3713,98962x62px17Koungou28.4132,15662x62px" ], [ "Transport", "* Waterways** Ferry between Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou.", "* Highways: Total: * ''Paved'': *** ''Unpaved'': * Ports and harbours: Dzaoudzi \"Longoni\" (Koungou)* Airport: Dzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport** With paved runways: 1 (2002)" ], [ "Economy", "Agricultural landscape of Mayotte, containing most of the typical crops: coconut trees, bananas, breadfruit, papaya tree, mango trees, and manioc The official currency in Mayotte is the euro.", "In 2019, the GDP of Mayotte at market exchange rates was €2.66 billion (US$2.98 bn).", "In that same year the GDP per capita of Mayotte at market exchange rates, not at PPP, was €9,692 (US$10,850), which was eight times larger than the GDP per capita of the Comoros that year, but only 42.8% of the GDP per capita of Réunion and 26.4% of the GDP per capita of Metropolitan France.", "Living standards are therefore lower than in metropolitan France.", "At the 2017 census, 10% of dwellings in Mayotte had no electricity, 29% of dwellings had no running water inside the dwelling, and 54% of dwellings had no toilets inside the dwelling.+GDP (nominal) per capita in 2019 (US$) $500–1,000 $1,000–2,000 $2,000–5,000 $5,000–10,000 $10,000–20,000 The economy of Mayotte has grown significantly since the end of the 20th century due to financial transfers from the French central state and the gradual transformation of the territory into a full-fledged French department after a 2009 referendum, with considerable upgrading of public services and infrastructure.The economy of Mayotte grew by an average of +9.3% per year in real terms from 2001 to 2008, before being affected by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and experiencing as a result a recession of −0.4% in 2009.The economy rebounded as early as 2010, driven by the transformation of the territory into an overseas department, decided in a referendum in 2009 and taking effect in 2011.From 2010 to 2017, the economy of Mayotte grew on average by +6.9% per year in real terms, but economic growth slowed to +2.1% in 2018 due to the massive civil unrest experienced by the territory that year, with weeks of demonstrations, roadblocks, and work stoppages paralyzing Mayotte's economy between January and April 2018.Economic growth rebounded to +5.2% in 2019, but Mayotte was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with growth estimated at only +1.1% in 2020.Thanks to rapid economic growth, Mayotte has begun to catch up with the rest of France in terms of standards of living.", "Despite high population growth, Mayotte's GDP per capita managed to rise from 15.4% of Metropolitan France's level in 2000 to 27.3% of Metropolitan France in 2017, but this catching-up process has stalled since 2018 due to the civil unrest that took place in Mayotte that year and its economic consequences.", "Compared to Réunion, Mayotte's GDP per capita rose from 28.7% of Réunion's level in 2000 to 43.7% in 2017, before falling back slightly.", "'''Regional GDP of Mayotte'''(in euros, current prices) 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 '''Nominal GDP''' '''(€ bn)''' 0.56 0.92 1.43 2.08 2.21 2.42 2.50 2.66 '''GDP per capita''' '''(euros)''' 3,800 5,300 7,100 8,800 9,000 9,500 9,400 9,700 '''GDP per capita as a %''''''of Metropolitan France's''' 15.4% 18.7% 22.8% 26.2% 26.5% 27.3% 26.4% 26.4% '''GDP per capita as a %''''''of Réunion's''' 28.7% 31.0% 38.1% 42.6% 42.5% 43.7% 42.6% 42.8% Sources: Eurostat; INSEE.The local agriculture is threatened by insecurity, and due to a more expensive workforce cannot compete on the export ground with Madagascar or the Comoros union.", "The major economic potential of the island remains tourism, however hampered by delinquency rates." ], [ "Demographics", "On 1 January 2024, a record 320,901 people were living in Mayotte (official INSEE estimate).", "According to the 2017 census, 58.5% of the people living in Mayotte were born in Mayotte (down from 63.5% at the 2007 census), 5.6% were born in the rest of the French Republic (either metropolitan France or overseas France except Mayotte) (up from 4.8% in 2007), and 35.8% were immigrants born in foreign countries (up from 31.7% at the 2007 census, with the following countries of birth in 2007: 28.3% born in the Union of the Comoros, 2.6% in Madagascar, and the remaining 0.8% in other countries).According to a field study conducted by INSEE in 2015–2016, only 35.6% of the adults (18 y/o and older) living in Mayotte were born in Mayotte of mothers themselves born in Mayotte, whereas 37.4% of the adults were either born in Anjouan (in the Union of the Comoros) or born in Mayotte of mothers born in Anjouan, 13.5% were either born in Grande Comore or Mohéli (in the Union of the Comoros) or born in Mayotte of mothers born in Grande Comore or Mohéli, 7.9% were either born in France (outside of Mayotte) or in Mayotte of mothers born in France (outside of Mayotte), and 5.7% were either born in foreign countries (other than the Comoros) or in Mayotte of mothers born in foreign countries (other than the Comoros).Tsingoni Mosque is the oldest active mosque in France.Most of the inhabitants of the island are culturally Comorians.", "The Comorians are a blend of settlers from many areas: Arabs, mainland Africans and Malagasy.", "Comorian communities can also be found in other parts of the Comoros chain as well as in Madagascar.In 2017, mothers born in foreign countries (predominantly the Union of the Comoros) were responsible for 75.7% of the births that took place in Mayotte although many of these births were to French fathers: 58% of children born in Mayotte in 2017 had at least one French parent.=== Religions ===Passamaïnty mosqueThe largest religion in Mayotte is Islam.", "The French census does not collect religious data, but the CIA World Factbook estimates that the population is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian.The main religious minority, Roman Catholicism, has no proper diocese but is served, together with the Comoros, by a missionary jurisdiction, the Apostolic Vicariate of Comoros Archipelago.=== Languages ===French is the sole official language of Mayotte.", "It is the language used for administration, education, most television, and radio, as well as in commercial announcements and billboards.The native languages of Mayotte are:Shimaore, a dialect of Comorian (a close relative of Swahili)Kibushi, a western dialect of Malagasy (the predominant language of Madagascar) heavily influenced by Shimaore and ArabicKiantalaotsi, another western dialect of the Malagasy language also heavily influenced by Shimaore and ArabicKibushi is spoken in the south and north-west of Mayotte, while Shimaore is spoken elsewhere.Besides French, other non-indigenous languages are also present in Mayotte:Arabic, essentially learned in the Quranic schoolsvarious non-Shimaore dialects of the Comorian language, essentially imported by immigrants who have arrived in Mayotte since 1974: Shindzwani (the dialect of Anjouan, or Nzwani), Shingazidja (the dialect of Grande Comore, or Ngazidja), and Shimwali (the dialect of Mohéli, or Mwali).Shingazidja and Shimwali on the one hand and Shimaore on the other hand are generally not mutually intelligible.", "Shindzwani and Shimaore are perfectly mutually intelligible.==== 2012 and 2017 censuses ====No questions regarding the knowledge and/or use of languages were asked in the 2012 and 2017 censuses, and no question relative to languages will be asked in the future censuses of Mayotte, leaving the now quite outdated census data from 2007 as the last official data on the topic of languages.", "Improvement in schooling has markedly increased French literacy and knowledge since 2007.==== 2007 census ====At the 2007 census, 63.2% of people 14 years and older reported that they could speak French, with large differences with age.", "87.1% of those whose age was 14 to 19 years old reported that they could speak it, whereas only 19.6% of those aged 65 and older reported that they could speak it.", "93.8% of the population whose age was 14 or older reported that they could speak one of the local languages of Mayotte (Shimaore, Kibushi, Kiantalaotsi, or any of the Comorian dialects, which the census included in the 'local languages').", "6.2% of the population aged 14 and older reported that they spoke none of the local languages and could speak only French.==== 2006 survey ====A survey was conducted by the French Ministry of National Education in 2006 among pupils registered in CM2 (equivalent to fifth grade in the US and Year 6 in England and Wales).", "Questions were asked regarding the languages spoken by the pupils as well as the languages spoken by their parents.", "According to the survey, the ranking of mother tongues was the following (ranked by number of first language speakers in the total population; note that percentages add up to more than 100% because some people are natively bilingual):Shimaore: 55.1%Shindzwani: 22.3%Kibushi: 13.6%Shingazidja: 7.9%French: 1.4%Shimwali: 0.8%Arabic: 0.4%Kiantalaotsi: 0.2%Other: 0.4%When also counting second language speakers (e.g., someone whose mother tongue is Shimaore but who also speaks French as a second language) then the ranking became:Shimaore: 88.3%French: 56.9%Shindzwani: 35.2%Kibushi: 28.8%Shingazidja: 13.9%Arabic: 10.8%Shimwali: 2.6%Kiantalaotsi: 0.9%Other: 1.2%With the mandatory schooling of children and the economic development both implemented by the French central state, the French language has progressed significantly on Mayotte in recent years.", "The survey conducted by the Ministry of National Education showed that while first and second language speakers of French represented 56.9% of the population in general, this figure was only 37.7% for the parents of CM2 pupils, but reached 97.0% for the CM2 pupils themselves (whose age is between 10 and 14 in general).Nowadays there are instances of families speaking only French to their children in the hope of helping their social advancement.", "With French schooling and French-language television, many young people turn to French or use many French words when speaking Shimaore and Kibushi, leading some to fear that these native languages of Mayotte could either disappear or become some sort of French-based creole." ], [ "Culture", "Approximately 26% of the adult population, and five times as many women as men, report entering trance states in which they believe they are possessed by certain identifiable spirits (''Djinns'') who maintain stable and coherent identities from one possession to the next." ], [ "Tourism", "The island of Mayotte, which has very varied coastal relief, offers fewer sandy beaches than its neighbors Grande Comore, Mohéli, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar, but has a great diversity of coastlines and sand colors (black, brown, gray, red, beige, white).", "Its lagoon is the largest () and deepest in this part of the world (and one of the largest on the planet), and its double barrier reef is a biological curiosity that has only a dozen occurrences on our planet, hosting a great diversity of animals, including large cetaceans, which is extremely rare.Some tourist activities are structured: Hiking to the extinct volcano Dziani Dzaha of Petite-Terre and its lake Dziani;* Hiking to Mount Combani and Mount Choungui;* Trek to the governor's house;* Observation of the maki lemurs of the M'Bouzy islet;* Diving and snorkelling on the coral reef among tropical fish in the \"Passe en S\", in N'Gouja, Saziley or on the outer barrier;* The lagoon allows the observation of green and hawksbill turtles (which come to lay their eggs on deserted beaches), dolphins (common long-billed, spotted, and tursiops in particular), and whales and their calves (which give birth there);* Nautical activities or relaxation on the many beaches of Mayotte;* Swimming and visits to the isolated beaches of the northern and southern white sand islets;* Bivouacs on the deserted islands;* The Soulou waterfall, on the beach of the same name, is a natural curiosity;* The Badamiers mudflat, in Petite-Terre, is a marsh rich in biodiversity and beautiful landscapes;* The wrecks like that of the sailing schooner ''Dwyn Wen'' in front of the Badamiers (two masts of which are still standing out of the water);* The tour of the island by microlight allows you to observe the reefs from the sky;* The museum of Mayotte, the MuMa at Dzaoudzi, labeled Musée de France.Several associations such as Les Naturalistes de Mayotte offer guided outings (hikes, visits, bivouacs), and several marine operators accompany tourists to discover the lagoon and in particular its marine mammals, not to mention the many scuba diving clubs.The departmental committee of tourism of Mayotte is the official body that administers everything related to tourism for the territory of Mayotte.", "It is in itself the central official authority that oversees the development and enhancement of tourism in Mayotte." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Mayotte* 2008 invasion of Anjouan* Administrative divisions of France* ''Caring for the Lagoon'', a documentary on the preservation of Mayotte's lagoon* List of colonial and departmental heads of Mayotte* Communications in Mayotte* Islam in Mayotte* Islands administered by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans* Music of the Comoro Islands" ], [ "General bibliography", "" ], [ "Citations" ], [ "External links", " * Prefecture website * Departmental Council website * IleMayotte.com, the Mayotte Portal.", "* Mayotte.", ".", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * Comité du tourisme de Mayotte – official tourism website * Mayotte on the Earth Observatory (NASA)." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mayotte" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Mayotte include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.", "Mayotte's population density went from 179 persons per square kilometer in 1985 to 251 per square kilometer in 1991.Its capital, Dzaoudzi had a population of 5,865 according to the 1985 census; the island's largest town, Mamoudzou, had 12,026 people." ], [ "Births and deaths", "Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimatesYearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR 2007 186,452 7,658 587 7,071 41.1 3.1 38.0 2014 223,713 7,306 590 6,716 32.1 2.6 29.5 4.12 2015 232,189 8,997 636 8,361 38.0 2.7 35.3 4.87 2016 240,987\t 9,496 705 8,791 38.7 2.9 35.8 4.95 2017 250,143 9,762 735 9,027 38.3 2.9 35.4 4.92 2018 259,621 9,590 758 8,832 36.2 2.9 33.3 4.66 2019 269,579 9,768 777 8,991 35.6 2.8 33.8 4.58 2020 279,319 9,184 967 8,217 32.3 3.4 28.9 4.17 2021 288,348 10,613 1,144 9,469 36.1 3.9 32.2 4.66 2022 299,348 10,773 36.1 3.3 32.8 4.66 2023 10,251 Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 05.IX.2017) (Data from the main operation.", "): Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 122 261 134 257 256 518 100 0–4 20 359 19 946 40 305 15.71 5–9 18 523 19 126 37 649 14.68 10–14 16 910 17 392 34 302 13.37 15–19 12 391 13 234 25 625 9.99 20–24 6 959 9 583 16 542 6.45 25–29 6 882 10 211 17 093 6.66 30–34 7 252 10 307 17 559 6.85 35–39 7 561 9 469 17 030 6.64 40–44 6 723 7 574 14 297 5.57 45–49 6 064 5 443 11 507 4.49 50–54 3 823 3 653 7 476 2.91 55–59 3 142 2 921 6 063 2.36 60–64 2 231 1 981 4 212 1.64 65-69 1 540 1 344 2 884 1.12 70-74 788 842 1 630 0.64 75-79 546 600 1 146 0.45 80-84 315 318 633 0.25 85-89 143 179 322 0.13 90-94 58 63 121 0.05 95-99 30 37 67 0.03 100+ 21 32 53 0.02Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 55 792 56 464 112 256 43.76 15–64 63 028 74 378 137 406 53.57 65+ 3 441 3 415 6 856 2.67" ], [ "CIA World Factbook demographic statistics", "The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.", "'''Population:'''178,437 (July 2003 est.", ")'''Age structure:'''''0-14 years:''46.5% (male 41,632; female 41,301)''15-64 years:''51.8% (male 50,373; female 42,118)''65 years and over:''1.7% (male 1,502; female 1,511) (2003 est.", ")'''Median age:'''''total:''16.9 years''male:''18.1 years''female:''15.7 years (2002)'''Population growth rate:'''3.47% (2008 est.", ")'''Birth rate:'''42.86 births/1,000 population (2003 est.", ")'''Death rate:'''8.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.", ")'''Net migration rate:'''7.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.", ")'''Sex ratio:'''''at birth:''1.03 male(s)/female''under 15 years:''1.01 male(s)/female''15-64 years:''1.2 male(s)/female''65 years and over:''0.99 male(s)/female''total population:''1.1 male(s)/female (2003 est.", ")'''Infant mortality rate:'''''total:''65.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.", ")''female:''59.44 deaths/1,000 live births''male:''72.32 deaths/1,000 live births'''Life expectancy at birth:'''''total population:''60.6 years''male:''58.49 years''female:''62.78 years (2003 est.", ")'''HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:'''NA%'''HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:'''NA'''HIV/AIDS - deaths:'''NA'''Total fertility rate:'''4.5 children born/woman (2008 est.", ")'''Nationality:'''''noun:''Mahorais (singular and plural)''adjective:''Mahoran'''Ethnic groups:'''NA'''Religions:'''Muslim 97%, Christian (mostly Roman Catholic)'''Languages:''' Mahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language) spoken by 35% of the population'''Literacy:'''''definition:''NA''total population:'' 86%(Encyclopædia Britannica)''male:''NA%''female:''NA%" ], [ "Hospital", "The '''centre hospitalier de Mayotte''' is a French hospital located in ''Mamoudzou'', on the ground of ''Grande-Terre'' island in ''Mayotte'', in south west of ''océan Indien''.", "Its technical plate has seen in year 2008, out of born people seen within the ''collectivité territoriale''.", "This give it the little nickname of « ''first maternité of France'' ».", "During the year 2007, 62% of women who came there to have a baby were not affiliated to the ''Sécurité sociale'' : among them, there are many Anjouan women and other Malgaches women enter illicitly in the French territory." ], [ "See also", "* Santé à Mayotte* Demographics of France" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mayotte" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Mayotte''' takes place in a framework of a French overseas region and department, until 2011 an overseas collectivity.", "Local politics takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic setting whereby the President of the General Council is the head of government, of a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "The status of Mayotte changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the ''départements'' of mainland France, with the particular designation of ''collectivité départementale'', although the island is still claimed by the Comoros.", "This change was approved by 73% in a referendum on Mayotte.", "After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became a ''collectivité d'outre-mer'' while keeping the title ''collectivité départementale de Mayotte''.", "Mayotte became an overseas department of France (''département d'outre-mer'', DOM) on 31 March 2011 following the result of the March 2009 Mahoran status referendum, which was overwhelmingly approved by around 95% of voters." ], [ "Executive branch", "The head of state is the President of France as represented by prefect Thierry Suquet.", "The head of government is President of the General Council Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The General Council (Conseil Général) has 19 members, elected for a three-year term in single seat constituencies.The island is represented by one deputy in the National Assembly of France." ], [ "Political parties and elections" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Mayotte" ], [ "Introduction", "There are '''telecommunications in Mayotte'''.Vivendi Universal had small telecommunication networks in Mayotte in 2013." ], [ "Telephones", "The number of telephones was 400 in 1981 and 450 by 1989.The number of telephone main lines in use was 9,314 in 1997 and 10,000 in 2001 and 2002.The number of mobile cellular phones was 21,700 in 2002 and 48,100 in 2004.In 2001, the telephone system was small, and it was administered by French Department of Posts and Telecommunications.", "The international telephone system included microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communications to Comoros and other international connections.", "The international country code is 269." ], [ "Radio", "In 1998, there was one AM radio station.The number of FM radio stations was four in 1998 and five in 2001." ], [ "Television", "Television broadcasting began in 1986 with RFO Mayotte (as it was then known).", "There were three television broadcast stations in 1997 and 2001.There were 3,500 televisions in 1994." ], [ "Internet", "The country code for the top-level domain is .yt.There was one internet host in 2006." ], [ "References", "\"Le gâteau se mange à plusieurs\" in \"Télécommunications\".", "Mayotte en 2005.p 31.See also \"Télécommunications\" at p 3.Google\"Broadcasting and Communications\" in \"Mayotte\".", "The Europa World Year Book 2003.p 1704.", "* \"Télécommunication: Ça rame sur la ligne pour les clients SFR\".", "JDM.", "18 January 2024.", "* \"SMS illimités vers les DOM chez Free, y compris Mayotte\".", "Silicon.", "* \"530 millions de SMS à Mayotte en 2014\".", "Linfo.", "7 June 2015.", "Lilian Cornu.", "\"Outremer Telecom ne retardera pas l’arrivée du haut débit à Mayotte\".", "Zinfos974.14 March 2011.", "Chamsudine Ali.", "\"La 4G est arrivée à Mayotte\".", "Mayotte 1, Franceinfo.", "30 November 2016.Srikapardhi.", "\"Orange Mayotte to Upgrade 4G Network in Few More Regions\".", "TelecomTalk.", "8 September 2023.", " \"Orange renomme son réseau en « Marahaba Guy » à Mayotte\".", "Alloforfait.", "26 May 2023.", "Yohann Deleu.", "\"L’usage de l’Internet mobile double chaque année à Mayotte\".", "JDM.", "4 March 2022.", "Anne Perso.", "\"Lenteur du débit internet: problèmes de saturation du réseau, selon Orange\".", "JDM.", "24 October 2023.", "* \"Mayotte découvre l'internet haut-débit\".", "Le Parisien.", "12 April 2012.", "Emmanuel Tusevo-Diasamvu.", "\"Mayotte: Arrivée de l'Internet haut débit\".", "Podcast Journal.", "18 April 2012.", " \"Le câble LION2 d’Orange apporte le haut débit à Mayotte\".", "Silicon.", "* \"Le haut débit arrive à Mayotte grâce au câble LION2\".", "Clubic." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "Program of centennial festivities of Mexican independence in September 1910, asserting the historical continuity of Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez \"Law\", and Porfirio Díaz, \"Peace\", from 1810 to 1910.The written '''history of Mexico''' spans more than three millennia.", "First populated more than 13,000 years ago, central and southern Mexico (termed Mesoamerica) saw the rise and fall of complex indigenous civilizations.", "Mexico would later develop into a unique multicultural society.", "Mesoamerican civilizations developed glyphic writing systems, recording the political history of conquests and rulers.", "Mesoamerican history prior to European arrival is called the prehispanic era or the pre-Columbian era.", "Following Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, political turmoil wracked the nation.", "France, with the help of Mexican conservatives, seized control in the 1860s during the Second Mexican Empire but was later defeated.", "Quiet prosperous growth was characteristic in the late 19th century but the Mexican Revolution in 1910 brought a bitter civil war.", "With calm restored in the 1920s, economic growth was steady while population growth was rapid." ], [ "Pre-Columbian civilizations", "The Castillo, Chichen Itza, Mexico, ca.", "800–900 CEPanel 3 from Cancuen, Guatemala, representing king T'ah 'ak' Cha'anLarge and complex civilizations developed in the center and southern regions of Mexico (with the southern region extending into what is now Central America) in what has come to be known as Mesoamerica.", "The civilizations that rose and declined over millennia were characterized by:# significant urban settlements;# monumental architecture such as temples, palaces, and other monumental architecture, such as the ball court;# the division of society into religious and political elites (such as warriors and merchants) and commoners who pursued subsistence agriculture;# transfer of tribute and rending of labor from commoners to elites;# reliance on agriculture often supplemented by hunting and fishing and the complete absence of a pastoral (herding) economy, since there were no domesticated herd animals prior to the arrival of the Europeans;# trade networks and markets.The history of Mexico before the Spanish conquest is known through the work of archaeologists, epigraphers, and ethnohistorians, who analyze Mesoamerican indigenous manuscripts, particularly Aztec codices, Mayan codices, and Mixtec codices.", "Accounts written by Spaniards at the time of the conquest (the ''conquistadores'') and by Indigenous chroniclers of the postconquest period constitute the principal source of information regarding Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest.", "Few pictorial manuscripts (or codices) of the Maya, Mixtec, and Mexica cultures of the Post-Classic period survive, but progress has been made particularly in the area of Maya archaeology and epigraphy.===Beginnings===Variegated maize earsThe presence of people in Mesoamerica was once thought to date back 40,000 years, an estimate based on what were believed to be ancient footprints discovered in the Valley of Mexico.", "After further investigation using radiocarbon dating, it appears this date may not be accurate.", "It is currently unclear whether 23,000-year-old campfire remains found in the Valley of Mexico are the earliest human remains uncovered so far in Mexico.The first people to settle in Mexico encountered a climate far milder than the current one.", "In particular, the Valley of Mexico contained several large paleo-lakes (known collectively as Lake Texcoco) surrounded by dense forest.", "Deer were found in this area, but most fauna were small land animals and fish and other lacustrine animals were found in the lake region.", "Such conditions encouraged the initial pursuit of a hunter-gatherer existence.", "Indigenous peoples in western Mexico began to selectively breed maize (''Zea mays'') plants between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago.", "The diet of ancient central and southern Mexico was varied, including domesticated corn (or maize), squashes, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cassavas, pineapples, chocolate, and tobacco.", "The Three Sisters (corn, squash, and beans) constituted the principal diet.Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc, Maya, lintel 24 of temple 23, Yaxchilan, Mexico, ca.", "725 ce.Mesoamericans had belief systems where every element of the cosmos and everything that forms part of nature represented a manifestation of the supernatural.", "The spiritual pantheon was vast and extremely complex.", "They frequently took on different characteristics and even names in different areas, but in effect, they transcended cultures and time.", "Great masks with gaping jaws and monstrous features in stone or stucco were often located at the entrance to temples, symbolizing a cavern or cave on the flanks of the mountains that allowed access to the depths of Mother Earth and the shadowy roads that lead to the underworld.", "Cults connected with the jaguar and jade especially permeated religion throughout Mesoamerica.", "Jade, with its translucent green color was revered along with water as a symbol of life and fertility.", "The jaguar, agile, powerful, and fast, was especially connected with warriors and as spirit guides of shamans.", "Despite differences of chronology or geography, the crucial aspects of this religious pantheon were shared amongst the people of ancient Mesoamerica.", "Thus, this quality of acceptance of new gods to the collection of existing gods may have been one of the shaping characteristics for success during the Christianization of Mesoamerica.", "New gods did not at once replace the old; they initially joined the ever-growing family of deities or were merged with existing ones that seemed to share similar characteristics or responsibilities.Mesoamerica is the only place in the Americas where Indigenous writing systems were invented and used before European colonization.", "While the types of writing systems in Mesoamerica range from minimalist \"picture-writing\" to complex logophonetic systems capable of recording speech and literature, they all share some core features that make them visually and functionally distinct from other writing systems of the world.", "Although many indigenous manuscripts have been lost or destroyed, texts are known Aztec codices, Mayan codices, and Mixtec codices still survive and are of intense interest to scholars." ], [ "Major civilizations", "Olmec colossalDuring the pre-Columbian period, many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige.", "Ancient Mexico can be said to have produced five major civilizations: the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec.", "Unlike other indigenous Mexican societies, these civilizations (with the exception of the politically fragmented Maya) extended their political and cultural reach across Mexico and beyond.They consolidated power and exercised influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and religion.", "Over a span of 3,000 years, other regional powers made economic and political alliances with them; many made war on them.", "But almost all found themselves within their spheres of influence.===Olmecs (1500–400 BCE)===The Olmec first appeared along the Atlantic coast (in what is now the state of Tabasco) in the period 1500–900 BCE.", "The Olmecs were the first Mesoamerican culture to produce an identifiable artistic and cultural style, and may also have been the society that invented writing in Mesoamerica.", "By the Middle Preclassic Period (900–300 BCE), Olmec artistic styles had been adopted as far away as the Valley of Mexico and Costa Rica.===Maya===Chacmool, Maya, from the Platform of the Eagles, Chichen Itza, Mexico, ca.", "800–90 CEMaya cultural characteristics, such as the rise of the ''ahau'', or king, can be traced from 300 BCE onward.", "During the centuries preceding the classical period, Maya kingdoms sprang up in an area stretching from the Pacific coasts of southern Mexico and Guatemala to the northern Yucatán Peninsula.", "The egalitarian Maya society of pre-royal centuries gradually gave way to a society controlled by a wealthy elite that began building large ceremonial temples and complexes.", "The earliest known long-count date, 199 AD, heralds the classic period, during which the Maya kingdoms supported a population numbering in the millions.", "Tikal, the largest of the kingdoms, alone had 500,000 inhabitants, though the average population of a kingdom was much smaller—somewhere under 50,000 people.===Teotihuacan===Goddess, mural painting from the Tetitla apartment complex at Teotihuacan, Mexico, 650–750 CETeotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas.", "Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals.", "Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.Teotihuacan view of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun, from the Pyramid of the MoonThe city is thought to have been established around 100 BCE and continued to be built until about 250 CE.", "The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE.", "At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas.", "At this time it may have had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period.", "Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.", "Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented.", "The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate.", "Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi or Totonac ethnic groups.", "Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multiethnic state.===Toltec===Colossal atlantids, pyramid B, Toltec, Tula, Mexico, ca.", "900–1180 ADThe Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca 800–1000 AD).", "The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tollan (Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization; indeed, in the Nahuatl language the word \"Toltec\" came to take on the meaning \"artisan\".The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec empire giving lists of rulers and their exploits.", "Among modern scholars it is a matter of debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events.", "Other controversy relating to the Toltecs include how best to understand reasons behind the perceived similarities in architecture and iconography between the archaeological site of Tula and the Maya site of Chichén Itzá – no consensus has emerged yet about the degree or direction of influence between the two sites.===Aztec Empire (1325–1521 AD)===Toltec carving representing the Aztec Eagle, found in Veracruz, 10th–13th century.", "Metropolitan Museum of Art.The Nahua peoples began to enter central Mexico in the 6th century AD.", "By the 12th century, they had established their center at Azcapotzalco, the city of the Tepanecs.The Mexica people arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1248 AD.", "They had migrated from the deserts north of the Rio Grande over a period traditionally said to have been 100 years.", "They may have thought of themselves as the heirs to the prestigious civilizations that had preceded them.", "What the Aztec initially lacked in political power, they made up for with ambition and military skill.", "In 1325, they established the biggest city in the world at that time, Tenochtitlan.Aztec religion was based on the belief in the continual need for regular offering of human blood to keep their deities beneficent; to meet this need, the Aztec sacrificed thousands of people.", "This belief is thought to have been common throughout the Nahuatl people.", "To acquire captives in times of peace, the Aztec resorted to a form of ritual warfare called flower war.", "The Tlaxcalteca, among other Nahuatl nations, were forced into such wars.In 1428, the Aztec led a war against their rulers from the city of Azcapotzalco, which had subjugated most of the Valley of Mexico's peoples.", "The revolt was successful, and the Aztecs became the rulers of central Mexico as the leaders of the Triple Alliance.", "The alliance was composed of the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan.At their peak, 350,000 Aztec presided over a wealthy tribute-empire comprising 10 million people, almost half of Mexico's estimated population of 24 million.", "Their empire stretched from ocean to ocean, and extended into Central America.", "The westward expansion of the empire was halted by a devastating military defeat at the hands of the Purepecha (who possessed weapons made of copper).", "The empire relied upon a system of taxation (of goods and services), which were collected through an elaborate bureaucracy of tax collectors, courts, civil servants, and local officials who were installed as loyalists to the Triple Alliance.By 1519, the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, the site of modern-day Mexico City, was one of the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population between 200,000 and 300,000." ], [ "Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire", "Battle of Centla, first time a horse was used in battle in a war in the Americas.", "Mural in the Palacio Municipal of Paraíso, TabascoThe first mainland explorations were followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquest.", "The Spanish crown extended the Reconquista effort, completed in Spain in 1492, to non-Catholic people in new territories.", "In 1502 on the coast of present-day Colombia, near the Gulf of Urabá, Spanish explorers led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored and conquered the area near the Atrato River.", "The conquest was of the Chibcha-speaking nations, mainly the Muisca and Tairona indigenous people that lived here.", "The Spanish founded San Sebastian de Uraba in 1509—abandoned within the year, and in 1510 the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement in America, Santa María la Antigua del Darién.The first Europeans to arrive in what is modern day Mexico were the survivors of a Spanish shipwreck in 1511.Only two survived, Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero until further contact was made with Spanish explorers years later.", "On 8 February 1517, an expedition led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba left the harbor of Santiago de Cuba to explore the shores of southern Mexico.", "During this expedition, many of Hernández's men were killed, most during a battle near the town of Champotón against a Maya army.", "Hernández himself was injured and died a few days shortly after his return to Cuba.", "This was the Europeans' first encounter with a civilization in the Americas with buildings and complex social organizations which they recognized as being comparable to those of the Old World.", "Hernán Cortés led a new expedition to Mexico landing ashore at present-day Veracruz on 22 April 1519, a date which marks the beginning of 300 years of Spanish hegemony over the region.The 'Spanish conquest of Mexico' denotes the conquest of the central region of Mesoamerica where the Aztec Empire was based.", "The fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521 was a decisive event, but the conquest of other regions of Mexico, such as Yucatán, extended long after the Spaniards consolidated control of central Mexico.", "The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was a much longer campaign, from 1551 to 1697, against the Maya peoples of the Maya civilization in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico and northern Central America.Smallpox (''Variola major'' and ''Variola minor'') began to spread in Mesoamerica immediately after the arrival of Europeans.", "The indigenous peoples, who had no immunity to it, eventually died in the millions.", "A third of all the natives of the Valley of Mexico succumbed to it within six months of the Spaniards' arrival.", "\"The Torture of Cuauhtémoc\", a 19th-century painting by Leandro IzaguirreTenochtitlan was almost completely destroyed by fire and cannon fire.", "Cortés imprisoned the royal families of the valley.", "To prevent another revolt, he personally tortured and killed Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec Emperor; Coanacoch, the King of Texcoco, and Tetlepanquetzal, King of Tlacopan.The small contingent of Spaniards controlled central Mexico through existing indigenous rulers of individual political states (''altepetl''), who maintained their status as nobles in the post-conquest era if they cooperated with Spanish rule.", "Cortés immediately banned human sacrifice throughout the conquered empire.", "In 1524, he requested the Spanish king to send friars from the mendicant orders, particularly the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian, to convert the indigenous to Christianity.", "This has often been called the \"spiritual conquest of Mexico\".", "Christian evangelization began in the early 1520s and continued into the 1560s.", "Many of the mendicant friars, especially the Franciscans and Dominicans, learned the native languages and recorded aspects of native culture.", "The Spanish colonizers introduced the ''encomienda'' system of forced labor.", "Indigenous communities were pressed for labor and tribute but were not enslaved.", "Their rulers remained indigenous elites, who retained their status under colonial rule and were useful intermediaries.", "The Spanish also used forced labor, often outright slavery, in mining." ], [ "New Spain", "Chihuahua Cathedral and a monument to the city's founder, Antonio Deza y UlloaThe capture of Tenochtitlan marked the beginning of a 300-year colonial period, during which Mexico was known as \"New Spain\" and ruled by a viceroy in the name of the Spanish monarch.", "Colonial Mexico had key elements to attract Spanish immigrants: dense and politically complex indigenous populations that could be compelled to work, and huge mineral wealth, especially major silver deposits.", "The Viceroyalty of Peru shared this elements, so that New Spain and Peru were the seats of Spanish power and the source of its wealth until other viceroyalties were created in Spanish South America in the late 18th century.", "This wealth made Spain a dominant power in Europe.", "Spain's silver mining and crown mints created high-quality coins, the currency of Spanish America, the silver peso or Spanish dollar that became a global currency.A statue of a Chichimeca Warrior in the city of QuerétaroSpain did not bring all areas of the Aztec Empire under its control.", "After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, it took decades of sporadic warfare to subdue the rest of Mesoamerica, particularly the Mayan regions of southern New Spain, and into what is now Central America.", "Spanish conquests in the Zapotec and Mixtec regions of southern Mesoamerica were relatively rapid.Outside the zone of settled Mesoamerican civilizations were semi-nomadic northern ''indios bárbaros'' (\"wild Indians\") who fought fiercely against the Spaniards and their indigenous allies, such as the Tlaxcalans, in the Chichimeca War (1550–1590).", "The northern indigenous populations had gained mobility via the horses that Spaniards had imported to the New World.", "The region was important to the Spanish because of its rich silver deposits.", "The Spanish mining settlements and trunk lines to Mexico City needed to be made safe for supplies to move north and silver to move south, to central Mexico.The most important source of wealth was indigenous tribute and compelled labor, mobilized in the first years after the conquest of central Mexico through the encomienda.", "The encomienda was a grant of the labor of a particular indigenous settlement to an individual Spanish and his heirs.", "Spaniards were the recipients of traditional indigenous products that had been rendered in tribute to their local lords and to the Aztec empire.", "The earliest holders of encomiendas, the encomenderos were the conquerors involved in the campaign leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan, and later their heirs and people with influence but not conquerors.", "Forced labor could be directed toward developing land and industry.", "Land was a secondary source of wealth during this immediate conquest period.", "Where indigenous labor was absent or needed supplementing, the Spanish brought slaves, often as skilled laborers or artisans.Europeans, Africans, and indigenous intermixed, creating a mixed-race casta population in a process known as ''mestizaje''.", "Mestizos, people of mixed European-indigenous ancestry, constitute the majority of Mexico's population.===Colonial period (1521–1821)===Cortés, Doña Marina, and their mestizo son MartínEquestrian statue of Charles IV in Mexico CityColonial Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire and was administered by the Viceroyalty of New Spain.", "New Spain became the largest and most important Spanish colony.", "During the 16th century, Spain focused on conquering areas with dense populations that had produced Pre-Columbian civilizations.", "These populations were a labor force with a history of tribute and a population to convert to Christianity.", "Territories populated by nomadic peoples were harder to conquer, and although the Spanish explored much of North America, seeking the fabled \"El Dorado\", they made no concerted effort to settle the northern desert regions in what is now the United States until the end of the 16th century (Santa Fe, 1598).Spanish and Portuguese empires in 1790Colonial law with native origins but with Spanish historical precedents was introduced, creating a balance between local jurisdiction (the Cabildos) and the Crown.", "The administration was based on a racial separation of the population among the Republics of Spaniards, Natives, and Mestizos, autonomous and directly dependent on the king.", "The population of New Spain was divided into four main groups or classes.", "The group a person belonged to was determined by racial background and birthplace.", "The most powerful group was the Spaniards, people born in Spain and sent across the Atlantic to rule the colony.", "Only Spaniards could hold high-level jobs in the colonial government.", "The second group, called ''criollos'', were people of Spanish background but born in Mexico.", "Many criollos were prosperous landowners and merchants.", "Even the wealthiest Creoles had little say in government.", "The third group, the mestizos (\"mixed\"), were people who had some Spanish ancestors and some Native ancestors.", "Mestizos had a lower position and were looked down upon by both the Spaniards and the Creoles.", "The poorest, most marginalised group in New Spain was the Natives, descendants of pre-Columbian peoples.", "They had less power and endured harsher conditions than other groups.", "Natives were forced to work as laborers on the ranches and farms (called haciendas) of the Spaniards and creoles.", "In addition to the four main groups, there were also some Africans in colonial Mexico.", "These Africans were imported as slaves and shared the low status of the Natives.", "They made up about 4% to 5% of the population, and their mixed-race descendants, called ''mulattoes'', eventually grew to represent about 9%.From an economic point of view, New Spain was administered principally for the benefit of the Empire and its military and defensive efforts.", "Mexico provided more than half of the Empire's taxes and supported the administration of all North and Central America.", "Competition with the metropolis was discouraged; for example, cultivation of grapes and olives, introduced by Cortés himself, was banned out of fear that these crops would compete with Spain's.To protect the country from the attacks by English, French, and Dutch pirates, as well as the Crown's revenue, only two ports were open to foreign trade—Veracruz on the Atlantic, connecting through Havana at Cuba to Spain; and Acapulco, connecting through Manila at the Philippines, on the Pacific, to Asia.", "Sor Juana Inés de la CruzEducation was encouraged by the Crown: Mexico boasts the first primary school (Texcoco, 1523), the first university, the University of Mexico (1551) and the first printing press (1524) of the Americas.", "Indigenous languages were studied mainly by the religious orders during the first centuries, and became official languages in the so-called Republic of Natives, only to be outlawed and ignored after independence by the prevailing Spanish-speaking creoles.Mexico produced important cultural achievements during the colonial period, such as the literature of seventeenth-century nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Ruiz de Alarcón, as well as cathedrals, civil monuments, forts and colonial cities such as Puebla, Mexico City, Querétaro, Zacatecas and others, today part of Unesco's World Heritage.The syncretism between indigenous and Spanish cultures gave rise to many modern Mexican staples like tequila (since the 16th century), mariachi (18th), jarabe (17th), charros (17th) and Mexican cuisine.American-born Spaniards (creoles), mixed-race castas, and Natives often disagreed, but all resented the small minority of Iberian-born Spaniards who monopolized political power.", "By the early 1800s, many American-born Spaniards believed that Mexico should become independent of Spain, following the example of the United States.", "The man who touched off the revolt against Spain was the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.", "He is remembered today as the Father of the Nation." ], [ "Independence era (1808–1829)", "This period was marked by unanticipated events that upended the three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule.", "The colony went from rule by the legitimate Spanish monarch and his appointed viceroy to an illegitimate monarch and viceroy put in place by a coup.", "Later, Mexico would see the return of the Spanish monarchy and a later stalemate with insurgent guerrilla forces.", "Events in Spain during the Peninsular War and the ''Trienio Liberal'' upended the situation in New Spain.", "After Spanish military officers overthrew the absolutist monarch Ferdinand VII and returned to the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812, conservatives in New Spain who had staunchly defended the Spanish monarchy changed course and pursued independence.", "Royalist army officer Agustín de Iturbide became an advocate of independence and persuaded insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero to join in a coalition, forming the Army of the Three Guarantees.", "Within six months of that joint venture, royal rule in New Spain collapsed and independence was achieved.", "The constitutional monarchy envisioned with a European royal on the throne did not come to pass; rather, creole military officer Iturbide became Emperor Agustín I.", "His increasingly autocratic rule dismayed many and a coup overthrew him in 1823.Mexico became a federated republic and promulgated a constitution in 1824.While General Guadalupe Victoria became the first president, serving his entire term, the presidential transition became a less of an electoral event and more of one by force of arms.", "Insurgent general and prominent Liberal politician Vicente Guerrero was briefly president in 1829, then deposed and judicially murdered by his Conservative opponents.", "In the first years after independence, Mexico had experienced political instability and violence, with more to come until the late nineteenth century.", "The presidency changed hands 75 times in the next half-century.", "The new republic's situation did not promote economic growth or development, with the silver mines damaged, trade disrupted, and lingering violence.", "Although British merchants established a network of merchant houses in the major cities the situation was bleak.", "\"Trade was stagnant, imports did not pay, contraband drove prices down, debts private and public went unpaid, merchants suffered all manner of injustices and operated at the mercy of weak and corruptible governments.", "\"===Prelude to independence===Viceroy José de IturrigarayInspired by the American and French Revolutions, Mexican insurgents saw an opportunity for independence in 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain and the Spanish king Charles IV was forced to abdicate.", "Napoleon placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne.", "In New Spain, viceroy José de Iturrigaray proposed to provisionally form an autonomous government, with the support of American-born Spaniards on the city council of Mexico City.", "Peninsular-born Spaniards in the colony saw this as undermining their own power, and Gabriel J. de Yermo led a coup against the viceroy, arresting him in September 1808.Spanish military officer Pedro de Garibay was named as viceroy by the Spanish conspirators.", "His tenure was brief, from September 1808 until July 1809, when he was replaced by Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont, whose tenure was also brief, until the arrival of viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas from Spain.", "Two days after his entry to Mexico City on 14 September 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo made his call to arms in the village of Hidalgo.", "Spain was invaded by France and the Spanish king was deposed and Joseph Bonaparte imposed.", "New Spain's viceroy José de Iturrigaray, who was sympathetic to Creoles, sought to create a legitimate government but was overthrown by powerful Peninsular Spaniards; hard-line Spaniards clamped down on any notion of Mexican autonomy.", "Creoles who had hoped that there was a path to Mexican autonomy, perhaps within the Spanish Empire, now saw that their only path was independence through rebellion.===War of Independence, 1810–1821===Entry into Mexico City by the Mexican armyIn northern Mexico, Father Miguel Hidalgo, creole militia officer Ignacio Allende, and Juan Aldama met to plot rebellion.", "When the plot was discovered in September 1810, Hidalgo called his parishioners to arms in the village of Dolores, touching off a massive rebellion in the region of the Bajío.", "This event of 16 September 1810 is now called the \"Cry of Dolores\", now celebrated as Independence Day.", "Shouting \"Independence and death to the Spaniards!\"", "From some 80,000 villagers, poorly organized and armed, formed a force that initially rampaged unstopped in Bajío.", "The viceroy was slow to respond, but once the royal army engaged the untrained, poorly armed and led mass, they routed the insurgents in the Battle of Calderón Bridge.", "Hidalgo was captured, defrocked as a priest, and executed.Another priest, José María Morelos took over and was more successful in his quest for republicanism and independence.", "Spain's monarchy was restored in 1814 after Napoleon's defeat, and it fought back and executed Morelos in 1815.The scattered insurgents formed guerrilla bands.", "In 1820, Spanish royal army brigadier, Agustín de Iturbide, changed sides and proposed independence, issuing the Plan of Iguala.", "Iturbide persuaded insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero to join in this new push for independence.", "General Isidoro Montes de Oca with few and poorly armed insurgents inflicted a real defeat on the royalist Gabriel from Armijo and they also got enough equipment to properly arm 1,800 rebels.", "He stood out for his courage in the Siege of Acapulco in 1813, under the orders of General José María Morelos y Pavón.", "Isidoro inflicted defeat on the royalist army from Spain.", "Impressed, Itubide joined forces with Guerrero and demanded independence, a constitutional monarchy in Mexico, the continued religious monopoly for the Catholic Church, and equality for Spaniards and those born in Mexico.", "Royalists who now followed Iturbide's change of sides and insurgents formed the Army of the Three Guarantees.", "Within six months, the new army was in control of all but the ports of Veracruz and Acapulco.", "On September 27, 1821, Iturbide and the last viceroy, Juan O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba whereby Spain granted the demands.", "O'Donojú had been operating under instructions that had been issued months before the latest turn of events.", "Spain refused to formally recognize Mexico's independence and the situation became even more complicated by O'Donojú's death in October 1821.===First Mexican Empire===Agustín de Iturbide the first Emperor of MexicoWhen Mexico achieved its independence, the southern portion of New Spain became independent as well, as a result of the Treaty of Córdoba, so Central America, present-day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and part of Chiapas were incorporated into the Mexican Empire.", "Although Mexico now had its own government, there was no revolutionary change either socially or economically.", "The formal, legal racial distinctions were abolished, but power remained in the hands of white elites.", "Monarchy was the form of government Mexicans knew and it is not surprising that it chose that form of government initially.", "The political power of the royal government was transferred to the military.", "The Roman Catholic Church was the other pillar of institutional rule.", "Both the army and the church lost personnel with the establishment of the new regime.", "An index of the fall in the economy was the decrease in revenues to the church via the tithe, a tax on agricultural output.", "Mining especially was hard hit.", "It had been the motor of the colonial economy, but there was considerable fighting during the war of independence in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, the two most important silver mining sites.", "In spite of Viceroy O'Donojú's having signed the Treaty of Córdoba giving Mexico its independence, the Spanish government did not recognize it as legitimate and claimed sovereignty over Mexico.Spain set in motion events that brought Iturbide, the son of a provincial merchant, as Emperor of Mexico.", "With Spain's rejection of the treaty and with no European royal taking up the offer of being Mexico's monarch, many Creoles now decided that having a Mexican as its monarch was acceptable.", "A local army garrison proclaimed Iturbide emperor.", "Since the church refused to crown him, the president of the constituent Congress did on 21 July 1822.His long-term rule was doomed.", "He did not have the respect of the Mexican nobility.", "Republicans sought that form of government rather than a monarchy.", "The emperor set up all the trappings of a monarchy with a court.", "Iturbide became increasingly dictatorial and shut down Congress.", "Worried that a young colonel, Antonio López de Santa Anna, would raise a rebellion, the emperor relieved him of his command.", "Rather than obeying the order, Santa Anna proclaimed a republic and hastily called for the reconvening of Congress.", "Four days later he walked back his republicanism and simply called for the removal of the emperor, in the Plan of Casa Mata.", "Santa Anna secured the support of insurgent general Guadalupe Victoria.", "The army signed on to the plan and the emperor abdicated on 19 March 1823.===First Mexican Republic===Battle of Tampico (1829)Those who overthrew the emperor then nullified the Plan of Iguala, which had called for a constitutional monarchy, as well as the Treaty of Córdoba, leaving them free to choose any form of government.", "It was to be a federal republic, and 4 October 1824, the United Mexican States (''Estados Unidos Mexicanos'') was established.", "The new constitution was partly modeled on the constitution of the United States.", "It guaranteed basic human rights and defined Mexico as a representative federal republic, in which responsibilities of government were divided between a central government and a number of smaller units called states.", "It also defined Catholicism as the official and only religion of the republic.", "Central America did not join the federated republic and took a separate political path from 1 July 1823.Mexico's establishment of a new form of government did not bring stability.", "The civilian government contested political power from the army and the Roman Catholic Church.", "Both the army and the church retained special privileges called ''fueros''.", "General Guadalupe Victoria was followed in office by General Vicente Guerrero, gaining the position through a coup after losing the 1828 elections, the Conservative Party saw an opportunity to seize control and led a counter-coup under General Anastasio Bustamante, who served as president from 1830 to 1832, and again from 1837 to 1841." ], [ "The Age of Santa Anna (1829–1854)", "===Political instability===Santa Anna.In much of Spanish America soon after its independence, military strongmen or caudillos dominated politics, and this period is often called \"The Age of Caudillismo\".", "In Mexico, from the late 1820s to the mid-1850s the period is often called the \"Age of Santa Anna\", named for the general and politician, Antonio López de Santa Anna.", "Liberals (federalists) asked Santa Anna to overthrow conservative President Anastasio Bustamante.", "After he did, he declared General Manuel Gómez Pedraza (who won the election of 1828) president.", "Elections were held thereafter, and Santa Anna took office in 1832.He served as president 11 nonconsecutive terms.", "Constantly changing his political beliefs, in 1834 Santa Anna abrogated the federal constitution, causing insurgencies in the southeastern state of Yucatán and the northernmost portion of the northern state of Coahuila y Tejas.", "Both areas sought independence from the central government.", "Negotiations and the presence of Santa Anna's army caused Yucatán to recognize Mexican sovereignty.", "Then Santa Anna's army turned to the northern rebellion.The inhabitants of Tejas declared the Republic of Texas independent from Mexico on 2 March 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos.", "They called themselves Texans and were led mainly by recent Anglo-American settlers.", "At the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, Texan militiamen defeated the Mexican army and captured General Santa Anna.", "The Mexican government refused to recognize the independence of Texas.===Comanche conflict===Comanchería, territory controlled by the Comaches, prior to 1850The northern states grew increasingly isolated, economically and politically, due to prolonged Comanche raids and attacks.", "The local peoples had not recognized the Spanish Empire's claims to the region, nor did they when Mexico became an independent nation.", "Mexico attempted to convince its citizens to settle in the region but with few takers.", "Mexico negotiated a contract with Anglo-Americans to settle in the area, with the hope and expectation that they would do so in Comanche territory, the Comancheria.", "In the 1820s, when the United States began to exert influence over the region, New Mexico had already begun to question its loyalty to Mexico.", "By the time of the Mexican–American War, the Comanches had raided and pillaged large portions of northern Mexico, resulting in sustained impoverishment, political fragmentation, and general frustration at the inability—or unwillingness—of the Mexican government to discipline the Comanches.In addition to Comanche raids, the First Republic's northern border was plagued with attacks on its northern border from the Apache people, who were supplied with guns by American merchants.", "Goods including guns and shoes were sold to the Apache, the latter being discovered by Mexican forces when they found traditional Apache trails with American shoe prints instead of moccasin prints.===Texas Independence=== \"The Fall of the Alamo\" by Robert Jenkins OnderdonkAfter the Mexican War of Independence, the Mexican government, to populate its northern territories, awarded extensive land grants in Coahuila y Tejas to thousands of families from the United States, on condition that the settlers convert to Catholicism and become Mexican citizens.", "The Mexican government also forbade the importation of slaves.", "These conditions were largely ignored.A key factor in the government's decision to allow those settlers was the belief that they would (a) protect northern Mexico from Comanche attacks and (b) buffer the northern states against US westward expansion.", "The policy failed on both counts: the Americans tended to settle far from the Comanche raiding zones and used the Mexican government's failure to suppress the raids as a pretext for declaring independence.Santa Anna'' by William Henry Huddle shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston in 1836.The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was a military conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas.", "The war lasted from October 2, 1835, to April 21, 1836.However, war at sea between Mexico and Texas continued into the 1840s.", "The animosity between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas, as well as many Texas residents of Mexican ancestry, intensified with the Siete Leyes of 1835 when Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna abolished the federal Constitution of 1824 and proclaimed the more centralizing 1835 constitution in its place.War began in Texas on October 2, 1835, with the Battle of Gonzales.", "Early Texian Army successes at La Bahia and San Antonio were soon met with crushing defeat at the same locations a few months later.", "The war ended at the Battle of San Jacinto where General Sam Houston led the Texian Army to victory over a portion of the Mexican Army under Santa Anna, who was captured soon after the battle.", "The end of the war resulted in the creation of the Republic of Texas in 1836.In 1845, the U.S. Congress ratified Texas's petition for statehood.=== Mexican-American War (1846–1848) ===In response to a Mexican attack on a U.S. army detachment in disputed territory, the U.S. Congress declared war on May 13, 1846; Mexico followed suit on 23 May.", "The Mexican–American War took place in two theaters: the Western (aimed at California) and Central Mexico (aimed at capturing Mexico City) campaigns.A map of Mexico 1845 after Texas annexation by the U.S.In March 1847, U.S. President James K. Polk sent an army of 12,000 soldiers under General Winfield Scott to Veracruz.", "The 70 ships of the invading forces arrived at the city on 7 March and began a naval bombardment.", "After landing, Scott began the Siege of Veracruz.", "The city, at that time still walled, was defended by Mexican General Juan Morales with 3,400 men.", "Veracruz replied as best it could with artillery to the bombardment from land and sea, but the city walls were reduced.", "After 12 days, the Mexicans surrendered.", "Scott marched west with 8,500 men, while Santa Anna was entrenched with artillery and 12,000 troops on the main road halfway to Mexico City.", "At the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Santa Anna was outflanked and routed.Scott pushed on to Puebla, then Mexico's second-largest city, which capitulated without resistance on 1 May—the citizens were hostile to Santa Anna.", "After the Battle of Chapultepec (13 September 1847), Mexico City was occupied; Scott became its military governor.", "Many other parts of Mexico were also occupied.", "Some Mexican units fought with distinction: a group of six Military College cadets (now considered Mexican national heroes), who fought to the death defending their college during the Battle of Chapultepec.The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which stipulated that (1) Mexico must sell its northern territories to the US for US$15 million; (2) the US would give full citizenship and voting rights, and protect the property rights of Mexicans living in the ceded territories; and (3) the US would assume $3.25 million in debt owed by Mexico to Americans.", "Mexico's defeat has been attributed to its problematic internal situation, one of disunity and disorganization.===End of Santa Anna's rule===Despite Santa Anna's role in the catastrophe of the Mexican–American War, he returned to power again.", "When the U.S. ambitioned an easier railroad route to California south of the Gila River, Santa Anna sold the Gadsden Strip to the US for $10 million in the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.This loss of more territory provoked outrage among Mexicans, but Santa Anna claimed that he needed money to rebuild the army from the war.", "In the end, he kept or squandered most of it.", "Liberals finally coalesced and successfully rebelled against his regime, promulgating the Plan of Ayutla in 1854 and forcing Santa Anna into exile.", "Liberals came to power and began enacting reforms that they had long envisioned." ], [ "Struggle between liberals and conservatives, 1855–1876", "Ignacio ComonfortLiberals ousted conservative Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla and sought to implement liberal reforms in a series of separate laws, then in a new constitution, which incorporated them.", "Mexico experienced civil war and foreign intervention that established a monarchy with the support of Mexican conservatives.", "The fall of the empire of Maximilian of Mexico and his execution in 1867 ushered in a period of relative peace, but economic stagnation during the Restored Republic.", "In general, the history writing on this era has characterized the liberals as forging a new, modern nation and conservatives as reactionary opponents of that vision, though more recent analyses are more nuanced.La Reforma began with the final overthrow of Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla in 1855.Moderate Liberal Ignacio Comonfort became president.", "The ''Moderados'' tried to find a middle ground between the nation's liberals and conservatives.", "There is less consensus about the ending point of the Reforma.", "Common dates are 1861, after the liberal victory in the Reform War; 1867, after the republican victory over the French intervention in Mexico; and 1876 when Porfirio Díaz overthrew president Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.", "Liberalism dominated Mexico as an intellectual force into the 20th century.", "Liberals championed reform and supported republicanism, capitalism, and individualism; they fought to reduce the Church's roles in education, land ownership and politics.", "Also importantly, liberals sought to end the special status of indigenous communities by ending their corporate ownership of land.", "''Alegoría de la Constitución de 1857'', Petronilo Monroy, 1869.Liberal Colonel Ignacio Comonfort became president in 1855.Comonfort was a moderate who tried and failed to maintain an uncertain coalition of radical and moderate liberals.", "Radical liberals drafted the Constitution of 1857, which decreased the power of the executive, incorporated the laws of the Reform, and curtailed traditional powers of the Catholic Church.", "It granted religious freedom, stating only that the Catholic Church was the favored faith.", "The anti-clerical liberals scored a major victory with the ratification of the constitution because it weakened the Church and enfranchised non-property-owning men.", "The constitution was opposed by the army, the clergy, and the other conservatives, as well as moderate liberals such as Comonfort.", "With the Plan of Tacubaya in December 1857, conservative General Félix Zuloaga led a coup in the capital in January 1858, creating a parallel government in Mexico City.", "Comonfort resigned from the presidency and was succeeded by the President of the Supreme Court, Benito Juárez, who became President of the Republic, leading Mexican liberals.The revolt led to the War of Reform (1857–1861), which grew increasingly bloody as it progressed and polarized the nation's politics.", "Many Moderates, convinced that the Church's political power had to be curbed, came over to the side of the Liberals.", "For some time, the Liberals and Conservatives simultaneously administered separate governments, the Conservatives from Mexico City and the Liberals from Veracruz.", "The war ended with a Liberal victory, and liberal President Benito Juárez moved his administration to Mexico City.Battle of Miahuatlán''The Execution of Emperor Maximilian'', 19 June 1867.Gen.", "Tomás Mejía, left, Maximiian, center, Gen. Miguel Miramón, right.", "Painting by Édouard Manet 1868.In 1862, the country was invaded by France which sought to collect debts that the Juárez government had defaulted on, but the larger purpose was to install a ruler under French control.", "Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria was installed as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, with support from the Catholic Church, conservative elements of the upper class, and some indigenous communities.", "Although the French suffered an initial defeat (the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, now commemorated as the Cinco de Mayo holiday), the French eventually defeated the Mexican army and set Maximilian on the throne.", "The Mexican-French monarchy set up administration in Mexico City, governing from the National Palace.", "Maximilian has been praised by some historians for his liberal reforms, his desire to help the people of Mexico, and his refusal to desert his loyal followers.", "Some accused him of exploiting the nation's resources for themselves and their allies, including favoring the plans of Napoleon III to exploit the mines in the northwest of the country and to grow cotton.Maximilian favored the establishment of a limited monarchy that would share power with a democratically elected congress.", "This was too liberal for conservatives, while liberals refused to accept any monarch, considering the republican government of Benito Juárez as legitimate.", "This left Maximilian with few allies within Mexico.", "Meanwhile, Juárez continued to be recognized by the United States, which was engaged in its Civil War (1861–65) and at that juncture was in no position to aid Juárez directly against the French intervention until 1865.France never made a profit in Mexico and its Mexican expedition grew increasingly unpopular.", "After the US Civil War was over, the US demanded the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico.", "Napoleon III quietly complied.", "In mid-1867, despite repeated Imperial losses in battle to the Republican Army and ever-decreasing support from Napoleon III, Maximilian chose to remain in Mexico rather than return to Europe.", "He was captured and executed along with two Mexican supporters.", "Juárez remained in office until his death in 1872.In 1867 with the defeat of the monarchy and execution of Emperor Maximilian, the republic was restored and Juárez was reelected.", "He continued to implement his reforms.", "In 1871, he was elected a second time, much to the dismay of his opponents within the Liberal party, who considered reelection to be somewhat undemocratic.", "Juárez died the following year and was succeeded by Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.", "Part of Juárez's reforms included fully secularizing the country.", "The Catholic Church was barred from owning property aside from houses of worship and monasteries, and education and marriage were put in the hands of the state." ], [ "<span id=\"Porfiriato\">Porfiriato (1876–1910)</span>", "Porfirio DíazThe rule of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911) was dedicated to the rule by law, suppression of violence and modernization of the country.", "Diaz was a military commander on the liberal side in the 1860s who seized power in a coup in 1876, established a dictatorship, and ruled in collaboration with the landed oligarchy.", "He maintained good relations with the United States and Great Britain, which led to a sharp rise in foreign direct investment, especially in mining.", "The general standard of living rose steadily.", "He adhered to a coarse social laissez-faire doctrine that primarily benefited the already privileged social classes.", "Diaz was overthrown by the Mexican Revolution of 1911 and died in exile.", "This period of relative prosperity is known as the Porfiriato.", "As traditional ways were under challenge, urban Mexicans debated national identity, the rejection of indigenous cultures, the new passion for French culture once the French were ousted from Mexico, and the challenge of creating a modern nation-state through industrialization and scientific development.", "Cities were rebuilt with modernizing architects favoring the latest Western European styles, especially the Beaux-Arts style, to symbolize the break with the past.", "A highly visible exemplar was the Federal Legislative Palace, built 1897–1910.Díaz remained in power by rigging elections and censoring the press.", "Rivals were destroyed, and popular generals were moved to new areas so they could not build a permanent base of support.", "Banditry on roads leading to major cities was largely suppressed by the \"Rurales\", a police force controlled by Díaz, created during a process of military modernization.", "Banditry remained a major threat in more remote areas because the Rurales comprised fewer than 1000 men.", "Díaz was an astute military leader and liberal politician who built a national base of supporters.", "He maintained a stable relationship with the Catholic Church by avoiding the enforcement of constitutional anticlerical laws.", "The country's infrastructure was greatly improved through increased foreign investment from Britain and the US, and a strong, participatory central government.", "Increased tax revenue and better administration improved public safety, public health, railways, mining, industry, foreign trade, and national finances.", "After a half-century of stagnation, where per capita income was merely a tenth of the developed nations such as Britain and the US, the Mexican economy took off during the Porfiriato, growing at an annual rate of 2.3% (1877 to 1910), which was high by world standards.===Order, progress, and dictatorship===Mexico City street marketDíaz reduced the Army from 30,000 to under 20,000 men, which resulted in a smaller percentage of the national budget being committed to the military.", "The army was modernized, well-trained, and equipped with some of the latest technology.", "The Army was top-heavy with 5,000 officers, many of them elderly, but politically well-connected veterans of the wars of the 1860s.The political skills that Díaz used so effectively before 1900 faded, as he and his closest advisers were less open to negotiations with younger leaders.", "His announcement in 1908 that he would retire in 1911 unleashed a widespread feeling that Díaz was on the way out and that new coalitions had to be built.", "He nevertheless ran for reelection and in a show of U.S. support, Díaz and William Taft planned a summit in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for October 16, 1909, a historic first meeting between a Mexican and a U.S. president and also the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico.", "The meeting focused attention on the disputed Chamizal strip and resulted in assassination threats and other serious security concerns.", "At the meeting, Díaz told John Hays Hammond, \"Since I am responsible for bringing several billion dollars in foreign investments into my country, I think I should continue in my position until a competent successor is found.\"", "Díaz was re-elected after a highly controversial election, but he was overthrown in 1911 and forced into exile in France after Army units rebelled.===Economy===Mexican Central Railway train at station, MexicoFiscal stability was achieved by José Yves Limantour, Secretary of Finance of Mexico from 1893 until 1910.He was the leader of the well-educated technocrats known as Científicos, who were committed to modernity and sound finance.", "Limantour expanded foreign investment, supported free trade, balanced the budget for the first time, and generated a budget surplus by 1894.However, he was unable to halt the rising cost of food, which alienated the poor.The American Panic of 1907 was an economic downturn that caused a sudden drop in demand for Mexican copper, silver, gold, zinc, and other metals.", "Mexico in turn cut its imports of horses and mules, mining machinery, and railroad supplies.", "The result was an economic depression in Mexico in 1908–1909 that soured optimism and raised discontent with the Díaz regime.", "Mexico was vulnerable to external shocks because of its weak banking system.Mexico had few factories by 1880, but then industrialization took hold in the Northeast, especially in Monterrey.", "Factories produced machinery, textiles, and beer, while smelters processed ores.", "Convenient rail links with the nearby US gave local entrepreneurs from seven wealthy merchant families a competitive advantage over more distant cities.", "New federal laws in 1884 and 1887 allowed corporations to be more flexible.", "By the 1920s, American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), an American firm controlled by the Guggenheim family, had invested over 20 million pesos and employed nearly 2,000 workers smelting copper and making wire to meet the demand for electrical wiring in the US and Mexico.===Education===Making cigarettes in the El Buen Tono factory, Mexico CityThe modernizers insisted that public schools and secular education should replace religious schooling by the Catholic Church.", "They reformed elementary schools by mandating uniformity, secularization, and rationality.", "These reforms were consistent with international trends in teaching methods.", "To break the traditional peasant habits that were seen to hinder industrialization, reforms emphasized children's punctuality, assiduity, and health.", "In 1910, the National University was opened.===Rural unrest===Historian John Tutino examines the impact of the Porfiriato in the highland basins south of Mexico City, which became the Zapatista heartland during the Revolution.", "Population growth, railways, and concentration of land in a few families generated a commercial expansion that undercut the traditional powers of the villagers.", "Young men felt insecure about the patriarchal roles they had expected to fill.", "Initially, this anxiety manifested as violence within families and communities.", "But, after the defeat of Díaz in 1910, villagers expressed their rage in revolutionary assaults on local elites who had profited most from the Porfiriato.", "The young men were radicalized, as they fought for their traditional roles regarding land, community, and patriarchy." ], [ "Revolution of 1910–1920", "The Mexican Revolution is a broad term to describe political and social changes in the early 20th century.", "Most scholars consider it to span the years 1910–1920, from Francisco I. Madero's call for armed rebellion in the 1910 Plan of San Luis Potosí until the election of General Álvaro Obregón in December 1920.Foreign powers had important economic and strategic interests in the outcome of power struggles in Mexico, with the United States' involvement in the Mexican Revolution playing an especially significant role.", "The Revolution grew increasingly broad-based, radical, and violent.", "Revolutionaries sought far-reaching social and economic reforms by strengthening the state and weakening the conservative forces represented by the Church, rich landowners, and foreign capitalists.Some scholars consider the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as the revolution's endpoint.", "\"Economic and social conditions improved in accordance with revolutionary policies, so that the new society took shape within a framework of official revolutionary institutions,\" with the constitution providing that framework.", "Organized labor gained significant power, as seen in Article 123 of the Constitution of 1917.Land reform in Mexico was enabled by Article 27.Economic nationalism was also enabled by Article 27, restricting ownership of enterprises by foreigners.", "The Constitution restricted the Catholic Church; implementing the restrictions in the late 1920s resulted in the Cristero War.", "A ban on the re-election of the president was enshrined in the Constitution and practice.", "Political succession was achieved in 1929 with the creation of the ''Partido Nacional Revolucionario'' (PNR), the political party that dominated Mexico's politics for the remainder of the 20th century, now called the Institutional Revolutionary Party.One major effect of the revolution was the disappearance of the Federal Army in 1914, defeated by revolutionary forces of the various factions in the Mexican Revolution.", "The Mexican Revolution was based on popular participation.", "At first, it was based on the peasantry who demanded land, water, and a more representative national government.", "Wasserman finds that:Popular participation in the revolution and its aftermath took three forms.", "First, everyday people, though often in conjunction with elite neighbors, generated local issues such as access to land, taxes, and village autonomy.", "Second, the popular classes provided soldiers to fight in the revolution.", "Third, local issues advocated by campesinos and workers framed national discourses on land reform, the role of religion, and many other questions.===Election of 1910 and popular rebellion===Porfirio Díaz announced in an interview to a US journalist James Creelman that he would not run for president in 1910.This set off a spate of political activity by potential candidates, including Francisco I. Madero, a member of one of Mexico's richest families.", "Madero was part of the Anti-Reelectionist Party, whose main platform was the end of the Díaz regime.", "But Díaz reversed his decision to retire and ran again.", "He created the office of vice president, which could have been a mechanism to ease the presidential transition.", "But Díaz chose a politically unpalatable running mate, Ramón Corral, over a popular military man, Bernardo Reyes, and a popular civilian Francisco I. Madero.", "He sent Reyes on a \"study mission\" to Europe and jailed Madero.", "Official election results declared that Díaz had won almost unanimously and Madero received only a few hundred votes.", "This fraud was too blatant, and riots broke out.", "Uprisings against Díaz occurred in the fall of 1910, particularly in Mexico's north and the southern state of Morelos.", "Helping unite opposition forces was a political plan drafted by Madero, the Plan of San Luis Potosí, in which he called on the Mexican people to take up arms and fight against the Díaz government.", "The rising was set for November 20, 1910.Madero escaped from prison to San Antonio, Texas, where he began preparing to overthrow Díaz—an action today considered the start of the Mexican Revolution.", "Díaz tried to use the army to suppress the revolts, but most of the ranking generals were old men close to his age and they did not act swiftly or with sufficient energy to stem the violence.", "Revolutionary force—led by, among others, Emiliano Zapata in the South, Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco in the North, and Venustiano Carranza—defeated the Federal Army.Díaz resigned in May 1911 for the \"sake of the peace of the nation\".", "The terms of his resignation were spelled out in the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, but it also called for an interim presidency and new elections were to be held.", "Francisco León de la Barra served as interim president.", "The Federal Army, although defeated by the northern revolutionaries, was kept intact.", "Francisco I. Madero, whose 1910 Plan of San Luis Potosí had helped mobilize forces opposed to Díaz, accepted the political settlement.", "He campaigned in the presidential elections of October 1911, won decisively, and was inaugurated in November 1911.===Madero presidency and its opposition, 1911–1913===Following the resignation of Díaz and a brief interim presidency of a high-level government official from the Díaz era, Madero was elected president in 1911.The revolutionary leaders had many different objectives; revolutionary figures varied from liberals such as Madero to radicals such as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa.", "As a consequence, it proved impossible to agree on how to organize the government that emerged from the triumphant first phase of the revolution.", "This standoff over political principles led quickly to a struggle for control of the government, a violent conflict that lasted more than 10 years.===Counter-revolution and civil war, 1913–1915===Victoriano Huerta, ruler of Mexico from 1913 to 1914Madero was ousted and killed in February 1913 during a coup d'etat now known as the Ten Tragic Days.", "General Victoriano Huerta, one of Díaz's former generals, and a nephew of Díaz, Félix Díaz, plotted with the US ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, to topple Madero and reassert the policies of Díaz.", "Within a month of the coup, rebellions started spreading in Mexico, most prominently by the governor of the state of Coahuila, Venustiano Carranza along with old revolutionaries demobilized by Madero, such as Pancho Villa.", "The northern revolutionaries fought under the name of the Constitutionalist Army, with Carranza as the \"First Chief\" (''primer jefe'').", "In the south, Emiliano Zapata continued his rebellion in Morelos under the Plan of Ayala, calling for the expropriation of land and redistribution to peasants.", "Huerta offered peace to Zapata, who rejected it.Huerta convinced Pascual Orozco, whom he fought while serving the Madero government, to join Huerta's forces.", "Supporting the Huerta regime were business interests in Mexico, both foreign and domestic; landed elites; the Roman Catholic Church; as well as the German and British governments.", "The Federal Army became an arm of the Huerta regime, swelling to some 200,000 men, many pressed into service and most ill-trained.The US did not recognize the Huerta government, but from February to August 1913 it imposed an arms embargo on exports to Mexico, exempting the Huerta government and thereby favoring the regime against emerging revolutionary forces.", "However, President Woodrow Wilson sent a special envoy to Mexico to assess the situation, and reports on the many rebellions in Mexico convinced Wilson that Huerta was unable to maintain order.", "Arms ceased to flow to Huerta's government, which benefited the revolutionary cause.General Pancho Villa at the entrance of OjinagaThe US Navy made an incursion on the Gulf Coast, occupying Veracruz in April 1914.Although Mexico was engaged in a civil war at the time, the US intervention united Mexican forces in their opposition to the US.", "Foreign powers helped broker US withdrawal in the Niagara Falls peace conference.", "The US timed its pullout to throw its support to the Constitutionalist faction under Carranza.Initially, the forces in northern Mexico were united under the Constitutionalist banner, with able revolutionary generals serving the civilian First Chief Carranza in the Plan of Guadalupe.", "Pancho Villa began to split from supporting Carranza as Huerta was on his way out, primarily because Carranza was politically too conservative for Villa.", "Carranza, a rich hacienda owner whose interests were threatened by the more radical ideas of Villa, was opposed to land reform.", "Zapata in the south was also hostile to Carranza due to his stance on land reform.In July 1914, Huerta resigned under pressure and went into exile.", "His resignation marked the end of an era since the Federal Army, a repeatedly ineffective fighting force against the revolutionaries, ceased to exist.With the exit of Huerta, the revolutionary factions decided to meet and make \"a last-ditch effort to avert more intense warfare than that which unseated Huerta.\"", "Called to meet in Mexico City in October 1914, revolutionaries opposed to Carranza's influence successfully moved the venue to Aguascalientes.", "The Convention of Aguascalientes did not reconcile the various victorious factions in the Mexican Revolution but was a brief pause in revolutionary violence.", "The break between Carranza and Villa became definitive during the convention.", "Rather than First Chief Carranza being named president of Mexico, General Eulalio Gutiérrez was chosen.", "Carranza and Obregón left Aguascalientes, with far smaller forces than Villa's.", "The convention declared Carranza in rebellion against it and civil war resumed, this time between revolutionary armies that had fought for a united cause to oust Huerta.Buffalo Soldiers of the American 10th Cavalry Regiment taken prisoner during the Battle of Carrizal, Mexico in 1916.Villa went into alliance with Zapata to form the Army of the convention.", "Their forces separately moved on to the capital and captured Mexico City in 1914, which Carranza's forces had abandoned.", "The famous picture of Villa, sitting in the presidential chair in the National Palace, and Zapata is a classic image of the Revolution.", "Villa is reported to have said to Zapata that \"the presidential chair is too big for us.\"", "The alliance between Villa and Zapata did not function in practice beyond this initial victory against the Constitutionalists.", "Zapata returned to his southern stronghold in Morelos, where he continued to engage in guerrilla warfare under the Plan of Ayala.The two rival armies of Villa and Obregón met on April 6–15, 1915 in the Battle of Celaya.", "The frontal cavalry charges of Villa's forces were met by the shrewd, modern military tactics of Obregón.", "The Constitutionalist victory resulted in Carranza emerging as the political leader of Mexico.", "Villa retreated north, seemingly into political oblivion.", "Carranza and the Constitutionalists consolidated their position, with only Zapata opposing them until his assassination in 1919.===Constitutionalists in power, 1915–1920===President Carranza in La Cañada, Querétaro, January 22, 1916.Venustiano Carranza promulgated a new constitution on February 5, 1917.The Mexican Constitution of 1917, with significant amendments in the 1990s, still governs Mexico.", "On 19 January 1917, a secret message (the Zimmermann Telegram) was sent from the German foreign minister to Mexico proposing joint military action against the United States if war broke out.", "The offer included material aid to Mexico to reclaim the territory lost during the Mexican–American War.", "Zimmermann's message was intercepted and published, causing outrage in the US and catalyzing an American declaration of war against Germany in early April.", "Carranza then formally rejected the offer, and the threat of war with the US eased.Carranza was assassinated in 1920 during an internal feud among his former supporters over who would replace him as president." ], [ "Consolidation of revolution, 1920–1940", "===Northern revolutionary generals as presidents===President Obregón.", "Note that he lost his right arm in the Battle of Celaya (1915), earning him the nickname of ''Manco de Celaya'' (\"the one-armed man of Celaya\").Three Sonoran generals of the Constitutionalist Army, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, and Adolfo de la Huerta dominated Mexican politics in the 1920s.", "Their life experience in Mexico's northwest, described as a \"savage pragmatism\" was in a sparsely settled region, conflict with Natives, secular rather than religious culture, and independent, commercially oriented ranchers and farmers.", "This was different from subsistence agriculture of the dense population of the strongly Catholic indigenous and mestizo peasantry of central Mexico.", "Obregón was the dominant member of the triumvirate, as the leading general in the Constitutionalist Army, who had defeated Pancho Villa in battle.", "All three were also skilled politicians and administrators.", "In Sonora they had \"formed their own professional army, patronized and allied themselves with labor unions, and expanded the government authority to promote economic development.\"", "Once in power, they scaled this up to the national level.====Obregón presidency, 1920–1924====Obregón, Calles, and de la Huerta revolted against Carranza in the Plan of Agua Prieta in 1920.Following the interim presidency of Adolfo de la Huerta, elections were held and Obregón was elected for a four-year presidential term.", "His government managed to accommodate many elements of Mexican society except the most conservative clergy and wealthy landowners.", "He was a revolutionary nationalist, holding seemingly contradictory views as a socialist, a capitalist, a Jacobin, a spiritualist, and an Americanophile.", "He was able to successfully implement policies emerging from the revolutionary struggle; in particular, the successful policies were: the integration of urban, organized labor into political life via CROM, the improvement of education and Mexican cultural production under José Vasconcelos, the movement of land reform, and the steps taken toward instituting women's civil rights.", "His main tasks in the presidency were consolidating state power in the central government and curbing regional strongmen (''caudillos''); obtaining diplomatic recognition from the United States; and managing the presidential succession in 1924 when his term ended.", "His administration began constructing what one scholar called \"an enlightened despotism, a ruling conviction that the state knew what ought to be done and needed plenary powers to fulfill its mission.\"", "After the nearly decade-long violence of the Mexican Revolution, reconstruction in the hands of a strong central government offered stability and a path of renewed modernization.Obregón knew his regime needed to secure the recognition of the United States.", "With the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, the Mexican government was empowered to expropriate natural resources.", "The U.S. had considerable business interests in Mexico, especially oil, and the threat of Mexican economic nationalism to big oil companies meant that diplomatic recognition could hinge on Mexican compromise in implementing the constitution.", "In 1923 when the Mexican presidential elections were on the horizon, the two governments signed the Bucareli Treaty.", "The treaty resolved questions about foreign oil interests in Mexico, largely in favor of U.S. interests, but Obregón's government gained U.S. diplomatic recognition.", "With that arms and ammunition began flowing to revolutionary armies loyal to Obregón.Plutarco Elías CallesSince Obregón had named his fellow Sonoran general, Plutarco Elías Calles, as his successor, Obregón was imposing a \"little known nationally and unpopular with many generals,\" thereby foreclosing the ambitions of fellow revolutionaries, particularly his old comrade Adolfo de la Huerta.", "De la Huerta staged a serious rebellion against Obregón.", "But Obregón once again demonstrated his brilliance as a military tactician who now had arms and even air support from the United States to suppress it brutally.", "Fifty-four former Obregonistas were shot in the event.", "Vasconcelos resigned from Obregón's cabinet as minister of education.Although the Constitution of 1917 had stronger anticlerical articles than the previous constitution, Obregón largely sidestepped confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico.", "Since political opposition parties were essentially banned, the Catholic Church \"filled the political void and play the part of a substitute opposition.", "\"====Calles presidency, 1924–1928====The 1924 presidential election was not a demonstration of free and fair elections, but the incumbent Obregón could not stand for re-election, thereby acknowledging that revolutionary principle.", "He completed his presidential term still alive, the first since Porfirio Díaz.", "Candidate Plutarco Elías Calles embarked on one of the first populist presidential campaigns in the nation's history, calling for land reform and promising equal justice, more education, additional labor rights, and democratic governance.", "Calles tried to fulfill his promises during his populist phase (1924–26), and a repressive anti-clerical phase (1926–28).", "Obregón's stance toward the church appears pragmatic, since there were many other issues for him to deal with, but his successor Calles, a vehement anticlerical, took on the church as an institution and religious Catholics when he succeeded to the presidency, bringing about violent, bloody, and protracted conflict known as the Cristero War.====Cristero War (1926–1929)====A unit of Cristeros preparing for battle.The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was a counter-revolution against the Calles regime set off by his persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico and specifically the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws.", "The formal rebellions began early in 1927, with the rebels calling themselves ''Cristeros'' because they felt they were fighting for Jesus Christ himself.", "The laity stepped into the vacuum created by the removal of priests, and in the long run, the Church was strengthened.", "The Cristero War was resolved diplomatically, largely with the help of the U.S.", "Ambassador, Dwight Morrow.The conflict claimed about 250,000 lives, including civilians and Cristeros killed during raids after the war's end.", "As promised in the diplomatic resolution, the anti-clerical laws remained on the books, but the federal government made no organized attempt to enforce them.", "Nonetheless, persecution of Catholic priests continued in several localities, fueled by local officials' interpretation of the resolutions.=== Maximato and the Formation of the ruling party ===Logo of the ''Partido Nacional Revolucionario'', with the colors of the Mexican flagAfter the presidential term of Calles, which ended in 1928, former president Alvaro Obregón won the presidency, but he was assassinated immediately after the July election leaving a power vacuum.", "Revolutionary generals and others in the power elite agreed that congress should appoint an interim president and new elections were held in 1928.In his final address to congress on 1 September 1928, President Calles declared the end of strongman rule, a ban on Mexican presidents serving again in that office, and that Mexico was now entering an age of rule by institutions and laws.", "Congress chose Emilio Portes Gil to serve as interim president.", "Calles became the power behind the presidency in this period, known as the ''Maximato''.Calles created a more permanent solution to presidential succession with the founding of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR) in 1929.The party brought together regional caudillos and integrated labor organizations and peasant leagues in a party that was better able to manage the political process.", "For the six-year term that Obregón was to serve, three presidents held office, Emilio Portes Gil, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, and Abelardo L. Rodríguez.", "In 1934, the PNR chose Calles-supporter Lázaro Cárdenas, a revolutionary general, who had a political power base in Michoacan, as the candidate of the PNR for the Mexican presidency.", "After an initial period of acquiescence to Calles's role in intervening in the presidency, Cárdenas out-maneuvered his former patron and eventually sent him into exile.", "Cárdenas reformed the PNR structure, resulting in the creation of the PRM (''Partido Revolucionario Mexicano''), the Mexican Revolutionary Party, which included the army as a party sector.", "He had convinced most of the remaining revolutionary generals to hand over their personal armies to the Mexican Army; the date of the PRM party's foundation is thus considered by some to be the end of the Revolution.", "The party was re-structured again in 1946 and renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and held power continuously until 2000.After its establishment as the ruling party, the PRI monopolized all the political branches: it did not lose a senate seat until 1988 or a gubernatorial race until 1989.=== Revitalization of the revolution under Cárdenas ===Lázaro Cárdenas muralLázaro Cárdenas was hand-picked by Calles as the successor to the presidency in 1934.Cárdenas managed to unite the different forces in the PRI and set the rules that allowed his party to rule unchallenged for decades to come without internal fights.", "He nationalized the oil industry (on 18 March 1938), and the electricity industry, created the National Polytechnic Institute and implemented extensive land reform and the distribution of free textbooks to children.", "In 1936 he exiled Calles, the last general with dictatorial ambitions, thereby removing the army from power.On the eve of World War II, the Cárdenas administration (1934–1940) was just stabilizing, and consolidating control over, a Mexican nation that, for decades, had been in revolutionary flux, and Mexicans were beginning to interpret the European battle between the communists and fascists, especially the Spanish Civil War, through their unique revolutionary lens.", "Whether Mexico would side with the United States was unclear during Lázaro Cárdenas' rule, as he remained neutral.", "\"Capitalists, businessmen, Catholics, and middle-class Mexicans who opposed many of the reforms implemented by the revolutionary government sided with the Spanish Falange\".Nazi propagandist Arthur Dietrich and his team of agents in Mexico successfully manipulated editorials and coverage of Europe by paying hefty subsidies to Mexican newspapers, including the widely read dailies Excélsior and El Universal.", "The situation became even more worrisome for the Allies when major oil companies boycotted Mexican oil following Lázaro Cárdenas' nationalization of the oil industry and expropriation of all corporate oil properties in 1938, which severed Mexico's access to its traditional markets and led Mexico to sell its oil to Germany and Italy." ], [ "\"Revolution to evolution\", 1940–1970", "Most historians consider 1940 a major dividing line between the era of military violence and then political consolidation by military leaders of the Revolution and a post-1940 prolonged period of political stability and economic growth.=== Manuel Ávila Camacho presidency and World War II ===Gilberto Bosques Saldívar took initiative to rescue tens of thousands of Jews and Spanish Republican exiles from being deported to Nazi Germany or Spain.Manuel Ávila Camacho, Cárdenas's successor, presided over a \"bridge\" between the revolutionary era and the era of machine politics under PRI that lasted until 2000.Ávila Camacho, moving away from nationalistic autarchy, proposed to create a favorable climate for international investment, which had been a policy favored nearly two generations earlier by Madero.", "Ávila's regime froze wages, repressed strikes, and persecuted dissidents with a law prohibiting the \"crime of social dissolution.\"", "During this period, the PRI shifted to the right and abandoned much of the radical nationalism of the Cárdenas era.", "Miguel Alemán Valdés, Ávila Camacho's successor, amended Article 27 to limit land reform, protecting large landowners.Mexico played a relatively minor military role in World War II.", "Relations between Mexico and the U.S. had been warming in the 1930s, particularly after U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt implemented the Good Neighbor Policy toward Latin American countries.", "Even before the outbreak of hostilities between the Axis and Allied powers, Mexico aligned itself firmly with the United States, initially as a proponent of \"belligerent neutrality\" which the U.S. followed before the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.Mexico sanctioned businesses and individuals identified by the U.S. government as being supporters of the Axis powers; in August 1941, Mexico broke off economic ties with Germany, then recalled its diplomats from Germany, and closed the German consulates in Mexico.", "The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and the Confederation of Mexican Peasants (CNC) staged massive rallies in support of the government.", "Mexico's biggest contributions to the war effort were in vital war materiel and labor.", "There was heavy demand for its exports, which created a degree of prosperity.Los Angeles by train in 1942.Photograph by Dorothea Lange.In Mexico and throughout Latin America, Roosevelt's \"Good Neighbor Policy\" was necessary at such a delicate time.", "Much work had already been accomplished between the U.S. and Mexico to create more harmonious relations between the two countries, including the settlement of U.S. citizen claims against the Mexican government, initially and ineffectively negotiated by the binational American-Mexican Claims Commission, but then in direct bilateral negotiations between the two governments.", "The U.S. government did not intervene on behalf of U.S. oil companies during the Mexican oil expropriation, allowing Mexico to assert its economic sovereignty but also benefiting the U.S. by easing antagonism in Mexico.", "The Good Neighbor Policy led to the Douglas-Weichers Agreement in June 1941 that secured the sale of Mexican oil to the United States, and the Global Settlement in November 1941 that ended oil company demands on generous terms for the Mexicans, an example of the U.S. putting national security concerns over the interests of U.S. oil companies.", "When it became clear in other parts of Latin America that the U.S. and Mexico had substantially resolved their differences, the other Latin American countries were more amenable to support the U.S. and Allied efforts against the Axis.Following losses of oil ships in the Gulf (the ''Potrero del Llano'' and ''Faja de Oro'') to German submarines, the Mexican government declared war on the Axis powers on May 30, 1942.Perhaps the most famous fighting unit in the Mexican Armed Forces was the ''Escuadrón 201'', also known as the ''Aztec Eagles.''", "The ''Escuadrón 201'' was the first Mexican military unit trained for overseas combat, and fought during the liberation of the Philippines, working with the U.S. Fifth Air Force in the last year of the war.", "Although most Latin American countries eventually entered the war on the Allies' side, Mexico and Brazil were the only Latin American nations that sent troops to fight overseas during World War II.With so many draftees, the U.S. needed farm workers.", "The Bracero Program allowed 290,000 Mexicans to work temporarily on American farms, especially in Texas.===Economic \"miracle\" (1940–1970)===Logo of ''Nacional Financiera'' (NAFIN), the state development bank.During the next four decades, Mexico experienced high rates of economic growth, an achievement some historians call \"''El Milagro Mexicano''\", the Mexican Miracle.", "A key component of this phenomenon was the achievement of political stability, which since the founding of the dominant party, has insured stable presidential succession and control of potentially dissident labor and peasant sections through participation in the party structure.", "In 1938, Lázaro Cárdenas used Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917, which gave subsoil rights to the Mexican government, to expropriate foreign oil companies.", "It was a popular move, but it did not generate further major expropriations.", "With Cárdenas's hand-picked successor, Manuel Avila Camacho, Mexico moved closer to the U.S., as an ally in World War II.", "This alliance brought significant economic gains to Mexico.", "By supplying raw and finished war materials to the Allies, Mexico built up significant assets that in the post-war period could be translated into sustained growth and industrialization.", "After 1946, the government took a rightward turn under President Miguel Alemán, who repudiated the policies of previous presidents.", "Mexico pursued industrial development, through import substitution industrialization and tariffs against imports.", "Mexican industrialists, including a group in Monterrey, Nuevo León as well as wealthy businessmen in Mexico City joined Alemán's coalition.", "Alemán tamed the labor movement in favor of policies supporting industrialists.Mexican Army troops in the Zócalo in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre.Financing industrialization came from private entrepreneurs, such as the Monterrey group, but the government funded a significant amount through its development bank, ''Nacional Financiera''.", "Foreign capital through direct investment was another source of funding for industrialization, much of it from the United States.", "Government policies transferred economic benefits from the countryside to the city by keeping agricultural prices artificially low, which made food cheap for city-dwelling industrial workers and other urban consumers.", "Commercial agriculture expanded with the growth of exports to the U.S. of high-value fruits and vegetables, with rural credit going to large producers, not peasant agriculture.", "In particular, the creation of high-yield seeds during the Green Revolution aimed at expanding commercially oriented, highly mechanized agribusiness.===Guatemala conflict===The Mexico–Guatemala conflict was an armed conflict with Guatemala, in which civilian fishing boats were fired upon by the Guatemalan Air Force.", "Hostilities were set in motion by the installation of Adolfo López Mateos as President of Mexico on December 1, 1958." ], [ "1970–1994", "===Economic crises of 1976 and 1982===Although PRI administrations achieved economic growth and relative prosperity for almost three decades after World War II, the party's management of the economy led to several crises.", "Political unrest grew in the late 1960s, culminating in the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968.Economic crises swept the country in 1976 and 1982, leading to the nationalization of Mexico's banks, which were blamed for economic problems (La Década Perdida).On both occasions, the Mexican peso was devalued, and, until 2000, it was normal to expect a big devaluation and recession at the end of each presidential term.", "The \"December Mistake\" crisis threw Mexico into economic turmoil—the worst recession in over half a century.=== 1985 earthquake ===1985 Mexico City earthquakeOn 19 September 1985, an earthquake (8.1 on the Richter scale) struck Michoacán, inflicting severe damage on Mexico City.", "Estimates of the number of dead range from 6,500 to 30,000.Public anger at the PRI's mishandling of relief efforts combined with the ongoing economic crisis led to a substantial weakening of the PRI.", "As a result, for the first time since the 1930s, the PRI began to face serious electoral challenges.===Changing political landscape 1970–1990===A phenomenon of the 1980s was the growth of organized political opposition to de facto one-party rule by the PRI.", "The National Action Party (PAN), founded in 1939 and until the 1980s a marginal political party and not a serious contender for power, began to gain voters, particularly in Northern Mexico.", "They made gains in local elections initially, but in 1986 the PAN candidate for the governorship of Chihuahua had a good chance of winning.", "The Catholic Church was constitutionally forbidden from participating in electoral politics, but the archbishop urged voters not to abstain from the elections.", "The PRI intervened and upended what would likely have been a victory for the PAN.", "Although the PRI's candidate became governor, the widespread perception of electoral fraud, criticism by the archbishop of Chihuahua, and a more mobilized electorate made the victory costly to the PRI.===1988 Presidential election===Candidates in the 1988 Mexican general election were Carlos Salinas de Gortari (PRI), an economist who was educated at Harvard, had never held an elected office, and was a technocrat with no direct link to the legacy of the Mexican Revolution even through his family; Cuauhtemoc Cárdenas, the son of former President Lázaro Cárdenas, who broke with the PRI and ran as a candidate of the Democratic Current, later forming the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD); and the PAN candidate Manuel Clouthier.", "The election was marked by irregularities on a massive scale.", "During the vote count, the government computers were said to have crashed; one observer said, \"For the ordinary citizen, it was not the computer network but the Mexican political system that had crashed.\"", "When the computers were said to be running again after a considerable delay, the election results they recorded were an extremely narrow victory for Salinas (50.7%), Cárdenas (31.1%), and Clouthier (16.8%).", "Cárdenas was widely seen to have won the election, but Salinas was declared the winner.", "There might have been violence in the wake of such fraudulent results, but Cárdenas did not call for it, \"sparing the country a possible civil war.\"", "Years later, former Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid (1982–88) was quoted in ''The'' ''New York Times'' stating that the results were indeed fraudulent." ], [ "Contemporary Mexico", "=== President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000) ===Subcomandante Marcos In 1995, President Ernesto Zedillo faced the Mexican peso crisis.", "There were public demonstrations in Mexico City and a constant military presence after the 1994 rising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas.The United States intervened rapidly to stem the economic crisis, first by buying pesos in the open market, and then by granting assistance in the form of $50 billion in loan guarantees.", "The peso stabilized at 6 pesos per dollar.", "By 1996, the economy was growing, and in 1997, Mexico repaid, ahead of schedule, all U.S. Treasury loans.Zedillo oversaw political and electoral reforms that reduced the PRI's hold on power.", "After the 1988 election, which was strongly disputed and arguably lost by the government, the IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral – Federal Electoral Institute) was created in the early 1990s.", "The IFE oversees elections with the aim of ensuring that they are conducted legally and impartially.===NAFTA and USMCA (1994–present)===Three world leaders: (background, left to right) Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, observe the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.On 1 January 1994, Mexico became a full member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), joining the United States and Canada.Mexico has a free market economy that entered the Trillion dollar club in 2010.It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector.", "Recent administrations have expanded competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports.Per capita income is one-quarter that of the United States; income distribution remains highly unequal.", "Trade with the United States and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA.", "Mexico has free-trade agreements with more than 50 countries.===End of PRI rule in 2000===Accused many times of electoral fraud, the PRI held almost all public offices until the end of the 20th century.", "Not until the 1980s did the PRI lose its first state governorship, an event that marked the beginning of the party's loss of hegemony.===President Vicente Fox Quesada (2000–2006)===President Vicente Fox with Prime Minister of India Manmohan SinghEmphasizing the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, integrate with the U.S. economy, and allow private investment in the energy sector, Vicente Fox Quesada, the candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), was elected president of Mexico on 2 July 2000, ending PRI's 71-year-long control of the office.", "Though Fox's victory was due in part to popular discontent with decades of unchallenged PRI hegemony, also, Fox's opponent, president Zedillo, conceded defeat on the night of the election—a first in Mexican history.", "A further sign of the quickening of Mexican democracy was the fact that PAN failed to win a majority in both chambers of Congress—a situation that prevented Fox from implementing his reform pledges.", "Nonetheless, the transfer of power in 2000 was quick and peaceful.Fox was a very strong candidate, but an ineffective president who was weakened by PAN's minority status in Congress.", "Historian Philip Russell summarizes: Marketed on television, Fox made a far better candidate than he did president.", "He failed to take charge and provide cabinet leadership, failed to set priorities, and turned a blind eye to alliance building... By 2006, political scientist Soledad Loaeza noted, \"the eager candidate became a reluctant president who avoided tough choices and appeared hesitant and unable to hide the weariness caused by the responsibilities and constraints of the office.\"", "...He had little success in fighting crime.", "Even though he maintained the macroeconomic stability inherited from his predecessor, economic growth barely exceeded the rate of population increase.", "Similarly, the lack of fiscal reform left tax collection at a rate similar to that of Haiti...", "Finally, during Fox's administration, only 1.4 million formal-sector jobs were created, leading to massive immigration to the United States and an explosive increase in informal employment.===President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012)===President Felipe Calderón with President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (PAN) took office after one of the most hotly contested elections in recent Mexican history; Calderón won by such a small margin (.56% or 233,831 votes.)", "that the runner-up, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) contested the results.Despite establishing a cap on the salaries of high-ranking public servants, Calderón ordered a raise on the salaries of the Federal Police and the Mexican Armed Forces on his first day as president.===Drug war (2006-present)===El Chapo in US custody after his extradition from Mexico.Under President Calderón (2006–2012), the government began waging a war on regional drug mafias.", "So far, this conflict has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Mexicans and the drug mafias continue to gain power.", "Mexico has been a major transit and drug-producing nation: an estimated 90% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States every year passes through Mexico.", "Fueled by the increasing demand for drugs in the United States, the country has become a major supplier of heroin, producer, and distributor of MDMA, and the largest foreign supplier of cannabis and methamphetamine to the U.S. market.", "Major drug syndicates control the majority of drug trafficking in the country, and Mexico is a significant money-laundering center.After the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in the U.S. on September 13, 2004, Mexican drug cartels have begun acquiring assault weapons in the United States.", "The result is that drug cartels have now both more gun power, and more manpower due to the high unemployment in Mexico.After taking office in 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pursued an alternative approach to dealing with drug mafias, calling for a policy of \"hugs, not gunshots\" (''Abrazos, no balazos'').", "This policy has been ineffective, and the death toll has not decreased.", "In October 2019, AMLO's government released drug lord Ovidio Guzmán López during the Battle of Culiacán as part of ceasefire negotiations.Former Secretary of Defense Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested by U.S. officials on 15 October 2020 at Los Angeles International Airport on drug and money-laundering charges.", "He was found to have used the alias \"El Padrino\" (\"The Godfather\") while working with the H-2 Cartel.", "On 18 November 2020, American authorities agreed to drop charges against Cienfuegos and send him back to Mexico, where he is under investigation.", "Some American media outlets reported that the charges had been dropped under pressure from the Mexican federal government, which had threatened to expel DEA agents from the country.", "Andrés Manuel López Obrador, however, denied the accusation.===President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018)===U.S.", "President Barack Obama and Mexican President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto during their meet at the White House following Peña Nieto's election victory.On July 1, 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto was elected president of Mexico with 38% of the vote.", "He is a former governor of the state of Mexico and a member of the PRI.", "His election returned the PRI to power after 12 years of PAN rule.", "He was officially sworn into office on December 1, 2012.The ''Pacto por México'' was a cross-party alliance that called for the accomplishment of 95 goals.", "It was signed on 2 December 2012 by the leaders of the three main political parties in Chapultepec Castle.", "The Pact was lauded by some international pundits as an example of solving political gridlock and effectively passing institutional reforms.", "Among other legislation, it called for education reform, banking reform, fiscal reform and telecommunications reform, all of which were eventually passed.", "However, this pact was ultimately jeopardized when the center-right PAN and PRI pushed for a revaluation of, and end to, the monopoly of the state-owned petroleum company, Pemex.", "{Citation needed\|date=August 2022}}===President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–present)===Cabinet Officers of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (left) and of Enrique Peña Nieto (right).On July 1, 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador was elected president with 30,112,109 votes (53.19% of the total votes cast.)", "Lopez Obrador is the leader of the National Regeneration Movement and he headed the ''Juntos Haremos Historia'' coalition.On 1 December 2018, López Obrador was sworn in as Mexico's first leftist president in decades.", "The administration has had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic.", "AMLO made his first trip outside the country to travel to Washington D.C. to sign the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.In June 2021 midterm elections, López Obrador's left-leaning coalition maintained a simple majority, but López Obrador failed to secure the two-thirds congressional supermajority.===COVID-19 pandemic (2020-22)===From January 2020 to March 2022, Mexico was greatly impacted by COVID-19 pandemic and Deltacron hybrid variant, which marking the beginning of a pandemic in the country that caused over nearly 325,000 deaths, the second highest mortality toll in North America (Behind United States)." ], [ "See also", "Index of Mexico-related articlesEconomic history of MexicoHistoriography of Colonial Spanish AmericaHistory of democracy in MexicoHistory of the flags of MexicoHistory of Roman Catholicism in MexicoList of presidents of MexicoList of wars involving MexicoMexican RevolutionMilitary history of MexicoPlans in Mexican historyPolitics of MexicoPorfiriato, politics 1876–1911Spanish empire* Mesoamerican Codices2009 flu pandemic in Mexico" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", ":Works listed below are in English, some of which have been translated from the Spanish.", "There is a vast literature in Spanish.", "=== Surveys and reference works === Alisky, Marvin.", "''Historical Dictionary of Mexico'' (2nd ed.", "2007) 744 pp* Batalla, Guillermo Bonfil.", "(1996) ''Mexico Profundo''.", "University of Texas Press.", ".", "* Beezley, William, and Michael Meyer.", "''The Oxford History of Mexico'' (2nd ed.", "2010) excerpt and text search* Beezley, William, ed.", "''A Companion to Mexican History and Culture'' (Blackwell Companions to World History) (2011) excerpt and text search* Fehrenback, T.R.", "(1995 revised edition) ''Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico''.", "Da Capo Press; popular overview* Hamnett, Brian R. ''A concise history of Mexico'' (Cambridge UP, 2006) excerpt* Kirkwood, J. Burton.", "''The history of Mexico'' (2nd ed.", "ABC-CLIO, 2009)* Krauze, Enrique.", "''Mexico: biography of power: a history of modern Mexico, 1810–1996'' (HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997)* MacLachlan, Colin M. and William H. Beezley.", "''El Gran Pueblo: A History of Greater Mexico (3rd ed.", "2003) 535 pp''* Miller, Robert Ryal.", "''Mexico: A History''.", "Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1985.", "Kirkwood, Burton.", "''The History of Mexico'' (Greenwood, 2000) online edition Meyer, Michael C., William L. Sherman, and Susan M. Deeds.", "''The Course of Mexican History'' (7th ed.", "Oxford U.P., 2002) online edition* * Werner, Michael S., ed.", "''Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture'' (2 vol 1997) 1440 pp .", "Articles by multiple authors online edition* Werner, Michael S., ed. ''", "Concise Encyclopedia of Mexico'' (2001) 850 pp; a selection of previously published articles by multiple authors.===Primary sources and readers===* Jaffary, Nora E.. et al.", "eds.", "''Mexican History: A Primary Source Reader'' (2009) 480 pp* Joseph, Gilbert M. and Timothy J. Henderson, eds.", "''The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics'' (2003) 808 pp excerpt and text search===Prehistory and Pre-Columbian civilizations===* Adams, Richard E.W.", "''Prehistoric Mesoamerica: Revised Edition''.", "University of Oklahoma Press.", "1996..* Lopez Austin, Alfredo and Leonardo Lopez Lujan.", "''Mexico's Indigenous Past'' University of Oklahoma Press.", "2001..* Berdan, Frances.", "''The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial Society'' Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1982)* Coe, Michael.", "''Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs''.", "Thames & Hudson.", "2004.5th edition.", ".", "* Knight, Alan.", "''Mexico: Volume 1, From the Beginning to the Spanish Conquest'' (v. 1 of 3 volumes series ''History of Mexico'') (2002) excerpt and text search===Conquest===* Hassig, Ross.", "''Mexico and the Spanish Conquest'' (2nd ed.", "2006) excerpt and text search* Thomas, Hugh.", "''Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico'' (1995) excerpt and text search====Primary sources====* Cortés, Hernán.", "''Letters from Mexico''.", "Yale University Press.", "Revised edition, 1986.", "* Diaz, Bernal.", "''The Conquest of New Spain''.", "Penguin Classics,* Lockhart, James (editor and translator) ''We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico'' University of California Press (1992)* León-Portilla, Miguel, editor.", "''The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico''.", "Beacon Press.", "1992.excerpt and text search===The Colonial era===* Altman, Ida, Ida, Sarah Cline, and Javier Pescador.", "''The Early History of Greater Mexico'' Pearson (2003)* Altman, Ida and James Lockhart.", "''The Provinces of Early Mexico: Variants of Spanish American Regional Evolution'' UCLA Latin American Center (1976)* Bakewell, P. J.", "''Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico, Zacatecas 1546–1700'' (Cambridge Latin American Studies) (1971)* Brading, D.A.", "''Haciendas and Ranchos in the Mexican Bajío'' Cambridge University Press (1978)* Chevalier, François.", "''Land and Society in Colonial Mexico'' (1982)* Conway, Richard.", "\"The Environmental History of Colonial Mexico.\"", "''History Compass'' 15.7 (2017).", "* Farriss, Nancy M. ''Maya Society Under Colonial Rule'' Princeton University Press (1984)* Gibson, Charles.", "''The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule'' (Stanford University Press) 1964.", "* Glasco, Sharon Bailey.", "''Constructing Mexico City: Colonial Conflicts over Culture, Space, and Authority'' (2010)* Knight, Alan.", "''Mexico: Volume 2, the Colonial Era'' (2002) excerpt and text search* Kubler, George.", "''Mexican Architecture in the Sixteenth Century'' Yale University Press (1948)* Lockhart, James.", "''The Nahuas After the Conquest'' Stanford University Press (1992)* Ouweneel, Arij.", "''An Ecological Interpretation of Crisis and Development in Central Mexico, 1730–1800'' (1996)* MacLachlan, Colin M., and Jaime E. Rodriguez O.", "''The Forging of the Cosmic Race: A Reinterpretation of Colonial Mexico'' (1980)* Ricard, Robert.", "''The Spiritual Conquest of Mexico'' University of California Press (1966)* Taylor, William B.", "''Landlord and Peasant in Colonial Oaxaca''.", "Stanford University Press 1972.", "Toussaint, Manuel.", "''Colonial Art in Mexico'' University of Texas Press (1967)===Mexican Independence and the 19th century (1807–1910)=== Anna, Timothy.", "''The Fall of Royal Government in Mexico City'' University of Nebraska Press (1978)* Anna, Timothy.", "''Forging Mexico, 1821–1835'' University of Nebraska Press (2001) * Coatsworth, John H. ''Growth against Development: The Economic Impact of Railroads in Porfirian Mexico'' (1980)* * * Fowler, Will.", "''Santa Anna of Mexico'' (2009) excerpt and text search* Fowler-Salamini, Heather, and Mary Kay Vaughn, eds.", "''Women of the Mexican Countryside, 1850–1990: Creating Spaces, Shaping Transition'' (1994).", "* Green, Stanley C. ''The Mexican Republic: The First Decade, 1823–1832''.", "Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press 1987.", "* Hale, Charles A.", "''Mexican Liberalism in the Age of Mora, 1821–53''.", "Yale University Press (1968)* Hale, Charles A.", "''The Transformation of Liberalism in Late Nineteenth-Century Mexico''.", "Princeton University Press (1989)* Hamill, Hugh.", "''The Hidalgo Revolt: Prelude to Mexican Independence''.", "Gainesville: University of Florida Press 1966.", "* Hamnett, Brian R. ''Juarez'' (1994)* Harvey, Robert.", "''Liberators: Latin America's Struggle For Independence, 1810–1830'' (John Murray, London, 2000).", "* Henderson, Timothy J.", "''The Mexican Wars for Independence'' (2010) excerpt and text search* Henderson, Timothy J.", "''A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States'' (2008) excerpt and text search* * Rodríguez O., Jaime E., ed.", "''The Independence of Mexico and the Creation of the New Nation''.", "Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications 69, 1989.", " Rodríguez O., Jaime E. ''\"We Are Now the True Spaniards\": Sovereignty, Revolution, Independence, and the Emergence of the Federal Republic of Mexico, 1808–1824'' (2012) excerpt and text search* * Scholes, Walter V. ''Mexican Politics during the Juárez Regime 1855–1872'' (University of Missouri Press, 1957)* Sinkin, Richard N. ''The Mexican Reform, 1856–1876: A Study in Liberal Nation-Building'' (University of Texas Press, 1979)* Stevens, Donald Fithian.", "''Origins of Instability in Early Republican Mexico''.", "Duke University Press 1991.", "* Tenenbaum, Barbara.", "''The Politics of Penury: Debts and Taxes in Mexico, 1821–1856'' University of New Mexico Press (1986)* Tutino, John.", "''From Insurrection to Revolution in Mexico: Social bases to agrarian violence, 1750–1940'' Princeton University Press (1986)* Van Young, Eric.", "''The Other Rebellion : popular violence, ideology, and the Mexican struggle for independence, 1810–1821'' Stanford University Press (2001)===Primary sources===* Raat, W. Dirk, ed.", "''Mexico: From Independence to Revolution, 1810–1910'' (1982), 308 pp; 26 scholarly articles & primary documents===Revolutionary era===* Golland, David Hamilton.", "\"Recent Works on the Mexican Revolution.\"", "''Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe'' 16.1 (2014).", "* Gonzales, Michael J.", "''The Mexican Revolution, 1910–1940'' (2002)* Hart, John Mason.", "''Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico Since the Civil War''.", "Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 2002.", "* Katz, Friedrich.", "''The Life and Times of Pancho Villa''.", "Stanford: Stanford University Press 1998.", "* Knight, Alan.", "''The Mexican Revolution, Volume 1: Porfirians, Liberals, and Peasants'' (1990); ''The Mexican Revolution, Volume 2: Counter-revolution and Reconstruction'' (1990); a standard scholarly history* Knight, Alan.", "\"The Mexican Revolution: Bourgeois?", "Nationalist?", "Or Just a 'Great Rebellion'?\"", "''Bulletin of Latin American Research'' (1985) 4#2 pp.", "1–37 in JTSOR* O'Malley, Ilene V. '' The Myth of the Revolution: Hero Cults and the Institutionalization of the Mexican State, 1920–1940'' (1986)* Richmond, Douglas W. and Sam W. Haynes. ''", "The Mexican Revolution: Conflict and Consolidation, 1910–1940'' (2013)* Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo.", "''The Great Rebellion: Mexico, 1905–1924'' (1980).", "* Snodgrass, Michael.", "''Deference and Defiance in Monterrey: Workers, Paternalism, and Revolution in Mexico, 1890–1950''.", "(Cambridge University Press, 2003) .", "* Tenorio-Trillo, Mauricio.", "''I Speak of the City: Mexico City at the Turn of the Twentieth Century''.", "Chicago: University of California 2012.", "* Vaughan, Mary Kay.", "''Cultural Politics in Revolution: Teachers, Peasants, and Schools in Mexico, 1930–1940''.", "Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1997.", "* Womack, John.", "''Zapata and the Mexican Revolution'' (1968)===Since 1940===* Alegre, Robert F. ''Railroad radicals in Cold War Mexico: Gender, class, and memory''.", "Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2013* Bratzel, John, et al.", "eds.", "''Latin America during World War II'' (2006) ch 2Camp, Roderic Ai.", "''Politics in Mexico: The Democratic Consolidation'' (5th ed.", "2006) Coerver, Don M., Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert Buffington, eds.", "''Mexico Today: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary History and Culture'' (2004) 621 pp excerpt and text search* Contreras, Joseph.", "''In the Shadow of the Giant: The Americanization of Modern Mexico'' (2009) excerpt and text search* Dent, David W. ''Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico'' (2002); since 1940; 376 pp* Hamilton, Nora.", "''Mexico, Political Social and Economic Evolution'' (2011)* Niblo, Stephen R. ''Mexico in the 1940s: Modernity, Politics, and Corruption'' (1999)* Preston, Julia, and Samuel Dillon.", "''Opening Mexico: The Making of a Democracy'' (2005) in-depth narrative by American journalists on post 1960 era.", "excerpt and text search===Historiography and memory===* * Boyer, Christopher R., ed.", "''Land between Waters: Environmental Histories of Modern Mexico'' (U. of Arizona Press, 2012).", "328 pp.", "online review* Brienen, Rebecca P., and Margaret A. Jackson, es.", "''Invasion and Transformation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico'' (2008)* Chorba, Carrie C. ''Mexico, From Mestizo to Multicultural: National Identity and Recent Representations of the Conquest'' (2007) excerpt and text search* * Díaz-Maldonado, Rodrigo.", "\"National Identity Building in Mexican Historiography during the Nineteenth century: An Attempt at Synthesis.\"", "''Storia della storiografia'' 70.2 (2016): 73–93.", "* Gallegos, Laura Olivia Machuca, and Alejandro Tortolero Villaseñor.", "\"From haciendas to rural elites: Agriculture and economic development in the historiography of rural Mexico.\"", "''Historia agraria: Revista de agricultura e historia rural'' 81 (2020): 31–62.online* Garrigan, Shelley E. ''Collecting Mexico: Museums, Monuments, and the Creation of National Identity''(University of Minnesota Press; 2012) 233 pp; scholarly analysis of Mexico's self-image, 1867–1910, using public monuments, fine-arts collecting, museums, and Mexico's representation at the Paris world's fair* Golland, David Hamilton.", "\"Recent Works on the Mexican Revolution.\"", "''Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe'' 16.1 (2014).", "* * * Krauze, Enrique.", "''Mexico: Biography of Power.''", "Harper Perennial (1998)* Lomnitz, Claudio.", "''Deep Mexico, Silent Mexico: An Anthropology of Nationalism'' (University of Minnesota Press 2001)* Pick, Zuzana M. ''Constructing the Image of the Mexican Revolution: Cinema and the Archive'' (University of Texas Press, 2011) online review* Troyan, Bret.", "\"Mexico\" in * Weber, David J.", "\"The Spanish Borderlands, Historiography Redux.\"", "''The History Teacher'', 39#1 (2005), pp.", "43–56., online.", "* Young, Eric Van.", "''Writing Mexican History'' (Stanford University Press; 2012)" ], [ "External links", "* \"Historical Text Archive\" 160 articles by scholars* Hernán Cortés: Página de relación* Brown University Library: Three for Three Million –-Information about the Paul R. Dupee Jr. '65 Mexican History Collection in the John Hay Library, including maps and photos of books.", "* Economic Struggles of the 80s from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives* Embattled Country from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives* Old Mexico: Vintage Photos – slideshow by ''Life magazine''* Mexico: From Empire to Revolution –-Photographs from the Getty Research Institute's collections exploring Mexican history and culture though images produced between 1857 and 1923.", "* A Continent Divided: The U.S.-Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington* Civilizations in America –- An overview of Mexican civilization.", "* Time Line of Mexican History –- A Pre-Columbian History timeline and a timeline of Mexico after the arrival of the Spanish.", "* History of Mexico at The History Channel* C.M.", "Mayo's blog for researchers of Mexico's Second Empire, a period also known as the French Intervention*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "With a population of about 129 million in 2022, Mexico is the 10th most populated country in the world.", "It is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world and the third-most populous country in the Americas after the United States and Brazil.", "Throughout most of the 20th century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth.", "Although this tendency has been reversed and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress; Mexico still has a large youth cohort.", "The most populous city in the country is the capital, Mexico City, with a population of 8.9 million (2016), and its metropolitan area is also the most populated with 20.1 million (2010).", "Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country.", "In total, about 78.84% of the population of the country lives in urban areas, and only about 21.16% in rural ones.Demographic censuses are performed by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica.", "The National Population Council (CONAPO) is an institution under the Ministry of Interior in charge of the analysis and research of population dynamics.", "The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), also undertakes research and analysis of the sociodemographic and linguistic indicators of the indigenous peoples." ], [ "Demographic dynamics", "''Mestiza'' woman clad in indigenous clothesHistorical population of Mexicolang=enMexican states by population densityEstimates vary for the Pre-Columbian population of Mexico from 1.5 million to 21 million., but the most accepted figure is about 11 million people, including the population of the Aztec Empire which is estimated at 5 to 6 million people.", "The population was estimated to have been 1-2 million in 1600 and in 1700, the population was estimated to be around 4 million.In 1900, the Mexican population was 13.6 million.", "During the period of economic prosperity that was dubbed by economists as the \"Mexican Miracle\", the government invested in efficient social programs that reduced the infant mortality rate and increased life expectancy.", "These measures jointly led to an intense demographic increase between 1930 and 1980.The population's annual growth rate has been reduced from a 3.5% peak in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005.While Mexico is now transitioning to the third phase of demographic transition, close to 50% of the population in 2009 was 25 years old or younger.", "Fertility rates have also decreased from 5.7 children per woman in 1976 to 2.2 in 2006.After decades of the gap narrowing, in 2020 the fertility rate in Mexico fell below the United States for the first time falling 22% in 2020 and a further 10.5% in the first half of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The average annual population growth rate of Mexico City was 0.2%.", "The state with the lowest population growth rate over the same period was Michoacán (-0.1%), whereas the states with the highest population growth rates were Quintana Roo (4.7%) and Baja California Sur (3.4%), both of which are two of the least populous states and the last to be admitted to the Union in the 1970s.", "The average annual net migration rate of Mexico City over the same period was negative and the lowest of all political divisions of Mexico, whereas the states with the highest net migration rate were Quintana Roo (2.7), Baja California (1.8) and Baja California Sur (1.6).", "While the national annual growth rate was still positive (1.0%) in the early years of the 2000s, the national net migration rate was negative (-4.75/1000 inhabitants), given the former strong flow of immigrants to the United States; an estimated 5.3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants lived in the United States in 2004 and 18.2 million American citizens in the 2000 Census declared having Mexican ancestry.", "However, as of recent years in the 2010s, the net migration rate reached 0, given the strong economy of Mexico, changes in US Immigration Policy & Enforcement, US Legislative and CFR-8 decisions, plus the (then) slowly recovering US economy, causing many of its former residents to return.", "The Mexican government projects that the Mexican population will grow to about 123 million by 2042 and then start declining slowly.", "Assumptions underlying this projection include fertility stabilizing at 1.85 children per woman and continued high net emigration (slowly decreasing from 583,000 in 2005 to 393,000 in 2050).The states and Mexico City that make up the Mexican federation are collectively called \"federal entities\".", "The five most populous federal entities in 2005 were the State of Mexico (14.4 million), Mexico City (8.7 million), Veracruz (7.1 million), Jalisco (6.7 million) and Puebla (5.4 million), which collectively contain 40.7% of the national population.", "Mexico City, being coextensive with the Mexico City, is the most populous city in the country, while Greater Mexico City, that includes the adjacent municipalities that comprise a metropolitan area, is estimated to be the second most populous in the world (after Tokyo), according to the UN Urbanization Report.Intense population growth in the northern states, especially along the US-Mexican border, changed the country's demographic profile in the second half of the 20th century, as the 1967 US-Mexico maquiladora agreement through which all products manufactured in the border cities could be imported duty-free to the US.", "Since the adoption of NAFTA in 1994, however, which allows all products to be imported duty-free regardless of their place of origin within Mexico, the non-border maquiladora share of exports has increased while that of border cities has decreased.", "This has led to decentralization and rapid economic growth in Mexican states (and cities), such as Quintana Roo (Cancun), Baja California Sur (La Paz), Nuevo León (Monterrey), Querétaro, and Aguascalientes.", "The population of each of these five states grew by more than one-third from 2000 to 2015, while the whole of Mexico grew by 22.6% in this period.===UN estimates===Mexico's population pyramid (2017)According to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects, the total population was 117,886,000 in 2010, compared to only 28,296,000 in 1950.The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 30%, 64% of the population was between 15 and 65 years of age, and 6% was 65 years or older.Total population (x 1000)Proportionaged 0–14(%)Proportionaged 15–64(%)Proportionaged 65+(%) 195028 29642.554.13.5 195533 40144.552.23.3 196038 67745.950.83.4 196545 33946.849.63.5 197052 98846.649.73.7 197561 70846.250.13.7 198070 35344.751.53.8 198577 85942.153.93.9 199086 07738.557.24.3 199595 39335.959.64.5 2000103 87434.161.04.9 2005110 73232.362.45.3 2010117 88630.064.06.0 2015127 01727.665.96.5 2020134 83725.666.97.6=== Structure of the population ===Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 12.VI.2010) (Including an estimation of 1 334 585 persons corresponding to 448 195 housing units without information of the occupants.", "):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 54 855 231 57 481 307 112 336 538 100 0–4 5 346 943 5 181 379 10 528 322 9.37 5–9 5 604 175 5 443 362 11 047 537 9.83 10–14 5 547 613 5 392 324 10 939 937 9.74 15–19 5 520 121 5 505 991 11 026 112 9.82 20–24 4 813 204 5 079 067 9 892 271 8.81 25–29 4 205 975 4 582 202 8 788 177 7.82 30–34 4 026 031 4 444 767 8 470 798 7.54 35–39 3 964 738 4 328 249 8 292 987 7.38 40–44 3 350 322 3 658 904 7 009 226 6.24 45–49 2 824 364 3 104 366 5 928 730 5.28 50–54 2 402 451 2 661 840 5 064 291 4.51 55–59 1 869 537 2 025 828 3 895 365 3.47 60–64 1 476 667 1 639 799 3 116 466 2.77 65–69 1 095 273 1 221 992 2 317 265 2.06 70–74 873 893 1 000 041 1 873 934 1.67 75–79 579 689 665 794 1 245 483 1.11 80–84 355 277 443 659 798 936 0.71 85–89 197 461 256 703 454 164 0.40 90–94 68 130 96 794 164 924 0.15 95–99 25 920 39 812 65 732 0.06 100+ 7 228 11 247 18 475 0.02Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 16 498 731 16 017 065 32 515 796 28.94 15–64 34 453 410 37 031 013 71 484 423 63.63 65+ 3 202 871 3 736 042 6 938 913 6.18 unknown 700 219 697 187 1 397 406 1.24Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 15.III.2020) (Including an estimation of 6 337 751 persons corresponding to 1 588 422 housing units without information of the occupants.", "):Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 61 473 390 64 540 634 126 014 024 100 0–4 5 077 482 4 969 883 10 047 365 7.97 5–9 5 453 091 5 311 288 10 764 379 8.54 10–14 5 554 260 5 389 280 10 943 540 8.68 15–19 5 462 150 5 344 540 10 806 690 8.57 20–24 5 165 884 5 256 211 10 422 095 8.27 25–29 4 861 404 5 131 597 9 993 001 7.93 30–34 4 527 726 4 893 101 9 420 827 7.47 35–39 4 331 530 4 668 746 9 020 276 7.15 40–44 4 062 304 4 441 282 8 503 586 6.74 45–49 3 812 344 4 130 069 7 942 413 6.30 50–54 3 332 163 3 705 360 7 037 532 5.58 55–59 2 692 976 3 002 982 5 695 958 4.52 60–64 2 257 862 2 563 200 4 821 062 3.82 65–69 1 706 850 1 938 227 3 645 077 2.89 70–74 1 233 492 1 413 848 2 647 340 2.10 75–79 847 898 966 684 1 814 582 1.43 80–84 523 812 651 552 1 175 364 0.93 85+ 433 968 605 583 1 039 551 0.82Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 16 084 833 15 670 451 31 755 284 25.20 15–64 40 506 343 43 157 097 83 663 440 66.39 65+ 4 746 020 5 575 894 10 321 914 8.19 unknown 136 194 137 192 273 386 0.22" ], [ "Vital statistics", "===Registered births and deaths===Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI)Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) Crude migration change (per 1000)TFR 1936 1937 1938 1939 194019,763,000 194120,208,000 194220,657,000 194321,165,000 194421,674,000 194522,233,000 194622,779,000994,838442,935551,90343.719.424.3 194723,440,0001,079,816390,087689,72946.116.629.5 194824,129,0001,090,867407,708683,15944.716.927.8 194924,833,0001,109,446438,970670,47646.017.728.3 195028,296,0001,174,947418,430756,51741.514.826.7 195129,110,0001,183,788458,238725,55040.715.724.9 195229,980,0001,195,209408,823786,38639.913.626.2 195330,904,0001,261,775446,127815,64840.814.426.4 195431,880,0001,339,837378,752961,08542.011.930.1 195532,906,0001,377,917407,522970,39541.912.429.5 195633,978,0001,427,722368,7401,058,98242.010.931.2 195735,095,0001,485,202414,5451,070,65742.311.830.5 195836,253,0001,447,578404,5291,043,04939.911.228.8 195937,448,0001,589,606396,9241,192,68242.410.631.8 0.1 196038,677,0001,608,174402,5451,205,62941.610.431.2 0.6 196139,939,0001,647,006388,8571,258,14941.29.731.5 0.1 196241,234,0001,705,481403,0461,302,43541.49.831.6 -0.2 196342,564,0001,756,624412,8341,343,79041.39.731.6 -0.3 196443,931,0001,849,408408,2751,441,13342.19.332.8 -1.7 196545,339,0001,888,171404,1631,484,00841.68.932.7 -1.7 196646,784,0001,954,340424,1411,530,19941.89.132.7 -1.9 196748,264,0001,981,363420,2981,561,06541.18.732.3 -1.7 196849,788,0002,058,251452,9101,605,34141.39.132.2 -1.7 196951,361,0002,037,561458,8861,578,67539.78.930.7 -0.1 197052,988,0002,132,630485,6561,646,97440.29.231.1 -0.4 197154,669,0002,231,399458,3231,773,07640.88.432.4 -1.7 197256,396,0002,346,002476,2061,869,79641.68.433.2 -2.6 197358,156,0002,572,287458,9152,113,37244.27.936.3 -6.3 197459,931,0002,522,580433,1042,089,47642.17.234.9 -5.4 197561,708,0002,254,497435,8881,818,60936.57.129.5 -0.7 197663,486,0002,366,305455,6601,910,64537.37.230.1 -2.1 5.7 197765,261,0002,379,327450,4541,928,87336.56.929.6 -2.4 197867,013,0002,346,862418,3811,928,48135.06.228.8 -2.7 197968,715,0002,274,267428,2171,846,05033.16.226.9 -2.1 198070,353,0002,446,238434,4652,011,77334.86.228.6 -5.4 198171,916,0002,530,662424,2742,106,38835.25.929.3 -7.7 4.6 198273,416,0002,392,849412,3451,980,50432.65.627.0 -6.7 198374,880,0002,609,088413,4032,195,68534.85.529.3 -10.0 198476,351,0002,511,894410,5502,101,34432.95.427.5 -8.4 198577,859,0002,655,671414,0032,241,66834.15.328.8 -9.6 198679,410,0002,577,045400,0792,176,96632.55.027.4-8.0 198780,999,0002,794,390400,2802,394,11034.54.929.6 -10.0 3.8 198882,635,0002,622,031412,9872,209,04431.75.026.7-7.1 198984,327,0002,620,262423,3042,196,95831.15.026.1-6.1 199086,077,0002,735,312422,8032,312,50931.84.926.9 -6.7 3.47 199187,890,0002,756,447411,1312,345,31631.44.726.7 -6.1 3.37 199289,758,0002,797,397409,8142,387,58331.24.626.6 -5.9 3.27 199391,654,0002,839,686416,3352,423,35131.04.526.4 -5.9 3.18 199493,542,0002,904,389419,074 2,485,31531.04.526.6 -6.5 3.10 199595,393,0002,750,444430,2782,320,16628.84.524.3 -5.0 3.02 199697,202,0002,707,718436,3212,271,39727.94.523.4-4.8 2.95 199798,969,0002,698,425440,4372,257,98827.34.522.8-5.1 2.88 1998100,679,0002,668,429444,6652,223,76426.54.422.1 -5.2 2.82 1999102,317,0002,769,089443,9502,325,13927.14.322.7-6.8 2.77 2000103,874,0002,798,339437,6672,360,67226.94.222.7 -7.9 2.72 2001105,340,0002,767,610443,1272,324,48326.34.222.1 -8.3 2.67 2002106,724,0002,699,084459,6872,239,39725.34.321.0-8.1 2.62 2003108,056,0002,655,894472,1402,183,75424.64.420.2-8.0 2.58 2004109,382,0002,625,056473,4172,151,63924.04.319.7 -7.6 2.54 2005110,732,0002,567,906495,2402,072,66623.24.518.7 -6.6 2.50 2006112,117,0002,505,939494,4712,011,46822.44.417.9 -5.7 2.46 2007113,530,0002,655,083514,4202,140,66323.44.518.9 -6.5 2.42 2008114,968,0002,636,110539,5302,096,58022.94.718.2 -5.8 2.39 2009116,423,0002,577,214564,6732,012,54122.14.917.3 -4.8 2.36 2010114,255,0002,643,908592,0182,051,89023.15.217.9 -36.2 2.34 2011115,683,0002,586,287590,6931,995,59422.35.117.2 -5.5 2.32 2012 117,054,000 2,498,880602,3541,896,526 21.35.116.2 -4.5 2.29 2013 118,395,000 2,478,889623,5991,855,290 20.95.315.6 -4.4 2.27 2014 119,713,000 2,463,420633,6411,829,779 20.55.315.2 -4.3 2.24 2015 121,005,000 2,353,596655,6941,697,902 19.45.414.0 -3.4 2.22 2016 122,298,000 2,293,708685,7631,607,945 18.85.613.2-2.62.19 2017 123,415,000 2,234,039703,0471,530,992 18.15.812.3-3.4 2.17 2018 124,738,000 2,162,535722,6111,439,924 17.35.811.5 -0.92.14 2019 125,930,000 2,092,214747,7841,344,430 16.55.910.6-1.2 2.09 2020 126,014,0241,629,2111,086,743542,46812.98.64.3 -3.6 1.63(e) 2021 126,705,1381,912,1781,122,249789,92915.18.86.3 -0.81.91(e) 2022 1,891,388841,3181,050,07014.86.58.3 ===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January – June 2022''' 444,532 '''January – June 2023''' 401,479 '''Difference''' -43,053 (-9.69%) ===Estimates===The following estimates were prepared by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informatica:Life expectancy in Mexico since 1893Life expectancy in Mexico since 1960 by genderCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate 1976 5.7 1981 4.4 1987 3.8 199027.95.622.33.4 199127.55.522.03.3 199227.15.421.73.2 199326.85.321.53.1 199426.35.221.13.0 199525.95.220.73.0 199625.45.120.32.9 199724.85.119.72.8 199824.35.119.22.8 199923.95.118.82.7 200023.45.118.32.6 200123.05.117.92.6 200222.65.117.52.6 200322.25.217.02.5 200421.85.216.62.5 200521.55.216.32.5 200621.15.315.82.4 200720.85.315.52.4 200820.45.415.02.3 200920.15.514.62.3 201019.75.614.12.3 201119.45.613.82.3 201219.25.713.52.2 201319.05.713.32.2 201418.75.713.02.2 201518.55.712.82.2 201618.35.812.52.2=== Life expectancy from 1893 to 1950 ===Life expectancy in Mexico from 1893 to 1950.Source: Our World In DataYears189318941895189618971898189919001901190219031904190519061907190819091910Life expectancy in Mexico23.326.629.528.826.227.025.025.026.728.428.729.126.827.828.028.729.228.0Years1920192219231924192519261927192819291930Life expectancy in Mexico34.032.633.532.832.134.240.334.535.434.0Years1931193219331934193519361937193819391940Life expectancy in Mexico37.738.437.338.240.438.336.839.445.539.0Years1941194219431944194519461947194819491950Life expectancy in Mexico42.639.842.843.244.244.846.348.345.850.7===UN estimates===The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.PeriodLive birthsper yearDeathsper yearNatural changeper yearCBRCDRNCTFRIMRLife expectancy totalLife expectancy malesLife expectancy females 1950–1955 1 469 000 509 000 959 00048.316.731.66.7512150.748.952.5 1955–1960 1 675 000 483 0001 193 00046.613.533.16.7810255.353.357.3 1960–1965 1 878 000 481 0001 397 00044.611.533.16.758858.556.460.6 1965–1970 2 147 000 510 0001 637 00043.610.433.26.758060.358.262.5 1970–1975 2 434 000 521 0001 913 00043.79.234.56.716962.660.165.2 1975–1980 2 406 000 490 0001 916 00037.27.529.75.405765.362.268.6 1980–1985 2 352 000 470 0001 882 00032.36.326.04.374767.764.471.2 1985–1990 2 385 000 466 0001 919 00029.75.724.03.754069.866.873.0 1990–1995 2 493 000 470 0002 022 00027.45.222.33.233371.869.074.6 1995–2000 2 535 000 471 0002 064 00025.24.820.52.852873.371.376.1 2000–2005 2 449 000 492 0001 958 00023.04.618.42.612175.172.477.4 2005–2010 2 355 000 513 0001 841 00020.74.616.12.401775.173.778.6 2010–2015 2 353 000 579 0001 774 00019.44.814.674.9 2015–2020 2 291 000 635 0001 656 00017.64.912.774.9 2020–2025 2 206 000 699 0001 507 00016.05.111.0 2025–2030 2 105 000 773 0001 332 00014.65.49.2 2030–2035 2 014 000 860 0001 154 00013.45.77.7 2035–2040 1 936 000 960 000976 00012.56.26.3 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)" ], [ "International migration", "===Immigration to Mexico=== Place Foreign-born population in Mexico 2020 1 797,266 2 56,810 3 52,948 4 36,234 5 35,361 6 25,976 7 20,763 8 19,736 9 18,693 10 12,439 11 10,547 12 9,080 13 8,689 14 8,670 15 6,860 16 6,619 17 6,532 18 5,895 19 5,731 20 5,539 21 5,339 22 4,030 23 3,995 24 3,803 25 2,849 26 2,813 27 2,706 28 2,656 29 2,505 30 2,321 31 1,916 32 1,439 Other countries 25,492'''TOTAL''''''1,212,252'''Source: INEGI (2020)Niños de Santa Rosa (Children of Santa Rosa), children from Poland, orphaned due to World War II.Central American migrant caravans Migrants looking for routes on a map of Mexico, November 2018Aside from the original Spanish colonists, many Europeans immigrated to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.", "Non-Spanish immigrant groups included British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch.", "Large numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants arrived in Mexico during the same period, mostly from Syria and Lebanon.", "Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese, some via the United States, settled in northern Mexico, whereas Koreans settled in central Mexico.During the 1970s and 1980s Mexico opened its doors to immigrants from Latin America, mainly political refugees from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Colombia and Central America.", "The PRI governments, in power for most of the 20th century, had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries.", "A second wave of immigrants has come to Mexico as a result of the economic crises experienced by some countries in the region.", "The Argentine community is quite significant estimated to be somewhere between 11,000 and 30,000.Due to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the resulting economic decline and high unemployment in Spain, many Spaniards have been emigrating to Mexico to seek new opportunities.", "For example, during the last quarter of 2012, a number of 7,630 work permits were granted to Spaniards.Mexico is also the country where the largest number of American citizens live abroad, with Mexico City playing host to the largest number of American citizens abroad in the world.", "The American Citizens Abroad Association estimated in 1999 that a little more than one million Americans live in Mexico (which represent 1% of the population in Mexico and 25% of all American citizens living abroad).", "This immigration phenomenon could well be explained by the interaction of both countries under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but also by the fact that Mexico has become a popular destination for retirees, especially the small towns: just in the State of Guanajuato, in San Miguel de Allende and its surroundings, 10,000 Americans have their residence.Discrepancies between the figures of official legal aliens and all foreign-born residents is quite large.", "The official figure for foreign-born residents in Mexico in 2000 was 493,000, with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (except Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America).", "The six states with the most immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Mexico City (11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3%).===Emigration from Mexico===Trend of Mexican migration to the United States.", "Here the term immigrant refers to those who were not born in the U.S. but are now currently residing in the U.S.", "This can include naturalized U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, employees and students on visas, and the undocumented.The national net migration rate of Mexico is negative, estimated at 1.8 migrants per 1,000 population .The great majority of Mexican emigrants have moved to the United States of America.", "This migration phenomenon is not new, but it has been a defining feature in the relationship of both countries for most of the 20th century.", "During World Wars I and II, the United States government approved the recruitment of Mexican workers in their territory, and tolerated unauthorized migration to obtain additional farm- and industrial-workers to fill the necessary spots vacated by the population in war, and to supply the increase in the demand for labor.", "Nonetheless, the United States unilaterally ended the wartime programs – in part as a result of arguments from labor and from civil-rights groups.The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the fourth busiest border checkpoint in the world.", "Most traffic is related to commerce or day workers, rather than immigration.In spite of that, emigration of Mexicans continued throughout the rest of the 20th century at varying rates.", "It grew significantly during the 1990s and continued to do so in the first years of the 2000s.", "In fact, it has been estimated that 37% of all Mexican immigrants to the United States in the 20th century arrived during the 1990s.", "In 2000 approximately 20 million American residents identified themselves as either Mexican, Mexican-Americans or of Mexican origin, making \"Mexican\" the sixth-most cited ancestry of all US residents.In 2000 the INEGI estimated that about eight million Mexican-born people, which then was equivalent to 8.7% of the population of Mexico itself, lived in the United States of America.", "In that year, the Mexican states sending the greatest numbers of emigrants to the United States were Jalisco (170,793), Michoacán (165,502), and Guanajuato (163,338); the total number of Mexican emigrants to the United States in 2000, both legal and illegal, was estimated at 1,569,157; the great majority of these were men.", "Approximately 30% of emigrants come from rural communities.", "In 2000, 260,650 emigrants returned to Mexico.", "According to the Pew Hispanic Center in 2006, an estimated ten percent of all Mexican citizens lived in the United States.", "The population of Mexican immigrants residing illegally in the United States fell from around seven million in 2007 to about 6.1 million in 2011.This trajectory has been linked to the economic downturn which started in 2008 and which reduced available jobs, and to the introduction of stricter immigration laws in many States.", "According to the Pew Hispanic Center the total number of Mexican-born people had stagnated in 2010 and then began to fall.After the Mexican-American community, Mexican Canadians are the second-largest group of emigrant Mexicans, with a population of over 50,000.A significant but unknown number of mestizos of Mexican descent migrated to the Philippines during the era of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, when the Philippines was a territory under the rule of Mexico city.", "Mexicans live throughout Latin America as well as in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.Emigration list from MexicoMexican residents in the world by countriesCountryPopulationPositionContinent36,300,0001North America90,5852North America56,7573Europe14,4814North America13,3775South America8,8486Europe6,7507South America5,1258Europe4,8729Oceania4,60110Europe4,25211Asia3,75812Europe3,48513Europe3,07514South America2,79415Europe2,34916North America2,32717North America2,29918North America2,28619South America1,87420South America1,77821South AmericaThe list includes also temporary residents (1–3 years' stay)" ], [ "Cities and metropolitan areas", "===Settlements, cities and municipalities===Most populated municipalities 200px ''Municipality of Guadalajara'' Municipality Pop.", "(2005) Ecatepec de Morelos 1,688,258 Guadalajara 1,600,940 Puebla 1,485,941 Tijuana1,410,700 León 1,325,210 Juárez 1,313,338In 2005 Mexico had 187,938 ''localidades'' (lit.", "\"localities\" or \"settlements\"), which are census-designated places, which could be defined as a small town, a large city, or simply as a single unit housing in a rural area whether situated remotely or close to an urban area.", "A city is defined to be a settlement with more than 2,500 inhabitants.", "In 2005 there were 2,640 cities with a population between 2,500 and 15,000 inhabitants, 427 with a population between 15,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, 112 with a population between 100,000 and one million, and 11 with a population of more than one million.", "All cities are considered \"urban areas\" and represent 76.5% of total population.", "Settlements with less than 2,500 inhabitants are considered \"rural communities\" (in fact, more than 80,000 of those settlements have only one or two housing units).", "Rural population in Mexico is 22.2% of total population.Municipalities (''municipios'' in Spanish) and boroughs (''delegaciones'' in Spanish) are incorporated places in Mexico, that is, second or third-level political divisions with internal autonomy, legally prescribed limits, powers and functions.", "In terms of second-level political divisions there are 2,438 municipalities and Mexico and 16 semi-autonomous boroughs (all within the Federal District).", "A municipality can be constituted by one or more cities one of which is the ''cabecera municipal'' (municipal seat).", "Cities are usually contained within the limits of a single municipality, with a few exceptions in which small areas of one city may extend to other adjacent municipalities ''without'' incorporating the city which serves as the municipal seat of the adjacent municipality.", "Some municipalities or cities within municipalities are further divided into ''delegaciones'' or boroughs.", "However, unlike the boroughs of the Federal District, these are third-level administrative divisions; they have very limited autonomy and no elective representatives.Municipalities in central Mexico are usually very small in area and thus coextensive with cities (as is the case of Guadalajara, Puebla and León), whereas municipalities in northern and southeastern Mexico are much larger and usually contain more than one city or town that may not necessarily conform a single urban agglomeration (as is the case of Tijuana).===Metropolitan areas===Ajuchitlán del Progreso, a Nahua area, (2021).A metropolitan area in Mexico is defined to be the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city.", "In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO, INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:* the group of two or more municipalities in which a city with a population of at least 50,000 is located whose urban area extends over the limit of the municipality that originally contained the core city incorporating either physically or under its area of direct influence other adjacent predominantly urban municipalities all of which have a high degree of social and economic integration or are relevant for urban politics and administration; or* a single municipality in which a city of a population of at least one million is located and fully contained, (that is, it does not transcend the limits of a single municipality); or* a city with a population of at least 250,000 which forms a conurbation with other cities in the United States of America.In 2004 there were 55 metropolitan areas in Mexico, in which close to 53% of the country's population lives.", "The most populous metropolitan area in Mexico is the ''Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico'', or Greater Mexico City, which in 2005 had a population of 19.23 million, or 19% of the nation's population.", "The next four largest metropolitan areas in Mexico are Greater Guadalajara (4.1 million), Greater Monterrey (3.7 million), Greater Puebla (2.1 million) and Greater Toluca (1.6 million), whose added population, along with Greater Mexico City, is equivalent to 30% of the nation's population.", "Greater Mexico City was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country since the 1930s until the late 1980s.", "Since then, the country has slowly become economically and demographically less centralized.", "From 2000 to 2005 the average annual growth rate of Greater Mexico City was the lowest of the five largest metropolitan areas, whereas the fastest growing metropolitan area was Puebla (2.0%) followed by Monterrey (1.9%), Toluca (1.8%) and Guadalajara (1.8%)." ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "The Mexican mestizo population is the most diverse of all the mestizo groups of Latin America, with its mestizos being either largely European or Amerindian rather than having a uniform admixture.", "Distribution of Admixture Estimates for Individuals from Mexico City and Quetalmahue (indigenous community in Chile).Regional variation of ancestry according to a study made by Ruiz-Linares in 2014, each dot represents a volunteer, with most coming from south Mexico and Mexico City.Trivate for ancestry, from the same study as the image above.Demographic statistics according to the 2022 World Population Review.", "One birth every 15 seconds\tOne death every 39 seconds\tOne net migrant every 9 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 24 secondsDemographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.===Median age===:total: 29.3 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 132nd:male: 28.2 years:female: 30.4 years (2020 est.", "):total: 28.6 years Country comparison to the world: 135th:male: 27.5 years:female: 29.7 years (2018 est.", ")===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:73.1% (2018):66.9% (2015)===Mother's mean age at first birth===:21.3 years (2008 est.", ")===Major infectious diseases===:degree of risk: intermediate (2020):food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A:vectorborne diseases: dengue fevernote: a new coronavirus is causing sustained community spread of respiratory illness (COVID-19) in Mexico; sustained community spread means that people have been infected with the virus, but how or where they became infected is not known, and the spread is ongoing; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported; as of June 6, 2022, Mexico has reported a total of 5,782,405 cases of COVID-19 or 4,484.8 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with a total of 324,966 cumulative deaths or a rate of 252 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of May 20, 2022, 66.68% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine===Dependency ratios===:total dependency ratio: 51.4 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 41.6 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 9.8 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 10.2 (2015 est.", ")===Urbanization===:urban population: 81.3% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.", "):urban population: 80.2% of total population (2018):rate of urbanization: 1.59% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.", ")===Obesity – adult prevalence rate===:28.9% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 29th===Children under the age of 5 years underweight===:4.7% (2018/19) Country comparison to the world: 80th:4.2% (2016) Country comparison to the world: 87th===Education expenditures===:4.3% of GDP (2018) Country comparison to the world: 92nd:5.2% of GDP (2015) Country comparison to the world: 59th===Literacy===definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.", "):total population: 95.2%:male: 96.1%:female: 94.5% (2020)===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 15 years:male: 15 years:female: 15 years (2019)===Unemployment, youth ages 15–24===:total: 8.1%:male: 7.8%:female: 8.7% (2020 est.)" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "Map of Genetic Studies of MexicoChildren from the American Institute school in Monterrey mimic the pose of Inuit artist Bill Nasogaluak's Inukshuk.Mexico is ethnically diverse.", "The second article of the Mexican Constitution defines the country to be a pluricultural state originally based on its indigenous peoples.Regardless of ethnicity, the majority of Mexicans are united under the same national identity.", "This is the product of an ideology strongly promoted by Mexican academics such as Manuel Gamio and José Vasconcelos known as mestizaje, whose goal was that of Mexico becoming a racially and culturally homogeneous country.", "The ideology's influence was reflected in Mexico's national censuses of 1921 and 1930: in the former, which was Mexico's first-ever national census (but second-ever if the census made in colonial times is taken into account) that considered race, approximately 60% of Mexico's population identified as Mestizos, and in the latter, Mexico's government declared that all Mexicans were now Mestizos, for which racial classifications would be dropped in favor of language-based ones in future censuses.", "During most of the 20th century these censuses' results were taken as fact, with extraofficial international publications often using them as a reference to estimate Mexico's racial composition, but in recent time historians and academics have claimed that said results are not accurate, as in its efforts to homogenize Mexico, the government inflated the Mestizo label's percentage by classifying a good number of people as such regardless of whether they were of actual mixed ancestry or not, pointing out that an alteration so drastic of population trends compared to earlier censuses such as New Spain's 1793 census (on which Europeans were estimated to be 18% to 22% of the population, Mestizos 21% to 25% and Indigenous peoples 51% to 61%) is not possible and that the frequency of marriages between people of different ancestries in colonial and early independent Mexico was low.", "It is also observed that when asked directly about their ethno-racial identification, many Mexicans nowadays do not identify as Mestizos, would not agree to be labeled as such, and that \"static\" ethnoracial labels such as \"White\" “Black” or \"Indian\" are far more prominent in contemporary Mexican society than the \"Mestizo\" one is, whose use is mostly limited to intellectual circles, a result of the label's constantly-changing and subjective definition.===Mestizo===President Porfirio Diaz was of Mestizo descentA large majority of Mexicans have been classified as \"Mestizos\", meaning in modern Mexican usage that they identify fully neither with any indigenous culture nor with a Spanish cultural heritage, but rather identify as having cultural traits incorporating elements from both indigenous and Spanish traditions.", "By the deliberate efforts of post-revolutionary governments, the \"Mestizo identity\" was constructed as the base of the modern Mexican national identity, through a process of cultural synthesis referred to as ''mestizaje'' .", "Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity upon this concept.Since the Mestizo identity promoted by the government is more of a cultural identity than a biological one it has achieved a strong influence in the country, a good number of phenotypically white people identifying with it, leading to being considered Mestizos in Mexico's demographic investigations and censuses due to the ethnic criteria having its base on cultural traits rather than biological ones.", "A similar situation occurs regarding the distinctions between Indigenous peoples and Mestizos: while the term ''Mestizo'' is sometimes used in English with the meaning of a person with mixed indigenous and European blood, In Mexican society an indigenous person can be considered mestizo.", "and a person with none or a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage.", "In the Yucatán peninsula the word Mestizo has a different meaning, with it being to refer to the Maya-speaking populations living in traditional communities, because during the caste war of the late 19th century those Maya who did not join the rebellion were classified as Mestizos.", "In Chiapas the word \"Ladino\" is used instead of mestizo.Diego Boneta Mexican actor and singer.Given that the word Mestizo has different meanings in Mexico, estimates of the Mexican Mestizo population vary widely.", "According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', which uses a biology-based approach, between one half and two-thirds of the Mexican population is Mestizo whereas a culture-based criteria estimates a percentage as high as 90%.", "Recent research based on self-identification nonetheless, has observed that many Mexicans do not identify as mestizos and would not agree to be labeled as such, with \"static\" racial labels such as White, Indian, Black etc.", "being more commonly used.Climate activist Xiye Bastida, daughter of an Otomi father and Celtic mother.The use of variated methods and criteria to quantify the number of Mestizos in Mexico is not new: Since several decades ago, many authors have analyzed colonial censuses data and have made different conjectures respecting the ethnic composition of the population of colonial Mexico/New Spain.", "There are Historians such as Gonzalo Aguirre-Beltrán who claimed in 1972 that practically the totality of New Spain's population, in reality, were Mestizos, using to back up his claims arguments such as that affairs of Spaniards with non-Europeans due to the alleged absence of female European immigrants were widespread as well as there being a huge desire of Mestizos to \"pass\" as Spaniards, this because Spanishness was seen as a symbol of high status.", "Other historians however, point that Aguirre-Beltran numbers tend to have inconsistencies and take too much liberties (it is pointed out in the book ''Ensayos sobre historia de la población.", "México y el Caribe 2'' published in 1998 that on 1646, when according to historic registers the mestizo population was of 1% he estimates it to be 16.6% already, with this being attributed to him interpreting the data in a way convenient for a historic narrative), often omitting data of New Spain's northern and western provinces.", "His self-made classifications thus, although could be plausible, are not useful for precise statistical analysis.", "According 21st-century historians, Aguirre Beltran also disregards facts such as the population dynamics of New Spain being different depending on the region at hand (i.e.", "miscegenation couldn't happen in a significant amount in regions on which the native population was openly hostile until early 20th century, such as most of New Spain's internal provinces, which nowadays are the northern and western regions of Mexico), or that historic accounts made by investigators at the time consistently observed that New Spain's European population was notoriously concerned with preserving their European heritage, with practices such as inviting relatives and friends directly from Spain or favoring Europeans for marriage even if they were from a lower socioeconomic level than them being common.", "Newer publications that do cite Aguirre-Beltran's work take those factors into consideration, stating that the Spaniard/Euromestizo/Criollo ethnic label was composed on its majority by descendants of Europeans albeit the category may have included people with some non-European ancestry.===Indigenous peoples===President Benito Juarez was of Zapotec ancestry.", "He became the first Amerindian president in the Americas.Prior to contact with Europeans the indigenous people of Mexico had not had any kind of shared identity.", "Indigenous identity was constructed by the dominant Euro-Mestizo majority and imposed upon the indigenous people as a negatively defined identity, characterized by the lack of assimilation into modern Mexico.", "Indigenous identity therefore became socially stigmatizing.", "Cultural policies in early post-revolutionary Mexico were paternalistic towards the indigenous people, with efforts designed to help indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as the rest of society, eventually assimilating indigenous peoples completely to Mestizo Mexican culture, working toward the goal of eventually solving the \"Indian problem\" by transforming indigenous communities into mestizo communities.Actress Yalitza Aparicio, daughter of a Mixtec father and Triqui mother.The category of \"indígena\" (indigenous) in Mexico has been defined based on different criteria throughout history.", "This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as \"indigenous\" varies according to the definition applied.", "It can be defined narrowly according to a linguistic criterion, including only persons that speak an Indigenous language.", "Based on this criterion, approximately 6.1% of the population is Indigenous.", "Nonetheless, activists for the rights of indigenous peoples have referred to the usage of this criterion for census purposes as \"statistical genocide.\"", "Other surveys made by the Mexican government do count as Indigenous all persons who speak an indigenous language and people who do not speak indigenous languages nor live in indigenous communities but self-identify as Indigenous.According to these criteria, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, or CDI in Spanish) and the INEGI (Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography), state that there are 15.7 million indigenous people in Mexico of many different ethnic groups, which constitute 14.9% of the population in the country.", "Finally, according to the latest intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government in 2015, Indigenous people make up 21.5% of Mexico's population.", "In this occasion, people who self-identified as \"Indigenous\" and people who self-identified as \"partially Indigenous\" were classified in the \"Indigenous\" category altogether.Largest indigenous peoples ''Mayas in Chiapas'' Group NumberNahua peoples (Nawatlaka)2,445,969Maya (Maaya)1,475,575Zapotec (Binizaa)777,253Mixtec (Ñuu sávi)726,601Otomí (Hñähñü)646,875Totonac (Tachihuiin)411,266Source: CDI (2000) The Mexican constitution not only recognizes the 62 indigenous peoples living in Mexican territory but also grants them autonomy and protects their culture and languages.", "This protection and autonomy is extended to those Amerindian ethnic groups which have migrated from the United States – like the Cherokees and Kickapoos — and Guatemala during the 19th and 20th centuries.", "Municipalities in which indigenous peoples are located can keep their normative traditional systems in relation to the election of their municipal authorities.", "This system is known as ''Usos y Costumbres'', roughly translated as \"customs and traditions\".According to official statistics —as reported by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples or CDI— Amerindians make up 10–14% of the country's population, more than half of them (5.4% of total population) speak an indigenous language and a tenth (1.2% of total population) do not speak Spanish.", "Official statistics of the CDI report that the states with the greatest percentage of people who speak an Amerindian language or identify as Amerindian are Yucatán (59%), Oaxaca (48%), Quintana Roo (39%), Chiapas (28%), Campeche (27%), Hidalgo (24%), Puebla (19%), Guerrero (17%), San Luis Potosí (15%) and Veracruz (15%).", "Oaxaca is the state with the greatest number of distinct indigenous peoples and languages in the country.===White Mexicans===Basque descent from Mexico City.White Mexicans are Mexican citizens of full or majority European descent.", "This ethnic group contrasts with the Afro-Mexican and Indigenous Mexican groups in the fact that phenotype (hair color, skin color etc.)", "is often used as the main criterion to delineate it.", "Spaniards and other Europeans began arriving in Mexico during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and continued immigrating to the country during colonial and independent Mexico.", "According to 20th- and 21st-century academics, large scale intermixing between the European immigrants and the native Indigenous peoples would produce a Mestizo group which would become the overwhelming majority of Mexico's population by the time of the Mexican revolution.", "However, according to church registers from the colonial times, the majority (73%) of Spanish men married with Spanish women.", "Said registers also put in question other narratives held by contemporary academics, such as European immigrants who arrived to Mexico being almost exclusively men or that \"pure Spanish\" people were all part of a small powerful elite as Spaniards were often the most numerous ethnic group in the colonial cities as there were menial workers and people in poverty who were of complete Spanish origin.Estimates of Mexico's white population differ greatly in both, methodology and percentages given, extra-official sources such as The World Factbook and Encyclopedia Britannica, which use the 1921 census results as the base of their estimations, calculate Mexico's White population as only 9% or between one tenth to one fifth (the results of the 1921 census, however, have been contested by various historians and deemed inaccurate).", "Surveys that account for phenotypical traits and have performed actual field research suggest rather higher percentages: using the presence of blond hair as reference to classify a Mexican as white, the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico calculated the percentage of said ethnic group at 23%.", "With a similar methodology, the American Sociological Association obtained a percentage of 18.8% having its higher frequency on the North region (22.3%–23.9%) followed by the Center region (18.4%–21.3%) and the South region (11.9%).Ricardo Peralta y Fabi mechanical engineer and former astronaut trainee.Another study made by the University College London in collaboration with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History found that the frequencies of blond hair and light eyes in Mexicans are of 18% and 28% respectively, surveys that use as reference skin color such as those made by Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination and Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography reported a percentages of 47% in 2010 and 49% in 2017 respectively.", "A study performed in hospitals of Mexico City reported that an average 51.8% of Mexican newborns presented the congenital skin birthmark known as the Mongolian spot.", "The Mongolian spot appears with a very high frequency (85–95%) in Asian, Native American, and African children.", "The skin lesion reportedly almost always appears on South American and Mexican children who are racially Mestizos, while having a very low frequency (5–10%) in Caucasian children.", "According to the Mexican Social Security Institute (shortened as IMSS) nationwide, around half of Mexican babies have the Mongolian spot.Mexico's northern and western regions have the highest percentages of European population, with the majority of the people not having native admixture or being of predominantly European ancestry, resembling in aspect that of northern Spaniards.", "In the north and west of Mexico, the indigenous populations were substantially smaller than those found in central and southern Mexico, and also much less organized, thus they remained isolated from the rest of the population or even in some cases were hostile towards Mexican colonists.", "The northeast region, in which the indigenous population was eliminated by early European settlers, became the region with the highest proportion of whites during the Spanish colonial period.", "However, recent immigrants from southern Mexico have been changing, to some degree, its demographic trends.A Mennonite family in Campeche.While the majority of European immigration to Mexico has been Spanish with the first wave starting with the colonization of America and the last one being a consequence of the Spanish Civil War of 1937, immigrants from other European countries have arrived to Mexico as well: during the Second Mexican Empire the immigration was mostly French, and during the late 19th and early 20th centuries spurred by government policies of Porfirio Díaz, migrants mainly from Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany followed taking advantage of the liberal policies then valid in Mexico and went into merchant, industrial and educational ventures while others arrived with no or limited capital, as employees or farmers.", "Most settled in Mexico City, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Puebla.", "Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after the First and Second World Wars.", "Additionally small numbers of White Americans, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Romanians, Russians and Ashkenazi Jews came.", "The European Jewish immigrants joined the Sephardic community that lived in Mexico since colonial times, though many lived as Crypto-Jews, mostly in the northern states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.", "Some communities of European immigrants have remained isolated from the rest of the general population since their arrival, among them the German-speaking Mennonites from Russia of Chihuahua and Durango, and the Venetos of Chipilo, Puebla, which have retained their original languages.However, ethnicity in Mexico is not as clear cut as it is in the English speaking world, and \"mestizos\" are somewhat prone to identifying as \"white\" if asked.", "According to Pew Research, 60% of Mexicans identify as white when asked about their race.===Afro-Mexicans===Afromestiza girls in Cuajinicuilapa, GuerreroVicente Guerrero, major figure during the late Mexican War of Independence and second President of Mexico, was an Afro-descendent through his mother.Afro-Mexicans are an ethnic group that predominate in certain areas of Mexico, such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and the Costa Chica of Guerrero, Veracruz (e.g.", "Yanga) and in some towns in northern Mexico.", "The existence of black people in Mexico is often unknown, denied or diminished both in Mexico and abroad for different reasons: their small numbers, continuous intermarriage and assimilation with non-African populations over various generations, as was often the case in Spanish territories and Mexico's tradition of defining itself as a \"mestizaje\" or mixing of European and indigenous.", "Mexico did have an active slave trade during the colonial period, but it wasn't as prominent as the one seen elsewhere in the Americas, which led to the number of free black people eventually surpassing that of enslaved ones.", "The institution was already in decay by the late 1700s and by the 19th century slavery and ethnic categorization at birth (see casta) have been abolished with the Mexican independence.", "After this the creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico's indigenous and European past, actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.The majority of Mexico's native Afro-descendants are ''Afromestizos.''", "Individuals with significantly high amounts of African ancestry make up a very low percentage of the total Mexican population, the majority being recent black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas.", "According to the Intercensal survey carried out by the Mexican government, Afro-Mexicans make up 2.4% of Mexico's population, the Afro-Mexican category in the Intercensal survey includes people who self-identified solely as African and people who self-identified as partially African.", "The survey also states that 64.9% (896,829) of Afro-Mexicans also identified as indigenous, with 9.3% being speakers of indigenous languages.A number of black Mexicans descend from recent immigrants from Haiti, Africa, and rest of the Caribbean.===Arab Mexicans===Susana Harp Mexican singer and currently serves as a senator.An Arab Mexican is a Mexican citizen of Arabic-speaking origin who can be of various ancestral origins.", "The vast majority of Mexico's 1.1 million Arabs are from either Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, or Palestinian background.The interethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity.", "As a result of this, the Arab community in Mexico shows marked language shift away from Arabic.", "Only a few speak any Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words.", "Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language.", "Today, the most common Arabic surnames in Mexico include Nader, Hayek, Ali, Haddad, Nasser, Malik, Abed, Mansoor, Harb and Elias.Arab immigration to Mexico started in the 19th and early 20th centuries.", "Roughly 100,000 Arabic-speakers settled in Mexico during this time period.", "They came mostly from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iraq and settled in significant numbers in Nayarit, Puebla, Mexico City and the northern part of the country (mainly in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango, as well as the city of Tampico and Guadalajara.", "The term \"Arab Mexican\" may include ethnic groups that do not in fact identify as Arab.Engineer Carlos SlimDuring the Israel-Lebanon war in 1948 and during the Six-Day War, thousands of Lebanese left Lebanon and went to Mexico.", "They first arrived in Veracruz.", "Although Arabs made up less than 5% of the total immigrant population in Mexico during the 1930s, they constituted half of the immigrant economic activity.Immigration of Arabs in Mexico has influenced Mexican culture, in particular food, where they have introduced Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and even created recipes such as ''Tacos Árabes''.", "By 1765, Dates, which originated from the Middle East, were introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards.", "The fusion between Arab and Mexican food has highly influenced the Yucatecan cuisine.Another concentration of Arab-Mexicans is in Baja California facing the U.S.-Mexican border, esp.", "in cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico, and Tijuana across from San Diego with a large Arab American community (about 280,000), some of whose families have relatives in Mexico.", "45% of Arab Mexicans are of Lebanese descent.The majority of Arab-Mexicans are Christians who belong to the Maronite Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches.", "A scant number are Muslims.===Asian Mexicans===Kavka Shishido drummer and vocalist.Although Asian Mexicans make up less than 1% of the total population of modern Mexico, they are nonetheless a notable minority.", "Due to the historical and contemporary perception in Mexican society of what constitutes Asian culture (associated with the Far East rather than the Near East), Asian Mexicans typically refers to those of East Asian descent, and may also include those of South and Southeast Asian descent.", "For Mexicans of West Asian descent, see the Middle Eastern Mexicans section.Asian immigration began with the arrival of Filipinos to Mexico during the Spanish period.", "For two and a half centuries, between 1565 and 1815, many Filipinos and Mexicans sailed to and from Mexico and the Philippines as sailors, crews, slaves, prisoners, adventurers and soldiers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Asia and the Americas.", "Also on these voyages, thousands of Asian individuals (mostly males) were brought to Mexico as slaves and were called \"Chino\", which means Chinese, although in reality they were of diverse origins, including Koreans, Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese, Cambodians, Timorese, and people from Bengal, India, Ceylon, Makassar, Tidore, Terenate, and China.", "A notable example is the story of Catarina de San Juan (Mirra), an Indian girl captured by the Portuguese and sold into slavery in Manila.", "She arrived in New Spain and eventually she gave rise to the \"China Poblana\".Luis Nishizawa was a Mexican artist.These early individuals are not very apparent in modern Mexico for two main reasons: the widespread ''mestizaje'' of Mexico during the Spanish period and the common practice of ''Chino'' slaves to \"pass\" as ''Indios'' (the indigenous people of Mexico) to attain freedom.", "As had occurred with a large portion of Mexico's black population, over generations the Asian populace was absorbed into the general Mestizo population.", "Facilitating this miscegenation was the assimilation of Asians into the indigenous population.", "The indigenous people were legally protected from chattel slavery, and by being recognized as part of this group, Asian slaves could claim they were wrongly enslaved.Asians, predominantly Chinese, became Mexico's fastest-growing immigrant group from the 1880s to the 1920s, exploding from about 1,500 in 1895 to more than 20,000 in 1910.===Romani Mexicans===Romani people have settled in Mexico since the colonial era.", "There are around 50,000 Vlax Romani in Mexico.===Official censuses===Arcelia Ramírez Mexican actressHistorically, population studies and censuses have never been up to the standards that a population as diverse and numerous such as Mexico's require: the first racial census was made in 1793, being also Mexico's (then known as New Spain) first ever nationwide population census.", "Since only part of its original datasets survive, most of what is known of it comes from essays made by researchers who back in the day used the census' findings as reference for their own works.", "More than a century would pass until the Mexican government conducted a new racial census in 1921 (some sources assert that the census of 1895 included a comprehensive racial classification; however, according to the historic archives of Mexico's National Institute of Statistics, that was not the case).", "While the 1921 census was the last time the Mexican government conducted a census that included a comprehensive racial classification, in recent years it has conducted nationwide surveys to quantify most of the ethnic groups who inhabit the country as well as the social dynamics and inequalities between them.====1793 census====Also known as the \"Revillagigedo census\" from the name of the Count who ordered that it be conducted, this census was the first nationwide population census of Mexico (then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain).", "Most of its original datasets have reportedly been lost, so most of what is known about it nowadays comes from essays and field investigations made by academics who had access to the census data and used it as reference for their works, such as Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt.", "Each author gives different estimations for each racial group in the country although they don't vary greatly, with Europeans ranging from 18% to 22% of New Spain's population, Mestizos from 21% to 25%, Indians from 51% to 61%, and Africans from 6,000 and 10,000.The estimations given for the total population range from 3,799,561 to 6,122,354.It is concluded then, that across nearly three centuries of colonization, the population growth trends of whites and mestizos were even, while the total percentage of the indigenous population decreased at a rate of 13%–17% per century.", "The authors assert that rather than whites and mestizos having higher birthrates, the reason for the indigenous population's numbers decreasing lies in their suffering higher mortality rates due to living in remote locations rather than in cities and towns founded by the Spanish colonists or in being at war with them.", "For the same reasons, the number of Indigenous Mexicans presents the greatest variation range between publications, as in some cases their numbers in a given location were estimated rather than counted, leading to possible overestimations in some provinces and possible underestimations in others.Intendecy or territoryEuropean population (%)Indigenous population (%)Mestizo population (%) México (only the State of Mexico and Mexico City) 16.9% 66.1% 16.7% Puebla 10.1% 74.3% 15.3% Oaxaca 06.3% 88.2% 05.2% Guanajuato 25.8% 44.0% 29.9% San Luis Potosí 13.0% 51.2% 35.7% Zacatecas 15.8% 29.0% 55.1% Durango 20.2% 36.0% 43.5% Sonora 28.5% 44.9% 26.4% Yucatán 14.8% 72.6% 12.3% Guadalajara 31.7% 33.3% 34.7% Veracruz 10.4% 74.0% 15.2% Valladolid 27.6% 42.5% 29.6% Nuevo México ~ 30.8% 69.0% Vieja California ~ 51.7% 47.9% Nueva California ~ 89.9% 09.8% Coahuila 30.9% 28.9% 40.0% Nuevo León 62.6% 05.5% 31.6% Nuevo Santander 25.8% 23.3% 50.8% Texas 39.7% 27.3% 32.4% Tlaxcala 13.6% 72.4% 13.8%~Europeans are included within the Mestizo category.Regardless of the possible inaccuracies related to the counting of Indigenous peoples living outside of the colonized areas, the effort that New Spain's authorities put into considering them as subjects is worth mentioning, as censuses made by other colonial or post-colonial countries did not consider American Indians to be citizens or subjects; for example, the censuses made by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata would only count the inhabitants of the colonized settlements.", "Another example is the censuses made by the United States, which did not include Indigenous peoples living among the general population until 1860, and indigenous peoples as a whole until 1900.====1921 census====Eulalio Gutiérrez (1881–1939), flanked by Francisco \"Pancho\" Villa (1878–1923) and Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919).", "Gutiérrez was appointed provisional President of Mexico by the Convention of Aguascalientes, a move that Venustiano Carranza (1859–1920) found intolerable.", "In the ensuing war, Obregón fought for Carranza against the convention.Made right after the consummation of the Mexican revolution, the social context in which this census was conducted makes it particularly unique, as the government of the time was in the process of rebuilding the country and was looking to unite all Mexicans in a single national identity.", "The 1921 census' final results in regards to race, which assert that 59.3% of the Mexican population self-identified as Mestizo, 29.1% as Indigenous, and only 9.8% as White, were then essential in cementing the ''mestizaje'' ideology (which asserts that the Mexican population as a whole is product of the admixture of all races), which shaped Mexican identity and culture through the 20th century and remains prominent nowadays, with extraofficial international publications such as ''The World Factbook'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' using the 1921 census as a reference to estimate Mexico's racial composition up to this day.Nonetheless, in recent times, the census' results have been subjected to scrutiny by historians, academics and social activists alike, who assert that such drastic alterations on demographic trends with respect to the 1793 census are impossible and cite, among other statistics, the relatively low frequency of marriages between people of different continental ancestries in colonial and early independent Mexico.", "It is claimed that the ''mestizaje'' process sponsored by the state was more \"cultural than biological\", which resulted in the numbers of the Mestizo Mexican group being inflated at the expense of the identity of other races.", "Controversies aside, this census constituted the last time the Mexican Government conducted a comprehensive racial census with the breakdown by states being the following (foreigners and people who answered \"other\" not included):Federative UnitsMestizo Population (%)Amerindian Population (%)White Population (%) Aguascalientes 66.12% 16.70% 16.77% Baja California(Distrito Norte) 72.50% 07.72% 00.35% Baja California(Distrito Sur) 59.61% 06.06% 33.40% Campeche 41.45% 43.41% 14.17% Coahuila 77.88% 11.38% 10.13% Colima 68.54% 26.00% 04.50% Chiapas 36.27% 47.64% 11.82% Chihuahua 50.09% 12.76% 36.33% Durango 89.85% 09.99% 00.01% Guanajuato 96.33% 02.96% 00.54% Guerrero 54.05% 43.84% 02.07% Hidalgo 51.47% 39.49% 08.83% Jalisco 75.83% 16.76% 07.31% Mexico City 54.78% 18.75% 22.79% State of Mexico 47.71% 42.13% 10.02% Michoacán 70.95% 21.04% 06.94% Morelos 61.24% 34.93% 03.59% Nayarit 73.45% 20.38% 05.83% Nuevo León 75.47% 05.14% 19.23% Oaxaca 28.15% 69.17% 01.43% Puebla 39.34% 54.73% 05.66% Querétaro 80.15% 19.40% 00.30% Quintana Roo 42.35% 20.59% 15.16% San Luis Potosí 61.88% 30.60% 05.41% Sinaloa 98.30% 00.93% 00.19% Sonora 41.04% 14.00% 42.54% Tabasco 53.67% 18.50% 27.56% Tamaulipas 69.77% 13.89% 13.62% Tlaxcala 42.44% 54.70% 02.53% Veracruz 50.09% 36.60% 10.28% Yucatán 33.83% 43.31% 21.85% Zacatecas 86.10% 08.54% 05.26%When the 1921 census' results are compared with the results of Mexico's recent censuses as well as with modern genetic research, there is high consistency with respect to the distribution of Indigenous Mexicans across the country, with states located in south and south-eastern Mexico having both the highest percentages of population who self-identify as Indigenous and the highest percentages of Amerindian genetic ancestry.", "However, this is not the case when it comes to European Mexicans, as there are instances in which states that have been shown through scientific research to have a considerably high European ancestry are reported to have very small white populations in the 1921 census, with the most extreme case being that of the state of Durango, where the aforementioned census asserts that only 0.01% of the state's population (33 persons) self-identified as \"white\" while modern scientific research shows that the population of Durango has similar genetic frequencies to those found on European peoples (with the state's Indigenous population showing almost no foreign admixture either).", "Various authors theorize that the reason for these inconsistencies may lie in the Mestizo identity promoted by the Mexican government, which reportedly led to people who are not biologically Mestizos to identify themselves as such.====The present day====The following table is a compilation of, when possible, official nationwide surveys conducted by the Mexican government which have attempted to quantify different Mexican ethnic groups.", "Given that, for the most part, each ethnic group was estimated by different surveys with different methodologies and years apart rather than on a single comprehensive racial census, some groups could overlap with others and be overestimated or underestimated.Race or ethnicityPopulation (est.", ")Percentage (est.", ")Year Indigenous 26,000,000 21.5%2015 Black 2,576,213 2.4%2020 White 56,000,000 47.0%2010 Foreigners residing in Mexico (of any race) 1,010,000 <1.0%2015 East Asian 1,000,000 <1.0%2010 Middle Eastern 400,000 <1.0%2010 Jewish 68,000 <1.0% 2010 Muslim 4,000 <1.0% 2015 Unclassified (most likely Mestizos) 37,300,000 30.0% – Total 123,500,000 100% 2017Of all the ethnic groups that have been surveyed, Mestizos are notably absent, which is likely due to the label's fluid and subjective definition, which complicates its precise quantification.", "However it can be safely assumed that Mestizos make up at least the remaining 30% unassessed percentage of Mexico's population with possibilities of increasing if the methodologies of the extant surveys are considered.", "For example, the 2015 intercensal survey considered individuals who self-identified as \"part Indigenous\" or \"part African\" as part of a combined group of Indigenous Mexicans and Afro-Mexicans altogether.", "Such people technically would be Mestizos.", "Similarly, White Mexicans were quantified based on physical traits and appearance.", "Thus, technically a Mestizo with a percentage of Indigenous ancestry that was low enough to not affect his or her primarily European phenotype was considered to be white.", "Finally, the remaining ethnicities, relatively low in number, have more permissive classification criteria.", "Some of these ethnicities are faiths.", "Therefore, a Mestizo could claim to belong to one of them by practicing the faith, or by having an ancestor who belonged to at least one of these ethnicities.Nonetheless, contemporary sociologists and historians agree that, given that the concept of \"race\" has a psychological foundation rather than a biological one, and that to society's eyes, a Mestizo with a high percentage of European ancestry is considered \"white\", and a Mestizo with a high percentage of Indigenous ancestry is considered \"Indian\", a person who identifies with a given ethnic group should be allowed to, even if biologically he or she doesn't completely belong to that group." ], [ "Languages", "Spanish is the ''de facto'' official language in Mexico being spoken by 98.3% of the population.", "Mexican Spanish is spoken in a variety of dialects, accents and variations in different regions across the country.Some indigenous languages are still being spoken by around 5% of Mexicans according to the latest census, in 2003 the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples recognized 68 indigenous languages as \"national languages\", with the \"same validity\" in all territories and contexts where they are spoken.", "The indigenous language with the greatest number of speakers is Nahuatl (1,586,884 speakers in 2010 or 1.5% of the nation's population), followed by Yucatec Maya (796,405 speakers in 2010 0.8%) spoken Yucatán Peninsula, Mixtecas languages (494,454), Tzeltal (474,298), Zapotecas languages (460,683), Tzotzil (429,168), Otomí (288,052), Totonaca (250,252) Mazateco (230,124), Chol (222,051) and 1,462,857 speakers of other languages.", "After half a century of rural-to-urban migration, in Mexico City and other major cities large districts and sections use both written and spoken Amerindian languages.During the first half of the 20th century the government promoted a policy of ''castellanización'', that is, promoting the use of Spanish as a way to integrate indigenous peoples into Mexican society.", "Later, this policy changed, and since the 1980s the government has sponsored bilingual and intercultural education in all indigenous communities.", "This policy has mainly been successful in large communities with a significant number of speakers.", "While some languages, with less than 1,000 speakers, are still facing extinction.The second most spoken language in Mexico, however, is English.", "It is used extensively at border areas, tourist centers and large metropolitan areas, a phenomenon arguably caused by the economic integration of North American under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the immigration phenomenon and the return of workers and their families from the United States.", "In border cities, American TV and radio waves in English (and Spanish) are received as much Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations from Mexico on the US side of the border, thus a bilingual cross-cultural exchange is at work.Among the languages brought to the country by immigrants are the Venetian of Chipilo, and Mennonite Low German spoken in Durango and Chihuahua." ], [ "Mexican nationality and citizenship", "Mexican passportThe Constitution of Mexico grants Mexican nationality based on birth and naturalization.", "Mexican laws regarding nationality by birth are very open.", "Mexican nationality by birth is granted to:* all those individuals born in Mexican territory,* all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by birth,* all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by naturalization,* all those individuals born aboard Mexican aircraft or sea vessels, whether warships or commercial vessels.Mexican nationality by naturalization is granted to:* foreign citizens granted Mexican nationality by the Secretariat of Government (Ministry of the Interior);* foreign citizens married to a Mexican national, whether by birth or naturalization." ], [ "Religion", "The Mexican population is predominantly Catholic (78% of the population aged five and older, according to the 2020 census), although the percentage representing those who attend church on a weekly basis is lower (46%).", "About 7.6% of the population was classified as Protestant or Evangelical, 2.5% were classified as \"Non-Evangelical Biblical\" (a classification that groups Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses), 0.05% as practicing Jews, and 4.6% without a religion.", "The largest group of Protestants are Pentecostals and Charismatics (classified as Neo-Pentecostals).Archangel Michael — from the town of Comala, in the state of Colima.The states with the highest percentage of professing Catholics are central states, namely Guanajuato (96.4%), Aguascalientes (95.6%) and Jalisco (95.4%), whereas southeastern states have the lowest percentage of Catholics, namely Chiapas (63.8%), Tabasco (70.4%) and Campeche (71.3%).", "The percentage of professing Catholics has been on the decrease over the last four decades, from over 98% in 1950 to 78% in 2020.The average annual growth of Catholic believers from 1990 to 2000 was 1.7% whereas that of non-Catholics was 3.7%.", "Given that the average annual population increase over the same time period was 1.8%, the percentage of Catholics in relation to the total population continues to be in overall decline.Since 1857 with the La Reforma laws, the Mexican Constitution drastically separates Church and State, unlike some other countries in Latin America or Ibero-America.", "The State does not support or provide any economic resource to the Church (as is the case in Spain and Argentina), and the Church cannot participate in public education (no public school can be operated by a Catholic order, although they can participate in private education).", "Moreover, the government nationalized all the Church's properties (some of which were given back in the 1990s), and priests lost the right to vote or to be voted for (although in the 1990s they regained the right to vote)." ], [ "See also", "* List of municipalities in Mexico by population* Metropolitan areas of Mexico* List of Mexican states by population* List of Mexican states by fertility rate* Economy of Mexico* Poverty in Mexico* Romani Mexicans" ], [ "References and notes" ], [ "Further reading", "* Merrill, Tim and Ramón Miró.", "''Mexico: a country study'' (Library of Congress.", "Federal Research Division, 1996) US government document; not copyright online free" ], [ "External links", "* UN: Fertility in Mexico: Trends and Forecasts* Mexico population bureau CONAPO* Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, INEGI* Map of Fecundity in Mexico" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Mexico''' function within a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a multi-party congressional system, where the President of Mexico is both head of state and head of government.", "The federal government represents the United Mexican States and is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial, as established by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, published in 1917.The constituent states of the federation must also have a republican form of government based on a congressional system as established by their respective constitutions.The executive power is exercised by the executive branch, which is headed by the President, advised by a cabinet of secretaries that are independent of the legislature.", "Legislative power is vested upon the Congress of the Union, a two-chamber legislature comprising the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies.", "Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the Council of the Federal Judiciary and the collegiate, unitary and district tribunals." ], [ "Framework of twentieth-century politics", "The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) followed the overturn of Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship and ended with a new Mexican government being established within the legal framework of the Constitution of 1917.The regime that followed can be considered a semi-authoritarian political model (or hybrid regime).", "In 1920, a successful general in the revolution named Alvaro Obregón overthrew the temporary government of the revolutionary leader Venustiano Carranza, which resulted on his election as the president of Mexico.", "He was then replaced by Plutarco Elías Calles, who ruled Mexico from 1924 to 1928.After a change in the rules that prevented two mandates by the same person, Obregón came back to power in 1928, but was assassinated shortly after.", "As a result, out-going president Calles founded a political party, the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR), to solve the immediate political crisis of the assassination and to create a long term framework for political stability, especially the transition of presidential regimes.", "The period from 1920–1934 in Mexico was marked by a strong presence of military in government and a failure to implement revolutionary reforms.Under President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40), the party underwent a transformation to the Partido de la Revolución Mexicana, which was organized on a corporate basis, with peasants, labor, the popular sector, and the military each having a sector, with power centralized.", "The PRM aimed to mediate conflicts between competing sectors within the party, becoming an extension of the Mexican state.", "In 1946, the party was transformed into the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the army was no longer a sector.", "During this time, the government nationalized key industries, such as oil, and implemented land reforms that redistributed property to peasants.Throughout the second decade of the twentieth century, Mexico experienced political tension and rising economic instability.", "The late 1960s and early 1970s saw multiple protests from students and left-wing groups against PRI's authoritarian rule, to which the government responded with a crackdown that culminated in the infamous Tlatelolco Massacre of 1968, in which hundreds of protesters were killed.", "However, the year 1982 gave way to market restructuring policies and gradual political reforms that prompted the democratic transition of Mexico (1982–2012).", "The first efforts to introduce free and fair elections came with president Miguel de la Madrid in 1983, but the attempt was unsuccessful as he was opposed by politicians in his own party.In 1988, when Carlos Salinas de Gortari, a Harvard-trained economist, was chosen as the PRI presidential candidate, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, son of former President Lázaro Cárdenas, broke with the PRI and ran as a coalition candidate.", "The 1988 elections were regarded as \"the most fraudulent in Mexico's history.", "In 1989 the leftists who had bolted the PRI formed the Party of the Democratic Revolution.", "In the wake of the fraudulent 1988 elections, the administration of elections was taken out of the hands of the Mexican government's Ministry of the Interior (''Gobernación'') and the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE) was created in 1990, with the aim of ensuring free and fair elections and creating public confidence in the process.", "Besides greater political representation, Carlos Salinas's mandate (1988–1994) also saw economic improvements due to liberalization policies, facilitating the process of democratization.", "File:Logo_Partido_Nacional_Revolucionario.svg\|Logo of the National Revolutionary Party, 1929–1938File:Logo Partido de la Revolucion Mexicana.svg\|Logo of the Mexican Revolution Party, 1938–1946File:PRI logo (Mexico).svg\|Logo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, 1946–File:PAN logo (Mexico).svg\|Logo of the National Action Party – the first opposition party to the PRI, 1939–File:PRD logo (Mexico).svg\|Logo for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, 1989–" ], [ "Political parties", "Public consultationConstitutionally, political parties in Mexico must promote the participation of the people in the democratic life of the country, contribute in the representation of the nation and citizens, and be the access through which citizens can participate in public office, through whatever programs, principles and ideals they postulate.", "All political parties must be registered with the National Electoral Institute (, INE), the institution in charge of organizing and overseeing the federal electoral processes, and must obtain at least 2% of votes in the federal elections to keep their registry.", "Registered political parties receive public funding for their operation and can also obtain private funding within the limits prescribed by the law.As of 2010 the following political parties are registered with the INE and all have representatives at the Congress of the Union:* Institutional Revolutionary Party (, PRI), founded in 1929;* National Action Party (, PAN), founded in 1939;* Party of the Democratic Revolution (, PRD), founded in 1989;* Labor Party (, PT), founded in 1990;* Green Ecological Party (, PVEM), founded in 1986, but lost its registration for two consecutive elections; it has retained its registration since 1993;* Citizens’ Movement (, MC), founded in 1997;* National Regeneration Movement (), founded in 2012;Political parties are allowed to form alliances or coalitions to nominate candidates for any particular election.", "The coalition must identify itself with a particular name and logo.", "Proportional representation (plurinominal) seats are assigned to the coalition based on the percentage of votes obtained in the elections, and then the coalition reassigns them to the constituent political parties.", "Once each party in the coalition has been assigned plurinominal seats, they do not necessarily continue to work as a coalition in government.Throughout the 20th century, PRI had an almost hegemonic power at the state and federal level, which slowly began to recede in the late 1980s.", "Even though since the 1940s, PAN had won a couple of seats in the Congress, and in 1947 the first presidential municipality (in ), it wasn't until 1989, that the first non-PRI state governor was elected (in ).", "It was in 1997, that PRI lost its absolute majority at the Congress of the Union.", "In 2000 the first non-PRI president since 1929 was elected in what was regarded as the cleanest Mexican election since the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920.=== Major Political Parties ===As of Recently, The politics of Mexico are dominated by four political parties: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), National Action Party (PAN), Democratic Revolution Party (PRD),and the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).", "Founded in 1929 as the ''Partido Nacional Revolucionario'' (\"National Revolutionary Party\"), the PRI has dominated Mexican politics for over 70 years bringing to power 11 different governments.PAN was founded in 1939, but it did not win its first governorship until 1989; its candidates won the presidency in 2000 and 2006.The beginnings of the PRD go back to 1988 when dissident members of PRI decided to challenge the leadership and nominated Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas for president of Mexico.", "Cardenas lost in a highly contested election, but a new political party was born and the party emerged as a third force in Mexican politics, even though they have never captured the presidency.MORENA grew out of a dispute between Andrés Manuel López Obrador and other leaders of PRD after his loss in the 2012 presidential election presidential election.", "MORENA won its official recognition in 2014, and dominated the 2018 elections.According to a survey by the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2017, 74 percent of Mexicans believe that Mexico's electoral system is not transparent and distrust official results.", "However, Freedom House shows that popular belief in free and fair elections has increased ever since." ], [ "Elections and political composition of the institutions", "Election package received by Mexicans living abroad.Suffrage is universal, free, secret and direct for all Mexican citizens 18 and older, and is compulsory (but not enforced).", "The identity document in Mexico serves also as the voting card, so all citizens are automatically registered for all elections; that is, no pre-registration is necessary for every election.", "All elections are direct; that is, no electoral college is constituted for any of the elections at the federal, state or municipal level.", "Only when an incumbent president is absolutely absent (either through resignation, impeachment or death), the Congress of the Union constitutes itself acts as an electoral college to elect an interim president by absolute majority.Run anti-imposition Tijuana.Presidential elections are scheduled every six years, except in the exceptional case of absolute absence of the president.", "However, the term of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will be only 5 years, 10 months (December 1, 2018 — September 30, 2024) due to a Constitutional change.", "Legislative elections are scheduled every six years for the Senate, to be fully renewed in elections held concurrently with the presidential elections; and every three years for the Chamber of Deputies.", "Elections have traditionally been held on the first Sunday of July, but the new law means they will be held on the first Sunday in June instead.", "State governors are also elected every six years, except in Baja California, where the governor is elected for a two-year term.", "The state legislatures are renewed every three years.", "State elections need not be concurrent with federal elections.", "Federal elections are organized and supervised by the autonomous public Federal Electoral Institute, whereas state and municipal elections are organized and supervised by electoral institutes constituted by each state of the federation.", "Elections within Mexico City are also organized by a local electoral institute.A strongly ingrained concept in Mexican political life is \"no reelection.\"", "The theory was implemented after Porfirio Díaz managed to monopolize the presidency for over 25 years.", "Presently, Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term, and no one who has held the office even on a caretaker basis is allowed to hold the office again.", "Deputies and senators were not allowed to immediately succeed themselves until 2018; both may now serve a maximum of 12 consecutive years.===Federal elections======= 2006 ====Federal presidential elections were held on July 2, 2006 concurrent with the full renovation of both chambers of the Congress of the Union.", "In these elections the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the Labour Party (PT) and Convergence (CV) formed a coalition called Coalition for the Good of All.", "The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Ecologist Green Party (PVEM) formed a coalition called Alliance for Mexico.", "The Federal Electoral Tribunal declared Felipe Calderón the winner of the elections on September 5, and president-elect.", "He took office on December 1, 2006 and his term ended on November 30, 2012.The concurrent congressional elections were not contested by any party.", "Both chambers were completely renewed and no party obtained an absolute majority.", "This election has been noted by scholars, including Mexican sociologist Jacqueline Peschard, for the \"breakdown in consensus that nearly resulted\" as a result of the ensuing indeterminacy and the problems that has posed for Mexican democracy.==== 2012 ====In 2012, Mexico elected Enrique Peña Nieto as President.==== 2018 ====Meeting between Peña Nieto and López Obrador in the National Palace, 2018In 2018, Mexico elected Andrés Manuel López Obrador as President.", "He ran under a three-party coalition led by the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party he founded in 2014.===State elections===The elections in each state are done at different times, depending on the state, and are not necessarily held at the same time with the federal elections.", "as of December 2023* PRI governs 3 states : Coahuila, Hidalgo, and Mexico* PAN governs 8 states: Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, , Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas and Yucatan* PVEM governs a state: San Luis Potosi* MC governs 2 states: Jalisco and Nuevo LeonMorena governs the remaining 18 states" ], [ "Historical political development", "Mexican states governed by political partyPresident Vicente Fox (left) with López Obrador (center) and former México State governor Arturo Montiel (right).The Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1920) was followed by the Great Depression, which led to a severely fragmented society and very weak institutions.", "In 1929, all factions and generals of the Mexican Revolution were united into a single party, the National Revolutionary Party (NRP), with the aim of stabilizing the country and ending internal conflicts.", "During the following administrations, since 1928, many of the revolutionary ideals were put into effect, among them the free distribution of land to peasants and farmers, the nationalization of the oil companies, the birth and rapid growth of the Social Security Institute as well as that of Labor Unions, and the protection of national industries.President Lázaro Cárdenas was fundamental to recover some of the social control that was lost during the Revolution and the following economic meltdown in the United States.", "However, Cárdenas was followed by a series of less-talented leaders that were unable to continue this path and establish an effective rule of law on Mexican society.", "Moreover, Cárdenas presidency happened before the UN focused on states as the rule in the 1940s and 1950s.The NRP was later renamed the Mexican Revolution Party and finally the Institutional Revolutionary Party.", "The social institutions created by the party itself provided it with the necessary strength to stay in power.", "In time, the system gradually became, as some political scientists have labeled it, an \"electoral authoritarianism\", in that the party resorted to any means necessary, except that of the dissolution of the constitutional and electoral system itself, to remain in power.", "In fact, Mexico was considered a bastion of continued constitutional government in times where coup d'états and military dictatorships were the norm in Latin America, in that the institutions were renovated electorally, even if only in appearance and with little participation of the opposition parties at the local level.Anniversary of the Birth of the President Benito Juarez in the Alameda Central, 2013.The lack of the establishment of a true democracy in Mexico can be partially explained many factors, like the ones described above.", "However, one of them could also be the oil reserves that exist in the country and that were nationalized by the Cárdenas government.", "Several empirical studies point to a correlation between the existence of natural resources and the difficulty of turning into a democracy.The first cracks in the system, even though they were merely symbolic, were the 1970s reforms to the electoral system and the composition of the Congress of the Union which for the first time incorporated proportional representation seats allowing opposition parties to obtain seats, though limited in number, in the Chamber of Deputies.", "As minority parties became involved in the system, they gradually demanded more changes, and a full democratic representation.", "Even though in the 1960s, a couple (of more than two thousand) municipalities were governed by opposition parties, the first state government to be won by an opposition party was Baja California, in 1989.Historically, there were important high-profile defections from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, like the ones of Juan Andreu Almazán (1940), Ezequiel Padilla (1946), Miguel Henríquez Guzmán (1952), and Cuahtémoc Cárdenas (1988), son of President Lázaro Cárdenas.", "These departures happened mainly because they opposed the presidential candidate nominations; however, only Cárdenas departure in 1988 resulted in the establishment of another political party (Party of the Democratic Revolution).The presidential elections held in 1988 marked a watershed in Mexican politics, as they were the first serious threat to the party in power by an opposition candidate: Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who was nominated by a broad coalition of leftist parties.", "He officially received 31.1 percent of the vote, against 50.4 percent for Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the PRI candidate, and 17 percent for Manuel Clouthier of the National Action Party (PAN).", "It was believed by some that Cardenas had won the election, but that the then government-controlled electoral commission had altered the results after the infamous \"the system crashed\" (''se cayó el sistema'', as it was reported).", "In the concurrent elections, the PRI came within 11 seats of losing the majority of Chamber of Deputies, and opposition parties captured 4 of the 64 Senate seats—the first time that the PRI had failed to hold every seat in the Senate.", "Capitalizing on the popularity of President Salinas, however, the PRI rebounded in the mid-term congressional elections of 1991, winning 320 seats.Tlatelolco Square.Subsequent changes included the creation of the Federal Electoral Institute in the 1990s and the inclusion of proportional representation and first minority seats in the Senate.", "The presidential election of 1994 was judged to be the first relatively free election in modern Mexican history.", "Ernesto Zedillo of the PRI won with 50.2 percent of the vote, against 26.7 percent for Diego Fernández de Cevallos of PAN and 17.1 percent for Cardenas, who this time represented the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).", "Although the opposition campaign was hurt by the desire of the Mexican electorate for stability, following the assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio (the intended PRI candidate) and the recent outbreak of hostilities in the state of Chiapas, Zedillo's share of the vote was the lowest official percentage for any PRI presidential candidate up to that time.In the 1997 mid-term elections, no party held majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and in 2000 the first opposition party president was sworn in office since 1929.Vicente Fox won the election with 43% of the vote, followed by PRI candidate Francisco Labastida with 36%, and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) with 17%.Numerous electoral reforms implemented after 1989 aided in the opening of the Mexican political system, and opposition parties made historic gains in elections at all levels.", "Many of the current electoral concerns have shifted from outright fraud to campaign fairness issues.", "During 1995-96 the political parties negotiated constitutional amendments to address these issues.", "Implementing legislation included major points of consensus that had been worked out with the opposition parties.", "The thrust of the new laws has public financing predominate over private contributions to political parties, tighter procedures for auditing the political parties, and strengthening the authority and independence of electoral institutions.", "The court system also was given greatly expanded authority to hear civil rights cases on electoral matters brought by individuals or groups.", "In short, the extensive reform efforts have \"leveled the playing field\" for the parties.The 2006 elections saw the PRI fall to third place behind both the PAN and the PRD.", "Roberto Madrazo, the presidential candidate, polled only 22.3 percent of the vote, and the party ended up with only 121 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a loss of more than half of what the party had obtained in 2003, and 38 seats in the Senate, a loss of 22 seats.", "Felipe Calderón, a conservative former energy minister, won a narrow victory, and he was elected as the new president.", "Andrés Manuel López Obrador, lost the very tight race, did not accept the result.In the 2012 elections, Enrique Peña Nieto was elected as the president of Mexico, meaning the return of PRI after 12 years out of power.On 1 December 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador sworn in as Mexico's first leftist president in seven decades, after winning a landslide victory in July 2018 elections.", "In June 2021 midterm elections, López Obrador's left-leaning Morena’s coalition lost seats in the lower house of Congress.", "However, his ruling coalition maintained a simple majority, but López Obrador failed to secure the two-thirds congressional supermajority.", "The main opposition was a coalition of Mexico’s three traditional parties: the center-right Revolutionary Institutional Party, right-wing National Action Party and leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution." ], [ "See also", " State governments of Mexico* Federal government of Mexico* Powers of the Union (Mexico)* Law of MexicoHistory of democracy in Mexico" ], [ "References and notes" ], [ "Further reading", "Bruhn, Kathleen.", "''Taking on Goliath''.", "Penn State University Press 2004." ], [ "External links", "* Presidency of the United Mexican States* Chamber of Deputies* Senate of the Republic* Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation* Mexican Council for Economic and Social Development* Mexico Development Gateway* Official Youtube page" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Mexico''' is a developing mixed-market economy.", "It is the 12th largest in the world in nominal GDP terms and by purchasing power parity according to the International Monetary Fund.", "Since the 1994 crisis, administrations have improved the country's macroeconomic fundamentals.", "Mexico was not significantly influenced by the 2002 South American crisis, and maintained positive, although low, rates of growth after a brief period of stagnation in 2001.However, Mexico was one of the Latin American nations most affected by the 2008 recession with its gross domestic product contracting by more than 6% in that year.The Mexican economy has maintained high levels of macroeconomic stability, which has reduced inflation and interest rates to record lows.", "In spite of this, significant gaps persist between the urban and the rural population, the northern and southern states, and the rich and the poor.", "Some of the unresolved issues include the upgrade of infrastructure, the modernization of the tax system and labor laws, and the reduction of income inequality.", "Tax revenues, altogether 19.6 percent of GDP in 2013, were the lowest among the then 34 OECD countries.", "As of 2022, the OECD 38 has members.", "The main problem factors Mexico faces are poverty rates and regional Inequalities remaining high.", "Productivity growth has been limited by the lack of formality, financial exclusion, and corruption.", "The medium term growth prospects were also affected by a lower proportion of women in the workforce, and investment has not been strong since 2015.The economy contains rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership.", "Recent administrations have expanded competition in ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports, with the aim of upgrading infrastructure.", "As an export-oriented economy, more than 90% of Mexican trade is under free trade agreements (FTAs) with more than 40 countries, including the European Union, Japan, Israel, and much of Central and South America.", "The most influential FTA is the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which came into effect in 2020, and was signed in 2018 by the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico.", "In 2006, trade with Mexico's two northern partners accounted for almost 90% of its exports and 55% of its imports.", "Recently, Congress approved important tax, pension, and judicial reforms.", "In 2016, Mexico had 16 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies.Mexico's labor force consisted of 52.8 million people as of 2015.The OECD and WTO both rank Mexican workers as the hardest-working in the world in terms of the number of hours worked yearly.", "Pay per hours worked remains low." ], [ "History", "Porfirio Díaz, (1876–1911) in whose presidency rapid industrialization took place in foreign capital.The Porfiriato brought unprecedented economic growth during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.", "This growth was accompanied by foreign investment and European immigration, the development of railroad networks and the exploitation of the country's natural resources.", "Annual economic growth between 1876 and 1910 averaged 3.3%.", "Large-scale ownership made considerable progress while foreign land companies accumulated millions of hectares.", "At the end of Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship, 97% of arable land belonged to 1% of the population and 95% of peasants were landless, becoming farmworkers in huge haciendas or forming an impoverished urban proletariat whose revolts were crushed one by one.Political repression and fraud, as well as huge income inequalities exacerbated by the land distribution system based on ''latifundios'', in which large haciendas were owned by a few but worked by millions of impoverished peasants living in precarious conditions, led to the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), an armed conflict that drastically transformed Mexico's political, social, cultural, and economic structure during the twentieth century.", "The war itself left a harsh toll on the economy and population, which decreased over the 11-year period between 1910 and 1921.The reconstruction of the country was to take place in the following decades.The period from 1940 to 1970 has been dubbed by economic historians as the Mexican Miracle, a period of economic growth that followed the end of the Mexican Revolution and the resumption of capital accumulation during peacetime.", "During this period, Mexico adopted an import substitution industrialization (ISI) model, which protected and promoted the development of national industries.", "Mexico experienced an economic boom through which industries rapidly expanded their production.", "Important changes in the economic structure included free land distribution to peasants under the concept of ''ejido'', the nationalization of the oil and railroad companies, the introduction of social rights into the 1917 Constitution, the birth of large and influential labor unions, and the upgrading of infrastructure.", "While population doubled from 1940 to 1970, GDP increased sixfold during the same period.President José López Portillo 1976–1982, during whose administration the economy soared with the discovery of oil and then crashed when the price dropped.Growth while under the ISI model had reached its peak in the late 1960s.", "During the 1970s, the presidential administrations of Luis Echeverría (1970–76) and José López Portillo (1976–82) tried to include social development in their policies, an effort that entailed increased public spending.", "With the discovery of vast oil fields during a period of oil price increases and low international interest rates, the government borrowed from international capital markets to invest in the state-owned oil company Pemex, which in turn seemed to provide a long-run income source to promote social welfare.", "This produced a remarkable growth in public expenditure, and president López Portillo announced that the time had come to \"manage prosperity\" as Mexico multiplied its oil production to become the world's fourth-largest exporter.Average annual GDP growth by period 1900–1929 3.4%1929–1945 4.2%1945–1972 6.5%1972–19815.5%1981–1995 1.5%1983 Debt Crisis -4.2%1995 Peso Crisis -6.2% 1995–2000 5.1% 2001 US Recession -0.2% 2009 Great Recession -6.5% Sources:In the period of 1981–1982 the international panorama changed abruptly: oil prices plunged and interest rates rose.", "In 1982, López Portillo, just before ending his administration, suspended payments of foreign debt, devalued the peso and nationalized the banking system, along with many other industries that were severely affected by the crisis, among them the steel industry.", "While import substitution had contributed to Mexican industrialization, by the 1980s protracted protection of Mexican companies had led to an uncompetitive industrial sector with low productivity gains.President Miguel de la Madrid (1982–88) was the first of a series of presidents that implemented neoliberal policies.", "After the crisis of 1982, lenders were unwilling to return to Mexico and, in order to keep the current account in balance, the government resorted to currency devaluations, which sparked unprecedented inflation, reaching an annual record of 139.7% in 1987.One of the first steps toward trade liberalization was Mexico's signature of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986 under President de la Madrid.", "During the administration of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988–94) many state-owned companies were privatized.", "The telephone company Telmex, a government monopoly, became a private monopoly, sold to Carlos Slim.", "Also not opened to private investors were the government oil company Pemex or the energy sector.", "Furthermore, the banking system that had been nationalized in the waning hours of the López Portillo administration in 1982 were privatized, but with the exclusion of foreign banks.", "Salinas pushed for Mexico's inclusion in the North American Free Trade Agreement, expanding it from a U.S.-Canada agreement.", "The expanded NAFTA was signed in 1992, after the signature of two additional supplements on environments and labor standards, it came into effect on January 1, 1994.Salinas also introduced strict price controls and negotiated smaller minimum wage increments with the labor union movement under the aging Fidel Velázquez with the aim of curbing inflation.", "While his strategy was successful in reducing inflation, growth averaged only 2.8 percent a year.", "By fixing the exchange rate, the peso became rapidly overvalued while consumer spending increased, causing the current account deficit to reach 7% of GDP in 1994.The deficit was financed through ''tesobonos'' a type of public debt instrument that reassured payment in dollars.The January 1994 Chiapas uprising, and the assassinations of the ruling party's presidential candidate in March 1994, Luis Donaldo Colosio and the Secretary-General of the party and brother of the Assistant-Attorney General José Francisco Ruiz Massieu in 1994, reduced investor confidence.", "Public debt holders rapidly sold their ''tesobonos'', depleting the Central Bank's reserves, while portfolio investments, which had made up 90% of total investment flows, left the country as fast as they had come in.This unsustainable situation eventually forced the entrant Zedillo administration to adopt a floating exchange rate.", "The peso sharply devalued and the country entered into an economic crisis in December 1994.The boom in exports, as well as an international rescue package crafted by U.S. president Bill Clinton (1993-2001), helped cushion the crisis.", "In less than 18 months, the economy was growing again, and annual rate growth averaged 5.1 percent between 1995 and 2000.More critical interpretations argue that the crisis and subsequent public bailout \"preserved, renewed, and intensified the structurally unequal social relations of power and class characteristic of finance-led neoliberal capitalism\" in forms institutionally specific to Mexican society, with GDP growth spurred by one-time privatizations.", "Per capita economic growth in the 2000s was low.President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000), and President Vicente Fox (2000–06), of the National Action Party (Mexico), the first opposition party candidate to win a presidential election since the founding of the precursor of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1929, continued with trade liberalization.", "During Fox's administrations, several FTAs were signed with Latin American and European countries, Japan and Israel, and both strove to maintain macroeconomic stability.", "Thus, Mexico became one of the most open countries in the world to trade, and the economic base shifted accordingly.", "Total trade with the United States and Canada tripled, and total exports and imports almost quadrupled between 1991 and 2003.The nature of foreign investment also changed with a greater share of foreign-direct investment (FDI) over portfolio investment." ], [ "Macroeconomic, financial and welfare indicators", "Mexico inflation rate 1970-2022Mexico bonds===Main indicators===A portion of the port of VeracruzGDP per capita PPP US $16,900 (2012–15)GNI per capita PPP US $16,500 (2012–15)Inflation (CPI) 3.7% (February 2021)Gini index 43.4 (World Bank 2016)Unemployment 4.5% (January 2021)HDI 0.779 (2020)Labor force 78.4 million (2011)Pop.", "in poverty 13.8%Mexico's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) was estimated at US$2,143.499 billion in 2014, and $1,261.642 billion in nominal exchange rates.", "It is the leader of the MINT group.", "Its standard of living, as measured in GDP in PPP per capita, was US$16,900.The World Bank reported in 2009 that Mexico's Gross National Income in market exchange rates was the second highest in Latin America, after Brazil at US$1,830.392 billion, which lead to the highest income per capita in the region at $14,400.As such, Mexico established itself as an upper middle-income country.", "After the slowdown of 2001 the country has recovered and has grown 4.2, 3.0 and 4.8 percent in 2004, 2005 and 2006, even though it is considered to be well below Mexico's potential growth.The Mexican peso is the currency (ISO 4217: MXN; symbol: $).", "One peso is divided into 100 ''centavos'' (cents).", "MXN replaced MXP in 1993 at a rate of 1000 MXP per 1 MXN.", "The exchanged rate remained stable between 1998 and 2006, oscillating between 10.20 and 11=3.50 MXN per US$.", "The Mexican peso parity decreased under president Enrique Peña Nieto, lost in a single year 19.87% of its value reaching an exchange rate of $20.37 per dollar in 2017.Interest rates in 2007 were situated at around 7 percent, having reached a historic low in 2002 below 5 percent.", "Inflation rates are also at historic lows; the inflation rate in Mexico in 2006 was 4.1 percent, and 3 percent by the end of 2007.Compared against the US Dollar, Mexican Peso has devalued over %7,500 since 1910.Unemployment rates are the lowest of all OECD member countries at 3.2 percent.", "However, underemployment is estimated at 25 percent.", "Mexico's Human Development Index was reported at 0.829 in 2008, (comprising a life expectancy index of 0.84, an education index of 0.86 and a GDP index of 0.77), ranking 52 in the world within the group of high-development.", "'''Development'''The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021(with IMF staff stimtates in 2022–2027).", "Inflation below 5% is in green.YearGDP(in Bil.", "US$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)1980404.35,984.8228.63,383.79.5%26.5%1.2%n/a1981480.36,934.4293.64,238.88.5%28.0%0.9%n/a1982507.47,148.6213.13,002.2-0.5%59.1%4.2%n/a1983508.87,001.9173.72,390.4-3.5%101.8%6.1%n/a1984545.27,331.8204.92,755.03.4%65.4%5.6%n/a1985574.77,559.2217.42,859.22.2%57.8%4.4%n/a1986568.37,314.4150.51,937.4-3.1%86.4%4.3%n/a1987592.37,465.9165.12,080.41.7%132.0%3.9%n/a1988621.17,670.6201.92,493.81.3%113.5%3.5%n/a1989671.98,137.0246.12,979.94.1%19.9%2.9%n/a1990733.28,710.7290.43,450.25.2%26.7%2.7%n/a1991789.99,212.0348.14,060.04.2%22.6%2.7%n/a1992836.59,580.9403.74,624.03.5%15.5%2.8%n/a1993879.89,902.0500.85,636.42.7%9.8%3.4%n/a1994943.010,435.6527.85,841.04.9%7.0%3.7%n/a1995902.29,823.1360.13,920.7-6.3%35.1%6.2%n/a1996980.910,514.4411.04,405.16.8%34.4%5.5%44.7%19971,066.211,256.0500.45,283.16.8%20.6%3.7%40.9%19981,133.911,796.6526.55,477.95.2%15.9%3.2%42.0%19991,181.512,120.0600.26,157.22.8%16.6%2.5%43.8%20001,268.012,835.7707.97,166.14.9%9.5%2.2%40.3%20011,291.312,899.4756.77,559.0-0.4%6.4%2.8%39.3%20021,310.912,916.1772.17,607.40.0%5.0%3.0%41.9%20031,356.113,180.1729.37,088.51.4%4.6%3.4%44.2%20041,447.113,878.1782.27,501.93.9%4.7%3.9%40.8%20051,526.914,450.1877.58,304.02.3%4.0%3.5%38.5%20061,644.815,349.7975.49,102.54.5%3.6%3.5%37.4%20071,728.015,890.11,052.79,680.42.3%4.0%3.6%37.2%20081,781.216,133.61,110.010,053.71.1%5.1%3.9%42.5%20091,697.915,146.9900.08,029.3-5.3%5.3%5.3%43.7%20101,806.315,879.31,057.89,299.55.1%4.2%5.3%42.0%20111,911.316,567.21,180.510,232.43.7%3.4%5.2%42.9%20122,012.817,212.61,201.110,271.43.6%4.1%4.9%42.7%20132,064.517,428.61,274.410,759.01.4%3.8%4.9%45.9%20142,173.218,119.81,315.410,967.12.9%4.0%4.8%48.9%20152,230.618,382.21,171.99,657.13.3%2.7%4.3%52.8%20162,383.419,422.11,078.58,788.62.6%2.8%3.9%56.7%20172,472.619,933.51,158.99,342.92.1%6.0%3.4%54.0%20182,587.220,643.61,222.49,753.72.2%4.9%3.3%53.6%20192,628.320,764.01,269.010,025.5-0.2%3.6%3.5%53.3%20202,445.619,137.41,089.88,528.1-8.1%3.4%4.4%60.1%20212,669.120,694.81,297.710,061.54.8%5.7%4.1%57.6%20222,919.922,440.11,424.510,948.02.1%8.0%3.4%56.8%20233,058.723,307.81,476.411,250.51.2%6.3%3.7%58.7%20243,178.524,023.71,527.111,541.81.8%3.9%3.7%59.0%20253,306.924,798.21,586.411,896.62.1%3.3%3.8%59.3%20263,441.025,609.41,650.412,283.12.1%3.1%3.8%59.6%20273,580.726,449.11,718.612,694.32.1%3.0%3.8%59.9%=== Poverty ===Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population).", "Based on World Bank data ranging from 1998 to 2018.Poverty in Mexico is measured under parameters such as nutrition, clean water, shelter, education, health care, social security, quality and basic services in the household, income and social cohesion as defined by social development laws in the country.", "It is divided in two categories: Moderate poverty and Extreme poverty.While less than 2% of Mexico's population lives below the international poverty line set by the World Bank, as of 2013, Mexico's government estimates that 33% of Mexico's population lives in moderate poverty and 9% lives in extreme poverty, which leads to 42% of Mexico's total population living below the national poverty line.", "The gap might be explained by the government's adopting the multidimensional poverty method as a way to measure poverty, so a person who has an income higher than the \"international poverty line\" or \"well being income line\" set by the Mexican government might fall in the \"moderate poverty\" category if he or she has one or more deficiencies related to social rights such as education (did not complete studies), nutrition (malnutrition or obesity), or living standards (including elemental, such as water or electricity, and secondary domestic assets, such as refrigerators).", "Extreme poverty is defined by the Mexican government as persons who have deficiencies in both social rights and an income lower than the \"well being income line\".", "Additional figures from SEDESOL (Mexico's social development agency) estimates that 6% (7.4 million people) live in extreme poverty and suffer from food insecurity.Recently, extensive changes in government economic policy and attempts at reducing government interference through privatization of several sectors, for better or worse, allowed Mexico to remain the biggest economy in Latin America, until 2005 when it became the second-largest; and a so-called \"trillion dollar club\" member.", "Despite these changes, Mexico continues to suffer great social inequality and lack of opportunities.", "The Peña Nieto's administration made an attempt at reducing poverty in the country, to provide more opportunities to its citizens such as jobs, education, and the installation of universal healthcare.==== Income inequality ====The GDP per capita of Mexican States in USD, 2012.A single person in Mexico, Carlos Slim, has a net worth equal to six percent of GDP.", "Additionally, only ten percent of Mexicans represent 25% of Mexican GDP.", "A smaller group, 3.5%, represent 12.5% of Mexican GDP.According to the OECD, Mexico is the country with the second highest degree of economic disparity between the extremely poor and extremely rich, after Chile – although this gap has been diminishing over the last decade.", "The bottom ten percent on the income rung disposes of 1.36% of the country's resources, whereas the upper 10% dispose of almost 36%.", "OECD also notes that Mexico's budgeted expenses for poverty alleviation and social development is only about a third of the OECD average – both in absolute and relative numbers.", "According to the World Bank, in 2004, 17.6% of Mexico's population lived in extreme poverty, while 21% lived in moderated poverty.===Remittances===Mexico was the fourth largest receiver of remittances in the world in 2017.Remittances, or contributions sent by Mexicans living abroad, mostly in the United States, to their families at home in Mexico comprised $28.5 billion in 2017.In 2015, remittances overtook oil to become the single largest foreign source of income for Mexico, larger than any other sector.The growth of remittances have more than doubled since 1997.Recorded remittance transactions exceeded 41 million in 2003, of which 86 percent were made by electronic transfer.The Mexican government, cognizant of the needs of migrant workers, began issuing an upgraded version of the ''Matrícula Consular de Alta Seguridad'' (MACS, High Security Consular Identification), an identity document issued at Mexican consulates abroad.", "This document is now accepted as a valid identity card in 32 US states, as well as thousands of police agencies, hundreds of cities and counties, as well as banking institutions.The main states receiving remittances in 2014 were Michoacán, Guanajuato, Jalisco, the State of Mexico and Puebla, which jointly captured 45% of total remittances in that year.", "Several state governments, with the support of the federal government, have implemented programs to use part of the remittances to finance public works.", "This program, called ''Dos por Uno'' (Two for every one) is designed in a way that for each peso contributed by migrants from their remittances, the state and the federal governments will invest two pesos in building infrastructure at their home communities.===Regional economies===Mexican States by Human Development Index, 2015.Regional disparities and income inequality are a feature of the Mexican economy.", "While all constituent states of the federation have a Human Development Index (HDI) higher than 0.70 (medium to high development), the northern and central states have higher levels of HDI than the southern states.", "Nuevo León, Jalisco and the Federal District have HDI levels similar to European countries, whereas that of Oaxaca and Chiapas is similar to that of China or Vietnam.At the municipal level, economic disparities are even greater: Benito Juárez borough in Mexico City has an HDI similar to that of Germany or New Zealand, whereas, Metlatónoc in Guerrero, would have an HDI similar to that of Malawi.", "The majority of the federal entities in the north have a high development (higher than 0.80), as well as the entities Colima, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, the Federal District, Querétaro and the southeastern states of Quintana Roo and Campeche).", "The less developed states (with medium development in terms of HDI, higher than 0.70) are located along the southern Pacific coast.In terms of share of the GDP by economic sector (in 2004), the largest contributors in agriculture are Jalisco (9.7%), Sinaloa (7.7%) and Veracruz (7.6%); the greatest contributors in industrial production are the Federal District (15.8%), State of México (11.8%) and Nuevo León (7.9%); the greatest contributors in the service sector are also the Federal District (25.3%), State of México (8.9%) and Nuevo León (7.5%).Since the 1980s, the economy has slowly become less centralized; the annual rate of GDP growth of the Federal District from 2003 to 2004 was the smallest of all federal entities at 0.2%, with drastic drops in the agriculture and industrial sectors.", "Nonetheless, it still accounts for 21.8% of the nation's GDP.", "The states with the highest GDP growth rates are Quintana Roo (9.0%), Baja California (8.9%), and San Luis Potosí (8.2%).", "In 2000, the federal entities with the highest GDP per capita in Mexico were the Federal District (US$26,320), Campeche (US$18,900) and Nuevo León (US$30,250); the states with the lowest GDP per capita were Chiapas (US$3,302), Oaxaca (US$4,100) and Guerrero (US$6,800)." ], [ "Economic sectors", "Hacienda of San Antonio Coapa by José María Velasco Gómez.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2022 was estimated at US$2,89 trillion, and GDP per capita in PPP at US$22,216.The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 70.5%, followed by the industrial sector at 25.7% (2006 est.).", "Agriculture represents only 3.9% of GDP (2006 est.).", "Mexican labor force is estimated at 38 million of which 18% is occupied in agriculture, 24% in the industry sector and 58% in the service sector (2003 est.).", "Mexico's largest source of foreign income is remittances.=== Agriculture ===Agriculture as a percentage of total GDP has been steadily declining, and now resembles that of developed nations in that it plays a smaller role in the economy.", "In 2006, agriculture accounted for 3.9% of GDP, down from 7% in 1990, and 25% in 1970.Given the historic structure of ''ejidos'', it employs a considerably high percentage of the work force: 18% in 2003, mostly of which grows basic crops for subsistence, compared to 2–5% in developed nations in which production is highly mechanized.==== History ====Food and agriculture 200px ''Farmers in Puebla'' '''Product''' '''Quantity (Tm)''' World Rank1Avocados 1,040,390 1Onions and chayote1,130,6601Limes and lemons1,824,8901Sunflower seed212,7651 Dry fruits 95,150 2 Papaya955,6942 Chillies and peppers 1,853,6102 Whole beans 93 0003 Oranges3,969,8103 Anise, badian, fennel32 5003 Chicken meat2,245,0003 Asparagus67,2474 Mangoes1.503.0104 Corn20,000,00041Source:FAOAfter the Mexican Revolution Mexico began an agrarian reform, based on the 27th article of the Mexican Constitution than included transfer of land and/or free land distribution to peasants and small farmers under the concept of the ''ejido''.", "This program was further extended during President Cárdenas' administration during the 1930s and continued into the 1960s at varying rates.", "The cooperative agrarian reform, which guaranteed small farmers a means of subsistence livelihood, also caused land fragmentation and lack of capital investment, since commonly held land could not be used as collateral.", "In an effort to raise rural productivity and living standards, this constitutional article was amended in 1992 to allow for the transfer of property rights of the communal lands to farmers cultivating it.", "With the ability to rent or sell it, a way was open for the creation of larger farms and the advantages of economies of scale.", "Large mechanized farms are now operating in some northwestern states (mainly in Sinaloa).", "However, privatization of ''ejidos'' continues to be very slow in the central and southern states where the great majority of peasants produce only for subsistence.Until the 1980s, the government encouraged the production of basic crops (mainly corn and beans) by maintaining support prices and controlling imports through the National Company for Popular Subsistence (CONASUPO).", "With trade liberalization, however, CONASUPO was gradually dismantled and two new mechanisms were implemented: Alianza and Procampo.", "Alianza provides income payments and incentives for mechanization and advanced irrigation systems.", "Procampo is an income transfer subsidy to farmers.", "This support program provides 3.5 million farmers who produce basic commodities (mostly corn), and which represent 64% of all farmers, with a fixed income transfer payment per unit of area of cropland.", "This subsidy increased substantially during president Fox's administration, mainly to white corn producers in order to reduce imports from the United States.", "This program has been successful, and in 2004, roughly only 15% of corn imports are white corn –the one used for human consumption and the type that is mostly grown in Mexico– as opposed to 85% of yellow and crashed corn –the one use for feeding livestock, and which is barely produced in Mexico.==== Crops ====In spite of corn as being a staple in the Mexican diet, Mexico's comparative advantage in agriculture is not in corn, but in horticulture, tropical fruits, and vegetables.", "Negotiators of NAFTA expected that through liberalization and mechanization of agriculture two-thirds of Mexican corn producers would naturally shift from corn production to horticultural and other labor-intensive crops such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, coffee and sugar cane.", "While horticultural trade has drastically increased due to NAFTA, it has not absorbed displaced workers from corn production (estimated at 600,000).", "Corn production has remained stable (at 20 million metric tons), arguably, as a result of income support to farmers, or a reluctance to abandon a millenarian tradition in Mexico: not only have peasants grown corn for millennia, corn originated in Mexico.", "Mexico is the seventh largest corn producer in the world.===== Potatoes =====The area dedicated to potatoes has changed little since 1980 and average yields have almost tripled since 1961.Production reached a record 1.7 million tonnes in 2003.Per capita consumption of potato in Mexico stands at 17 kg a year, very low compared to its maize intake of 400 kg.", "On average, potato farms in Mexico are larger than those devoted to more basic food crops.", "Potato production in Mexico is mostly for commercial purposes; the production for household consumption is very small.===== Avocado =====Mexico is the world's leading producer of avocados as of 2020, supplying nearly 30% of the global harvest in that year.Mexico is by far the world's largest avocado growing country, producing several times more than the second largest producer.", "In 2013, the total area dedicated to avocado production was , and the harvest was 2.03 million tonnes in 2017.The states that produce the most are México, Morelos, Nayarit, Puebla, and Michoacan, accounting for 86% of the total.===== Sugar cane =====Approximately 160,000 medium-sized farmers grow sugar cane in 15 Mexican states; currently there are 54 sugar mills around the country that produced 4.96 million tons of sugar in the 2010 crop, compared to 5.8 million tons in 2001.Mexico's sugar industry is characterized by high production costs and lack of investment.", "Mexico produces more sugar than it consumes.", "Sugar cane is grown on 700,000 farms in Mexico with a yield of 72 metric tons per farm.=== Mining ===Mexico is the world's leading producer of silver.HidalgoIn 2019, the country was the world's largest producer of silver 9th largest producer of gold, the 8th largest producer of copper, the world's 5th largest producer of lead, the world's 6th largest producer of zinc, the world's 5th largest producer of molybdenum, the world's 3rd largest producer of mercury, the world's 5th largest producer of bismuth, the world's 13th largest producer of manganese and the 23rd largest world producer of phosphate.", "It is also the 8th largest world producer of salt.In April 2022, the Senate passed a law that nationalizes the lithium mining industry in the country.", "The federal government will have a monopoly on all new lithium mines in the country, but existing operations will be allowed to continue in private hands.", "Critics of the move argue that the constitution already does this and that the government lacks the technical capacity to mine the major reserves, which are mostly in clay deposits that are difficult to mine.", "The government made a similar failed attempt to nationalize uranium mining in the 1980s." ], [ "Industry", "Industrial production Main industriesAircraft, automobile industry, petrochemicals, cement and construction, textiles, food and beverages, mining, consumer durables, tourismIndustrial growth rate 3.6% (2006)Labor force 29% of total labor forceGDP of sector 25.7% of total GDPGrupo BimboThe industrial sector as a whole has benefited from trade liberalization; in 2000 it accounted for almost 50% of all export earnings.A Cemex plant on the outskirts of Monterrey.Among the most important industrial manufacturers in Mexico is the automotive industry, whose standards of quality are internationally recognized.", "The automobile sector in Mexico differs from that in other Latin American countries and developing nations in that it does not function as a mere assembly manufacturer.", "The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities, an example of that is the new Volkswagen Jetta model with up to 70% of parts designed in Mexico.The \"Big Three\" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s.", "Later, Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have also participated.", "Given the high requirements of North American components in the industry, many European and Asian parts suppliers have also moved to Mexico: in Puebla alone, 70 industrial part-makers cluster around Volkswagen.The relatively small domestic car industry is represented by DINA Camiones, a manufacturer of trucks, busses and military vehicles, which through domestic production and purchases of foreign bus manufacturers has become the largest bus manufacturer in the world; Vehizero that builds hybrid trucks and the new car companies Mastretta design that builds the Mastretta MXT sports car and Autobuses King that plans to build 10000 microbuses by 2015, nevertheless new car companies are emerging among them CIMEX that has developed a sport utility truck, the Conin, and it is to be released in September 2010 in Mexico's national auto show, And the new electric car maker Grupo Electrico Motorizado.", "Some large industries of Mexico include Cemex, the world's largest construction company and the third largest cement producer the alcohol beverage industries, including world-renowned players like Grupo Modelo; conglomerates like FEMSA, which apart from being the largest single producer of alcoholic beverages and owning multiple commercial interests such OXXO convenience store chain, is also the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world; Gruma, the largest producer of corn flour and tortillas in the world; and Grupo Bimbo, Telmex, Televisa, among many others.", "In 2005, according to the World Bank, high-tech industrial production represented 19.6% of total exports.Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery in Monterrey, Mexico.", "This company was established in 1889.Today it still operates as a brewery and lodges two museums.Maquiladoras (manufacturing plants that take in imported raw materials and produce goods for domestic consumption and export on behalf of foreign companies) have become the landmark of trade in Mexico.", "This sector has benefited from NAFTA, in that real income in the maquiladora sector has increased 15.5% since 1994, though from the non-maquiladora sector has grown much faster.", "Contrary to popular belief, this should be no surprise since maquiladora's products could enter the US duty-free since a 1960s industry agreement.", "Other sectors now benefit from the free trade agreement, and the share of exports from non-border states has increased in the last 5 years while the share of exports from maquiladora-border states has decreased.Currently Mexico is focusing in developing an aerospace industry and the assembly of helicopter and regional jet aircraft fuselages is taking place.", "Foreign firms such as MD Helicopters, Bell, Cessna and Bombardier build helicopter, aircraft and regional jets fuselages in Mexico.", "Although the Mexican aircraft industry is mostly foreign, as is its car industry, Mexican firms have been founded such as Aeromarmi, which builds light propeller airplanes, and Hydra Technologies, which builds Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as the S4 Ehécatl, other important companies are Frisa Aerospace that manufactures jet engine parts for the new Mitsubishi Regional jet and supplies Prat&whittney and Rolls-Royce jet engine manufacturers of casings for jet engines and Kuo Aerospace that builds parts for aircraft landing gear and Supplies bombardier plant in Querétaro.As compared with the United States or countries in Western Europe a larger sector of Mexico's industrial economy is food manufacturing which includes several world class companies but the regional industry is undeveloped.", "There are national brands that have become international and local Mom and Pop producers but little manufacturing in between.===Electronics===A tablet PC and touch screen computer / television made by Mexican MeeboxThe electronics industry of Mexico has grown enormously within the last decade.", "Mexico has the sixth largest electronics industry in the world after China, United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.", "Mexico is the second largest exporter of electronics to the United States where it exported $71.4 billion worth of electronics in 2011.The Mexican electronics industry is dominated by the manufacture and OEM design of televisions, displays, computers, mobile phones, circuit boards, semiconductors, electronic appliances, communications equipment and LCD modules.", "The Mexican electronics industry grew 20% between 2010 and 2011, up from its constant growth rate of 17% between 2003 and 2009.Currently electronics represent 30% of Mexico's exports.==== Televisions ====The design and manufacture of flat panel plasma, LCD and LED televisions is the single largest sector of the Mexican electronics industry, representing 25% of Mexico's electronics export revenue.", "In 2009 Mexico surpassed South Korea and China as the largest manufacturer of televisions, with Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp (through Semex), Zenith LG, Lanix, TCL, RCA, Phillips, Elcoteq, Tatung, Panasonic, and Vizio manufacturing CRT, LCD, LED and Plasma televisions in Mexico.", "Due to Mexico's position as the largest manufacturer of television it is known as the television capital of the world in the electronics industry.==== Computers ====Mexico is the third largest manufacturers of computers in the world with both domestic companies such as Lanix, Texa, Meebox, Spaceit, Kyoto and foreign companies such as Dell, Sony, HP, Acer Compaq, Samsung and Lenovo manufacturing various types of computers across the country.", "Most of the computers manufactured in Mexico are from foreign companies.", "Mexico is Latin America's largest producer of electronics and appliances made by domestic companies.==== OEM and ODM manufacturing ====Sharp LCD television.Mexico is also home to a large number of OEM and ODM manufactures both foreign and domestic.", "Among them include Foxconn, Celestica, Sanmina-SCI, Jabil, Elcoteq, Falco, Kimball International, Compal, Benchmark Electronics, Plexus, Lanix and Flextronics.", "These companies assemble finished electronics or design and manufacture electronic components on behalf of larger companies such as Sony or Microsoft using locally sourced components, for example the ODM, Flextronics manufactures Xbox video games systems in Guadalajara, Mexico for Microsoft using components such as power systems and printed circuit boards from a local company, Falco Electronics which acts as the OEM.==== Engineering and design ====The success and rapid growth of the Mexican electronics sector is driven primarily by the relatively low cost of manufacturing and design in Mexico; its strategic position as a major consumer electronics market coupled with its proximity to both the large North American and South American markets whom Mexico shares free trade agreements with; government support in the form of low business taxes, simplified access to loans and capital for both foreign multinational and domestic startup tech-based firms; and a very large pool of highly skilled, educated labor across all sectors of the tech industry.", "For example, German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate Siemens has a significant Mexican base, which also serves as its business and strategy hub for Central American countries and the Caribbean region.The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education is one of Mexico's most prestigious technology and engineering universities and is ranked one of the leading engineering institutions in Latin America.There are almost half a million (451,000) students enrolled in electronics engineering programs with an additional 114,000 electronics engineers entering the Mexican workforce each year and Mexico had over half a million (580,000) certified electronic engineering professionals employed in 2007.From the late 1990s, the Mexican electronics industry began to shift away from simple line assembly to more advanced work such as research, design, and the manufacture of advanced electronics systems such as LCD panels, semiconductors, printed circuit boards, microelectronics, microprocessors, chipsets and heavy electronic industrial equipment and in 2006 the number of certified engineers being graduated annually in Mexico surpassed that of the United States.", "Many Korean, Japanese and American appliances sold in the US are actually of Mexican design and origin but sold under the OEM's client names.", "In 2008 one out of every four consumer appliances sold in the United States was of Mexican design.==== Joint production ====While many foreign companies like Phillips, Vizio and LG simply install wholly owned factories in Mexico; a number of foreign companies have set up semi-independent joint venture companies with Mexican businesses to manufacture and design components in Mexico.", "These companies are independently operated from their foreign parent companies and are registered in Mexico.", "These local companies function under Mexican law and retain a sizable portion of the revenue.", "These companies typically function dually as in-company OEM development and design facilities and manufacturing centers and usually produce most components needed to manufacture the finished products.", "An example would by Sharp which has formed Semex.Semex was founded as a joint venture between Sharp and Mexican investors which acts as an autonomous independent company which Sharp only maintains partial control over.", "The company manufactures whole products such televisions and designs individual components on behalf of Sharp such as LCD modules and in return Semex is granted access to Sharp capital, technology, research capacity and branding.", "Notable foreign companies which have set up joint venture entities in Mexico include Samsung which formed Samex, a local designer and manufacturer of finished televisions, white goods and individual electronic components like printed circuit boards, LCD panels and semiconductors, Toshiba, who formed Toshiba de México, S.A. de C.V., an administratively autonomous subsidiary which produces electronics parts, televisions and heavy industrial equipment.Some of these subsidiaries have grown to expand into multiple branches effectively becoming autonomous conglomerates within their own parent companies.", "Sony for example started operations in Mexico in 1976 with a group of Mexican investors, and founded the joint venture, Sony de Mexico which produces LED panels, LCD modules, automotive electronics, appliances and printed circuit boards amongst other products for its Japanese parent company, Sony KG.", "Sony de Mexico has research facilities in Monterrey and Mexico City, designs many of the Sony products manufactured in Mexico and has now expanded to create its own finance, music and entertainment subsidiaries which are Mexican registered and independent of their Japanese parent corporation.==== Domestic industry ====Lanix W10 Ilium tablet PC.Although much of Mexico's electronics industry is driven by foreign companies, Mexico also has a sizeable domestic electronics industry and a number of electronics companies including Mabe, a major appliance manufacturer and OEM which has been functioning since the nineteen fifties and has expanded into the global market, Meebox, a designer and manufacturer desktop and tablet computers, solar power panels and electronics components, Texa, which manufactures computers laptops and servers, Falco, a major international manufacturer of electronic components such as printed circuitboards, power systems, semiconductors, gate drives and which has production facilities in Mexico, India and China, and Lanix, Mexico's largest electronics company which manufactures products such as computers, laptops, smartphones, LED and LCDs, flash memory, tablets, servers, hard drives, RAM, optical disk drives, and printed circuitboards and employs over 11,000 people in Mexico and Chile and distributes its products throughout Latin America.", "Another area being currently developed in Mexico is Robotics, Mexico's new Mexone robot has been designed with the idea that in future years develop a commercial application for such advanced robots===Oil===A Pemex offshore oil platform just off the coast of Ciudad del Carmen.Mineral resources are public property by constitution.", "As such, the energy sector is administered by the government with varying degrees of private investment.", "Mexico is the fourteenth-largest oil producer in the world, with .", "Pemex, the state-owned company in charge of administering research, exploration and sales of oil, is the largest company in Mexico, and the second largest in Latin America after Brazil's Petrobras.", "Pemex is heavily taxed of almost 62 per cent of the company's sales, a significant source of revenue for the government.Without enough money to continue investing in finding new sources or upgrading infrastructure, and being protected constitutionally from private and foreign investment, some have predicted the company may face institutional collapse.", "While the oil industry is still relevant for the government's budget, its importance in GDP and exports has steadily fallen since the 1980s.", "In 1980 oil exports accounted for 61.6% of total exports; by 2000 it was only 7.3%.=== Energy ===Mexico's installed electricity capacity in 2008 was 58 GW.", "Of the installed capacity, 75% is thermal, 19% hydro, 2% nuclear and 3% r/ref> TCL,enewable other than hydro.", "The general trend in thermal generation is a decline in petroleum-based fuels and a growth in natural gas and coal.", "Since Mexico is a net importer of natural gas, higher levels of natural gas consumption (i.e.", "for power generation) will likely depend upon higher imports from either the United States or via liquefied natural gas (LNG).===Manufacturing=== A maquiladora assembly plant in Mexico.Manufacturing in Mexico grew rapidly in the late 1960s with the end of the US farm labor agreement known as the bracero program.", "This sent many farm laborers back into the Northern border region with no source of income.", "As a result, the US and Mexican governments agreed to The Border Industrialization Program, which permitted US companies to assemble products in Mexico using raw materials and components from the US with reduced duties.", "The Border Industrialization Program became known popularly as The Maquiladora Program or shortened to The Maquila Program.Over the years, simple assembly operations in Mexico have evolved into complex manufacturing operations including televisions, automobiles, industrial and personal products.", "While inexpensive commodity manufacturing has flown to China, Mexico attracts U.S. manufacturers that need low-cost solutions near-by for higher value end products and just-in-time components.====Automobiles====Mastretta-MXT-lgThe automotive sector accounts for 17.6% of Mexico's manufacturing sector.", "General Motors, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, Nissan, Fiat, Renault, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen produce 2.8 million vehicles annually at 20 plants across the country, mostly in Puebla.", "Mexico manufactures more automobiles of any North American nation.", "The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in research and development.The \"Big Three\" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s.", "In Puebla 70 industrial part-makers cluster around Volkswagen.", "In the 2010s expansion of the sector was surging.", "In 2014 more than $10 billion in investment was committed in the first few months of the year.", "Kia Motors in August 2014 announced plans for a $1 billion factory in Nuevo León.", "At the time Mercedes-Benz and Nissan were already building a $1.4 billion plant near Aguascalientes, while BMW was planning a $1-billion assembly plant in San Luis Potosí.", "Additionally, Audi began building a $1.3 billion factory at San José Chiapa near Puebla in 2013." ], [ "Retailing", "OXXO store in Cancún, Quintana RooGrupo Sanborns is a large chains of stores that began in the early 20th century Mexico has a MXN 4.027 trillion retail sector (2013, about US$300 billion at the 2013 exchange rate) including an estimated US$12 billion (2015) in e-commerce.", "The largest retailer is Walmart, while the largest Mexico-based retailers are Soriana super/hypermarkets, FEMSA incl.", "its OXXO convenience stores, Coppel (department store), Liverpool department stores, Chedraui super/hypermarkets, and Comercial Mexicana super/hypermarkets." ], [ "Services", "Camino Real HotelsIn 2013 the tertiary sector was estimated to account for 59.8% of Mexico's GDP.", "In 2011 services employed 61.9% of the working population.", "This section includes transportation, commerce, warehousing, restaurant and hotels, arts and entertainment, health, education, financial and banking services, telecommunications as well as public administration and defense.", "Mexico's service sector is strong, and in 2001 replaced Brazil's as the largest service sector in Latin America in dollar terms.===Tourism===The beach in Cancún, México.Tourism is one of the most important industries in Mexico.", "It is the fourth largest source of foreign exchange for the country.", "Mexico is the eighth most visited country in the world (with over 20 million tourists a year).===Finance=======Banking system====BBVA Bancómer TowerAccording to the IMF the Mexican banking system is strong, in which private banks are profitable and well-capitalized.", "The financial and banking sector is increasingly dominated by foreign companies or mergers of foreign and Mexican companies with the notable exception of Banorte.", "The acquisition of Banamex, one of the oldest surviving financial institutions in Mexico, by Citigroup was the largest US-Mexico corporate merger, at US$12.5 billion.", "The largest financial institution in Mexico is Bancomer associated to the Spanish BBVA.The process of institution building in the financial sector in Mexico has evolved hand in hand with the efforts of financial liberalization and of inserting the economy more fully into world markets.", "Over the recent years, there has been a wave of acquisitions by foreign institutions such as US-based Citigroup, Spain's BBVA and the UK's HSBC.", "Their presence, along with a better regulatory framework, has allowed Mexico's banking system to recover from the 1994–95 peso crisis.", "Lending to the public and private sector is increasing and so is activity in the areas of insurance, leasing and mortgages.", "However, bank credit accounts for only 22% of GDP, which is significantly low compared to 70% in Chile.", "Credit to the Agricultural sector has fallen 45.5% in six years (2001 to 2007), and now represents about 1% of total bank loans.", "Other important institutions include savings and loans, credit unions (known as \"cajas populares\"), government development banks, “non-bank banks”, bonded warehouses, bonding companies and foreign-exchange firms.A wave of acquisitions has left Mexico's financial sector in foreign hands.", "Their foreign-run affiliates compete with independent financial firms operating as commercial banks, brokerage and securities houses, insurance companies, retirement-fund administrators, mutual funds, and leasing companies.====Securities market====The Mexican Stock ExchangeMexico has a single securities market, the Mexican Stock Exchange ('''Bolsa Mexicana de Valores''', known as the Bolsa).", "The market has grown steadily, with its main indices increasing by more than 600% in the last decade.", "It is Latin America's second largest exchange, after Brazil's.", "The total value of the domestic market capitalization of the BMV was calculated at US$409 billion at the end of 2011, and raised to US$451 billion by the end of February this year.Pacific Alliance-Logo Since 2014 it is part of the Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano, as part of a unified bag of The Pacific Alliance.The Indice de Precios y Cotizaciones (IPC, the general equities index) is the benchmark stock index on the Bolsa.", "In 2005 the IPC surged 37.8%, to 17,802.71 from 12,917.88, backed by a stronger Mexican economy and lower interest rates.", "It continued its steep rise through the beginning of 2006, reaching 19,272.63 points at end-March 2006.The stockmarket also posted a record low vacancy rate, according to the central bank.", "Local stockmarket capitalisation totalled US$236bn at end-2005, up from US$170 bn at end-2004.As of March 2006 there were 135 listed companies, down from 153 a year earlier.", "Only a handful of the listed companies are foreign.", "Most are from Mexico City or Monterrey; companies from these two cities compose 67% of the total listed companies.The IPC consists of a sample of 35 shares weighted according to their market capitalisation.", "The largest companies include America Telecom, the holding company that manages Latin America's largest mobile company, América Móvil; Telmex, Mexico's largest telephone company; Grupo Bimbo, world's biggest baker; and Wal-Mart de México, a subsidiary of the US retail company.", "The makeup of the IPC is adjusted every six months, with selection aimed at including the most liquid shares in terms of value, volume and number of trades.Mexico's stock market is closely linked to developments in the US.", "Thus, volatility in the New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges, as well as interest-rate changes and economic expectations in the US, can steer the performance of Mexican equities.", "This is both because of Mexico's economic dependence on the US and the high volume of trading in Mexican equities through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).", "Currently, the decline in the value of the dollar is making non-US markets, including Mexico's, more attractive.Despite the recent gains, investors remain wary of making placements in second-tier initial public offerings (IPOs).", "Purchasers of new issues were disappointed after prices fell in numerous medium-sized companies that made offerings in 1996 and 1997.IPO activity in Mexico remains tepid and the market for second-tier IPOs is barely visible.", "There were three IPOs in 2005." ], [ "Government", "===Monetary and financial system and regulation=======Banco de México====Financial indicators 200px ''Banco de México headquarters''Currency exchange rate 23.83 MXN per US$1 (31/03/2020)Reserves US $176.579 billion (2013)Government budget US $196.5 billion (revenues)Public debt 20.7% of GDP (2006)External debt US $178.3 billion (2006)Bank funding rate 5.25% (5/15/2009)Banco de México is Mexico's central bank, an internally autonomous public institution whose governor is appointed by the president and approved by the legislature to which it is fully responsible.", "Banco de México's functions are outlined in the 28th article of the constitution and further expanded in the Monetary Law of the United Mexican States.", "Banco de México's main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency.", "It is also the lender of last resort.====Currency policy====National AuditoriumMexico has a floating exchange rate regime.The floating exchange originated with reforms initiated after the December 1994 peso crash which had followed an unsustainable adherence to a short band.", "Under the new system, Banco de México now makes no commitment to the level of the peso exchange rate, although it does employ an automatic mechanism to accumulate foreign reserves.", "It also possesses tools aimed at smoothing out volatility.", "The Exchange Rate Commission sets policy; it is made up of six members—three each from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Publico—SHCP) and the central bank, with the SHCP holding the deciding vote.In August 1996, Banco de México initiated a mechanism to acquire foreign reserves when the peso is strong, without giving the market signals about a target range for the exchange rate.", "The resulting high levels of reserves, mostly from petroleum revenues, have helped to improve the terms and conditions on debt Mexico places on foreign markets.", "However, there is concern that the government relies too heavily on oil income in order to build a healthy base of reserves.", "According to the central bank, international reserves stood at US$75.8 billion in 2007.In May 2003, Banco de México launched a program that sells U.S. dollars via a monthly auction, with the goal of maintaining a stable, but moderate, level of reserves.From April 1, 1998, through April 1, 2008, the Peso traded around a range varying from $8.46 MXN per US$1.00 on April 21, 1998, to $11.69 MXN per US$1.00 on May 11, 2004, a 10-year peak depreciation of 38.18% between the two reference date extremes before recovering.After the onset of the US credit crisis that accelerated in October 2008, the Peso had an exchange rate during October 1, 2008, through April 1, 2009 fluctuating from lowest to highest between $10.96 MXN per US$1.00 on October 1, 2008, to $15.42 MXN per US$1.00 on March 9, 2009, a peak depreciation ytd of 28.92% during those six months between the two reference date extremes before recovering.From the $11.69 rate during 2004's low to the $15.42 rate during 2009's low, the peso depreciated 31.91% in that span covering the US recession coinciding Iraq War of 2003 and 2004 to the US & Global Credit Crisis of 2008.Some experts including analysts at Goldman Sachs who coined the term BRIC in reference to the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China for marketing purposes believe that Mexico is going to be the 5th or 6th biggest economy in the world by the year 2050, behind China, United States, India, Brazil, and possibly Russia.====Monetary system====Old hall of the Treasury at the National Palace.Mexico's monetary policy was revised following the 1994–95 financial crisis, when officials decided that maintaining general price stability was the best way to contribute to the sustained growth of employment and economic activity.", "As a result, Banco de México has as its primary objective maintaining stability in the purchasing power of the peso.", "It sets an inflation target, which requires it to establish corresponding quantitative targets for the growth of the monetary base and for the expansion of net domestic credit.The central bank also monitors the evolution of several economic indicators, such as the exchange rate, differences between observed and projected inflation, the results of surveys on the public and specialists’ inflation expectations, revisions on collective employment contracts, producer prices, and the balances of the current and capital accounts.A debate continues over whether Mexico should switch to a US-style interest rate-targeting system.", "Government officials in favor of a change say that the new system would give them more control over interest rates, which are becoming more important as consumer credit levels rise.Until 2008, Mexico used a unique system, amongst the OECD countries, to control inflation in a mechanism known as the ''corto'' (lit.", "\"shortage\") a mechanism that allowed the central bank to influence market interest rates by leaving the banking system short of its daily demand for money by a predetermined amount.", "If the central bank wanted to push interest rates higher, it increased the ''corto''.", "If it wished to lower interest rates, it decreased the ''corto''.", "In April 2004, the Central Bank began setting a referential overnight interest rate as its monetary policy.===Business regulation=======Corruption====Facade of the former convent and current Interactive Museum of Economics on Tacuba StreetPetty corruption based on exercise of administrative discretion in matters of zoning and business permits is endemic in Mexico adding about 10% to the cost of consumer goods and services.", "An April 2012 article in ''The New York Times'' reporting payment of bribes to officials throughout Mexico in order to obtain construction permits, information, and other favors resulted in investigations in both the United States and Mexico.Using relatively recent night light data and electricity consumption in comparison with Gross County Product, the informal sector of the local economy in Veracruz state is shown to have grown during the period of the Fox Administration though the regional government remained PRI.", "The assumption that the informal economy of Mexico is a constant 30% of total economic activity is not supported at the local level.", "The small amount of local spatial autocorrelation that was found suggests a few clusters of high and low literacy rates amongst municipios in Veracruz but not enough to warrant including an I-statistic as a regressor.", "Global spatial autocorrelation is found especially literacy at the macro-regional level which is an area for further research beyond this study.Improved literacy bolsters both the informal and formal economies in Veracruz indicating policies designed to further literacy are vital for growing the regional economy.", "While indigenous people are relatively poor, little evidence was found that the informal economy is a higher percentage of total economic activity in a municipio with a high share of indigenous people.", "While the formal economy might have been expanding relative to the informal economy in 2000, by 2006 this process had been reversed with growing informality.", "While rural municipios have smaller economies, they are not different than urban municipios in the share of the economy that is informal.", "Programs in the past that might move economic activity from the informal to the formal sector have not succeeded, suggesting public finance issues such as tax evasion will continue to plague the state with low government revenues." ], [ "Trade", "International trade 135px ''World Trade Center in Mexico City''Exports US $248.8 billion f.o.b.", "(2006)Imports US $253.1 billion f.o.b.", "(2006)Current account US $400.1 million (2006)Export partners US 90.9%, Canada 2.2%, Spain 1.4%, Germany 1.3%, Colombia 0.9% (2006)Import partners US 53.4%, China 8%, Japan 5.9% (2005)Mexico is a trade-oriented economy, with imports and exports totaling a 78% share of the GDP in 2019.It is an important trade power as measured by the value of merchandise traded, and the country with the greatest number of free trade agreements.", "In 2020, Mexico was the world's eleventh largest merchandise exporter and thirteenth largest merchandise importer, representing 2.4% and 2.2% of world trade, respectively (and those rankings increased to 7th and 9th if the EU is considered a single trading entity).", "From 1991 to 2005, Mexican trade increased fivefold.", "Mexico is the biggest exporter and importer in Latin America; in 2020, Mexico alone exported US$417.7 billion, roughly equivalent to the sum of the exports of the next 5 largest exporters (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia).Mexican trade is fully integrated with that of its North American partners: , approximately 80% of Mexican exports and 50% of its imports were traded with the United States and Canada.", "Nonetheless, NAFTA has not produced trade diversion.", "While trade with the United States increased 183% from 1993 to 2002, and that with Canada 165%, other trade agreements have shown even more impressive results: trade with Chile increased 285%, with Costa Rica 528% and Honduras 420%.", "Trade with the European Union increased 105% over the same time period.===Free trade agreements===Mexico joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986, and today is an active and constructive participant of the World Trade Organization.", "Fox's administration promoted the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Americas; Puebla served as temporary headquarters for the negotiations, and several other cities are now candidates for its permanent headquarters if the agreement is reached and implemented.Mexico has signed 12 free trade agreements with 44 countries:* The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1992) later United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) (2019) with the United States and Canada;* Grupo de los tres, ''Group of the three countries'', or G-3 (1994) with Colombia and Venezuela; the latter decided to terminate the agreement in 2006;* Free Trade Agreement with Costa Rica (1994); superseded by the 2011 integrated Free Trade Agreement with the Central American countries;* Free Trade Agreement with Bolivia (1994); terminated in 2010;* Free Trade Agreement with Nicaragua (1997); superseded by the 2011 integrated Free Trade Agreement with the Central American countries;Countries with which Mexico has signed an FTA* Free Trade Agreement with Chile (1998);* Free Trade Agreement with the European Union (2000);* Free Trade Agreement with Israel (2000);* Northern Triangle Free Trade Agreement (2000), with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras; superseded by the 2011 integrated Free Trade Agreement with the Central American countries;* Free Trade Agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), integrated by Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (2001);* Free Trade Agreement with Uruguay (2003);* Free Trade Agreement with Japan (2004);* Free Trade Agreement with Peru (2011);* The integrated Free Trade Agreement with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua (2011);* Free Trade Agreement with Panama (2014); and* The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (2018).Mexico has shown interest in becoming an associate member of Mercosur.", "The Mexican government has also started negotiations with South Korea, Singapore and Peru, and also wishes to start negotiations with Australia for a trade agreement between the two countries.====North American Trade Agreement and the USMCA Agreement====The NAFTA emblemThe 1994 North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is by far the most important Trade Agreement Mexico has signed both in the magnitude of reciprocal trade with its partners as well as in its scope.", "Unlike the rest of the Free Trade Agreements that Mexico has signed, NAFTA is more comprehensive in its scope and was complemented by the North American Agreement for Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).", "An updating of the 1994 NAFTA, the U.S., Mexico, Canada (USMCA) is pending in early 2020, awaiting the ratification by Canada; the U.S. and Mexico have ratified it.The NAAEC agreement was a response to environmentalists' concerns that companies would relocate to Mexico or the United States would lower its standards if the three countries did not achieve a unanimous regulation on the environment.", "The NAAEC, in an aim to be more than a set of environmental regulations, established the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC), a mechanism for addressing trade and environmental issues, the North American Development Bank (NADBank) for assisting and financing investments in pollution reduction and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC).", "The NADBank and the BECC have provided economic benefits to Mexico by financing 36 projects, mostly in the water sector.", "By complementing NAFTA with the NAAEC, it has been labeled the \"greenest\" trade agreement.The NAALC supplement to NAFTA aimed to create a foundation for cooperation among the three members for the resolution of labor problems, as well as to promote greater cooperation among trade unions and social organizations in all three countries, in order to fight for the improvement of labor conditions.", "Though most economists agree that it is difficult to assess the direct impact of the NAALC, it is agreed that there has been a convergence of labor standards in North America.", "Given its limitations, however, NAALC has not produced (and in fact was not intended to achieve) convergence in employment, productivity and salary trend in North America.The agreement fell short in liberalizing movement of people across the three countries.", "In a limited way, however, immigration of skilled Mexican and Canadian workers to the United States was permitted under the TN status.", "NAFTA allows for a wide list of professions, most of which require at least a bachelor's degree, for which a Mexican or a Canadian citizen can request TN status and temporarily immigrate to the United States.", "Unlike the visas available to other countries, TN status requires no sponsorship, but simply a job offer letter.Outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sign the agreement during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 30, 2018.The overall benefits of NAFTA have been quantified by several economists, whose findings have been reported in several publications like the World Bank's Lessons from NAFTA for Latin America and the Caribbean, NAFTA's Impact on North America, and NAFTA revisited by the Institute for International Economics.", "They assess that NAFTA has been positive for Mexico, whose poverty rates have fallen, and real income salaries have risen even after accounting for the 1994–1995 economic crisis.", "Nonetheless, they also state that it has not been enough, or fast enough, to produce an economic convergence nor to reduce the poverty rates substantially or to promote higher rates of growth.", "Beside this the textile industry gain hype with this agreement and the textile industry in Mexico gained open access to the American market, promoting exports to the United States.", "The value of Mexican cotton and apparel exports to the U.S. grew from $3 billion in 1995 to $8.4 billion in 2002, a record high of $9.4 billion in 2000.At the same time, the share of Mexico's cotton textile market the U.S. has increased from 8 percent in 1995 to 13 percent in 2002.Some have suggested that in order to fully benefit from the agreement Mexico should invest in education and promote innovation as well as in infrastructure and agriculture.Contrary to popular belief, the maquiladora program existed far before NAFTA, dating to 1965.A maquiladora manufacturer operates by importing raw materials into Mexico either tariff free (NAFTA) or at a reduced rate on a temporary basis (18 months) and then using Mexico's relatively less expensive labor costs to produce finished goods for export.", "Prior to NAFTA maquiladora companies importing raw materials from anywhere in the world were given preferential tariff rates by the Mexican government so long as the finished good was for export.", "The US, prior to NAFTA, allowed Maquiladora manufactured goods to be imported into the US with the tariff rate only being applied to the value of non US raw materials used to produce the good, thus reducing the tariff relative to other countries.", "NAFTA has eliminated all tariffs on goods between the two countries, but for the maquiladora industry significantly increased the tariff rates for goods sourced outside of NAFTA.Given the overall size of trade between Mexico and the United States, there are remarkably few trade disputes, involving relatively small dollar amounts.", "These disputes are generally settled in WTO or NAFTA panels or through negotiations between the two countries.", "The most significant areas of friction involve trucking, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and a number of other agricultural products.===Mexican trade facilitation and competitiveness===Polanco has one of the most expensive streets in the Americas Avenida Presidente Masaryk.", "The buildings to the left of the Scotiabank tower are not in Polanco, they are in Lomas de Chapultepec.A 2008 research brief published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project suggested that Mexico had the potential to substantially increase trade flows and economic growth through trade facilitation reform.", "The study examined the potential impacts of trade facilitation reforms in four areas: port efficiency, customs administration, information technology, and regulatory environment (including standards).The study projected overall increments from domestic reforms to be on the order of $31.8 billion, equivalent to 22.4 percent of total Mexican manufacturing exports for 2000–03.On the imports side, the corresponding figures are $17.1 billion and 11.2 percent, respectively.", "Increases in exports, including textiles, would result primarily from improvements in port efficiency and the regulatory environment.", "Exports of transport equipment would be expected to increase by the greatest increment from improvements in port efficiency, whereas exports of food and machinery would largely be the result of improvements in the regulatory environment.", "On the imports side, Mexican improvements in port efficiency would appear to be the most important factor, although for imports of transport equipment, improvements in service sector infrastructure would also be of relative importance.=== Major trade partners ===The following table shows the largest trading partners for Mexico in 2021 by total trade value in billions of USD.", "CountryTrade Value Import ValueExport ValueBalance609.67221.31388.36167.05120.16101.0219.14 -81.8837.9311.2226.7115.4926.8518.967.89 -11.0826.5017.219.29 -7.9322.8517.085.78 -11.3013.498.724.77 -3.9512.9512.390.556 -11.8310.104.585.520.93510.065.924.14 -1.78" ], [ "See also", "* Small and medium enterprises in Mexico* List of companies of MexicoList of largest Mexican companies List of hotels in Mexico* List of Mexican brands* Index of Mexico-related articles* Mexico and the World Bank* Poverty in Mexico" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* Merrill, Tim and Ramón Miró.", "''Mexico: a country study'' (Library of Congress.", "Federal Research Division, 1996) US government document; not copyright online free" ], [ "External links", "* Mexican Council for Economic and Social Development* Mexico Development Gateway* Mexican Economy and the U.S. from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives* OECD's Mexico country Web site and OECD Economic Survey of Mexico* Did NAFTA Help Mexico?", "An Update After 23 Years from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, March 2017* Comprehensive current and historical economic data* Information about banks in Mexico* World Bank: Mexico Trade Statistics*Tariffs applied by Mexico as provided by ITC's ITC Market Access Map, an online database of customs tariffs and market requirements" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mass media in Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "Telecommunications 200px ''Telmex Retail Store in Puerto Vallarta'' Telephone land lines 19.8 million (2011)Mobile lines 94.5 million (2011)Telephone country code + 52Internet Users 31 million (2009)Internet country code .mx'''Mass media in Mexico''' are regulated by the Secretariat of Communication and Transportation (''Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes or SCT''), a federal executive cabinet ministry and by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones or IFT'').Mexico's communication services market is among the largest in Latin America, liberalized in the 1990s, with the landmark privatization of Teléfonos de México (Telmex), a previously state-owned monopoly.", "Since then, new operators have entered the market, but Telmex remains the dominant player." ], [ "Regulation", "Founded on 13 May 1891, as the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works, the SCT is divided into three subsecretariats: the Subsecretariat of Infrastructure, the Subsecretariat of Communications and the Subsecretariat of Transportation.The SCT has ceded many of its regulatory functions to the Federal Telecommunications Institute." ], [ "Radio and television", "Usage of radio, television and Internet in Mexico nowadays is prevalent.", "The first television transmission in Mexico was conducted by Javier Stavoli in 1931.Guillermo González Camarena built his own monochromatic camera in 1934, and in 1940 he developed the first trichromatic system and obtained the first patent for color television in the world.", "After developing radio and television stations, in 1948, he built the studio Gon-Cam, which was considered the best television system in the world in the time, according to survey conducted by the Columbia College of Chicago.With the passage of the century, the television broadcasting market became dominated by two powerful companies, Televisa—the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world — and TV Azteca, even though several dozen regional networks operate in the country.", "In addition, many states have their own television networks, and public television has increased its market penetration in recent years.", "In 2014 there were 1,762 radio stations and 1,063 separately licensed analog and digital television stations." ], [ "Telephone and Internet", "Broadcast relay station Guadalajara.In general, the telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by Telmex (''Teléfonos de México'') and América Móvil.", "The telecommunications industry was privatized in 1990 under the control of Grupo Carso and since 1996 under Carlos Slim.", "Telmex has diversified its operations by incorporating Internet service and mobile telephony.", "It has also expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador and the United States.", "Due to Mexican diverse orography—the country is crossed by two high altitude mountain ranges extending from the Rocky Mountains—providing landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other Latin American countries, with 20 million lines.Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, due to reduced investments in required infrastructure, and the total number of mobile lines in Mexico is nearly five times that of landlines, with an estimated 95 million lines.", "The telecommunications industry is regulated by the government through the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT, ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones'').In April 2009, the ITESM (''Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey'') reported 25,217,500 users; 78% of personal computer Internet access is broadband access., ranking ninth in the world.", "November 2019, Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica signed a deal to use some of AT&T's infrastructure in Mexico." ], [ "Satellite communications", "Discovery's payload bay.The satellite system is domestic with 120 earth stations.", "There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable.Mexican satellites are operated by ''Satélites Mexicanos'' (Satmex), a leading private company in Latin America which services both North and South America.", "Satmex offers broadcast, telephone, and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina.", "Through business partnerships, Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services.", "The system is currently composed of three main satellites: Solidaridad 2, Satmex 5 and Satmex 6.The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation is also in the process of deploying the Mexican Satellite System (MEXSAT), but a launch failure has postponed the project." ], [ "See also", "* Transportation in Mexico* Economy of Mexico" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Mexico" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''foreign relations of Mexico (''United Mexican States'')''' are directed by the President of the United Mexican States and managed through the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs.", "The principles of the foreign policy are constitutionally recognized in the Article 89, Section 10, which include: respect for international law and legal equality of states, their sovereignty and independence, non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organizations.", "Since the 1930s, the Estrada Doctrine has served as a crucial complement to these principles.After the War of Independence, the relations of Mexico were focused primarily on the United States, its northern neighbor, largest trading partner, and the most powerful actor in hemispheric and world affairs.", "Once the order was reestablished, its foreign policy was built under hemispheric prestige in subsequent decades.", "Demonstrating independence from the U.S., Mexico supported the Cuban government since its establishment in the early 1960s, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua during the late 1970s, and leftist revolutionary groups in El Salvador during the 1980s.", "In the 2000s, former President Vicente Fox adopted a new foreign policy that calls for an openness and an acceptance of criticism from the international community and the increase of Mexican involvement in foreign affairs, as well as a further integration towards its northern neighbors.", "A greater priority to Latin America and the Caribbean was given during the administration of President Felipe Calderón.Mexico is one of the founding members of several international organizations, most notably the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the OPANAL and the Rio Group.", "For a long time, Mexico has been one of the largest contributors to the United Nations regular budget, in 2008 over 40 million dollars were given to the organization.", "In addition, it was the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since it joined in 1994 until the accession of Chile in 2010.Mexico is considered as a newly industrialized country, a regional power and an emerging market, hence its presence in major economic groups such as the G8+5 and the G-20 major economies." ], [ "Foreign policy", "Secretariat of Foreign Affairs.The Article 89, Section 10 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States states the principles of the Mexican foreign policy, which were officially incorporated in 1988.The direction that the foreign policy will take lies on the President, as the head of state, and it is executed through the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.", "Textually, the article establishes that:The heads of delegations from left to right: Enrique Peña Nieto, François Hollande, Angela Merkel, Michelle Bachelet at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.Aside from these principles constitutionally recognized, the foreign policy has been based on some doctrines.", "The Estrada Doctrine as the most influential and representative instrument in this field, proclaimed in the early 1930s and strictly applied until 2000, claimed that foreign governments should not judge, positively or negatively, the governments or changes in government of other nations, since such action would be a breach of their sovereignty.", "This policy was said to be based on the principles of non-intervention, peaceful resolution of disputes and self-determination of all nations.During the first presidency of the National Action Party, Vicente Fox appointed Jorge Castañeda to be his Secretary of Foreign Affairs.", "Castañeda immediately broke with the Estrada Doctrine, promoting what was called by critics the \"Castañeda Doctrine\".", "The new foreign policy called for an openness and an acceptance of criticism from the international community, and the increase of Mexican involvement in foreign affairs.On November 28, 2006, former President Felipe Calderón announced that Patricia Espinosa would serve as his Secretary of Foreign Affairs starting on December 1, 2006.He declared priorities include the diversification of the Mexico–United States agenda, heavily concentrated on immigration and security issues, and the rebuilding of diplomatic relations with Cuba and Venezuela, which were heavily strained during the Fox administration, as well as giving greater priority to Latin America and the Caribbean states." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "Mexican diplomatic missions overseas.The Mexican foreign service officially started in 1822, the year after the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba, which marked the beginning of the country's independence.", "In 1831, legislation was passed that underpinned the establishment of diplomatic representations with other states in Europe and the Americas.As a regional power and emerging market, Mexico holds a significant global presence.", "As of 2009, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs has over 150 representations at its disposal overseas, which include:* 80 embassies.", "* 68 consulates.", "* 8 permanent missions.In the early 1970s, Mexico recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole and legitimate government of China, therefore issues related to the Republic of China (Taiwan) are managed through the Office of Consular Liaison under the circumscription of the Consulate General of Mexico in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.", "In addition, Mexico does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country.Historically, Mexico has remained neutral in international conflicts.", "However, in recent years some political parties have proposed an amendment of the Constitution in order to allow the Mexican army, air force or navy to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions, or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it." ], [ "List of countries with diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate123456789101112131415161837171819202122232425262728293031— (terminated)3233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135—136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166—167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191—" ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotesOctober 21, 1964See Algeria–Mexico relations* Algeria has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Algiers.February 20, 1976See Angola–Mexico relations* Angola is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Angola from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria and has an honorary consulate in Luanda.1975* Benin is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Benin from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.December 5, 1975* Botswana is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Botswana from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.1976* Burkina Faso is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Burkina Faso from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.July 28, 1977* Burundi is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Burundi from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and maintains an honorary consulate Bujumbura.1975* Cameroon is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Cameroon from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.1976* Cape Verde is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Cape Verde from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.February 4, 2020Both nations established diplomatic relations on February 4, 2020, in New York City, with the signing done by their respective ambassadors to the United Nations.", "* Central African Republic does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Central African Republic from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.February 25, 1976See Chad–Mexico relationsChad and Mexico established diplomatic relations on February 25, 1976.In May 2002, Chadian Prime Minister Nagoum Yamassoum paid a visit to the Mexican city of Monterrey to attend the Monterrey Consensus conference.", "* Chad is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Chad from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt.October 2008* The Comoros does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Comoros from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.July 31, 1975See Democratic Republic of the Congo–Mexico relationsBoth nations established diplomatic relations on July 31, 1975.", "* DR Congo does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to DR Congo from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.1990* Republic of the Congo is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Republic of the Congo from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.June 22, 1989* Djibouti is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba.", "* Mexico is accredited to Djibouti from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and maintains an honorary consulate in Djibouti City.March 31, 1958See Egypt–Mexico relations* Egypt has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Cairo.September 26, 1975See Equatorial Guinea–Mexico relationsBoth nations established diplomatic relations on September 26, 1975.", "* Equatorial Guinea is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Equatorial Guinea from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.June 23, 1993* Eritrea is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Eritrea from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt.December 23, 1975* Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Eswatini from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.1949See Ethiopia–Mexico relationsAfter the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Mexico was the only country to condemn the Italian occupation of Ethiopia at the League of Nations.", "Since then, relations between the two nations have strengthened.In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia thanked Mexico by naming a square in the city called \"Mexico Square\".", "Mexico named a metro station in Mexico City called Metro Etiopía.", "* Ethiopia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Addis Ababa.March 1976* Gabon is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Gabon from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.August 15, 1975* Gambia does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Gambia from its embassy in Accra, Ghana.August 8, 1961See Ghana–Mexico relationsGhana and Mexico established diplomatic relations on August 8, 1961.Soon afterwards, both nations opened embassies in each other's capitals, respectively.", "In 1972, Ghana closed its embassy in Mexico City.", "Mexico closed its embassy in Accra in 1980.Mexico re-opened its embassy in Ghana in 2013.", "* Ghana is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Accra.January 25, 1962* Guinea is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba.", "* Mexico is accredited to Guinea from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.1975* Guinea-Bissau does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Guinea-Bissau from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco.November 13, 1975See Ivory Coast–Mexico relations* Ivory Coast has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Ivory Coast from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco and maintains an honorary consulate in Abidjan.", "March 15, 1977See Kenya–Mexico relations* Kenya is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Nairobi.1975* Lesotho is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Lesotho from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.1976* Liberia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Liberia from its embassy in Accra, Ghana.August 6, 1975See Libya–Mexico relations* Libya has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Libya from its embassy in Algiers, Algeria.December 26, 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.December 10, 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.March 23, 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.June 24, 1975* Mauritania is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Algiers, Algeria and maintains an honorary consulate in Nouakchott.July 30, 1976* Mauritius is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Mauritius from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa and maintains an honorary consulate in Port Louis.October 31, 1962See Mexico–Morocco relations* Mexico has an embassy in Rabat and a trade office in Casablanca.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Mexico City.February 26, 1988See Mexico–Mozambique relations* Mexico is accredited to Mozambique from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Mozambique is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.April 17, 1990See Mexico–Namibia relationsMexico recognized and established diplomatic relations with Namibia on April 17, 1990.In 1993, Mexico opened an embassy in Windhoek, however, the embassy was closed in 2002.", "* Mexico is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Namibia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.November 6, 1975* Mexico is accredited to Niger from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.", "* Niger is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.April 14, 1976See Mexico–Nigeria relations* Mexico has an embassy in Abuja.", "* Nigeria has an embassy in Mexico City.January 21, 1976* Mexico is accredited to Rwanda from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and maintains an honorary consulate in Kigali.", "* Rwanda is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.September 8, 1979See Mexico–Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic relations* Mexico is accredited to the Sahrawi Republic from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.", "* Sahrawi Republic has an embassy in Mexico City.~1989* Mexico is accredited to São Tomé and Príncipe from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.", "* São Tomé and Príncipe does not have an accreditation to Mexico.May 1962See Mexico–Senegal relations* Mexico is accredited to Senegal from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco.", "and maintains an honorary consulate in Dakar.", "* Senegal is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.1986* Mexico is accredited to the Seychelles from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.", "* Seychelles does not have an accreditation to Mexico.1976* Mexico is accredited to Sierra Leone from its embassy in Accra, Ghana.", "* Sierra Leone does not have an accreditation to Mexico.August 5, 1975* Mexico is accredited to Somalia from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.", "* Somalia does not have an accreditation to Mexico.26 October 1993See Mexico–South Africa relationsThere were no official relations between Mexico and South Africa before 1993.After the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the countries established relations.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Pretoria.", "* South Africa has an embassy in Mexico City.September 26, 2011* Mexico is accredited to South Sudan from its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.", "* South Sudan does not have an accreditation to Mexico.October 19, 1982Mexico and Sudan established diplomatic relations on October 19, 1982.", "* Mexico is accredited to Sudan from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt and maintains an honorary consulate in Khartoum.", "* Sudan does not have an embassy accredited to Mexico.February 19, 1973See Mexico–Tanzania relations* Mexico is accredited to Tanzania from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and maintains an honorary consulate in Dar es Salaam.", "* Tanzania is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.October 29, 1975* Mexico is accredited to Togo from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.", "* Togo is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.November 17, 1961See Mexico–Tunisia relations* Mexico is accredited to Tunisia from its embassy in Algiers, Algeria and maintains an honorary consulate in Tunis.", "* Tunisia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.February 20, 1976See Mexico–Uganda relations* Mexico is accredited to Uganda from its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and maintains an honorary consulate in Kampala.", "* Uganda is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.October 15, 1975* Mexico is accredited to Zambia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Zambia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.March 1985See Mexico–Zimbabwe relationsMexico and Zimbabwe established diplomatic relations in March 1985.Mexico opened an embassy in Harare in 1990, however, the embassy later closed in 1994.", "* Mexico is accredited to Zimbabwe from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.", "* Zimbabwe is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.===Americas===The VII Summit of the Pacific AllianceNAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992.From left to right (standing) President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President George H. W. Bush, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.", "(Seated) Jaime Serra Puche, Carla Hills, Michael Wilson.Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect on January 1, 1994, relations between Canada, Mexico and the United States have significantly strengthened politically, economically, socially and culturally.", "During the Fox administration, a further integration towards Mexico's northern neighbors was a top priority.", "The September 11 attacks changed the priorities of U.S. foreign policy toward the strengthening of regional security.", "As a result, several trilateral summit meetings regarding this issue have occurred within the framework of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a region-level dialogue with the stated purpose of providing greater cooperation on security and economic issues, founded in Waco, Texas on March 23, 2005, by Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada, Vicente Fox, then-President of Mexico, and George W. Bush, former President of the United States.Other issues of concern are the ones related to conservation and protection of the environment, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) consists of a declaration of principles and objectives concerning this issues as well as concrete measures to further cooperation on these matters tripartitely.", "In addition, the Independent Task Force on North America advocates a greater economic and social integration between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. as a region.", "It is a group of prominent business, political and academic leaders from the three countries organized and sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations (U.S.), the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations.Mexico is an observer of several regional organizations such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).", "Former President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner expressed, during a state visit in Mexico City, that Mexico should become a full member of Mercosur, other Latin American leaders such as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Tabaré Vázquez share this vision and have extended the invitation, the latter emphasized Mexico's key role in integration of Latin America and the Caribbean and stated that: Country Formal Relations BeganNotesSeptember 14, 1984See Antigua and Barbuda–Mexico relations* Antigua and Barbuda has a non-resident ambassador accredited to Mexico from its capital in St.", "John's.", "* Mexico is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia and maintains an honorary consulate in St. John's.1824See Argentina–Mexico relationsMexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador along with Argentine President Alberto Fernández in Iguala, Mexico; February 2021.First contacts started in 1818 with the United Provinces of South America.", "Due to internal conflicts in each nation, relations between Mexico and Argentina were established ''de jure'' until the 1880s when both countries officially accredited their respective representations, upgraded to embassies in 1927.On May 20, 1914, accredited diplomats from Argentina, Brazil and Chile, known as the ABC countries, met in Niagara Falls, Canada, to prevent a war between Mexico and the United States, potentially possible due to measures taken by then-U.S. President Woodrow Wilson concerning the Tampico Affair.Relations reached their lowest point during the rule of the military government in Argentina, because of the asylum provided by Mexico to Héctor Cámpora and Abal Medina.", "Nearly at the end of the López Portillo administration in April 1982, Argentina challenged the British government when they invaded the Falkland Islands.", "Mexico acknowledged the Argentine rights over the islands but condemned the use of force to solve the conflict and supported a resolution of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that called for an end of hostilities.In 2005, during the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar de Plata, Argentina, tensions between the two countries started when former President Vicente Fox canceled the anticipatively programmed bilateral reunion with then-President Néstor Kirchner.", "At the Summit, Fox actively promoted the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and suggested the exclusion of those who did not agree; Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela argued that the Summit was not meant to discuss the FTAA and rejected the proposition.", "At the end of the ceremony, Fox expressed that \"the most important countries of the Americas (Canada, Mexico and the U.S.) supported the FTAA, and the secondary ones (Cuba, Venezuela and the members of Mercosur) were against it\".", "Later, he criticized Kirchner's interest of \"pleasing the Argentine public opinion\", who responded that \"Fox should only care for the affairs that involve Mexico ... and good diplomacy was not about bowing down to powerful countries\".", "The respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs redacted a joint ''communiqué'' apologizing for the incident and reminded the \"importance of the good relations for both countries\".", "In 2007, when Kirchner paid a state visit, he and President Felipe Calderón signed a \"Strategic Partnership Agreement\" to strengthen bilateral ties.In recent years, both partners, along with Colombia, Italy, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey and six other countries, developed a movement called Uniting for Consensus, nicknamed the \"Coffee Club\", in opposition to the possible expansion of the United Nations Security Council.", "Argentina and Mexico, specifically, do not support the integration of Brazil as a permanent member of the UNSC.", "* Argentina has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate in Playa del Carmen.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Buenos Aires.", "* ''See also'': Argentine immigration to MexicoJanuary 24, 1974See Bahamas–Mexico relations* The Bahamas is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Bahamas from its embassy in Kingston, Jamaica and maintains an honorary consulate in Nassau.September 11, 1972See Barbados–Mexico relations* Barbados is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Barbados from its embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and maintains an honorary consulate in Bridgetown.1981See Belize–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between both nations were established in 1981 after Belize obtained independence from the United Kingdom.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Belmopan.", "* Belize has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Both countries are members of the Association of Caribbean States and the Organization of American States.1831See Bolivia–Mexico relationsOfficial visit to Mexico of the President of Bolivia, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora.", "* Bolivia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in La Paz.Both nations are full members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and Rio Group.August 7, 1824See Brazil–Mexico relationsFelipe Calderon and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil (right).Mexico and Brazil represent more than half of population, territory and economic development in Latin America, and have the major prestige in the region.", "Considered as regional powers by analysts, relations between the two countries remain good.", "In the economic area, both are members of the ALADI, the G8+5 and the G-20.Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Brazil were formally established in the 1820s.", "During the French Intervention in Mexico, and subsequent Second Mexican Empire, every Latin American country, except Guatemala and the Brazilian Empire, refused to recognize the government of Maximilian I of Mexico.", "In 1914, an incident occurred in the Port of Tampico that was enough to lead the U.S. to send troops to occupy the Port of Veracruz, which coincided with the provision of military aid by Germany to General Victoriano Huerta.", "The governments of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, that were given the term ABC countries, supported by then-U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, offered their mediation to solve the dispute peacefully.", "The ABC countries met in Niagara Falls, Canada to prevent a war between Mexico and the U.S. Legitimate President Venustiano Carranza refused to participate because discussions regarding the ideal form of government that should be established in Mexico took place at the Niagara Falls conferences.", "Followers of Carranza condemned these actions and refused to accept any foreign aid.", "Nonetheless, the ABC Pact of 1915 was successfully implemented during the following years.", "Since the 1970s, relations between Mexico and Brazil have been substantially strengthened.In October 2006, President-elect Felipe Calderón visited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to deepen the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.", "The governments of Brazil and Mexico look for maintaining an opened dialogue with several visits to strengthen the bilateral relations and allow a major exchange in areas such as non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, human rights, environment and energy.", "Thus the Brazil-Mexico Bilateral Commission was released in March 2007 to strengthen their relations.", "In August 2007, when President \"Lula\" da Silva paid a state visit, both leaders agreed to coordinate their foreign policies towards Latin America in order to further integrate the region.In the multilateral scene, Brazil and Mexico's actions are guided by solid principles such as respect for international law, defense of multilateralism, social justice and democratization of international relations.", "As noted, both countries share views internationally.", "However, some differences remain, being the most significant the Reform of the United Nations Security Council.", "Brazil and Mexico, along with India, the People's Republic of China and South Africa, often represent the interests of the developing countries through economic forums such as the G8+5 and the G-20.", "* Brazil has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Brasília and consulates-general in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.January 30, 1944See Canada–Mexico relationsPress conference between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Ottawa; 2016.Formal relations did not begin until 1944, at the height of the Second World War, which both countries participated in on the Allied side.", "Prior to the negotiations around the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), economic and political ties between Mexico and Canada were relatively weak.", "Since NAFTA has come into force, the two countries have become much more important to each other, and often collaborate when dealing with the United States, for example with issues related to the economic embargo imposed to Cuba.Currently, Mexico and Canada are close friends and strategic partners and benefit from a very active bilateral relationship which includes ever increasing commercial ties, high-level political exchanges and an expanding collaborative network between Mexicans and Canadians in areas such as climate change, culture, energy, education, good governance, human rights and public service modernization.", "And more recently, both countries have been building a closer security and defense relationship.In recent years, both partners along with Italy, Argentina, Pakistan and other eight countries have sought a reform of the United Nations Security Council and its working methods Which form a group informally called the Coffee Club, that opposes to the proposition of the G4.1821See Chile–Mexico relationsIn the early 1820s, Chile and Mexico established diplomatic relations, both countries had interest of integrating the region, however, due to Mexico's economic and political instability the project did not go further.", "In 1914, due to the Tampico Affair, then-U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered the occupation of the Port of Veracruz.", "Once Wilson realized that his objectives had failed, he appealed to the accredited diplomats of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, known as the ABC countries, to mediate and find a peaceful solution to the international conflict preventing a war between Mexico and the U.S.Based on the principle of ideological plurality, the Mexican government actively supported the regimes of Fidel Castro in Cuba and Salvador Allende in Chile.", "After the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, Mexico condemned the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, but did not break off diplomatic relations immediately due to the amount of Chileans seeking for asylum refuged in the Mexican embassy.", "Months later, then-President Luis Echeverría formally broke off diplomatic ties with Chile.Relations were reestablished in 1990 after the Chilean transition to democracy with the election of Patricio Aylwin.", "A Free Trade Agreement with Chile was signed in April 1998 and went into force on August 1, 1999.Since then, bilateral trade has significantly increased and exceeded the US$3.3 billion mark as of 2006.In addition, Mexico has become Chile's main Latin American investor, accumulating nearly US$870 million.", "Under the Fox administration, the candidacy of then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez for the Secretary General of the Organization of American States was highly promoted.", "It eventually failed but brought a diplomatic crisis with Chile when Derbez had announced that he would no longer compete against José Miguel Insulza, however, the Mexican delegation abstained despite being previously agreed that it would vote for the Chilean candidate.", "Bilateral relations were raised to a new level during the state visit of President Michelle Bachelet to Mexico in March 2007, both countries put into effect a \"Strategic Partnership Agreement\" aimed at bolstering trade, political, diplomatic and cultural relations, as well as ties with civil society.", "It also creates a fund that will provide US$2 million a year for development projects in Chile, Mexico and third countries.", "* Chile has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Santiago.", "* Both nations are part of the Pacific Alliance* ''See also'': Chilean immigration to Mexico October 3, 1823See Colombia–Mexico relations* Colombia has and embassy in Mexico City and consulates in Cancún and Guadalajara.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Bogotá.", "* Both nations are part of the Pacific Alliance* ''See also'': Colombian Mexicans1838See Costa Rica–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Mexico and Costa Rica began in 1838.", "* Costa Rica has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in San José.1902See Cuba–Mexico relationsIn 1902, Mexico became the first country to ever recognize and establish relations with the Republic of Cuba once it gained full sovereignty.", "The cultural ties between the two nations became stronger during the following decades.", "In the mid-20th century, the Cuban Revolution took place, culminating with the triumph of the July 26 Movement on January 1, 1959.In 1964, when Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States Mexico did not support this resolution and abstained.", "Mexico thereafter maintained diplomatic relations with Cuba, which effectively established it as the sole link between Fidel Castro and the rest of the hemisphere because none of the other Latin American governments recognized Cuba's revolutionary regime until after 1970.Since then, Mexico constantly supported Cuba in international organizations and multilateral forums, and strongly opposed to the economic embargo imposed to the Caribbean island in the early 1960s.Relations remained strong and stable until 1998 when Fidel Castro, declared that Mexican children were more knowledgeable on Disney characters than on key figures in Mexican history, such declarations led Mexico to recall its ambassador from Havana.", "He later apologized and said that his words were meant to underscore the cultural dominance of the U.S. On November 16, 1999, then Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo highly criticized the lack of democracy and political freedom in Cuba during his official visit to the Caribbean island.", "Relations worsened when then President Vicente Fox, from the National Action Party, redirected the country's Castañeda Doctrine on foreign policy.", "In April 2002, the UN Human Rights Commission again criticized Cuba's rights record, the resolution was sponsored by Uruguay and supported by many of countries traditionally friendly towards Cuba, such as Mexico, that historically had abstained.", "The same month, Fox apologized to Fidel Castro over allegations by Castro that Fox forced him at the last minute to leave the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, in order to favor the presence of former U.S. President George W. Bush, who also attended and likely requested Castro's removal.", "Castro, Cuba, and even many Mexicans saw this as an insult, and relations between the two countries reached their lowest point.Under the Calderón administration, Mexico concentrated on rebuilding diplomatic relations with Havana.", "On December 15–17, 2008, in the framework of the \"First Latin American and Caribbean Summit for Integration and Development\", President Calderón introduced Cuba to the regional organization Rio Group and held talks with President Raúl Castro about topics of interests for both countries.", "They both agreed to schedule mutual visits for 2009, and put emphasis on strengthening the friendship, cooperation, integration, trade and support.", "Both countries share the vision of a permanent fight against poverty and organized crime.With seven months before the six-year term of Felipe Calderón came to an end, he made plans to visit Cuba to \"patch up the bruise\" and discuss possible business relations, which included oil deals.In April 2012, President Felipe Calderón traveled to Cuba and met with Raúl Castro to fix the broken relationship between the two countries.", "During his time in Cuba, Calderón condemned the 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.", "* Cuba has an embassy in Mexico City and consulates-general in Mérida, Monterrey and Veracruz City and a consular office in Cancún.", "* ''See also'': Cuban immigration to MexicoApril 3, 1979See Dominica–Mexico relations* Dominica is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Dominica from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia and maintains an honorary consulate in Roseau.July 23, 1888See Dominican Republic–Mexico relations* Dominican Republic has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Santo Domingo.", "* Both countries are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the Organization of Ibero-American States.June 1830See Ecuador–Mexico relations* Ecuador has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate in Monterrey.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Quito.1838See El Salvador–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Mexico and El Salvador were established in 1838.", "* El Salvador has an embassy in Mexico City and consulates-general in Acayucan, Ciudad Juárez , Guadalajara, Monterrey, Oaxaca City, San Luis Potosí, Tapachula, Tijuana and Villahermosa.", "* Mexico has an embassy in San Salvador.", "* Both countries are members of the Organization of American States and the Organization of Ibero-American States.", "* ''See also'': Salvadoran immigration to MexicoApril 11, 1975See Grenada–Mexico relations* Grenada is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Grenada from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia and maintains an honorary consulate in St. George's.6 September 1848 See Guatemala–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Mexico and Guatemala began in 1838 after the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America.", "* Guatemala has an embassy in Mexico City and consulates-general in Cancún, Mérida, Monterrey, Oaxaca City, San Luis Potosí, Tapachula, Tenosique, Tijuana, Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Veracruz City; consulates in Acayucan, Ciudad Hidalgo, Comitán and consular office in Arriaga.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Guatemala City and consulates in Quetzaltenango and in Tecún Umán.", "* Both countries are members of the Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Rio Group.", "* ''See also'': Guatemalan immigration to MexicoMarch 1, 1973See Guyana–Mexico relations* Guyana is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Georgetown.11 July 1929See Haiti–Mexico relations* Haiti has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate in Tapachula.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Port-au-Prince.1879See Honduras–Mexico relations* Honduras has an embassy in Mexico City and consulates-general in Puebla City, San Luis Potosí, Tapachula, Tijuana and Veracruz and consular agencies in Acayucan, Saltillo and Tenosique.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Tegucigalpa and a consulate in San Pedro Sula.March 18, 1966See Jamaica–Mexico relations* Jamaica has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Kingston.1838See Mexico–Nicaragua relations* Mexico has an embassy in Managua.", "* Nicaragua has an embassy in Mexico City.March 1, 1904See Mexico–Panama relations* Mexico has an embassy in Panama City.", "* Panama has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate-general in Veracruz City.1831See Mexico–Paraguay relations* Mexico has an embassy in Asunción.", "* Paraguay has an embassy in Mexico City.1883See Mexico–Peru relationsMexico and Peru have historically had a unique relationship solidly based on that they share two of the most significant ancient cultures in the Americas.", "Both countries have expressed solidarity over the need to defend the recovery of cultural and archaeological heritage in the form of artifacts that have been illegally stolen from Peru and Mexico and which are to this date, illegally or legitimately kept in foreign locations.", "Peru's President Alan García and Mexico's Felipe Calderón signed a joint declaration in April 2011 aimed at deepening the two countries' friendship, cooperation, integration, trade, investments and the permanent fight against poverty and organized crime.", "The two countries aim to achieve a new model of integration within Latin America, and to represent a positive, realistic, and active example of integration amongst two \"brotherly\" nations.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Lima.", "* Peru has an embassy in Mexico City.July 31, 1990See Mexico–Saint Kitts and Nevis relations* Mexico is accredited to Saint Kitts an Nevis from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia and maintains an honorary consulate in Basseterre.", "* Saint Kitts and Nevis is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.May 17, 1979See Mexico–Saint Lucia relations* Mexico has an embassy in Castries.", "* Saint Lucia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.July 31, 1990See Mexico–Saint Vincent and the Grenadines relations* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia and maintains an honorary consulate in Kingstown.1975See Mexico–Suriname relations* Mexico is accredited to Suriname from its embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.", "* Suriname is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.April 30, 1966See Mexico–Trinidad and Tobago relations* Mexico has an embassy in Port of Spain.", "* Trinidad and Tobago is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.1821See Mexico–United States relationsU.S.", "President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, November 2021.When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the United States was the first country to recognize it.", "On December 12, 1822, the then-United States Secretary of State John Quincy Adams introduced José Manuel Zozoya, the first Mexican representative, to the then-U.S. president James Monroe in the White House.", "Through this event, the U.S. recognized ''de facto'' the independence of Mexico and the recently born Mexican Empire led by Agustín de Iturbide.", "However, Washington did not establish diplomatic relations formally with Mexico until 1825, naming Joel Poinsett as its representative, who had the mission of buying territory and getting trading facilities.The Mexican–American War was a conflict that sparked when the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845 and the Mexican government refused to recognize the secession of Texas which was the precursor to the annexation.", "The war, which began in 1846 and lasted for two years, was settled via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which led to Mexico giving up even more of its land to the U.S., including California.", "Mexico further transferred some of its territories (southern Arizona and New Mexico) to the U.S. via the Gadsden Purchase in 1854.In the Reform War, that lasted from 1858 to 1861, the liberals led by Benito Juárez, were given the U.S. recognition as the legitimate government in Mexico.", "Meanwhile, the conservatives, headed by Comonfort, Zuloaga and Miramón, brought a European Emperor to govern the country, Maximilian I, which led to the French Intervention in 1862, violating the Monroe Doctrine, there was nothing the U.S. could do, as it was involved in its own civil war.", "Affecting Mexico's foreign policy, both sides, the Union and the Confederacy, were looking for international recognition as well.", "The Juárez administration was ideologically closer to the Union, but geographically Mexico shared a large border with the Confederacy.", "In 1861, the then-U.S. President Abraham Lincoln named Thomas Corwin as his minister for Mexico and instructed him to neutralize the Mexican aid given to the Confederates; he successfully achieved this mission.", "Once the civil war ended, then-Secretary of State William Seward declared that the French invasion in Mexico was harmful to the friendship between France and the U.S., and Washington provided financial aid to Benito Juárez, who successfully expelled the French in 1867.Lasting for seven years, the 1910 Mexican Revolution ended the rule of the dictator-president Porfirio Díaz.", "The war was sparked when the U.S.-supported Díaz was proclaimed the winner of the 1910 elections despite mass popular support for his rival in the election Francisco I. Madero.", "After the war, the various groups that made up the revolutionary forces splintered as they lost the unifying goal of unseating Díaz —leading to a civil war.", "The U.S. intervened in the conflict, including the involvement of the U.S. ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson, in the plotting of the 1913 coup d'état which overthrew Madero.First ladies Paloma Cordero of Mexico (left) and Nancy Reagan of the United States (right) with U.S.", "Ambassador to Mexico, John Gavin observing the damage done by the earthquake.The 1917 Constitution of Mexico caused several problems with the British and American transnational oil companies mainly derived from the article 27, which declares that \"the wealth contained in the soil, the subsoil, the waters and seas of Mexico belongs to the Nation; the right to land ownership and to exploit the subsoil may therefore only be granted by the Nation.\"", "Due to foreign pressure, the implementation of the article was continuously ignored by the government until March 18, 1938, when then-President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the oil industry.", "PEMEX replaced the 17 Anglo-American companies, however, the country faced hard retaliations from the transnational oil companies, as well as an international boycott that could be overcome ten years later.During the Cold War, demonstrating independence from the United States, Mexico supported the Cuban government during the 1960s, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua during the late 1970s, and leftist revolutionary groups in El Salvador during the 1980s.The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect on January 1, 1994, which led to the elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers between Mexico and the U.S. and serves as a multilateral platform for cooperation between both countries.", "The agreement increased trade volume and cooperation in both countries.", "The free trade agreement has been increasingly opposed by Mexican and U.S. farmers, with many groups and the political left presenting that it hurts the interest of traditional, small and local farmers in both countries.", "Allegations of violations of labor and environmental laws have been considered by the trilateral institutions.", "The Bush Administration argued that NAFTA had had modest positive impacts on all three member countries, but Mexican farmers have strongly criticized the effects of the agreement as they have become overshadowed by the large corporations benefiting from NAFTA.", "Notable bilateral trade disputes relate to trucking, tuna, sweeteners and anti-dumping measures.", "Currently, the United States is the number one destination for Mexican exports.", "The U.S. also exports more goods into Mexico than any other country in the world.Migration, border security and trade issues have dominated the bilateral relationship in recent years.", "In September 2006, Congress approved the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (P.L.", "109–367) to authorize the construction of a border fence and other barriers along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.", "In March 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially visited Mexico to discuss issues of concern for both countries, specifically the ones related to drug trafficking and U.S. financial support in the Mexican drug war.", "Another persistent and growing problem is the international parental kidnapping of children to Mexico by non-custodial parents and family members.", "Mexico is the most common destination for parents that have abducted their children across international borders with the vast majority of those children coming from the United States.February 22, 1831See Mexico–Uruguay relations* Mexico has an embassy in Montevideo.", "* Uruguay has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* ''See also'': Uruguayans in Mexico1842See Mexico–Venezuela relationsHistorically the two countries have had good diplomatic relations.", "Ever since both countries became important players in the oil industry, some competitive tensions arose, eventually leading to disputes after Mexico signed an agreement to join NAFTA.", "During President Vicente Fox's term, relations between the two countries became critically strained to the point of recalling one another's ambassadors.", "It has been clear that diplomatic ties between both countries are not indefinitely severed, in recent years numerous groups, both in Mexico and Venezuela are working to restore the diplomatic relationship between the two countries, as they are of strategic economic and cultural importance.", "In August 2007, after two years of diplomatic absence in either country, normal relations were re-established with the appointment of former foreign minister Roy Chaderton as Venezuela's envoy in Mexico City and the transfer of Jesús Mario Chacón Carrillo, formerly Mexican ambassador to Colombia, to Caracas.", "Both countries are founding members of the Latin American Integration Association.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Caracas.", "* Venezuela has an embassy in Mexico City.=== Asia === Country Formal Relations BeganNotesJune 27, 1961 See Afghanistan–Mexico relationsThe Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the United States was accredited to Mexico until it closed on March 16, 2022, in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.Mexico is accredited to Afghanistan from its embassy in Tehran, Iran.January 14, 1992See Armenia–Mexico relations* Armenia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Armenia from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.January 14, 1992See Azerbaijan–Mexico relations* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Baku.August 5, 1975* Bahrain is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Bahrain from its embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and maintains an honorary consulate in Manama.1975See Bangladesh–Mexico relations* Bangladesh has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Bangladesh from its embassy New Delhi, India.", "* Both nations have not established diplomatic relations.October 2, 1991* Brunei is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C.* Mexico is accredited to Brunei from its embassy in Singapore.September 1976* Cambodia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Cambodia from its embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.1972See China–Mexico relationsPresident Enrique Peña Nieto with President of China Xi Jinping\|alt=\|250x250pxMexico and the People's Republic of China established relations amidst tensions in 1972, and in recent years have seen an intense export rivalry over the United States market, with the Mexican government having accused the Chinese of impinging on its export territory by flooding the US with cheap goods manufactured in low-wage factories.In 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao came to Mexico promising increased investment in industries like automobile-parts manufacture and mineral exportation.", "In July 2008, Mexican President Felipe Calderón reciprocated with a visit to Beijing in a bid to improve bilateral trade.", "Nevertheless, China has focussed more on South American commodity producers such as Brazil and Chile to meet this end and fuel its chiefly-export economy.", "* China has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate-general in Tijuana.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Beijing and a consulate-general in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.", "* ''See also'': Chinese immigration to MexicoSeptember 26, 2003See East Timor–Mexico relations* East Timor is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to East Timor from its embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia and maintains an honorary consulate in Dili.June 8, 1992See Georgia-Mexico relations* Georgia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Georgia from its embassy in Ankara, TurkeyAugust 1, 1950See India–Mexico relationsPresident Vicente Fox with Prime Minister of India 250x250pxUnder the Fox administration, several visits and bilateral meetings occurred concerning diverse areas such as economy, technology and culture.", "In April 2004, the \"Group of Friendship Mexico-India\" was established at the LIX Legislature.", "To promote a major rapprochement with India, then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez met with his Indian counterpart in mid-2004 in Washington, D.C., and officially visited New Delhi in August, where both ministers agreed to celebrate the IV Binational Commission, formerly suspended in 1996, with the aim of strengthening the bilateral agenda.", "In May 2007, India and Mexico signed the \"Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement\" (BIPA) to strengthen their trading relations, with proximity to the U.S., the joint ventures would enable Indian companies to increase their presence in the world's biggest market, taking advantage of Mexico's membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).Relationship with India was tightened by visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in 2016 June.", "This visit was visit of Indian prime minister after a long time of 30 years.", "This time Mexico also supported India to join Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).", "* India has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in New Delhi and a consulate in Mumbai.", "* ''See also'': Indian immigration to Mexico1953See Indonesia–Mexico relations* Indonesia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Jakarta.October 15, 1964See Iran–Mexico relationsMexican First Lady Carmen Romano and President José López Portillo accompanying Iranian Queen Consort Tadj ol-Molouk in Mexico City; 1978.The first diplomatic relations between Mexico and Persia (modern-day Iran) date back to 1889, although cooperation and trade between the two friend nations was not formally established until 1937.Mexico and Iran have enjoyed increasingly close political and economic relations over the years, growing with the volume of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.", "The two countries aim to expand cooperation in several sectors, sharing science and technology, particularly in the oil industry.", "Both countries have also shared successful experiences in cultural cooperation and exchange.", "In 2008, an agreement to form a Mexico-Iran parliamentary friendship group was made at the Mexican parliament.", "* Iran has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Tehran.September 25, 1950See Iraq–Mexico relations* Iraq has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Iraq from its embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.January 1950See Israel–Mexico relationsMexico recognized the State of Israel in January 1950.In 2000, a free trade agreement was signed between the two nations.", "* Israel has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Tel Aviv.", "* ''See also'': Judaism in Mexico1888See Japan–Mexico relationsPresident Enrique Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe at a press conference during an official visit to Japan by President Peña Nieto in April 2013.The Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation concluded in 1888 between the two countries was Japan's first \"equal\" treaty with a foreign country.", "In 1897, the 35 members of the so-called ''Enomoto'' Colonization Party settle in the Mexican state of Chiapas to grow coffee, this was the first organized emigration from Japan to Latin America.Former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón was awarded Japan's Order of the Chrysanthemum at a special ceremony in Mexico City.", "On November 27, 1924, Baron Shigetsuma Furuya, Special Ambassador from Japan to Mexico, conferred the honor on Obregón.", "It was reported that this had been the first time that the Order had been conferred outside the Imperial family.", "In 1952, Mexico becomes the second country to ratify the San Francisco Peace Treaty, preceded only by the United Kingdom.On September 17, 2004, Mexico and Japan signed a free trade agreement, formally known as the \"Agreement Between Japan and the United Mexican States for the Strengthening of the Economic Partnership\", which went into effect in April 2005.This was one among many historic steps led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to strengthen global economic stability.", "As a result, in 2007 Mexico became Japan's largest trading partner in Latin America.", "Over sixty treaties and agreements have been signed between the two countries, standing out the ones related to technological and scientific cooperation, several academic and cultural exchanges, as well as an increasing inter-parliamentary dialogue.Mexico currently enjoys very good social and economic relations with Japan and is major center of Japanese investment.", "Japan has invested heavily in the Mexican industrial, automotive, technology and manufacturing sectors.", "As of 2012, it was estimated that Japanese companies employed over one million workers in Mexico just in the automotive and technology manufacturing industries.", "* Japan has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate-general in León.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Tokyo.", "* ''See also'': Japanese immigration to MexicoJuly 9, 1975See Jordan–Mexico relations* Jordan has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Amman.January 14, 1992See Kazakhstan–Mexico relations* Kazakhstan has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Kazakhstan from its embassy in Ankara, Turkey and maintains an honorary consulate in Almaty.July 23, 1975See Kuwait–Mexico relations* Kuwait has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Kuwait City.January 14, 1992* Kyrgyzstan is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Kyrgyzstan from its embassy in Tehran, Iran.September 9, 1976* Laos is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C.* Mexico is accredited to Laos from its embassy in Bangkok, Thailand.June 12, 1945See Lebanon–Mexico relationsMexico was among the first nations to recognize Lebanon's independence in 1943.Mexico was a popular destination during the Lebanese diaspora.", "There is a significant population of Lebanese descent in Mexico, nearing half a million people, many of which travel to and support business with Lebanon.The Centro Libanés and \"Club Deportivo Libanés\" in Mexico City are important symbols representing the historically cultural and social ties between both countries.", "* Lebanon has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Beirut.", "''See also'': Lebanese immigration to MexicoMarch 27, 1974See Malaysia–Mexico relationsRelations between the two countries was established on March 27, 1974.", "* Malaysia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.November 15, 1975* Maldives does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Maldives from its embassy in New Delhi, India.September 24, 1975See Mexico–Mongolia relationsIn October 2001, Mexican President Vicente Fox paid an official visit to Mongolia.", "* Mexico is accredited to Mongolia from its embassy in Seoul, South Korea and maintains an honorary consulate in Ulaanbaatar.", "* Mongolia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.October 1976* Mexico is accredited to Myanmar from its embassy in Singapore.", "* Myanmar is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.1975* Mexico is accredited to Nepal from its embassy in New Delhi, India and maintains an honorary consulate in Kathmandu.", "* Nepal is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.September 4, 1980See Mexico–North Korea relations* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its embassy in Seoul, Republic of Korea.July 31, 1975See Mexico–Oman relations* Mexico is accredited to Oman from its embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and maintains an honorary consulate in Muscat.", "* Oman is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.January 19, 1955See Mexico–Pakistan relations* Mexico is accredited to Pakistan from its embassy in Tehran, Iran and has honorary consulates in Karachi and Lahore.", "* Pakistan has an embassy in Mexico City.1975See Mexico–Palestine relations* Mexico has a representative office in Ramallah.", "* Palestine has an embassy in Mexico City.April 14, 1953See Mexico–Philippines relationsMexico and the Philippines share a myriad of traditions and customs derived from historical ties established over years ago.", "Their common history dates back to the time when both countries were part of New Spain.", "Mexican money financed the expedition known as Legazpi exploration, under the command of King Philip II of Spain.", "During the Mexican administration of the Philippines, other than General Legazpi, all of the governor-generals were born in Mexico.", "Due to the grand exchange with the Philippines in those days, many cultural traits were adopted by one another, with Mexicans remaining in the Philippines, and Filipinos establishing in Mexico, particularly the central west coast, near the port town of Acapulco.", "Many Nahuatl words were adopted and popularized in the Philippines, such as ''Tianggui'' (market fair) and ''Zapote'' (a fruit).After the colonial period, the first official contacts of Mexico with the Philippines were established in 1842, when a Mexican Representation was opened in Manila.", "With the assignment of Mexican Diplomat Evaristo Butler Hernandez in the Philippines in 1878.The Independence of the Philippines brought forth a new era of relations between these countries.", "Mexico dispatched an envoy to participate in the festivities to celebrate the birth of the Southeast Asian nation.", "Diplomatic ties between both countries were formalized on April 14, 1953.The year of 1964 was decreed the \"Year of Philippine-Mexican Friendship\" to celebrate the Fourth Centennial of the Expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi.", "In modern day, the conquest of the Philippines is seen as a Spanish initiative, while Mexico is viewed as a country of historical link and friendship, and several groups intend on strengthening the bond between the two countries.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Manila.", "* Philippines has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* ''See also'': Filipino immigration to MexicoJune 30, 1975See Mexico–Qatar relations* Mexico has an embassy in Doha.", "* Qatar has an embassy in Mexico City.September 12, 1952See Mexico–Saudi Arabia relations* Mexico has an embassy in Riyadh.", "* Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* ''See also'': Islam in MexicoAugust 9, 1965See Mexico–Singapore relations* Mexico has an embassy in Singapore.", "* Singapore is accredited to Mexico with a non-resident ambassador based in Singapore and maintains an honorary consulate-general in Mexico City.January 26, 1962See Mexico–South Korea relations* The Republic of Korea has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Seoul.", "* ''See also:'' Koreans in MexicoApril 19, 1960See Mexico–Sri Lanka relations* Mexico is accredited to Sri Lanka from its embassy in New Delhi, India and maintains an honorary consulate in Colombo.", "* Sri Lanka is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.August 20, 1950See Mexico–Syria relationsMexico and Syria established diplomatic relations on August 20, 1950.", "* Mexico is accredited to Syria from its embassy in Cairo, Egypt.", "* Syria does not have an embassy accredited to Mexico.1972See Mexico–Taiwan relations* Mexico has a liaison office in Taipei known as the \"Mexican Trade Services, Documentation and Cultural Office\".", "* Taiwan has a liaison office in Mexico City known as the \"Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Mexico\" (''Oficina Económica y Cultural de Taipei en México'').January 14, 1992* Mexico is accredited to Tajikistan from its embassy in Tehran, Iran.", "* Tajikistan is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City, United States.August 28, 1975See Mexico–Thailand relations* Mexico has an embassy in Bangkok.", "* Thailand has an embassy in Mexico City.1927See Mexico–Turkey relations* Mexico has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate in Istanbul.", "* Turkey has an embassy in Mexico City.", "Both countries are members of OECD, G20 and WTO.", "Flights from Istanbul to Mexico City and Cancún were launched in August 2019.", "* Trade volume between the two countries was 1,3 billion USD USD in 2019 (Mexican exports/imports: 678/602 million USD.", "* Yunus Emre Institute has a local headquarters in Mexico City.1992* Mexico is accredited to Turkmenistan from its embassy in Ankara, Turkey.", "* Turkmenistan is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.September 12, 1975See Mexico–United Arab Emirates relationsDiplomatic relations between Mexico and the United Arab Emirates began on September 12, 1975.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.", "* United Arab Emirates has an embassy in Mexico City.January 14, 1992* Mexico is accredited to Uzbekistan from its embassy in Tehran, Iran.", "* Uzbekistan is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City, United States.1975See Mexico–Vietnam relations* Mexico has an embassy in Hanoi.", "* Vietnam has an embassy in Mexico City.March 2, 1976* Mexico is accredited to Yemen from its embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and maintains an honorary consulate in Sana'a.", "* Yemen is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.=== Europe ===Mexico was the first Latin American country to sign a partnership agreement with the European Union (EU), in 1997, composed by 15 members at the time.", "The agreement entered into force in July 2000 and has considerably strengthened bilateral relations between the two partners.", "It governs all relations between them, including a regular high-level political dialogue, and shared values such as democracy and human rights.", "Country Formal Relations BeganNotesOctober 15, 1974Mexico recognized and established diplomatic relations with Albania on October 15, 1974.Shortly thereafter Mexico opened a resident embassy in Tirana, however the embassy was closed in 1979.", "* Albania is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., USA.", "* Mexico is accredited to Albania from its embassy in Rome, Italy and has an honorary consulate in Tirana.May 5, 1995See Andorra–Mexico relations* Andorra is accredited to Mexico from its embassy based in New York City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Andorra from its embassy in Madrid, Spain and maintains an honorary consulate in Andorra la Vella.July 30, 1842See Austria–Mexico relationsDuring the French intervention in Mexico and subsequently the Second Mexican Empire between 1864 and 1867; with French backing, Maximilian I of Mexico, member of Austria's Imperial Habsburg-Lorraine family was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico.In 1938, Mexico became the only country to protest against the anschluss of Austria at the League of Nations.", "During World War II, Austria was part of the German Reich and in May 1942 Mexico declared war on Germany after the destruction of two Mexican oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico by German U-boats.", "After the war, normal relations were restored between the two nations.As of 2005, Mexico was Austria's second most important trade partner in Latin America.", "The same year, the President of Austria Heinz Fischer visited Mexico and Brazil, the first ever state visit of an Austrian President to countries in Latin America.", "* Austria has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Vienna.", "January 1992See Belarus–Mexico relationsBelarus and Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1992.", "* Belarus is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia and maintains an honorary consulate in Minsk.1836See Belgium–Mexico relationsIn 1836, Belgium—itself newly independent—recognized the independence of Mexico.", "In 1919, the Belgian chamber of commerce of Mexico was established.", "Belgium opened its embassy in Mexico on June 5, 1954.", "* Belgium has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Brussels.August 15, 2001* Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.January 6, 1938See Bulgaria–Mexico relations* Bulgaria has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Bulgaria from its embassy in Budapest, Hungary and maintains an honorary consulate in Sofia.December 6, 1992See Croatia–Mexico relations* Croatia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., USA and has an honorary consulate in Mexico City.", "* Mexico is accredited to Croatia from its embassy in Budapest, Hungary and has honorary consulates in Split and Zagreb.February 21, 1974See Cyprus–Mexico relations* Cyprus does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Cyprus from its embassy in Athens, Greece and maintains an honorary consulate in Nicosia.1922See Czech Republic–Mexico relations* Czech Republic has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Prague.", "* ''See also'': Czech immigration to Mexico1827See Denmark–Mexico relations* Denmark is Mexico's largest investor and trade partner among the Nordic countries.", "Diplomatic relations began in 1827 with a ''Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation''.", "* Denmark has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Copenhagen.January 28, 1937See Estonia–Mexico relations* Estonia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains honorary consulates in Mexico City and in Tampico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Estonia from its embassy in Helsinki, Finland and maintains an honorary consulate in Tallinn.November 11, 1949See Finland–Mexico relations* Finland has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Helsinki.November 26, 1826See France–Mexico relationsPeña Nieto at the Élysée Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron, 2017.The independence of Mexico was recognized ''de jure'' by France until 1830.The first official contacts concerned trading, in 1827 an agreement signed in Paris established that both countries and its citizens would enjoy a privileged position reciprocally, which included complaints and demands related to the damages suffered during the war from French citizens living in Mexico, the Mexican Congress refused to ratify it.", "then-French Foreign Minister Louis-Mathieu Molé sent an ultimatum urging the Mexican government to pay off its debts, due to economic instability, refused to do so.", "In 1838, a French pastry cook, Monsieur Remontel, claimed his shop in the Tacubaya district of Mexico City had been ruined by looting Mexican officers in 1828, he appealed to French King Louis-Philippe.", "Coming to its citizen's aid, France demanded MXN$600,000 in damages.", "When the payment was not forthcoming from then-President Anastasio Bustamante, Louis-Philippe sent a fleet to declare a blockade of all Mexican ports from Yucatán Peninsula to the Rio Grande, and to seize the Port of Veracruz, which led to an armed conflict known as the Pastry War.", "British diplomat Richard Pakenham offered his mediation, after several negotiations, Mexico was eventually forced to pay the initially demanded MXN$600,000 and burdensome compensations.In 1861, the liberals won the War of Reform, however, it left the treasury depleted.", "Trade was stagnant, and foreign creditors were demanding full repayment of Mexican debts, Juárez proceeded to declare a moratorium on all foreign debt repayments.", "France, Great Britain and Spain decided to launch a joint occupation of the Mexican Gulf coast to force repayment.", "The Spanish and British quickly figured out that Juárez fully intended to pay the debts when he could, so they withdrew.", "They also realized that the French had other intentions, indicated by the arrival of reinforcements, and had no desire to help France achieve its ambitions, which led to a military intervention, encouraged by the defeated conservatives.", "When the French entered Mexico City in mid-1863, the conservatives quickly invited Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria to accept the Mexican crown, who agreed believing that this act responded to the desire of a majority of Mexicans.", "However, once the conservatives understood Maximilian's democratic sentiments and anticlerical attitudes, began withdrawing their support.", "When the American Civil War ended, the U.S. made its Monroe Doctrine valid and intervened by providing military and financial aid to Juárez.", "Meanwhile, in Europe, France was increasingly threatened by a belligerent Prussia and, by 1866, Napoleon III began recalling his troops stationed in Mexico.", "Conservative forces switched sides and began supporting the Mexican liberals.", "United resumed their campaign on February 19, 1867, and on May 15, Maximilian surrendered.", "He was tried and, on Juárez's orders, was executed on June 19.After an exhaustive process, diplomatic relations were reestablished in 1880, leaving behind claims related to the war.Emmanuel Macron, Enrique Peña Nieto and José Ángel Gurría at the G20 Leaders Summit 2017.Both nations had an international dispute over the island of Clipperton, which had been under Mexican occupation, but claimed by the Foreign Ministry of France.", "In 1931 both nations agreed to abide to the arbitration of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, who declared it a French territory.When the Fourth Republic collapsed in 1958, Mexico was the first country that recognized the Fifth Republic founded by General Charles de Gaulle.", "In subsequent years, both countries coordinated actions and released a communiqué that supported the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) during the Salvadoran Civil War.", "Recently, President Nicolas Sarkozy paid a state visit in March 2009, however, controversy over the Florence Cassez case, a Frenchwoman convicted of kidnapping in Mexico sentenced to 60 years in jail, overshadowed the bilateral agenda.", "Backed by the \"Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons\", Sarkozy persuaded the Mexican government to allow Cassez to serve out her sentence in France, however, public opinion in Mexico strongly opposes under the suspicion that once home, she would quickly be released from jail.", "A bilateral commission was established to handle the case.", "Meanwhile, speaking at the National Palace in Mexico City, Sarkozy praised Calderón for Mexico's \"courageous and determined\" battle against drug cartels and urged the Congress to reform the Constitution in order to allow the Mexican military to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions.", "Supported by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarkozy has previously expressed that the G8 would benefit from a permanent enlargement that includes the +5 countries.", "* France has an embassy in Mexico City and a consulate-general in Monterrey.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Paris and a liaison office in Strasbourg.", "''See also'': French immigration to Mexico1823See Germany–Mexico relationsGerhard Schröder in Los Pinos with President Fox.Alexander von Humboldt's reports on his trip to then-New Spain back in the early 19th century heralded the start of Germany's interest in Mexico.", "Commercial links were quickly established through the signing of the \"Treaty of Commerce and Navigation\" between Mexico and Hamburg in 1823.Due to increasing investment, six years later, Prussia sent Carl Koppe as its first general consul and first representative in the newborn nation.", "During the administration of dictator Porfirio Díaz, commercial ties significantly strengthened.In January 1917, Britain's secret Royal Navy cryptanalytic group, Room 40, intercepted a proposal from Berlin, the Zimmermann Telegram, to Mexico to join the Great War as Germany's ally against the United States, should the U.S. join.", "The proposal suggested, if the U.S. were to enter the war, Mexico should declare war against the U.S. and enlist Japan as an ally.", "This would prevent the U.S. from joining the Allies and deploying troops to Europe, and would give Germany more time for their unrestricted submarine warfare program to strangle Britain's vital war supplies.", "In return, the Germans would promise Mexico support in reclaiming Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.", "When the U.S. entered the war on April 2, 1917, eleven days later then-President Venustiano Carranza not only turned down the proposition but also declared neutrality.Nearly 25,000 Mennonites of German ancestry immigrated from Canada to Mexico and settled in the states of Chihuahua and Durango in 1922, their agricultural centers still contribute to the economy of the region.", "After the establishment of Nazi Germany, Mexico received hundreds of asylum seekers, standing out important figures such as Egon Erwin Kisch, Anna Seghers and Paul Westheim.", "During the Second World War, the Axis Powers sank two Mexican oil tankers such as ''Faja de Oro'' and ''Potrero de Llano'', despite Mexico's neutrality.", "This attacks were enough to make Mexico enter the world conflict.", "In 1952, diplomatic relations between the two countries were officially reestablished.In 1964, the foundation of Volkswagen in Puebla, Mexico, best represents the foreign investment from Germany; specifically, the Volkswagen Beetle, informally called \"vocho\", is commonly seen as a symbol of Germany in the country.", "In contemporary times, Germany is viewed as a privileged partner in Europe, from whom economic, political and cultural engagement in Mexico is expected.", "Bilateral relations are being intensified in all areas based on a \"Joint Declaration\" between the two countries' Foreign Ministries signed in April 2007.Economic ties have been strengthened since the European Union-Mexico Free Trade Agreement went into force in July 2000, Germany has become Mexico's fourth-largest trading partner.", "* Germany has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Berlin, a consulate in Frankfurt and a trade office in Munich.", "''See also'': German immigration to MexicoMay 17, 1938See Greece–Mexico relations* Greece has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Athens.", "* ''See also'': Greek immigration to Mexico1992See Holy See–Mexico relations* Mexico's President Benito Juárez, expelled the Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico in 1861, breaking off diplomatic relations.", "* In 1904 the Holy See assigned an Apostolic Delegate to Mexico.", "Diplomatic relations were restored in 1992, giving the office of the Apostolic Delegate in Mexico City the status of a nunciature.", "As of 2012 about 78% of Mexico's population declared themselves Roman Catholics.", "* Holy See has an Apostolic Nunciature in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has a resident embassy to the Holy See in Rome.1864See Hungary–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Hungary and Mexico were suspended between 1941 and 1974 and re-established on May 14, 1974.The Mexican embassy in Budapest was opened on September 30, 1976.", "* Hungary has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Budapest.1960See Iceland–Mexico relations* Iceland is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, DC, United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Iceland from its embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.August 21, 1975See Ireland–Mexico relations* Ireland has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Dublin.", "''See also'': Irish immigration to Mexico and Saint Patrick's BattalionDecember 15, 1874See Italy–Mexico relationsThe first contact between Italy and Mexico was in 1869, just before the end of Italian unification in 1870; when Italy expressed its desire to open a consulate in Mexico.", "A consulate was opened in Mexico in December 1872, however, diplomatic relations between the two nations were not established until December 15, 1874.During World War I, Mexico remained neutral because it was involved in its own revolution during the same time.", "In the 1930s, diplomatic relations between the two nations began to deteriorate when Prime Minister Benito Mussolini invaded and annexed Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935–1936.Mexico was one of the few countries to vehemently oppose the occupation of Abyssinia by Italian forces.", "On May 22, 1942, Mexico declared war on the axis powers due to German u-boat attacks on two Mexican oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico that same year.", "Diplomatic relations were re-established on June 1, 1946.In 1997, Mexico signed a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union (which includes Italy).", "Trade between the two nations totaled just over six billion USD in 2011.Among the products that Mexico exports to Italy are: automobiles and petroleum based products.", "Italy exports mainly steel products to Mexico.", "Today, Italy is Mexico's ninth biggest trading partner in the world (third in Europe after Germany and Spain).", "Mexico is Italy's second biggest trading partner in Latin-America (after Brazil).", "* Italy has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Rome and a consulate-general in Milan.", "* ''See also'': Italian immigration to MexicoNovember 27, 1991See Latvia–Mexico relations* Latvia 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 Latvia from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden and maintains an honorary consulate in Riga.July 1, 1994* Liechtenstein does not have an embassy accredited to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Liechtenstein from its embassy in Berne, Switzerland and maintains an honorary consulate in Vaduz.November 5, 1991See Lithuania–Mexico relationsLithuania and Mexico initially established diplomatic relations on May 31, 1938, and signed a Treaty of Friendship in Washington, D.C., United States.", "Mexico never recognized the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union and condemned the action.", "On November 5, 1991, Mexico recognized and re-established diplomatic relations with Lithuania.", "In 2002, President Valdas Adamkus paid a visit to Mexico and met with Mexican President Vicente Fox.", "In 2008, President Adamkus returned to Mexico for a visit and met with Mexican President Felipe Calderón.", "* Lithuania 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 Lithuania from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden and maintains an honorary consulate in Vilnius.1947See Luxembourg–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Luxembourg and Mexico were established in 1947.In 1980, Prime Minister Pierre Werner paid an official visit to Mexico.", "In March 1996, Grand Duke Jean paid a visit to Mexico.", "During the Grand Duke's visit, both nations signed an Air Transportation Agreement.", "In April 2019, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel paid an official visit to Mexico and met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.", "* Luxembourg is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and maintains an honorary consulate in Mérida.", "* Mexico is accredited to Luxembourg from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium and maintains an honorary consulate in Luxembourg City.October 29, 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.June 5, 2007* Mexico is accredited to Montenegro from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.", "* Montenegro is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.January 14, 1992* Mexico is accredited in Moldova from its embassy in Athens, Greece and maintains an honorary consulate in Chișinău.", "* Moldova is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.1881See Mexico–Monaco relations* Mexico is accredited to Monaco from its embassy in Paris, France and maintains an honorary consulate in Monaco.", "* Monaco has an honorary consulate in Mexico City.1827See Mexico–Netherlands relationsOfficial visit of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to the Netherlands; 2018.On September 27, 1993, the Netherlands Ministry of Finance announced ''The Netherlands – Mexico Tax Treaty and Protocol''.", "The regulations detail the formalities residents of the Netherlands must observe \"in order to be exempt from, or obtain a refund of, the Mexican withholding taxes on dividends, interest and royalties.\"", "In 2008 Mexico and the Netherlands modified their existing tax treaty, initially signed in 1993 to strength cooperation to curb tax evasion.", "* Mexico has an embassy in The Hague.", "* Netherlands has an embassy in Mexico City.October 4, 2001* Mexico is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia and maintains an honorary consulate in Skopje.", "* North Macedonia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "1906See Mexico–Norway relations* Mexico has an embassy in Oslo.", "* Norway has an embassy in Mexico City.February 26, 1928See Mexico–Poland relations* Mexico has an embassy in Warsaw.", "* Poland has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* See also Polish immigration to MexicoOctober 20, 1864See Mexico–Portugal relationsMexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on a state visit to Portugal meeting with Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva; 2014.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Lisbon.", "* Portugal has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* ''See also'': Portuguese immigration to MexicoJuly 20, 1935See Mexico–Romania relations* Mexico has an embassy in Bucharest.", "* Romania has an embassy in Mexico City.1890See Mexico–Russia relationsVladimir Putin and Ernesto Zedillo, at the Millennium Summit, 2000.Diplomatic relations between both countries were established in 1890.In 2010 the 120th anniversary of the ties of friendship between the peoples of Russia and Mexico were celebrated.Mexico was the first country in the Americas to establish relations with the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.", "Soviet politician and leader Leon Trotsky moved to Mexico from Norway during his exile.", "Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas welcomed him warmly, arranging a special train to bring him to Mexico City from the port of Tampico.", "In Mexico, Trotsky at one point lived at the home of the painter Diego Rivera, and at another at that of Rivera's wife & fellow painter, Frida Kahlo with whom he had an affair.Due to its good relations with Russia, Mexico has often purchased military equipment from Russia.", "The Mexican Navy has received BTR-60's Ural-4320, Mi-17/8's, and anti-aircraft missiles SA-18 Grouse.", "Much of this equipment remains in service.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* ''See also'': Russian immigration to MexicoMarch 8, 1968* Mexico is accredited to San Marino from its embassy in Rome, Italy and maintains an honorary consulate in the City of San Marino.", "* San Marino is accredited to Mexico from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San Marino.1946See Mexico–Serbia relations* Mexico has an embassy in Belgrade.", "* Serbia has an embassy in Mexico City.1992See Mexico–Slovenia relationsMexico was the first Latin American country to recognize Slovenia after gaining independence on May 22, 1992.Mexican parliament members have praised Slovenia's participation in the eight-country initiative (which includes Mexico) for a world without nuclear weapons and its achievements in the human rights area.", "Since 1999 both countries have abolished visas as an example of strengthening relations.", "* Mexico is accredited to Slovenia from its embassy in Vienna, Austria.", "* Slovenia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.January 1, 1993See Mexico–Slovakia relationsIn November 2017, Slovak President Andrej Kiska paid an official visit to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Slovakia from its embassy in Vienna, Austria and maintains an honorary consulate in Bratislava.", "* Slovakia has an embassy in Mexico City.December 26, 1836See Mexico–Spain relationsMexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Mexico City; January 2019.After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was successfully archived in 1521, Mexico became part of the Spanish Empire as the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which lasted until 1821 when the Kingdom of Spain officially recognized the independence of Mexico by signing the Treaty of Córdoba.", "Ferdinand VII never gave his approval to the treaty signed by Juan O'Donojú, until he died in 1833, serious negotiations started to formalize the independence, the \"Treaty of Peace and Friendship\" was signed on December 28, 1836.The first decades of Mexico's post-independence period were characterized by economic instability.", "On July 17, 1861, then-President Benito Juárez's suspension of interest payments to foreign countries angered Mexico's major creditors: Spain, France and Great Britain.", "Napoleon III was the leader of this operation, and the three powers signed the Treaty of London on October 31 to unite their efforts to receive payments from Mexico.", "On December 8 the Spanish fleet and troops from Spanish-controlled Cuba arrived at Mexico's main Gulf port, Veracruz.", "Spain along Great Britain soon withdrew after the signing of the \"Treaty of La Soledad\", France did not agree with the terms and immediately invaded Mexico.During the Spanish–American War, Mexico remained neutral to avoid conflicts with the United States and Spain, despite previously having negotiated the eventual annexation of Cuba with Washington.", "In 1936, the Cárdenas administration declared, in the League of Nations, that \"Spain was a victim of foreign aggression and had the right of moral and diplomatic support from the international community\".", "The government decided to openly support the republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.", "Once the war finished in 1939, Mexico received nearly 30,000 asylum seekers and immediately broke off diplomatic relations with the \"Spanish State\" under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco.Since their re-establishment on March 28, 1977, have been strengthened within a modern, legal and institutional framework to promote politic dialogue and cooperation.", "In January 1990, the \"General Treaty of Cooperation and Friendship\" was signed to establish a Bilateral Commission.", "In 2007, President Calderón and Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero paid state visits reciprocally and signed a declaration to deepen the strategic association between the two countries.", "After the European Union-Mexico Free Trade Agreement went into force in July 2000, Spain became Mexico's seventh trading partner and second amongst the European Union members.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Madrid and a consulate-general in Barcelona.", "* Spain has an embassy in Mexico City and consulates-general in Guadalajara and Monterrey.", "* ''See also'': Spanish immigration to MexicoJuly 29, 1885See Mexico–Sweden relations* Mexico has an embassy in Stockholm.", "* Sweden has an embassy in Mexico City.1827See Mexico–Switzerland relations* Mexico has an embassy in Bern.", "* Switzerland has an embassy in Mexico City.January 12, 1992See Mexico–Ukraine relations* Mexico has an embassy in Kyiv.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Mexico City.June 27, 1824See Mexico–United Kingdom relationsDue to rivalry with France and Spain, then-Prime Minister George Canning was interested in recognizing the independence of the newborn nations in the Americas.", "On June 27, 1824, Canning received Mexican plenipotentiary minister José Mariano Michelena and recognized Mexico as an independent country ''de facto'', and formally on December 30, despite opposition from the British cabinet.", "United Kingdom was the first country to officially recognize the independence of Mexico.In subsequent decades, the United Kingdom would persuade other European countries to recognize Mexico, especially Spain, and offer mediation in different international conflicts that involved Mexico in the 19th century such as the Pastry War and the Texas War of Independence.", "By 1861, Mexico was a country deeply in debt and torn by divisions of the power of the Roman Catholic Church.", "Mexico's creditors demanded repayment, forcing then-President Benito Juárez to declare a two-year moratorium on foreign debt, which in turn led to a punitive expedition sent by Britain, France and Spain.", "Juarez successfully negotiated the \"Treaty of La Soledad\" with the British and Spanish, who soon withdrew.", "After the Mexican Congress ratified a commercial agreement with the U.S. in 1883, Great Britain showed more interest in reestablish diplomatic relations with Mexico, and quickly did so a couple of years later.", "Sovereignty over the territory of Belize was historically claimed by Mexico, but the British crown refused to discuss this issue for a long time; however, in 1897, the signing of the \"Mariscal-Spencer Treaty\" resolved the territorial disputes with the British crown colony.In 1917, Mexico's newly promulgated Constitution provided, among other things, restrictions on foreign ownership of land and subsoil resources, notably oil.", "This last provision, included in Article 27, was ominous for American and British investors who had obtained oil-mining concessions.", "Due to heavy foreign pressure, subsequent governments did not strictly applicate the article, until Lázaro Cárdenas, who on March 18, 1938, fully nationalized the oil-industry.", "This measure led to protests by the British government questioning the nationalization and Mexico's solvency to execute it.", "In response, a check, in an amount worth of the demands for nationalization, was sent and diplomatic ties were broken off.", "PEMEX replaced the 17 Anglo-American companies, however, the country faced hard retaliations from the transnational oil companies, and an international boycott that could be overcome ten years later.Decades later, several state visits would be reciprocally paid, notably Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1975.On March 31 – April 1, 2009, President Felipe Calderón officially visited the UK to discuss issues related to modernization of the national oil industry, climate change and strategic cooperation with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as coordinating actions for the G-20 London Summit.", "* Mexico has an embassy in London.", "* United Kingdom has an embassy in Mexico City, a consulate-general in Cancún and a consulate in Monterrey.", "* ''See also'': British immigration to Mexico and Cornish diaspora=== Oceania === Country Formal Relations BeganNotesMarch 14, 1966See Australia–Mexico relationsDiplomatic relations between Mexico and Australia began on March 14, 1966.", "* Australia has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Canberra.", "* Both countries are full members of APEC, G-20 and the OECD.August 31, 1975See Fiji–Mexico relations* Fiji is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.", "* Mexico is accredited to Fiji from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.October 13, 2005* Kiribati does not have an accreditation to Mexico.", "* Mexico is accredited to Kiribati from its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.January 28, 1993* Marshall Islands does not have an accreditation to Mexico* Mexico is accredited to the Marshall Islands from its embassy in Manila, Philippines.September 27, 2001* Mexico is accredited to the Federated States of Micronesia from its embassy in Manila, Philippines.", "* Micronesia does not have an accreditation to Mexico.September 21, 2001* Mexico is accredited to Nauru from its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.", "* Nauru does not have an accreditation to Mexico.1973See Mexico–New Zealand relationsNew Zealand Prime Minister John Key on an official visit to Mexico alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto; 2013.Diplomatic relations between Mexico and New Zealand began in 1973.", "* Mexico has an embassy in Wellington.", "* New Zealand has an embassy in Mexico City.", "* Both countries are members of APEC and the OECD.October 17, 2001* Mexico is accredited to Palau from its embassy in Manila, Philippines.", "* Palau does not have an accreditation to Mexico.May 19, 1976See Mexico–Papua New Guinea relations* Mexico is accredited to Papua New Guinea from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.", "* Papua New Guinea is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.October 21, 2008* Mexico is accredited to Samoa from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand and maintains an honorary consulate in Apia.", "* Samoa does not have an accreditation to Mexico.September 26, 2008* Mexico is accredited to the Solomon Islands from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.", "* Solomon Islands does not have an accreditation to Mexico.September 26, 2008* Mexico is accredited to Tonga from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.", "* Tonga is accredited to Mexico from its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.September 27, 2006* Mexico is accredited to Tuvalu from its embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.", "* Tuvalu does not have an accreditation to Mexico.October 30, 1986* Mexico is accredited to Vanuatu from its embassy in Canberra, Australia.", "* Vanuatu does not have an accreditation to Mexico." ], [ "Multilateral relations", "===United Nations===Mexico is the tenth largest contributor to the United Nations (UN) regular budgets.", "Currently, it is a member of eighteen organizations arisen from the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and other specialized organizations of the UN.The United Nations Security Council.Mexico has served as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) three times (1946, 1982–83, 2002–03).", "On October 17, 2008, picking up 185 votes, it was elected to serve as a non-permanent member for the fourth time, from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010.Since April 1, Mexico holds the rotative presidency of the UNSC.In recent years, the need of reforming the UNSC and its working methods has been widely impulsed by Mexico, with the support of Canada, Italy, Pakistan and other nine countries.", "And have formed a movement informally called the Coffee Club, created in the 1990s, which highly opposes to the reform that the Group of Four (G4) suggests.In line with the Castañeda Doctrine of new openness in Mexico's foreign policy, established in the early first decade of the 21st century, some political parties have proposed an amendment of the Constitution in order to allow the Mexican army, air force or navy to collaborate with the UN in peacekeeping missions.===Organization of American States===Mexican Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C..As a founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS), Mexico has actively participated in the intergovernmental organization.", "Since the creation of the OAS, Mexico always promoted to include more principals related to international cooperation and less military aspects, its position was based on the principles of non-intervention and the pacific resolution of disputes.", "In addition, Mexico favored the membership of Canada in 1989 and Belize and Guatemala in 1991.In 1964, under U.S. pressure, the OAS required all member countries to break off diplomatic ties with Cuba.", "Mexico refused, condemned the Bay of Pigs invasion, and did not support the expulsion of Cuba from the OAS.", "Years later, Mexico strongly opposed to the creation of a military alliance within the OAS framework, and condemned the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.Under the Fox administration, the candidacy of then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez for the Secretary General of the OAS was highly promoted.", "It eventually failed but brought a diplomatic crisis with Chile and harsh critics from the Mexican public opinion when Derbez had announced that he would no longer compete against José Miguel Insulza but the Mexican delegation abstained despite being previously agreed that it would vote for the Chilean candidate.===Mega-Diverse Countries===CI.The '''megadiverse countries''' are a group of countries that harbor the majority of the Earth's species and are considered extremely biodiverse and therefore are of utmost priority on the global environmental agenda.", "Conservation International identified 17 megadiverse countries in 1998, most are located in or have territories in the tropics.In 2002, Mexico formed a separate organization named Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, consisting of countries rich in biological diversity and associated traditional knowledge.", "This organization includes a different set of involved megadiverse countries than those identified by Conservation International.===Participation in international organizations===; Regional Organizations:* ALADI* 25px CAN * CELAC* IDB* LAC-EU* LAES* LAIA* Latin American and Caribbean Integration and Development* LAPR* Ibero-American Summit* 25px Mercosur * OAS* OEI* OPANAL* Rio Group* 25px SICA * Summits of the Americas* 25px UNASUR * UNECLAC; International and Multilateral Organizations:* APEC* CCW* CD* Codex Alimentarius Commission* ECOSOC* 25px FAO* G8+5* G15* G20* G20+* Group of Megadiverse Countries* GL-MMC* IBRD* 25px ICRC* 25px ICC* 25px ILO* IMF* IOM* IPCC* IPU* IRENA* ITC* Interpol* ITU* Latin American Integration Association* Latin Union* NAM * * UNAIDS* UNOCHA* UNCTAD* UNDIR* UNEO* UNEP* UNESCO* UNHCR* UNITAR* UNRISD* UNWTO* 25px UPU* World Bank* 25px WHO* WIPO* 25px WMO* WSIS* WTO" ], [ "Free trade agreements", "The Ibero-American Summit, in Veracruz, 2014.Mexico has negotiated upwards of 60 free trade agreements with various countries.", "Ordered by date, these include:Mexico free trade agreements===Entered as a single nation===* 1994: North American Free Trade Agreement.", "Replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (2018).", "* 1995: G3 Free Trade Agreement (Venezuela withdrew in 2006; renamed to Mexico-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in 2010).", "* 1995: Free Trade Agreement with Bolivia (terminated in 2010).1* 1995: Free Trade Agreement with Costa Rica.", "* 1998: Free Trade Agreement with Nicaragua.", "* 1999: Free Trade Agreement with Chile.", "* 2000: Free Trade Agreement with the European Union.", "* 2000: Free Trade Agreement with Israel.", "* 2001: Free Trade Agreement with the Northern Triangle.", "* 2001: Free Trade Agreement with the European Free Trade Association.", "* 2004: Free Trade Agreement with Uruguay.", "* 2005: Agreement for the Strengthening of the Economic Partnership with Japan.", "* 2011: Unifying Free Trade Agreement with Central America (unified existing treaties with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Northern Triangle countries).", "* 2012: Free Trade Agreement with Peru.", "* 2014: Pacific Alliance with three South American nations.", "* 2014: Free Trade Agreement with Panama.", "* 2018: Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (replaces cancelled Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement from 2016; currently ten other nations from the Americas, Asia, and Oceania participate).", "* 2020: Trade Continuity Agreement with the United Kingdom.21:The Bolivian government denounced the Mexico-Bolivia Free Trade Agreement's provisions on investments, services, intellectual property, and government purchases as incompatible with its 2009 constitution on June 7, 2010.In order to maintain free movement of goods between Mexico and Bolivia, the governments of the two countries agreed to replace the free trade agreement with an Economic Complementation Agreement effective on the same date.", "2: The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, 2020.Under the terms of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, trade relations between Mexico and the UK continued to be bound by the terms of the Mexico-EU trade agreement for the duration of the UK's withdrawal transition period.", "On December 15, 2020, in preparation for the UK's final EU withdrawal on December 31, the UK and Mexico signed a temporary Trade Continuity Agreement in order to maintain free trade between the two countries.", "Negotiations between Mexico and the UK for a new free trade agreement to replace the existing continuity agreement began in July 2022.===Entered as part of a trade bloc===* 2022: Pacific Alliance-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (2022)." ], [ "Transnational issues", "===Illicit drugs===Mexico remains a transit and not a cocaine production country.", "Methamphetamine and cannabis production do take place in Mexico and are responsible for an estimated 80% of the methamphetamine on the streets in the United States, while 1,100 metric tons of marijuana are smuggled each year from Mexico.In 1990 just over half the cocaine imported into the U.S. came through Mexico, by 2007 that had risen to more than 90 percent, according to U.S. State Department estimates.", "Although violence between drug cartels has been occurring long before the war began, the government used its police forces in the 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century with little effect.", "That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to put an end to drug violence there.", "This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against cartel operations, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels.", "As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now well over 25,000 troops involved.", "It is estimated that during 2006, there were about 2,000 drug-related violent deaths, about 2,300 deaths during 2007, and more than 6,200 people by the end of 2008.Many of the dead were gang members killed by rivals or by the government, some have been bystanders.Drug trafficking is acknowledged as an issue with shared responsibilities that requires coordinated measures by the U.S. and Mexico.", "In March 2009, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when officially visited Mexico City, stated that:===Illegal migration===Almost a third of all immigrants in the U.S. were born in Mexico, being the source of the greatest number of both authorized (20%) and unauthorized (56%) migrants who come to the U.S. every year.", "Since the early 1990s, Mexican immigrants are no longer concentrated in California, the Southwest, and Illinois, but have been coming to new gateway states, including New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., in increasing numbers.", "This phenomenon can be mainly attributed to poverty in Mexico, the growing demand for unskilled labor in the U.S., the existence of established family and community networks that allow migrants to arrive in the U.S. with people known to them.The framework of U.S. immigration law has largely remained the same since 1965.The U.S. economy needs both high-skilled and low-skilled immigrant workers to remain competitive and to have enough workers who continue to pay into Social Security and Medicare as the U.S. population grows older.", "Nonetheless, there are currently very few channels for immigration to the U.S. for work-related reasons under current law.", "Furthermore, Amnesty International has taken concern regarding the excessive brutality inflicted upon illegal immigrants, which includes beatings, sexual assault, denial of medical attention, and denial of food, water and warmth for long periods.For many years, the Mexican government showed limited interest in the issues.", "However, former President Vicente Fox actively sought to recognize the contribution of migrants to the U.S. and Mexico and to pursue a bilateral migration agreement with the U.S. government, which eventually failed.", "The current administration has placed an emphasis on how to create jobs in Mexico, enhance border security, and protect Mexican citizens living abroad.Traditionally, Mexico built a reputation as one of the classic asylum countries, with a varying attitude toward refugees from Spain and other European countries before and during World War II, from Latin America's Southern Cone in the 1970s, and from Central America since the beginning of the 1980s.", "However, in recent years refugees who solicit asylum are usually treated as if they were just immigrants, with exhaustive administrative processes.", "The southern border of Mexico has experienced a significant increase in legal and illegal flows over the past decade, in particular for migrants seeking to transit Mexico to reach the U.S. José Luis Soberanes, president of the National Human Rights Commission, condemned the repressing policy implemented by the Mexican government against illegal immigrants who cross the country's southern border.", "President Calderón modified the \"General Law on Population\" to derogate some penalties against immigrants like jail time, instead imposing fines of up to US$500 on illegal immigrants." ], [ "See also", "Index of Mexico-related articles150px'''Diplomacy''' List of diplomatic missions in Mexico* List of diplomatic missions of Mexico* Mexican Council on Foreign Relations* Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (Mexico)'''Policy and Doctrine'''* Estrada Doctrine* Castañeda Doctrine* Human rights in Mexico" ], [ "Footnotes" ], [ "References", "* Pereña-García, Mercedes (2001).", "''Las Relaciones Diplomáticas de México''.", "Plaza y Valdés, p. 94..* Velázquez Flores, Rafael (2007).", "''Factores, Bases y Fundamentos de la Política Exterior de México''.", "Plaza y Valdés, p. 331..* Alponte, Juan María (1993).", "''La Política Exterior de México en el Nuevo Orden Mundial : Antología de Principios y Tesis''.", "FCE, p. 428..* Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005) ''La Política Exterior Mexicana en la Transición''.", "FCE, SRE, p. 281..* Lajous Vargas, Roberta (2000) ''Los Retos de la Política Exterior de México en el Siglo XXI''.", "SRE, p. 560..* El Colegio de México (2007).", "''Historia General de México: Versión 2000''.", "El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Históricos, p. 1103..* Selee, Andrew D. (2007).", "''More Than Neighbors: An Overview of Mexico and U.S.-Mexican Relations''.", "Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, p. 43.." ], [ "External links", "* Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores — Official website of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs * Secretariat of Foreign Affairs — Official website of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs* Treaties Signed by Mexico — Searchable Database * Mexican Missions to the United Nations — Official website" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Micronesia" ], [ "Introduction", "Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of OceaniaPacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia.Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange)'''Micronesia''' (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.", "It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.The region has a tropical marine climate and is part of the Oceanian realm.", "It includes four main archipelagos—the Caroline Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Mariana Islands, and the Marshall Islands — as well as numerous islands that are not part of any archipelago.Political control of areas within Micronesia varies depending on the island, and is distributed among six sovereign nations.", "Some of the Caroline Islands are part of the Republic of Palau and some are part of the Federated States of Micronesia (often shortened to \"FSM\" or \"Micronesia\"—not to be confused with the identical name for the overall region).", "The Gilbert Islands (along with the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands in Polynesia) comprise the Republic of Kiribati.", "The Mariana Islands are affiliated with the United States; some of them belong to the U.S.", "Territory of Guam and the rest belong to the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.", "The island of Nauru is its own sovereign nation.", "The Marshall Islands all belong to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.", "The sovereignty of Wake Island is contested: it is claimed both by the United States and by the Republic of the Marshall Islands.", "The United States has actual possession of Wake Island, which is under the immediate administration of the United States Air Force.Notwithstanding the fact that the notion of \"Micronesia\" has been quite well established since 1832 and has been used ever since, by most popular works, this set does not correspond to any geomorphological, archaeological, linguistic, ethnic or cultural unity, but on the contrary represents a disparate ensemble, with no real deep unity.", "In fact, \"Micronesian people\" doesn't exist as a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian people, who may also include the Polynesian people and the hypothetical Australo-Melanesian or \"Melanesian people\".", "Human settlement of Micronesia began several millennia ago.", "Based on the current scientific consensus, the Austronesian peoples originated from a prehistoric seaborne migration, known as the Austronesian expansion, from pre-Han Formosa, at around 3000 to 1500 BCE.", "Austronesians reached the northernmost Philippines, specifically the Batanes Islands, by around 2200 BCE.", "Austronesians were the first people to invent oceangoing sailing technologies (notably catamarans, outrigger boats, lashed-lug boat building, and the crab claw sail), which enabled their rapid dispersal into the islands of the Indo-Pacific.", "From 2000 BCE they assimilated (or were assimilated by) the earlier populations on the islands in their migration pathway.The earliest known contact of Europeans with Micronesia was in 1521, when Magellan expedition landed in the Marianas.", "Jules Dumont d'Urville is usually credited with coining the term \"Micronesia\" in 1832, but in fact, used this term a year earlier." ], [ "Geography", "Micronesia is a region in Oceania that includes approximately 2100 islands, with a total land area of , the largest of which is Guam, which covers .", "The total ocean area within the perimeter of the islands is .There are four main island groups in Micronesia:* the Caroline Islands (Federated States of Micronesia and Palau)* the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati)* the Mariana Islands (Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, US)* the Marshall IslandsThis does not include the separate island nation of Nauru, along with other distinctly separate islands and smaller island groups.===Caroline Islands===The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago consisting of about 500 small coral islands, north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines.", "The Carolines consist of two nations: the Federated States of Micronesia, consisting of approximately 600 islands on the eastern side of the chain with Kosrae being the most eastern; and Palau consisting of 250 islands on the western side.===Gilbert Islands===Tarawa AtollThe Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands, arranged in an approximate north-to-south line.", "In a geographical sense, the equator serves as the dividing line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands.", "The Republic of Kiribati contains all of the Gilberts, including the island of Tarawa, the site of the country's capital.===Mariana Islands===Mount Marpi in Saipan.The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of fifteen volcanic mountains.", "The island chain arises as a result of the western edge of the Pacific Plate moving westward and plunging downward below the Mariana plate, a region that is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth.", "The Marianas were politically divided in 1898, when the United States acquired title to Guam under the Treaty of Paris, 1898, which ended the Spanish–American War.", "Spain then sold the remaining northerly islands to Germany in 1899.Germany lost all of her colonies at the end of World War I and the Northern Mariana Islands became a League of Nations Mandate, with Japan as the mandatory.", "After World War II, the islands were transferred into the United Nations Trust Territory System, with the United States as Trustee.", "In 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States entered into a covenant of political union under which commonwealth status was granted the Northern Mariana Islands and its residents received United States citizenship.===Marshall Islands===Laura, Majuro, Marshall IslandsThe Marshall Islands are located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the U.S. territory of Wake Island.", "The islands consist of 29 low-lying atolls and 5 isolated islands, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets.", "The atolls and islands form two groups: the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain (meaning \"sunrise\" and \"sunset\" chains).", "All the islands in the chain are part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, a presidential republic in free association with the United States.", "Having few natural resources, the islands' wealth is based on a service economy, as well as some fishing and agriculture.", "Of the 29 atolls, 24 of them are inhabited.Bikini Atoll is an atoll in the Marshall Islands.", "There are 23 islands in the Bikini Atoll.", "The islands of Bokonijien, Aerokojlol and Nam were vaporized during nuclear tests that occurred there.", "The islands are composed of low coral limestone and sand.", "The average elevation is only about above low tide level.File:Castle Bravo Blast.jpg\|Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini AtollFile:Cross spikes club.jpg\|An illustration of the Cross Spikes Club of the US Navy on Bikini Atoll, one of several Marshall Islands used for atomic bomb tests.File:Kili Island - NASA Astronaut Photography.png\|Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands.===Nauru===Nauru is an oval-shaped island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, south of the Equator, listed as the world's smallest republic, covering just .", "With residents, it is the third least-populated country, after Vatican City and Tuvalu.", "The island is surrounded by a coral reef, which is exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacles.", "The presence of the reef has prevented the establishment of a seaport, although channels in the reef allow small boats access to the island.", "A fertile coastal strip wide lies inland from the beach.File:Aerial view of Nauru.jpg\|Aerial view of NauruFile:Nauru Denigomodu-Nibok.jpg\|Nauruan districts of Denigomodu and Nibok===Wake Island===Wake Island is a coral atoll with a coastline of just north of the Marshall Islands.", "It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States.", "Access to the island is restricted and all activities on the island are managed by the United States Air Force.", "While geographically adjacent, it is not ethnoculturally part of Micronesia, due to its historical lack of human inhabitation.", "Micronesians may have possibly visited Wake Island in prehistoric times to harvest fish, but there is nothing to suggest any kind of settlement.File:Wake Island by Agate.jpg\|Wake Island as depicted by the United States Exploring Expedition, drawn by Alfred Thomas AgateFile:Wake Island air.JPG\|Aerial view Wake Island, looking westward===Geology===The majority of the islands in the area are part of a coral atoll.", "Coral atolls begin as coral reefs that grow on the slopes of a central volcano.", "When the volcano sinks back down into the sea, the coral continues to grow, keeping the reef at or above water level.", "One exception is Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, which still has the central volcano and coral reefs around it.===Fauna===The Yap Islands host a number of endemic bird species, including the Yap monarch and the Olive white-eye, in addition to four other restricted-range bird species.", "The endangered Yap flying-fox, though often considered a subspecies of the Pelew flying fox or the Mariana fruit bat, is also endemic to Yap.", "Spinner dolphins===Climate===The region has a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds.", "There is little seasonal temperature variation.", "The dry season runs from December or January to June and the rainy season from July to November or December.", "Because of the location of some islands, the rainy season can sometimes include typhoons." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory===Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-PacificThe Northern Mariana Islands were the first islands in Oceania colonized by the Austronesian peoples.", "They were settled by the voyagers who sailed eastwards from the Philippines in approximately 1500 BCE.", "These populations gradually moved southwards until they reached the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands by 1300 BCE and reconnected with the Lapita culture of the southeast migration branch of Austronesians moving through coastal New Guinea and Island Melanesia.", "By 1200 BCE, they again began crossing open seas beyond inter-island visibility, reaching Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia; before continuing eastwards to become the ancestors of the Polynesian people.Further migrations by other Austronesians also followed, likely from Sulawesi, settling Palau and Yap by around 1000 BCE.", "The details of this colonization, however, are not very well known.", "In 200 BCE, a loosely connected group of Lapita colonists from Island Melanesia also migrated back northwards, settling the islands of eastern Micronesia almost simultaneously.", "This region became the center of another wave of migrations radiating outwards, reconnecting them with other settled islands in western Micronesia.Around 800 CE, a second wave of migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Marianas, beginning what is now known as the Latte period.", "These new settlers built large structures with distinctive capped stone pillars known as ''haligi''.", "They also reintroduced rice (which did not survive earlier voyages), making the Northern Marianas the only islands in Oceania where rice was grown prior to European contact.", "However, it was considered a high-status crop and only used in rituals.", "It did not become a staple until after Spanish colonization.Construction of Nan Madol, a megalithic complex made from basalt lava logs in Pohnpei, began in around 1180 CE.", "This was followed by the construction of the Leluh complex in Kosrae in around 1200.File:Map FM-Nan Madol.PNG\|Central Nan Madol (map)File:Nan Madol 5.jpg\|Nan MadolFile:Lelu Ruins, Kosrae, Micronesia.jpg\|LeluhFile:Latte stones in Hagatna.jpg\|Latte stonesFile:Yap Stone Money.jpg\|Rai stone===Early European contact===Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer CodexThe earliest known contact with Europeans occurred in 1521, when a Spanish expedition under Ferdinand Magellan reached the Marianas.", "This contact is recorded in Antonio Pigafetta's chronicle of Magellan's voyage, in which he recounts that the Chamorro people had no apparent knowledge of people outside of their island group.", "A Portuguese account of the same voyage suggests that the Chamorro people who greeted the travellers did so \"without any shyness as if they were good acquaintances\".Further contact was made during the sixteenth century, although often initial encounters were very brief.", "Documents relating to the 1525 voyage of Diogo da Rocha suggest that he made the first European contact with inhabitants of the Caroline Islands, possibly staying on the Ulithi atoll for four months and encountering Yap.", "Marshall Islanders were encountered by the expedition of Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1529.Other contact with the Yap islands occurred in 1625.===Colonisation and conversion===German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese ''korkor'' outrigger canoe in the foregroundIn the early 17th century Spain colonized Guam, the Northern Marianas and the Caroline Islands (what would later become the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau), creating the Spanish East Indies, which was governed from the Spanish Philippines.When Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue visited the Marshall Islands in 1817, he noted that Marshallese families practiced infanticide after the birth of a third child as a form of population planning due to frequent famines.", "In 1819, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions—a Protestant group—brought their Puritan ways to Polynesia.", "Soon after, the Hawaiian Missionary Society was founded and sent missionaries into Micronesia.", "Conversion was not met with as much opposition, as the local religions were less developed (at least according to Western ethnographic accounts).", "In contrast, it took until the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries for missionaries to fully convert the inhabitants of Melanesia; however, a comparison of the cultural contrast must take into account the fact that Melanesia has always had deadly strains of malaria present in various degrees and distributions throughout its history (see De Rays Expedition) and up to the present; conversely, Micronesia does not have—and never seems to have had—any malarial mosquitos nor pathogens on any of its islands in the past.===German–Spanish Treaty of 1899===German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899In the Spanish–American War, Spain lost many of its remaining colonies.", "In the Pacific, the United States took possession of the Spanish Philippines and Guam.", "On 17 January 1899, the United States also took possession of unclaimed and uninhabited Wake Island.", "This left Spain with the remainder of the Spanish East Indies, about 6,000 tiny islands that were sparsely populated and not very productive.", "These islands were ungovernable after the loss of the administrative center of Manila and indefensible after the loss of two Spanish fleets in the war.", "The Spanish government therefore decided to sell the remaining islands to a new colonial power: the German Empire.The treaty, which was signed by Spanish Prime Minister Francisco Silvela on 12 February 1899, transferred the Caroline Islands (Kosrae in the east to Palau in the west), the Mariana Islands, and other possessions to Germany.", "Under German control, the islands became a protectorate and were administered from German New Guinea.", "Nauru had already been annexed and claimed as a colony by Germany in 1888.===20th century===Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate.In the early 20th century, the islands of Micronesia were divided between three foreign powers:* the United States, which took control of Guam following the Spanish–American War of 1898 and claimed Wake Island;* Germany, which took Nauru and bought the Marshall, Caroline and Northern Mariana Islands from Spain; and* the British Empire, which took the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati).During World War I, Germany's Pacific island territories were seized and became League of Nations mandates in 1923.Nauru became an Australian mandate, while Germany's other territories in Micronesia were given as a mandate to Japan and were named the South Seas Mandate.", "During World War II, Nauru and Ocean Island were occupied by Japanese troops, with also an occupation of some of the Gilbert Islands and were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific.", "Following Japan's defeat in World War II its mandate became a United Nations Trusteeship administered by the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.", "Nauru became independent in 1968.===21st century===Today, most of Micronesia are independent states, except for the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and Wake Island, which are U.S. territories." ], [ "States and dependencies", " Country Population (July estimate) Area (km2) Population density (/km2) Urban population Life expectancy Literacy rate Official language(s) Main religion(s) Ethnic groups 702 158 22% 71.2 89% English Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 47%, others 3% Chuukese 48.8%, Pohnpeian 24.2%, Kosraean 6.2%, Yapese 5.2%, Yap outer islands 4.5%, Asian 1.8%, Polynesian 1.5%, other 7.8% (United States) 540 299 93% 78.2 99% English 38.3%, Chamorro 22.2% Roman Catholic 85%, Buddhism 3.6, other religion 11.4% Chamorro 37.1%, Filipino 26.3%, other Pacific islander 11.3%, white 6.9%, other 8.6%, mixed 9.8% 811 152 44% 64.0 92% English, Gilbertese (de facto) Roman Catholic 55%, Protestant 36% Micronesian 98.8% 181 293 71% 71.5 93.7% Marshallese 98.2%, English Protestant 54.8%, other Christian 40.6% Marshallese 92.1%, mixed Marshallese 5.9%, other 2% 21 480 100% 65.0 99% Nauruan, English (''de facto'') Nauru Congregational Church 35.4%, Roman Catholic 33.2%, Nauru Independent Church (Protestant) 10.4%, Baha'i faith 10%, Buddhism 9%Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8% (United States) 464 113 91% 76.9 97% English, Chamorro and Carolinian Roman Catholic, Buddhism 10.6% Asian 56.3%, Pacific islander 36.3%, White 1.8%, other 0.8%, mixed 4.8% 459 47 81% 71.5 92% Palauan 64.7%, English Roman Catholic 41.6%, Protestant 23.3% Palauan 69.9%, Filipino 15.3%, Chinese 4.9%, other Asian 2.4%, white 1.9%, Carolinian 1.4%, other Micronesian 1.1%, other 3.2% Total ===Politics===The Pacific Community (SPC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation whose membership includes both nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean and their metropolitan powers." ], [ "Economy", "Nationally, the primary income is the sale of fishing rights to foreign nations that harvest tuna using huge purse seiners.", "A few Japanese long liners still ply the waters.", "The crews aboard fishing fleets contribute little to the local economy since their ships typically set sail loaded with stores and provisions that are cheaper than local goods.", "Additional money comes in from government grants, mostly from the United States and the $150 million the US paid into a trust fund for reparations of residents of Bikini Atoll that had to move after nuclear testing.", "Few mineral deposits worth exploiting exist, except for some high-grade phosphate, especially on Nauru.Most residents of Micronesia can freely move to and work within, the United States.", "Relatives working in the US that send money home to relatives represent the primary source of individual income.", "Additional individual income comes mainly from government jobs and work within shops and restaurants.The tourist industry consists mainly of scuba divers that come to see the coral reefs, do wall dives and visit sunken ships from WWII.", "Major stops for scuba divers in approximate order are Palau, Chuuk, Yap and Pohnpei.", "Some private yacht owners visit the area for months or years at a time.", "However, they tend to stay mainly at ports of entry and are too few in number to be counted as a major source of income.Copra production used to be a more significant source of income, however, world prices have dropped in part to large palm plantations that are now planted in places like Borneo." ], [ "Demographics", "The people today form many ethnicities, but all are descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture.Because of this mixture of descent, many of the ethnicities of Micronesia feel closer to some groups in Melanesia, or the Philippines.", "A good example of this are the Yapese people who are related to Austronesian tribes in the northern Philippines.", "Genetics also show a significant number of Micronesian have Japanese paternal ancestry: 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% in East Timor carry the Haplogroup D-M55.There are also substantial Asian communities found across the region, most notably in the Northern Mariana Islands where they form the majority and smaller communities of Europeans who have migrated from the United States or are descendants of settlers during European colonial rule in Micronesia.Though they are all geographically part of the same region, they all have very different colonial histories.", "The US-administered areas of Micronesia have a unique experience that sets them apart from the rest of the Pacific.", "Micronesia has great economic dependency on its former or current motherlands, something only comparable to the French Pacific.", "Sometimes, the term ''American Micronesia'' is used to acknowledge the difference in cultural heritage.A 2011 survey found that 93.1% of Micronesian are Christians; a survey in 2022 showed that 99% were Christian.===Indigenous groups=======Micronesians=========Carolinian people=====It is thought that ancestors of the Carolinian people may have originally immigrated from the Asian mainland and Indonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago.", "Their primary language is Carolinian, called ''Refaluwasch'' by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers.", "The Carolinians have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs.", "Most Carolinians are of the Roman Catholic faith.The immigration of Carolinians to Saipan began in the early 19th century, after the Spanish reduced the local population of Chamorro natives to just 3,700.They began to immigrate mostly sailing from small canoes from other islands, which a typhoon previously devastated.", "The Carolinians have a much darker complexion than the native Chamorros.=====Chamorro people=====Chamorro people in 1915The Chamorro people are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands, which are politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia.", "The Chamorro are commonly believed to have come from Southeast Asia at around 2000 BC.", "They are most closely related to other Austronesian natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan, as well as the Carolines to the south.The Chamorro language is included in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian family.", "Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, many words derive from the Spanish language.", "The traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers.=====Chuukese people=====The Chuukese people are an ethnic group in Oceania.", "They constitute 48% of the population of the Federated States of Micronesia.", "Their language is Chuukese.", "The home atoll of Chuuk is also known by the former name Truk.=====Nauruan people=====The Nauruan people are an ethnicity inhabiting the Pacific island of Nauru.", "They are most likely a blend of other Pacific peoples.The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined.", "It can possibly be explained by the last Malayo-Pacific human migration (c. 1200).", "It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked Polynesians or Melanesians that established themselves in Nauru because there was not already an indigenous people present, whereas the Micronesians were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area.====Kaping people====The roughly 3000 residents of the Federated States of Micronesia that reside in Kapingamarangi, nicknamed 'Kapings', live in one of the most remote locations in both Micronesia and the world at large.", "Their home atoll is almost from the nearest point of immigration.", "There are no regular flights; the only reliable way to legally visit is to travel on a high-speed sailboat to the atoll.", "Owing to this difficulty, few sailors travelling the Pacific attempt to visit.", "The local language is the Kapingamarangi language.", "The children typically attend high school on Pohnpei where they stay with relatives in an enclave that is almost exclusively made up of Kapings.===Immigrant groups=======East, South, and Southeast Asian people====There are large East, South and Southeast Asian communities found across certain Micronesian countries that are either immigrants, foreign workers or descendants of either one, most migrated to the islands during the 1800s and 1900s.", "According to the 2010 census results Guam was 26.3% Filipino, 2.2% Korean, 1.6% Chinese and 2% other Asian.", "The 2010 census showed the Northern Mariana Islands was 50% Asian of which 35.3% were Filipino, 6.8% Chinese, 4.2% Korean and 3.7% other Asian (mainly Japanese, Bangladeshi and Thai).", "The 2010 census for the Federated States of Micronesia showed 1.4% were Asian while statistics for Nauru showed 8% of Nauruans were Chinese.", "The 2005 census results for Palau showed 16.3% were Filipino, 1.6% Chinese, 1.6% Vietnamese and 3.4% other Asian (mostly Bangladeshi, Japanese and Korean).Japanese rule in Micronesia also led to Japanese people settling the islands and marrying native spouses.", "Kessai Note, the former president of the Marshall Islands has partial Japanese ancestry by way of his paternal grandfather, and Emanuel Mori, the former president of the Federated States of Micronesia, is descended from one of the first settlers from Japan, Koben Mori.A significant number of Micronesians were shown to have paternal genetic relations with Japanese Haplogroup D-M55.Genetic testing found that 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% in East Timor carry what is believed to reflect recent admixture from Japan.", "That is, D-M116.1 (D1b1) is generally believed to be a primary subclade of D-M64.1 (D1b), possibly as a result of the Japanese military occupation of Southeast Asia during World War II.====European people====The 2010 census results of Guam showed 7.1% were white while the 2005 census for Palau showed 8% were European.", "Smaller numbers at 1.9% in Palau and 1.8% in the Northern Mariana Islands were recorded as \"white\".", "In conjunction to the European communities there are large amounts of mixed Micronesians, some of which have European ancestry.Languages of Micronesia.===Languages===The largest group of languages spoken in Micronesia are the Micronesian languages.", "They are in the family of Oceanic languages, part of the Austronesian language group.", "They descended from the Proto-Oceanic, which in turn descended via Proto-Malayo-Polynesian from Proto-Austronesian.The languages in the Micronesian family are Marshallese, Gilbertese, Kosraean, Nauruan, as well as a large sub-family called the Chuukic–Pohnpeic languages containing 11 languages.On the eastern edge of the Federated States of Micronesia, the languages Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi represent an extreme westward extension of the Polynesian branch of Oceanic.Finally, there are two Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken in Micronesia that do not belong to the Oceanic languages: Chamorro in the Mariana Islands and Palauan in Palau." ], [ "Culture", "===Animals and food===By the time Western contact occurred, although Palau did not have dogs, they did have fowls and possibly pigs.", "Pigs are not native to Micronesia.", "Fruit bats are native to Palau, but other mammals are rare.", "Reptiles are numerous and both mollusks and fish are an important food source.", "The people of Palau, the Marianas and Yap often chew betel nuts seasoned with lime and pepper leaf.", "Western Micronesia was unaware of the ceremonial drink, which was called ''saka'' on Kosrae and ''sakau'' on Pohnpei.===Architecture===The book ''Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia'' argues that the most prolific pre-colonial Micronesian architecture is: \"Palau's monumental sculpted hills, megalithic stone carvings and elaborately decorated structure of wood placed on piers above elevated stone platforms\".", "The archeological traditions of the Yapese people remained relatively unchanged even after the first European contact with the region during Magellan's 1520s circumnavigation of the globe.===Art===Micronesia's artistic tradition has developed from the Lapita culture.", "Among the most prominent works of the region is the megalithic floating city of Nan Madol.", "The city began in 1200 CE and was still being built when European explorers begin to arrive around 1600.The city, however, had declined by around 1800 along with the Saudeleur dynasty and was completely abandoned by the 1820s.", "During the 19th century, the region was divided between the colonial powers, but art continued to thrive.", "Wood-carving, particularly by men, flourished in the region, resulted in richly decorated ceremonial houses in Belau, stylized bowls, canoe ornaments, ceremonial vessels and sometimes sculptured figures.", "Women created textiles and ornaments such as bracelets and headbands.", "Stylistically, traditional Micronesian art is streamlined and of a practical simplicity to its function, but is typically finished to a high standard of quality.", "This was mostly to make the best possible use of what few natural materials they had available to them.The first half of the 20th century saw a downturn in Micronesia's cultural integrity and a strong foreign influence from both western and Japanese Imperialist powers.", "A number of historical artistic traditions, especially sculpture, ceased to be practiced, although other art forms continued, including traditional architecture and weaving.", "Independence from colonial powers in the second half of the century resulted in a renewed interest in, and respect for, traditional arts.", "A notable movement of contemporary art also appeared in Micronesia towards the end of the 20th century.===Cuisine===The cuisine of the Mariana Islands is tropical in nature, including such dishes as Kelaguen as well as many others.Marshallese cuisine comprises the fare and foodways of the Marshall Islands, and includes local foods such as breadfruit, taro root, pandanus and seafood, among others.Palauan cuisine includes local foods such as cassava, taro, yam, potato, fish and pork.", "Western cuisine is favored among young Palauans.===Education===The educational systems in the nations of Micronesia vary depending on the country and there are several higher-level educational institutions.The CariPac consists of institutions of higher education in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.", "The Agricultural Development in the American Pacific is a partnership of the University of Hawaii, American Samoa Community College, College of Micronesia, Northern Marianas College and the University of Guam.In the Federated States of Micronesia, education is required for citizens aged 6 to 13, and is important to their economy.", "The literacy rate for citizens aged 15 to 24 is 98.8%.", "The College of Micronesia-FSM has a campus in each of the four states with its national campus in the capital city of Palikir, Pohnpei.", "The COM-FSM system also includes the Fisheries and Maritime Institute (FMI) on the Yap islands.The public education in Guam is organized by the Guam Department of Education.", "Guam also has several educational institutions, such as University of Guam, Pacific Islands University and Guam Community College, There is also the Guam Public Library System and the Umatac Outdoor Library.Weriyeng is one of the last two schools of traditional navigation found in the central Caroline Islands in Micronesia, the other being Fanur.The Northern Marianas College is a two-year community college located in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).The College of the Marshall Islands is a community college in the Marshall Islands.===Law===''Understanding Law in Micronesia'' notes that The Federated States of Micronesia's laws and legal institutions are \"uninterestingly similar to those of Western countries\".", "However, it explains that \"law in Micronesia is an extraordinary flux and flow of contrasting thought and meaning, inside and outside the legal system\".", "It says that a knee-jerk reaction would be that law is disarrayed in the region and that improvement is required, but argues that the failure is \"one endemic to the nature of law or to the ideological views we hold about law\".The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations Trusteeship administered by the United States, borrowed heavily from United States law in establishing the Trust Territory Code during the Law and Development movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s.", "Many of those provisions were adopted by the new Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia when the Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing in 1979.===Media===In September 2007, journalists in the region founded the Micronesian Media Association.===Music and dance===Micronesian music is influential to those living in the Micronesian islands.", "Some of the music is based around mythology and ancient Micronesian rituals.", "It covers a range of styles from traditional songs, handed down through generations, to contemporary music.Traditional beliefs suggest that the music can be presented to people in dreams and trances, rather than being written by composers themselves.", "Micronesian folk music is, like Polynesian music, primarily vocal-based.In the Marshall Islands, the ''roro'' is a kind of traditional chant, usually about ancient legends and performed to give guidance during navigation and strength for mothers in labour.", "Modern bands have blended the unique songs of each island in the country with modern music.", "Though drums are not generally common in Micronesian music, one-sided hourglass-shaped drums are a major part of Marshallese music.", "There is a traditional Marshallese dance called beet, which is influenced by Spanish folk dances; in it, men and women side-step in parallel lines.", "There is a kind of stick dance performed by the Jobwa, nowadays only for very special occasions.Popular music, both from Micronesia and from other areas of the world, is played on radio stations in Micronesia.===Sports===The region is home to the Micronesian Games.", "This quadrennial international multi-sport event involves all of Micronesia's countries and territories except Wake Island.Nauru has two national sports, weightlifting and Australian rules football.", "According to 2007 Australian Football League International Census figures, there are around 180 players in the Nauru senior competition and 500 players in the junior competition, representing a participation rate of over 30% overall for the country." ], [ "Religion and mythology", "The predominant religion in Micronesia is Christianity (93%) According to 2023 government statistics, 55% of the population were Catholic and 42% were Protestant, while 2% belonged to other Christian denominations.", "Other religious groups exist including Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims.", "Micronesian mythology comprises the traditional belief systems of the people of Micronesia.", "There is no single belief system in the islands of Micronesia, as each island region has its own mythological beings.", "It was noted that 2.7% of the population followed folk religions in 2014.There are several significant figures and myths in the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauruan and Kiribati traditions.Shinto shrines dating from during or after World War II exist in some Micronesian countries." ], [ "See also", "* Flags of Oceania" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== General bibliography ===* * * " ], [ "Further reading", "" ], [ "External links", "* History of Micronesia* Micronesian Games" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''history of Moldova''' can be traced to the 1350s, when the Principality of Moldavia, the medieval precursor of modern Moldova and Romania, was founded.", "The principality was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire from 1538 until the 19th century.", "In 1812, following one of several Russian–Turkish wars, the eastern half of the principality, Bessarabia, was annexed by the Russian Empire.", "In 1918, Bessarabia briefly became independent as the Moldavian Democratic Republic and, following the decision of the Parliament (Sfatul Țării), united with Romania.", "During the Second World War it was occupied by the Soviet Union which reclaimed it from Romania.", "It joined the Union as the Moldavian ASSR, until the dissolution of the USSR.", "In 1991 the country declared independence as the Republic of Moldova." ], [ "Prehistory", "Cucuteni–Trypillian culture boundariesIn 2010, Oldowan flint tools were discovered at Dubasari on the lower Dniester that are 800,000–1.2 million years old demonstrating that early humans were present in Moldova during the early paleolithic.", "During prehistoric times there was a succession of cultures that flourished in the land of present-day Moldova from the end of the ice age up through the Neolithic Age, the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the beginning of the Iron Age, when historical records begin to be made about the people who lived in these lands.", "These cultures included the Linear Pottery culture (ca.", "5500–4500 BC), the Cucuteni–Trypillian culture (ca.", "5500–2750 BC), and the Yamna culture (ca.", "3600–2300 BC).", "During this period of time many innovations and advancements were made, including the practice of agriculture, animal husbandry, kiln-fired pottery, weaving, and the formation of large settlements and towns.", "Indeed, during the Cucuteni–Trypillian Culture, some of the settlements in this area were larger than anywhere on Earth at the time, and they predate even the earliest towns of Sumer in the Mesopotamia.", "The area, stretching from the Dnieper River in the east to the Iron Gate of the Danube in the west (which included the land now in Moldova), had a civilization as highly advanced as anywhere else on Earth during the Neolithic period.The question as to why this area did not remain at the forefront of technological and social development lies in the subsequent history of its geographical location.", "At the end of the mostly peaceful Neolithic period, this area became a highway for invaders from the east moving into Europe.", "By the time the historical written record begins to cover this area, it has already seen a number of invasions sweep over it, leaving social and political upheaval in their wake.", "This trend was to continue on a fairly regular basis up until the 20th century.", "With so much destruction, it was difficult for the residents of this area to recover from each successive invasion before encountering the next." ], [ "Antiquity and early Middle Ages", "The territories of the Bolohoveni according to A. V. BoldurThe Roman provinces of Dacia (purple) and Moesia Inferior (green)In recorded antiquity Moldova's territory was inhabited by several tribes, mainly by Akatziri, and at different periods also by Bastarnae, Scythians and Sarmatians.", "Between the 1st and 7th centuries AD, the south was intermittently under the Roman, then Byzantine Empires.", "Due to its strategic location on a route between Asia and Europe, Moldova was repeatedly invaded by, among others, the Goths, Huns, Avars, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans, and the Mongols.", "Csaba's Khalyzian wife, mother of Ed and Edumen, was from the area.", "Although the First Bulgarian Empire ruled parts of Moldavia between the reign of Krum to Presian I, the territory of Moldova itself was never conquered by them.", "The Bulanids ruled the area from the 8th century to the 10th century.", "Constantine Porphyrogenitus in De Administrando Imperio refers to the territory specifically as Atelkuzu (Ατελκουζου), the Black Cuman land of the Khalyzians and Pechenegs.", "It was part of the Principality of Halych in the 12th and 13th centuries before falling to the Golden Horde in 1241 until the early 14th century.", "The colonists of the Genoa Republic also left a trace in this region.", "The Hypatian Chronicle mentioned the name of the Bolokhoveni (the 13th century) a purportedly Romanian population connected to Voloch, the East Slavic exonym of the Romanians.", "Alexandru V. Boldur identified the Bolohoveni as Romanians." ], [ "Principality of Moldavia", "Fresco of Stephen the Great at Voroneț MonasteryThe medieval Principality of Moldavia was established in 1359 and covered the so-called Carpathian–Danube–Dniester area, stretching from Transylvania in the west to the Dniester River in the east.", "Its territory comprised the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern 8 of the 41 counties of Romania (a region still called ''Moldova'' by the local population), the Chernivtsi oblast and Budjak region of Ukraine.", "Its nucleus was in the northwestern part, the ''Țara de Sus'' (\"Upper Land\"), part of which later became known as Bukovina.", "The name of the principality originates from the Moldova River.Moldavia and the modern boundariesThe foundation of Moldavia is attributed to the Vlach (an old exonym for Romanian) noblemen Dragoş of Bedeu, from the Voivodeship of Maramureș, who had been ordered in 1343 (1285 after other sources) by the Hungarian king to establish a defense for the historic Kingdom of Hungary against the Tatars, and Bogdan I of Cuhea, another Romanian from Maramureș, who became the first independent prince of Moldavia, when he rejected Hungarian authority in 1359.Bogdan I left his lands from Maramureș with his army and part of the Romanian population, by crossing the mountains to the east, after entering in conflict with the Hungarian rulers.", "From the 14th century onward, Turkic documents would refer to Moldova as \"Kara-Boğdan\", or \"Black Bogdan\", thanks to the success of his dynasty.", "Moldova also had rich political relations with Poland.", "In 1387, the great hospodar of Moldova, Peter I, paid a feudal tribute to the Polish king.", "For the next one hundred and fifty years, relations between Moldova and Poland were periodically friendly, and occasionally conflict.The greatest Moldavian personality was prince Stephen the Great, who ruled from 1457 to 1504.He fought the Hungarian Kingdom, the Polish Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire, with success, for the most part of his rule.Suleiman I taking control of MoldovaStephen III was succeeded by increasingly weaker princes, and in 1538 Moldavia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, to which it owed a percentage of the internal revenue, that in time rose to 10%.", "Moldavia was forbidden to have foreign relations to the detriment of the Ottoman Empire (although at times the country managed to circumvent this interdiction), but was allowed internal autonomy, including sole authority over foreign trade.", "Turks were legally forbidden to own land or build religious establishments in Moldavia.", "Prince Vasile Lupu had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues, and managed to hold it for twenty years.", "Lupu was a capable administrator and a brilliant financier, and soon was the richest man in the Christian East.", "Judiciously placed gifts kept him on good terms with the Ottoman authorities.In the 18th century, the territory of Moldavia often became a transit or war zone during conflicts between the Ottomans, Austrians, and Russians.", "In 1774, following a victory in a war against the Ottomans, Russia occupied Christian Moldavia, still a vassal of the Ottoman Empire at the time.", "In 1775, the Habsburg monarchy annexed ca 11% of the territory of Moldavia, which became known as Bukovina.", "By the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), Russia had annexed further 50% of its territory, which became known as Bessarabia." ], [ "Part of the Russian Empire", "Gubernya of Bessarabia, 1883\|leftWith the notable exception of Transnistria, the territory of today's Republic of Moldova covers most of the historical region of Bessarabia.", "Until 1812, the term \"Bessarabia\" referred to the region between the Danube, Dniester, the Black Sea shores, and the Upper Trajan Wall, slightly larger than what today is called Budjak.", "By the Treaty of Bucharest of May 28, 1812 between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire — concluding the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) — the latter annexed the eastern half of the Principality of Moldavia.", "That region was then called ''Bessarabia''.Initially, after being annexed by the Russian Empire, Bessarabia enjoyed a period of local autonomy until 1828.Organized as an imperial district (''oblast''), it was governed by a \"provisional government\" with two departments: a civil administration and a religious administration, the former led by the aged Moldavian boyar Scarlat Sturdza, the latter – by the archbishop Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni.", "On top of these was the Russian military administration of Governor General Harting.", "However, already in 1813, the civil administration was handed to the Governor General.", "In 1818, reform-minded Russian tsar Alexander I passed a ''Settlement of the establishment of the region of Bessarabia'' which divided the legal power between the tsar-appointed Governor General (Bakhmetiev) and a 10-member ''High Council of the Region'' with 4 members appointed by the tsar and 6 elected by the local nobility.", "In lieu of the older 12 ''lands'', the region was divided into 6, later 9 counties.", "In 1828 however, the conservative tsar Nikolai I abrogated the ''Settlement'' and passed a new regulation which endowed the Governor General with supreme power, with the regional council having only advisory functions and meeting twice a year.", "Article 63 of the regulation stated that all administrative personnel must know and perform their duties in Russian.", "Nevertheless, Romanian language would occasionally appear in documents up to 1854.At the end of the Crimean War, in 1856, by the Treaty of Paris, the southern parts of Bessarabia (including a part of Budjak) were returned to Moldavia, which organized the territory into the districts of Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail.", "Consequently, Russia lost access to the Danube river.", "In 1859, the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia united and formed the Romanian United Principalities, a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire.In 1870, the institution of zemstva was instated in the Bessarabian oblast.", "Cities, communes, counties, and the entire region would elect each a local council representing noblemen, merchants and peasants.", "They had substantial authority in economic and sanitary areas, including roads, posts, food, public safety and education.", "On the other hand, political (including justice courts of all levels) and cultural matters remained an exclusive domain of the Governor General and were used as a vehicle of Russification.", "With the accomplishment of these introductions, in 1871, Bessarabia was transformed into a governorate.The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Berlin granted independence to Romania.", "Although the treaty of alliance between Romania and Russia specified that Russia would defend the territorial integrity of Romania and not claim any part of Romania at the end of the war, the southern part of Bessarabia was re-annexed to Russia.", "In exchange, Romania was given Dobruja, which was at the time part of the Ottoman Empire.Măzărache Church in the 19th centuryPublic education was entrusted to the religious establishment of the region, which since 1821 had only Russian archbishops, and later also to the zemstvos.", "Dimitrie Sulima (Archbishop in 1821–1855), and Antonie Shokotov (1855–1871) allowed the parallel usage of both Romanian and Russian in church, and did not take any measures to infringe upon the linguistic specifics of the region.", "With the appointment of Pavel Lebedev (1871–1882), the situation changed radically, and the language of the locals was soon purged from the church.", "To prevent the printing of religious literature in Romanian, Lebedev closed down the printing press in Chișinău, collected from the region and burned the already printed books in Romanian (in the Cyrillic alphabet).", "The following archbishops Sergey Lapidevsky, Isakyi Polozensky, Neofit Novodchikov eased some of Lebedev's measures to help quell the serious dissatisfaction of the population.", "The next Archbishop Iakov Pyatnitsky (1898–1904) discovered that his desire to popularize a Christian culture and a moral education faced a language barrier, and in 1900 convinced the Russian High Synod to allow the publication of religious pamphlets in Romanian, while his follower Archbishop Vladimir allowed the printing of books, and from 1908 even of a regular religious journal \"Luminătorul\" by Constantin Popovici and Gurie Grosu.", "The last Russian Archbishops, Serafim Chichyagov (1908–1914), Platon (1914–1915) and Anastasius (1915–1918) tried to preserve the privileged status of the Russian language in the church in Bessarabia, but did not introduce any new anti-Romanian measures.", "In 1918, after the installation of the Romanian administration in Bessarabia, Archbishop Anastasius refused to subordinate his eparchy to the Romanian Orthodox Church, and was forced into exile.", "The new authorities entrusted the archbishopric to the Bishop Nicodem de Huși from Romania, who appointed a local Archbishop Dionisie Erhan.", "Then the Clerical Congress on February 21, 1920, elected Gurie Botoșăneanu as the highest church official in Bessarabia, which afterwards was raised from Archbishop to Metropolitan.Gavriil Bănulescu-BodoniUnder the protection of Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni and Dimitrie Sulima a theological school and a seminary were opened in Chișinău, and public schools throughout the region: in the cities of Chișinău, Hotin, Cetatea Albă, Briceni, Bender, Bălți, Cahul, Soroca, Orhei, at the monasteries of Dobrușa and Hârjauca, and even in several villages (Rezeni, Mereni, Volcineț, Nisporeni, Hârtop).", "In 1835, the tsarist authorities declared a 7-year deadline to transfer the education from Romanian to Russian.", "Although the measure was implemented more gradually, since 1867, Romanian was purged entirely from the education.", "This had the effect of keeping the peasant population of Bessarabia backward, as witnessed by the fact that in 1912 Moldavians had a literacy rate of only 10.5%, lowest among all ethnic groups of the region (63% for Bessarabian Germans, 50% for Bessarabian Jews, 40% for Russians, 31% for Bessarabian Bulgarians), with a record low 1.7% literacy rate for Moldavian women.", "Of the 1709 primary schools in Bessarabia in 1912, none was in the language of the main ethnic group.Chișinău water carrierAfter 1812, the newly installed Russian authorities expelled the large Nogai Tatar population of Budjak (Little Tartary), and encouraged the settlement of Moldavians, Wallachians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians and others through various fiscal facilities and exemption from military service.", "The colonization was generated by the need to better exploit the resources of the land, and by the absence of serfdom in Bessarabia.", "German colonists from Switzerland (canton Lausanne), France, and Germany (Württemberg) settled in 27 localities (most newly settled) in Budjak, and by 1856 Bessarabian Germans were 42,216.Russian veterans of the 1828–1829 war with the Ottomans were settled in 10 localities in Budjak, and three other localities were settled by Cossacks from Dobrudja (which got there from the Dniepr region some 50 years earlier).", "Bessarabian Bulgarians and Gagauz arrived from modern eastern Bulgaria as early as the second half of the 18th century.", "In 1817, they numbered 482 families in 12 localities, in 1856 – 115,000 people in 43 localities.", "Ukrainians had arrived Bessarabia since before 1812, and already in the 1820s they made up one third of the population of the most northern Hotin county.", "In the following decades more Ukrainians settled throughout the northern part of Bessarabia from Galicia and Podolia.", "Jews from Galicia, Podolia and Poland also settled in Bessarabia in the 19th century, but mostly in the cities and fairs; in some of these they eventually became a plurality.", "In 1856, there were 78,751 Bessarabian Jews and according to the Imperial Russian census of 1897, the capital Kishinev had a Jewish population of 50,000, or 46%, out of a total of approximately 110,000.There was even an attempt by the Russian authorities to create 16 Jewish agricultural colonies, where 10,589 people would settle.", "However within less than 2 generations, most of them sold the land to the local Moldavians and moved to the cities and fairs.", "The various population movements saw an increase of the Slavic population to more than a fifth of the total population by 1920, while the proportion of the Moldovan population steadily decreased.", "In absence of any official records on ethnic distribution until the late 19th century, various figures for the ethnic proportions of the region have been advanced.", "Thus, in the 1920s Romanian historian Ion Nistor alleged that, at the beginning of the Russian administration, Moldavians represented 86% of the population.", "While according to official statistics speakers of Moldovan and Romanian accounted for 47.8% in 1897, some authors proposed figures as high as 70% for the beginning of the 20th century." ], [ "Moldavian Democratic Republic and Union with Romania", "unification of Bessarabia and RomaniaAfter the Russian Revolution of 1905, a Romanian nationalist movement started to develop in Bessarabia.", "While it received a setback in 1906–1907, the movement re-emerged even stronger in 1917.To quell the chaos brought about by the Russian revolutions of February and October 1917, a national council, Sfatul Țării, was established in Bessarabia, with 120 members elected in county meetings of peasants, and by political and professional organizations from Bessarabia.", "On December 15, 1917, the Council proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic, as part of the Russian Republic, then formed the government of Moldavia.", "With the approval of the Allies and the Russian White general Dmitry Shcherbachev, commander-in-chief of the Russian forces on the Romanian Front, on January 26, 1918, Romanian troops entered Bessarabia, ostensibly as a temporary measure to maintain security, which had deteriorated due to large numbers of deserters from the Russian Army.", "While Romanian historiography generally asserts the intervention was done on the request of Sfatul Țării, the presence of the Romanian army in Bessarabia was protested by some of the republic's leaders, notably Ion Inculeț, president of ''Sfatul Țării'' and Pantelimon Erhan, head of the provisional Moldavian executive protesting against it.", "In particular they feared that big land owners-dominated Romanian Government could use the troops to prevent the envisaged Agrarian reform, a cornerstone priority of the Bessarabian government.After this, the Council declared the independence of the Moldavian Democratic Republic on .", "Under pressure from the Romanian army, on , Sfatul Țării, by a vote of 86 to 3, with 36 abstentions, approved a conditional Union of Bessarabia with Romania.", "Conditions included territorial autonomy of Bessarabia, an agrarian reform, respect for human freedoms and general amnesty.", "Nevertheless, as early as the summer of 1918 the Romanian government began encroaching on the existing forms of local autonomy.", "Thus, the members of the zemstvos were appointed by royal decree, rather than being elected, as had been the case during the Russian rule.", "The province was subordinated to a royal-appointed General Commissar, and ''Sfatul Țării'' was relegated to a consultative position.", "Furthermore, the state of siege was declared throughout Bessarabia and censorship was instated.", "Under the pressure of the Romanian central government, worried about the growing dissatisfaction with its administration of the region and the strengthening of the autonomist current, the conditions were nominally dropped by the ''Sfatul Țării'' in December 1918.The vote was taken in the presence of only 44 of the 125 members, or, according to other sources, 48 of 160; lacking a quorum, the vote was judged to be illegitimate by some.The union was recognized by Britain, France and Italy, but not by the Soviet government, which claimed the area as the Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic, and argued the union was made under conditions of Romanian military occupation by a Council that had not been elected by the people of Bessarabia in elections." ], [ "Part of Greater Romania", "The administrative map of Greater Romania in 1930After 1918 Bessarabia was under Romanian jurisdiction for the next 22 years.", "This fact was recognized in the 1920 Treaty of Paris which, however, has never come into force since it was not ratified by Japan.", "The newly communist Russia did not recognize the Romanian rule over Bessarabia.", "The Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on May 5, 1919, in Odessa as a \"Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government in exile\" and established on May 11, 1919, in Tiraspol as an autonomous part of Russian SFSR.", "Furthermore, Russia and later, the Soviet Union, considered the region to be Soviet territory under foreign occupation and conducted numerous diplomatic attempts to reclaim it.", "No diplomatic relations existed between the two states until 1934.During that time, both countries subscribed to the principle of non-violent resolution of territorial disputes in the Kellogg-Briand Treaty of 1928 and the Treaty of London of July 1933.Meanwhile, the neighboring region of Transnistria, part of the Ukrainian SSR at the time, was formed into the Moldavian ASSR after the failure of the Tatarbunary Uprising in 1924.The land reform, implemented by ''Sfatul Țării'' in 1918–1919, resulted in a rise of a middle class, as 87% of the region's population lived in rural areas.", "The reform was however marred by the small size of the awarded plots, as well as by preferential allotment of land to politicians and administrative personnel who had supported the political goals of the Romanian government.", "Generally, urban development and industry were insignificant, and the region remained primarily an agrarian rural region throughout the interwar period.", "Certain improvements were achieved in the area of education, the literacy rate rising from 15.6% in 1897 to 37% by 1930; however, Bessarabia continued to lag behind the rest of the country, the national literacy rate being 60%.", "During the inter-war period, Romanian authorities also conducted a program of Romanianization that sought to assimilate ethnic minorities throughout the country.", "The enforcement of this policy was especially pervasive in Bessarabia due to its highly diverse population, and resulted in the closure of minority educational and cultural institutions.Museum of Fine Arts, 1939On 1 January 1919 the Municipal Conservatory (the Academy of Music) was created in Chişinău, in 1927 – the Faculty of Theology, in 1934 the subsidiary of the Romanian Institute of social sciences, in 1939 – municipal picture gallery.", "The Agricultural State University of Moldova was founded in 1933 in Chișinău.", "The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1939 by the sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală.", "Gurie Grosu was the first Metropolitan of Bessarabia.The first scheduled flights to Chișinău started on 24 June 1926, on the route Bucharest – Galați – Iași – Chișinău.", "The flights were operated by Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne – CFRNA, later LARES.The first society of the Romanian writers in Chișinău was formed in 1920, among the members were Mihail Sadoveanu, Ștefan Ciobanu, Tudor Pamfile, Nicolae Dunăreanu, N.N.Beldiceanu, Apostol D.Culea.", "''Writer and Journalist Bessarabian Society'' took an institutionalized form in 1940.The First Congress of the Society elected as president Pan Halippa as Vice President Nicolae Spătaru, and as secretary general Nicolae Costenco.Viața Basarabiei was founded in 1932 by Pan Halippa.", "Radio Basarabia was launched on 8 October 1939, as the second radio station of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company.", "The Capitoline Wolf was opened in 1926 and in 1928 the Stephen the Great Monument, by the sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală, was opened." ], [ "World War II and Soviet era", "After the establishment of the Soviet Union in December 1922, the Soviet government moved in 1924 to establish the Moldavian Autonomous Oblast on the lands to the east of the Dniester River in the Ukrainian SSR.", "The capital of the oblast was Balta, situated in present-day Ukraine.", "Seven months later, the oblast was upgraded to the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian ASSR or MASSR), even though its population was only 30% ethnic Romanian.", "The capital remained at Balta until 1929, when it was moved to Tiraspol.In the secret protocol attached to the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact defining the division of the spheres of influence in Eastern Europe, Nazi Germany declared it had no political interest in Bessarabia, in response to the Soviet Union's expression of interest, thereby consigning Bessarabia to the Soviet \"sphere\".", "On June 26, 1940, the Soviet government issued an ultimatum to the Romanian minister in Moscow, demanding Romania immediately cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.", "Italy and Germany, which needed a stable Romania and access to its oil fields, urged King Carol II to do so.", "On June 28, Soviet troops crossed the Dniester and occupied Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region.Tiraspol, 1941The Soviet republic created following annexation did not follow Bessarabia's traditional border.", "The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR), established on August 2, 1940, consisted of six and a half counties of Bessarabia joined with the westernmost part of the already extant MASSR (an autonomous entity within the Ukrainian SSR).", "Various changes were made to its borders, which were finally settled by November 1940.Territories where ethnic Ukrainians formed a large portion of the population (parts of Northern Bukovina and parts of Hotin, Akkerman, and Izmail) went to Ukraine, while a small strip of Transnistria east of the Dniester with a significant (49% of inhabitants) Moldovan population was joined to the MSSR.", "The transfer of Bessarabia's Black Sea and Danube frontage to Ukraine insured its control by a stable Soviet republic.", "This transfer, along with the division of Bessarabia, was also designed to discourage future Romanian claims and irredentism.Under early Soviet rule, deportations of locals to the northern Urals, to Siberia, and Kazakhstan occurred regularly throughout the Stalinist period, with the largest ones on 12–13 June 1941, and 5–6 July 1949, accounting for 19,000 and 35,000 deportees respectively (from MSSR alone).", "In 1940–1941, ca.", "90,000 inhabitants of the annexed territories were subject to political persecutions, such as arrests, deportations, or executions.By participating in the 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, pro-German Romania seized the lost territories of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, as well as those of the former MASSR, and established its administration there.", "In occupied Transnistria, Romanian forces, working with the Germans, deported ca.", "147,000 Jews from the territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina, of whom over 90,000 perished in ghettoes and concentration camps.By April 1944, successful offensives of the Soviet Army occupied northern Moldavia and Transnistria, and by the end of August 1944 the entire territory was under Soviet control, with Soviet Army units entering Kishinev on 24 August 1944.The Paris peace treaty signed in February 1947 fixed the Romanian-Soviet border to the one established in June 1940.The territory remained part of the Soviet Union after World War II as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.", "Soviet Union created the universal educational system, brought high-tech industry and science.", "Most of these industries were built in Transnistria and around large cities, while in the rest of the republic agriculture was developed.", "By the late Soviet period, the urban intelligentsia and government officials were dominated mostly by ethnic Moldovans, while Russians and Ukrainians made up most of the technical and engineering specialists.Agriculture in Moldova, 1941The conditions imposed during the reestablishment of Soviet rule became the basis of deep resentment toward Soviet authorities, manifested in numerous resistance movements to Soviet rule.", "In 1946, as a result of a severe drought and excessive delivery quota obligations and requisitions imposed by the Soviet government, the southwestern part of the USSR suffered from a major famine resulting in a minimum of 115,000 deaths among the peasants.", "During Leonid Brezhnev's 1950–1952 tenure as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Moldavia (CPM), he was ruthless comparing to his predecessor Nicolae Coval in putting down numerous resistance groups, and issuing harsh sentences.", "During the Operation North, 723 families (2,617 persons) were deported from the Moldavian SSR, on the night of March 31 to April 1, 1951, members of Neoprotestant sects, mostly Jehovah's Witnesses, qualified as religious elements considered a potential danger for the communist regime.Romanian Literature Museum, ChișinăuMost political and academic positions were given to members of non-Romanian ethnic groups (only 17.5% of the Moldavian SSR's political leaders were ethnic Romanians in 1940).Although Brezhnev and other CPM first secretaries were largely successful in suppressing Romanian irredentism in the 1950s–1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev's administration facilitated the revival of the movement in the region.", "His policies of glasnost and perestroika created conditions in which nationalistic feelings could be openly expressed and in which the Soviet republics could consider reforms.In the 1970s and 1980s Moldova received substantial investment from the budget of the USSR to develop industrial, scientific facilities, as well as housing.", "In 1971 the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision \"About the measures for further development of Kishinev city\" that secured more than one billion roubles of funds for Chisinau alone from the USSR budget.", "Subsequent decisions directed large amounts of funds and brought qualified specialists from all over the USSR to further develop the Moldavian SSR.", "Such an allocation of USSR assets was influenced by the fact that the-then leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, was the First Secretary of the local Communist Party in the 1950s.", "These investments stopped in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when Moldova became independent.Triumphal Arch" ], [ "Independent Republic of Moldova 1991", "===Gaining independence===In the climate of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, national sentiment escalated in the Moldavian SSR in 1988.In 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova was formed as an association of independent cultural and political groups and gained official recognition.", "The Popular Front organized a number of large demonstrations, which led to the designation of Moldovan as the official language of the MSSR on August 31, 1989, and a return to the Latin alphabet.However, opposition was growing to the increasingly exclusionary nationalist policies of the Popular Front, especially in Transnistria, where the Yedinstvo-Unitatea (Unity) Intermovement had been formed in 1988 by Slavic minorities, and in the south, where the organization Gagauz Halkı (''Gagauz People''), formed in November 1989, came to represent the Gagauz, a Turkic-speaking minority there.The first democratic elections to the Moldavian SSR's Supreme Soviet were held on February 25, 1990.Runoff elections were held in March.", "The Popular Front won a majority of the votes.", "After the elections, Mircea Snegur, a reformed communist, was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet; in September he became president of the republic.", "The reformist government that took over in May 1990 made many changes that did not please the minorities, including changing the republic's name in June from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova and declaring it sovereign the following month.", "At the same time, Romanian tricolor with the Moldavian coat-of-arms was adopted as the state flag, and ''Deșteaptă-te române!", "'', the Romanian anthem, became the anthem of the SSRM.", "During that period a Movement for unification of Romania and the Republic of Moldova became active in each country.In August 1990, there was a refusal of the increasingly nationalist republican government to grant cultural and territorial autonomy to Gagauzia and Transnistria, two regions populated primarily by ethnic minorities.", "In response, the Gagauz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was declared in the south, in the city of Comrat.", "In September in Tiraspol, the main city on the east bank of the Dniester River, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (commonly called Transnistria) followed suit.", "The parliament of Moldova immediately declared these declarations null and void.By mid-October 1990, Moldovan nationalist volunteers had been mobilized to be sent to Gagauzia (approximately 30,000 volunteers participated there) and Transnistria.", "However, negotiations in Moscow between the Gagauz and Transnistrian leadership, and the government of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova failed.In May 1991, the country's official name was changed to the Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova).", "The name of the Supreme Soviet also was changed, to the Moldovan Parliament.During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt in Moscow against Mikhail Gorbachev, commanders of the Soviet Union's Southwestern Theater of Military Operations attempted to impose a state of emergency in Moldova.", "They were overruled by the Moldovan government, which declared its support for Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who led the counter-coup in Moscow.", "On 27 August 1991, following the coup's collapse, Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union.The December elections of Stepan Topal and Igor Smirnov as presidents of Gagauzia and Transnistria respectively, and the official dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the year, had further increased tensions in Moldova.===Transnistria===Transnistrian region of MoldovaTransnistria is the region east of the Dniester River, which includes a large proportion of predominantly Russophone ethnic Russians and Ukrainians (51%, as of 1989, with ethnic Moldovans forming a 40% minority).", "The headquarters of the Soviet 14th Guards Army was located in the regional capital Tiraspol.", "There, on September 2, 1990, local authorities proclaimed an independent Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.", "The motives behind this move were fear of the rise of nationalism in Moldova and the country's expected reunification with Romania upon secession from the USSR.", "In the winter of 1991–1992 clashes occurred between Transnistrian forces and the Moldovan police.", "Between March 2 and July 26, 1992, the conflict escalated into a military engagement.", "Following Russian intervention of the 14th Guards Army into the conflict on the side of the separatists, the war was stopped and the Moscow Agreement on the principles of peace settlement of armed conflict in Trans-Dniester districts of the republic of Moldova was signed on 21 July 1992.As of 2007, the Russian military remains in Transnistria, despite Russia having signed international agreements to withdraw, and against the will of Moldovan government.", "The government of Moldova continues to offer extensive autonomy to Transnistria, while the government of Transnistria demands independence.", "''De jure'', Transnistria is internationally recognized as part of Moldova, but ''de facto'', the Moldovan government does not exercise any control over the territory." ], [ "Independence: the early years, 1991–2001", "On 8 December 1991, Mircea Snegur, an ex-communist reformer, ran an unopposed election for the presidency.", "On March 2, 1992, the country achieved formal recognition as an independent state at the United Nations.In 1992, Moldova became involved in a brief conflict against local insurgents in Transnistria, who were aided by the Russian 14th Guards Army and Russian, Ukrainian and Don Cossack volunteers, which resulted in the failure of Moldova, supported by Romania, to regain control over the breakaway republic.Starting 1993, Moldova began to distance itself from Romania.", "The 1994 Constitution of Moldova used the term \"Moldovan language\" instead of \"Romanian\" and changed the national anthem to \"Limba noastră\".On January 2, 1992, Moldova introduced a market economy, liberalizing prices, which resulted in huge inflation.", "From 1992 to 2001, the young country suffered its worst economic crisis, leaving most of the population below the poverty line.", "In 1993, a national currency, the Moldovan leu, was introduced to replace the Soviet rouble.", "The end of the planned economy also meant that industrial enterprises would have to buy supplies and sell their goods by themselves, and most of the management was unprepared for such a change.", "Moldova's industry, especially machine building, became all but defunct, and unemployment skyrocketed.", "The economic fortunes of Moldova began to change in 2001; since then the country has seen a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%.", "In the early 2000s, there was also a considerable growth of emigration of Moldovans looking for work (mostly illegally) in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia and other countries.", "Remittances from Moldovans abroad account for almost 38% of Moldova's GDP, the second-highest percentage in the world.", "Officially, Moldova's annual GDP is on the order of $1,000 per capita; however, a significant part of the economy goes unregistered as a result of corruption.The pro-nationalist governments of prime ministers Mircea Druc (May 25, 1990 – May 28, 1991), and Valeriu Muravschi (May 28, 1991 – July 1, 1992), were followed by a more moderate government of Andrei Sangheli, during which there was a decline of the pro-Romanian nationalist sentiment.", "After the 1994 elections, Moldovan Parliament adopted measures that distanced Moldova from Romania.", "The new Moldovan Constitution also provided for autonomy for Transnistria and Gagauzia.", "On December 23, 1994, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a \"Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia\", and in 1995 it was constituted.After winning the presidential elections of 1996, on January 15, 1997, Petru Lucinschi, the former First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party in 1989–91, became the country's second president.", "After the legislative elections on March 22, 1998, the Alliance for Democracy and Reform was formed by non-Communist parties.", "However, the term of the new government of Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc (January 24, 1997– February 1, 1999) was marked by chronic political instability, which prevented a coherent reform program.", "The 1998 financial crisis in Russia, Moldova's main economic partner at the time, produced an economic crisis in the country.", "The standard of living plunged, with 75% of population living below the poverty line, while the economic disaster caused 600,000 people to emigrate.New governments were formed by Ion Sturza (February 19 – November 9, 1999) and Dumitru Braghiş (December 21, 1999 – April 19, 2001).", "On July 21, 2000, the Parliament adopted an amendment to the Constitution that transformed Moldova from a presidential to a parliamentary republic, in which the president is elected by three fifths of the votes in the parliament, and no longer directly by the people." ], [ "Return of the Communists, 2001–2009", "2002 protestsOnly 3 of the 31 political parties won more than the 6% of the popular vote required to win seats in parliament in the February 25, 2001 elections.", "Winning 49.9% of the vote, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (reinstituted in 1993 after being outlawed in 1991), gained 71 of the 101 parliament seats, and elected Vladimir Voronin as the country's third president on April 4, 2001.A new government was formed on April 19, 2001, by Vasile Tarlev.", "The country became the first post-Soviet state where a non-reformed communist party returned to power.", "In March–April 2002, the opposition Christian-Democratic People's Party organized a mass protest in Chișinău against the plans of the government to fulfill its electoral promise and introduce Russian as the second state language along with its compulsory study in schools.", "The government annulled these plans.The relationship between Moldova and Russia deteriorated in November 2003 over a Russian proposal for the solution of the Transnistria conflict, which Moldovan authorities refused to accept because it stipulated a 20-year Russian military presence in Moldova.", "The federalization plan for Moldova would have also turned Transnistria and Gagauzia into a blocking minority over all major policy matters of Moldova.", "As of 2006, approximately 1,200 of the 14th Army personnel remain stationed in Transnistria, guarding a large ammunitions depot at Colbasna.", "In recent years, negotiations between the Transnistrian and Moldovan leaders have been going on under the mediation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russia, and Ukraine; lately observers from the European Union and the United States have become involved, creating a 5+2 format.In the wake of the November 2003 deadlock with Russia, a series of shifts in the external policy of Moldova occurred, targeted at rapprochement with the European Union.", "In the context of the EU's expansion to the east, Moldova wants to sign the Stability and Association Agreement.", "It implemented its first three-year action plan within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.In the March 2005 elections, the Party of the Communists (PCRM) won 46% of the vote, (56 of the 101 seats in the Parliament), the Democratic Moldova Block (BMD) won 28.5% of the vote (34 MPs), and the Christian Democratic People Party (PPCD) won 9.1% (11 MPs).", "On April 4, 2005, Vladimir Voronin was re-elected as country's president, supported by a part of the opposition, and on April 8, Vasile Tarlev was again appointed head of government.", "On March 31, 2008, Vasile Tarlev was replaced by Zinaida Greceanîi as head of the government.2009 civil unrestFollowing the parliamentary elections on April 5, 2009, the Communist Party won 49.48% of the votes, followed by the Liberal Party with 13.14% of the votes, the Liberal Democratic Party with 12.43% and the Alliance \"Moldova Noastră\" with 9.77%.", "The opposition leaders have protested against the outcome calling it fraudulent and demanded a repeated election.", "A preliminary report by OSCE observers called the vote generally free and fair.", "However, one member of the OSCE observation team expressed concerns over that conclusion and said that she and a number of other team members feel that there had been some manipulation, but they were unable to find any proof.On April 6, 2009, several NGOs and opposition parties organized a protest in Chișinău, gathering a crowd of about 15,000 with the help of social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook.", "The protesters accused the Communist government of electoral fraud.", "Anti-communist and pro-Romanian slogans were widely used.", "The demonstration had spun out of control on April 7 and escalated into a riot when a part of the crowd attacked the presidential offices and broke into the parliament building, looting and setting its interior on fire.", "Police had regained control on the night of April 8, arresting and detaining several hundred protesters.", "Numerous detainees reported beatings by the police when released.", "The violence on both sides (demonstrators and police) was condemned by the OSCE and other international organizations.", "Three young people died during the day the protests took place.", "The opposition blamed police abuse for these deaths, while the government claimed they were either unrelated to the protests, or accidents.", "Government officials, including President Vladimir Voronin, called the rioting a coup d'état attempt and accused Romania of organizing it.", "The opposition accused the government of organizing the riots by introducing agents provocateurs among the protesters.", "The political climate in Moldova remained unstable.", "The parliament failed to elect a new president.", "For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and new general elections were held on July 29, 2009, with the Communists losing power to the Alliance for European Integration, a pro-European coalition." ], [ "Liberal Democrat and Socialist administrations, 2009 to present", "An attempt by the new ruling coalition to amend the constitution of Moldova via a referendum in 2010 in order to enable presidential election by popular vote failed due to lack of turnout.", "The parliamentary election in November 2010 had retained the status quo between the ruling coalition and the communist opposition.", "On 16 March 2012, parliament elected Nicolae Timofti as president by 62 votes out of 101, with the PCRM boycotting the election, putting an end to a political crisis that had lasted since April 2009.Moldova had no had full-time president, but three acting presidents, since Vladimir Voronin resigned in September 2009.In the November 2014 elections the pro-European parties maintained their majority in parliament.In November 2016, pro-Russia candidate Igor Dodon won the presidential election, defeating his rival Maia Sandu.", "The 2019 parliamentary election resulted a vote split between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces.", "The opposition Socialists, who favor closer ties to Moscow, became the largest party with 35 out of 101 seats.", "The ruling Democratic Party, which wants closer integration with the EU, came second with 30 seats.", "Opposition bloc called ACUM, campaigning with anti-corruption agenda, was third with 26 seats.", "In 2019, from 7 June to 15 June, the Moldovan government went through a period of dual power in what is known as the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis.", "In November 2019, Ion Chicu became new Prime Minister, following the fall of the former government led by pro-Western Maia Sandu.In November 2020, opposition candidate Maia Sandu won Moldova's presidential election after a run-off vote against the incumbent Igor Dodon.", "She became the first female President of Moldova.In July 2021, President Maia Sandu's pro-Western PAS party won a snap election, resulting Parliament confirmed Sandu's nomination of Natalia Gavrilita as the new prime minister.On 24 May 2022, former president of Moldova, Igor Dodon, was arrested.", "Dodon, leader of Moldova's main pro-Russian opposition, Socialist Party, was accused of taking bribes.", "Moldovas's pro-Western and pro-Russian factions became increasingly divided since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.On 10 February 2023 President Sandu accepted PM Gavrilita's resignation, and installed Dorin Recean in place." ], [ "See also", "BessarabiaDissolution of the Soviet Union History of RomaniaHistory of UkraineList of presidents of MoldovaList of prime ministers of MoldovaMoldaviaPolitics of Moldova" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Further reading", "* Brezianu, Andrei, and Vlad Spânu.", "''The A to Z of Moldova'' (Scarecrow Press, 2010).", "* Chinn, Jeff, and Steven D. Roper.", "\"Ethnic mobilization and reactive nationalism: The case of Moldova.\"", "''Nationalities papers'' 23.2 (1995): 291-325 online.", "* King, Charles.", "''The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture'' (Hoover Institution Press, 2000).", "* Lutsevych, Orysia.", "''How to finish a revolution: Civil society and democracy in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine'' (Chatham House, 2013).", "* Mitrasca, Marcel.", "''Moldova: A Romanian Province Under Russian Rule'' (Algora, 2002).", "* Quinlan, Paul D. \"Moldova under Lucinschi.\"", "''Demokratizatsiya'' 10.1 (2002): 83–103.", "* RAND, ''Russia’s Hostile Measures: Combating Russian Gray Zone Aggression Against NATO in the Contact, Blunt, and Surge Layers of Competition'' (2020) online on Transnistria* Way, Lucan A.", "\"Authoritarian state building and the sources of regime competitiveness in the fourth wave: The cases of Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.\"", "''World Politics'' 57.2 (2005): 231–261.", "* Way, Lucan A.", "\"Weak states and pluralism: The case of Moldova.\"", "''East European Politics and Societies'' 17.03 (2003): 454–482.online" ], [ "External links", "* The Republic of Moldova: An Historical Background, Survey by Dr. Vasile Nedelciuc* History of Moldova: Primary Documents* Istoria Moldovei" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "Satellite image of Moldova in September 2003Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for MoldovaLocated in Eastern Europe, Moldova is bordered on the west and southwest by Romania and on the north, south, and east by Ukraine.", "Most of its territory lies in Bessarabia region, between the area's two main rivers, the Nistru and the Prut.", "The Nistru forms a small part of Moldova's border with Ukraine in the northeast and southeast, but it mainly flows through the eastern part of the country, separating Bessarabia and Transnistria.", "The Prut River forms Moldova's entire western boundary with Romania.", "The Danube touches the Moldovan border at its southernmost tip, and forms the border for ." ], [ "Basic data", "Location:Eastern Europe, northeast of RomaniaGeographic coordinates: Map references:Commonwealth of Independent States Area:* ''total:'' 33,851 km2 (13,071 sq.", "mi.", ")* ''land:'' 32,891 km2 (12,700 sq.", "mi.", ")* ''water:'' 960 km2 (370 sq.", "mi.)", "Area - comparative:slightly larger than Maryland, United Statesslightly larger than Vancouver Island, CanadaLand boundaries:* ''total:'' 1,390 km (860 miles)* ''border countries:'' Romania 450 km (280 miles), Ukraine 940 km (580 miles) Coastline: 0 km (0 miles) (landlocked)Maritime claims:none (landlocked)Natural resources:lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestoneLand use:* ''arable land:'' 53.47%* ''permanent crops:'' 8.77%* ''other:'' 37.75% (2011)Irrigated land:2,283 km2 (881 sq.", "mi.)", "(2011)Total renewable water resources:11.65 km 3 (2.8 cu.", "mi.", ")Natural hazards:landslides (57 cases in 1998)" ], [ "Climate", "Moldova's proximity to the Black Sea gives it a mild and sunny climate.Moldova's climate is moderately continental: the summers are warm and long, with temperatures averaging about , and the winters are relatively mild and dry, with January temperatures averaging .", "Annual rainfall, which ranges from around in the north to in the south, can vary greatly; long dry spells are not unusual.", "The heaviest rainfall occurs in early summer and again in October; heavy showers and thunderstorms are common.", "Because of the irregular terrain, heavy summer rains often cause erosion and river silting.", "'''Weather records''':The highest temperature ever recorded was at Fălești on 7 August 2012.The lowest temperature ever recorded was on January 20, 1963 at Brătuşeni.Chişinău's climate.", "(Central Moldova)Bălți's climate.", "(Northern Moldova)Tiraspol's climate.", "(Central Moldova)Cahul's climate.", "(Southern Moldova)" ], [ "Topography", "Most of Moldova's territory is a moderate hilly plateau cut deeply by many streams and rivers.", "Geologically, Moldova lies primarily on the deep sedimentary rock that gives way to harder crystalline outcroppings only in the north.", "Moldova's hills are part of the larger Moldavian Plateau.The northern landscape of Moldova is characterized by gently rolling uplands (up to , in elevation) interlaced with small flat plains in the valleys of the numerous creeks (at elevation).", "These hills, which have an average altitude of and a maximum altitude of , are divided into the Northern Moldovan Plateau and the Dniester Plateau, and continue further occupying the northern part of the Chernivtsi oblast in Ukraine.", "The eastern slopes of the Dniester Ridge (average , max ), form the high right bank of the Dniester River.To the south are located the Bălți Plain and the Middle Prut Plain, with an average of and a maximum altitude of .", "Originally forested, it has been extensively de-forested for agriculture during the 19th and 20th centuries.", "In contrast to the region to the north and south, which is more slant, this area is referred to as ''plain'', although it has relief very different from that of flatland, and vegetation different from that of the steppe.The hills of central Moldova are divided into the Ciulucuri Hills and the Codri Plateau, at an average elevation of about , are ridges interlaced by deep, flat valleys, ravines, and landslide-scoured depressions.", "Steep forest-clad slopes account for much of the terrain, where the most common trees are hornbeam, oak, linden, maple, wild pear, and wild cherry.", "The term ''codri'' refers more generally to forests, yet since in Moldova most of them were preserved in the central part, Codri sometimes can colloquially refer to the remaining forests in the hills west and north of Chişinău.", "The Dniester Hills border the Ciulucuri Hills to the north along the river Răut.The country's highest point, Bălăneşti Hill, which reaches , depending on the source, is situated in the Corneşti Hills, the western part of the Codri Plateau.", "Northwest of it are the Ciulucului Hills (average , max ).", "In the south, the Tigheci Hills (average , max ) are a prolongation, and run to the south parallel to the Lower Prut Valley.To the south-east, the southern part of the Codri Plateau, which averages , max , and has numerous ravines and gullies, gradually merges into the Southern Moldovan Plain, continued by in Ukraine by the Budjak Plain.", "Most of Gagauzia resides on the Ialpug Plain.Transnistria (the left bank of the Dniester) has spurs of the Podolian Plateau (, ), (average , max ), which are cut into by tributaries of the Dniester River.", "The southern half of Transnistria, the ''Lower Dniester Plain'', can be regarded as the western end of the Eurasian steppe''',''' and has an average elevation of , with a maximum of .", "The high right bank and low left bank of the Dniester are in sharp contrast here, where visibility is not impeded by forests.About 75 percent of Moldova is covered by a soil type called black earth or chernozem.", "In the northern hills, more clay textured soils are found; in the south, red-earth soil is predominant.", "The soil becomes less fertile toward the south but can still support grape and sunflower production.", "The hills have woodland soils, while a small portion in southern Moldova is in the steppe zone, although most steppe areas today are cultivated.", "The lower reaches of the Prut and Dniester rivers and the southern river valleys are saline marshes.Drainage in Moldova is to the south, toward the Black Sea lowlands, and eventually into the Black Sea, but only eight rivers and creeks extend more than 100 kilometers (60 miles).", "Moldova's main river, the Dniester, is navigable throughout almost the entire country, and in warmer winters it does not freeze over.", "The Prut river is a tributary of the Danube, which it joins at the far southwestern tip of the country.", "Over 95% of the water circulation in Moldova flows into one of the two rivers - the Prut or Dniester.", "Of Moldova's well-developed network of about 3,000 creeks and streams, all draining south to the Black Sea, only 246 exceed in length, and only 8 exceed .Underground water, extensively used for the country's water supply, includes about 2,200 natural springs.", "The terrain favors the construction of reservoirs of various sizes.=== Extreme points ===* The lowest point: An unnamed point on the bank of the Dniester River * The highest point: Dealul Bălăneşti * North extreme: Naslavcea* South extreme: Giurgiuleşti* West extreme: Criva* East extreme: Palanca" ], [ "Natural habitat", "A Nistru valley view.Moldova's natural habitat is characterized by forest steppes, a temperate-climate habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest.", "A belt of forest steppes cross Eurasia from eastern Europe to Eastern Siberia, forming a transition between temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate grasslands.", "In the 19th century, Moldova witnessed a sharp decrease in the forested areas, sacrificed for agriculture due to rich soil.+ land formation area, km2 of which currently forests, km2 % forests habitat type Northern Moldavian Hills 4,630 476 10.3% forest steppe Dniester-Rāut Ridge 2,480 363 14.6% forest steppe Middle Prut Valley 2,930 312 10.6% forest steppe Bălți Steppe 1,920 51 2.7% steppe Ciuluc-Soloneţ Hills 1,690 169 10.0% forest steppe Corneşti Hills (Codru) 4,740 1,300 27.5% forest Lower Dniester Hills 3,040 371 12.2% forest steppe Lower Prut Valley 1,810 144 8.0% forest steppe Tigheci Hills 3,550 533 15.0% forest steppe Bugeac Plain 3,210 195 6.1% steppe part of Podolian Plateau 1,920 175 9.1% forest steppe part of Eurasian Steppe 1,920 140 7.3% steppe '''Total''' '''33,840''' '''4,228''' '''12,5%''' '''forest steppe'''" ], [ "Environment", "National park Scientific reservesOrhei National Park===Historical references===* In the 5th century BC, Herodotus visited the countryside between the rivers Dnister and Prut and described the place as \"a plain with deep black earth, rich in grass and well-irrigated\".", "* Lithuanian Prince Jogaila spoke of Moldavia as \"a rich and fructiferous country\".", "* According to the testimony of Venetian Mateus de Murano, \"the country was very well located, reach with cattle and all kinds of fruits, pastures are perfect\".", "* Rich natural resources of Moldavia always attracted nomads.", "Fleeing their devastating incursions, inhabitants of Moldavia left the brooded places and hid in forests.", "French knight Guillebert de Lannoy, who visited these places in 1421, has mentioned an insignificant population of the region: \"We moved through large deserts\".", "* Counsellor of Hungarian King George Reihersdorf (middle of 16th century) was complaining of travel through \"empty, uninhabited lands\".", "In 1541, he produced the first geographical map (preserved to this day) of the Principality of Moldavia, with rivers Dnister and Prut shown, as well as cities and other localities, but also highlighted large steppes.", "* A map of Moldavia was drawn by the German diplomat Sigismund von Herberstein.", "On his map one can see woodless spaces - Bălți Steppe in the north, and Bugeac Steppe in the south.", "* In the 17th century, pilgrims Pavel Aleppskii (a Syrian deacon) and Ioan Lukianov (a Russian priest) traveled on their way to the Holy land through Moldavia.", "These two travelers were struck by the disastrous state of the land that used to blossom: \"It better be not ravaged, as no other such can be found, it may yield any kind\".", "* English traveler John Bell, who also visited Moldavia, and wrote about fecund soils and \"small nice towns\" situated next to Răut.", "* Russian geographer K. Laksman described Bălți steppe at the beginning of the 19th century: \"To the north is located a steppe with almost no trees at all.", "To the north-west the steppe is not as woodless\".", "* Scientist K. Arseniev mentioned that the north of Bessarabia is \"a genuine mix of arid steppes with most fertile pastures, rich meadows, and gardens\".", "* Travelers and scholars were amazed by the contrast between rich natural resources of Moldavia/Bălți steppe and its low population in the war-torn 18th century, the pitiful state of agriculture, as well as the poverty of the local population.", "* \"Desert, waste, naked steppe...", "The settling among limitless expanses of Bălți steppe happened not \"in accordance\" with logic, but \"against\" it.", "The life of remote ancestors of Bălțiers was full of difficulties and crosses, but they managed to resist.", "\"* \"Moldavian fields, as described by both ancient and contemporary writers, are great in their fertility, by far surpassing the richness of the mountains\" (Dimitrie Cantemir, ''Descriptio Moldaviae'')* \"Will someone describes Bessarabian steppes, indeed, they do merit a description.", "However for this, one needs the talent of unforgettable Gogol, who has so beautifully depicted us the steppes of his homeland.", "And Bessarabian steppes are not less beautiful.\"", "(Constantin Stamati-Ciurea)=== Current issues ===Moldova's communist-era environmental legacy, like that of many other former Soviet republics, is one of environmental degradation.", "Agricultural practices such as overuse of pesticides and artificial fertilizers were intended to increase agricultural output at all costs, without regard for the consequences.", "As a result, Moldova's soil and groundwater were contaminated by lingering chemicals, some of which (including DDT) have been banned in the West.Such practices continue in Moldova to the present day.", "In the early 1990s, use of pesticides in Moldova averaged approximately twenty times that of other former Soviet republics and Western nations.", "Also, poor farming methods, such as destroying forests to plant vineyards, have contributed to the extensive soil erosion to which the country's rugged topography is already prone." ], [ "International environmental agreements", "''party to:''Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands''signed, but not ratified:'' none of the selected agreements" ], [ "See also", "* Moldova* List of cities in Moldova" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "External links", "* Moldova.org* * google maps" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Republic of Moldova include distribution, ethnicity, languages, religious affiliation and other statistical data." ], [ "Overview of the demographic statistics", "According to the 2014 Moldovan Census, '''2,789,205''' people resided in the areas controlled by the central government of Republic of Moldova.", "Another '''209,030''' were non-resident citizens living abroad, for a total of '''2,998,235'''.According to the 2015 census in Transnistria, '''475,007''' people lived in the breakaway Transnistria, including the city of Bender, and the other localities ''de facto'' controlled by Transnistrian authorities.", "Thus, the total population of the country in 2014 amounted to '''3,473,242'''.", "Median age '''total ''' 34.3 years (2008 est.", ")(up from 32.22 years in 2005) '''male''' 32.4 years(up from 30.14 years in 2005) '''female''' 36.4 years(up from 34.27 years in 2005) Literacy rate '''total''' 96% (1989); 99.1% (2003); 99.1% (2005) '''male''' 99% (1989); 99.6% (2003); 99.7% (2005) '''female''' 94% (1989); 98.7% (2003); 98.6% (2005) '''definition ''' age 15 and over can read and write Unemployment rate 8% (official), 40% (real) Source: The World Factbook, CIA; UN," ], [ "Urban–rural distribution of population", "According to the 2014 census, 1,144,428 residents or 38,2% live in cities while 1,853,807 are rural residents.", "The largest cities under the control of the constitutional authorities are Chișinău with 644,204 (with 590,631 actual urban dwellers) and Bălți with 102,457 (97,930 urban dwellers).", "The autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia has 134,535, out of which 48,666 or 36,2% are urban dwellers.", "Ungheni is the third largest city with 32,828, followed by Cahul with 28,763, Soroca with 22,196 and Orhei with 21,065.===By district (2004 census)===+ no type name population urban rural population % cities population % communes 1 municipality Chișinău 712,218 644,204 90.45% 7 68,014 9.55% 12 2 municipality Bălți 127,561 122,669 96.16% 1 4,892 3.84% 2 3 auton.territ.unit Găgăuzia 155,646 58,190 37.39% 3 97,456 62.61% 23 4 district Anenii Noi 81,710 8,358 10.23% 1 73,352 89.77% 25 5 district Basarabeasca 28,978 11,192 38.62% 1 17,786 61.38% 6 6 district Briceni 78,027 14,230 18.24% 2 63,797 81.76% 26 7 district Cahul 119,231 35,488 29.76% 1 83,743 70.24% 36 8 district Cantemir 60,001 3,872 6.45% 1 56,129 93.55% 26 9 district Călărași 75,075 14,516 19.34% 1 60,559 80.66% 27 10 district Căușeni 90,612 21,941 24.21% 2 68,671 75.79% 25 (out of 28) 11 district Cimișlia 60,925 12,858 21.10% 1 48,067 78.90% 22 12 district Criuleni 72,254 7,138 9.88% 1 65,116 90.12% 24 13 district Dondușeni 46,442 9,801 21.10% 1 36,641 78.90% 21 14 district Drochia 87,092 16,606 19.07% 1 70,486 80.93% 27 15 district Dubăsari 43,015 – – – 34,015 100% 11 16 district Edineț 81,390 23,065 % 2 58,325 % 30 17 district Fălești 90,320 14,931 % 1 75,389 % 32 18 district Florești 89,38917,086 % 3 17,086 % 37 19 district Glodeni 60,975 10,465 % 1 50,510 % 18 20 district Hîncești 119,762 15,281 % 1 104,481 % 38 21 district Ialoveni 97,704 15,041 % 1 82,663 % 24 22 district Leova 51,056 14,411 % 2 36,645 % 23 23 district Nisporeni 64,924 12,105 % 1 52,819 % 22 24 district Ocnița 56,510 19,270 % 3 37,240 % 18 25 district Orhei 116,271 25,641 % 1 90,630 % 37 26 district Rezina 48,105 10,196 % 1 37,909 % 24 27 district Rîșcani 69,454 13,351 % 2 56,103 % 26 28 district Sîngerei 87,153 15,760 % 2 71,393 % 24 29 district Soroca 94,986 28,362 % 1 66,624 % 34 30 district Strășeni 88,900 19,633 % 2 69,267 % 25 31 district Șoldănești 42,227 6,304 % 1 35,923 % 22 32 district Ștefan Vodă 70,594 7,768 % 1 62,826 % 22 33 district Taraclia 43,154 13,756 % 1 29,398 % 14 34 district Telenești 70,126 6,855 % 1 63,271 % 30 35 district Ungheni 110,545 35,311 % 2 75,234 % 31 '''Subtotal control by central government''' '''3,383,332''' '''1,305,655''' '''38.59%''' '''54''' '''2,077,677''' '''61.41%''' '''844''' 36 territorial unit Transnistria 383,806 280,6401 63.85% 10 158,8881 36.15% 69 37 municipality Bender 91,197 88,055 96.86% 1 3,142 3.14% 1 10 parts of district Căușeni 14,935 – – – 14,935 100% 3 (out of 28) 15 parts of district Dubăsari 715 – – – 715 100% parts of 1 '''Subtotal control by breakaway Tiraspol''' '''555,347''' '''377,667''' '''68.01%''' '''11''' '''177,680''' '''31.99%''' '''73''' '''Total''' '''3,938,679''' '''1,683,322''' '''42.74%''' '''65''' '''2,255,357''' '''57.26%''' '''917'''''Note:'' 1The breakaway Transnistrian authorities count as rural the population of the towns of Crasnoe, Maiac, and Tiraspolul Nou.", "Since their exact population isn't available, so does this table.===Transnistrian-controlled areas (2015 cens.", ")=== Population urban rural population cities population communes Tiraspol 129,367 129,367 1 – – Camenca District 20 542 ?", "1 ?", "12 Rîbnița District 69,000 ?", "1 ?", "22 Dubăsari District 31,000 ?", "1 ?", "9 Grigoriopol District 40,000 ?1 2 ?1 14 Slobozia District 84,000 ?2 4 ?2 12 '''Subtotal Transnistria''' '''383,806''' '''?'''", "'''10''' '''?'''", "'''69''' Bender (w/o Proteagailovca) 91,197 91,197 1 – – Proteagailovca 3,142 – – 3,142 1 Gîsca 4,841 – – 4,841 1 Chițcani (incl.", "Merenești and Zahorna) ~9,000 – – ~9,000 1 Cremenciug 1,094 – – 1,094 1 Roghi 715 – – 715 parts of 1 '''Subotal other localities''' '''109,989''' '''91,197''' '''1''' '''18,792''' '''4''' '''Total Tiraspol-controlled areas''' '''475,003''' '''333,003''' '''11''' '''142,000''' '''73'''''Note:''1 The breakaway Transnistrian authorities have counties as urban only the population of the town of Grigoriopol, while that of the town of Maiac was counted as rural.2 The breakaway Transnistrian authorities have counties as urban only the population of the towns of Slobozia and Dnestrovsc, while those of the towns of Crasnoe and Tiraspolul Nou were counted as rural." ], [ "Vital statistics", "===Bessarabia Governorate (1900–1914)===Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) 19002,037,00083,30648,48034,82640.923.817.1 19012,073,00087,79746,29641,50142.322.320.0 19022,113,00096,64155,42341,21845.726.219.5 19032,154,00094,93653,23641,70044.124.719.4 19042,194,00099,26555,43643,82945.325.320.0 19052,237,00080,08562,38717,69835.827.97.9 19062,267,00095,09055,63839,45241.924.517.4 19072,303,000107,19559,96447,23146.526.020.5 19082,345,00096,08854,77241,31641.023.417.6 19092,395,000105,68162,49843,18344.126.118.0 19102,441,000101,54477,35624,18841.631.79.9 19112,488,00097,86474,09323,77139.329.89.6 19122,540,000102,65477,43125,22340.430.59.9 19132,602,000102,39777,74524,65239.429.99.5 19142,625,000100,87179,20221,66938.430.28.3===After WW II, total area===Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateUrban Fertility Rural Fertility 19452,028,000(e)42,79578,797−36,00221.138.9−17.8 19462,254,000(e)64,46264,371 9128.628.50.1 19472,188,000(e)57,555165,049−107,49426.375.5−49.2 19482,126,000(e)73,12335,84637,27734.416.917.5 19492,236,000(e)94,18030,40763,77342.113.628.5 19502,341,00091,13726,36364,77438.911.327.7 19512,381,00091,64525,95765,68838.510.927.6 19522,432,00080,91830,96849,95033.312.720.5 19532,491,00079,04123,25755,78431.79.322.4 19542,557,00083,60724,07759,53032.79.423.3 19552,627,00079,77221,86457,90830.48.322.0 19562,701,00081,37220,10961,26330.17.422.7 19572,777,00085,74321,11464,62930.97.623.3 19582,853,00087,50218,74168,76130.76.624.1 3.54 19592,929,00092,17621,46770,70931.57.324.1 3.64 19603,003,00087,91019,29068,62029.36.422.9 3.41 1961 3,073,000 86,683 19,590 67,093 28.2 6.4 21.8 3.20 1962 3,141,000 80,494 21,365 59,129 25.6 6.8 18.8 3.00 1963 3,208,000 78,422 20,737 57,685 24.4 6.5 18.0 2.89 1964 3,273,000 73,583 19,944 53,639 22.5 6.1 16.4 2.71 1965 3,335,000 67,996 20,571 47,425 20.4 6.2 14.2 2.68 1966 3,395,000 71,406 21,474 49,932 21.0 6.3 14.5 2.73 1967 3,453,000 71,380 23,406 47,974 20.7 6.8 13.7 2.69 1968 3,506,000 69,997 24,268 45,729 20.0 6.9 13.0 2.65 1969 3,549,000 67,575 26,249 41,326 19.0 7.4 11.5 2.58 1970 3,594,000 69,778 26,577 43,201 19.4 7.4 12.0 2.56 1971 3,647,000 73,643 27,889 45,754 20.2 7.6 12.5 2.63 1972 3,700,000 76,198 28,001 48,197 20.6 7.6 13.0 2.63 1973 3,748,000 76,339 30,756 45,583 20.4 8.2 12.2 2.59 1974 3,794,000 77,474 32,216 45,258 20.4 8.5 11.9 2.55 1975 3,839,000 79,169 35,635 43,534 20.6 9.3 11.3 2.52 1976 3,877,000 79,863 34,812 45,051 20.6 9.0 11.6 2.46 1977 3,910,000 79,022 37,250 41,772 20.2 9.5 10.7 2.40 1978 3,936,000 78,994 38,410 40,584 20.1 9.8 10.3 2.38 1.70 3.00 1979 3,967,000 80,152 41,729 38,423 20.2 10.5 9.7 2.39 1.80 2.90 1980 4,010,000 79,580 40,472 39,108 19.8 10.1 9.8 2.41 1.80 2.90 1981 4,054,000 82,279 41,476 40,803 20.3 10.2 10.1 2.45 1.80 3.10 1982 4,097,000 83,258 41,046 42,212 20.3 10.0 10.3 2.43 1.79 3.19 1983 4,137,000 91,304 44,329 46,975 22.1 10.7 11.4 2.57 1.87 3.46 1984 4,175,000 89,637 45,537 44,100 21.5 10.9 10.6 2.67 1.95 3.65 1985 4,214,000 90,453 46,075 44,378 21.5 10.9 10.5 2.70 2.00 3.70 1986 4,255,000 94,726 40,437 54,289 22.3 9.5 12.8 2.78 2.00 3.80 1987 4,290,000 91,762 40,185 51,577 21.4 9.4 12.0 2.70 2.10 3.80 1988 4,321,000 88,568 40,912 47,656 20.5 9.5 11.0 2.63 2.00 3.60 1989 4,349,000 82,221 40,113 42,108 18.9 9.2 9.7 2.46 2.02 3.00 1990 4,364,000 77,085 42,427 34,658 17.7 9.7 7.9 2.39 1.91 3.07 1991 4,363,000 72,020 45,849 26,171 16.5 10.5 6.0 2.26 1.79 2.84 1992 4,353,000 69,654 44,522 25,132 16.0 10.2 5.8 2.21 1.68 2.86 1993 4,350,000 66,179 46,637 19,542 15.2 10.7 4.5 2.10 1.53 2.77 1994 4,350,000 62,085 51,514 10,571 14.3 12.0 2.3 1.95 1.44 2.54 1995 4,340,000 56,411 52,969 3,442 13.0 12.2 0.8 1.76 1.31 2.24 1996 4,325,000 51,865 49,748 2,117 12.0 11.5 0.5 1.60 1.19 2.05 1997 4,311,000 51,286 51,138 148 11.9 11.9 0.0 1.55 1998 4,318,000 46,705 47,691 −986 10.8 11.0 −0.2 1.48 1999 4,307,000 43,511 48,904 −5,393 10.1 11.4 −1.3 1.43 (e)= estimate===Moldova under the central government control===Source: National Bureau of StatisticsAverage population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate (TFR)Urban TFR Rural TFR Life Expectancy(total)Life Expectancy(male)Life Expectancy(female) 19973,654,00045,58342,9572,62612.511.80.71.731.36 2.0966.6162.8670.30 19983,652,00041,33239,9221,41011.310.90.41.671.322.0367.7764.0371.39 19993,647,00038,50141,315 −2,81410.611.3 −0.81.611.261.9767.4463.7471.04 20003,640,00036,93941,224 −4,28510.211.3 −1.21.571.231.9567.5963.8771.22 20013,631,00036,44840,075 −3,62710.011.0 −1.01.481.211.9268.2064.5071.75 20023,623,00035,70541,852 −6,1479.911.6 −1.71.411.131.8968.1364.4071.71 20033,613,00036,47143,079 −6,60810.111.9 −1.81.471.181.8868.1364.4771.64 20043,604,00038,27241,668 −3,39610.611.6 −0.91.501.191.9168.3864.5072.16 20053,595,00037,69544,689 −6,99410.512.4 −1.91.2190.94 1.30167.8563.8471.66 20063,586,00037,58743,137 −5,55010.512.0 −1.51.2281.0251.38768.4064.5772.23 20073,577,00037,97343,050 −5,07710.612.0 −1.41.2560.9731.54368.7965.0472.56 20083,570,00039,01841,948 −2,93010.911.7 −0.81.2771.0181.53369.3665.5573.17 20093,566,00040,80342,139 −1,33611.411.8 −0.41.3261.0481.58269.3165.3173.37 20103,563,00040,47443,631 −3,15711.412.3 −0.91.3091.0551.53169.1165.0073.41 20113,560,00039,18239,249 −6711.011.0 −0.01.2661.0091.48270.8866.8274.93 2012 3,560,000 39,43539,560 −125 11.011.1 −0.1 1.2791.0301.483 71.1267.2474.99 2013 3,559,000 37,871 38,060 −189 10.6 10.7 −0.1 1.238 0.9751.449 71.8568.0575.55 2014 2,857,815 40,709 39,5221,187 14.3 13.8 0.5 1.82 1.52 2.04 69.33 65.2073.60 2015 2,835,978 40,547 39,800 747 14.4 14.1 0.4 1.87 1.52 2.11 69.3765.2273.72 2016 2,803,186 39,640 38,412 1,228 14.3 13.7 0.5 1.89 1.56 2.12 69.8565.6874.20 2017 2,755,189 36,36336,779 −416 13.2 13.3 −0.2 1.81 1.492.03 70.7766.7174.92 2018 2,707,203 34,53737,263 −2,726 12.8 13.8 −1.0 1.81 1.482.03 70.666.375.0 2019 2,664,224 32,42336,411 −3,988 12.2 13.7 −1.5 1.78 1.471.99 70.966.875.2 2020 2,635,130 30,83440,717 −9,883 11.7 15.5 −3.8 1.76 1.461.98 69.966.073.9 2021 2,595,809 29,32045,464 −16,144 11.3 17.5 −6.2 1.75 1.48 1.94 69.0 65.172.9 2022 2,538,894 26,95236,157–9,205 10.6 14.2 -3.6 1.69 1.46 1.87 71.467.175.7Starting with 2014, the sharp changes in the statistics are because of the new calculation methods and according with the latest census, and include only data of resident people that lived in the country predominantly during the last 12 months, regardless of temporary absences (for the purpose of recreation, vacations, visits to relatives and friends, business, medical treatment, religious pilgrimages, etc.", ").===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January – September 2022''' 19,593 32,493 -12,900 '''January – September 2023''' 15,682 25,354 -9,672 '''Difference''' -3,911 (-19.96%) -7,139 (-21.97%) +3,228===Structure of the population===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 352 099 1 452 702 2 804 801 100 0–4 88 311 83 681 171 992 6.13 5–9 82 455 78 229 160 684 5.73 10–14 77 275 72 752 150 027 5.35 15–19 93 727 89 965 183 692 6.55 20–24 118 376 112 777 231 153 8.24 25–29 129 771 121 694 251 465 8.97 30–34 109 201 105 669 214 870 7.66 35–39 95 575 95 220 190 795 6.80 40–44 87 451 89 455 176 906 6.31 45–49 84 288 89 276 173 564 6.19 50–54 98 512 110 162 208 674 7.44 55–59 93 612 110 213 203 825 7.27 60–64 79 681 102 009 181 690 6.48 65-69 39 652 55 755 95 407 3.40 70-74 32 645 52 625 85 270 3.04 75-79 22 757 42 339 65 096 2.32 80-84 12 543 25 437 37 980 1.35 85-89 4 801 11 701 16 502 0.59 90-94 1 148 3 129 4 277 0.15 95-99 158 416 574 0.02 100+ 160 198 358 0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 248 041 234 662 482 703 17.21 15–64 990 194 1 026 440 2 016 634 71.90 65+ 113 864 191 600 305 464 10.89Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 247 309 1 367 890 2 615 199 100 0–4 78 991 73 900 152 891 5.85 5–9 86 335 81 443 167 777 6.42 10–14 80 298 76 162 156 459 5.98 15–19 70 362 66 581 136 943 5.24 20–24 67 961 64 991 132 952 5.08 25–29 86 318 86 189 172 505 6.60 30–34 105 175 104 312 209 486 8.01 35–39 102 957 102 774 205 730 7.87 40–44 87 693 89 962 177 654 6.79 45–49 83 770 87 522 171 291 6.55 50–54 78 838 84 168 163 005 6.23 55–59 82 822 95 630 178 450 6.82 60–64 87 913 110 597 198 508 7.59 65-69 66 170 94 832 161 002 6.16 70-74 44 974 72 212 117 186 4.48 75-79 18 045 34 127 52 171 1.99 80-84 12 325 27 466 39 788 1.52 85+ 6 380 15 045 21 425 0.82Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 245 624 231 505 477 129 18.24 15–64 853 791 892 703 1 746 494 66.78 65+ 147 894 243 682 391 576 14.97===Transnistrian-controlled areas===Source:Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) 1997 657,0005,7038,181 −2,4788.712.5−3.8 1998 665,7005,3737,769-2,3968.111.7-3.6 1999 660,0005,0107,589-2,5797.611.5-3.9 2000 651,8005,0107,770-2,7607.711.9-4.2 2001 642,5004,5057,759-3,2547.012.1-5.1 2002 633,6004,6308,118-3,4887.312.8-5.5 2003 623,8004,4408,192-3,7527.113.1-6.0 2004 554,4004,8408,031-3,1918.714.5-5.8 2005 547,5004,6648,186-3,5228.515.0-7.5 2006 540,6004,8688,306-3,4389.015.4-6.4 2007 533,5004,8938,132-3,2399.215.2-6.1 2008 527,5005,2907,967-2,67710.015.1-5.1 2009 522,5005,1897,454-2,2659.914.3-4.3 2010 518,0005,1897,709-2,52010.014.9-4.9 2011 513,4004,9997,289-2,2909.714.2-4.5 2012 509,4005,1737,280-2,10710.214.3-4.1 2013 505,2004,8066,867-2,0619.513.6-4.12014500,7004,9947,313 -2,31910.014.6 -4.6 2015 474,5004,9597,094 -2,13510.515.0 -4.52016470,6004,6766,758 -2,0829.914.4 -4.52017469,0004,5006,684 -2,1849.614.3 -4.72018465,1004,0866,727 -2,6418.814.5 -5.72019465,2003,6466,810 -3,1647.814.6 -6.82020465,8003,4637,258 -3,7957.415.6-8.12021465,3003,144 8,980 -5,836 6.819.3-12.52022459,8002,8206,483 -3,6636.114.1-8.02023 455,700 2,5886,152 -3,5645.713.5-7.8===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January – December 2022''' 2,820 6,483 -3,663 '''January – December 2023''' 2,588 6,152 -3,564 '''Difference''' -232 (-8.2%) -331 (-5.1%) 99===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) 2005 12,0 1,7 12,5 1,5 11,7 1,8" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "Ethnic map of Moldova (2004 data)Ethnic map of Moldova (2014 data)Out of the 2,804,801 people covered by the 2014 Moldovan census, 2,754,719 gave an answer as to their ethnic affiliation.", "Among them, 2,068,068 or 73.7% declared themselves Moldovans and 192,800 or 6.9% Romanians.", "Some organisations such as the Liberal party of Moldova have criticised the census results, claiming Romanians comprise 85% of the population and that census officials have pressured respondents to declare themselves Moldovans instead of Romanians and have purposefully failed to cover urban respondents who are more likely to declared themselves Romanians as opposed to MoldovansAt the same time, 181,035 declared themselves Ukrainians, 111,726 Russians, 126,010 Gagauz and 51,867 Bulgarians.", "The proportion of Ukrainians and Russians in the area controlled by Chișinău has fallen from 8,4% to 6,5% and 5,9% to 4,0% respectively between 2004 and 2014.Meanwhile, the percentage of Gagauz has risen slightly from 4,4% in 2004 to 4,5% in 2014.The proportion of Ukrainians and Russians in the previous 2004 census also decreased considerably in comparison to the last Soviet census in 1989: from 13.8% to 11.2% and from 13.0% to 9.4% respectively out of the combined population including Transnistria.", "This is mostly due to emigration.Ukrainians mostly live in the east (Transnistria) and the north, while Russians mostly live in urban areas: 27% of all Russians live in Chișinău, 18% live in Tiraspol, 11% in Bender and 6% in Bălți.", "Most of the Gagauz live in the south of Moldova in the autonomous region of Gagauzia.===Total area===+ Population of Moldova according to ethnic group 1959–2014 Ethnicgroup census 19591 census 19702 census 19793 census 19894 census 20045 census 20145 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Moldovans8 1,886,566 65.4 2,303,916 64.6 2,525,687 63.9 2,794,749 64.5 2,742,231 69.6 2,068,058 75.1 Romanians 1,663 0.1 1,581 0.0 1,657 0.0 2,477 0.1 73,529 1.9 192,800 7.0 Ukrainians 420,820 14.6 506,560 14.2 560,679 14.2 600,366 13.8 442,475 11.2 181,035 6.6 Gagauzians 95,856 3.3 124,902 3.5 138,000 3.5 153,548 3.5 151,596 3.8 126,010 4.6 Russians 292,930 10.2 414,444 11.6 505,730 12.8 562,069 13.0 369,896 9.4 111,726 4.1 Bulgarians 61,652 2.1 73,776 2.1 80,665 2.0 88,419 2.0 79,520 2.0 51,867 1.9 Romani 7,265 0.3 9,235 0.3 10,666 0.3 11,571 0.3 12,778 0.3 9,323 0.3 Jews 95,104 3.3 98,062 2.7 80,124 2.0 65,799 1.5 4,867 0.1 1,601 0.05 Poles 4,783 0.2 4,899 0.1 4,961 0.1 4,739 0.1 4,174 0.11,404 0.05 Others 17,838 0.6 31,498 0.9 41,587 1.1 51,623 1.2 57,613 1.5 10,900 0.5 Total 2,884,477 3,568,873 3,949,756 4,335,360 3,938,679 2,998,2355 1 Source: .", "2 Source: .", "3 Source: .", "4 Source: .", "5 Source: 6 2004 combined censuses of the government controlled area and Transnistria 6 2014 census only in government controlled area.", "8 There is an ongoing controversy, whether Romanians and Moldovans should be counted together.", "Declared country of birth for the current inhabitants of the part of Moldova under the central government control, according to the 2004 census:+ ethnic group total population urban rural total Moldova former USSR other countries non-declared total Moldova former USSR other countries non-declared total Moldova former USSR other countries non-declared Moldovans and Romanians2,638,125100% 2,604,05198.71% 30,3601.15% 3,3450.13% 3690.01% 870,445100% 848,554% 19,501% 2,081% 309% 1,767,680100% 1,755,497% 10,859% 1,264% 60% Ukrainians 282,406100% 227,75080.65% 54,03619.13% 5980.21% 220.01% 145,890100% 103,039% 42,318% 514% 19% 136,516100% % 11,718% 84% 3% Russians 201,218100% 129,66464.44% 70,38034.98% 1,0960.54% 780.04% 166,395100% 106,580% 58,739% 1,011% 65% 34,823100% 23,084% 11,641% 85% 13% Gagauzians 147,500100% 144,26897.81% 3,1012.10% 1200.08% 110.01% 53,613100% 51,586% 1,941% 76% 10% 93,887100% 92,682% 1,160% 44% 1% Bulgarians 65,662100% 59,48990.60% 5,9689.09% 1990.30% 60.01% 29,447100% 25,215% 4,071% 156% 5% 36,215100% 34,274% 1,897% 43% 1% others 34,401100% 22,70265.99% 10,79731.39% 8942.60% 80.02% 26,058100% 16,973% 8,358% 722% 5% 8,343100% 5,729% 2,439% 172% 3% non-declared 14,020100% 13,89499.10% 120.09% 280.20% 860.61% 13,807100% 13,668% 9% 27% 83% 213100% 206% 3% 1% 3% '''Total''' '''3,383,332''''''100%''' '''3,201,818''''''94.64%''' '''174,654''''''5.16%''' '''6,280''''''0.19%''' '''580''''''0.02%''' '''1,305,655''''''100%''' '''1,165,635''''''89.28%''' '''134,937''''''10.33%''' '''4,587''''''0.35%''' '''496''''''0.04%''' '''2,077,677''''''100%''' '''2,036,183''''''98.00%''' '''39,717''''''1.91%''' '''1,693''''''0.08%''' '''84''''''0.004%'''Population by district, according to the 2004 census: Population Moldovans'''1''' Ukrainians Russians Gagauzians Bulgarians Romanians'''1''' Jews Poles Gypsies others Chișinău 712,218 '''481,626''':'''''' 58,945: 99,149: 6,446: 8,868: 31,984: 2,649: 834: 507: 21,210: Bălți 127,561 '''66,877''':'''''' 30,288: 24,526: 243: 297: 2,258: 411: 862: 272: 1,527: Gagauzia 155,646 7,481: 4,919: 5,941: '''127,835''':'''''' 8,013: 38: 17: 28: 486: 888: Anenii Noi 81,710 '''68,761''':'''''' 6,526: 4,135: 235: 481: 857: 17: 28: 228: 442: Basarabeasca 28,978 '''20,218''':'''''' 1,948: 2,568: 2,220: 1,544: 70: 13: 5: 216: 176: Briceni 78,027 '''55,123''':'''''' 19,939: 2,061: 59: 45: 314: 84: 10: 187: 205: Cahul 119,231 '''91,001''':'''''' 7,842: 7,702: 3,665: 5,816: 2,095: 40: 29: 238: 803: Cantemir 60,001 '''52,986''':'''''' 969: 710: 519: 3,736: 910: –: 11: 43: 117: Călărași 75,075 '''69,190''':'''''' 2,799: 947: 54: 47: 1,490: 21: 11: 378: 138: Căușeni 90,612 '''79,432''':'''''' 2,469: 3,839: 653: 1,108: 2,844: 8: 9: 30: 220: Cimișlia 60,925 '''52,972''':'''''' 3,376: 2,371: 278: 1,341: 331: 7: 10: 95: 144: Criuleni 72,254 '''67,046''':'''''' 2,692: 1,008: 49: 72: 1,170: 6: 6: 36: 169: Dondușeni 46,442 '''37,302''':'''''' 5,893: 2,714: 31: 36: 247: 12: 15: 68: 124: Drochia 87,092 '''74,369''':'''''' 9,849: 1,641: 44: 33: 675: 14: 10: 272: 185: Dubăsari 34,015 '''32,652''':'''''' 521: 611: 45: 16: 102: 9: 2: –: 57: Edineț 81,390 '''58,749''':'''''' 16,084: 5,084: 143: 91: 446: 23: 26: 499: 245: Fălești 90,320 '''75,863''':'''''' 10,711: 3,064: 39: 32: 306: 6: 20: 57: 222: Florești 89,389 '''75,797''':'''''' 8,023: 4,633: 45: 51: 433: 19: 29: 120: 239: Glodeni 60,975 '''46,317''':'''''' 11,918: 1,693: 32: 44: 329: 8: 174: 303: 157: Hîncești 119,762 '''108,189''':'''''' 6,218: 1,463: 99: 212: 3,046: 19: 16: 305: 195: Ialoveni 97,704 '''91,379''':'''''' 1,117: 1,112: 95: 935: 2,608: 5: 12: 197: 244: Leova 51,056 '''43,673''':'''''' 1,245: 1,167: 432: 3,804: 471: 8: 9: 105: 142: Nisporeni 64,924 '''60,774''':'''''' 223: 339: 17: 28: 2,329: 1: 4: 1,147: 62: Ocnița 56,510 '''32,491''':'''''' 17,351: 2,764: 79: 60: 104: 14: 43: 3,417: 187: Orhei 116,271 '''100,469''':'''''' 4,520: 2,216: 113: 90: 8,253: 46: 23: 221: 320: Rezina 48,105 '''44,721''':'''''' 1,691: 1,093: 34: 40: 375: 30: 5: 13: 103: Rîșcani 69,454 '''50,391''':'''''' 15,632: 1,726: 60: 61: 777: 8: 42: 602: 155: Sîngerei 87,153 '''74,139''':'''''' 8,456: 3,029: 47: 43: 1,162: 10: 48: 56: 163: Soroca 94,986 '''84,728''':'''''' 4,752: 2,601: 53: 48: 931: 65: 17: 1,564: 227: Strășeni 88,900 '''83,368''':'''''' 985: 1,576: 70: 109: 2,542: 13: 14: 24: 199: Șoldănești 42,227 '''40,354''':'''''' 1,055: 376: 9: 14: 299: 2: -: 74: 44: Ștefan Vodă 70,594 '''65,318''':'''''' 2,182: 1,918: 64: 145: 562: 1: 4: 219: 181: Taraclia 43,154 5,980: 2,646: 2,139: 3,587: '''28,293''':'''''' 29: 2: 9: 218: 251: Telenești 70,126 '''67,309''':'''''' 879: 537: 16: 16: 1,262: 4: 1: 6: 96: Ungheni 110,545 '''97,805''':'''''' 7,743: 2,766: 90: 93: 1,627: 16: 17: 68: 320: '''Subtotal controlled by central government''' '''3,383,332''' '''2,564,850''':'''282,406''':'''201,218''':'''147,500''':'''65,662''':'''73,276''':'''3,608''':'''2,383''':'''12,271''':'''30,157''':'''1'''There is an ongoing controversy over whether Moldovans are a subset of Romanians, or a distinct ethnic group.", "At the 2004 Moldovan Census, citizens could declare only one nationality.", "Consequently, one could not declare oneself both Moldovan and Romanian.===Transnistrian-controlled areas=======2015 census====According to the last census in Transnistria (October 2015), the population of the region was 475,373, a 14.47% decrease from the figure recorded at the 2004 census.", "By ethnic composition, the population of Transnistria was distributed as follows: * Russians: 29.1%* Moldovans: 28.6%* Ukrainians: 22.9%* Bulgarians: 2.4%* Gagauz: 1.1%* Belarusians: 0.5%* Transnistrians: 0.2%* Others: 1.4%Around 14% did not declare any ethnicity.", "For the first time, the population had the option to identify as \"Transnistrian\".====2004 census==== Population Mold.", "Russians Ukrainians Gagauzes Bulg.", "Gyps.", "Jews Poles Belor.", "Germ.", "Armen.", "others,non-decl.", "Tiraspol 158,069 23,790 65,928 52,278 1,988 2,450 116 573 324 1,712 701 360 7,849: Camenca District 27,284 13,0481,88011,610435991044785261651 Rîbnița District 82,699 24,72914,23737,55414930951177528412150814,322 Dubăsari District 36,734 18,0807,12510,5949213446465318563126190 Grigoriopol District 48,000 31,1187,3328,333123240132610018732762139 Slobozia District 86,742 36,65120,63619,8725127,32313335137475496140332 '''Subtotal Transnistria''' '''439,528''' '''147,416''''''117,138''''''140,241''''''2,907''''''10,515''''''368''''''867''''''1,589''''''3,056''''''1,763''''''785''''''12,883''' Bender 97,027 24,37441,94917,3481,0663,0011323831907132581737,440 Proteagailovca 3,142 756–7611,482658251630–520–121960–160–31 Gîsca 4,841 819–8242,956719911680–570–128220–1613–44 Chițcani ~9,000 ~3,100~4,800~900~200 Cremenciug 1,094 4653532037112align =\"right\"align =\"right\"1522610 Roghi 715 ~700~15 '''Subotal other localities''' '''115,819''' '''30,219''''''51,540''''''19,828''''''1,189''''''3,343''''''139''''''392''''''202''''''755''''''308''''''195''''''7,709''' '''Total Tiraspol-controlled areas''' '''555,347''' '''177,635''''''168,678''''''160,069''''''4,096''''''13,858''''''507''''''1,259''''''1,791''''''3,811''''''2,071''''''980''''''20,592'''" ], [ "Languages", "Romanian is the official language of Moldova.", "However, many speakers use the term Moldovan to describe the language they speak, even though its literary standard is virtually identical to Romanian.", "Officially since 1990, it is written in the Latin alphabet.===Native language===Currently, 2,184,065 people or 80.2% of those covered by the 2014 census on the right bank of the Dniester or Moldova (proper) identified Moldovan or Romanian as their native language, of which 1,544,726 (55.1%) declared Moldovan and 639.339 (22.8%) declared it Romanian.", "263,523 people or 9.4% have Russian as native language, 107,252 or 3.8% – Ukrainian, 114,532 or 4.1% – Gagauz, 41,756 or 1.5% – Bulgarian, 12,187 or 0.5% – another language.", "Only 2,723,315 declared their native language out of the 2,804,801 covered by the 2014 census.===First language in daily use (2014 census)===According to the 2014 census, 2,720,377 answered to the question on \"language usually used for communication\".", "2,138,964 people or 78.63% of the inhabitants of Moldova (proper) have Moldovan/Romanian as first language, of which 1,486,570 (53%) declared it Moldovan and 652,394 (23.3%) declared it Romanian.", "394,133 people or 14.1% have Russian as language of daily use, 73.802 or 2.6% – Ukrainian, 74.167 or 2.6% – Gagauz, 26,577 or 0.9% – Bulgarian, and 12,734 or 0.5% – another language.===First language in daily use (2004 census)=== Ethnic group \\ First language Moldovan '''''' Romanian Russian Ukrainian Gagauzian Bulgarian other language did non declare Total Moldovans 1,949,318 475,126 128,372 9,170 799 1,113 951 – 2,564,849 Romanians 1,597 69,936 1,537 81 5 4 116 – 73,276 Russians 8,852 2,805 187,526 1,224 329 344 138 – 201,218 Ukrainians 17,491 4,158 141,206 118,699 427 294 131 – 282,406 Gagauzians 2,756 609 40,445 413 102,395 821 61 – 147,500 Bulgarians 4,652 1,046 23,259 188 673 35,808 36 – 65,662 other ethnic groups 3,828 1,133 18,610 339 262 181 9,856 192 34,401 did non declare 46 1 35 – – – 29 13,909 14,020 Total by '''language of first use''' 1,988,540 58.77% 554,814 16.4% 540,990 15.99% 130,114 3.85% 104,890 3.10% 38,565 1.14% 11,318 0.34% 14,101 0.41% 3,383,332 100% ''Moldovan language'' is one of the names used in the Republic of Moldova for the ''Romanian language''.===Usage of own language by the ethnic groups of Moldova (2004 census)=== ethnic group own language Moldovan and Romanian Russian Moldovans '''94.52%''' – 5% Romanians '''97.62%''' – 2.1% Russians '''93.20%''' 5.79% – Ukrainians 42.03% 7.66% '''50.00%''' Gagauzians '''69.42%''' 2.28% 27.42% Bulgarians '''54.53%''' 8.68% 35.42% others up to 28.65% 14.42% '''54.10%'''====Urban areas==== ethnic group own language Moldovan and Romanian Russian Moldovans '''86.71%''' – 13.07% Romanians '''96.88%''' – 2.85% Russians '''95.85%''' 3.82% – Ukrainians 13.06% 6.56% '''80.19%''' Gagauzians 40.10% 2.19% '''57.23%''' Bulgarians 36.81% 7.93% '''54.45%''' others up to 28.11% 8.35% '''62.05%'''==== Rural areas ==== ethnic group own language Moldovan and Romanian Russian Moldovans '''98.24%''' – 1.17% Romanians '''98.76%''' – 0.94% Russians '''80.52%''' 15.25% – Ukrainians '''72.99%''' 8.85% 17.74% Gagauzians '''86.16%''' 2.33% 10.40% Bulgarians '''68.95%''' 9.29% 19.95% others up to 30.34% '''33.39%''' 29.25%===Soviet era data===Ethnic map of Moldova (1989 data)In the Soviet census of 1989 members of most of the ethnic groups in Moldavian SSR claimed the language of their ethnicity as their mother tongue: Moldovans (95%), Ukrainians (62%), Russians (99%), Gagauz (91%), Bulgarians (79%), and Gipsies (82%).", "The exceptions were Jews (26% citing Yiddish), Belarusians (43%), Germans (31%), and Poles (10%).In the Soviet census of 1989, 62% of the total population claimed Moldovan as their native language.", "Only 4% of the entire population claimed Moldovan as a second language.In 1979, Russian was claimed as a native language by a large proportion of Jews (66%) and Belarusians (62%), and by a significant proportion of Ukrainians (30%).", "Proportions of other ethnicities naming Russian as a native language ranged from 17% of Bulgarians to 3% of Moldovans (Russian was more spoken by urban Moldovans than by rural Moldovans).", "Russian was claimed as a second language by a sizeable proportion of all ethnicities: Moldovans (46%), Ukrainians (43%), Gagauz (68%), Jews (30%), Bulgarians (67%), Belarusians (34%), Germans (53%), Roma (36%), and Poles (24%)." ], [ "Religion (2004 census)", "According to the 2004 census, the population of Moldova has the following religious composition: Religion Adherents % of total Eastern Orthodox Christians 3,158,015 93.3%Newer Protestant faiths: Baptists: Seventh-day Adventists: Pentecostal: Christians of Evangelical Faith 32,75413,5039,1795,0751.79%0.97%0.40%0.27%0.15%Traditional Protestant: Confessional Evangelicals: Reformed: Evangelical Synod-Presbyterians1,4291,1903,5960.19%0.04%0.04%0.11% Old-Rite Christians 5,094 0.15% Roman Catholics 4,645 0.14% Other religions 29,813 0.88% Non-religious 33,207 0.98% Atheists 12,724 0.38%'''Notes:''' 75,727 (2.24% of population) did not answer that question.a Known as ''Creștini după Evanghelie'', Pentecostal group.b Traditionally Orthodox Lipovans.", "'''History'''In 1940–1941, and 1944–1991, the Soviet government strictly limited the activities of the Orthodox Church (and all religions) and at times sought to exploit it, with the ultimate goal of abolishing it and all religious activity altogether.", "Most Orthodox churches and monasteries in Moldova were demolished or converted to other uses, such as administrative buildings or warehouses, and clergy were sometimes punished for leading services.", "Still, many believers continued to practice their faith.People in the independent Moldova have much greater religious freedom than they did in Soviet times.", "Legislation passed in 1992 guarantees religious freedom, but requires all religious groups to be officially recognized by the government.", "'''Orthodox Christians'''In 1991, Moldova had 853 Orthodox churches and eleven Orthodox monasteries (four for monks and seven for nuns).", "In 1992 construction or restoration of 221 churches was underway, but clergy remained in short supply.", "As of 2004, Christian Orthodox constitute the vast majority of the population in all districts of Moldova.In the interwar period, the vast majority of ethnic Moldovans belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church (Bucharest Patriarchate), but today both Romanian and Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) have jurisdiction in Moldova, with the latter having more parishes.", "According to the local needs, liturgy is performed in Romanian, Russian, and Turkic (Gagauz).", "After the revival of religious activity in the last 20 years, a minority of the clergy and the faithful wanted to return to the Bucharest Patriarchate (Metropolis of Bessarabia).", "Because higher-level church authorities were unable to resolve the matter, Moldova now has two episcopates, one for each patriarchate.", "After the Soviet occupation in 1940, the Metropolis was downgraded to a Bishopric.", "In late 1992, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia issued a decree upgrading its eparchy of Chișinău and Moldova to a Metropolis.", "'''Greek Catholics'''Moldova also has a Greek Catholic minority, mainly among ethnic Ukrainians, although the Soviet government declared the Greek Catholic Churches illegal in 1946 and forcibly united them with the Russian Orthodox Church.", "However, the Greek Catholic Churches had survived underground until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.", "'''Roman Catholics'''Half of Moldova's Roman Catholics are in Chișinău, and 1/5 in Bălți.", "'''Old Believers'''In addition, the Old Russian Orthodox Church (Old Believers) had fourteen churches and one monastery in Moldova in 1991.Half of Moldova's Old Believers are in Florești district, and 1/5 in Sîngerei district.", "'''Judaism'''Despite the Soviet government's suppression and harassment, Moldova's practicing Jews managed to retain their religious identity.", "About a dozen Jewish newspapers were started in the early 1990s, and religious leaders opened a synagogue in Chișinău; there were six Jewish communities of worship throughout the country.", "In addition, Moldova's government created the Department of Jewish Studies at Chișinău State University, mandated the opening of a Jewish high school in Chișinău, and introduced classes in Judaism in high schools in several cities.", "The government also provides financial support to the Society for Jewish Culture.", "'''Protestants'''There are around 65,000 Protestants of all sects in Moldova today.", "There are more than 1,000 Baptists in the cities of Chișinău and Bălți, in Cahul, Fălești, Hîncești, Sîngerei, Ștefan Vodă, and Ungheni districts, and in Găgăuzia.", "There are more than 1,000 Seventh-day Adventists in Cahul, Hîncești and Sîngerei districts, and in Găgăuzia, there are more than 1,000 Pentecostals in Chișinău and in Briceni district.", "There are more than 1,000 members of Brethren assemblies only in Chișinău.", "There are more than 1,000 Evangelical Synod-Presbyterians only in Chișinău.", "'''Others'''Other religious denominations in Moldova include:Armenian Apostolic ChurchMolokans (a Russian Orthodox sect).", "Islam" ], [ "Immigration", "Foreign citizens (according to the Office of Migration and Asylum): '''Country''' '''2018''' '''2019''' '''2020''' '''2021''' 6,786 6,834 5,318 5,404 5,742 5,953 4,068 3,905 943 1,292 942 1,248 988 1,037 1,012 1,172 2,200 1,929 1,412 1,107 256 520 634 773 501 535 449 474 371 458 433 404 433 507 364 282 327 309 240 255 164 327 172 227 211 229 209 218 202 220 179 181 – – 106 133 131 123 101 121 140 134 112 110 98 110 101 105 Others 3,271 3,313 1,310 1,551 '''Total''' '''22,764''' '''23,830''' '''17,162''' '''~18,600'''" ], [ "Secondary demographic indices", "=== Average age ===+Average age of the population (years) on the fifth The year 1992 1995 growth 2000 growth 2005 growth 2010 growth 2015 growth Years 32,0 32,4 +0.4 33,4 +1.0 34,9 +1.5 36,2 +1.3 37,5 +1.3 === Life expectancy at birth ===Life expectancy in Moldova since 1950Life expectancy in Moldova since 1960 by genderSince 2000, there has been a continuous increase in life expectancy, except for 2005, a year in which there was a high level of general and infant mortality.", "In 2013, this indicator recorded the maximum value of the given period – 71.85 years, including men – 68.1 and women – 75.5 years.", "The significant increase in life expectancy was influenced by the decrease in the overall mortality rate to 10.7 deaths per 1000 inhabitants, and the infant death rate, which constituted 9.4 deaths under one year per 1,000 live births.+Average life expectancy (years) based on sex after decades, five and a half years The year 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 Women: 69,8 72,1 68,8 71,9 69,7 71,2 71,7 73,4 75,5 76,1 '''Average time:''' '''68,1''' '''69,4''' '''65,6''' '''68,0''' '''65,8''' '''67,6''' '''67,9''' '''69,1''' '''71,5''' '''72,2''' Men: 65,6 66,3 62,4 63,9 61,8 63,9 63,8 65,0 67,5 68,1=== Population by sex ===+ Gender composition of the population, after decades Year 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015 Men 46,76% 47,25% 47,64% 47,87% 48,08% 48,10% Women 53,24% 52,75% 52,36% 52,13% 51,92% 51,90% Men per 1.000 women 878 896 910 918 926 927=== Infant mortality ===Children under 1 year old in 1,000 newborns: The Year 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2017 Children 35,0 30,9 19,0 21,2 18,3 12,4 11,7 9,7 9,4=== Marriage === Year Numbermarriages per 1000 inhabitants Numberdivorce per 1000 inhabitants 1980 46.083 11,5 11.273 2,8 1985 40.901 9,7 11.176 2,7 1990 40.809 9,4 13.135 3,0 1995 32.775 7,5 14.617 3,4 2000 21.684 6,0 9.707 2,7 2005 27.187 7,6 14.521 4,0 2010 26.483 7,4 11.504 3,2 2011 25.900 7,3 11.120 3,1 2012 24.262 6,8 10.637 3,0 2013 24.449 6,9 10.775 3,0 2014 25.624 7,2 11.130 3,1 2015 24.709 6,9 11.199 3,1 2016 21.992 6,2 10.605 3,0 References:===Urban and rural population===Density of population per km2, depending on administrative unit Year Urban population % Rural population % 2000 1.486.410 40,89 2.148.702 59,11 2001 1.485.210 40,94 2.142.602 59,06 2002 1.484.142 41,02 2.134.170 58,98 2003 1.477.927 40,97 2.129.508 59,03 2004 1.476.028 41,00 2.124.408 59,00 2005 1.469.828 40,94 2.120.108 59,06 2006 1.478.011 41,27 2.103.099 58,73 2007 1.476.110 41,32 2.096.593 58,68 2008 1.476.099 41,37 2.091.413 58,63 2009 1.476,681 41,44 2.087.014 58,56 2010 1.481.696 41,62 2.078.734 58,38 2011 1.485.766 41,74 2.073.775 58,26 2012 1.492.165 41,92 2.067.332 58,08 2013 1.502.996 42,25 2.054.638 57,75 2014 1.507.265 42,40 2.047.894 57,60 2015 1.511.051 42,53 2.042.005 57,47 2016 1.516.800 42,71 2.034.100 57,47* References:" ], [ "See also", "* Emigration from Moldova* Ageing of Europe* Poles in Moldova* Poles in Transnistria" ], [ "References", "'''''Inline:''''''''''General:'''''* Moldovan Census results* Official population data* 2004 Transnistrian Census results" ], [ "External links", "* Arianna Montanari, ''Rumanian national identity in the Republic of Moldova''* Disaster by Depopulation , a Red Cross report about impact of demographic changes on family structure and child care" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Moldova''' take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, wherein the prime minister is the head of the Government of Moldova, and a multi-party system.", "The President of Moldova has no important powers.", "The government exercises executive power while the legislative power is vested in the Parliament.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.", "The position of the breakaway region of Transnistria (a self-proclaimed autonomous region, on the left side of the river Nistru), relations with Romania and with Russia, and integration into the EU dominate political discussions.Scholars have characterized Moldova as an unstable democracy with systemic corruption and a deep cleavage regarding national identity." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Moldovan Parliament () has 101 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation.The seat of the legislature is known simply as the .===Parliamentary election results===" ], [ "Executive branch", "Government House, Chișinău (2009)The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term.", "According to the Moldovan constitution, the president, on consulting with the Parliament, will designate a candidate for the office of prime minister; within 15 days from designation, the prime minister-designate will request a vote of confidence from the Parliament regarding his/her work program and entire cabinet.", "The cabinet is selected by prime minister-designate, subject to approval of Parliament.", "The cabinet meets at the Government House on Stephen the Great Boulevard in Central Chișinău." ], [ "Judicial branch" ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Moldova is divided into 32 raions, or ''raioane'', three municipalities (Chișinău, Bălți, and Bender), one autonomous region (Gagauzia), and the breakaway region of Transnistria, the status of which is disputed." ], [ "Issues", "=== Ethnic identity and unification with Romania ===The underlying issue in the Republic of Moldova revolves around ethnicity and whether the country should re-unite with Romania, with which it shares a common ethnicity, language, culture and history.", "The Republic of Moldova represents roughly the eastern half of what is historically known as the Principality of Moldova.", "As a result of the Treaty of Bucharest (1812), ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1806, it was separated from the western part of the principality along the Prut river and annexed by the Russian Empire, which named it Bessarabia (Basarabia).", "The western half of the former Principality of Moldova, which was not annexed by Russia, united with Wallachia (Țara Românească) in 1859 to form the basis for modern day Romania.", "The eastern half united with Romania in 1918, but was re-annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.Russian and Soviet-era identity politics focused on Russification in the colonial sense as well as on stressing artificial differences between the Moldovans and the Romanians in an attempt to create a uniquely \"Moldovan\" identity, including indoctrination against Romania and Romanians.", "As a result, Moldovan ethnic identity is complicated and divided between those who consider themselves Moldovan and those who consider themselves Romanian.", "Although Moldovans comprise a sizeable ethnic majority of the population, they are fragmented in terms of degree of Russification and cultural indoctrination.", "The more pro-Russian the Moldovan, the more likely it is that s/he will call his/her language and ethnicity Moldovan rather than Romanian.", "Today, Moldova is effectively bilingual, with a Romanian-speaking majority and a sizable and influential, multiethnic, Russian-speaking minority, and with the Russian language still dominating the media.", "The Russophile population is generally hostile to the idea of unification with Romania and typically votes for left-wing parties.", "The Moldovan majority is divided between pro-Russian nostalgia and growing pro-Romanian and pro-EU sympathies, with a growing number of people supporting the idea of re-unification with Romania, especially among the youth.Moldovas's pro-Western and pro-Russian factions became increasingly divided since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.=== Transnistria ===Transnistrian region of Moldova Transnistria is a strip of land running along Moldova's eastern border with Ukraine, named after the Dniester river.", "The Transnistrian region is majority Slavic (Ukrainian and Russian) and Russian-speaking, in contrast with the rest of the country, and it was heavily industrialized during USSR rule.", "The Moldovan Declaration of Independence claims continuity of Moldovan sovereignty over the territory of Transnistria as it is \"a component part of the historical and ethnic territory of our people\".", "However, the Moldovan Declaration of Independence is itself used as an argument against Moldovan sovereignty over Transnistria as it denounces the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement of 23 August 1939 between the government of the Soviet Union and the government of Nazi Germany \"null and void\" being the only formal union between the two territories.After failing to establish control over the breakaway region in the War of Transnistria, Moldova offered a broad cultural and political autonomy to the region.", "The dispute has strained Moldova's relations with Russia.", "The July 1992 ceasefire agreement established a tripartite peacekeeping force composed of Moldovan, Russian, and Transnistrian units.", "Negotiations to resolve the conflict continue, and the ceasefire is still in effect.", "The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement and has had an observer mission in place for several years.The country remains divided, with the Transnistrian region controlled by separatist forces, supported ''de facto'' by a contingency of Russian troops posing as a peacekeeping mission.=== Human trafficking ===Due to the high rate of poverty, Moldova remains a large source-country of illegal sex workers that are exported to Western Europe, Russia and the Middle East.", "Because of pervasive corruption and a general lack of awareness, many victims of human trafficking are lured into the business with offers of high-salary jobs abroad, and are often trapped once out of the country.", "The US government urged Moldova to pass an anti-trafficking law in 2005, but due to a lack of enforcement, low regard of legal institutions, and unequal benchmark requirements, clear progress is difficult to ascertain.", "Organizations such as the International Organization for Migration provide non-governmental support integral to helping victims.", "However, NGOs are often subject to domestic constraints and government interference in their work, complicating their operations.=== Other issues ===There is disagreement as to whether elections and politics in Moldova are carried out in a free and democratic climate on the part of certain organizations.", "The United States Senate has held committee hearings on irregularities that marred elections in Moldova, including arrests and harassment of opposition candidates, intimidation and suppression of independent media, and state-run media bias in favor of candidates backed by the Communist-led Moldovan Government.", "Other critics have also referred to the Communist Party government as being authoritarian.", "Nevertheless, then-U.S. President George W. Bush stated that: \"We note and welcome Moldova's positive record since independence in conducting free and fair elections and in implementing democratic reforms.", "\"There were also reports of politically motivated arrests and arrests without valid legal grounds in 2005.Such arrests were allegedly carried out against opponents of the Communist Party government of President Vladimir Voronin.", "In one case which was criticized by various Western organizations and individuals, opposition politician Valeriu Pasat was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on dubious grounds.Moldova joined the World Trade Organization and the Southeast European Stability Pact in 2001.Of primary importance have been the Moldovan Government's efforts to improve relations with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and to comply with agreements negotiated in 2000 by the former government.", "Agreement in these areas was critical, because large government debts that were due in 2002 had to be rescheduled.", "The government has made concerted efforts to find ways to pay for Moldova's energy supplies.Political parties and other groups publish newspapers, which often criticize government policies.", "There are several independent news services, radio stations, and an independent television station.", "Peaceful assembly is allowed, though permits for demonstrations must be obtained; private organizations, including political parties, are required to register with the government.", "Legislation passed in 1992 codified freedom of religion but required that religious groups be recognized by the government.A 1990 Soviet law and a 1991 Parliamentary decision authorizing formation of social organizations provide for independent trade unions.", "However, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Moldova, successor to the former organizations of the Soviet trade union system, is the sole structure.", "It has tried to influence government policy in labor issues and has been critical of many economic policies.", "Moldovan labor law, which is based on former Soviet legislation, provides for collective bargaining rights." ], [ "Notes" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Moldova''' is an emerging upper-middle income economy, with a high Human Development Index.", "Moldova is a landlocked Eastern European country, bordered by Ukraine on the East and Romania to the West.", "It is a former Soviet republic and today a candidate member to the European Union." ], [ "Background", "On January 2, 1992, Moldova introduced a market economy, liberalising prices, which resulted in huge inflation.", "In 1993, a national currency, the Moldovan leu, was introduced to replace the Soviet rouble.", "The economic fortunes of Moldova began to change in 2001; since then the country has seen a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%.", "Remittances from Moldovans abroad account for a quarter of Moldova's GDP, one of the highest percentages in the world." ], [ "Overview", "Horse-drawn carts in the Moldovan countryside.Moldova's proximity to the Black Sea gives it a mild and sunny climate.", "The fertile Chernozem soil supports wheat, corn, barley, tobacco, sugar beet, and soybeans.", "Beef and dairy cattle are raised, and beekeeping is widespread.", "Moldova's best-known product comes from its extensive and well-developed vineyards concentrated in the central and southern regions.", "Moldova produces liqueur and sparkling wine.", "It is also known for its sunflower seeds, walnuts, apples, and other fruits.", "This makes the area ideal for agriculture and food processing, which accounts for about 40% of the country's GDP.Moldova produced in 2018:* 2.0 million tons of maize;* 1.1 million tons of wheat;* 788 thousand tons of sunflower seed;* 730 thousand tons of grape;* 707 thousand tons of sugar beet (the beet is used to manufacture sugar and ethanol);* 665 thousand tons of apple;* 175 thousand tons of barley;* 174 thousand tons of potato;* 132 thousand tons of plum;In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, like rapeseed (85 thousand tons).", "Moldova has a production of grape and apple between the 20th and 25th largest in the world, and a production of plum and sunflower seed between the 10th and 15th largest of the world.GDP by sector, 1989, 1999 and 2015Moldova has experienced economic difficulties, like many other former Soviet republics.", "Since its economy was highly dependent on the rest of the former Soviet Union for energy and raw materials, the breakdown in trade following the breakup of the Soviet Union had a serious effect, exacerbated at times by drought and civil conflict.", "The Russian rouble devaluation of 1998 had a deleterious effect on Moldova's economy, but economic growth has been steady since 2000.Moldova has made progress in economic reform since independence.", "The government has liberalized most prices and has phased out subsidies on most basic consumer goods.", "A program begun in March 1993 has privatized 80% of all housing units and nearly 2,000 small, medium, and large enterprises, which led to a rise in homelessness and unemployment.", "Other successes include the privatization of nearly all of Moldova's agricultural land from state to private ownership, as a result of an American assistance program completed in 2000.A stock market opened in June 1995.Inflation was brought down from over 105% in 1994 to 11% in 1997.Though inflation spiked again after Russia’s 1998 currency devaluation, Moldova made great strides in bringing it under control: 18.4% in 2000, 6.3% in 2001, and 4.4% in 2002.In 2003 inflation escalated again – due mainly to a drought-driven rise in agricultural prices – reaching 15.7%, although it was reined in to 12.5% in 2004.The local currency appreciated considerably in 2003 and the first months of 2004.By May, the leu had reached its highest level since the end of 1999.After the National Bank of Moldova increased considerably its purchases on the foreign exchange market, the leu stabilized in November–December 2004 at 12.00-12.50 to the US dollar.Moldova continues transitioning towards a free-market economy.", "The country recorded its fifth consecutive year of positive GDP growth in 2004, with year-end real GDP growth of 8%.", "This growth is impressive considering that, prior to 2000, Moldova had recorded only one year of positive GDP growth since independence.", "Budget execution in 2004 was also impressive, as actual consolidated budget revenues exceeded projections by 1.4% for most of the year.Privatization results in 2004 were not significant: several smaller companies and one winery were privatized in 2004, but the government postponed indefinitely the privatization of several larger state enterprises, including two electricity distribution companies.", "Sporadic and ineffective enforcement of the law, economic and political uncertainty, and government harassment and interference continue to discourage inflows of foreign direct investment.Imports continued to increase more rapidly than exports during the first nine months of 2004; Moldova’s terms of trade worsened, as higher-priced energy imports outpaced the value of Moldova’s main exports—agricultural and agro-processing goods.During 2002, Moldova rescheduled an outstanding Eurobond, in the amount of $39.6 million, to avoid a potential default.", "In May 2004, Moldova redeemed promissory notes with a total value of $114.5 million to Russian Gazprom for just $50 million.", "Moldova informed its bilateral creditors in mid-2003 that it would no longer service its debts.", "The 2004 budget did provide funds for external debt service (interest) at some 6% of the government budget, the 2005 budget projects external debt service at some 4%.", "The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank resumed lending to Moldova in July 2002, and then suspended lending again in July 2003.Although Moldova passed a poverty reduction strategy in 2004, it has yet to reach an agreement with international financial institutions.70% of total electrical energy power consumed in Moldova is imported from Ukraine and only 30% is produced in Moldova.In 2021 Moldova's trade with Russia was $1.33b compared with the EU of $5.06.In 2022 the EU trade increased to $6.9b" ], [ "Macroeconomic situation", "Real GPD per capita development of Moldova, 1973 to 2018As a whole, Moldova is doing well, despite a series of consecutive shocks, which included the doubling of the price of imported natural gas and 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines, and a severe drought in 2007.Growth is estimated at 5 percent in 2007 and is projected to increase to 7 percent in 2008.Investment is picking up, and is beginning to replace remittances as the main source of growth—an encouraging sign that the earlier model of consumption-driven growth is changing.Moldova increasingly faces the challenges experienced by other transition economies.", "Improved growth prospects have come with strong appreciation pressures from foreign exchange inflows, and a widening trade deficit.", "Foreign direct investment (FDI) has picked up and is estimated to have reached 12 percent of GDP in 2007, compared with 7 percent in 2006.The main macroeconomic concern is inflation, which at 13 percent remains high for the region.A deterioration in the merchandise trade balance due to strong import growth has been offset by improvements in net income and transfers, with a small improvement in the current account deficit to 12 percent of GDP.", "A resumption of wine exports to Russia in October was a major positive development, although volumes are likely to recover slowly.Fiscal policy remained tight, ending 2007 with a modest deficit of 0.3 percent of GDP.", "Strong revenue performance was driven by robust VAT on imports, while expenditure was kept in line with the budget.", "However, the tax cuts introduced in 2008 may undermine the favorable fiscal position.Monetary tightening in 2007 was complicated by the strong inflow of foreign exchange.", "The National Bank of Moldova increased reserve requirements from 10 to 15 percent, and raised policy interest rates by 2.5 percentage points.", "Nevertheless, the possibility of second-round effects from the drought, liquidity pressures from growing remittances and FDI, and the continued strong growth in credit and broad money suggest that upside risks to inflation are not yet fully contained.In spite of some favorable background, Moldova remains Europe's poorest nation, resisting pursuing the types of reforms that have vastly improved the economies of some of its Eastern European neighbors.", "The Communist Party retained political control after winning the March 2005 parliamentary elections and re-elected its leader, Vladimir Voronin, as president in collaboration with the opposition.", "Although the government maintains a pro-Western stance, it has had trouble pursuing structural reforms and has made little progress on the International Monetary Fund's program to attract external financial resources.", "The parliament approved the government's economic growth and strategy paper in December 2004, but international financial institutions and Western investors will not be satisfied until the government begins to address fiscal adjustment, wage restraint, and payment of debt arrears.", "Despite the fact that the pace of privatization and industrial output has slowed, GDP growth was 7.3 percent in 2004, consumption continues to grow, and the currency continues to appreciate.", "The impasse in the pro-Russian Transnistria enclave, plagued by corruption and the smuggling of arms and contraband, continues despite international attempts at mediation." ], [ "Business and economic environment", "According to the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, Moldova ranks 96th globally with the overall score of 58.5, a decrease relative to 2022.Rule of Law Regulatory Efficiency Government Size Open Markets Parameter Score Change in Yearly Score from 2022 Parameter Score Change in Yearly Score from 2022 Parameter Score Change in Yearly Score from 2022 Parameter Score Change in Yearly Score from 2022 Property Rights 37.9 Business Freedom 60.2 Government Spending 64.4 Trade Freedom 75.6 Government Integrity 35.6 Labor Freedom 46.6 Tax Burden 93.4 Investment Freedom 55.0 Judicial Effectiveness 29.8 Monetary Freedom 71.2 Fiscal Health 82.1 Financial Freedom 50.0 ''Everything above 60 is considered to be Moderately Free.", "''According to the 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index, Moldova's Distance to Frontier is 74.4/100 (48th globally), an increase of 1.3 relative to 2019.", "''DTF (Distance to Frontier): Higher is better''" ], [ "Trade policy", "According to the World Bank, Moldova's weighted average tariff rate in 2001 (the most recent year for which World Bank data are available) was 2.8 percent.", "(The World Bank has revised the figure for 2001 downward from the 3.9 percent reported in the 2005 Index.)", "A 2004 World Bank report notes a \"range of informal barriers to both imports and exports in Moldova, such as cumbersome and restrictive trade procedures, corruption, burdensome and inappropriate regulations and high transport costs.\"", "Based on the revised trade factor methodology, Moldova's trade policy score is unchanged.===Free Trade Agreements===Currently Moldova has signed multilateral and bilateral Free Trade Agreements with 43 countries.", "Agreement Signed Entry into Force Comment Moldova–Azerbaijan FTA 1995 1996 Moldova–Georgia FTA 1997 2007 CEFTA 19 December 2006 28 July 2007 CISFTA 18 October 2011 9 December 2012 DCFTA 27 June 2014 1 July 2016 Provisionally applied 1 September 2014 – 1 July 2016 Moldova–Turkey FTA 11 September 2014 1 November 2016 EFTA-Moldova FTA 27 June 2023 Awaiting ratification Moldova–China FTA Under Negotiation" ], [ "Regional developments", "Countries tend to benefit from sharing borders with developed markets as this facilitates trade and development.", "Below is a table of Moldova's neighboring countries, their GDP per capita in 1995 and 2021, and trade values between the pairs.", "Their evolution is distinct as Romania went from a GDP per capita which was about 1.7 times larger than that of Moldova's in 1995 to one which in 2021 is more than 2.5 times as large.", "Ukraine on the other hand has decreased when compared to Moldova.", "Country GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) 1995 GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) 2021Romania 5,429 36,277 Ukraine 4,136 14,281 Moldova 3,145 15,009 The Russian Federation for comparison rose from 5,613 in 1995 to 34,043 in 2021, slightly less than Romania." ], [ "Fiscal burden", "Moldova's income tax rate has been a flat 12 percent since 2019.The corporate tax rate for SRL companies has been 12 percent from 2012, since 2018 the unique tax of 7% for IT companies part of Moldova IT Park was implemented.The Sales tax (VAT) standard rate has remained at 20% since 2014.There are reduced rates of 12% and 8% for certain goods.In 2024, Moldova decided that companies in Transnistria and Moldova should be treated in a similar way as regards customs duties on imported goods, resulting in Transnistria import companies needing to register with Moldova and pay taxes to Moldova.", "This would also hopefully reduce smuggling of goods out of Transnistria that had been imported duty free, such as cigarettes." ], [ "Monetary policy", "Annual inflation rate hit 30.2% in December 2022, mainly as a result of the rise in world wide fuel and food costs, falling in 2023, interest rates are now also falling but remain high until inflation is under control." ], [ "Foreign investment", "The Moldovan government does not maintain many formal barriers to foreign investment, and the Moldovan embassy reports that foreign investors are free to \"place their investments throughout the Republic of Moldova, in any area of business activity, as long as it does not go against the interests of the national security, anti-monopoly legislation, environment protection norms, public health and public order.\"", "Since gaining independence in 1992, Moldova privatised most state-owned enterprises, and most sectors of the economy are almost entirely in private hands.", "The government keeping control of electrical distribution, railways, the state airline Air Moldova, fixed line communication company Moldtelecom and the country’s largest tobacco company.Invest Moldova was created to encourage inward investment, promoting the low levels of tax on individuals and companies.", "Free Economic Zones have been created designed for export-oriented manufacturing companies, Industrial Parks have been established to bring companies together and offer lower operating costs.Foreign direct investment is slowly rising, $587m in 2022, $410m in 2021 and $150m in 2020, with each year supplemented with $4.7-4.9 billion of loans, with manufacturing, financial intermediation, and trade being the main sectors." ], [ "Banking and finance", "There are no official barriers to founding foreign banks or branches in Moldova.", "The central bank the National Bank of Moldova has a responsibility to the management and control of all banks in Moldova.In 2014 a major fraud took place, the 2014 Moldovan bank fraud scandal which nearly bankrupted the country.", "$1 billion disappeared from three Moldovan banks: ''Banca de Economii'', ''Unibank'' and ''Banca Socială''.", "In the week preceding the 2014 Moldovan parliamentary election more than $750 million were extracted from the three banks in just three days, with a van loaded with stolen files from the banks being burned.", "A number of people were charged, Ilan Shor was convicted but fled justice.Major reforms to the legal framework of the Moldovan financial sector have taken place as the country progresses to implementing the EU`s legislation.", "By 2023 the Moldovan banking system is regarded as harmonized at a high level with the relevant EU community.", "The IMF reported in 2023 that Banks remain adequately capitalised, maintain adequate liquidity coverage and healthy asset quality." ], [ "Wages and prices", "The government influences prices through the large state-owned sector.", "According to the Ministry of Economy, the state regulates the prices of goods and services provided by monopolies and the prices of electric or thermal energy, land, medical services, and services offered by local tax regions.", "Moldova has two legal monthly minimum wages: one wage for state employees and another, higher wage for the private sector.In 2023, the average monthly salary in the economy was MDL 12,175 (approx.", "630 EUR / 686 USD)" ], [ "Property rights", "The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the \"legal system has improved in recent years.", "Moldova has a documented and consistently applied commercial law.\"", "Nevertheless, much more needs to be done.", "According to the U.S. Department of State, \"The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the executive branch has exerted undue influence on the judiciary.", "Many observers believe that arrears in salary payments also make it difficult for judges to remain independent from outside influences and free from corruption.\"" ], [ "Regulation", "\"Bureaucratic procedures are not always transparent and red tape often makes processing unnecessarily long,\" reports the U.S. Department of Commerce.", "\"Commercial law is a confusing patchwork of narrow statutes and an outdated civil code.", "With USAID experts, a draft civil code has been developed which follows the current European practice of incorporating commercial law provisions.\"", "The same source reports that anti-corruption laws \"are not effectively enforced and corruption exists at an advanced level.\"", "A report provided by the World Bank indicates that labor laws are somewhat rigid." ], [ "Informal market", "Transparency International's 2004 score for Moldova is 2.3.Thereafter, Moldova's informal market score is 4 in 2005.In 2011 the corruption score for Moldova is 2.9, better than it was in 2004, concluding TI." ], [ "Tourism", "Tourism in MoldovaTotal: 234,200 in 2016International Tourism: 192,920Inbound: 15,668 - 22.7% - 11.9% - 10.6% - 10.0% - 4.9%Outbound: 177,252* - 31.9% - 26.7% - 14.1% - 13.2% - 2.8%Domestic Tourism: 41,297There are around 15,000 sights and 300 natural zones within Moldova, which represent a potential for domestic and international tourists." ], [ "Statistics", " Year GDP (in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP per capita(in US$ nominal) GDP (in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP) GDP growth (real) Inflation (CPI) Inflation (End of Period) Public Debt(Government Gross Debt) Public Debt(Current Account Balance) External Debt(General government US$) Total External Debt (US$) 2013 9.496 3,307.3 23.961 8,345.0 9.0% 4.57% 5.1% 29.9% -5.2% 1.305 6.729 2014 9.510 3,314.5 25.218 8,789.2 5.0% 5.06% 4.7% 34.9% -6.0% 1.320 6.320 2015 7.726 2,715.7 26.233 9,221.8 -0.3% 9.6% 13.5% 42.4% -6.0% 1.354 5.932 2016 8.072 2,857.8 29.732 10,527.0 4.4% 6.4% 2.3% 39.2% -3.6% 1.481 6.056 2017 9.515 3,422.6 31.586 11,361.9 4.2% 6.5% 7.3% 34.8% -5.8% 1.722 6.833 2018 11.252 4,121.0 33.671 12,332.0 4.1% 3.6% 0.9% 31.8% -10.8% 1.706 7.321 2019 11.737 4,376.6 35.509 13,241.0 3.6% 4.8% 7.5% 28.8% -9.4% 1.718 7.416 2020 11.530 4,377.5 32.987 12,523.5 -8.3 3.7% 0.4% 36.6% -7.7% 2.255 8.088 2021 13.694 5,293.2 39.259 15,175.3 13.9 5.1% 13.9% 32.6% -12.4% 2.606 8.740 2022 14.550 5,726.3 39.918 15,709.5 -4.9 28.5% 30.2% 32.6% -14.3% 3.172 9.593 2023 16.000 6,410.9 42.217 16,915.7 2.0 13.3% 5.0% 35.0% -12.1% 3.487 10.242===Moldovan economy in graphics===File: Moldova GDP Nominal vs Other Countries.jpg\|GDP (Nominal per capita) of Moldova and Neighboring Countries.File: Moldova GDP PPP vs Other Countries.jpg\|GDP (PPP per capita) of Moldova and Neighboring Countries.File: Moldova Money Transfers.jpg\|Moldovan Foreign Workers Remittances to Moldova and GDP Nominal.", "'''Industrial production growth rate:'''3.4% (2017)'''Agricultural production growth rate:'''2.5% (2018)" ], [ "See also", "Economy of EuropeMoldova" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova* National Bank of Moldova* International Monetary Fund: Republic of Moldova: Statistical Appendix" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in Moldova''' are maintained at a relatively high performance level.", "Because Moldova is a small country, telecommunications companies managed to achieve good coverage in both wired and wireless communications infrastructure.", "Landline is available in most settlements, however mobile phone popularity has vastly increased in recent years.", "Mobile communications infrastructures are fairly well developed but suffer from high prices, nonetheless the amount of mobile subscriptions is growing very fast compared to the landline.", "As far as the Internet is concerned, Moldova has one of the best wired Internet connections in the world as well as one of the cheapest in $ per Mbit." ], [ "Landline", "After the break of the Soviet Union Moldova's telecommunications facilities were in a very poor condition.", "In 1990 Moldova had an average of 11 telephones per 100 inhabitants and there were more than 200,000 unfilled orders for telephone installations.", "The situation didn't progress much as only around 24,000 new lines were installed by 1994.Only after 1995 the state owned Moldtelecom began to upgrade their lines and stations.", "When in 1999 Moldtelecom became a JSC the company began a rapid upgrade process of all of their equipment and installations across the country.", "In 2000 around 440,000 new lines were installed and the overall power of telephone stations was increased to 645,000 numbers, at that time the average number of telephones per 100 inh.", "was around 16.The upgrade process to digital has also sped up and in 2008 around 83% of all stations were digital, for example in 1993 only 4% of all stations were digital.", "Currently all stations in the country are digital and the number of installed lines is 1,171,300 with around 33 telephones per 100 inh.", "In recent years however the general trend was the decrease in total number of landline subscriptions, after reaching its peak of 1,222,400 subscriptions in Q1 2014.Currently Moldtelecom is the dominant provider in this industry holding around 89% of the market share, the rest are shared between some ISP's who provide triple play options to their customers, however most if not all of them rent lines from Moldtelecom.Until recently an open dialing plan was used but as of April 1, 2012 Moldova has implemented a closed dialing plan on all of its territory.", "'''''Landline Subscriptions and Penetration level.", "(2020)'''''* Number of Landline Subscriptions - 1,027,689 Penetration Level - 38.9%'''''Market Structure by Number of Users.", "(2020)'''''Moldtelecom - 89.5%Other Providers - 10.5%''Statistics do not include data from Transnistria.''" ], [ "Mobile telephony", "Moldtelecom headquarters, ChișinăuThe mobile telephone market of Moldova is divided between two GSM carriers - Orange Moldova and Moldcell, and two CDMA carriers - Unité and Interdnestrcom.", "Orange Moldova launched its network in October 1998 under the brand of Voxtel and was the first and only carrier at the time.", "In April 2000 TeliaSonera entered the market with its own network under the brand of Moldcell and thus became the second carrier in the country.", "Moldtelecom became the third carrier when it launched its own network in March 2007 under the brand of Unité.", "In December 2007 another carrier named Eventis entered the market but three previous carriers have already saturated it so much that on February 5, 2010 Eventis declared bankruptcy and shut down its network.After the War of Transnistria in early 1990s Transnistrian government denied access of operation for many Moldavian based companies on its territory including telecommunications companies.", "As such the only major carrier on its territory is Interdnestrcom or IDC who began its operation in 1998.Unlike Internet market the state of the mobile market in the country is very poor, while coverage is not really an issue all carriers practice archaic methods that carriers in many developed countries have long since abolished, general prices are very high compared to other CIS and even EU countries with no change in this segment in many years in fact in some cases the prices have even increased, mobile Internet access is in no better condition with very high prices and very low monthly caps compared to extremely well developed and cheap wired Internet access.The first millionth subscription was registered in September 2005 since then the number of subscriptions has quadrupled and now amounts to around 4,323,500 which is almost 25% more than the estimated population of the country (without Transnistria), this means that the penetration level has exceeded 100%.In October 2008 Moldcell became the first carrier in Moldova to launch a 3G network, currently, all carriers provide 3G services throughout the country.", "In September 2009 Moldova became the first country in the world to launch high-definition voice services (HD voice) for mobile phones, and the first country in Europe to launch 14.4 Mbit/s mobile broadband at a national scale, with over 40% population coverage.", "On April 26, 2012, Interdnestrcom becomes the first carrier in the country to launch a commercial LTE network.", "On November 20, 2012, Orange became the second carrier in the country and first in official Moldova to successfully launch commercial LTE network.", "On December 24, 2012, Moldcell became the third carrier in the country to successfully launch a commercial LTE network.", "On October 22, 2015, Unité became the last carrier to launch a commercial LTE network.", "'''''Mobile Subscriptions and Penetration level.", "(2020)'''''* Total Number of Mobile Subscriptions - 4,108,207* Number of Active Mobile Subscriptions - 3,420,383Penetration Level of Active Users - 129.5%'''''Market Structure by Number of Users.", "(2020)''''' Orange Moldova - 55.7%* Moldcell - 33.1%* Moldtelecom (Unité) - 11.2%''Statistics do not include data from Transnistria.''" ], [ "Internet", "Moldova has one of the best wired Internet connections in the world as well as one of the cheapest in terms of $ per Mbit.", "The overall infrastructure is well developed which allows many users to experience good quality services throughout the country.", "However, despite high speed availability and cheap prices the penetration level is quite low compared to many EU or CIS countries.", "At the end of 2015 there were 80 registered ISP's in the country with the majority being local or regional only with only few offering their services throughout the country.", "Moldtelecom and StarNet are country's leading providers sharing around 86% of the market.", "The remaining 14% are shared between other ISP's like SunCommunications, Arax Communications and others.", "All ISP's that offer their services across the country have their headquarters located in the capital city of Chişinău.Moldtelecom is the only ISP that offers its services throughout the country on a wide scale, StarNet follows offering its services in several large towns and regional centers.", "Other ISP's are limited to their town or region.Since 2008 all mobile carriers offer 3G HSDPA Internet access throughout the country.", "LTE is also available in Chişinău and select regions and is provided by all carriers.", "While Moldtelecom and StarNet are major players on the \"wired Internet access\" market, Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Unité are major players on \"mobile Internet access\" market.", "However, because the general state of the mobile market in the country is rather poor the gap between prices and quality for wired and mobile Internet is extremely high.After the War of Transnistria in early 1990s Transnistrian government denied access of operation for many Moldavian based companies on its territory including telecommunications companies.", "As such the only major ISP's in that area are local IDC or Interdnestrcom (''Интерднестрком'') and LinkService, both operate only on Transnistrian territory.The most popular wired Internet access technology is FTTx with about 72% of the market share as of 2020, xDSL comes second with about 19% of the market share.", "Average download speed throughout the country is estimated to be around 120 Mbit/s according to Ookla Net Metrics.", "In Chişinău and some regional centers speeds as high as 1Gbit/s are easily available through FTTx.", "'''''Number of Broadband Subscriptions.", "(2020)''''''''Wired:''' Number of Wired Subscriptions - 719,001Penetration level - 27.2%'''Mobile:'''* Number of Mobile Subscriptions - 2,371,108*Penetration level - 89.8%'''''Structure of Wired Broadband Service Market, by Access Technology.", "(2020)''''' FTTx - 72.3%* xDSL - 19.2%* Cable - 8.2%* Other - 0.3%''Top Level Domain: '''MD'''''''Statistics do not include data from Transnistria.", "'''''''Internet hosting service'''''Moldova has numerous internet hosting services: Alexhost (Alexhost S.R.L)* MangoHost (IT FRUIT S.R.L)* HOST.md (Molddata Î.S)" ], [ "Television", "Television industry in Moldova began in 1956 with the construction of the country's first dedicated television tower in Chişinău which took a little over a year to complete, the finished tower was 196 meters tall and could broadcast within a 60 km radius.", "The first television transmission was sent on 30 April 1958 at 19:00 and included amongst other things cheers from all the parties that participated in the project's development as well as some local celebrities.At first programs were broadcast only two times a week on Friday and Sunday but by the end of 1958 broadcasts became daily.", "The first live broadcast in the country also happened in 1958.In 1961 the coverage area was expanded after several relay masts were constructed in Bălți, Cahul and Comrat.", "Since 1974 all broadcasts were made in color and in 1977 the first dedicated television studio was built which is still in use to this day.", "In the early 1980s there were more than a million citizens with access to television sets.", "During the Soviet era there weren't all that many channels available with most of them being news and general purpose channels which were all state owned.", "The industry didn't really change much and only after the fall of the USSR was when the television industry in the country really started to gain momentum.", "One of the first cable companies to begin their operation in the country was EuroCable which began its operation shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the company offered cable television to its customers with multiple local and foreign channels.", "EuroCable remained the dominant cable television provider until the mid 1990s when it was bought by SunCommunications which merged it with its own service and re-branded it into SunTV.", "Because EuroCable and later SunTV began very early they gathered a large subscription base and remain the dominant cable television provider to this day offering their services in several large towns in the country, although this might soon change as Moldtelecom is rapidly gaining momentum.", "During the 2000s many other Chişinău based cable television providers such as Satellit, Delta and Alfa emerged offering similar services as SunTV.", "In 2015 there were 83 registered television providers.", "In 2007 Arax Communications launched its own cable television network called Zebra TV which became the first digital network in the country, SunTV followed launching its own digital network later that year.", "Until recently accessing television was only possible via cable but in 2011 StarNet and Moldtelecom launched their separate IPTV services in Chişinău and other towns offering multiple channels in both SD and HD qualities.", "Local broadcasting has remained fairly undeveloped since the time it was first launched although progress towards better quality is quite rapid with most local channels hoping to go fully digital in the near future.", "'''''Subscriptions and Penetration level.", "(2020)'''''* Number of multichannel TV subscriptions - 360,932Household Penetration level - 41.0%'''''Structure of multichannel TV subscriptions, by reception technology.", "(2020)''''' IPTV - 58.4%* Cable - 41.6%''of which:''* Digital - 78.9%* Analog - 21.1%''Statistics do not include data from Transnistria.''" ], [ "Printed media", "The main daily newspaper in the republic, Moldova Suverană, is published by the government.", "Sfatul Țării is published by Parliament, which also publishes the daily Nezavisimaya Moldova in Russian.", "Other principal newspapers include Rabochiy Tiraspol' (in Russian, the main newspaper of the Slavs in Transnistria), Ţara, Tineretul Moldovei/Molodezh Moldovy (in Romanian and Russian), and Viaţa satului (published by the government).The main cultural publication in Moldova is the weekly journal Literatura şi arta, published by the Union of Writers of Moldova.", "Other principal periodicals include Basarabia (also published by the Writers' Union), Chipăruş, Alunelul, Femeia Moldovei, Lanterna Magică, Moldova, Noi, and SudEst.Kishinëvskiye novosti, Kodry, and Russkoye Slovo are Russian-language periodicals.", "Other minority-language periodicals include Prosvita and Homin in Ukrainian, Ana sözu and Cîrlangaci in Gagauz, Rodno slovo in Bulgarian, and Undzer kol/Nash golos in Yiddish and Russian.", "In all, 240 newspapers (ninety-seven in Romanian) and sixty-eight magazines (thirty-five in Romanian) were being published in the republic in 1990.Basa Press, an independent news service, was established in November 1992." ], [ "General Information", " Fixed telephony subscriptions - 1,143,900 (2017)* Fixed telephony penetration - 32.2% (2017)* Mobile telephony subscriptions - 4,460,000 (2017)* Mobile telephony penetration - 125.6% (2017)* Wired Broadband subscriptions - 584,300 (2017)* Wired Broadband penetration - 16.5% (2017)* Mobile Broadband subscriptions - 2,430,078 (2017)* Mobile Broadband penetration - 68,4% (2017)* Internet hosts - 711,564 (2012)* Internet Service Providers (ISP's) - 80 (2015)* Country code (Top level domain) - MD" ], [ "See also", "Internet in Moldova" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " The Ministry of Information Development of Moldova* National Bureau of Statistic of Moldova* National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI)* Media of Republic of Moldova* Media Guide of the Republic of Moldova 2008 (List of publishers, news agencies and broadcasters, in Romanian and English.", "Also covers Transnistria.)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "In 1995, the main means of transportation in Moldova were railways () and a highway system ( overall, including of paved surfaces).", "The major railway junctions are Chișinău, Bender, Ungheni, Ocnița (Oknitsa, in Russian), Bălți, and Basarabeasca (Bessarabka, in Russian).", "Primary external rail links connect the republic's network with Odesa (in Ukraine) on the Black Sea and with the Romanian cities of Iași and Galați; they also lead northward into Ukraine.", "Highways link Moldova's main cities and provide the chief means of transportation within the country, but roads are in poor repair.", "The country's major airport is in Chișinău.Shipping is possible on the lower Prut and Nistru rivers, but water transportation plays only a modest role in the country's transportation system.", "In 1990 a total of 317 million tonkilometers of freight were carried on inland waterways as compared with 15,007 million ton-kilometers on railways and 1,673 million ton-kilometers on roads.The movement of manufactured goods and of passengers on all means of transportation started to decline in 1989.From 1993 to 1994, for example, the total amount of transported goods fell by 31 percent, passenger traffic decreased by 28 percent, and the number of passengers declined by 24 percent.", "The main causes for these declines are the high cost of transportation, a lack of fuels, and the poor state of Moldova's transportation infrastructure: approximately 20 percent of Moldova's roads are considered in a critical technical state." ], [ "Railways", " New trains of Moldova''total:''''broad gauge:'' of gauge (2005)The entire length of the Moldovan railway network is single track and not electrified.", "Much of the railway infrastructure is still in a poor state, all of the rolling stock being inherited from the former Soviet Union.", "Average commercial speed for passenger trains is (including stops).", "However, substantial investments was made in building new railway lines since 2003, with the goal of connecting Chișinău to southern Moldova and eventually to the Giurgiulești oil terminal.", "The first such segment was the Revaca–Căinari line, opened in 2006.Connections exist to Ukraine at Kuchurhan, Mohilyv-Podil's'ky, Ocnița.", "The track between Basarabeasca and Reni crosses the border back and forth.", "The Kuchurhan crossing as well as the Tighina–Tiraspol–Kuchurhan segment are under the control of the Transnistrian separatist authorities, the circulation of trains on the route depending on the level of political tensions between the separatists and the Government of Moldova.Between Moldova and Romania there is a break-of-gauge (Romania employing standard gauge).", "The most important crossing (including gauge changing equipment) is Ungheni–Iași, another two are Cantemir–Fălciu and Giurgiulești–Galați.", "International passenger trains run to Bucharest, Kyiv, Minsk and used to travel to Saint Petersburg and Moscow.In 2022/23 major investment, supported by the EU, is being undertaken to renovate rail lines to provide freight facilities for Ukraine to connect with Constanța to export grain and import fuel.The EU proposed in 2023 that their Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) be extended to Moldova and onwards to Ukraine with a standard gauge (1435mm) rail line, to assist in the integration of Moldova with EU rail networks.", "Starting with the Ungheni, on the border with Romania, to Chisinau, by laying a new line alongside the existing 1520mm track, to avoid disruption." ], [ "Highways", "A vehicle license plate in MoldovaMoldova requires use of vignettes (''roviniete'') on all public roads, inside and outside localities, as a form of road tolling for non-Moldovan vehicles.", "''total:''''paved:''''unpaved:'' (2003)" ], [ "Waterways", "* (on the Dniester River) (2005).", "Parts fully under control of the separatist Transnistrian authorities.", "a tiny () access to the Danube at Giurgiulești." ], [ "Pipelines", "Natural gas (2021) Moldova began importing gas from Romania in December 2022, connecting to the European energy system, began exporting gas to Ukraine in February 2023 and disconnected from Russia gas lines in May 2023." ], [ "Ports and harbors", "Moldova has one small oil terminal on the Danube at Giurgiulești (Cahul), compatible with small seagoing vessels.", "The harbor was opened in 2006 and occupies the entire Moldovan stretch of the river (less than ), with a mixed-gauge rail loading/unloading facilities.", "Run by Danube Logistics, which is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development." ], [ "Merchant marine", "Statistics for 2021: 147 ships with total .", "* 2,526 seafarers." ], [ "Airports", "Chișinău International Airport 3 operational airports (2021 est.).", "The main airport (Chișinău International Airport) has over 10 busy international destinations (with 2.9 million passengers carried on 27,000 flights in 2019).=== Airports - with paved runways ===''total:''7''over :''1'':''2'':''2''under :''1 (2006 est.", ")=== Airports - with unpaved runways ===''total:''6'':''3''under :''3 (2006 est.)" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova''' () consist of the National Army (which is divided into the Land Forces Command and the Air Forces Command) and the Trupele de Carabinieri under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.", "Until 2012, the Moldovan Border Police (then known as the Border Troops) belonged to the armed forces." ], [ "History", "On 2 November 1990, prior to the formation of the state of Moldova, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan SSR ordered creation of the ''Republican Guard'' (Romanian: Garda Republicană) as a militarized government agency.", "This force subsequently became the Moldovan military upon independence.Moldova has accepted all relevant arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union.", "On October 30, 1992, Moldova ratified the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment and provides for the destruction of weapons in excess of those limits.", "It acceded to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in October 1994 in Washington, DC.", "It does not have nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons.Moldova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Partnership for Peace on March 16, 1994.A transition to a professional force of 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers was planned at first, but when fighting erupted in 1991 between supporters of the central government in Chișinău and supporters of separatist regions (Transnistria conflict), males between eighteen and forty years of age were mobilized, and the size of Moldova's military was temporarily expanded to meet the demands of the Transnistria War.", "In early 1995, the armed forces totaled some 11,000 volunteers, and there were plans to gradually create a professional army.Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a series of explosions in Transnistria in 2022, the President of Moldova Maia Sandu declared on 27 April of that year that the Moldovan army had been left largely neglected for three decades and that it was unable to defend Moldova in the face of danger.", "She said the Moldovan army would go through a process of modernization and professionalization in the future.", "Later, on 4 May, the President of the European Council Charles Michel said that the European Union would provide aid to Moldova, including additional military equipment for its armed forces.", "The support would come from the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace and would not include lethal weaponry.", "This caused controversy among the socialist opposition leaders of the time, who strove for further cooperation with Russia." ], [ "General Staff", "The General Staff of the National Army is currently composed of the following:* Headquarters of the General Staff (Chișinău) Land Force Command Air Force Command* Personnel Directorate* Operations Directorate* Logistics Directorate* Strategic Planning Directorate* Communication and Information Systems Directorate* Education, Training and Doctrine Directorate* Planning, Finance and Monitoring* Legal Section* Medical Section* Military police" ], [ "Structure", "===National Army=======Land Force Command====Moldovan soldiers from the 2nd brigade in June 2004.At the beginning of 1994, the Moldovan Ground Forces (under the Ministry of Defense) consisted of 9,800 men organized into three motor rifle brigades, one artillery brigade, and one reconnaissance/assault battalion.", "The Library of Congress Country Studies wrote that its armaments consisted of fifty-six ballistic missile defenses; seventy-seven armored personnel carriers and sixty-seven \"look-alikes.\"", "(\"Look-alikes\" is a Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty term denoting modifications of armored personnel carriers for specialised missions such as anti-tank missile carriage, reconnaissance, or engineer duties).", "This data appears garbled; in the 1995/96 edition of the IISS ''Military Balance'', armored infantry fighting vehicles were listed as 54 BMDs (Boyevaya Mashina Desanta, Airborne Combat Vehicle), there were sundry armored personnel carriers, and 67 \"look-alikes\".Artillery included eighteen 122 mm and fifty-three 152 mm towed artillery units; nine 120 mm combined guns/mortars; seventy AT-4 Spigot, nineteen AT-5 Spandrel, and twenty-seven AT-6 Spiral anti-tank guided weapons; one hundred thirty-eight 73 mm SPG-9 recoilless launcher, forty-five MT-12 100 mm anti-tank guns; and thirty ZU-23 23 mm and twelve S-60 57 mm air defense guns.", "Moldova has received some arms from former Soviet stocks maintained on the territory of the republic as well as undetermined quantities of arms from Romania, particularly at the height of the fighting with Transnistria.By 2006–7, the Moldovan Ground Forces had been reduced to a strength of 5,710, including three motor rifle brigades, one artillery brigade, and independent Special forces and engineer battalions, plus an independent guard unit.", "Equipment and weaponry included 44 BMD-1 AIFVs, and 266 APCs, including 91 TAB-71s, as well as 227 artillery pieces.In 2022, during the Russian war in Ukraine, various Western countries pledged to support Moldova's territorial integrity and provide energy and military aid.", "During a visit to Chișinau, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that Germany is prepared to offer purchases of drones and military training to Moldova.", "Later that month, Moldovan Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii expressed that 90 percent of Moldova's military equipment dates back to the Soviet era and is in need of urgent replacement.", "He also mentioned that the armed forces face equipment shortages due to insufficient funding.A Moldovan MiG-29UB trainer on an American C-17 Globemaster III in 1997.====Air Force Command====Air Force personnel in 2016.A Moldovan MiG-29UB trainer in 1997.In 1994 the Moldovan Air Force consisted of 1,300 men organized into one fighter regiment, one helicopter squadron, and one missile brigade.", "Armaments used by the air force included thirty-one MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft, eight Mi-8 Hip helicopters, five transport aircraft (including an Antonov An-72 Coaler), and twenty-five SA-3 Goa/SA-5 Gammon surface-to-air missiles.The 86th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment had been located at Mărculești since October 1951, and had been reequipped with MiG-29s in 1988.It had been part of the 119th Fighter Aviation Division, which had been resubordinated to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet since December 1989.The United States purchased twenty-one of the MiG-29s in October 1997 to prevent their sale on the world market and for research purposes.", "All the spare parts for those aircraft were also purchased, as were the accompanying 500 air-to-air missiles.", "All the aircraft were transported from Moldova to the National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, in Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport planes over a period of two weeks.", "all the MiG-29 fighters had either been sold or scrapped, and the Moldovan Air Force had only 2 An-2 Colts, 1 An-26 Curl, 2 An-72 Coalers, 8 Mi-8 Hips, and 12 SA-3 'Goa' SAMs in service, manned by 1,040 personnel.===Carabinieri===The Trupele de Carabinieri is the gendarmerie-type force of the military, based on the Italian Carabinieri.", "The Moldovan Carabinieri is designed to ensure, together with the General Police Inspectorate or independently, public order and the protection of rights and freedoms of citizens.=== Other forces =======Border Police====The Moldovan Border Police was founded on 3 September 1991, being entrusted to the Ministry of National Security under the subordination of the subunit of the former Soviet Border Troops deployed on Moldovan territory.", "On 11 January 1992, Colonel in June 1992, the Border Troops became an official separate branch of the armed forces, In December 1999, it was reorganized into the Department of the Border Guard Troops of Moldova and was withdrawn from the Ministry of National Security a month and a half later.", "On 1 July 2012, Prime Minister Vlad Filat ordered its shift from the armed forces to the internal affairs ministry.====Danube Force====The Danube Forces of Moldova is a small militarized river flotilla.", "It is based in the port of Giurgiulesti.", "They have at their disposal several unarmed and auxiliary boats of various types." ], [ "Equipment", "As part of NATO's Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative since 2014, the Moldovan Armed Forces are receiving modest amounts of equipment from the alliance.", "The large part of Moldova's military equipment, however, is of Soviet origin and in need of replacement.", "The country has no defence-industrial capabilities beyond the basic maintenance of front-line equipment.With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union pledged to increase its military aid.", "As of June 2023, more than €87 million were provided in support for the modernisation of the defence sector." ], [ "Professional holidays", "On 3 September, the National Army marks its professional holiday, ''Ziua Armatei Naționale'' (Day of the National Army).", "The President of Moldova as well as the Prime Minister of Moldova usually present congratulations to all active servicemen.", "On September 2, the Ministry of Defense organizes large demonstrations on the occasion of holiday.", "Military and civilian staff lay flowers at the Stephen the Great Monument and the Eternity Memorial Complex.", "There is also a ceremony of the decoration of state and National Army distinctions, as well as honor diplomas to the best military and civilian employees.", "Festive activities are also organized in Balti, Cahul, Edineţ and Ungheni, in common with the local public administrations.", "In 2018, the National Army Day silver jubilee celebrations were held at the base of the 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade \"Moldova\" in Bălți.On 2 March, the armed forces celebrates its Remembrance Day, which honours the memory of the Transnistria War.", "Remembrance Day events are usually organized throughout the country from 1–4 March.", "Flowers are usually laid at the Stephen the Great Monument.", "The participants have also organized the Memory March, walking from Great National Assembly Square to the Maica Indurerata (Grieving Mother) Monument at Eternitate Memorial." ], [ "Military awards", "The veteran's medalMedal \"10 years of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova\"Veteran of the Armed Forces of the Republic of MoldovaMedal \"For service to the Motherland\"Medal \"For the strengthening of the military community\"Medal \"For the Merit of the Carabinieri\"Medal \"For Impeccable Service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs\"Medal \"15th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan\"Medal \"10 years of the War in Transnistria\" Medal \"10 years of the Border Troops\"Medal \"10 years of the Moldavian Army\"Medal \"10 years of the Carabinieri Troops\"Commemorative Medal \"75 years since the victory in the Second World WarCommemorative Medal \"The 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the World War II\"" ], [ "Veterans’ organizations", "Moldovans who served in WWII, the Soviet–Afghan War, as liquidators at the Chernobyl disaster, and the Transnistrian War are eligible for a range of benefits such as discounts, medical services, and free use of public transportation.", "In 1990, the Republican Council of Soldiers-Internationalists was created, it was headed by the military commissar of the then Oktyabrsky District of Chișinău, Colonel Vitaly Zavgorodniy, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.", "The Union of Veterans of the War in Afghanistan of the Republic of Moldova is a veteran's group based in Moldova that advocates for the well-being of veterans of the Afghan War.", "On 15 May 2000, after the Government's initiative to abolish benefits for veterans of the war in Afghanistan, sympathizers went to Great National Assembly Square.", "In 2001, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which came to power, radically changed the position of all veterans in the country." ], [ "Foreign forces", "Other military forces also remain within Moldova.", "In early 1994, the government of Transnistria had armed forces of about 5,000 which included the Dniester battalion of the Republic Guard and some 1,000 Cossacks.As of early 1994, the former Soviet 14th Guards Army (about 9,200 troops) consisted of one army headquarters, the 59th Guards Motor Rifle Division, one tank battalion, one artillery regiment, and one anti-aircraft brigade.", "Their equipment and weaponry consisted of 120 main battle tanks, 180 armoured fighting vehicles, and 130 artillery pieces/multiple rocket launchers/mortars.", "The remainder of the 14th Guards Army had been over the border in Ukraine and was absorbed by the Ukrainian armed forces.Around 1994, peacekeepers in Transnistria consisted of six airborne battalions supplied by Russia, three infantry battalions supplied by Moldova, and three airborne battalions supplied by Transnistria.Since 2007 the Russian force, now designated the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova, under the command of the Western Military District had withered away to a strength of some 1500 which included two motor rifle battalions, an independent security and support battalion, a helicopter detachment and several smaller, administrative detachments." ], [ "See also", " Moldova–NATO relations" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Moldova* MDNationalArmy" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "After achieving independence from the Soviet Union, the Republic of Moldova established relations with other European countries.", "A course for European Union integration and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines.In 1995, the country became the first post-Soviet state admitted to the Council of Europe.", "In addition to its participation in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Francophonie and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.In 2005, Moldova and EU established an action plan that sought to improve the collaboration between the two neighboring structures.", "After the Transnistria War, Moldova sought a peaceful resolution to the Transnistria conflict by working with Romania, Ukraine, and Russia, calling for international mediation, and cooperating with the OSCE and UN fact-finding and observer missions." ], [ "Overview", "List of countries which Moldova maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233 —343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112 —113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157Moldova has not yet established diplomatic relations with the following UN countries:HondurasBotswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, TogoBhutan, Iraq, MyanmarKiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu===Relations with the European Union===Moldova aspires to join the European Union and is implementing its first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU.As regards energy policy, Moldova was an observer to the treaty establishing Energy Community from the outset (2006).", "Following its interest in full membership, the European Commission was mandated to carry out negotiations with Moldova in 2007.In December 2009, the Energy Community Ministerial Council decided on the accession, but made it conditional to amendment of Moldova's gas law.", "Moldova joined the Energy Community as a full-fledged member in March 2010.===Relations with NATO===Wörner and Snegur signing PfP on 16 March 1994NATO relations with Moldova date back to 1992, when the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council.", "Moldova works alongside NATO allies and partner countries in a wide range of areas through the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.===Relations with post-Soviet states===The Moldovan Parliament approved the country's membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the CIS charter on economic union in April 1994.Moldova however has never participated in any military aspects of CIS, citing its neutrality status.In 1998, Moldova contributed to the founding of GUAM, a regional cooperation agreement made up of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.", "Although the agreement initially included a declaration of mutual defense, Moldova has since declared its disinterest in participating in any GUAM-based mutual defense initiative.Russia continues to maintain a military presence in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, despite previous agreements with Moldova and within OSCE and CAF to withdraw its troops and ammunition.Moldova was granted Observer Status in the Russian-led Eurasian Union in April 2017.===Relations with Transnistria===The territory of Moldova includes the separatist Transnistria region.", "Transnistria had a particularly large non-Moldovan population (about 60%) and broke away from Moldova less than a year after Moldova became independent at the fall of the Soviet Union.", "The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic controls main part of this region, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank.", "The international diplomatic situation with respect to the question of Transnistria determines and is determined by Moldova's relations with Russia.", "Russia, Ukraine, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, EU, and United States are involved at different degrees in the conflict resolution." ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===Multilateral=== Organization Formal Relations BeganNotesSee Moldova–European Union relations See Moldova–NATO relations===Africa=== Country Formal relations beganNotes9 October 2020* Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 October 2020.", "* Egypt is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova is accredited to Egypt from its embassy in Ankara, Turkey.", "* Morocco is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova is accredited to Morocco from its embassy in Lisbon, Portugal.", "1997* Moldova does not have an accreditation to South Africa.", "* South Africa is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "27 September 2004Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 September 2004* Tunisia is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.===Americas=== Country Formal relations beganNotes 8 March 1993* Argentina is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova does not have an accreditation to Argentina.", "1992* Canada is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Ottawa.", "12 May 1993 * Chile is accredited to Moldova from it embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova does not have an accreditation to Chile.", "6 April 1993 * Guatemala is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Moldova does not have an accreditation to Guatemala.", "14 January 1992 * Mexico is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Athens, Greece and maintains an honorary consulate in Chișinău.", "* Moldova is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington D.C., United States.", "25 December 1991 See Moldova–United States relationsThe United States recognized the independence of Moldova on 25 December 1991, and opened an embassy in its capital, Chișinău, in March 1992.A trade agreement providing reciprocal most-favored-nation tariff treatment became effective in July 1992.An Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement, which encourages U.S. private investment by providing direct loans and loan guarantees, was signed in June 1992.A bilateral investment treaty was signed in April 1993.A generalized system of preferences status was granted in August 1995, and some Eximbank coverage became available in November 1995.U.S.", "Secretary of State John Kerry made a visit to Moldova in December 2013 to support the former Soviet republic's pro-Western moves in the face of Russian pressure.The United States remains committed to the 5+2 format as a means to resolving the Transnistria conflict.", "The United States supports a comprehensive settlement that affirms Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while providing a special status for Transnistria.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Washington, D.C..* United States has an embassy in Chișinău.See also: Embassy of the United States to Moldova and Embassy of Moldova, Washington, D.C. ===Asia=== Country Formal relations beganNotes May 18, 1992* Armenia has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova is accredited to Armenia from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* There are around 7,500 people of Armenian descent living in Moldova.", "May 18, 1992* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Baku.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe.", "December 27, 1991See China–Moldova relations* China has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Beijing.", "March 1993See India–Moldova relations* India is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania* Moldova is accredited to India through its embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan.", "1992See Israel–Moldova relations* Israel is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Tel Aviv.", "16 March 1992* Japan has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Tokyo.", "16 September 1992 * Moldova is accredited to Kazakhstan from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Kazakhstan has a consulate-general in Chișinău.", "4 June 1992* Kyrgyzstan is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Moldova is accredited to Kyrgyzstan from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "30 January 1992* Moldova does not have an accreditation to North Korea.", "* North Korea is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Doha.", "* Qatar has an embassy in Chișinău 31 January 1992See Moldova-South Korea relations See Moldova–Turkey relations* Moldova has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate-general in Istanbul.", "* Turkey has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Both countries are full members of BSEC.", "* Speaking in Comrat in August 2018 when referencing the country's allies, President Igor Dodon said \"we have friends who are close to Gagauzia, and I believe to Moldova, as well, they are Russia and Turkey.\"", "October 5, 1992* Moldova is accredited to Turkmenistan from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Turkmenistan is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.", "* UAE is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "August 23, 1994* Moldova is accredited to the Uzbekistan from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Uzbekistan is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "11 June 1992* Moldova is accredited to Vietnam from its embassy in Beijing, China.", "* Vietnam is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "===Europe=== Country Formal relations beganNotes See Albania–Moldova relations 25 March 1992 See Austria–Moldova relations* Austria has an embassy Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Vienna.", "* See also: Embassy of Austria, Chișinău See Belarus–Moldova relations* Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Moldova were established on 19 November 1992.That same year, an agreement on friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries was signed.", "* Belarus has an embassy in Chișinău (opened in May 1995).", "* Moldova has an embassy in Minsk (opened in October 1993).", "* The first official Moldovan visit to Minsk was by Petru Lucinschi in June 2000.Nicolae Timofti later visited in October 2013, July 2015 and October 2016, and was followed in July 2017 by Igor Dodon.", "* List of Ambassadors of Moldova in Belarus: Nicolae Dudău (1998-2001), Gheorghe Hioară (2010-2017), Victor Sorocean (2017–Present) * Belgium is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Brussels.", "5 February 1992* Bulgaria recognized Moldova on 28 December 1991.", "* Since 1992, Bulgaria has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has embassy in Sofia.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", "* Croatia is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova is accredited to Croatia from its embassy in Budapest, Hungary.", "See Cyprus–Moldova relations * Czech Republic has an embassy in Chișinău* Moldova has an embassy in Prague.", "See Denmark–Moldova relations* Denmark is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova is accredited to Denmark from its embassy in Berlin, Germany.", "See Finland–Moldova relations * France has an embassy in Chișinău* Moldova has an embassy in Paris.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe.", "25 June 1992See Georgia–Moldova relations* Until 1991, both countries were part of the USSR and before 1918 part of the Russian empire.", "* Georgia has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova is accredited to Georgia from its embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan.", "* Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Moldova See Germany–Moldova relations* Germany has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Berlin and a consulate-general in Frankfurt.", "See Greece–Moldova relations* Diplomatic relations between Greece and Moldova were established 27 March 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union* Greece is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Athens.", "* See also Embassy of Moldova, Athens * Hungary has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Budapest.", "1995Both countries established diplomatic relations on 17 May 1995.1992* Ireland is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Dublin.", "* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe.", "* Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Ireland See Italy–Moldova relations* Italy has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Rome and a consulate-general in Milan.", "1 September 1992* Latvia has an embassy in Chișinău.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Riga.", "8 July 1992* Lithuania has an embassy in Chișinău* Moldova has an embassy in Vilnius.", "Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.", " Malta is accredited to Moldova from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Valletta.", "* Moldova is accredited to Malta from its embassy in Rome, Italy.", "6 September 2013See Moldova–Netherlands relations* Moldova has an embassy in The Hague.", "* Netherlands has an embassy office in Chișinău.", "See Moldova–North Macedonia relations See Moldova–Poland relations* Moldova has an embassy in Warsaw.", "* Poland has an embassy in Chișinău.", "See Moldova–Portugal relations See Moldova–Romania relationsMoldova's relations with its western neighbour, Romania, have been stressed since 1994.today's Moldova (without Transnistria) and parts of the old Bassarabia Governorate currently in Ukraine, were part of Romania during the interwar period (1918–40).", "Linguists generally agree that the Moldovan language is in fact identical with Romanian.", "However, Moldovans have been ambivalent about whether they consider themselves Romanians or Moldovans.", "Early signs that Romania and Moldova might unite after both countries achieved emancipation from communist rule quickly faded.", "Romania remains interested in Moldovan affairs, especially that country's civil conflict with the breakaway republic of Transnistria.", "However, the two countries have been unable to reach agreement on a basic bilateral treaty; Romania is insistent (against determined Moldovan resistance) that such a treaty would have to refer to Romania and Moldova's 'special relationship'.", "Beginning in 1994, the two countries enjoyed a visa-free arrangement that ended on 1 January 2007, with Romania's entry into the European Union.", "This prompted many Moldovan citizens to apply for Romanian citizenship.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Bucharest and a consulate-general in Iași.", ".", "* Romania has an embassy in Chișinău and consulates-general in Bălți and Cahul.", "See Moldova–Russia relationsRelations between Moldova and Russia deteriorated in November 2003 over a Russian proposal for the solution of the Transnistria conflict, which Moldovan authorities refused to accept.", "In the following election, held in 2005, the Communist party made a formal 180-degree turn and was re-elected on a pro-Western platform, with Voronin being re-elected to a second term as president.", "* Moldova has an embassy in Moscow.", "* Russia has an embassy in Chișinău.", "1995* Moldova is accredited to Serbia from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Serbia is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "* Moldova strongly supports Serbia's stance on Kosovo.", "27 October 1993See Moldova–Slovenia relations* Moldova is accredited to Slovenia from its embassy in Budapest, Hungary.", "* Slovenia is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine* Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Francophonie.", "See Moldova–Spain relations* Moldova has an embassy in Madrid.", "* Spain is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Bucharest, Romania.", "See Moldova–Sweden relations* Moldova has an embassy in Stockholm.", "* Sweden has an embassy in Chișinău 1992See Moldova–Switzerland relations* Moldova has an embassy in Geneva.", "* Switzerland is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.", "* The Netherlands have an embassy in Chișinău.", "See Moldova–Ukraine relations* Moldova has an embassy in Kyiv and a consulate-general in Odesa.", "* Ukraine has an embassy in Chișinău and a consulate in Bălți.", "* Moldova has an embassy in London.", "* United Kingdom has an embassy in Chișinău.===Oceania=== Country Formal relations beganNotes * Australia is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Moscow, Russia* Moldova does not have an accreditation to Australia.", "* Moldova does not have an accreditation to New Zealand.", "* New Zealand is accredited to Moldova from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium." ], [ "See also", "List of diplomatic missions in MoldovaList of diplomatic missions of MoldovaList of Ambassadors to Moldova" ], [ "Gallery", "File:Stamp of Moldova 173.gif\|Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the United NationsFile:Stamp of Moldova 356.gif\|Moldovan stamp commemorating membership in the OSCE" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs" ], [ "Further reading", "* Baltag, Dorina.", "\"EU external representation post-Lisbon: the performance of EU diplomacy in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.\"", "''The Hague Journal of Diplomacy'' 13.1 (2018): 75-96.online* Baltag, Dorina.", "\"Practice and performance: EU diplomacy in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus after the inauguration of the European External Action Service, 2010–2015\" (Diss.", "Loughborough University, 2018.)", "online* Cozma, Artur.", "\"The Diplomacy of the Republic of Moldova during 1944-2001.\"", "(2007).", "online * Del Medico, Nicola.", "\"A Black Knight in the Eastern Neighbourhood?", "Russia and EU Democracy Promotion in Armenia and Moldova.\"", "(EU Diplomacy Paper No.", "7) (2014).", "online* Ejova, Cristina, and Anastasia Eșanu.", "\"Public diplomacy of the European Union and its reflection in the Republic of Moldova.\"", "''Moldoscopie'' 92.1 (2021): 43-53.online* Löwenhardt, John.", "\"The OSCE, Moldova and Russian diplomacy in 2003.\"", "''Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics'' 20.4 (2004): 103-112." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Midway Atoll" ], [ "Introduction", "Map showing the location of Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian island chain'''Midway Atoll''' (colloquial: '''Midway Islands'''; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean.", "Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory.", "The largest island is Sand Island, which has housing and an airstrip.", "Immediately to the east of Sand Island across the narrow Brooks Channel is Eastern Island, which is uninhabited and no longer has any facilities.", "Forming a rough, incomplete circle around the two main islands and creating Midway Lagoon is Spit Island, a narrow reef.Roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, Midway is the only island in the Hawaiian Archipelago that is not part of the state of Hawaii.", "Unlike the other Hawaiian islands, Midway observes Samoa Time (UTC−11:00, i.e., eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time), which is one hour behind the time in the Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone used in Hawaii.", "For statistical purposes, Midway is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.", "The '''Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge''', encompassing of land and water in the surrounding area, is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).", "The refuge and most of its surrounding area are part of the larger Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.From 1941 until 1993, the atoll was the home of Naval Air Facility Midway Island, which played a crucial role in the Battle of Midway, June 4–6, 1942.Aircraft based at the then-named Henderson Field on Eastern Island joined with United States Navy ships and planes in an attack on a Japanese battle group that sank four carriers and one heavy cruiser and defended the atoll from invasion.", "The battle was a critical Allied victory and a major turning point of the Pacific campaign of World War II.About 50 people live on Sand Island: these are staff of the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service and contract workers.", "Visiting the atoll is possible only for business reasons, which includes permanent and temporary staff, contractors, and volunteers, as the tourism program has been suspended due to budget cutbacks.", "In 2012, the last year that the visitor program was in operation, 332 people made the trip to Midway.", "Tours focused on both the unique ecology of Midway, as well as its military history.", "The economy is derived solely from governmental sources.", "Nearly all supplies must be brought to the island by ship or plane, although a hydroponic greenhouse and garden supply some fresh fruits and vegetables." ], [ "Location", "As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich, England.", "It is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, and about one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo, Japan.", "Unlike the rest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway is not part of the State of Hawaii due to the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 that formally annexed Hawaii to the United States as a territory, which defined Hawaii as \"the islands acquired by the United States of America under an Act of Congress entitled 'Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States,'\" referring to the Newlands Resolution of 1898.While it could be argued that Midway became part of Hawaii when Captain N.C. Brooks of the sealing ship ''Gambia'' sighted it in 1859, it was assumed at the time that Midway was independently acquired by the United States when Captain William Reynolds of visited in 1867, and thus not part of the Hawaii Territory.In defining which islands the State of Hawaii would inherit from the Territory, the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959 clarified the question, specifically excluding Midway (along with Palmyra Island, Johnston Island, and Kingman Reef) from the jurisdiction of the state.Midway Atoll is approximately east of the International Date Line, about west of San Francisco, and east of Tokyo." ], [ "Geography and geology", "+Geography of Midway AtollIslandAcresHectaresSand Island1,117452Eastern Island336136Spit Island156Total land1,549627Submerged reef/ocean580,392234,876Enlargeable, detailed map of Midway AtollMidway Atoll is part of a chain of volcanic islands, atolls, and seamounts extending from the Island of Hawaii up to the tip of the Aleutian Islands and known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, between Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.", "It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef nearly in diameter and several sand islets.", "The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide a habitat for millions of seabirds.", "The island sizes are shown in the table above.", "The atoll, which has a small population (approximately 60 in 2014, but no indigenous inhabitants), is designated an ''insular area'' under the authority of the United States Department of the Interior.Midway was formed roughly 28 million years ago when the seabed underneath it was over the same hotspot from which the Island of Hawaii is now being formed.", "In fact, Midway was once a shield volcano, perhaps as large as the island of Lanai.", "As the volcano piled up lava flows building the island, its weight depressed the crust and the island slowly subsided over a period of millions of years, a process known as isostatic adjustment.As the island subsided, a coral reef around the former volcanic island was able to maintain itself near sea level by growing upwards.", "That reef is now over thick (in the lagoon, , comprised mostly post-Miocene limestones with a layer of upper Miocene (Tertiary ''g'') sediments and lower Miocene (Tertiary ''e'') limestones at the bottom overlying the basalts).", "What remains today is a shallow water atoll about across.", "Following Kure Atoll, Midway is the 2nd most northerly atoll in the world.===Infrastructure===The atoll has some of roads, of pipelines, one port on Sand Island (World Port Index Nr.", "56328, MIDWAY ISLAND), and an airfield.", "Henderson Field airfield at Midway Atoll, with its one active runway (rwy 06/24, around long) has been designated as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft flying under ETOPS rules.", "Although the FWS closed all airport operations on November22, 2004, public access to the island was restored from March 2008.Eastern Island Airstrip is a disused airfield that was in use by U.S. forces during the Battle of Midway.", "It is mostly constructed of Marston Mat and was built by the United States Navy Seabees." ], [ "Climate", "Despite being located at 28°12′N, which is north of the Tropic of Cancer, Midway Atoll has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen ''As'') with very pleasant year-round temperatures.", "Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with only one month (June) having an average annual precipitation of less than 60 mm (2.36 inches)." ], [ "History", "Midway has no indigenous inhabitants and was uninhabited until the 19th century.===19th century===The atoll was sighted on July 5, 1859, by Captain N.C. Brooks, of the sealing ship ''Gambia''.", "The islands were named the \"Middlebrook Islands\".", "Brooks claimed Midway for the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized Americans to occupy uninhabited islands temporarily to obtain guano.", "There is no record of any attempt to mine guano on the island.", "On August28, 1867, Captain William Reynolds of formally took possession of the atoll for the United States; the name changed to \"Midway\" some time after this.", "The atoll was the first Pacific island annexed by the United States, as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island, and was administered by the United States Navy.The buildings of the Commercial Pacific Cable Company date back to 1903 (2008).The first attempt at settlement was in 1870, when the Pacific Mail Steamship Company started a project of blasting and dredging a ship channel through the reef to the lagoon using money put up by the United States Congress.", "The purpose was to establish a mid-ocean coaling station to avoid the high taxes imposed at ports controlled by the Kingdom of Hawai'i.", "The project was a failure, and the evacuated the channel project's work force in October 1870.The ship ran aground on 21 October at Kure Atoll, stranding 93 men.", "On 18 November, five men set out in a small boat to seek help.", "On 19 December, four of the men perished when the boat was upset in the breakers off of Kauai.", "The survivor reached the U.S. Consulate in Honolulu on Christmas Eve.", "Relief ships were despatched and reached Kure Atoll on 4 January 1871.The survivors of the Saginaw wreck reached Honolulu on 14 January 1871.===Early 20th century===Midway Atoll in November 1941, looking westIn 1903, workers for the Commercial Pacific Cable Company took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific telegraph cable.", "To make the island more verdant, these workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the canary, cycad, Norfolk Island pine, she-oak/Ironwood, coconut, and various deciduous trees; along with some of soil from Oahu and Guam.", "Ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless other organisms were unintentionally introduced to Midway along with the soil.On January 20, 1903, the United States Navy opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about Japanese squatters and poachers.", "Between 1904 and 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt stationed 21 Marines on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a U.S. possession, protecting the cable station.In 1935, operations began for the Martin M-130 flying boats operated by Pan American Airlines.", "The M-130s island-hopped from San Francisco to the Republic of China, providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the Far East and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941.Only the very wealthy could afford the trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American.", "With Midway on the route between Honolulu and Wake Island, the flying boats landed in the atoll and pulled up to a float offshore in the lagoon.", "Tourists transferred to the Pan Am Hotel or the \"Gooneyville Lodge\", named after the ubiquitous \"Gooney birds\" (albatrosses), in this case Laysan Albatross and Black-footed Albatross.===World War II===The location of Midway in the Pacific became important militarily.", "Midway was a convenient refueling stop on transpacific flights, and was also an important stop for Navy ships.", "Beginning in 1940, as tensions with the Japanese rose, Midway was deemed second only to Pearl Harbor in importance to the protection of the U.S. West Coast.", "Airstrips, gun emplacements and a seaplane base quickly materialized on the tiny atoll.The channel was widened, and Naval Air Station Midway was completed.", "Midway was also an important submarine base.On February 14, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8682 to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories.", "The proclamation established \"Midway Island Naval Defensive Sea Area\", which encompassed the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the marine boundaries surrounding Midway.", "\"Midway Island Naval Airspace Reservation\" was also established to restrict access to the airspace over the naval defense sea area.", "Only U.S. government ships and aircraft were permitted to enter the naval defense areas at Midway Atoll unless authorized by the Secretary of the Navy.Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on December7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.", "Midway was bombarded by two destroyers on the same day; this was the first Bombardment of Midway.", "Pan-Am flying clipper stopped at Midway, which evacuated passengers and Pan-American employees from Wake island, which had also been attacked earlier that day.", "The Clipper was on its usual passenger route to Guam when Pearl Harbor happened, then it made a return journey going from Wake, to Midway, to Honolulu, and back to the USA.", "A Japanese submarine bombarded Midway on February10, 1942.In total, Midway had been attacked 4 times between 7 December 1941 and the Japanese submarine attack of 10 February 1942.Four months later, on June 4, 1942, a major naval battle near Midway resulted in the U.S. Navy inflicting a devastating defeat on the Imperial Japanese Navy.", "Four Japanese fleet aircraft carriers, , , and , were sunk, along with the loss of hundreds of Japanese aircraft, losses that the Japanese Empire would never be able to replace.", "The U.S. lost the aircraft carrier , along with a number of its carrier- and land-based aircraft that were either shot down by Japanese forces or bombed on the ground at the airfields.", "The Battle of Midway was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean.Starting in July 1942, a submarine tender was always stationed at the atoll to support submarines patrolling Japanese waters.", "In 1944, a floating dry dock joined the tender.After the Battle of Midway, a second airfield was developed, this one on Sand Island.", "This work necessitated enlarging the size of the island through land fill techniques, that when concluded, more than doubled the size of the island.KM6CE QSL card===Korean and Vietnam Wars===From August 1, 1941, to 1945, it was occupied by U.S. military forces.", "In 1950, the Navy decommissioned Naval Air Station Midway, only to re-commission it again to support the Korean War.", "Thousands of troops on ships and aircraft stopped at Midway for refueling and emergency repairs.", "From 1968 to September10, 1993, Midway Island was a Naval Air Facility.With about 3,500 people living on Sand Island, Midway also supported the U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.", "In June 1969, President Richard Nixon met with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu at the Officer-in-Charge house, also known as \"Midway House\".NAS Midway Terminal 1970'''Amateur Radio'''QSL card from KM6BIBecause of its particularly remote location and political status as a U. S. Navy base not part of the State of Hawaii, Midway Islands were a separate Country for amateur radio purposes.", "During this era there were two main amateur radio stations KM6BI on Sand Island and KM6CE on Eastern Island.", "Many other amateurs operated under their own callsigns from their own quarters.", "They all provided a vital link back home via messages and phone patches.", "====Missile Impact Location System====From 1958 through 1960 the United States installed the Missile Impact Location System (MILS) in the Navy managed Pacific Missile Range, later the Air Force managed Western Range, to localize the splash downs of test missile nose cones.", "MILS was developed and installed by the same entities that had completed the first phase of the Atlantic and U.S. West Coast SOSUS systems.", "A MILS installation, consisting of both a target array for precision location and a broad ocean area system for good positions outside the target area, was installed at Midway as part of the system supporting Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests.", "Other Pacific MILS shore terminals were at the Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay supporting Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) tests with impact areas northeast of Hawaii and the other ICBM test support systems at Wake Island and Eniwetok.", "'''Eastern Island'''Eastern Island was home for the Naval Security Group Activity, Midway Island from 1 July 1954 until February 1971.The activity operated an AN/GRD-6 High Frequency Direction Finder that was part of both the Eastern and Western Pacific HFDF networks.", "NSGA sign 1970.NSGA Eastern Island 1970====Naval Facility Midway====Lofargram writers on NAVFAC watch floor.During the Cold War the U.S. established a shore terminal, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed by means of the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR), of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Midway Island, to track Soviet submarines.", "The facility became operational in 1968 and was commissioned January13, 1969.It remained secret until its decommissioning on September30, 1983, after data from its arrays had been remoted first to Naval Facility Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1981 and then directly to the Naval Ocean Processing Facility (NOPF) Ford Island, Hawaii.", "U.S. Navy WV-2===Civilian handover===In 1978, the Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility and large numbers of personnel and dependents began leaving the island.", "With the war in Vietnam over, and with the introduction of reconnaissance satellites and nuclear submarines, Midway's significance to U.S. national security was diminished.", "The World War II facilities at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May28, 1987, and were simultaneously added as a National Historic Landmark.As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September10, 1993, although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination.===2011 tsunami===The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11 caused many deaths among the bird population on Midway.", "It was reported that a high wave completely submerged the atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the National Wildlife Refuge.", "Scientists on the island, however, do not think it will have long-term negative impacts on the bird populations.A U.S. Geological Survey study found that the Midway Atoll, Laysan, and Pacific islands like them could become inundated and unfit to live on during the 21st century, due to increased storm waves and rising sea levels." ], [ "National Wildlife Refuge and National Monument", "The unofficial flag of Midway Atoll, designed by local Fish and Wildlife Service employee Steve Dryden, was introduced on June 4, 2000, the 58th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April22, 1988, while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy.From August 1996, the general public could visit the atoll through study ecotours.", "This program ended in 2002, but another visitor program was approved and began operating in March 2008.This program operated through 2012, but was suspended for 2013 due to budget cuts.On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the United States Department of the Interior.", "The FWS assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.", "The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on June30, 1997, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed.On September 13, 2000, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt designated the Wildlife Refuge as the Battle of Midway National Memorial.", "The refuge is now titled as the \"Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial\".On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument.", "The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument encompasses , and includes of coral reef habitat.", "The Monument also includes the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.In 2007, the Monument's name was changed to Papahānaumokuākea () Marine National Monument.Hawaiian pronunciation is given here.", "The National Monument is managed by the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Hawaii.", "In 2016 President Obama expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and added the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a fourth co-trustee of the monument." ], [ "Gooney monument", "The so-called ''Gooney monument'' shown in the image was carved from a 30 foot mahogany log as a personal project by a U.S. Navy dental officer stationed in the island.", "The project began in 1949.It was 11 feet tall and stood for 40 years before being destroyed by termites.", "It was replaced with a mock egg after its removal." ], [ "Environment", "Albatrosses at Midway AtollMidway Atoll forms part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated as such by BirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic landbirds.", "The atoll is a critical habitat in the central Pacific Ocean, and includes breeding habitat for 17 seabird species.", "A number of native species rely on the island, which is now home to 67–70 percent of the world's Laysan albatross population, and 34–39 percent of the global population of black-footed albatross.", "A very small number of the very rare short-tailed albatross also have been observed.", "Fewer than 2,200 individuals of this species are believed to exist due to excessive feather hunting in the late nineteenth century.", "In 2007–08, the U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service translocated 42 endangered Laysan ducks to the atoll as part of their efforts to conserve the species.Over 250 different species of marine life are found in the of lagoon and surrounding waters.", "The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals raise their pups on the beaches, relying on the atoll's reef fish, squid, octopus and crustaceans.", "Green sea turtles, another threatened species, occasionally nest on the island.", "The first was found in 2006 on Spit Island and another in 2007 on Sand Island.", "A resident pod of 300 spinner dolphins live in the lagoons and nearshore waters.The islands of Midway Atoll have been extensively altered as a result of human habitation.", "Starting in 1869 with the project to blast the reefs and create a port on Sand Island, the environment of Midway atoll has experienced profound changes.A number of invasive exotics have been introduced; for example, ironwood trees from Australia were planted to act as windbreaks.", "Of the 200 species of plants on Midway, 75 percent are non-native.", "Recent efforts have focused on removing non-native plant species and re-planting native species.Lead paint on the buildings posed an environmental hazard (avian lead poisoning) to the albatross population of the island.", "In 2018, a project to strip the paint was completed.===Pollution===Marine debris with Laysan albatross chicksMidway Atoll, in common with all the Hawaiian Islands, receives substantial amounts of marine debris from the Great Pacific garbage patch.", "Consisting of 90 percent plastic, approximately 20 tons of this debris accumulates on the beaches of Midway every year.", "The garbage is hazardous to the island's bird population: approximately 5 tons of debris is fed to Albatross chicks by their parents, but the debris is often collected by the parents while they are out at sea.", "The U.S.", "Fish and Wildlife Service estimates at least of plastic washes up every week.Of the 1.5 million Laysan Albatrosses that inhabit Midway during the winter breeding season, nearly all are found to have plastic in their digestive system.", "Approximately one third of the chicks die.", "These deaths are attributed to the albatrosses confusing brightly colored plastic with marine animals (such as squid and fish) for food.", "Recent results suggest that oceanic plastic develops a chemical olfactory signature that is normally used by seabirds to locate food items.Because albatross chicks do not develop the reflex to regurgitate until they are four months old, they cannot expel the plastic pieces.", "Albatrosses are not the only species to suffer from the plastic pollution; sea turtles and monk seals also consume the debris.", "A variety of plastic items wash upon the shores, from cigarette lighters to toothbrushes and toys.", "An albatross on Midway can have up to 50 percent of its intestinal tract filled with plastic." ], [ "Transportation", "The usual method of reaching Sand Island, Midway Atoll's only populated island, is on chartered aircraft landing at Sand Island's Henderson Field, which also functions as an emergency diversion point runway for transpacific flights.", "In 2011 a Boeing 747-400 (Delta flight 277) traveling from Hawaii to Japan made an emergency landing at Henderson Field due to a cracked windshield.", "Employees of the US National Wildlife Refuge, who were working on the atoll, assisted the landing and cared for the nearly 380 passengers and crew for eight hours until a back-up plane arrived.", "No injuries were reported.", "MDY Approach." ], [ "See also", "Desert islandLists of islandsList of national memorials of the United States" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "===Natural history===Hubert, Mabel, Carl Frings, and H. Franklin – ''Sounds of Midway: Calls of Albatrosses of Midway.", "''Mearns, Edgar Alexander – ''A List of the Birds Collected by Dr. Paul Bartsch in the Philippine Islands, Borneo, Guam, and Midway Island, with Descriptions of Three New Forms.", "''===Military history===*******" ], [ "External links", " U.S.", "Fish & Wildlife Service Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial (this article incorporated some content from this public domain site)* Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – Midway * Diary from the middle of nowhere BBC's environment correspondent David Shukman reports on the threat of plastic rubbish drifting in the North Pacific Gyre to Midway.", "Accessed 2008-03-26.", "* ''The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific,'' a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan* ''Marines at Midway: by Lieutenant Colonel R.D.", "Heinl, Jr., USMC Historical Section, Division of Public Information Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps 1948,''* Past residents of Midway Discussion of Midway related topics by former residents and those interested in Midway.", "* Midway Atoll Today (2010)* Island Conservation: Midway Atoll Restoration Project" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Moldova" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Moldova''' ( , ; ), officially the '''Republic of Moldova''' (), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, on the northeastern corner of the Balkans.", "The country spans a total of 33,483 km2 (13,067 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 2.5 million as of January 2023.Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south.", "The unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester river on the country's eastern border with Ukraine.", "Moldova is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with its capital in Chișinău, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.Most of Moldovan territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia from the 14th century until 1812, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal state) and became known as Bessarabia.", "In 1856, southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia, which three years later united with Wallachia to form Romania, but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878.During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Bessarabia briefly became an autonomous state within the Russian Republic.", "In February 1918, it declared independence and then integrated into Romania later that year following a vote of its assembly.", "The decision was disputed by Soviet Russia, which in 1924 established, within the Ukrainian SSR, a so-called Moldavian autonomous republic on partially Moldovan-inhabited territories to the east of Bessarabia.", "In 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, leading to the creation of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR).On 27 August 1991, as the dissolution of the Soviet Union was underway, the Moldavian SSR declared independence and took the name Moldova.", "However, the strip of Moldovan territory on the east bank of the Dniester has been under the ''de facto'' control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.The constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994, and the country became a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government.", "Under the presidency of Maia Sandu, elected in 2020 on a pro-Western and anti-corruption ticket, Moldova has pursued membership of the European Union, and was granted candidate status in June 2022.Accession talks to the EU began on 13 December 2023.Sandu has also suggested an end to Moldova's constitutional commitment to military neutrality in favour of a closer alliance with NATO and strongly condemned Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.Moldova is the second poorest country in Europe by GDP per official capita after Ukraine and much of its GDP is dominated by the service sector.", "It has one of the lowest Human Development Indexes in Europe, ranking 76th in the world (2022).", "Moldova ranks 60th in the world on the Global Innovation Index .", "Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and the Association Trio." ], [ "Etymology", "The name ''Moldova'' is derived from the Moldova River (); the valley of this river served as a political centre at the time of the foundation of the Principality of Moldavia in 1359.The origin of the name of the river remains unclear.", "According to a legend recounted by Moldavian chroniclers Dimitrie Cantemir and Grigore Ureche, Prince Dragoș named the river after hunting aurochs: following the chase, the prince's exhausted hound ''Molda (Seva)'' drowned in the river.", "The dog's name, given to the river, extended to the principality.For a short time in the 1990s, at the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the name of the current Republic of Moldova was also spelled ''Moldavia''.", "After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country began to use the Romanian name, ''Moldova''.", "Officially, the name ''Republic of Moldova'' is designated by the United Nations." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory===Extent of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, 4,000 BCThe prehistory of Moldova covers the period from the Upper Paleolithic which begins with the presence of Homo sapiens in the area of Southeastern Europe some 44,000 years ago and extends into the appearance of the first written records in Classical Antiquity in Greece.", "In 2010, Oldowan flint tools were discovered at Bayraki that are 800,000–1.2 million years old.", "During the Neolithic Age, Moldova's territory stood at the centre of the large Cucuteni–Trypillia culture that stretched east beyond the Dniester River in Ukraine and west up to and beyond the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.", "The people of this civilization, which lasted roughly from 5500 to 2750 BC, practised agriculture, raised livestock, hunted, and made intricately designed pottery.===Antiquity and the early Middle Ages===This area of present-day Moldova was inhabited by ancient Dacians and Moldovans identify themselves with their ancestors.", "Carpian tribes also inhabited Moldova's territory in the period of classical antiquity.", "Between the first and seventh centuries AD, the south came intermittently under the control of the Roman and then the Byzantine Empires.", "Due to its strategic location on a route between Asia and Europe, the territory of modern Moldova experienced many invasions in late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, notably by Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Mongols and Tatars.In the 11th century, a Viking by the name of Rodfos was possibly killed in the area by the Blakumen who betrayed him.", "In 1164, the future Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, while attempting to reach the Principality of Halych, was taken prisoner by Vlachs, possibly in the area which now constitutes Moldova.The East Slavic Hypatian Chronicle (13th century) mentions the Bolohoveni people, who resided on the eastern fringes of Moldovan territory and in the Rus' principalities of Halych, Volhynia and Kyiv; their ethnic origin is disputed by historians.", "Archaeological research has identified the location of 13th-century fortified settlements in this region.", "The Bolohoveni disappeared from written chronicles after they were defeated in 1257 by Daniel of Galicia.", "In the early 13th century, the ''Brodniks'', a possible Slavic–Vlach vassal tribe of Halych, were also present in much of the region's territory.===Founding of the Principality of Moldavia===Dragoș, a Vlach voivode and founder of the Principality of Moldavia, 19th-century depictionThe Principality of Moldavia began when a Vlach voivode (military leader), Dragoș, arrived in the region of the Moldova River.", "His people from the voivodeship at Maramureș soon followed.", "Dragoș established a polity as a vassal to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 1350s.", "The independence of the Principality of Moldavia came when Bogdan I, another Vlach voivode from Maramureș who had fallen out with the Hungarian king, crossed the Carpathian mountains in 1359 and took control of Moldavia, wresting the region from Hungary.", "The Principality of Moldavia was bounded by the Carpathian Mountains in the west, the Dniester River in the east, and the Danube River and Black Sea to the south.", "Its territory comprised the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern eight counties of Romania, and parts of the Chernivtsi Oblast and Budjak region of present-day Ukraine.", "Locals referred to the principality as ''Moldova'' – like the present-day republic and Romania's north-eastern region.===Between Poland and Hungary===The history of what is today Moldova has been intertwined with that of Poland for centuries.", "The Polish chronicler Jan Długosz mentioned Moldavians as having joined a military expedition in 1342, under King Ladislaus I, against the Margraviate of Brandenburg.", "The Polish state was powerful enough to counter the Hungarian Kingdom which was consistently interested in bringing the area that would become Moldavia into its political orbit.Ties between Poland and Moldavia expanded after the founding of the Moldavian state by Bogdan of Cuhea, a Vlach voivode from Maramureș who had fallen out with the Hungarian king.", "Crossing the Carpathian mountains in 1359, the voivode took control of Moldavia and succeeded in creating Moldavia as an independent political entity.", "Despite being disfavored by the brief union of Angevin Poland and Hungary (the latter was still the country's overlord), Bogdan's successor Lațcu, the Moldavian ruler also likely allied himself with the Poles.", "Lațcu also accepted conversion to Roman Catholicism around 1370, but his gesture was to remain without consequences.====Polish influence grows====Petru I profited from the end of the Polish-Hungarian union and moved the country closer to the Jagiellon realm, becoming a vassal of king Jogaila of Poland on 26 September 1387.This gesture was to have unexpected consequences: Petru supplied the Polish ruler with funds needed in the war against the Teutonic Knights, and was granted control over Pokuttya until the debt was to be repaid; as this is not recorded to have been carried out, the region became disputed by the two states, until it was lost by Moldavia in the Battle of Obertyn (1531).", "Prince Petru also expanded his rule southwards to the Danube Delta.", "His brother Roman I conquered the Hungarian-ruled Cetatea Albă in 1392, giving Moldavia an outlet to the Black Sea, before being toppled from the throne for supporting Fyodor Koriatovych in his conflict with Vytautas the Great of Lithuania.", "Under Stephen I, growing Polish influence was challenged by Sigismund of Hungary, whose expedition was defeated at Ghindăoani in 1385; however, Stephen disappeared in mysterious circumstances.Although Alexander I was brought to the throne in 1400 by the Hungarians (with assistance from Mircea I of Wallachia), this ruler shifted his allegiances towards Poland (notably engaging Moldavian forces on the Polish side in the Battle of Grunwald and the siege of Marienburg), and placed his own choice of rulers in Wallachia.", "His reign was one of the most successful in Moldavia's history.===Increasing Ottoman influence===Stephen the Great, several authors believed the Soroca Fort was constructed on the site of a former Genoese fortress named ''Olhionia''.Administrative map of the Principality of Moldavia in 1483, with surrounding statesFor all of his success, it was under the reign of Alexander I that the first confrontation with the Ottoman Turks took place at Cetatea Albă in 1420.A deep crisis was to follow Alexander l's long reign, with his successors battling each other in a succession of wars that divided the country until the murder of Bogdan II and the accession of Peter Aaron in 1451.Nevertheless, Moldavia was subject to further Hungarian interventions after that moment, as Matthias Corvinus deposed Aaron and backed Alexăndrel to the throne in Suceava.", "Peter Aaron's rule also signified the beginning of Moldavia's Ottoman Empire allegiance, as the ruler was the first to agree to pay tribute to Sultan Mehmed II.====Moldavia at its apogee====Peter Aaron was eventually ousted by his nephew, Stephen the Great who would become the most important medieval Moldavian ruler who managed to uphold Moldavia's autonomy against Hungary, Poland and the Ottoman Empire.", "Under his rule, which lasted 47 years, Moldavia experienced a glorious political and cultural period.====Age of Invasions====During this time, Moldavia was invaded repeatedly by Crimean Tatars and, beginning in the 15th century, by the Ottoman Turks.", "In 1538, the principality became a tributary to the Ottoman Empire, but it retained internal and partial external autonomy.", "Nonetheless, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to strongly influence Moldavia both through national politics as well as on the local level through significant intermarriage between Moldavian nobility and the Polish szlachta.", "When in May 1600, Michael the Brave removed Ieremia Movilă from Moldavia's throne by winning the battle of Bacău, briefly reuniting under his rule Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, a Polish army led by Jan Zamoyski drove the Wallachians from Moldavia.", "Zamoyski reinstalled Ieremia Movilă to the throne, who put the country under the vassalage of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.", "Moldavia finally returned to Ottoman vassalage in 1621.====Transnistria====While the region of Transnistria was never politically part of the Principality of Moldavia, there were sizable areas which were owned by Moldavian boyars or the Moldavian rulers.", "The earliest surviving deeds referring to lands beyond the Dniester river date from the 16th century.", "Moldavian chronicler Grigore Ureche mentions that in 1584 some Moldavian villages from beyond the Dniester in the Kingdom of Poland were attacked and plundered by Cossacks.", "Many Moldavians were members of Cossacks units, with two of them, Ioan Potcoavă and Dănilă Apostol becoming hetmans of Ukraine.", "Ruxandra Lupu, the daughter of Moldavian voivode Vasile Lupu who married Tymish Khmelnytsky, lived in Rașcov according to Ukrainian tradition.While most of today's Moldova came into the Ottoman orbit in the 16th century, a substantial part of Transnistria remained a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793.===Russian Empire===Territorial changes of Moldavia following the Treaty of Bucharest 1812.In accordance with the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812, and despite numerous protests by Moldavian nobles on behalf of the sovereignty of their principality, the Ottoman Empire (of which Moldavia was a vassal) ceded to the Russian Empire the eastern half of the territory of the Principality of Moldavia along with Khotyn and old Bessarabia (modern Budjak), which Russia had already conquered and annexed.", "The new Russian province was called Oblast of Moldavia and Bessarabia, and initially enjoyed a large degree of autonomy.", "After 1828 this autonomy was progressively restricted and in 1871 the Oblast was transformed into the Bessarabia Governorate, in a process of state-imposed assimilation, Russification.", "As part of this process, the Tsarist administration in Bessarabia gradually removed the Romanian language from official and religious use.====Union with Romania and the return of the Russians====The Treaty of Paris (1856) returned the southern part of Bessarabia (later organised as the Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail counties) to Moldavia, which remained an autonomous principality and, in 1859, united with Wallachia to form Romania.", "In 1878, as a result of the Treaty of Berlin, Romania was forced to cede the three counties back to the Russian Empire.====A multiethnic colonization====Over the 19th century, the Russian authorities encouraged the colonization of Bessarabia or parts of it by Romanians (Budjak), Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Bulgarians, Poles, and Gagauzes, primarily in the northern and southern areas vacated by Turks and Nogais, the latter having been expelled in the 1770s and 1780s, during the Russo-Turkish Wars; the inclusion of the province in the Pale of Settlement also allowed the immigration of more Bessarabian Jews.", "The Romanian proportion of the population decreased from an estimated 86% in 1816, to around 52% in 1905.During this time there were anti-Semitic riots, leading to an exodus of thousands of Jews to the United States.A map of Greater Romania between 1920 and 1940.====Russian Revolution====World War I brought in a rise in political and cultural (ethnic) awareness among the inhabitants of the region, as 300,000 Bessarabians were drafted into the Russian Army formed in 1917; within bigger units several \"Moldavian Soldiers' Committees\" were formed.", "Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, a Bessarabian parliament, Sfatul Țării (a National Council), was elected in October–November 1917 and opened on .", "The Sfatul Țării proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic () within a federal Russian state, and formed a government ().=== Greater Romania ===After the Romanian army occupied the region in early January 1918 at the request of the National Council, Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia on and requested the assistance of the French army present in Romania (general Henri Berthelot) and of the Romanian Army.", "On , the Sfatul Țării decided with 86 votes for, 3 against and 36 abstaining, to unite with the Kingdom of Romania.", "The union was conditional upon fulfilment of the agrarian reform, autonomy, and respect for universal human rights.", "A part of the interim Parliament agreed to drop these conditions after Bukovina and Transylvania also joined the Kingdom of Romania, although historians note that they lacked the quorum to do so.This union was recognized by most of the principal Allied Powers in the 1920 Treaty of Paris, which however was not ratified by all of its signatories.", "The newly Soviet Russia did not recognize Romanian rule over Bessarabia, considering it an occupation of Russian territory.", "Uprisings against Romanian rule took place in 1919 at Khotyn and Bender, but were eventually suppressed by the Romanian Army.In May 1919, the Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as a government in exile.", "After the failure of the Tatarbunary Uprising in 1924, the Moldavian Autonomous Region, created earlier in the Transnistria region, was elevated to an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Ukrainian SSR.===World War II and Soviet era===Monument to the villagers who died in World War II, the village Cojușna, Strășeni District.====Annexation by the USSR====In August 1939, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its secret additional protocol were signed, by which Nazi Germany recognized Bessarabia as being within the Soviet sphere of influence, which led the latter to actively revive its claim to the region.", "On 28 June 1940, the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Romania requesting the cession of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, with which Romania complied the following day.", "Soon after, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR, MSSR) was established, comprising about 65% of Bessarabia, and 50% of the now-disbanded Moldavian ASSR (the present-day Transnistria).", "Ethnic Germans left in 1940.====Reincorporation into Romania and the Soviet occupation====As part of the 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania regained the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, and seized a territory which became known as Transnistria Governorate.", "Romanian forces, working with the Germans, deported or massacred about 300,000 Jews , including 147,000 from Bessarabia and Bukovina.", "Of the latter, approximately 90,000 died.", "Between 1941 and 1944 partisan detachments acted against the Romanian administration.", "The Soviet Army re-captured the region in February–August 1944, and re-established the Moldavian SSR.", "Between the end of the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in August 1944 and the end of the war in May 1945, 256,800 inhabitants of the Moldavian SSR were drafted into the Soviet Army.", "40,592 of them perished.Bessarabia Germans evacuating after the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia in 1940.During the periods 1940–1941 and 1944–1953, deportations of locals to the northern Urals, to Siberia, and northern Kazakhstan occurred regularly, with the largest ones on 12–13 June 1941, and 5–6 July 1949, accounting from MSSR alone for 18,392 and 35,796 deportees respectively.", "Other forms of Soviet persecution of the population included political arrests or, in 8,360 cases, execution.====Moldova in the USSR after World War II====In 1946, as a result of a severe drought and excessive delivery quota obligations and requisitions imposed by the Soviet government, the southwestern part of the USSR suffered from a major famine.", "In 1946–1947, at least 216,000 deaths and about 350,000 cases of dystrophy were accounted by historians in the Moldavian SSR alone.", "Similar events occurred in the 1930s in the Moldavian ASSR.", "In 1944–53, there were several anti-Soviet resistance groups in Moldova; however the NKVD and later MGB managed to eventually arrest, execute or deport their members.In the postwar period, the Soviet government organized the immigration of working age Russian speakers (mostly Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians), into the new Soviet republic, especially into urbanized areas, partly to compensate for the demographic loss caused by the war and the emigration of 1940 and 1944.In the 1970s and 1980s, the Moldavian SSR received substantial allocations from the budget of the USSR to develop industrial and scientific facilities and housing.", "In 1971, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision \"About the measures for further development of the city of Kishinev\" (modern Chișinău), that allotted more than one billion roubles (approximately 6.8 billion in 2018 US dollars) from the USSR budget for building projects.Bălți in Soviet Moldavia in 1985The Soviet government conducted a campaign to promote a Moldovan ethnic identity distinct from that of the Romanians, based on a theory developed during the existence of the Moldavian ASSR.", "Official Soviet policy asserted that the language spoken by Moldovans was distinct from the Romanian language (see Moldovenism).", "To distinguish the two, during the Soviet period, Moldovan was written in the Cyrillic alphabet, in contrast with Romanian, which since 1860 had been written in the Latin alphabet.All independent organizations were severely reprimanded, with the National Patriotic Front leaders being sentenced in 1972 to long prison terms.", "The Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova is assessing the activity of the communist totalitarian regime.====Glasnost and Perestroika====In the 1980s, amid political conditions created by glasnost and perestroika, a Democratic Movement of Moldova was formed, which in 1989 became known as the nationalist Popular Front of Moldova (FPM).", "Along with several other Soviet republics, from 1988 onwards, Moldova started to move towards independence.", "On 27 August 1989, the FPM organized a mass demonstration in Chișinău that became known as the Grand National Assembly.", "The assembly pressured the authorities of the Moldavian SSR to adopt a language law on 31 August 1989 that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR.", "Its identity with the Romanian language was also established.", "In 1989, as opposition to the Communist Party grew, there were major riots in November.===Independence and aftermath===Deputy Gheorghe Ghimpu replaces the Soviet flag on the Parliament with the Romanian flag on 27 April 1990.The first democratic elections for the local parliament were held in February and March 1990.Mircea Snegur was elected as Speaker of the Parliament, and Mircea Druc as Prime Minister.", "On 23 June 1990, the Parliament adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the \"Soviet Socialist Republic Moldova\", which, among other things, stipulated the supremacy of Moldovan laws over those of the Soviet Union.", "After the failure of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, Moldova declared its independence on 27 August 1991.On 21 December of the same year, Moldova, along with most of the other Soviet republics, signed the constitutive act that formed the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).", "Moldova received official recognition on 25 December.", "On 26 December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.", "Declaring itself a neutral state, Moldova did not join the military branch of the CIS.", "Three months later, on 2 March 1992, the country gained formal recognition as an independent state at the United Nations.", "In 1994, Moldova became a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, and a member of the Council of Europe on 29 June 1995.====Transnistria breaks away (1990 to present)====In the region east of the Dniester river, Transnistria, which includes a large proportion of predominantly russophone East Slavs of Ukrainian (28%) and Russian (26%) descent (altogether 54% as of 1989), an independent Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 16 August 1990, with its capital in Tiraspol.", "The motives behind this move were fear of the rise of nationalism in Moldova.", "In the winter of 1991–1992, clashes occurred between Transnistrian forces, supported by elements of the Russian 14th Guards Army, and the Moldovan police.", "Between 2 March and 26 July 1992, the conflict escalated into a military engagement.", "It was a brief war between Moldovan and separatist Transnistrian forces, with Russia intervening militarily on Transnistria's side.", "It ended with a ceasefire and the establishment of a security zone policed by a three-way peacekeeping force of Russian, Transnistrian, and Moldovan personnel.==== Market economy (1992) ====On 2 January 1992, Moldova introduced a market economy, liberalizing prices, which resulted in rapid inflation.", "From 1992 to 2001, the country suffered a serious economic crisis, leaving most of the population below the poverty line.", "In 1993, the Government of Moldova introduced a new national currency, the Moldovan leu, to replace the temporary cupon.", "The economy of Moldova began to change in 2001; and until 2008, the country saw a steady annual growth between 5% and 10%.", "The early 2000s also saw a considerable growth of emigration of Moldovans looking for work (mostly illegally) in Russia (especially the Moscow region), Italy, Portugal, Spain, and other countries; remittances from Moldovans abroad account for almost 38% of Moldova's GDP, the second-highest percentage in the world, after Tajikistan (45%).====Elections: 1994–2009====In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the Agrarian Party gained a majority of the seats, setting a turning point in Moldovan politics.", "With the nationalist Popular Front now in a parliamentary minority, new measures aiming to moderate the ethnic tensions in the country could be adopted.", "Plans for a union with Romania were abandoned, and the new Constitution gave autonomy to the breakaway Transnistria and Gagauzia.", "On 23 December 1994, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a \"Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia\", and in 1995, the latter was constituted.Protests outside the Parliament building in 2009After winning the 1996 presidential elections, on 15 January 1997, Petru Lucinschi, the former First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party in 1989–91, became the country's second president (1997–2001), succeeding Mircea Snegur (1991–1996).", "In 2000, the Constitution was amended, transforming Moldova into a parliamentary republic, with the president being chosen through indirect election rather than direct popular vote.Winning 49.9% of the vote, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (reinstituted in 1993 after being outlawed in 1991), gained 71 of the 101 MPs, and on 4 April 2001, elected Vladimir Voronin as the country's third president (re-elected in 2005).", "The country became the first post-Soviet state where a non-reformed Communist Party returned to power.", "New governments were formed by Vasile Tarlev (19 April 2001 – 31 March 2008), and Zinaida Greceanîi (31 March 2008 – 14 September 2009).", "In 2001–2003, relations between Moldova and Russia improved, but then temporarily deteriorated in 2003–2006, in the wake of the failure of the Kozak memorandum, culminating in the 2006 wine exports crisis.", "The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova managed to stay in power for eight years.In the April 2009 parliamentary elections, the Communist Party won 49.48% of the votes, followed by the Liberal Party with 13.14% of the votes, the Liberal Democratic Party with 12.43%, and the Alliance \"Moldova Noastră\" with 9.77%.", "The controversial results of this election sparked the April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protests.==== Stalemate 2009–2012 ====In August 2009, four Moldovan parties (Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, Democratic Party, and Our Moldova Alliance) agreed to create the Alliance For European Integration that pushed the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova into opposition.", "On 28 August 2009, this coalition chose a new parliament speaker (Mihai Ghimpu) in a vote that was boycotted by Communist legislators.", "Vladimir Voronin, who had been President of Moldova since 2001, eventually resigned on 11 September 2009, but the Parliament failed to elect a new president.", "The acting president Mihai Ghimpu instituted the Commission for constitutional reform in Moldova to adopt a new version of the Constitution of Moldova.", "After the constitutional referendum aimed to approve the reform failed in September 2010, the parliament was dissolved again and a new parliamentary election was scheduled for 28 November 2010.On 30 December 2010, Marian Lupu was elected as the Speaker of the Parliament and the acting President of the Republic of Moldova.", "In March 2012, Nicolae Timofti was elected as president of Moldova in a parliamentary vote, becoming the first full-time president since Vladimir Voronin, a Communist, resigned in September 2009.Before the election of Timofti, Moldova had had three acting presidents in three years.", "After the Alliance for European Integration lost a no confidence vote, the Pro-European Coalition was formed on 30 May 2013.====Banking crisis====In November 2014, Moldova's central bank took control of ''Banca de Economii'', the country's largest lender, and two smaller institutions, ''Banca Sociala'' and ''Unibank''.", "Investigations into activities at these three banks uncovered large-scale fraud by means of fraudulent loans to business entities controlled by a Moldovan-Israeli business oligarch, Ilan Shor, of funds worth about 1 billion U.S. dollars.", "The large scale of the fraud compared to the size of the Moldovan economy is cited as tilting the country's politics in favour of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova.", "Shor was convicted of fraud and money-laundering and sentenced to 15 years in prison.====Pavel Filip's government (2016–2019)====Following a period of political instability and massive public protests, a new government led by Pavel Filip was invested in January 2016.Concerns over statewide corruption, the independence of the judiciary system, and the nontransparency of the banking system were expressed.", "Germany's broadcaster Deutsche Welle also raised concerns about the alleged influence of Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc over the Filip government.In the December 2016 presidential election, Socialist, pro-Russian Igor Dodon was elected as the new president of the republic.====2019 constitutional crisis====In 2019, from 7 to 15 June, the Moldovan government went through a period of dual power in what is known as the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis.", "On 7 June, the Constitutional Court, which is largely believed to be controlled by Vladimir Plahotniuc from the Democratic Party, announced that they had temporarily removed the sitting president, Igor Dodon, from power due to his 'inability' to call new parliamentary elections as the parliament did not form a coalition within three months of the validation of the election results.", "According to Moldovan constitutional law, the president may call snap elections if no government is formed after three months.", "However, on 8 June, the NOW Platform DA and PAS reached an agreement with the Socialist party forming a government led by Maia Sandu as the new prime minister, pushing the Democratic Party out of power.", "This new government was also supported by Igor Dodon.", "The new coalition and Igor Dodon argued that the president may call snap elections after consulting the parliament but is not obliged to do so.", "Additionally, because the election results were verified on 9 March, three months should be interpreted as three calendar months, not 90 days as was the case.", "The former prime minister, Pavel Filip from the Democratic Party, said that new parliamentary elections would be held on 6 September and refused to recognize the new coalition, calling it an illegal government.", "After a week of dual government meetings, some protest, and the international community mostly supporting the new government coalition, Pavel Filip stepped down as prime minister but still called for new elections.", "The Constitutional Court reversed the decision on 15 June, effectively ending the crisis.====COVID-19 pandemic====In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government called a \"national red code alert\" as the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to six on 13 March 2020.Government \"banned all gatherings of over 50 people until 1 April 2020 and closed all schools and kindergartens in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus\".", "Flights were banned to Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, the U.K., Poland, Portugal and Romania.", "On 17 March, Parliament declared a state of emergency for at least 60 days, suspended all international flights and closed borders with neighbours Romania and Ukraine.", "Moldova reported 29 cases of the disease on 17 March 2020.The country reported its first death from the disease on 18 March 2020, when the total number of cases reached 30.According to the World Health Organization, between 3 January 2020 and 28 June 2023, there have been 620,717 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 12,124 deaths.", ", a total of 2,288,948 vaccine doses have been administered.", "Moldova is among the first countries in the WHO European Region to conduct a COVID-19 intra-action review (IAR) upon the request of Moldova's Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection.=== Presidency of Maia Sandu since 2020 ===Maia Sandu at Batumi International Conference, on 19 July 2021.In the November 2020 presidential election, the pro-European opposition candidate Maia Sandu was elected as the new president of the republic, defeating incumbent pro-Russian president Igor Dodon and thus becoming the first female elected president of Moldova.In December 2020, Prime Minister Ion Chicu, who had led a pro-Russian government since November 2019, resigned a day before Sandu was sworn in.", "The parliament, dominated by pro-Russian Socialists, did not accept any Prime Minister candidate proposed by the new president.On 28 April 2021, Sandu dissolved the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova after the Constitutional Court ended Moldova's state of emergency which had been brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.", "Parliamentary elections took place on 11 July 2021.The snap parliamentary elections resulted in a landslide win for the pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).On 6 August 2021, the Natalia Gavrilița-led cabinet was sworn in to office with 61 votes, all from the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).", "Gavrilița resigned on 10 February 2023 and was replaced by Dorin Recean as Prime Minister of Moldova.Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Maia Sandu, President of Moldova on 31 May 2023.Since Maia Sandu was elected President of Moldova, the country has pursued the goal of full membership of the European Union by 2030 as well as deeper co-operation with NATO.", "This resulted in Moldova signing the membership application to join the EU on 3 March 2022 and on 23 June 2022, Moldova was officially granted candidate status by EU leaders.Fighting corruption has been a major government initiative, one also essential to EU membership.", "On 8 June 2021, Sandu signed off on the creation of an extra-governmental corruption monitoring body after declaring the state's own institutions \"too slow\".", "The six-member panel of the 'Anticorruption Independent Consultative Committee' will be co-chaired by United States diplomat James Wasserstrom, includes economists, jurists and journalists and is partially funded by the European Union and United States.", "This was followed by the Moldovan government suspending the Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo in relation to charges of corruption, former Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca was charged with abuse of power, the former President Igor Dodon was arrested by the Moldovan authorities on charges of corruption for the receipt of bribes.Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused significant economic turmoil in Moldova throughout 2022, in particular due to its reliance at that time on Russian oil and gas, with annual inflation surging to 22% and growth falling from a post-COVID surge of 14% to 0.3%.", "In response to these shockwaves, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) put a total of €2bn (£1.74bn) into the Moldovan economy and helped it secure gas supplies, a fivefold increase over 2021., Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean confirmed that the country is 100% independent of Russian oil and natural gas.", "He stated that \"Moldova no longer consumes Russian gas, it is integrated in the European energy network both technically and commercially.", "\"On 19 June 2023 the pro-Russian Șor Party was banned by the Constitutional Court of Moldova after months of pro-Russian protests seeking to destabilise the Moldovan government.", "The court declared the party unconstitutional, with court chairman Nicolae Roșca citing \"an article in the constitution stating that parties must through their activities uphold political pluralism, the rule of law and the territorial integrity of Moldova.\"", "The party was led by Ilan Shor, a fugitive businessman who fled to Israel in 2019 after being convicted of fraud and money-laundering and sentenced to 15 years in prison ''in absentia''.", "President Sandu welcomed the court's decision.", "On 26 June, Ilan Shor announced that he would create a new political party in order to contest the upcoming general election.", "On 31 July, the Moldovan parliament voted in favour of banning the leaders of the dissolved pro-Russian Șor Party – including Ilan Shor – from standing in elections for a period of five years.", "Leader and founder of the party, Ilan Șor, currently a fugitive of the state, has claimed he will contest the ban.", "A clone party, called \"ȘANSĂ\" or Chance party, led by journalist Alexei Lungu was established by Ilan Shor, however it was deregistered two days before the local elections amid claims of using illegal funds from Russia.==== Russia related events since the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine ====In February 2022 Sandu condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it \"a blatant breach of international law and of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.", "\"President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, with President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, 27 June 2022.Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita stated on 28 February 2022 that Moldova should rapidly move to become a member of the European Union despite Russian objections.According to Bloomberg, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine took place, the Moldovan government's computer systems used for security operations along the Ukraine border came under attack from Russia.", "\"As the war progressed, pro-Russian social media accounts spread false claims designed to discredit the Moldovan government, and trolls bombarded Moldovan authorities with thousands of fake bomb threats.", "In August, hackers breached email servers used by the Moldovan president's office; in November, hackers also published thousands of private messages they claimed to have stolen from Ana Revenco, Moldova's minister of internal affairs, and Sergiu Litvinenco, who was then serving as minister of justice.\"", "A sustained campaign of cyberwarfare from Russia against Moldova has continued with the war, with \"denial-of-service attempts to flood Moldovan government websites with traffic and force them offline.", "There's also been a sustained campaign of phishing emails targeting government accounts, with more than 1,300 received in early 2023.", "\"According to the UNHCR, since 24 February 2022, more than 780,000 Ukrainian refugees were permitted to cross the border into Moldova.", "Of that number, some 107,000 chose to remain in Moldova, the rest seeking asylum further afield.The country has received praise from the United Nations for its efforts to protect Ukrainian refugees, despite being among the poorest nations in Europe.", "About 75% of the Ukrainian refugees in Moldova have been hosted by ordinary Moldovan families, sharing their homes with their new guests.The government's own efforts have been aided by Moldovans for Peace, an NGO civic initiative to provide help to Ukrainian refugees.", "The World Health Organization has stated that \"The Republic of Moldova's authorities and humanitarian entities have demonstrated leadership in responding to the needs of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.", "\"On 26 April 2022, authorities from the Transnistria region said two transmitting antennas broadcasting Russian radio programs at Grigoriopol transmitter broadcasting facility near the town of Maiac in the Grigoriopol District near the Ukrainian border had been blown up and the previous evening, the premises of the Transnistrian state security service had been attacked.Russian soldiers in Tiraspol, Transnistria.The Russian army has a military base and a large ammunition dump in the region.", "Russia has about 1,500 soldiers stationed in breakaway Transnistria.", "They are supposed to serve there as peacekeepers.", "In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized Transnistria as \"a Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.\"", "On 24 February, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that an attack \"on Transnistria would be \"an attack on the Russian Federation.\"", "According to ''The Kyiv Independent,'' \"There is speculation that this is a facade for a Russian plan to invade or destabilize Moldova.\"", "President Sandu dismissed that Moldova intended to invade Transnistria and called for calm.The Moldovan government expressed its alarm and concern in April 2023 when Russian soldiers stationed in Transnistria undertook military manoeuvres without seeking Chișinău's consent.", "The Security Zone is managed by the Unified Control Commission (UCC) which consists of representatives from Moldova, Russia, and the separatist regime in Tiraspol.", "\"Between February and April, Russian armoured military equipment moved outside the range of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces.", "The manoeuvre was not coordinated with the Unified Control Commission.\"", "On 8 May, Transnistria's envoy to Moscow, Leonid Manakov, publicly requested that Russia should send more Russian soldiers into Transnistria because of what it called \"growing security risks\" from Ukraine and Moldova.", "Manakov also stated that \"As long as Russia's peacekeeping mission continues, Moldova is constrained in any military plans and preparations against Trandsniestria\".", "Moldova's prime minister, Dorin Recean, said that Russian troops should be expelled from the region.On 31 October 2022, Moldova's Interior Ministry said that debris from a Russian missile landed in the northern village of Naslavcea after a Russian fusillade was intercepted by air defenses in neighboring Ukraine.", "The Ministry reported no people were hurt but the windows of several residential homes were shattered.", "The Russian strike was targeting a Ukrainian dam on the Nistru river that runs through Moldova and Ukraine.", "On 5 December, another missile fell near the city of Briceni as Russia launched another wave of missile strikes against Ukraine.", "Yet another missile fell into Larga on 14 January 2023 as a result of another wave of missile strikes against Ukraine and again on the same village on 16 February of the same year.", "On 25 September, a missile crashed into Chițcani, for the first time in Moldovan territory controlled by Transnistria.", "On 11 February 2024, fragments of a Russian drone were found in the village of Etulia.", "This happened again on 17 February in Etulia Nouă.Russia's '10 year plan', written in 2021, was leaked to the international press, involved supporting pro-Russian groups, utilizing the Orthodox Church and threatening to cut off supplies of natural gas with the aim to destabilise Moldova.In February 2023 an attempted coup by a series of Russian-backed actors was uncovered involving saboteurs with military training dressed in civilian clothes to stage attacks (including on state buildings), and take hostages.", "The Moldovan government was to be overthrown and replaced with a puppet government.", "The plan allegedly involved an alliance between criminal groups and two exiled Moldovan oligarchs.", "President Sandu said Russian, Montenegrin, Belarusian, and Serbian citizens were to enter Moldova to incite protests as part of the coup plan; Moldovan intelligence believes foreign provocateurs would be used to foment violent unrest during the anti-government protests.", "Foreign citizens were also to be involved in violent actions.", "Sandu credited Ukrainian partners for uncovering locations and logistical aspects of the plot.", "In a 10 March briefing, United States National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby made public information about Russian efforts to destabilise Moldova obtained by the U.S. Kirby stated the U.S. government believes Russia to be pursuing destabilisation efforts in Moldova with the ultimate goal of replacing the existing Moldovan government with one that would be more friendly to Russian interests.In July 2023, opposition politician Oleg Khorzhan, a pro-Russian critic of the Transnistrian government, and leader of the local Transnistrian Communist Party in the breakaway Transnistria region, was found dead in his home on the outskirts of Tiraspol.", "He had been released from prison for less than a year.", "Reports suggest he had been either shot dead or stabbed, with other reports suggesting signs of torture.", "The Moldovan National Police has opened an active investigation into his presumed murder." ], [ "Politics", "The Moldovan ParliamentThe Republic of Moldova is a constitutional republic with a unicameral parliamentary system of government and competitive, multi-party elections.", "The constitution provides for executive and legislative branches as well as an independent judiciary and a clear separation of powers.", "The president serves as the head of state, is elected every four years, and can be re-elected once.", "The prime minister serves as the head of government, appointed by the president with parliament's support.", "The head of government in turn assembles a cabinet, subject to parliamentary approval.", "Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral Parliament of Moldova which has 101 seats and whose members are elected by popular vote on party lists every four years.", "The president's official residence is the Presidential Palace, Chișinău.After the prime minister and government resigned in 2020 and the president and parliament failed to form a new government, early parliamentary elections were held in July 2021.According to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers, the 2021 parliamentary elections were well-administered and competitive, and fundamental freedoms were largely respected.", "The Party of Action and Solidarity won 63 seats in the 101-seat parliament, enough to form a single-party majority.The 1994 Constitution of Moldova sets the framework for the government of the country.", "A parliamentary majority of at least two-thirds is required to amend the Constitution of Moldova, which cannot be revised in times of war or national emergency.", "Amendments to the Constitution affecting the state's sovereignty, independence, or unity can only be made after a majority of voters support the proposal in a referendum.", "Furthermore, no revision can be made to limit the fundamental rights of people enumerated in the Constitution.", "The 1994 constitution also establishes an independent Constitutional Court, composed of six judges (two appointed by the President, two by Parliament, and two by the Supreme Council of Magistrature), serving six-year terms, during which they are irremovable and not subordinate to any power.", "The court is invested with the power of judicial review over all acts of parliament, over presidential decrees, and over international treaties signed by the country.The head of state is the President of Moldova, who between 2001 and 2015 was elected by the Moldovan Parliament, requiring the support of three-fifths of the deputies (at least 61 votes).", "This system was designed to decrease executive authority in favour of the legislature.", "Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court ruled on 4 March 2016 that this constitutional change adopted in 2000 regarding the presidential election was unconstitutional, thus reverting the election method of the president to a two-round system direct election.===Foreign relations===After achieving independence from the Soviet Union, Moldova's foreign policy was designed with a view to establishing relations with other European countries, neutrality, and European Union integration.", "In May 1995 the country signed the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Convention to become a member and was also admitted in July 1995 to the Council of Europe.Moldova became a member state of the United Nations the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1992.1994 saw Moldova became a participant in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme.", "The Francophonie was joined in 1996 with the country joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 and the International Criminal Court in 2002.In 2005, Moldova and the European Union established an action plan that sought to improve cooperation between Moldova and the union.", "At the end of 2005, the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) was established at the joint request of the presidents of Moldova and Ukraine.", "EUBAM assists the Moldovan and Ukrainian governments in approximating their border and customs procedures to EU standards and offers support in both countries' fight against cross-border crime.After the 1990–1992 War of Transnistria, Moldova sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Transnistria region by working with Romania, Ukraine, and Russia, calling for international mediation, and co-operating with the OSCE and UN fact-finding and observer missions.", "The foreign minister of Moldova, Andrei Stratan, repeatedly stated that the Russian troops stationed in the breakaway region were there against the will of the Moldovan government and called on them to leave \"completely and unconditionally\".", "In 2012, a security zone incident resulted in the death of a civilian, raising tensions with Russia.President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, President of Moldova Maia Sandu, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the European Council Charles Michel during the 2021 Batumi International Conference.", "In 2014, the EU signed Association Agreements with the three states.In September 2010, the European Parliament approved a grant of €90 million to Moldova.", "The money was to supplement US$570 million in International Monetary Fund loans, World Bank and other bilateral support already granted to Moldova.", "In April 2010, Romania offered Moldova development aid worth of €100 million while the number of scholarships for Moldovan students doubled to 5,000.According to a lending agreement signed in February 2010, Poland provided US$15 million as a component of its support for Moldova in its European integration efforts.", "The first joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Moldova, held in March 2012, concluded with several bilateral agreements in various fields.", "The European orientation \"has been the policy of Moldova in recent years and this is the policy that must continue,\" Nicolae Timofti told lawmakers before his election in 2012.On 29 November 2013, at a summit in Vilnius, Moldova signed an association agreement with the European Union dedicated to the European Union's 'Eastern Partnership' with ex-Soviet countries.", "The ex-Romanian President Traian Băsescu stated that Romania will make all efforts for Moldova to join the EU as soon as possible.", "Likewise, Traian Băsescu declared that the unification of Moldova and Romania is the next national project for Romania, as more than 75% of the population speaks Romanian.====Russia====A document written in 2021 by the Russia's FSB's Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation, titled \"Strategic objectives of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova\" sets out a 10-year plan to destabilise Moldova.", "Using energy blackmail, political and elite sources in Moldova that are favourable to Russia and the Orthodox Church.", "Russia denies any such plan.Religious leaders play a role in shaping foreign policy.", "Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Government has frequently used its connections with the Russian Orthodox Church to block and stymie the integration of former Soviet states like Moldova into the West.In February 2023 Russia cancelled a 2012 decree underpinning Moldova's sovereignty.", "In May 2023 the government announced its intentions to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States and the immediate suspension of its participation.", "In July 2023 Moldova passed a law on denunciation of the agreement on Moldova's membership in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.On 25 July 2023, the Moldovan government summoned the Russian ambassador to Moldova, Oleg Vasnetsov, after media reports of alleged spying devices on the rooftop of their embassy in Chişinău.", "On 26 July 2023, the Moldovan government expelled 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff due to \"hostile actions\" intended to destabilise the Republic of Moldova, according to Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu.", "On 30 July, the Russian embassy announced that it would suspend consular appointments \"for technical reasons\".The Moldovan Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) also ended all partnership agreements with Russia's FSB after sending official notifications to the authorities in Moscow.==== European Union Accession ====In June 2022, Moldova became a recognised candidate for membership of the leftMoldova has set 2030 as the target date for EU Accession.Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union in Brussels on 27 June 2014.The signing came after the accord was drafted in Vilnius in November 2013.Moldova signed the membership application to join the EU on 3 March 2022.On 23 June 2022, Moldova was officially granted candidate status by EU leaders.", "The United Nations Development Programme is also providing assistance to Moldova in implementing the necessary reforms for full accession by 2030.The European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has confirmed that the pathway to accession does not depend upon a resolution of the Transnistria conflict.On 27 June, Moldova signed a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association.", "On 28 June 2023, the European Union announced a €1.6 billion support and investment programme for Moldova, as well as confirming reductions in the price of mobile data and voice roaming charges in Moldova by European and Moldovan telecoms operators, as well as Moldova joining the EU's joint gas purchase platform.Formal accession talks began on 13 December 2023.A referendum on joining the EU is planned for autumn 2024, there will be no voting stations in Transnistria, however residents there will be free to travel into other areas of Moldova to vote, should they wish to.===Security===The European Union created a Partnership Mission in Moldova through its Common Security and Defence Policy on 24 April 2023.The mission seeks to support the government of Moldova in countering hybrid threats the country faces as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.A memorandum dated 29 March 2023 stated that the mission aims at \"enhancing the resilience of Moldova's security sector in the area of crisis management as well as enhancing resilience to hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, and countering foreign information manipulation and interference\".", "The initial mandate of the mission is expected to be for two years and it will be made up of up to 40 police and customs officers and judicial officials.", "Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, and Denmark have all voiced support for the mission.On 2 February 2023 Moldova passed a law introducing criminal penalties for separatism, including prison terms.", "The law continues with penalties for financing and inciting separatism, plotting against Moldova, and collecting and stealing information that could harm the country's sovereignty, independence and integrity.===Military===Moldovan Army at the Joint Multinational Readiness Centre in Hohenfels, GermanyThe Moldovan armed forces consists of the Ground Forces and Air Force.Moldova maintains a standing army of just 6,500 soldiers, and spends just 0.4 percent of its GDP on defence, far behind its regional neighbours.Moldova accepted all relevant arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union.", "On 30 October 1992, Moldova ratified the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment and provides for the destruction of weapons in excess of those limits.", "The country acceded to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in October 1994 in Washington, D.C.", "It does not have nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological weapons.", "Moldova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Partnership for Peace on 16 March 1994.Moldova is committed to a number of international and regional control of arms regulations such as the UN Firearms Protocol, Stability Pact Regional Implementation Plan, the UN Programme of Action (PoA), and the OSCE Documents on Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition.", "Since declaring independence in 1991, Moldova has participated in UN peacekeeping missions in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, and Georgia.", "On 12 November 2014, the US donated to Moldovan Armed Forces 39 Humvees and 10 trailers, with a value of US$700,000, to the 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion of the Moldovan National Army to \"increase the capability of Moldovan peacekeeping contingents.", "\"Moldova signed a military agreement with Romania to strengthen regional security in 2015.The agreement is part of Moldova's strategy to reform its military and cooperate with its neighbours.Since 2022, the army has begun a process of modernization, and has been provided with more than €87 million in support for the modernization of the defence sector and the strengthening of security through the European Peace Facility.", "In October 2022, Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii claimed that 90 percent of the country's military equipment is outdated and of Soviet origin, dating back to the 1960s and 1980s.", "In April 2023, Valeriu Mija, Secretary of State for Defence Policy and National Army Reform in the Defence Ministry, claimed that Moldova needed $275 million to modernize its armed forces, especially in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the presence of 1,500 Russian soldiers in Transnistria.", "In June 2023, Poland also sent a transport of military equipment worth €8 million (including drones, laptops, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, and ultrasound equipment) to the Moldovan police to increase the country's internal security.", "Analysts at the Centre for European Policy Analysis have called for further western weapon donations.===Human rights===Freedom House ranked Moldova as a \"partly free\" country with a score of 62/100 in 2023.They summarized their finds as follows: \"Moldova has a competitive electoral environment, and freedoms of assembly, speech, and religion are mostly protected.", "Nonetheless, pervasive corruption, links between major political figures and powerful economic interests, and critical deficiencies in the justice sector and the rule of law all continue to hamper democratic governance.\"", "According to Transparency International, Moldova's Corruption Perceptions Index improved to 39 points in 2022 from 34 in 2020.Reporters Without Borders improved Moldova's Press Freedom Index ranking from 89th in 2020 to 40th in 2022, while cautioning that \"Moldova's media are diverse but extremely polarised, like the country itself, which is marked by political instability and excessive influence by oligarchs.", "\"According to Amnesty International's 2022/23 report, \"No visible progress was made in reducing instances of torture and other ill-treatment in detention.", "Impunity continued for past human rights violations by law enforcement agencies.", "New \"temporary\" restrictions on public assemblies were introduced.", "The rights of LGBTI people were not fully realized, leading to cases of harassment, discrimination and violence.", "Some refugee reception centres turned away religious and ethnic minority refugees.", "In the breakaway Transdniestria region, prosecution and imprisonment for peaceful dissent continued.\"", "On 18 June 2023, some 500 LGBT activists and supporters held a Pride parade in the capital city of Chișinău which for the first time needed no heavy police cordons to protect them from protesters largely linked to the Orthodox church.According to Human Rights Report of the United States Department of State, released in 2022, \"While authorities investigated reports of human rights abuses and corruption committed by officials, the process was slow and burdensome.", "During the year, authorities indicted and detained several former high-level officials including former President Igor Dodon, former member of parliament Vladimir Andronachi, Shor Party member of parliament Marina Tauber and former director of Moldovan Railways Anatolie Topala.", "None of these cases resulted in conviction by a court at year's end.", "Authorities took some steps to identify, investigate, and prosecute officials for human rights abuses, but progress was slow.", "\"In a meeting with the European Union in October 2022, EU representatives \"welcomed positive developments in Moldova such as the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, the adoption of legislation on hate crime, and the ongoing work to reform the Electoral Code.", "It encouraged Moldovan authorities to address shortcomings identified by OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission across all areas and ensure effective and continuous implementation of human rights legislation.\"", "The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' 2016 recommendations on hate crimes were \"largely reflected in amendments to the Criminal Code adopted by the Moldovan Parliament and published on 3 June 2022\", but the report notes that Moldovan law enforcement officers often fail to record the bias motivations behind hate crimes, and additionally recommended \"developing its victim support system to ensure effective access to justice, assistance, and protection services for hate crime victims\".", "In 2021, 8 hate crimes were recorded, 7 of which reached a successful conviction, with one going to prosecution but without a conviction.===Administrative divisions===Moldova is divided into 32 districts (''raioane'', singular ''raion''), three municipalities and two autonomous regions (Gagauzia and the Left Bank of the Dniester).", "The final status of Transnistria is disputed, as the central government does not control that territory.", "10 other cities, including Comrat and Tiraspol, the administrative seats of the two autonomous territories, also have municipality status.Moldova has 66 cities (towns), including 13 with municipality status, and 916 communes.", "Another 700 villages are too small to have a separate administration and are administratively part of either cities (41 of them) or communes (659).", "This makes for a total of 1,682 localities in Moldova, two of which are uninhabited.The largest city in Moldova is Chișinău with a population of approx.", "695,400 people.", "The second largest city is Tiraspol at 129,500, part of the unrecognised breakaway region of Transnistria, followed by Bălți (146,900) and Bender (91,000).=== Law enforcement and emergency services ===The Moldovan police force (General Police Inspectorate) reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) and is the primary law enforcement body, responsible for internal security, public order, traffic, and criminal investigations.", "Several agencies responsible for border management, emergency situations, migration and asylum also report to the ministry.", "Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.", "The Moldovan Police are divided into state and municipal organisations.", "State police provide law enforcement throughout Moldova while municipal police operate at the local administrative level.", "National and municipal police forces often collaborate closely for law enforcement purposes.", "The Special Forces Brigade \"Fulger\" is a specialized combat-ready police force primarily responsible for tackling organized crime, serious violent crime, and hostage situations.", "They are subordinate to the General Police Inspectorate and therefore under strict civilian control.There are also a number of more specialised police institutions including the Police Department of Chisinau Municipality and the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation.", "The Moldovan Border Police are responsible for border security.", "It was a military branch until 2012 when it was put under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.", "According to ''The Law on Police Use of Force Worldwide,'' \"Moldova does not regulate and restrict the use of firearms by law enforcement officials as international law requires.", "Police use of a firearm can only be lawful where necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury or a grave and proximate threat to life.", "\"The Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) is a Moldovan state body specialized in ensuring national security by exercising all appropriate intelligence and counter-intelligence measures, such as: collecting, processing, checking and capitalizing the information needed to identify, prevent and counteract any actions that according to law represent an internal or external threat to independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, constitutional order, democratic development, internal security of the state, society and citizens, the statehood of the Republic of Moldova, the stable functioning of vitally important branches of the national economy, both on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and abroad.Emergency services in Moldova consist of emergency medical services, search and rescue units, and a state firefighting service.", "There are two hospitals in the capital city Chișinău, the primary being Medpark International Hospital, and general hospitals in Bălți, Briceni, Cahul, and Călărași.", "Moldova has a universal healthcare system through a mandatory health insurance scheme.", "Casa Mariorei, founded in 2002, is a domestic violence shelter in Chișinău which provides shelter, healthcare, legal advice, and psychosocial support for native Moldovan, immigrant, and refugee women." ], [ "Geography", "Scenery in Moldova, with Nistru River (''Dniester'')Moldova is a landlocked country situated in Eastern Europe, on the northeastern corner of the Balkans in the Black Sea Basin, between latitudes 45° and 49° N, and mostly between meridians 26° and 30° E (a small area lies east of 30°).", "The country lies to the east of the Carpathian Mountains and is bordered by Romania to its west and by Ukraine to its north, east, and south.", "The total length of the national boundaries is 1,389 km, including 939 km with Ukraine and 450 km with Romania.", "The country is separated from Romania on the west by the Prut river and on the east from Ukraine by the Dniester river.", "The total land area is 33,843.5 km2 (13,067 sq mi), of which 960 km2 (370 sq mi) is water.", "The largest part of the country (around 88% of the area) lies in the Bessarabia region, while a narrow strip in the east is located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria on the eastern bank of the Dniester.Moldovan landscape in the Ungheni District.Although the country is technically landlocked, the port of Giurgiulești in the extreme south-west of the country lies on the confluence of the Danube and Prut rivers, which therefore provides it with access to international waters through the Danube which empties into the Black Sea.", "The Dniester river, which rises in Ukraine near the city of Drohobych, passes through Moldova, separating the main territory from its unrecognised breakaway region Transnistria, and empties into the Black Sea in Ukraine.", "At its closest point, Moldova is separated from the Dniester Liman, an estuary of the Black Sea, by only 3 km of Ukrainian territory.Gordinești, Edineț DistrictNistru (''Dniester'') River in south of Moldova.While most of the country is hilly, elevations never exceed 430 m (1,411 ft), the highest point being the Bălănești Hill.", "Moldova's hills are part of the Moldavian Plateau, which geologically originate from the Carpathian Mountains.", "Its subdivisions in Moldova include the Dniester Hills (Northern Moldavian Hills and Dniester Ridge), the Moldavian Plain (Middle Prut Valley and Bălți Steppe), and the Central Moldavian Plateau (Ciuluc-Soloneț Hills, Cornești Hills—Codri Massive, \"Codri\" meaning \"forests\"—Lower Dniester Hills, Lower Prut Valley, and Tigheci Hills).", "In the south, the country has a small flatland, the Bugeac Plain.", "The territory of Moldova east of the river Dniester is split between parts of the Podolian Plateau, and parts of the Eurasian Steppe.", "Moldova's exceptionally rich Chernozem soil covers around three-quarters of the country's land area.Moldova's capital and largest city is Chișinău, with approximately a third of the country's population residing in its metro area.", "Chișinău is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc, a tributary of the Dniester.", "Moldova's second-largest city is Tiraspol, which lies on the eastern bank of the Dniester and is the capital of the unrecognised breakaway region of Transnistria.", "The country's third-largest city is Bălți, often referred to as the 'northern capital'.", "It is situated 127 kilometres (79 mi) north of the capital Chișinău, and is located on the river Răut, a tributary of the Dniester, on a hilly landscape in the Bălți steppe.", "Comrat is the administrative centre of the autonomous region of Gagauzia.===Climate===Cave churches at Old Orhei, part of the only national park in the countryMoldova has a climate which is moderately continental; its proximity to the Black Sea leads to the climate being mildly cold in the autumn and winter and relatively cool in the spring and summer.The summers are warm and long, with temperatures averaging about and the winters are relatively mild and dry, with January temperatures averaging .", "Annual rainfall, which ranges from around in the north to in the south, can vary greatly; long dry spells are not unusual.", "The heaviest rainfall occurs in early summer and again in October; heavy showers and thunderstorms are common.", "Because of the irregular terrain, heavy summer rains often cause erosion and river silting.The highest temperature ever recorded in Moldova was on 21 July 2007 in Camenca.", "The lowest temperature ever recorded was on 20 January 1963 in Brătușeni, Edineț county.+Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for the three largest cities in MoldovaLocationJuly (°C)July (°F)January (°C)January (°F)Chișinău 27/17 81/63 1/−4 33/24Tiraspol 27/15 81/60 1/−6 33/21Bălți 26/14 79/58 −0/−7 31/18===Biodiversity===Phytogeographically, Moldova is split between the East European Plain and the Pontic–Caspian steppe of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom.", "It is home to three terrestrial ecoregions: Central European mixed forests, East European forest steppe, and Pontic steppe.", "Forests currently cover only 11% of Moldova, though the state is making efforts to increase their range.", "It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 2.2/10, ranking it 158th globally out of 172 countries.", "Game animals, such as red deer, roe deer and wild boar can be found in these wooded areas.Noted for its vivid portrayal of the lower Nistru river (''Dniester''), Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel ''With Fire and Sword'' opens with a description of saigas as a way to highlight the story's exotic setting.", "Saigas are a critically endangered species that is now extinct in Moldova.Scientific reserves in MoldovaNameLocationEstablishedAreaCodru ReserveStrășeni1971IagorlîcDubăsari1988Lower PrutCahul1991Plaiul FaguluiUngheni1992Pădurea DomneascăGlodeni1993The environment of Moldova suffered extreme degradation during the Soviet period, when industrial and agricultural development proceeded without regard for environmental protection.", "Excessive use of pesticides resulted in heavily polluted topsoil, and industries lacked emission controls.", "Founded in 1990, the Ecological Movement of Moldova, a national, non-governmental, nonprofit organization which is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature has been working to restore Moldova's damaged natural environment.", "The movement is national representative of the Centre \"Naturopa\" of the Council of Europe and United Nations Environment Programme of the United Nations.Once possessing a range from the British Isles through Central Asia over the Bering Strait into Alaska and Canada's Yukon as well as the Northwest Territories, saigas survived in Moldova and Romania into the late 18th century.", "Deforestation, demographic pressure, as well as excessive hunting eradicated the native saiga herds which is currently threatened with extinction.", "They were considered a characteristic animal of Scythia in antiquity.", "Historian Strabo referred to the saigas as the ''kolos'', describing it as \"between the deer and ram in size\" which (understandably but wrongly) was believed to drink through its nose.Another animal which was extinct in Moldova since the 18th century until recently was the European Wood Bison or wisent.", "The species was reintroduced with the arrival of three European bison from Białowieża Forest in Poland several days before Moldova's Independence Day on 27 August 2005.Moldova is currently interested in expanding their wisent population, and began talks with Belarus in 2019 regarding a bison exchange program between the two countries." ], [ "Economy", "=== Overview ===Annual growth of GDP for Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, 1980 to 2028The economy of Moldova is an emerging upper-middle income economy, with a high Human Development Index.", "Since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, it has steadily transitioned to a market economy.", "According to the World Bank, despite a strong economic performance over the past two decades, Moldova remains among the poorest nations in Europe.", "Growth has remained relatively high since the 1990s, with low levels of unemployment and falling levels of poverty, but a combination of demographic factors, especially an ageing population and significant levels of emigration, and recent regional events, especially Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have posed serious economic challenges to the Moldovan economy, particularly due to inflation and rising energy prices.", "Productivity growth has remained poor, and a significant proportion of the population are reliant on government pensions and social assistance.", "Due to Moldova's historic reliance upon Russian oil and natural gas, the energy sector has posed a particular challenge to the country's economy.Real GDP per capita development of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine.GDP per capita has almost doubled from $2,749 (USD) in 2015 to $5,562 in 2022.Following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, annual GDP growth rebounded to 13.9% in 2021, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, energy and refugee crises caused growth to collapse to −5.9%.", ", unemployment remains low at 2.3%, but inflation had dramatically increased to 28.7% due to the energy crisis caused by the invasion.", "In recent years the country has received significant economic assistance from the European Union, IMF, and World Bank, particularly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.", "The IMF predicts that in 2023 the economy will improve from a 1.5% contraction to a growth of 1.5%.Moldova remains highly vulnerable to fluctuations in remittances from workers abroad (which constitute 25 percent of GDP), exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and European Union (EU) (88 per cent of total exports), and donor support (about 10 per cent of government spending).", "The main transmission channels through which adverse exogenous shocks could impact the Moldovan economy are remittances (also due to potentially returning migrants), external trade, and capital flows.The economy's primary exports are agriculture, apparel, and sports equipments.", "In 2021, Moldova exported $140 million in wine and is the 21st largest exporter of wine in the world, with wine exports being the country's fifth largest export.", "With its 300 days of sunshine per year, the climate in Moldova is ideal for agriculture and particularly vineyards.", "The wine industry is a major economic sector, representing three percent of Moldova's GDP and eight percent of the country's total exports, according to government data.", "In 2021, the EU became the main purchaser of Moldovan wines.", "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most promising economic sectors in Moldova, accounting for more than 10 percent of GDP.", "More than 2,000 students graduate with a degree in computing or a related field per year.", "IT companies export about 80 percent of their total production to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania.+GDP per year (Source: World Bank)YearGDP (Billions in US dollars)20179.52201811.25201911.74202011.53202113.69202214.51+Imports per year (Source: World Bank) YearImports (Billions in US dollars)2017 5.372018 6.392019 6.612020 5.9220217.91202210.91+Exports per year (Source: World Bank) YearExports (Billions in US dollars)2017 3.122018 3.452019 3.662020 3.2220214.2020225.98===Energy===With few natural energy resources, Moldova imports almost all of its energy supplies.", "50% of the country's national energy company, Moldovagaz, is owned by Russian oil and natural gas supplier Gazprom, the remaining 36% split between the Moldovan government (36.6%) and the unrecognised government of Transnistria (13.4%).", "Moldova's historic dependence on Russian energy is underscored by a debt of more than US$709 million to Gazprom as well as a further US$7 billion by Transnistria.", "Russia supplies the breakaway pro-Russian region with oil and natural gas without requiring them to pay, with the cost levied as debt against the Moldovan state as a form of economic warfare.", "The Moldovan government disputes the figures, and has identified more than US$100 million in fraudulent claims by Gazprom.In August 2013, work began on a new pipeline between Moldova and Romania that has now been completed and has broken Russia's monopoly on Moldova's gas supplies.", "Importing electricity from Romania began in 2022, breaking the need to buy electricity produced from Russian gas in Transnistria.", "Improved connectivity will be completed by 2025., Moldova no longer imports oil or natural gas from Russia and has been granted access to the European Union's joint gas purchasing platform.", "Financial assistance was provided by the European Union, World Bank, and IMF in order to speed up this transition.=== Tourism ===Moldova is the among least visited countries in Europe, and tourism consequently plays a relatively minor role in the country's overall economy.", "Despite the impact of Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Moldova saw more foreign visitors in the first quarter of 2022 than pre-pandemic, going from 31,000 non-resident tourists in 2019 to 36,100 in 2022.This still makes it one of the least-visited countries in Europe, however in recent years a number of Western media outlets have begun to highlight Moldova and its capital city Chișinău as an attractive tourism destination due to its picturesque natural landscapes, 300 days of sunshine per year, low prices, ancient wine culture, and mix of regional cultural influences.", "Tourism in Moldova has focused on the country's natural landscapes, historical sites, and historic wine tradition.", "The government promotes international tourism within the country through its Moldova Travel brand.", "Moldova is internationally connected by plane via Chișinău International Airport, with direct flights to and from many European destinations, including Amsterdam Schiphol, Berlin Brandenburg, London Stansted, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, Rome–Fiumicino Airport, Istanbul Airport, and Dubai International Airport.", "Rail links connect it via direct overnight trains to neighbouring Bucharest, Kyiv, Odesa, and formerly Moscow.", "Moldovan citizens also enjoy visa-free travel across the Schengen Area.Orhei National ParkAs a major exporter of wine with more than 142 wineries and the largest wine cellar in the world, vineyard tours are offered to tourists across the country.", "Major sites include the Cricova winery, whose wine cellar stretches more than 120 kilometres (75 miles); Castel Mimi, a 19th-century chateau with vineyards, a museum, art gallery, spa, hotel, and restaurant; and Mileștii Mici, which boasts the world's largest collection of wine.", "As a country with a deep history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the country also has more than 50 monasteries and 700 churches.", "Among the most famous and well-visited are the Old Orhei Cave Monastery, carved into a cliff face in the 13th century and still in use today, and the 19th century Nativity Cathedral in the centre of Chișinău.", "UNESCO includes both the Old Orhei Archaeological Landscape, which features evidence of settlements dating back to at least the 12th century, and the typical Chernozem soil on the Bălți Steppe of Moldova (the most arable soil on the planet) on its Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.", "The capital city of Chișinău hosts most of the country's national museums, including the National Museum of Fine Arts, Moldova State University, Brancusi Gallery, the National Museum of History of Moldova with over 236,000 exhibits, as well as bustling markets in the north of the city, including the house where Alexander Pushkin once resided while in exile from the Russian Tsar, and which has since been turned into a museum.", "Every year on 3–4 October, the country celebrates National Wine Day, where wine producers open up their wineries to the general public and provide shuttle buses between locations.===Wine industry===Mileștii Mici is home to the world's biggest wine cellar.With its 300 days of sunshine per year, the climate in Moldova is ideal for agriculture and particularly vineyards.", "The wine industry is a major economic sector, representing three percent of Moldova's GDP and eight percent of the country's total exports, according to government data.", "Moldovan wine is being exported into over 70 states worldwide.", "Although Moldova is barely larger than Belgium, the country has 122,000 hectares of vineyards and is among the 20 largest producers in the world, according to a report by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Moldova's pivot towards Europe, a majority of its wine exports went to Russia, but this has now changed: \"Russia accounted for only 10 percent of Moldovan wine exports in 2021, down from 80 percent in the early 2000s, according to figures from the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture.\"", "The EU liberalized its market for Moldovan wines and has signed a bilateral free trade deal with Moldova, with the result that in 2021 the country exported more than 120 million litres of wine to European countries, compared to 8.6 million litres to Russia.Many families have their own recipes and grape varieties that have been passed down through the generations.", "There are 3 historical wine regions: Valul lui Traian (south west), Stefan Voda (south east) and Codru (centre), destined for the production of wines with protected geographic indication.", "Mileștii Mici is the home of the largest wine cellar in the world.", "It stretches for (though only is in use) and holds some two million or more bottles of wine.", "It has retained the Guinness World Record for largest wine cellar by number of bottles since 2005.The earliest wines in its collection date to 1969.Mimi Castle in the south east is a winery and architectural monument, which was built at the end of the 19th century in the village of Bulboaca in the district Anenii Noi, and is thought to be the first winery in Bessarabia.", "It has since also become a tourist complex with a museum, art gallery, hotel, spa, and wine tasting rooms.===Agriculture===Agricultural land in Dniester, 2004Moldova is an agrarian-industrial state, with agricultural land occupying 2,499,000 hectares in a total area of 3,384,600 hectares.", "It is estimated that 1,810,500 of these hectares are arable.", "It is among the most arable countries in Europe, with the Chernozem soil across the Bălți Steppe being among the most fertile soils anywhere in the world.", "With more than 300 days of sunshine per year supporting the cultivation of vineyards, Moldova is also one of the largest wine producers in the world.", "Moldova's agricultural sector benefits from a geographical proximity to large markets, especially the European Union.", ", agriculture made up 12% of Moldova's overall exports and 21% of overall employment.", "Its most exported foods are maize, wheat, sunflower seeds, grapes, apples, sugar beets, milk, potatoes, barley, plums/sloes, while relevant and important domestic industries include sugar processing, vegetable oil, food processing, and agricultural machinery.", "Between 2015 and 2022, agricultural production has almost doubled, particularly in vegetable and fruit production.", "In July 2023, a network of 20 seed libraries comprising over 1,000 seeds were created across Moldova with the assistance of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, NGOs, and the United Nations Development Programme, with the aim is to improve local agricultural biodiversity, climate resilience, and the capacity of local government and farmers to respond effectively to changing environmental conditions.Nevertheless, the country's agricultural sector faces serious long-term challenges.", "Despite having relatively modest per capita greenhouse gas emissions, and lower than the world average, Moldova is highly vulnerable to climate change and related environmental disasters which already cost the country 2.13% of annual GDP.", "According to Climate-KIC, run by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, \"The same region in Moldova can experience intense droughts and devastating floods in the course of a few months, which is the primary concern of local people when they talk about climate.", "But the irregular nature of these events made it difficult to sustain long term interest from Moldovan people or to channel money from donors.", "\"===Transport infrastructure===Chișinău International Airport.The main means of transportation in Moldova are railways and a highway system ( overall, including of paved surfaces).", "Rail links connect it via direct overnight trains to neighbouring Bucharest, Kyiv, Odesa, and also Moscow.The Giurgiulești terminal on the Danube is compatible with small seagoing vessels.", "Shipping on the lower Prut and Nistru rivers plays only a modest role in the country's transportation system.The sole international air gateway of Moldova is the Chișinău International Airport.", "with direct flights to and from many European destinations.=== Telecommunications ===Internet in Moldova is among of the fastest and least expensive in the world .", "The country ranks 3rd in the world by gigabit coverage with around 90% of the population having the option to subscribe to a gigabit-speed fibre-optic broadband plan.", "The United Nations Development Programme has judged it to have a highly developed digital infrastructure, with 98% 4G coverage of its territory.", "By July 2022, there were more than 3 million internet users in Moldova, constituting some 76% of the population.", "Moldova is considering a bid to begin rolling out 5G in 2024, with testing beginning in 2019.Starlink launched in Moldova in August 2022.Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most promising economic sectors in Moldova, accounting for more than 10 percent of GDP.", "More than 2,000 Moldovan students per year graduate with a degree in computing or a related field.The ITU's Global Cybersecurity Index ranks Moldova on the 33rd place in Europe and the 63rd place in the world.", "The country's joining in 2009 of the Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe and adoption of the National Cyber Security Program for 2016–2020 have established the legislative parameters for a safer digital environment.", "Since Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine and their campaign of cyberwarfare against Moldova, the Moldovan government has invested significant money and resources in developing stronger cybersecurity practices and regulations with assistance from the European Union and United States.", "The European Union has also set up and funded the Moldova Cybersecurity Rapid Assistance Unit to improve the cyber resilience of Moldova's public sector organisations and key critical infrastructure sectors.", "Moldova has adopted new legislation partially drafted by the unit which will go into effect on 1 January 2025.The country has also passed legislation in order to more closely align with the EU's GDPR regulations, and is currently mostly compliant.===Banking===The National Bank of Moldova is responsible for the financial system and has a responsibility to the management and control of all banks in Moldova.", "It is accountable to the Parliament of Moldova." ], [ "Demographics", "The most up-to-date and reliable information is available from the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova's website which is continuously updated on a monthly and yearly basis.", "The most recent national census of Moldova was carried out in 2014 (not including Transnistria).", "The next national census is due to be carried out in 2024.=== Overview ===Moldova has an estimated population of approx.", "2,512,800 people , about 52,300 lower than at the start of 2022, making Moldova among the least populous nations in Europe.", "Moldova is relatively urbanised, with 43.4% of Moldovans living in urban areas and an urbanisation rate of 0.09%.", "About one-third of the Moldovan population live in the capital city Chișinău's metropolitan area.", ", the country's population density is 82.8 inhabitants per 1 km2, and average life expectancy was 71.5 years (67.2 for males, and 75.7 for females).", "There are 100 women per 90 men in Moldova, and employed women have significantly higher levels of education, though women continued to earn 13.6% less than men on average.", "The number of elderly people (60 years and over) per 100 inhabitants in Moldova has increased year-on-year.", "The national language is Romanian, a Romance language, though approximately 15% of the Moldovan population also speak Russian .The country has been suffering from long-term population decline due to high levels of emigration (in 2022, 43,000 more people left the country than came) as well as low fertility rates.", "According to Balkan Insight, the population has fallen by almost 33% since 1990, and by 2035 the total population may be half what it was in 1990.Since 2018, the number of deaths has exceeded the levels of live-births, though the gap has been reduced since 2021., the average number of children per women of childbearing age was 1.69, well below the replacement rate of 2.1, as compared to 1.78 in 2019.The total number of deaths fell by 20.5% in 2022 compared to 2019.Unemployment has remained low at about 3% in 2022.According to the 2014 national census, ethnic Moldovans made up approx.", "75% of the country's population, while Romanians (7%), Ukrainians (6.57%), Gagauzians (4.57%), and Russians (4.06%) made up the most substantial ethnic minorities.", "Smaller populations include Bulgarians (1.88%), Romani (0.34%), Belarusians (0.10%), Jews (0.06%), and Poles (0.05%).=== Language ===, the only official language of Moldova is Romanian, and all references to the Moldovan language in the constitution and legal bills have been amended to refer to Romanian.", "The 2014 Moldovan census for the first time collected information about the languages spoken by residents in Moldova.", "There is a controversy about whether or not Moldovan and Romanian should be considered distinct languages, and the Moldovan government rejects any distinction, however the census allowed for respondents to respond with their preferred label.", "The results were Moldovan (54.6%), Romanian (24.0%), Russian (14.5%), Ukrainian (2.7%), Gagauz (2.7%), Bulgarian (1.7%), and Other (0.5%).=== Diaspora and emigration ===Emigration is a mass phenomenon in Moldova and has a major impact on the country's demographics and economy.", "It is estimated that more than between 1.2 and 2 million Moldovan citizens (over 25% of the population) are living and working abroad.", "The Moldovan economy is still heavily reliant on their remittance payments.", "Moldovans are found across the Balkan region, Western Europe, and North America.", "Among the most notable Moldovan diaspora populations are: 285,000 in Romania (2020), 258,600 in Ukraine (2002) 156,400 in Russia (2010), 188,923 in Italy (2019), 122,000 in Germany (2022), 26,300 in France (2019), and 20,470 in Canada (2021).Current trends indicate that the population of Moldova will continue to fall with emigration remaining both chronic and higher than immigration or natural birth rates.", "In 2020, net emigration fell to a low of 7,000, but by 2022, 43,000 more people left the country than came, though this is slightly down from net emigration of 45,000 in 2021.Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine and the economic impact on Moldova may have been a key contributing factor in the rise from 2020 to 2022.However, there are indications that the invasion of Ukraine and the country's moves towards accession to the European Union may have led to a rise in the number of Moldovan emigrants returning to their country of birth, seeking to help the country join the EU.", "The Moldovan diaspora has also had a signifiant influent in recent Moldovan elections, voting overwhelmingly for Maia Sandu as president in 2020 and for her Party of Action and Solidarity in the 2021 parliamentary election.=== Religion ===Nativity Cathedral, Chişinău.", "Moldovan Orthodox Church.Moldova's constitution provides for freedom of religion and complete separation of church and state, though the constitution cites the \"exceptional importance\" of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.", "Discrimination on the basis of religious affiliation is illegal, and incitement to religious and ethnic hatred was made illegal in May 2022.Religion in Moldova is dominated by the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.", "According to the 2014 Moldovan census, 90% of the country reported to be of the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith.", "Of this number, approx.", "80–90% of Orthodox Moldovans belong to the Moldovan Orthodox Church (formally known as Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova) which is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church, and has played a powerful role in deepening Russia's influence in Moldova.", "The remaining 10–20% of Orthodox Moldovans belong to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, which is subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church.Of the non-Orthodox population of Moldova, the United States Department of State estimates that , approx.", "7% identify with no religion; Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Pentecostals number between 15,000 and 30,000 each; the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova organisation estimates the Jewish population to be approx.", "20,000; and the Islamic League of Moldova (an NGO recognised by the Moldovan Ministry of Justice in 2011 as representing Moldovan Muslims) estimates the number of Muslims to be approx.", "15,000–17,000.There are six synagogues in Chișinău, one in Orhei, one in Soroca, and one in Tiraspol, and one mosque in Chișinău.", "The remaining less than 5% of the Moldovan population are Seventh-day Adventists, Evangelical Christians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and atheists.", "The Transnistrian authorities estimate that 80% of the population belong to the Moldovan Orthodox Church.=== Health and fertility ===Moldova provides universal healthcare through a mandatory health insurance scheme.", "According to the most recent 2022 official data, per 10,000 inhabitants there are 48.4 doctors and 91 units of average medical staff.", "Approx.", "53% of those aged 16 and over in urban areas described their own health as 'good' or 'very good', compared to approx.", "33% of people of the same age in rural areas.", "The country has 86 hospitals, 1,524 pharmacies and branches, 12,600 physicians, 23,687 paramedical personnel, and 17,293 hospital beds.", "Moldova spends 6% of its annual GDP on health care, up from 4.9% in 2019.the average life expectancy was 71.5 years (67.2 for males, and 75.7 for females), slightly lower than comparable countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Ukraine.", "The number of elderly people (aged 60 years and over) per 100 inhabitants in Moldova has increased year-on-year.", "The total fertility rate per woman in 2022 was 1.69, a fall from 1.78 in 2019, and below the replacement rate of 2.1.There were 10.6 live births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2022, a drop from 12.2 in 2019, and 14.2 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants, an increase from 13.7 in 2019 but a significant fall from 17.5 in 2019.Infant mortality per 1,000 live-births was 9.0, a slight increase on 8.7 in 2020.The overall number of deaths fell by 20.5% compared to 2021.According to the National Agency for Public Health, the major causes of death in 2022 were diseases of the circulatory system (58%), cancerous tumours (15.8%), diseases of the digestive tract (7.5%), external causes (4.8%), and other causes (13.9%).", "More specifically, the leading causes of death in 2019 were Ischaemic heart disease, strokes, hypertensive heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and trachea, bronchus, and lung cancers.On 19 December 2016, the Moldovan parliament approved raising the retirement age to 63 years from the current level of 57 for women and 62 for men, a reform that is part of a 3-year-old assistance program agreed with the International Monetary Fund.", "The retirement age will be lifted gradually by a few months every year until it is fully in effect in 2028.=== Education ===As of the academic year 2022/23, Moldova had 1,218 primary and secondary schools, 90 vocational schools, and 21 higher education institutions, as well as 12 private higher education institutions.", "There were a total of 437,000 pupils and students.", ", Romania allocates 5,000 scholarships in high schools and universities for Moldovan students.", "Likewise, more than half of preschool children in Moldova benefit from Romania funded program to renovate and equip kindergartens.", "Almost all the population is literate: the literacy rate of the population aged 15 and over is estimated at 99.6%.Main building entrance of the Moldova State University.The main higher education institutions in Moldova are the Moldova State University (est.", "1946) and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (est.", "1961), both of which are located in Chișinău.", "The Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (est.", "1991) has featured on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and has educated a number of national leaders including current President of Moldova Maia Sandu and leader of the opposition Igor Dodon.", "Other important universities include the Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău (est.", "1940), Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (est.", "1945), and the Technical University of Moldova (est.", "1964).", "Women account for 59.1% of students in higher education, and 70.1% of all foreign students in doctoral programmes in Moldova.", "32.3% of employed women in Moldova have received higher education, compared to 24.5% of men, and 16.9% specialised secondary education compared to 11.3% of men.=== Regional differences and tensions ===Tank in Bender, MoldovaSince independence, Moldova characterised by a substantial range of profound regional differences across its internationally recognised territory.", "Since independence, the country has struggled with issues of national identity, geopolitical strategy, and alliances, often torn between Romania and the European Union to the west and the Russian Federation to the east.", "Most notably, in eastern Moldova is the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, which lies on the eastern bank of the Dniester river and borders Ukraine, which has pursued close diplomatic, military, and economic ties with Russia since 1992, with more than a thousand Russian soldiers stationed in the region.", "This has proved particularly difficult following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Transnistria's position on Ukraine's south-western flank and its hosting of more than a thousand Russian soldiers poses a potential threat to Ukraine's war efforts.", "The European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has confirmed that the pathway to accession does not depend upon a resolution of the Transnistria conflict.There is further the issue of the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia.", "The Gagauz people are a Turkic-speaking people spread between southern Moldova and the south-west of Ukraine.", "While their exact origin is considered obscure, they have a strong sense of ethnic identity distinct from that of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, with a distinctive language and cultural traditions.", "They are nevertheless a heavily Russified group.", "Support for integration with Romania and the European Union is substantially lower among Gagauzians than among the broader Moldovan population.", "In 2014, shortly before the Republic of Moldova signed its EU Association Agreement, nearly 99 per cent of Gagauzians voted in a referendum \"to reject closer links with Europe in favour of joining the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.\"", "In 2015, \"just over half of Gagauzians voted for the Russian-backed socialist candidate Irina Vlakh as governor.\"", "Gagauzia continues to represent a serious challenge both to Moldova's territorial sovereignty and political stability due to Russia's systemic involvement in the region, especially by backing pro-Russian local parties and leadership candidates.", "The European Centre for Minority Issues has also highlighted the role of supposedly-neutral NGO groups in Gagauzia as a new front in Russia's hybrid-war against both Moldova and Ukraine.", "The region's current local leader, Evghenia Guțul, in July 2023 thanked the fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, leader of the outlawed Moldovan pro-Russian opposition Șor Party, for his personal and financial support and his \"willingness to do what it takes so that we may fulfil our election promises\", and expressed a desire for deeper diplomatic ties with Russia.There is also substantial controversy over ethnic and linguistic identity in Moldova concerning whether the Moldovan language and Moldovan people constitute separate linguistic and ethnic groups to the Romanian language and Romanian people.", "The possibility of the unification of Moldova and Romania has remained a popular topic in both countries since Moldova's independence in 1991.Romania and Moldova enjoy exceptionally strong diplomatic relations.", "Romania supports Moldova's rapid accession to the European Union, provides vast economic assistance to Moldova's struggling economy, and provided up to 90% of Moldova's energy needs via discounted capped prices as Moldova sought to reduce its reliance on Russian oil and natural gas.", "Relations have strengthened further since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.", "Up to 74% of the Romanian public and more than 40% of the Moldovan public would support Moldova being integrated into Romania in one form or another, though most in either country believe that 'now is not the right time'.", "A 2022 survey during the Russian invasion of Ukraine indicated that only 11% of Romania's population supports an immediate union, while over 42% think it is not the moment." ], [ "Culture", "Moldova's cultural tradition has been influenced primarily by the Romanian origins of its majority population, the roots of which go back to the second century AD, the period of Roman colonization in Dacia.", "Located geographically at the crossroads of Latin, Slavic and other cultures, Moldova has enriched its own culture adopting and maintaining traditions of neighbouring regions and of other influential sources.", "The largest ethnic group, which had come to identify itself widely as \"Moldovan\" by the 14th century, played a significant role in the shaping of classical Romanian culture.", "The culture has been also influenced by the Byzantine culture, the neighbouring Magyar and Slavic populations, and later by the Ottoman Turks.", "A strong Western European influence in Moldovan literature and arts was prevalent in the 19th century.", "During the periods 1812–1917 and 1944–89, Moldovans were influenced by Russian and Soviet administrative control as well and by ethnic Russian immigration.national costumes in ChișinăuThe country's cultural heritage was marked by numerous churches and monasteries built by the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great in the 15th century, by the works of the later renaissance Metropolitans Varlaam and Dosoftei, and those of scholars such as Grigore Ureche, Miron Costin, Nicolae Milescu, Dimitrie Cantemir and Ion Neculce.", "In the 19th century, Moldavians from the territories of the medieval Principality of Moldavia, divided into Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Western Moldavia (after 1859, Romania), made a significant contribution to the formation of the modern Romanian culture.", "Among these were many Bessarabians, such as Alexandru Donici, Alexandru Hâjdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Constantin Stamati, Constantin Stamati-Ciurea, Costache Negruzzi, Alecu Russo, Constantin Stere.Mihai Eminescu, a late Romantic poet, and Ion Creangă, a writer, are the most influential Romanian language artists, considered national writers both in Romania and Moldova.===Cuisine===Moldova's fertile soil (''chernozem'') produces plentiful grapes, fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and milk products, all of which have found their uses in the national cuisine.", "The fertile black soil combined with the use of traditional agricultural methods permits the growth of a wide range of foods in Moldova.", "Moldovan cuisine is similar to neighbouring Romania, Ukraine, and Poland, and the regions share many traditional dishes in common, often with regional variations.", "Moldovan cuisine has historically been particularly influenced by elements of Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian cuisine.", "Main dishes often include beef, pork, potatoes, cabbage, and a variety of cereals.", "Popular alcoholic beverages are ''divin'' (Moldovan brandy), beer, and wine—of which the country is known for making high-quality offerings.MămăligăThere are several traditional Moldovan dishes.", "Plăcinte are stuffed and deep-fried pastries with fillings such as soft cheese (often Urdă), cabbage, potatoes, apples, sour cherries and others, either sweet or savoury.", "Sarmale is a typical Moldovan dish usually consisting of cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, peppers, carrots, meat, and baked in oil.", "Regional variations can also be found in other former parts of the Ottoman Empire.", "Mămăligă is another staple, a kind of porridge made from yellow maize flour, and is popular in other countries but often named polenta, often served with sheep's cheese and sour cream.", "Plachyndy is a kind of flatbread often made with kefir or buttermilk, wrapped around herbs and pan-fried in oil.", "Zeamă is a thin chicken soup, typically consists of homemade chicken broth that's prepared with a smaller whole chicken, water, thin homemade egg noodles (tăiței de casă), and a variety of finely chopped vegetables and herbs.", "Brynza is a soft sheep/goat cheese with a crumbly texture and tangy taste, mostly produced and popular in Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova, and often used in salads, pies, and dumplings.Borscht, a sour Eastern European soup made from beetroots, meat stock and vegetables, is also popular and commonly served in Moldova.", "As with other parts of the region, pierogi (known as ''chiroște'' in Moldova) are another traditional staple and are often stuffed with a soft cheese in Moldova.", "The dough is made with wheat flour and is boiled in salted water, pan-fried in oil or baked in the oven.", "Medovik, a cake of Russian origin (and called Tort Smetanik in Moldova) is a popular layered cake with honey and smetana (sour cream) or condensed milk.Total recorded adult alcohol consumption is approximately evenly split between spirits, beer and wine.", "Notably, Moldova has among the highest alcohol consumption per capita in world, at of pure alcohol imbibed in 2016.This has fallen somewhat in recent years, but it remains a serious ongoing health concern.=== Holidays ===Most retail businesses close on New Year's Day and Independence Day, but remain open on all other holidays.", "Christmas is celebrated either on 7 January, the traditional date in Old Calendarists Eastern Orthodox Churches, or on 25 December, with both dates being recognized as public holidays.On 1 March features ''mărțișor'' gifting, which is a tradition that females are gifted with a type of talisman that is given for good luck.===Music===Zdob și Zdub performing at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.Among Moldova's most prominent composers are Gavriil Musicescu, Ștefan Neaga and Eugen Doga.In the field of pop music, Moldova has produced the band O-Zone, who came to prominence in 2003, with their hit song \"Dragostea Din Tei\", which topped multiple notable single charts.", "Moldova has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2005.Another popular band from Moldova is Zdob și Zdub that represented the country in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing sixth, also in 2021, with a similar result.In May 2007, Natalia Barbu represented Moldova in Helsinki at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with her entry \"Fight\".", "Natalia squeezed into the final by a very small margin.", "She took tenth place with 109 points.Then Zdob și Zdub again represented Moldova in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest finishing 12th.The band SunStroke Project with Olia Tira represented the country in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with their hit song \"Run Away\".", "Their performance gained international notoriety as an internet meme due to the pelvic thrusting and dancing of Sergey Stepanov, the band saxophonist.", "He has been dubbed \"Epic Sax Guy\".", "SunStroke Project featured again in the 2017 Eurovision entry \"Hey Mama\" which got third place.In 2015 a new musical project by the name of Carla's Dreams has risen in popularity around Moldova.", "Carla's Dreams reached the top charts in multiple countries in Europe with the release of their song \"Sub Pielea Mea\" in 2016.The song received a lot of airplay and reached number one place on the charts in Moldova as well as Russia.", "The group is still active and released their latest album in 2017.The theme of the musical group is \"Anonymous\" as they perform with painted faces, hoodies and sunglasses.", "The identity of the group members is still unknown.Among most prominent classical musicians in Moldova are Maria Bieșu, one of the leading world's sopranos and the winner of the Japan International Competition; pianist Mark Zeltser, winner of the USSR National Competition, Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris and Busoni Competition in Bolzano, Italy.===Media===The right to freedom of speech and right to information are guaranteed by the Moldovan constitution.", "Reporters Without Borders improved Moldova's Press Freedom Index ranking to 28th in 2023 from 89th in 2020, partly due to government legal reforms which made it easier for journalists to access official information.", "However, they cautioned that \"Moldova's media are diverse but extremely polarised, like the country itself, which is marked by political instability and excessive influence by oligarchs.\"", "Moldova's media are divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western camps and on party political lines.", "Oligarchs and political leaders strongly influence their editorial stances.Television remains the most popular and trusted medium, while online social media is exerting increasing influence.", "Most private FM radio networks rebroadcast output from Russian and Romanian stations.", "The first publicly funded national radio broadcaster, Radio Moldova, has been broadcasting since 1939 from the capital city, Chişinău.", "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is also widely available.", "Moldova's state-owned national radio-TV broadcaster is Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), which broadcasts the TV channel Moldova 1.There were 3 million internet users by July 2022, approximately 76% of the population, and digital infrastructure is well-developed, with 98% 4G coverage of territory.", "There are a number of daily and weekly newspapers published in Moldova, among the most popular being ''Timpul de dimineață'' and ''Moldova Suverană,'' but print media has an overall small audience in Moldova''.''", "Independent media are struggling to ensure financial sustainability in the face of diminishing advertisement revenues due to inflation, economic stagnation and uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.In 2022, the government removed the broadcasting licenses from six television stations for broadcasting pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine in violation of the country's Audiovisual Services Code.", "The government stated that this was done in order to \"prevent the risk of disinformation or attempts to manipulate public opinion\".", "All six were either owned or affiliated with Ilan Șhor, a fugitive pro-Russian politician and businessman who fled to Israel in 2019 after being convicted of fraud and money-laundering and sentenced to 15 years in prison ''in absentia''.", "In October 2023 Orizont TV, ITV, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2 and Canal 3 were also banned for undermining the local elections as well as blocking a number of Russian media outlets which includes the news agencies TASS and Interfax.The cinema of Moldova developed in the 1960s during the Soviet period, nurturing a small but lively film industry.", "Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Moldova's independence, the country's economic stagnation and poverty has hampered the Moldovan film industry.", "Nevertheless, some films have seen some international success.", "Perhaps best-known are ''Lăutarii'' (1972), written and directed by Moldovan film-maker Emil Loteanu, and ''Wedding in Bessarabia'' (2009), which was co-produced by Romania, Moldova, and Luxembourg.", "In recent years Moldovan cinema has gained greater international attention.", "''Carbon'' (2022), directed by Ion Borş, received positive acclaim by magazines such as Variety.", "It was the winner of the Transilvania International Film Festival's Audience Award.", "For the 37th edition of the Fribourg International Film Festival, Moldova was featured in its 'New Territory' section, which celebrates little-known film-making cultures.", "In July 2022, the United Nations Development Programme announced that it would be using state-of-the-art equipment to transfer more than 1,600 films from the Moldova-Film archive for posterity and cultural preservation.", "The United States assisted by equipping in 2021 a digitization laboratory to restore and preserve its archive feature and documentary films, representing an important part of Moldova's historical, cultural, and artistic heritage, and many of the films were broadcast on national TV with Romanian subtitles.===Sports===Moldova national football team in 2015 Association football is the most popular team sport in Moldova.", "The governing body is the Moldovan Football Federation, which belongs to UEFA.", "The Moldova national football team played its first match in 1994, but never qualified to the UEFA European Championship.", "The most successful football club is Sheriff Tiraspol, the first and only Moldovan club to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League and the Europa League.", "Other winners of the Moldovan National Division include Zimbru Chișinău, Dacia Chișinău, FC Tiraspol and Milsami Orhei.", "''Trîntă'' (a form of wrestling) is the national sport in Moldova.", "Rugby union is popular as well.", "More than 10,000 supporters turn out for home internationals.", "Since 2004, playing numbers at all levels have more than doubled to 3,200.Despite the hardships and deprivations the national team are ranked 34th in the world.", "The most prestigious cycling race is the Moldova President's Cup, which was first run in 2004.In chess, the Republic of Moldova has several international masters, among which can be mentioned Viorel Iordăchescu, Dmitry Svetushkin, and Viorel Bologan.Radu Albot is one of the most successful Moldovan tennis players, with ATP singles (2019 Delray Beach Open) and doubles (2015 Istanbul Open) titles.Athletes from Moldova have won European medals in athletics, biathlon, football, and gymnastics; world medals in archery, judo, swimming, and taekwondo; as well as Olympic medals in boxing, canoeing, shooting, weightlifting, and wrestling.", "Moldova made its Olympic debut at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.", "Olympic medalists include Sergei Mureiko, Oleg Moldovan, Vitalie Grușac, Veaceslav Gojan, and Serghei Tarnovschi.", "Nicolae Juravschi represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Seoul Games, winning two medals." ], [ "See also", "* Outline of Moldova" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* S.Res.148 – A resolution to express the sense of the Senate that the United States should support the right to self-determination of the people of the Republic of Moldavia and northern Bucovina* * Moldova.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Moldova, Republic of from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''.", "* * Moldova profile from the BBC News.", "* * * Key Development Forecasts for Moldova from International Futures." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Monaco''' ( , ; ), officially the '''Principality of Monaco''', is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea.", "It is bordered by France to the north, east and west.", "The principality is home to 38,682 residents, of whom 9,486 are Monégasque nationals; it is widely recognised as one of the most expensive and wealthiest places in the world.", "The official language of the principality is French.", "In addition, Monégasque (a variety of Ligurian), English and Italian are spoken and understood by many residents.With an area of , it is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City.", "Its make it the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world.", "Monaco has a land border of and the world's shortest coastline of approximately ; it has a width that varies between .", "The highest point in the state is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires ward, which is above sea level.", "The principality is about from the border with Italy.", "Since 2013, it consists of nine administrative wards, the largest of which is Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo/Spélugues, ), and the most populous of which is Larvotto (Larvotto/Bas Moulins, 5,443 residents as of 2008).", "Through ongoing land reclamation, started in 1861 and accelerating in the 1960s, Monaco's small land mass has expanded by 20 per cent.The principality is governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state, who wields immense political power despite his constitutional status.", "The prime minister, who is the head of government, can be either a Monégasque or a French citizen; the monarch consults with the Government of France before an appointment.", "Key members of the judiciary in Monaco are detached French magistrates.", "The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, since 1297.The state's sovereignty was officially recognised by the Franco-Monégasque Treaty of 1861, with Monaco becoming a full United Nations voting member in 1993.Despite Monaco's independence and separate foreign policy, its defence is the responsibility of France, besides maintenance of two small military units.Monaco's economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the state's first casino, the Monte Carlo Casino, and a railway connection to Paris.", "Since then, Monaco's mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principality's status as a tourist destination and recreation centre for the rich.", "In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking centre and has sought to diversify its economy into the services sector and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries.", "Monaco is famous as a tax haven, as the principality has no personal income tax (except for French citizens) and low business taxes.", "Over 30% of the residents are millionaires, with real estate prices reaching €100,000 ($116,374) per square metre in 2018.Monaco is considered a global hub of money laundering, and in February 2023 was placed under review by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force watchdog, with the threat of being placed on its 'grey list', for its failures in financial supervision and reform to inhibit global criminality and terrorism financing.Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union (EU), but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs and border controls.", "Through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency; before, it used the Monegasque franc, which was pegged, and exchangeable with, the French franc until 1 January 2002.Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004 and is a member of the (OIF).", "It is also the host of the annual street circuit motor race, the Monaco Grand Prix, one of the original Grands Prix of Formula One.", "The local motorsports association gives name to the Monte Carlo Rally, hosted in January in the French Alps.", "The principality has a club football team, AS Monaco, which competes in the French Ligue 1 and have become French champions on multiple occasions, and a basketball team, which plays in the EuroLeague.", "A centre of research into marine conservation, Monaco is home to one of the world's first protected marine habitats, an Oceanographic Museum, and the International Atomic Energy Agency Environment Labs, which is the only marine laboratory in the United Nations structure." ], [ "History", "Monaco's name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony.", "Referred to by the Ligurians as ''Monoikos'', from the Greek \"μόνοικος\", \"single house\", from \"μόνος\" (''monos'') \"alone, single\" + \"οἶκος\" (''oikos'') \"house\".", "According to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods.", "As a result, a temple was constructed there.", "Because this \"House\" of Hercules was the only temple in the area, the city was called Monoikos.", "It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, which gave it to the Genoese.An ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control.", "Though the Republic of Genoa would last until the 19th century, they allowed the Grimaldi family to keep Monaco, and, likewise, both France and Spain left it alone for hundreds of years.", "France did not annex it until the French Revolution, but after the defeat of Napoleon it was put under the care of the Kingdom of Sardinia.In the 19th century, when Sardinia became a part of Italy, the region came under French influence but France allowed it to remain independent.", "Like France, Monaco was overrun by the Axis powers during the Second World War and for a short time was administered by Italy, then the Third Reich, before finally being liberated.", "Although the occupation lasted for just a short time, it resulted in the deportation of the Jewish population and execution of several resistance members from Monaco.", "Since then Monaco has been independent.", "It has taken some steps towards integration with the European Union.===Arrival of the Grimaldi family===Rainier I, victor of the naval battle at Zierikzee and first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of MonacoFollowing a grant of land from Emperor Henry VI in 1191, Monaco was refounded in 1215 as a colony of Genoa.", "Monaco was first ruled by a member of the House of Grimaldi in 1297, when Francesco Grimaldi, known as \"''Malizia''\" (translated from Italian either as \"The Malicious One\" or \"The Cunning One\"), and his men captured the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco while dressed as Franciscan friars – a ''monaco'' in Italian – although this is a coincidence as the area was already known by this name.Francesco was evicted a few years later by the Genoese forces, and the struggle over \"the Rock\" continued for another century.", "The Grimaldi family was Genoese and the struggle was something of a family feud.", "The Genoese engaged in other conflicts, and in the late 1300s Genoa lost Monaco after fighting the Crown of Aragon over Corsica.", "Aragon eventually became part of a united Spain, and other parts of the land grant came to be integrated piecemeal into other states.", "Between 1346 and 1355, Monaco annexed the towns of Menton and Roquebrune, increasing its territory by almost ten times.===1400–1800===Monaco (as part of the Republic of Genoa) in 1494In 1419, the Grimaldi family purchased Monaco from the Crown of Aragon and became the official and undisputed rulers of \"the Rock of Monaco\".", "In 1612, Honoré II began to style himself \"Prince\" of Monaco.", "In the 1630s, he sought French protection against the Spanish forces and, in 1642, was received at the court of Louis XIII as a \"duc et pair étranger\".The princes of Monaco thus became vassals of the French kings while at the same time remaining sovereign princes.", "Though successive princes and their families spent most of their lives in Paris, and intermarried with French and Italian nobilities, the House of Grimaldi is Italian.", "The principality continued its existence as a protectorate of France until the French Revolution.===19th century===A map of the County of Nice showing the area of the Italian kingdom of Sardinia annexed in 1860 to France (light brown).", "The area in red had already become part of France before 1860In 1793, Revolutionary forces captured Monaco and until 1814 it was occupied by the French (in this period much of Europe had been overrun by the French armies under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte).The principality was reestablished in 1814 under the Grimaldis, only to be designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.Monaco remained in this position until 1860 when, by the Treaty of Turin, the Sardinian forces pulled out of the principality; the surrounding County of Nice (as well as Savoy) was ceded to France.", "Monaco became a French protectorate once again.Before this time there was unrest in Menton and Roquebrune, where the townspeople had become weary of heavy taxation by the Grimaldi family.", "They declared their independence as the Free Cities of Menton and Roquebrune, hoping for annexation by Sardinia.", "France protested.", "The unrest continued until Charles III of Monaco gave up his claim to the two mainland towns (some 95% of the principality at the time) that had been ruled by the Grimaldi family for over 500 years.These were ceded to France in return for 4,100,000 francs.", "The transfer and Monaco's sovereignty were recognised by the Franco-Monégasque Treaty of 1861.In 1869, the principality stopped collecting income tax from its residents—an indulgence the Grimaldi family could afford to entertain thanks solely to the extraordinary success of the casino.", "This made Monaco not only a playground for the rich, but a favoured place for them to live.===20th century===Prince Albert I in 1910Until the Monégasque Revolution of 1910 forced the adoption of the 1911 Constitution of Monaco, the princes of Monaco were absolute rulers.", "The new constitution slightly reduced the autocratic rule of the Grimaldi family and Prince Albert I soon suspended it during the First World War.In July 1918, a new Franco-Monégasque Treaty was signed, providing for limited French protection over Monaco.", "The treaty, endorsed in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles, established that Monégasque international policy would be aligned with French political, military and economic interests.", "It also resolved the Monaco succession crisis.marriage of actress Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III brought media attention to the principality.In 1943, the Italian Army invaded and occupied Monaco, forming a fascist administration.", "In September 1943, after Mussolini's fall from power, the German Wehrmacht occupied Italy and Monaco, and the Nazi deportation of the Jewish population began.", "René Blum, the prominent French Jew who founded the Ballet de l'Opéra in Monte Carlo, was arrested in his Paris home and held in the Drancy deportation camp outside the French capital before being transported to Auschwitz, where he was later murdered.", "Blum's colleague Raoul Gunsbourg, the director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, helped by the French Resistance, escaped arrest and fled to Switzerland.", "In August 1944, the Germans executed René Borghini, Joseph-Henri Lajoux and Esther Poggio, who were Resistance leaders.Rainier III, succeeded to the throne on the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949, and then ruled until 2005.On 19 April 1956, Prince Rainier married the American actress Grace Kelly, an event that was widely televised and covered in the popular press, focusing the world's attention on the tiny principality.A 1962 amendment to the constitution abolished capital punishment, provided for women's suffrage and established a Supreme Court of Monaco to guarantee fundamental liberties.", "In 1963, a crisis developed when Charles de Gaulle blockaded Monaco, angered by its status as a tax haven for wealthy French citizens.In 1993, the Principality of Monaco became a member of the United Nations, with full voting rights.===21st century===View of Monaco in 2016In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco specified that, should there be no heirs to carry on the Grimaldi dynasty, the principality would still remain an independent nation rather than revert to France.", "Monaco's military defense is still the responsibility of France.On 31 March 2005, Rainier III, who was too ill to exercise his duties, relinquished them to his only son and heir, Albert.", "He died six days later, after a reign of 56 years, with his son succeeding him as Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.", "Following a period of official mourning, Prince Albert II formally assumed the princely crown on 12 July 2005, in a celebration that began with a solemn Mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, where his father had been buried three months earlier.", "His accession to the Monégasque throne was a two-step event with a further ceremony, drawing heads of state for an elaborate reception, held on 18 November 2005, at the historic Prince's Palace in Monaco-Ville.", "On 27 August 2015, Albert II apologised for Monaco's role during World War II in facilitating the deportation of a total of 90 Jews and resistance fighters, of whom only nine survived.", "\"We committed the irreparable in handing over to the neighbouring authorities women, men and a child who had taken refuge with us to escape the persecutions they had suffered in France,\" Albert said at a ceremony in which a monument to the victims was unveiled at the Monaco cemetery.", "\"In distress, they came specifically to take shelter with us, thinking they would find neutrality.", "\"In 2015, Monaco unanimously approved a modest land reclamation expansion intended primarily to accommodate desperately needed housing and a small green/park area.", "Monaco had previously considered an expansion in 2008, but had called it off.", "The plan is for about six hectares (15 acres) of apartment buildings, parks, shops and offices to a land value of about 1 billion euros.", "The development will be adjacent to the Larvotto district and also will include a small marina.", "There were four main proposals, and the final mix of use will be finalised as the development progresses.", "The name for the new district is Anse du Portier.On 29 February 2020, Monaco announced its first case of COVID-19, a man who was admitted to the Princess Grace Hospital Centre then transferred to Nice University Hospital in France.On 3 September 2020, the first Monégasque satellite, OSM-1 CICERO, was launched into space from French Guiana, France aboard a Vega rocket.", "The satellite was built in Monaco by Orbital Solutions Monaco.Panoramic view of Monaco from the ''Tête de Chien'' (Dog's Head) high rock promontory" ], [ "Government", "Logo of the princely government of Monaco===Politics===Albert II, Prince of MonacoMonaco has been governed under a constitutional monarchy since 1911, with the Sovereign Prince of Monaco as head of state.", "The executive branch consists of a Prime Minister as the head of government, who presides over the other five members of the Council of Government.", "Until 2002, the Prime Minister was a French citizen appointed by the prince from among candidates proposed by the Government of France; since a constitutional amendment in 2002, the Prime Minister can be French or Monégasque.", "On 1 September 2020, Prince Albert II appointed a French citizen, Pierre Dartout, to the office.Under the 1962 Constitution of Monaco, the prince shares his veto power with the unicameral National Council.", "The 24 members of the National Council are elected for five-year terms; 16 are chosen through a majority electoral system and 8 by proportional representation.", "All legislation requires the approval of the National Council.", "Following the 2023 Monegasque general election, all 24 seats are held by the pro-monarchist Monegasque National Union.", "The principality's city affairs are directed by the Communal Council, which consists of 14 elected members and is presided over by a mayor.", "Georges Marsan has been mayor since 2003.Unlike the National Council, communal councillors are elected for four-year terms and are strictly non-partisan; oppositions inside the council frequently form.Members of the judiciary of Monaco are appointed by the Sovereign Prince.", "Key positions within the judiciary are held by French magistrates, proposed by the Government of France.", "Monaco currently has three examining magistrates.===Security===Palace guards in MonacoThe wider defence of the nation is provided by France.", "Monaco has no navy or air force, but on both a per-capita and per-area basis, Monaco has one of the largest police forces (515 police officers for about 38,000 people) and police presences in the world.", "Its police includes a special unit which operates patrol and surveillance boats jointly with the military.", "Police forces in Monaco are commanded by a French officer.There is also a small military force.", "This consists of a bodyguard unit for the prince and his palace in Monaco-Ville called the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince (Prince's Company of Carabiniers); together with the militarised, armed fire and civil defence corps (Sapeurs-Pompiers) it forms Monaco's total forces.", "The Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince was created by Prince Honoré IV in 1817 for the protection of the principality and the princely family.", "The company numbers exactly 116 officers and men; while the non-commissioned officers and soldiers are local, the officers have generally served in the French Army.", "In addition to their guard duties as described, the carabiniers patrol the principality's beaches and coastal waters." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite view of Monaco, with the France–Monaco border shown in yellowMonaco is a sovereign city-state, with five quarters and ten wards, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe.", "It is bordered by France's Alpes-Maritimes department on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea.", "Its centre is about from Italy and only northeast of Nice.It has an area of , or , and a population of 38,400, making Monaco the second-smallest and the most densely populated country in the world.", "The country has a land border of only , a coastline of , a maritime claim that extends , and a width that varies between .The highest point in the country is at the access to the ''Patio Palace'' residential building on the Chemin des Révoires (ward Les Révoires) from the D6007 (''Moyenne Corniche'' street) at above sea level.", "The lowest point in the country is the Mediterranean Sea.Saint-Jean brook is the longest flowing body of water, around in length, and Fontvieille is the largest lake, approximately in area.", "Monaco's most populated ''quartier'' is Monte Carlo, and the most populated ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins.After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area grew to or ; subsequently, new plans have been approved to extend the district of Fontvieille by or , with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.", "Land reclamation projects include extending the district of Fontvieille.", "There are two ports in Monaco, Port Hercules and Port Fontvieille.", "There is a neighbouring French port called Cap d'Ail that is near Monaco.", "Monaco's only natural resource is fishing; with almost the entire country being an urban area, Monaco lacks any sort of commercial agriculture industry.Panoramic view of La Condamine and Monte Carlo===Administrative divisions===In the centre is La Condamine.", "At the right with the smaller harbour is Fontvieille, with The Rock (the old town, fortress, and Palace) jutting out between the two harbours.", "At the left are the high-rise buildings of La Rousse/Saint Roman.Enlargeable, detailed map of MonacoMonaco is the second-smallest country by area in the world; only Vatican City is smaller.", "Monaco is the most densely populated country in the world.", "The state consists of only one municipality (''commune''), the Municipality of Monaco.", "There is no geographical distinction between the State and City of Monaco, although responsibilities of the government (state-level) and of the municipality (city-level) are different.", "According to the constitution of 1911, the principality was subdivided into three municipalities:Monaco-Ville, the old city and seat of government of the principality on a rocky promontory extending into the Mediterranean, known as the Rock of Monaco, or simply \"The Rock\";Monte Carlo, the principal residential and resort area with the Monte Carlo Casino in the east and northeast;La Condamine, the southwestern section including the port area, Port Hercules.The municipalities were merged into one in 1917, and they were accorded the status of ''Wards'' or ''Quartiers'' thereafter.", "Fontvieille was added as a fourth ward, a newly constructed area claimed from the sea in the 1970s;Moneghetti became the fifth ward, created from part of La Condamine;Larvotto became the sixth ward, created from part of Monte Carlo;La Rousse/Saint Roman (including Le Ténao) became the seventh ward, also created from part of Monte Carlo.Subsequently, three additional wards were created, but then again were dissolved in 2013:Saint Michel, created from part of Monte Carlo;La Colle, created from part of La Condamine;Les Révoires, also created from part of La Condamine.Most of Saint Michel became part of Monte Carlo again in 2013.La Colle and Les Révoires were merged the same year as part of a redistricting process, where they became part of the larger Jardin Exotique ward.", "An additional ward was planned by new land reclamation to be settled beginning in 2014 but Prince Albert II announced in his 2009 New Year Speech that he had ended plans due to the economic climate at the time.", "Prince Albert II in mid-2010 firmly restarted the programme.", "In 2015, a new development called Anse du Portier was announced.====Traditional quarters and modern geographic areas====The four traditional ''quartiers'' of Monaco are Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, Monte Carlo and Fontvieille.", "The suburb of Moneghetti, the high-level part of La Condamine, is generally seen today as an effective fifth ''Quartier'' of Monaco, having a very distinct atmosphere and topography when compared with low-level La Condamine.====Wards====Wards of MonacoFor town planning purposes, a sovereign ordinance in 1966 divided the principality into reserved sectors, \"whose current character must be preserved\", and wards.", "The number and boundaries of these sectors and wards have been modified several times.", "The latest division dates from 2013 and created two reserved sectors and seven wards.", "A new 6-hectare district, Le Portier, is currently being built on the sea.Wards Areain m2 in %'''Reserved Sectors''' Monaco-Ville Reserved Sectors 9,7 % Ravin de Sainte-Dévote Reserved Sectors 1,2 %'''Wards''' La Condamine Quartier ordonnancé 14,6 % Fontvieille Quartier ordonnancé 16,3 % Larvotto Quartier ordonnancé 10,8 % Jardin Exotique Quartier ordonnancé 11,6 % Les Moneghetti Quartier ordonnancé 5,7 % Monte-Carlo Quartier ordonnancé 21,5 % La Rousse Quartier ordonnancé 8,7 % Total 100,0 %''Note: for statistical purposes, the Wards of Monaco are further subdivided into 178 city blocks (îlots), which are comparable to the census blocks in the United States''.", "Another possibility was Fontvieille II Development to commence in 2013Land reclamation in Monaco since 1861===Architecture===Monaco exhibits a wide range of architecture, but the principality's signature style, particularly in Monte Carlo, is that of the Belle Époque.", "It finds its most florid expression in the 1878–9 Casino and the Salle Garnier created by Charles Garnier and Jules Dutrou.", "Decorative elements include turrets, balconies, pinnacles, multi-coloured ceramics, and caryatids.", "These were blended to create a picturesque fantasy of pleasure and luxury, and an alluring expression of how Monaco sought and still seeks, to portray itself.", "This capriccio of French, Italian, and Spanish elements were incorporated into hacienda villas and apartments.", "Following major development in the 1970s, Prince Rainier III banned high-rise development in the principality.", "His successor, Prince Albert II, overturned this Sovereign Order.", "In recent years the accelerating demolition of Monaco's architectural heritage, including its single-family villas, has created dismay.", "The principality has no heritage protection legislation." ], [ "Climate", "Monaco has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Csa''), with strong maritime influences, with some resemblances to the humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'').", "As a result, it has balmy warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.", "The winters are very mild considering the city's latitude, being as mild as locations located much further south in the Mediterranean Basin.", "Cool and rainy interludes can interrupt the dry summer season, the average length of which is also shorter.", "Summer afternoons are infrequently hot (indeed, temperatures greater than are rare) as the atmosphere is temperate because of constant sea breezes.", "On the other hand, the nights are very mild, due to the fairly high temperature of the sea in summer.", "Generally, temperatures do not drop below in this season.", "In the winter, frosts and snowfalls are extremely rare and generally occur once or twice every ten years.", "On 27 February 2018, both Monaco and Monte Carlo experienced snowfall.Climate data for MonacoMonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYearAverage sea temperature °C (°F)13.4(56.2)13.0(55.5)13.4(56.1)14.6(58.4)18.0(64.3)21.8(71.3)23.1(73.6)23.6(74.4)22.2(71.9)19.6(67.2)17.4(63.3)14.9(58.9)17.9(64.3)Source: Weather Atlas" ], [ "Economy", "Fontvieille and its new harbourMonaco has the world's highest GDP nominal per capita at US$185,742, GDP PPP per capita at $132,571 and GNI per capita at $183,150.It also has an unemployment rate of 2%, with over 48,000 workers who commute from France and Italy each day.", "According to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco has the world's lowest poverty rate and the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world.", "For the fourth year in a row, Monaco in 2012 had the world's most expensive real estate market, at $58,300 per square metre.", "Although the average price went down in 2020, to an average price of $53,378 per square metre, Monaco remains one of the most expensive places in the world to buy property.The world's most expensive apartment is located in Monaco, a penthouse at the Odeon Tower valued at $335 million according to ''Forbes'' in 2016.One of Monaco's main sources of income is tourism.", "Each year many foreigners are attracted to its casinos and pleasant climate.", "It has also become a major banking center, holding over €100 billion worth of funds.", "Banks in Monaco specialise in providing private banking, asset and wealth management services.", "Monaco is the only place in Europe where credit card points are not redeemable.", "Hotel points are not able to be accumulated nor are transactions recorded, allowing for an increase in privacy that is sought by many of the locals.", "The principality has successfully sought to diversify its economic base into services and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries, such as cosmetics.The state retains monopolies in numerous sectors, including tobacco and the postal service.", "The telephone network (Monaco Telecom) used to be fully owned by the state.", "Its monopoly now comprises only 45%, while the remaining 55% is owned by Cable & Wireless Communications (49%) and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (6%).", "Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas.Monaco is not a member of the European Union, but very closely linked via a customs union with France.", "As such, its currency is the same as that of France, the euro.", "Before 2002, Monaco minted its own coins, the Monegasque franc.", "Monaco has acquired the right to mint euro coins with Monegasque designs on its national side.===Gambling industry===Monte Carlo CasinoThe plan for casino gambling was drafted during the reign of Florestan I in 1846.Under Louis-Philippe's petite-bourgeois regime a dignitary such as the Prince of Monaco was not allowed to operate a gambling house.", "All this changed in the dissolute Second French Empire under Napoleon III.", "The House of Grimaldi was in dire need of money.The towns of Menton and Roquebrune, which had been the main sources of income for the Grimaldi family for centuries, were now accustomed to a much-improved standard of living and lenient taxation thanks to the Sardinian intervention and clamoured for financial and political concession, even for separation.", "The Grimaldi family hoped the newly legal industry would help alleviate the difficulties they faced, above all the crushing debt the family had incurred, but Monaco's first casino would not be ready to operate until after Charles III assumed the throne in 1856.The grantee of the princely concession (licence) was unable to attract enough business to sustain the operation and, after relocating the casino several times, sold the concession to French casino magnates François and Louis Blanc for 1.7 million francs.The Blancs had already set up a highly successful casino (in fact the largest in Europe) in Bad-Homburg in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Homburg, a small German principality comparable to Monaco, and quickly petitioned Charles III to rename a depressed seaside area known as \"Les Spelugues (Den of Thieves)\" to \"Monte Carlo (Mount Charles).\"", "They then constructed their casino in the newly dubbed \"Monte Carlo\" and cleared out the area's less-than-savoury elements to make the neighbourhood surrounding the establishment more conducive to tourism.The Blancs opened Le Grand Casino de Monte Carlo in 1858 and the casino benefited from the tourist traffic the newly built French railway system created.", "Due to the combination of the casino and the railroads, Monaco finally recovered from the previous half-century of economic slump and the principality's success attracted other businesses.", "In the years following the casino's opening, Monaco founded its Oceanographic Museum and the Monte Carlo Opera House, 46 hotels were built and the number of jewellers operating in Monaco increased by nearly five-fold.", "In an apparent effort to not overtax citizens, it was decreed that the Monégasque citizens were prohibited from entering the casino unless they were employees.", "By 1869, the casino was making such a vast sum of money that the principality could afford to end tax collection from the Monegasques—a masterstroke that was to attract affluent residents from all over Europe in a policy that still exists today.Today, Société des bains de mer de Monaco, which owns Le Grand Casino, still operates in the original building that the Blancs constructed and has since been joined by several other casinos, including the Le Casino Café de Paris, the Monte Carlo Sporting Club & Casino and the Sun Casino.", "The most recent addition in Monte Carlo is the Monte Carlo Bay Casino, which sits on 4 hectares of the Mediterranean Sea; among other things, it offers 145 slot machines, all equipped with \"ticket-in, ticket-out\" (TITO).", "It is the first Mediterranean casino to use this technology.===Low taxes===Monaco has a 20% VAT plus high social-insurance taxes, payable by both employers and employees.", "The employers' contributions are between 28% and 40% (averaging 35%) of gross salary, including benefits, and employees pay a further 10% to 14% (averaging 13%).Monaco has never levied income tax on individuals, and foreigners are thus able to use it as a \"tax haven\" from their own country's high taxes, because as an independent country, Monaco is not obliged to pay taxes to other countries.The absence of a personal income tax has attracted many wealthy \"tax refugee\" residents from European countries, who derive the majority of their income from activity outside Monaco.", "Celebrities, such as Formula One drivers, attract most of the attention but the vast majority are lesser-known business people.Per a bilateral treaty with France, French citizens who reside in Monaco must still pay income and wealth taxes to France.", "The principality also actively discourages the registration of foreign corporations, charging a 33 per cent corporation tax on profits unless they can show that at least three-quarters of turnover is generated within Monaco.", "Unlike classic tax havens, Monaco does not offer offshore financial services.In 1998, the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), issued a first report on the consequences of the financial systems of known tax havens.", "Monaco did not appear in the list of these territories until 2004, when the OECD became indignant regarding the Monegasque situation and denounced it in a report, along with Andorra, Liechtenstein, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands.", "The report underlined Monaco's lack of co-operation regarding financial information disclosure and availability.", "Later, Monaco overcame the OECD's objections and was removed from the \"grey list\" of uncooperative jurisdictions.", "In 2009, Monaco went a step further and secured a place on the \"white list\" after signing twelve information exchange treaties with other jurisdictions.In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) stated: \"The anti-money laundering system in Monaco is comprehensive.", "Difficulties have been encountered with Monaco by countries in international investigations on serious crimes that appear to be linked also with tax matters.", "In addition, the FIU of Monaco (SICCFIN) suffers a great lack of adequate resources.", "The authorities of Monaco have stated that they will provide additional resources to SICCFIN.", "\"Also in 2000, a report by French politicians Arnaud Montebourg and Vincent Peillon stated that Monaco had relaxed policies with respect to money laundering including within its casino and that the Government of Monaco had been placing political pressure on the judiciary so that alleged crimes were not being properly investigated.", "In its Progress Report of 2005, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified Monaco, along with 36 other territories, as a tax haven, but in its FATF report of the same year it took a positive view of Monaco's measures against money-laundering.The Council of Europe also decided to issue reports naming tax havens.", "Twenty-two territories, including Monaco, were thus evaluated between 1998 and 2000 on a first round.", "Monaco was the only territory that refused to perform the second round, between 2001 and 2003, whereas the 21 other territories had planned to implement the third and final round, planned between 2005 and 2007.===Numismatics===1978 Monégasque franc coin with an effigy of Rainier IIIMonaco issued its own coins in various devaluations connected to the écu already in the seventeenth century, but its first decimal coins of the Monégasque franc were issued in 1837 continued until 2001.Although Monaco is not a European Union member, it is allowed to use the euro as its currency by arrangement with the Council of the European Union; it is also granted the right to use its own designs on the national side of the euro coins, which was introduced in 2002.In preparation for this date, the minting of the new euro coins started as early as 2001.Like Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, Monaco decided to put the minting date on its coins.", "This is why the first euro coins from Monaco have the year 2001 on them, instead of 2002, like the other countries of the Eurozone that decided to put the year of first circulation (2002) on their coins.", "Three different designs were selected for the Monégasque coins.", "The design was changed in 2006 after Prince Rainier's death to feature the effigy of Prince Albert." ], [ "Population", "===Demographics===Monaco's total population was 38,400 in 2015, and estimated by the United Nations to be 36,297 as of 1 July 2023.Monaco's population is unusual in that the native Monégasques are a minority in their own country: the largest group are French nationals at 28.4%, followed by Monégasque (21.6%), Italian (18.7%), British (7.5%), Belgian (2.8%), German (2.5%), Swiss (2.5%) and U.S. nationals (1.2%).", "According to 2019 studies, 31% of Monaco's population is reported to be millionaires equalling up to 12,248 individualsCitizens of Monaco, whether born in the country or naturalised, are called ''Monégasque''.", "Monaco has the world's highest life expectancy at nearly 90 years.===Language===Street sign in French and Monégasque in Monaco-VilleThe main and official language of Monaco is French, while Italian is spoken by the principality's sizeable community from Italy.", "French and Italian are in fact more spoken in the principality today than Monégasque, its historic vernacular language.", "A variety of Ligurian, Monégasque is not recognised as an official language; nevertheless, some signage appears in both French and Monégasque, and the language is taught in schools.", "English is also used.Italian was the official language in Monaco until 1860, when it was replaced by French.", "This was due to the annexation of the surrounding County of Nice to France following the Treaty of Turin (1860).The Grimaldi, princes of Monaco, are of Ligurian origin; thus, the traditional national language is Monégasque, a variety of Ligurian, now spoken by only a minority of residents and as a common second language by many native residents.", "In Monaco-Ville, street signs are printed in both French and Monégasque." ], [ "Religion", "===Christianity===Christians comprise a total of 86% of Monaco's population.According to Monaco 2012 International Religious Freedom Report, Roman Catholic Christians are Monaco's largest religious group, followed by Protestant Christians.", "The Report states that there are two Protestant churches, an Anglican church and a Reformed church.", "There are also various other Evangelical Protestant communities that gather periodically.====Catholicism====Cathedral of Our Lady ImmaculateSainte-Dévote ChapelThe official religion is Catholicism, with freedom of other religions guaranteed by the constitution.", "There are five Catholic parish churches in Monaco and one cathedral, which is the seat of the archbishop of Monaco.", "The diocese, which has existed since the mid-19th century, was raised to a non-metropolitan archbishopric in 1981 as the Archdiocese of Monaco and remains exempt (i.e.", "immediately subject to the Holy See).", "The patron saint is Saint Devota.====Anglican Communion====There is one Anglican church (St Paul's Church), located in the Avenue de Grande Bretagne in Monte Carlo.", "The church was dedicated in 1925.In 2007 this had a formal membership of 135 Anglican residents in the principality but was also serving a considerably larger number of Anglicans temporarily in the country, mostly as tourists.", "The church site also accommodates an English-language library of over 3,000 books.", "The church is part of the Anglican Diocese in Europe.====Reformed Church of Monaco====There is one Reformed church, which meets in a building located in Rue Louis Notari.", "The building dates from 1958 to 1959.The church is affiliated with the United Protestant Church of France (Église Protestante Unie de France, EPUF), a group that incorporates the former Reformed Church of France (Église Réformée de France).", "Through this affiliation with EPUF, the church is part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.", "The church acts as a host church to some other Christian communities, allowing them to use its building.====Charismatic Episcopal Church====The Monaco Parish of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Parish of St Joseph) dates from 2017 and meets in the Reformed Church's Rue Louis Notari building.====Christian Fellowship====The Monaco Christian Fellowship, formed in 1996, meets in the Reformed Church's Rue Louis Notari building.====Greek Orthodoxy====Monaco's 2012 International Religious Freedom Report states that there is one Greek Orthodox church in Monaco.====Russian Orthodox====The Russian Orthodox Parish of the Holy Royal Martyrs meets in the Reformed Church's Rue Louis Notari building.=== Hinduism ===According to the Monaco Statistics database (IMSEE), there are around 100 Hindus living in the country.===Judaism===The Association Culturelle Israélite de Monaco (founded in 1948) is a converted house containing a synagogue, a community Hebrew school, and a kosher food shop, located in Monte Carlo.", "The community mainly consists of retirees from Britain (40%) and North Africa.", "Half of the Jewish population is Sephardic, mainly from North Africa, while the other half is Ashkenazi.===Islam===The Muslim population of Monaco consists of about 280 people, most of whom are residents, not citizens.", "The majority of the Muslim population of Monaco are Arabs, though there is a Turkish minority as well.", "Monaco does not have any official mosques." ], [ "Sports", "===Formula One===Formation lap for the 1996 Monaco Grand PrixSince 1929, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held annually in the streets of Monaco.", "It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world.", "The erection of the Circuit de Monaco takes six weeks to complete and the removal after the race takes another three weeks.The circuit is narrow and tight and its tunnel, tight corners and many elevation changes make it perhaps the most demanding Formula One track.", "Driver Nelson Piquet compared driving the circuit to \"riding a bicycle around your living room\".Despite the challenging nature of the course it has only had two fatalities, Luigi Fagioli who died from injuries received in practice for the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix (run to sports car regulations that year, not Formula 1) and Lorenzo Bandini, who crashed, burned and died three days later from his injuries in 1967.Two other drivers had lucky escapes after they crashed into the harbour, the most famous being Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix and Paul Hawkins, during the 1965 race.In 2020, the Monaco Grand Prix was cancelled for the first time since 1954 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.====Monégasque Formula 1 drivers====There have been five Formula One drivers from Monaco:Charles Leclerc (2018–present)Robert Doornbos (2005, Dutch driver under a Monégasque license)Olivier Beretta (1994)André Testut (1958–1959)Louis Chiron (1950–1958)===Formula E===Starting in 2015 Formula E started racing biennially with the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco on the Monaco ePrix and used a shorter configuration of the full Formula 1 circuit, keeping it around Port Hercules until 2021.ROKiT Venturi Racing is the only motor racing team based in the principality, headquartered in Fontvieille.", "The marque competes in Formula E and was one of the founding teams of the fully-electric championship.", "Managed by former racing drivers Susie Wolff (CEO) and Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Team Principal), the outfit holds 16 podiums in the series to date including five victories.", "1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and eleven-time Formula One race winner Felipe Massa have raced for the team previously.", "Ten-time Macau winner and 2021 vice World Champion Edoardo Mortara and Season 3 Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi currently race for the team.===Monte Carlo Rally===Since 1911 part of the Monte Carlo Rally has been held in the principality, originally held at the behest of Prince Albert I.", "Like the Grand Prix, the rally is organised by Automobile Club de Monaco.", "It has long been considered to be one of the toughest and most prestigious events in rallying and from 1973 to 2008 was the opening round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).", "From 2009 until 2011, the rally served as the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.", "The rally returned to the WRC calendar in 2012 and has been held annually since.", "Due to Monaco's limited size, all but the ending of the rally is held on French territory.===Football===Stade Louis II, home of AS Monaco FCMonaco hosts two major football teams in the principality: the men's football club, AS Monaco FC, and the women's football club, OS Monaco.", "AS Monaco plays at the Stade Louis II and competes in Ligue 1, the first division of French football.", "The club is historically one of the most successful clubs in the French league, having won Ligue 1 eight times (most recently in 2016–17) and competed at the top level for all but six seasons since 1953.The club reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, with a team that included Dado Pršo, Fernando Morientes, Jérôme Rothen, Akis Zikos and Ludovic Giuly, but lost 3–0 to Portuguese team FC Porto.", "French World Cup-winners Thierry Henry, Fabien Barthez, David Trezeguet, and Kylian Mbappe have played for the club.", "The Stade Louis II also played host to the annual UEFA Super Cup from 1998 to 2012 between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.The women's team, OS Monaco, competes in the women's French football league system.", "The club plays in the local regional league, deep down in the league system.", "It once played in the Division 1 Féminine, in the 1994–95 season, but was quickly relegated.The Monaco national football team represents the nation in association football and is controlled by the Monégasque Football Federation, the governing body for football in Monaco.", "Monaco is one of two sovereign states in Europe (along with the Vatican City) that is not a member of UEFA and so does not take part in any UEFA European Football Championship or FIFA World Cup competitions.", "They are instead affiliated with CONIFA, where they compete against other national teams that are not FIFA members.", "The team plays its home matches in the Stade Louis II.===Rugby===Monaco's national rugby team, as of April 2019, is 101st in the World Rugby Rankings.===Basketball===Multi-sport club AS Monaco owns AS Monaco Basket which was founded in 1928.They play in the top-tier European basketball league, the EuroLeague, and the French top flight, the LNB Pro A.", "They have three Pro A Leaders Cup, two Pro B (2nd-tier), and one NM1 (3rd-tier) championship.", "They play in Salle Gaston Médecin, which is part of Stade Louis II.===Professional boxing===Due in part to its position both as a tourist and gambling centre, Monaco has staged major professional boxing world title and non-title fights from time to time; those include the Carlos Monzon versus Nino Benvenuti rematch, Monzon's rematch with Emile Griffith, Monzon's two classic fights with Rodrigo Valdes, Davey Moore versus Wilfredo Benitez, the double knockout-ending classic between Lee Roy Murphy and Chisanda Mutti (won by Murphy), and Julio César Chávez Sr. versus Rocky Lockridge.", "All of the aforementioned contests took place at the first Stade Louis II or the second Stade Louis II stadiums.===Other sports===A view of the 2011 Monaco Porsche Supercup.", "Motor racing is very popular, with one course encompassing almost the whole country.The Monte-Carlo Masters is held annually in neighbouring Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, as a professional tournament for men as part of tennis's ATP Masters Series.", "The tournament has been held since 1897.Golf's Monte Carlo Open was also held at the Monte Carlo Golf Club at Mont Agel in France between 1984 and 1992.Monaco has a national Davis Cup team, which plays in the European/African Zone.Monaco has also competed in the Olympic Games, although, no athlete from Monaco has ever won an Olympic medal.", "At the Youth Olympic Winter Games, Monaco won a bronze medal in bobsleigh.The 2009 Tour de France, the world's premier cycle race, started from Monaco with a closed-circuit individual time trial starting and finishing there on the first day, and the second leg starting there on the following day and ending in Brignoles, France.Monaco has also staged part of the Global Champions Tour (International Show-jumping).", "In 2009, the Monaco stage of the Global Champions tour took place between 25 and 27 June.The Monaco Marathon is the only marathon in the world to pass through three countries, those of Monaco, France and Italy, before the finish at the Stade Louis II.The Monaco Ironman 70.3 triathlon race is an annual event with over 1,000 athletes competing and attracts top professional athletes from around the world.", "The race includes a swim, bike ride and run.Since 1993, the headquarters of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body of athletics, is located in Monaco.", "An IAAF Diamond League meet is annually held at Stade Louis II.A municipal sports complex, the Rainier III Nautical Stadium in the Port Hercules district consists of a heated saltwater Olympic-size swimming pool, diving boards and a slide.", "The pool is converted into an ice rink from December to March.In addition to Formula One, the Circuit de Monaco hosts several support series, including FIA Formula 2, Porsche Supercup and Formula Regional Europe.", "It has in the past also hosted Formula Three and Formula Renault.From 10 to 12 July 2014 Monaco inaugurated the Solar1 Monte Carlo Cup, a series of ocean races exclusively for solar-powered boats.,The women team of the chess club CE Monte Carlo won the European Chess Club Cup several times.Panoramic view of Monaco City and the port of Fontvieille" ], [ "Culture", "===Cuisine===The cuisine of Monaco is a Mediterranean cuisine shaped by the cooking style of Provence and the influences of nearby northern Italian and southern French cooking, in addition to Monaco's own culinary traditions.===Music===Seaside façade of the Salle Garnier, home of the Opéra de Monte-CarloMonaco has an opera house, a symphony orchestra and a classical ballet company.", "Monaco participated regularly in the Eurovision Song Contest between 1959–1979 and 2004–2006, winning in 1971, although none of the artists participating for the principality was originally Monegasque.", "French-born Minouche Barelli, however, acquired Monegasque citizenship in 2002, 35 years after her representing the principality in 1967.===Visual arts===Monaco has a national museum of contemporary visual art at the New National Museum of Monaco.", "In 1997, the Audiovisual Institute of Monaco was founded aimed to preserve audiovisual archives and show how the Principality of Monaco is represented in cinema.", "The country also has numerous works of public art, statues, museums, and memorials (see list of public art in Monaco).Prince Albert of Monaco visited the Sassi di Matera on 22 April 2022, exploring the ancient districts.===Museums in Monaco===Oceanographic MuseumMonaco Top Cars CollectionNapoleon Museum (Monaco)Oceanographic Museum===Events, festivals and shows===The Principality of Monaco hosts major international events such as : International Circus Festival of Monte-CarloMondial du ThéâtreMonte-Carlo Television Festival===Bread Festival===Monaco also has an annual bread festival on 17 September every year." ], [ "Education", "===Primary and secondary schools===Lycée Albert Premier of MonacoMonaco has ten state-operated schools, including: seven nursery and primary schools; one secondary school, Collège Charles III; one ''lycée'' that provides general and technological training, Lycée Albert 1er; and one lycée that provides vocational and hotel training, Lycée technique et hôtelier de Monte-Carlo.", "There are also two grant-aided denominational private schools, Institution François d'Assise Nicolas Barré and Ecole des Sœurs Dominicaines, and one international school, the International School of Monaco, founded in 1994.===Colleges and universities===There is one university located in Monaco, namely the International University of Monaco (IUM), an English-language university specialising in business education and operated by the ''Institut des hautes études économiques et commerciales'' (INSEEC) group." ], [ "Flag", "Monaco's flag and its coat of armsThe flag of Monaco is one of the world's oldest national flag designs.", "Adopted by Monaco on 4 April 1881, it is almost identical to the flag of Indonesia (The flag \"Sang Saka Merah Putih\" is an old flag from the Indonesian kingdom Majapahit in the 13th century, and also adopted by modern Indonesia) except for the ratio of height to width." ], [ "Transport", "The Monaco-Monte Carlo station is served by the SNCF, the French national rail system.", "The Monaco Heliport provides helicopter service to the closest airport, Côte d'Azur Airport in Nice, France.The Monaco bus company (CAM) covers all the tourist attractions, museums, Exotic garden, business centres, and the Casino or the Louis II Stadium." ], [ "Relations with other countries", "The Rock of Monaco in 1890Monaco is so old that it has outlived many of the nations and institutions that it has had relations with.", "The Crown of Aragon and Republic of Genoa became a part of other countries, as did the Kingdom of Sardinia.", "Honoré II, Prince of Monaco secured recognition of his independent sovereignty from Spain in 1633, and then from Louis XIII of France by the Treaty of Péronne (1641).Monaco made a special agreement with France in 1963 in which French customs laws apply in Monaco and its territorial waters.", "Monaco uses the euro but is not a member of the European Union.", "Monaco shares a border with France but also has about of coastline with the Mediterranean sea.", "Two important agreements that support Monaco's independence from France include the Franco-Monégasque Treaty of 1861 and the French Treaty of 1918 (see also Kingdom of Sardinia).", "The United States CIA Factbook records 1419 as the year of Monaco's independence.Embassy of Monaco, Paris, FranceFrance and Italy have embassies within Monaco, while most other nations represented via operations in Paris.", "There are about another 30 or so consulates.", "By the 21st century Monaco maintained embassies in Belgium (Brussels), France (Paris), Germany (Berlin), the Vatican, Italy (Rome), Portugal (Lisbon), Spain (Madrid), Switzerland (Bern), United Kingdom (London) and the United States (Washington).", "nearly two-thirds of the residents of Monaco were foreigners.", "In 2015 the immigrant population was estimated at 60% It is reported to be difficult to gain citizenship in Monaco, or at least in relative number there are not many people who do so.", "In 2015 an immigration rate of about 4 people per 1,000 was noted, or about 100–150 people a year.", "The population of Monaco went from 35,000 in 2008 to 36,000 in 2013, and of that about 20 per cent were native Monegasque (see also Nationality law of Monaco).A recurring issue Monaco encounters with other countries is the attempt by foreign nationals to use Monaco to avoid paying taxes in their own country.", "Monaco actually collects a number of taxes including a 20% VAT and 33% on companies unless they make over 75% of their income inside Monaco.", "Monaco does not allow dual citizenship but does have multiple paths to citizenship including by declaration and naturalisation.", "In many cases the key issue for obtaining citizenship, rather than attaining residency in Monaco, is the person's ties to their departure country.", "For example, French citizens must still pay taxes to France even if they live full-time in Monaco unless they resided in the country before 1962 for at least 5 years.", "In the early 1960s there was some tension between France and Monaco over taxation.There are no border formalities entering or leaving France.", "For visitors, a souvenir passport stamp is available on request at Monaco's tourist office.", "This is located on the far side of the gardens that face the Casino.", "Microstate Association Agreement Eurozone Schengen Area EU single market EU customs territory EU VAT area Dublin Regulation (relations)" ], [ "See also", "Japanese Garden, MonacoTelecommunications in MonacoOutline of MonacoMicrostates and the European UnionList of sovereign states and dependent territories by population densityList of rulers of MonacoList of diplomatic missions in MonacoList of diplomatic missions of Monaco ISO 3166-2:MC" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "; Government Official Government Portal* Official website of the Prince's Palace of Monaco* Chief of State and Cabinet Members.", ".", "* Monaco Statistics Pocket – Edition 2014; General information* Monaco.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Monaco from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''** Monaco from the BBC News* NEWS.MC.", "English-language Monaco news source and publisher of daily newsletter \" Good Morning Monaco\".", "* Monaco.", "Information about Monaco.", "* History of Monaco: Primary documents*** Google Earth view; Travel* Official website for tourism; Other* Order of the doctors of Monaco * Monacolife.net.", "English news portal.", "* The Monaco Times – A regular feature in The Riviera Times is the English language newspaper for the French–Italian Riviera and the Principality of Monaco provides monthly local news and information about the business, art and culture, people and lifestyle, events and also the real estate market.", "* Monaco-IQ.", "Monaco information and news aggregator." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "The Rock in 1890The early '''history of Monaco''' is primarily concerned with the protective and strategic value of the Rock of Monaco, the area's chief geological landmark, which served first as a shelter for ancient peoples and later as a fortress.", "Part of Liguria's history since the fall of the Roman Empire, from the 14th to the early 15th century the area was contested for primarily political reasons.", "Since that point, excepting a brief period of French occupation, it has remained steadily under the control of the House of Grimaldi." ], [ "Early history and Ligurian settlement", "The Rock in modern times.Grimaldi man lived here about 30,000 years ago.According to the accounts of historian Diodorus Siculus and geographer Strabo, the area's first permanent settlers were the mountain-dwelling Ligures, who emigrated from their native city of Genoa, in what is now northern Italy.", "However, the ancient Ligurian language is not directly connected to the Gallo-Italic language spoken by the modern inhabitants of Liguria, of which Monegasque is a dialect." ], [ "Phoenician colonization and Melqart", "\"According to some authorities, the Egyptians of the Eighteenth Dynasty, according to others, the early Phoenicians were the first commercial navigators,\" who found refuge in the Port of Monaco from the mistral of the sea.", "The Port and Rock of Monaco were consecrated by the Phoenicians in the name of their deity Melqart.", "The colony was called ''Monoike''.", "After the Phoenicians, the Greeks wrote about the progress and conquests of the journeys and labors of Hercules.", "The native Ligurian people asserted that Hercules passed through the area." ], [ "Greek colonization and Herculean legend", "During the 6th-century BC, Phocaeans from Massalia (modern day Marseille) founded the colony of Monoikos.", "The name of the colony derives from the local veneration of the Greek demigod Heracles, also later adopted by the Romans, who was said to have constructed the ancient path that passed through the region from Spain to Italy.", "The Roman emperor Julian also wrote of Hercules's construction of Monaco's port and a coastal road.", "The road was dotted with altars to Heracles, and a temple dedicated to him was established on the Rock of Monaco.", "The name Port Hercules was subsequently used for the ancient port.", "''Monoeci'' meaning \"Single One\" or ''Monoikos'' meaning \"Single House\" could be a reference to Hercules or his temple, or the isolated community inhabiting the area around the rock.According to the \"travels of Heracles\" theme, also documented by Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, both Greeks and native Ligurian people asserted that Hercules passed through the area." ], [ "Roman rule", "The division of the Empire after the death of Theodosius I, c. 395 AD, superimposed on modern borders.", "After the Gallic Wars, ''Monoecus'', which served as a stopping-point for Julius Caesar on his way to campaign in Greece, fell under Roman control as part of the Maritime Alps province (Gallia Transalpina).The Roman poet Virgil called it \"that castled cliff, Monoecus by the sea\".", "The commentator Servius's use of the passage asserts, under the entry ''portus'', that the epithet was derived:No temple to Hercules has been found at Monaco.The port is mentioned in Pliny the Elder's ''Natural History'' and in Tacitus's ''Histories'', when Fabius Valens was forced to put into the port." ], [ "Middle ages to the Genoese", "The Holy Roman Empire granted Monaco to Genoa.Monaco remained under Roman control until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476.The city was then under the domain of Odoacer until his fall at the hands of the Ostrogoths in the late 5th century.", "Monaco was recaptured by the Romans during the reign of Justinian in the mid-6th century and was held until its capture by the Lombards in the 7th century.", "Monaco then passed hands between the Lombards and Franks.", "After having been damaged by the Saracens in the 8th century, it was rebuilt by the monks of Saint-Pons in Nice, who held it territorially starting from 1075.The city was further damaged and nearly abandoned as Saracen raids continued after they had put under their control a part of Provence with a base at Fraxinetum.", "Monaco is again mentioned in the 11th century, when the church of St. Mary was built and a borough rose around it.In 1191, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI granted suzerainty over the area to the city of Genoa.", "On 10 June 1215, a detachment of Genoese Ghibellines led by Fulco del Cassello began the construction of a fortress atop the Rock of Monaco.", "This date is often cited as the beginning of Monaco's modern history.As the Ghibellines intended their fortress to be a strategic military stronghold and center of control for the area, they set about creating a settlement around the base of the Rock to support the garrison; in an attempt to lure residents from Genoa and the surrounding cities, they offered land grants and tax exemption to new settlers." ], [ "Rise of the Grimaldis", "Overview of the Genovese trading empireOverview of Crown of Aragon The Grimaldis, descended from Otto Canella and taking their name from his son Grimaldo, were an ancient and prominent Guelphic Genoese family.Members of this family, in the course of the civil strife in Genoa between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, took refuge in Monaco, accompanied by various other Guelphic families, most notably the Fieschis.Francesco Grimaldi seized the Rock of Monaco in 1297, starting the Grimaldi dynasty, under the sovereignty of the Republic of Genoa.", "The Grimaldis acquired Menton in 1346 and Roquebrune in 1355, enlarging their possessions.", "In 1338 Monegasque ships under the command of Carlo Grimaldi participated, along with those of France and Genoa, in the English Channel naval campaign.", "Plunder from the sack of Southampton was brought back to Monaco, contributing to the principality's prosperity.Honoré II, Prince of Monaco secured recognition of his independent sovereignty from Spain in 1633, and then from Louis XIII of France by the Treaty of Péronne (1641).", "Since then the area has remained under the control of the Grimaldi family to the present day, except when under French control during the French Revolution from 1793 to May 17, 1814, as part of the ''département'' of Alpes-Maritimes." ], [ "Protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia", "Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815The principality was re-established in 1814, only to be designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the Treaty of Stupinigi in 1817.Monaco remained in this position until 1860, when by the Treaty of Turin, Sardinia ceded to France the surrounding county of Nice (as well as Savoy).With the protectorate, that lasted nearly half a century, Italian was the official language of Monaco.", "The Monégasque dialect is closer to Ligurian than French, but influenced by both.During this time there was unrest in the towns of Menton and Roquebrune, which declared independence, hoping for annexation by Sardinia and participation in the Italian Risorgimento.", "The unrest continued until the ruling prince gave up his claim to the two towns (some 95% of the country), and they were ceded to France in return for four million francs.", "This transfer and Monaco's sovereignty was recognised by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861." ], [ "19th century", "Map of the territory of the \"Free cities of Mentone and Roccabruna\" (light blue) and the territory of Monaco (orange) in 1848.Those territories were the Principality of Monaco from the Renaissance until that year.Designated as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon's defeat, Monaco's sovereignty was confirmed by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861.France accepted the existence of the Principality of Monaco, but annexed 95% of its former territory (the areas of Menton and Roquebrune).", "Monaco's military defense since then has been the responsibility of France.The Casino of Monte Carlo opened in 1863, organized by the Société des bains de mer de Monaco, which also ran the Hotel de Paris.", "Taxes paid by the S.B.M.", "have been plowed into Monaco's infrastructure.", "Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with a railway link to France." ], [ "20th century", "The Prince of Monaco was an absolute ruler until the Monegasque Revolution of 1910 forced him to proclaim a constitution in 1911.In July 1918, a treaty was signed providing for limited French protection over Monaco.", "The treaty, written into the Treaty of Versailles, established that Monegasque policy would be aligned with French political, military, and economic interests.", "One of the motivations for the treaty was the upcoming Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918.While Prince Louis II's sympathies were strongly pro-French, he tried to keep Monaco neutral during World War II but supported the Vichy French government of his old army colleague, Marshal Philippe Pétain.Nonetheless, his tiny principality was tormented by domestic conflict partly as a result of Louis's indecisiveness, and also because the majority of the population was of Italian descent; many of them supported the fascist regime of Italy's Benito Mussolini.On 11 November 1942, the Italian Army invaded and occupied Monaco.", "Soon after in September 1943, following Mussolini's fall in Italy, the German Army occupied Monaco and began the deportation of the Jewish population.Western Front in 1944.Among them was René Blum, the French Jew who founded the Ballet de l'Opera in Monte Carlo, was arrested in his Paris home and held in the Drancy deportation camp outside the French capital before being transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was later killed.", "Blum's colleague Raoul Gunsbourg, the director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, helped by the French Resistance, escaped arrest and fled to Switzerland.", "In August 1944, the Germans executed René Borghini, Joseph-Henri Lajoux and Esther Poggio, who were Resistance leaders.Under Prince Louis's secret orders, the Monaco police, often at great risk to themselves, warned in advance those people whom the Gestapo planned to arrest.", "The country was liberated, after German troops had retreated, on 3 September 1944.Prince Rainier III ascended to the throne following the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949.The revised Constitution of Monaco, proclaimed in 1962, abolished capital punishment, provided for female suffrage, established a Supreme Court to guarantee fundamental liberties and made it difficult for a French national to transfer his or her residence there.In 1993, Monaco became a member of the United Nations with full voting rights." ], [ "21st century", "View of Monaco in 2016In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco clarified that if there are no heirs to carry on the dynasty, the Principality will remain an independent nation, rather than be annexed by France.", "Monaco's military defence, however, is still the responsibility of France.Prince Albert II succeeded his father Prince Rainier III in 2005.Monaco's mild climate with historical sites and modern gambling casinos, make Monaco a popular tourism and recreation centre in the 21st century, with 4.1 tourists per resident as of 2020.On 29 February 2020, Monaco announced its first case of COVID-19, a man who was admitted to the Princess Grace Hospital Centre then transferred to Nice University Hospital in France.", "The virus was confirmed to have reached Monaco on 29 February 2020." ], [ "See also", "History of EuropeHistory of FranceHistory of ItalyList of rulers of MonacoPolitics of Monaco" ], [ "References" ], [ "Sources", " * " ], [ "Further reading", ";Published in the 19th century * * ;Published in the 20th century* * * ''Histoire de la principauté de Monaco'' (1934) by Léon-Honoré Labande ;Contemporary publications" ], [ "External links", " History of Monaco: Primary Documents* Google Earth air view of Monaco" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "This is a demography of the population of Monaco, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.In 1995, Monaco's population was estimated at 30,744, with an estimated average growth rate of 0.59%.", "Monaco-Ville has a population of 1,151.French is the official language; Italian, English, and Monégasque also are spoken.", "The literacy rate is 99%.", "Roman Catholicism is the official religion, with freedom of other religions guaranteed by the constitution." ], [ "Demographic statistics", "Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 201637,55094350344025.113.411.7 201738,35095049445624.812.911.9 201838,30098052245825.613.612.0 201938,15093952841124.613.810.8 202038,35091253437823.813.99.9 202139,10097860737125.015.59.5 202239,05085552832721.913.58.4===Structure of the population===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 15 076 15 914 31 109 100 0–4 577 557 1 134 3.65 5–9 706 724 1 430 4.60 10–14 727 674 1 401 4.50 15–19 724 674 1 398 4.49 20–24 647 601 1 248 4.01 25–29 638 667 1 305 4.19 30–34 751 766 1 514 4.87 35–39 1 003 1 119 2 122 6.82 40–44 1 163 1 179 2 342 7.53 45–49 1 194 1 165 2 359 7.58 50–54 1 128 1 090 2 218 7.13 55–59 1 120 1 097 2 217 7.13 60–64 1 134 1 203 2 337 7.51 65-69 945 1 015 1 960 6.30 70-74 801 847 1 648 5.30 75+ 1 530 2 228 3 758 12.08Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 2 010 1 955 3 965 12.75 15–64 9 502 9 561 19 063 61.28 65+ 3 276 4 090 7 366 23.68 unknown 288 308 715 2.30Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 18 240 19 068 37 308 100 0–4 785 786 1 571 4.21 5–9 699 682 1 381 3.70 10–14 719 687 1 406 3.77 15–19 834 781 1 615 4.33 20–24 768 718 1 486 3.98 25–29 761 704 1 465 3.93 30–34 771 756 1 526 4.09 35–39 752 883 1 635 4.38 40–44 811 918 1 730 4.64 45–49 1 030 1 095 2 125 5.70 50–54 1 245 1 268 2 513 6.74 55–59 1 383 1 392 2 775 7.44 60–64 1 247 1 176 2 423 6.49 65-69 1 241 1 203 2 445 6.55 70-74 1 126 1 158 2 284 6.12 75-79 1 119 1 111 2 230 5.98 80-84 957 1 086 2 043 5.48 85-89 760 909 1 668 4.47 90-94 551 713 1 264 3.39 95-99 368 523 891 2.39 100+ 314 518 832 2.23Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 2 203 2 155 4 358 11.68 15–64 9 601 9 692 19 293 51.71 65+ 6 436 7 221 13 657 36.61The following demographic statistics are from the ''CIA World Factbook'', unless otherwise indicated.", "'''Age structure:'''''0-14 years:''12.3% (male 1,930/ female 1,841)''15-64 years:''60.8% (male 9,317/ female 9,249)''65 years and over:''26.9% (male 3,640/ female 4,562) (2012 estimate) 36% (2022 World Population Data Sheet estimate)'''Population growth rate:'''−0.066% (2012 estimate)'''Birth rate:'''6.85 births/1,000 population (2012 estimate)'''Death rate:'''8.52 deaths/1,000 population (2007 estimate)'''Net migration rate:'''1.02 migrants/1,000 population (2007 estimate)'''Sex ratio:'''''at birth:''1.04 male(s)/female''under 15 years:''1.05 male(s)/female''15-64 years:''1 male(s)/female''65 years and over:''0.81 male(s)/female''total population:''0.95 male(s)/female (2012 estimate)'''Infant mortality rate:'''1.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 estimate)'''Life expectancy at birth:'''''total population:''89.68 years (2012 estimate)''male:''85.74 years (2012 estimate)''female:''93.77 years (2012 estimate)'''Total fertility rate:'''1.52 children born/woman in 2018'''Nationality:'''''noun:''Monegasque(s) or Monacan(s)''adjective:''Monegasque or Monacan'''Ethnic groups:'''French 47%, Monegasque 16%, Italian 16%, other 21%'''Religions:'''Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%'''Languages:'''French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque'''Literacy:'''''definition:''NA''total population:''99%''male:''99%''female:''99% (2003 estimate)" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Monaco''' take place within the framework of a semi-constitutional monarchy, with the Prince of Monaco as head of state, with some powers devolved to several advisory and legislative bodies." ], [ "Constitution", "Historically, the princes of the ruling House of Grimaldi were autocrats of an absolute monarchy until the first Constitution of Monaco was adopted in 1911.A second constitution was granted by Prince Rainier III on December 17, 1962, outlining legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government, which consist of several administrative offices and a number of councils.", "The Prince as head of state retains most of the country's governing power; however, the principality's judicial and legislative bodies may operate independently of his control." ], [ "Government of Monaco", "===Executive branch===Logo of the princely government of MonacoSovereign PrinceAlbert II6 April 2005Minister of StatePierre Dartout1 September 2020The Council of Government is under the authority of the prince.", "The title and position of prince is hereditary, the minister of state was appointed by the monarch from a list of three French or Monegasque national candidates presented by the French government, but is now chosen by the monarch.", "Until the 2002 amendment to the Monegasque constitution, only French nationals were eligible for the post.", "The prince is advised by the Crown Council of Monaco.===Legislative branch===PresidentBrigitte Boccone-PagèsMonegasque National Union6 October 2022The unicameral National Council (''Conseil National'') has 24 seats.", "The members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms.", "The Council can be disbanded by the Prince of Monaco provided that he hosts elections within 3 months.", "Uniquely, Monegasque legislators can be members of multiple political parties.", "Currently the administrative coalition, Monegasque National Union, holds all 24 seats after winning nearly 90% of the vote in the 2023 general election.", "The coalition consists of the three largest parties in Monaco: Priorité Monaco (centre-right), which won 21 seats in the 2018 general election; Horizon Monaco (right-wing) which won 2 seats in 2018; and Union Monégasque, (centre), which won 1 seat in 2018.The centre-left coalition, New Ideas for Monaco, holds no seats after running candidates in just 13 seats and winning only 10% of the vote.===Political parties and elections===PartyVotes%Seats+/–Monegasque National Union72,60289.6324+1New Ideas for Monaco8,40110.370–1Invalid/blank votes400–––'''Total''''''81,403''''''100''''''24''''''0'''Registered voters/turnout7,59457.26––Source: Mairie de Monaco===Judicial branch===The supreme courts are the Judicial revision court (''Cour de révision judiciaire''), which hears civil and criminal cases (as well as some administrative cases), and the Supreme tribunal (''tribunal suprême''), which performs judicial review.", "Both courts are staffed by French judges (appointed among judges of French courts, members of the Conseil d'État and university professors).===Political spectrum===Monegasque tend to be more conservative due to their alignment with the Catholic Church.", "There are no official left-wing parties although Union Monégasque is considered the \"most liberal\" of the three main parties that formed the Monegasque National Union.", "A new centre-left party, New Ideas for Monaco, was formed in 2022." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "There are no first-order administrative divisions in the principality, which is instead traditionally divided into four quarters (French: ''quartiers'', singular ''quartier''): Fontvieille, La Condamine, Monaco-Ville and Monte-Carlo, with the suburb Moneghetti (part of La Condamine) colloquially seen as an unofficial, fifth quarter.", "They have a joint Communal Council of Monaco.The principality is, for administrative and official purposes, currently divided into ten wards: Monaco-VilleMonte Carlo/SpéluguesFontvieilleMoneghetti/Bd de BelgiqueLes RévoiresLa ColleLa CondamineSaint MichelLarvotto/Bas MoulinsLa Rousse/Saint Roman" ], [ "International organization participation", "ACCT, ECE, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Civil Aviation Organization, ICRM, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, International Olympic Committee, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, Universal Postal Union, World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, Council of Europe." ], [ "External links", "* A summary of the principality's constitution" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Monaco''' is reliant on tourism and banking.", "Monaco, situated on the French coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is a popular resort, attracting tourists to its casino and pleasant climate.The Principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, nonpolluting industries.", "The state has no income tax and low business taxes and thrives as a tax haven both for individuals who have established residence and for foreign companies that have set up businesses and offices.", "The state retains monopolies in a number of sectors, including gambling, tobacco, the telephone network, and the postal service.Denture adhesion rings made in Monaco, early to mid 20th century" ], [ "Background", "Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the rail link to France and the Monte Carlo Casino.", "Monaco's economy is now primarily geared toward finance, services, and real estate." ], [ "Modern times", "Low taxes have drawn many foreign individuals to Monaco and account for around 75% of the $7.78 billion annual GDP income in (2021).", "Similarly, tourism accounts for close to 15% of the annual revenue, as the Principality of Monaco also has been a major center for tourism ever since the famed Monte Carlo Casino was established in 1856.Financial and insurance activities, along with scientific- support-administrative, activities are the main contributors to the GDP of Monaco.", "Wholesale trades (10%), construction(9.1%) and real estate activities (7.8%) also contribute highly to the country's GDP.", "Monaco real estate is known to be one of the most expensive in the world.", "Banking sector of Monaco is rather large: in 2015 consolidated banking assets 8.42 times exceeded the country's GDP.", "Banks operating in Monaco traditionally specialize in private banking, asset and wealth management services.", "Wholesale trade, construction and real estate sectors come afterward in the ranking.", "An economic and customs union with France governs customs, postal services, telecommunications, and banking in Monaco.", "Before the euro, Monaco used the Monegasque franc, which itself was pegged to the French franc.", "Now part of the Eurozone, but not the EU, Monaco mints its own euro coins.All residents pay tax in the form of 20% value-added tax on all goods and services.Monaco is noted for its activity in the field of marine sciences.", "Its Oceanographic Museum, formerly directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is one of the most renowned institutions of its kind in the world.", "Monaco import and exports products and services from all over the world.", "There is no commercial agriculture in Monaco; it is 100% urban." ], [ "Tax haven", "Monaco levies no income tax on individuals.", "The absence of a personal income tax in the principality has attracted to it a considerable number of wealthy \"tax refugee\" residents from European countries who derive the majority of their income from activity outside Monaco; celebrities such as Formula One drivers attract most of the attention, but the vast majority of them are less well-known business people.In 2000, a report by the French parliamentarians, Arnaud Montebourg and Vincent Peillon, alleged that Monaco had lax policies with respect to money laundering, including within its famed casino, and that the government of Monaco had been placing political pressure on the judiciary so that alleged crimes were not properly investigated.In 1998, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a first report on the consequences of the tax havens' financial systems.", "Monaco did not appear in the list of these territories until 2004, when OECD became indignant regarding the Monegasque situation and denounced it in its last report, as well as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, underlining its lack of co-operation as regards to financial information disclosure and availability.In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) stated: \"The anti-money laundering system in Monaco is comprehensive.", "However, difficulties have been encountered with Monaco by countries in international investigations on serious crimes that appear to be linked also with tax matters.", "In addition, the FIU of Monaco (SICCFIN) suffers a great lack of adequate resources.", "The authorities of Monaco have stated that they will provide additional resources to SICCFIN.\"", "The Principality is no longer blamed in the 2005 FATF report, as well as all other territories.", "In 2003, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Monaco, along with 36 other territories, as a tax haven but Monaco came out of that list in 2009." ], [ "National enterprises", "Monaco's economy is also based on national companies, which combined produce over a billion in profit every year.", "Among the most profitable and well-known companies outside Monaco are the Société des bains de mer, the bank UBS Monaco, the auction house Monaco Legend Group and the media conglomerate Lagardère News." ], [ "Companies", "In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Monaco is Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate with 4,497 companies followed by Services with 1,895 and 1,184 companies respectively." ], [ "See also", "Department of Finance and Economy (Monaco)Economy of Europe" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "External links", "* Guardian article on tax havens, discussion of Monaco* CIA World Factbook entry on Monaco* Tax system of Monaco* GDP / Economy and Finance / IMSEE - Monaco IMSEE* Common EU list of third country jurisdictions for tax purposes*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Monaco" ], [ "Introduction", "Line 2 at a bus stop'''Transport in Monaco''' is facilitated with road, air (helicopter), rail, and water networks.", "Rail transport is operated by SNCF with only Monaco Monte Carlo station seeing passenger service and the total length of the line inside the Principality is .", "Monaco has five bus routes operated by Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco.", "There are also two other bus routes which connect Monaco with neighboring regions such as Nice and Menton." ], [ "Rail transport", "Monaco Monte Carlo stationThe railway is totally underground within Monegasque territory, and no trains can be seen at ground level within the nation.", "It links Marseille to Ventimiglia (Italy) through the principality, and was opened in 1868.Two stations were originally provided, named 'Monaco' and 'Monte-Carlo', but neither remain in current use.", "The railway line was re-laid, in a new permanent way in tunnels, constructed in two stages.", "The first, in 1964, was a 3,500 metre tunnel (mostly in French territory) which rendered the original Monte-Carlo station redundant.", "The second stage, opened in 1999, was a 3 km-long tunnel linked to the first one, allowing the new \"underground railway station of Monaco-Monte Carlo\" to open.", "Where the above ground railway was is now available for development, schools, hotels and commercial facilities, can locate here totaling some four hectares.", "This station is also served by international trains (including the French TGV) and regional trains (\"TER\")." ], [ "Road transport", "Monaco has 50 km of urban roads which provide access to the A8 autoroute.", "Monaco buries its highways so that traffic flow can be improved and so more land is available." ], [ "Urban transport", "===Elevators / travelators===There are seven main '''inclined''' lifts (including Elevators and/or travelators) which provide public transport: between the ''Place des Moulins'' and the beachesbetween the Princess Grace Hospital Centre and the Exotic Gardenbetween the Port Hercules harbor and the ''Avenue de la Costa''between the ''Place Str Dévôte'' and the area of Moneghettibetween the terraces of the Casino and the ''Boulevard Louis II''between the ''Avenue des Citronniers'' and the ''Avenue Grande-Bretagne''between the highway and the ''Boulevard Larvotto''===Bus===Line 1 with Line 6 behind itThere are six bus routes in Monaco, all operated by Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco (CAM).", "There are 143 bus stops through the Principality.", "Line 1: Monaco-Ville, Monte-Carlo, Saint Roman and returnLine 2: Monaco-Ville, Monte-Carlo, Exotic Garden and returnLine 4: Place d'Armes, Railway station, Monte-Carlo, Saint Roman and returnLine 5: Railway station, Fontvieille, Hospital and returnLine 6: Larvotto Beach, Fontvieille and returnLine 100There are four other bus routes which connect Monaco with neighbouring regions.", "Line 11: La Turbie, Monaco and return Line 100: Nice, Monaco, Menton and return Line 100X: Nice, Monaco and returnLine 110: Nice Airport, Monaco, Menton and return There is a ferry service \"Bateaubus\" which operates between both sides of Monaco port.", "The boat is powered by electricity and operates under the urban bus system tariff.===Subway===A narrow gauge subway line is a perennial project in Monaco, which has not been built thus far." ], [ "Sea transport", "Port HerculesThere are two ports in Monaco, one is Port Hercules and the other is in Fontvieille.", "There are seasonal ferry lines like the one from Nice to Saint-Tropez." ], [ "Air transport", "===Airports===There is no airport in the Principality of Monaco.", "The closest airport is Cote d'Azur Airport in Nice, France, which is connected to Monaco by the Express 110 bus.", "Alternatively passengers can take Nice tramway lines 2 and 3 to downtown Nice and then a train onward to Monaco.", "Due to the wealth of many visitors and residents, a significant portion of those flying into Nice for travel to Monaco take a helicopter flight to their final destination (see below).===Heliports===A heliport, the Monaco Heliport, is the only aviation facility in the principality.", "It features shuttle service to and from the international airport at Nice, France.", "As of May 2005, all Royal Helicopter Service is provided by the James Drabble Aviation Services Committee.", "This deal sparked a great deal of controversy in the National Council of Monaco, as there was no precedent yet set.", "Helicopter charter services to French ski resorts are also available." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Getting Around in Monaco" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Public Services (Monaco)" ], [ "Introduction", "A member of the Prince's Company on guard at the Prince's PalaceThe '''Public Force''' () are the military force of Monaco.", "However, the country has a very limited military capability and depends almost entirely upon its larger neighbour, France, for defence.", "In total, there are over 250 people employed as military personnel in some form.", "There is no conscription in Monaco.Its branches are the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince and the Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Monaco." ], [ "Command", "The Public Services are under the joint command of the ''Supreme Commander of the Public Services'' (), currently Colonel Tony Varo.Under the chief commander, each of the two principal military corps is headed by a ''Chief of the Corps'', who holds the rank of commandant or lieutenant colonel, according to personal seniority.", "The military band is commanded by the ''Chief of the Orchestra'', with the rank of commandant." ], [ "Border patrol and patrol boats", "Some military roles are assigned to the civil police, such as border patrol and border defence, which are the responsibility of a special police unit officially named the \"Maritime and Heliport Police Division,\" and which operates on land and sea using patrol boats and high-speed surveillance boats.", "Four patrol boats are operated by the Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers (fire-fighters) and the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince (prince's bodyguards)." ], [ "Military branches", "Two full-time militarised armed corps exist under the operational direction of the chief commander, and the political control of the Department of the Interior.", "One is the Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Monaco, and the other is the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince.", "Both units are part of both military and civil defence plans, and are key to the \"ORMOS Red Plan\" which makes provision for the evacuation of Monaco in case of natural disaster, or civil emergency.===Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers===Fire appliance of the Monégasque firefightersDescribing itself as a military force, the Corps consists of 10 officers, 26 non-commissioned officers and 99 other ranks (with 25 civilian employees), providing fire, hazardous materials, rescue, and emergency medical services.", "The officers' ranks (in descending order of seniority) are: Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commandant, Captain, Lieutenant, and Sub-Lieutenant.", "There are a further nine ranks of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.", "Officers generally have served in the French military's fire service.", "Based at two barracks (one in La Condamine and one in Fontvieille), the Corps is equipped with fire engines, rescue vehicles and a range of specialist vehicles, including a fire boat and sealed tracked vehicles for entering Monaco's railway tunnels during an emergency.Beyond fire-fighting duties, the Corps has an extensive civil defence brief.", "Its personnel are trained in the use of firearms, and the Corps has a central armoury.", "Personnel are trained to handle chemical incidents, and have specialist chemical incident vehicles and equipment.", "They are also equipped with ambulances and personnel have paramedic training.An enlisted soldier (left) and a commissioned officer (right) of the Prince's Carabiniers===Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince===Literally translated \"Company of Carabiniers of the Prince\", the English-language version of the official Government website translates the name as \"The Palace Guards\".", "The force was established in 1817 by Prince Honoré, administrator on behalf of his father, Prince Honoré IV.", "Originally an infantry unit, in 1904 they replaced the previous (now disbanded) \"Guard Company\" as the official Palace Guard of the royal family.The Company is of a similar size to the Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers.", "At the summer of 2020 the Government reported the total strength of the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince as 124, consisting of 3 officers, 24 non-commissioned officers, and 97 enlisted men (with another 14 civilian employees).", "Each officer has trained and served with the French military.", "Its primary duty is the defence of the prince and the Prince's Palace in the Monaco-Ville (old town) quartier of Monaco.", "By extension, it also has a role in guarding members of the judiciary, who administer justice in the name of the prince.There are a number of specialist units within the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince, which include a motorcycle section (for rapid-response and motorcycle outriding); a bodyguard and protection unit; a diving unit with military, rescue and scientific capabilities; and a military first-aid unit that provides first aid and ambulance cover at public and sporting events.The ceremonial \"changing of the guard\" at 11:55am each day attracts large numbers of tourists.", "The ceremony is more than just a tourist spectacle, as this small military force is the front line of defence of the Monegasque princely family.===L'Orchestre militaire===Despite its title of \"military orchestra\", this section, which is attached to the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince, provides a full range of military music, including an orchestra, a ceremonial marching band, and state trumpeters, under the command of a Chef de l'Orchestre, with the rank of Commandant (Major).", "The band was established in 1978 and consists of 24 soldiers." ], [ "Rank and insignia", "A Monegasque soldier posing with two Dutch Olympic swimmers (Nel van Vliet and Hannie Termeulen) at the 1947 European Aquatics Championships===Commissioned officer ranks===The rank insignia of commissioned officers.===Other ranks===The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel." ], [ "Department of the Interior", "The minister of the Department of the Interior is appointed by the prince of Monaco for one five-year term, and is mainly responsible for both policing and military activity within Monaco.Ministers of the Department of the Interior (''conseiller de gouvernement pour l’Intérieur''):* Philippe Deslandes (2001−2006)* Paul Masseron (2006–2011)** Patrice Cellario (2015–)" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Department of the Interior official site* Corps des Sapeurs-pompiers Official site" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mongolia''' ( ) is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south.", "It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, making it the world's most sparsely populated sovereign state.", "Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country that does not border a closed sea, and much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south.", "Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is home to roughly half of the country's population.The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the First Turkic Khaganate, the Second Turkic Khaganate, the Uyghur Khaganate and others.", "In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history.", "His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China proper and established the Yuan dynasty.", "After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan.", "In the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia, being further led by the Manchu-founded Qing dynasty, which absorbed the country in the 17th century.", "By the early 20th century, almost one-third of the adult male population were Buddhist monks.", "After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, and achieved actual independence from the Republic of China in 1921.Shortly thereafter, the country became a satellite state of the Soviet Union.", "In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was founded as a socialist state.", "After the anti-communist revolutions of 1989, Mongolia conducted its own peaceful democratic revolution in early 1990.This led to a multi-party system, a new constitution of 1992, and transition to a market economy.Approximately 30% of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; horse culture remains integral.", "Buddhism is the majority religion (51.7%), with the nonreligious being the second-largest group (40.6%).", "Islam is the third-largest religious identification (3.2%), concentrated among ethnic Kazakhs.", "The vast majority of citizens are ethnic Mongols, with roughly 5% of the population being Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other ethnic minorities, who are especially concentrated in the western regions.", "Mongolia is a member of the United Nations, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, G77, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Non-Aligned Movement and a NATO global partner.", "Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and seeks to expand its participation in regional economic and trade groups." ], [ "Etymology", "The name Mongolia means the \"Land of the Mongols\" in Latin.", "The Mongolian word ''\"Mongol\"'' () is of uncertain etymology, given variously as the name of a mountain or river; as a corruption of the Mongolian ''Mongkhe-tengri-gal'' (\"Eternal Sky Fire\"); or as a derivation from Mugulü, the 4th-century founder of the Rouran Khaganate, first attested as the 'Mungu', (Chinese: , Modern Chinese ''Měngwù'', Middle Chinese ''Muwngu''), a branch of the Shiwei in an 8th-century Tang dynasty list of northern tribes, presumably related to the Liao-era ''Mungku'' (Chinese: , Modern Chinese ''Měnggǔ'', Middle Chinese ''MuwngkuX'').After the fall of the Liao in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau.", "However, their wars with the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them.", "The last head of the tribe was Yesügei, whose son Temüjin eventually united all the Shiwei tribes as the Mongol Empire (''Yekhe Monggol Ulus'').", "In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan.Since the adoption of the new Constitution of Mongolia on 13 February 1992, the official name of the state is \"Mongolia\" (''Mongol Uls'')." ], [ "History", "=== Prehistory and antiquity ===The ''Khoit Tsenkher Cave'' in Khovd Province shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of mammoths, lynx, bactrian camels, and ostriches, earning it the nickname \"the Lascaux of Mongolia\".", "The Venus figurines of Mal'ta (21,000 years ago) testify to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia; Mal'ta is now part of Russia.Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 BC), such as those at Norovlin, Tamsagbulag, Bayanzag, and Rashaan Khad, predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Mongolia which became the dominant culture.", "Horse-riding nomadism has been documented by archeological evidence in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age Afanasevo culture (3500–2500 BC); this Indo-European culture was active to the Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia.", "The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC.", "Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with the later Okunev culture (2nd millennium BC), Andronovo culture (2300–1000 BC) and Karasuk culture (1500–300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age Xiongnu Empire in 209 BC.", "Monuments of the pre-Xiongnu Bronze Age include deer stones, keregsur kurgans, square slab tombs, and rock paintings.Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, agriculture has always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism.", "Agriculture may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region.", "The population during the Copper Age has been described as mongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west.", "Tocharians (Yuezhi) and Scythians inhabited western Mongolia during the Bronze Age.", "The mummy of a Scythian warrior, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old, was a 30- to 40-year-old man with blond hair; it was found in the Altai, Mongolia.", "As equine nomadism was introduced into Mongolia, the political center of the Eurasian Steppe also shifted to Mongolia, where it remained until the 18th century CE.", "The intrusions of northern pastoralists (e.g.", "the Guifang, Shanrong, and Donghu) into China during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) presaged the age of nomadic empires.===Early states===7th-century artifacts found from Ulaanbaatar.Since prehistoric times, Mongolia has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to power and prominence.", "Common institutions were the office of the Khan, the Kurultai (Supreme Council), left and right wings, imperial army (Keshig) and the decimal military system.", "The first of these empires, the Xiongnu of undetermined ethnicity, were brought together by Modu Shanyu to form a confederation in 209 BC.", "Soon they emerged as the greatest threat to the Qin Dynasty, forcing the latter to construct the Great Wall of China.", "It was guarded by up to almost 300,000 soldiers during Marshal Meng Tian's tenure, as a means of defense against the destructive Xiongnu raids.", "The vast Xiongnu empire (209 BC–93 AD) was followed by the Mongolic Xianbei empire (93–234 AD), which also ruled more than the entirety of present-day Mongolia.", "The Mongolic Rouran Khaganate (330–555), of Xianbei provenance was the first to use \"Khagan\" as an imperial title.", "It ruled a massive empire before being defeated by the Göktürks (555–745), an even larger empire.The Göktürks laid siege to Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch, in 576.They were succeeded by the Uyghur Khaganate (745–840) who were defeated by the Kyrgyz.", "The Mongolic Khitans, descendants of the Xianbei, ruled Mongolia during the Liao Dynasty (907–1125), after which the Khamag Mongol (1125–1206) rose to prominence.Lines 3–5 of the memorial inscription of Bilge Khagan (684–737) in central Mongolia summarizes the time of the Khagans:===Mongol empire to early 20th century===Mongol Empire expansion (1206–1294)1236–1242 Mongol invasions of EuropeThis map shows the boundary of the 13th-century Mongol Empire compared to today's Mongols.", "The red area shows where the majority of Mongolian speakers reside today.The Northern Yuan at its greatest extent.In the chaos of the late 12th century, a chieftain named Temüjin finally succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes between Manchuria and the Altai Mountains.", "In 1206, he took the title Genghis Khan, and waged a series of military campaigns – renowned for their brutality and ferocity – sweeping through much of Asia, and forming the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in world history.", "Under his successors it stretched from present-day Poland in the west to Korea in the east, and from parts of Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some , (22% of Earth's total land area) and had a population of over 100 million people (about a quarter of Earth's total population at the time).", "The emergence of Pax Mongolica also significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia during its height.After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was subdivided into four kingdoms or Khanates.", "These eventually became quasi-independent after the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264), which broke out in a battle for power following Möngke Khan's death in 1259.One of the khanates, the \"Great Khaanate\", consisting of the Mongol homeland and most of modern-day China, became known as the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan.", "He set up his capital in present-day Beijing.", "After more than a century of power, the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty in 1368, and the Yuan court fled to the north, thus becoming the Northern Yuan dynasty.", "As the Ming armies pursued the Mongols into their homeland, they successfully sacked and destroyed the Mongol capital Karakorum and other cities.", "Some of these attacks were repelled by the Mongols under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür.After the expulsion of the Yuan rulers from China proper, the Mongols continued to rule their homeland, known in historiography as the Northern Yuan dynasty.", "With the division of the Mongol tribes, it was subsequently also known as \"The Forty and the Four\" (Döčin dörben) among them.", "The next centuries were marked by violent power struggles among various factions, notably the Genghisids and the non-Genghisid Oirats, as well as by several Ming invasions (such as the five expeditions led by the Yongle Emperor).Genghis Khan, the first Mongol EmperorIn the early 16th century, Dayan Khan and his khatun Mandukhai reunited all Mongol groups under the Genghisids.", "In the mid-16th century, Altan Khan of the Tümed, a grandson of Dayan Khan – but not a hereditary or legitimate Khan – became powerful.", "He founded Hohhot in 1557.After he met with the Dalai Lama in 1578, he ordered the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia.", "(It was the second time this had occurred.)", "Abtai Khan of the Khalkha converted to Buddhism and founded the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585.His grandson Zanabazar became the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in 1640.Following the leaders, the entire Mongolian population embraced Buddhism.", "Each family kept scriptures and Buddha statues on an altar at the north side of their yurt.", "Mongolian nobles donated land, money and herders to the monasteries.", "As was typical in states with established religions, the top religious institutions, the monasteries, wielded significant temporal power in addition to spiritual power.The last Khagan of Mongols was Ligden Khan in the early 17th century.", "He came into conflicts with the Manchus over the looting of Chinese cities, and also alienated most Mongol tribes.", "He died in 1634.By 1636, most of the Inner Mongolian tribes had submitted to the Manchus, who founded the Qing dynasty.", "The Khalkha eventually submitted to Qing rule in 1691, thus bringing all of today's Mongolia under Manchu rule.", "After several Dzungar–Qing Wars, the Dzungars (western Mongols or Oirats) were virtually annihilated during the Qing conquest of Dzungaria in 1757 and 1758.Altan Khan (1507–1582) founded the city of Hohhot, helped introduce Buddhism and originated the title of Dalai LamaSome scholars estimate that about 80% of the 600,000 or more Dzungar were killed by a combination of disease and warfare.", "Outer Mongolia was given relative autonomy, being administered by the hereditary Genghisid khanates of Tusheet Khan, Setsen Khan, Zasagt Khan and Sain Noyon Khan.", "The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia had immense ''de facto'' authority.", "The Manchu forbade mass Chinese immigration into the area, which allowed the Mongols to keep their culture.", "The Oirats who migrated to the Volga steppes in Russia became known as Kalmyks.The main trade route during this period was the Tea Road through Siberia; it had permanent stations located every , each of which was staffed by 5–30 chosen families.Until 1911, the Qing dynasty maintained control of Mongolia with a series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic measures.", "Ambans, Manchu \"high officials\", were installed in Khüree, Uliastai, and Khovd, and the country was divided into numerous feudal and ecclesiastical fiefdoms (which also placed people in power with loyalty to the Qing).", "Over the course of the 19th century, the feudal lords attached more importance to representation and less importance to the responsibilities towards their subjects.", "The behavior of Mongolia's nobility, together with usurious practices by Chinese traders and the collection of imperial taxes in silver instead of animals, resulted in widespread poverty among the nomads.", "By 1911 there were 700 large and small monasteries in Outer Mongolia; their 115,000 monks made up 21% of the population.", "Apart from the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, there were 13 other reincarnating high lamas, called 'seal-holding saints' (''tamgatai khutuktu''), in Outer Mongolia.=== Modern history ===The eighth Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Bogd KhaanMap of unified Mongolia in 1917With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia under the Bogd Khaan declared its independence.", "But the newly established Republic of China considered Mongolia to be part of its own territory.", "Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic of China, considered the new republic to be the successor of the Qing.", "Bogd Khaan said that both Mongolia and China had been administered by the Manchu during the Qing, and after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the contract of Mongolian submission to the Manchu had become invalid.The area controlled by the Bogd Khaan was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia during the Qing period.", "In 1919, after the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops led by warlord Xu Shuzheng occupied Mongolia.", "Warfare erupted on the northern border.", "As a result of the Russian Civil War, the White Russian Lieutenant General Baron Ungern led his troops into Mongolia in October 1920, defeating the Chinese forces in Niislel Khüree (now Ulaanbaatar) in early February 1921 with Mongol support.To eliminate the threat posed by Ungern, Bolshevik Russia decided to support the establishment of a communist Mongolian government and army.", "This Mongolian army took the Mongolian part of Kyakhta from Chinese forces on 18 March 1921, and on 6 July, Russian and Mongolian troops arrived in Khüree.", "Mongolia declared its independence again on 11 July 1921.As a result, Mongolia was closely aligned with the Soviet Union over the next seven decades.==== Mongolian People's Republic ====In 1924, after the Bogd Khaan died of laryngeal cancer or, as some sources claim, at the hands of Russian spies, the country's political system was changed.", "The Mongolian People's Republic was established.", "In 1928, Khorloogiin Choibalsan rose to power.", "The early leaders of the Mongolian People's Republic (1921–1952) included many with Pan-Mongolist ideals.", "However, changing global politics and increased Soviet pressure led to the decline of Pan-Mongol aspirations in the following period.Khorloogiin Choibalsan led Mongolia during the Stalinist era, and presided over an environment of intense political persecutionKhorloogiin Choibalsan instituted collectivization of livestock, began the destruction of the Buddhist monasteries, and carried out Stalinist purges, which resulted in the murders of numerous monks and other leaders.", "In Mongolia during the 1920s, approximately one-third of the male population were monks.", "By the beginning of the 20th century, about 750 monasteries were functioning in Mongolia.In 1930, the Soviet Union stopped Buryat migration to the Mongolian People's Republic to prevent Mongolian reunification.", "All leaders of Mongolia who did not fulfill Stalin's demands to perform Red Terror against Mongolians were executed, including Peljidiin Genden and Anandyn Amar.", "The Stalinist purges in Mongolia, which began in 1937, killed more than 30,000 people.", "Under Stalinist influence in the Mongolian People's Republic, an estimated 17,000 monks were killed, official figures show.", "Choibalsan, who led a dictatorship and organized Stalinist purges in Mongolia between 1937 and 1939, died suspiciously in the Soviet Union in 1952.Comintern leader Bohumír Šmeral said, \"People of Mongolia are not important, the land is important.", "Mongolian land is larger than England, France and Germany\".Khalkhin Gol, 1939After the Japanese invasion of neighboring Manchuria in 1931, Mongolia was threatened on this front.", "During the Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the Soviet Union successfully defended Mongolia against Japanese expansionism.", "Mongolia fought against Japan during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and during the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945 to liberate Inner Mongolia from Japan and Mengjiang.==== Cold War ====The February 1945 Yalta Conference provided for the Soviet Union's participation in the Pacific War.", "One of the Soviet conditions for its participation, put forward at Yalta, was that after the war Outer Mongolia would retain its independence.", "The referendum took place on 20 October 1945, with (according to official numbers) 100% of the electorate voting for independence.After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, both countries confirmed their mutual recognition on 6 October 1949.However, the Republic of China used its Security Council veto in 1955, to stop the admission of the Mongolian People's Republic to the United Nations on the grounds it recognized all of Mongolia —including Outer Mongolia— as part of China.", "This was the only time the Republic of China ever used its veto.", "Hence, and because of the repeated threats to veto by the ROC, Mongolia did not join the UN until 1961 when the Soviet Union agreed to lift its veto on the admission of Mauritania (and any other newly independent African state), in return for the admission of Mongolia.", "Faced with pressure from nearly all the other African countries, the ROC relented under protest.", "Mongolia and Mauritania were both admitted to the UN on 27 October 1961.", "(see China and the United Nations)Mongolian Premier Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal was the longest-serving leader in the Eastern Bloc, with over 44 years in officeOn 26 January 1952, Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal took power in Mongolia after the death of Choibalsan.", "Tsedenbal was the leading political figure in Mongolia for more than 30 years.", "While Tsedenbal was visiting Moscow in August 1984, his severe illness prompted the parliament to announce his retirement and replace him with Jambyn Batmönkh.==== Post-Cold War ====The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 strongly influenced Mongolian politics and youth.", "Its people undertook the peaceful Democratic Revolution in January 1990 and the introduction of a multi-party system and a market economy.", "At the same time, the transformation of the former Marxist-Leninist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party to the current social democratic Mongolian People's Party reshaped the country's political landscape.A new constitution was introduced in 1992, and the term \"People's Republic\" was dropped from the country's name.", "The transition to a market economy was often rocky; during the early 1990s the country had to deal with high inflation and food shortages.", "The first election victories for non-communist parties came in 1993 (presidential elections) and 1996 (parliamentary elections).", "China has supported Mongolia's application for membership in the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and granting it observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation." ], [ "Geography and climate", "The southern portion of Mongolia is taken up by the Gobi Desert, while the northern and western portions are mountainous.At , Mongolia is the world's 18th-largest country.", "It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru.", "It mostly lies between latitudes 41° and 52°N (a small area is north of 52°), and longitudes 87° and 120°E.", "As a point of reference the northernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same latitude as Berlin (Germany) and Saskatoon (Canada), while the southernmost part is on roughly the same latitude as Rome (Italy) and Chicago (USA).", "The westernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same longitude as Kolkata in India, while the easternmost part is on the same longitude as Qinhuangdao and Hangzhou in China, as well as the western edge of Taiwan.", "Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its westernmost point is only from Kazakhstan, nearly making a quadripoint.The geography of Mongolia is varied, with the Gobi Desert to the south and cold, mountainous regions to the north and west.", "Much of Mongolia consists of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland, with forested areas accounting for 11.2% of the total land area, a higher percentage than Ireland (10%).", "The whole of Mongolia is considered to be part of the Mongolian Plateau.", "The highest point in Mongolia is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif in the far west at .", "The basin of the Uvs Lake, shared with Tuva Republic in Russia, is a natural World Heritage Site.The western extremity of Mongolia is only from Kazakhstan, and this area can resemble a quadripoint when viewed on a map.=== Climate ===Mongolia is known as the \"Land of the Eternal Blue Sky\" or \"Country of Blue Sky\" (Mongolian: \"Mönkh khökh tengeriin oron\") because it has over 250 sunny days a year.Mongolia map of Köppen climate classification zones.Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as .", "A vast front of cold, heavy, shallow air comes in from Siberia in winter and collects in river valleys and low basins causing very cold temperatures while slopes of mountains are much warmer due to the effects of temperature inversion (temperature increases with altitude).The Khentii Mountains in Terelj, close to the birthplace of Genghis Khan.In winter the whole of Mongolia comes under the influence of the Siberian Anticyclone.", "The localities most severely affected by this cold weather are Uvs province (Ulaangom), western Khovsgol (Rinchinlhumbe), eastern Zavkhan (Tosontsengel), northern Bulgan (Hutag) and eastern Dornod province (Khalkhiin Gol).", "Ulaanbaatar is strongly, but less severely, affected.", "The cold gets less severe as one goes south, reaching the warmest January temperatures in Omnogovi Province (Dalanzadgad, Khanbogd) and the region of the Altai mountains bordering China.", "A unique microclimate is the fertile grassland-forest region of central and eastern Arkhangai Province (Tsetserleg) and northern Ovorkhangai Province (Arvaikheer) where January temperatures are on average the same and often higher than the warmest desert regions to the south in addition to being more stable.", "The Khangai Mountains play a certain role in forming this microclimate.", "In Tsetserleg, the warmest town in this microclimate, nighttime January temperatures rarely go under while daytime January temperatures often reach to .The country is subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as ''zud.''", "It results in large proportions of the country's livestock dying from starvation or freezing temperatures or both, resulting in economic upheaval for the largely pastoral population.", "The annual average temperature in Ulaanbaatar is , making it the world's coldest capital city.", "Mongolia is high, cold and windy.", "It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls.", "The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure.", "Precipitation is highest in the north (average of per year) and lowest in the south, which receives annually.", "The highest annual precipitation of occurred in the forests of Bulgan Province near the border with Russia and the lowest of occurred in the Gobi Desert (period 1961–1990).", "The sparsely populated far north of Bulgan Province averages in annual precipitation which means it receives more precipitation than Beijing () or Berlin ().=== Environmental issues ====== Wildlife ===Bactrian camels by sand dunes in Gobi Desert.Mongolian steppeThe name \"Gobi\" is a Mongol term for a desert steppe, which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels.", "Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape.Gobi rangelands are fragile and easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive.", "The arid conditions in the Gobi are attributed to the rain shadow effect caused by the Himalayas.", "Before the Himalayas were formed by the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate 10 million years ago, Mongolia was a flourishing habitat for major fauna but still somewhat arid and cold due to distance from sources of evaporation.", "Sea turtle and mollusk fossils have been found in the Gobi, apart from well-known dinosaur fossils.", "Tadpole shrimps are still found in the Gobi today.", "The eastern part of Mongolia including the Onon and Kherlen rivers and Lake Buir form part of the Amur river basin draining to the Pacific Ocean.", "It hosts some unique species like the Eastern brook lamprey, Daurian crayfish (''cambaroides dauricus'') and Daurian pearl oyster (''dahurinaia dahurica'') in the Onon/Kherlen rivers as well as Siberian prawn (''exopalaemon modestus'') in Lake Buir.Mongolia had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.36/10, ranking it sixth globally out of 172 countries." ], [ "Demographics", "Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia''ger'' districtsMongolia's total population as of January 2015 was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 3,000,251 people, ranking around 121st in the world.", "But the U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs uses the United Nations (UN) estimations instead of the U.S. Census Bureau estimations.", "United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division estimates Mongolia's total population (mid-2007) as 2,629,000 (11% less than the U.S. Census Bureau figure).", "UN estimates resemble those made by the Mongolian National Statistical Office (2,612,900, end of June 2007).", "Mongolia's population growth rate is estimated at 1.2% (2007 est.).", "About 59% of the total population is under age 30, 27% of whom are under 14.This relatively young and growing population has placed strains on Mongolia's economy.The first census in the 20th century was carried out in 1918 and recorded a population of 647,500.Since the end of socialism, Mongolia has experienced a decline of total fertility rate (children per woman) that is steeper than in any other country in the world, according to recent UN estimations: in 1970–1975, fertility was estimated to be 7.33 children per woman, dropping to about 2.1 in 2000–2005.The decline ended and in 2005–2010, the estimated fertility value increased to 2.5 and stabilised afterwards at the rate of about 2.2–2.3 children per woman.The Mongols are moderately homogeneous, Ethnic Mongols account for about 95% of the population and consist of Khalkha and other groups, all distinguished primarily by dialects of the Mongol language.", "The Khalkha make up 86% of the ethnic Mongol population.", "The remaining 14% include Oirats, Buryats and others.", "Turkic peoples (Kazakhs and Tuvans) constitute 4.5% of Mongolia's population, and the rest are Russian, Chinese, Korean and American nationalities.=== Languages ===The official language of Mongolia is Mongolian, and is spoken by 95% of the population.", "A variety of dialects of Oirat and Buryat are spoken across the country, and there are also some speakers of Mongolic Khamnigan.", "In the west of the country, Kazakh and Tuvan, both Turkic languages, are also spoken.", "Mongolian Sign Language is the principal language of the deaf community.Today, Mongolian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet in Mongolia, although in the past it was written using the Mongolian script.", "An official reintroduction of the old script was planned for 1994, but has not taken place as older generations encountered practical difficulties.", "Schools are reintroducing the traditional alphabet.", "In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to use both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian script in official documents by 2025.Russian is the most frequently spoken foreign language in Mongolia, followed by English, although English has been gradually replacing Russian as the second language.", "Korean has gained popularity as tens of thousands of Mongolians work in South Korea.=== Religion ===+ Religions in Mongolia (population aged 15 and above) Religion Population Share '''Non-religious''' 735,283 38.6% '''Religious''' ''1,170,283'' ''61.4%'' Buddhism 1,009,357 53.0% Islam 57,702 3.0% Shamanism 55,174 2.9% Christianity 41,117 2.2% Other religions 6,933 0.4% '''Total''' '''1,905,566''' '''100.0%'''According to the 2010 National Census, among Mongolians aged 15 and above, 53% were Buddhists, while 39% were non-religious.", "Mongolian shamanism has been widely practised throughout the history of what is now Mongolia, with similar beliefs being common among the nomads of central Asia.", "They gradually gave way to Tibetan Buddhism, but shamanism has left a mark on Mongolian religious culture, and it continues to be practiced.", "The Kazakhs of western Mongolia, some Mongols, and other Turkic peoples in the country traditionally adhere to Islam.Throughout much of the 20th century, the communist government repressed religious practices.", "It targeted the clergy of the Mongolian Buddhist Church, which had been tightly intertwined with the previous feudal government structures (e.g.", "from 1911 on, the head of the Church had also been the Khan of the country).", "In the late 1930s, the regime, then led by Khorloogiin Choibalsan, closed almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries and killed at least 30,000 people, of whom 18,000 were lamas.", "The number of Buddhist monks dropped from 100,000 in 1924 to 110 in 1990.Amarbayasgalant MonasteryThe fall of communism in 1991 restored public religious practice.", "Tibetan Buddhism, which had been the predominant religion prior to the rise of communism, again rose to become the most widely practised religion in Mongolia.", "The highest-ranking lama of Buddhism in Mongolia, has been vacant since the 9th Jebtsundamba’s passing in 2012 and the search for the next Jebtsundamba Khutuktu is being complicated by Beijing’s desire to assert control over Tibetan Buddhism.The end of religious repression in the 1990s also allowed for other religions to spread in the country.", "According to the Christian missionary group Barnabas Fund, the number of Christians grew from just four in 1989 to around 40,000 .", "In May 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) held a cultural program to celebrate twenty years of LDS Church history in Mongolia, with 10,900 members, and 16 church buildings in the country.", "There are some 1,000 Catholics in Mongolia and, in 2003, a missionary from the Philippines was named Mongolia's first Catholic bishop.", "In 2017 Seventh-day Adventists reported 2,700 members in six churches up from zero members in 1991." ], [ "Government and politics", "State Great Khural chamber in sessionMongolia is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic with a directly elected President.", "The people also elect the deputies in the national assembly, the State Great Khural.", "The president appoints the prime minister, and nominates the cabinet on the proposal of the prime minister.", "The constitution of Mongolia guarantees a number of freedoms, including full freedom of expression and religion.", "Mongolia amended its constitution most lately in 2019 transferring some powers from the president to the prime minister.", "On May 31, 2023, Mongolia's parliament approved a constitutional amendment that increased the number of seats from 76 to 126 and changed the electoral system re-introducing proportional party voting.Mongolia has a number of political parties; the largest are the Mongolian People's Party and the Democratic Party.", "The non-governmental organization Freedom House considers Mongolia to be free.The People's Party – known as the People's Revolutionary Party between 1924 and 2010 – formed the government from 1921 to 1996 (in a one-party system until 1990) and from 2000 to 2004.From 2004 to 2006, it was part of a coalition with the Democrats and two other parties, and after 2006 it was the dominant party in two other coalitions.", "The party initiated two changes of government from 2004 prior to losing power in the 2012 election.", "The Democrats were the dominant force in a ruling coalition between 1996 and 2000, and an almost-equal partner with the People's Revolutionary Party in a coalition between 2004 and 2006.An election of deputies to the national assembly on 28 June 2012 resulted in no party having an overall majority; however, as the Democratic Party won the largest number of seats, its leader, Norovyn Altankhuyag, was appointed prime minister on 10 August 2012.In 2014, he was replaced by Chimediin Saikhanbileg.", "The MPP won a landslide victory in the 2016 elections and the next Prime Minister was MPP's Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.", "In June 2020, MPP won a landslide victory in the election.", "It took 62 seats and the main opposition DP, 11 of the 76 seats.", "Before the elections the ruling party had redrawn the electoral map in a way that was beneficial for MPP.In January 2021, Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh resigned after protests over the treatment of a coronavirus patient.", "On 27 January 2021, Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene of MPP became new prime minister.", "He represents a younger generation of leaders that had studied abroad.Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, June 2016The President of Mongolia is able to veto the laws made by parliament, appoint judges and justice of courts and appoint ambassadors.", "The parliament can override that veto by a two-thirds majority vote.", "Mongolia's constitution provides three requirements for taking office as president; the candidate must be a native-born Mongolian, be at least 45 years old, and have resided in Mongolia for five years before taking office.", "The president must also suspend their party membership.", "After defeating incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, a two-time former prime minister and member of the Democratic Party, was elected as president on 24 May 2009 and inaugurated on 18 June that year.", "The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (2010) (MPRP) nominated Batbold Sukhbaatar as new Prime Minister in October 2009.Elbegdorj was re-elected on 26 June 2013 and was inaugurated on 10 July 2013 for his second term as president.", "In June 2017, opposition Democratic Party candidate Khaltmaagiin Battulga won the presidential election.", "He was inaugurated on 10 July 2017.In June 2021, former Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the candidate of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), became the country's sixth democratically elected president after winning the presidential election.Mongolia uses a unicameral legislature, the State Great Khural, with 76 seats, which is chaired by the Speaker of the House.", "Its members are directly elected, every four years, by popular vote.===Foreign relations===Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga and Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, September 2017Mongolia's foreign relations traditionally focus on its two large neighbors, Russia and China.", "Mongolia is economically dependent on these countries: China receives 90% of Mongolia's exports by value and accounts for 60% of its foreign trade, while Russia supplies 90% of Mongolia's energy requirements.", "Mongolia also pursues trilateral partnership with China and Russia through the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, construction of which is expected to begin in 2024.Mongolia's most important trading partner is China, and the government has been trying to stay out of the current US-China confrontation.It has begun seeking positive relations with a wider range of other countries especially in cultural and economic matters, focusing on encouraging foreign direct investment and trade.", "Mongolia has been pursuing a 'third-neighbor' foreign policy since early 1990s to build deeper relations and partnerships with countries beyond its two surrounding neighbors.Then Vice President of the US, Joe Biden, visited Mongolia in 2011 supporting Mongolia's third neighbor policy.====Embassies====Mongolia maintains many diplomatic missions in other countries and has embassies in the following world capitals:AnkaraBangkokBeijingBerlinBrasiliaBrusselsBudapestCairoCanberraHanoiHavanaJakartaKuala LumpurKuwait CityLondonMoscowNew DelhiAstanaOttawaParisPraguePyongyangRomeSeoulSingaporeSofiaStockholmTokyoViennaVientianeWarsawWashington, D.C.=== Military ===Mongolian, Chinese and Russian national flags set on armored vehicles during the large-scale military exercise Vostok 2018 in Eastern SiberiaMongolia supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has sent several successive contingents of 103 to 180 troops each to Iraq.", "About 130 troops were deployed to Afghanistan.", "200 Mongolian troops are serving in Sierra Leone on a UN mandate to protect the UN's special court set up there, and in July 2009, Mongolia decided to send a battalion to Chad in support of MINURCAT.From 2005 to 2006, about 40 troops were deployed with the Belgian and Luxembourg contingents in Kosovo.", "On 21 November 2005, George W. Bush became the first-ever sitting U.S. president to visit Mongolia.", "In 2004, under Bulgarian chairmanship, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) invited Mongolia as its newest Asian partner.=== Legal system ===The '''judiciary of Mongolia''' is made of a three-tiered court system: first instance courts in each provincial district and each Ulaanbaatar district; appellate courts for each province and also the Capital Ulaanbaatar; and the court of last resort (for non-constitutional matters) at the Supreme Court of Mongolia.", "For questions of constitutional law there is a separate constitutional court.A Judicial General Council (JGC) nominates judges which must then be confirmed by the parliament and appointed by the President.Arbitration centres provide alternative dispute resolution options for commercial and other disputes.=== Administrative divisions ===Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces (aimags) and subdivided into 331 districts (sums).", "Ulaanbaatar is administered separately as a capital city (municipality) with provincial status.", "The ''aimags'' are:* Arkhangai* Bayan-Ölgii* Bayankhongor* Bulgan* Darkhan-Uul* Dornod* Dornogovi* Dundgovi* Govi-Altai* Govisümber* Khentii* Khovd* Khövsgöl* Ömnögovi* Orkhon* Övörkhangai* Selenge* Sükhbaatar* Töv* Uvs* Zavkhan=== Major cities ===About 40% of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar, and in 2002 a further 23% lived in Darkhan, Erdenet, the aimag centers and sum-level permanent settlements.", "Another share of the population lives in the sum centers.", "Under Ulaanbaatar administration" ], [ "Economy", "Historical development of real GDP per capita in MongoliaView of Ulaanbaatar with the Blue Sky Tower Economic activity in Mongolia has long been based on herding and agriculture, although development of extensive mineral deposits of copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten and gold have emerged as a driver of industrial production.", "Besides mining (21.8% of GDP) and agriculture (16% of GDP), dominant industries in the composition of GDP are wholesale and retail trade and service, transportation and storage, and real estate activities.", "Also, Mongolia produces one-fifth of the world's raw cashmere.The informal economy is estimated to be at least one-third the size of the official economy.", ", 68.4% of Mongolia's exports went to the PRC, and the PRC supplied 29.8% of Mongolia's imports.Mongolia is ranked as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank.", "Some 22.4% of the population lives on less than US$1.25 a day.", "In 2011, GDP per capita was $3,100.Despite growth, the proportion of the population below the poverty line was estimated to be 35.6% in 1998, 36.1% in 2002–2003, and 32.2% in 2006.Because of a boom in the mining sector, Mongolia had high growth rates in 2007 and 2008 (9.9% and 8.9%, respectively).", "In 2009, sharp drops in commodity prices and the effects of the global financial crisis caused the local currency to drop 40% against the U.S. dollar.", "Two of the 16 commercial banks were taken into receivership.", "In 2011, GDP growth was expected to reach 16.4%.", "However, inflation continued to erode GDP gains, with an average rate of 12.6% expected at the end of 2011.Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002 at the rate of 7.5% in an official 2006 estimate, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit.", "The ''Economist'' predicted this trade deficit of 14% of Mongolia's GDP would transform into a surplus in 2013.Mongolia was never listed among the emerging market countries until February 2011 when Citigroup analysts determined Mongolia to be one of the \"global growth generating\" countries, which are countries with the most promising growth prospects for 2010–2050.The Mongolian Stock Exchange, established in 1991 in Ulaanbaatar, is among the world's smallest stock exchanges by market capitalisation.", "In 2011, it had 336 companies listed with a total market capitalization of US$2 billion after quadrupling from US$406 million in 2008.Mongolia made a significant improvement in the ease of doing business in 2012, ranking 76th compared with 88th the previous year in the \"Doing Business\" report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).=== Mineral industry ===Oyu Tolgoi employs 18,000 workers and expects to be producing 450,000 tonnes of copper a year by 2020Minerals represent more than 80% of Mongolia's exports, a proportion expected to eventually rise to 95%.", "Fiscal revenues from mining represented 21% of government income in 2010 and rose to 24% in 2018.About 3,000 mining licences have been issued.", "Mining continues to rise as a major industry of Mongolia as evidenced by the number of Chinese, Russian and Canadian firms starting mining businesses in Mongolia.In 2009, the government negotiated an \"investment agreement\" with Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines to develop the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold deposit, the biggest foreign-investment project in Mongolia, expected to account for one-third of Mongolia's GDP by 2020.In March 2011, six big mining companies prepared to bid for the Tavan Tolgoi area, the world's largest untapped coal deposit.", "According to Erdenes MGL, the government body in-charge of Tavan Tolgoi, ArcelorMittal, Vale, Xstrata, U.S. coal miner Peabody, a consortium of Chinese energy firm Shenhua and Japan's Mitsui & Co, and a separate consortium of Japanese, South Korean and Russian firms are the preferred bidders.In September 2022, Mongolia built and launched a 233-km direct rail link to China, which is a milestone in Mongolia’s plan to become China’s leading supplier of high-quality coal from the Tavan Tolgoi mine, which has more than six billion tonnes of coal reserves.=== Agriculture ===" ], [ "Infrastructure", "=== Communications ===Postal services are provided by state-owned Mongol Post and 54 other licensed operators.=== Energy ===Mongolia imports 98% of its fuel and is building the first ever oil refinery to reduce its foreign energy dependency.=== Transportation ===Train in Zamyn-Üüd station in Dornogovi aimagWhile the Mongolian horse continues to be revered as the national symbol, they are rapidly being replaced by motorized vehicles.Mongolian ferry ''Sukhbaatar'' on Lake Khovsgol in Khovsgol ProvinceThe Trans-Mongolian Railway is the main rail link between Mongolia and its neighbors.", "It begins at the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia at the town of Ulan-Ude, crosses into Mongolia, runs through Ulaanbaatar, then passes into China at Erenhot where it joins the Chinese railway system.", "A separate railroad link connects the eastern city of Choibalsan with the Trans-Siberian Railway.", "However, that link is closed to passengers after the Mongolian town of Chuluunkhoroot.", "Mongolia also has a 233 km-long cargo rail link from the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine to Chinese border.Mongolia has a number of domestic airports, with some of them having international status.", "However, the main international airport is Chinggis Khaan International Airport, located approximately south of the capital Ulaanbaatar.", "Direct flight connections exist between Mongolia and South Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Germany, and Turkey.", "MIAT Mongolian Airlines is Mongolia's national air carrier, operating international flights, while air carriers such as Aero Mongolia and Hunnu Airlines serve domestic and short international routes.Many overland roads in Mongolia are only gravel roads or simple cross-country tracks.", "There are paved roads from Ulaanbaatar to the Russian and Chinese borders, from Ulaanbaatar east- and westward (the so-called Millennium Road), and from Darkhan to Bulgan.", "A number of road construction projects are currently underway.", "Mongolia has of paved roads, with of that total completed in 2013 alone.=== Education ===During the state socialist period, education was one of the areas of significant achievement in Mongolia.", "Before the People's Republic, literacy rates were below one percent.", "By 1952, illiteracy was virtually eliminated, in part through the use of seasonal boarding schools for children of nomadic families.", "Funding to these boarding schools was cut in the 1990s, contributing to slightly increased illiteracy.Primary and secondary education formerly lasted ten years, but was expanded to eleven years.", "Since the 2008–2009 school year, new first-graders are using the 12-year system, with a full transition to the 12-year system in the 2019–2020 school year., English is taught in all secondary schools across Mongolia, beginning in fourth grade.", "English has taken over from Russian as the dominant foreign language in Mongolia, particularly in Ulaanbaatar.", "Mongolian national universities are all spin-offs from the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.", "Almost three in five Mongolian youths now enroll in university.", "There was a six-fold increase in students between 1993 and 2010.Mongolia was ranked 68th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, down from 53rd in 2019.=== Health ===" ], [ "Culture", "The symbol in the left bar of the national flag is a Buddhist icon called Soyombo.", "It represents the sun, moon, stars, and heavens per standard cosmological symbology abstracted from that seen in traditional thangka paintings.=== Visual arts ===Before the 20th century, most works of the fine arts in Mongolia had a religious function, and therefore Mongolian fine arts were heavily influenced by religious texts.", "Thangkas were usually painted or made in appliqué technique.", "Bronze sculptures usually showed Buddhist deities.", "A number of great works are attributed to the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Zanabazar.In the late 19th century, painters like \"Marzan\" Sharav turned to more realistic painting styles.", "Under the Mongolian People's Republic, socialist realism was the dominant painting style, however traditional ''thangka''-like paintings dealing with secular, nationalist themes were also popular, a genre known as \"Mongol ''zurag''\".Among the first attempts to introduce modernism into the fine arts of Mongolia was the painting ''Ehiin setgel'' (''Mother's love'') created by Tsevegjav in the 1960s.", "The artist was purged as his work was censored.All forms of fine arts flourished only after perestroika in the late 1980s.", "Otgonbayar Ershuu is arguably one of the most well-known Mongolian modern artists in the Western world, he was portrayed in the film \"ZURAG\" by Tobias Wulff.=== Architecture ===''ger'' in front of the Gurvan Saikhan MountainsThe traditional Mongolian dwelling is known as a ''ger''.", "In the past it was known by the Russian term ''yurt'', but this has been changing as the Mongolian term becomes better known in English-speaking countries.", "According to Mongolian artist and art critic N. Chultem, the ''ger'' was the basis for development of traditional Mongolian architecture.", "In the 16th and 17th centuries, lamaseries were built throughout the country.", "Many of them started as ''ger''-temples.", "When they needed to be enlarged to accommodate the growing number of worshippers, the Mongolian architects used structures with 6 and 12 angles with pyramidal roofs to approximate to the round shape of a ''ger''.", "Further enlargement led to a quadratic shape of the temples.", "The roofs were made in the shape of marquées.", "The trellis walls, roof poles and layers of felt were replaced by stone, brick, beams and planks, and became permanent.Chultem distinguished three styles in traditional Mongolian architecture: Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese as well as combinations of the three.", "Among the first quadratic temples was Batu-Tsagaan (1654) designed by Zanabazar.", "An example of the ''ger''-style architecture is the lamasery Dashi-Choiling in Ulaanbaatar.", "The temple Lavrin (18th century) in the Erdene Zuu lamasery was built in the Tibetan tradition.", "An example of a temple built in the Chinese tradition is the lamasery Choijing Lamiin Sume (1904), which is a museum today.", "The quadratic temple Tsogchin in lamasery Gandan in Ulaanbaatar is a combination of the Mongolian and Chinese tradition.", "The temple of Maitreya (disassembled in 1938) is an example of the Tibeto-Mongolian architecture.", "Dashi-Choiling monastery has commenced a project to restore the temple and the sculpture of Maitreya.=== Music ===Musician playing the traditional Mongolian musical instrument morin khuurThe music of Mongolia is strongly influenced by nature, nomadism, shamanism, and also Tibetan Buddhism.", "The traditional music includes a variety of instruments, famously the morin khuur, and also the singing styles like the urtyn duu (\"long song\"), and throat-singing (khoomei).", "The \"tsam\" is danced to keep away evil spirits and it was seen as reminiscent of shamanism.=== Media ===Mongolian media interviewing the opposition Mongolian Green Party in 2008.The media has gained significant freedoms since democratic reforms initiated in the 1990s.Mongolian press began in 1920 with close ties to the Soviet Union under the Mongolian Communist Party, with the establishment of the ''Unen'' (\"Truth\") newspaper similar to the Soviet ''Pravda''.", "Until reforms in the 1990s, the government had strict control of the media and oversaw all publishing, in which no independent media were allowed.", "The dissolution of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on Mongolia, where the one-party state grew into a multi-party democracy, and with that, media freedoms came to the forefront.A new law on press freedom, drafted with help from international NGOs on August 28, 1998 and enacted on January 1, 1999, paved the way for media reforms.", "The Mongolian media currently consists of around 300 print and broadcasting outlets.Since 2006, the media environment has been improving with the government debating a new Freedom of Information Act, and the removal of any affiliation of media outlets with the government.", "Market reforms have led to an annually increasing number of people working in the media, along with students at journalism schools.In its 2013 World Press Freedom Index report, Reporters Without Borders classified the media environment as 98th out of 179, with 1st being most free.", "In 2016, Mongolia was ranked 60th out of 180.According to 2014 Asian Development Bank survey, 80% of Mongolians cited television as their main source of information.===Mongolian cuisine====== Sports and festivals ===Naadam is the largest summer celebration.The main national festival is Naadam, which has been organized for centuries and takes place over three days in the summer, consisting of three Mongolian traditional sports, archery, cross-country horse-racing, and wrestling, traditionally recognized as the Three Manly Games of Naadam.", "In modern-day Mongolia, Naadam is held from July 11 to 13 in the honor of the anniversaries of the National Democratic Revolution and foundation of the Great Mongol State.Another very popular activity called Shagaa is the \"flicking\" of sheep ankle bones at a target several feet away, using a flicking motion of the finger to send the small bone flying at targets and trying to knock the target bones off the platform.", "At Naadam, this contest is popular among older Mongolians.Riders during Naadam festivalHorse riding is especially central to Mongolian culture.", "The long-distance races that are showcased during Naadam festivals are one aspect of this, as is the popularity of trick riding.", "One example of trick riding is the legend that the Mongolian military hero Damdin Sükhbaatar scattered coins on the ground and then picked them up while riding a horse at full gallop.Mongolian wrestling is the most popular of all Mongol sports.", "It is the highlight of the Three Manly Games of Naadam.", "Historians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some seven thousand years ago.", "Hundreds of wrestlers from different cities and aimags around the country take part in the national wrestling competition.Other sports such as basketball, weightlifting, powerlifting, association football, athletics, gymnastics, table tennis, jujutsu, karate, aikido, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts have become popular in Mongolia.", "More Mongolian table tennis players are competing internationally.Freestyle wrestling has been practised since 1958 in Mongolia.", "Mongolian freestyle wrestlers have won the first and the most Olympic medals of Mongolia.Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar won Mongolia's first ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 100-kilogram class of judo.Amateur boxing has been practised in Mongolia since 1948.The Mongolian Olympic boxing national team was founded in 1960.The Communist government of Mongolia banned boxing from 1964 to 1967 but the government soon ended the ban.", "Professional boxing began in Mongolia in the 1990s.Mongolia national basketball team enjoyed some success recently, especially at the East Asian Games.Association football is also played in Mongolia.", "The Mongolia national football team began playing national games again during the 1990s; but has not yet qualified for a major international tournament.", "The Mongolia Premier League is the top domestic competition.Several Mongolian women have excelled in pistol shooting: Otryadyn Gündegmaa is a silver medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, Munkhbayar Dorjsuren is a double world champion and Olympic bronze medal winner (now representing Germany), while Tsogbadrakhyn Mönkhzul is, as of May 2007, ranked third in the world in the 25-metre pistol event.Mongolian sumo wrestler Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list.", "In January 2015, Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal took his 33rd top division championship, giving him the most in the history of sumo.Bandy is the only sport in which Mongolia has finished higher than third place at the Asian Winter Games, which happened in 2011 when the national team captured the silver medal.", "It led to being chosen as the best Mongolian sports team of 2011.Mongolia won the bronze medal of the B division at the 2017 Bandy World Championship after which the then President of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, held a reception for the team.Ulaanbataar holds an annual marathon in June.", "2015 was the sixth marathon that has been organized by Ar Mongol.", "The race starts at Sukhbataar Square and is always open to residents and runners who come especially for this event.Kazakh hunters in Mongolia with eaglesMongolia holds other traditional festivals throughout the year.", "The Golden Eagle Festival, held annually, draws about 400 eagle hunters on horseback, including the traveler (), to compete with their birds.", "The Ice Festival and the Thousand Camel Festival are amongst many other traditional Mongolian festivals." ], [ "See also", " Index of Mongolia-related articles* Outline of Mongolia" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "* * ''Mongolia'' , Encyclopædia Britannica* Mongolia .", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency* ''Background notes on Mongolia'' , US Department of State* Mongolia: Growth, Democracy, and Two Wary Neighbors (Q&A with Alan Wachman, May 2012)" ], [ "External links", "; Government* Official website of the Government Organizations of Mongolia * Mongolia Government Overview * Chief of State and Cabinet Members; General information* Mongolia.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency* Mongolia Travel Guide* Mongolian tourism website* Mongolia at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''* * Mongolia profile from the BBC News* Mongolia at ''Britannica.com''* * * Wrestling Roots* Mongolia, Facts and Culture on CountryReports.org" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", " '''Mongolia''' is a landlocked country in East Asia, located between China and Russia.", "The terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief.", "The total land area of Mongolia is 1,564,116 square kilometres.", "Overall, the land slopes from the high Altai Mountains of the west and the north to plains and depressions in the east and the south.", "The Khüiten Peak in extreme western Mongolia on the Chinese border is the highest point ().", "The lowest point is at , is the Hoh Nuur or lake Huh.", "The country has an average elevation of .The landscape includes one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes (Lake Khövsgöl), many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine forests, and permanent mountain glaciers.", "Northern and western Mongolia are seismically active zones, with frequent earthquakes and many hot springs and extinct volcanoes.", "The nation's closest point to any ocean is approximately from the country's easternmost tip, bordering North China to Jinzhou in Liaoning province, China along the coastline of the Bohai Sea." ], [ "Mountain regions", "Altai Mountains, Sayan Mountains and Khangai MountainsMongolia has four major mountain ranges.", "The highest is the Altai Mountains, which stretch across the western and the southwestern regions of the country on a northwest-to-southeast axis.", "The range contains the country's highest peak, the high Khüiten Peak.The Khangai Mountains, mountains also trending northwest to southeast, occupy much of central and north-central Mongolia.", "These are older, lower, and more eroded mountains, with many forests and alpine pastures.The Khentii Mountains, trending from northeast to southwest for about , occupy central Mongolia's north eastern part.", "The northern parts are covered in taiga, while the southern parts are filled with dry steppe.", "The range forms the watershed between the Arctic Ocean (via Lake Baikal) and the Pacific Ocean basins.", "Rivers originating in the range include the Onon, Kherlen, Menza and Tuul.", "These mountains also house the capital of Ulaanbaatar.The Khövsgöl Mountains occupy the north of the country.", "It trends from north to south and generally has a lot of steep peaks.", "Young mountain range with Alpine characteristics, high gradient, with narrow cliffs.Much of eastern Mongolia is occupied by a plain, and the lowest area is a southwest-to-northeast trending depression that reaches from the Gobi Desert region in the south to the eastern frontier." ], [ "Rivers and lakes", "Topography of MongoliaSome of Mongolia's waterways drain to the oceans, but many finish at Endorheic basins in the deserts and the depressions of Inner Asia.", "Rivers are most extensively developed in the north, and the country's major river system is that of the Selenge, which drains via Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean.", "Some minor tributaries of Siberia's Yenisei River, which also flows to the Arctic Ocean, rise in the mountains of northwestern Mongolia.", "In northeastern Mongolia the Onon River drains into the Pacific Ocean through the Shilka River in Russia and the Amur (Heilong Jiang) rivers, forming the tenth longest river system in the world.The southern portion of Mongolia is taken up by the Gobi Desert, while the northern and western portions are mountainous.Many rivers of western Mongolia end at lakes in the Central Asian Internal Drainage Basin, most often in the Great Lakes Depression, or at Hulun Lake, Ulaan Lake or Ulungur Lake.", "The few streams of southern Mongolia do not reach the sea but run into lakes or deserts.Mongolia's largest lake by area, Uvs Lake is in the Great Lakes Depression.", "Mongolia's largest lake by volume of water, Lake Khövsgöl, drains via the Selenge river to the Arctic Ocean.", "One of the most easterly lakes of Mongolia, Hoh Nuur, at an elevation of 557 metres, is the lowest point in the country.", "In total, the lakes and rivers of Mongolia cover 10,560 square kilometres, or 0.67% of the country." ], [ "Climate", "=== Overview ===Mongolia map of Köppen climate classification zones.Mongolia has a high elevation, with a cold and dry climate.", "It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most precipitation falls.", "The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure.", "Precipitation is highest in the north, which averages per year, and lowest in the south, which receives .", "The extreme south is the Gobi Desert, some regions of which receive no precipitation at all in most years.", "The name Gobi is a Mongol word meaning desert, depression, salt marsh, or steppe, but which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels.", "Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape.", "Gobi rangelands are fragile and are easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive.Average temperatures over most of the country are below freezing from November through March and are above freezing in April and October.", "Winter nights can drop to in most years.", "Summer extremes reach as high as in the southern Gobi region and in Ulaanbaatar.", "Most of Mongolia is covered by discontinuous permafrost (grading to continuous at high altitudes), which makes construction, road building, and mining difficult.", "All rivers and freshwater lakes freeze over in the winter, and smaller streams commonly freeze to the bottom.", "Ulaanbaatar lies at above sea level in the valley of the Tuul River.", "Located in the relatively well-watered north, it receives an annual average of of precipitation, almost all of which falls in July and in August.", "Ulaanbaatar has an average annual temperature of and a frost-free period extending on the average from mid-May to late August.Mongolia's weather is characterized by extreme variability and short-term unpredictability in the summer, and the multiyear averages conceal wide variations in precipitation, dates of frosts, and occurrences of blizzards and spring dust storms.", "Such weather poses severe challenges to human and livestock survival.", "Official statistics list less than 1% of the country as arable, 8 to 10% as forest, and the rest as pasture or desert.", "Grain, mostly wheat, is grown in the valleys of the Selenge river system in the north, but yields fluctuate widely and unpredictably as a result of the amount and the timing of rain and the dates of killing frosts.=== Zud ===Goats that died as result of a zudAlthough winters are generally cold and clear, and livestock can survive, under various weather conditions livestock are unable to graze and die in large numbers.", "A winter in which this occurs is known as a ''zud;'' causes include blizzards, drought, extreme cold, and freezing rain.", "Such losses of livestock, which are an inevitable and, in a sense, normal consequence of the climate, have made it difficult for planned increases in livestock numbers to be achieved.=== Seasonal blizzards ===Snow covers Mongolia in patches in this image from December 21, 2003.Snowfall is normally light and blows away quickly during the winter, so to see this much snow on the ground at once is rather unusual.Severe blizzards can occur in the region.", "The winters of 1970–1971, 2000–2001, 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 were particularly harsh, featuring extremely severe zuds.The blizzards of December 2011 blocked many roads, and killed 16,000 livestock and 10 people.", "The Mongolian State Emergency Commission said it was the coldest winter in thirty years and, like the preceding harsh summer drought, could have been the result of global warming.", "The United Nations provided major aid due to the high level of damage caused.In the snowstorms between the 8 and 28 May 2008, 21 people were killed and 100 others went missing in seven provinces in eastern Mongolia.", "The toll finally reached at least 52 people and 200,000 livestock by the end of June.", "Most of the victims were herders who froze to death along with their livestock.", "It was the worst cold snap since the founding of the modern state in 1922.Snowstorms in December 2009 – February 2010 also killed 8,000,000 livestock and 60 people.=== Climate change ===" ], [ "Ecoregions", "Endorheic lake in Northern Mongolia* Altai montane forest and forest steppe* Khangai Mountains conifer forests* Selenge-Orkhon forest steppe* Sayan montane conifer forests* Trans-Baikal conifer forests* Daurian forest steppe* Mongolian-Manchurian grassland* Altai alpine meadow and tundra* Khangai Mountains alpine meadow* Sayan alpine meadows and tundra* Alashan Plateau semi-desert* Eastern Gobi desert steppe* Gobi desert* Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe* Great Lakes Basin desert steppe* Junggar Basin semi-desert" ], [ "Resources and land use", "'''Land use:'''''arable land:''9.10%''permanent crops:''0%''other:''99.61% (2011)'''Irrigated land:'''843 km² (2011)'''Total renewable water resources:'''34.8 km 3 (2011)" ], [ "See also", "* Greater Mongolia* Mongolian Plateau* List of reptiles of Mongolia" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Administration of Land Affairs, Geodesy and Cartography* Official government site – Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology* Official government site – Mineral Resources Authority* Official government site – Water Agency of Mongolia * Limnological Catalogue of Mongolian Lakes* GEOLOGY OF THE KHARKHIRAA UUL, MONGOLIAN ALTAI" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "Historical population of MongoliaThis article on the '''demographics of Mongolia''' include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population." ], [ "Segments", "=== Youth ===" ], [ "Vital statistics", "===UN estimates===PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBR1CDR1NC1TFR1IMR1 1950-1955 33 000 18 000 15 000 40.0 21.4 18.6 5.60 182.9 1955-1960 39 000 19 000 20 000 43.0 20.7 22.2 6.30 164.9 1960-1965 49 000 19 000 30 000 47.9 18.4 29.5 7.50 134.5 1965-1970 54 000 19 000 34 000 44.8 15.9 28.8 7.50 118.6 1970-1975 59 000 19 000 40 000 43.0 13.9 29.1 7.50 106.5 1975-1980 63 000 21 000 42 000 39.6 13.1 26.5 6.65 104.5 1980-1985 69 000 22 000 47 000 38.1 12.4 25.7 5.75 102.3 1985-1990 75 000 22 000 53 000 36.6 10.8 25.9 4.90 91.7 1990-1995 62 000 22 000 40 000 27.6 9.6 18.0 3.30 66.6 1995-2000 52 000 20 000 33 000 22.1 8.3 13.8 2.50 54.7 2000-2005 47 000 17 000 30 000 18.9 7.2 11.7 2.08 43.5 2005-2010 62 000 17 000 45 000 22.4 6.9 15.5 2.40 36.0 2010-2015 26.1 6.3 19.8 2.84 2015-2020 24.4 6.3 18.1 2.90 2020-2025 20.5 6.4 14.1 2.73 2025-2030 18.1 6.7 11.4 2.59 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 population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate 1934 10,6228,9911,631 1935 738,20013,70012,0831,61718.616.42.2 1936 737,90012,20917,049-4,84016.523.1-6.6 1937 740,00014,12614,747-62119.119.9-0.8 1938 747,60015,49215,10139120.720.20.5 1939 736,40014,09217,242-3,15019.123.4-4.3 1940 738,60019,04615,9063,14025.821.54.3 1941 743,800 1942 749,000 1943 754,200 1944 759,100 1945 759,300 1946 759,400 1947 759,700 1948 759,200 1949 758,700 1950 758,000 1951 772,40011,0157,5983,417 1952 786,10014,2189,2055,013 1953 799,90023,98910,95313,036 1954 813,60021,39411,06810,326 1955 827,30026,88911,82315,066 1956 845,50026,82510,57316,252 1957 862,00032,5949,72222,872 1958 884,80034,6549,89524,759 1959 909,60036,6249,34527,279 1960 936,90041,20210,04331,15944.010.733.3 1961 968,10040,03610,03030,00641.410.431.0 1962 998,00042,14410,19231,95242.210.232.0 1963 1,017,10040,25012,16828,08239.011.827.2 1964 1,045,20042,00111,21530,78639.610.629.0 1965 1,076,00041,42713,07228,35538.012.026.0 1966 1,104,40043,15013,09730,05338.511.726.8 1967 1,134,40043,65013,56330,08738.011.826.2 1968 1,164,50046,15913,08533,07438.811.127.7 1969 1,197,60046,84913,90532,94438.611.527.1 1970 1,230,50050,15215,31434,83840.212.327.9 1971 1,265,40049,91713,85736,06038.810.828.0 1972 1,301,40052,79614,72738,06940.011.428.8 1973 1,339,50054,84113,61141,23040.310.030.3 1974 1,380,70056,21812,55543,66340.19.031.1 1975 1,424,40056,95314,44542,50839.410.029.4 1976 1,466,90055,22414,75740,46737.19.927.2 1977 1,512,40056,68315,49041,19337.010.126.9 1978 1,553,60060,29114,23846,05338.39.029.3 1979 1,595,00060,23315,37544,85837.29.527.7 1980 1,639,70063,06817,33145,73739.210.428.86.411 1981 1,682,00062,75115,78746,96436.89.227.6 1982 1,724,70064,21016,56847,64236.89.527.3 1983 1,767,50065,02017,62047,40036.49.926.5 1984 1,808,90068,12920,35947,77037.211.126.1 1985 1,854,30069,62718,68850,93938.210.028.25.476 1986 1,900,60071,80116,42455,37737.38.528.8 1987 1,949,70071,43715,93055,50736.28.128.1 1988 1,997,00075,83217,68958,14337.58.728.8 1989 2,043,95473,59317,00056,59335.58.227.3 1990 2,153,46673,20917,55955,65034.98.426.54.472 1991 2,177,21770,08318,73451,34932.48.723.74.009 1992 2,158,36263,25818,28844,97029.28.420.83.512 1993 2,171,89847,87117,60630,26522.18.114.02.532 1994 2,206,89252,96216,54636,41624.27.616.62.694 1995 2,242,99854,29316,79437,49924.47.516.92.760 1996 2,276,01651,80617,55034,25621.87.814.02.506 1997 2,307,48449,48816,98032,50821.67.414.22.351 1998 2,340,13449,25615,79933,45721.26.814.42.304 1999 2,373,49349,46116,10533,35621.06.814.22.318 2000 2,403,10548,72115,47233,24920.46.513.92.243 2001 2,432,39749,68515,99933,68620.66.614.02.221 2002 2,465,65746,92215,85731,06519.26.512.72.076 2003 2,495,09145,72316,00629,71718.46.511.92.014 2004 2,521,73345,50116,40429,09718.16.511.61.984 2005 2,551,08145,32616,48028,84617.96.511.41.968 2006 2,583,25449,09216,68232,41019.16.512.62.081 2007 2,620,44656,63616,25940,37721.86.215.62.341 2008 2,665,95563,76815,41348,35524.15.818.32.633 2009 2,716,27569,16716,91152,25625.76.319.42.753 2010 2,760,96863,27018,29344,97723.16.716.42.431 2011 2,811,66669,85319,15550,69825.16.918.22.609 2012 2,867,74473,83917,76156,07826.06.319.72.741 2013 2,930,27779,78017,24762,53327.55.921.63.006 2014 2,995,94982,83916,52166,31828.05.622.43.070 2015 3,057,77882,13017,62064,51027.15.821.33.015 2016 3,119,93579,92017,76362,15725.95.820.12.950 2017 3,177,89975,32117,35757,96423.95.518.42.790 2018 3,238,47978,44417,86460,58024.55.618.92.920 2019 3,296,86679,58018,40361,17724.45.618.82.986 2020 3,357,54277,94615,99061,95623.24.818.42.936 2021 3,409,93973,86620,02753,83921.75.915.82.785 2022 3,457,54867,87418,09549,77919.45.214.22.714 202366,76317,66949,09419.05.014.0===Current vital statistics===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January – November 2022''' 59,700 16,300 +43,400 '''January – November 2023''' 59,400 15,800 +43,600 '''Difference''' -300 (-0.5%) -500 (-3.1%) +200=== Life expectancy ===Life expectancy at birth in MongoliaPeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195543.21985–199059.61955–196046.11990–199560.81960–196550.71995–200061.81965–197053.92000–200564.11970–197556.42005–201066.11975–198056.92010–201568.51980–198557.3Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''=== Structure of the population ===2016 population pyramid of Mongolia via.", "CIA World FactbookAge GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 313 968 1 333 577 2 647 545 100 0-4 146 516 141 981 288 497 10.90 5-9 110 117 106 097 216 214 8.17 10-14 120 064 116 801 236 865 8.95 15-19 130 560 127 085 257 645 9.73 20-24 147 472 144 711 292 183 11.04 25-29 124 490 123 493 247 983 9.37 30-34 111 976 110 546 222 522 8.40 35-39 100 819 101 564 202 383 7.64 40-44 88 273 90 994 179 267 6.77 45-49 77 475 81 281 158 756 6.00 50-54 58 009 64 073 122 082 4.61 55-59 33 384 38 605 71 989 2.72 60-64 22 106 27 347 49 453 1.87 65-69 17 262 20 970 38 232 1.44 70-74 13 081 16 251 29 332 1.11 75-79 7 252 11 365 18 617 0.70 80-84 3 258 5 908 9 166 0.35 85-89 1 378 3 037 4 415 0.17 90-94 383 1 076 1 459 0.06 95-99 80 322 402 0.02 100+ 13 70 83 <0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 376 697 364 879 741 576 28.01 15-64 894 564 909 699 1 804 263 68.15 65+ 42 707 58 999 101 706 3.84Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 409 648 1 489 363 2 899 011 100 0-4 158 578 153 763 312 341 10.77 5-9 121 534 118 706 240 240 8.29 10-14 119 093 116 891 235 984 8.14 15-19 125 751 127 324 253 075 8.73 20-24 149 565 154 323 303 888 10.48 25-29 143 113 149 877 292 990 10.11 30-34 122 710 130 973 253 683 8.75 35-39 111 396 119 629 231 025 7.97 40-44 95 134 104 034 199 168 6.87 45-49 82 000 91 869 173 868 6.00 50-54 65 965 75 237 141 201 4.87 55-59 42 749 50 508 93 257 3.22 60-64 25 525 31 862 57 386 1.98 65-69 17 524 22 340 39 864 1.38 70-74 14 689 18 102 32 790 1.13 75-79 8 092 11 753 19 845 0.68 80-84 4 126 7 454 11 580 0.40 85-89 1 512 3 020 4 532 0.16 90-94 509 1 343 1 852 0.06 95-99 73 281 354 0.01 100+ 15 80 95 <0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 399 205 389 360 788 565 27.20 15-64 963 903 1 035 630 1 999 533 68.97 65+ 46 540 64 373 110 913 3.83Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 576 930 1 620 090 3 197 020 100 0–4 196 803 186 456 383 259 11.99 5–9 188 352 179 962 368 314 11.52 10–14 140 208 134 666 274 874 8.60 15–19 110 141 106 626 216 767 6.78 20–24 113 271 112 114 225 385 7.05 25–29 130 143 129 056 259 199 8.11 30–34 143 491 143 359 286 850 8.97 35–39 119 621 120 173 239 794 7.50 40–44 106 169 109 049 215 218 6.73 45–49 93 162 98 495 191 657 5.99 50–54 76 257 86 183 162 440 5.08 55–59 64 238 76 928 141 166 4.42 60–64 41 768 54 458 96 226 3.01 65-69 22 808 32 535 55 343 1.73 70-74 12 878 19 928 32 806 1.03 75-79 9 984 15 179 25 163 0.79 80-84 4 918 8 293 13 211 0.41 85-89 2 069 4 792 6 861 0.21 90-94 527 1 370 1 897 0.06 95-99 110 401 511 0.02 100+ 12 67 79 <0.01Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 525 363 501 084 1 026 447 32.11 15–64 998 261 1 036 441 2 034 702 63.64 65+ 53 306 82 565 135 871 4.25" ], [ "Ethnicity and languages", "The demonym for the people of Mongolia is ''Mongolian''.", "The name ''Mongol'' usually accounts for people of the Mongol ethnic group, thus excluding Turkic groups such as Kazakhs and Tuvans.Ethnic Mongols account for about 96% of the population and consist of Khalkh and other subgroups, all distinguished primarily by dialects of the Mongolian language.", "The Khalkhs make up 86% of the ethnic Mongol population.", "The remaining 14% include Oirats, Buryats and others.", "Ethnic distinctions among the Mongol subgroups are relatively minor.", "Language or tribal differences are not a political or social issue.Turkic speaking Kazakhs form the largest ethnic minority and constitute c. 3.9% of Mongolia's population.", "Khotons and Chantuu are Mongolized people with Turkic origin and speak Mongolian.In around 1860, part of the Middle jüz Kazakhs who sought refuge from Qing Empire massacre in Xinjiang came to Mongolia and were allowed to settle down in Bayan-Ölgii Province.", "There are smaller numbers of Russian, Chinese, Korean and American people working in Mongolia since 1990.3,000 Westerners live in Mongolia, accounting for 0.1% of its total population.English is the most widely used foreign language followed by Russian.", "Lately, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and German are gaining popularity.===Ethnicity===+National censuses data Ethnic groups Ethno-linguistic family 1956 1963 1969 1979 1989 2000 2010 2020 KhalkhMongolic 639,141 775,376 911,079 1,235,806 1,610,424 1,934,674 2,168,141 2,659,985 KazakhTurkic 36,729 47,735 62,812 84,305 120,506 102,983 101,526 120,999 DörbetMongolic 25,667 31,339 34,725 45,053 55,208 66,706 72,403 83,719 BayidMongolic 15,874 19,891 25,479 31,053 39,233 50,824 56,573 63,775 BuryatMongolic 24,625 28,523 29,772 29,802 35,444 40,620 45,087\t 43,661 ZakhchinMongolic 15,772 14,399 15,662 18,957 23,478 25,183 32,845 37,407 DarigangaMongolic 16,852 18,587 20,603 24,564 29,040 31,909 27,412 36,419 Altai UriankhaiMongolic 10,833 13,140 15,057 19,475 22,998 29,766 26,654 29,021 DarkhadMongolic 8,826 10,174 10,716 14,757 19,019 21,558 24,549 UuldMongolic 15,520 14,666 KhotogoidMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 7,237 15,460 8,583 TorguudMongolic 4,729 6,028 7,119 8,617 10,050 12,628 14,176 15,596 KhotonsTurkic 2,603 2,874 4,056 4,380 6,076 9,014 11,304 12,057 MyangadMongolic 2,518 2,712 3,222 4,173 4,760 6,028 6,592 8,125 TuvanTurkic ... ... ... ... ... 4,778 5,169 2,354 BargaMongolic 2,458 2,343 2,305 1,999 2,130 2,506 2,989 2,832 ÜzemchinMongolic 2,046 2,070 2,127 2,030 2,086 2,386 2,577 2,308 EljiginMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 151 1,340 1,034 SartuulMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 1,540 1,286 2,023 Hamnigan of Tungusic originMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 565 537 384 TsaatanTurkic ... ... ... ... ... 303 282 208 ChantuuMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 380 260 202 KharchinMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 266 152 154 ChaharMongolic ... ... ... ... ... 123 132 ... KhoshutMongolic 382 (Huuchid)Mongolic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Baarin)Mongolic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Khorchin)Mongolic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Tümed)Mongolic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Russian nationals 13,444 8,905 1,433 196 140 2,020 2,474 Chinese nationals 16,157 21,981 725 344 247 3,374 8,688 Korean nationals ... ... ... ... ... 338 1,522 American nationals ... ... ... ... ... 303 656 Others 11,125 6,819 35,045 8,653 1,509 ... ... 4,122 '''Mongolia''' 845,481 1,017,162 1,188,271 1,538,980 1,987,274 2,365,269 2,754,685 3,174,565===Literacy===Literacy rate is the percentage of people over the age of 15 who can read and write.", "''Total population:'' 98.3%After a decline in enrollment ratios during the transition to a market economy in the 1990s, school attendance is now once more near-universal: primary school attendance rate is estimated at 97%, and adult literacy at 98%." ], [ "Religions", "A young Mongolian boyVarious forms of Shamanism have been widely practiced throughout the history of what is now Mongolia, as such beliefs were common among nomadic people in Asian history.", "Such beliefs gradually gave way to Tibetan Buddhism, but shamanism has left a mark on Mongolian religious culture, and continues to be practiced.Traditionally, Tibetan Buddhism was the predominant religion.", "However, it was suppressed under the communist regime until 1990, with only one showcase monastery allowed to remain.", "Since 1990, as liberalization began, Buddhism has encountered a resurgence.+ Religions in Mongolia(population aged 15 and above) Religion Population (2010)% in 2010 % in 2020 Buddhism 909,357 53 51.7 Islam 190,702 3.0 3.2 Shamanism 155,174 2.9 2.5 Christianity 41,117 2.1 1.3 Other religions 6,933 0.4 0.7 Atheism 835,283 40 40.6 '''TOTAL''' ''3,000,000'' '''100.0''' '''100.0'''" ], [ "Urbanization", "Life in sparsely populated Mongolia has become more urbanized.", "Nearly half of the people live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and in other provincial centers.", "Semi nomadic life still predominates in the countryside, but settled agricultural communities are becoming more common.", "Mongolia's population growth rate is estimated at 1.6% (2020 census).", "About two-thirds of the total population is under age 30, 36% of whom are under 14.Key: For population growth 1979 - 2008* Salmon cells indicate that the population has declined or experienced minimal ((1979 est.)", "Inhabitants(1989 est.)", "Inhabitants(2000 census) Inhabitants(est.", "2008) Change since 1979 Growth Percentage/Year AdministrativeUnit 1.Ulaanbaatar * Улаанбаатар 396,300 540,600711,900 1,008,738 612,438 ''+5.2%'' Ulaanbaatar 2.Erdenet Эрдэнэт 29,100 68,310 86,866 57,766 ''+6.6%'' Orkhon 3.Darkhan Дархан 49,100 65,791 74,300 25,200 ''+1.7%'' Darkhan-Uul 4.Choibalsan Чойбалсан 28,500 37,300 40,123 38,150 9,650 ''+1.1%'' Dornod 5.Mörön Мөрөн 16,500 21,300 28,903 36,082 19,582 ''+4.0%'' Khövsgöl 6.Nalaikh Налайх - 23,600 29,115 5,515 ''+3.0%'' Ulaanbaatar 7.Khovd Ховд 17,500 24,100 25,765 28,601 11,101 ''+2.1%'' Khovd 8.Ölgii Өлгий 18,700 27,200 25,791 27,855 9,155 ''+1.6%'' Bayan-Ölgii 9.Bayankhongor Баянхонгор 16,300 21,200 22,066 26,252 9,952 ''+2.0%'' Bayankhongor 10.Baganuur Багануур - 21,100 25,877 4,777 ''+1.8%'' Ulaanbaatar 11.Arvaikheer Багануур 12,300 16,900 19,058 25,622 13,322 ''+3.6%'' Övörkhangai 12.Ulaangom Улаангом 17,900 22,900 25,993 21,406 3,506 ''+0.67%'' Uvs 13.Sükhbaatar Сүхбаатар 14,300 19,600 22,374 19,626 5,326 ''+1.2%'' Selenge 14.Sainshand Сайншанд 11,100 10,300 18,290 25,210 14,110 ''+4.2%'' Dornogovi 15.Dalanzadgad Даланзадгад 10,000 14,300 14,050 16,856 6,856 ''+2.3%'' Ömnögovi 16.Tsetserleg Цэцэрлэг 14,700 20,300 18,519 16,300 1,600 ''+0.37%'' Arkhangai 17.Uliastai Улиастай 15,400 20,300 18,154 16,240 840 ''+0.17%'' Zavkhan 18.Altai Алтай 13,700 18,800 15,741 15,800 2,100 ''+0.5%'' Govi-Altai 19.Züünkharaa Зүүнхараа 11,400 - 15,000(2004) - 3,600 ''+1.1%'' Selenge 20.Öndörkhaan Өндөрхаан 11,100 14,400 18,003 14,800 3,700 ''+1.1%'' Khentii 21.Zuunmod Зуунмод 9,800 15,800 14,837 14,568 4,768 ''+1.6%'' Töv 22.Baruun-Urt Баруун-Урт 11,600 16,100 15,133 12,994 1,394 ''+0.4%'' Sükhbaatar 23.Zamyn-Üüd Замын-Үүд - 5,486 11,527 6,041 ''+13.8%'' Dornogovi 24.Bulgan Булган 11,300 12,800 12,681 11,198 -102 ''-0.03%'' Bulgan 25.Mandalgovi Мандалговь 10,200 16,100 14,517 10,299 99 ''+0.03%'' Dundgovi 26.Kharkhorin Хархорин - 8,977(2003) - 27.Bor-Öndör Бор-Өндөр - 6,406(2001) 8,902 2,496 ''+3.5%'' Khentii 28.Choir Чойр 4,500 8,983 7,998 3,498 ''+2.6%'' Govisümber 29.Sharyngol Шарынгол - - 8,902 7,798 -1,104 ''-2.8%'' Darkhan-Uul Mongolia Монгол улс 1,538,980 1,987,274 2,365,269 2,635,000 1,096,600 ''+2.38%'' * - city proper, Nalaikh, Baganuur, Bagakhangai not included in this figure, they are separated in the table.", "'''From''' ''List of cities in Mongolia''" ], [ "Base demographic indicators for Mongolia", " Base Demographic Indicators for MongoliaDemography indicatorunitsU.S.", "Census BureauInternationalData Base1 July 2007United Nations World PopulationProspects: The 2007 Revision1 July 2007United Nations Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and Pacific(ESCAP)1 July 2006National Statistical Office of Mongolia31 December 2007'''Population''' person 2,951,786 2,629,000 2,605,000 2,635,200 '''Age structure''': 0–14 years: % of total population 28.72 27 28 28.58 Age structure: 15–59 years: % of total population 65.56 67 n.a.", "65.36 Age structure: 60 years and over: % of total population 5.72 6 n.a.", "6.06'''Population growth rate''' :% 1.486 1.20 0.9 1.545'''Birth rate''': births/1,000 population 21.07 18.5 19.7 (2000–2005) 21.7'''Death rate''': deaths/1,000 population 6.21 6.6 6.9 (2000–2005) 6.2'''Net migration rate''': migrant(s)/1,000 population 0 0 -4.0 (2000–2005) n.a.", "'''Sex ratio''': at birth:male(s)/female 1.0500 1.01 1.0424 1.0310 Sex ratio: under 15 years:male(s)/female 1.0408 n.a.", "1.0153 1.0193 Sex ratio: 15–59 years:male(s)/female 1.0003 n.a.", "0.9414 0.9379 Sex ratio: 60 years and over:male(s)/female 0.8169 0.80 n.a.", "0.7933 Sex ratio: total population:male(s)/female 1.0002 0.9947 n.a.", "0.9508'''Potential support ratio''': persons aged 15 to 64 per persons aged 65 or older 17.47 17 n.a.", "16.33'''Infant mortality rate''': deaths/1,000 live births 42.65 40 39 (2005) 15.4'''Mortality under age 5''': deaths/1,000 n.a.", "55 49 (2005) 22 '''Life expectancy at birth''' total population:years 66.99 68 65.1 (2000–2005) 66.54 Life expectancy at birth male:years 64.61 64 61.9 (2000–2005) 63.13 Life expectancy at birth female:years 69.48 70 68.4 (2000–2005) 70.23'''Total fertility rate''': children born/woman 2.2517 1.9 2.1 (2000–2005) 2.3'''Age specific fertility rate''': ages 15–19 (per 1,000) 22.5 45 49.7 (2000–2005) 18.7'''Urban population''': % of total population n.a.", "57 56.8 60.75 '''Gross secondary school enrolment ratio''' males:% n.a.", "84 n.a.", "92.1 Gross secondary school enrolment ratio females:% n.a.", "95 n.a.", "95.6 '''Contraceptive prevalence rate''' all methods:% of women aged 15 to 49 who are married or in union n.a.", "67.4 n.a.", "n.a.", "Contraceptive prevalence rate modern methods:% of women aged 15 to 49 who are married or in union n.a.", "54.3 n.a.", "n.a.", "'''Persons with disabilities''': % of total population n.a.", "3.5 n.a.", "n.a.", "'''National poverty rate''': % of total population n.a.", "35.6 36.1 (2002) 32.2'''Human development index''': % of total population n.a.", "0.691 n.a.", "0.720 '''Population projected''' to 2025:person 3,725,352 3,112,000 n.a.", "n.a.", "Population projected to 2050:person 4,340,496 3,388,000 n.a.", "n.a." ], [ "See also", "Mongolian nationality lawEthnic groups in East AsiaBuddhism in East Asia ''Mongolia Human Development Report 1997'', UNDP Mongolia Communications Office, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 1997" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''politics of Mongolia''' takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential multi-party representative democracy.", "Executive power is exercised by the prime minister, who is the head of government, and the Cabinet.", "The president is the head of state, but holds limited authority over the executive branch of the government, unlike full presidential republics like the United States.", "Legislative power is vested in parliament.", "The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature." ], [ "Socialist period and single party government", "Shortly after the Mongolian Revolution of 1921, Mongolia adopted a one-party socialist republican constitution modelled after the Soviet Union; only the communist party — the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) — was officially permitted to function.", "Mongolian politics was closely monitored and directed by Kremlin.", "Any political opposition was brutally oppressed, and government officials who opposed the Soviet influence were murdered, executed or sent to labour camps.", "During the communist regime, collectivisation of livestock, introduction of modern agriculture, limited industrialisation and the urbanisation were carried out without perceptible popular opposition." ], [ "Democratic movement", "The perestroika in the Soviet Union and the democracy movements across Eastern Europe had a profound impact in Mongolian politics.", "On the morning of 10 December 1989, the first open pro-democracy demonstration was held in front of the Youth Cultural Centre in Ulaanbaatar.", "There, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.Over the next months activists, led by 13 leaders, continued to organise demonstrations, rallies, protests and hunger strikes, as well as teachers' and workers' strikes.", "Activists had growing support from Mongolians, both in the capital and the countryside.", "Efforts made by trade unions across the country for democracy had a significant impact on the success of the movement.", "After demonstrations of tens thousands of people in freezing weather in the capital city as well as provincial centres, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Politburo gave way to the pressure and entered negotiations with the leaders of the democratic movement.", "Jambyn Batmönkh, chairman of the Politburo decided to dissolve the Politburo and to resign on 9 March 1990, paving the way for the first multi-party elections in Mongolia.", "As a result, Mongolia became the first country in Asia to successfully transition into democracy from communist rule." ], [ "Multi-party system", "As a result of the democratic movement that led to 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia, the constitution was amended, removing reference to the MPRP's role as the leading political force in the country, legalising opposition parties and creating a standing legislative body and the office of president in May 1990.Mongolia's first multi-party elections for the People's Great Khural (Upper Chamber of the Parliament) were held on 29 July 1990.The MPRP won 85% of the seats.", "The People's Great Khural first commenced on 3 September and elected a president (MPRP), a vice-president (SDP, Social Democratic Party), a prime minister (MPRP), and 50 members to the Baga Khural (Lower Chamber of the Parliament).", "The vice president was also the speaker of the Baga Khural.", "In November 1991, the People's Great Khural began discussion on a new constitution and adopted it on 13 January 1992.The Constitution entered into force on 12 February 1992.In addition to establishing Mongolia as an independent, sovereign republic and guaranteeing a number of rights and freedoms, the new constitution restructured the legislative branch of government, creating a unicameral legislature, the State Great Khural, with 76 members.The 1992 constitution provided that the president would be directly elected by popular vote rather than by the legislature as before.", "In June 1993, incumbent Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat won the first direct presidential election, running as the candidate of the democratic opposition.Mongolia's Parliament in sessionAs the supreme legislative organ, the State Great Khural is empowered to enact and amend laws, regarding domestic and foreign policy, to ratify international agreements, and declare a state of emergency by the constitution.", "The State Great Khural meets semi-annually.", "The parliamentary election holds place every four years, but the electoral system varied in each election.", "The current electoral system is based on plurality-on-large with 29 electoral districts.", "The Speaker of the State Great Khural is elected by the members of the parliament, and one deputy speaker is appointed by each political party or coalition with at least 10 seats in the parliament." ], [ "Political developments", "Until June 1996 the predominant party in Mongolia was the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).", "The country's president was Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat (Democratic Party) during 1990-1997.Ochirbat was a member of MPRP until 1990 but changed his party membership to the Democratic Party following the democratic revolution.Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, as the chairman of the Democratic Party, co-led the Democratic Union Coalition to its first time historic victory in the 1996 parliamentary elections winning 50 out of 76 parliamentary seats.", "Democratic Union Coalition of Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party (chairman Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj) was in power in 1996-2000.Mendsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, election manager of Democratic Union Coalition worked as the prime minister from 7 July 1996 to 23 April 1998.In 1998, a clause in the constitution was removed that prohibited members of parliament to take cabinet responsibility.", "Thus on 23 April 1998, the parliament elected (61–6) Elbegdorj, chairman of the Democratic Union Coalition and the Majority Group in parliament as the prime minister.", "Due to opposition MPRP's demand Elbegdorj lost confidence vote at the Parliament and was replaced by Janlavyn Narantsatsralt (Democratic Party) on 9 December 1998.Janlavyn Narantsatsralt worked as the prime minister for eight months until his resignation in July 1999.Rinchinnyamyn Amarjargal became Democratic Party's new chairman and served as the prime minister from 30 July 1999 to 26 July 2000.In 1997 Natsagiin Bagabandi (MPRP) was elected as the country's president in 1997 Mongolian presidential election.", "He was re-elected as president in 2001 Mongolian presidential election and served as the country's president until 2005.As a result of 2000 parliamentary elections MPRP was back in power in the parliament and the government as well as the presidency.The vote in the 2004 parliamentary elections was evenly split between the two major political forces – Motherland-Democratic Coalition of Democratic Party and Motherland Party and the MPRP.", "Thus it required the establishing of the first ever coalition government in Mongolia between the democratic coalition and the MPRP.", "On 20 August 2004, Elbegdorj became the prime minister of Mongolia for the second time leading a grand coalition government.In 2005 Mongolian presidential election Nambaryn Enkhbayar (MPRP) was elected as the country's president.The MPRP won a majority (46 of 76 seats) in 2008 parliamentary elections.", "The Democratic Party won 27 seats with the three remaining seats going to minor parties and an independent.", "MPRP formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party although MPRP had enough seats to form a government alone in parliament.On 24 May 2009, in 2009 Mongolian presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj made a victory over incumbent President Nambaryn Enkhbayar.", "Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was sworn into office and became the country's president on 18 June 2009.Elbegdorj is Mongolia's first president to never have been a member of the former communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and the first to obtain a Western education.In 2010 former communist party Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party reverted its name to its original name, the Mongolian People's Party.", "After his defeat in 2009 presidential election, Nambaryn Enkhbayar established a new political party and named it Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party after receiving the old name of Mongolian People's Party from the Supreme Court of Mongolia in 2010.Enkhbayar became the chairman of the new party.In June 2012 the Democratic Party won the 2012 parliamentary elections and became the majority in the parliament.", "The Democratic Party established a coalition government with Civil Will-Green Party, and Justice Coalition of new MPRP and Mongolian National Democratic Party due to Democratic Party having not enough seats at the parliament to establish a government on its own by law.", "Members of the parliament were: 35 from Democratic Party, 26 from Mongolian People's Party, 11 from Justice Coalition, 2 from Civil Will-Green Party, and 3 independents.Incumbent President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, candidate of Democratic Party won the 2013 Mongolian presidential election on 26 June 2013 and was sworn into office for his second term as President of Mongolia on 10 July 2013.Thus, since 2012 the Democratic Party has been in power holding both presidency and government.Subsequently, in 2016, the party suffered a landslide defeat in that year's parliamentary election, being reduced to only 9 seats, although they would narrowly retain the presidency in the presidential election held in 2017, in which Khaltmaagiin Battulga was elected to succeed Elbegdorj, the outgoing president.", "Therefore, Mongolia then had divided government, with the Mongolian People's Party having an overwhelming majority in the Khural, while the Democratic Party held the presidency.On June 24, 2020, Mongolian People's Party was re-elected to the parliament with a landslide victory.", "Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh continued to head the cabinet providing government stability and policy certainty.After Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh had resigned after protests over the treatment of a coronavirus patient, Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene of MPP became the new prime minister on 27 January 2021.He represented a younger generation of leaders that had studied abroad.In June 2021, former Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the candidate of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), became the country's sixth democratically elected president after winning the presidential election.In August 2022, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene made a cabinet reshuffle to get legislative support in pushing his liberalization and privatization agenda forward." ], [ "Executive branch", "\|PresidentUkhnaagiin KhürelsükhMongolian People's Party25 June 2021Prime MinisterLuvsannamsrain Oyun-ErdeneMongolian People's Party27 January 2021" ], [ "President", "President Ukhnaagiin KhurelsukhThe presidential candidates are usually nominated by parties having seats in the State Great Khural.", "The president is elected by popular vote for a non-renewable six-year term.", "The president is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, and head of the National Security Council.", "The constitution empowers the president to propose a prime minister (upon the recommendation by the dominant political party), call for the government's dismissal (the two-thirds majority of vote needed in the State Great Khural), initiate legislation, veto all or parts of a legislation (the State Great Khural can override the veto with a two-thirds majority), and issue decrees (effective with the prime minister's countersignature).", "In the absence, incapacity, or resignation of the president, the Speaker of the State Great Khural exercises presidential power until inauguration of a newly elected president.", "Although the president has limited executive powers, they represent the nation internationally, sign international treaties and conventions and advise the cabinet on important socioeconomic issues.", "After being elected, the president-elect must give up their party affiliations to act as the \"symbol of unity\".In June 2021, former Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh won the presidential election.", "He was inaugurated on 25 June 2021." ], [ "Cabinet", "The Cabinet, headed by the prime minister, has a four-year term.", "The president appoints the prime minister after each parliamentary election and appoints the members of the Government on the recommendation of the prime minister.", "If the president is not able to reach a consensus with the prime minister on the appointment of the Cabinet within a week, the issue is submitted the State Great Khural.", "Dismissal of the government occurs upon the prime minister's resignation, simultaneous resignation of half the cabinet, or after the State Great Khural voted for a motion of censure.The prime minister holds most of the executive powers in Mongolian politics.", "Unlike the president, the prime minister is chosen by the party (or coalition) with the majority of seats in the State Great Khural.", "Typically, the prime minister leads a major political party and generally commands the majority in the State Great Khural.+Ministers of the Government of MongoliaPictureNamePositionPolitical partyMr Luvsannamsrain Oyun-ErdenePrime MinisterMongolian People's PartyMr Sainbuyany AmarsaikhanDeputy Prime MinisterMongolian People's PartyMs Battsetseg BatmunkhMinister of Foreign AffairsMongolian People's PartyMr Khishgeegiin NyambaatarMinister of Justice and Internal AffairsMongolian People's PartyMr Boldyn JavkhlanMinister of FinanceMongolian People's PartyMr Chimediin KhurelbaatarMinister of Economy and DevelopmentMongolian People's PartyMr Bat-Ulziin Bat-ErdeneMinistry of Environment and TourismMongolian People's PartyMr Gursediin SaikhanbayarMinister of DefenceMongolian People's PartyMr Luvsantserengiin Enkh-AmgalanMinister of Education and ScienceMongolian People's PartyMr Nyam-Osoryn UchralMinister of Digital Development and CommunicationsMongolian People's PartyMr Begjaviin MunkhbaatarMinister of Construction and Urban DevelopmentMongolian People's PartyMr Sandagiin ByambatsogtMinister of Road and Transport DevelopmentMongolian People's PartyMs Davaajantsangiin SarangerelMinister of Labour and Social ProtectionMongolian People's PartyMr Jambalyn GanbaatarMinister of Mining and Heavy IndustryMongolian People's PartyMs Chinbatyn NominMinister of CultureMongolian People's PartyMr Khayangaagiin BolorchuluunMinister of Food, Agriculture and Light IndustryMongolian People's PartyMr Battogtokhyn ChoijilsurenMinister of EnergyMongolian People's PartyMr Sereejavyn EnkhbholdMinister of HealthMongolian People's PartyMr Dashzegviin AmarbayasgalanMinister and Chief of CabinetMongolian People's PartyMr Jamyankhorloogiin SukhbaatarMinister in Charge of Ulaanbaatar City and Traffic CongestionMongolian People's PartyMr Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-ErdeneMinister for Olympism, Physical Culture and SportsMongolian People's Party(Vacant)Minister for Border Port Revitalization===Structure===The Cabinet consists of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the cabinet secretary and 14 ministers.", "The government consists of six general function ministries, eight specialised ministries, four agencies for policy arrangement, 23 agencies for policy implementation, four agencies under direct control of the prime minister and five agencies under direct control of the deputy prime minister.The current prime minister of Mongolia is Mr Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene (Mongolian People's Party).", "''Ministries of general function''Ministry of Environment and TourismMinistry of DefenceMinistry of Foreign AffairsMinistry of TreasuryMinistry of Justice and Interior AffairsMinistry of Labour and Social Protection''Specialised Ministries''Ministry of Construction and Urban DevelopmentMinistry of Education and ScienceMinistry of Road and Transport DevelopmentMinistry of CultureMinistry of Mining and Heavy IndustryMinistry of Food, Agriculture and Light IndustryMinistry of EnergyMinistry of HealthMinistry of Economy and DevelopmentMinistry of Digital Development and Communications''Agencies for Policy Implementation''* General Authority for Archives* Mineral Resources and Petroleum Agency* Mongolian Customs* Mongolian Immigration Agency* Agency for Land Management, Geodesy and Cartography* Authority for Family, Child and Youth Development* Fund for Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesCivil Aviation Authority of MongoliaAgency for Veterinary MedicineGeneral Authority for Social InsuranceGeneral Authority for Social Welfare and ServicesAuthority for Intellectual PropertyDepartment for Arts and CultureGeneral Authority for TaxationDepartment for WaterNational Geology AgencyGeneral Authority for Border ProtectionNational Agency for Weather and Environmental MonitoringNational Institute of Forensic ScienceGeneral Agency for Court Decision ExecutionDepartment for Medicine and Medical EquipmentsGeneral Authority for Health Insurance''Agencies Under Prime Minister''Department for Physical Education and SportsGeneral Intelligence AgencyAgency for Coordination of Government PropertiesState Special Security Department''Agencies Under Deputy Minister''General Authority for Professional InspectionNational Emergency Management AgencyMongolian Agency for Standard and MetrologyAgency for Government PurchasesAgency for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection" ], [ "Parliament", "The '''State Great Khural''' (''Ulsyn Ikh Khural'' in Mongolian, meaning State Great Assembly) is a unicameral legislative body with 76 seats.", "The State Great Khural wields some of the most important powers in Mongolian politics.", "Parliamentary elections are held every four years, and 76 representatives are chosen.", "The current electoral system is based on plurality-at-large with 29 electoral districts across the country.", "According to the Constitution, every Mongolian citizen over the age of 18 can participate in elections, or run for government offices including the State Great Khural.", "Although there are several controversies (such as the right to vote of prisoners and Mongolian nationals abroad), the US government-funded agency Freedom House considers Mongolia to be a free representative democracy.The State Great Khural is charged with the passage of legislation, approval of treaties, confirmation of the Government ministers and hearings of various government officials.", "Members of the State Great Khural have immunity against court trials, and the right to inspect government documents as an accountability on the Government's activities.+The Parliament of MongoliaPictureNamePositionPolitical PartythumbMr Gombojaviin Zandanshatar Speaker of the State Great KhuralMongolian People's PartyMr Tumurbaatariin AyursaikhanDeputy Speaker of the State Great KhuralMongolian People's PartyMs Saldangiin OdontuyaDeputy Speaker of the State Great KhuralDemocratic PartyMr Dulamdorjiin TogtokhsurenLeader of the Mongolian People's Party Caucus in the ParliamentMongolian People's PartyMr Dashdondogiin GanbatLeader of the Democratic Party Caucus in the ParliamentDemocratic PartyMr Baagaagiin BattumurChair of the Parliamentary Committee on the National Security and Foreign AffairsMongolian People's PartyMr Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-ErdeneChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics, Discipline and ResponsibilityMongolian People's PartyMr Khyangaagiin BolorchuluunChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Food and AgricultureMongolian People's PartyMr Sandangiin ByambatsogtChair of the Parliamentary Committee on JusticeMongolian People's PartyMr Jambaliin GanbaatarChair of the Parliamentary Committee on EconomyMongolian People's PartyMr Boldiin JavkhlanChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Government BudgetMongolian People's PartyMr Jamiyangiin MunkhbatChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Culture and SportsMongolian People's PartyMs Munkhuugiin OyunchimegChair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Public Requests Mongolian People's PartyMr Nyam-Osoriin UchralChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Innovation and Digital StrategyMongolian People's PartyMr Battogtokhiin ChoijilsurenChair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industrialisation StrategyMongolian People's PartyMr Luvsantserengiin Enkh-AmgalanChair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Governmental OrganisationMongolian People's Party" ], [ "Political parties and elections", "Democratic Party for an election campaign in Khövsgöl, 2006Mongolian politics is currently dominated by two major political parties: Mongolian People's Party (160,000 members) and Democratic Party (150,000 members).", "After the 1990 Democratic Revolution, then-Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party transitioned into a centre-left social democratic party.", "In 2010, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party changed its name to Mongolian People's Party along with modifications in the party manifesto and leadership; however, the former president Nambaryn Enkhbayar's faction and other conservative members departed from the party and created a new political party taking the original name, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.", "Since the fall of the Soviet regime, Mongolian People's Party has been able to maintain a high level of support.", "On the other hand, the Democratic Party was established in 2000, integrating minor political parties established by the leaders of the Democratic Revolution.", "The Democratic Party is a centre-right political party.", "In 2011, National Labour Party, a centre-left party, was established as an alternative to the Mongolian People's Party and the Democratic Party and gained a notable support from the populace.", "In 2020 elections, it was able to obtain a number of seats in both the State Great Khural and municipal councils with hopes to increase its political power in the upcoming elections.There are 36 political parties recognised by the Supreme Court.", "However, critics say there are no major ideological differences between the political parties on issues like economic policies and governance.===2017 presidential election======2020 legislative election===In 2020 legislative election, Mongolian People's Party maintained its majority in the parliament." ], [ "Legal system", "The new constitution empowered a Judicial General Council (JGC) to select all judges and protect their rights.", "The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body.", "Justices are nominated by the JGC, confirmed by the State Great Khural and appointed by the president.", "The Supreme Court is constitutionally empowered to examine all lower court decisions—excluding specialized court rulings—upon appeal and provide official interpretations on all laws except the constitution.Specialized civil, criminal, and administrative courts exist at all levels and are not subject to Supreme Court supervision.", "Local authorities—district and city governors—ensure that these courts abide by presidential decrees and SGKh decisions.", "At the apex of the judicial system is the Constitutional Court of Mongolia, which consists of nine members, including a chairman, appointed for six-year term, whose jurisdiction extends solely over the interpretation of the constitution.The constitution states that the Judicial branch of the government should be independent of any outside influences and government officials.", "However, in 2019, the State Great Khural passed a law that allows the National Security Council (composed of speaker of parliament, president and prime minister) to dismiss judges who are \"dishonest\", effectively removing their immunity that meant to prevent outside interventions to court decisions.", "Various civil movements, international organisations and prominent individuals (including the former president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj) have denounced the decision, but no action was made so far." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Mongolia is divided in 21 ''Aimags'' (provinces) and one municipality/city (''khot''): Arkhangai, Bayan-Ölgii, Bayankhongor, Bulgan, Darkhan-Uul, Dornod, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Govi-Altai, Govisümber, Khentii, Khovd, Khövsgöl, Ömnögovi, Orkhon, Övörkhangai, Selenge, Sükhbaatar, Töv, Uvs, Zavkhan, and the city of Ulaanbaatar.Local elections are held every four year in all 21 provinces and the capital, electing representatives to municipal councils.", "After each election, the newly elected municipal councils recommend a governor and their office, and meet semi-annually to discuss issues in their province, recommend and supervise the local government.", "However, the prime minister has the power to choose provincial governors.", "Unlike federal republics like Germany and the United States, local governments in Mongolia hold limited authority, and are generally tasked with implementing the central government policies.On the next lower administrative level, representatives are elected in provincial subdivisions and urban sub-districts in Ulaanbaatar.The latest municipal elections took place on 15 October 2020.A total of 17149 candidates ran for 8167 seats in provincial and county councils.", "Mongolian People's Party won a majority in 13 out of 21 provincial councils in Mongolia while the Democratic Party took the remaining eight provinces.", "+Provincial councilsCouncilAvailable seatsMPPDPNational Labour PartyMPRPMongolian Green PartyCoalition of Just Citizens PartyIndependentUlaanbaatar45'''34'''83Khovd41'''26'''141Orkhon35'''23'''12Khuvsgul4118'''22'''1Dornogovi33'''28'''41Uvs4117'''19'''5Bayankhongor41'''22'''19Arkhangai3919'''20'''Bulgan3313'''19'''1Uvurkhangai41'''35'''6Umnugovi3313'''20'''Darkhan-Uul33'''32'''1Bayan-Ulgii39'''23'''151Govisumber17'''10'''52Tuv41'''26'''1311Selenge37'''23'''14Zavkhan41'''21'''1811Govi-Altai41'''29'''111Dundgovi3511'''22'''11Khentii39'''32'''7Dornod37'''26'''812Sukhbaatar336'''27'''" ], [ "See also", "Foreign relations of MongoliaFlag of Mongolia" ], [ "Further reading", "* S. Narangerel, ''Legal System of Mongolia'', Interpress, 2004" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* ''official website of the Office of the President of Mongolia''* ''official website of the Office of the Parliament of Mongolia''* ''official website of the Government of Mongolia''" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Mongolia''' has traditionally been based on agriculture and livestock.", "Mongolia also has extensive mineral deposits: copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production.", "Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of Gross domestic product (GDP), disappeared almost overnight in 1990–91, in the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union.", "Mongolia was driven into deep recession.Economic growth picked up in 1997–99 after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and increases in world prices of copper and cashmere.", "Public revenues and exports collapsed in 1998 and 1999 due to the repercussions of the Asian financial crisis.", "In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products.", "Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997.The international donor community pledged over $300 million per year in the last Consultative Group Meeting, held in Ulaanbaatar in June 1999.Recently, the Mongolian economy has grown at a fast pace due to an increase in mining and Mongolia attained a GDP growth rate of 11.7% in 2013.However, because much of this growth is export-based, Mongolia is suffering from the global slowdown in mining caused by decreased growth in China." ], [ "Economic history", "Historical development of real GDP per capita in Mongolia===Socialist era===The rapid political changes of 1990–91 marked the beginning of Mongolia's efforts to develop a market economy, but these efforts have been complicated and disrupted by the dissolution and continuing deterioration of the economy of the former Soviet Union.", "Prior to 1991, 80% of Mongolia's trade was with the former Soviet Union, and 15% was with other Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) countries.", "Mongolia was heavily dependent upon the former Soviet Union for fuel, medicine, and spare parts for its factories and power plants.The former Soviet Union served as the primary market for Mongolian industry.", "In the 1980s, Mongolia's industrial sector became increasingly important.", "By 1989, it accounted for an estimated 34% of material products, compared to 18% from agriculture.", "However, minerals, animals, and animal-derived products still constitute a large proportion of the country's exports.", "Principal imports included machinery, petroleum, cloth, and building materials.In the late 1980s, the government began to improve links with non-communist Asia and the West, and tourism in Mongolia developed.", "As of 1 January 1991, Mongolia and the former Soviet Union agreed to conduct bilateral trade in hard currency at world prices.Despite its external trade difficulties, Mongolia has continued to press ahead with reform.", "Privatization of small shops and enterprises has largely been completed in the 1990s, and most prices have been freed.", "Privatization of large state enterprises has begun.", "Tax reforms also have begun, and the barter and official exchange rates were unified in late 1991.===Transition to a market economy===Between 1990 and 1993, Mongolia suffered triple-digit inflation, rising unemployment, shortages of basic goods, and food rationing.", "During that period, economic output contracted by one-third.", "As market reforms and private enterprise took hold, economic growth began again in 1994–95.Unfortunately, since this growth was fueled in part by over-allocation of bank credit, especially to the remaining state-owned enterprises, economic growth was accompanied by a severe weakening of the banking sector.", "GDP grew by about 6% in 1995, thanks to largely to a boom in copper prices.", "Average real economic growth leveled off to about 3.5% in 1996–99 due to the Asian financial crisis, the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and worsening commodity prices, especially copper and gold.Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell from 3.2% in 1999 to 1.3% in 2000.The decline can be attributed to the loss of 2.4 million livestock in bad weather and natural disasters in 2000.Prospects for development outside the traditional reliance on nomadic, livestock-based agriculture are constrained by Mongolia's landlocked location and lack of basic infrastructure.", "Since 1990, more than 1,500 foreign companies from 61 countries have invested a total of $338.3 million in Mongolia.", "By 2003 private companies made up 70% of Mongolian GDP and 80% of exports.Until recently, there have been a very few restrictions on foreign investments during most of Mongolia's post-socialist period.", "Consequently, mining industry's contribution to FDI increased to almost 25% in 1999 from zero in 1990.===Economic development present day===Mongolian factory worker with cashmereMarket in MongoliaMongolia's reliance on trade with China meant that the worldwide financial crisis hit hard, severely stunting the growth of its economy.", "With the sharp decrease in metal prices, especially copper (down 65% from July 2008-February 2009), exports of its raw materials withered and by 2009 the stock market MSE Top-20 registered an all-time low since its dramatic spike in mid-2007.Just as the economy started to recover, Mongolia was hit by a Zud over the winter period of 2009–2010, causing many livestock to perish and thus severely affecting cashmere production which accounts for a further 7% of the country's export revenues.According to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund estimates, real GDP growth reduced from 8% to 2.7% in 2009, and exports shrunk 26% from $2.5Bn to $1.9Bn before a promisingly steady increase up until 2008.Because of this, it was projected that between 20,000 and 40,000 fewer Mongolians (0.7% and 1.4% of the population respectively) will be lifted out of poverty, than would have been the case without the global financial crisis.In late 2009 and the beginning of 2010, however, the market has begun to recover once again.", "Having identified and learnt from its previous economic instabilities, legislative reform and a tightened fiscal policy promises to guide the country onwards and upwards.", "In February 2010, foreign assets were recorded at USD1,569,449 million.", "New trade agreements are being formed and foreign investors are keeping a close eye on the \"Asian Wolf\".Mining is the principal industrial activity in Mongolia, making up 30% of all Mongolian industry.", "Another important industry is the production of cashmere.", "Mongolia is the world's second largest producer of cashmere, with the main company, Gobi Cashmere, accounting for 21% of world cashmere production as of 2006.Total export in 2019 was US$7.6 billion.The 2022 economic growth is expected to be one percent and international institutions anticipate the economy to speed up by at least six percent in 2023 from expanded commodity exports.", "A significant commodity export boom is expected starting from 2023 with new coal rail networks to China coming online and increased copper production from Rio Tinto’s underground mine Oyu Tolgoi in southern Mongolia." ], [ "The Wolf Economy", "The term was coined by Ganhuyag Chuluun Hutagt and subsequently popularized by Renaissance Capital in their report \"Mongolia: \"Blue-sky opportunity\".", "They state that Mongolia is set to become the new Asian tiger, or \"Mongolian wolf\" as they prefer to call it, and predict \"unstoppable\" economic growth.", "With the recent developments in the mining industry and foreign interest increasing at an astonishing rate, it is claimed that the 'Wolf Economy' looks ready to pounce.", "The term's aggressive title mirrors the country's attitude in the capital markets, and with newfound mineral prospects it has the chance to retain its title as one of the world's fastest growing economies." ], [ "Banks", "The banking sector is highly concentrated, with five banks controlling about 80% of financial assets as of 2015: Shares of Mongolia's five largest domestic banks are to be offered to the public for the first time on the soon-to-be partially privatized Mongolian Stock Exchange.===Commercial banks===KhasBank - KhasBank is a community development bank and microfinance institution headquartered in Ulaanbaatar, with a nationwide network of 100 offices and 1309 staff as of June 2012.", "Khan Bank - Khan Bank has its central office in Ulaanbaatar, where 5 branches are located.", "It has 24 regional branch offices throughout the country, each of which supervises an additional 15 to 25 smaller branches in its area, totaling 512.", "Golomt Bank - Golomt Bank started in 1995 and now manages around 23% of the assets in the domestic banking system.", "Trade and Development Bank - TDB was formed in 1990 and is thus the oldest bank in Mongolia.", "It has a network of 28 branches and settlement centers, 60 ATMs, 1300 POS terminals, and Internet/SMS banking throughout the country.", "Foreign banks like ING are breaking into the market.In terms of access to credit, Mongolia ranked 61st out of 189 economies in accordance with 2015 Ease of Doing Business survey.", "However, Mongolia had one of the highest banking branch penetration rates in the world at 1 bank branch per 15,257 residents as of May 2015.===Investment banks===With a strengthening capital market environment, many foreign and local investment institutions have begun to establish themselves in Mongolia.", "The most prominent local agencies include: TDB Capital , Eurasia Capital, Monet Investment Bank, BDSec, MICC , and Frontier Securities." ], [ "Environment", "As a result of rapid urbanization and industrial growth policies under the communist regime, Mongolia's deteriorating environment has become a major concern.", "The burning of soft coal coupled with thousands of factories in Ulaanbaatar and a sharp increase in individual motorization has resulted in severe air pollution.", "Deforestation, overgrazed pastures, and, less recently, efforts to increase grain and hay production by plowing up more virgin land have increased soil erosion from wind and rain." ], [ "Other statistics", "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 2007–2022.Year GDP(in bil.", "US$ PPP) GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in bil.", "US$ nominal) GDP growth in percentage(real) Inflation in percentage(in Percent) 2007 17.5 6,8414.2 8.8 17.8 2008 19.3 7,2505.6 7.8 22.1 2009 19.0 6,9694.6 -2.1 4.2 2010 20.6 7,3577.2 7.3 12.9 2011 24.7 8,47410.4 17.3 8.9 2012 28.9 9,33212.3 12.3 14.1 2013 30.4 10,19712.6 11.6 12.5 2014 32.5 10,76012.2 7.9 10.4 2015 31.9 10,79611.6 2.4 1.0 2016 32.8 10,73911.2 1.5 1.3 2017 35.4 11,13711.5 5.6 6.3 2018 39.0 11,77513.2 7.7 8.2 2019 42.0 12,21514.2 5.6 5.2 2020 40.5 11,44713.3 -4.6 2.3 2021 42.9 11,45615.3 1.6 13.5 2022 47.1 11,56717.1 2.5 14.2'''Household income or consumption by percentage share:'''* ''lowest 10%:'' 3.5%* ''highest 10%:'' 35% (2005)'''Distribution of family income - Gini index:'''40 (2000)'''Agriculture - products:'''wheat, barley, vegetables, forage crops, sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses'''Industries:'''construction and construction materials; mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, and gold); food and beverages; processing of animal products, cashmere wool and natural fiber manufacturing'''Industrial production growth rate:'''6% (2010 est.", ")'''Electricity:'''* ''production:'' 3.43 TWh (2006 est.", ")* ''consumption:'' 2.94 TWh (2006 est.", ")* ''exports:'' 15.95 GWh (2006 est.", ")* ''imports:'' 125 GWh (2006 est.", ")'''Electricity - production by source:'''* ''fossil fuel:'' 80%* ''hydro:'' 0%* ''other:'' 20% (2011)* ''nuclear:'' 0%'''Oil:'''* ''production:'' (2006 est.", ")* ''consumption:'' (2006 est.", ")* ''exports:'' (2006 est.", ")* ''imports:'' (2006 est.", ")'''Exports - commodities:'''copper, apparel, livestock, animal products, cashmere wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous metals'''Imports - commodities:'''machinery and equipment, fuel, cars, food products, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea'''Exchange rates:'''tögrögs/tugriks per US dollar: 1890 (2014), 1396 (2012), 1,420 (2009), 1,179.6 (2006), 1,205 (2005), 1,187.17 (2004), 1,171 (2003), 1,110.31 (2002), 1,097.7 (2001), 1,076.67 (2000)" ], [ "See also", "* Mongolia and the International Monetary Fund* Agriculture in Mongolia* Mining in Mongolia" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Official site of the Ministry of Finance* Official government site of the Bank of Mongolia - the central bank * Mongolia CIA World Factbook" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in Mongolia''' face unique challenges.", "As the least densely populated country in the world, with a significant portion of the population living a nomadic lifestyle, it has been difficult for many traditional information and communication technology (ICT) companies to make headway into Mongolian society.", "With almost half the population clustered in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, most landline technologies are deployed there.", "Wireless technologies have had greater success in rural areas.Mobile phones are common, with provincial capitals all having 4G access.", "Wireless local loop is another technology that has helped Mongolia increase accessibility to telecommunications and bypass fixed-line infrastructure.", "For Internet, Mongolia relies on fiber optic communications with its Chinese and Russian neighbors.", "In 2005, Mongolia's state-run radio and TV provider converted to a public service provider.", "Private radio and TV broadcasters, multi-channel satellite, and cable TV providers are also available." ], [ "Telecommunications infrastructure", "Telecommunications network is improving with international direct dialing available in many areas.", "A fiber-optic network has been installed that is improving broadband and communication services between major urban centers with multiple companies providing inter-city fiber-optic cable services.", "* 7 satellite earth station: Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region), Intelsat, Asiasat-1.", "* International overland: Europe-Russia-Mongolia-China (ERMC) cable system." ], [ "Telephones", "* 385,000 fixed lines in use, 102nd in the world (2019 estimate).", "* 4.3 million mobile-cellular lines in use, 127th in the world (2019 estimate).", "* International dialing code: +976.There are two landline telephone companies in Mongolia: Mongolia Telecom Company (MTC) and the Mongolian Railway Authority.", "MTC is a joint venture with Korea Telecom and partially publicly owned.", "MTC leases fiber-optic lines from the Mongolian Railway Authority and connects to all aimags and soums.", "The number of fixed-line phones in Mongolia is slowly decreasing.", "The majority of MTC subscribers are in Ulaanbaatar.Mobile phones are very popular in the city as well as the countryside with 1.5 million active mobile social users in January 2017.Especially in the countryside, the government is preferring the installation of cell phone base stations over laying land lines, as cell phone base stations are easier to install.", "Mongolia's Communication Authority has announced a plan to connect all sum center and a number of other settlements to cell phone services.", "Since 2012 the country is covered by 3G services.", "The biggest problem of phone usage in rural parts of the country was the poor reception since in some areas getting the mobile signal required climbing on the highest mountain top in the neighbourhood or on the top of the horse on some hill.", "But with the plan of Communications Regulatory Commission of Mongolia that will allow the nationwide introduction of 4G mobile Internet technologies by approving licenses to use radio spectrum for 4G LTE service to Mobicom Corporation, Unitel, Skytel according to the first commission meeting in 2016 this problem should be resolved.", "It will also help parents for whom mobile phones are the only way to stay in touch with their children attending boarding schools in the cities.", ";Mobile operatorsUnitel (GSM)- The No.1 ICT group in Mongolia who have the first and nationwide 3G/4G/5G network.", "G-Mobile (CDMA) – Established in 2007, it is focusing on development in rural areasMobicom Corporation (GSM) – The first mobile operator.", "Skytel (CDMA)ONDO 5th Competitor in telecommunications service resembling that of landlines, but uses technology similar to mobile phones.", "There are currently five licensed WLL providers, though there only appear to be three companies actually offering service.", ";WLL providersMongolia Telecom Company: WLL project a joint venture with LG Electronics Company of South Korea, 8,768 users, covers Darkhan, Erdenet, Nalaikh, Choibalsan, and Ulanbaatar.", "It also provides 450 MHz coverage in the following aimags: Orkhon, Darkhan Uul, Dornod, Arkhangai, Bayan-Ulgii, Bulgan, Hovd, Huvsgul, Zavkhan, and Uvs.", "Mobicom: Covers Ulaanbaatar and areas near the city, 13,400 users.", "Skytel: Covers Ulaanbaatar and rural Mongolia (area not specified), and has 22,000 users." ], [ "Radio", ", more than 100 radio stations, including some 20 via repeaters for the public broadcaster as well as transmissions by multiple international broadcasters were available.", ", there were 360,000 radios.Ulaanbaatar has 20 FM stations, including foreign radio stations BBC World Service, VOA, and Inner Mongolian Radio.", "In the whole country there are 5 longwave broadcasting stations, the most powerful at Ulaanbaatar with 1000 KW." ], [ "Television", "Mongolian TV Broadcasting started on 27 September 1967 with the start of Mongolian National Television.", "* Television sets: 118,000 (1997)===Television providers===;Stations/Channels* Mongolian National Broadcaster, the official, state-funded television channel in Mongolia.", "* Premier Sports Network (PSN, dominant subscription television sports brand in Mongolia.", ")* C1* Channel 25* Eagle TV* Edutainment TV (Боловсрол суваг)* ETV * Mongol TV, first HD TV, New Mongol TV* NTV* SBN* TV5* TV8* TV9* Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System (UBS);Satellite television* DDishTV LLC, broadcasts major Mongolian channels and some international channels throughout the whole of Mongolia and to other Asian countries via Ku-Band Satellite.", "For that service it is necessary to have a dish and special box.", "* Mongolsat;Cable television* DDishTV LLC* MNBC CaTV* Sansar CaTV – ''Space'';Internet Protocol television (IPTV)* Univision IPTV* LookTV IPTV* Homemedia IPTV* Skymedia IPTV* VOO IPTV" ], [ "Internet", "The Internet, established in 1995 in Mongolia, has begun making a significant impact, with 68.1% of the population having access to it as of 2020.Mongolia is the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, which is a serious constraint to country-wide Internet deployment.", "While much of the country remains pastoral with countryside residents dependent on herding and agriculture, Internet access is widely available to urban populations.", "There has been steady online growth in online newspapers, magazines and advertising.", "The poor access to the Internet in the countryside has been a reason behind designating Mongolian countryside as a digital detox location for the tech-tired tourists.", "* Internet users: 2,233,000 users; 68.1% of the population (2020).", "* Fixed broadband: 115,561 subscriptions, 98th in the world; 3.6% of the population, 114th in the world (2012).", "* Mobile broadband: 848,391 subscriptions, 75th in the world; 26.7% of the population, 61st in the world (2012).", "* Internet hosts: 20,084 hosts, 118th in the world (2012).", "* The top level domain of Mongolia is \".mn\".===Internet service providers (ISPs)===;Wholesale providersInformation Communications Network LLC /NETCOM/Gemnet LLCMobicom Networks LLCMT NetworksUnitelSkytel;Retail providersMongolia Telecom CompanyUnivisionMCSComBoldsoftDigicom (FTTB)MobinetMagicnetMicomBodicomSkymediaSkyC&CYokozunanetCitinetHOMENETG-mobilenet;Satellite providersDDishTV LLC, provides VSAT Internet connections, especially in rural area of Mongolia.", "Incomnet LLC, provides data communications network services throughout Mongolia, as well as satellite telephone call and satellite Internet services in remote areas since its establishment in 2001.", "Isatcom LLC, national satellite provider in Mongolia, provides VSAT Internet connections, VPN network for organizations in rural areas of Mongolia, since its establishment in 2004.Also involved in the sale of solar energy equipment.===Internet initiatives===Citizens Information Service Centers (CISC) have been established in Ulaanbataar and six Aimags that are equipped to allow nomadic rural populations to receive internet access.Many libraries and schools provide internet access, including some mobile providers that travel between rural populations.The Asian Development Bank has an initiative to develop ICT technologies to \"boost access to high-quality education for disadvantaged and remote populations in Mongolia, through a grant assistance approved for US$1 million.\"", "The goal is to take advantage of newer technologies to improve access to information for about 10,000 students at 36 schools.===Internet censorship and surveillance===There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet.", "The criminal code and constitution prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, however, there are reports of government surveillance, wiretapping, and e-mail account monitoring.", "Individuals and groups engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.", "Defamation laws carrying civil and criminal penalties severely impede criticism of government officials.", "Moreover, in 2014 the Mongolian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has published a list of up to 774 words and phrases, use of which is prohibited on local websites.Censorship of public information is banned under the 1998 Media Freedom Law, but a 1995 state secrets law severely limits access to government information.", "After an eight-year campaign by activists, the parliament passed the Law on Information Transparency and Right to Information in June 2011, with the legislation taking effect in December 2011.Internet users remain concerned about a February 2011 regulation, the \"General Conditions and Requirements on Digital Content\", by the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) that restricts obscene and inappropriate content without explicitly defining it and requires popular websites to make their users' IP addresses publicly visible.", "The production, sale, or display of all pornography is illegal and carries a penalty of up to three months in prison.While there is no official censorship by the government, journalists frequently complain of harassment and intimidation." ], [ "Post", "Mongol Post is the state-owned postal service of Mongolia." ], [ "See also", "* Telephone numbers in Mongolia" ], [ "References", ";Bibliography" ], [ "Further reading", " * * * Odkhuu Tsolmondelger (2020).", "Research Report on ICT infrastructure Co-deployment with Transport and Energy Infrastructures in Mongolia.", "ESCAP Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division." ], [ "External links", " Telecom Mongolia, the national telecommunications company.", "Information Communications Network LLC, national fiber optic backbone network provider.", " Incomnet LLC, the national satellite communications company." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Mongolia" ], [ "Introduction", "Cable ferry across the Selenge river, in Khövsgöl aimagThe '''transportation system''' in Mongolia consists of a network of railways, roads, waterways, and airports." ], [ "Railways", "Traders in Zamyn-Üüd station, Dornogovi aimagThe Trans-Mongolian Railway connects the Trans-Siberian Railway from Ulan Ude (in Russia to Erenhot and Beijing in China through the capital Ulaanbaatar.", "The Mongolian section of this line runs for 1110 km.", "A spur line connects Darkhan to the copper mines of Erdenet; another spur line connects Ulaanbaatar with the coal mines of Baganuur.", "A separate railway line is in the east of the country between Choibalsan and the Trans-Siberian at Borzya; however, that line is closed to passengers beyond the Mongolian town of Chuluunkhoroot.", "For domestic transport, daily trains run from Ulaanbaatar to Darkhan, Sukhbaatar, and Erdenet, as well as Zamyn-Üüd, Choir and Sainshand.", "Mongolia uses the (Russian gauge) track system.", "The total length of the system 1,810 km.", "In 2007, rail transport carried 93% of Mongolian freight and 43% of passenger turnover (in tonskm and passengerkm, respectively)." ], [ "Roadways", "In 2007, only about 2600 km of Mongolia's road network were paved.", "Another 3900 km are graveled or otherwise improved.", "This network of paved roads was expanded to 4,800 km in 2013, with 1,800 km completed in 2014 alone.", "This included the roads from Ulaanbaatar to the Russian and Chinese borders, paved road from Ulaanbaatar to Kharkhorin and Bayankhongor, another going south to Mandalgovi, and a partly parallel road from Lün to Dashinchilen, as well as the road from Darkhan to Bulgan via Erdenet.", "The vast majority of Mongolia's official road network, some 40,000 km, are simple cross-country tracks.Construction is underway on an east-west road (the so-called Millennium Road) that incorporates the road from Ulaanbaatar to Arvaikheer and on the extension of the Darkhan-Bulgan road beyond Bulgan.", "Private bus and minibus companies offer service from Ulaanbaatar to most aimag centers.In September and December 2014 roads connecting Dalanzadgad town of Ömnögovi Province and Mörön town of Khuvsgul province with capital city of Ulaanbaatar were completed.In 2019, the first expressway in Mongolia opened, the Ulaanbaatar Airport Expressway.===Bus===The history of public transport in Mongolia starts with the creation of > council in 1929.The first public bus route was between Ulaanbaatar city and then-city Amgalan with 5 rides a day.Currently, buses are the main mode of public transportation in Ulaanbaatar.", "Buses pass stops at approximately 15-minute intervals.", "Buses runs between 7:00am and 10:00pm.", "As of 2020, there are about 900-950 buses operating daily in Ulaanbaatar city.", "There is a daily international bus service between Ulan-Ude, Russia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.There is relatively developed bus transport between cities of Mongolia from minivans to large coach buses (usually up to 45 seats).", "The national and municipal governments regulate a wide system of private transit providers which operate numerous bus lines around the city.", "There is also an Ulaanbaatar trolleybus system.", "Avtobus 1, Avtobus 3 (both are publicly owned), Tenuun Ogoo LLC, Erdem trans LLC and Sutain buyant LLC are major bus operators.===Taxi===There are about 10 licensed taxi companies such as Ulaanbaatar taxi (1991), Noyon taxi (1950), Telecom taxi (1109), 1616 taxi (1616) with about 600 cars operating in Ulaanbaatar.", "There are a few local taxi companies in smaller cities such as Darkhan, Erdenet, Baganuur and Zuunmod.", "And there are many drivers with private unlicensed cars who act as taxis.A typical fare is MNT 1,500 per kilometer; taxi drivers tend to ask for more especially if the client is a foreign national.", "Official taxis with proper markings are allowed to drive without plate number restrictions on the first lane of Ulaanbaatar's central road usually reserved for large public transports such as buses and trolleybuses since October 2013." ], [ "Waterways", "Ships in Lake KhövsgölMongolia has 580 km of waterways, but only Lake Khövsgöl has ever been heavily used.", "The Selenge (270 km) and Orkhon (175 km) rivers are navigable but carry little traffic, although a customs boat patrols the Selenge to the Russian border.", "Lake Khovsgol has charter boats for tourists.", "The lakes and rivers freeze over in the winter and are usually open between May and September." ], [ "Air transport", "Chinggis Khaan International AirportAircraft of two Mongolian domestic airlines at ULNMIAT Mongolian Airlines is the country's flag carrier and first airline, operating since 1956.It conducted scheduled domestic flights in the communist era with its hub at Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport (built 1961), and started international routes in 1987.With the onset of the democratic revolution, the airline gradually adopted modern jet airliners and expanded its international operations.", "Since the 2000s, private operators such as Aero Mongolia, Hunnu Air, and Eznis Airways commenced flights, dominating domestic air routes in the country.", "In 2023, MIAT Mongolian Airlines resumed domestic flights after 15 years under the brand name MIAT Regional.Mongolia opened the new Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) in July 2021, located about 50 km from the center of Ulaanbaatar.", "Replacing Buyant-Ukhaa, it is the country's only international airport.", "Most airports of the 21 aimag centers of Mongolia have paved runways, but those closest to Ulaanbaatar lack scheduled air service.Ulaanbaatar can be accessed with direct flights to various locations in Europe and Asia, with future direct routes planned to North America and Australia." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Ministry of Road, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development* CIA World Factbook* Eznis Airways:Schedule & Charter airline of Mongolia* MIAT Mongolian Airlines - National Air Carrier*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mongolian Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Mongolian Armed Forces''' (; ''Mongol: ulsyn zevsegt hüchin'') is the collective name for the Mongolian military and the joint forces that comprise it.", "It is tasked with protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Mongolia.", "Defined as the peacetime configuration, its current structure consists of five branches: the Mongolian Ground Force, Mongolian Air Force, Construction and Engineering Forces, cyber security, and special forces.", "In case of a war situation, the Border Troops, Internal Troops and National Emergency Management Agency can be reorganized into the armed forces structure.", "The General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces is the main managing body and operates independently from the Ministry of Defence, its government controlled parent body.The official holiday of their military is Men's and Soldiers' Day () on 18 March, the equivalent of Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia and PLA Day in China." ], [ "History", "=== Mongol Empire and post-imperial ===As a unified state, Mongolia traces its origins to the Mongol Empire created by Genghis Khan in the 13th century.", "Genghis Khan unified the various tribes on the Mongol steppe, and his descendants eventually conquered almost the entirety of Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe.The Mongol Army was organized into decimal units of tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands.", "A notable feature of the army is that it was composed entirely of cavalry units, giving it the advantage of maneuverability.", "Siege weaponry was adapted from other cultures, with foreign experts integrated into the command structure.The Mongols rarely used naval power, with a few exceptions.", "In the 1260s and 1270s they used seapower while conquering the Song dynasty of China, though they were unable to mount successful seaborne campaigns against Japan due to storms and rough battles.", "Around the Eastern Mediterranean, their campaigns were almost exclusively land-based, with the seas being controlled by the Crusader and Mamluk forces.With the disintegration of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century, the Mongol Army as a unified unit also crumbled.", "The Mongols retreated to their homeland after the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and once again delved into civil war.", "Although the Mongols became united once again during the reign of Queen Mandukhai and Batmongkhe Dayan Khan, in the 17th century they were annexed into the Qing dynasty.===Period under Qing Rule===Once Mongolia was under the Qing, the Mongol Armies were used to defeat the Ming dynasty, helping to consolidate Manchu Rule.", "Mongols proved a useful ally in the war, lending their expertise as cavalry archers.", "During most of the Qing dynasty time, the Mongols gave military assistance to the Manchus.With the creation of the Eight Banners, Banner Armies were broadly divided along ethnic lines, namely Manchu and Mongol.=== Bogd Khanate (1911–1919) ===In 1911, Outer Mongolia declared independence as the Bogd Khaanate under the Bogd Khan.", "This initial independence did not last, with Mongolia being occupied successively by the Chinese Beiyang Government, and Baron Ungern's White Russian forces.", "The modern precursor to the Mongolian Armed Forces was placed, with men's conscription and a permanent military structure starting in 1912.===Mongolian People's Republic===With Independence lost again to foreign forces, the newly created Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party created a native communist army in 1920 under the leadership of Damdin Sükhbaatar in order to fight against Russian troops from the White movement and Chinese forces.", "The MPRP was aided by the Red Army, which helped to secure the Mongolian People's Republic and remained in its territory until at least 1925.However, during the 1932 armed uprising in Mongolia and the initial Japanese border probes beginning in the mid-1930s, Soviet Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors for the native army and as guards for diplomatic and trading installations.====Battles of Khalkhin Gol====The Battles of Khalkhin Gol began on 11 May 1939.A Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70–90 men had entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses.", "On that day, Manchukuoan cavalry attacked the Mongolians and drove them back across the Khalkhin Gol.", "On 13 May, the Mongolian force returned in greater numbers and the Manchukoans were unable to dislodge them.On 14 May, Lt. Col. Yaozo Azuma led the reconnaissance regiment of 23rd Infantry Division, supported by the 64th Infantry Regiment of the same division, under Colonel Takemitsu Yamagata, into the territory and the Mongolians withdrew.", "Soviet and Mongolian troops returned to the disputed region, however, and Azuma's force again moved to evict them.", "This time things turned out differently, as the Soviet–Mongolian forces surrounded Azuma's force on 28 May and destroyed it.", "The Azuma force suffered eight officers and 97 men killed and one officer and 33 men wounded, for 63% total casualties.", "The commander of the Soviet forces and the Far East Front was Comandarm Grigory Shtern from May 1938.Both sides began building up their forces in the area: soon Japan had 30,000 men in the theater.", "The Soviets dispatched a new Corps commander, Comcor Georgy Zhukov, who arrived on 5 June and brought more motorized and armored forces (I Army Group) to the combat zone.", "Accompanying Zhukov was Comcor Yakov Smushkevich with his aviation unit.", "Zhamyangiyn Lhagvasuren, Corps Commissar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, was appointed Zhukov's deputy.The Battles of Khalkhin Gol ended on 16 September 1939.====World War II and immediate aftermath====A World War II memorial in Ulaanbaatar, featuring a T-34-85 tank.In the beginning stage of World War II, the Mongolian People's Army was involved in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, when Japanese forces, together with the puppet state of Manchukuo, attempted to invade Mongolia from the Khalkha River.", "Soviet forces under the command of Georgy Zhukov, together with Mongolian forces, defeated the Japanese Sixth army and effectively ended the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars.In 1945, Mongolian forces participated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria under the command of the Red Army, among the last engagements of World War II.", "A Soviet–Mongolian Cavalry mechanized group under Issa Pliyev took part as part of the Soviet Transbaikal Front.", "Mongolian troops numbered four cavalry divisions and three other regiments.", "During 1946–1948, the Mongolian People's Army successfully repelled attacks from the Kuomintang's Hui regiment and their Kazakh allies in the border between Mongolia and Xinjiang.", "The attacks were propagated by the Ili Rebellion, a Soviet-backed revolt by the Second East Turkestan Republic against the Kuomintang Government of the Republic of China.", "This little-known border dispute between Mongolia and the Republic of China became known as the Pei-ta-shan Incident.These engagements would be the last active battles the Mongolian Army would see, until after the democratic revolution.===After the Democratic Revolution===Military medical professionals at a closing ceremony for Khaan Quest 2013 in Ulaanbaatar.Mongolia underwent a democratic revolution in 1990, ending the communist one-party state that had existed since the early 1920s.", "In 2002, a law was passed that enabled Mongolian Army and police forces to conduct UN-backed and other international peacekeeping missions abroad.", "In August 2003, Mongolia contributed troops to the Iraq War as part of the Multi-National Force – Iraq.", "Mongolian troops, numbering 180 at its peak, were under Multinational Division Central-South and were tasked with guarding the main Polish base, Camp Echo.", "Prior to that posting, they had been protecting a logistics base dubbed Camp Charlie in Hillah.Then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, visited Ulan Baator on 13 January 2004 and expressed his appreciation for the deployment of a 173-strong contingent to Iraq.", "He then inspected the 150th Peacekeeping Battalion, which was planned to send a fresh force to replace the first contingent later in January 2004.All troops were withdrawn on 25 September 2008.In June 2005, Batzorigiyn Erdenebat, the Vice Minister of National Defence, told Jane's Defence Weekly that the deployment of forces in Mongolia was changing away from its Cold War, southern-orientated against China posture.", "\"Under Mongolia's regional development concept the country has been divided into four regions, each incorporating several provinces.", "The largest capital city in each region will become the regional centre and we will establish regional military headquarters in each of those cities,\" he said.", "However, at the time, implementation had been delayed.In 2009, Mongolia sent 114 troops as part of the International Security Assistance Force to Afghanistan.", "The troops were sent, backing the U.S. surge in troop numbers.", "Mongolian forces in Afghanistan mostly assist NATO/International Security Assistance Force personnel in training on the former Warsaw Pact weapons that comprise the bulk of the military equipment available to the Afghan National Army.In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the armed forces, it was awarded the Order of Genghis Khan by President Khaltmaagiin Battulga." ], [ "Mongolian armed forces in peacekeeping operations", "Mongolian armed forces have been performing peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, Chad, Georgia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Congo, Western Sahara, Sudan (Darfur), Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Sierra Leone under the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia.", "In 2005/2006, Mongolian troops also served as part of the Belgian KFOR contingent in Kosovo.", "From 2009 to 2010 Mongolian Armed Forces deployed its largest peace keeping mission to Chad and completed the mission successfully.", "In 2011, the government decided to deploy its first fully self-sustained forces to the United Nations Mission UNMISS in South Sudan.", "Since then Mongolian Infantry battalion has been conducting the PKO tasks in Unity State of Republic of South Sudan.", "In addition, Mongolian Staff officers deployed at the Force Headquarter and Sector Headquarters of the UNMISS mission.", "First general officer deployed in this mission as Brigade Commander in 2014.On 17 November 2009, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations, James Schear had lunch with Col. Ontsgoibayar and selected troops from the 150th Peacekeeping Battalion under his command, bound for Chad on 20 November 2009.Afterwards Schear visited the Five Hills Regional Training Center, which hosts numerous combined multinational training opportunities for peacekeepers.Other peacekeeping battalions in the Mongolian forces may include the 084th Special Task Battalion, and the 330th and 350th Special Task Battalion.Armed Forces of Mongolia, Strela-2===Historical Mongolian naval forces===Historically, the Mongolian Navy was one of the largest in the world, during the time of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan.", "However, most of the fleet sank during the Mongol invasions of Japan.", "The Mongolian Navy was recreated in the 1930s, while under Soviet influence, using it to transport oil.", "By 1990, the Mongolian Navy consisted of a single vessel, the ''Sukhbaatar III'', which was stationed on Lake Khövsgöl, the nation's largest body of water by volume.", "The Navy was made up of seven men (of whom only one knew how to swim), which meant it was the smallest navy in the world at the time.", "In 1997, the navy was privatized, and offered tours on the lake to cover expenses.", "Currently, Mongolia does not have an official Navy, but they have small border patrols on Buir Lake, patrolling the border between Mongolia and China in the lake." ], [ "Military policy", "The Mongolian State Honor Guard holding the White Banner of the Mongols.Mongolia has a unique military policy due to its geopolitical position and economic situation.", "Being between two of the world's largest nations, Mongolian armed forces have a limited capability to protect its independence against foreign invasions; the country's national security therefore depends strongly on diplomacy, a notable part of which is the third neighbor policy.", "The country's military ideal is to create and maintain a small but efficient and professional armed forces." ], [ "Organization", "=== Higher leadership ===The military order of precedence is as follows:President of Mongolia (Commander-in-Chief)Minister of DefenseDeputy Ministers of DefenseChief of the General Staff of the Armed ForcesBTR60Deputy Chiefs of the General Staff of the Armed ForcesService branch commanders===Branches=======Ground Force====The Ground Forces possess over 470 tanks, 650 Infantry Fighting Vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 500 mobile anti-aircraft weapons, more than 700 artillery and mortar and other military equipment.", "Most of them are old Soviet Union models designed between the late 1950s to early 1980s.", "There are a smaller number of newer models designed in post-Soviet Russia.====Air Force====On 25 May 1925 a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military aviation.", "By 1935 Soviet aircraft were based in the country.", "In May 1937 the air force was renamed the Mongolian People's Republic Air Corps.", "During 1939–1945 the Soviets delivered Polikarpov I-15s, Polikarpov I-16s, Yak-9s and Ilyushin Il-2s.", "By 1966 the first SA-2 SAM units entered service, and the air force was renamed the Air Force of the Mongolian People's Republic.", "The MiG-15, UTI and MiG-17 the first combat jet aircraft in the Mongolian inventory, entered service in 1970 and by the mid-1970s was joined by MiG-21s, Mi-8s and Ka-26s.After the end of the Cold War and the advent of the Democratic Revolution, the air force was effectively grounded due to a lack of fuel and spare parts.", "However, the government has been trying to revive the air force since 2001.The country has the goal of developing a full air force in the future.In 2011, the Ministry of Defense announced that they would buy MiG-29s from Russia by the end of the year, but this did not materialize.", "In October 2012 the Ministry of Defense returned a loaned Airbus A310-300 to MIAT Mongolian Airlines.", "From 2007 to 2011 the active fleet of MiG-21s was reduced.", "In 2013 the Air Force examined the possibility of buying three C-130J transport airplanes, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.", "Left without Russian aid, the Mongolian air force inventory gradually reduced to a few Antonov An-24/26 tactical airlifters and a dozen airworthy Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters.On 26 November 2019 Russia donated two MiG-29 fighter aircraft to Mongolia, which then became the only combat-capable fighter jets in its air force.==== Construction and Engineering Forces ====Since 1963, large-scale construction work has been a military affair, with the Council of Ministers on 8 January 1964 establishing the General Construction Military Agency under the Ministry of Defense.", "In addition, a large number of construction military units have been established.", "The work create a new construction and engineering army began in 2010.The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces have established six civil engineering units over the last 10 years.==== Cyber Security Forces ====The Armed Forces Cyber Security Center has been established under the General Staff of the Armed Forces.", "A project to upgrade the Armed Forces' information and communication network, conduct integrated monitoring, detect cyber attacks, and install response equipment is expected to be completed in August 2021.A decision has been made to build a Data Center for the Armed Forces' Cyber Security Center.", "This will be the basis for the creation of a Cyber Security Force.==== Special Forces ====The only Special Forces unit () in Mongolia is the 084th Special Task Battalion." ], [ "Personnel", "=== Military education ===In October 1943, the Sukhe-Bator Officers' School was opened to train personnel of the Mongolian Army in accordance with the experience of the Red Army during the Second World War.", "The National Defense University serves as the main educational institution of the armed forces.", "The NDU is composed of the following education institutions: Defense Management Academy, Defense Research Institute, Academic Education Institute, Military Institute, Military Music College, NCO College.", "In 1994, the MNDU maintained a border protection faculty, which would later be expanded to establish the Border Troops Institute and what would later become the Law Enforcement University of Mongolia.=== Conscription ===The legal basis of conscription is the Universal Military Service Act.", "Men are conscripted between the ages of 18 and 25 for a one-year tour of duty.", "Mongolian men receive their conscription notices through their local administrative unit.", "Reserve service is still required up until the age of 45.=== Women in the Armed Forces ===More than 20 percent of the total personnel of the Armed Forces are women, who work mainly in communications, logistics and medical sectors.", "In addition, female members of the Armed Forces have been active in UN peacekeeping operations.", "Major N. Nyamjargal was the first female member of the Armed Forces to serve as a UN-mandated military observer in Western Sahara in 2007.A total of 12 women have served in the Western Sahara and Sierra Leone.Policies in recent years have been aimed at making female military service more equitable.", "Most women are assigned duties in the kitchen facilities and the barracks, as they are subject to many gender inequalities.In 2022, Bolor Ganbold became the first woman to attain the rank of brigadier general in the Armed Forces.", "She had previously been one of the first women to enlist in 1994.=== Military courts ===On 16 March 1921, a joint meeting of the Provisional People's Government and the members of the Central Committee of the MPRP decided to establish a \"Military Judicial Office under the Ministry of Defense\".", "In 1928, the government approved the “Charter of the Red Army Judiciary” and the Military Judiciary established under the Ministry of Justice.", "This was disbanded a year later and the Military College of the Supreme Court was established.", "It was composed of the Khovd Regional Military Court, the Eastern Military Court, and the Military Courts of the 1st Cavalry Division (Ulaanbaatar).", "The military court were referred to as \"special courts\" at the time and dealt with criminal and civil cases involving military personnel.", "In 1929, the Provisional Court and the General Military Court were dissolved, and the Military College of the Supreme Court was subordinated to the three former military units.", "The Military College was dissolved in 1954, and was re-established in 1971.In connection with the change in the staffing, the parliament ordered in 1993 the abolition of the All-Military Special Court and the Special Military Court of First Instance, transferring the assets used by the Military Courts to the General Council of the Judiciary.", "All activities of the Military Court system is supervised by the Military Collegium." ], [ "Equipment" ], [ "References", "*''World aircraft information files Bright Star Publishing London File 332 Sheet 3" ], [ "External links", " General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces * Ministry of Defense * General Intelligence Agency* Photo report on the Military Parade for the honor of National Flag of Mongolia, 2011" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Montserrat''' ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.", "It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies.", "Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline.", "It is nicknamed \"The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean\" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants.", "Montserrat is the only non-fully sovereign full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano, in the southern part of the island, became active.", "Eruptions destroyed Montserrat's Georgian era capital city of Plymouth.", "Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, primarily to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island in 1997 (rising to nearly 5,000 by 2016).", "The volcanic activity continues, mostly affecting the vicinity of Plymouth, including its docking facilities, and the eastern side of the island around the former W. H. Bramble Airport, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity on 11 February 2010.An exclusion zone, encompassing the southern part of the island to as far north as parts of the Belham Valley, was imposed because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the resulting potential for pyroclastic activity.", "Visitors are generally not permitted entry into the exclusion zone, but a view of the destruction of Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay.", "Relatively quiet since early 2010, the volcano continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.In 2015, it was announced that planning would begin on a new town and port at Little Bay on the northwest coast of the island.", "While additional plans proceeded, the centre of government and businesses was moved to Brades.", "After a number of delays, including Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020, in June 2022, ground was broken on the Little Bay Port Development Project, a £28 million project funded by the UK and the Caribbean Development Bank." ], [ "Etymology", "In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island ''Santa María de Montserrate'', after the Virgin of Montserrat of the Monastery of Montserrat near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.", "Montserrat means \"serrated mountain\" in Catalan." ], [ "History", "A view of half of the coastline of Little Bay, and a glimpse of Carrs Bay, taken from partway up the headland between Little Bay and Rendezvous Bay, 2012Plymouth (bottom) in 1869===Pre-colonial era===Archaeological field work in 2012 in Montserrat's Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic (pre-Arawak) occupation between 2000 and 500 BCE.", "Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture (until 550 CE).", "The native Caribs are believed to have called the island ''Alliouagana'', meaning 'Land of the Prickly Bush'.In 2016, nine petroglyphs were discovered by local residents hiking in a wooded area near Soldier Ghaut.", "Another was discovered in 2018 in the same area of the island.", "The carvings are believed to be 1000–1500 years old.===Early European period===In November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs.A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1632.Most came from nearby Saint Kitts at the instigation of the island's governor Thomas Warner, with more settlers arriving later from Virginia.", "The first settlers \"appear to have been cultivators, each working his own little farm\".The preponderance of Anglo-Irish in the first wave of European settlers led a leading legal scholar to remark that a \"nice question\" is whether the original settlers took with them the law of the Kingdom of Ireland insofar as it differed from the law of the Kingdom of England.The Irish being historical allies of the French, especially in their qualified disdain of the English, invited the French to claim the island in 1666, although no troops were sent by France to maintain control.", "However, the French did attack and briefly occupy the island in the late 1660s; it was captured shortly afterwards by the English and English control of the island was confirmed under the Treaty of Breda the following year.", "Despite the seizing by force of the island by the French, the island's legal status is that of a \"colony acquired by settlement\", as the French gave up their claim to the island at Breda.A neo-feudal colony developed amongst the so-called \"redlegs\".", "The Anglo-Irish colonists began to transport both white and Sub-Saharan African slaves for labour, as was common to most Caribbean islands.", "By the late 18th century, numerous plantations had been developed on the island.=== 18th century ===There was a brief French attack on Montserrat in 1712.On 17 March 1768, a slave rebellion failed but their efforts were remembered.", "Slavery was abolished in 1834.In 1985, the people of Montserrat made St Patrick's Day a ten-day public holiday to commemorate the uprising.", "Festivities celebrate the culture and history of Montserrat in song, dance, food and traditional costumes.In 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, as America's first ally, France captured Montserrat in their war of support of the Americans.", "The French, not intent on truly colonising the island, then agreed to return the island to Great Britain under the 1783 Treaty of Paris.=== New crops and politics ===Britain abolished slavery in Montserrat and its other territories effective August 1834.During the nineteenth century, falling sugar prices had an adverse effect on the island's economy, as Brazil and other nations competed in the trade.The first lime tree orchards on the island were planted in 1852 by a local planter Mr Burke.", "Later, in 1857, the British philanthropist Joseph Sturge bought a sugar estate to prove it was economically viable to employ paid labour rather than slaves.", "Numerous members of the Sturge family bought additional land.", "In 1869, the family established the Montserrat Company Limited and planted Key lime trees, started the commercial production of lime juice, with more than 100,000 gallons produced annually by 1895, set up a school, and sold parcels of land to the inhabitants of the island.", "The pure lime juice was transported in casks to England where it was clarified and bottled by Evans, Sons & Co, of Liverpool, with a trade mark on each bottle intended to guarantee quality to the public.", "Barquentine 'Hilda' loading lime juiceMuch of Montserrat came to be owned by smallholders.From 1871 to 1958, Montserrat was administered as part of the federal crown colony of the British Leeward Islands, becoming a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962.The first Chief Minister of Montserrat was William Henry Bramble of the Montserrat Labour Party from 1960 to 1970; he worked to promote labour rights and boost tourism to the island, and Montserrat's original airport was named in his honour.", "However, Bramble's son Percival Austin Bramble was critical of the way tourist facilities were being constructed, and he subsequently set up his own party (the Progressive Democratic Party) which went on to win the 1970 Montserratian general election, with Percival Bramble serving as Chief Minister from 1970 to 1978.The period 1978 to 1991 was dominated politically by Chief Minister John Osborne and his People's Liberation Movement; his brief flirtation with possibly declaring independence never materialised.On 10 May 1991, the Caribbean Territories (Abolition of Death Penalty for Murder) Order 1991 came into force, formally abolishing the death penalty for murder on Montserrat.Corruption allegations within the PLM party resulted in the collapse of the Osborne government in 1991, with Reuben Meade becoming the new chief minister.", "As a result, early elections were called.In 1995-1999, Montserrat was devastated by the catastrophic volcanic eruptions of the Soufrière Hills, which destroyed the capital city of Plymouth, and necessitated the evacuation of a large part of the island.", "Many Montserratians emigrated abroad, mainly to the United Kingdom, though in recent years some have started returning.", "The eruptions rendered the entire southern half of the island uninhabitable, and it is currently designated an Exclusion Zone with restricted access.Criticism of the Montserratian government's response to the disaster led to the resignation of Chief Minister Bertrand Osborne in 1997, after only a year in office, and being replaced by David Brandt who remained in office until 2001.Since leaving office, Brandt has been the subject of multiple criminal investigation into alleged sex offences with minors.", "He was found guilty of six counts of sexual exploitation and sentenced to fifteen years in July 2021.John Osborne returned as Chief Minister following victory in the 2001 election, being ousted by Lowell Lewis of the Montserrat Democratic Party in 2006.Reuben Meade returned to office in 2009 to 2014; during his term the post of Chief Minister was replaced with that of Premier.In the autumn of 2017, Montserrat was not hit by Hurricane Irma and sustained only minor damage from Hurricane Maria.Since November 2019, Easton Taylor-Farrell of the Movement for Change and Prosperity party has been the island's Premier." ], [ "Politics and government", "Montserrat is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.", "The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Montserrat on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.", "The island's head of state is King Charles III, represented by an appointed Governor.", "Executive power is exercised by the government, whereas the Premier is the head of government.", "The Premier is appointed by the Governor from among the members of the Legislative Assembly which consists of nine elected members.", "The leader of the party with a majority of seats is usually the one who is appointed.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly.", "The Assembly also includes two ''ex officio'' members, the attorney general and financial secretary.The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.=== Administrative divisions ==='''Parishes'''St.", "Peter (red)St. Georges (green)St. Anthony (cyan)Plymouth (◾)For the purposes of local government, Montserrat is divided into three parishes.", "Going north to south, they are:* Parish of Saint Peter* Parish of Saint Georges* Parish of Saint AnthonyThe locations of settlements on the island have been vastly changed since the volcanic activity began.", "Only the Parish of Saint Peter in the northwest of the island is now inhabited, with a population of between 4,000 and 6,000, the other two parishes being still too dangerous to inhabit.A significantly more up-to-date administrative division type would be the 3 census regions, primarily used for the population census.", "Going north to south, these are:* Northern Region (2,369 pop.", ")* Central Region (1,666 pop.", ")* South of Nantes river (887 pop.", ")For census purposes, these are further divided into 23 enumeration districts.===Police===Policing is primarily the responsibility of the Royal Montserrat Police Service.===Military and Defence===The defence of Montserrat is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.", "The Royal Navy maintains a ship on permanent station in the Caribbean () and from time-to-time may send another Royal Navy or Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship as a part of the Atlantic Patrol (NORTH) tasking.", "These ships' main mission in the region is to maintain British sovereignty for the overseas territories, provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief during disasters such as hurricanes, which are common in the area, and conduct counter-narcotics operations.", "In October 2023, the destroyer HMS Dauntless (which had temporarily replaced ''Medway'' on her Caribbean tasking), visited the territory in order to assist local authorities in preparing for the climax of the hurricane season.====Royal Montserrat Defence Force====The Royal Montserrat Defence Force is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat.", "Raised in 1899, the unit is today a reduced force of about forty volunteer soldiers, primarily concerned with civil defence and ceremonial duties.", "The unit has a historical association with the Irish Guards." ], [ "Communications", "The island is served by landline telephones, fully digitalised, with 3000 subscribers and by mobile cellular, with an estimated number of 5000 handsets in use.", "An estimated 2860 users have internet access.", "These are July 2016 estimates.", "Public radio service is provided by Radio Montserrat.", "There is a single television broadcaster, PTV.", "Cable and satellite television service is available.The UK Postcode for directing mail to Montserrat is MSR followed by four digits according to the destination town, for example, the postcode for Little Bay is MSR1120." ], [ "Geography", "Montserrat's coastlineThe island of Montserrat is located approximately southwest of Antigua, southeast of Redonda (a small island owned by Antigua and Barbuda), and northwest of the French overseas region of Guadeloupe.", "Beyond Redonda lies Nevis (part of St Kitts and Nevis), about to the north-west.", "It comprises and is gradually increasing owing to the buildup of volcanic deposits on the southeast coast.", "The island is long and wide and consists of a mountainous interior surrounded by a flatter littoral region, with rock cliffs rising above the sea and a number of smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the western (Caribbean Sea) side of the island.The major mountains are (from north to south) Silver Hill, Katy Hill in the Centre Hills range, the Soufrière Hills and the South Soufrière Hills.", "The Soufrière Hills volcano is the island's highest point; its pre-1995 height was .", "However, it has grown after the eruption due to the creation of a lava dome, with its current height being estimated at .The 2011 estimate by the CIA indicates that 30% of the island's land is classified as agricultural, 20% as arable, 25% as forest and the balance as \"other\".Montserrat has a few tiny off-shore islands, such as Little Redonda off its north coast and Pinnacle Rock and Statue Rock off its east.=== Volcano and exclusion zone ===Eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano on 22 September 1997Plymouth City (former capital and major port of Montserrat) on 12 July 1997, after pyroclastic flows burned much of what was not covered in ashFalse-colour time-lapse images of the Soufrière Hills volcanic dome collapse in 2010, from NASADevastated Plymouth City and volcano (2003)In July 1995, Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano, dormant for centuries, erupted and soon buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in more than of mud, destroyed its airport and docking facilities, and rendered the southern part of the island, now termed the exclusion zone, uninhabitable and not safe for travel.", "The southern part of the island was evacuated and visits are severely restricted.", "The exclusion zone also includes two sea areas adjacent to the land areas of most volcanic activity.After the destruction of Plymouth and disruption of the economy, more than half of the population left the island, which also lacked housing.", "During the late 1990s, additional eruptions occurred.", "On 25 June 1997, a pyroclastic flow travelled down Mosquito Ghaut.", "This pyroclastic surge could not be restrained by the ghaut and spilled out of it, killing 19 people who were in the (officially evacuated) Streatham village area.", "Several others in the area suffered severe burns.In recognition of the disaster, in 1998, the people of Montserrat were granted full residency rights in the United Kingdom, allowing them to migrate if they chose.", "British citizenship was granted in 2002.For a number of years in the early 2000s, the volcano's activity consisted mostly of infrequent ventings of ash into the uninhabited areas in the south.", "The ash falls occasionally extended into the northern and western parts of the island.", "In the most recent period of increased activity at the Soufrière Hills volcano, from November 2009 through February 2010, ash vented and there was a vulcanian explosion that sent pyroclastic flows down several sides of the mountain.", "Travel into parts of the exclusion zone was occasionally allowed, though only by a licence from the Royal Montserrat Police Force.", "Since 2014 the area has been split into multiple subzones with varying entry and use restrictions, based on volcanic activity: some areas even being (in 2020) open 24 hours and inhabited.", "The most dangerous zone, which includes the former capital, remains forbidden to casual visitors due to volcanic and other hazards, especially due to the lack of maintenance in destroyed areas.", "It is legal to visit this area when accompanied by a government-authorised guide.The northern part of Montserrat has largely been unaffected by volcanic activity, and remains lush and green.", "In February 2005, Princess Anne officially opened what is now called the John A. Osborne Airport in the north.", "Since 2011, it handles several flights daily operated by Fly Montserrat Airways.", "Docking facilities are in place at Little Bay, where the new capital town is being constructed; the new government centre is at Brades, a short distance away.=== Wildlife ===Montserrat, like many isolated islands, is home to rare, endemic plant and animal species.", "Work undertaken by the Montserrat National Trust in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has centred on the conservation of pribby (''Rondeletia buxifolia'') in the Centre Hills region.", "Until 2006, this species was known only from one book about the vegetation of Montserrat.", "In 2006, conservationists also rescued several plants of the endangered Montserrat orchid (''Epidendrum montserratense'') from dead trees on the island and installed them in the security of the island's botanic garden.Montserrat is also home to the critically endangered giant ditch frog (''Leptodactylus fallax''), known locally as the mountain chicken, found only in Montserrat and Dominica.", "The species has undergone catastrophic declines due to the amphibian disease Chytridiomycosis and the volcanic eruption in 1997.Experts from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have been working with the Montserrat Department of Environment to conserve the frog in-situ in a project called \"Saving the Mountain Chicken\", and an ex-situ captive breeding population has been set up in partnership with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Zoological Society of London, Chester Zoo, Parken Zoo, and the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica.", "Releases from this programme have already taken place in a hope to increase the numbers of the frog and reduce extinction risk from Chytridiomycosis.The national bird is the endemic Montserrat oriole (''Icterus oberi'').", "The IUCN Red List classifies it as vulnerable, having previously listed it as critically endangered.", "Captive populations are held in several zoos in the UK including: Chester Zoo, London Zoo, Jersey Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo.The Montserrat galliwasp (''Diploglossus montisserrati''), a type of lizard, is endemic to Montserrat and is listed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered.", "A species action plan has been developed for this species.In 2005, a biodiversity assessment for the Centre Hills was conducted.", "To support the work of local conservationists, a team of international partners, including Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Montana State University, carried out extensive surveys and collected biological data.", "Researchers from Montana State University found that the invertebrate fauna was particularly rich on the island.", "The report found that the number of invertebrate species known to occur in Montserrat is 1241.The number of known beetle species is 718 species from 63 families.", "It is estimated that 120 invertebrates are endemic to Montserrat.Montserrat is known for its coral reefs and its caves along the shore.", "These caves house many species of bats, and efforts are underway to monitor and protect the ten species of bats from extinction.The Montserrat tarantula (''Cyrtopholis femoralis'') is the only species of tarantula native to the island.", "It was first bred in captivity at the Chester Zoo in August 2016.=== Climate ===Montserrat has a tropical rainforest climate (''Af'' according to the Köppen climate classification) with the temperature being warm and consistent year-round, and lots of precipitation.", "Summer and autumn are wetter because of Atlantic hurricanes." ], [ "Economy", "MV ''Caribe Queen'' is a Nevis ferry boat which shuttles passengers between Antigua and Montserrat several times a weekMontserrat's economy was devastated by the 1995 eruption and its aftermath; currently the island's operating budget is largely supplied by the British government and administered through the Department for International Development (DFID) amounting to approximately £25 million per year.", "Additional amounts are secured through income and property taxes, licence and other fees as well as customs duties levied on imported goods.The limited economy of Montserrat, with a population under 5000, consumes 2.5 MW of electric power, produced by five diesel generators.", "Two exploratory geothermal wells have found good resources and the pad for a third geothermal well was prepared in 2016.Together the geothermal wells are expected to produce more power than the island requires.", "A 250 kW solar PV station was commissioned in 2019, with plans for another 750 kW.A report published by the CIA indicates that the value of exports totalled the equivalent of US$5.7 million (2017 est.", "), consisting primarily of electronic components, plastic bags, apparel, hot peppers, limes, live plants and cattle.", "The value of imports totalled US$31.02 million (2016 est.", "), consisting primarily of machinery and transportation equipment, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, fuels and lubricants.Montserrat from the Guadeloupe PassageIn 1979, The Beatles producer George Martin opened AIR Studios Montserrat, making the island popular with musicians who often went there to record while taking advantage of the island's climate and beautiful surroundings.", "In the early hours of 17 September 1989, Hurricane Hugo passed the island as a Category 4 hurricane, damaging more than 90% of the structures on the island.", "AIR Studios Montserrat closed, and the tourist economy was virtually wiped out.", "The slowly recovering tourist industry was again wiped out with the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano in 1995, although it began partially to recover within fifteen years." ], [ "Transport", "John A. Osborne Airport===Air===John A. Osborne Airport is the only airport on the island (constructed after the W. H. Bramble Airport was destroyed in 1997 by the volcanic eruption).", "Scheduled service to Antigua is provided by FlyMontserrat and ABM Air.", "Charter flights are also available to the surrounding islands.===Sea===Ferry service to the island was provided by the Jaden Sun Ferry.", "It ran from Heritage Quay in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda to Little Bay on Montserrat.", "The ride was about an hour and a half and operated five days a week.This service stopped in 2019 due to being financially unsustainable and the only access to Montserrat now is by air." ], [ "Demographics", "Montserrat had a population of 7,119 in 1842.The island had a population of 5,879 (according to a 2008 estimate).", "An estimated 8,000 refugees left the island (primarily to the UK) following the resumption of volcanic activity in July 1995; the population was 13,000 in 1994.The 2011 Montserrat census indicated a population of 4,922.In early 2016, the estimated population had reached nearly 5,000 primarily due to immigration from other islands.Age structure (2003 estimates):* up to 14 years: 23.4% (male 1,062; female 1,041)* 15 to 64 years: 65.3% (male 2,805; female 3,066)* 65 years and over: 11.3% (male 537; female 484)The median age of the population was 28.1 as of 2002 and the sex ratio was 0.96 males/female as of 2000.The population growth rate is 6.9% (2008 est.", "), with a birth rate of 17.57 births/1,000 population, death rate of 7.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.", "), and net migration rate of 195.35/1,000 population (2000 est.)", "There is an infant mortality rate of 7.77 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.).", "The life expectancy at birth is 78.36 years: 76.24 for males and 80.59 for females (2003 est.).", "The total fertility rate is 1.8 children born/woman (2003 est.", ").According to a United Nations estimate, the population as of April 2018 was 5,197 (for a density of 52 per square kilometre or 135 people per square mile), with just over 90% living in non-urban areas.===Language===English is the sole official language and the main spoken language.", "A few thousand people speak Montserrat Creole, a dialect of Leeward Caribbean Creole English.", "Historically Irish was spoken, but not any more.==== Irish language in Montserrat ====The Irish constituted the largest proportion of the white population from the founding of the colony in 1628.Most were indentured servants; others were merchants or plantation owners.", "The geographer Thomas Jeffrey claimed in ''The West India Atlas'' (1780) that the majority of those on Montserrat were either Irish or of Irish descent, \"so that the use of the Irish language is preserved on the island, even among the Negroes.", "\"African slaves and Irish indentured servants of all classes were in constant contact, with sexual relationships being common and a population of mixed descent appearing as a consequence.", "The Irish were also prominent in Caribbean commerce, with their merchants importing Irish goods such as beef, pork, butter and herring, and also importing slaves.There is indirect evidence that the use of the Irish language continued in Montserrat until at least the middle of the nineteenth century.", "The Kilkenny diarist and Irish scholar Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin noted in 1831 that he had heard that Irish was still spoken in Montserrat by both black and white inhabitants.In 1852, Henry H. Breen wrote in Notes and Queries that \"The statement that 'the Irish language is spoken in the West India Islands, and that in some of them it may be said to be almost vernacular,' is true of the little Island of Montserrat, but has no foundation with respect to the other colonies.", "\"In 1902, ''The Irish Times'' quoted the ''Montreal Family Herald'' in a description of Montserrat, noting that \"the negroes to this day speak the old Irish Gaelic tongue, or English with an Irish brogue.", "A story is told of a Connaught man who, on arriving at the island, was, to his astonishment, hailed in a vernacular Irish by the black people.", "\"A letter by W. F. Butler in ''The Atheneum'' (15 July 1905) quotes an account by a Cork civil servant, C. Cremen, of what he had heard from a retired sailor called John O'Donovan, a fluent Irish speaker:The British phonetician John C. Wells conducted research into speech in Montserrat in 1977–78 (which included also Montserratians resident in London).", "He found media claims that Irish speech, whether Anglo-Irish or Irish Gaelic, influenced contemporary Montserratian speech were largely exaggerated.", "He found little in phonology, morphology or syntax that could be attributed to Irish influence, and in Wells' report, only a small number of Irish words in use, one example being ''minseach'' which he suggests is the noun ''goat''.=== Religion ===In 2001, the CIA estimated the primary religion as Protestant (67.1%, including Anglican 21.8%, Methodist 17%, Pentecostal 14.1%, Seventh-day Adventist 10.5%, and Church of God 3.7%), with Catholics constituting 11.6%, Rastafarian 1.4%, other 6.5%, none 2.6%, unspecified 10.8%.=== Ethnic groups ===Residents of Montserrat are known as Montserratians.", "The population is predominantly, but not exclusively, of mixed African-Irish descent.", "It is not known with certainty how many African slaves and indentured Irish labourers were brought to the West Indies, though according to one estimate some 60,000 Irish were \"Barbadosed\" by Oliver Cromwell, some of whom would have arrived in Montserrat.Data published by the Central Intelligence Agency indicates the ethnic group mix as follows (2011 est.", ")::88.4%: African/black :3.7%: mixed :3.0%: Hispanic/Spanish (of any race, including white):2.7%: non-Hispanic Caucasian/white :1.5%: East Indian/Indian:0.7%: other" ], [ "Education", "Education in Montserrat is compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 14, and free up to the age of 17.The only secondary school (pre-16 years of age) on the island is the Montserrat Secondary School (MSS) in Salem.", "Montserrat Community College (MCC) is a community college (post-16 and tertiary educational institution) in Salem.", "The University of the West Indies maintains its Montserrat Open Campus.", "University of Science, Arts and Technology is a private medical school in Olveston." ], [ "Culture", "The Montserrat Cultural Centre overlooking Little BayFor more than a decade, George Martin's AIR Montserrat studio played host to recording sessions by many well known rock musicians, including Dire Straits, the Police, Rush, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and the Rolling Stones.", "After the volcanic eruptions of 1995 through 1997, and until his death in 2016, George Martin raised funds to help the victims and families on the island.", "The first event was a star-studded event at London's Royal Albert Hall in September 1997 (Music for Montserrat) featuring many artists who had previously recorded on the island including Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, and Midge Ure.", "The event raised £1.5 million.", "All the proceeds from the show went towards short-term relief for the islanders.Martin's second major initiative was to release five hundred limited edition lithographs of his score for the Beatles song \"Yesterday\".", "Complete with mistakes and tea stains, the lithographs are numbered and signed by Paul McCartney and Martin.", "The lithograph sale raised more than US$1.4 million, which helped fund the building of a new cultural and community centre for Montserrat and provided a much needed focal point to help the re-generation of the island.Many albums of note were recorded at AIR Studios, including Rush's ''Power Windows'', Dire Straits' ''Brothers in Arms'', Duran Duran's ''Seven and the Ragged Tiger'', the Police's ''Synchronicity'' and ''Ghost in the Machine'' (videos for \"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic\" and \"Spirits in the Material World\" were filmed in Montserrat), and Jimmy Buffett's ''Volcano'' (named for Soufrière Hills).", "Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) recorded the song \"Montserrat\" on ''The Secret Language of Birds'' in tribute to the volcanic difficulties and feeling among residents of being abandoned by the UK government.In 2017, Montserrat was used to film much of the 2020 film ''Wendy''.===Media===Montserrat has one national radio station, Radio Montserrat.", "The station offers a wide selection of music and news within the island and also on the internet for Montserratians living overseas.Notable shows include the ''Morning Show'' with Basil Chambers and Rose Willock's ''Cultural Show''.===Cuisine===Montserrat's national dish is goat water, a thick goat meat stew served with crusty bread rolls.", "Montserrat cuisine resembles the general British and Caribbean cuisines, as it is situated in the Caribbean zone and it is a British territory.", "The cuisine includes a wide range of light meats, like fish, seafood and chicken, which are mostly grilled or roasted.", "Being a fusion of numerous cultures, such as Spanish, French, African, Indian and Amerindian, the Caribbean cuisine is unique and complex.", "More sophisticated meals include the Montserrat jerk shrimp, with rum, cinnamon bananas and cranberry.", "In other more rural areas, people prefer to eat homemade food, like the traditional mahi mahi and local breads." ], [ "Sport", "===Yachting===Montserrat is home to the Montserrat Yachting Association.=== Athletics ===Montserrat has competed in every Commonwealth Games since 1994.Miguel Francis who now represents the United Kingdom and previously represented Antigua and Barbuda was born in Montserrat.", "He holds the Antiguan National record over 200m in 19.88.=== Basketball ===Basketball is growing in popularity in Montserrat with the country now setting up their own basketball league.", "The league contains six teams, which are the Look-Out Shooters, Davy Hill Ras Valley, Cudjoe Head Renegades, St. Peters Hilltop, Salem Jammers and MSS School Warriors.", "They have also built a new 800 seater complex which cost $1.5 million.=== Cricket ===In common with many Caribbean islands, cricket is a very popular sport in Montserrat.", "Players from Montserrat are eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team.", "Jim Allen was the first to play for the West Indies and he represented the World Series Cricket West Indians, although, with a very small population, no other player from Montserrat had gone on to represent the West Indies until Lionel Baker made his One Day International debut against Pakistan in November 2008.The Montserrat cricket team forms a part of the Leeward Islands cricket team in regional domestic cricket; however, it plays as a separate entity in minor regional matches, as well having previously played Twenty20 cricket in the Stanford 20/20.Two grounds on the island have held first-class matches for the Leeward Islands, the first and most historic was Sturge Park in Plymouth, which had been in use since the 1920s.", "This was destroyed in 1997 by the volcanic eruption.", "A new ground, the Salem Oval, was constructed and opened in 2000.This has also held first-class cricket.", "A second ground has been constructed at Little Bay.=== Football ===Montserrat has its own FIFA affiliated football team, and has competed in the World Cup qualifiers five times but failed to advance to the finals from 2002 to 2018.A field for the team was built near the airport by FIFA.", "In 2002, the team competed in a friendly match with the second-lowest-ranked team in FIFA at that time, Bhutan, in ''The Other Final'', the same day as the final of the 2002 World Cup.", "Bhutan won 4–0.Montserrat has failed to qualify for any FIFA World Cup.", "They have also failed to ever qualify for the Gold Cup and Caribbean Cup.", "The current national team relies mostly on the diaspora resident in England and in the last World Cup qualification game against Curaçao nearly all the squad members played and lived in England.Montserrat has a club league, the Montserrat Championship, which has played sporadically since 1974.The league was most recently on hiatus from 2005 until 2015 but restarted play in 2016.=== Surfing ===Surfer brothers Carrll and Gary Robilotta at Isle's Bay, MontserratCarrll Robilotta, whose parents moved from the United States to Montserrat in 1980, was responsible for pioneering the sport of surfing on the island.", "He and his brother Gary explored, discovered, and named the surf spots on the island during the 80s and early 90s." ], [ "Settlements", "Little Bay, the site of the new capital.", "The project was funded by the UK's Department for International Development.Settlements within the exclusion zone are no longer habitable.", "See also List of settlements abandoned after the 1997 Soufrière Hills eruption.=== Settlements in the safe zone ===* Baker Hill* Banks* Barzeys* Blakes* Brades* Carr's Bay* Cavalla Hill* Cheap End* Cudjoe Head* Davy Hill* Dick Hill* Drummonds* Flemmings* Fogarty* Frith* Garibaldi Hill* Gerald's* Hope* Jack Boy Hill* Judy Piece* Katy Hill* Lawyers Mountain* Little Bay* Lookout* Manjack* Mongo Hill* New Windward Estate* Nixons* Old Towne* Olveston* Peaceful Cottage* Salem* Shinlands* St. John's* St. Peter's* Sweeney's* Woodlands* Yellow Hill=== Abandoned settlements in the exclusion zone ===Settlements in italics have been destroyed by pyroclastic flows since the 1997 eruption.", "Others have been evacuated or destroyed since 1995.", "* Amersham* Beech Hill* ''Bethel''* ''Bramble''* Bransby* Bugby Hole* Cork Hill* Dagenham* Delvins* ''Dyers''* Elberton* ''Farm''* ''Fairfield''* Fairy Walk* ''Farrells''* ''Farells Yard''* Ffryes* Fox's Bay* Gages* ''Gallways Estate''* Gringoes* Gun Hill* Happy Hill* ''Harris''* Harris Lookout* ''Hermitage''* Hodge's Hill* Jubilee* Kinsale* Lees* Locust Valley* ''Long Ground''* Molyneux* ''Morris''* Parsons* ''Plymouth''* Richmond* Richmond Hill* Roche's Yard* ''Robuscus Mt''* Shooter's Hill* ''Soufrière''* Spanish Point* St. George's Hill* ''St.", "Patrick's''* ''Streatham''* Trants* Trials* Tuitts* Victoria* Webbs* Weekes* White's* Windy Hill" ], [ "Notable Montserratians", " * Jim Allen, former cricketer who represented the World Series Cricket West Indians* Jennette Arnold, the first Montserratian elected as a Member of the London Assembly.", "* Lionel Baker, the first Montserratian to represent the West Indies in international cricket* Alphonsus \"Arrow\" Cassell, musician known for his soca song \"Hot Hot Hot\"* Chadd Cumberbatch, visual and performing artist, poet and playwright.", "* Margaret Dyer-Howe, Montserrat's second woman to be appointed a cabinet minister.", "* Ettore Ewen, American professional wrestler and former WWE Heavyweight Champion, 11-time tag team champion, former college football player and powerlifter.", "* Howard A. Fergus, author, poet and three time acting governor of Montserrat* Patricia Griffin, pioneer nurse and volunteer social worker* George Irish, writer, human rights activist* Kadiff Kirwan, actor* E. A. Markham, poet and author* Dean Mason, association footballer* Ellen Dolly Peters, teacher and trade unionist* Shane Ryan, writer, human rights activist* Veronica Ryan, sculptor, and winner of the 2022 Turner Prize* M. P. Shiel, writer* Lyle Taylor, association footballer* Rowan Taylor, international footballer* Maizie Williams, member of pop group Boney M* Angela Yee, member of the syndicated morning radio show ''The Breakfast Club''" ], [ "See also", "* Bibliography of Montserrat* Index of Montserrat-related articles* Outline of Montserrat" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Akenson, Donald Harman – ''If the Irish Ran the World: Montserrat, 1630-1730.''", "Brussell, David Eric – ''Potions, Poisons, and Panaceas: An Ethnobotanical Study of Montserrat.''", "Dobbin, Jay D. – ''The Jombee Dance of Montserrat: A Study of Trance Ritual in the West Indies.''", "Perrett, Frank A.", "– ''The Volcano-Seismic Crisis at Montserrat, 1933-37.''", "Philpott, Stuart B.", "– ''West Indian Migration: The Montserrat Case.''", "Possekel, Anja K. – ''Living with the Unexpected: Linking Disaster Recovery to Sustainable Development in Montserrat.''" ], [ "External links", "===Government===* Government of Montserrat* Montserrat National Trust* Premier of Montserrat===General information===* Montserrat.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Montserrat from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''.", "* * Montserrat Webdirectory* Story of the black Irish in Montserrat* ===News media===* Montserrat Reporter news site* Radio Montserrat—ZJB Listen live online ===Travel===* Montserrat Tourist Board* Montserrat Magazine Publications * Montserrat Magazine===Health reports===* Toxicity of volcanic ash from Montserrat by RT Cullen, AD Jones, BG Miller, CL Tran, JMG Davis, K Donaldson, M Wilson, V Stone, and A Morgan.", "Institute of Occupational Medicine Research Report TM/02/01.", "* A Health Survey of Workers on the Island of Montserrat by HA Cowie, MK Graham, A Searl, BG Miller, PA Hutchison, C Swales, S Dempsey, and M Russell.", "Institute of Occupational Medicine Research Report TM/02/02.", "* A Health Survey of Montserratians Relocated to the UK by HA Cowie, A Searl, PJ Ritchie, MK Graham, PA Hutchison, and A Pilkington.", "Institute of Occupational Medicine Research Report TM/01/07.===Others===* Montserrat Volcano Observatory* Official release archive* ''Antigua, Montserrat and Virgin Islands Gazette'' at the Digital Library of the Caribbean" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "Enlargeable, detailed map of MontserratMontserrat is an island in the Caribbean Sea, in the Leeward Islands.", "Its nearest neighbours in the island chain include Guadeloupe to the southeast, Antigua to the north-east and Nevis to the northwest.", "The island is 16 km (9.9 mi) long and 11 km (6.8 mi) wide, with a coastline of about 40 km.The island is volcanic and largely mountainous.", "The Soufrière Hills volcano became active in 1995, causing widespread devastation, including the destruction of the capital and formerly largest settlement on the island, Plymouth.", "The southern part of the island is now uninhabitable and human settlement is constrained to the north.Montserrat has two islets, Little Redonda and Virgin, as well as Statue Rock." ], [ "Climate", "Montserrat has a tropical climate, with little daily or seasonal temperature variation." ], [ "Statistics", "'''Location:'''About 500 km southeast of Puerto Rico'''Maritime claims:'''''Territorial sea:''''Exclusive fishing zone:'''''Terrain:'''Volcanic islands, mostly mountainous, with small coastal lowland'''Elevation extremes:'''''Lowest point:''Caribbean Sea 0 m''Highest point:''Prior to 1995, the highest point was Chances Peak (in the Soufrière Hills) at 915 m. Ongoing volcanic activity has created a lava dome estimated at 1,050 m in 2013.", "'''Natural resources:'''Negligible'''Land use:'''''Arable land:''20%''Permanent crops:''0%''Other:''80% (2011)'''Natural hazards:'''Severe hurricanes (June to November); volcanic eruptions'''Environment - current issues:'''Land erosion occurs on slopes that have been cleared for cultivation." ], [ "References" ], [ "Sources", "* CIA World Factbook" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "This is demography of the population of Montserrat including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population." ], [ "Population", "Montserrat had a population of 7,119 in 1842.In 1995, the Soufriere Hills Volcano eruption caused two-thirds of the population of about 11,500 people to evacuate the island.", "According to the 2001 census only 4,491 people were resident of Montserrat.", "The total local-born population was 69% while those born abroad were 31%.According to The 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects' medium fertility scenario, the anticipated mid-year population for 2014 is 5,100.", "''note:''Approximately two thirds of the population left the island following the resumption of volcanic activity in July 1995.According to the 2001 UK Census 7,983 Montserratian-born people were residing in the UK (almost twice the population of Montserrat itself)." ], [ "Vital statistics", "Average population (x 1000)Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) 1950 13.5 406 197 20930.014.615.5 1951 14.1 436 177 25930.912.518.3 1952 14.5 423 148 27529.210.219.0 1953 14.6 424 203 22129.013.915.1 1954 14.6 429 180 24929.512.417.1 1955 14.3 428 173 25529.912.117.8 1956 13.9 396 166 23028.511.916.5 1957 13.4 373 162 21127.812.115.7 1958 12.9 377 172 20529.213.315.9 1959 12.5 391 184 20731.414.816.6 1960 12.1 359 141 21829.711.718.0 1961 11.9 335 136 19928.211.416.7 1962 11.8 324 128 19627.510.816.6 1963 11.8 341 117 22428.99.919.0 1964 11.8 364 107 25730.89.021.7 1965 11.8 383 147 23632.312.419.9 1966 11.8 328 139 18927.811.816.0 1967 11.8 363 148 21530.912.618.3 1968 11.7 322 115 20727.59.817.7 1969 11.7 264 138 12622.711.810.8 1970 11.6 302 121 18126.010.415.6 1971 11.6 269 123 14623.110.612.6 1972 11.7 318 144 17427.312.414.9 1973 11.7 295 107 18825.29.216.1 1974 11.7 304 131 17325.911.214.7 1975 11.8 213 128 8518.110.97.2 1976 11.8 20 128 7817.410.86.6 1977 11.9 205 138 6717.211.65.6 1978 11.9 193 147 4616.212.33.9 1979 11.9 238 116 12219.99.710.2 1980 11.9 224 103 12118.88.610.2 1981 11.9 231 117 11419.59.99.6 1982 11.7 260 114 14622.19.712.4 1983 11.6 266 124 14222.910.712.2 1984 11.5 244 104 14021.39.112.2 1985 11.3 237 124 11320.910.910.0 1986 11.2 200 123 7717.911.06.9 1987 11.0 1988 10.9 1989 10.8 1990 10.7 1991 10.8 1992 10.9 1993 10.9 1994 10.7 150 14.0 1995 10.2 126 12.3 1996 9.4 128 13.7 1997 8.3 67 8.2 1998 6.9 33 4.8 1999 5.8 45 59 -147.810.2 -2.4 2000 5.0 48 52 -4 9.6 10.4 -0.8 2001 4.5 47 50 -3 10.4 11.1 -0.7 2002 4.4 54 44 10 12.3 10.0 2.3 2003 4.5 40 55 -158.912.3 -3.4 2004 4.6 47 57 -1010.112.4 -2.3 2005 4.785 63 59 413.212.40.8 2006 4.655 49 47 210.19.70.4 2007 4.819 43 44 -18.89.1 -0.2 2008 4.875 72 45 2714.89.25.5 2009 5.039 50 44 69.98.71.2 2010 5.020 62 40 2212.48.04.4 2011 4.924 46 55 -99.311.2 -1.8 2012 4.936 53 44 910.78.91.8 2013 4.959 41 45-4 8.39.1-0.8 20144.97650321810.06.43.6 20154849-1 201646433 2017553916 20184.649453879.78.21.5 20194.5194759-1210.413.1-2.7===Structure of the population===Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 2 546 2 376 4 922 100 0-4 157 144 301 6.12 5-9 146 165 311 6.32 10-14 187 172 359 7.29 15-19 179 140 319 6.48 20-24 404 365 269 5.47 25-29 154 145 299 6.07 30-34 138 160 298 6.05 35-39 172 196 368 7.48 40-44 189 217 406 8.25 45-49 196 185 381 7.74 50-54 183 148 331 6.72 55-59 181 133 314 6.38 60-64 165 110 275 5.59 65-69 130 101 231 4.69 70-74 75 70 145 2.95 75-79 61 55 116 2.36 80-84 44 50 94 1.91 85+ 37 68 105 2.13Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 490 481 971 19.73 15-64 1 709 1 551 3 260 66.23 65+ 347 344 691 14.04Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 2 284 2 342 4 626 100 0–4 112 132 244 5.27 5–9 109 123 232 5.02 10–14 162 159 321 6.94 15–19 125 135 260 5.62 20–24 124 114 238 5.14 25–29 167 134 301 6.51 30–34 138 183 321 6.94 35–39 123 166 289 6.25 40–44 150 167 317 6.85 45–49 156 172 328 7.09 50–54 182 185 367 7.93 55–59 171 143 314 6.79 60–64 154 134 288 6.23 65-69 148 130 278 6.01 70-74 121 92 213 4.60 75-79 77 70 147 3.18 80-84 34 48 82 1.77 85-89 21 23 44 0.95 90+ 10 32 42 0.91Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 383 414 797 17.23 15–64 1 490 1 533 3 023 65.35 65+ 411 395 806 17.42" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "The vast majority of the population of Montserrat are of African descent (92.4% at the 2001 census) or mixed (2.9%).", "There is also a European origin minority (3.0%; mostly descendants of Irish indentured servants or British colonists), East Indians (1.0%) groups.Out of 403 Amerindians at the 1980 census only 3 persons were left in 2001." ], [ "Religion" ], [ "See also", "Montserrat Montserratian British" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics of Montserrat''' takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.", "'''Montserrat''' is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.", "The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Montserrat on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly.The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.", "Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom." ], [ "Executive branch", "KingCharles III8 September 2022GovernorSarah Tucker6 April 2022PremierEaston Taylor-FarrellMCAP19 November 2019The Governor is appointed by the Monarch.", "The Premier is appointed by the Governor from among the members of the Legislative Assembly.His cabinet is appointed by the Governor from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly and consists also of the Attorney General, and the Finance Secretary.The current Premier of the island is Easton Taylor-Farrell, of the Movement for Change and Prosperity, replacing the outgoing Premier, Donaldson Romeo of the People's Democratic Movement, who was the second Premier of Montserrat." ], [ "Legislative branch", "Montserrat elects on territorial level a legislature.", "The Legislative Assembly has 9 members, elected for a five-year term in one constituency." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "Political parties do not adhere to a single defined ideology and are difficult to distinguish from each other.", "Instead, policy emphasis shifts depending on the popular approval of the party leader and their policies.===Most recent election===File:Montserrat Assemblée législative 2019.svgPartyVotes%Seats+/– Movement for Change and Prosperity8,51142.75+3 People's Democratic Movement5,96929.93–4 Montserrat United Labour Party1,2276.20New Montserrat National Congress8284.20New Independents3,41417.11+1 Ex officio members––20'''Total'''''' 19,949''''''100''''''11''''''0'''Valid ballots2,40399.6Invalid/blank ballots90.4'''Total votes cast''''''2,412''''''100'''Registered voters/turnout3,85862.5Source: Caribbean Elections" ], [ "Judicial branch", "The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consists of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Montserrat is divided in 3 parishes; Saint Anthony, Saint Georges, and Saint Peter." ], [ "International organization participation", "CARICOM, Caribbean Development Bank, ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, Interpol (subbureau), Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, WCL" ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "Plymouth, the capital, was abandoned in 1997 following the eruption of Soufrière HillsThe '''economy of Montserrat''' was severely disrupted by volcanic activity which began in July 1995.Prior to this date, the small island country of 12,000 had an export economy based on agriculture, clothing, electronic parts and plants, with a per capita gross national product of US$3,000 to 8,000.Montserrat had an international reputation as a tourist getaway, and the record producer George Martin established an important recording studio there, Associated Independent Recording.", "Destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the studio was never reestablished; however, Martin subsequently helped found the Montserrat Cultural Centre, which was opened in 2007.Some of the funds were raised in a London concert called \"Music for Montserrat\" (September 15, 1997)." ], [ "Collapse", "A catastrophic eruption of Soufrière Hills in June 1997 closed the W. H. Bramble Airport and seaport at Plymouth, causing further economic and social dislocation.", "Two-thirds of the inhabitants fled the island.", "Some began to return in 1998, but lack of housing limited the number.The agriculture sector continued to be affected by the lack of suitable land for farming and the destruction of crops.", "Prospects for the economy depend largely on developments in relation to the volcano and on public sector construction activity.", "The UK launched a three-year $122.8 million aid program to help reconstruct the economy.", "Half of the island was expected to remain uninhabitable for another decade.Soufrière Hills continues to play a detrimental role in both agricultural and economic activity on Montserrat.Today, Montserrat's main economic activity is in construction and government services which together accounted for about 50 percent of GDP in 2000 when it was EC$76 million.", "In contrast, banking and insurance together accounted for less than 10 percent of GDP.", "The unemployment rate in 1998 was estimated at 6 percent.", "Montserrat's domestic financial sector is very small and has seen a reduction in offshore finance in recent years with only 11 offshore banks remaining.", "Real GDP declined from EC$122 million in 1995 to about EC$60 million in 1999, with the rate of decline peaking at -21.5 percent for 1996.The decline in economic activity reflected in large part the completion of major projects in both the private and public sectors.", "However, the rate of decline slowed markedly since 2000 and 2001, when GDP contracted by less than 3 percent.", "In 2002, the GDP growth rate reverted to a positive 4.6 percent reversing the declining trend over the past six years and maybe more.", "Year Real GDP (factor cost) % Change 1996 95.9 -21.5 1997 76.7 -20.0 1998 68.9 -8.6 1999 60.3 -12.5 2000 58.6 -2.8 2001 56.9 -2.9 2002 59.5 -4.6 2002 79.9 (2000 constant prices) +3.3 2003 78.9 -0.9 2004 82.4 +4.5 2005 83.7 +1.5" ], [ "New Town", "The Montserrat Development Corporation was an entity founded by the Government of Montserrat and the Department for International Development in 2008.The company's primary mandate was to help foster private sector investment and development on the island.", "The company had announced plans to develop the new town of Little Bay on the northwest coast of Montserrat between Brades and Davy Hill, however an internal audit of the company in 2015 led to the company's dissolution.", "The audit revealed that the company was not being prudent with the government's funds.Slated for completion by 2020, the new town will be the new focus of tourism, trade and housing and will also house the seat of government." ], [ "References" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "Montserrat possesses a number of '''telecommunications systems''', including mobile and main line telephone, radio and television.", "The country code for Montserrat in the Domain Name System of the Internet is \".ms\".Telephony uses the area code 664.According to a July 2016 estimate by the CIA, Montserrat's fully digitalized telephone service had 3,000 subscribers while an estimated 5,000 mobile handsets were in use.", "An estimated 2,860 users have internet access.There are 17 internet service providers.Montserrat possesses an AM radio station, and 2 FM stations.", "These serve 7,000 radios (by 1997 figures).", "There is one television broadcast station, which in 1997 was serving 3,000 televisions; the Peoples Television (PTV) is a free service providing news, documentaries, commercials and entertainment.", "Cable and satellite television service is also available." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* CIA World Factbook" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Montserrat" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Railways:'''0 km'''Highways:'''''total:''269 km''paved:''203 km''unpaved:''66 km (1995)'''Waterways:'''none'''Ports and harbours:'''Plymouth (abandoned), Little Bay (anchorages and ferry landing), Carr's Bay'''Merchant marine:'''none (2002 est.", ")'''Airports:'''One, Gerald's Airport, opened on 11 July 2005 replacing W.H.", "Bramble Airport which was destroyed by volcanic eruption in 1997.:''See also :'' Montserrat" ], [ "Sources", "* CIA World Factbook" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Morocco''' (), officially the '''Kingdom of Morocco''', is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.", "It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south.", "Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast.", "It spans an area of or ,, with a population of roughly 37 million.", "Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber (Tamazight); French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are also widely spoken.", "Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures.", "Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era over 300,000 years ago.", "The Idrisid dynasty was established by Idris I in 788 and was subsequently ruled by a series of other independent dynasties, reaching its zenith as a regional power in the 11th and 12th centuries, under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, when it controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb.", "Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of the region.", "In the 15th and 16th centuries, Morocco faced external threats to its sovereignty, with Portugal seizing some territory and the Ottoman Empire encroaching from the east.", "The Marinid and Saadi dynasties otherwise resisted foreign domination, and Morocco was the only North African nation to escape Ottoman dominion.", "The 'Alawi dynasty, which rules the country to this day, seized power in 1631, and over the next two centuries expanded diplomatic and commercial relations with the Western world.", "Morocco's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean drew renewed European interest; in 1912, France and Spain divided the country into respective protectorates, reserving an international zone in Tangier.", "Following intermittent riots and revolts against colonial rule, in 1956, Morocco regained its independence and reunified.Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable.", "It has the fifth-largest economy in Africa and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world; it is considered a middle power in global affairs and holds membership in the Arab League, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union.", "Morocco is a unitary semi-constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament.", "The executive branch is led by the King of Morocco and the prime minister, while legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament: the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors.", "Judicial power rests with the Constitutional Court, which may review the validity of laws, elections, and referendums.", "The king holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy and religious affairs; he can issue decrees called ''dahirs'', which have the force of law, and can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the prime minister and the president of the constitutional court.Morocco claims ownership of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, which it has designated its Southern Provinces.", "In 1975, after Spain agreed to decolonise the territory and cede its control to Morocco and Mauritania, a guerrilla war broke out between those powers and some of the local inhabitants.", "In 1979, Mauritania relinquished its claim to the area, but the war continued to rage.", "In 1991, a ceasefire agreement was reached, but the issue of sovereignty remained unresolved.", "Today, Morocco occupies two-thirds of the territory, and efforts to resolve the dispute have thus far failed to break the political deadlock." ], [ "Name and etymology", "The English ''Morocco'' is an anglicisation of the Spanish name for the country, , derived from the name of the city of Marrakesh, which was the capital of the Almoravid dynasty, the Almohad Caliphate, and the Saadian dynasty.", "During the Almoravid dynasty, the city of Marrakesh was established under the name of , derived from the city's ancient Berber name of ().Historically, the territory has been part of what Muslim geographers referred to as (, 'the Farthest West of the Islamic world' designating roughly the area from Tiaret to the Atlantic) in contrast with neighbouring regions of (, 'the Middle West': Tripoli to Béjaïa) and (, 'the Nearest West': Alexandria to Tripoli).Morocco's modern Arabic name is (, ), with the Kingdom's official Arabic name being (; ).", "In Turkish, Morocco is known as , a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes which is likely derived from the Berber ().In other parts of the Islamic world, for example in Egyptian and Middle Eastern Arabic literature before the mid-20th century, Morocco was commonly referred to as ().", "The term is still used to refer to Morocco today in several Indo-Iranian languages, including Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi.Morocco has also been referred to politically by a variety of terms denoting the Sharifi heritage of the Alawi dynasty, such as () or (), rendered in French as and in English as the 'Sharifian Empire'." ], [ "History", "===Prehistory and antiquity===Prehistoric petroglyphs depicting meteorites written in Libyco-Berber script found near Ida Ou Kazzou in the Souss valley, .The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since at least Paleolithic times, beginning sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC.", "A recent publication has suggested that there is evidence for even earlier human habitation of the area: ''Homo sapiens'' fossils that had been discovered in the late 2000s near the Atlantic coast in Jebel Irhoud were recently dated to roughly 315,000 years ago.", "During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, resembling a savanna, in contrast to its modern arid landscape.", "Twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian culture was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures.", "Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the human remains found at Iberomaurusian \"Mechta-Afalou\" burial sites and European Cro-Magnon remains.", "The Iberomaurusian culture was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco.Ptolemy of Mauretania was the last to rule the Kingdom of Mauretania prior to Roman conquest.Mitochondrial DNA studies have discovered a close ancestral link between Berbers and the Saami of Scandinavia.", "This evidence supports the theory that some of the peoples who had been living in the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe during the late-glacial period migrated to northern Europe, contributing to its repopulation after the last ice age.In the early part of Classical Antiquity, Northwest Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians, who established trading colonies and settlements there, the most substantial of which were Chellah, Lixus, and Mogador.", "Mogador was established as a Phoenician colony as early as the 6th century BC.Roman ruins of Volubilis.Morocco later became a realm of the Northwest African civilisation of ancient Carthage, and part of the Carthaginian empire.", "The earliest known independent Moroccan state was the Berber kingdom of Mauretania, under King Baga.", "This ancient kingdom (not to be confused with the modern state of Mauritania) flourished around 225 BC or earlier.", "Mauretania became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 33 BC.", "Emperor Claudius annexed Mauretania directly in 44 AD, making it a Roman province ruled by an imperial governor (either a ''procurator Augusti'', or a ''legatus Augusti pro praetore'').During the Crisis of the Third Century, parts of Mauretania were reconquered by Berbers.", "By the late 3rd century, direct Roman rule had become confined to a few coastal cities, such as Septum (Ceuta) in Mauretania Tingitana and Cherchell in Mauretania Caesariensis.", "When, in 429 AD, the area was devastated by the Vandals, the Roman Empire lost its remaining possessions in Mauretania, and local Mauro-Roman kings assumed control of them.", "In the 530s, the Eastern Roman Empire, under Byzantine control, re-established direct imperial rule of Septum and Tingi, fortified Tingis and erected a church.===Foundation and dynasties ===Idrisid coin in Fes, 840 AD.The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, which started in the middle of the 7th century, was achieved by the Umayyad Caliphate early into the following century.", "It brought both the Arabic language and Islam to the area.", "Although part of the larger Islamic Empire, Morocco was initially organized as a subsidiary province of Ifriqiya, with the local governors appointed by the Muslim governor in Kairouan.", "Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of Morocco.The indigenous Berber tribes adopted Islam, but retained their customary laws.", "They also paid taxes and tribute to the new Muslim administration.", "The first independent Muslim state in the area of modern Morocco was the Kingdom of Nekor, an emirate in the Rif Mountains.", "It was founded by Salih I ibn Mansur in 710, as a client state to the Umayyad Caliphate.", "After the outbreak of the Berber Revolt in 739, the Berbers formed other independent states such as the Miknasa of Sijilmasa and the Barghawata.al-Qarawiyyin, founded in Fes in the 9th century, was a major spiritual, literary, and intellectual center.The founder of the Idrisid dynasty and the great-grandson of Hasan ibn Ali, Idris ibn Abdallah, had fled to Morocco after the Abbasids' massacre of his family in the Hejaz.", "He convinced the Awraba Berber tribes to break their allegiance to the distant Abbasid caliphs and he founded the Idrisid dynasty in 788.The Idrisids established Fes as their capital and Morocco became a centre of Muslim learning and a major regional power.", "The Idrisids were ousted in 927 by the Fatimid Caliphate and their Miknasa allies.", "After Miknasa broke off relations with the Fatimids in 932, they were removed from power by the Maghrawa of Sijilmasa in 980.The empire of the Almohad dynasty at its greatest extent, .From the 11th century onwards, a series of Berber dynasties arose.", "Under the Sanhaja Almoravid dynasty and the Masmuda Almohad dynasty, Morocco dominated the Maghreb, al-Andalus in Iberia, and the western Mediterranean region.", "From the 13th century onwards the country saw a massive migration of the Banu Hilal Arab tribes.", "In the 13th and 14th centuries the Zenata Berber Marinids held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads through military campaigns in Algeria and Spain.", "They were followed by the Wattasids.", "In the 15th century, the Reconquista ended Muslim rule in Iberia and many Muslims and Jews fled to Morocco.Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic sea trade in the 15th century did not greatly affect the interior of Morocco even though they managed to control some possessions on the Moroccan coast but not venturing further afield inland.The Portuguese Empire was founded when Prince Henry the Navigator led the conquest of Ceuta, which began the Portuguese presence in Morocco, lasting from 1415 to 1769.In 1549, the region fell to successive Arab dynasties claiming descent from the Islamic prophet, Muhammad: first the Sharifian Saadi dynasty who ruled from 1549 to 1659, and then the Alaouite dynasty, who remain in power since the 17th century.", "Morocco faced aggression from Spain in the north, and the Ottoman Empire's allies pressing westward.Saadi Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur's 16th century Badii' PalaceUnder the Saadi dynasty, the country ended the Aviz dynasty of Portugal at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578.The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591.However, managing the territories across the Sahara proved too difficult.", "After the death of al-Mansur, the country was divided among his sons.After a period of political fragmentation and conflict during the decline of the Saadi dynasty, Morocco was finally reunited by the 'Alawi (or Alaouite) sultan al-Rashid in the late 1660s, who took Fez in 1666 and Marrakesh in 1668.The 'Alawis succeeded in stabilising their position, and while the kingdom was smaller than previous ones in the region, it remained quite wealthy.", "Against the opposition of local tribes Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727) began to create a unified state.", "With his Jaysh d'Ahl al-Rif (the Riffian Army) he re-occupied Tangier from the English who had abandoned it in 1684 and drove the Spanish from Larache in 1689.Portuguese abandoned Mazagão, their last territory in Morocco, in 1769.However, the siege of Melilla against the Spanish ended in defeat in 1775.Morocco was the first nation to recognise the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777.In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean were subject to attacks by other fleets.", "On 20 December 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage.", "The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, signed in 1786, stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty.===French and Spanish protectorates===The Treaty of Wad Ras after the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–1860) bankrupted Morocco's national treasury, forcing the Makhzen to take on a British loan.As Europe industrialised, Northwest Africa was increasingly prized for its potential for colonisation.", "France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830, not only to protect the border of its Algerian territory, but also because of the strategic position of Morocco with coasts on the Mediterranean and the open Atlantic.", "In 1860, a dispute over Spain's Ceuta enclave led Spain to declare war.", "Victorious Spain won a further enclave and an enlarged Ceuta in the settlement.", "In 1884, Spain created a protectorate in the coastal areas of Morocco.Tangier's population in 1873 included 40,000 Muslims, 31,000 Europeans and 15,000 Jews.In 1904, France and Spain carved out zones of influence in Morocco.", "Recognition by the United Kingdom of France's sphere of influence provoked a strong reaction from the German Empire; and a crisis loomed in 1905.The matter was resolved at the Algeciras Conference in 1906.The Agadir Crisis of 1911 increased tensions between European powers.", "The 1912 Treaty of Fez made Morocco a protectorate of France, and triggered the 1912 Fez riots.", "Spain continued to operate its coastal protectorate.", "By the same treaty, Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern coastal and southern Saharan zones.Tens of thousands of colonists entered Morocco.", "Some bought up large amounts of rich agricultural land, while others organised the exploitation and modernisation of mines and harbours.", "Interest groups that formed among these elements continually pressured France to increase its control over Morocco – a control which was also made necessary by the continuous wars among Moroccan tribes, part of which had taken sides with the French since the beginning of the conquest.", "The French colonial administrator, Governor general Marshal Hubert Lyautey, sincerely admired Moroccan culture and succeeded in imposing a joint Moroccan-French administration, while creating a modern school system.", "Several divisions of Moroccan soldiers (Goumiers or regular troops and officers) served in the French army in both World War I and World War II, and in the Spanish Nationalist Army in the Spanish Civil War and after (''Regulares'').", "The institution of slavery was abolished in 1925.Between 1921 and 1926, an uprising in the Rif Mountains, led by Abd el-Krim, led to the establishment of the Republic of the Rif.", "The Spanish used anti-civilian bombing raids and mustard gas to prevent the Rif republic from independence.", "They lost more than 13,000 soldiers at Annual in July–August 1921 alone.", "The Riffi were eventually suppressed by 1927 by the Franco-Spanish military.", "The casualties on the Spanish-French side were 52,000 and from the Riffi 10,000 died.The Proclamation of Independence of Morocco of 1944.In 1943, the Istiqlal Party (Independence Party) was founded to press for independence, with discreet US support.", "Moroccan nationalists drew heavily on transnational activist networks for lobbying to end colonial rule, primarily at the United Nations.", "The Istiqlal Party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement.Mohammed V during a visit to the United States in 1957.France's exile of Sultan Mohammed V in 1953 to Madagascar and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa sparked active opposition to the French and Spanish protectorates.", "The most notable violence occurred in Oujda where Moroccans attacked French and other European residents in the streets.", "France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year.", "In March 1956 Morocco regained its independence from France as the Kingdom of Morocco.", "A month later Spain forsook its protectorate in Northern Morocco to the new state but kept its two coastal enclaves (Ceuta and Melilla) on the Mediterranean coast which dated from earlier conquests, but on which Morocco still claims sovereignty to this day.===Post-independence===Sultan Mohammed became King in 1957.Upon the death of Mohammed V, Hassan II became King of Morocco on 3 March 1961.Morocco held its first general elections in 1963.However, Hassan declared a state of emergency and suspended parliament in 1965.In 1971 and 1972, there were two failed attempts to depose the king and establish a republic.", "A truth commission set up in 2005 to investigate human rights abuses during his reign confirmed nearly 10,000 cases, ranging from death in detention to forced exile.", "Some 592 people were recorded killed during Hassan's rule according to the truth commission.In 1963, the Sand War was fought between Algerian and Moroccan troops over Moroccan claims to parts of Algerian territory.", "A formal peace agreement was signed in February 1964; however, relations remained strained between the two countries following the conflict.", "The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south was returned to Morocco in 1969.The Polisario movement was formed in 1973, with the aim of establishing an independent state in the Spanish Sahara.", "On 6 November 1975, King Hassan asked for volunteers to cross into the Spanish Sahara.", "Some 350,000 civilians were reported as being involved in the \"Green March\".", "A month later, Spain agreed to leave the Spanish Sahara, soon to become Western Sahara, and to transfer it to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control, despite the objections and threats of military intervention by Algeria.", "Moroccan forces occupied the territory.Moroccan and Algerian troops soon clashed in Western Sahara.", "Morocco and Mauritania divided up Western Sahara.", "Fighting between the Moroccan military and Polisario forces continued for many years.", "The prolonged war was a considerable financial drain on Morocco.", "In 1983, Hassan cancelled planned elections amid political unrest and economic crisis.", "In 1984, Morocco left the Organisation of African Unity in protest at the SADR's admission to the body.", "Polisario claimed to have killed more than 5,000 Moroccan soldiers between 1982 and 1985.Algerian authorities have estimated the number of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria to be 165,000.Diplomatic relations with Algeria were restored in 1988.In 1991, a UN-monitored ceasefire began in Western Sahara, but the territory's status remains undecided and ceasefire violations are reported.", "The following decade saw much wrangling over a proposed referendum on the future of the territory but the deadlock was not broken.Map of the Western Sahara War (1975–1991).Political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature with Morocco's first opposition-led government coming to power.", "King Hassan II died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Mohammed VI.", "He is a cautious moderniser who has introduced some economic and social liberalisation.", "Mohammed VI paid a controversial visit to the Western Sahara in 2002.Morocco unveiled an autonomy blueprint for Western Sahara to the United Nations in 2007.The Polisario rejected the plan and put forward its own proposal.", "Morocco and the Polisario Front held UN-sponsored talks in New York City but failed to come to any agreement.", "In 2010, security forces stormed a protest camp in the Western Sahara, triggering violent demonstrations in the regional capital El Aaiún.Mohammed VI and other world leaders and representatives attend the Armistice Day centenary in November 2018.In 2002, Morocco and Spain agreed to a US-brokered resolution over the disputed island of Perejil.", "Spanish troops had taken the normally uninhabited island after Moroccan soldiers landed on it and set up tents and a flag.", "There were renewed tensions in 2005, as dozens of African migrants stormed the borders of the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.", "In response, Spain deported dozens of the illegal migrants to Morocco from Melilla.", "In 2006, the Spanish Premier Zapatero visited Spanish enclaves.", "He was the first Spanish leader in 25 years to make an official visit to the territories.", "The following year, Spanish King Juan Carlos I visited Ceuta and Melilla, further angering Morocco which demanded control of the enclaves.During the 2011–2012 Moroccan protests, thousands of people rallied in Rabat and other cities calling for political reform and a new constitution curbing the powers of the king.", "In July 2011, the King won a landslide victory in a referendum on a reformed constitution he had proposed to placate the Arab Spring protests.", "In the first general elections that followed, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party won a plurality of seats, with Abdelilah Benkirane being designated as head of government per the new constitution.", "Despite the reforms made by Mohammed VI, demonstrators continued to call for deeper reforms.", "Hundreds took part in a trade union rally in Casablanca in May 2012.Participants accused the government of failing to deliver on reforms.On 10 December 2020, Israel–Morocco normalization agreement was announced and Morocco announced its intention to resume diplomatic relations with Israel.", "Joint Declaration of the Kingdom of Morocco, the United States of America and the State of Israel was signed on 22 December 2020.On 24 August 2021, neighboring Algeria cut diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing Morocco of supporting a separatist group and hostile actions against Algeria.", "Morocco called the decision unjustified.On 8 September 2023, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco killing more than 2,800 people and injuring thousands.", "The epicentre of the quake was around 70 km southwest of city of Marrakech." ], [ "Geography", "Toubkal, the highest peak in Northern Africa, at A section of the Anti-Atlas near TafraoutAtlas cedar tree in the Atlas rangeMorocco has a coast by the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea.", "It is bordered by Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with three small Spanish-controlled exclaves, Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera), Algeria to the east, and Western Sahara to the south.", "Since Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, its ''de facto'' southern boundary is with Mauritania.The internationally recognised borders of the country lie between latitudes 27° and 36°N, and longitudes 1° and 14°W.", "Adding Western Sahara, Morocco lies mostly between 21° and 36°N, and 1° and 17°W (the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula is slightly south of 21° and west of 17°).The geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara desert.", "Morocco is a Northern African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and the annexed Western Sahara.", "It is one of only three nations (along with Spain and France) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.A large part of Morocco is mountainous.", "The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the centre and the south of the country.", "The Rif Mountains are located in the north of the country.", "Both ranges are mainly inhabited by the Berber people.", "Its total area is about , excluding Western Sahara.", "Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast, though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994.Spanish territory in Northwest Africa neighbouring Morocco comprises five enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñón de Alhucemas, the Chafarinas islands, and the disputed islet Perejil.", "Off the Atlantic coast the Canary Islands belong to Spain, whereas Madeira to the north is Portuguese.", "To the north, Morocco is bordered by the Strait of Gibraltar, where international shipping has unimpeded transit passage between the Atlantic and Mediterranean.The Rif mountains stretch over the region bordering the Mediterranean from the north-west to the north-east.", "The Atlas Mountains run down the backbone of the country, from the northeast to the southwest.", "Most of the southeast portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically.", "Most of the population lives to the north of these mountains, while to the south lies the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was annexed by Morocco in 1975 (see Green March).", "Morocco claims that the Western Sahara is part of its territory and refers to that as its Southern Provinces.Morocco's capital city is Rabat; its largest city is its main port, Casablanca.", "Other cities recording a population over 500,000 in the 2014 Moroccan census are Fes, Marrakesh, Meknes, Salé and Tangier.Morocco is represented in the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 geographical encoding standard by the symbol ''MA''.", "This code was used as the basis for Morocco's internet domain, .ma.===Climate===Köppen climate types in MoroccoIn terms of area, Morocco is comprised predominantly of \"hot summer Mediterranean climate\" (''Csa'') and \"hot desert climate\" (''BWh'') zones.Central mountain ranges and the effects of the cold Canary Current, off the Atlantic coast, are significant factors in Morocco's relatively large variety of vegetation zones, ranging from lush forests in the northern and central mountains, giving way to steppe, semi-arid and desert areas in the eastern and southern regions.", "The Moroccan coastal plains experience remarkably moderate temperatures even in summer.", "On the whole, this range of climates is similar to that of Southern California.In the Rif, Middle and High Atlas Mountains, there exist several different types of climates: Mediterranean along the coastal lowlands, giving way to a humid temperate climate at higher elevations with sufficient moisture to allow for the growth of different species of oaks, moss carpets, junipers, and Atlantic fir which is a royal conifer tree endemic to Morocco.", "In the valleys, fertile soils and high precipitation allow for the growth of thick and lush forests.", "Cloud forests can be found in the west of the Rif Mountains and Middle Atlas Mountains.", "At higher elevations, the climate becomes alpine in character, and can sustain ski resorts.Southeast of the Atlas mountains, near the Algerian borders, the climate becomes very dry, with long and hot summers.", "Extreme heat and low moisture levels are especially pronounced in the lowland regions east of the Atlas range due to the rain shadow effect of the mountain system.", "The southeasternmost portions of Morocco are very hot, and include portions of the Sahara desert, where vast swathes of sand dunes and rocky plains are dotted with lush oases.In contrast to the Sahara region in the south, coastal plains are fertile in the central and northern regions of the country, and comprise the backbone of the country's agriculture, in which 95% of the population live.", "The direct exposure to the North Atlantic Ocean, the proximity to mainland Europe and the long stretched Rif and Atlas mountains are the factors of the rather European-like climate in the northern half of the country.", "That makes Morocco a country of contrasts.", "Forested areas cover about 12% of the country while arable land accounts for 18%.", "Approximately 5% of Moroccan land is irrigated for agricultural use.Landscape of the Erg ChebbiAtlas MountainsIn general, apart from the southeast regions (pre-Saharan and desert areas), Morocco's climate and geography are very similar to the Iberian peninsula.", "Thus Morocco has the following climate zones:* '''Mediterranean:''' Dominates the coastal Mediterranean regions of the country, along the (500 km strip), and some parts of the Atlantic coast.", "Summers are hot to moderately hot and dry, average highs are between and .", "Winters are generally mild and wet, daily average temperatures hover around to , and average low are around to , typical to the coastal areas of the west Mediterranean.", "Annual Precipitation in this area vary from 600 to 800 mm in the west to 350–500 mm in the east.", "Notable cities that fall into this zone are Tangier, Tetouan, Al Hoceima, Nador and Safi.", "* '''Sub-Mediterranean:''' It influences cities that show Mediterranean characteristics, but remain fairly influenced by other climates owing to their either relative elevation, or direct exposure to the North Atlantic Ocean.", "We thus have two main influencing climates::* ''Oceanic:'' Determined by the cooler summers, where highs are around and in terms of the Essaouira region, are almost always around .", "The medium daily temperatures can get as low as , while winters are chilly to mild and wet.", "Annual precipitation varies from 400 to 700 mm.", "Notable cities that fall into this zone are Rabat, Casablanca, Kénitra, Salé and Essaouira.", ":* ''Continental:'' Determined by the bigger gap between highs and lows, that results in hotter summers and colder winters, than found in typical Mediterranean zones.", "In summer, daily highs can get as high as during heat waves, but usually are between and .", "However, temperatures drop as the sun sets.", "Night temperatures usually fall below , and sometimes as low as in mid-summer.", "Winters are cooler, and can get below the freezing point multiple times between December and February.", "Also, snow can fall occasionally.", "Fès for example registered in winter 2005.Annual precipitation varies between 500 and 900 mm.", "Notable cities are Fès, Meknès, Chefchaouen, Beni-Mellal and Taza.", "* '''Continental:''' Dominates the mountainous regions of the north and central parts of the country, where summers are hot to very hot, with highs between and .", "Winters on the other hand are cold, and lows usually go beyond the freezing point.", "And when cold damp air comes to Morocco from the northwest, for a few days, temperatures sometimes get below .", "It often snows abundantly in this part of the country.", "Precipitation varies between 400 and 800 mm.", "Notable cities are Khenifra, Imilchil, Midelt and Azilal.", "* '''Alpine:''' Found in some parts of the Middle Atlas Mountain range and the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountain range.", "Summers are very warm to moderately hot, and winters are longer, cold and snowy.", "Precipitation varies between 400 and 1200 mm.", "In summer highs barely go above , and lows are cool and average below .", "In winters, highs average around , and lows go well below the freezing point.", "In this part of country, there are many ski resorts, such as Oukaimeden and Mischliefen.", "Notable cities are Ifrane, Azrou and Boulmane.", "* '''Semi-arid:''' This type of climate is found in the south of the country and some parts of the east of the country, where rainfall is lower and annual precipitations are between 200 and 350 mm.", "However, one usually finds Mediterranean characteristics in those regions, such as the precipitation pattern and thermal attributes.", "Notable cities are Agadir, Marrakesh and Oujda.South of Agadir and east of Jerada near the Algerian borders, arid and desert climate starts to prevail.Due to Morocco's proximity to the Sahara desert and the North Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, two phenomena occur to influence the regional seasonal temperatures, either by raising temperatures by 7–8 degrees Celsius when sirocco blows from the east creating heatwaves, or by lowering temperatures by 7–8 degrees Celsius when cold damp air blows from the northwest, creating a coldwave or cold spell.", "However, these phenomena do not last for more than two to five days on average.Climate change is expected to significantly impact Morocco on multiple dimensions.", "As a coastal country with hot and arid climates, environmental impacts are likely to be wide and varied.", "As of the 2019 Climate Change Performance Index, Morocco was ranked second in preparedness behind Sweden.===Biodiversity===An adult male Barbary macaque carrying his offspring, a behaviour rarely found in other primates.The CaracalMorocco has a wide range of biodiversity.", "It is part of the Mediterranean basin, an area with exceptional concentrations of endemic species undergoing rapid rates of habitat loss, and is therefore considered to be a hotspot for conservation priority.", "Avifauna are notably variant.", "The avifauna of Morocco includes a total of 454 species, five of which have been introduced by humans, and 156 are rarely or accidentally seen.The Barbary lion, hunted to extinction in the wild, was a subspecies native to Morocco and is a national emblem.", "The last Barbary lion in the wild was shot in the Atlas Mountains in 1922.The other two primary predators of northern Africa, the Atlas bear and Barbary leopard, are now extinct and critically endangered, respectively.", "Relic populations of the West African crocodile persisted in the Draa river until the 20th century.The Barbary macaque, a primate endemic to Morocco and Algeria, is also facing extinction due to offtake for trade human interruption, urbanisation, wood and real estate expansion that diminish forested area – the macaque's habitat.Trade of animals and plants for food, pets, medicinal purposes, souvenirs and photo props is common across Morocco, despite laws making much of it illegal.", "This trade is unregulated and causing unknown reductions of wild populations of native Moroccan wildlife.", "Because of the proximity of northern Morocco to Europe, species such as cacti, tortoises, mammal skins, and high-value birds (falcons and bustards) are harvested in various parts of the country and exported in appreciable quantities, with especially large volumes of eel harvested – 60 tons exported to the Far East in the period 2009‒2011.Morocco is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests, Mediterranean High Atlas juniper steppe, Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets, Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe, Mediterranean woodlands and forests, and North Saharan steppe and woodlands.", "It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.74/10, ranking it 66th globally out of 172 countries." ], [ "Politics", "The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI.According to the 2022 ''Economist Democracy Index'', Morocco is ruled under a hybrid regime, scoring #3 in the Middle East and North Africa, and #95 in the world.", "Morocco has a \"difficult\" ranking on the 2023 ''World Press Freedom Index''.Following the March 1998 elections, a coalition government headed by opposition socialist leader Abderrahmane Youssoufi and composed largely of ministers drawn from opposition parties, was formed.", "Prime Minister Youssoufi's government was the first ever government drawn primarily from opposition parties, and also represents the first opportunity for a coalition of socialists, left-of-centre, and nationalist parties to be included in the government until October 2002.It was also the first time in the modern political history of the Arab world that the opposition assumed power following an election.", "The current government is headed by Aziz Akhannouch.The Constitution of Morocco provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.", "With the 2011 constitutional reforms, the King of Morocco retains less executive powers whereas those of the prime minister have been enlarged.The constitution grants the king honorific powers (among other powers); he is both the secular political leader and the \"Commander of the Faithful\" as a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.", "He presides over the Council of Ministers; appoints the Prime Minister from the political party that has won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, and on recommendations from the latter, appoints the members of the government.The constitution of 1996 theoretically allowed the king to terminate the tenure of any minister, and after consultation with the heads of the higher and lower Assemblies, to dissolve the Parliament, suspend the constitution, call for new elections, or rule by decree.", "The only time this happened was in 1965.The King is formally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.===Legislative branch===The legislature's building in Rabat.Since the constitutional reform of 1996, the bicameral legislature consists of two chambers.", "The Assembly of Representatives of Morocco (''Majlis an-Nuwwâb/Assemblée des Répresentants'') has 325 members elected for a five-year term, 295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women.", "The Assembly of Councillors (''Majlis al-Mustasharin'') has 270 members, elected for a nine-year term, elected by local councils (162 seats), professional chambers (91 seats) and wage-earners (27 seats).The Parliament's powers, though still relatively limited, were expanded under the 1992 and 1996 and even further in the 2011 constitutional revisions and include budgetary matters, approving bills, questioning ministers, and establishing ad hoc commissions of inquiry to investigate the government's actions.", "The lower chamber of Parliament may dissolve the government through a vote of no confidence.The latest parliamentary elections were held on 8 September 2021.Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 50.35% of registered voters.===Military===''Mohammed VI'', a FREMM multipurpose frigate of the Royal Moroccan Navy.Morocco's military consists of the Royal Armed Forces—this includes the Army (the largest branch), the Navy, the Air Force, the Royal Guard, the Royal Gendarmerie and the Auxiliary Forces.", "Internal security is generally effective, and acts of political violence are rare (with one exception, the 2003 Casablanca bombings which killed 45 people).The UN maintains a small observer force in Western Sahara, where a large number of Moroccan troops are stationed.", "The Sahrawi Polisario Front maintains an active militia of an estimated 5,000 fighters in Western Sahara and has engaged in intermittent warfare with Moroccan forces since the 1970s.===Foreign relations===Morocco is a member of the United Nations and belongs to the African Union (AU), Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement and the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN_SAD).", "Morocco's relationships vary greatly between African, Arab, and Western states.", "Morocco has had strong ties to the West in order to gain economic and political benefits.", "France and Spain remain the primary trade partners, as well as the primary creditors and foreign investors in Morocco.", "From the total foreign investments in Morocco, the European Union invests approximately 73.5%, whereas, the Arab world invests only 19.3%.", "Many countries from the Persian Gulf and Maghreb regions are getting more involved in large-scale development projects in Morocco.Morocco claims sovereignty over Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.Morocco was the only African state not to be a member of the African Union due to its unilateral withdrawal on 12 November 1984 over the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1982 by the African Union (then called Organisation of African Unity) as a full member without the organisation of a referendum of self-determination in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.", "Morocco rejoined the AU on 30 January 2017.In August 2021, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco.A dispute with Spain in 2002 over the small island of Perejil revived the issue of the sovereignty of Melilla and Ceuta.", "These small enclaves on the Mediterranean coast are surrounded by Morocco and have been administered by Spain for centuries.Morocco was given the status of major non-NATO ally by the George W. Bush administration in 2004.Morocco was the first country in the world to recognise US sovereignty (in 1777).Morocco is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.===Western Sahara status===Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975.The Polisario Front control the territory east of the Moroccan ''berm'' (wall).The status of the Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro regions is disputed.", "The Western Sahara War saw the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement, battling both Morocco and Mauritania between 1976 and a ceasefire in 1991 that is still in effect.", "A United Nations mission, MINURSO, is tasked with organizing a referendum on whether the territory should become independent or recognised as a part of Morocco.Part of the territory, the Free Zone, is a mostly uninhabited area that the Polisario Front controls as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.", "Its administrative headquarters are located in Tindouf, Algeria.", ", no UN member state had recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.", "In 2020, the United States under the Trump administration became the first Western country to back Morocco's contested sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, on the agreement that Morocco would simultaneously normalize relations with Israel.In 2006, the government of Morocco suggested autonomous status for the region, through the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS).", "The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007.The proposal was encouraged by Moroccan allies such as the United States, France and Spain.", "The Security Council has called upon the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.=== Administrative divisions ===The administrative regions of MoroccoMorocco is officially divided into 12 regions, which, in turn, are subdivided into 62 provinces and 13 prefectures.", "'''Regions'''# Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima# Oriental# Fès-Meknès# Rabat-Salé-Kénitra# Béni Mellal-Khénifra# Casablanca-Settat# Marrakesh-Safi# Drâa-Tafilalet# Souss-Massa# Guelmim-Oued Noun# Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra# Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab=== Human rights ===During the early 1960s to the late 1980s, under the leadership of Hassan II, Morocco had one of the worst human rights records in both Africa and the world.", "Government repression of political dissent was widespread during Hassan II's leadership, until it dropped sharply in the mid-1990s.", "The decades during which abuses were committed are referred to as the Years of Lead (''Les Années de Plomb''), and included forced disappearances, assassinations of government opponents and protesters, and secret internment camps such as Tazmamart.", "To examine abuses committed during the reign of King Hassan II (1961–1999), the government under King Mohammed set up an Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER).According to a Human Rights Watch annual report in 2016, Moroccan authorities restricted the rights to peaceful expression, association and assembly through several laws.", "The authorities continue to prosecute both printed and online media which criticizes the government or the king (or the royal family).", "There are also persistent allegations of violence against both Sahrawi pro-independence and pro-Polisario demonstrators in Western Sahara; a disputed territory which is occupied by and considered by Morocco as part of its Southern Provinces.", "Morocco has been accused of detaining Sahrawi pro-independence activists as prisoners of conscience.Homosexual acts as well as pre-marital sex are illegal in Morocco, and can be punishable by six months to three years of imprisonment.", "It is illegal to proselytise for any religion other than Islam (article 220 of the Moroccan Penal Code), and that crime is punishable by a maximum of 15 years of imprisonment.", "Violence against women and sexual harassment have been criminalized.", "The penalty can be from one month to five years, with fines ranging from $200 to $1,000.It is a criminal offence in Morocco to undermine the monarchy: in August 2023, a Moroccan resident of Qatar was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for criticising the King's policy decisions on Facebook." ], [ "Economy", "Casablanca Finance CityMorocco's economy is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand.", "Since 1993, the country has followed a policy of privatisation of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government.", "Morocco has become a major player in African economic affairs, and is the fifth largest economy in Africa by GDP (PPP).", "Morocco was ranked as the first African country by the Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index, ahead of South Africa.", "However, in the years since that first-place ranking was given, Morocco has slipped into fourth place behind Egypt.Government reforms and steady yearly growth in the region of 4–5% from 2000 to 2007, including 4.9% year-on-year growth in 2003–2007 helped the Moroccan economy to become much more robust compared to a few years earlier.", "For 2012 the World Bank forecast a rate of 4% growth for Morocco and 4.2% for following year, 2013.The services sector accounts for just over half of GDP and industry, made up of mining, construction and manufacturing, is an additional quarter.", "The industries that recorded the highest growth are tourism, telecoms, information technology, and textile.===Tourism===The Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakech.Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Moroccan economy.", "It is well developed with a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history.", "Morocco attracted more than 13 million tourists in 2019.Tourism is the second largest foreign exchange earner in Morocco after the phosphate industry.", "The Moroccan government is heavily investing in tourism development, in 2010 the government launched its Vision 2020 which plans to make Morocco one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world and to double the annual number of international arrivals to 20 million by 2020, with the hope that tourism will then have risen to 20% of GDP.Large government sponsored marketing campaigns to attract tourists advertised Morocco as an inexpensive and exotic, yet safe, place for tourists.", "Most of the visitors to Morocco continue to be European, with French nationals making up almost 20% of all visitors.", "Most Europeans visit between April and August.", "Morocco's relatively high number of tourists has been aided by its location—Morocco is close to Europe and attracts visitors to its beaches.", "Because of its proximity to Spain, tourists in southern Spain's coastal areas take one- to three-day trips to Morocco.Since air services between Morocco and Algeria have been established, many Algerians have gone to Morocco to shop and visit family and friends.", "Morocco is relatively inexpensive because of the devaluation of the dirham and the increase of hotel prices in Spain.", "Morocco has an excellent road and rail infrastructure that links the major cities and tourist destinations with ports and cities with international airports.", "Low-cost airlines offer reduced-price flights to the country.Fes.Tourism is increasingly focused on Morocco's culture, such as its ancient cities.", "The modern tourist industry capitalises on Morocco's ancient and Islamic sites, and on its landscape and cultural history.", "60% of Morocco's tourists visit for its culture and heritage.Agadir is a major coastal resort and has a third of all Moroccan bed nights.", "It is a base for tours to the Atlas Mountains.", "Other resorts in north Morocco are also very popular.Casablanca is the major cruise port in Morocco, and has the best developed market for tourists in Morocco, Marrakech in central Morocco is a popular tourist destination, but is more popular among tourists for one- and two-day excursions that provide a taste of Morocco's history and culture.", "The Majorelle botanical garden in Marrakech is a popular tourist attraction.", "It was bought by the fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1980.Their presence in the city helped to boost the city's profile as a tourist destination., activity and adventure tourism in the Atlas and Rif Mountains are the fastest growth area in Moroccan tourism.", "These locations have excellent walking and trekking opportunities from late March to mid-November.", "The government is investing in trekking circuits.", "They are also developing desert tourism in competition with Tunisia.===Agriculture======Infrastructure===Al Boraq RGV2N2 high-speed trainset at Tanger-Ville railway station in November 2018According to the Global Competitiveness Report of 2019, Morocco Ranked 32nd in the world in terms of Roads, 16th in Sea, 45th in Air and 64th in Railways.", "This gives Morocco the best infrastructure rankings in the African continent.Modern infrastructure development, such as ports, airports, and rail links, is a top government priority.", "To meet the growing domestic demand, the Moroccan government invested more than $15 billion from 2010 to 2015 in upgrading its basic infrastructure.Morocco has one of the best road systems on the continent.", "Over the past 20 years, the government has built approximately 1770 kilometers of modern roads, connecting most major cities via toll expressways.", "The Moroccan Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics, and Water aims to build an additional 3380 kilometers of expressway and 2100 kilometers of highway by 2030, at an expected cost of $9.6 billion.", "It focuses on linking the southern provinces, notably the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla to the rest of Morocco.In 2014, Morocco began the construction of the first high-speed railway system in Africa linking the cities of Tangier and Casablanca.", "It was inaugurated in 2018 by the King following over a decade of planning and construction by Moroccan national railway company ONCF.", "It is the first phase of what is planned to eventually be a 1,500 kilometeres (930 mi) high-speed rail network in Morocco.", "An extension of the line to Marrakesh is already being planned.Morocco also has the largest port in Africa and the Mediterranean, Tanger-Med, which is ranked the 18th in the world with a handling capacity of over 9 million containers.", "It is situated in the Tangier free economic zone and serves as a logistics hub for Africa and the world.===Energy===Solar cell panels in eastern MoroccoIn 2008, about 56% of Morocco's electricity supply was provided by coal.", "However, as forecasts indicate that energy requirements in Morocco will rise 6% per year between 2012 and 2050, a new law passed encouraging Moroccans to look for ways to diversify the energy supply, including more renewable resources.", "The Moroccan government has launched a project to build a solar thermal energy power plant and is also looking into the use of natural gas as a potential source of revenue for Morocco's government.Morocco has embarked upon the construction of large solar energy farms to lessen dependence on fossil fuels, and to eventually export electricity to Europe.On 17 April 2022, Rabat- Moroccan agency for solar energy (Masen) and the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development announced the launch of phase one of the mega project Nor II solar energy plant which is a multi-site solar energy project with a total capacity set at 400 megawatts (MN).===Narcotics===Cannabis field at Ketama Tidighine mountain, MoroccoSince the 7th century, cannabis has been cultivated in the Rif region.", "In 2004, according to the UN World Drugs Report, cultivation and transformation of cannabis represents 0.57% of the national GDP of Morocco in 2002.According to a French Ministry of the Interior 2006 report, 80% of the cannabis resin (hashish) consumed in Europe comes from the Rif region in Morocco, which is mostly mountainous terrain in the north of Morocco, also hosting plains that are very fertile and expanding from Melwiyya River and Ras Kebdana in the East to Tangier and Cape Spartel in the West.", "Also, the region extends from the Mediterranean in the south, home of the Wergha River, to the north.", "In addition to that, Morocco is a transit point for cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe.=== Water supply and sanitation ===Water supply and sanitation in Morocco is provided by a wide array of utilities.", "They range from private companies in the largest city, Casablanca, the capital, Rabat,and two other cities, to public municipal utilities in 13 other cities, as well as a national electricity and water company (ONEE).", "The latter is in charge of bulk water supply to the aforementioned utilities, water distribution in about 500 small towns, as well as sewerage and wastewater treatment in 60 of these towns.There have been substantial improvements in access to water supply, and to a lesser extent to sanitation, over the past fifteen years.", "Remaining challenges include a low level of wastewater treatment (only 13% of collected wastewater is being treated), lack of house connections in the poorest urban neighbourhoods, and limited sustainability of rural systems (20 percent of rural systems are estimated not to function).", "In 2005 a National Sanitation Program was approved that aims at treating 60% of collected wastewater and connecting 80% of urban households to sewers by 2020.The issue of lack of water connections for some of the urban poor is being addressed as part of the National Human Development Initiative, under which residents of informal settlements have received land titles and have fees waived that are normally paid to utilities in order to connect to the water and sewer network." ], [ "Science and technology", "Campus of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Benguerir\|295x295pxThe Moroccan government has been implementing reforms to improve the quality of education and make research more responsive to socio-economic needs.", "In May 2009, Morocco's prime minister, Abbas El Fassi, announced greater support for science during a meeting at the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research.", "The aim was to give universities greater financial autonomy from the government to make them more responsive to research needs and better able to forge links with the private sector, in the hope that this would nurture a culture of entrepreneurship in academia.", "He announced that investment in science and technology would rise from US$620,000 in 2008 to US$8.5 million (69 million Moroccan dirhams) in 2009, in order to finance the refurbishment and construction of laboratories, training courses for researchers in financial management, a scholarship programme for postgraduate research and incentive measures for companies prepared to finance research, such as giving them access to scientific results that they could then use to develop new products.", "Morocco was ranked 70th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.The ''Moroccan Innovation Strategy'' was launched at the country's first National Innovation Summit in June 2009 by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Investment and the Digital Economy.", "The ''Moroccan Innovation Strategy'' fixed the target of producing 1,000 Moroccan patents and creating 200 innovative start-ups by 2014.In 2012, Moroccan inventors applied for 197 patents, up from 152 two years earlier.", "In 2011, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies created a Moroccan Club of Innovation, in partnership with the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property.", "The idea is to create a network of players in innovation, including researchers, entrepreneurs, students and academics, to help them develop innovative projects.The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is supporting research in advanced technologies and the development of innovative cities in Fez, Rabat and Marrakesh.", "The government is encouraging public institutions to engage with citizens in innovation.", "One example is the Moroccan Phosphate Office (Office chérifien des phosphates), which has invested in a project to develop a smart city, King Mohammed VI Green City, around Mohammed VI University located between Casablanca and Marrakesh, at a cost of DH 4.7 billion (''circa'' US$479 million).As of 2015, Morocco had three technoparks.", "Since the first technopark was established in Rabat in 2005, a second has been set up in Casablanca, followed, in 2015, by a third in Tangers.", "The technoparks host start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises specializing in information and communication technologies (ICTs), 'green' technologies (namely, environmentally friendly technologies) and cultural industries.In 2012, the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology identified a number of sectors where Morocco has a comparative advantage and skilled human capital, including mining, fisheries, food chemistry and new technologies.", "It also identified a number of strategic sectors, such as energy, with an emphasis on renewable energies such as photovoltaic, thermal solar energy, wind and biomass; as well as the water, nutrition and health sectors, the environment and geosciences.On 20 May 2015, less than a year after its inception, the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research presented a report to the king offering a ''Vision for Education in Morocco 2015–2030''.", "The report advocated making education egalitarian and, thus, accessible to the greatest number.", "Since improving the quality of education goes hand in hand with promoting research and development, the report also recommended developing an integrated national innovation system which would be financed by gradually increasing the share of GDP devoted to research and development (R&D) from 0.73% of GDP in 2010 'to 1% in the short term, 1.5% by 2025 and 2% by 2030'." ], [ "Demographics", "Morocco has a population of around inhabitants ( est.).", "It is estimated that between 44% and 67% of residents are Arabs and between 31% and 41% are Berbers.", "A sizeable portion of the population is identified as Haratin and Gnawa (or Gnaoua), West African or mixed-race descendants of slaves, and Moriscos, European Muslims expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 17th century.", "Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of Morocco.According to the 2014 Morocco population census, there were around 84,000 immigrants in the country.", "Of these foreign-born residents, most were of French origin, followed by individuals mainly from various nations in West Africa and Algeria.", "There are also a number of foreign residents of Spanish origin.", "Some of them are descendants of colonial settlers, who primarily work for European multinational companies, while others are married to Moroccans or are retirees.", "Prior to independence, Morocco was home to half a million Europeans; who were mostly Christians.", "Also, prior to independence, Morocco was home to 250,000 Spaniards.", "Morocco's once prominent Jewish minority has decreased significantly since its peak of 265,000 in 1948, declining to around 2,500 today.Morocco has a large diaspora, most of which is located in France, which has reportedly over one million Moroccans of up to the third generation.", "There are also large Moroccan communities in Spain (about 700,000 Moroccans), the Netherlands (360,000), and Belgium (300,000).", "Other large communities can be found in Italy, Canada, the United States, and Israel, where Moroccan Jews are thought to constitute the second biggest Jewish ethnic subgroup.===Religion===The religious affiliation in the country was estimated by the Pew Forum in 2010 as 99% Muslim, with all remaining groups accounting for less than 1% of the population.", "Of those affiliated with Islam, virtually all are Sunni Muslims, with Shia Muslims accounting for less than 0.1%.", "However, nearly 15% of Moroccans nonetheless describe themselves as non religious according to an 2018 survey conducted by the research network Arab Barometer; the same survey saw nearly 100 percent of respondents identify as Muslims.", "Another 2021 Arab Barometer survey found that 67.8% of Moroccans identified as religious, 29.1% as somewhat religious, and 3.1% as non religious.", "The 2015 Gallup International poll reported that 93% of Moroccans considered themselves to be religious.The interior of a mosque in FesPrior to independence, Morocco was home to more than 500,000 Christians (mostly of Spanish and French ancestry).", "Many Christian settlers left to Spain or France after the independence in 1956.The predominantly Catholic and Protestant foreign-resident Christian community consists of approximately 40,000 practising members.", "Most foreign resident Christians reside in the Casablanca, Tangier, and Rabat urban areas.", "Various local Christian leaders estimate that between 2005 and 2010 there are 5,000 citizen converted Christians (mostly ethnically Berber) who regularly attend \"house\" churches and live predominantly in the south.", "Some local Christian leaders estimate that there may be as many as 8,000 Christian citizens throughout the country, but many reportedly do not meet regularly due to fear of government surveillance and social persecution.", "The number of the Moroccans who converted to Christianity (most of them secret worshippers) are estimated between 8,000 and 50,000.The most recent estimates put the size of the historic Casablanca Jewish community at about 2,500, and the Rabat and Marrakesh Jewish communities at about 100 members each.", "The remainder of the Jewish population is dispersed throughout the country.", "This population is mostly elderly, with a decreasing number of young people.The Baháʼí Faith community, located in urban areas, numbers 350 to 400 persons.===Languages===Linguistic map of MoroccoMorocco's official languages are Arabic and Berber.", "The country's distinctive group of Moroccan Arabic dialects is referred to as Darija.", "Approximately 89.8% of the whole population can communicate to some degree in Moroccan Arabic.", "The Berber language is spoken in three dialects (Tarifit, Tashelhit and Central Atlas Tamazight).", "In 2008, Frédéric Deroche estimated that there were 12 million Berber speakers, making up about 40% of the population.", "The 2004 population census reported that 28.1% of the population spoke Berber.French is widely used in governmental institutions, media, mid-size and large companies, international commerce with French-speaking countries, and often in international diplomacy.", "French is taught as an obligatory language in all schools.", "In 2010, there were 10,366,000 French-speakers in Morocco, or about 32% of the population.According to the 2004 census, 2.19 million Moroccans spoke a foreign language other than French.", "English, while far behind French in terms of number of speakers, is the first foreign language of choice, since French is obligatory, among educated youth and professionals.According to ''Ethnologue'', as of 2016, there are 1,536,590 individuals (or approximately 4.5% of the population) in Morocco who speak Spanish.", "Spanish is mostly spoken in northern Morocco and the former Spanish Sahara because Spain had previously occupied those areas.", "Meanwhile, a 2018 study by the Instituto Cervantes found 1.7 million Moroccans who were at least proficient in Spanish, placing Morocco as the country with the most Spanish speakers outside the Hispanophone world (unless the United States is also excluded from Spanish-speaking countries).", "A significant portion of northern Morocco receives Spanish media, television signal and radio airwaves, which reportedly facilitate competence in the language in the region.After Morocco declared independence in 1956, French and Arabic became the main languages of administration and education, causing the role of Spanish to decline.===Education===Al Akhawayn University in IfraneEducation in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school.", "The estimated literacy rate for the country in 2012 was 72%.", "In September 2006, UNESCO awarded Morocco amongst other countries such as Cuba, Pakistan, India and Turkey the \"UNESCO 2006 Literacy Prize\".Morocco has more than four dozen universities, institutes of higher learning, and polytechnics dispersed at urban centres throughout the country.", "Its leading institutions include Mohammed V University in Rabat, the country's largest university, with branches in Casablanca and Fès; the Hassan II Agriculture and Veterinary Institute in Rabat, which conducts leading social science research in addition to its agricultural specialties; and Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, the first English-language university in Northwest Africa, inaugurated in 1995 with contributions from Saudi Arabia and the United States.UIS Literacy Rate Morocco population above 15 years of age 1980–2015The al-Qarawiyin University, founded by Fatima al-Fihri in the city of Fez in 859 as a madrasa, is considered by some sources, including UNESCO, to be the \"oldest university of the world\".", "Morocco has also some of prestigious postgraduate schools, including: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, l', École Nationale Supérieure d'Électricité et de Mecanique (ENSEM), EMI, ISCAE, INSEA, National School of Mineral Industry, École Hassania des Travaux Publics, Les Écoles nationales de commerce et de gestion, École supérieure de technologie de Casablanca.=== Health ===The Mohammed VI University Hospital Center in TangierMany efforts are made by countries around the world to address health issues and eradicate disease, Morocco included.", "Child health, maternal health, and diseases are all components of health and well-being.", "Morocco is a developing country that has made many strides to improve these categories.", "However, Morocco still has many health issues to improve on.", "According to research published, in 2005 only 16% of citizens in Morocco had health insurance or coverage.", "In data from the World Bank, Morocco experiences high infant mortality rates at 20 deaths per 1,000 births (2017) and high maternal mortality rates at 121 deaths per 100,000 births (2015).The government of Morocco sets up surveillance systems within the already existing healthcare system to monitor and collect data.", "Mass education in hygiene is implemented in primary education schools which are free for residents of Morocco.", "In 2005, The government of Morocco approved two reforms to expand health insurance coverage.", "The first reform was a mandatory health insurance plan for public and private sector employees to expand coverage from 16 percent of the population to 30 percent.", "The second reform created a fund to cover services for the poor.", "Both reforms improved access to high-quality care.", "Infant mortality has improved significantly since 1960 when there were 144 deaths per 1,000 live births, in 2000, 42 per 1,000 live births, and now it is 20 per 1,000 live births.", "The country's under-five mortality rate dropped by 60% between 1990 and 2011.According to data from the World Bank, the present mortality rate is still very high, over seven times higher than in neighboring country Spain.", "In 2014, Morocco adopted a national plan to increase progress on maternal and child health.", "The Moroccan Plan was started by the Moroccan Minister of Health, El Houssaine Louardi, and Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, on 13 November 2013 in Rabat.", "Morocco has made significant progress in reducing deaths among both children and mothers.", "Based on World Bank data, the nation's maternal mortality ratio fell by 67% between 1990 and 2010.In 2014, spending on healthcare accounted for 5.9% of the country's GDP.", "Since 2014, spending on healthcare as part of the GDP has decreased.", "However, health expenditure per capita (PPP) has steadily increased since 2000.In 2015, the Moroccan health expenditure was $435.29 per capita.", "In 2016 the life expectancy at birth was 74.3, or 73.3 for men and 75.4 for women, and there were 6.3 physicians and 8.9 nurses and midwives per 10,000 inhabitants.", "In 2017, Morocco ranked 16th out of 29 countries on the Global Youth Wellbeing Index.", "Moroccan youths experience a lower self-harm rate than the global index by an average of 4 encounters per year." ], [ "Culture", "A living room with a traditional Moroccan interior.Morocco is a country with a rich culture and civilisation.", "Through Moroccan history, it has hosted many people.", "All of whom have affected the social structure of Morocco.Since independence, a veritable blossoming has taken place in painting and sculpture, popular music, amateur theatre, and filmmaking.", "The Moroccan National Theatre (founded 1956) offers regular productions of Moroccan and French dramatic works.", "Art and music festivals take place throughout the country during the summer months, among them the World Sacred Music Festival at Fès.Each region possesses its own specificities, thus contributing to the national culture and to the legacy of civilization.", "Morocco has set among its top priorities the protection of its diverse legacy and the preservation of its cultural heritage.Culturally speaking, Morocco has always been successful in combining its Arabic, Berber and Jewish cultural heritage with external influences such as the French and the Spanish and, during the last decades, the Anglo-American lifestyles.===Architecture======Literature===Driss ChraïbiMoroccan literature is written mostly in Arabic, Berber, Hebrew, and French.", "Particularly under the Almoravid and Almohad empires, Moroccan literature was closely related to the literature of al-Andalus, and shared important poetic and literary forms such as ''zajal'', the ''muwashshah'', and the ''maqama''.", "Islamic literature, such as Quranic exegeses and other religious works such as Qadi Ayyad's ''Al-Shifa'' were influential.", "The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fes was an important literary center attracting scholars from abroad, including Maimonides, Ibn al-Khatib, and Ibn Khaldun.Under the Almohad dynasty Morocco experienced a period of prosperity and brilliance of learning.", "The Almohad built the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh, which accommodated no fewer than 25,000 people, but was also famed for its books, manuscripts, libraries and book shops, which gave it its name; the first book bazaar in history.", "The Almohad Caliph Abu Yakub had a great love for collecting books.", "He founded a great library, which was eventually carried to the Casbah and turned into a public library.Modern Moroccan literature began in the 1930s.", "Two main factors gave Morocco a pulse toward witnessing the birth of a modern literature.", "Morocco, as a French and Spanish protectorate left Moroccan intellectuals the opportunity to exchange and to produce literary works freely enjoying the contact of other Arabic literature and Europe.", "Three generations of writers especially shaped 20th century Moroccan literature.", "The first was the generation that lived and wrote during the Protectorate (1912–56), its most important representative being Mohammed Ben Brahim (1897–1955).The second generation was the one that played an important role in the transition to independence with writers like Abdelkrim Ghallab (1919–2006), Allal al-Fassi (1910–1974) and Mohammed al-Mokhtar Soussi (1900–1963).", "The third generation is that of writers of the sixties.", "Moroccan literature then flourished with writers such as Mohamed Choukri, Driss Chraïbi, Mohamed Zafzaf and Driss El Khouri.", "Those writers were an important influence to the many Moroccan novelists, poets and playwrights that were still to come.During the 1950s and 1960s, Morocco was a refuge and artistic centre and attracted writers as Paul Bowles, Tennessee Williams and William S. Burroughs.", "Moroccan literature flourished with novelists such as Mohamed Zafzaf and Mohamed Choukri, who wrote in Arabic, and Driss Chraïbi and Tahar Ben Jelloun who wrote in French.", "Other important Moroccan authors include, Abdellatif Laabi, Abdelkrim Ghallab, Fouad Laroui, Mohammed Berrada and Leila Abouzeid.", "Orature (oral literature) is an integral part of Moroccan culture, be it in Moroccan Arabic or Berber.===Music===Moroccan music is of Arabic, Berber and sub-Saharan origins.", "Rock-influenced chaabi bands are widespread, as is trance music with historical origins in Islamic music.Morocco is home to Andalusian classical music that is found throughout Northwest Africa.", "It probably evolved under the Moors in Cordoba, and the Persian-born musician Ziryab is usually credited with its invention.", "A genre known as Contemporary Andalusian Music and art is the brainchild of Morisco visual artist/composer/oudist Tarik Banzi, founder of the Al-Andalus Ensemble.A group of Jilala musicians in 1900''Aita'' is a Bedouin musical style sung in the countryside.Chaabi (\"popular\") is a music consisting of numerous varieties which are descended from the multifarious forms of Moroccan folk music.", "Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting.Popular Western forms of music are becoming increasingly popular in Morocco, such as fusion, rock, country, metal and, in particular, hip hop.Morocco participated in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, where it finished in the penultimate position.===Media===Cinema in Morocco has a long history, stretching back over a century to the filming of ''Le chevrier Marocain'' (\"The Moroccan Goatherd\") by Louis Lumière in 1897.Between that time and 1944, many foreign movies were shot in the country, especially in the Ouarzazate area.", "In 1944, the Moroccan Cinematographic Center (CCM), the nation's film regulatory agency, was established.", "Studios were also opened in Rabat.In 1952, Orson Welles' ''Othello'' won the at the Cannes Film Festival under the Moroccan flag.", "However, the Festival's musicians did not play the Moroccan national anthem, as no one in attendance knew what it was.", "Six years later, Mohammed Ousfour would create the first Moroccan movie, ''Le fils maudit'' (\"The Damned Son\").In 1968, the first Mediterranean Film Festival was held in Tangier.", "In its current incarnation, the event is held in Tetouan.", "This was followed in 1982 with the first national festival of cinema, which was held in Rabat.", "In 2001, the first International Film Festival of Marrakech (FIFM) was also held in Marrakech.===Cuisine===Moroccan Couscous.Moroccan cuisine is considered one of the most diversified cuisines in the world.", "This is a result of the centuries-long interaction of Morocco with the outside world.", "The cuisine of Morocco is mainly a fusion of Moorish, European and Mediterranean cuisines.Spices are used extensively in Moroccan cuisine.", "While spices have been imported to Morocco for thousands of years, many ingredients such as saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives from Meknes, and oranges and lemons from Fez, are home-grown.", "Chicken is the most widely eaten meat in Morocco.", "The most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco is beef; lamb is preferred but is relatively expensive.", "The main Moroccan dish most people are familiar with is couscous, the old national delicacy.Beef is the most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco, usually eaten in a ''Tagine'' with vegetables or legumes.", "Chicken is also very commonly used in Tagines, knowing that one of the most famous tagine is the Tagine of Chicken, potatoes and olives.", "Lamb is also consumed, but as Northwest African sheep breeds store most of their fat in their tails, Moroccan lamb does not have the pungent flavour that Western lamb and mutton have.", "Poultry is also very common, and the use of seafood is increasing in Moroccan food.", "In addition, there are dried salted meats and salted preserved meats such as kliia/khlia and \"g'did\" which are used to flavor tagines or used in \"el ghraif\" a folded savory Moroccan pancake.Among the most famous Moroccan dishes are Couscous, Pastilla (also spelled Bsteeya or Bestilla), Tajine, Tanjia and Harira.", "Although the latter is a soup, it is considered a dish in itself and is served as such or with dates especially during the month of Ramadan.", "Pork consumption is forbidden in accordance with Sharia, religious laws of Islam.A big part of the daily meal is bread.", "Bread in Morocco is principally from durum wheat semolina known as khobz.", "Bakeries are very common throughout Morocco and fresh bread is a staple in every city, town and village.", "The most common is whole grain coarse ground or white flour bread.", "There are also a number of flat breads and pulled unleavened pan-fried breads.The most popular drink is \"atai\", green tea with mint leaves and other ingredients.", "Tea occupies a very important place in the culture of Morocco and is considered an art form.", "It is served not only at mealtimes but all through the day, and it is especially a drink of hospitality, commonly served whenever there are guests.", "It is served to guests, and it is impolite to refuse it.===Sport===Moroccan football fansFootball is the country's most popular sport, popular among the urban youth in particular.", "In 1986, Morocco became the first Arab and African country to qualify for the second round of the FIFA World Cup.", "Morocco hosted the Africa Cup of Nations in 1988 and will host it again in 2025 after original host Guinea was stripped from hosting rights due to inadequacy of hosting preparations.", "Morocco was originally scheduled to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, but refused to host the tournament on the scheduled dates because of fears over the Ebola outbreak on the continent.", "Morocco made six attempts to host the FIFA World Cup but lost five times to the United States, France, Germany, South Africa and a Canada–Mexico–United States joint bid, however Morocco will co-host it in 2030 along with Portugal and Spain having finally won the bid in their sixth attempt.", "In 2022, Morocco became the first African and Arab team to reach the semifinals and finished 4th in the tournament.At the 1984 Olympic Games, two Moroccans won gold medals in track and field.", "Nawal El Moutawakel won in the 400 metres hurdles; she was the first woman from an Arab or Islamic country to win an Olympic gold medal.", "Saïd Aouita won the 5000 metres at the same games.", "Hicham El Guerrouj won gold medals for Morocco at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres and holds several world records in the mile run.Spectator sports in Morocco traditionally centered on the art of horsemanship until European sports—football, polo, swimming, and tennis—were introduced at the end of the 19th century.", "Tennis and golf have become popular.", "Several Moroccan professional players have competed in international competition, and the country fielded its first Davis Cup team in 1999.Morocco was one of the continent's pioneers in basketball as it established one of Africa's first competitive leagues.Rugby came to Morocco in the early 20th century, mainly by the French who occupied the country.", "As a result, Moroccan rugby was tied to the fortunes of France, during the first and second World War, with many Moroccan players going away to fight.", "Like many other Maghreb nations, Moroccan rugby tended to look to Europe for inspiration, rather than to the rest of Africa.Kickboxing is also popular in Morocco.", "The Moroccan-Dutch Badr Hari, heavyweight kickboxer and martial artist, is a former K-1 heavyweight champion and K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009 finalist." ], [ "See also", "* Index of Morocco-related articles* Outline of Morocco" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References", "=== Citations ====== Sources ===" ], [ "Further reading", " Pennell, C. R. ''Morocco Since 1830: A History'', New York University Press, 2000.", "* Pennell, C. R. ''Morocco: From Empire to Independence'', Oneworld Publications, 2013.", "( preview)* Stenner, David.", "''Globalizing Morocco: Transnational Activism and the Postcolonial State'' (Stanford UP, 2019).", "online review* Terrasse, Henri.", "''History of Morocco'', Éd.", "Atlantides, 1952.; In French* Bernard Lugan, ''Histoire du Maroc'', Éd.", "Perrin, 2000.", "* Michel Abitbol, ''Histoire du Maroc'', Éd.", "Perrin, 2009." ], [ "External links", "* Official website of the government of Morocco* Official bulletins of the government of Morocco* Parliament of Morocco* Official website of the Moroccan National Tourist Office* Census results of 1994 and 2004 * Morocco.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* * * Morocco profile from the BBC News* * Key Development Forecasts for Morocco from International Futures* EU Neighbourhood Info Centre: Morocco * World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Morocco" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "The history of human habitation in Morocco spans since the Lower Paleolithic, with the earliest known being Jebel Irhoud.", "Much later Morocco was part of Iberomaurusian culture, including Taforalt.", "It dates from the establishment of Mauretania and other ancient Berber kingdoms, to the establishment of the Moroccan state by the Idrisid dynasty followed by other Islamic dynasties, through to the colonial and independence periods.Archaeological evidence has shown that the area was inhabited by hominids at least 400,000 years ago.", "The recorded history of Morocco begins with the Phoenician colonization of the Moroccan coast between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, although the area was inhabited by indigenous Berbers for some two thousand years before that.", "In the 5th century BCE, the city-state of Carthage extended its hegemony over the coastal areas.", "They remained there until the late 3rd century BCE, while the hinterland was ruled by indigenous monarchs.", "Indigenous Berber monarchs ruled the territory from the 3rd century BCE until 40 CE, when it was annexed to the Roman Empire.", "In the mid-5th century CE, it was overrun by Vandals, before being recovered by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.The region was conquered by the Muslims in the early 8th century CE, but broke away from the Umayyad Caliphate after the Berber Revolt of 740.Half a century later, the Moroccan state was established by the Idrisid dynasty.", "The Saadi dynasty ruled the country from 1549 to 1659, followed by the Alaouites from 1667 onwards, who have since been the ruling dynasty of Morocco." ], [ "Prehistoric Morocco", "Archaeological excavations have demonstrated the presence of people in Morocco that were ancestral to ''Homo sapiens'', as well as the presence of early human species.", "The fossilized bones of a 400,000-year-old early human ancestor were discovered in Salé in 1971.The bones of several very early ''Homo sapiens'' were excavated at Jebel Irhoud in 1991, these were dated using modern techniques in 2017 and found to be at least 300,000 years old, making them the oldest examples of ''Homo sapiens'' discovered anywhere in the world.", "In 2007, small perforated seashell beads were discovered in Taforalt that are 82,000 years old, making them the earliest known evidence of personal adornment found anywhere in the world.In Mesolithic times, between 20,000 and 5000 years ago, the geography of Morocco resembled a savanna more than the present arid landscape.", "While little is known of settlements in Morocco during that period, excavations elsewhere in the Maghreb region have suggested an abundance of game and forests that would have been hospitable to Mesolithic hunters and gatherers, such as those of the Capsian culture.During the Neolithic period, which followed the Mesolithic, the savanna was occupied by hunters and herders.", "The culture of these Neolithic hunters and herders flourished until the region began to desiccate after 5000 BCE as a result of climatic changes.", "The coastal regions of present-day Morocco in the early Neolithic shared in the Cardium pottery culture that was common to the entire Mediterranean region.", "Archaeological excavations have suggested that the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops both occurred in the region during that period.", "In the Chalcolithic period, or the copper age, the Beaker culture reached the north coast of Morocco." ], [ "Early history", "=== Carthage (c. 800 – c. 300 BCE) ===Phoenician plate with red slip, 7th century BCE, excavated on Mogador Island, Essaouira.", "Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum.The arrival of Phoenicians on the Moroccan coast heralded many centuries of rule by foreign powers in the north of Morocco.", "Phoenician traders penetrated the western Mediterranean before the 8th century BCE, and soon after set up depots for salt and ore along the coast and up the rivers of the territory of present-day Morocco.", "Major early settlements of the Phoenicians included those at Chellah, Lixus and Mogador.", "Mogador is known to have been a Phoenician colony by the early 6th century BCE.By the 5th century BCE, the state of Carthage had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa.", "Carthage developed commercial relations with the Berber tribes of the interior, and paid them an annual tribute to ensure their cooperation in the exploitation of raw materials.===Mauretania (c. 300 BCE – c. 430 CE)===Roman coins excavated in Essaouira, 3rd century.Mauretania was an independent tribal Berber kingdom on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa, corresponding to northern modern-day Morocco from about the 3rd century BCE.", "The earliest known king of Mauretania was Baga who lived around 225 BC and possibly belonged to an older dynasty.", "Some of its earliest recorded history relates to Phoenician and Carthaginian settlements such as Lixus and Chellah.", "The Berber kings ruled inland territories overshadowing the coastal outposts of Carthage and Rome, often as satellites, allowing Roman rule to exist.", "It became a client of the Roman empire in 33 BCE, then a full province after Emperor Caligula had the last king, Ptolemy of Mauretania, executed (39 CE or 40).Rome controlled the vast, ill-defined territory through alliances with the tribes rather than through military occupation, expanding its authority only to those areas that were economically useful or that could be defended without additional manpower.", "Hence, Roman administration never extended outside the restricted area of the northern coastal plain and valleys.", "This strategic region formed part of the Roman Empire, governed as Mauretania Tingitana, with the city of Volubilis as its capital.Roman remains of VolubilisDuring the time of the Roman emperor Augustus, Mauretania was a vassal state, and its rulers, such as Juba II, controlled all the areas south of Volubilis.", "But the effective control of Roman legionaries reached as far as the area of Sala Colonia (the castra \"Exploratio Ad Mercurios\" south of Sala is the southernmost discovered up to now).", "Some historians believe the Roman frontier reached present-day Casablanca, known then as Anfa, which had been settled by the Romans as a port.During the reign of Juba II, the Augustus founded three colonies, with Roman citizens, in Mauretania close to the Atlantic coast: Iulia Constantia Zilil, Iulia Valentia Banasa, and Iulia Campestris Babba.", "Augustus would eventually found twelve colonies in the region.", "During that period, the area controlled by Rome experienced significant economic development, aided by the construction of Roman roads.", "The area was initially not completely under the control of Rome, and only in the mid-2nd century was a limes built south of Sala extending to Volubilis.", "Around 278 CE the Romans moved their regional capital to Tangier and Volubilis started to lose importance.Christianity was introduced to the region in the 2nd century CE, and gained converts in the towns and among slaves as well as among Berber farmers.", "By the end of the 4th century, the Romanized areas had been Christianized, and inroads had been made among the Berber tribes, who sometimes converted en masse.", "Schismatic and heretical movements also developed, usually as forms of political protest.", "The area had a substantial Jewish population as well." ], [ "Early Islamic Morocco (c. 700 – c. 743)", "The Maghreb after the Berber Revolt=== Muslim conquest (c. 700) ===The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, that started in the middle of the 7th century CE, was achieved in the early 8th century.", "It brought both the Arabic language and Islam to the area.", "Although part of the larger Islamic Empire, Morocco was initially organized as a subsidiary province of Ifriqiya, with the local governors appointed by the Muslim governor in Kairouan.The indigenous Berber tribes adopted Islam, but retained their customary laws.", "They also paid taxes and tribute to the new Muslim administration.=== Berber Revolt (740–743) ===In 740 CE, spurred on by puritanical Kharijite agitators, the native Berber population revolted against the ruling Umayyad Caliphate.", "The rebellion began among the Berber tribes of western Morocco, and spread quickly across the region.", "Although the insurrection petered out in 742 CE before it reached the gates of Kairouan, neither the Umayyad rulers in Damascus nor their Abbasid successors managed to re-impose their rule on the areas west of Ifriqiya.", "Morocco passed out of Umayyad and Abbasid control, and fragmented into a collection of small, independent Berber states such as Berghwata, Sijilmassa and Nekor, in addition to Tlemcen and Tahert in what is now western Algeria.", "The Berbers went on to shape their own version of Islam.", "Some, like the Banu Ifran, retained their connection with radical puritan Islamic sects, while others, like the Berghwata, constructed a new syncretic faith." ], [ "Barghawata (744–1058)", "The Barghawatas were a confederation of Berber groups inhabiting the Atlantic coast of Morocco, who belonged to the Masmuda Berber tribal division.", "After allying with the Sufri Kharijite rebellion in Morocco against the Umayyads, they established an independent state (CE 744 – 1058) in the area of Tamesna on the Atlantic coast between Safi and Salé under the leadership of Tarif al-Matghari." ], [ "Emirate of Sijilmasa (757–976)", "The Midrarid dynasty or Banu Midrar were a Berber dynasty that ruled the Tafilalt region and founded the city of Sijilmasa in 757.The Berber entrepot Sijilmassa along the trade routes of the Western Sahara, c. 1000–1500.Goldfields are indicated by light brown shading.Sijilmasa was a medieval Moroccan city and trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara desert.", "The ruins of the town lie for along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani.", "The town's history was marked by several successive invasions by Berber dynasties.", "Up until the 14th century, as the northern terminus for the western trans-Sahara trade route, it was one of the most important trade centres in the Maghreb during the Middle Ages." ], [ "Kingdom of Nekor (710–1019)", "The Kingdom of Nekor was an emirate centered in the Rif area of Morocco.", "Its capital was initially located at Temsaman, and then moved to Nekor.", "The polity was founded in 710 CE by Salih I ibn Mansur through a Caliphate grant.", "Under his guidance, the local Berber tribes adopted Islam, but later deposed him in favor of one az-Zaydi from the Nafza tribe.", "They subsequently changed their mind and reappointed Ibn Mansur.", "His dynasty, the Banū Sālih, thereafter ruled the region until 1019.In 859, the kingdom became subject to a 62 ship-strong group of Vikings, who defeated a Moorish force in Nekor that had attempted to interfere with their plunderings in the area.", "After staying for eight days in Morocco, the Vikings went back to Spain and continued up the east coast." ], [ "Idrisid dynasty (789–974)", "CE, showing its maximal extent.The Idrisid dynasty was a Muslim polity centered in Morocco, which ruled from 788 to 974.Named after the founder Idriss I, the great-grandchild of Hasan ibn Ali, the Idrisids are believed by some historians to be the founders of the first Moroccan state.=== Founders of the Idrisid state: Idris I and Idris II ===By the second half of the 8th century the westernmost regions of the Maghreb, including present-day Morocco, had been effectively independent of the Umayyad Caliphate since the Khariji-led Berber revolts that started in 739–740.The Abbasid Caliphate after 750 had no more success in re-establishing control over Morocco.", "The overthrow of eastern authority meant that Morocco was controlled by various local Berber tribes and principalities which emerged around this time, such as the Barghwata Confederacy on the Atlantic coast and the Midrarid Emirate in Sijilmasa.The founder of the Idrisid dynasty was Idris ibn Abdallah (788–791), who traced his ancestry back to Ali ibn Abi Talib (died 661) and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.", "He was the great-grandchild of Hasan ibn Ali.", "After the Battle of Fakhkh, near Mecca, between the Abbasids and supporters of the descendants of the prophet Muhammad, Idris ibn Abdallah fled to the Maghreb.", "He first arrived in Tangier, the most important city of Morocco at the time, and by 788 he had settled in Volubilis (known as Walili in Arabic).The powerful Awraba Berbers of Volubilis took in Idris and made him their 'imam' (religious leader).", "The Awraba tribe had supported Kusayla in his struggle against the Ummayad armies in the 670s and 680s.", "By the second half of the 8th century they had settled in northern Morocco, where their leader Ishak had his base in the Roman town of Volubilis.", "By this time the Awraba were already Muslim, but lived in an area where most tribes were either Christian, Jewish, Khariji or pagan.", "The Awraba seem to have welcomed a Sharifi imam as a way to strengthen their political position.", "Idris I, who was very active in the political organization of the Awraba, began by asserting his authority and working toward the subjugation of the Christian and Jewish tribes.", "In 789 he founded a settlement south east of Volubilis, called ''Medinat Fas''.", "In 791 Idris I was poisoned and killed by an Abbasid agent.", "Even though he left no male heir, shortly after his death, his wife Lalla Kanza bint Uqba al-Awrabi, bore him his only son and successor, Idris II.", "Idris' loyal Arab ex-slave and companion Rashid brought up the boy and took on himself the regency of the state, on behalf of the Awraba.", "In 801 Rashid was killed by the Abbasids.", "In the following year, at the age of 11 years, Idris II was proclaimed imam by the Awraba.Even though he had spread his authority across much of northern Morocco, as far west as Tlemcen, Idris I had been completely dependent on the Awraba leadership.", "Idris II began his rule with the weakening of Awraba power by welcoming Arab settlers in Walili and by appointing two Arabs as his ''vizier'' and ''qadi''.", "Thus he transformed himself from a protégé of the Awraba into their sovereign.", "The Awraba leader Ishak responded by plotting against his life with the Aghlabids of Tunisia.", "Idris reacted by having his former protector Ishak killed, and in 809 moved his seat of government from the Awraba dominated Walili to Fes, where he founded a new settlement named Al-'Aliya.", "Idris II (791–828) developed the city of Fez, established earlier by his father as a Berber market town.", "Here he welcomed two waves of Arab immigration: one in 818 from Cordoba and another in 824 from Aghlabid Tunisia, giving Fes a more Arab character than other Maghrebi cities.", "When Idris II died in 828, the Idrisid state spanned from western Algeria to the Sous in southern Morocco and had become the leading state of Morocco, ahead of the principalities of Sijilmasa, Barghawata and Nekor which remained outside their control.=== The successors of Idris II ===Idrisid dirham, minted at al-'Aliyah (Fes), Morocco, 840 CE.", "The coin features the name of Ali: a son-in-law of Muhammad, the fourth Caliph, and an ancestor of the Idrisids.\|alt=Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes, established by Fatima al-Fihri in the 9th centuryThe dynasty's power would slowly decline following Idris II's death.", "Under his son and successor Muhammad (828–836) the kingdom was divided amongst seven of his brothers, whereby eight Idrisid statelets formed in Morocco and western Algeria.", "Muhammad himself came to rule Fes, with only nominal power over his brothers.", "His brother Isa, who was given control of the coastal Tamesna regions near the Bou Regreg from his base at Chellah, quickly revolted against him.", "Muhammad entrusted his brother Umar, who had received the territories around the Rif, to punish Isa.", "Umar successfully drove Isa from power, who was forced to take refuge in Chellah, and then turned north to punish his other brother al-Qasim at Tangier because he had earlier refused to join him and Muhammad against Isa.", "Al-Qasim fled to Asilah and settled nearby, while Muhammad gave Umar governorship of Tangier as a reward.", "Upon Umar's death in September or October 835 his son Ali ibn Umar was granted all of his father's domains in turn.", "Muhammad himself died seven months later in the March or April 836.His son Ali ibn Muhammad inherited his position and ruled for 13 years (836–849) in a competent manner, ensuring the stability of the state.", "After his death in 849 he was succeeded by his brother Yahya ibn Muhammad (or Yahya I), who also enjoyed a peaceful reign.During this time Islamic and Arabic culture gained a stronghold in the towns and Morocco profited from the trans-Saharan trade, which came to be dominated by Muslim (mostly Berber) traders.", "The city of Fes also flourished and became an important religious center.", "During Yahya's reign more Arab immigrants arrived and the famous mosques of al-Qarawiyyin and al-Andalusiyyin were founded.", "Even so, the Islamic and Arabic culture only made its influence felt in the towns, with the vast majority of Morocco's population still using the Berber languages and often adhering to Islamic heterodox and heretical doctrines.", "The Idrisids were principally rulers of the towns and had little power over the majority of the country's population.=== Decline of the Idrisids and rise of Zenata dominance ===After the death of Yahya I in 863 he was succeeded by his less competent son, Yahya II, who divided up the Idrisid realm yet again among the extended families.", "Yahya II died in uncertain circumstances in 866 after fleeing his palace.", "After an episode of disorder in Fes his cousin Ali ibn Umar took over power.", "In 868, under the leadership of the Abd al-Razzaq the Berber Khariji Sufri tribes of Madyuna, Ghayata and Miknasa of the Fes region formed a common front against the Idrisids.", "From their base in Sefrou they were able to defeat Ali ibn Umar and occupy Fes.", "Fes refused to submit, however, and another Yahya, the son of al-Qasim, was able to retake the city and establish himself as the new ruler, Yahya III.", "Thus the ruling line had passed from the sons of Muhammad to the son of Umar and now the sons of al-Qasim.Yahya III ruled over the entire Idrisid realm and continued to attack the Sufris.", "In 905 however he died in battle against another family member, Yahya ibn Idris ibn Umar (a grandson of Umar), who then took power as Yahya IV.", "At this point, however, the Fatimids in the east began to intervene in Morocco, hoping to expand their influence.", "In 917 the Miknasa and its leader Masala ibn Habus, acting on behalf of their Fatimid allies, attacked Fes and forced Yahya IV to recognize Fatimid suzerainty, before deposing him in 919 or 921.He was succeeded by his cousin Musa ibn Abul 'Afiya, who had already been given charge over the rest of the country.", "The Idrisid Hassan I al-Hajam, a grandson of al-Qasim, managed to wrest control of Fez from 925 but in 927 Musa returned, captured Hassan and killed him, marking the last time the Idrisids held power in Fes.From Fes, the Miknasa began pursuing the Idrisid family across Morocco.", "The family took refuge at the fortress of Hajar an-Nasr in northern Morocco, where the Miknasa besieged them.", "Soon after, however, civil war broke out among the Miknasa when Musa switched allegiance to the Umayyads of Cordoba in 931 in an attempt to gain more independence.", "The Fatimids sent Humayd ibn Yasal (or Hamid), the nephew of Masala ibn Habus, to confront Musa, defeating him in 933 and forcing him to fall back into line.", "The Idrisids took advantage of the situation to break the siege of their fortress and defeat the Mikanasa Zenata troops.", "Once the Fatimids were gone, however, Musa once again threw off their authority and recognized the Umayyad caliph.", "The Fatimids sent their general Maysur to confront him again, and this time he fled.", "He was pursued and killed by the Idrisids.After this Idrisids settled among the Jbala tribes in the Rif region of north-west Morocco where they partially rebuilt their power base from Hajar an-Nasr, alternately acknowledging either the Umayyads of Cordoba (under Abd ar-Rahman III) or the Fatimids as overlords.", "Al-Qasim al-Gannoun ibn Muhammad ruled here from 938 until 948 in the name of the Fatimids.", "His son and successor, Ahmad, known as Abul-'Aysh, recognized the Umayyads instead but ran afoul of them when he refused to let them occupy Tangier.", "He was besieged there and forced to retreat, retaining only the areas around al-Basra and Asilah while the Umayyads occupied the rest of northern Morocco.", "He eventually left for Al-Andalus, leaving his brother Hasan ibn al-Qasim al-Gannoun as the new leader in 954.In 958 the Fatimids sent a new general, Jawhar, to invade Morocco.", "His success forced the Idrisids to again accept Fatimid overlordship.", "Soon afterwards, however, when Jawhar and the Fatimids were busy taking control of Egypt, the Umayyads made a comeback.", "In 973 their general, Ghalib, invaded Morocco.", "The Idrisids were expelled from their territories and al-Hasan, along with many other Idrisids or their sons, were taken as hostages to Cordoba in 974.The remaining Idrisids in Morocco acknowledged Umayyad rule.", "Al-Hasan was later expelled from Cordoba and fled to Egypt, which was now under Fatimid rule.", "In 979 Buluggin ibn Ziri, the Fatimid governor of Ifriqiya (after the Fatimid Caliphs had their capital to Cairo), returned to defeat the Umayyads and impose Fatimid overlordship in the western Maghreb again.", "In 985 he returned to Morocco with Fatimid support, but that same year he was defeated by another Umayyad general sent by al-Mansur and then assassinated on the way to Cordoba.", "This brought a final end to the Idrisid dynasty.", "The Umayyads kept control over northern Morocco until their caliphate's collapse in the early 11th century.", "Following this, Morocco was dominated by various Zenata Berber tribes.", "Until the rise of the Sanhaja Almoravids later in the century, the Maghrawa controlled Fes, Sijilmasa and Aghmat while the Banu Ifran ruled over Tlemcen, Salé (Chellah), and the Tadla region.Despite having fallen from power, the Idrisids nonetheless spawned many sharifian families which continued to be present for centuries to come.", "Some Moroccans today still claim descent from them.", "In the 11th century an Idrisid family descended from Umar (son of Idris II), the Hammudids were able to gain power in several cities of northern Morocco and southern Spain.", "In Fes and in the town of Moulay Idriss (near Volubilis), the tombs of Idris II and Idris I, respectively, eventually developed into important religious complexes and pilgrimage sites (e.g.", "the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II).", "Several prominent sharifian families in Fez traced their lineages to Idris I, and some of these played a role in maintaining or rebuilding the Zawiya of Idris II in the city." ], [ "Almoravid dynasty (c. 1060 – 1147)", "The Almoravid empire at its height stretched from the city of Aoudaghost to the Zaragoza in Al-AndalusThe Almoravid Qubba, built by the Almoravids in the 12th century.The Almoravid dynasty (c.1060–1147) originated among the Lamtuna nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Sanhaja.", "They succeeded in unifying Morocco after it had been divided among several Zenata principalities in the late 10th century, and annexed the Emirate of Sijilmasa and the Barghawata (Tamesna) into their realm.Under Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the Almoravids were invited by the Muslim ''taifa'' princes of Al-Andalus to defend their territories from the Christian kingdoms.", "Their involvement was crucial in preventing the fall of Al-Andalus.", "After having succeeded in repelling Christian forces in 1086, Yusuf returned to Iberia in 1090 and annexed most of the major ''taifas''.Almoravid power began to decline in the first half of the 12th century, as the dynasty was weakened after its defeat at the battle of Ourique and because of the agitation of the Almohads.", "The conquest of the city of Marrakech by the Almohads in 1147 marked the fall of the dynasty.", "However, fragments of the Almoravids (the Banu Ghaniya) continued to struggle in the Balearic Islands and in Tunisia.The Berbers of the Tamazgha in the early Middle Ages could be roughly classified into three major groups: the Zenata across the north, the Masmuda concentrated in central Morocco, and the Sanhaja, clustered in two areas: the western part of the Sahara and the hills of the eastern Maghreb.", "The eastern Sanhaja included the Kutama Berbers, who had been the base of the Fatimid rise in the early 10th century, and the Zirid dynasty, who ruled Ifriqiya as vassals of the Fatimids after the latter moved to Egypt in 972.The western Sanhaja were divided into several tribes: the Gazzula and the Lamta in the Draa valley and the foothills of the Anti-Atlas range; further south, encamped in the western Sahara, were the Massufa, the Lamtuna and the Banu Warith; and most southerly of all, the Gudala, in littoral Mauritania down to the borderlands of the Senegal River.The western Sanhaja had been converted to Islam some time in the 9th century.", "They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the \"Sudanese\" (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa).", "Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Awdaghust, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route.", "After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdagust passed over to the Ghana empire; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmassa.", "The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys.", "Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years.Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca.", "On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fes and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school.", "At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment.", "The Zirid ruler al-Muizz ibn Badis, was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and the jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so.", "Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people.", "With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ''ribat'' of Waggag ibn Zelu in the Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people.", "Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin.Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim.", "His name can be read as \"son of Ya Sin\" (the title of the 36th Sura of the Qur'an), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was \"re-born\" of the Holy Book.", "Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Qur'an, and the Orthodox tradition.", "(Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.)", "Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Gudala people went poorly.", "As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience.", "He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for the slightest deviations.", "The Gudala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s.Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people.", "Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people.", "The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on a careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them.", "Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it.", "In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as \"opposition\".", "He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle.", "He believed it was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so.", "For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions.", "In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves the ''al-Murabitin'' (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause." ], [ "Almohads (c. 1121–1269)", "The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century.", "At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb).", "The Almohad doctrine was founded by Ibn Tumart among the Berber Masmuda tribes, a Berber tribal confederation of the Atlas Mountains of southern Morocco.", "At the time, Morocco, western Algeria and Spain (al-Andalus), were under the rule of the Almoravids, a Sanhaja Berber dynasty.", "Around 1120, Ibn Tumart first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains.Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, and thereafter to Baghdad to deepen them.", "In Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school of al-Ash'ari, and came under the influence of the teacher al-Ghazali.", "He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters.", "Ibn Tumart's main principle was a strict unitarianism (''tawhid''), which denied the independent existence of the attributes of God as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea.", "Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived as anthropomorphism in Muslim orthodoxy.", "His followers would become known as the ''al-Muwaḥḥidūn'' (\"Almohads\"), meaning those who affirm the unity of God.Around 1124, Ibn Tumart erected the ribat of Tinmel, in the valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas, an impregnable fortified complex, which would serve both as the spiritual center and military headquarters of the Almohad movement.", "For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along the peaks and ravines of the High Atlas.", "In early 1130, the Almohads finally descended from the mountains for their first sizeable attack in the lowlands.", "It was a disaster.", "The Almohads swept aside an Almoravid column that had come out to meet them before Aghmat, and then chased their remnant all the way to Marrakesh.", "They laid siege to Marrakesh for forty days until, in April (or May) 1130, the Almoravids sallied from the city and crushed the Almohads in the bloody Battle of al-Buhayra (named after a large garden east of the city).", "The Almohads were thoroughly routed, with huge losses.", "Half their leadership was killed in action, and the survivors only just managed to scramble back to the mountains.Ibn Tumart died shortly after, in August 1130.That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to the skills of his successor, Abd al-Mu'min.", "Ibn Tumart's death was kept a secret for three years, a period which Almohad chroniclers described as a ''ghayba'' or \"occultation\".", "This period likely gave Abd al-Mu'min time to secure his position as successor to the political leadership of the movement.", "Although a Zenata Berber from Tagra (Algeria), and thus an alien among the Masmuda of southern Morocco, Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw off his principal rivals and hammered wavering tribes back to the fold.", "Three years after Ibn Tumart's death he was officially proclaimed \"Caliph\".===Conquests===Abd al-Mu'min then came forward as the lieutenant of the Mahdi Ibn Tumart.", "Between 1130 and his death in 1163, Abd al-Mu'min not only rooted out the Murabits (Almoravids), but extended his power over all northern Africa as far as Egypt, becoming amir of Marrakesh in 1149.Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa.", "Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually wrested control from the Murabits over the Moorish principalities in Iberia.", "The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia from Córdoba to Seville.", "They founded a great mosque there; its tower, the Giralda, was erected in 1184 to mark the accession of Ya'qub I.", "The Almohads also built a palace there called Al-Muwarak on the site of the modern day Alcázar of Seville.The Almohads transferred the capital of Al-Andalus to Seville.The Almohad princes had a longer and more distinguished career than the Murabits.", "The successors of Abd al-Mumin, Abu Yaqub Yusuf (Yusuf I, ruled 1163–1184) and Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur (Yaʻqūb I, ruled 1184–1199), were both able men.", "Initially their government drove many Jewish and Christian subjects to take refuge in the growing Christian states of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon.", "Ultimately they became less fanatical than the Murabits, and Ya'qub al-Mansur was a highly accomplished man who wrote a good Arabic style and protected the philosopher Averroes.", "His title of \"''al-Manṣūr''\" (\"the Victorious\") was earned by his victory over Alfonso VIII of Castile in the Battle of Alarcos (1195).From the time of Yusuf II, however, the Almohads governed their co-religionists in Iberia and central North Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outside Morocco being treated as provinces.", "When Almohad emirs crossed the Straits it was to lead a jihad against the Christians and then return to Morocco.===Holding years===Coin minted during the reign of Abu Yaqub YusufIn 1212, the Almohad Caliph Muhammad 'al-Nasir' (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian kings of Castile, Aragón, Navarre, and Portugal, at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena.", "The battle broke the Almohad advance, but the Christian powers remained too disorganized to profit from it immediately.Before his death in 1213, al-Nasir appointed his young ten-year-old son as the next caliph Yusuf II \"al-Mustansir\".", "The Almohads passed through a period of effective regency for the young caliph, with power exercised by an oligarchy of elder family members, palace bureaucrats and leading nobles.", "The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years (the loss of Alcácer do Sal to the Kingdom of Portugal in 1217 was an exception).In early 1224, the youthful caliph died in an accident, without any heirs.", "The palace bureaucrats in Marrakesh, led by the ''wazir'' Uthman ibn Jam'i, quickly engineered the election of his elderly grand-uncle, Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu', as the new Almohad caliph.", "But the rapid appointment upset other branches of the family, notably the brothers of the late al-Nasir, who governed in al-Andalus.", "The challenge was immediately raised by one of them, then governor in Murcia, who declared himself Caliph Abdallah al-Adil.", "With the help of his brothers, he quickly seized control of al-Andalus.", "His chief advisor, the shadowy Abu Zayd ibn Yujjan, tapped into his contacts in Marrakesh, and secured the deposition and assassination of Abd al-Wahid I, and the expulsion of the al-Jami'i clan.This coup has been characterized as the pebble that finally broke al-Andalus.", "It was the first internal coup among the Almohads.", "The Almohad clan, despite occasional disagreements, had always remained tightly knit and loyally behind dynastic precedence.", "Caliph al-Adil's murderous breach of dynastic and constitutional propriety marred his acceptability to other Almohad ''sheikhs''.", "One of the recusants was his cousin, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi (\"the Baezan\"), the Almohad governor of Jaén, who took a handful of followers and decamped for the hills around Baeza.", "He set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quiet Ferdinand III of Castile.", "Sensing his greater priority was Marrakesh, where recusant Almohad ''sheikh''s had rallied behind Yahya, another son of al-Nasir, al-Adil paid little attention to this little band of misfits.=== Reconquista ===In 1225, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi's band of rebels, accompanied by a large Castilian army, descended from the hills, besieging cities such as Jaén and Andújar.", "They raided throughout the regions of Jaén, Cordova and Vega de Granada and, before the end of the year, al-Bayyasi had established himself in the city of Cordova.", "Sensing a power vacuum, both Alfonso IX of León and Sancho II of Portugal opportunistically ordered raids into Andalusian territory that same year.", "With Almohad arms, men and cash dispatched to Morocco to help Caliph al-Adil impose himself in Marrakesh, there was little means to stop the sudden onslaught.", "In late 1225, with surprising ease, the Portuguese raiders reached the environs of Seville.", "Knowing they were outnumbered, the Almohad governors of the city refused to confront the Portuguese raiders, prompting the disgusted population of Seville to take matters into their own hands, raise a militia, and go out in the field by themselves.", "The result was a veritable massacre – the Portuguese men-at-arms easily mowed down the throng of poorly armed townsfolk.", "Thousands, perhaps as much as 20,000, were said to have been slain before the walls of Seville.", "A similar disaster befell a similar popular levy by Murcians at Aspe that same year.", "But Christian raiders had been stopped at Cáceres and Requena.", "Trust in the Almohad leadership was severely shaken by these events – the disasters were promptly blamed on the distractions of Caliph al-Adil and the incompetence and cowardice of his lieutenants, the successes credited to non-Almohad local leaders who rallied defenses.But al-Adil's fortunes were briefly buoyed.", "In payment for Castilian assistance, al-Bayyasi had given Ferdinand III three strategic frontier fortresses: Baños de la Encina, Salvatierra (the old Order of Calatrava fortress near Ciudad Real) and Capilla.", "But Capilla refused to hand them over, forcing the Castilians to lay a long and difficult siege.", "The brave defiance of little Capilla, and the spectacle of al-Bayyasi's shipping provisions to the Castilian besiegers, shocked Andalusians and shifted sentiment back towards the Almohad caliph.", "A popular uprising broke out in Cordova – al-Bayyasi was killed and his head dispatched as a trophy to Marrakesh.", "But Caliph al-Adil did not rejoice in this victory for long – he was assassinated in Marrakesh in October 1227, by the partisans of Yahya, who was promptly acclaimed as the new Almohad caliph Yahya \"al-Mu'tasim\".The Andalusian branch of the Almohads refused to accept this turn of events.", "Al-Adil's brother, then in Seville, proclaimed himself the new Almohad caliph Abd al-Ala Idris I 'al-Ma'mun'.", "He promptly purchased a truce from Ferdinand III in return for 300,000 ''maravedis'', allowing him to organize and dispatch the greater part of the Almohad army in Spain across the straits in 1228 to confront Yahya.That same year, Portuguese and Leonese renewed their raids deep into Muslim territory, basically unchecked.", "Feeling the Almohads had failed to protect them, popular uprisings took place throughout al-Andalus.", "City after city deposed their hapless Almohad governors and installed local strongmen in their place.", "A Murcian strongman, Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Hud al-Judhami, who claimed descendance from the Banu Hud dynasty that had once ruled the old taifa of Saragossa, emerged as the central figure of these rebellions, systematically dislodging Almohad garrisons through central Spain.", "In October 1228, with Spain practically all lost, al-Ma'mun abandoned Seville, taking what little remained of the Almohad army with him to Morocco.", "Ibn Hud immediately dispatched emissaries to distant Baghdad to offer recognition to the Abbasid Caliph, albeit taking up for himself a quasi-caliphal title, 'al-Mutawwakil'.Almohads after 1212The departure of al-Ma'mun in 1228 marked the end of the Almohad era in Spain.", "Ibn Hud and the other local Andalusian strongmen were unable to stem the rising flood of Christian attacks, launched almost yearly by Sancho II of Portugal, Alfonso IX of León, Ferdinand III of Castile and James I of Aragon.", "The next twenty years saw a massive advance in the Christian reconquista – the old great Andalusian citadels fell in a grand sweep: Mérida and Badajoz in 1230 (to Leon), Majorca in 1230 (to Aragon), Beja in 1234 (to Portugal), Cordova in 1236 (to Castile), Valencia in 1238 (to Aragon), Niebla-Huelva in 1238 (to Leon), Silves in 1242 (to Portugal), Murcia in 1243 (to Castile), Jaén in 1246 (to Castile), Alicante in 1248 (to Castile), culminating in the fall of the greatest of Andalusian cities, the ex-Almohad capital of Seville, into Christian hands in 1248.Ferdinand III of Castile entered Seville as a conqueror on 22 December 1248.The Andalusians were helpless before this onslaught.", "Ibn Hudd had attempted to check the Leonese advance early on, but most of his Andalusian army was destroyed at the battle of Alange in 1230.Ibn Hud scrambled to move remaining arms and men to save threatened or besieged Andalusian citadels, but with so many attacks at once, it was a hopeless endeavor.", "After Ibn Hud's death in 1238, some of the Andalusian cities, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves, offered themselves once again to the Almohads, but to no avail.", "The Almohads would not return.With the departure of the Almohads, the Nasrid dynasty (\"''Banū Naṣr''\", ) rose to power in Granada.", "After the great Christian advance of 1228–1248, the Emirate of Granada was practically all that remained of old al-Andalus.", "Some of the captured citadels (e.g.", "Murcia, Jaen, Niebla) were reorganized as tributary vassals for a few more years, but most were annexed by the 1260s.", "Granada alone would remain independent for an additional 250 years, flourishing as the new center of al-Andalus.===Collapse in the Maghreb===In their African holdings, the Almohads encouraged the establishment of Christians even in Fez, and after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa they occasionally entered into alliances with the kings of Castile.", "They were successful in expelling the garrisons placed in some of the coast towns by the Norman kings of Sicily.", "The history of their decline differs from that of the Almoravids, whom they had displaced.", "They were not assailed by a great religious movement, but lost territories, piecemeal, by the revolt of tribes and districts.", "Their most effective enemies were the Banu Marin (Marinids) who founded the next dynasty.", "The last representative of the line, Idris II, 'al-Wathiq', was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269." ], [ "Marinids dynasty (c. 1244–1465)", "The Marinid Sultanate in 1360Although the Marinids claimed Arab ancestry through a North Arabian tribe, they were of Berber origin.", "Following the arrival of the Arab Bedouins in North Africa in the middle of the eleventh century, the Marinids were obliged to leave their lands in the region of Biskra, in present-day Algeria.", "They first frequented the area between Sijilmasa and Figuig, present-day Morocco, at times reaching as far as the , present-day Algeria.", "They would move seasonally from the Figuig oasis to the Moulouya River basin.", "Following the arrival of Arab tribes in the area in the 11th-12th centuries, the Marinids moved to the north-west of present-day Algeria, before entering ''en-masse'' into Morocco by the beginning of the 13th century.The Marinids took their name from their ancestor, Marin ibn Wartajan al-Zenati.===Rise===After arriving in present-day Morocco, they initially submitted to the Almohad dynasty, which was at the time the ruling house.", "After successfully contributing to the Battle of Alarcos, in central Spain, the tribe started to assert itself as a political power.", "Starting in 1213, they began to tax farming communities of today's north-eastern Morocco (the area between Nador and Berkane).", "The relationship between them and the Almohads became strained and starting in 1215, there were regular outbreaks of fighting between the two parties.", "In 1217, they tried to occupy the eastern part of present-day Morocco, but they were expelled, pulling back and settling in the eastern Rif mountains where they remained for nearly 30 years.", "During their stay in the Rif, the Almohad state suffered huge blows, losing large territories to the Christians in Spain, while the Hafsids of Ifriqia broke away in 1229, followed by the Zayyanid dynasty of Tlemcen in 1235.Between 1244 and 1248 the Marinids were able to take Taza, Rabat, Salé, Meknes and Fez from the weakened Almohads.", "The Marinid leadership installed in Fes declared war on the Almohads, fighting with the aid of Christian mercenaries.", "Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1259–1286) captured Marrakech in 1269.===Apogee===After the Nasrids of Granada ceded the town of Algeciras to the Marinids, Abu Yusuf went to Al-Andalus to support the ongoing struggle against the Kingdom of Castile.", "The Marinid dynasty then tried to extend its control to include the commercial traffic of the Strait of Gibraltar.It was in this period that the Spanish Christians were first able to take the fighting to mainland present-day Morocco: in 1260 and 1267 they attempted an invasion, but both attempts were defeated.", "After gaining a foothold in Spain, the Marinids became active in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Iberia.", "To gain absolute control of the trade in the Strait of Gibraltar, from their base at Algeciras they started the conquest of several Spanish towns: by the year 1294 they had occupied Rota, Tarifa and Gibraltar.In 1276 they founded Fes Jdid, which they made their administrative and military centre.", "While Fes had been a prosperous city throughout the Almohad period, even becoming the largest city in the world during that time, it was in the Marinid period that Fes reached its golden age, a period which marked the beginning of an official, historical narrative for the city.", "It is from the Marinid period that Fes' reputation as an important intellectual centre largely dates, they established the first madrasas in the city and country.", "The principal monuments in the medina, the residences and public buildings, date from the Marinid period.Despite internal infighting, Abu Said Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) initiated huge construction projects across the land.", "Several madrasas were built, the Al-Attarine Madrasa being the most famous.", "The building of these madrasas were necessary to create a dependent bureaucratic class, in order to undermine the marabouts and Sharifian elements.The Marinids also strongly influenced the policy of the Emirate of Granada, from which they enlarged their army in 1275.In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Castile made several incursions into their territory.", "In 1260, Castilian forces raided Salé and, in 1267, initiated a full-scale invasion, but the Marinids repelled them.At the height of their power, during the rule of Abu al-Hasan Ali (r. 1331–1348), the Marinid army was large and disciplined.", "It consisted of 40,000 Zenata cavalry, while Arab nomads contributed to the cavalry and Andalusians were included as archers.", "The personal bodyguard of the sultan consisted of 7,000 men, and included Christian, Kurdish and Black African elements.", "Under Abu al-Hasan another attempt was made to reunite the Maghreb.", "In 1337 the Abdalwadid kingdom of Tlemcen was conquered, followed in 1347 by the defeat of the Hafsid empire in Ifriqiya, which made him master of a huge territory, which spanned from southern present-day Morocco to Tripoli.", "However, within the next year, a revolt of Arab tribes in southern Tunisia made them lose their eastern territories.", "The Marinids had already suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a Portuguese-Castilian coalition in the Battle of Río Salado in 1340, and finally had to withdraw from Andalusia, only holding on to Algeciras until 1344.In 1348 Abu al-Hasan was deposed by his son Abu Inan Faris, who tried to reconquer Algeria and Tunisia.", "Despite several successes, he was strangled by his own vizir in 1358, after which the dynasty began to decline.===Decline===After the death of Abu Inan Faris in 1358, the real power lay with the viziers, while the Marinid sultans were paraded and forced to succeed each other in quick succession.", "The county was divided and political anarchy set in, with different viziers and foreign powers supporting different factions.", "In 1359 Hintata tribesmen from the High Atlas came down and occupied Marrakesh, capital of their Almohad ancestors, which they would govern independently until 1526.To the south of Marrakesh, Sufi mystics claimed autonomy, and in the 1370s Azemmour broke off under a coalition of merchants and Arab clan leaders of the Banu Sabih.", "To the east, the Zianid and Hafsid families reemerged and to the north, the Europeans were taking advantage of this instability by attacking the coast.", "Meanwhile, unruly wandering Arab Bedouin tribes increasingly spread anarchy, which accelerated the decline of the empire.Portuguese possessions in Morocco (1415-1769)In the 15th century, it was hit by a financial crisis, after which the state had to stop financing the different marabouts and Sharifian families, which had previously been useful instruments in controlling different tribes.", "The political support of these marabouts and Sharifians halted, and it splintered into different entities.", "In 1399 Tetouan was taken and its population was massacred and in 1415 the Portuguese captured Ceuta.", "After the sultan Abdalhaqq II (1421–1465) tried to break the power of the Wattasids, he was executed.Marinid rulers after 1420 came under the control of the Wattasids, who exercised a regency as Abd al-Haqq II became Sultan one year after his birth.", "The Wattasids however refused to give up the Regency after Abd al-Haqq came to age.In 1459, Abd al-Haqq II managed a massacre of the Wattasid family, breaking their power.", "His reign, however, brutally ended as he was murdered during the 1465 revolt.", "This event saw the end of the Marinid dynasty as Muhammad ibn Ali Amrani-Joutey, leader of the Sharifs, was proclaimed Sultan in Fes.", "He was in turn overthrown in 1471 by Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya, one of the two the surviving Wattasids from the 1459 massacre, who instigated the Wattasid dynasty." ], [ "Wattasid dynasty (c. 1472–1554)", "Map of the Wattasid sultanate (dark red) and its vassal states (light red)Morocco was in decline when the Berber Wattasids assumed power.", "The Wattasid family had been the autonomous governors of the eastern Rif since the late 13th century, ruling from their base in Tazouta (near present-day Nador).", "They had close ties to the Marinid sultans and provided many of the bureaucratic elite.", "While the Marinid dynasty tried to repel the Portuguese and Spanish invasions and help the kingdom of Granada to outlive the Reconquista, the Wattasids accumulated absolute power through political maneuvering.", "When the Marinids became aware of the extent of the conspiracy, they slaughtered the Wattasids, leaving only Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya alive.", "He went on to found the Kingdom of Fez and establish the dynasty to be succeeded by his son, Mohammed al-Burtuqali, in 1504.The Wattasid rulers failed in their promise to protect Morocco from foreign incursions and the Portuguese increased their presence on Morocco's coast.", "Mohammad al-Chaykh's son attempted to capture Asilah and Tangier in 1508, 1511 and 1515, but without success.In the south, a new dynasty arose, the Saadian dynasty, which seized Marrakesh in 1524 and made it their capital.", "By 1537 the Saadis were in the ascendent when they defeated the Portuguese Empire at Agadir.", "Their military successes contrast with the Wattasid policy of conciliation towards the Catholic kings to the north.As a result, the people of Morocco tended to regard the Saadians as heroes, making it easier for them to retake the Portuguese strongholds on the coast, including Tangiers, Ceuta and Maziɣen.", "The Saadians also attacked the Wattasids who were forced to yield to the new power.", "In 1554, as Wattasid towns surrendered, the Wattasid sultan, Ali Abu Hassun, briefly retook Fez.", "The Saadis quickly settled the matter by killing him and, as the last Wattasids fled Morocco by ship, they too were murdered by pirates.The Wattasid did little to improve general conditions in Morocco following the ''Reconquista''.", "It was necessary to wait for the Saadians for order to be reestablished and the expansionist ambitions of the kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula to be curbed." ], [ "Saadi dynasty (1549–1659)", "Extent of the Saadian empire at the beginning of the 17th centuryThe city of Aït Benhaddou photographed in the eveningBeginning in 1549, the region was ruled by successive Arab dynasties known as the Sharifian dynasties, who claimed descent from the prophet Muhammad.", "The first of these polities was the Saadi dynasty, which ruled Morocco from 1549 to 1659.From 1509 to 1549, the Saadi rulers had control of only the southern areas.", "While still recognizing the Wattasids as Sultans until 1528, Saadians' growing power led the Wattasids to attack them and, after an indecisive battle, to recognize their rule over southern Morocco through the Treaty of Tadla.In 1590, Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur sent an expedition to the Songhai Empire, which resulted in a victory and collapse of the empire, Pashalik of Timbuktu was established to take control over the territory centered on Timbuktu.In 1659, Mohammed al-Hajj ibn Abu Bakr al-Dila'i, the head of the zaouia of Dila, was proclaimed sultan of Morocco after the fall of the Saadi dynasty." ], [ "Republic of Salé (1624–1668)", "The ancient harbor at the Bou Regreg, taken from Salé facing RabatThe republic traces its origins back to the beginning of the 17th century, with the arrival of approximately 3,000 wealthy Moriscos from Hornachos in western Spain, who anticipated the 1609 expulsion edicts ordered by Philip III of Spain.", "After 1609, approximately 10,000 down-and-out expelled Moriscos arrived from Spain.", "Cultural and language differences between the native Saletin people and the Morisco refugees led the newcomers to settle in the old medina of Rabat, on the opposite bank of the Bou Regreg.Pirates based on the western bank thrived and expanded their operations throughout the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.", "In 1624, the Dutchman Jan Janszoon (also known as Murad Reis) became the \"Grand Admiral\" and President of the Corsair Republic of Salé.A cannon from the republican era in SaléAfter Janszoon left Salé in 1627, the Moriscos ceased to recognize the authority of the Sultan Zidan al-Nasir, and refused to pay his tithe on their incomes.", "They proclaimed a Republic, ruled by a council or ''Diwan'', a sort of government cabinet formed by 12 to 14 notable people whose members annually elected a Governor and a ''Captain General of the Fortalesa'' during the month of May.", "In the early years of the republic (between 1627 and 1630), the ''Diwan'' was controlled only by Hornacheros, whose grip on power was resented by the growing population of non-Hornachero Moriscos, called Andalusians.", "After bloody clashes in 1630, an agreement was reached: the election of a ''Qaid'' by Andalusians and a new ''Diwan'' of 16 members of whom 8 were Andalusians and 8 Hornacheros.In 1641 the Zaouia of Dila, which controlled much of Morocco, imposed a religious hegemony over Salé and its parent republic.", "By the early 1660s the republic was embroiled in civil war with the zawiya, and eventually Sultan Al-Rashid of Morocco of the Alaouite dynasty, which still rules Morocco into the 21st century, seized Rabat and Salé, ending its independence.", "It ended up under the control of the Sultan of Morocco after 1668, when Moulay al Rashid finally vanquished the Dilaites." ], [ "Alaouite dynasty (since 1666)", "Admiral Abdelkader Perez was sent by Ismail Ibn Sharif as an ambassador to England in 1723.The Alaouite dynasty is the current Moroccan royal family.", "The name Alaouite comes from the ''‘Alī'' of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, whose descendant Sharif ibn Ali became Prince of Tafilalt in 1631.His son Mulay Al-Rashid (1664–1672) was able to unite and pacify the country.", "The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimah az-Zahrah and her husband ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib.The kingdom was consolidated by Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727), who began to create a unified state in the face of opposition from local tribes .", "Since the Alaouites, in contrast to previous dynasties, did not have the support of a single Berber or Bedouin tribe, Isma'īl controlled Morocco through an army of slaves.", "With these soldiers he reoccupied Tangiers in 1684 after the English abandoned it and drove the Spanish from Larache in 1689.The kingdom he established did not survive his death — in the ensuing power struggles the tribes became a political and military force once again, and it was only with Muhammad III (1757–1790) that the kingdom was unified again.", "The idea of centralization was abandoned and the tribes allowed to preserve their autonomy.", "On 20 December 1777, Morocco became one of the first states to recognize the sovereignty of a newly independent United States.During the reigns of Muhammad IV (1859–1873) and Hassan I (1873–1894), the Alaouites tried to foster trade links, especially with European countries and the United States.", "The army and administration were also modernized to consolidate control over the Berber and Bedouin tribes.", "In 1859, Morocco went to war with Spain.", "The independence of Morocco was guaranteed at the Conference of Madrid in 1880, with France also gaining significant influence over Morocco.", "Germany attempted to counter the growing French influence, leading to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–1906, and the Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911.Morocco became a French protectorate through the Treaty of Fez in 1912." ], [ "European influence (c. 1830 – 1956)", "The Maghreb in the second half of the 19th centuryMoroccan fly mask embroideryThe successful Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century did not affect the interior of Morocco.", "After the Napoleonic Wars, North Africa became increasingly ungovernable from Istanbul by the Ottoman Empire.", "As a result, it became the resort of pirates under local beys.", "The Maghreb also had far greater known wealth than the rest of Africa, and its location near the entrance to the Mediterranean gave it strategic importance.", "France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830.The Alaouite dynasty succeeded in maintaining the independence of Morocco in the 18th and 19th centuries, in the face of Ottoman and European encroachment.In 1844, after the French conquered Algeria, the Franco-Moroccan War took place, with the bombardment of Tangiers, the Battle of Isly, and the bombardment of Mogador.In 1856, Sultan Abd al-Rahman's Makhzen signed the Anglo-Moroccan treaty, which was negotiated with the British diplomat John Hay Drummond Hay.", "The treaty granted several rights to British subjects in Morocco, and lowered Moroccan customs tariffs to 10%.", "The treaty prolonged Moroccan independence while opening up the country to foreign trade, along with reducings the Makhzen's control over the Moroccan economy.The Hispano-Moroccan War took place from 1859 to 1860, and the subsequent Treaty of Wad Ras led the Moroccan government to take a massive British loan larger than its national reserves to pay off its war debt to Spain.In the mid 19th century, Moroccan Jews started migrating from the interior to coastal cities such as Essaouira, Mazagan, Asfi, and later Casablanca for economic opportunity, participating in trade with Europeans and the development of those cities.", "The Alliance Israélite Universelle opened its first school in Tetuan in 1862.In the latter part of the 19th century Morocco's instability resulted in European countries intervening to protect investments and to demand economic concessions.", "Sultan Hassan I called for the Madrid Conference of 1880 in response to France and Spain's abuse of the ''protégé'' system, but the result was an increased European presence in Morocco—in the form of advisors, doctors, businessmen, adventurers, and even missionaries.More than half of the Makhzen's expenditures went abroad to pay war indemnities and buy weapons, military equipment, and manufactured goods.", "From 1902 to 1909, Morocco's trade deficit increased 14 million francs annually, and the Moroccan rial depreciated 25% from 1896 to 1906.In June 1904, after a failed attempt to impose a flat tax, France bailed out the already indebted Makhzen with 62.5 million francs, guaranteed by a portion of customs revenue.In the 1890s, the French administration and military in Algiers called for the annexation of the Touat, the Gourara and the Tidikelt, a complex that had been part of the Moroccan Empire for many centuries prior to the arrival of the French in Algeria.", "The first years of the 20th century saw major diplomatic efforts by European powers, especially France, to further its interests in the region.Abd-el-Aziz with his bicycle in 1901.The young sultan was noted for his capricious spending habits, which exacerbated a major trade deficit.Morocco nominally was ruled by its sultan, the young Abd al-Aziz, through his regent, Ba Ahmed.", "By 1900, Morocco was the scene of multiple local wars started by pretenders to the sultanate, by bankruptcy of the treasury, and by multiple tribal revolts.", "The French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé saw the opportunity to stabilize the situation and expand the French overseas empire.General Hubert Lyautey wanted a more aggressive military policy using his French army based in Algeria.", "France decided to use both diplomacy and military force.", "The French colonial authorities would establish control over the Sultan, ruling in his name and extending French influence.", "The British acceded to any French designs in Morocco in the ''Entente Cordiale'' of 1904.The Germans, however, who had no established presence in the region, strongly protested against the French plan.", "The Kaiser's dramatic intervention in Morocco in March 1905 in support of Moroccan independence became a turning point on the road to the First World War.", "The international Algeciras Conference of 1906 formalized France's \"special position\" and entrusted policing of Morocco jointly to France and Spain.", "Germany was outmaneuvered diplomatically, and France took full control of Morocco.Morocco experienced a famine from 1903 to 1907, as well as insurrections led by El-Rogui (Bou Hmara) and Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni.", "''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'', an early Moroccan newspaper.=== French and Spanish protectorate (1912–1956) ===The Treaty of Fes established French protectorate in Morocco on 30 March 1912.==== Hafidiya ====In 1907, the French took the murder of Émile Mauchamp in Marrakesh as a pretext to invade Oujda in the east, as they took an uprising against their appropriation of customs revenue in Casablanca as an opportunity to bombard and invade that city in the west.", "Months later, there was a brief fratricidal civil war referred to as the Hafidiya, in which Abd al-Hafid, at first supported by southern aristocrats based in Marrakesh such as the and later conditionally supported by the ''ulama'' of Fes, wrested the throne from his brother Abd al-Aziz, who was supported by the French.The Agadir Crisis increased tensions among the powerful European countries, and resulted in the Treaty of Fez (signed on 30 March 1912), which made Morocco a protectorate of France.", "In a second treaty signed by the French and Spanish heads of state, Spain was granted a Zone of influence in northern and southern Morocco on 27 November 1912.The northern part became the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, while the southern part was ruled from El Aaiun as a buffer zone between the Spanish Colony of Saguia El Hamra and Morocco.", "The treaty of Fez triggered the 1912 Fez riots.", "By the Tangier Protocol signed in December 1923, Tangier received special status and became an international zone, although, during World War II, it was occupied from 1940 to 1945 by Francoist Spain.File:Assassination of Dr Mauchamp in Marrakesh (1907, Petit Journal).jpg\|The assassination of Émile Mauchamp March 1907, which precipitated the French invasion of Oujda and the conquest of Morocco.File:الدار البيضاء 1907 01.jpg\|Uprisings in Casablanca in July 1907 over the application terms of the Treaty of Algeciras led to the Bombardment of Casablanca.File:الدار البيضاء 1907 شارع.jpg\|Destruction of Casablanca caused by the 1907 French bombardment.File:Maroc preco.jpg\|French artillery in Rabat in 1911.The dispatch of French forces to protect the sultan from a rebellion instigated the Agadir Crisis.File:Tritel.jpg\|Destruction after the Intifada of Fes was quelled by French artillery fire.The treaties nominally assured Morocco of its legal status as a sovereign state, with the sultan as its figurehead.", "In practice, the sultan had no real power and the country was ruled by the colonial administration.", "French civil servants allied themselves with the French settlers and with their supporters in France to prevent any moves in the direction of Moroccan autonomy.", "As \"pacification\" proceeded, with the Zaian War and the War of the Rif, the French government focused on the exploitation of Morocco's mineral wealth, and particularly its phosphates; the creation of a modern transportation system with trains and buses; and the development of a modern agricultural sector geared to the French market.", "Tens of thousands of ''colons'', or colonists, entered Morocco and acquired large tracts of the rich agricultural land.Morocco was home to half a million Europeans, most of whom settled in Casablanca, where they formed almost half the population.", "Since the kingdom's independence in 1956, and particularly after Hassan II's 1973 Moroccanization policies, the European element has largely departed.The Spanish coup of July 1936, which gave way to the Spanish Civil War, began with the ''Ejército de África'' in Spanish occupied Morocco.=== Opposition to European control ===French pacification of Morocco through to 1934Led by Abd el-Krim, the independent Republic of the Rif existed from 1921 to 1926, based in the central part of the Rif (in the Spanish Protectorate), while also extending, for some months, to some parts of the tribal lands of the Ghomara, the Eastern Rif, Jbala, the Ouergha valley and the north of Taza.", "After proclaiming independence on 18 September 1921, the polity developed state and governing institutions such as tax collection, law enforcement and the organisation of an army.", "However, since 1925 the Spanish and French troops managed to quell the resistance and Abd el-Krim surrendered in May 1926.In December 1934, a small group of nationalists, members of the newly formed ''Comité d'Action Marocaine'', or Moroccan Action Committee (CAM), proposed a Plan of Reforms that called for a return to indirect rule as envisaged by the Treaty of Fez, admission of Moroccans to government positions, and establishment of representative councils.", "CAM used petitions, newspaper editorials, and personal appeals to French officials to further its cause, but these proved inadequate, and the tensions created in the CAM by the failure of the plan caused it to split.", "The CAM was reconstituted as a nationalist political party to gain mass support for more radical demands, but the French suppressed the party in 1937.Manifesto of Independence presented by the Istiqlal Party on 11 January 1944 established Sultan Muhammad V as a symbol of the nationalist struggle.Nationalist political parties, which subsequently arose under the French protectorate, based their arguments for Moroccan independence on declarations such as the Atlantic Charter, a joint United States-British statement that set forth, among other things, the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they live.", "The French regime also faced the opposition of the tribes — when the Berber were required to come under the jurisdiction of French courts in 1930, it increased support for the independence movement.Many Moroccan Goumiers, or indigenous soldiers in the French army, assisted the Allies in both World War I and World War II.", "During World War II, the badly divided nationalist movement became more cohesive.", "However, the nationalists belief that an Allied victory would pave the way for independence was disappointed.", "In January 1944, the Istiqlal (Independence) Party, which subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement, released a manifesto demanding full independence, national reunification, and a democratic constitution.", "The Sultan Muhammad V (1927–1961) had approved the manifesto before its submission to the French resident general, who answered that no basic change in the protectorate status was being considered.", "The general sympathy of the sultan for the nationalists became evident by the end of the war, although he still hoped to see complete independence achieved gradually.", "On 10 April 1947, in spite of a massacre instigated by French forces in Casablanca, Sultan Muhammad V delivered a momentous speech in Tangier appealing for independence and territorial unity of Morocco, having travelled from French Morocco and through Spanish Morocco to reach the Tangier International Zone.", "The ''résidence'', supported by French economic interests and vigorously backed by most of the ''colons'', adamantly refused to consider even reforms short of independence.Morocco riots overrun Casablanca due to discontent with French rule.", "Universal Newsreel, 21 July 1955In December 1952, a riot broke out in Casablanca over the assassination of the Tunisian labour leader Farhat Hached; this event marked a watershed in relations between Moroccan political parties and French authorities.", "In the aftermath of the rioting, the residency outlawed the new Moroccan Communist Party and the Istiqlal Party.France's exile of the highly respected Sultan Mohammed V to Madagascar on Eid al-Adha of 1953, and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa, sparked active opposition to the French protectorate both from nationalists and those who saw the sultan as a religious leader.", "In retribution, Muhammad Zarqtuni bombed Casablanca's ''Marché Central'' in the European ''ville nouvelle'' on Christmas of that year.", "A month after his replacement, Allal ben Abdallah, a Moroccan nationalist attempted to assassinate the sultan on his way to the friday prayers at Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid.", "Two years later, faced with a united Moroccan demand for the sultan's return and rising violence in Morocco, as well as a deteriorating situation in Algeria, the French government brought Mohammed V back to Morocco, and the following year began the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence.", "So, with the triumphant return of Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef, the beginning of the end of the colonial era was marked." ], [ "Independent Morocco (since 1956)", "In late 1955, in the middle of what came to be known as the Revolution of the King and the People, Sultan Mohammed V successfully negotiated the gradual restoration of Moroccan independence within a framework of French-Moroccan interdependence.", "The sultan agreed to institute reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy with a democratic form of government.", "As the French Foreign Minister Antoine Pinay had expressed, there was a willingness to grant Morocco its independence to \"turn Morocco into a modern, democratic and sovereign state\".", "In February 1956, Morocco acquired limited home rule.", "Further negotiations for full independence culminated in the French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris on 22 March 1956.On 7 April 1956, France officially relinquished its protectorate in Morocco.", "The internationalized city of Tangier was reintegrated with the signing of the Tangier Protocol on 29 October 1956.The abolition of the Spanish protectorate and the recognition of Moroccan independence by Spain were negotiated separately and made final in the Joint Declaration of April 1956.Through this agreement with Spain in 1956 and another in 1958, Moroccan control over certain Spanish-ruled areas was restored.", "Attempts to claim other Spanish possessions through military action were less successful.In the months that followed independence, Mohammed V proceeded to build a modern governmental structure under a constitutional monarchy in which the sultan would exercise an active political role.", "He acted cautiously, intent on preventing the Istiqlal from consolidating its control and establishing a one-party state.", "He assumed the monarchy on 11 August 1957, and from that date, the country officially became known as 'The Kingdom of Morocco'.===Reign of Hassan II (1961–1999)===Hassan II, on his way to Friday prayers in Marrakesh, 1967.Mohammed V's son Hassan II became King of Morocco on 3 March 1961.His rule saw significant political unrest, and the ruthless government response earned the period the name \"the years of lead\".", "Hassan took personal control of the government as prime minister and named a new cabinet.", "Aided by an advisory council, he drew up a new constitution, which was approved overwhelmingly in a December 1962 referendum.", "Under its provisions, the king remained the central figure in the executive branch of the government, but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, and an independent judiciary was guaranteed.In May 1963, legislative elections took place for the first time, and the royalist coalition secured a small plurality of seats.", "However, following a period of political upheaval in June 1965, Hassan II assumed full legislative and executive powers under a \"state of exception,\" which remained in effect until 1970.Subsequently, a reform constitution was approved, restoring limited parliamentary government, and new elections were held.", "However, dissent remained, revolving around complaints of widespread corruption and malfeasance in government.", "In July 1971 and again in August 1972, the regime was challenged by two attempted military coups.After neighbouring Algeria's 1962 independence from France, border skirmishes in the Tindouf area of southwestern Algeria escalated in 1963 into what is known as the Sand War.", "The conflict ended after Organisation of African Unity mediation, with no territorial changes.On 3 March 1973, Hassan II announced the policy of Moroccanization, in which state-held assets, agricultural lands, and businesses that were more than 50 percent foreign-owned—and especially French-owned—were transferred to political loyalists and high-ranking military officers.", "The Moroccanization of the economy affected thousands of businesses and the proportion of industrial businesses in Morocco that were Moroccan-owned immediately increased from 18% to 55%.", "2/3 of the wealth of the Moroccanized economy was concentrated in 36 Moroccan families.The patriotism engendered by Morocco's participation in the Middle East conflict and Western Sahara events contributed to Hassan's popularity.", "The king had dispatched Moroccan troops to the Sinai front after the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli War in October 1973.Although they arrived too late to engage in hostilities, the action won Morocco goodwill among other Arab states.", "Soon after, the attention of the government turned to the acquisition of Western Sahara from Spain, an issue on which all major domestic parties agreed.Following years of discontent and inequality during the 1980s, on 14 December 1990, a general strike was called by two major trade unions in the country to demand an increase in the minimum wage and other measures.", "In Fez, this broke into protests and rioting led by university students and youths.", "The death of one of the students further inflamed protests, resulting in buildings being burned and looted, particularly symbols of wealth.", "While the official death toll was 5 people, the New York Times reported a toll of 33 people and quoted an anonymous source claiming the real death toll was likely higher.", "The government denied reports that the deaths were due to the intervention of security forces and armoured vehicles.", "Many of those arrested were later released and the government promised to investigate and raise wages, though some of these measures were dismissed by skeptical opposition parties.===Western Sahara conflict (1974–1991)===Status quo in Western Sahara since 1991 cease-fire: most under Moroccan control (Southern Provinces), with inner Polisario-controlled areas forming the Sahrawi Arab Republic.The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south became part of the new state of Morocco in 1969, but other Spanish possessions in the north, including Ceuta, Melilla and Plaza de soberanía, remained under Spanish control, with Morocco viewing them as occupied territory.In August 1974, Spain formally acknowledged the 1966 United Nations (UN) resolution calling for a referendum on the future status of Western Sahara and requested that a plebiscite be conducted under UN supervision.", "A UN visiting mission reported in October 1975 that an overwhelming majority of the Saharan people desired independence.", "Morocco protested the proposed referendum and took its case to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which ruled that despite historical \"ties of allegiance\" between Morocco and the tribes of Western Sahara, there was no legal justification for departing from the UN position on self-determination.", "Spain, meanwhile, had declared that even in the absence of a referendum, it intended to surrender political control of Western Sahara, and Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania convened a tripartite conference to resolve the territory's future.", "Spain also announced that it was opening independence talks with the Algerian-backed Saharan independence movement known as the Polisario Front.In early 1976, Spain ceded the administration of Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania.", "Morocco assumed control over the northern two-thirds of the territory and conceded the remaining portion in the south to Mauritania.", "An assembly of Saharan tribal leaders duly acknowledged Moroccan sovereignty.", "However, buoyed by the increasing defection of tribal chiefs to its cause, the Polisario drew up a constitution and announced the formation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and itself formed government-in-exile.The Moroccan government eventually sent a large portion of its combat forces into Western Sahara to confront the Polisario's forces, which were relatively small but well-equipped, highly mobile, and resourceful.", "The Polisario used Algerian bases for quick strikes against targets deep inside Morocco and Mauritania, as well as for operations in Western Sahara.", "In August 1979, after suffering military losses, Mauritania renounced its claim to Western Sahara and signed a peace treaty with the Polisario.", "In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the Organisation of African Unity due to the admission of the SADR as a member.", "Morocco then annexed the entire territory and, in 1985 built a 2,500-kilometer sand berm around three-quarters of Western Sahara.In 1988, Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on a United Nations (UN) peace plan, and a cease-fire and settlement plan went into effect in 1991.Even though the UN Security Council created a peacekeeping force to implement a referendum on self-determination for Western Sahara, it has yet to be held, periodic negotiations have failed, and the status of the territory remains unresolved.The war against the Polisario guerrillas put severe strains on the economy, and Morocco found itself increasingly isolated diplomatically.", "Gradual political reforms in the 1990s culminated in the constitutional reform of 1996, which created a new bicameral legislature with expanded, although still limited, powers.", "Elections for the Chamber of Representatives were held in 1997, reportedly marred by irregularities.===Reign of Mohammed VI (since 1999)===With the death of Hassan II in 1999, the more liberal Crown Prince Sidi Mohammed took the throne, assuming the title Mohammed VI.", "He enacted successive reforms to modernize Morocco, and the human-rights record of the country improved markedly.", "One of the new king's first acts was to free approximately 8,000 political prisoners and reduce the sentences of another 30,000.He also established a commission to compensate families of missing political activists and others subjected to arbitrary detention.", "In 1999, the First Sahrawi Intifada took place.", "Internationally, Morocco has maintained strong ties to the West.", "It was one of the first Arab and Islamic states to denounce the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.In September 2002, new legislative elections were held, and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) won a plurality.", "International observers regarded the elections as free and fair, noting the absence of the irregularities that had plagued the 1997 elections.", "In May 2003, in honor of the birth of a son, the king ordered the release of 9,000 prisoners and the reduction of 38,000 sentences.", "Also in 2003, Berber-language instruction was introduced in primary schools, prior to introducing it at all educational levels.", "In March 2000, women's groups organized demonstrations in Rabat proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country.", "200,000 to 300,000 women attended, calling for a ban on polygamy, and the introduction of civil divorce law.", "Although a counter-demonstration attracted 200,000 to 400,000 participants, the movement was influential on King Mohammed, and he enacted a new ''Mudawana'', or family law, in early 2004, meeting some of the demands of women's rights activists.Al-Boraq, the first high speed rail service on the African continent.In July 2002, a crisis broke out with Spain over a small, uninhabited island lying just less than 200 meters from the Moroccan coast, named Toura or Leila by Moroccans and Perejil by Spain.", "After mediation by the United States, both Morocco and Spain agreed to return to the status quo, under which the island remains deserted.In May 2003, Islamist suicide bombers simultaneously struck a series of sites in Casablanca, killing 45 and injuring more than 100 others.", "The Moroccan government responded with a crackdown against Islamist extremists, ultimately arresting several thousand, prosecuting 1,200, and sentencing about 900.Additional arrests followed in June 2004.That same month, the United States designated Morocco a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, stating that it was in recognition of its efforts to thwart international terrorism.", "In May 2005, the Second Sahrawi Intifada took place.", "On 1 January 2006, a comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement between the United States and Morocco took effect.", "The agreement had been signed in 2004 along with a similar agreement with the European Union, Morocco's main trade partner.In February 2011, thousands of people rallied in Rabat and other cities calling for political reform and a new constitution curbing the powers of the king.", "Two months later, a bombing in Marrakesh occurred, killing 17 people – mainly foreigners.", "It was the deadliest attack in Morocco in eight years.", "The Maghrebi arm of al-Qaeda denied involvement.", "In July 2011 King Mohammed introduced a constitutional referendum proposed in order to placate \"Arab Spring\" protests.", "In article 5 of the 2011 constitution, Amazigh was recognized as an official language.leftIn October 2016, large-scale protests erupted after a fish seller in al-Hoceima was crushed to death in a rubbish truck as he tried to retrieve fish confiscated by police.", "The protests became known as the Hirak Rif Movement.", "The 2016 election witnessed the victory of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), attaining a plurality of seats for a second consecutive time.", "On 30 January 2017, Morocco rejoined the African Union as a member state, 33 years after leaving.", "The 2018 consumer boycott targeted the market-dominating fuel, bottled water, and dairy brands.The COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco was first confirmed on 2 March 2020.Eight days later, on 10 March 2020, Morocco recorded its first COVID-19-related death.", "On 10 December 2020, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would officially recognize Morocco's claims over Western Sahara as part of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement, which saw Morocco reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel.", "A joint declaration between the three countries was signed on 22 December 2020.On 17 May 2021, an incident occurred between the borders of Spain and Morocco, part of a diplomatic crisis between both nations.", "On 24 August 2021, neighbouring Algeria cut diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing Morocco of supporting a separatist group and \"hostile actions against Algeria\".", "Morocco called the decision \"unjustified\".The 2021 election was held on 8 September 2021, which witnessed an electoral wipeout of the PJD, having lost more than 90% of its seats and ending in eighth place.", "The National Rally of Independents won a plurality of seats in the elections, and Aziz Akhannouch was later named the 17th Prime Minister of Morocco.", "On 24 June 2022, a migration incident occurred resulting in the deaths of 23 migrants.On 3 May 2023, King Mohammed VI declared Amazigh New Year as an official national holiday to be celebrated yearly.On 8 September 2023, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco killing more than 2,800 people and injuring thousands.", "The epicentre of the quake was around 70 km southwest of the city of Marrakech." ], [ "See also", "History of North AfricaImperial cities of MoroccoList of Kings of MoroccoPolitics of Morocco* History of cities in Morocco: Casablanca history and timeline Fez history and timeline Marrakesh history and timeline Rabat history and timeline** Tangier history and timeline" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "Bibliography", " Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. ''A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period'', Cambridge University Press, 1987..* Chandler, James A.", "\"Spain and Her Moroccan Protectorate, 1898–1927,\" ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 10 (April 1975): 301–22.", "* Pennell, C. R. ''Morocco Since 1830: A History'', New York University Press, 2000.", "* Pennell, C. R. ''Morocco: From Empire to Independence'', Oneworld Publications, 2013.", "( preview)* Stenner, David.", "''Globalizing Morocco: Transnational Activism and the Postcolonial State'' (Stanford UP, 2019).", "online review* Terrasse, Henri.", "''History of Morocco'', Éd.", "Atlantides, 1952.", "* Woolman, David.", "''Rebels in the Rif: Abd-el-Krim and the Rif Rebellion'' (Stanford UP, 1967)* Yolanda Aixelà-Cabré.", "''Spain's African Colonial Legacies: Morocco and Equatorial Guinea Compared'' (Brill, 2022) online review===In French===David Bensoussan, ''Il était une fois le Maroc : témoignages du passé judéo-marocain'', Éd.", "du Lys, 2010..Bernard Lugan, ''Histoire du Maroc'', Éd.", "Perrin, 2000.", "Michel Abitbol, ''Histoire du Maroc'', Éd.", "Perrin, 2009." ], [ "External links", " A short history of Morocco* timeline from ''Worldstatesmen''* Early Twentiethth Century Timelines: Moroccan crises, 1903–1914* The History of Morocco* Historical map of Morocco – c. 1600*Z. Brakez et al.", "\"Human mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in the Moroccan population of the Souss area\"" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "Location of MoroccoTrue-colour image of Morocco from Terra spacecraftTopography of MoroccoMorocco is the northwesternmost country which spans from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean on the north and the west respectively, into large mountainous areas in the interior, to the Sahara desert in the far south.", "Morocco is a Northern African country, located in the extreme northwest of Africa on the edge of continental Europe.", "The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco with a span of water.", "Morocco borders the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the western Mediterranean Sea to the north, and has borders with Algeria and disputed Western Sahara.The terrain of Morocco is largely mountainous.", "The Atlas Mountains stretch from the central north to the southwest.", "It expands to about and is the dorsal spine of the country.", "To the north of the Atlas Mountains, there are the Rif Mountains, a chain that makes part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Andalusia, Spain.", "The massive range expands to about from Tangier in the west to Nador eastward.In the west of the country, along the Atlantic coast, the Moroccan Plateau stretches from Tangier to Lagouira, about long, and get inward to Saiss Plains near Fes and Tansift-Alhaouz near Marrakech.", "These vast plains promotes fertile agricultural lands and support 15% of the local economy.In the extreme southeast of the country, the lands are arid due to their proximity to the Sahara Desert.", "Palm trees oasis are developed in many regions, notably in Figuig and Zagora." ], [ "Geography statistics", "Morocco's and Western Sahara's cities and main townsCoordinates:'''Area''':''total:''446,550 km² (excluding Western Sahara), 712,550 km² (Morocco and Western Sahara combined)''land:''446,302 km² (or 712,200 km²)''water:''250 km²'''Area – comparative:'''Morocco without Western Sahara is slightly larger than California; slightly larger than Newfoundland and Labrador; slightly more than half the size of New South Wales province of Australia; slightly less than twice the size of the United Kingdom.Morocco and Western Sahara combined are slightly larger than Texas.", "'''Land boundaries:'''''total:''2,018.9 km''border countries:''Algeria 1 559 km, Free Zone (''de facto'' border along the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall) 2200 km, Spain (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Spain (Melilla) 9.6 km'''Coastline:'''1835 km2945 km (including the coast of Western Sahara)'''Maritime claims:'''''Territorial sea:''''Contiguous zone:''''Exclusive economic zone:'' with ''Continental shelf:''200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation" ], [ "Climate", "Köppen climate types in MoroccoMorocco's climate can be divided into two parts: The northwest and the southeast.", "In the southeast, the climate is arid and poorly populated.", "The northwest has a mild climate, and 95% of the Moroccan population lives in these regions.The largely populated areas of the northwest of the country mostly have a Mediterranean climate, but since the country is heavily mountainous, continental and alpine influence is evident, as well as the oceanic influence along the Atlantic coastline.", "And finally, the semi-arid lands, that cover few regions in the northeast, the central-south, and the southwest.Along the Mediterranean coast, the climate is typically Mediterranean and supports all types of typical Mediterranean vegetation.", "The summers are moderately hot and the winters are mild.", "Further away from the coast, into the Rif Mountain range, the climate starts to become more continental in character, with colder winters and hotter summers.", "At elevations above , the climate is alpine with warm summers and cold winters.", "Rainfall is much higher on the west side than it is on the east side.", "The average annual precipitation is between , and respectively.", "Snow is abundant at higher elevations.# Typical Mediterranean climate cities: Tangier, Tétouan, Al Hoceima, Nador# Typical continental-influenced cities: Chefchaouen, Issaguen, Targuist, Taza# Typical alpine-influenced cities: Bab BerredAlong the Atlantic coast, the climate is the Mediterranean with oceanic influence.", "The imprint of the oceanic climate differs along the coastline from region to region.", "It is generally presented from Asilah to Essaouira.", "The summers are warm to moderately hot, and winters are cooler than on the Mediterranean coast.", "Further away from the coastal lands, into the Atlas Mountain range, the climate starts to become more continental in character, with colder winters and hotter summers.", "At elevations above , the climate is typically alpine, with warm summers and cold winters.", "Rainfall is generally high.", "The average annual precipitations is between on the north, but as you move southward, the average drops by about .", "Snow is abundant at higher elevations.", "There are two ski stations, one in the middle-Atlas Mischliffen, and the other in the High-Atlas Oukaïmeden.# Typical oceanic-influenced cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Essaouira, Larache# Typical continental-influenced cities: Fès, Meknès, Khenifra, Beni Mellal# Typical alpine-influenced cities: Ifrane, Azrou, Midelt, Imouzzer KandarThe southern regions of the northwest are semi-arid.", "Rainfall is lower, and is between annually.", "Although temperature ranges generally do not change in comparison with the upper provinces, a slight increase in high averages is not to be dismissed.", "Largely due to the lower latitudes where they fall.Typical cities with such climate are Agadir and Marrakesh.The disputed Western Sahara region features a hot desert climate, but temperatures are more moderate along the coast.=== Climate change ===As of 2020, Morocco has been hit with unseasonal heatwaves" ], [ "Physical geography", "Anti-Atlas mountain rangeThe northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains.", "The northern mountains are geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes.Morocco occupies a strategic location along the Strait of Gibraltar, the waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.", "'''Elevation extremes:'''''Lowest point:''Sebkha Tah −55 m''Highest point:''Toubkal mountain 4,165 m'''Longest river:''' Draa River (1,100 km)" ], [ "Land use and natural resources", "'''Natural resources:'''Phosphates, Iron ore, Manganese, Lead, Zinc, Fish, Salt'''Land use:'''''Arable land:''17.5%''Permanent crops:''2.9%''Permanent pastures:''47.1%''Forests:''11.5%''Other:''21.61% (2011)'''Irrigated land:'''14,850 km² (2004)'''Total renewable water resources:'''29 km3 (2011)'''Natural hazards:'''periodic droughts" ], [ "Environment", "===Ecoregions=======Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub====* Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe* Mediterranean woodlands and forests* Mediterranean Acacia-Argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets====Temperate coniferous forests====* Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests====Montane grasslands and shrublands====* Mediterranean High Atlas juniper steppe====Deserts and xeric shrublands====* North Saharan steppe and woodlands====Freshwater ecoregions====* Permanent Maghreb* Temporary Maghreb====Marine ecoregions====* Alboran Sea* Saharan Upwelling===Current environmental issues===Land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation of reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters.===International environmental agreements===''Morocco is party to:''Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution (MARPOL 73/78), Wetlands, Whaling''signed, but not ratified:''Environmental Modification" ], [ "Extreme points", "This is a list of the extreme points of Morocco, the points that are farther north, east or west than any other location, excluding the disputed Western Sahara area.", "* Northernmost point – Pointe Leona, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region* Easternmost point – unnamed point on the border with Algeria immediately east of the town of Iche, Oriental region* Westernmost point – the point at which the border with Western Sahara enters the Atlantic Ocean, Guelmim-Oued Noun region** ''Note: Morocco does not have a southernmost point, its southern border with Western Sahara following latitude 27° 40′ north.''" ], [ "See also", "* Climate of Morocco* List of rivers of Morocco" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* European Digital Archive on the Soil Maps of the world Soil Maps of Morocco* CIA Factbook: Morocco" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "Demographic features of the population of Morocco include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.", "The population of Morocco in 2021 is 37.271 million.Foreign residents in Morocco by country of birth, in 1994Moroccans are primarily of Arab and Berber origin.", "Socially, there are two contrasting groups of Moroccans: those living in the cities and those in the rural areas.", "Among the rural, several classes have formed such as landowners, peasants, and tenant farmers.", "Moroccans live mainly in the north and west portions of Morocco.", "However, they prefer living in the more fertile regions near the Mediterranean Sea.Between the Nile and the Red Sea were living Arab tribes expelled from Arabia for their turbulence, Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, who often plundered farming areas in the Nile Valley.", "According to Ibn Khaldun, whole tribes set off with women, children, ancestors, animals and camping equipment.", "These tribes, along with others, who mass arrived in the region of Morocco in colossal numbers around the 12th-13th centuries, and later the Ma'qil in the 14th century, contributed to a more extensive ethnic, cultural, and linguistic Arabization of Morocco over time, especially beyond the major urban centres and the northern regions well into the countryside.", "The descendants of the original Arab settlers who continue to speak Arabic as a first language currently form the single largest population group in North Africa.About 99% of Moroccans are considered to be Sunni Muslims religiously or culturally.", "The numbers of the Jewish minority has decreased significantly since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.Today there are 2,500 Moroccan Jews inside the country.", "Thousands of Moroccan Jews living in Europe, Israel and North America visit the country regularly.", "There is a small but apparently growing minority of Moroccan Christians made of local Moroccan converts (not Europeans).", "In 2014, most of the 86,206 foreign residents are French people, Spaniards, Algerians and sub-Saharan African students." ], [ "Population", "=== Vital statistics ===Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1,000)Crude death rate (per 1,000)Natural change (per 1,000)Fertility rates 1960 11,626,000 1962 12,177,000 561 360 227 710 333 650 46.1 18.7 27.4 7.20 1971 15,379,000 1972 15,772,000 1973 16,196,000 1974 16,630,000 1975 17,072,000 5.91 1976 17,521,000 1977 17,978,000 1978 18,440,000 1979 18,908,000 1980 19,380,000 1981 19,855,000 1982 20,419,000 756 425 215 504 540 921 37.2 10.6 26.6 5.52 1983 20,815,000 1984 21,297,000 1985 21,779,000 1986 22,261,000 1987 22,742,000 1988 23,220,000 1989 23,696,000 1990 24,167,000 1991 24,634,000 1992 25,095,000 1993 25,549,000 1994 26,074,000 675 896 174 173 501 723 26.0 6.7 19.3 3.28 1995 26,435,000 1996 26,864,000 1997 27,282,000 1998 27,689,000 1999 28,084,000 2000 28,466,000 2001 28,833,000 2002 29,185,000 2003 29,520,000 2004 29,892,000 602 768 173 073 429 696 20.2 \t 5.8 14.4 2.47 \t 2005 30,215,000 2006 30,606,000 2007 30,998,000 2008 31,391,000 2009 31,786,000 2010 32,182,000 599 607 178 606 421 001 18.8 5.6 13.22.19 2011 32,579,000 2012 32,978,000 18.5 5.1 13.4 2.2 2013 33,378,000 18.3 5.1 13.2 2.1 2014 33,848,242 18.1 5.1 13.02.21 2015 34,124,870 17.6 5.4 12.3 2.19 2016 34,486,536 17.4 5.2 12.2 2.17 2017 34,852,121 677,411 17.2 5.1 12.1 2.15 2018 35,219,547 679,863 (623,036) 141,207 481,829 17.7 5.1 12.6 2.13 2019 35,586,616 681,606 (749,758) 21.1 5.0 16.1 2.12 2020 35,952,000\t 682,984 (660,391) 18.4 1.87(e) 2021 37,082,000\t 684,121 (650,892) 228,888 422,004 17.55 6.17 11.38 2.33(e) 2022 \t 684,738 2.38(e) === Current vital statistics ===+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase '''January 2020 – June 2020''' 297,657 70,414 227,243 '''January 2021 – June 2021''' 299,243 89,060 210,183 '''Difference''' +1,586 (+0.57%) +18,646 (+26.48%) -17,060=== Fertility rate (The Demographic Health Survey) ===Figures from The Demographic Health SurveyFertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate): Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 1987 4,62 (3,76) 3,24 (2,55) 5,88 (4,88) 1992 28,4 4,04 (2,66) 21,5 2,54 (1,73) 33,7 5,54 (3,62) 1995 26,0 3,31 (2,24) 20,4 2,17 (1,51) 30,6 4,50 (3,01) 2003–2004 21,1 2,5 (1,8) 18,7 2,1 (1,6) 24,3 3,0 (2,2)===Life expectancy===Life expectancy in Morocco since 1950Life expectancy in Morocco since 1960 by genderPeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195545.7 1985–199063.21955–196047.51990–199566.01960–196549.51995–200067.71965–197051.62000–200572.91970–197553.52005–201074.91975–198055.72010–201576.21980–198559.6Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''=== Structure of the population ===Population pyramid 2016Structure of the population (Census 2004):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 14 640 662 15 039 407 29 680 069 100 Total(known) 14 045 137 14 783 487 28 828 624 97.13 0–4 1 488 631 1 435 833 2 924 464 9.85 5–9 1 552 440 1 502 718 3 055 158 10.29 10–14 1 666 632 1 614 368 3 281 000 11.05 15–19 1 564 900 1 583 690 3 148 590 10.61 20–24 1.426.174 1 521 526 2 947 700 9.93 25–29 1 190 111 1 292 162 2 482 273 8.36 30–34 1 054 069 1 149 302 2 203 371 7.42 35–39 897 812 993 739 1 891 551 6.37 40–44 892 083 968 391 1 860 474 6.27 45–49 758 044 731 635 1 489 679 5.02 50–54 627 433 599 755 1 227 188 4.13 55–59 370 969 388 594 759 563 2.56 60–64 340 722 400 169 740 891 2.50 65–69 261 046 274 018 535 064 1.80 70–74 236 107 267 260 503 367 1.70 75+ 58 933 60 327 119 260 0.40 unknown 595 525 255 920 851 445 2.87Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 4 707 703 4 552 919 9 260 622 31.20 15–64 8 781 348 9 628 963 18 410 311 62.03 65+ 556 086 601 605 1 157 691 3.90According to 2004 censusAge group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 ~9 260 182 31.2 15–59 ~18 164 202 61.2 60+ ~2 404 086 8.1Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2013) (Based on the results of the 2004 Population Census.)", ":Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 16 371 475 16 578 971 32 950 445 100 0–4 1 482 899 1 421 020 2 903 919 8.81 5–9 1 453 315 1 391 847 2 845 161 8.63 10–14 1 473 231 1 420 973 2 894 204 8.78 15–19 1 547 292 1 496 243 3 043 535 9.24 20–24 1 614 483 1 564 368 3 178 851 9.65 25–29 1 477 952 1 494 267 2 972 219 9.02 30–34 1 338 558 1 409 129 2 747 687 8.34 35–39 1 106 764 1 199 802 2 306 566 7.00 40–44 975 428 1 070 441 2 045 869 6.21 45–49 862 688 947 158 1 809 846 5.49 50–54 859 927 902 421 1 762 347 5.35 55–59 704 367 670 923 1 375 290 4.17 60–64 543 733 529 913 1 073 646 3.26 65–69 314 577 348 098 662 674 2.01 70–74 276 251 333 385 609 636 1.85 75+ 340 012 378 983 718 996 2.18Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 4 409 445 4 233 840 8 643 285 26.23 15–64 11 031 190 11 284 665 22 315 855 67.73 65+ 930 840 1 060 466 1 991 306 6.04Structure of the population (Census 2014) :Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total (known) 16 330 731 16 416 140 32 746 871 100 0–4 1 700 796 1 623 119 3 323 915 9.82 5–9 1 524 586 1 460 840 2 985 426 8.82 10–14 1 532 755 1 475 241 3 007 996 8.89 15–19 1 490 344 1 468 114 2 958 458 8.74 20–24 1 495 404 1 520 770 3 016 174 8.91 25–29 1 369 558 1 411 583 2 781 141 8.22 30–34 1 289 375 1 338 721 2 628 096 7.76 35–39 1 137 269 1 198 986 2 336 255 6.90 40–44 1 058 073 1 102 280 2 160 353 6.38 45–49 879 096 926 400 1 805 496 5.33 50–54 877 383 925 006 1 802 389 5.32 55–59 715 207 669 610 1 384 817 4.09 60–64 594 071 566 539 1 160 610 3.43 65–69 316 816 321 867 638 683 1.89 70–74 268 617 316 576 585 193 1.73 75–79 81 381 90 488 171 869 0.51 unknown 1 101 371 3.25Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 4 758 137 4 559 200 9 317 337 27.53 15–64 10 905 780 11 128 009 22 033 789 65.10 65+ 666 814 728 931 1 395 745 4.12According to 2014 censusAge group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 ~9 477 508 28.0% 15–59 ~21 121 303 62.4% 60+ ~3 249 431 9.6%Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Projections based on the results of national survey on population and health conducted between 2010 and 2011, and especially population and housing census 2014.", "):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 17 906 986 18 044 671 35 591 657 100 0–4 1 492 467 1 429 285 2 921 752 8.21 5–9 1 708 600 1 633 163 3 341 763 9.39 10–14 1 559 465 1 499 301 3 058 766 8.59 15–19 1 543 022 1 476 586 3 019 608 8.48 20–24 1 485 093 1 464 748 2 949 841 8.29 25–29 1 486 386 1 512 412 2 998 798 8.43 30–34 1 375 309 1 425 420 2 800 729 7.87 35–39 1 285 134 1 341 877 2 627 011 7.38 40–44 1 151 768 1 222 974 2 374 742 6.67 45–49 1 060 816 1 114 695 2 175 511 6.11 50–54 896 058 947 784 1 843 842 5.18 55–59 870 841 911 813 1 782 654 5.01 60–64 712 857 690 587 1 403 444 3.94 65–69 571 519 554 058 1 125 577 3.16 70–74 312 752 324 624 637 376 1.79 75–79 213 596 265 028 478 624 1.34 80+ 181 303 230 316 411 619 1.16Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 4 760 532 4 561 749 9 322 281 26.19 15–64 11 867 284 12 108 896 23 976 180 67.36 65+ 1 279 170 1 374 026 2 653 196 7.45" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "Moroccans are primarily of Arab and Berber origin as in other neighbouring countries in the Maghreb.", "Arabs make up 44% of the population of Morocco, Arabized Berbers make up 24%, Berbers make up 21%, the Beidane make up 10%, and others make up 1%.", "The Arab population of Morocco is a result of the inflow of nomadic Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula since the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century with a major wave in the 11th century.", "The major migration to the region by Arab tribes was in the 11th century when the tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, along with others, were sent by the Fatimids to defeat a Berber rebellion and then settle in the Maghreb.", "Between the Nile and the Red Sea were Arab tribes expelled from Arabia for their turbulence, Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, who often plundered farming areas in the Nile Valley.", "According to Ibn Khaldun, whole tribes set off with women, children, ancestors, animals and camping equipment.", "These tribes, who arrived in the region of Morocco around the 12th-13th centuries, and later the Ma'qil in the 14th century, contributed to a more extensive ethnic, genetic, cultural, and linguistic Arabization of Morocco over time, especially beyond the major urban centres and the northern regions which were the main sites of Arabization up to that point.Ethnic map of Morocco (1973)The Berber population mainly lives in the mountainous regions of Morocco where some preserve Berber culture, and are split into three groups; Rifians, Shilha, and Zayanes.", "The Rifians inhabit the Rif mountains, the Shilha inhabit the Anti-Atlas mountains, and the Zayanes inhabit the Middle Atlas mountains.", "The Arabized Berbers who constitute about a quarter of the population are the Berbers who were Arabized mainly as a result of the Arab nomad inflow, and have adopted Arab culture and the Arabic language as their native language, especially those who sought the protection of the Bedouin.", "Some parts of the population are descendants of refugees who fled Spain after the Reconquista in the 15th century.", "The Trans-Saharan slave trade brought a population of Sub-Saharan Africans to Morocco.", "After the founding of Israel and start of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948, many Jews felt compelled to leave Morocco especially after the anti-Jewish riots in Oujda, and many fled to Israel, Europe, and North America, and by 1967 250,000 Jews left Morocco.", "In a 2021 survey on 1,200 Moroccan adults, 68% were Arab, 25.6% were Berber, 3.6% were Sahrawi, and 2.7% were others." ], [ "Languages", "Arabic and Berber are the official languages of Morocco.", "The majority spoken language in Morocco is Arabic which is spoken by 92% of the population and includes the dialects of Moroccan Arabic (Hilalian dialects) and Hassaniya Arabic.", "Berber languages are spoken by 26% of the population in three varieties (Tarifit, Shilha, and Tamazight).French is an implicitly \"official language\" of government and big business, and is taught throughout school and still serves as Morocco's primary language of business, economics, and scientific university education.", "French is also widely used in the media.", "Morocco is a member of La Francophonie.", "Berber activists have struggled since the 1960s for the recognition of their language as an official language of Morocco, which was achieved in July 2011 following the February 20th 2011 uprising.", "About 20,000 Moroccans in the northern part of the country speak some Spanish.English, while still far behind French in terms of the number of proficient speakers, is rapidly becoming a foreign language of choice among educated youth and business people.", "It has been taught to Moroccan students after the fourth year of elementary school since the education reforms of 2002." ], [ "Main populated areas", "Most Moroccans live west and north of the Atlas Mountains, a range that insulates the country from the Sahara Desert.", "Casablanca is the largest city and the centre of business and industry, and has the leading seaport and airport.", "Rabat is the seat of government.", "Tangier and Nador are the two major northern seaports on the Mediterranean.", "Fez is a cultural, religious and industrial centre.", "Marrakesh and Agadir are the two major tourist centres.", "Oujda is the largest city of eastern Morocco.", "Meknes houses the military academy.", "Kenitra has the largest military airbase.", "Mohammedia has the largest oil refineries and other major industrial installations." ], [ "Education", "Education in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school (age 15).", "Nevertheless, many children—particularly girls in rural areas—still do not attend school.", "The country's illiteracy rate is usually around 50 percent for most of the country, but reaches as high as 90 percent among girls in rural regions.", "In July 2006, Prime minister Driss Jettou announced that illiteracy rate has declined by 39 percent, while two million people had attended literacy courses during the past four years.Morocco has about 660,000 students enrolled in 14 public universities.", "One of the oldest and among the most prestigious is Mohammed V in Rabat, with faculties of law, sciences, liberal arts, and medicine.", "University of Karueein, in Fez, has been a centre for Islamic studies for more than 1,000 years.", "Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, founded in 1993 by King Hassan II and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, is an English-medium, American-style university comprising about 1,700 students." ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "One birth every 48 seconds\tOne death every 3 minutes\tOne net migrant every 12 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 1 minutesThe following demographics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.===Population===:36,738,229 (2022 est.", "):note: includes Western Sahara:33 million (2014)===Religions===:Muslim 99% (official; virtually all Sunni, <0.1% Shia), other 1% (includes Christian, Jewish, and Baha'i); note - Jewish about 3,000-3,500 (2020 est.", ")===Age structure===Population pyramid of Morocco in 2020:''0-14 years:'' 27.04% (male 4,905,626/female 4,709,333):''15-24 years:'' 16.55% (male 2,953,523/female 2,930,708):''25-54 years:'' 40.64% (male 7,126,781/female 7,325,709):''55-64 years:'' 8.67% (male 1,533,771/female 1,548,315):''65 years and over:'' 7.11% (male 1,225,307/female 1,302,581) (2020 est.", "):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:0–14 years: 27.8% (male 4,514,623/female 4,382,487):15–64 years: 66.1% (male 10,335,931/female 10,785,380):65 years and over: 6.1% (male 881,622/female 1,068,318) (2011 est.", ")===Median age===:total: 29.1 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 137th:male: 28.7 years:female: 29.6 years (2020 est.", "):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:total: 26.9 years:male: 26.3 years:female: 27.4 years (2011 est.", ")===Population growth rate===:0.91% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 107th:note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:1.054% (2012 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===:2.29 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 79th:note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:2.50 children born/woman (2004):2.59 children born/woman (2011)===Birth rate===:17.42 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 89th:note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:18.97 births/1,000 population (2012 est.", ")===Death rate===:6.6 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 132nd:note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:4.76 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.", ")===Net migration rate===:-1.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 165th:note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:-3.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.", ")===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:70.8% (2018):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara===Urbanization===:urban population: 64.6% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 1.88% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.", "):note: data does not include former Western Sahara:urban population: 58% of total population (2010):rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2010–15 est.", ")===Sex ratio===:at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female:under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female:15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female:65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female:total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2012 est.", ")===Infant mortality rate===:total: 26.49 deaths/1,000 live births:male: 31.16 deaths/1,000 live births:female: 21.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===:total population: 73.68 years Country comparison to the world: 145th:male: 71.98 years:female: 75.46 years (2022 est.", "):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara:total population: 76.11 years:male: 73.04 years:female: 79.32 years (2012 est.", ")===Ethnic groups===Arabs (44%)Arabized Berbers (24%)Berbers (21%)Beidane (10%)Others (1%)=== Languages === Arabic (official)Berber (official)FrenchSpanish===Literacy===''Definition:'' age 10 and over can read and write:total population: 73.8%:male: 83.3%:female: 64.6% (2018):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara''Total population:'' 73.55% (2012): :Category:Education in Morocco===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 14 years:male: 14 years:female: 14 years (2020)note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara===Major infectious diseases===note: clusters of cases of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are occurring in Morocco; as of 6 October 2021, Morocco has reported a total of 936,236 cases of COVID-19 or 2,536.5 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 38.94 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 2 October 2021, 60.91% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine===Unemployment, youth ages 15–24===:total: 22.2%:male: 22%:female: 22.8% (2016 est.", "):note: does not include data from the former Western Sahara" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Results of the 2004 census* Results of the 2014 census* Results of the 2004 census by Douars" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics of Morocco''' take place in a framework of an official parliamentary constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister of Morocco 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 the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and the Assembly of Councillors.", "The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.On June 17, 2011, King Mohammed VI announced a series of reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy." ], [ "Executive branch", "KingMohammed VI23 July 1999Prime MinisterAziz AkhannouchRNI10 September 2021The constitution grants the king extensive powers; he is both the secular political leader and the \"Commander of the Faithful\" as a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.", "He presides over the Council of Ministers; appoints the prime minister following legislative elections, and on recommendations from the latter, appoints the members of the government.", "While the constitution theoretically allows the king to terminate the tenure of any minister, and after consultation with the heads of the higher and lower Assemblies, to dissolve the Parliament, suspend the constitution, call for new elections, or rule by decree, the only time this happened was in 1965.The King is formally the chief of the military.", "Upon the death of his father Mohammed V, King Hassan II succeeded to the throne in 1961.He ruled Morocco for the next 38 years until he died in 1999.His son, the King Mohammed VI, assumed the throne in July 1999.Following the March 1998 elections, a coalition government headed by opposition socialist Abderrahmane Youssoufi and composed largely of ministers drawn from opposition parties, was formed.", "Prime Minister Youssoufi's government is the first government drawn primarily from opposition parties in decades, and also represents the first opportunity for a coalition of socialist, left-of-centre, and nationalist parties to be included in the government until October 2002.It was also the first time in the modern political history of the Arab world that the opposition assumed power following an election.", "The current government is headed by Aziz Akhannouch, who was appointed by King Mohammed VI after his party won a plurality of seats in the September 2021 general election.", "His cabinet was sworn in on 7 October." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The legislature's building, in Rabat.", "'''The House of Representatives''': The House of Representatives consisted of 395 members elected by direct suffrage through a list system vote as follows:305 members at local constituencies level90 members at national constituencies level: 60 of whom are women, and 30 are youths.", "'''The House of Councilors''': The House of Councilors consists of 120 members elected according to the following regulations and procedures:72 members from local communes20 members from professional chambers8 members from professional organizations of employers20 members from the representatives of the wage earners" ], [ "Political parties and elections", "On 26 November 2011, the initial results of the parliamentary elections were released.", "The moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), was projected to win the largest number of seats.", "However, the electoral rules were structured such that no political party could win more than 20 percent of the seats in the parliament.The Justice and Development Party (PJD) remained the largest party, winning 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections.", "Abdelillah Benkirane was reappointed Prime Minister by the King on 10 October.", "The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 102 seats, and the rest of the seats were split among smaller parties.In the September 2021 general election, the moderate Islamist PJD suffered an electoral wipeout, with the liberal National Rally of Independents becoming the largest party in Parliament.", "Its leader, Aziz Akhannouch, subsequently formed a coalition government with the Authenticity and Modernity Party and Istiqlal Party." ], [ "Judicial branch", "The highest court in the judicial structure is the Supreme Court, whose judges are appointed by the King.", "The Youssoufi government continued to implement a reform program to develop greater judicial independence and impartiality." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Since 2015 Morocco officially administers 12 regions: Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Casablanca-Settat, Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab, Drâa-Tafilalet, Fès-Meknès, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, Marrakech-Safi, Oriental, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Souss-Massa and Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.", "The regions are administered by Walis and governors appointed by the King.Morocco is divided also into 13 prefectures and 62 provinces.", "Prefectures: Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane, Casablanca, Fès, Inezgane-Aït Melloul, Marrakesh, Meknès, Mohammedia, Oujda-Angad, Rabat, Safi, Salé, Skhirate-Témara and Tangier-Assilah.Provinces: Al Haouz, Al Hoceïma, Aousserd, Assa-Zag, Azilal, Benslimane, Béni-Mellal, Berkane, Berrechid, Boujdour, Boulemane, Chefchaouen, Chichaoua, Chtouka Aït Baha, Driouch, El Hajeb, El Jadida, El Kelâa des Sraghna, Errachidia, Es Semara, Essaouira, Fahs-Anjra, Figuig, Fquih Ben Salah, Guelmim, Guercif, Ifrane, Jerada, Kénitra, Khémisset, Khénifra, Khouribga, Laâyoune, Larache, Médiouna, Midelt, Moulay Yacoub, Nador, Nouaceur, Ouarzazate, Oued Ed-Dahab, Ouezzane, Rehamna, Safi, Sefrou, Settat, Sidi Bennour, Sidi Ifni, Sidi Kacem, Sidi Slimane, Tan-Tan, Taounate, Taourirt, Tarfaya, Taroudannt, Tata, Taza, Tétouan, Tinghir, Tiznit, Youssoufia and Zagora." ], [ "International organization affiliations", "ABEDA, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, EBRD, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITF, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO." ], [ "Notable persons", " Ahmed Ameziane, politician" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", " Government at the official portal of Morocco* Morocco list at the CIA Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members, March 17, 2011*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Economy of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''economy of Morocco''' is considered a relatively liberal economy, governed by the law of supply and demand.", "Since 1993, in line with many Western world changes, Morocco has followed a policy of privatisation of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government.", "Morocco has become a major player in African economic affairs, and is the 5th largest African economy by GDP (PPP).", "The World Economic Forum placed Morocco as the most competitive economy in North Africa, in its African Competitiveness Report 2014–2015.The economic system of the country is characterised by a large opening towards the outside world.", "In the Arab world, Morocco has the second-largest non-oil GDP, behind Egypt, as of 2017.Since the early-1980s, the Moroccan government has pursued an economic programme toward accelerating economic growth with the support of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Paris Club of creditors.", "From 2018, the country's currency, the Moroccan dirham, is fully convertible for current account transactions; reforms of the financial sector have been implemented; and state enterprises are being privatised.The services sector accounts for just over half of the GDP.", "The industry sector– consisting of mining, construction and manufacturing – is an additional quarter.", "The sectors that recorded the highest growth are the tourism, telecommunications, and textile sectors.", "Morocco, however, still depends to an inordinate degree on agriculture, which accounts for around 14% of GDP but employs 40–45% of the Moroccan population.", "With a semi-arid climate, it is difficult to assure good rainfall and Morocco's GDP varies depending on the weather.", "Fiscal prudence has allowed for consolidation, with both the budget deficit and debt falling as a percentage of GDP.", "The major resources of the Moroccan economy are agriculture, phosphate minerals, and tourism.", "Sales of fish and seafood are important as well.", "Industry and mining contribute about one-third of the annual GDP.", "Morocco is the world's third-largest producer of phosphates (after the United States and China), and the price fluctuations of phosphates on the international market greatly influence Morocco's economy.", "Tourism and workers' remittances have played a critical role since independence.", "The production of textiles and clothing is part of a growing manufacturing sector that accounted for approximately 34% of total exports in 2002, employing 40% of the industrial workforce.", "The government wishes to increase 3 exports from $1.27 billion in 2001 to $3.29 billion in 2010 and has raised this to 5.7 billion in 2019.The high cost of imports, especially of petroleum imports, is a major problem.", "Morocco suffers both from structural unemployment and a large external debt.", "The youth unemployment rate was 27.2% in 2021.About 80% of jobs are informal and the income gaps are very high.", "In 2021, Morocco ranked 123rd out of 191 countries in the world on the Human Development Index (HDI), behind Algeria (91st) and Tunisia (97th).", "It is the most unequal country in North Africa according to the NGO Oxfam." ], [ "Macro-economic trend", "Morocco is a fairly stable economy with continuous growth over the past half-century.", "Current GDP per capita grew 47% in the 1960s, reaching a peak growth of 274% in the 1970s.", "However, this proved unsustainable and growth scaled back sharply to just 8.2% in the 1980s and 8.9% in the 1990s.This is a chart of the trend of gross domestic product of Morocco at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Moroccan dirhams.", "Year Gross Domestic Product US Dollar Exchange Inflation Index (2000=100) Per Capita Income (as % of USA) 1980 74,090 3.93 Dirhams 33 8.87 1985 129,507 10.06 Dirhams 53 3.72 1990 212,819 8.24 Dirhams 67 5.17 1995 281,702 8.54 Dirhams 91 5.03 2000 354,208 10.62 Dirhams 100 3.73 2005 460,855 8.86 Dirhams 107 4.68 2006 503,714 8.72 Dirhams 72 For purchasing power parity comparisons, the U.S. Dollar is exchanged at over 8 Dirhams.", "Mean wages were $2.88 per man-hour in 2009.The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2022.Inflation below 5% is in green.YearGDP(in bn.", "US$PPP)GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in US$ nominal)GDP growth(real)Inflation rate(in Percent)Unemployment(in Percent)Government debt(in % of GDP)198031.41,61523.83.8%9.4%n/an/a198133.41,67519.3-2.8%12.5%n/an/a198238.91,90019.59.6%10.5%n/an/a198340.21,91817.6-0.6%6.2%n/an/a198443.42,02516.14.3%12.4%n/an/a198547.62,16916.36.3%7.7%n/an/a198652.62,34221.58.3%8.7%n/an/a198752.52,28423.7-2.5%2.7%n/an/a198860.12,55328.110.4%2.4%n/an/a198963.92,65428.92.4%3.1%n/an/a199069.02,85332.74.0%6.0%n/a70.5%199176.43,10334.97.2%9.0%n/a59.1%199276.53,05036.5-2.1%5.7%n/a67.0%199377.83,04434.3-0.7%5.2%n/a74.7%199487.83,37938.510.6%5.1%n/a69.3%199584.83,21542.2-5.4%6.1%16.0%72.2%199697.13,62846.712.4%3.0%15.5%65.3%199797.23,58242.4-1.6%1.0%15.4%68.0%1998105.43,83145.27.2%2.7%15.2%64.5%1999108.13,87345.11.1%0.7%14.0%63.4%2000112.63,98242.11.9%1.9%13.5%64.9%2001123.64,31142.77.3%0.6%12.3%60.4%2002129.44,45545.73.1%2.8%11.4%59.4%2003139.94,75156.36.0%1.2%11.5%56.9%2004150.55,04664.54.8%1.5%10.7%54.4%2005160.35,30667.53.3%1.0%11.0%54.8%2006177.85,80974.37.6%3.3%10.9%50.6%2007189.16,09985.53.5%2.0%9.7%47.1%2008204.16,502100.15.9%3.9%9.5%42.0%2009214.16,736100.54.2%2.2%9.0%42.6%2010225.06,990100.93.8%0.9%9.2%45.3%2011241.77,418109.75.2%0.8%8.5%48.6%2012244.77,421106.33.0%0.8%8.7%52.3%2013256.17,674115.64.5%1.6%9.5%57.1%2014259.37,679119.12.7%0.4%9.7%58.6%2015269.87,905110.44.3%1.4%9.2%58.4%2016274.07,944111.60.5%1.5%9.0%60.1%2017285.68,193118.55.1%0.7%10.6%60.3%2018301.38,556127.33.1%1.6%9.4%60.5%2019315.68,868128.92.9%0.2%10.2%60.3%2020296.48,245121.4-7.2%0.6%12.2%72.2%2021333.29,177141.87.9%1.4%11.9%68.9%2022359.79,808130.90.8%6.2%11.1%70.3%" ], [ "History", "Over the years, Morocco implemented a series of development plans, enacted economic reforms, and encountered various challenges that have influenced its economic trajectory.", "From the 1960s to the present day, the country has sought to achieve sustained economic growth, reduce unemployment rates, and improve the living standards of its population.===1960–1989===Morocco instituted a series of development plans to modernize the economy and increase production during the 1960s.", "Net investment under the five-year plan for 1960–64 was about $1.3 billion.", "The plan called for a growth rate of 6.2%, but by 1964 the growth rate had only reached only 3%.", "The main emphasis of the plan was on the development and modernization of the agricultural sector.", "The five-year development plan for 1968–72 called for increased agriculture and irrigation.", "The development of the tourist industry also figured prominently in the plan.", "The objective was to attain an annual 5% growth rate in GDP; the real growth rate actually exceeded 6%.Investment during the 1970s included industry and tourism development.", "The five-year plan for 1973–77 envisaged a real economic growth of 7.5% annually.", "Industries singled out for development included chemicals (especially phosphoric acid), phosphate production, paper products, and metal fabrication.", "In 1975, King Hassan II announced a 50% increase in investment targets to allow for the effects of inflation.", "The 1978–80 plan was one of stabilization and retrenchment, designed to improve Morocco's balance-of-payments position.The ambitious five-year plan for 1981–85, estimated to cost more than $18 billion, aimed at achieving a growth rate of 6.5% annually.", "The plan's principal priority was to create some 900,000 new jobs and to train managers and workers in modern agricultural and industrial techniques.", "Other major goals were to increase production in agriculture and fisheries to make the country self-sufficient in food, and to develop energy, industry, and tourism to enable Morocco to lessen its dependence on foreign loans.", "The plan called for significant expansion of irrigated land, for increased public works projects such as hospitals and schools, and for economic decentralization and regional development through the construction of 25 new industrial parks outside the crowded Casablanca-Kénitra coastal area.", "Large industrial projects included phosphoric acid plants, sugar refineries, mines to exploit cobalt, coal, silver, lead, and copper deposits, and oil-shale development.===1990–2000s===Moroccan GDP growth (1990–2005).Moroccan economic policies brought macroeconomic stability to the country in the early 1990s but did not spur growth sufficient to reduce unemployment despite Moroccan Government's ongoing efforts to diversify the economy.", "Drought conditions depressed activity in the key agricultural sector, and contributed to an economic slowdown in 1999.Favourable rainfalls have led Morocco to a growth of 6% for 2000.Formidable long-term challenges included: servicing the external debt; preparing the economy for freer trade with the EU; and improving education and attracting foreign investment to improve living standards and job prospects for Morocco's youthful population.Macroeconomic stability coupled with relatively slow economic growth characterized the Moroccan economy over the period 2000–2005.The government introduced a number of important economic reforms in that period.", "The economy, however, remained overly dependent on the agricultural sector.", "Morocco's primary economic challenge was to accelerate growth in order to reduce high levels of unemployment.", "The government continued liberalizing the telecommunications sector in 2002, as well as the rules for oil and gas exploration.", "This process started with the sale of a second GSM license in 1999.The government in 2003 was using revenue from privatizations to finance increased spending.", "Although Morocco's economy grew in the early 2000s, it was not enough to significantly reduce poverty.Through a foreign exchange rate anchor and well-managed monetary policy, Morocco held inflation rates to industrial country levels over the past decade.", "Inflation in 2000 and 2001 were below 2%.", "Despite criticism among exporters that the dirham has become badly overvalued, the current account deficit remains modest.", "Foreign exchange reserves were strong, with more than $7 billion in reserves at the end of 2001.The combination of strong foreign exchange reserves and active external debt management gave Morocco the capacity to service its debt.", "Current external debt stands at about $16.6 billion.", "Africa:: Morocco — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence AgencyEconomic growth, however, has been erratic and relatively slow, partially as a result of an over-reliance on the agricultural sector.", "Agriculture production is extremely susceptible to rainfall levels and ranges from 13% to 20% of GDP.", "Given that 36% of Morocco's population depends directly on agriculture production, droughts have a severe knock-on effect to the economy.", "Two successive years of drought led to a 1% incline in real GDP in 1999 and stagnation in 2000.Better rains during the 2000 to 2001 growing season led to a 6.5% growth rate in 2001.Growth in 2006 went above 9%, this was achieved by a booming real estate market.The government introduced a series of structural reforms in recent years.", "The most promising reforms have been in the liberalization of the telecommunications sector.", "In 2001, the process continued with the privatization of 35% of the state operator Maroc Telecom.", "Morocco announced plans to sell two fixed licenses in 2002.Morocco also has liberalized rules for oil and gas exploration and has granted concessions for many public services in major cities.", "The tender process in Morocco is becoming increasingly transparent.", "Many believe, however, that the process of economic reform must be accelerated in order to reduce urban unemployment below the current rates above 20%." ], [ "Recent developments", "Macroeconomic indicators 100pxGDP (PPP) US $314.5 billion (2018 est.", ")GDP growth 5.7% (2009 est.", ")GDP per capita PPP US$8,930 (2018 est.", ")GNI(PPP) per capita US$3,990 (2009 est.", ")Inflation (CPI) 1.8% (2018 est.", ")Gini index 40.0 (2005)Unemployment 9.1% (2008)HDI 0.646 (2007)Labor force 11.5 million (2008 est.)Pop.", "in poverty 15% (2008)50 dirhams and Ksour in the backgroundMorocco's sound economic management in recent years has yielded strong growth and investment grade status and it is weathering the negative impacts of the global crisis impressively well.", "Morocco is now addressing persistent social problems by reducing absolute poverty rates, investing in human capital through quality education, expanding access to drinking water, and linking rural areas to markets through investment in roads.Morocco faces challenges on human development outcomes despite progress over the past decade, in particular.", "Overall illiteracy rates and gender disparity in access to secondary education remain high and the country continues to suffer poor outcomes on infant and maternal mortality.", "It also needs to diversify its economy, become more competitive, and integrate further into the global economy if it is to reach higher growth levels.The government has recognized this challenge and has put in place an ambitious process of legal, policy, and institutional modernization that has far-reaching political, economic, and social dimensions.", "It has designed and is now implementing a comprehensive set of new sector strategies that respond to the overall national vision and that target development challenges with clear, measurable goals and indicators.Tough government reforms and steady yearly growth in the region of 4–5% from 2000 to 2007, including 4.9% year-on-year growth in 2003–2007 the Moroccan economy is much more robust than just a few years ago.", "Economic growth is far more diversified, with new service and industrial poles, like Casablanca and Tangier, developing.", "The agriculture sector is being rehabilitated, which in combination with good rainfalls led to a growth of over 20% in 2009.===2008===In a statement, released in July 2008, the IMF called Morocco \"a pillar of development in the region\" and congratulated King Mohammed VI and the Central Bank on Morocco's continued strong economic progress and effective management of monetary policy.Morocco's economy is expected to grow by 6.5% in 2008, according to the Moroccan finance minister.", "While the forecast is slightly lower than the earlier 6.8% projected growth it still remains quite an achievement considering the circumstances.", "GDP growth in 2007 was only 2.2% due to a poor harvest caused by prolonged periods of drought; Morocco experienced nonagricultural GDP growth of 6.6 percent in 2007.Inflation is expected to reach 2.9% in 2008 due to the rising costs of energy.In an increasingly challenging global economic climate, the IMF expects continued nonagricultural expansion of the Moroccan economy.The global financial crisis affected the Moroccan economy in only a limited way.", "Morocco may be affected, by the slowdown of international economy, stirred by the global financial crisis, and whose maximum impact on national economy could decrease the GDP growth rate by at least one point in 2009, according to the Bank Al-MaghribIn a report issued in July 2008, the IMF noted that Morocco's financial sector is sound and resilient to shocks, and that the remarkable fiscal consolidation efforts of recent years have allowed the Moroccan economy to absorb the impact of difficult international economic conditions and increasing global prices for essential commodities such as petroleum and energy.International economic experts recognize that Morocco's exemplary economic performance is beneficial not only to Moroccans, but also for the nearly 90 million people who live the Maghreb.Morocco is expected to close the year 2008 with a budgetary surplus ranging between MAD 3 billion and MAD3.5 billion ($348 million to $407 million), despite a difficult international context marked by a severe economic crisis.", "At the end of November 2008, the state's budget registered a surplus of MAD 3.2 billion ($372 million), while at the end of November 2009, the budgetary surplus is projected at MAD 6.9 billion ($803 million).The diversification of the Economy includes a multi-disciplinary approach to the development of non-agricultural sector, including the creation of special sectorial zones in industry, tourism and services outsourcing.", "In addition, reforms to the higher educational system and business law are also planified in the new program-contract signed in 2009 between the government, the banking sector and some zone-development companies.", "The approach also include a better sustaining of small-business development and prospection of external markets.", "The objective is to become an emerging industrial country of the likes of Vietnam by 2015.US Ambassador to the EU noted that::\"Morocco stands out as a model of economic reform for the region and for other developing countries.", "The kind of economic progress that Morocco has made, and which the rest of the Maghreb has the potential to accomplish, is the best antidote to the new threat of terrorism in the region.\"", "2006 2007 2008 2009'''Maghreb GDP growth''''''4.3''''''4.3''''''5.5''''''4.9'''Moroccan GDP growth7.82.76.55.5Algerian GDP growth2.04.64.94.5Tunisian GDP growth 5.5 6.3 5.5 5.0===2009===The economy has remained insulated from the worst effects of the world crisis.", "Due in part to the rebounding of the agricultural sector, which had suffered from a 2007 drought, the economy expanded 5.6% in 2008, with 5.7% growth forecasted for 2009.Morocco's economy is the 61st largest in the world, according to the IMF, though its per-capita GDP is low compared to similarly ranked nations.", "King Mohammed VI has recently launched two national economic strategies: Plan Maroc Vert and Plan Emergence.", "The first seeks to create 1.5m jobs in the agriculture sector, and add around €7.65 billion to GDP through €10.8 billion of investments by 2020, while the latter will establish new industrial zones and boost training to increase efficiency.", "Additionally, phosphates production, which accounted for more than a third of 2008 exports, is being restructured for greater value.Morocco's economy is expected to achieve a 6.6% growth in the first quarter of 2009 up from 4.8% in the past quarter thanks to prospects for an agricultural campaign above the average of the past five years.By the end of December 2008, rainfalls exceeded that of an ordinary year by 106%.", "This surplus has benefited to all agricultural regions and increased the water stored in dams destined for agriculture to 40.7%.", "In these conditions and taking into consideration a cereal campaign nearing 70 million quintals, the agricultural value added could increase by 22.2% in the first quarter of 2009, thus contributing 2.9% to the national economic growth.Due to a decrease of activity among Morocco's main commercial partners, foreign demand of goods destined towards Morocco would moderately slow down in 2009 compared to the 9% rise in 2008.This trend could continue in Q1 of 2009 with a growth rate not exceeding 2% due to a lackluster economic growth outlook and the slowdown of international trade.===2019===In June 2019, Morocco signed two agreements to obtain a loan worth $237 million from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.", "The loan was taken to fund two investment projects.===2020===On the economic front, the shock of COVID-19 has pushed the Moroccan economy into its first recession since 1995.Economic output contracted by 15.1% in the second quarter of 2020, primarily as a result of the lockdown but also of a sharp reduction in exports caused by the pandemic's disruption to global value chains and the collapse of receipts from tourism.", "The shock to supply and demand, triggered by the pandemic, has been compounded by the fall in agricultural production due to a severe drought.", "Although activity picked up in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, the government's preliminary estimates indicate that Morocco's real GDP contracted by 7% in 2020, leading to an increase in unemployment from 9.2% to 11.9%." ], [ "Economic growth", "Morocco is a fairly stable economy with continuous growth over the past half-a-century.", "Current GDP per capita grew 47% in the Sixties reaching a peak growth of 274% in the Seventies.", "However, this proved unsustainable and growth scaled back sharply to just 8.2% in the Eighties and 8.9% in the Nineties.Real GDP growth is expected to average 5.5% in the 2009–13 period, seen the prospects in the tourism and the non-agricultural industry, as demand growth in the Eurozone — Morocco's key export market and source of tourists is projected to be more subdued.", "Growth will be well below the 8–10% levels that are widely regarded as necessary to have a major impact on poverty and unemployment.", "Economic growth will also be intermittently hindered by the impact of periodic droughts on the rain-fed agricultural sector, the country's largest employer.", "Moroccan GDP growth (IMF) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2004–2010Moroccan GDP(PPP)101.904108.171120.365126.943138.177148.109159.007NAMoroccan GDP(Nominal)56.94859.52465.64075.11690.47097.68106.59NAMoroccan GDP(PPP) per capita3,4093,5853,9454,0934,4324,7255,025NA Percentage of GDP growth 4.8 3.0 7.8 2.7 6.5 4.4 (est.)", "4.4 (est.)", "'''Av.", "of 5.2%''' Public Debt (percentage of GDP) 59.4 63.1 58.1 53.6 51.9 51.8 (est.)", "50.1 (est.)", "NA" ], [ "Agriculture", "Agriculture employs about 40% of Morocco's workforce.", "On the Atlantic coast, where there are extensive plains, olives, citrus fruits, and wine grapes are grown, largely with water supplied by artesian wells.", "Livestock are raised and forests yield cork, cabinet wood, and building materials.", "Part of the maritime population fishes for its livelihood.", "Agadir, Essaouira, El Jadida, and Larache are among the important fishing harbours.", "In the rainy sections of the northeast, barley, wheat, and other cereals can be raised without irrigation.", "Morocco produced in 2018:* 7.3 million tons of wheat (20th largest producer in the world);* 3.7 million tonnes of sugar beet, which is used to produce sugar and ethanol;* 2.8 million tons of barley (15th largest producer in the world);* 1.8 million tons of potatoes;* 1.5 million tons of olives (3rd largest producer in the world, behind Spain and Italy);* 1.4 million tons of tomatoes (15th largest producer in the world);* 1.2 million tons of tangerines (4th largest producer in the world, behind China, Spain and Turkey);* 1 million tons of oranges (15th largest producer in the world);* 954 thousand tons of onions;* 742 thousand tons of watermelons;* 696 thousand tons of apples;* 616 thousand tons of sugarcane;* 500 thousand tons of melons;* 480 thousand tons of carrots;* 451 thousand tons of grapes;* 319 thousand tons of bananas;* 256 thousand tons of chilli pepper;* 128 thousand tons of fig (3rd largest producer in the world, only behind Turkey and Egypt);In addition to smaller yields of other agricultural products.===Land===Morocco is endowed with numerous exploitable resources.", "With approximately of arable land (one-seventh of which can be irrigated) and its generally temperate Mediterranean climate, Morocco's agricultural potential is matched by few other Arab or African countries.", "It is one of the few Arab countries that has the potential to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.", "In a normal year, Morocco produces two-thirds of the grains (chiefly wheat, barley, and corn maize) needed for domestic consumption.Morocco exports citrus fruits and early vegetables to the European market.", "Its wine industry is developed, and the production of commercial crops (cotton, sugarcane, sugar beets, and sunflowers) is expanding.", "Newer crops such as tea, tobacco, and soybeans have passed the experimental stage, the fertile Gharb plain being favourable for their cultivation.", "Morocco is actively developing its irrigation potential that ultimately will irrigate more than 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares).===Drought===Unreliable rainfall is a chronic problem that produces drought or sudden floods.", "In 1995, Morocco's worst drought in thirty years forced Morocco to import grain and adversely affected the economy.", "Another drought occurred in 1997, and one in 1999–2000.Reduced incomes due to drought caused GDP to fall by 7.6% in 1995, by 2.3% in 1997, and by 1.5% in 1999.During the years between drought, good rains brought bumper crops to market.", "Good rainfall in 2001 led to a 5% GDP growth rate.The danger of drought is ever present and still dramatically affects the Moroccan economy, even though Moroccan decisionmakers have recently stated that the economy becomes more diversified and disconnected from rain falls.", "Especially, cereal yields still depend on considerable variation in annual precipitation.", "Cereals constitute the essential of the agricultural value added and their production is very sensitive to rain falls.", "More important is that cereal yields determine not only the aggregate value added in the agricultural sector but also economic growth in general.", "According to the Moroccan economist, Brahim MANSOURI (Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia Compared, UNECA, 2008), when drought, measured as a dummy variable computed on the basis of the rate of growth of cereal yield, endangers extremely, the growth rate of real GDP would fall by 10%.===Cannabis===Morocco consistently ranks among the world's largest producers and exporters of cannabis, and its cultivation and sale provide the economic base for much of northern Morocco.", "The cannabis is typically processed into hashish.", "This activity represents 0.57% of Morocco's GDP.", "A UN survey in 2003 estimated cannabis cultivation at about in Morocco's five northern provinces.", "This represented 10% of the total area and 23% of the arable lands of the surveyed territory and 1% of Morocco's total arable land.On May 26, 2021, the Moroccan Parliament voted to legalise the use of cannabis for medical, as well as cosmetic and industrial purposes.Morocco is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and in 1992 Morocco passed legislation designed to implement it and its new national strategy against drugs formulated by its National Committee on Narcotics was adopted in 2005.That same year, the International Narcotics Control Board commended the Government of Morocco for its efforts to eradicate cannabis plant cultivation on its territory, which has resulted in the total potential production of cannabis resin in the Rif region decreasing by 10% over the previous year.", "At the same time, the board called upon the international community to support its efforts where possible.Since the early 2010s, a growing debate is taking place in Morocco about the decriminalisation of cannabis.", "Powerful political parties are among advocates of decriminalisation, as the Istiqlal Party and the Authenticity and Modernity Party.===Fishing===The fishing industry in Morocco is a leading source of revenue, accounting for 56% of agricultural and 16% of total exports.", "For a long time, the industry has been an economic pillar for the country.", "The Kingdom is considered the largest fish market in Africa, with an estimated total catch of 1,084,638 MT in 2001." ], [ "Industry", "Moroccan GDP by sector.", "(1980–2007).The Moroccan industrial sector looks set to continue the strong growth it has enjoyed in recent years.", "Industrial activity recorded a 5.5% increase in 2007, a slight rise over 2006, when the sector grew by 4.7%.", "Added value in the sector increased by 5.6% in 2007.Overall the contribution of industrial activity to GDP fluctuates between about 25% and 35% every year, depending on the performance of the agriculture sector.", "The industrial sector accounted for about 21.1% of employment in 2007 and the sector is a key component of the government's effort to curb unemployment.", "The sector also attracts high levels of FDI and authorities have announced initiatives to improve the investment climate, with particular attention to off-shoring activities, automotive, aeronautics, electronics, food processing activities, products from the sea and textiles.", "Other important industrial sectors include mining, chemicals, construction materials and pharmaceuticals.", "The future of Morocco's industrial segment looks bright, particularly as new initiatives make it more globally competitive in a variety of sectors.===Manufacturing===Tanneries in MarrakechManufacturing accounts for about one-sixth of GDP and is steadily growing in importance in the economy.", "Two particularly important components of Morocco's industrial makeup are processing raw materials for export and manufacturing consumer goods for the domestic market.", "Many operations date to the colonial period.", "Until the early 1980s, government involvement was dominant and the major focus was on import substitution.", "Since then the emphasis has shifted to privatizing state operations and attracting new private investment, including foreign sources.Processing phosphate ore into fertilizers and phosphoric acid for export is a major economic activity.", "Food processing for export (canning fish, fresh vegetables, and fruit) as well as for domestic needs (flour milling and sugar refining) is also important, and the manufacture of textiles and clothes using domestically produced cotton and wool is a major source of foreign exchange.", "Morocco's iron and steel manufacturing industry is small but provides a significant share of the country's domestic needs.The manufacturing sector produces light consumer goods, especially foodstuffs, beverages, textiles, matches, and metal and leather products.", "Heavy industry is largely limited to petroleum refining, chemical fertilizers, automobile and tractor assembly, foundry work, asphalt, and cement.", "Many of the processed agricultural products and consumer goods are primarily for local consumption, but Morocco exports canned fish and fruit, wine, leather goods, and textiles, as well as such traditional Moroccan handicrafts as carpets and brass, copper, silver, and wood implements.Ownership in the manufacturing sector is largely private.", "The government owns the phosphate-chemical fertilizer industry and much of the sugar-milling capacity, through either partnership or joint financing.", "It is also a major participant in the car and truck assembly industry and in tire manufacturing.===Automotive===The automotive sector is already Morocco's leading export sector and has made the Kingdom the leading car manufacturer in Africa.", "The Kingdom's fast integration into the global economy was also facilitated by numerous free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union.", "These agreements contributed undoubtedly in a positive way towards the emergence of export activities in the country.", "Foreign direct investment has been expanding as companies are attracted towards the favorable economic situation of the country, government support through their numerous initiatives, such as tax exemptions for the first 5 years and VAT exemptions, modern infrastructure, and a skilled workforce.", "Moreover, the automotive sector has the strongest job creation; 85’000 new jobs were created in the sector between 2014 and 2018, bringing the total jobs in the sector to 158’000.Morocco has two major \"traditional\" car manufacturers: Renault and PSA.The Chinese company BYD is a pioneer when it comes to electric cars and Morocco has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese automaker to set up an electric car factory near Tangier, the first of its kind in the country.Production and exports are expected to continue to rise thanks to the recent launch of a second production line by Renault.", "The production of the plants reached 402’000 vehicles in 2018.Other recent investments in Morocco's automotive sector include PSA Peugeot Citroen's investment of US$615 million in setting up their manufacturing facility which is expected to be operational in 2019.Production at the PSA plant projects to be 200’000 vehicles and boasting a total production capacity of 700’000 cars.Morocco could soon welcome new names (in two to three years), such as Toyota and Hyundai, having already shown their interest in the attractive conditions offered.", "Following the example of Renault, they could take advantage of the skilled work pool that has been created and a network of more than 200 automotive suppliers.Lear Corporation, The American group, with 11 plants in the country is the leading automotive supplier, followed by Yazaki, Sumitomo, and Leoni and many others such as Denso, Kromberg & Schubert, Takata, Furukawa, Fujikura, TE connectivity, Valeo, Faurecia, Daedong System, Hirschmann, Delphi, Magnetti Marelli, COMSAEMTE, Parker, Clarton Horn, Deltrian, Inergy Automotive System, Varroc Lighting System, JTKET, Processos industriales Del Sur...", "In the medium term, the goal is to attract nearly 50 other industrialists.New ecosystems have been established such as wiring, vehicle interior and seats, metal stamping, battery, etc.However, there are still numerous missing elements: sunroofs, leather seats, instrument panels, foundry, screws, tires, radios and screens.To boost investment in these activities, Morocco intends to encourage Moroccan capital and joint ventures.===Textiles===Textiles form a major industry in Morocco.", "The European Union is Morocco's top client as regards textile and clothing, with France importing 46% of hosiery, 28.5% of basic textile and 27.6% of ready-to-wear clothing from Morocco, managing director of the Moroccan Export Development Center underlined.", "Recalling that Morocco's textile and clothing exports totaled some $3.7 billion in 2007, Saad Benabdallah ascribed this performance to the many assets that Morocco enjoys, namely, geographical proximity, flexibility, sourcing skills and the multiple opportunities offered by Free Trade Agreements with the European Union, United States and Turkey.China's share rose to 46% on average in 2010, and several clothing categories, China is more than 50%.", "In the European market, the share of Chinese products was 37.7% in 2007.A bond that gives cold sweats to Moroccan exporters who have invested heavily in the sector, The President of CEDITH Jean-François Limantour said in an article that Turkey is the second supplier to Europe with a market share of 12.6%.", "The share of Morocco fell to 3%.===Mining===The mining sector is one of the pillars of Morocco's economy.", "It represented a turnover of US$2.7 billion in 2005, including MAD 2.17 billion in exports and 20% of energy consumption.", "It also employs about 39,000 people with an estimated MAD 571 million in salaries (2005).", "Morocco produces a number of minerals and metals, most importantly, phosphates, silver and lead.", "Morocco possesses 75 percent of the world's phosphate reserves.", "It is the world's first exporter (28% of the global market) and third producer (20% of global production).", "In 2005, Morocco produced 27.254 million tons of phosphates and 5.895 million tons of phosphate derivatives.", "===Construction sector===The construction and real estate sectors are also a part of the investment boom in the country.", "Increasing public investment in ports, housing development projects, and roads as well as the boom in the tourism sector have been a big shot in the arm for the construction sector.", "The rise in construction activities and efforts to improve infrastructure are creating many opportunities for public-private partnerships.", "The real estate sector has also been seeing record investments.", "In fact, Morocco is being touted as the most popular retirement destination among Europeans because it is inexpensive compared to other European tourist destinations.", "Most of the demand in Morocco is for moderate housing, and a decrease in lending rates has made home-ownership easier." ], [ "Services", "Services, including government and military expenditures, account for about one-fourth of Morocco's GDP.", "Government spending accounts for fully half of the service economy, despite an ongoing effort on the part of the government to sell much of its assets to private concerns.", "Since the mid-1980s tourism and associated services have been an increasingly significant sector of the Moroccan economy and by the late 1990s had become Morocco's largest source of foreign currency.During that time the Moroccan government committed significant resources – by way of loans and tax exemptions – to the development of the tourist industry and associated services.", "The government also made direct capital investments in the development of the service sector, but since the early 1990s it has begun to divest itself of these properties.", "Several million visitors enter Morocco yearly, most of them from Europe.", "Tourists also arrive from Algeria, the United States, and East Asia, mainly Japan.===Tourism===A view of Tangier Bay at sunset as seen from the Malabata suburb.Morocco is a major touristic destination.", "Tourism is thus a major contributor to both the economic output and the current account balance, as well as a main job provider.", "In 2008 8 million tourists have visited the kingdom.", "Tourist receipts in 2007 totalled US$7,55 billion.", "Morocco has developed an ambitious strategy, dubbed \"Vision 2010\", aimed at attracting 10 million tourists by 2010.This strategy provides for creating 160,000 beds, thus bringing the national capacity to 230,000 beds.", "It also aims to create some 600,000 new jobs.Marrakech continues to be the market leader, but the case of Fez, showing a 20% increase of visitors in 2004, gives hope that better organisation can bring results in diversifying the sector as a whole.", "Like other regions, Fez has its Centre Regional du Tourisme (CRT), a local tourism body which coordinates the local industry and the authorities.", "Fez's plan involves a substantial restructuring of the old city and an upgrading of hotel capacity.", "Improved transport has brought the city into more direct contact with potential visitors.", "There are now direct flights from France, where previously it was necessary to change plane in Casablanca.The \"Plan Azur\", is a large-scale project initiated by king Mohammed VI, is meant to internationalise Morocco.", "The plan provides for creating six coastal resorts for holiday-home owners and tourists: five on the Atlantic coast and one on the Mediterranean.", "The plan also includes other large-scale development projects such as upgrading regional airports to attract budget airlines, and building new train and road links.Thus, Morocco achieved an 11% rise in tourism in the first five months of 2008 compared with the same period last year, it said, adding that French visitors topped the list with 927,000 followed by Spaniards (587,000) and Britons (141,000).Morocco, which is close to Europe, has a mix of culture and the exotic that makes it popular with Europeans buying holiday homes.===Information technology===The IT sector generated a turnover of Dh7 billion ($910,000m) in 2007, which represented an 11% increase compared to 2006.The number of Moroccan internet subscribers in 2007 amounted to 526,080, representing an increase of 31.6% compared to the previous year and a 100% increase compared to 2005.The national penetration for internet subscription remains low, even though it increased from 0.38% in 2004 to 1.72% in 2007.Yet over 90% of subscribers have a broadband ADSL connection, which is one of the highest ratios in the world.", "The future of the Moroccan IT sector was laid out in Maroc 2006–12.The plan aims to increase the combined value of the telecoms and IT sector from Dh24 billion ($3.1 billion) in 2004 to Dh60 billion ($7.8 billion) in 2012.While the telecoms sector remains the big earner, with Dh33 billion ($4.3 billion), the IT and off shore industries should generate Dh21 billion ($2.7 billion) each by 2012.In addition, the number of employees should increase from 40,000 to 125,000.The government hopes that adding more local content to the internet will increase usage.", "There have also been efforts to add more computers to schools and universities.", "E-commerce is likely to take off in the next few years, especially as the use of credit cards is gaining more ground in Morocco.", "Although computer and internet use have made a great leap forward in the past five years, the IT market still finds itself in infancy and offers great potential for further development.===Retail===The retail industry represents 12.8% of Morocco's GDP and 1.2m people – 13% of the total workforce – are employed in the sector.", "Organised retail, however, represents only a fraction of domestic trade, as shoppers rely on the country's 1151 souks, markets and approximately 700,000 independent groceries and shops.", "The rapid emergence of a middle class – around 30% of the population – combined with a young and increasingly urban population and a craving for international brands, is rapidly changing the ways Moroccans spend their money.", "Still average purchasing power remains low overall, forcing retailers to cater to a broad section of the population and to keep prices low.", "Despite the challenges, the retail sector has strong growth potential.", "The franchising segment will continue to grow, and while strong local brands are emerging, international brand names will continue to account for the biggest percentage increase in the sector's turnover.", "Changing consumption habits, increasing purchasing power and the growing number of tourists should boost the development of malls and luxury shopping.", "However, independent stores and markets should continue to account for most domestic trade in the foreseeable future.===Offshoring===In 2009 Morocco was ranked among the top thirty countries in the offshoring sector.", "Morocco opened its doors to offshoring in July 2006, as one component of the development initiative Plan Emergence, and has so far attracted roughly half of the French-speaking call centres that have gone offshore so far and a number of the Spanish ones.", "According to experts, multinational companies are attracted by Morocco's geographical and cultural proximity to Europe, in addition to its time zone.", "In 2007 the country had about 200 call centres, including 30 of significant size, that employ a total of over 18,000 people.===Finance===The central bank of Morocco Bank Al-MaghribIn 2007 the economic environment remained conducive to further growth of banking activity in Morocco following a very good year for the sector in 2006.In 2007 macroeconomic growth, excluding the agricultural sector, remained quite robust, providing the background for dynamic growth in banking credits.", "Total assets of the banking sector increased by 21.6% to MAD 654.7 billion ($85.1 billion), which is above the previous year's high annual growth rate of 18.1%.", "The structure of the domestic sector has remained steady in the past two years, with the landscape dominated by three major local banks.", "The state has started to remove itself from the domestic sector by surrendering part of its share capital in public banks.", "At end-2007 public capital still held controlling stakes in five banks and four financing companies.", "Meanwhile, foreign ownership in the local financial sector continues to grow, with foreign institutions controlling five banks and eight financing companies as well as holding significant stakes in four banks and three financing companies.The financial system, though robust, has to take on excessive quantities of low risk-low return government debt at the expense of riskier, but more productive private sector lending.", "This crowding–out of private sector investment reduces the profitability and growth incentives of the financial sector.Fitch Ratings affirmed Morocco's long-term local and foreign issuer default ratings of \"BBB−\" and \"BBB\", respectively, with a stable outlook.", "The credit rating agency attributed its classification in part to the \"relative resilience of Morocco's economy to the global economic downturn.", "\"===Insurance===The insurance sector in Morocco is witnessing dynamic growth, driven foremost by developments in life insurance, which has superseded motor insurance in the past two years as the leading segment of the market with around one-third of total premiums.", "Behind life and auto insurance, accident, work-related accident, fire and transport insurance were the largest contributors.", "Total premiums reached Dh17.7 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2007, ranking Morocco as one of the largest insurance markets in the Arab world behind Saudi Arabia and the UAE.", "The insurance penetration rate is 2.87% of GDP, while the insurance density is $69 per person.More broadly, the Moroccan insurance sector is already consolidated, with five large players controlling the market.", "The sector is set to be opened up to foreign competition from 2010 onward, and the consolidation of insurance companies into larger entities should strengthen the local players to better compete with eventual competition from foreign insurers.", "There is also the possibility that new insurance niches such as takaful (Islamic insurance) and microinsurance products will become part of the Moroccan market in the medium-term, but they are unlikely to appear in the near future.===Media and advertising===According to the Moroccan Advertisers Group, Dh3.9 billion ($507 million) was spent in 2007, a near-fourfold increase on the Dh1.1 billion ($143 million) spent in 2000.There is still room for growth, as the market remains underdeveloped by international standards.", "Advertising expenditure represented just over 0.6% of GDP in 2007, compared with 1% in Egypt and 1.5% to 2% in EU countries.", "Morocco's 10 biggest advertising spenders account for about 35% of the total, with telecoms, consumer goods and services companies making up a large percentage of that amount.Television retained the lion's share of advertising expenditure, with 55% of above-the-line advertising.", "In a 2006 poll, GAM found that 94% of its members used outdoor advertising, although 81% companied about problems, mainly caused by quality issues and delays.", "The potential for expansion is huge, and while telecoms should remain the largest advertising segment, fast-growing sectors of the economy such as retail, automobile and real estate are providing advertising companies with new opportunities.===Communications===The telecoms sector increased in value from Dh25.6 billion ($3.3 billion) in 2006 to Dh33.3 billion ($4.2 billion) in 2007.With a workforce of some 41,000 employees, the sector contributes 7% to annual GDP and is one of the country's leading recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI).", "Under the development plan, the sector should employ 125,000 people by 2012 and contribute 10% of GDP.", "With the penetration rates of 69.4% from mobile phones and 8.95% for fixed lines, the Moroccan telecoms industry is set to continue to grow.", "The call centre industry – partially as a result of offshore initiatives, such as Casanearshore and Rabat Technoplis – will continue to expand.", "However, the worldwide call centre industry is highly competitive and education is the key to success if Morocco truly intends to become a leading international player in this industry.===Telephone system===In the late 1980s and early '90s the government undertook a major expansion and modernization of the telecommunications system.", "This nearly quadrupled the number of internal telephone lines and greatly improved international communications.", "In 1996 the state-owned telecommunications industry was opened up to privatization by a new law that allowed private investment in the retail sector, while the state retained control of fixed assets.", "In 1998 the government created Maroc Telecom (Ittiṣālāt al-Maghrib), which provides telephone, cellular, and Internet service for the country.", "Satellite dishes are found on the roofs of houses in even the poorest neighbourhoods, suggesting that Moroccans at every social and economic level have access to the global telecommunications network.", "The Internet has made steady inroads in Morocco; major institutions have direct access to it, while private individuals can connect via telecommunications \"boutiques\", a version of the cyber cafés found in many Western countries, and through home computers.Morocco has a good system composed of open-wire lines, cables, and microwave radio relay links.", "The internet is available.", "The principal switching centers are Casablanca and Rabat.", "The national network is nearly 100% digital using fiber-optic links.", "An improved rural service employs microwave radio relay.", "The international system has seven submarine cables, three satellite earth stations, two Intelsat (over the Atlantic Ocean) and one Arabsat.", "There is a microwave radio relay to Gibraltar, Spain and the Western Sahara.", "Coaxial cables and microwave radio relays exist to Algeria.", "Morocco is a participant in Medarabtel and a fiber-optic cable links from Agadir to Algeria and Tunisia.", "Main lines in use: 3.28 million (2012) : estimationMobile cellular: 47.25 million 135% of the total population (2015) : estimationInternet users: 21.2 million 60.6% of the total population (2014): estimation===Radio===AM stations 25,FM stations 31,shortwave 11 (2007)Radio sets: 7.78 million (2007)===Broadband Internet access===Operated by Maroc Telecom.", "The service started as a test in November 2002 before it was launched in October 2003.The service is offered by the subsidiary Menara.", "As well as Inwi (also known as Wana Co.) and Meditel that turned into Orange.===Equity markets===Privatization has stimulated activity on the Casablanca Stock Exchange (Bourse de Casablanca) notably through trade in shares of large former state-owned operation.", "Founded in 1929, it is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Africa, but it came into reckoning after financial reforms in 1993, making it the third largest in Africa.The stock market capitalisation of listed companies in Morocco was valued at $75,495 billion in 2007 by the World Bank.", "That is an increase of 74% compared with the year 2005.Having weathered the global financial meltdown, the Casablanca Stock Exchange is stepping up to its central role of financing the Moroccan economy.", "Over the next few years, it seeks to double its number of listed companies and more than quadruple its number of investors." ], [ "Government finances", "===Fiscal Policies===Morocco has made great progress toward fiscal consolidation in recent years, under the combined effect of strong revenue performance and efforts to tackle expenditure rigidities, notably the wage bill.", "The overall fiscal deficit shrank by more than 4 percentage points of GDP during the last four years, bringing the budget close to balance in 2007.However, the overall deficit is projected to widen to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2008, driven by the upward surge in the fiscal cost of Morocco's universal subsidy scheme following the sharp increase in world commodity and oil prices.Fiscal policy decisions so far have been mostly discretionary, as there is no explicit goal for fiscal policy.", "Looking forward, the question of a possible anchor for medium-term fiscal policy is worth exploring.", "Morocco's low social indicators and large infrastructure needs could justify an increase in social spending and public investment.", "Further, some nominal tax rates remain high by international standards, possibly warranting a lowering of some rates.", "At the same time, the relatively high level of public debt remains a constraining factor, particularly as heightened attractiveness to investors is a key component of Morocco's strategy of deepening its integration in the global economy.Morocco has made major progress in recent years to increase economic growth and strengthen the economy's resilience to shocks.", "The gains reflect sound macroeconomic policies and sustained structural reforms, and are reflected in the gradual improvement in living standards and per capita income.===Debt management===The turnaround in the fiscal performance is particularly noteworthy.", "Around the start of the 21st century, Morocco's overall deficit stood at 5.3 percent of GDP, and gross total government debt amounted to three-fourths of GDP.", "In 2007, reflecting a strong improvement in revenue performance and moderate growth in expenditure, the budget was close to balanced.", "Under the combined effect of a prudent fiscal policy and sizeable privatization receipts, the total debt stock had shrunk by 20 percentage points, and now stands at a little over half of GDP.", "As a result, perceptions of Morocco's creditworthiness have improved.===Taxation===Tax revenues provide the largest part of the general budget.", "Taxes are levied on individuals, corporations, goods and services, and tobacco and petroleum products." ], [ "External trade", "A proportional representation of Morocco's diversified exports in 2021Morocco sends a significant amount of its exports to the European Union.", "Of its E.U.", "exports in 2018, 42% went to Spain and 29% went to France.", "Its main exports to Spain include electronics, clothes, and seafood.", "The leading origins of goods imported into Morocco as of 2017 are also Spain and France.In recent years, Morocco has reduced its dependence on phosphate exports, emerging as an exporter of manufactured and agricultural products, and as a growing tourism destination.", "However, its competitiveness in basic manufactured goods, such as textiles, is hampered by low labour productivity and high wages.", "Morocco is dependent on imported fuel and its food import requirement can rise substantially in drought years, as in 2007.Although Morocco runs a structural trade deficit, this is typically offset by substantial services earnings from tourism and large remittance inflows from the diaspora, and the country normally runs a small current-account surplus.Morocco signed in 1996 an agreement of association with the European Union which came into effect in 2000.This agreement, which lies within the scope of the Barcelona Process (euro-Mediterranean partnership) started in 1995 and envisages the progressive implementation of a free trade area planned for 2012.After a good performance in the 1st half of 2008, exports of goods slowed in the 3rd quarter before plummeting in the 4th quarter (−16.3%), following the fall in foreign sales of phosphates and their derivatives, after a sharp rise in the 1st and 2nd quarters.===Trade imbalance===Morocco's trade imbalance rose from 86 billion to 118 billion dirhams between 2006 and 2007 – a 26.6% increase bringing the total amount to 17% of GDP.", "The Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion forecasts that if imports continue to rise faster than exports, the disparity could reach 21% of GDP.", "Foreign Trade Minister Abdellatif Maâzouz said earlier in September that members of the government have agreed to a plan focused on four major areas: a concerted export development strategy, the regulation of imports, market and economic monitoring, and the adaptation of regulations and working practices.", "The plan, Maâzouz said, \"will enable us to redress the external trade situation and to reduce Morocco's trade deficit.\"", "The minister added that he expects to see a reversal of the imbalance by 2010.===International agreements===Morocco was granted an \"advanced status\" from the EU in 2008, shoring up bilateral trade relations with Europe.", "Among the various free trade agreements that Morocco has ratified with its principal economic partners, are The Euro-Mediterranean free trade area agreement with the European Union with the objective of integrating the European Free Trade Association at the horizons of 2012; the Agadir Agreement, signed with Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, within the framework of the installation of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area; the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement with United States which came into force on 1 January 2006, and lately the agreement of free exchange with Turkey.", "(See section below)" ], [ "Investment", "A graph by the World Bank showing an increase in remittances sent by overseas Moroccans.Morocco has become an attractive destination for European investors thanks to its relocation sites \"Casashore\" and \"Rabatshore\", and to the very rapid cost escalation in Eastern Europe.", "The offshoring sector in Morocco is of great importance as it creates high-level jobs that are generally accompanied by an influx of Moroccan immigrants.", "Noting however that human resources remain the major concern for companies seeking to gain a foothold in Morocco.", "In this regard, it has been deemed an important decision of the Moroccan government to accelerate training in the required disciplines.In a bid to promote foreign investments, Morocco in 2007 adopted a series of measures and legal provisions to simplify procedures and secure appropriate conditions for projects launching and completing.", "Foreign trade minister, Abdellatif Maazouz cited that these measures include financial incentives and tax exemptions provided for in the investment code and the regional investment centres established to accompany projects.These measures combined with actions carried out by the Hassan II Fund for Development increased foreign investments in Morocco by $544.7 million in 2007.20% of these investments came from Islamic countries.Moroccan officials have heralded a significant increase in the amount of money Moroccan expatriates are sending home.", "Government efforts are underway to encourage Moroccans living abroad to increase their investments at home, and to allay concerns about bureaucracy and corruption.", "With money sent home by Moroccan migrants reaching $5.7 billion in 2007, Morocco came in second, behind Egypt, on the recent World Bank list of the top 10 MENA remittance recipient countries.", "Neighbouring Algeria ($2.9 billion) came in at number five.", "According to the World Bank, remittances constituted 6.4% of GDP in Morocco in 2020 and amounted to more than $7.4 billion.", "Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances from Moroccans residing abroad continued in an upward trend.The European Investment Bank started making investments in Morocco in 1979, and has since invested €9.6 billion since then, including €2.5 billion since 2017.===Foreign direct investment===Foreign Direct Investments in Morocco grew to $2.57 billion in 2007 from $2.4 billion a year earlier to position the country in the fourth rank in Africa among FDI recipients, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.", "Although other studies have shown much higher figures.Expectations for 2008 were promising noting that 72 projects were approved for a global amount of $9.28 billion.", "These were due to open 40,023 direct and stable job opportunities.", "However, keeping with the global trend, FDI dropped 29% to €2.4 billion in 2008, the first decline since 2004.While the recovery of pre-crisis levels very much hinges on the health of the global economy, Morocco has made steps towards becoming a more attractive FDI destination, according to the World Bank's Doing Business 2010 report, ranking second in North African neighbours.", "The majority of FDI continues to derive from the EU, specifically France.", "Morocco is also a source of foreign investments.", "In 2007, it has injected $652 million in projects abroad, which put the kingdom in the third position in Africa.===Investment by country===Most of the FDIs injected in Morocco came from the European Union with France, the major economic partner of the North African kingdom, topping the list with investments worth $1.86 billion, followed by Spain ($783 million), the report said.The influx of European countries in Morocco's FDI represents 73.5% of the global amount received in 2007.19.3% of the investments came from Arab countries, whose share in Morocco's FDI showed a marked rise, as they only represented 9.9% of the entire FDIs in 2006.A number of Arab countries, mainly from the Persian Gulf region are involved in large-scale projects in Morocco, including the giant Tanger Med port on the Mediterranean.", "Morocco remains the preferred destination of foreign investors in the Maghreb region (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia), with a total of $13.6 billion between 2001 and 2007, which puts it largely on the top of the list.===Investment by sector===In terms of sectors, tourism has the biggest share of investment with $1.55 billion, that is 33% of the total FDIs, followed by the real estate sector and the industrial sector, with respectively $930 million and $374 million.", "Moroccan expatriates' share of the FDI stood at $92 million in 2007, up from $57 million in 2006, and they touch mainly the sectors of real estate, tourism and catering, according to the report." ], [ "Science and technology", "The national system of scientific and technical research is guided by different elements, such as the pronouncements of the king, reports of special commissions, five-year plans, and the creation of a special programme for the support of research.", "The Moroccan government's Five-Year Plan for 2000–2004 articulated the priority lines for research.", "The declared objectives of this plan were to align S&T research with socio-economic development priorities.", "Sectors declared as priority areas were: agriculture, health fisheries, drinking water, geology, mining, energy, environment, information and telecommunications technologies, and transport.This approach highlighted the need for effective institutional coordination, which enabled different parties to work together around common priority socioeconomic objectives.", "The private sector is the least active player in research activity in Morocco.", "The REMINEX Corporation (Research on Mines and Exploitation) is the most prominent research performer in the private sector, and is a subsidiary of Omnium Nord Africain, the largest privately owned mining group in Morocco.", "The most recent figures available on the number of research staff in Morocco are those provided by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Professional Training and Scientific Research in its 2002–2003 annual report.", "According to this report, Morocco had 17 390 research staff in 2002–2003.The majority (58%) were employed in the university sector.Research institutions include the Scientific Institute, founded in 1920 in Rabat, which does fundamental research in the natural sciences, and the Scientific Institute of Maritime Fishing, founded in 1947, in Casablanca, which studies oceanography, marine biology, and topics related to development of the fishing industry.", "Nine universities and colleges offer degrees in basic and applied sciences.", "In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 41% of college and university enrollments." ], [ "Economy of Western Sahara", "Fishing and phosphate mining are the main activities in Moroccan-administered Western Sahara.", "Fruits and vegetables are grown in the few oases, while nomadic herders keep camels, sheep and goats." ], [ "Development of the Northern Region", "Historically, the Casablanca-Rabat axis has been more prosperous and has received more government attention than the predominantly mountainous northern provinces and the Western Sahara region.", "Although the latter region has received government attention since the 1990s because of its phosphate deposits, the northern provinces, which include the Rif Mountains, home to 6 million Moroccans, had been largely neglected.", "The uneven development among Morocco's regions fueled a cycle of rural-urban migration that has shown no signs of slowing down.In 1998, the government launched a program to develop the northern region, largely with international help.", "Spain had shown particular interest in the development of the region, because its underdevelopment has fueled illegal immigration and drug trafficking across the Strait of Gibraltar.When king Hassan II passed on, his son, Mohammed VI, made it his duty to develop the Northern Region, and especially its biggest city, Tangier.The state-owned railway company will engage some $755 million in investment in the northern region, including building a railway line between Tangier and Tangier-Med port (43 km), improving the Tangier-Casablanca railway line and modernizing many train stations over the next few years.===Tangier===Before 1956, Tangier was a city with international status.", "It had a great image and attracted many artists.", "After Morocco regained control over Tangier, this attention slacked off.", "Investment was low and the city lost its economic importance.", "But when Mohammed VI became king in 1999, he developed a plan for the economic revival of Tangier.", "New developments include a new airport terminal, a soccer stadium with seating for 45,000 spectators, a high-speed train line and a new highway to connect the city with Casablanca.", "Additionally, a new train station was constructed, called Tanger-Ville.The creation of a free economic zone increased the economic output of the city significantly.", "It allowed Tangier to become an industrial pillar of the country.", "But the biggest investment was the creation of the new port Tanger-Med.", "It's the largest port in Africa and on the Mediterranean.", "The city is undergoing an economic boom.", "This increased the need for a commercial district, Tangier City Center, which was inaugurated in 2016.Since 2012, the city has made it clear that it wants to invested in automobile industry by creating Tangier Automotive city.", "Today, it is home to the largest Renault car plant in North Africa." ], [ "Infrastructure", "Mohammed VI bridge, longest suspended bridge in AfricaNewly built road part of the development program for the southern provincesAl Boraq RGV2N2 high-speed trainset at Tanger Ville railway station in November 2018Tanger-Med portAccording to the Global Competitiveness Report of 2019, Morocco Ranked 32nd in the world in terms of Roads, 16th in Sea, 45th in Air and 64th in Railways.", "This gives Morocco the best infrastructure rankings in the African continent.Modern infrastructure development, such as ports, airports, and rail links, is a top government priority.", "To meet the growing domestic demand, the Moroccan government invested more than $15 billion from 2010 to 2015 in upgrading its basic infrastructure.Morocco has one of the best road systems on the continent.", "Over the past 20 years, the government has built approximately 1770 kilometers of modern roads, connecting most major cities via toll expressways.", "The Moroccan Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics, and Water aims to build an additional 3380 kilometers of expressway and 2100 kilometers of highway by 2030, at an expected cost of $9.6 billion.", "While focusing on linking the southern provinces notably the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla to the rest of Morocco.In 2014, Morocco began the construction of the second high-speed railway system in Africa linking the cities of Tangiers and Casablanca.", "It was inaugurated in 2018 by the King following over a decade of planning and construction by Moroccan national railway company ONCF.", "It is the first phase of what is planned to eventually be a 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) high-speed rail network in Morocco.", "an extension of the line to Marrakesh is already being planned.Morocco also has the largest port in Africa and the Mediterranean called Tanger-Med, which is ranked the 18th in the world with a handling capacity of over 9 million containers.", "It is situated in the Tangiers free economic zone and serves as a logistics hub for Africa and the world." ], [ "Economic inequality", "The growth pace that the Moroccan economy witnessed since the beginning of the 1998–2007 decade has generated significant progress in terms of national income, employment and living standards.", "However, the results obtained show considerable disparities in terms of the distribution of the fruit of this growth, whether between the production factors, the socio-economic groups or the urban and rural areas.", "In fact, the national income grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% during the 1998–2007 decade.", "This improvement in the national income however seems to be insufficient to face up to the discrepancies in terms of living standards and the scale of deficits at the social level.The real income of the population registered, during the last 10 years, an annual increase of 2.5%, taking into consideration the fluctuations relating the climatic conditions, which mainly affect the most vulnerable populations and their living standards.", "The national survey on Moroccans' living standards shows that the part of the most well off (10% of the population) in the overall consumption expenses in 2001 reached 12 times that of the most disadvantaged population (10%).", "Despite the fact that these disparities tend to decrease in urban areas, these data show the importance of the efforts needed to overcome this situation." ], [ "Labour", "Roughly one-third of the population is employed in agriculture, another one-third make their living in mining, manufacturing, and construction, and the remainder are occupied in the trade, finance, and service sectors.", "Not included in these estimates is a large informal economy of street vendors, domestic workers, and other underemployed and poorly paid individuals.", "High unemployment is a problem; the official figure is roughly one-tenth of the workforce, but unofficial estimates are much higher, and—in a pattern typical of most Middle Eastern and North African countries—unemployment among university graduates holding nontechnical degrees is especially high.", "Several trade unions exist in the country; the largest of these, with nearly 700,000 members, is L'Union Marocaine du Travail, which is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.===Unemployment===Morocco's unemployment rate, long a cause for concern, has been dropping steadily in 2008, on the back of job growth in services and construction.", "Further institutional reforms to bolster competitiveness and financial openness are expected to help the trend to continue.On the whole, the growth rate of the economy will not reduce the unemployment ratesignificantly, also taking account of the constant rise in the number of first entrants on thelabour market.", "The growth level of the last five years did, however, reduce urbanunemployment from 22% in 1999 to 18.3% in 2005, and the national rate from 13.9% in 1999to 10.8% in 2005.The State High Planning Commission that Morocco's official unemployment rate dropped to 9.1% in Q2 2008, down from 9.6% in Q1.This leaves Morocco with some 1.03m unemployed, compared to 1.06m at the end of March.", "Unemployment stood at 9.8% at the end of 2007, up 0.1% from the end of 2006.Urban areas saw particularly strong job growth, and the services and construction sectors were the two leading drivers of job creation.", "Services generated some 152,000 new jobs, with the business process outsourcing (BPO) and telecoms sector proving particularly dynamic.", "Meanwhile, government infrastructure projects, as well as heavy private investment in real estate and tourism helped boost the construction sector, which created 80,000 new jobs in the second quarter of 2008.Evidently, this trend of falling unemployment rates is a positive one.", "Joblessness has long been a cause for serious concern in North Africa.", "Morocco has a lower rate than its Maghreb neighbours—Tunisia has a rate of around 13.9%, and in Algeria it is around 12.3%—but the issue is still a pressing one, both for economic and for social reasons.", "A 2006 government report suggested that the country needed a net increase of 400,000 jobs annually for the next two decades in order to provide enough employment for its people, given the underlying demographic dynamic.Moreover, with Spanish construction firms facing much harder times, Morocco may soon face the additional challenge of workers returning from across the Gibraltar Straits, potentially putting further pressure on the authorities to create jobs.With 30.5% of Morocco's population of 34.3m aged 14 or younger, according to the CIA, job creation for youths is one of the government's major priorities.", "2007 data indicate that 17.6% of those in the 15–24 age group are unemployed.", "This rises to around one third in urban areas—rural communities often employ the young in agriculture, including on the family farm, as soon as they leave school, contributing to relatively high youth employment rates (lower levels of official unemployment registration are also a factor).=== Child labour ===" ], [ "Energy", "Morocco has very few reserves of its own and has been affected by the high oil prices of 2007 and early 2008.The country has to import 96% of its energy requirements and the national oil bill for the first quarter of 2008 was $1.1 billion—69% higher than for the same period in 2007.According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) report 2014, Morocco is highly dependent on imported energy with over 91% of energy supplied coming from abroad.", "The kingdom is working to diversify its energy sources, especially to develop renewable energy, with a particular focus on wind energy.", "Solar power and nuclear energy are also part of the strategy, but development of the former has been slow and there has been minimal progress on the latter, aside from an announcement of collaboration with France in 2007.In November 2009 Morocco announced a solar energy project worth $9 billion which officials said will account for 38 percent of the North African country's installed power generation by 2020.Funding would be from a mix of private and state capital.", "The ceremony was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Moroccan king.", "The project will involve five solar power generation sites across Morocco and will produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.Germany has expressed its willingness to participate in the development of Morocco's solar energy project which the country has decided to carry out, as did the World Bank.", "Germany will also take part in the development of a water-desalination plant.The government plans to reorganise its subsidy system, which is a heavy burden on government finances.", "In the short term these subsidies are helping to ease the burden but they cannot keep rising indefinitely, and sooner or later the load will have to be shared out.", "In the short term, national consumption per capita is expected to rise from the current level of 0.4 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) to as much as 0.90 toe in 2030, a good indication of development, but a massive challenge as well.", "The input of renewable energy is a matter of particular importance.According to a 2006 estimate by the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Morocco has proven oil reserves of and natural gas reserves of .", "Morocco may have additional hydrocarbon reserves, as many of the country's sedimentary basins have not yet been explored.", "The Moroccan Office of Hydrocarbons and Mining (ONHYM) has become optimistic about finding additional reserves—particularly offshore—following discoveries in neighboring Mauritania.Recent activity in Western Sahara, which is believed to contain viable hydrocarbon reserves, has been controversial.", "In 2001, Morocco granted exploration contracts to TotalEnergies and Kerr-McGee, angering Premier Oil and Sterling Energy, which previously had obtained licenses from the Polisario government.", "In 2005, the government-in-exile of the Western Sahara invited foreign companies to bid on 12 contracts for offshore exploration, with hopes of awarding production sharing contracts by the end of 2005." ], [ "Environment", "The shift to an environment-conscious approach in Morocco has brought about scores of investment opportunities, most being in the utility and renewable energy industries.", "In addition to the rise in sales of photovoltaic panels, the business of wind turbines is also surging despite soaring prices on international markets because of the growing demand.", "To work towards a programme of sustainable development, a number of technological updates need to be made, including improvements to automobiles, the quality of energy products and increasing the number of renewable energy-producing plants.", "The government also needs to promote water conservation and efficiency in order to prevent further scarcity.", "Despite these challenges, Morocco is working to conserve and protect its environment and its efforts were recognised when its Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment won the environmental prize National Energy Globe Award in Brussels in 2007.While Morocco is already a model of water management in the MENA region, upgrades to its water system under the National Wastewater Management Programme should further improve wastewater treatment and maximise efficient water usage.", "Authorities are promoting better water rationalisation in agriculture, which uses 80% of water resources, by replacing existing irrigation systems with micro- irrigation and drip networks.", "A net energy importer, Morocco launched the National Renewable Energy and Efficiency Plan in February 2008 to develop alternative energy to meet 15% of its domestic needs and increase the use of energy-saving methods.", "It is expected to create more than 40,000 jobs and stimulate over €4.5 billion in investment by 2020.The National Plan for the Development of Solar Thermal Energy, formulated in 2001, aims to install 440,000 solar-powered water heaters by 2012, of which 235,000 are completed.In May 2009, the World Bank approved a €121m loan to help finance the implementation of the kingdom's solid-waste management programme, which targets a 90% waste disposal rate for urban areas by 2021.The government is taking measures to mitigate the harmful effects of tourism on Morocco's natural resources, while increasing incentives for a growing niche of ecotourism projects.", "As of January 2008, hotels with good environmental practices will receive a Green Key label as part of a programme by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.", "Under a ten-year plan for the protection of natural resources, 40,000 to 50,000 ha of forests are replanted annually with indigenous palm trees." ], [ "See also", "Economy of AfricaBank Al-Maghrib—Central bank of MoroccoMorocco and the European UnionInvestment in MoroccoEconomy of TangierEconomy of CasablancaEconomy of Western Sahara* United Nations Economic Commission for: Africa & Western Asia" ], [ "Notes" ], [ "External links", "* * Kingdom of Morocco—Country Strategy Paper 2003–2005—''African Development Bank''* Description of the US-Moroccan FTA* Final Text of the US-Moroccan FTA* Description of benefits of the US-Moroccan FTA* Moroccan-American Trade and Investment Council* Maroc Entrepreneurs: Association dedicated to the Promotion of Entrepreneurship in Morocco* Morocco Economic Outlook* World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Morocco" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "The following is an outline of '''communications technology in Morocco'''." ], [ "Telecoms industry", "While the Moroccan telecoms market remains under-saturated, its three mobile operators –– both at home and abroad –– have experienced robust growth in recent years.", "Meditel, which received a mobile licence in 2000, is the kingdom's first private operator, holding 36.69% of the market.", "While the company performed strongly last year, registering a 17% growth in client base (to 7.4m) over the first three quarters of 2008, it began to falter as consumer spending slowed, resulting in a 1% annual increase in turnover for Q2 2009.Meditel's focus on lower-income markets impacted their average revenue per user, which fell by 16%, but the resulting expansion of the customer base helped drive up the country's mobile penetration rate from 65.7% in 2007 to 74% in 2008.Meditel's biggest competitor is Maroc Telecom, holding 60.71% of the market.", "A former state monopoly now controlled by French entertainment giant Vivendi, Maroc Telecom is one of the region's fastest-growing multinational telecoms operators, actively pursuing expansion across northwest Africa, including Gabon, Mauritania and Burkina Faso.", "MT has announced plans to create a fibre-optic network connecting the Moroccan cities Laâyoune and Dakhla to Nouadhibou, which would ultimately be extended to other North African countries.Meditel and MT operated a duopoly until 2008, when the state regulator Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications waved in Wana, owned by Morocco's Omnium Nord Africain.", "Though holding a tiny share (2.6%) of the voice market, this new player has captured a majority of the 3G market (69.11%).", "Total subscribers for this new technology increased 527% in 2008.Earlier this year, Wana sold a 31% stake for €228m to the partnership of two Kuwaiti companies, mobile operator Zain and Al Ajial Investment Fund Holding, to help finance the roll out of its 15-year 2G GSM network at the end of 2009.In August 2019, the government signed a MAD 10 billion investment deal with Maroc Telecom to improve telecom infrastructure in the country." ], [ "Telephone system", "main lines in use: 3.28 million (2007) : estimationmobile cellular: 47.25 million 135% of the total population (2015) : estimationsource:===Domestic telephone system===Morocco has a constantly failing system composed of open-wire lines, cables, and microwave radio relay links.", "The internet is available but slow, and overpriced in comparison to Europe and the United States.", "The principal switching centers are Casablanca and Rabat.", "An improved rural service employs microwave radio relay.===International telephone system===The system has seven submarine cables, three satellite earth stations, two Intelsat (over the Atlantic Ocean) and one Arabsat.", "There is a microwave radio relay to Gibraltar, Spain and the Western Sahara.", "Coaxial cables and microwave radio relays exist to Algeria.", "Morocco is a participant in Medarabtel and a fiber-optic cable links from Agadir to Algeria and Tunisia." ], [ "Radio broadcast", "First radio service began in 1928 in Morocco.", "AM stations 25,FM stations 31,shortwave 11 (2007)Radio sets: 7.78 million (2007)" ], [ "Television", "Television broadcast stations: 36 (plus 35 repeaters) (2007)Televisions receivers: 5.6 million (2007)" ], [ "Internet", "Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (2017)ccTLD (country code top-level domain): .maThe country had more than 16.3M of internet users in 2012.Operated by Maroc Telecom (IAM).", "The service started as a test in November 2002 before it was launched in October 2003 and it is one of the most technologically advanced Internet services in the African continent but the service is monopolised by IAM.", "The service is offered by the subsidiary Menara.The company is the best in the Moroccan market in the ADSL, optic fiber and they offers the following options:Personal ADSL (All of those offers are available with a 12 months or above engagement) :Menara ADSL 4 Mbit/s 200MAD (Around 17$)Menara ADSL 8Mbit/sMenara ADSL 2+ 12Mbit/sMenara ADSL 2+ 20Mbit/sIAM optic fiber 100Mbit/s 500MAD (Around 44$) IAM optic fiber 200Mbit/a 1000MAD (Around 90$)The installation is free, but the ADSL modem or router is not always free.IAM is the only ISP who operate underwater cables and national cables, the things that cause a huge monopoly in the Moroccan market, the other ISPs can always rent a part of the leader's infrastructure.Orange Morocco offers ADSL , optic fiber and 4G+ but their connexions is considered as the weakest in the country according to Ookla .INWI offers ADSL , optic fiber and 4G+ the internet provided by INWI is lower than IAM refers to Ookla but they have the largest coverage and the highest bandwidth when it comes to 4G+ referred to Network Performance which makes the IPS great for those who uses mobile data.Mobile data prices (Without engagement) :The plans are 0,5GB (500MB), 1GB, 2GB, 2,5 GB, 3GB, 5GB, 10GB and 20GBTo calculate the price of each plan, multiple the number of GBs by 10 and you should get the price in MAD." ], [ "See also", "* Ministry of Communications of Morocco" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Morocco Telecom market* Maroc Telecom IPO* MTDS Licensed Moroccan ISP" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "There are around of roads (national, regional and provincial) in Morocco.", "In addition to of highways (August 2016).The Tangier–Casablanca high-speed rail link marks the first stage of the ONCF's high-speed rail master plan, pursuant to which over of new railway lines will be built by 2035.The high speed train - TGV - will have a capacity of 500 passengers and will carry 8 million passengers per year.", "The work on the High Speed Rail project was started in September 2011.Construction of infrastructure and delivery of railway equipment will end in 2014 and the HSR will be operational by .Autoroute A3 (Rabat–Casablanca, 95 km)" ], [ "Government policy", "With billions of dollars committed to improving the country's infrastructure, Morocco aims to become a world player in terms of marine transport.", "The 2008–2012 investment plan aims to invest $16.3 billion and will contribute to major projects such as the combined port and industrial complex of the Tanger-Med and the construction of a high-speed train between Tangier and Casablanca.", "The plan will also improve and expand the existing highway system and expand the Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport.", "Morocco's transport sector is one of the kingdom's most dynamic, and will remain so for years to come.", "The improvements in infrastructure will boost other sectors and will also help the country in its goal of attracting 10 million tourists by 2010." ], [ "Railways", "Railways of Morocco, with planned high-speed lines1907 km standard gauge, 1003 km electrified with 3 kV DC.=== High speed lines ===Train of Morocco.There are plans for several high-speed lines.", "Work by ONCF began in September 2011 on a first section from Tangier to Kenitra.", "There are plans to construct two core lines, one from Tangier in the north via Marrakesh to Agadir in the south, and a second from Casablanca on the Atlantic to Oujda on the Algerian border.", "If all of these plans will be approved, the 1,500 kilometres of track may take until 2035 to complete at a cost of around 100 billion dirhams ($10 billion).Potential speed gains are large, with travel time from Casablanca to Marrakesh down from 3 hours to 1:20, and from the capital Rabat to Tangier from 4:30 to 1:30.The second High-Speed Rail (HSR) which is planned to be built after Tangier-Kenitra is the HSR Marrakech-Essaouira (180 km) followed by a new HSR Rabat-Meknes (130 km).", "The last high-speed lines will connect these two old empire cities to the Atlantique coast in less than one hour instead of two hours now.The current high-speed line Tangier-Kenitra under construction was impacted by delays resulting from issues about land acquisitions because this operation was performed by different provincial governors, in order to avoid such delays on the next high-speed rail Marrakech-Essaouira, the national railway company ONCF was given the green light to start the land acquisition and expropriation procedure.=== Other routes ===A railway connecting Nador to the existing network at Taourirt was finished in 2010, after it had been under construction since 2007." ], [ "Tramways", "* Rabat-Salé tramway (2011)* Casablanca Tramway (2012)" ], [ "Roads", "As of 2006 there were around 57625 kilometres of roads (national, regional and provincial) in Morocco, and an additional 1808 kilometers of highways (August 2016).Principal national roads:National Route 1 (Morocco)National Route 2 (Morocco)National Route 3 (Morocco)National Route 4 (Morocco)National Route 5 (Morocco)National Route 6 (Morocco)National Route 7 (Morocco)National Route 8 (Morocco)National Route 9 (Morocco)National Route 10 (Morocco)National Route 11 (Morocco)National Route 12 (Morocco)National Route 13 (Morocco)National Route 14 (Morocco)National Route 15 (Morocco)National Route 16 (Morocco)=== Highways ===Rabat Ring Road (42 km)A1 Casablanca-Rabat (86 km)A1 Casablanca–Safi (255 km)A2 Rabat-Fes (190 km)A2 Fes-Oujda (306 km)A3 Casablanca-Marrakesh (220 km)A3 extension to Agadir (233 km)A4 Berrechid-Benni Mellal (172 km)A5 Rabat-Tangier Med (308 km)A7 Tetouan-Fnideq (28 km)" ], [ "Major airports", "Agadir -- Agadir Al Massira Airport: (AGA) Flights to most major European cities.", "Al Hoceima -- Cherif Al Idrissi Airport: (AHU) Flights to Brussels, Amsterdam and RotterdamCasablanca -- Mohammed V International Airport: (CMN) Royal Air Maroc hub.", "Arrivals and departures to worldwide destinations.", "Essaouira -- Essaouira Mogador Airport: (ESU) Flights to Brussels, Bordeaux, London, Paris, Madrid and Marseille.", "Fez -- Fes Saïss Airport: (FEZ) Flights to Europe and CasablancaLaayoune -- Hassan I Airport: (EUN) Flights to Agadir, Casablanca, Dakhla and Las Palmas.", "Marrakesh -- Marrakesh Menara Airport: (RAK) Flights all major international airports in Western EuropeNador -- Nador International Airport: (NDR) Flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Casablanca, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Paris.", "Oujda -- Angads Airport: (OUD) Flights to Amsterdam, Casablanca, Marseille and Paris.", "Ouarzazate -- Ouarzazate Airport: (OZZ) Flights to Casablanca and Paris.", "Rabat -- Rabat–Salé Airport: (RBA) Flights to Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, London, Madrid, Rome, Düsseldorf, Toulouse, Marseille and Seville.", "Tangier -- Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport: (TNG) Flights all major international airports in Western EuropeTetouan -- Tetouan Saniat Rmel Airport: (TTU) Flights to Brussels, Malaga, Seville, Madrid, Al Hoceima and Casablanca.", "**" ], [ "National airlines", " Air Arabia Maroc* Royal Air Maroc* Royal Air Maroc Express" ], [ "Merchant marine", "Total: 35 ships ( or over) by type:cargo ship 3,chemical tanker 6,container ship 8,passenger/cargo ship 12,petroleum tanker 1,refrigerated cargo ship 1,roll-on/roll-off 4Foreign-owned: 14 (France 13, Germany 1) (2007)Registered in other countries: 4 (Gibraltar)" ], [ "Maritime companies", "A Comanav ROPAX ferry in the Nador Port* Acciona Trasmediterránea* Baleària* Comanav* Comarit* FerriMaroc* FRS Iberia* Grandi Navi Veloci* Grimaldi Lines* International Maritime Transport Corporation* Naviera Armas" ], [ "Intercity bus companies", "Bus service in Morocco offers access almost to every corner of the country.", "There's a big choice of carriers at bus stations, among them:* CTM* Supratours" ], [ "Sports car", "* Laraki" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* UN Map" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Royal Moroccan Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", "The '''Royal Moroccan Armed Forces''' (, ) are the military forces of the Kingdom of Morocco.", "They consist of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Royal Gendarmerie, and the Royal Guard.The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are large, expensive and well-trained with extensive experience in counter-insurgency, desert warfare and combined air-land operations.", "Further experience has come from participating in peace-keeping operations." ], [ "History", "The oldest \"Moroccan\" military forces are those of the Mauri Berber Kingdoms from around 225 BCE.", "The Moroccan army has existed continuously since 1088 during the rising of Almoravid Empire in the 11th-century.", "During the protectorates period (1912–1955), large numbers of Moroccans were recruited for service in the Spahi and Tirailleur regiments of the French Army of Africa (French: ''Armée d'Afrique'').", "Many served during World War I.", "During World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops (including goumier auxiliaries) served with the Free French forces in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria.", "The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of \"Todesschwalben\" (death swallows) by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield.", "After the end of World War II, Moroccan troops formed part of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps engaged in the First Indochina War from 1946 to 1954.The Spanish Army also made extensive use of Moroccan troops recruited in the Spanish Protectorate, during both the Rif War of 1921–26 and the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39.Moroccan ''Regulares'', together with the Spanish Legion, made up Spain's elite Spanish Army of Africa.", "A para-military gendarmerie, known as the \"Mehal-la Jalifianas\" and modelled on the French goumieres, was employed within the Spanish Zone.The Royal Armed Forces were created on 14 May 1956, after the French Protectorate was dissolved in 1955.14,000 Moroccan personnel from the French Army and 10,000 from the Spanish Armed Forces transferred into the newly formed armed forces, this number was augmented by approximately 5,000 former guerrillas from the \"Army of Liberation\", About 2,000 French officers and NCOs remained in Morocco on short term contracts until the training programs at the military academies of St-Cyr, Toledo and Dar al Bayda produced sufficient numbers of Moroccan commissioned officers.", "Four years later, the Royal Moroccan Navy was established in 1960.The Moroccan military's first engagement as an independent country in the 20th century was the Ifni War, followed by the Rif revolt, and then the border war of 1963 with Algeria, In the early 1960s, Moroccan troops were sent to the Congo as part of the first multifunctional UN peacekeeping operation ONUC, The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces fought on the Golan front during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 (mostly in the battle for Quneitra) and intervened decisively in the 1977 conflict known as Shaba I to save Zaire's regime.", "After Shaba II, Morocco was part of the Inter-African Force deployed on the Zaire border, contributing about 1,500 troops.", "The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces also took a symbolic part in the Gulf War among other Arab armies.Between 1975 and 1991, the Moroccan Armed Forces fought a 16-year war against the POLISARIO, an Algerian backed rebel national liberation movement seeking the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco.", "From the mid-1980s on, Morocco largely managed to keep POLISARIO troops at bay by building a huge sand wall, staffed by an army roughly the same size as the entire Sahrawi population, enclosing the Southern Provinces within it.", "The enclosure contained most of the economically useful parts of Western Sahara, including Bou Craa, El-Aaiun, and Smara.", "The Moroccan army destroyed all the posts created by the Polisario and won decisively the majority of battles, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the guerrillas continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war.In the 1990s, Moroccan troops went to Angola with the three UN Angola Verifications Missions, UNAVEM I, UNAVEM II, and UNAVEM III.", "They were also in Somalia, with UNOSOM I, the U.S.-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF), known by its U.S. codename of 'Restore Hope' and the follow-on UNOSOM II, They saw fighting during the Battle of Mogadishu to rescue a U.S. anti-militia assault force.", "Other peace support involvement during the 1990s included United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) in Cambodia, and the missions in the former Yugoslavia: IFOR, SFOR, and KFOR.On 14 July 1999, the Moroccan Armed Forces took part in the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées, which was exceptional for a non-French armed forces, at the invitation of then French President Jacques Chirac." ], [ "Branches", "A Moroccan F-16 fighterM109A5 of the 15th Royal Moroccan Artillery Group''Mohammed VI'', the most modern and flagship of the Alawite fleetThe modern Moroccan military is composed of the following branches:===The Royal Army===The Royal Moroccan Army is the branch of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations.", "The army is about 175,000 troops strong, In case of war or a state of siege, an additional force of 150,000 Reservists and paramilitary forces, including 20,000 regulars of the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie and 30,000 Auxiliary Forces come under the Ministry of Defense command.", "The Moroccan Army helped with the annexation of Western Sahara which is disputed.", "====Royal Guard====The Moroccan Royal Guard is officially part of the Royal Moroccan Army, However, it is under the direct operational control of the Royal Military Household of His Majesty the King, The sole duty of the guard is to provide for the security and safety of the King and royal family of Morocco with 1,500 personnel.===The Royal Air Force===The Royal Moroccan Air Force is the air force branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces, It employs 13,000 personnel and is equipped with more than 300 aircraft.", "In the 21st century, the Royal Moroccan Air Force started a progressive modernization program of its aging fleet and its technical and operational capacities.===The Royal Navy===The Royal Navy is the branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces responsible of conducting naval operations, 7,800 personnel strong Its mission includes the protection of Moroccan territory and sovereignty, as well as the control of Morocco's Exclusive Economic Zone.", "Given Morocco's significant coastline (2,952 km) and strategic position overseeing the strait of Gibraltar, it (with Spain and the United Kingdom) is deeply involved in the security of this important international waterway.===Royal Gendarmerie===The Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie is the Gendarmerie body of Morocco.", "The legislation which founded the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie describes it as a public force designed to guarantee public security and public order and the implementation of laws.", "This legislation text attaches the Gendarmerie to the Royal Moroccan Army, then constituting a military force in its structure, administration and command forms.", "It consists of officers and NCOs." ], [ "History of participation in peacekeeping operations", "Moroccan soldiers during African Lion 2021 exercises===Congo 1960–1961===Congo United Nations Operation in the CongoBy 20 July 1960 Morocco had deployed 1,250 troops in congo.===Somalia 1992–1994===Somalia UNOSOM I, UNITAF, UNOSOM II===Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996–2007===Bosnia and Herzegovina IFOR, SFOR, EUFOR Althea===Kosovo 1998-1999===Kosovo Kosovo WarMorocco has deployed one company of soldiers to contribute in the NATO-led international peacekeeping force which was responsible for establishing a secure environment in Kosovo.===Haiti 2004–2006===Haiti MINUSTAHIn 2004, Morocco provided an infantry company as part of a joint Spanish-Moroccan battalion, which was deployed in Fort Liberté, in the northeastern part of Haiti.", "Disagreements between the United Nations and the Spanish government led to Spain´s withdrawal from the mission, leaving the Moroccans in charge of a much larger area than what was initially designed.", "The last Moroccan troops left Haiti in 2006, and the sector was covered by a battalion from Uruguay, which had already another unit in the South of the country.About six Moroccan Army officers served in the mission HQ during this period.===Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1999===Morocco has deployed 6 observers, one mechanised infantry battalion and one field hospital to participate in the United Nations Security Council efforts to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War.===Ivory Coast since 2004===Ivory Coast ONUCIMorocco has deployed one infantry battalion to participate in the ONUCI peacekeeping mission whose objective is \"to facilitate the implementation by the Ivorian parties of the peace agreement signed by them in January 2003\" (which aimed to end the Ivorian Civil War).", "The two main Ivorian parties here are the Ivorian Government forces who control the south of the country, and the New Forces (former rebels), who control the north.", "The UNOCI mission aims to control a \"zone of confidence\" across the centre of the country separating the two parties.===Central African Republic since 2013===Central African Republic BINUCA, MINUSCAThe Moroccan Royal Armed Forces has sent a contingent of 777 Moroccan soldiers on December 25, 2013 for the Central African Republic to be deployed in the UN Integrated Peace building Office (BINUCA).", "Moroccan authorities also said they stand ready to support the Central African Republic in its path toward peace and stability." ], [ "Motto", "The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces motto, which graces every military base, banner, and ship, is: \"God, The Fatherland, and The King\".", "* God: Creator of all destiny, by His Mercy we draw from, He ordains our choice to right path.", "* The Fatherland: Land that begets our bounty, from which we sustain ourselves we protect its integrity and defend it from all enemies.", "* King: Our commander and guide, he guides our renaissance and development, protector of our people's rights.\"" ], [ "Gallery", "File:Moroccan M109A5 howitzer, 2012-03.jpg\|RMA's M109A5 howitzer.File:M60 morocco.jpg\|Moroccan M60A3 during a 2006 Army expo.File:Lion120051.jpg\|US Marines and Moroccan soldiers during exercise African Lion in Tan tan.File:Moroccan Mirage F1CH 7.jpg\|Royal Moroccan Air Force Mirage F1.File:Floreal Class Frigate.JPEG\|Floréal Class Mohammed V.File:Moroccan Eurocopter Puma.jpg\|Royal Moroccan Air Force SA330 Puma.File:180425-N-EA818-1230 (39924288270) (cropped).jpg\|Moroccan FREMM frigateFile:DOD-7651 (49869042718).jpg\|Moroccan SF Polaris MRZR-2/4File:African Lion 2021 210609-A-XM236-1004.jpg\|Moroccan soldier using the Mk19 grenade launcherFile:Moroccans provide training for neighboring militaries in Africa during Flintlock 20 (50110396998).jpg\|Moroccan M-SOF operator training Mauritanian forcesFile:Moroccan Mirage F1CH 7 (modified).jpg\|Moroccan Mirage F-1 in flightFile:Moroccan F-16 (cropped).JPG\|Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16 at the 2012 Marrakech Air Show" ], [ "References" ], [ "Bibliography", "" ], [ "See also", " Auxiliary Forces a paramilitary force composed of army veterans which, following the command of the Ministry of the Interior, supplements the military, Gendarmerie and police when needed." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Foreign relations of Morocco" ], [ "Introduction", "Morocco is a member of the United Nations and belongs to the African Union, Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).", "Morocco's relationships vary greatly between African, Arab, and Western states.", "Morocco has had strong ties with the West in order to gain economic and political benefits.", "France and Spain remain the primary trade partners, as well as the primary creditors and foreign investors in Morocco.", "From the total foreign investments in Morocco, the European Union invests approximately 73.5%, whereas the Arab world invests only 19.3%.", "As of 2009, many countries from the Persian Gulf and Maghreb regions are also becoming more involved in large-scale development projects in Morocco.Foreign relations have had a significant impact on economic and social development in Morocco.", "Certain evidence of foreign influence is through the many development projects, loans, investments, and free trade agreements that Morocco has with other countries.", "Some free trade agreements include the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area agreement with the European Union; the Greater Arab Free Trade Area with Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia; as well as the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement with the United States.", "An example of recent foreign influence is through loan agreements.", "Morocco signed three loan agreements with the French Development Agency (AFD) in 2009, totalling up to 155 million euros.", "These were for the purpose of reforming the education system, rural roads and rehabilitation, as well as infrastructure projects." ], [ "Factors influencing foreign relations", "===Role of political organization===Policies associated with foreign relations are determined by King Mohamed VI, as well as his advisors, despite the fact that Morocco has a constitutional monarchy.", "Morocco has had a history of monarchical rule.", "For example, the previous king, Hassan II of Morocco, suspended parliament in 1965 and ruled directly for two years.", "This was in response to the discovery of a plot on the king's life, of which a political party, UNFP, was accused of orchestrating.", "Foreign relations with Western countries became strained as a result of this.", "Portraying Morocco as a democratic state became important if Morocco wished to receive loans and investments from foreign powers.===Role of colonialism===Morocco's current relations with some countries are related to its colonial history.", "Morocco was secretly partitioned by Spain and France and in 1912 the Moroccan territory was made into French and Spanish protectorates.", "After achieving independence in 1956, Morocco still has a strong relationship with its former colonizers.", "Spain and France are currently the largest exporting and importing partners to Morocco.", "French is still popularly spoken and remains the second language in Morocco whilst Spanish is also widespread, particularly in the northern regions.", "France now is home to more than a million Moroccans legally residing in the country.", "This is the largest Moroccan population in a foreign country, followed next by Spain.", "These former colonizers remain influential in economic matters, such as development projects, investments, trade, and loans.===Role of free market===Relations with foreign powers, especially with the West, have also been strengthened as Morocco has liberalized its economy and implemented major economic reforms.", "In 1993 there was major privatization and markets were opened up to foreign powers.", "Morocco now is focusing more on promoting foreign direct investments.", "In 2007, Morocco adopted the Hassan II Fund for Development, which are measures that simplify procedures to make the process easier and more financially beneficial for foreign investors.", "This was done with financial incentives, as well as tax exemptions.", "These policies make it beneficial for other countries to have relations with Morocco so that they can take advantage of their goods.", "Morocco's exports are mainly agriculture, and it is one of the largest exporters of phosphate in the world.", "In addition, Morocco has rich fishing waters, a tourist industry, and a small manufacturing sector.===Role of foreign policy support===Morocco also gains financial support from countries that it assists.", "For example, Morocco has had a long history of supporting the United States and it has received financial support as a result.", "Moroccan troops were involved in Bosnia as well as in Somalia, during the operation Desert Storm.", "Morocco also was among the first Arab and Islamic states to denounce the September 11 attacks and declare solidarity with the American people in the war against terror.", "It has contributed to UN peacekeeping efforts on the continent.", "In 1998, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, said that Morocco and the U.S. have \"mutual concerns over transnational terrorism\" as well as interests in \"the effort to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction\".", "In recognition of its support for the War on Terror, in June 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush designated Morocco as a major non-NATO ally.", "Another case of mutual foreign policy interests is with Saudi Arabia.", "Ties between these countries were strengthened when Morocco sent troops to help Saudi Arabia during the 1992 Gulf War.", "This was perceived as a \"gesture to support Western and Arab allies\".", "Morocco's relationship to countries in the Middle East and its contribution to the Palestinian cause have created stronger relations between these countries.===Role of immigration===Another factor determining relations is how much immigration the country receives from Morocco.", "The beginning of major migration to Europe began during the colonial era (1912 to 1956).", "During World War I and II, France had an urgent need for manpower, which led to the recruitment of tens of thousands of Moroccan men to work in factories, mines, and in the army.", "Another increase in immigration from Morocco to France was during the Algerian war of independence.", "France stopped recruiting workers from Algeria and instead accepted more Moroccan factory and mine labourers.", "Immigration increased even further from 1962 to 1972 when economic growth in Europe occurred, which led to a greater demand for low-skilled labour.", "At this time, Morocco signed major labour recruitment agreements with European countries, such as France, West Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.", "This led to a more diverse spread of emigration, which until this time was focused primarily on the country of France.Morocco's perceived identity plays a role in its relations with other countries.", "Numerous countries have strong relations with Morocco because of its history of being a Western ally.", "For example, Morocco has the longest friendship treaties with the United States.", "This is important for US interests because Morocco is a stable, democratizing, and liberalizing MENA & Muslim nation.", "Geopolitical benefits are evident because ties to Morocco means that an ally is established in Africa, in the Maghreb region.", "Morocco's identity as a Muslim state has also strengthened ties with the Persian Gulf countries as a result of 9/11 and the \"War on Terror\".", "This has resulted in Arab countries, including members of the GCC (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates), choosing to invest more in Morocco.", "Many countries in the Maghreb region also invest in Morocco because of perceived similarities in identity." ], [ "Maghreb and Africa", "Positions on the status of Western Sahara: Morocco is very active in Maghreb and African affairs.", "The Arab Maghreb Union is made up of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and Tunisia.", "Although it was long not a member of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity) since November 12, 1984—following the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the government of Western Sahara—Morocco remained involved in developing the regional economy, as the city of Casablanca contains North Africa's busiest port and serves as the country's economic center.", "Morocco rejoined the African Union on 30 January 2017, following a change in AU leadership.", "There are significant ties with West African and Sahel countries and Morocco maintains good relationships with Senegal, Gabon and Burkina Faso.===Positions on Western Sahara conflict===The following lists contain the following states and entities:* '''45''' states, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union and the European Union support \"the right of self-determination of the people of Western Sahara\" (e.g.", "the conduction of a referendum for status determination),* '''65''' states support Morocco's claim of Western Sahara, and '''23''' states have consulates and/or consulates-general in the Moroccan-administered Sahara.Some states are listed in both lists, for example when a state is supportive of the \"right of self-determination\" including the option of autonomy under Morocco sovereignty.", "Some states change their opinion frequently, or give separate announcements of support for both Morocco and the Polisario Front/SADR.Some of the states announcing support of the \"right of self-determination\" in addition already recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.", "Not all of the states that have canceled relations with or withdrawn recognition of SADR have announced support for the Moroccan claim." ], [ "Diplomatic relations", "List of countries which Morocco maintains diplomatic relations with:425x425px#CountryDate123\t4567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950— (suspended)51525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384—858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106—107108109110111112—113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181Unknown182Unknown183Unknown— (suspended)Unknown184Unknown185Unknown186Unknown187Unknown188Unknown189Unknown" ], [ "Bilateral relations", "===Africa=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes1 October 1962See Algeria–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 1 October 1962.Severed diplomatic relations 27 February 1976, restored 16 May 1988, cuts diplomatic relations 24 August 2021.As a result of Algeria's continued support for the Polisario Front in the dispute over Western Sahara, relations between Morocco and Algeria have remained strained over the past several decades.", "The state of the relationships between the two neighboring countries has hindered bilateral collaboration and has left the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) project almost inactive.", "Morocco had been aligned with the United States during the Cold War, whereas Algeria kept a distance from the West, favouring the Soviet Union and later a non-aligned position.See Egypt–Morocco relationsMorocco and Egypt are both signers of the Agadir Agreement for the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone between the Arabic Mediterranean Nations, signed in Rabat, Morocco on February 25, 2004.The agreement aimed at establishing a free trade area between Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco and it was seen as a possible first step in the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area as envisaged in the Barcelona Process.", "They are also founding members of GAFTA, a pact made by the Arab League to achieve a complete Arab economic bloc that can compete internationally.In 1999 Egypt renewed backing to Morocco's territorial integrity.", "\"Egypt has always backed Morocco's efforts to perfect its territorial integrity,\" Egyptian deputy minister of foreign affairs, Jamal-Eddine Bayoumi told Moroccan daily Al-Mounaataf, referring to Morocco's claims to the territory.", "Bayoumi also stressed the need for Morocco and Egypt to consolidate trade relations among Arab states.6 June 1970See Mauritania–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 6 June 1970Prior to the December 1984 coup that brought Taya to power, the Mauritanian-Moroccan cooperation agency stated that relations between the two countries were on the mend in spite of alleged Moroccan complicity in a 1981 coup attempt and Mauritania's subsequent turn toward Algeria.", "Representatives from both sides initiated a series of low-level contacts that led to a resumption of diplomatic ties in April 1985.For Mauritania, the détente with Morocco promised to end the threat of Moroccan incursions, and it also removed the threat of Moroccan support for opposition groups formed during the Haidalla presidency.", "Through the agreement with Mauritania, Morocco sought to tighten its control over the Western Sahara by denying the Polisario one more avenue for infiltrating guerrillas into the disputed territory.Relations between Morocco and Mauritania continued to improve through 1986, reflecting President Taya's pragmatic, if unstated, view that only a Moroccan victory over the Polisario would end the guerrilla war in the Western Sahara.", "Taya made his first visit to Morocco in October 1985 (prior to visits to Algeria and Tunisia) in the wake of Moroccan claims that Polisario guerrillas were again traversing Mauritanian territory.", "The completion of a sixth berm just north of Mauritania's crucial rail link along the border with the Western Sahara, between Nouadhibou and the iron ore mines, complicated relations between Mauritania and Morocco.", "Polisario guerrillas in mid-1987 had to traverse Mauritanian territory to enter the Western Sahara, a situation that invited Morocco's accusations of Mauritanian complicity.", "Moreover, any engagements near the sixth berm would threaten to spill over into Mauritania and jeopardize the rail link.10 May 1994Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 May 1994Morocco has an embassy in Pretoria.", "South Africa has an embassy in Rabat.21 March 1959Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 March 1959.Sudan is one of the states that recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.", "Both nations have a number of trade agreements.", "There are no visa restrictions.Recognizing Legal status of Western Sahara as an independent countryThe conflict for this area continues to affect Morocco's relations with Spain, Algeria, and other Maghreb nations.", "The issue of sovereignty over Western Sahara remains unresolved.", "The territory—an area of wasteland and desert bordering the Atlantic Ocean between Mauritania and Morocco—is contested by Morocco and the Polisario (an independence movement based in the region of Tindouf, Algeria).", "Morocco's claim to sovereignty over the Sahara is based largely on an historical argument of traditional loyalty of the Sahrawi tribal leaders to the Moroccan sultan as spiritual leader and ruler.", "The Polisario Front claims to represent the aspirations of the Western Saharan inhabitants for independence.", "Algeria claims none of the territory for itself but maintains that Sahrawis should determine the territory's future status.From 1904 until 1975, Spain occupied the entire territory, which is divided into a northern portion, the Saguia el-Hamra, and a southern two-thirds, known as Río de Oro.", "In 1973, the Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro) formed to combat the Spanish occupation of the territory.", "In November 1975, King Hassan mobilized 350,000 unarmed Moroccan citizens in what came to be known as the \"Green March\" into Western Sahara.", "The march was designed to both demonstrate and strengthen Moroccan claims to the territory.", "On November 14 of the same year, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania announced a tripartite agreement for an interim administration under which Spain agreed to share administrative authority with Morocco and Mauritania, leaving aside the question of sovereignty.", "With the establishment of a Moroccan and Mauritanian presence throughout the territory, however, Spain's role in the administration of the Western Sahara ceased altogether.After a period of hostilities, Mauritania withdrew from the territory in 1979 and signed a peace treaty with the Polisario relinquishing all claims to the territory.", "Moroccan troops took control of the region vacated by Mauritania and later proclaimed the territory reintegrated into Morocco.", "Morocco subsequently built the Moroccan Wall, a network of fortified berms around the largest portion of Western Sahara and has since asserted administrative control over that territory.", "Polisario remains in control over the easternmost part of the territory.At the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in June 1981, King Hassan announced his willingness to hold a referendum in the Western Sahara.", "Subsequent meetings of an OAU Implementation Committee proposed a cease-fire, a United Nations peacekeeping force, and an interim administration to assist with an OAU-UN-supervised referendum on the issue of independence or annexation.", "In 1984, the OAU seated a delegation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the shadow government of the Polisario; Morocco, consequently, withdrew from the OAU.In 1988, Moroccan and Polisario representatives agreed on a UN peace plan.", "A UN-brokered cease-fire and settlement plan went into effect on September 6, 1991.Implementation of the settlement plan, which calls for a popular referendum among the Sahrawi natives of the territory to determine its final status (integration into Morocco or independence), has been repeatedly postponed because of differences between the parties.", "In 2003 the UN launched the Baker Plan, allowing Moroccan settlers the vote and instituting a five-year Sahrawi autonomous rule under Moroccan sovereignty before the referendum.", "This plan won the unanimous approval of the Security Council through SC Resolution 1495, and was unexpectedly accepted by the Polisario.", "Morocco however refused the plan, stating that it is no longer willing to accept a referendum that includes the possibility of independence, but that it is willing to discuss an autonomy-based solution.", "This deadlocked the process, and the future of UN involvement is uncertain.", "Sahrawi demonstrations and riots that broke out in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara further strained relations between the parties.The United States has consistently supported the cease-fire and the UN's efforts at finding a peaceful settlement.", "As generally supportive of the Moroccan government administrative control of Western Sahara, the United States support Morocco's autonomy proposal and recognizing Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.", "In the UN Security Council, France has proved the strongest backer of the Moroccan view, China and UK hasn't clear statement, only support for a mutually acceptable solution under the leadership of the Security Council.===Americas=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes31 May 1961See Argentina–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 31 May 1961.Argentina has an embassy in Rabat.", "Morocco has an embassy in Buenos Aires.", "1962Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1962* Brazil has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Brasília.17 May 1962See Canada–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 17 May 1962Embassy of Morocco in Ottawa* Canada has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Ottawa and a consulate-general in Montreal.6 October 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 October 1961* Chile has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Santiago.1 January 1979Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 January 1979* Colombia has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Bogotá.21 April 2017* Historically, bilateral relations between Cuba and Morocco were strained after the establishment of relations on December 10, 1959.Morocco severed relations with Cuba on October 31, 1963, after Cuba showed its support for Algeria during the Sands War.", "Morocco then restored diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 13, 1964, only to cut ties once again in 1980, following Cuba's recognition of the SADR.", "* Cuba and Morocco re-established diplomatic relations on April 21, 2017.31 October 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 31 October 1962See Mexico–Morocco relations* Mexico has an embassy in Rabat and a trade office in Casablanca.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Mexico City.18 June 1964* Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 June 1964* Morocco has an embassy in Lima.", "* Peru has an embassy in Rabat.11 June 1956Both countries established diplomatic relations on March 8, 1905.However, upon U.S. entry into the First World War, the U.S. Government issued a statement recognizing the protectorate over Morocco on October 20, 1917, whereupon the U.S. Minister at Tangier was downgraded to the status of Diplomatic Agent.", "Diplomatic relations reestablished on June 11, 1956.See Morocco–United States relationstreaty of friendship.Morocco has close and long standing ties with the United States.", "Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation.", "In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships were subject to attack by the Barbary Pirates while sailing the Atlantic Ocean.", "At this time, American envoys tried to obtain protection from European powers, but to no avail.", "On December 20, 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that the American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage.The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty.", "Negotiated by Thomas Barclay and signed by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1786, it has been in continuous effect since its ratification by Congress in July 1787.Following the re-organization of the U.S. federal government upon the 1787 Constitution, President George Washington wrote a now venerated letter to the Sultan Sidi Mohamed strengthening the ties between the two countries.", "The United States legation (consulate) in Tangier is the first property the American government ever owned abroad, and is the first (and only) National Historic Landmark on purely foreign soil.", "The building now houses the Tangier American Legation Museum.===Asia===Morocco's stance is supporting the search for peace in the Middle East, encouraging Israeli–Palestinian negotiations and urging moderation on both sides.Morocco maintains close relations with Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, which have provided Morocco with substantial amounts of financial assistance.", "Morocco was the first Arab state to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and sent troops to help defend Saudi Arabia.", "Morocco also was among the first Arab and Islamic states to denounce the September 11 attacks in the United States and declare solidarity with the American people in the war against terrorism.", "It has contributed to United Nations peacekeeping efforts on the continent.", "In recognition of its support for the War on Terrorism, in June 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush designated Morocco as a major non-NATO ally.", "Country Formal Relations BeganNotes28 August 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 August 1992See Azerbaijan-Morocco relations* Azerbaijan has an embassy in Rabat since 2005.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Baku.1 November 1958See China–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 1 November 195819 April 1960See Indonesia-Morocco relations* Indonesia and Morocco shared similarity as Muslim-majority countries.", "* Morocco praised Indonesia as a strong democratic nation, and pointed that both countries facing the same challenges of separatism and terrorism.", "* Diplomatic relations were established in 1960.Indonesia has an embassy in Rabat and a consulate in Casablanca, while Morocco has an embassy in Jakarta.", "* both countries are members of the WTO, NAM and OIC.See Iran–Morocco relationsRelations between Iran and Morocco have been relatively strained since the Iranian Revolution, particularly regarding the \"hard-line\" leadership in Iran.", "Morocco first severed relations in 1980, following the Revolution, however it later re-established diplomatic relations in June 1992.", "On March 6, 2009, Morocco again severed diplomatic relations with Iran after comments made by an Iranian politician that Bahrain was historically part of Iran and as such still had a seat in the Iranian Parliament.", "Morocco described the comments as an attempt to \"alter the religious fundamentals of the kingdom\", and accused Tehran of attempting to spread Shia Islam.", "Morocco is a majority Sunni country and Bahrain, despite having a large Shi'ite population, is ruled by a Sunni elite which has not allowed the Shi'ites into the power structure.", "Iran, a majority Shia country, reportedly has an interest in empowering the Shi'ites in Bahrain, and has called into question the legitimacy of Bahrain's King, in order to raise its own status in the Persian Gulf, which has strained relations between Morocco and Iran.", "Morocco cut diplomatic ties with Iran a third time in May 2018, over what Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita said was Iranian support and arming of the Polisario Front.", "Relations were previously restored around 2014, although they have been gradually weak.10 December 2020See Israel–Morocco relationsIn 1986, then King Hassan II took the daring step of inviting then-Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for talks, becoming only the second MENA leader to host an Israeli leader.", "Following the September 1993 signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, Morocco accelerated its economic ties and political contacts with Israel.", "In September 1994, Morocco and Israel announced the opening of bilateral liaison offices.", "These offices were closed in 2000 following sustained Israeli–Palestinian violence.", "On 10 December 2020, Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for the United States supporting Morocco's claim on Western Sahara.", "On the same day, the United States agreed to the sale of sophisticated drones to Morocco.", "As a result of the agreement, the Israeli liaison office was reopened in Rabat, with plans for an embassy underway.26 October 1963Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 October 1963 when Mr. Al-Fatimi ibn Sulaiman presented his credentials as Ambassador of Morocco to Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.1963See Malaysia–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations in 1963.Malaysia has an embassy in Rabat, and Morocco has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur.19 August 1957See Morocco–Pakistan relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relatins on 19 August 1957Pakistan has an embassy in Rabat while Morocco also has its embassy in Islamabad.", "Both the countries have co-operated significantly since the past and continue to widely expand their relations, in the past Pakistan has said that it does not recognise Western Sahara and that its status is disputed and remains to be decided by United Nations resolutions, but at the same time it gave the Moroccan point of view that it is an internal matter.", "Pakistan and Morocco enjoy friendly relationship based on deep religious and great human values commonly shared by both countries.", "These relations have grown to a large extent in recent years and thousands of Pakistanis visit Morocco annually.27 December 1975See Morocco-Philippines relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 27 December 1975Morocco has an embassy in Manila.", "The Philippines has an embassy in Rabat.6 July 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 July 1962Morocco has an embassy in SeoulSouth Korea has an embassy in Rabat.4 October 1985Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 October 1985Morocco has an embassy in Bangkok.", "Thailand has an embassy in Rabat.17 April 1956See Morocco–Turkey relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 17 April 1956 Morocco has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate-general in Istanbul.", "* Turkey has an embassy in Rabat.", "Trade volume between the two countries was US$2.71 billion in 2018 (Moroccan exports/imports: 0.72/1.99 billion USD).", "114,155 Moroccan tourists visited Turkey in 2017.", "Yunus Emre Institute has a local headquarters in Rabat.27 March 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 27 March 1961Morocco has an embassy in Hanoi.", "Vietnam has an embassy in Rabat.===Europe=== Country Formal Relations BeganNotes11 February 1962Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 February 1962 Morocco is accredited to Albania at the Moroccan embassy in Italy.", "* Albania is accredited to Morocco at the Albanian embassy in Spain.30 July 1956Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 July 1956 when has been established Embassy of Belgium in Rabat and appointed Mr. P. Lamotte as Ambassador of Belgium to Morocco.", "Around 530000 Moroccans reside in Belgium.24 February 1993Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 February 1993 Morocco is accredited to Bosnia at the Moroccan embassy in Croatia.", "* Bosnia is accredited to Morocco at the Bosnian embassy in Spain.1 September 1961Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 September 1961* Since January 1962, Bulgaria has an embassy in Rabat and an honorary consulate in Casablanca.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Sofia.", "* Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean.26 June 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 26 June 1992* Croatia has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Zagreb.", "* Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean.", "* Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration: list of bilateral treaties with Morocco1957Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1957* Denmark has an embassy in Rabat, Morocco.", "* Morocco has an embassy in Copenhagen, DenmarkSee Morocco–European Union relationsMorocco maintains close relations with the European Union, especially with its former colonial rulers, France and Spain.", "In October 2008, Morocco was granted a special partnership status with the EU (labelled as an 'advanced status') in response to the reforms undertaken on political, social and economic levels.", "With that, Morocco became the first country in the southern Mediterranean region to benefit from the advanced status in its relations with the EU.", "The status includes the establishment of an EU-Morocco summit and a direct participation of Morocco in a number of EU ministerial councils and working group meetings.", "Morocco has been afforded the privilege of having its currency unit linked to the Euro.2 March 1956See France–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 2 March 1956France showed early interests in Morocco and in 1904; the United Kingdom recognized France's sphere of influence in the region.", "France and Spain secretly partitioned Morocco, despite the evident disagreements this caused with Germany.", "The Treaty of Fes in 1912 made Morocco a protectorate of France.", "Struggles and opposition ensued when France exiled the Sultan Mohammed V, replacing him with Mohammed Ben Aarafa.", "The development of a strong independence movement together with a common trend of decolonization led to Morocco being granted independence in 1956.When De Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he was able to consolidate most of the initiatives taken under the Fourth Republic, but was only able to make progress by drawing up, once again, a new Constitution and finding a solution to the war in Algeria.", "It was only after his return that the policy of decolonisation ended and a policy of a new France started to emerge.", "1962 marked Algerian independence and the revision of the Fifth Republic allowed the President of France to be directly elected.", "De Gaulle was able to set out his vision for the Third World, Africa and French influence in the wider world.", "Relations with Morocco were very cordial during the reign of King Mohammed V, only to take a turn for the worse when the French secret service delivered Ben Barka to some Moroccan agents, who eventually killed him and the affair turned into a serious and personal diplomatic row between King Hassan II and General de Gaulle, which lasted until the exit of the latter from politics in 1969.During Pompidou's presidency a new entente developed between Morocco and France when new initiatives emerged in the field of co-operation setting up new institutions to deal with future aid and Moroccan economic development.", "Giscard d'Estaing's presidency provided a more pronounced support for Morocco and relations reached their zenith leading to a type of partnership in the affairs of Africa.", "The French-Moroccan intervention in Zaire was evidence of this partnership and President Giscard d'Estaing was in favour of Morocco's annexation of the Western Sahara.", "French military and public aid allocated to Morocco was unparalleled during this period when compared to previous aid received.Mitterrand's presidency did not affect the special relations between Morocco and France but intensified after a shaky beginning.", "Although human rights proved difficult to resolve, nevertheless, the President kept the issue going together with Danielle Mitterrand, as President of France-Liberté.", "Towards the end of his first term in office, a more challenging period for constitutional debate emerged as a result of cohabitation which occurred between 1986 and 1988, adding another dimension to alternance to the end of Mitterrand's second septennat to the arrival of Jacques Chirac.By now a more stable and continuous policy emerged to encourage investment and cooperation on major projects not only in agriculture and dam projects but also involving both French and Moroccan enterprises in creating a solid and a durable industrial base from aeronautics to automobile industries, to the Euro-Med Port at Tangier and Renault-Nissan Plant and TGV and tram projects in Casablanca and Rabat concluded under the presidency of Sarkozy.Both France and the USA played an important role in supplying the Moroccan military with all the hardware and equipment needed to redress the balance of power within the region, especially against Algeria's rearmament, to ensure security in the Western Sahara and keep the Al Qaeda branch of the Maghreb outside the Moroccan borders.", "The Moroccan military has been modernised and trained to be admitted within the USA-NATO forces to carry out regular exercises, as well as involving other NATO members in the fight against any terrorist threat in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Sahara regions.Franco-Moroccan co-operation also extends to the African continent and both played a complementary role in helping to resolve the problems in the Congo, in Chad and in many other fields as well as in the economy and politics of the region.", "Morocco has become the preferred destination for African students to attend university, instead of going to France, or to attend military academies, Management and Administration or medical schools.", "Moroccan banking has a significant hold on some African countries as well as Moroccan expertise in energy production, construction, mining extraction, diamond and gold exploitation as well as a great expertise in agriculture and infrastructure in general.", "In short, many sectors which used to be the domain of France have been gradually taken over by Moroccan companies and Moroccan know-how.26 March 1957See Germany–Morocco relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 26 March 1957* Morocco has an embassy in Berlin and five consulates.", "* Germany has an embassy in Rabat and three consulates.", "https://rabat.diplo.de/ma-dehttps://rabat.diplo.de/ma-de19 March 1975Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 March 1975* Ireland has an embassy in Rabat, Morocco* Morocco has an embassy in Dublin, Ireland1 October 1956Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 October 195630 August 1958Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 August 19587 July 1959See Morocco–Poland relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 7 July 1959* Morocco has an embassy in Warsaw and an honorary consulate in Poznań.", "* Poland has an embassy in Rabat and an honorary consulate in Marrakesh.16 May 1956See Morocco–Portugal relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 16 May 1956.Portugal has an embassy in Rabat.20 February 1962See Morocco–Romania relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 20 February 1962* Morocco has an embassy in Bucharest.", "* Romania has an embassy in Rabat and an honorary consulate in Casablanca.", "* Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean and of the Francophonie.1 September 1958See Morocco–Russia relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 1 September 1958Russia has an embassy in Rabat, and a consular office in Casablanca.", "Morocco is represented in Russia by its embassy to Moscow.", "President Vladimir Putin had paid a visit to Morocco in September 2006 in order to boost economic and military ties between Russia and Morocco.", "1 March 1957Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 March 1957* Morocco has an embassy in Belgrade.", "* Serbia has an embassy in Rabat.", "* Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the bilateral relations with Morocco 26 May 1956See Morocco–Spain relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 26 May 1956The Treaty of Fes also allocated the northern part of Morocco as a Spanish protectorate.", "There were many instances of resistance to protest against Spanish exploitation of Morocco.", "The independence of this region was gained at the same time that France withdrew control.", "Unlike France, Spain still maintains control on some regions, such as Ceuta and Melila in northern Morocco.", "Tensions also increased with conflicts over the fishing water surrounding Morocco, the island of Perejil, and the Western Sahara.Spain controls five \"places of sovereignty\" (Plazas de soberanía) on and off the north Africa coast: Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the islets of Peñón de Alhucemas, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas, all contested by Morocco (see Perejil Island crisis for the related incident).1958Both countries established diplomatic relations in 195822 June 1992Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 June 199228 June 1956See Morocco–United Kingdom relationsBoth countries established diplomatic relations on 28 June 1956Morocco–United Kingdom relations cover a period from the 16th century to the present day.===Oceania=== Formal Relations BeganNotes13 July 1976 Both countries established diplomatic relations on 13 July 1976See Australia-Morocco relations15 June 2010Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 June 20101994Both countries established diplomatic relations in 199428 September 2018Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 September 2018" ], [ "See also", "* List of diplomatic missions in Morocco* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates (Morocco)" ], [ "Citations" ], [ "General and cited references", "* " ], [ "External links", " The EU's Relations with Morocco* U.S. Dept.", "of State's Background Note on Morocco, Oct. 2004* US Consulate a turning point for disputed Western Sahara (by MOSA'AB ELSHAMY, Associated Press, January 10, 2021)" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Mozambique''' (; , ; ; ), officially the '''Republic of Mozambique''' (, ), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest.", "The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east.", "The capital and largest city is Maputo.Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and dialect.", "In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India.", "The voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of the Portuguese, who began a gradual process of colonisation and settlement in 1505.After over four centuries of Portuguese rule, Mozambique gained independence in 1975, becoming the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter.", "After only two years of independence, the country descended into an intense and protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992.In 1994, Mozambique held its first multiparty elections and has since remained a relatively stable presidential republic, although it still faces a low-intensity insurgency distinctively in the farthermost regions from the southern capital and where Islam is dominant.Mozambique is endowed with rich and extensive natural resources, notwithstanding the country's economy is based chiefly on fishery—substantially molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms—and agriculture with a growing industry of food and beverages, chemical manufacturing, aluminium and oil.", "The tourism sector is expanding.", "South Africa remains Mozambique's main trading partner, preserving a close relationship with Portugal with a perspective on other European markets.", "Since 2001, Mozambique's GDP growth has been thriving, but the nation is still one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world, ranking low in GDP per capita, human development, measures of inequality and average life expectancy.The country's population of around 30 million, as of 2022 estimates, is composed of overwhelmingly Bantu peoples.", "However, the only official language in Mozambique is Portuguese, which is spoken in urban areas as a first or second language by most, and generally as a lingua franca between younger Mozambicans with access to formal education.", "The most important local languages include Tsonga, Makhuwa, Sena, Chichewa, and Swahili.", "Glottolog lists 46 languages spoken in the country, of which one is a signed language (Mozambican Sign Language/''Língua de sinais de Moçambique'').", "The largest religion in Mozambique is Christianity, with significant minorities following Islam and African traditional religions.", "Mozambique is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Southern African Development Community, and is an observer at La Francophonie." ], [ "Etymology", "The country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique, derived from either Mussa Bin Bique, ''Musa Al Big,'' ''Mossa Al Bique'', ''Mussa Ben Mbiki'' or ''Mussa Ibn Malik'', an Arab trader who first visited the island and later lived there.", "The island-town was the capital of the Portuguese colony until 1898, when it was moved south to Lourenço Marques (now Maputo)." ], [ "History", "Mozambican dhow===Bantu migrations===Bantu-speaking peoples migrated into Mozambique as early as the 4th century BC.", "It is believed between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of migration from the west and north went through the Zambezi River valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas of Southern Africa.", "They established agricultural communities or societies based on herding cattle.", "They brought with them the technology for smelting and smithing iron.===Swahili Coast===Arab-Swahili slave traders and their captives on the Ruvuma RiverFrom the late first millennium AD, vast Indian Ocean trade networks extended as far south into Mozambique as evidenced by the ancient port town of Chibuene.", "Beginning in the 9th century, a growing involvement in Indian Ocean trade led to the development of numerous port towns along the entire East African coast, including modern day Mozambique.", "Largely autonomous, these towns broadly participated in the incipient Swahili culture.", "Islam was often adopted by urban elites, facilitating trade.", "In Mozambique, Sofala, Angoche, and Mozambique Island were regional powers by the 15th century.The towns traded with merchants from both the African interior and the broader Indian Ocean world.", "Particularly important were the gold and ivory caravan routes.", "Inland states like the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and Kingdom of Mutapa provided the coveted gold and ivory, which were then exchanged up the coast to larger port cities like Kilwa and Mombasa.=== Portuguese Mozambique (1498–1975) ===Detail of the Island of Mozambique, former capital in Northern Mozambique and prominent in the country's historyChapel of Nossa Senhora de BaluarteFort São SebastiãoThe Island of Mozambique after which the country is named, is a small coral island at the mouth of Mossuril Bay on the Nacala coast of northern Mozambique, first explored by Europeans in the late 15th century.When Portuguese explorers reached Mozambique in 1498, Arab-trading settlements had existed along the coast and outlying islands for several centuries.", "From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east, the first steps in what was to become a process of colonisation.The voyage of Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade, politics, and society of the region.", "The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique and the port city of Sofala in the early 16th century, and by the 1530s, small groups of Portuguese traders and prospectors seeking gold penetrated the interior regions, where they set up garrisons and trading posts at Sena and Tete on the Zambezi and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade.In the central part of the Mozambique territory, the Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of ''prazos''.", "These land grants tied emigrants to their settlements, and inland Mozambique was largely left to be administered by ''prazeiros'', the grant holders, while central authorities in Portugal concentrated their direct exercise of power on, in their view, the more important Portuguese possessions in Asia and the Americas.", "Slavery in Mozambique pre-dated European-contact.", "African rulers and chiefs dealt in enslaved people, first with Arab Muslim traders, who sent the enslaved to Middle East Asia cities and plantations, and later with Portuguese and other European traders.", "In a continuation of the trade, slaves were supplied by warring local African rulers, who raided enemy tribes and sold their captives to the ''prazeiros''.", "The authority of the ''prazeiros'' was exercised and upheld amongst the local population by armies of these enslaved men, whose members became known as ''Chikunda''.", "Continuing emigration from Portugal occurred at comparatively low levels until late in the nineteenth century, promoting \"Africanisation\".", "While ''prazos'' were originally intended to be held solely by Portuguese colonists, through intermarriage and the relative isolation of ''prazeiros'' from ongoing Portuguese influences, the ''prazos'' became African-Portuguese or African-Indian.View of the Central Avenue in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, ca.", "1905Although Portuguese influence gradually expanded, its power was limited and exercised through individual settlers and officials who were granted extensive autonomy.", "The Portuguese were able to wrest much of the coastal trade from Arab Muslims between 1500 and 1700, but, with the Arab Muslim seizure of Portugal's key foothold at Fort Jesus on Mombasa Island (now in Kenya) in 1698, the pendulum began to swing in the other direction.", "As a result, investment lagged while Lisbon devoted itself to the more lucrative trade with India and the Far East and to the colonisation of Brazil.The Mazrui and Omani Arabs reclaimed much of the Indian Ocean trade, forcing the Portuguese to retreat south.", "Many ''prazos'' had declined by the mid-19th century, but several of them survived.", "During the 19th century other European powers, particularly the British (British South Africa Company) and the French (Madagascar), became increasingly involved in the trade and politics of the region around the Portuguese East African territories.Portuguese language printing and typesetting class, 1930By the early 20th century the Portuguese had shifted the administration of much of Mozambique to large private companies, like the Mozambique Company, the Zambezia Company and the Niassa Company, controlled and financed mostly by British financiers such as Solomon Joel, which established railroad lines to their neighbouring colonies (South Africa and Rhodesia).", "Although slavery had been legally abolished in Mozambique, at the end of the 19th century the chartered companies enacted a forced labour policy and supplied cheap—often forced—African labour to the mines and plantations of the nearby British colonies and South Africa.", "The Zambezia Company, the most profitable chartered company, took over several smaller ''prazeiro'' holdings and established military outposts to protect its property.", "The chartered companies built roads and ports to bring their goods to market including a railroad linking present-day Zimbabwe with the Mozambican port of Beira.Due to their unsatisfactory performance and the shift, under the corporatist Estado Novo regime of Oliveira Salazar, toward a stronger Portuguese control of Portuguese Empire's economy, the companies' concessions were not renewed when they ran out.", "This was what happened in 1942 with the Mozambique Company, which, however, continued to operate in the agricultural and commercial sectors as a corporation, and had already happened in 1929 with the termination of the Niassa Company's concession.", "In 1951, the Portuguese overseas colonies in Africa were rebranded as Overseas Provinces of Portugal.The Mueda massacre of 16 June 1960, resulted in the death of Makonde protestors, which provoked the struggle of independence from Portuguese rule of Mozambique.===Mozambican War of Independence (1964–1975)===Portuguese troops during the Portuguese Colonial War, some loading FN FAL and G3As communist and anti-colonial ideologies spread out across Africa, many clandestine political movements were established in support of Mozambican independence.", "These movements claimed that since policies and development plans were primarily designed by the ruling authorities for the benefit of Mozambique's Portuguese population, little attention was paid to Mozambique's tribal integration and the development of its native communities.", "According to the official guerrilla statements, this affected a majority of the indigenous population who suffered both state-sponsored discrimination and enormous social pressure.", "As a response to the guerrilla movement, the Portuguese government from the 1960s and principally the early 1970s initiated gradual changes with new socioeconomic developments and egalitarian policies.The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) initiated a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule in September 1964.This conflict—along with the two others already initiated in the other Portuguese colonies of Angola and Portuguese Guinea—became part of the so-called Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974).", "From a military standpoint, the Portuguese regular army maintained control of the population centres while the guerrilla forces sought to undermine their influence in rural and tribal areas in the north and west.", "As part of their response to FRELIMO, the Portuguese government began to pay more attention to creating favourable conditions for social development and economic growth.=== Independence (1975) ===FRELIMO took control of the territory after ten years of sporadic warfare, as well as Portugal's own return to democracy after the fall of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime in the Carnation Revolution of April 1974 and the failed coup of 25 November 1975.Within a year, most of the 250,000 Portuguese in Mozambique had left—some expelled by the government of the nearly independent territory, some left the country to avoid possible reprisals from the unstable government—and Mozambique became independent from Portugal on 25 June 1975.A law had been passed on the initiative of the relatively unknown Armando Guebuza of the FRELIMO party, ordering the Portuguese to leave the country in 24 hours with only of luggage.", "Unable to salvage any of their assets, most of them returned to Portugal penniless.===Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992)===A land mine victim in MozambiqueThe new government under President Samora Machel established a one-party state based on Marxist principles.", "It received diplomatic and some military support from Cuba and the Soviet Union and proceeded to crack down on opposition.", "Starting shortly after independence, the country was plagued from 1977 to 1992 by a long and violent civil war between the opposition forces of anti-communist Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) rebel militias and the FRELIMO regime.", "This conflict characterised the first decades of Mozambican independence, combined with sabotage from the neighbouring states of Rhodesia and South Africa, ineffective policies, failed central planning, and the resulting economic collapse.", "This period was also marked by the exodus of Portuguese nationals and Mozambicans of Portuguese heritage, a collapsed infrastructure, lack of investment in productive assets, and government nationalisation of privately owned industries, as well as widespread famine.During most of the civil war, the FRELIMO-formed central government was unable to exercise effective control outside urban areas, many of which were cut off from the capital.", "RENAMO-controlled areas included up to 50% of the rural areas in several provinces, and it is reported that health services of any kind were isolated from assistance for years in those areas.", "The problem worsened when the government cut back spending on health care.", "The war was marked by mass human rights violations from both sides of the conflict, with both RENAMO and FRELIMO contributing to the chaos through the use of terror and indiscriminate targeting of civilians.", "The central government executed tens of thousands of people while trying to extend its control throughout the country and sent many people to \"re-education camps\" where thousands died.The geopolitical situation in 1975; nations friendly to the FRELIMO are shown in orange.During the war, RENAMO proposed a peace agreement based on the secession of RENAMO-controlled northern and western territories as the independent ''Republic of Rombesia'', but FRELIMO refused, insisting on the undivided sovereignty of the entire country.", "An estimated one million Mozambicans perished during the civil war, 1.7 million took refuge in neighbouring states, and several million more were internally displaced.", "The FRELIMO regime also gave shelter and support to South African (African National Congress) and Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe African National Union) rebel movements, while the governments of Rhodesia and later Apartheid South Africa backed RENAMO in the civil war.", "Between 300,000 and 600,000 people died of famine during the war.On 19 October 1986, Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia when his plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains near Mbuzini in South Africa.", "President Machel and thirty-three others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government.", "The United Nations' Soviet delegation issued a minority report contending that their expertise and experience had been undermined by the South Africans.", "Representatives of the Soviet Union advanced the theory that the plane had been intentionally diverted by a false navigational beacon signal, using a technology provided by military intelligence operatives of the South African government.Machel's successor Joaquim Chissano implemented sweeping changes in the country, starting reforms such as changing from Marxism to capitalism and began peace talks with RENAMO.", "The new constitution enacted in 1990 provided for a multi-party political system, market-based economy, and free elections.", "That same year, Mozambique abolished the people's republic as the country's official name.", "The civil war ended in October 1992 with the Rome General Peace Accords, first brokered by the Christian Council of Mozambique (Council of Protestant Churches) and then taken over by Community of Sant'Egidio.", "Peace returned to Mozambique, under the supervision of the peacekeeping force of the United Nations.===Democratic era (1993–present)===US helicopter flying over the flooded Limpopo River during the 2000 Mozambique floodMozambique held elections in 1994, which were accepted by most political parties as free and fair although still contested by many nationals and observers alike.", "FRELIMO won, under Joaquim Chissano, while RENAMO, led by Afonso Dhlakama, ran as the official opposition.", "In 1995, Mozambique joined the Commonwealth of Nations, becoming, at the time, the only member nation that had never been part of the British Empire.By mid-1995, over 1.7 million refugees who had sought asylum in neighbouring countries had returned to Mozambique, part of the largest repatriation witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa.", "An additional four million internally displaced persons had returned to their homes.", "In December 1999, Mozambique held elections for a second time since the civil war, which were again won by FRELIMO.", "RENAMO accused FRELIMO of fraud and threatened to return to civil war but backed down after taking the matter to the Supreme Court and losing.In early 2000, a cyclone caused widespread flooding, killing hundreds and devastating the already precarious infrastructure.", "There were widespread suspicions that foreign aid resources had been diverted by powerful leaders of FRELIMO.", "Carlos Cardoso, a journalist investigating these allegations, was murdered, and his death was never satisfactorily explained.Indicating in 2001 that he would not run for a third term, Chissano criticised leaders who stayed on longer than he had, which was generally seen as a reference to Zambian President Frederick Chiluba and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.", "Presidential and National Assembly elections took place on 1–2 December 2004.FRELIMO candidate Armando Guebuza won with 64% of the popular vote, and Dhlakama received 32% of the popular vote.", "FRELIMO won 160 seats in Parliament, with a coalition of RENAMO and several small parties winning the 90 remaining seats.", "Guebuza was inaugurated as the President of Mozambique on 2 February 2005 and served two five-year terms.", "His successor, Filipe Nyusi, became the fourth President of Mozambique on 15 January 2015.From 2013 to 2019, a low-intensity insurgency by RENAMO occurred, mainly in the country's central and northern regions.", "On 5 September 2014, Guebuza and Dhlakama signed the Accord on Cessation of Hostilities, which brought the military hostilities to a halt and allowed both parties to concentrate on the general elections to be held in October 2014.However, after the general elections, a new political crisis emerged.", "RENAMO did not recognise the validity of the election results and demanded the control of six provinces – Nampula, Niassa, Tete, Zambezia, Sofala, and Manica – where they claimed to have won a majority.", "About 12,000 refugees fled to Malawi.", "The UNHCR, Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch reported that government forces had torched villages and carried out summary executions and sexual abuses.In October 2019, President Filipe Nyusi was re-elected after a landslide victory in general election.", "FRELIMO won 184 seats, RENAMO got 60 seats and the MDM party received the remaining 6 seats in the National Assembly.", "Opposition did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud and irregularities.", "FRELIMO secured two-thirds majority in parliament which allowed FRELIMO to re-adjust the constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition.Since 2017, the country has faced an ongoing insurgency by Islamist groups.", "In September 2020, ISIL insurgents captured and briefly occupied Vamizi Island in the Indian Ocean.", "In March 2021, dozens of civilians were killed and 35,000 others were displaced after Islamist rebels seized the city of Palma.", "In December 2021, nearly 4,000 Mozambicans fled their villages after an intensification of jihadist attacks in Niassa." ], [ "Geography", "Satellite imageAt , Mozambique is the world's 35th-largest country.", "Mozambique is located on the southeast coast of Africa and is bound by Eswatini to the south, South Africa to the southwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Zambia and Malawi to the northwest, Tanzania to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east.", "Mozambique lies between latitudes 10° and 27°S, and longitudes 30° and 41°E.The country is divided into two topographical regions by the Zambezi River.", "To the north of the Zambezi, the narrow coastal strip gives way to inland hills and low plateaus.", "Rugged highlands are further west; they include the Niassa highlands, Namuli or Shire highlands, Angonia highlands, Tete highlands and the Makonde plateau, covered with miombo woodlands.", "To the south of the Zambezi, the lowlands are broader with the Mashonaland plateau and Lebombo Mountains located in the deep south.The country is drained by five principal rivers and several smaller ones with the largest and most important the Zambezi.", "The country has four notable lakes: Lake Niassa (or Malawi), Lake Chiuta, Cahora Bassa and Lake Shirwa, all in the north.", "The major cities are Maputo, Beira, Nampula, Tete, Quelimane, Chimoio, Pemba, Inhambane, Xai-Xai and Lichinga.File:Ghost mountain mkuze sunset.jpg\|Lebombo MountainsFile:Gorongosa - Gogogo peak.", "(4403966914).jpg\|Gorongosa National ParkFile:Beach cleaning.jpg\|Island of MozambiqueFile:Mt Binga Mozambique.JPG\|Monte BingaFile:Ponta do Ouro in the morning.jpg\|Ponta do Ouro===Climate===Mozambique map of Köppen climate classification zonesMozambique has a tropical climate with two seasons: a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September.", "Climatic conditions, however, vary depending on altitude.", "Rainfall is heavy along the coast and decreases in the north and south.", "Annual precipitation varies from depending on the region, with an average of .", "Cyclones are common during the wet season.", "Average temperature ranges in Maputo are from in July and from in February.In 2019 Mozambique suffered floods and destruction from the devastating cyclones Idai and Kenneth, the first time two cyclones had struck the nation in a single season.Thousands of crops were destroyed during the flooding, which causes transboundary animal diseases, and over 10 million people were affected throughout the region, according to the FAO's urgent campaign for southern Africa, which includes Malawi, Madagascar, and Mozambique.", "These countries have been experiencing climate disasters between January and March 2023 that have seriously affected various sectors, including farming, fisheries, and thousands of crops.", "===Wildlife===There are known to be 740 bird species in Mozambique, including 20 globally threatened species and two introduced species, and over 200 mammal species endemic to Mozambique, including the critically endangered Selous' zebra, Vincent's bush squirrel and 13 other endangered or vulnerable species.Protected areas include thirteen forest reserves, seven national parks, six nature reserves, three frontier conservation areas and three wildlife or game reserves.", "The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.93/10, ranking it 62nd globally out of 172 countries." ], [ "Politics", "President Filipe NyusiMaputo City HallThe Constitution of Mozambique stipulates that the President of the Republic functions as the head of state, head of government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and as a symbol of national unity.", "He is directly elected for a five-year term via run-off voting; if no candidate receives more than half of the votes cast in the first round of voting, a second round of voting will be held in which only the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round will participate, and whichever of the candidates obtains a majority of votes in the second round will thus be elected president.", "The prime minister is appointed by the president.", "His functions include convening and chairing the council of ministers (cabinet), advising the president, assisting the president in governing the country, and coordinating the functions of the other ministers.The Assembly of the Republic (''Assembleia da República'') has 250 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation.", "The judiciary comprises a Supreme Court and provincial, district, and municipal courts.Mozambique operates a small, functioning military that handles all aspects of domestic national defence, the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces.=== Foreign relations ===Mozambique's embassy in Washington, D.C.While allegiances dating back to the liberation struggle remain relevant, Mozambique's foreign policy has become increasingly pragmatic.", "The twin pillars of Mozambique's foreign policy are maintenance of good relations with its neighbours and maintenance and expansion of ties to development partners.During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Mozambique's foreign policy was inextricably linked to the struggles for majority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa as well as superpower competition and the Cold War.", "Mozambique's decision to enforce UN sanctions against Rhodesia and deny that country access to the sea led Ian Smith's government to undertake overt and covert actions to oppose the country.", "Although the change of government in Zimbabwe in 1980 removed this threat, the government of South Africa continued to destabilise Mozambique.", "Mozambique also belonged to the Frontline States.", "The 1984 Nkomati Accord, while failing in its goal of ending South African support to RENAMO, opened initial diplomatic contacts between the Mozambican and South African governments.", "This process gained momentum with South Africa's elimination of apartheid, which culminated in the establishment of full diplomatic relations in October 1993.While relations with neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania show occasional strains, Mozambique's ties to these countries remain strong.In the years immediately following its independence, Mozambique benefited from considerable assistance from some Western countries, notably the Scandinavians.", "The Soviet Union and its allies became Mozambique's primary economic, military and political supporters, and its foreign policy reflected this linkage.", "This began to change in 1983; in 1984 Mozambique joined the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.", "Western aid by the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland quickly replaced Soviet support.", "Finland and the Netherlands are becoming increasingly important sources of development assistance.", "Italy also maintains a profile in Mozambique as a result of its key role during the peace process.", "Relations with Portugal, the former colonial power, continue to be important because Portuguese investors play a visible role in Mozambique's economy.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets members of Indian community in Mozambique, 7 July 2016.Mozambique is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and ranks among the moderate members of the African bloc in the United Nations and other international organisations.", "Mozambique also belongs to the African Union and the Southern African Development Community.", "In 1994, the government became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in part to broaden its base of international support but also to please the country's sizeable Muslim population.", "Similarly, in 1995 Mozambique joined its Anglophone neighbours in the Commonwealth of Nations.", "At the time it was the only nation to have joined the Commonwealth that was never part of the British Empire.", "In the same year, Mozambique became a founding member and the first President of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and maintains close ties with other Portuguese-speaking countries.=== Human rights ===Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2015.However, discrimination against LGBT people in Mozambique is widespread." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Mozambique is divided into ten provinces (''provincias'') and one capital city (''cidade capital'') with provincial status.", "The provinces are subdivided into 129 districts (''distritos'').", "The districts are further divided into 405 \"''postos administrativos''\" (administrative posts, headed by ''secretários'') and then into ''localidades'' (localities), the lowest geographical level of the central state administration.", "There are 53 \"''municípios''\" (municipalities).#Niassa#Cabo Delgado#Nampula#Tete#Zambezia#Manica#Sofala#Gaza#Inhambane#Maputo (city)#Maputo Map of Mozambique with the province highlighted" ], [ "Economy", "Historical development of real GDP per capita in Mozambique, since 1960Mozambique is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world, even though between 1994 and 2006 its average annual GDP growth was approximately 8%.", "The IMF classifies Mozambique as a heavily indebted poor country.", "In a 2006 survey, three-quarters of Mozambicans said that in the past five years their economic position had remained the same or become worse.Mozambique was ranked 126th out of 132 in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.Mozambique's official currency is the metical (as of October 2023, US$1 is roughly equivalent to 64 meticals) The U.S. dollar, South African rand, and the euro are widely accepted and used in business transactions.", "The minimum legal salary is around US$60 per month.", "Mozambique is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).", "The SADC free trade protocol is aimed at making the Southern African region more competitive by eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers.", "The World Bank in 2007 talked of Mozambique's 'blistering pace of economic growth'.", "A joint donor-government study in early 2007 said 'Mozambique is generally considered an aid success story.", "'===Rebounding growth===The resettlement of civil war refugees and successful economic reform have led to a high growth rate: the country enjoyed a remarkable recovery, achieving an average annual rate of economic growth of 8% between 1996 and 2006 and between 6–7% from 2006 to 2011.Rapid expansion in the future hinges on several major foreign investment projects, continued economic reform, and the revival of the agriculture, transportation, and tourism sectors.", "In 2013 about 80% of the population was employed in agriculture, the majority of whom were engaged in small-scale subsistence farming which still suffered from inadequate infrastructure, commercial networks, and investment.", "However, in 2012, more than 90% of Mozambique's arable land was still uncultivated.In 2013, a BBC article reported that starting in 2009, the Portuguese had been returning to Mozambique because of the growing economy in Mozambique and the poor economic situation in Portugal.===Economic reforms===More than 1,200 mostly small state-owned enterprises have been privatised.", "Preparations for privatisation and/or sector liberalisation were made for the remaining parastatal enterprises, including telecommunications, energy, ports, and railways.", "The government frequently selected a strategic foreign investor when privatising a parastatal.", "Additionally, customs duties have been reduced, and customs management has been streamlined and reformed.", "The government introduced a value-added tax in 1999 as part of its efforts to increase domestic revenues.===Corruption===Traditional sailboat in Ilha de MoçambiqueMozambique's economy has been shaken by numerous corruption scandals.", "In July 2011, the government proposed new anti-corruption laws to criminalise embezzlement, influence peddling and graft, following numerous instances of the theft of public money.", "This has been endorsed by the country's Council of Ministers.", "Mozambique convicted two former ministers for graft.", "Mozambique was ranked 116 of 178 countries in anti-graft watchdog Transparency International's index of global corruption.", "According to a USAID report written in 2005, \"the scale and scope of corruption in Mozambique are cause for alarm.", "\"In 2012, the government of Inhambane province uncovered the misappropriation of public funds by the director of the Provincial Anti-Drugs Office, Calisto Alberto Tomo.", "He was found to have colluded with the accountant in the Anti-Drugs Office, Recalda Guambe, to steal over 260,000 meticais between 2008 and 2010.The government of Mozambique has taken steps to address the problem of corruption, and some positive developments can be observed, such as the passages of several anti-corruption bills in 2012.===Natural resources===In 2010–2011, Anadarko Petroleum and Eni discovered the Mamba South gas field, recoverable reserves of 4,200 billion cubic metres (150 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin, off the coast of northern Cabo Delgado Province.", "Once developed, this could make Mozambique one of the largest producers of liquefied natural gas in the world.", "In January 2017, 3 firms were selected by the government for the natural gas development projects in the Rovuma gas basin.", "GL Africa Energy (UK) was awarded one of the tenders.", "It plans to build and operate a 250 MW gas-powered plant.", "Production was scheduled to start in 2018.Mozambique is now scheduled to begin exporting LNG globally in 2024.In 2019, developments in the Rovuma Basin, referred to as The Mozambique LNG Project, raised $19 billion from a consortium of investors to finally bring this LNG to market.", "The majority of the project and its associated operations have been awarded to the company, TotalEnergies.===Tourism===Inhambane, MozambiqueVilanculos beach MozambiqueThe country's natural environment, wildlife, and historic heritage provide opportunities for beach, cultural, and eco-tourism.", "Mozambique has a great potential for growth in its gross domestic product (GDP).Carrying goods on head in MozambiqueThe north beaches with clean water are suitable for tourism, especially those that are very far from urban centres, such the Quirimbas Islands and the archipelago of Bazaruto.", "The Inhambane Province attracts international divers because of the marine biodiversity and the presence of whale sharks and manta rays.", "There are several national parks, including Gorongosa National Park.===Transport===Steam locomotive at Inhambane, 2009LAM MozambiqueThere are over of roads, but much of the network is unpaved.", "Like its Commonwealth neighbours, traffic circulates on the left.", "There is an international airport at Maputo, 21 other paved airports, and over 100 airstrips with unpaved runways.", "There are 3,750 km of navigable inland waterways.", "There are rail links serving principal cities and connecting the country with Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.", "The Mozambican railway system developed over more than a century from three different ports on the coast that served as terminals for separate lines to the hinterland.", "The railroads were major targets during the Mozambican Civil War, were sabotaged by RENAMO, and are being rehabilitated.", "A parastatal authority, ''Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique'' (Mozambique Ports and Railways), oversees the railway system and its connected ports, but management has been largely outsourced.", "Each line has its own development corridor.", "there were 3,123 km of railway track, consisting of 2,983 km of gauge, compatible with neighbouring rail systems, and a 140 km line of gauge, the Gaza Railway.", "The central Beira–Bulawayo railway and Sena railway route links the port of Beira to the landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.", "To the north of this the port of Nacala is also linked by Nacala rail to Malawi, and to the south the port of Maputo is connected by the Limpopo rail, the Goba rail and the Ressano Garcia rail to Zimbabwe, Eswatini and South Africa.", "These networks interconnect only via neighbouring countries.", "A new route for coal haulage between Tete and Beira was planned to come into service by 2010, and in August 2010, Mozambique and Botswana signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 1,100 km railway through Zimbabwe, to carry coal from Serule in Botswana to a deepwater port at Techobanine Point.", "Newer rolling stock has been supplied by the Indian Golden Rock workshop using Centre Buffer Couplers and air brakes.=== Water supply and sanitation ===Woman fetching water during the dry season from a polluted source in Machaze District of the Central Manica ProvinceWater supply and sanitation in Mozambique is characterised by low levels of access to an improved water source (estimated to be 51% in 2011), low levels of access to adequate sanitation (estimated to be 25% in 2011) and mostly poor service quality.", "In 2007 the government defined a strategy for water supply and sanitation in rural areas, where 62% of the population lives.", "In urban areas, water is supplied by informal small-scale providers and by formal providers.Beginning in 1998, Mozambique reformed the formal part of the urban water supply sector through the creation of an independent regulatory agency called CRA, an asset-holding company called FIPAG and a public-private partnership (PPP) with a company called Aguas de Moçambique.", "The PPP covered those areas of the capital and of four other cities that had access to formal water supply systems.", "However, the PPP ended when the management contracts for four cities expired in 2008 and when the foreign partner of the company that serves the capital under a lease contract withdrew in 2010, claiming heavy losses.", "While urban water supply has received considerable policy attention, the government has no strategy for urban sanitation yet.", "External donors finance about 87.4% of all public investments in the sector." ], [ "Demographics", "PopulationYearThousands1950 5,9591960 7,1851970 9,0231980 11,6301990 12,9872000 17,7122010 23,5322020 31,2552023 32,514The north-central provinces of Zambezia and Nampula are the most populous, with about 45% of the population.", "The estimated four million Makua are the dominant group in the northern part of the country; the Sena and Shona (mostly Ndau and Manyika) are prominent in the Zambezi valley, and the Tsonga and Shangaan people dominate southern Mozambique.", "Other groups include Makonde, Yao, Swahili, Tonga, Chopi, and Nguni (including Zulu).", "Bantu people comprise 97.8% of the population, with the rest made up of Portuguese ancestry, Euro-Africans (''mestiço'' people of mixed Bantu and Portuguese ancestry), and Indians.", "Roughly 45,000 people of Indian descent reside in Mozambique.During Portuguese colonial rule, a large minority of people of Portuguese descent lived permanently in almost all areas of the country, and Mozambicans with Portuguese heritage at the time of independence numbered about 360,000.Many of these left the country after independence from Portugal in 1975.There are various estimates for the size of Mozambique's Chinese community, ranging from 7,000 to 12,000 .According to a 2011 survey, the total fertility rate was 5.9 children per woman, with 6.6 in rural areas and 4.5 in urban areas.===Languages===Language most spoken at home, 2017 CensusEmakhuwa 5,813,083 26.13% Portuguese 3,686,890 16.58% Xichangana 1,919,217 8.63% Cinyanja 1,790,831 8.05% Cisena 1,578,164 7.09% Elomwe 1,574,237 7.08% Echuwabo 1,050,696 4.72% Xitswa 836,644 3.76% Cindau 836,038 3.76% Other Mozambican languages 2,633,088 11.84% Other foreign languages 112,385 0.51% None 4,173 0.02% Unknown 407,927 1.83%''' Total''' '''22,243,373''' '''100.00%'''Ethnic map of MozambiquePortuguese is the official and most widely spoken language of the nation, spoken by 50.3% of the population.The Bantu-group languages that are indigenous to the country vary greatly in their groupings and in some cases are rather poorly appreciated and documented.", "Apart from its lingua franca uses in the north of the country, Swahili is spoken in a small area of the coast next to the Tanzanian border; south of this, towards Moçambique Island, Kimwani, regarded as a dialect of Swahili, is used.", "Immediately inland of the Swahili area, Makonde is used, separated farther inland by a small strip of Makhuwa-speaking territory from an area where Yao or ChiYao is used.", "Makonde and Yao belong to a different group, Yao being very close to the Mwera language of the Rondo Plateau area in Tanzania.", "Prepositions appear in these languages as locative prefixes prefixed to the noun and declined according to their own noun-class.", "Some Nyanja is used at the coast of Lake Malawi, as well as on the other side of the Lake.Somewhat different from all of these are the languages of the eMakhuwa group, with a loss of initial k-, which means that many nouns begin with a vowel: for example, ''epula'' = \"rain\".", "There is eMakhuwa proper, with the related eLomwe and eChuwabo, with a small eKoti-speaking area at the coast.", "In an area straddling the lower Zambezi, Sena, which belongs to the same group as Nyanja, is spoken, with areas speaking the related CiNyungwe and CiSenga further upriver.A large Shona-speaking area extends between the Zimbabwe border and the sea: this was formerly known as the Ndau variety but now uses the orthography of the Standard Shona of Zimbabwe.", "Apparently similar to Shona, but lacking the tone patterns of the Shona language, and regarded by its speakers as quite separate, is CiBalke, also called Rue or Barwe, used in a small area near the Zimbabwe border.", "South of this area are languages of the Tsonga group.", "XiTswa or Tswa occurs at the coast and inland, XiTsonga or Tsonga straddles the area around the Limpopo River, including such local dialects as XiHlanganu, XiN'walungu, XiBila, XiHlengwe, and XiDzonga.", "This language area extends into neighbouring South Africa.", "Still related to these, but distinct, are GiTonga, BiTonga, and CiCopi or Chopi, spoken north of the mouth of the Limpopo, and XiRonga or Ronga, spoken in the immediate region around Maputo.", "The languages in this group are, judging by the short vocabularies, very vaguely similar to Zulu, but obviously not in the same immediate group.", "There are small Swazi- and Zulu-speaking areas in Mozambique immediately next to the Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal borders.Arabs, Chinese, and Indians primarily speak Portuguese and some Hindi.", "Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese creoles of their origin aside from Portuguese as their second language.===Religion===The 2007 census found that Christians made up 59.2% of Mozambique's population, Muslims comprised 18.9% of the population, 7.3% of the people held other beliefs, mainly animism, and 13.9% had no religious beliefs.", "A more recent government survey conducted by the Demographic and Health Surveys program in 2015 indicated that Catholicism had increased to 30.5% of the population, Muslims constituted 19.3%, and various Protestant groups a total of 44%.", "According to 2018 estimates from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, 28% of the population is Catholic, 18% are Muslim (mostly Sunni), 15% are Zionist Christians, 12% are Protestants, 7% are members of other religious groups, and 18% have no religion.The Catholic Church has established twelve dioceses (Beira, Chimoio, Gurué, Inhambane, Lichinga, Maputo, Nacala, Nampula, Pemba, Quelimane, Tete, and Xai-Xai; archdioceses are Beira, Maputo and Nampula).", "Statistics for the dioceses range from a low 5.8% Catholics in the population in the Diocese of Chimoio, to 32.50% in Quelimane diocese (Anuario catolico de Mocambique).", "Among the main Protestant denominations are Igreja União Baptista de Moçambique, the Assembleias de Deus, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Igreja do Evangelho Completo de Deus, the Igreja Metodista Unida, the Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique, the Igrejas de Cristo and the Assembleia Evangélica de Deus.", "The work of Methodism in Mozambique started in 1890.Erwin Richards began a Methodist mission at Chicuque in Inhambane Province.", "The Igreja Metodista Unida em Moçambique (United Methodist Church in Mozambique) observed the 100th anniversary of Methodist presence in Mozambique in 1990.President Chissano praised the work and role of the UMC to more than 10,000 people who attended the ceremony.", "The United Methodist Church has tripled in size in Mozambique since 1998.There are more than 150,000 members in more than 180 congregations of the 24 districts.", "New pastors are ordained each year.", "New churches are chartered each year in each Annual Conference (north and south).The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has established a growing presence.", "It first began sending missionaries to Mozambique in 1999, and, as of April 2015, has more than 7,943 members.", "The Baháʼí Faith has been present in Mozambique since the early 1950s but did not openly identify itself in those years because of the strong influence of the Catholic Church which did not recognise it officially as a world religion.", "The independence in 1975 saw the entrance of new pioneers.", "In total, there are about 3,000 declared Baháʼís .", "Muslims are particularly present in the north of the country.", "They are organised in several \"tariqa\" or brotherhoods.", "Two national organisations also exist—the ''Conselho Islâmico de Moçambique'' and the ''Congresso Islâmico de Moçambique''.", "There are also important Pakistani, Indian associations as well as some Shia communities.", "There is a very small but thriving Jewish community in Maputo.===Health===Population pyramid 2016Antiretroviral treatment, 2003–14The fertility rate is at about 5.5 births per woman.", "Public expenditure on health was at 2.7% of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure on health was at 1.3% in the same year.", "Health expenditure per capita was 42 US$ (PPP) in 2004.In the early 21st century there were 3 physicians per 100,000 people in the country.", "Infant mortality was at 100 per 1,000 births in 2005.The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Mozambique is 550.This is compared with 598.8 in 2008 and 385 in 1990.The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 147 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5s mortality is 29.In Mozambique the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 3 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 37.The official HIV prevalence in 2011 was 11.5% of the population aged between 15 and 49 years.", "In the southern parts of Mozambique—Maputo and Gaza provinces as well as the city of Maputo—the official figures are more than twice as high as the national average.", "In 2011 the health authorities estimated about 1.7 million Mozambicans were HIV-positive, of whom 600,000 were in need of anti-retroviral treatment.", "As of December 2011, 240,000 were receiving such treatment, increasing to 416,000 in March 2014 according to the health authorities.===Education===Portuguese is the primary language of instruction in all Mozambican schools.", "All Mozambicans are required by law to attend school through the primary level; however, a lot of children do not go to primary school because they have to work for their families' subsistence farms for a living.", "In 2007, one million children still did not go to school, most of them from poor rural families, and almost half of all teachers were unqualified.", "Girls enrollment increased from 3 million in 2002 to 4.1 million in 2006 while the completion rate increased from 31,000 to 90,000, which testified a very poor completion rate.After grade 7, pupils must take standardised national exams to enter secondary school, which runs from eighth to 10th grade.", "Space in Mozambican universities is extremely limited; thus most pupils who complete pre-university school do not immediately proceed on to university studies.", "Many go to work as teachers or are unemployed.", "There are also institutes that give more vocational training, specialising in agricultural, technical or pedagogical studies, which students may attend after grade 10 in lieu of a pre-university school.", "After independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Mozambican pupils continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese government and the Mozambican government.According to 2010 estimates, the literacy rate was 56.1% (70.8% male and 42.8% female).", "By 2015, this had increased to 58.8% (73.3% male and 45.4% female).File:Mozambique school.jpg\|Pupils in front of their school in NampulaFile:Mozambique classroom.jpg\|School children in the classroom" ], [ "Culture", "Woman with traditional mask in MozambiqueIsland of Mozambique, 2016Mozambique was ruled by Portugal, and they share a main language (Portuguese) and main religion (Roman Catholicism).", "But since most of the people of Mozambique are Bantus, most of the culture is native; for Bantus living in urban areas, there is some Portuguese influence.", "Mozambican culture also influences the Portuguese culture.===Arts===The Makonde are known for their wood carving and elaborate masks, which are commonly used in traditional dances.", "There are two different kinds of wood carvings: shetani, (evil spirits), which are mostly carved in heavy ebony, tall, and elegantly curved with symbols and nonrepresentational faces; and ujamaa, which are totem-type carvings which illustrate lifelike faces of people and various figures.", "These sculptures are usually referred to as \"family trees\" because they tell stories of many generations.During the last years of the colonial period, Mozambican art reflected the oppression by the colonial power and became a symbol of resistance.", "After independence in 1975, modern art came into a new phase.", "The two best known and most influential contemporary Mozambican artists are the painter Malangatana Ngwenya and the sculptor Alberto Chissano.", "A lot of the post-independence art during the 1980s and 1990s reflect the political struggle, civil war, suffering, starvation, and struggle.Dances are usually intricate, highly developed traditions throughout Mozambique.", "There are many different kinds of dances from tribe to tribe which are usually ritualistic in nature.", "The Chopi, for instance, act out battles dressed in animal skins.", "The men of Makua dress in colourful outfits and masks while dancing on stilts around the village for hours.", "Groups of women in the northern part of the country perform a traditional dance called ''tufo'', to celebrate Islamic holidays.===Cuisine===With a nearly 500-year presence in the country, the Portuguese have greatly influenced Mozambique's cuisine.", "Staples and crops such as cassava (a starchy root of Brazilian origin) and cashew nuts (also of Brazilian origin, though Mozambique was once the largest producer of these nuts), and ''pãozinho'' (pronounced , Portuguese-style buns), were brought in by the Portuguese.", "The use of spices and seasonings such as bay leaves, chili peppers, fresh coriander, garlic, onions, paprika, red sweet peppers, and wine were introduced by the Portuguese, as were maize, potatoes, rice, and sugarcane.", "''espetada'', the popular ''inteiro com piripiri'' (whole chicken in piri-piri sauce), ''prego'' (steak roll), ''pudim'' (pudding), and ''rissóis'' (battered shrimp) are all Portuguese dishes commonly eaten in present-day Mozambique.===Media===Headquarters of Rádio Moçambique in KaMpfumo district of Maputo (photo 2009)Mozambican media is heavily influenced by the government.", "Newspapers have relatively low circulation rates because of high newspaper prices and low literacy rates.", "Among the most highly circulated newspapers are state-controlled dailies, such as ''Noticias'' and ''Diário de Moçambique'', and the weekly ''Domingo''.", "Their circulation is mostly confined to Maputo.", "Most funding and advertising revenue is given to pro-government newspapers.Radio programmes are the most influential form of media in the country because of ease of access.", "State-owned radio stations are more popular than privately owned media.", "This is exemplified by the government radio station, Rádio Moçambique, the most popular station in the country.", "It was established shortly after Mozambique's independence.", "The television stations watched by Mozambicans are STV, TIM, and TVM.", "Through cable and satellite, viewers can access tens of other African, Asian, Brazilian, and European channels.=== Music ===The music of Mozambique serves many purposes, ranging from religious expression to traditional ceremonies.", "Musical instruments are usually handmade.", "Some of the instruments used in Mozambican musical expression include drums made of wood and animal skin; the ''lupembe'', a woodwind instrument made from animal horns or wood; and the marimba, which is a kind of xylophone native to Mozambique and other parts of Africa.", "The marimba is a popular instrument with the Chopi of the south-central coast, who are famous for their musical skill and dance.===National holidays=== Date National holiday designation Notes 1 January Universal fraternity day New year 3 February Mozambican heroes day In tribute to Eduardo Mondlane 7 April Mozambican women day In tribute to Josina Machel 1 May International workers day Workers' Day 25 June National Independence day Independence proclamation in 1975 (from Portugal) 7 September Victory Day In tribute to the Lusaka Accord signed in 1974 25 September National Liberation Armed Forces Day In tribute to the start of the armed fight for national liberation 4 October Peace and Reconciliation In tribute to the General Peace Agreement signed in Rome in 1992 25 December Family Day Christians also celebrate Christmas===Sport===Football () is the most popular sport in Mozambique.", "The national team is the Mozambique national football team.", "Track and field and basketball are also avidly followed in the country.", "Roller hockey is popular, and the best result for the national team was when they came in fourth at the 2011 FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup.", "The women's beach volleyball team finished 2nd at the 2018–2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.", "The Mozambique national cricket team represents the nation in international cricket." ], [ "See also", "Index of Mozambique-related articlesOutline of Mozambique" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Abrahamsson, Hans, ''Mozambique: The Troubled Transition, from Socialist Construction to Free Market Capitalism'' London: Zed Books, 1995Bowen, Merle L., \"The State against the Peasantry: Rural struggles in colonial and postcolonial Mozambique\", Charlottesville & London, University Press of Virginia, 2000Cahen, Michel, ''Les bandits: un historien au Mozambique'', Paris: Gulbenkian, 1994Fialho Feliciano, José, \"Antropologia económca dos Thonga do sul de Moçambique\", Maputo, Arquivo Histórico de Moçamique, 1998Gengenbach, Heidi, \"Binding Memories: Women as Makers and Tellers of History in Magude, Mozambique\".", "Columbia University Press, 2004.Entire Text Online Mwakikagile, Godfrey, ''Africa and America in The Sixties: A Decade That Changed The Nation and The Destiny of A Continent'', First Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, Mwakikagile, Godfrey, ''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', Third Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, \"Chapter Seven: \"The Struggle for Mozambique: The Founding of FRELIMO in Tanzania,\" pp.", "206–225, Morier-Genoud, Eric, Cahen, Michel and do Rosário, Domingos M. (eds), ''The War Within New Perspectives on the Civil War in Mozambique, 1976–1992'' (Oxford: James Currey, 2018)* Morier-Genoud, Eric, \"Mozambique since 1989: Shaping democracy after Socialism\" in A.R.Mustapha & L.Whitfield (eds), ''Turning Points in African Democracy'', Oxford: James Currey, 2008, pp. 153–166.", "Newitt, Malyn, ''A History of Mozambique'' Indiana University Press.", "Pitcher, Anne, ''Transforming Mozambique: The politics of privatisation, 1975–2000'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002Varia, \"Religion in Mozambique\", ''LFM: Social sciences & Missions'' No.", "17, December 2005" ], [ "External links", "'''Government:''' Republic of Mozambique Official Government Portal'''General information:'''* Social Atlas from World Bank* Country Profile from BBC News* Mozambique.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Mozambique from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''*** Key Development Forecasts for Mozambique from International Futures'''Tourism:'''* Niassa Reserve Niassa National Reserve official website'''Health:'''The State of the World's Midwifery – Mozambique Country Profile" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "History of Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, overseas province and later a member state of Portugal.", "It gained independence from Portugal in 1975." ], [ "Pre-colonial history", "===Prehistoric Mozambique===In 2007 Julio Mercader, of the University of Calgary, recovered dozens of 100,000-year-old stone tools from a deep limestone cave (Ngalue) near Lake Niassa in Mozambique showing that wild sorghum, the ancestor of the chief cereal consumed today in sub-Saharan Africa for flours, bread, porridges, and alcoholic beverages, was being consumed by ''Homo sapiens'' along with African wine palm, the false banana, pigeon peas, wild oranges, and the African \"potato.\"", "This is the earliest direct evidence of humans using pre-domesticated cereals anywhere in the world.The first inhabitants of what is now Mozambique were the San hunters and gatherers, ancestors of the Khoisani peoples.", "Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from the north through the Zambezi River valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas.", "The Bantu were farmers and ironworkers.===Intercultural contact===When Vasco da Gama, exploring for Portugal, reached the coast of Mozambique in 1498, Arab trading settlements had existed along the coast and outlying islands for several centuries, and political control of the coast was in the hands of a string of local sultans.", "Muslims had actually lived in the region for quite some time; the famous Arab historian and geographer, Al-Masudi, reported Muslims amongst Africans in the land of Sofala in 947 (modern day Mozambique, itself a derivative of the name of the Sheikh who ruled the area at the time when the Portuguese arrived, Mussa Bin Bique).", "Most of the local people had embraced Islam.", "The region lay at the southernmost end of a traditional trading world that encompassed the Red Sea, the Hadhramaut coast of Arabia and the Indian coast, described in the 1st-century coasting guide that is called the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea." ], [ "Portuguese Mozambique (1498–1975)", "The Island of Mozambique is a small coral island at the mouth of Mossuril Bay on the Nacala coast of northern Mozambique, first explored by Europeans in the late 15th century.From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east.The voyage of Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade, politics, and society of the region.", "The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique and the port city of Sofala in the early 16th century, and by the 1530s, small groups of Portuguese traders and prospectors seeking gold penetrated the interior regions, where they set up garrisons and trading posts at Sena and Tete on the River Zambezi and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade.The Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of ''prazos'' (land grants) tied to Portuguese settlement and administration.", "While ''prazos'' were originally developed to be held by Portuguese, through intermarriage they became African Portuguese or African Indian centres defended by large African slave armies known as ''Chikunda''.", "Historically within Mozambique there was slavery.", "Human beings were bought and sold by African tribal chiefs, Arab Muslim traders and Portuguese and other European traders as well.", "Many Mozambican slaves were supplied by tribal chiefs who raided warring tribes and sold their captives to the ''prazeiros''.Although Portuguese influence gradually expanded, its power was limited and exercised through individual settlers and officials who were granted extensive autonomy.", "The Portuguese were able to wrest much of the coastal trade from Arab Muslims between 1500 and 1700, but, with the Arab Muslim seizure of Portugal's key foothold at Fort Jesus on Mombasa Island (now in Kenya) in 1698, the pendulum began to swing in the other direction.", "As a result, investment lagged while Lisbon devoted itself to the more lucrative trade with India and the Far East and to the colonisation of Brazil.During these wars, the Mazrui and Omani Arabs reclaimed much of the Indian Ocean trade, forcing the Portuguese to retreat south.", "Many ''prazos'' had declined by the mid-19th century, but several of them survived.", "During the 19th century other European powers, particularly the British (British South Africa Company) and the French (Madagascar), became increasingly involved in the trade and politics of the region around the Portuguese East African territories.Portuguese language printing and typesetting class, 1930 By the early 20th century the Portuguese had shifted the administration of much of Mozambique to large private companies, like the Mozambique Company, the Zambezia Company and the Niassa Company, controlled and financed mostly by the British, which established railroad lines to their neighbouring colonies (South Africa and Rhodesia).", "Although slavery had been legally abolished in Mozambique, at the end of the 19th century the Chartered companies enacted a forced labor policy and supplied cheap—often forced—African labour to the mines and plantations of the nearby British colonies and South Africa.", "The Zambezia Company, the most profitable chartered company, took over a number of smaller ''prazeiro'' holdings, and established military outposts to protect its property.", "The chartered companies built roads and ports to bring their goods to market including a railroad linking present day Zimbabwe with the Mozambican port of Beira.Due to their unsatisfactory performance and the shift, under the corporatist Estado Novo regime of Oliveira Salazar, towards a stronger Portuguese control of Portuguese Empire's economy, the companies' concessions were not renewed when they ran out.", "This was what happened in 1942 with the Mozambique Company, which however continued to operate in the agricultural and commercial sectors as a corporation, and had already happened in 1929 with the termination of the Niassa Company's concession.", "In 1951, the Portuguese overseas colonies in Africa were rebranded as Overseas Provinces of Portugal." ], [ "Mozambican War of Independence (1964–1974)", "Portuguese colonies in Africa at the time of the Portuguese Colonial WarAs communist and anti-colonial ideologies spread out across Africa, many clandestine political movements were established in support of Mozambican independence.", "These movements claimed that since policies and development plans were primarily designed by the ruling authorities for the benefit of Mozambique's Portuguese population, little attention was paid to Mozambique's tribal integration and the development of its native communities.This affected a majority of the indigenous population who suffered both state-sponsored discrimination and enormous social pressure.", "The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) initiated a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule in September 1964.This conflict—along with the two others already initiated in the other Portuguese colonies of Angola and Portuguese Guinea—became part of the so-called Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974).", "From a military standpoint, the Portuguese regular army maintained control of the population centres while the guerrilla forces sought to undermine their influence in rural and tribal areas in the north and west.", "As part of their response to FRELIMO, the Portuguese government began to pay more attention to creating favourable conditions for social development and economic growth." ], [ "Independence (1975)", "After 10 years of sporadic warfare and Portugal's return to democracy through a leftist military coup in Lisbon, which replaced Portugal's Estado Novo regime with a military junta (the Carnation Revolution of April 1974), FRELIMO took control of the territory.", "Within a year, most of the 250,000 Portuguese in Mozambique had left—some expelled by the government of the nearly independent territory, some fleeing in fear—and Mozambique became independent from Portugal on 25 June 1975.A law had been passed on the initiative of the then relatively unknown Armando Guebuza of the FRELIMO party ordering the Portuguese to leave the country in 24 hours with only 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of luggage.", "Unable to salvage any of their assets, most of them returned to Portugal penniless." ], [ "Civil War (1977–1992)", "Formed in 1975, Mozambican National Resistance, an anti-communist group sponsored by the Rhodesian Intelligence Service, and the apartheid government in South Africa, launched a series of attacks on transport routes, schools and health clinics, and the country descended into civil war.", "In the United States, the CIA and conservatives lobbied for support to RENAMO, which was strongly resisted by the State Department, which would \"not recognize or negotiate with RENAMO\".", "In 1984, Mozambique negotiated the Nkomati Accord with P. W. Botha and the South African government, in which Mozambique was to expel the African National Congress in exchange for South Africa stopping support of Renamo.", "At first both sides complied but it soon became evident that infringements were taking place on both sides and the war continued.", "In 1986, Mozambican President Samora Machel died in an air crash in South African territory.", "Although unproven, many suspect the South African government of responsibility for his death.", "Machel was replaced by Joaquim Chissano as president.", "The war was marked by huge human rights violations by both RENAMO and FRELIMO.With support for RENAMO from South Africa drying up, in 1990 the first direct talks between the FRELIMO government and Renamo were held.", "In November 1990 a new constitution was adopted.", "Mozambique was now a multiparty state, with periodic elections, and guaranteed democratic rights.", "On 4 October 1992, the Rome General Peace Accords, negotiated by the Community of Sant'Egidio with the support of the United Nations, were signed in Rome between President Chissano and RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama, which formally took effect on the October 15, 1992.A UN Peacekeeping Force (ONUMOZ) oversaw a two-year transition to democracy.", "The last ONUMOZ contingents departed in early 1995." ], [ "Democratic era (1994–present)", "Mozambique held elections in 1994, which were accepted by most parties as free and fair while still contested by many nationals and observers alike.", "FRELIMO won, under Joaquim Chissano, while RENAMO, led by Afonso Dhlakama, ran as the official opposition.", "In 1995, Mozambique joined the Commonwealth of Nations, becoming, at the time, the only member nation that had never been part of the British Empire.By mid-1995, over 1.7 million refugees who had sought asylum in neighboring countries had returned to Mozambique, part of the largest repatriation witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa.", "An additional four million internally displaced persons had returned to their homes.In December 1999, Mozambique held elections for a second time since the civil war, which were again won by FRELIMO.", "RENAMO accused FRELIMO of fraud, and threatened to return to civil war, but backed down after taking the matter to the Supreme Court and losing.In early 2000 a cyclone caused widespread flooding in the country, killing hundreds and devastating the already precarious infrastructure.", "There were widespread suspicions that foreign aid resources have been diverted by powerful leaders of FRELIMO.", "Carlos Cardoso, a journalist investigating these allegations, was murdered but his death was not satisfactorily explained.Indicating in 2001 that he would not run for a third term, Chissano criticized leaders who stayed on longer than he had, which was generally seen as a reference to Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, who at the time was considering a third term, and Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, then in his fourth term.", "Presidential and National Assembly elections took place on December 1–2, 2004.FRELIMO candidate Armando Guebuza won with 64% of the popular vote.", "His opponent, Afonso Dhlakama of RENAMO, received 32% of the popular vote.", "FRELIMO won 160 seats in Parliament.", "A coalition of RENAMO and several small parties won the 90 remaining seats.", "Armando Guebuza was inaugurated as the President of Mozambique on February 2, 2005.Much of the economic recovery which has followed the end of the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992) is being led by investors and tourists from neighbour South Africa and from East Asia.", "A number of returning Portuguese nationals have also invested in the country as well as some Italian organizations.", "Coal and gas have grown to become large sectors.", "The income per capita tripled over twenty years since the civil war.Mozambique was declared to be free of land mines in 2015, following a 22-year effort to remove explosive devices planted during the War of Independence and Civil War.The candidate of the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front's (Frelimo) Filipe Nyusi has been the President of Mozambique since January 2015 after winning the election in October 2014.President Filipe Nyusi was re-elected after a landslide victory in the 2019 general elections.", "Frelimo won 184 seats, Renamo got 60 seats and the MDM party received the remaining six in the National Assembly.", "The opposition did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud and irregularities.", "Frelimo secured two-thirds majority in parliament which allowed Frelimo to re-adjust the constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition." ], [ "See also", "History of AfricaHistory of Southern AfricaList of heads of state of MozambiquePolitics of Mozambique * Cities in Mozambique: Beira history and timeline\t Maputo history and timeline" ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "* Background Note: Mozambique* - article with an early 20th Century Catholic viewpoint" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Geography of Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "Map of Mozambique's population centresLocation of MozambiqueMozambique's topographyA view of the Zambezi river delta from space.The '''geography of Mozambique''' consists mostly of coastal lowlands with uplands in its center and high plateaus in the northwest.", "There are also mountains in the western portion.", "The country is located on the east coast of southern Africa, directly west of the island of Madagascar.", "Mozambique has a tropical climate with two seasons, a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September." ], [ "Physical features", "===The Coast===The coastline extends from 26° 52′ S. to 10° 40′ S., and from south to north makes a double curve with a general trend outward to the east.", "It has a length of .The southern coastline is characterized by sandy beaches backed by coastal dunes.", "The dunes can reach up to in height, and older dunes are vegetated.", "Behind the coastal dunes are lagoons, including river estuaries, closed saline lagoons, and salt lakes.", "Some north of the South African frontier is the deep indentation of Maputo Bay (formerly Delagoa Bay).", "The land then turns outward to Cape Correntes, a little north of which is Inhambane Bay.", "Bending westward again and passing the Bazaruto Archipelago of several small islands, of which the chief is Bazaruto.Mozambique's central coast, from Bazaruto Island north to Angoche Island, is known as the Bight of Sofala or Sofala Bay.", "It is also known as the Swamp Coast, and is characterized by extensive mangrove swamps and coastal wetlands.", "As in the south, the coastline is generally low, and harbours are few and poor.", "Beira is the principal seaport on the central coast, with rail and highway links to the interior.The bay has an area of .", "The continental shelf is up to wide at Beira, and is Mozambique's most important marine fishery.", "Several large rivers, including the Save, Pungwe, and Zambezi, create coastal estuaries and river deltas, of which the Zambezi delta is the largest.", "North of the Zambezi, the small coralline islands of the Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago lie parallel to the coast.The northern coast is much indented, abounding in rocky headlands and rugged cliffs, with an almost continuous fringe of islands.", "On one of these islands is Mozambique, and immediately north of that port is Conducia Bay.", "Somewhat farther north are two large bays, Fernao Veloso Bay and Memba Bay.", "Nacala on Fernao Veloso Bay is the principal seaport on the northern coast, with a rail link to Malawi and the coalfields of northwestern Mozambique.", "North of Fernao Veloso and Memba bays is Pemba Bay, where there is commodious anchorage for heavy draught vessels.", "North of Pemba Bay the Quirimbas Islands lie offshore, and numerous bays and estuaries indent the coast.", "Cape Delgado, the northernmost point on Mozambique's coast, is part of the delta of the Ruvuma River, which forms Mozambique's border with Tanzania.The northern coast is part of the East African coral coast, a marine ecoregion that extends along the coasts of northern Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya.", "Along the northern coast the Mozambique Current, which flows south between Madagascar and the continent is close to the coast and scours out all the softer material, while at the same time the corals are building in deep waters.A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 2,029km² of tidal flats in Mozambique, making it the 16th ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.===Orography===Orographically the backbone of the country is the mountain chain which forms the eastern escarpment of the continental plateau.", "It does not present a uniformly abrupt descent to the plains, but in places, as in the lower Zambezi district, slopes gradually to the coast.", "The Lebombo Mountains, behind Delagoa Bay, nowhere exceed in height.", "The Manica Plateau, farther north between the Save and Zambezi rivers, is higher, rising towards the Eastern Highlands along the border with Zimbabwe.", "Monte Binga (), on the border with Zimbabwe, is Mozambique's highest peak.", "Mount Gorongosa () lies north-east of the Manica Plateau, and is, like it, of granitic formation.", "Gorongosa, rising isolated with precipitous outer slopes, has been likened in its aspect to a frowning citadel.", "East of Gorongosa a graben valley extends from the Zambezi to Pungwe Bay, the southern extension of the African Rift Valley.", "The Cheringoma Plateau lies east of the graben, sloping gently towards the coast.The chief mountain range lies north of the Zambezi, and east of Lake Chilwa, namely, the Namuli Mountains, in which Namuli Peak rises to , and Molisani, Mruli and Mresi attain altitudes of These mountains are covered with magnificent forests.", "Farther north the river basins are divided by well-marked ranges with heights of and over.", "Near the south-east shore of Lake Malawi there is a high range () with an abrupt descent to the lake – some in .", "The country between Malawi and Ibo is remarkable for the number of fantastically-shaped granite peaks, or inselbergs, which rise from the plateau.", "The plateau lands west of the escarpment are of moderate elevation – perhaps averaging .", "It is, however, only along the Zambezi and north of that river that Mozambique's territory reaches to the continental plateau.", "This northern plain has been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as part of the Eastern miombo woodlands ecoregion.===Rivers===Besides the Zambezi, the most considerable river in Mozambique is the Limpopo which enters the Indian Ocean about north of Maputo Bay.", "The other Mozambican rivers with considerable drainage areas are the Komati, Save, Buzi, and Pungwe south of the Zambezi, and the Licungo (Likungo), Ligonha, Lúrio, Montepuez (Montepuesi or Mtepwesi), Messalo (or Msalu), and Ruvuma (or Rovuma) with its affluent the Lugenda (or Lujenda), north of the Zambezi.The Save (or Sabi) rises in Zimbabwe at an elevation of over , and after flowing south for over turns east and pierces the mountains some from the coast, being joined near the Zimbabwe-Mozambique frontier by the Lundi.", "Cataracts entirely prevent navigation above this point.Below the Lundi confluence the bed of the Save becomes considerably broader, varying from .", "In the rainy season the Save is a large stream and even in the \"dries\" it can be navigated from its mouth by shallow draught steamers for over .", "Its general direction through Mozambique is east by north.", "At its mouth it forms a delta in extent.The Buzi () and Pungwe () are streams north of and similar in character to the Save.", "They both rise in the Manica Highlands and enter the ocean in a large estuary, their mouths apart.", "The lower reaches of both streams are navigable, the Buzi for , the Pungwe for about .", "The port of Beira is at the mouth of the Pungwe.Of the north-Zambezi streams the Licungo, rising in the hills south-east of Lake Chilwa, flows south and enters the ocean not far north of Quelimane.", "The Lúrio, rising in the Namuli Mountains, flows north-east, having a course of some .", "The Montepurez and the Messalo drain the country between the Lúrio and Ruvuma basins.", "Their banks are in general well-defined and the wet season rise seems fairly constant.===Somali Plate===Geologists have divided the Phanerozoic era of Mozambique's geology into the Karoo and post-Karoo era.", "This terminology is mostly used pertaining to studies of the structural and stratigraphic composition of rocks in the Zambezi valley.", "Mozambique entirely lies within the Somali Plate." ], [ "Climate", "Mozambique map of Köppen climate classification zonesMozambique has a tropical climate with two seasons, a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September.", "Climatic conditions vary depending on altitude.", "Rainfall is heavy along the coast and decreases in the north and south.", "Annual precipitation varies from depending on the region with an average of .", "Cyclones are also common during the wet season.", "Average temperature ranges in Maputo are from in July to in February." ], [ "Facts", "'''Area:'''''total:''''land:''786,380 km²''water:''13,000 km²'''Capital'''Maputo (Lourenço Marques)'''Major Cities'''MatolaNampulaBeiraChimoioNacalaQuelimaneTeteLichingaPemba (Porto Amelia)'''Other Cities'''Angoche (António Enes)'''Land boundaries:'''''total:'' 4,571 km''border countries:''Malawi 1,569 km, South Africa 491 km, Eswatini 105 km, Tanzania 756 km, Zambia 419 km, Zimbabwe 1,231 km'''Coastline:'''2,470 km'''Maritime claims:'''''territorial sea:''''exclusive economic zone:'' and '''Elevation extremes:'''''lowest point:''Indian Ocean 0 m''highest point:''Monte Binga 2 436 m'''Natural resources:'''coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite'''Land use:'''''arable land:''6.51% (2011), 5.43% (2005 est.", "), 3.98% (1998 est.", ")''permanent crops:''0.25% (2011), 0.29% (2005 est.", "), 0.29% (1998 est.", ")''other:''93.24% (2011), 94.28% (2005 est.", "), 95.73% (1998 est.", ")'''Irrigated land:''' (2003)'''Total renewable water resources:'''217.1 km3 (2011)'''Natural hazards:'''severe droughts; devastating cyclones and floods occur in central and southern provinces'''Environment – current issues:'''a long civil war and recurrent drought in the hinterlands have resulted in increased migration of the population to urban and coastal areas with adverse environmental consequences; desertification; pollution of surface and coastal waters; elephant poaching for ivory is a problem'''Environment – international agreements:'''''party to:''Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands'''Ecoregions''' Eastern miombo woodlands* Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest–grassland mosaic* Maputaland coastal forest mosaic* Southern miombo woodlands* Southern Rift montane forest–grassland mosaic* Southern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic* Zambezian coastal flooded savanna* Zambezian flooded grasslands* Zambezian halophytics* Zambezian and mopane woodlands* East African mangroves" ], [ "Extreme points", "This is a list of the extreme points of Mozambique, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.", "* Northernmost point – Mouth of the Rovuma River, Cabo Delgado Province* Easternmost point – unnamed headland east of the village of Amade, Nampula Province* Southernmost point – unnamed location on the border with South Africa east of the South African town of Mosi, Maputo Province* Westernmost point – the point where the border with Zambia enters the Luangwa river, Tete Province" ], [ "See also", "MozambiqueMonte MuambeMount LicoMount MabuVolcanoes of Mozambique" ], [ "References", "" ], [ "External links", "* Mozambique.", "''The World Factbook''.", "Central Intelligence Agency.", "* Weather in Mozambique from Free Tourist Information* Mozambique Geography from Southern Africa Places* Mozambique - Geography and Environment from Oxfam's \"Cool Planet\"* Integrated geological interpretation of remotely sensed data to support geological mapping in Mozambique *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Demographics of Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "Mozambiques population between 1960 and 2017.The '''demographics of Mozambique''' describes the condition and overview of Mozambique's peoples.", "Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations." ], [ "Population", "Demographics of Mozambique, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022; Number of inhabitants in millions.According to the 2022 revision of the world factbook the total population was 31,693,239 in 2022.The proportion of children below the age of 14 in 2020 was 45.57%, 51.5% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.93% was 65 years or older.", "A population census took place in 2017, and the preliminary results indicate a population of 28 861 863 inhabitants.Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 (%)Population aged 15–64 (%)Population aged 65+ (%) 19506 442 00041.755.62.7 19556 972 00041.955.42.7 19607 647 00042.355.02.8 19658 474 00042.954.32.8 19709 453 00043.553.62.9 197510 620 00043.853.23.0 198012 146 00043.853.13.0 198513 335 00044.752.23.1 199013 547 00046.650.23.3 199515 933 00044.252.73.1 200018 201 00043.953.03.2 200520 770 00044.452.43.2 201023 391 00044.152.63.3 202030 098 19745.651.52.9Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data refer to national projections based on 2007 census.", "):Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 14 501 196 15 565 452 30 066 648 100 0–4 2 315 310 2 295 586 4 610 896 15.34 5–9 2 487 720 2 531 664 5 019 384 16.69 10–14 2 076 198 2 067 546 4 143 744 13.78 15–19 1 594 940 1 630 074 3 225 014 10.73 20–24 1 264 746 1 481 775 2 746 521 9.13 25–29 1 000 516 1 222 754 2 223 270 7.39 30–34 802 315 906 767 1 709 082 5.68 35–39 673 119 774 993 1 448 112 4.82 40–44 574 984 660 820 1 235 804 4.11 45–49 454 062 504 057 958 119 3.19 50–54 343 740 397 999 741 739 2.47 55–59 264 107 302 253 566 360 1.88 60–64 203 386 229 467 432 853 1.44 65-69 159 568 188 765 348 333 1.16 70-74 109 258 134 617 243 875 0.81 75-79 69 868 89 298 159 166 0.53 80+ 107 359 147 017 254 376 0.85Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 6 879 228 6 894 796 13 774 024 45.81 15–64 7 175 915 8 110 959 15 286 874 50.84 65+ 446 053 559 697 1 005 750 3.35" ], [ "Vital statistics", "Registration of vital events is in Mozambique 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)19505 920 277 160 11746.727.019.75.99204.437.261951 6 002 280 160 12046.526.619.96.02203.037.491952 6 082 284 159 12546.526.120.46.06200.237.931953 6 160 287 159 12846.425.620.86.09197.338.331954 6 237 291 158 13346.425.221.26.11194.538.771955 6 319 295 158 13746.424.821.66.14191.639.181956 6 404 299 157 14146.424.422.06.16188.839.631957 6 493 303 157 14646.524.122.46.18186.040.021958 6 580 307 157 15046.423.722.76.19183.340.461959 6 676 314 157 15746.923.423.56.24180.840.851960 6 788 322 158 16447.323.224.16.32178.541.221961 6 918 329 159 17047.522.924.66.38176.641.591962 7 060 337 161 17647.722.824.96.45175.141.831963 7 210 345 164 18147.722.725.06.49174.141.931964 7 364 351 169 18247.622.924.76.52174.041.671965 7 524 357 172 18647.422.824.66.55173.841.701966 7 690 365 176 18947.422.824.66.59173.941.641967 7 859 372 179 19347.322.724.56.63174.041.661968 8 036 380 183 19747.222.724.56.67174.241.671969 8 218 389 186 20247.222.624.66.71174.241.711970 8 412 396 190 20647.122.524.56.72174.041.761971 8 623 403 194 21046.822.524.36.72174.341.741972 8 861 413 199 21446.822.524.36.74173.541.591973 9 124 426 204 22246.822.424.46.73173.141.711974 9 404 441 208 23347.022.124.86.71172.642.071975 9 704 457 211 24647.221.825.46.69171.642.581976 10 019 474 218 25747.521.825.76.66171.242.641977 10 364 493 225 26847.821.826.06.64171.042.701978 10 741 515 233 28348.221.826.46.61170.742.801979 11 128 539 243 29648.621.926.76.58170.842.741980 11 414 559 251 30848.721.926.86.52170.842.801981 11 640 563 277 28648.323.824.66.46181.440.541982 11 902 570 280 29047.823.524.46.40180.640.701983 12 163 580 284 29747.723.324.46.39179.640.831984 12 426 593 311 28247.625.022.76.40178.238.381985 12 680 602 313 28947.424.722.76.38176.638.661986 12 910 612 295 31747.222.824.46.36164.840.681987 12 965 621 298 32347.122.624.56.34163.040.841988 12 957 614 269 34546.920.626.36.30161.343.841989 13 088 616 268 34846.720.326.46.28159.644.141990 13 303 619 268 35246.420.026.36.22158.044.471991 13 561 626 270 35646.019.826.26.16156.244.661992 13 817 632 271 36145.619.526.06.10154.044.951993 14 206 640 270 37045.319.126.26.03151.345.351994 14 913 659 276 38344.918.926.15.96147.945.611995 15 595 693 287 40644.518.426.15.90143.846.041996 16 080 711 287 42444.317.926.45.85138.946.641997 16 522 736 287 44944.417.327.15.89133.447.411998 16 923 749 285 46444.216.827.45.86127.648.021999 17 338 764 282 48344.016.227.85.83121.548.812000 17 769 779 279 49943.715.728.15.81115.949.492001 18 221 792 277 51543.415.228.25.78110.050.072002 18 695 806 276 53043.014.728.35.73105.050.592003 19 187 824 277 54742.914.428.55.73100.550.872004 19 694 834 277 55742.314.128.25.6796.351.252005 20 211 847 278 56941.913.828.15.6192.651.562006 20 736 860 278 58241.413.428.05.5589.051.962007 21 281 876 275 60041.112.928.25.5184.552.572008 21 846 911 274 63641.612.529.15.5880.853.162009 22 437 942 273 66941.912.129.85.6377.353.792010 23 074 970 275 69542.011.930.15.6375.854.202011 23 760 989 273 71641.611.530.15.5572.954.872012 24 488 1 006 269 73741.111.030.15.4570.255.642013 25 252 1 024 265 75940.510.530.15.3467.756.492014 26 039 1 021 260 76139.310.029.25.1365.257.272015 26 843 1 041 255 78638.89.529.35.0662.358.152016 27 696 1 063 250 81338.49.029.44.9959.959.042017 28 569 1 089 248 84138.18.729.44.9258.359.772018 29 424 1 111 245 86637.88.329.44.8556.760.532019 30 286 1 132 244 88837.38.029.34.7855.061.172020 31 178 1 153 250 90337.08.029.04.7153.461.172021 32 077 1 174 282 89236.68.827.84.6452.059.33Also, according to a 2011 survey, the total fertility rate was 5.9 children per woman, with 6.6 in rural areas and 4.5 in urban areas.=== 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) 1997 5.2 (4.7) 4.6 (4.1) 5.3 (4.9) 2003 40 5.5 (4.9) 31 4.4 (3.8) 49 6.1 (5.5) 2011 41.6 5.9 (5.1) 37.4 4.5 (3.8) 43.4 6.6 (5.8) 2015 38.0 5.3 30.8 3.6 41.2 6.1201837.55.431.23.940.26.22022-2334.54.928.83.637.35.8Fertility data by province (DHS Program): Province Total fertility rate(2011)Total fertility rate(2015)Total fertility rate(2018)Niassa 7.1 6.66.4Cabo Delgado 6.6 5.66.1Nampula 6.1 5.26.0Zambézia 6.8 6.36.2Tete 6.8 6.26.0Manica 5.8 6.25.8Sofala 6.1 6.06.4Inhambane 4.9 4.34.1Gaza 5.3 4.74.1Maputo Província 4.1 3.43.0Maputo Cidade 3.1 2.52.2=== Life expectancy ===Development of life expectancyPeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195531.29 1955–1960 33.79 1960–1965 36.18 1965–1970 38.14 1970–1975 40.37 1975–1980 42.21 1980–1985 41.47 1985–1990 42.33 1990–1995 43.90 1995–2000 47.21 2000–2005 49.56 2005–2010 53.24 2010–2015 56.08" ], [ "Ethnic groups", "Mozambique's major ethnic groups encompass numerous subgroups with diverse languages, dialects, cultures, and histories.", "Many are linked to similar ethnic groups living in inland countries.The estimated 4 million Makua are the largest ethnic group of the country and are dominant in the northern part of the country — the Sena and Shona (mostly Ndau and Manyika) are prominent in the Zambezi valley, and the Shangaan (Tsonga) dominate in southern Mozambique.", "Other groups include Makonde, Yao, Swahili, Tonga, Chopi, and Nguni (including Zulu).", "The country is also home to a growing number of white residents, most with Portuguese ancestry.", "During colonial rule, European residents hailed from every Mozambican province, and at the time of independence the total population was estimated at around 360,000.Most vacated the region after independence in 1975, emigrating to Portugal as ''retornados''.", "There is also a larger ''mestiço'' minority with mixed African and Portuguese heritage.", "The remaining non-Blacks in Mozambique are primarily Indian Asiatics, who have arrived from Pakistan, Portuguese India, and numerous Arab countries.", "There are various estimates for the size of Mozambique's Chinese community, ranging from 1,500 to 12,000 .+Ethnic groups in MozambiqueEthnicgroupCensus 2017Number%Black26,637,42599.03%Mixed212,5400.79%White22,2580.08%Indian15,4920.06%Pakistani4,4230.02%Chinese1,7460.01%Other5,2210.02%Total26,899,105" ], [ "Languages", "Portuguese is the official and most widely spoken language of the nation, but in 2017 only 47.4% of Mozambique's population speak Portuguese as either their first or second language, and only 16.6% speak Portuguese as their first language.", "Arabs, Chinese, and Indians speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese Creoles of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language.", "Most educated Mozambicans speak English, which is used in schools and business as second or third language." ], [ "Religion" ], [ "Culture", "Despite the influence of Islamic coastal traders and European colonizers, the people of Mozambique have largely retained an indigenous culture based on smallscale agriculture.", "Mozambique's most highly developed art forms have been wood sculpture, for which the Makonde in northern Mozambique are particularly renowned, and dance.", "The middle and upper classes continue to be heavily influenced by the Portuguese colonial and linguistic heritage." ], [ "Education and health", "Under Portugal, educational opportunities for poor Mozambicans were limited; 93% of the Bantu population was illiterate, and many could not speak Portuguese.", "In fact, most of today's political leaders were educated in missionary schools.", "After independence, the government placed a high priority on expanding education, which reduced the illiteracy rate to about two-thirds as primary school enrollment increased.", "Unfortunately, in recent years school construction and teacher training enrollments have not kept up with population increases.", "With post-war enrollments reaching all-time highs, the quality of education has suffered.", "As a member of Commonwealth of Nations, most urban Mozambicans are required to learn English starting high-school." ], [ "Other demographic statistics", "Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimatesDemographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.", "One birth every 27 seconds\tOne death every 2 minutes\tOne net migrant every 103 minutes\tNet gain of one person every 34 secondsThe following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook===Population===:31,693,239 (2022 est.", "):27,233,789 (July 2018 est.", ")===Religions===Roman Catholic 27.2%, Muslim 18.9%, Zionist Christian 15.6%, Evangelical/Pentecostal 15.3%, Anglican 1.7%, other 4.8%, none 13.9%, unspecified 2.5% (2017 est.", ")===Age structure===:''0-14 years:'' 45.57% (male 6,950,800/female 6,766,373):''15-24 years:'' 19.91% (male 2,997,529/female 2,994,927):''25-54 years:'' 28.28% (male 3,949,085/female 4,564,031):''55-64 years:'' 3.31% (male 485,454/female 509,430):''65 years and over:'' 2.93% (male 430,797/female 449,771) (2020 est.", "):''0-14 years:'' 44.52% (male 6,097,116 /female 6,028,416):''15-24 years:'' 21.6% (male 2,905,254 /female 2,977,732):''25-54 years:'' 27.62% (male 3,525,755 /female 3,995,264):''55-64 years:'' 3.37% (male 442,990 /female 475,900):''65 years and over:'' 2.88% (male 359,624 /female 425,738) (2018 est.", ")===Birth rate===:37.47 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 10th:37.8 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 11th===Death rate===:10.25 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 33rd:11.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.", ")===Total fertility rate===:4.81 children born/woman (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 12th:5.02 children born/woman (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 12th===Median age===:total: 17 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 219th:male: 16.3 years:female: 17.6 years (2020 est.", "):total: 17.3 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 220th:male: 16.7 years :female: 17.8 years (2018 est.", ")===Population growth rate===:2.56% (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 18th:2.46% (2018 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 25th===Mother's mean age at first birth===:19.2 years (2011 est.", "):note: median age at first birth among women 20-49:18.9 years (2011 est.", "):median age at first birth among women 25-29===Contraceptive prevalence rate===:27.1% (2015)===Net migration rate===:-1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 160th:-1.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 160th===Urbanization===:urban population: 38.2% of total population (2022):rate of urbanization: 4.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.", "):''urban population:'' 36% of total population (2018):''rate of urbanization:'' 4.35% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.", ")===Net migration rate===:-1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)", "Country comparison to the world: 160th:-1.9 migrants/1,000 population (2017)===Dependency ratios===:total dependency ratio: 93.5 (2015 est.", "):youth dependency ratio: 87.5 (2015 est.", "):elderly dependency ratio: 6.1 (2015 est.", "):potential support ratio: 16.5 (2015 est.", ")===Sex ratio===''at birth:'' 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.", "), 1.02 male(s)/female (2007 est.", ")''under 15 years:'' 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.", "), 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.", ")''15-64 years:'' 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.", "), 0.949 male(s)/female (2007 est.", ")''65 years and over:'' 0.7 male(s)/female (2003 est.", "), 0.717 male(s)/female (2007 est.", ")''total population:'' 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.", "), 0.968 male(s)/female (2007 est.", ")===Life expectancy at birth===total population: 57.1 years.", "Country comparison to the world: 224thmale: 55.76 yearsfemale: 58.49 years (2022 est.", "):total population: 54.1 years:male: 53.3 years:female: 54.9 years (2018 est.", ")'''HIV/AIDS — people living with HIV/AIDS:''' 2.1 million (2017 est.", ")'''HIV/AIDS — deaths:''' 70,000 (2017 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: rabiesnote: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mozambique 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:''Mozambican(s)''adjective:''Mozambican===Ethnic groups===Indigenous tribal groups (including the Shangana, Chokwe, Manyika, Sena, Makua, Ndau, among others) make up 98.61% of Mozambique's total population.", "People of mixed race are the largest minority, totaling 0.84% from the remaining figure, while Portuguese Mozambicans and Mozambicans of Indian descent represent 0.36% and 0.2% of the population respectively .", "There are noteworthy Chinese and Arab communities.===Languages===Portuguese language (official)Emakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)===Education expenditures===:6.2% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 29th===Literacy===definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.", "):total population: 60.7%:male: 72.6%:female: 50.3% (2017):total population: 56% (2015 est.", "):male: 70.8% (2015 est.", "):female: 43.1% (2015 est.", "):''total population: 47.8% (2003 est.", "), 40.1% (1995 est.", "):''male:'' 63.5% (2003 est.", "), 57.7% (1995 est.", "):''female:'' 32.7% (2003 est.", "), 23.4% (1995 est.", ")===School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)===:total: 10 years (2017):male: 10 years (2017):female: 9 years (2017)===Unemployment, youth ages 15-24===:total: 7.4% (2015 est.", "):male: 7.7% (2015 est.", "):female: 7.1% (2015 est.)" ], [ "References", "'''Attribution:'''*" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Politics of Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Politics in Mozambique''' takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Mozambique is head of state and head of government in a multi-party system.", "Executive power is exercised by the government.", "Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic." ], [ "Political history before the introduction of democracy", "The last 25 years of Mozambique's history have encapsulated the political developments of the entire 20th century.", "Portuguese colonialism collapsed in 1974 after a decade of armed struggle, initially led by American-educated Eduardo Mondlane, who was assassinated in 1969.When independence was proclaimed in 1975, the leaders of FRELIMO's military campaign rapidly established a one-party state allied to the Soviet bloc, eliminating political pluralism, religious educational institutions, and the role of traditional authorities.Mozambique's Portuguese population were ordered to leave the country within 24 hours, an order which was given by Armando Guebuza.", "Panicked Portuguese left the country via plane, road and sea and had to leave behind all their assets, returning to Portugal where they became destitute and fell under the ridicule of the European Portuguese who saw their rehabilitation as a burden on the country's meager resources.", "They became known as the \"retornados\" or refugees.", "Many Portuguese took their own lives.The new government gave shelter and support to South African (ANC) and Zimbabwean (ZANU-PF) guerrilla movements while the governments of apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia fostered and financed an armed rebel movement in central Mozambique called the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).", "Civil war, sabotage from neighbouring states, and economic collapse characterised the first decade of Mozambican independence.", "Also marking this period were the mass exodus of Portuguese nationals, weak infrastructure, nationalisation, and economic mismanagement.", "During most of the civil war the government was unable to exercise effective control outside of urban areas, many of which were cut off from the capital.", "An estimated one million Mozambicans perished during the civil war, 1.7 million took refuge in neighbouring states, and several million more were internally displaced.", "In the third FRELIMO party congress in 1983, President Samora Machel conceded the failure of socialism and the need for major political and economic reforms.", "His death, along with several advisers, in a suspicious plane crash in 1986 interrupted progress.His successor, Joaquim Chissano, continued the reforms and began peace talks with RENAMO.", "The new constitution enacted in 1990 provided for a multi-party political system, market-based economy, and free elections.", "The civil war ended in October 1992 with the Rome General Peace Accords.By mid-1995 the over 1.7 million Mozambican refugees who had sought asylum in neighbouring Malawi, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia, Tanzania, and South Africa as a result of war and drought had returned, as part of the largest repatriation witnessed in Sub-Saharan Africa.", "Additionally, a further estimated 4 million internally displaced returned to their areas of origin.Under supervision of the ONUMOZ peacekeeping force of the United Nations, peace returned to Mozambique.", "In 1994 the country held its first democratic elections.", "Joaquim Chissano was elected president with 53% of the vote, and a 250-member National Assembly was voted in with 129 FRELIMO deputies, 112 RENAMO deputies, and 9 representatives of three smaller parties that formed the Democratic Union (UD)." ], [ "Executive branch", "\|PresidentFilipe NyusiFRELIMO15 January 2015Prime MinisterCarlos Agostinho do RosárioFRELIMO17 January 2015The Constitution of Mozambique stipulates that the President of the Republic functions as the head of state, head of government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and as a symbol of national unity.", "He is directly elected for a five-year term via run-off voting; if no candidate receives more than half of the votes cast in the first round of voting, a second round of voting will be held in which only the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round will participate, and whichever of the candidates obtains a majority of votes in the second round will thus be elected president.", "The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.", "His functions include convening and chairing the Council of Ministers (cabinet), advising the President, assisting the President in governing the country, and coordinating the functions of the other Ministers." ], [ "Legislative branch", "The Assembly of the Republic (''Assembleia da República'') has 250 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation." ], [ "Political parties and elections", "In 1994 the country held its first democratic elections.", "Joaquim Chissano was elected President with 53% of the vote, and a 250-member National Assembly was voted in with 129 FRELIMO deputies, 112 RENAMO deputies, and 9 representatives of three smaller parties that formed the Democratic Union (UD).", "Since its formation in 1994, the National Assembly has made progress in becoming a body increasingly more independent of the executive.", "By 1999, more than one-half (53%) of the legislation passed originated in the Assembly.After some delays, in 1998 the country held its first local elections to provide for local representation and some budgetary authority at the municipal level.", "The principal opposition party, RENAMO, boycotted the local elections, citing flaws in the registration process.", "Independent slates contested the elections and won seats in municipal assemblies.", "Turnout was very low.In the aftermath of the 1998 local elections, the government resolved to make more accommodations to the opposition's procedural concerns for the second round of multiparty national elections in 1999.Working through the National Assembly, the electoral law was rewritten and passed by consensus in December 1998.Financed largely by international donors, a very successful voter registration was conducted from July to September 1999, providing voter registration cards to 85% of the potential electorate (more than 7 million voters).The second general elections were held 3–5 December 1999, with high voter turnout.", "International and domestic observers agreed that the voting process was well organised and went smoothly.", "Both the opposition and observers subsequently cited flaws in the tabulation process that, had they not occurred, might have changed the outcome.", "In the end, however, international and domestic observers concluded that the close result of the vote reflected the will of the people.President Chissano won the presidency with a margin of 4% points over the RENAMO-Electoral Union coalition candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, and began his 5-year term in January 2000.FRELIMO increased its majority in the National Assembly with 133 out of 250 seats.", "RENAMO-UE coalition won 116 seats, one went independent, and no third parties are represented.The opposition coalition did not accept the National Election Commission's results of the presidential vote and filed a formal complaint to the Supreme Court.", "One month after the voting, the court dismissed the opposition's challenge and validated the election results.", "The opposition did not file a complaint about the results of the legislative vote.The second local elections, involving 33 municipalities with some 2.4 million registered voters, took place in November 2003.This was the first time that FRELIMO, RENAMO-UE, and independent parties competed without significant boycotts.", "The 24% turnout was well above the 15% turnout in the first municipal elections.", "FRELIMO won 28 mayoral positions and the majority in 29 municipal assemblies, while RENAMO won 5 mayoral positions and the majority in 4 municipal assemblies.", "The voting was conducted in an orderly fashion without violent incidents.", "However, the period immediately after the elections was marked by objections about voter and candidate registration and vote tabulation, as well as calls for greater transparency.Mozambique's president, Armando GuebuzaIn May 2004, the government approved a new general elections law that contained innovations based on the experience of the 2003 municipal elections.Presidential and National Assembly elections took place on 1–2 December 2004.FRELIMO candidate Armando Guebuza won with 64% of the popular vote.", "His opponent, Afonso Dhlakama of RENAMO, received 32% of the popular vote.", "FRELIMO won 160 seats in Parliament.", "A coalition of RENAMO and several small parties won the 90 remaining seats.", "Armando Guebuza was inaugurated as the President of Mozambique on 2 February 2005.The candidate of the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front's (Frelimo) Filipe Nyusi has been the President of Mozambique since January 2015 after winning the election in October 2014.In October 2019, President Filipe Nyusi was re-elected after a landslide victory in general election.", "Frelimo won 184 seats, Renamo got 60 seats and the MDM party received the remaining six in the National Assembly.", "Opposition did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud and irregularities.", "Frelimo secured two-thirds majority in parliament which allowed Frelimo to re-adjust the constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition." ], [ "Judicial branch", "The judiciary comprises a Supreme Court and provincial, district, and municipal courts." ], [ "Administrative divisions", "Mozambique is divided in 10 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia" ], [ "International organisation participation", "Mozambique is a member of ACP, AfDB, the Commonwealth, CPLP, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISET, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO and WTrO" ], [ "See also", "* List of Council of Ministers of Mozambique, 1984" ], [ "References" ], [ "Further reading", "Hanlon, Joseph, and Teresa Smart.", "Do bicycles equal development in Mozambique?.", "James Currey Publisher, 2008.", "Manning CL.", "The politics of peace in Mozambique: post-conflict democratisation, 1992-2000.Greenwood Publishing Group; 2002.", "Newitt MD.", "A history of Mozambique.", "Indiana University Press; 1995." ], [ "External links", " \"Considerable change\" Decentralisation and public participation in Mozambique." ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Telecommunications in Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "'''Telecommunications in Mozambique''' include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet." ], [ "Radio and television", "* Radio stations: state-run radio provides nearly 100% territorial coverage and broadcasts in multiple languages; a number of privately owned and community-operated stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2007); AM 13, FM 17, shortwave 11 (2001).", "* Radios: 730,000 (1997).", "* Television stations: 1 state-run TV station supplemented by private TV station; Portuguese state TV's African service, RTP Africa, and Brazilian-owned TV Miramar are available (2007).", "* Televisions: 90,000 (1997)." ], [ "Telephones", "* Main lines: 88,100 lines in use, 148th in the world (2012); 78,300 lines in use (2008).", "* Mobile cellular: 8.1 million lines (2012); 4.4 million lines (2008).", "* Telephone system: General assessment: a fair telecommunications system that is with a heavy state presence, lack of competition, and high operating costs and charges (2011); Domestic: stagnation in the fixed-line network contrasts with rapid growth in the mobile-cellular network; mobile-cellular coverage now includes all the main cities and key roads, including those from Maputo to the South African and Eswatini borders, the national highway through Gaza and Inhambane provinces, the Beira corridor, and from Nampula to Nacala; extremely low fixed-line teledensity; despite significant growth in mobile-cellular services, teledensity remains low at about 35 per 100 persons (2011);** International: calling code +258; landing point for the EASSy and SEACOM fiber-optic submarine cable systems; Satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean) (2011)." ], [ "Internet", "* Top-level domain: .mz* Internet exchange: Mozambique Internet Exchange (Moz-Ix).", "* Internet users: 1.1 million users, 114th in the world; 4.8% of the population, 188th in the world (2012).", " 613,600, 113th in the world (2009).", "* Fixed broadband: 19,753 subscriptions, 129th in the world; 0.1% of the population, 168th in the world (2012).", "* Wireless broadband: 431,988 subscriptions, 94th in the world; 1.8% of the population, 127th in the world (2012).", "* Internet hosts: 89,737 hosts, 82nd in the world (2012); 21,172 (2010).", "* IPv4: 343,296 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 14.6 addresses per 1000 people (2012).Mozambique has a comparatively low Internet penetration rate with only 4.8% of the population having access to the Internet compared to 16% for Africa as a whole.Telecommunication de Mozambique (TDM), Mozambique's national fixed-line operator, offers ADSL Internet access for home and business customers.", "In early 2014 packages ranged from 512 kbit/s with a 6 GByte cap for MTN750 (~US$21) to 4 Mbit/s with a 43 GByte cap for MTN4300 (~US$118).The three mobile operators, Movitel, mCel and Vodacom, also offer 3G Internet access.Mozambique was the first African country to offer broadband wireless services using WiMax.With the introduction of the SEACOM submarine cable in July 2009 and the EASSY submarine cable in July 2010, Mozambique now has access to less expensive international connectivity and is no longer reliant on VSAT or neighbor South Africa for Internet transit services.===Internet censorship and surveillance===There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet, however, opposition party members report government intelligence agents monitor e-mail.The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice.", "Individuals can generally criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal.", "Some individuals express a fear that the government monitors their private telephone and e-mail communications.", "Many journalists practice self-censorship." ], [ "See also", "* Telephone numbers in Mozambique* Televisão de Moçambique, the government owned national public broadcaster of Mozambique." ], [ "References", "* *" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Transport in Mozambique" ], [ "Introduction", "150pxModes of transport in Mozambique include rail, road, water, and air.", "There are rail links serving principal cities and connecting the country with Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.", "There are over 30,000km of roads, but much of the network is unpaved.", "On the Indian Ocean coast are several large seaports, including Nacala, Beira and Maputo, with further ports being developed.", "There are 3,750km of navigable inland waterways.", "There is an international airport at Maputo, 21 other paved airports, and over 100 with unpaved runways." ], [ "Railways", "Railway network of MozambiqueSteam locomotive at Inhambane, 2009The Mozambican railway system developed over more than a century from three different ports on the Indian Ocean that serve as terminals for separate lines to the hinterland.", "The railroads were major targets during the Mozambican Civil War, were sabotaged by RENAMO, and are being rehabilitated.", "A parastatal authority, ''Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique'' (abbreviated CFM; in English Mozambique Ports and Railways), oversees the railway system of Mozambique and its connected ports, but management has been largely outsourced.", "Each line has its own development corridor.", "there are 3,123 km of railway track, consisting of 2,983 km of gauge, compatible with neighboring rail systems, and a 140 km line of gauge, the Gaza Railway.", "The central Beira-Bulawayo railway and Sena railway route links the port of Beira to the landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.", "To the north of this the port of Nacala is also linked by Nacala rail to Malawi, and to the south the port of Maputo is connected by the Limpopo rail, the Goba rail and the Ressano Garcia rail to Zimbabwe, Eswatini and South Africa..", "These networks interconnect only via neighbouring countries.", "A new route for coal haulage between Tete and Beira was planned to come into service by 2010, and in August 2010, Mozambique and Botswana signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 1,100 km railway through Zimbabwe, to carry coal from Serule in Botswana to a deepwater port at Techobanine Point in Mozambique.Newer rolling stock has been supplied by the Indian Golden Rock and BLW, Varanasi workshop using Centre Buffer Couplers (AAR couplers) and air brakes.=== Towns served by railways ===" ], [ "Roads and highways", "Construction works for the Armando Guebuza Bridge, Mozambique (2008)Road N1 (2010)Mozambique's inter-city roads are classified as a national or primary road (''estrada nacional'' or ''estrada primária''), or as regional – secondary or tertiary – roads (''estradas secundárias'' and ''estradas terciáreas'').", "National roads are given the prefix \"N\" or \"EN\" followed by a one- or two-digit number.", "The numbers generally increase from the south of the country to the north.", "Regional roads are given the prefix \"R\", followed by a three-digit number.In 2008 the total length of Mozambique's road network was 32,500 km.", "The primary and secondary road networks were less than 5000 km each.", "The tertiary network was 12,700 km.", "Unclassified or local roads (''estradas vicinais'') were estimated at 6,700 km, and urban roads at 3,300 km.The national highway network includes 14 routes:* '''N1 (EN1)'''.", "Maputo – Xai-Xai – N5 junction – Maxixe – Inchope (N6 junction) – Gorongosa – Caia – N10 junction – Mocuba (N11 junction) – Nampula (N13 junction) – Mocuba (N11 junction) – Namialo (N12 junction) – Pemba* '''N2 (EN2)'''.", "Maputo – Matola – N3 junction – Namaacha border post (to eSwatini)* '''N3 (EN3)'''.", "N2 junction – Goba border post (to eSwatini)* '''N4 (EN4)'''.", "Maputo – Komatipoort border post (to South Africa)* '''N5 (EN5)'''.", "N1 junction – Inhambane* '''N6 (EN6)'''.", "Beira – Inchope (N1 junction) – Chimoio – N7 junction – Manica – Machipanda border post (to Zimbabwe).", "The N6 Highway is part of the Beira–Lobito Highway, Highway 9 in the Trans-African Highway network.", "* '''N7 (EN7)'''.", "N6 junction – Catandica – Changara District (N7 junction) – Tete – Zobue border post (to Malawi)* '''N8 (EN8)'''.", "Changara District (N7 junction) – Nyamapanda border post (to Zimbabwe)* '''N9 (EN9)'''.", "Tete (N6 junction) – Chimefusa border post (to Zambia)* '''N10 (EN10)'''.", "N1 junction – Quelimane* '''N11 (EN11)'''.", "Mocuba (N1 junction) – Milange border post (to Malawi)* '''N12 (EN12)'''.", "Namialo (N1 junction) – Monapo – Nacala* '''N13 (EN13)'''.", "Nampula (N1 junction) – Ribaue – Cuamba – Mandimba border post (to Malawi) – Lichinga (N14 junction)* '''N14 (EN14)'''.", "Metoro (N1 junction) – Montepuez – Cassembe – Lichinga (N13 junction)Petrol station in Gaza Province." ], [ "Waterways", "There are 3,750 km of navigable waterways." ], [ "Sea transport", "=== Ports and harbours ===Seaports on the Indian Ocean coast include:* Beira - railhead for Zimbabwe (via the Beira-Bulawayo railway) and Malawi (via the Sena railway)* Inhambane* Maputo - railhead for South Africa (via the Pretoria-Maputo railway), Eswatini (via the Goba railway) and Zimbabwe (via the Limpopo railway)* Nacala - a deepwater port and a railhead for Malawi (via the Nacala railway).", "* Pemba* Quelimane* Matutuine, a new coal port in the far south, approved October 2009.=== Merchant marine === the merchant marine fleet consisted of three cargo ships of 1,000 gt or over, totaling 4,125 gt/.", "Two of these were Belgian-owned ships registered in Mozambique as a flag of convenience." ], [ "Airports", " there were 158 airports in total, 22 of them having paved runways.", "The main airport in the country is Maputo International Airport, which is also the hub of Mozambique's flag carrier, LAM Mozambique Airlines." ], [ "References" ], [ "External links", "===Rail network maps===* UN Map* Map Port Nacala railhead* Southern Africa* Sena Railway" ] ]	wikipedia
[ [ "Mozambique Defence Armed Forces" ], [ "Introduction", "Mozambican soldiersThe '''Mozambique Defence Armed Forces''' () or '''FADM''' are the national armed forces of Mozambique.", "They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces and three branches of service: Army, Air Force and Navy.The FADM were formed in mid August 1994, by the integration of the Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM with the military wing of RENAMO, following the end of the civil war." ], [ "History", "Coelho et al write:\"Independence in June 1975 was preceded by a nine-month transition period in which Frelimo took control of a transitional cabinet where ..it held six of the nine ministries.\"", "The previous Forças Populares de Libertação de Moçambique (FPLM), the armed wing of FRELIMO, became the Forças Armadas de Moçambique but retained the FPLM title, becoming 'FAM/FPLM.'", "From 1975 to the successful conclusions of the Rome negotiations in 1992, former liberation war leader Alberto Joaquim Chipande served as Minister of National Defence.Under the previous FAM, in 1982, ten provincial semi-autonomous military commands were created; the provincial commanders also acted as second in commands of the provincial government.", "Coelho et al write:\"the 1st Brigade and the 6th Tank Brigade were located in Maputo; the 2nd Brigade was in Mapai and, together with 8th Brigade based in Chokwe, assured protection of the south; the 3rd Brigade was in Chimoio and the 5th in Beira; the 4th Brigade was placed in Tete, and the 7th in Cuamba, assuring a military presence in Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Zambezia and Nampula, and particularly in the Nacala corridor..\"Throughout the 1980s the FRELIMO government and its armed forces, the Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM, fought the rebel Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), which received support by South Africa.", "The Mozambique Civil War only ended in 1992.The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces were formed in mid-August 1994 after peace negotiations in Rome had produced the General Peace Agreement (GPA, AGP in Portuguese).", "The new armed forces were formed by integrating those soldiers of the former government Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM and those among the RENAMO rebels who wished to stay in uniform.", "They were formed through a commission, the ''Comissão Conjunta para a Formação das Forças Armadas de Defesa e Segurança de Moçambique'' (CCFADM), chaired by the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ).Two generals were appointed to lead the new forces, one from FRELIMO, Lieutenant General Lagos Lidimo, who was named Chief of the Defence Force and Major General Mateus Ngonhamo from RENAMO as Vice-Chief of the Defence Force.", "The former Chief of the Army of the ''Forças Armadas de Moçambique,'' Lieutenant General Antonio Hama Thai, was retired.The first three infantry battalions were stationed at Chokwe, Cuamba, and Quelimane.On 20 March 2008, Reuters reported that President Guebuza had dismissed the Chief and Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Lagos Lidimo (FRELIMO) and Lieutenant General Mateus Ngonhamo (RENAMO), replacing them with Brigadier General Paulino Macaringue as Chief of Defence Force and Major General Olímpio Cambora as Vice-Chief of Defence Force.Filipe Nyussi took office as Minister of Defense on 27 March 2008, succeeding Tobias Joaquim Dai.", "Nyussi's appointment came almost exactly one year after a fire and resulting explosions of munitions at the Malhazine armoury in Maputo killed more than 100 people and destroyed 14,000 homes.", "A government-appointed investigative commission concluded that negligence played a role in the disaster, and Dai \"was blamed by many for failing to act on time to prevent the loss of life\".", "Although no official reason was given for Dai's removal, it may have been a \"delayed reaction\" to the Malhazine disaster.In April 2010 it was announced that \"the People's Republic of China donated to the FADM material for agriculture worth 4 million euros, including trucks, tractors, agricultural implements, mowers and motorbikes in the framework of bilateral cooperation in the military.", "Under a protocol of cooperation in the military field, the Government of China will also provide support to the Ministry of Defence of Mozambique with about 1 million euros for the areas of training and logistics.", "The protocol for granting aid to the Armed Forces for the Defence of Mozambique (FADM) was signed by Defense Minister of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and the charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Maputo, Lee Tongli.", "\"Mozambique has also been involved in many peacekeeping operations in Burundi (232 personnel), Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor and Sudan.", "They have also actively participated in joint military operations such Blue Hungwe in Zimbabwe in 1997 and Blue Crane in South Africa in 1999." ], [ "Land Forces", "A Mozambique army officer during Exercise SHARED ACCORD 2010 with the United StatesThe Mozambican Army was formed in 1976 from three conventional battalions, two of which were trained in Tanzania and a third of which was trained in Zambia.", "Army officer candidates were initially trained in Maputo by Chinese military instructors.", "In March 1977, following Mozambique's Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union, officer candidates became eligible for training in various Warsaw Pact member states.", "The Soviet military mission in Mozambique assisted in raising a new army composed of five infantry brigades and an armored brigade.", "At the height of the civil war, this was gradually increased to eight infantry brigades, an armored brigade, and a counter-insurgency brigade modeled after the Zimbabwean 5th Brigade.The preexisting FAM was abolished after the end of the civil war under the auspices of the Joint Commission for the Formation of the Mozambican Defence Force (CCFADM), which included advisers from Portugal, France, and the United Kingdom.", "The CCFADM recommended that former army personnel and an equal number of demobilised RENAMO insurgents be integrated into a single force numbering about 30,000.Due to logistics problems and budgetary constraints, however, the army only numbered about 12,195 in 1995.Force levels rarely fluctuated between 1995 and the mid-2000s due to the army's limited resources and low budget priority.In 2016, the Mozambican Army consisted of 10,000 troops organised into three special forces battalions, seven light infantry battalions, two engineer battalions, two artillery battalions, and a single logistics battalion.As of 2017, the serving chief of the army was Major General Eugènio Dias Da Silva.===Equipment===Between 1977 and 1989, the Mozambican Army was lavishly supplied with Soviet weapons, as well as a Soviet-supervised technical programme to oversee their logistics needs and maintenance.", "Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, along with the resulting departure of Soviet technical staff, much of this equipment was rendered inoperable.", "The bulk of the army's hardware remained vested in this ageing and increasingly obsolescent Soviet equipment throughout the 2000s, and serviceability rates have remained low.", "In 2016, less than 10% of the army's artillery and armoured vehicles were operational.==== Small arms ==== Name Image Caliber Type Origin Notes Škorpion 150px .32 ACP Submachine gun Rifles SKS 150px 7.62×39mm Semi-automatic rifle AKM 150px 7.62×39mm Assault rifle PM md.", "63 150px 7.62×39mm Assault rifle Vz.", "58 150px 7.62×39mm Assault rifle SA80 150px 5.56×45mm BullpupAssault rifle Sold as part of British military aid.", "FN FAL 150px 7.62×51mm Battle rifle Sniper rifles Mosin-Nagant 150px 7.62×54mmR Bolt-actionSniper rifle Machine guns RPK 7.62×39mm Squad automatic weapon PKM 150px 7.62×54mmR General-purpose machine gun DShK 150px 12.7×108mm Heavy machine gun Rocket propelled grenade launchers RPG-7 150px 40mm Rocket-propelled grenade ====Anti-tank weapons==== Name Image Type Origin Caliber Notes B-10 150px Recoilless rifle 82mm 9M14 Malyutka 150px Anti-tank weapon 9K111 Fagot 150px Anti-tank weapon 10 in service.====Mortars==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes PM-43 150px Mortar 12 INS BM-37 150px Mortar 40 INS ====Tanks==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes T-54 150px Medium tank 60 INS ====Scout cars==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes BRDM-2 150px Amphibious armored scout car 28 INS BRDM-1 150px Amphibious armored scout car 28 INS ====Infantry fighting vehicles==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes BMP-1 150px Infantry fighting vehicle 40 INS ====Armored personnel carriers==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes BTR-152 150px Armored personnel carrier 100 INS BTR-60 150px Armored personnel carrier 160 INS WZ-551 150px Armored personnel carrier 30-35 INS AT105 Saxon 150px Armored personnel carrier 25 INS Marauder 150px Armored personnel carrier 5 INS Casspir 150px MRAP 15 INS ====Artillery==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes Rocket artillery BM-21 Grad 150px Multiple rocket launcher 12 INS Field artillery BS-3 150px Field gun 20 INS Type 56 150px Field gun 12 INS M-46 150px Field gun 6 INS M-30 150px Howitzer 24 INS D-1 150px Howitzer 12 INS D-30 150px Howitzer 12 INS M101 150px Howitzer 12 INS D-48 150px Anti-tank gun 6 INS ====Air defence systems==== Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes ZU-23-2 150px Autocannon 120 INS 61-K 150px Autocannon 90 INS 10 in storage.", "ZSU-57-2 150px SPAAG 20 INS S-125 Neva 150px Surface-to-air missile 103 INS 9K32 Strela-2 150px MANPADS 20 INS 250 in storage." ], [ "Air Force" ], [ "Navy", "There are about 200 personnel in the navy.", "In September 2004 it was reported that the South African Navy was to donate two of its Namacurra class harbour patrol boat to the Mozambique Navy.", "The boats were refitted by the naval dockyard at Simon's Town and equipped with outboard motors and navigation equipment donated by the French Navy.", "The French Navy ''Durance'' class command and replenishment oiler ''Marne'' (A360) was to deliver the boats to Maputo en route to its ALINDIEN operational area in the Indian Ocean after a refit in Cape Town.In 2013, the French shipyard CMN Group confirmed a major order by Mozambique, including 6 patrol vessels & interceptors (HSI32).", "On 29 July 2019 in the first ever visit by an Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh donated 2 L&T class Fast interceptor boats to the Navy.", "A team from Indian Coast Guard will also be stationed to train the crew, support for maintenance and operation of the two boats.===Equipment===* PCI-class inshore patrol boat (3 ordered, non-operational)* MNS Pebane (P-001) ex-Spanish navy ''Dragonera'' (P-32) ( 85 tons, 32 meters ) transferred after refit 2012 from the Spanish Navy for a symbolic price (€100).", "20 - 25 DV 15 interceptors.", "An unknown number of units in active service.", "3 x HSI32 Interceptors 3 x Ocean Eagle 43 OPV.", "Three were acquired as part of the CMN deal.", "Currently all three are based at Pemba." ], [ "References", "===Works cited=== * *Hoyle, Craig.", "\"World Air Forces Directory\".", "''Flight International'', Vol.", "182 No.", "5370.pp. 40–64.", " " ], [ "Further reading", " Protocol on the Formation of the FADM, Rome 1992Cameron R. Hume, Ending Mozambique's War: The Role of Mediation and Good Offices, U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 1994Lundin, Irae B, Martinho Chachiua, Anthonio Gaspar, Habiba Guebuzua, and Guilherme Mbilana (2000).", "Reducing Costs through an Expensive Exercise: The Impact of Demobilization in Mozambique, in Kees Kingma (ed.)", "''Demobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Development and Security Impacts,'' Basingstoke, UK: MacMillan, 173-212Anica Lala, Security sector reform in post-conflict environments: An analysis of coherence and sequencing in Mozambique.", "Examining Peacebuilding Challenges of Defence, Police and Justice Reforms in a Neo-Liberal Era, 2014 Bradford thesisAnica Lala, Security and Democracy in Southern Africa: Mozambique, 2007Paulino Macaringue, \"Civil-Military Relations in Post-Cold War Mozambique,\" Ourselves to Know, Institute for Security Studies, 2002.", "Martin Rupiya, 'Historical Context: War and Peace in Mozambique,' in Jeremy Armon, Dylan Henrickson and Alex Vines, eds, The Mozambican Peace Process in Perspective, London: Conciliation Resources Accord Series, 1998Richard Synge, Mozambique: UN Peacekeeping in Action, 1992–94, United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, D.C., 1997 - includes details on formation of FADM, but has multiple mistakes, including concluding from mid-mission rather than final ONUMOZ report that new army had five (rather than final seven) battalions.", "Eric T. Young, The Development of the FADM in Mozambique: Internal and External Dynamics, African Security Review, Vol.", "5, No.", "1, 1996*Joao Porto, Mozambique contributes to the African Union Mission in Burundi, April 2003" ], [ "External links", "United States Marine Corps, Brotherhood of Arms - story of one Mozambiqican officer's career* https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976MAPUTO00888_b.html - details in 1976* \"7000 ghost soldiers found.", "Soldiers have been paid in cash, and in March actually had to show up to collect.", "According to Carta de Moçambique (4, 6 May) 7000 ghost soldiers were found.", "\"Among the irregularities detected in recent months is the growing number of children of former combatants, generals, colonels and politicians, who swell the ranks of the FADM and receive salaries without ever having been in military training, let alone setting foot in a military unit,\" noted Carta.", "And many salaries of fake soldier were being channelled to senior officials.", "The scheme also includes the distribution of food, alcoholic beverage, fuel vouchers and rent subsidy.", "The military will now switch to electronic payments.\"", "Joseph Hanlon, ''Mozambique News Reports and Clippings 596,'' 16 May 2022, accessible via https://www.open.ac.uk/technology/mozambique/news-reports-clippings-2022." ] ]	wikipedia

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